Packaged account claim not even looked at

Flojomo

Hello everyone, sorry if this is long. I am still trying to get my head around it. 

We have held a joint packaged account since 2006 with the First Trust Bank NI which recently changed to AIB bank. We still have the account but last year the bank wrote to us saying we would no longer be charged the £8 monthly fee.

In the 14 years we had the account there were no benefits to the account. We had applied for an overdraft at the time and we were told that we could have a free £100 overdraft if we took out this new packaged account. That was the only benefit, then it turned out we were also charged fees and interest if we used the £100 overdraft. I was also told that I would have to close my personal account. 

I made a complaint last week on 21st July and received a reject letter this morning. 

Apparently my husband sent them an email in 2014 saying "we were told we had to take this account out or we wouldn't get our mortgage application received". It also state we signed the forms for the application which had the fees in the terms and conditions. It was not because of the mortgage that were mis-sold the packaged account. 

I knew nothing about him doing this until I got the letter this morning with the reply he got in 2014 attached. They turned the complaint down then as the mortgage had been taken out 2 months previous to them making us take the packaged account. So hubby just left it at that.

Fast forward to last week I spoke to the staff member in branch to make a complaint she gave me the email address to use. So I made a formal complaint via email and also submitted a freedom of information request looking all historical records the bank hold about me. 

In my complaint I listed the following reasons as to why we were mis-sold our packaged account. 

 1. We where told it was the only account we could get if we wanted the £100 overdraft.

2. We were not told there would be quarterly interest fees for using the overdraft as well as the packaged "account maintenance" fee of £8 per month and that we would also be charged daily banking fees if we went into the overdraft. We were told it was a free £100 overdraft. 

3 We queried it and asked for a non packaged account as there were no benefits we could see with it. The employee went out and spoke to someone and came back in and told us no that we would benefit from this particular account, it was definitely the best on the market.

4. We tried to cancel it a few times but each time we were told we had to keep it as there was no other product available.

The reply I got this morning simply said that having viewed our records they noted the complaint made on 28th October 2014 and that a response letter was sent on 20th November 2014 rejecting the claim. They state the issue was already investigated by customer care so they are unable to look at it again. 

I am angry at my husband for doing it back then. When I spoke to him this morning about it, he had forgot he even did it. He said he just copied a letter a few of his colleagues where sending in to make claims at the time on the off chance. They all did it because one of them had got money back. He just changed the bank account number and names.


Is there anything I can do about it?

I take it that because its a joint account it doesn't matter who made the complaint and it can't be by an individual in the account? 

Can it be looked at again if its for different reasons?

Would it be worth bringing to the ombudsman?

There was no response about my freedom of information request either, how long do I have to wait before I can raised a complaint about it.

I also noted that the dates they state on the 1st complaint don't  match up with the dates I got from the branch last week.

They say the packaged account was opened on 23rd February 2006, yet in the branch records they say the account was opened 30th June 2005.

Am I best to just drop it. Also is there a case for claiming all the other fees we where charged over the years.

I am currently looking for a new bank to switch our account too. We both have low credit scores due to being unable to pay all the credit cards & loans due to loss of income due to covid. I am afraid another bank won't take us on. Our bank has just announced it is closing the branch in our town next nearest will be 30 miles away which is another reason we need to change banks.

Thanks if you got this far. All advise greatly appreciated.


Flo

[Deleted User]

You had 6 months to appeal the decision with FOS from when your husband was rejected, so you're long out of time now.

A Freedom of Information request wouldn't be relevant to your account, which may be why they haven't addressed it.  Did you perhaps mean to ask for a SAR?

I would focus on clearing the debt,  Your low credit scores don't matter, but carrying debt will put lenders off.  However, credit card debt is unlikely to impact the opening of a current account, especially if no overdraft is being offered.

Nearlyold

If your husband complained previously and a formal "not upheld" reply was sent in response (which explained your right to refer the complaint to the Ombudsman within 6 months of receiving the Banks final response) then further complaints will just result in the same letter you received referring you to the original decision. The only exception is where new and compelling evidence has come to light - i.e. something that you weren't and could not have been aware of at the time.

NB Banks do not have to respond to FOI requests (other than the Bank of England), do you mean a Subject Access Request?

[Deleted User]

There are 3 applicable rules on complaints

6 years from account opening
3 years from when you knew, or could reasonably have known, you had cause for complaint
6 months after rejection to go to FOS

Your complaint was rejected and you didn't go to the FOS in 2014, there is no further action possible as the complaint is time barred. You cannot create a new complaint off the back of the existing one, no matter how you word it, at a basic level you are complaining about the same thing (miss-selling of the account) which was already rejected and the FOS can't do anything as you are out of time.

Looking at your other points - your husband complained that you were told you had to open the account to get the mortgage - the 2 month gap between taking out the mortgage and opening the account shows that is unlikely to be the case hence the bank rejected that which triggered the 3 year and 6 month rules.

No you can't complain as the other account holder to create a new complaint, joint account means one complains, both complain
No it can't be looked at for different reasons - the bank have decided to time bar it, that is it
The FOS can't look at it, its outside the 6 months time limit and well outside any possible reason to look at it anyway (7 months if someone had cancer might be waived, not 7 years)
You should submit a SAR formally asking for a copy of their records on you. You've probably confused them asking about FoI which doesn't apply to them. I don't see the point though, having reams of dead trees printed out won't achieve anything.
The dates discrepancy is neither here not there, someone made a mistake, it doesn't mean you have an opening
The banks won the court case in 2009, you cannot claim historic fees
You don't have a credit score, that is a marketing gimmick, lenders score you based on your credit history which, as you admit, is pretty poor, you are unlikely to get any sort of account above a basic current account with a history of unpaid debts but whatever local branch exists might offer something like that. Else use the post office if you have one and/or internet/phone banking

dunstonh

In my complaint I listed the following reasons as to why we were mis-sold our packaged account. 

It doesn't matter what reasons you list.  The complaint was made in 2014 and rejected.  You can appeal it with the FOS for 6 months but after that you are barred from any new complaint in the same area.

Is there anything I can do about it?

no

I take it that because its a joint account it doesn't matter who made the complaint and it can't be by an individual in the account? 

It can be made by either account holder.  

Can it be looked at again if its for different reasons?
Would it be worth bringing to the ombudsman?

No and No.   Reasons dont matter as the original complaint would look at the whole sale and not just the reasons given.   You dont have access to the FOS as it is timebarred.

There was no response about my freedom of information request either, how long do I have to wait before I can raised a complaint about it.

You cannot make a FOI request as that only applies to Government.  

I also noted that the dates they state on the 1st complaint don't  match up with the dates I got from the branch last week.

irrelevant.

They say the packaged account was opened on 23rd February 2006, yet in the branch records they say the account was opened 30th June 2005.

Could be a number of reasons for that.  Maybe the account changed type on a different date when the account was opened.  Or the computer systems changed and the date is the earliest of the current computer system (been there and seen that many times). Maybe it was a best guess when moving paper records to electronic or a typo.