Reclaim Packaged Bank Accounts

aceface1981

About three months ago I raised a complaint with Barclays regarding a premier account I was sold in 2009 and which I closed in 2014. I paid £25 a month and never made use of any of the benefits. Today I received a cheque for £1873!😜

denisebt67

I recently used the Resolver the re claim my fees for a missold Packaged Account from Natwest. Initially I had a very nice phone call from Natwest explaining that they would look into my claim and would ring back in a couple of days. The next day I received a letter from Natwest declining any claim, that letter must have been in the post before they spoke to me - not much of an investigation. They quoted a six year rule and claimed that I had received all relevant paperwork - putting paperwork in the post is not proof that it has been received. I escalated this claim to a Financial Services adjudicator who has been more professional in their approach the Natwest, but they also declined my claim - I have now escalated this to an Ombudman for a final decision but I do hold out much hope. Next step is to ditch Natwest to a bank that has better customer service - apparently 30 years loyal cutom means nothing to them.

Nasqueron

denisebt67 wrote: »

I recently used the Resolver the re claim my fees for a missold Packaged Account from Natwest. Initially I had a very nice phone call from Natwest explaining that they would look into my claim and would ring back in a couple of days. The next day I received a letter from Natwest declining any claim, that letter must have been in the post before they spoke to me - not much of an investigation. They quoted a six year rule and claimed that I had received all relevant paperwork - putting paperwork in the post is not proof that it has been received. I escalated this claim to a Financial Services adjudicator who has been more professional in their approach the Natwest, but they also declined my claim - I have now escalated this to an Ombudman for a final decision but I do hold out much hope. Next step is to ditch Natwest to a bank that has better customer service - apparently 30 years loyal cutom means nothing to them.

Devil's advocate position - you have had a packaged account for x number of years and never complained about it, as far as the bank were concerned you were happy, now all of a sudden (as the media is full of stories of people getting £££ from complaints) you demand a repayment of all the fees - it has a little whiff of chancing your arm - given you haven't explained what your complaint reasons were or why you feel it was miss-sold so it's impossible for us to know whether you were miss-sold or not.

If the bank sent you details of the account fees and benefits 6 years ago they are allowed to time-bar your complaint under the regulations of the finance industry. The FOS / Ombudsman cannot change that if the bank correctly applied them.

Oh and FYI, a letter is deemed received 2 days after posting first class, it is obviously not up to the bank to prove you received it as logically that could never be done as you could always claim you never had anything even if the letter was on your desk in front of you. Given they've been sending the account benefit letters every year for some time it would be odd if all of them went missing.

Again, just devil's advocate position, not saying you don't have a genuine case.

[Deleted User]

denisebt67 wrote: »

The next day I received a letter from Natwest declining any claim, that letter must have been in the post before they spoke to me - not much of an investigation. They quoted a six year rule and claimed that I had received all relevant paperwork - putting paperwork in the post is not proof that it has been received.

Obviously, before wasting valuable man hours on an investigation of your complaint, it's logical that the Bank should first check if your complaint is time-barred. This will have been what the Bank did. The Bank do not have to prove that you received documents, only that they sent them I'm afraid.

denisebt67 wrote: »

I escalated this claim to a Financial Services adjudicator who has been more professional in their approach the Natwest, but they also declined my claim

Not surprising really, the Financial Ombudsman Service is unable to overturn a properly applied time bar.

denisebt67 wrote: »

I have now escalated this to an Ombudman for a final decision but I do hold out much hope.

As above, it's not likely that an Ombudsman will find in your favour when your whole complaint is time-barred. Even if the Ombudsman did overturn the time bar, that would only mean that your complaint would have to be investigated by the Bank. So you would still not be guaranteed a refund.

denisebt67 wrote: »

Next step is to ditch Natwest to a bank that has better customer service - apparently 30 years loyal cutom means nothing to them.

You'll be ditching your Bank in favour of another which would behave in the exact same manner in the same circumstance!
Rather like closing the door after the horse has bolted.

Nasqueron wrote: »

just devil's advocate position, not saying you don't have a genuine case.

The whole point is that it really doesn't matter if the OP has a "genuine case" if the whole complaint is time-barred.

dunstonh

I have now escalated this to an Ombudman for a final decision but I do hold out much hope.

On what grounds have you appealed the decision?

The timebar is set by the regulator and the FOS will check the timebar is being applied correctly. The adjudicator has said it is. So, why do you think that an ombudsman will decide differently?

[Deleted User]

dunstonh wrote: »

On what grounds have you appealed the decision?

Presumably on the same grounds that the OP referred the complaint in the first place; she wants her money back and hopes the original decision will be overturned.

dunstonh

Moneyineptitude wrote: »

Presumably on the same grounds that the OP referred the complaint in the first place; she wants her money back and hopes the original decision will be overturned.

A successful appeal needs to have a reason as to why they believe the adjudication was wrong. Repeating the same old thing again and again is only going to result in one outcome.

Mersey_2

denisebt67 wrote: »

They quoted a six year rule and claimed that I had received all relevant paperwork - putting paperwork in the post is not proof that it has been received. I escalated this claim to a Financial Services adjudicator who has been more professional in their approach the Natwest, but they also declined my claim - I have now escalated this to an Ombudman for a final decision but I do hold out much hope.

Nasqueron is right re the 'postal rule' and deemed service is usual in civil matters.


The only civil claims I'm aware of which were successful on this point were at the Upper Tribunal, where the Judge ruled that the First Tier Tribunal should have considered the matter and all of the evidence re the postal rule and the claimant not having received correspondence.


In that case, the DWP had not been using the claimant's full postal address and so the postal rule could not be relied upon by the DWP/Respondent and so the Appellant's claim succeeded.

dunstonh

Also, in a lot of cases, the documentation that the bank is relying on is sent out annually. We are getting to the stage where some banks have been issuing annual benefit statements for a few more than the minimum 3 years. So, they could rely on multiple dates.

Many of the benefit statements can look a bit like marketing. I suspect a good number are not read. However, not reading your post is a personal choice and the timebar is a consequence of that choice.

Aloemo

Thank you to Martin Lewis and Resolve - I emailed my bank to complain on Saturday and was phoned back within 24 hrs.

I explained why I thought I had been pressured into signing up for the account 4 years ago. I also received a welcome pack at the time. I was asked if I had taken advantage of any of the benefits and I had registered my phone at the time.

The bank representative said he would look into it and phone me back to confirm his findings, which he did a few hours later.

Today I was reimbursed £1167.
:j:T