Finding out account start date beyond 4 years?

aberamanboy

Hi all

Wondering if anyone can give advice on the above please?

Short history of events......

Barclays Bank:
1. Standard current account opened approximately 21 years ago.
2. Current account upgraded to 'Additions' packaged account approximately 18 years ago because I was told that I had to in order to obtain an overdraft facility.
3. Account has been 'upgraded' twice since the first upgrade (total 3 'upgrades') to a 'Premier' account and subsequently an existing 'Premier Life' account. Reason for the upgrades being that I needed a larger overdraft and was told that I would have to have a different package each time.

Question: I'm not in the habbit of keeping reams of paperwork for 20 years. Is it possible to find out the key dates relating to the above in order to list them when I request a refund for the account fees?

TIA
:wall:

Edit: I should point out that I have some experience with this sort of stuff, subject access requests etc. but there was a time limit on this last time I used the data protection act etc.

Nasqueron

The bank will have the records, there is no reason for you to hunt them out, if the bank agrees you were miss-sold then they will use their own records.

Do you have evidence that you didn't need the paid for account to get an overdraft or that the paid for account cost more than a free account with fees for going over the OD? Just wondering as the bank is a commercial business and they can refuse to offer you certain account if they feel you are a risk and that itself is not a miss-sale reason as you could just go somewhere else

aberamanboy

Hi, thanks for commenting.

No I don't have evidence that there was an alternative free account. It was a long time ago and I was much younger and therefore naive. Easy pickings for a salesperson. Do I need to provide evidence or is it acceptable to ask them to prove otherwise?

I have nothing to loose so don't see any risk associated with this.

[Deleted User]

aberamanboy wrote: »

Do I need to provide evidence or is it acceptable to ask them to prove otherwise?

If you make an accusation of wrong-doing, the burden of proof is upon you. If someone claimed that you owe them £5, for example, they would have to prove it-not you!

If you complain, you need to provide (preferably verifiable) reasons for mis-sale. You cannot simply say "Prove to me that I wasn't mis-sold". If you do the latter, you would be making a vexatious complaint and can expect a swift rejection. Do your research before acting and you stand a far better chance of success.

It doesn't matter if there is no "risk" to you.

aberamanboy

Thanks, that's fair enough.

It doesn't seem possible to prove this so I'm not sure how other people have managed to claim that they were miss-sold on this basis.

[Deleted User]

aberamanboy wrote: »

It doesn't seem possible to prove this so I'm not sure how other people have managed to claim that they were miss-sold on this basis.

You can, if you wish, tell the Bank that you were told that you needed to upgrade your account in order to obtain an Overdraft. However, this kind of "hearsay" complaint is the weakest possible as it is impossible to prove. In addition, if the upgraded account did in fact offer an Overdraft on preferential terms then the Bank did nothing wrong in informing you of this.

To have realistic hope of a refund, you have to show that the account(s) were useless to you and that you didn't use any of the benefits associated.

aberamanboy

The letter template provided on this site pretty much suggests the following should be sent:

I opened 'this' account on 'this' date and believe that I was miss-sold a package account on the basis that I had to get the account in order to obtain an overdraft. I enclose statements detailing account fees etc. Please refund these fees plus interest.

I'm more than happy to do some leg work to figure out if free options were available or not at the time but how to go about this?

aberamanboy

Having now read the above post it seems that I do not have a claim so not worth persuing this as I have used the overdraft facility. I still don't understand. I needed an overdraft so used it, thought that was the point? Surely the sticking point is whether I was miss-sold the package or not, not whether I used the benefits?

[Deleted User]

aberamanboy wrote: »

Surely the sticking point is whether I was miss-sold the package or not, not whether I used the benefits?

If you used the benefits, then how was the account mis-sold to you? Mis-selling means either selling something useless to you or providing mis-information at the point of sale which directly leads to your purchase. If they sold you a useful account which you took full advantage of then where was the mis-sale?

aberamanboy wrote: »

I'm more than happy to do some leg work to figure out if free options were available or not at the time but how to go about this?

You ask the Bank.

Baby_Angel

In my case I had used the benefits like mobile insurance a few years later. However at the time of opening an account, I didn't have a car (for breakdown cover) or mobile worth insuring. I wasn't aware of the alternative accounts as I had been in the country only a few weeks and desperately needed an account to get my salary in. I opened my account in a branch. Also they increased the fees in about 3 months afterwards without me consenting to it or even being informed. and I was able to tell them about a call I made complaining about this just after seeing the price hike. At that time I was told I couldn't do anything about the account or the price hike. I wasn't able to give any written evidence of anything just vague dates. I still got a refund.

Barclays did call me and spoke to me. I wasn't expecting to be refunded, but I was brutally honest about how things happened and left it for them to decide.

[Deleted User]

Baby_Angel wrote: »

I wasn't able to give any written evidence of anything just vague dates. I still got a refund.

You made very specific accusations of mis-sale, not a generic "hearsay" complaint from a template. You didn't have a car, expensive mobile or real need for the benefits. Your complaint will have shown this clearly.

Well done, by the way.