Nationwide customers are being urged to check their bank statements over a billing mistake that's seen some people charged twice on their monthly credit card bills.
While many are suffering at the hands of a six week wait for payday, the lender has warned that a billing error has resulted in some people being overcharged.
Consumer website MoneySavingExpert uncovered the error after one family told the title they'd been charged £2,500 by mistake.
The website said hundreds of people were charged twice for payments they made towards the balances of their Nationwide credit cards on January 4, with some pushed beyond their overdraft limits as a result.
But, if you've incurred charges due to the overpayment, you could be owed money from Nationwide.
Trevor Pole, 67, from Nottingham, told MoneySavingExpert he was charged twice for a payment of £1,800 from his Nationwide current account to his Nationwide credit card, which he made using its automated phone service.
Trevor realised his payment had been taken twice when he was sent messages telling him his account was overdrawn beyond his agreed limit, and that he didn't have enough funds to pay out scheduled direct debits.
Yet Trevor says Nationwide customer services was unable to return the duplicate payment when he initially got in touch about the issue, forcing him to transfer money from his savings account to cover the loss.
"Other customers affected by this may not have been in a position to cover their loss as I was. I understand that errors can occur, but their reaction from a customer service perspective has been appalling," he explained.
Nationwide says all duplicate payments have now been refunded, and the re-credited payments should now be showing in customers' accounts.
If you're a Nationwide current account holder and went into your overdraft or over your limit due to the issues, any fees or charges should also have been refunded automatically.
But if you incurred fees and charges from a third party as a result of the error, you'll need to get in touch with Nationwide directly to get your money back.
Nationwide said customers should not see their credit scores impacted as a result – but says anyone that sees an error should get in touch to have it corrected.
A spokesperson said: "We apologise to our customers who unfortunately had the payment to their credit card taken twice. Only a small number of customers were impacted by this and all duplicate payments have now been refunded."
