RBS and NatWest set out IT meltdown compensation deal

Chief executive Stephen Hester says customers from other banks can claim 'knock-on' costsRBS and NatWest has set out a compensation deal for customers who suffered from the service meltdown last month as chief executive Stephen Hester admitted that the crisis at subsidiary Ulster Bank is entering its fourth week.Hester also pledged that customers from other banks will be repaid for 'knock-on' costs after they were left out of pocket by an IT failure that sent 20m transactions awry.The bank will pay for affected individuals to receive a free credit report from agency Experian to check if they have suffered any default notices. No one will be expected to pay bank charges caused by the processing failure on 19 June, and customers will be reimbursed for fees they may have incurred, if, for example, their mortgage payments bounced. "As well as automatically refunding unfair fees or charges, we will credit any interest they were wrongly charged or should have earned," he said.In an apology posted on website moneysavingexpert.com, Hester said: "The next step is to put things right for people who faced knock-on costs during the systems delay. Those who incurred extra costs will be reimbursed, whether they are our customers or not."But Hester admitted that Ulster Bank, in both Northern Ireland and the Republic, is now entering its fourth week of disarray. It is understood that around 600,000 customers were not able to access their accounts properly, with many still waiting for credits to appear. "This week should be the final week of residual systems clean-up for these customers. We will then begin the work of putting things right for these customers too," promised Hester.But despite Hester's compensation pledge, the Financial Ombudsman Service is anticipating a wave of disputed claims. FOS spokesman David Cresswell: "For the past few weeks we've been hearing from people directly affected in many ways by not being able to access their bank account."The wide range of difficulties that people tell us they're experiencing means it's more important than ever to keep track of everything that has happened – and to keep a record of everything with as much evidence as you can. This will make it much easier when you come to ask the bank to sort things out."Royal Bank of ScotlandBankingBanks and building societiesConsumer affairsPatrick Collinsonguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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