Suing a bank for professional negligence?

sheramber

goldmine2011 said:

TheSpectator said:

Genuine question, what do you expect 'going public' to achieve. Virtually nobody is going to see that and say 'that's it, I'm leaving Barclays'. It may make you feel better but in reality it achieves nothing.

It won't affect them.

The people that I have already told about this incident (in person) and shown them the actual conversations within the app that were had and told them about the experiences with Barclays have already switched banks and left Barclays (back in Oct) because they saw how clearly easy it was to do this, and yes clearly it could happen to anybody. I told them the exact same thing as I have done here (minus the 2nd occasion obviously) and they chose to do what they did because us as the general public are subject to the same service, we call the same 0300 number to speak to CS / Fraud, we speak to the same pool of agents from Barclays, the same processes etc and I doubt that this would have been any different for anybody else if it happened to them. They would've gone through the exact same experience as I just did.

So I'm not being funny but leaving a bad review on google maps is essentially 'going public', no?

Complaining about anything on social media is 'going public' is it not?

And yet somehow you're saying its of no use? you've never been persuaded or dissuaded to by something based on good/bad reviews? as if I have a target demographic in mind or a specific numbers of views I would try to get based on your 'virtually nobody' comment? No, its just whoever see's the information and is then wary of the situation they now have a more informed decision of the lack of security (and follow up) when having an account with Barclays. Simple as, its not like anything I'd say would be false, hence why I've requested the hard data evidence from them.

Whether that helps somebody or not I'll never know clearly because it's a 'what if' situation? Its like someone who moves an object from the middle of the road when theres no cars there, that person isn't going to be stood there waiting to be thanked by randomers, you just do it because you see something that could be harmful to someone else and act on it. So just because you clearly don't have that intention to (potentially) have help out a random person and not expect something in return doesn't mean everyone else is like that

But , no doubt, Barclays will plug that gap now so they will be safe. 

Other banks may not have been targeted yet so may not be as safe as you think. 

eskbanker

goldmine2011 said:
I appreciate your insights though because they have made me think of how to approach this more concisely for the next steps, i'm assuming they will send me some type of applogy letter with some type of gesture but i dont know what i'm going to see as acceptable until i see that figure.

Again, taking the past 4 months into account, which they clearly wont account for (but clearly would obviously be understood by 99.9% of people) it'd have to be an amount i'd never expect, do you know what i mean? But i know 100% thats not the case, whatever they come back with is going to be insulting, i know that already. Im going to tell them to keep their money and instead just compile it and post it all online once i get all the hard evidence that ive requested from them.

Even if they offer me a grand or two right now on the spot, i'd feel like i'd pretty much just decline it, because its not something i know that would actually hurt them in the sense that it'd be a hard lesson learnt. Itd be a 'sweep under the rug' situation for them.

I guess when you've annoyed a person that much, they genuinely care less about the figure you offer them, only that it needs to be big enough that its hurt them to have to give it out (if that makes sense), and hence give them a wakeup that they cant keep treating customers like this.

I think they call it "forget about it" money or something? Thats how far they've basically pushed me at the moment.

I'm sure it's not unusual for someone in your situation to feel so strongly about things that it perhaps clouds judgement about how best to deal with it, and likewise I'm sure you're not alone in perceiving that being offered 'go away' money doesn't actually address the issue itself, and that it's all about the principle.

In terms of your financial expectations, it would seem to be worth going through that FOS compensation document shared earlier, which gives an indication of how FOS assesses how to recognise distress and inconvenience - there are certain scenarios where four figures might be considered, but they're pretty extreme ones.  You could also search through the FOS database of published decisions to see how they've dealt with similar cases.

Unless I'm misinterpreting your posts, you're moving away from a desire to 'sue them for professional negligence' (which would entail quantifying a damages claim) and more towards publicising your case in the belief that this will damage their reputation and/or help others?  Again, this isn't unusual, but if you Google for terms such as 'barclays sucks' (or the equivalent for any other bank to be fair) then you'll see a plethora of sites and social media groups agitating about grievances, so don't be under any impression that they'll be desperate to pacify you in response to any actual or implied threats of 'going public'!

goldmine2011

eskbanker said:

I'm sure it's not unusual for someone in your situation to feel so strongly about things that it perhaps clouds judgement about how best to deal with it, and likewise I'm sure you're not alone in perceiving that being offered 'go away' money doesn't actually address the issue itself, and that it's all about the principle.

In terms of your financial expectations, it would seem to be worth going through that FOS compensation document shared earlier, which gives an indication of how FOS assesses how to recognise distress and inconvenience - there are certain scenarios where four figures might be considered, but they're pretty extreme ones.  You could also search through the FOS database of published decisions to see how they've dealt with similar cases.

Unless I'm misinterpreting your posts, you're moving away from a desire to 'sue them for professional negligence' (which would entail quantifying a damages claim) and more towards publicising your case in the belief that this will damage their reputation and/or help others?  Again, this isn't unusual, but if you Google for terms such as 'barclays sucks' (or the equivalent for any other bank to be fair) then you'll see a plethora of sites and social media groups agitating about grievances, so don't be under any impression that they'll be desperate to pacify you in response to any actual or implied threats of 'going public'!

Oh, thank you I had no idea that the FOS has a database of such cases. This seems very useful/informative.

I would only go through the process of suing for professional negligence if it was essentially a no-win no-fee basis, and the 2 current litigators that I am in conversation with have asked me to request all the hard evidence from Barclays (which I requested yesterday) so that they can see that I have 'genuine' proof of their admitted failures.

They said on the basis of the case itself it seems like something they would take on a NWNF basis. If they are willing to take the risk then I basically have nothing to lose and will pursue that route. I've already compiled a 9 page document detailing everything which I had prepared ready for FOS action anyways so its no further skin off my back, just a case of sending them the completed document with the evidence.

eskbanker

NWNF lawyers will undoubtedly tout for business so have a vested interest but should at least be qualified, so ought to know more about this than the rest of us but my understanding remains that any such case relies on specifically what damages arise from their alleged (or even admitted) negligence, i.e. a civil case like this would be all about making things right for you rather than getting them to change their practices, etc.

That latter point leads to another potential avenue, namely taking the matter up with the FCA, who are empowered to instruct financial institutions to improve their processes and procedures....

1stTimer

*weird thing just happened, as I was writing this out Barclays called me*

So someone higher up at Barclays fraud & security just called me, went over the details again of what happened and confirmed from both sides the timelines.

We then went through the phone settings over the phone, checked all the internal settings on the phone (accessibility options, developer options, software versions etc), did a full scan using recommended software installed from the Google play store, and basically the conclusion was that it is very highly unlikely that it was from our device/end. 

Apologies I haven’t read anything past this post yet but I would be very careful with what you are downloading and scanning your phone with right now. You’ve just taken a call from a ‘company’ that you know has already breached your security settings and downloaded an app to scan you whole device!

NotRichAtAll

1st thing i would do is get rid of the phone and number and get a new one 

DE_612183

NotRichAtAll said:

1st thing i would do is get rid of the phone and number and get a new one 

Would that achieve anything? The interaction is via an internet connection nothing to do with phone unless texts are being used to confirm the person logging in is correct.

SacredStephan

Have they refunded your 9K yet?

born_again

1stTimer said:

*weird thing just happened, as I was writing this out Barclays called me*

So someone higher up at Barclays fraud & security just called me, went over the details again of what happened and confirmed from both sides the timelines.

We then went through the phone settings over the phone, checked all the internal settings on the phone (accessibility options, developer options, software versions etc), did a full scan using recommended software installed from the Google play store, and basically the conclusion was that it is very highly unlikely that it was from our device/end. 

Apologies I haven’t read anything past this post yet but I would be very careful with what you are downloading and scanning your phone with right now. You’ve just taken a call from a ‘company’ that you know has already breached your security settings and downloaded an app to scan you whole device!

I think OP needs to ring Barclays & check it was one of their team, or it could be the fraudsters that have their details & taking it further.

Yes banks do check systems in such situations. No idea on mobiles, but malwarebytes is often one asking customers to use on systems to ensure computers are safe.

goldmine2011

NotRichAtAll said:

1st thing i would do is get rid of the phone and number and get a new one 

Yup, pretty much the first thing we did last time was this. although we didnt change phone numbers because this would create a whole host of other problems with people contacting etc, but now it is looking like we will after this 2nd time.