Ombudsman rejected my claim against packaged bank account fees

JimmyP_82 · 12 April 2017 at 9:18AM

Hi all

I received a response from the Financial Services Ombudsman last week in relation to my claim for refund against NatWest. My initial contact was through the Resolver portal in December and NatWest informed me of their decision to reject my claim in February. Having escalated to the Ombudsman I remained hopeful of success, however they also rejected on the basis that my claim is "out of time", I hadn't been aware of any time limits.

The problem I have encountered, according to the Ombudsman, is that I closed my NatWest account a year ago (April 2016) and apparently all claims of this nature need to be made within 6 months of the account being closed. Hence, I was out of time after October 2016 which means my complaint was two months out of time. I'm a bit disappointed as I am sure the Ombudsman would have upheld my complaint otherwise (their letter pretty much states that they agree with me) but thought I would share in case anybody is considering making a complaint against a closed account. If you closed it less than 6 months ago then get a move on, anything over 6 months then you needn't bother!

Hope someone finds this helpful.

Jimmy

[Deleted User] · 12 April 2017 at 9:56AM

Are you sure it wasn't six months since your initial complaint to the Bank? EDIT: I see you complained only in December.

It sounds more as if you left it too late to refer your rejected complaint to the Ombudsman, I'd re-read your letter for clarification.

There is no six month time limit on complaints once you have closed an account, it is at least three years.

What reason did the Bank give for rejecting your complaint?

I also doubt the Ombudsman would infer the complaint would otherwise be upheld, since a time bar would prevent FOS from even considering your complaint.

dunstonh · 12 April 2017 at 10:01AM

Having escalated to the Ombudsman I remained hopeful of success, however they also rejected on the basis that my claim is "out of time", I hadn't been aware of any time limits.

You should never have been hopeful. The FOS only overturn around 1 in 10 packaged bank account complaints. So, the odds were very much against you. Plus, if you were rejected for being timebarred then the chance of getting that overruled was also very low.

I'm a bit disappointed as I am sure the Ombudsman would have upheld my complaint otherwise (their letter pretty much states that they agree with me)

That would be highly unusual as complaints that are timebarred are not looked into. They would not have spent the time or resources looking at the complaint. So, would not be in a position to offer any opinion.

The FOS position on the product is that they have no issues with it. So, it has to have an identifiable problem with the sale.

and apparently all claims of this nature need to be made within 6 months of the account being closed.

There is no 6 month rule in respect of raising a complaint. The existing 3 year/6 year rule applies as it does in most areas of financial services. The only 6 month rule applies to complaints being referred to the FOS. i.e. after receiving your complaint response, you have 6 months to refer your complaint to the FOS or you will be timebarred.

Nasqueron · 12 April 2017 at 6:22PM

You need to go back to the FOS

If you were rejected by the bank in February then you have 6 months to refer to the FOS, thus April is inside the 6 months

Closing the account would only trigger the 3 YEAR time bar rule which obviously does not apply to your situation

JimmyP_82 · 12 April 2017 at 6:51PM

Hi, I escalated it to the Ombudsman immediately. Reread the letter and it states that I had to complain within 6 months of account closure.

JimmyP_82 · 12 April 2017 at 6:54PM

Reading the letter as we speak. You're right, they don't infer that they felt I had a case, perhaps wishful thinking on my part. Definitely does state that the complaint should have been made within 6 months of closing the natwest bank account.

dunstonh · 12 April 2017 at 7:31PM

You can appeal an adjudicator decision with an ombudsman. You can also email the adjudicator and tell them you think they are incorrect by pointing out that there is no 6 month rule in this respect. It is a 3/6 year rule that applies and you are within the 3 year period.

If they still refuse to consider, then tell them you wish to appeal to an ombudsman.

Nasqueron · 12 April 2017 at 8:00PM

JimmyP_82 wrote: »

Reading the letter as we speak. You're right, they don't infer that they felt I had a case, perhaps wishful thinking on my part. Definitely does state that the complaint should have been made within 6 months of closing the natwest bank account.

They've made a mistake then, go back and complain

To quote from [url=
http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/six-month-time-limit.htm]the FOS site[/url]

Financial businesses responding to complaints (called "respondents" in the rules) are required to issue a written final response when they have completed an investigation of a complaint.
The final response must tell the consumer that they can refer the complaint to us - and they have six months to do so. If the consumer fails to refer the complaint to us within six months, it is unlikely that we will be able to consider the merits of their complaint.
The rules (DISP 2.8.2R(1))say that we cannot consider a complaint referred to us more than six months after the date on which the financial business sent the consumer its final response.

Do note there is no guarantee you will be given any refund, but having a fair hearing is important

Ombudsman rejected my claim against packaged bank account fees

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free