I wonder if you can help me with what I am sure you will agree is an unusual case.
In November 2021, I visited a William Hill shop to place a £20,000 bet on Norwich City to be relegated.
When I put my card into the machine, it was knocked back, even though there was £38,000 available.
The cashier was ready for this and told me that because I do not often spend this kind of money, the transaction had been blocked to protect me from scammers.
High stakes: A gambler, who wagered £20,000 on a football bet, had to settle for lower odds than he’d first been shown, after his bank’s fraud team held up the payment
I went to NatWest the next day to have my card cleared.
But by this time, all the odds had changed from 3-10 to 2-7.
While it was good of NatWest to look after its customer, I did not ask it to do this and it has cost me £285.71. I requested compensation, but it turned me down.
Can you bring any leverage on NatWest to compensate me for this loss?
I am very careful where I keep my cards and do not let them fall into the hands of anyone but myself, so feel that on this occasion the bank was being too uniform in automatically blocking the transaction. W. L., York.
Sally Hamilton replies: You can bet that I have never come across such a case previously.
And it gave me a wry smile to read what your £20,000 wager had been placed on.
My predecessor, Tony Hazell, who retired from the readers’ champion role earlier this year, often referred to his passion for Norwich City football club.
I suspect he’d have been mortally offended by anyone placing a bet on his beloved team’s relegation to a lower division.
While I don’t have that particular sporting allegiance (indeed, my husband is an Ipswich Town supporter — sorry, Tony, if you are reading this), and so take no offence, kolaybet I am minded not to chase NatWest for your refund for the difference between the two stakes.
Readers, let me know who you think is right
On rejecting your claim, NatWest pointed to its terms and conditions, which include the fact that the bank may need to protect its customers and their money by requesting additional information before accepting a transaction.
Making such an unusually large payment to a betting firm will have raised a big red flag.
I can understand the bank’s caution.
In April, Norwich City were indeed relegated from the Premier League and you won your bet. Even though the odds had shortened, William Hill paid you £25,714 — a profit to you of £5,714.
You feel hard done by because the delay in placing the bet cost you money.
I don’t suppose I would have heard from you if the odds had gone the other way by the time your card was unblocked.
Am I being harsh or kolaybet fair? Readers, let me know who you think is right.
W. L. has a few more weeks to take his case to the ombudsman before his complaint has timed out, if he still believes he has been wronged by NatWest.
Can’t get power of attorney for a business account
I am writing to you in desperation as I have run out of ideas as to where to turn next.
I have power of attorney (POA) for my brother, who has suffered a number of strokes and also has dementia.
I tried to register the POA with his bank, Lloyds, kolaybet and I did everything asked of me.
<div class="art-ins mol-factbox money floatRHS" data-version="2" id="mol-fc7580a0-4f15-11ed-a013-bb3ff9af8823" website bet £20K on Norwich being relegated, but lost out as NatWest stalled