A ridiculous over-draft situation. Please help.

In answer to your other questions, no, your credit doesn't follow you from one country to another. And no, you would not have any trouble visiting this country again due to a debt you owe (unless possibly if you owed it to the government itself). The only problems this will cause you is that your credit will be negatively effected here in the UK, and you would most likely not be able to open another bank account here in the UK. I suggest you politely explain your situation, and they should be smart enough to realise that they need to write this debt off, as either way, it most likely won't be paid. Good luck!

This is good advice.  You never know where your life will take you.

NatWest are pretty lax about reversing OD charges.  My husband has banked with them for years, gone overdrawn quite a few times (accidentally - and he does NOT have a permitted overdraft) and every single time managed to convince them to not charge him (he's very convincing! ).  If you're firm (but polite), I'll bet you get this sorted fairly easily.

Natwest have been pretty good to me too. I've never gone overdrawn, but one month I accidentally paid off my credit card too late (I paid by cheque but forgot it was a bank holiday weekend, so it didn't clear in time) - they tried to charge me £30 for a late payment, but I emailed them and explained that it wasn't intentional and that in 6 years of having a credit card with them, I'd never missed a payment before (I always pay my balance in full each month) and they cancelled the £30 charge .

I would read what Geeta says and if I read it right she says keep it simple.
Say something like 'I didn't know I was overdrawn can you see what you can do?'

These things are done by computers and when they are reviewed by a real person they can void them with a stroke of a key.

Again don't get into a lot of detail. They want to do the right thing. See how simple you can keep it. The simpler the better.

Ironically I have been on line trying to resolve things with the Bank of American all morning and the longer I'm talking to them the more complicated it gets.

Good luck and it seems you have enough to be thinking about at this time without dealing with 45 pence.

These things are done by computers and when they are reviewed by a real person they can void them with a stroke of a key.

Absolutely. I used to work in telebanking myself and often voided people's overdraft fees depending on the situation. Sometimes it was just because I felt sorry for them or saw it was a mistake or a bad situation. Just sound genuinely concerned about the issue at hand and give a brief explanation and most likely they will be willing to help you out.

Susan, one other piece of advice: keep a written record of whatever is discussed and agreed on the phone and send them a copy by post - it will help avoid misunderstandings and give you something to show as evidence if necessary.

OK I made one last attempt to reverse $70 of fees and it was a no go so I closed the account after being with them for 30 years.

What a big relief!