Santander Choice Account, Can I get a refund for the £10 per month account fee?
TheBeeMan
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I've had a Santander Choice Account Since 2017 and have been charged £10.00 per month for this account.
The Account offers Cashback from certain retailer purchases along with limited bank charges and other benefits too.
However I have never used any of the account Benefits and was unaware that I was being charged this amount each month just to have the account until very recently with ML advice.
I was told initially that this would improve my credit score and also alow me access to an overdraft, however neither of these have happened.
Has anyone else had any success in reclaiming these fees/charges under the new rules for refunds of account fees/charges and possible mis-selling?
Many thanks
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What new rules are you referring to? I think you are mistaken.
Prior to 2012, banks were not particularly forthcoming on the sales of PBAs or the fact you could have a free account instead. After 2012, they tidied things up with better disclosure and annual benefit statements reminding you that you could move to a no charge account. So, an account opened in 2017 is long after the banks changed their disclosures and processes unless you are alleging they did some wrongdoing. So, do you believe they missold you the account? if so, how?
You can certainly complain you were miss-sold but you cannot reclaim anything as you are not due anything.
As dunsonh says, there are no new rules
If you feel it was miss-sold, write to them, or email or fill in a form on their site and explain why you feel it was miss-sold and see what they say. I would avoid trying to argue you not noticing a £10 a month account fee is somehow miss-selling, ditto you choosing not to use account benefits
He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery.
-Harold Wilson
Every now and then he does remind people to complain if they were missold. However, most PBA complaints fail nowadays as the banks moved quickly to close the issue before it became a major problem.
What is unusual in your case is you say you opened it in 2017 but that is 4 years after the start of the new rules. So, whilst it is possible you were missold, it seems less likely as the PBA complaints are usually for those that took them out in 2012 or earlier.
All you need to do is raise a complaint with Santander telling them why you think you were missold. Provide any evidence to support your allegations and see how they respond. The expectation is that your complaint will be rejected as it seems very weak. However, sometimes the banks come out with decisions you dont expect. Plus, we have no access to the full information and there may be something on the file that supports you.
Thank you very much indeed for your advice, I will contact Santander directly and discuss with them. I just wanted to see if there were any success stories regarding this. I have PTSD and Anxiety related Mental Health Illnesses and wanted to understand from others experiences as to the best way to move forward with this. Many thanks again for your contstructive advice, it makes a nice change than being trolled. Best wishes to you dustonh
It's highly unlikely any bank staff would tell you that a credit "score" would improve from having a packaged bank account, not least because there is no such thing as a credit score, a bank account with an overdraft, particularly one that is used due to money shortages would actually harm your credit rating. Similarly, overdrafts (other than freebie ones like say a £250 buffer) are always subject to credit checks, so not likely you were promised one given it would then be subject to a check.
As above, sold in 2017 you would have been given comprehensive documentation on what you were taking on and the bank will use this to rebuff any complaint about miss-selling.
He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery.
-Harold Wilson
The FOS uphold rate, last time I looked was about 1 in 10 being upheld. So, very low. However, the volume is high due to ML promoting it.
You have a few issues to overcome. Such as the annual benefit statement telling you what benefits the plan offers and reminding you that you can move to a charge free account. The timescale is certainly an issue, as already covered.
Mention that in the complaint. It may not make any difference overall but they must consider mental health issues.
No excuse for trolling. We often get accused of being blunt in this section but we tell it how it is without any fluff.
All you can do is make the complaint and see what happens. Don't go with high expectations (given the low success rate) but if you don't ask, you don't get and you may be one of those in the minority that succeed.
In some cases it's much easier to logically state your complaints and what you want in written form - especially if the person at the other end of the phone doesn't understand your description of the complaint and records it in a confusing way.