‘Handwriting expert confirmed forgeries’

PHILLIP Morley discovered his signature had been forged by RBS staff on a loan document. Mr Morley, 50, from Kent, who had been a customer with RBS subsiduary NatWest for more than 20 years, had taken out a personal loan of £25,000 with the bank in 2007.

But when he asked to negotiate a short-term arrangement in 2009 after he was made redundant, RBS staff mentioned terms applying to the loan he did not recognise. On asking to see a copy of the agreement, he realised something was not right. He said: ‘One, the signature wasn’t my handwriting.

‘Two, it wasn’t anything like the same terms to the loan I had. Three, it was countersigned by hand for September 17, 2007 – a date when I was in France.’

In 2011, the Financial Ombudsman Service said its handwriting specialist believed Mr Morley’s signature was forged. Mr Morley received an out-ofcourt settlement from the bank.