Claiming switch incentives more than once

avidsaver0971

Hi all,

As I'm sure some of you are aware there are some banks, such as Halifax and Nationwide, that aren't enforcing their own terms and conditions and have been known to pay out switching incentives multiple times, even if you've had an account with them before and have received the bonus before. So my question is, is it 'illegal' to keep switching for the sole purpose of getting the incentives (more than once), could there be any legal action taken against you for doing this, and can they reclaim the money?

My assumption is that as they are breaking their own terms and conditions by paying it out, this wouldn't be 'illegal' as such, but they could attempt to claim back any incentive that shouldn't have been paid.

I would just like to know what other people think about this, thanks.

eskbanker

There's no suggestion that anything like this is illegal or unlawful, but it simply breaches a bank's terms and conditions.

There is no realistic prospect of such incentives being reclaimed via legal action, but they could recover erroneously-paid monies from those who retain accounts with them, and/or terminate the relationship....

Daliah

avidsaver0971 said:

Hi all,

As I'm sure some of you are aware there are some banks, such as Halifax and Nationwide, that aren't enforcing their own terms and conditions and have been known to pay out switching incentives multiple times, even if you've had an account with them before and have received the bonus before. So my question is, is it 'illegal' to keep switching for the sole purpose of getting the incentives (more than once), could there be any legal action taken against you for doing this, and can they reclaim the money?

My assumption is that as they are breaking their own terms and conditions by paying it out, this wouldn't be 'illegal' as such, but they could attempt to claim back any incentive that shouldn't have been paid.

I would just like to know what other people think about this, thanks.

You won't get paid the switch bonus if you don't meet the eligibility criteria, detailed in the switch T&Cs. The criteria are generally very clear about any previous bonus - some banks will only ever pay you one switch bonus, others will pay you again if you didn't receive a bonus in the last x years etc. Just read the T&Cs.

eskbanker

Daliah said:

avidsaver0971 said:

Hi all,

As I'm sure some of you are aware there are some banks, such as Halifax and Nationwide, that aren't enforcing their own terms and conditions and have been known to pay out switching incentives multiple times, even if you've had an account with them before and have received the bonus before. So my question is, is it 'illegal' to keep switching for the sole purpose of getting the incentives (more than once), could there be any legal action taken against you for doing this, and can they reclaim the money?

My assumption is that as they are breaking their own terms and conditions by paying it out, this wouldn't be 'illegal' as such, but they could attempt to claim back any incentive that shouldn't have been paid.

I would just like to know what other people think about this, thanks.

You won't get paid the switch bonus if you don't meet the eligibility criteria, detailed in the switch T&Cs. The criteria are generally very clear about any previous bonus - some banks will only ever pay you one switch bonus, others will pay you again if you didn't receive a bonus in the last x years etc. Just read the T&Cs.

But OP's point is that sometimes banks don't adhere to those Ts & Cs, and pay out even when the applicant has already received a switching bonus that should prevent this.  I'm pretty sure that Santander have done so recently (according to reports on here) and as I recall NatWest/RBS have paid out when technically they shouldn't (where people had already claimed from the other).

WillPS

For the benefit of any readers with ideas Halifax and Nationwide do enforce their own T&Cs generally, in my experience. In the case of Halifax (and Lloyds) they are very generous in their drop off for existing customers with previous bonuses, typically allowing you to have one every 2.5/3 years, often even on the same account as before.

Natwest Group don't enforce the group-wide exclusion so typically pay out once for each of their 3 brands, but not a second time for any.

There is nothing illegitimate about opening an account and switching - this is something they all offer regardless of the swtiching incentives. If they pay out, that's really up to them. If they don't, you haven't a leg to stand on complaints-wise though.

Katiehound

WillPS said:

 

There is nothing illegitimate about opening an account and switching - this is something they all offer regardless of the swtiching incentives. If they pay out, that's really up to them. If they don't, you haven't a leg to stand on complaints-wise though.

If you met all their t&cs (especially the date deadlines &/or if you haven't had a switch bonus since date specified) then you would have a leg to stand on! and you would be foolish not to lodge a complaint.

dcs34

Katiehound said:

WillPS said:

 

There is nothing illegitimate about opening an account and switching - this is something they all offer regardless of the swtiching incentives. If they pay out, that's really up to them. If they don't, you haven't a leg to stand on complaints-wise though.

If you met all their t&cs (especially the date deadlines &/or if you haven't had a switch bonus since date specified) then you would have a leg to stand on! and you would be foolish not to lodge a complaint.

The whole point of this is that you didn't meet the T&Cs though (Specifically on previous incentive payments).

If they pay it to you, and later realise their mistake, then they might contact you and ask for the money back. They might just take it back. You might have very limited grounds to complain. They can't claim fraud etc. as you can simply say you switched the account with no knowledge / expectation of the switch offer.

At the end of the day recovering the bonuses / starting legal action would be fair more costly (both financially, and reputationally) then just letting you keep the second payouts. If their systems don't enforce the T&Cs it's not your place or duty as the customer to do so on their behalf.

WillPS

Katiehound said:

WillPS said:

 

There is nothing illegitimate about opening an account and switching - this is something they all offer regardless of the swtiching incentives. If they pay out, that's really up to them. If they don't, you haven't a leg to stand on complaints-wise though.

If you met all their t&cs (especially the date deadlines &/or if you haven't had a switch bonus since date specified) then you would have a leg to stand on! and you would be foolish not to lodge a complaint.

As above, the OP is enquiring about getting bonus payments when you haven't met all the conditions. 

Of course, if you have met the T&Cs you are golden, but if for whatever reason RBS don't pay a switching bonus and you've already had one from Natwest, you don't have a leg to stand on as per the terms you wouldn't be eligible (even if plenty of other people in the same situation have received such payments).

PRAISETHESUN

From my experience if you've met all the conditions and haven't been paid an incentive then you should follow up with a formal complaint to get it sorted. If however you get paid an incentive when you shouldn't have then that's a completely different story. If you know you shouldn't be eligible then it doesn't hurt to ask (feigning ignorance or whatever) but expect the answer to be no. On the few occasions I've been paid an incentive I shouldn't have been eligible for however, they weren't questioned and I haven't been asked for the money back. I suspect they would be within their rights to do so, but I'd suspect the chances are very low.

adindas

Breaking the T&C is not a crime but If a person knows what they are doing is clearly breach of the T&C, I would not even bother to challenge / to query if getting the result is not what I want to. Doing that it will put you on the spotlight as a serial offender, which will hamper your chance for any deal in the future. No business wants to have a customers which are notorious known as a serial offenders.

I believe sharing information like the title on this thread, where people could try their luck is one of the reason why we are all here. Anyone want to share information regarding getting free money, even it will mean beaching the T&C will be very much welcome. Some people will delete this infos thereafter for obvious reason.

At least it will save people time to try if other people have reported an unwanted result. I know some people are doing that such as opening a few dozen accounts to get a higher interest rate, to be used as the DD sources where it is clearly in breach of the T&C.

soulsaver

There are instances on here where people have thought they've 'gotten away with' a 2nd incentive, but many of them didn't understand the (not very clearly written) terms. 

I hope I'm proven incorrect, but... there'll likely be some gripe on the latest Santander switch, as some who hope they'll get a repeat haven't detected the small change in the terms wording that will have a big effect on eligibility, if enforced. 

I am proven incorrect! It wasn't Santander switch I was thinking of...