Barclays opened a TESSA in my name without my Knowledge

Madredhead14

Hi
In the 90's I opened a Barclays current account, the following month I noticed a payment from the current account to a TESSA in my name, I queried this with the bank and they said I had a TESSA account, I informed them I had never discussed a TESSA with the staff member who opened my current account, never mind opened one in my name.  The payment took me overdrawn and caused some financial difficulties and they charged me not only for the overdraw but returned payments.  I understandably made a fuss, however, all they did was close the TESSA and continue to chase me for charges etc.  I subsequently closed the account and refused to pay the overdraft and charges.  I have never received any recompense for this to this day and wondered if I had any recourse at this point.

eskbanker

The good news is that they can't continue to pursue you for the debt as it's long past statute barred status.

The bad news is that likewise you can't pursue them for anything this far down the line.... 

EarthBoy

Madredhead14 said:

 I have never received any recompense for this to this day and wondered if I had any recourse at this point.

After more than 20 years????  No you don't.

Malthusian

eskbanker said:

The good news is that they can't continue to pursue you for the debt as it's long past statute barred status.

There is no debt, statute barred or otherwise. The overdraft and charges arose from a payment the OP didn't authorise so it's entirely on Barclays.

As you say, the likelihood of Barclays paying recompense for the distress and inconvenience is probably nil as it was so long ago.

Complaining is free however (for complainants) so if the OP is still sufficiently miffed about it, there is nothing stopping them from making a formal complaint and taking it to the Ombudsman if they aren't satisfied within 8 weeks. The Financial Ombudsman has been known to ignore the time bar.

Personally I would let sleeping dogs lie just in case Barclays retaliated by trying to stick the wrongly applied charges and penalties on me again.

dunstonh

 I have never received any recompense for this to this day and wondered if I had any recourse at this point.

Nearly 30 years ago.  You need to move on.

eskbanker

Malthusian said:

eskbanker said:

The good news is that they can't continue to pursue you for the debt as it's long past statute barred status.

There is no debt, statute barred or otherwise. The overdraft and charges arose from a payment the OP didn't authorise so it's entirely on Barclays.

That's certainly one interpretation, but clearly Barclays disputed it, so we'll probably never know - arguably the fact that they allegedly allowed an overdrawn account to be closed might signify some sort of concession, but if it was cut and dried that the money was moved without authorisation then it would have been unusual that they'd have continued to chase OP for the consequential charges, so there must be more to this than meets the eye and I doubt that we can conclude that there is (or was) definitely no valid debt....

Malthusian said:

Personally I would let sleeping dogs lie just in case Barclays retaliated by trying to stick the wrongly applied charges and penalties on me again.

Agreed!

Malthusian

That's certainly one interpretation, but clearly Barclays disputed it, so we'll probably never know

Probably not, but I take posters at face value unless there's an internal contradiction, otherwise it tends to become a pointless exercise.

- arguably the fact that they allegedly allowed an overdrawn account to be closed might signify some sort of concession, but if it was cut and dried that the money was moved without authorisation then it would have been unusual that they'd have continued to chase OP for the consequential charges

It's unusual for banks to be incompetent?

"My bank did something stupid and then compounded the error instead of acknowledging it" isn't a contradiction that suggests missing information.

This is arguably an academic argument as we both came to the same conclusion, but it's not academic if the OP would feel stigma about the possibility they still owe money (albeit statute barred).

Thrugelmir

Madredhead14 said:

 I subsequently closed the account and refused to pay the overdraft and charges. 

It's not possible for you to have closed an account with a balance owing. Only the bank could have done this. 

eskbanker

OP and Barclays clearly disagreed (about the latter's liability, or lack thereof, for the charges), and we've only heard one side of the story, so by definition there's missing information, as there is no explanation included for Barclays' position (incompetence undoubtedly being one possibility!).

[Deleted User]

Malthusian said:

eskbanker said:

The good news is that they can't continue to pursue you for the debt as it's long past statute barred status.

There is no debt, statute barred or otherwise. The overdraft and charges arose from a payment the OP didn't authorise so it's entirely on Barclays.

As you say, the likelihood of Barclays paying recompense for the distress and inconvenience is probably nil as it was so long ago.

Complaining is free however (for complainants) so if the OP is still sufficiently miffed about it, there is nothing stopping them from making a formal complaint and taking it to the Ombudsman if they aren't satisfied within 8 weeks. The Financial Ombudsman has been known to ignore the time bar.

Personally I would let sleeping dogs lie just in case Barclays retaliated by trying to stick the wrongly applied charges and penalties on me again.

The OP is outside the 3 and 6 year rules by 20+ years, FOS only overrule timebars for things where someone genuinely could not have known about the reason for complaint or for the FOS 6 month one, if there was some significant reason why they were unable to do it immediately. Any attempt to complain will result in a rejection by the bank and FOS referral would just be a petty way of wasting the bank's money to no avail.

Madredhead14

Wow, I ask a simple question, thank you to those who responded with sensible answers, however, I did not feel some of these responses were necessary and were rude.  I won't be asking advice on here again.