Mis-sold Packaged Bank Account 4 December 2018 at 12:00AM edited 4 December 2018 at 12:11AM in Reclaiming mortgage fees, council tax, etc 9 replies 2.4K views

Banditeer

10 years ago I obtained a packaged bank account which offered travel insurance. I was diagnosed with a medical condition prior to that. I am fairly sure that they didn't ask me about that medical condition. Moneysavingexpert's article suggests I am able to reclaim fees.

I may have the complete records of opening the account but I may not, I will have to dig them out. I also may well not have all my bank statements.

Do I need these to successfully claim? How could they offer a refund of fees when there could be no records?

dunstonh

I am fairly sure that they didn't ask me about that medical condition. Moneysavingexpert's article suggests I am able to reclaim fees.

not necessarily. You dont need to be eligible for every part of a PBA. As long as the majority of the things are or that there are specific things you have utilised.

I may have the complete records of opening the account but I may not, I will have to dig them out. I also may well not have all my bank statements.

You dont need to.

Do I need these to successfully claim?

No. You are free to put your complaint in without them.

How could they offer a refund of fees when there could be no records?

As long as you still bank with them, they will have records. However, do note that most PBA complaints are now timebarred. Yours may not be but you need to be prepared for that.

Banditeer

Thanks for this response. I definitely used the roadside assistance a number of times, not sure about the rest of the package but I don't think so. I will put in a letter then.

Nearlyold

I was diagnosed with a medical condition prior to that. I am fairly sure that they didn't ask me about that medical condition.

Most of the Packaged Account's travel insurance sections have a large list of medical conditions which are "No Screen" ie you do not need to declare them to the travel insurer as they are covered automatically with no problem. Have you checked whether your condition is covered? Not much point in complaining about a medical condition which would be covered anyway.

Nasqueron

Banditeer wrote: »

Thanks for this response. I definitely used the roadside assistance a number of times, not sure about the rest of the package but I don't think so. I will put in a letter then.

The value of these uses will be taken off any refund you get and you will of course lose this cover when they downgrade your account (if you haven't already). If this means your account total refund is less than the value of the cover benefits used you would get nothing)

Banditeer

Thanks everyone for these replies.

@Nearlyold - I hadn't checked but I just did and it appears from the list that it is not a no screen condition.

@Nasqueron - Well I only called out the AA a few times. Interesting info.

antonv7

Hi, I had a packaged account with Barclays for 15 years. I switched to a fee free account in 2013 but at the time I did not realise that there may be grounds for complaint about the potential mis selling of this account. I was not told that it was optional to switch to a packaged account at the time. In terms of the cover supposedly provided by the packaged account e.g RAC, mobile phone insurance etc I have never used any of these. I recently wrote to Barclays to make a complaint and they have responded saying I was out of time I.e. I should have contacted them within 3 years. I sent a follow up letter but they are sticking to their original decision. I have escalated my case to FCA but just wanted to check whether there are any other routes open to me?

[Deleted User]

The FCA won't handle customer complaints. You need to go to FOS if you believe their decision re the timebar is wrong.

Nasqueron

antonv7 wrote: »

Hi, I had a packaged account with Barclays for 15 years. I switched to a fee free account in 2013 but at the time I did not realise that there may be grounds for complaint about the potential mis selling of this account. I was not told that it was optional to switch to a packaged account at the time. In terms of the cover supposedly provided by the packaged account e.g RAC, mobile phone insurance etc I have never used any of these. I recently wrote to Barclays to make a complaint and they have responded saying I was out of time I.e. I should have contacted them within 3 years. I sent a follow up letter but they are sticking to their original decision. I have escalated my case to FCA but just wanted to check whether there are any other routes open to me?

Closing the account in 2013 triggers the 3 year time bar, as it was opened more than 6 years ago, that rule is cleared too. Unfortunately you won't get around a correctly applied time bar.


That said, your complaint reason is very weak, banks offered multiple accounts to customers, it was highly unlikely you would only have been offered a packaged account if you wanted a new current account.

dunstonh

. I have escalated my case to FCA but just wanted to check whether there are any other routes open to me?

As mentioned, the FCA do not handle consumer complaints. They will just forward your letter onto Barclays. Who will then in turn refer you back to their original decision.

I recently wrote to Barclays to make a complaint and they have responded saying I was out of time I.e. I should have contacted them within 3 years.

This means you are too late to complain. The FCA has a 6 year and 3 year rule. Both of which need to be met to apply a timebar. For a timebar to apply it has to be more than 6 years from the opening of the account and more than 3 years from being reasonably aware of an issue.

You opened the account 15 years ago. So, that is way past the 6 year point.
You changed the account to a free one in 2013. So, that is a trigger to start the three year clock. So, you had to complain by 2016.

So, the timebar seems to be applied correctly in this case. (and most PBAs are timebarred nowadays).