Barclay Card S78 request

dopeydina

I wrote to Barclaycard on 23 Aug requesting docs under S78. I received a response dated 6 Sept to say they were dealing with my request and would respond "as soon as possible". I wrote to them again on 10 Sept to remind them that they had 12 days to respond to my request and that "as soon as possible" was completely unacceptable. I have now had a letter dated 15 Sept advising they are looking into this and will respond no later than 12 Oct! These are clearly delaying tactics over a simply request and I am becoming very angry about the delay. Can anyone offer any advice? Can I take my complaing further e.g. OFT, FOS? Thanks in advance.

magpiecottage

A report of a breach of the Consumer Credit Act would be to the OFT.

I you want to go to FOS you will need to first complain to the bank that it has failed to supply the agreement in accordance with your rights. This is a bit pointless because it then has 8 weeks to investigate that complaint.

However, since you have posted on this board, I presume you are looking to see if you had PPI and were missold it.

I would suggest you make a complaint about that, making clear that you had sought information about whether it existed and, since they have failed to meet their legal obligation to supply it, you have concluded that you were indeed missold PPI.

They then have 8 weeks to get the complaint about the PPI resolved to your satisfaction or you can go to FOS.

dunstonh

You cannot go to the FOS as they handle consumer complaints and you havent made a complaint.

You could push it further up the line but by the time you do that and got past the initial holding letter you get, then 12th Oct will be here and they would have responded.

These are clearly delaying tactics

What tactics? The issue the banks have is being swamped with such requests, which most of the time are totally unnecessary.

Why are you making the request?

dopeydina

Thanks for the replies, yes it is in relation to a potential PPI complaint - I don't recall ever agreeing to PPI and although I have my T's & C'S, I cannot see any reference to PPI docs but wanted to check before making a complaint.
My 2nd letter is being treated as a complaint from the response I received as the letter states "if you need to speak to me regarding your complaint, please contact me on the above number". I won't be contacting them on this number as it is the same one my mum was given and she tried it several times every day for weeks without success. She eventually tried a different number she found on old paperwork. She is told everytime she phones "a letter was sent to you yesterday" but guess what... still no letter!
I appreciate that banks are being swamped but they only have themselves to blame and being fobbed off with "we will deal with your request as soon as possible" is not really acceptable given they have a legal obligation to supply the information within a specific timescale.
I will just live in hope that I do receive a positive response by 12th Oct but at least I am now clear on what I can do if I need to take it further.
Thanks again.

magpiecottage

Do PPI premiums appear on your monthly statements?

dopeydina

Yes, they do appear on my statements so you are now making me think I should have just sent a complaint anyway? I'm just not sure how it would stand as I am pretty sure I applied online and would that not mean I must have agreed to it although I don't have any paperwork to prove it? I wouldn't have knowingly agreed as I am more than adequately covered through my work. I just thought if I requested the docs from them, I could get my facts straight before submitting a complaint.

dunstonh

Yes, they do appear on my statements so you are now making me think I should have just sent a complaint anyway?

Yes you should have. There is no reason to request your agreement. This is something that seems to have got around on the internet but there is no need for it.

I just thought if I requested the docs from them, I could get my facts straight before submitting a complaint.

It certainly weakens your complaint if you say one thing and they can prove something different. A lot of PPI is actually sold after the sign up. That may not apply to loans but it will on credit cards for example. Also, if the PPI is standalone and not part of the money advanced (such as most monthly premium ones), it may not even be on the agreement.

dopeydina

dunstonh wrote: »

Yes you should have. There is no reason to request your agreement. This is something that seems to have got around on the internet but there is no need for it.

Thanks, I can now see why there is often no need to request a copy of the agreement - this could have saved me a lot of time and hassle with some RBS loans as I know even without the docs that I have a strong case for mis-sell.

dunstonh wrote: »

It certainly weakens your complaint if you say one thing and they can prove something different. A lot of PPI is actually sold after the sign up. That may not apply to loans but it will on credit cards for example. Also, if the PPI is standalone and not part of the money advanced (such as most monthly premium ones), it may not even be on the agreement.

I certainly don't recall any communication after sign up involving PPI so my guess is that it was from the start although I can't confirm as I haven't kept old statements. I think I will just wait for a response and take it from there - no point in jumping in with both feet and submitting a weak complaint with no back up at all!

Thanks again for all your help.

magpiecottage

dopeydina wrote: »

Yes, they do appear on my statements so you are now making me think I should have just sent a complaint anyway?

That would entitle a bank to ask why you didn't raise the issue before if you were not expecting it to be there. Under the FSA rules, they can timebar a complaint if it is more than six years since the events giving rise to the complaint (when the policy was first taken out) and, if later, more than three years since you first had grounds for complaint (when the payments started appearing on your statements).

Having said that, banks do not seem to be using timebars for PPI complaints in these circumstances. I am not sure why as the FSA rules say they can and it would save them a great deal of money.

I'm just not sure how it would stand as I am pretty sure I applied online and would that not mean I must have agreed to it although I don't have any paperwork to prove it? I wouldn't have knowingly agreed

It is possible there was a tick box that was already completed when you applied. The banks will normally go back to their records and check. However, if it was not and you simply applied on "autopilot" it is unlikely to be upheld.

I am more than adequately covered through my work. I just thought if I requested the docs from them, I could get my facts straight before submitting a complaint.

You might want to check with your employer because I doubt anybody would provide cover for redundancy to their employees. If they had no intention of making them redundant they would see it as a waste of money and if they were intending to make you redundant they would not be able to get cover because they knew. (Employees do not normally know ,that is why they can be insured).

Also, some people have said they were covered for sickness/injury when in reality the employer only paid Statutory Sick Pay, which is a state benefit passed on by the employer.