Making a complaint

If you suspect a charge has been applied to your account in error, you should first check which type of charge has been applied and confirm if it has been applied correctly. You can get further guidance on how to do this through our Charges FAQ.

Alternatively, you can find further information on our Rates & Charges Page(opens in a new window).

Remember - you can set up text alerts which will notify you of important activity on your account, this can help you to prevent incurring charges in the future. You can find guidance on the type of alerts we offer through our Alerts FAQ and further guidance on how to set up text alerts on our Text Alerts FAQ.

If you don't recognise a transaction, have been charges twice for something , or not received and order or service you have paid for, we recommend you follow these steps first:

• Search the retailer name quoted on your statement using a search engine such as Google or Bing
• Contact the retailer directly to establish what you have been charged for and if necessary, initiate a refund.
• If you have been unable to resolve the issue with the retailer directly and want to challenge the transaction we can help you claim a refund

If you are unhappy about the way your Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) was sold or require more information regarding PPI complaints, please see our dedicated PPI(opens in a new window) page.

1.We’ll let you know we’ve received your complaint. We’ll give you a complaint reference number to use if you need to contact us. That way, we can find your information quickly.

2.We may need to talk to you, to help fix the situation. So please give us your up-to-date contact phone number and email address.

3.We’ll write to you within 10 days of getting your complaint and then update you regularly after that. We’ll use email if you’ve given us an email address.

4.Once we’ve made a decision about your complaint, we’ll call you, write to you or email you. We’ll try to solve your problem as quickly as possible (although regulations give us up to 56 days).

Please note: our calls may appear as ‘Private’, ‘Unknown’ or ‘Withheld” on some handsets. And if you’ve given us an email address or opted for paperless statements, please check your junk email folder, just in case.

To help us look into and resolve your complaint, please give us:

·         Your name and address

·         Your account details

·         A description of your complaint

·         When the problem occurred

·         How you’ve been affected by this

·         A contact number and email address

Why we need this

This information will help us understand what has gone wrong. That way, we can make sure we pass your complaint to the right person to fix the problem.

Your contact details will help us reach you, if we need more info or to discuss your complaint with you.

Your contact details will help us to get hold of you if we need to discuss your complaint or require further information.

If you need an update on a complaint you’ve made, feel free to get in touch. Please use the contact details in the letter, email or text we sent you.

If you want to give us more information, or you want more from us, please contact us using our Online Complaint Form. Go to the Account Type dropdown menu and select ‘Existing complaint.’ Our complaints team will get back to you.

Please use the Existing complaint form for this. 

If for some reason we haven’t been able to resolve your complaint within eight weeks, or you’re not satisfied with the resolution you can refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

If you receive a final response letter from us and you want to contact the Financial Ombudsman Service, you’ll need to do this within 6 months of receiving our letter.

You can contact the service by writing to:

The Financial Ombudsman Service
Exchange Tower
London E14 9SR

You can also phone them on 0800 023 4 567 or 0300 123 9 123

Or visit the Financial Ombudman Service Website.

Alternatively, if your complaint relates to a product or service purchased online, you can contact the European Commission using their Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) platform. The ODR platform, primarily aimed at European Union (EU) cross-border disputes, is designed to help consumers resident in the EU get access to dispute resolution if they remain unhappy with the response they have received from a trader established in the EU. 

To use the ODR platform you will need the following information: james.duffield@rbs.co.uk. 

Please note that under current rules the European Commission will ultimately redirect your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) therefore you may prefer to contact us or the FOS directly in the first instance regarding your complaint.

Business Banking Resolution Service (BBRS)

Register your interest in using the new dispute resolution service for UK businesses

A new, independent dispute resolution service is being established for eligible small and medium sized UK businesses that have unresolved complaints with participating banks. The new organisation is called the BBRS and will be guided by its commitment “to do what is right, fair and reasonable at all times”.

NatWest is one of the seven participating banks which have committed to support the BBRS.

If you are interested in finding out more information or in registering your interest in using the new service, please visit the BBRS website.