Halifax ultimate reward account

HelenH40

I’m wanting to do a claim for mis selling of my Halifax ultimate reward account. To do this, I need the date the account started, ie changed from a straightforward current account to an ultimate reward account. This was probably getting on for 10 years ago, maybe longer. I phoned the Halifax today to ask them. Firstly I was told June 2020, which is obviously wrong, was then put on hold for ages and then told July 1995, again, wrong, this when I opened the current account initially. Off he goes again then says he can’t give me any information longer than 5 years ago. I disputed this, was then told they legally can’t go back further than 7 years! So my question is , how on earth do I find out as I can’t start my claim without this information. Thanks for your help 🙁

eskbanker

Make a formal subject access request to obtain the details they have about you, making sure you explain clearly specifically what you're looking for: https://www.halifax.co.uk/securityandprivacy/privacy-explained/personal-information-we-have.html

If the alleged misselling was over six years ago then you'd need to make any claim within three years of being aware of it - have you read the guide at https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/reclaim-packaged-bank-accounts/ ?

[Deleted User]

eskbanker said:

Make a formal subject access request to obtain the details they have about you, making sure you explain clearly specifically what you're looking for: https://www.halifax.co.uk/securityandprivacy/privacy-explained/personal-information-we-have.html

If the alleged misselling was over six years ago then you'd need to make any claim within three years of being aware of it - have you read the guide at https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/reclaim-packaged-bank-accounts/ ?

Packaged bank account miss-selling is generally going to be time barred

Aside from the 6 year rule which will apply here, the 3 year rule is not just "being aware of it", it's 3 years from when you knew, or could reasonably have known, that you had reason to complain. Any letter from the bank advising of free alternatives / confirming the benefits and costs which they have been sending out annually for years will trigger the 3 year bar so there is a very good chance if OP has had the account for 7+ years that it will be barred under the 3 and 6 year rules.

eskbanker

Deleted_User said:

eskbanker said:

Make a formal subject access request to obtain the details they have about you, making sure you explain clearly specifically what you're looking for: https://www.halifax.co.uk/securityandprivacy/privacy-explained/personal-information-we-have.html

If the alleged misselling was over six years ago then you'd need to make any claim within three years of being aware of it - have you read the guide at https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/reclaim-packaged-bank-accounts/ ?

Packaged bank account miss-selling is generally going to be time barred

Aside from the 6 year rule which will apply here, the 3 year rule is not just "being aware of it", it's 3 years from when you knew, or could reasonably have known, that you had reason to complain. Any letter from the bank advising of free alternatives / confirming the benefits and costs which they have been sending out annually for years will trigger the 3 year bar so there is a very good chance if OP has had the account for 7+ years that it will be barred under the 3 and 6 year rules.

The test is actually "ought reasonably to have become aware" rather than 'could....', so that's a higher threshold, but while I'd agree that explicit confirmation of free alternatives should reasonably constitute awareness, I wouldn't have thought that simply reconfirming costs and benefits would qualify, as these would typically already be known from day one, so I'm not convinced that such claims would generally be time-barred, although many no doubt will be.

[Deleted User]

eskbanker said:

Deleted_User said:

eskbanker said:

Make a formal subject access request to obtain the details they have about you, making sure you explain clearly specifically what you're looking for: https://www.halifax.co.uk/securityandprivacy/privacy-explained/personal-information-we-have.html

If the alleged misselling was over six years ago then you'd need to make any claim within three years of being aware of it - have you read the guide at https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/reclaim-packaged-bank-accounts/ ?

Packaged bank account miss-selling is generally going to be time barred

Aside from the 6 year rule which will apply here, the 3 year rule is not just "being aware of it", it's 3 years from when you knew, or could reasonably have known, that you had reason to complain. Any letter from the bank advising of free alternatives / confirming the benefits and costs which they have been sending out annually for years will trigger the 3 year bar so there is a very good chance if OP has had the account for 7+ years that it will be barred under the 3 and 6 year rules.

The test is actually "ought reasonably to have become aware" rather than 'could....', so that's a higher threshold, but while I'd agree that explicit confirmation of free alternatives should reasonably constitute awareness, I wouldn't have thought that simply reconfirming costs and benefits would qualify, as these would typically already be known from day one, so I'm not convinced that such claims would generally be time-barred, although many no doubt will be.

Could or ought, it's the same principle - that you cannot just claim you found out today you can complain, any date when you ought to have known triggers it. So long as 6 and 3 year are met, the complaint is over unless the bank voluntarily look at it.

The FOS has confirmed that the annual statement of cost / benefits (which includes the notice that other free alternatives are available, sorry if that wasn't clear) is sufficient to time bar the complaint - so regardless of what you thought, the fact is that is the case. It's the same with closing the account which also triggers it.

FOS example time bar after bank sent a CCL in 2012 and customer complained in 2020

The latest data from FOS also shows just 8% of packaged account complaints upheld 

FOS decision confirming account closure triggers 3 year rule

FOS again confirming CCL triggers 3 year rule

I'm not saying OP won't get a refund but I wouldn't hold much hope as all the signs are that they will fall foul of the 3/6 year rules

eskbanker

Fair enough, if the cost/benefit statements also include highlighting of free alternatives, then that would serve the purpose of triggering the three year clause, which is undoubtedly not a coincidence!

The 8% figure seems to relate to all packaged account claims escalated to FOS, rather than specifically those where timescales are evaluated, and (unescalated) bank figures may obviously be different, perhaps even significantly so, but I take your point that if the banks have wised up to how to defeat such claims then chances are that most will indeed fail....

[Deleted User]

eskbanker said:

Fair enough, if the cost/benefit statements also include highlighting of free alternatives, then that would serve the purpose of triggering the three year clause, which is undoubtedly not a coincidence!

The 8% figure seems to relate to all packaged account claims escalated to FOS, rather than specifically those where timescales are evaluated, and (unescalated) bank figures may obviously be different, perhaps even significantly so, but I take your point that if the banks have wised up to how to defeat such claims then chances are that most will indeed fail....

Yes, the banks quickly wised up to the various scammers and liars amongst the CMCs and customers suddenly "remembering" they didn't want the PBA after the PPI scandal with so many customers pretending to be miss-sold and paying out so much (alongside the legitimate miss-sales) so like with PPI, they were sending out the CCLs inviting people to complain. The annual statements of the PBA with details of free alternatives are deemed as sufficient to trigger the 3 year time bar as it is clear that the customer ought to know there is a reason to complain about the fee paying account if they are told the costs and alternatives. As ever, proof of sending the letter is sufficient 

The reason I brought up the 8% figure is that it covers every complaint regardless i.e. very few complaints succeed as the FOS don't have any problems with the sale of them, many people willingly took them out and so on. There are complaints at the FOS from people who said they never had the benefits, didn't know about them etc etc - I saw one liar who claimed they never travelled so didn't need travel insurance, yet the bank proved they had been on holiday!