Natwest admits forging customer signature

Natwest has admitted forging a customer’s signature on a terms and conditions form for one of its personal loans.

Bank customer Phil Morley, 44, took out a £25,000 personal loan with Natwest in 2007.

When he was made redundant, Morley asked to temporarily arrange different repayments to the bank.

However he claimed he was presented with a second loan agreement with a forged signature on it in 2009, the Guardian reports.

After consulting with its own handwriting specialist, Natwest has admitted in writing to Morley that it believes his signature was forged on the second document.

The bank said nobody at Morley's local branch has owned up to forging the signature, but internal action had been taken against a member of staff.

When Morley applied for the loan, he was advised to take out payment protection insurance (PPI), which he said he did not want.

The bank adviser allegedly told him he would "make adjustments later on and say you have cancelled the PPI".

Natwest claimed in a letter to the Financial Ombudsman Service that the bank adviser Morley saw had arranged two loans, one with PPI and one without, and this was the cause of the confusion.

The bank has paid Morley £612 to cover any charges and interest. Morley said he may pursue the case further in court.

Last month, Natwest's parent bank Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) suspended an employee who it was alleged forged a customer's signature, the Sun reports.

In this case, a customer claimed he had been upgraded from a silver to a gold packaged current account, but had not signed the form agreeing to this.