Barclays additions, add plus and active rejected as out of time

khayman1001

Hi everyone,
I complained to barclays mid august and received my rejection letter a few weeks later.
I had a current account which became additions in 2002
The account was moved from additions to additions plus and finally to active in 2009
My reason for complaining was that it was said to be the only way of increasing my overdraft. They then renamed the account a few times during the time.
They have said the decision was out of time for my first point of sale.
The last one in 2009 they have defended.
They have daid that as i cancelled the fee paying account in 2009 i should have been reasonably aware of a concern and therefore had 3 years to complain lol
The actual miselling ignored.
Is it worth reopening the case

robbiwd

Hi khayman1001,
We got fed up waiting for reply from Barclays so skipped to the Ombudsman. Unfortunately just like you, we too have been turned down as our claim was made outside the time limits set by the Financial Services Regulator and as we 'downgraded' the account back into a fee free current account we should have been reasonably clear we didn't need to have the packaged account! They will only consider this again if we had or can prove ill health.
What concerns me is that we were made aware of the PPI hype that triggered us to look at any past financial loans etc including our bank account overdraft arrangement & concluded we had no claim to make re PPI but brought to our attention we were paying a fee for packages placed on our account that we didn't use. We weren't aware that we could claim for a miss sold package account until we complained earlier this year.
My point of argument is - that the Bank must have been aware of this when we 'downgraded' the account & failed in their duty of customer care & under FSA rules to inform us that we might have a right to raise a complaint and by our actions we had triggered off a 3 yr time claim bomb we knew nothing about! So PLEASE anyone out there that can help us both out? p.s Barclays initially turned me down on silly points then re-opened our case & I've never had any further correspondence from them....So why re-open a case if they knew they were misleading us by their own rules in the first place!

dunstonh

The actual miselling ignored.
Is it worth reopening the case

If it is timebarred then they can ignore your allegations. That is the point of the timebar.

There are two timebars in play here. The three year and the six year rules. You have three years from being reasonably aware of an issue to raise a complaint of 6 years from the commencement of the product or terms. Whichever gives you the longer period.

Your current account become additions in 2002. So, 6 years would be 2008.
You changed in 2009. So, three years from that is 2012.
So, in both cases, you are timebarred.

The regulator sets the timebar. Whilst there are some reasons that can get it overturned (such as incapacity for the whole period of the delay) or incorrect application of the timebar (doesnt seem to be applied incorrectly in this case), you dont see many timebars overruled.

My point of argument is - that the Bank must have been aware of this when we 'downgraded' the account & failed in their duty of customer care & under FSA rules to inform us that we might have a right to raise a complaint and by our actions we had triggered off a 3 yr time claim bomb we knew nothing about!

There is nothing wrong with packaged accounts. The sale of them may not have been great but you have a right to complain about anything and everything. So, you dont need to be informed of your right to complaint. Changing terms on a product does not require you to be told you can complain. It is the regulator that sets the timebar rules. Could you imagine if every transaction you did required you to be told that you have a time limit to complain. Time bars are present in all walks of life. So, apply that to absolutely everything.

robbiwd

I've found out the 'time-bar' rule set by the F.S.A (DISP1.62) is only applicable to the Ombudsman and NOT to Barclays! I phoned the FSA & they are investigating the actions of Barclays. I''ve re-objected to the Ombudsman & waiting a response from an adjudicator who if declines me again will then pass to the Ombudsman. I'm getting vibes that I can go back to Barclays and claim for failure for them to issue me with a final response letter & am thinking of asking for full investigation through the FCA for Barclays failure to comply under their F.S.A (1.4) ruling as well. I'm sure Barclays are deliberately holding back so people jump to the Ombudsman where they use this rule to their advantage!.....I'm not done till I can do no more