MBNA PPI Claim - Time Limit

davesteele · 3 November 2016 at 4:02PM

Hi All,
I am hoping to get some guidance on a PPI claim that my wife made recently with MBNA, following my own successful complaint with Bank of Ireland. The complaint was for PPI on a credit she had previously and she closed the card account in January 2011. She submitted the complaint in September 2016 and received a notification today that they were refusing the complaint because it wasn't made within a 3 year period from a letter that was supposedly issued to her in June 2013 and as such the complaint isn't valid. The issue is that the card account was at a previous address and as the account was settled before we moved house, there was no reason for my wife to provide MBNA with our new address, so we never received this letter. Is this a valid reason for refusal? My understanding was that complaints had to be made within 6 years, not the 3 they are quoting and they are saying this only be overturned if we can prove exceptional circumstances. Any assistance, thoughts or similar experiences and some potential next steps would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, David!

dunstonh · 3 November 2016 at 5:10PM

She submitted the complaint in September 2016 and received a notification today that they were refusing the complaint because it wasn't made within a 3 year period from a letter that was supposedly issued to her in June 2013 and as such the complaint isn't valid.

You have three years to complain from the issue of such letters. Some providers/banks did send out what are known as CCLs to intentionally start the timebar clock.

The issue is that the card account was at a previous address and as the account was settled before we moved house, there was no reason for my wife to provide MBNA with our new address, so we never received this letter.

It is unlikely that the FOS would consider that a valid timebar. The address needs to be correct.

My understanding was that complaints had to be made within 6 years, not the 3 they are quoting and they are saying this only be overturned if we can prove exceptional circumstances.

You are not quite right. There are rules and both have to be satisified to allow a successful timebar.
1 - 6 years from the date of purchase/advice event.
2 - 3 years from being reasonably aware of an issue.

Both are satisfied in this case and would be considered a valid timebar if it was not for the incorrect address.

You now refer it to the FOS and let them decide if the timebar is fair or not. I would expect an incorrect address to be viewed as insufficient to timebar.

davesteele · 4 November 2016 at 11:50AM

Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated. So overall your thoughts are that since MBNA sent the letter to an old address, this means their rejection due to time passed isn't valid and we should refer this to the FOS for review? Thanks again - gives us some hope as due to the very large balance on the card for a long period of time, we think this will be a high value claim (perhaps also why MBNA are so keen to refuse) so really hoping that the FOS will agree and move forward with this.

Nasqueron · 4 November 2016 at 11:57AM

You can refer to the FOS yes, you have 6 months from the rejection

Don't forget though that they still need to judge if the complaint is valid, all they have done is time bar it, the company can still fight the complaint at the FOS if they feel the complaint reasons are things they can defend assuming the FOS agree the 3 year rule hasn't been applied correctly - they could still argue it's over 3 years since the account was closed and if they have any evidence showing they notified about the PPI before that letter that would count too.

dunstonh · 4 November 2016 at 11:58AM

So overall your thoughts are that since MBNA sent the letter to an old address, this means their rejection due to time passed isn't valid and we should refer this to the FOS for review?

Yes. You never received the letter. So, how could you act on it? The timebar will likely be overruled by the FOS.

we think this will be a high value claim (perhaps also why MBNA are so keen to refuse)

Its more likely that the computer is showing it as timebarred and the staff member is just following the normal timebar procedure. Especially if they do not know the address changed.

[Deleted User] · 4 November 2016 at 12:12PM

davesteele wrote: »

we think this will be a high value claim (perhaps also why MBNA are so keen to refuse)

That's irrelevant to your chances of success you'll be glad to learn. Complaint handlers don't "try harder" to reject complaints likely to yield a large redress amount.

The two hurdles you have to overcome are the timebar and whether your actual complaint has validity.

davesteele · 18 November 2016 at 7:36PM

Thanks all for the replies. The complaint has been lodged with FOS so fingers crossed!

Gordon55 · 25 September 2017 at 1:43PM

Just a quick one here. Is the fact that MBNA claim to have sent out these letters enough for them to deny a claim. Where would you stand if you did not receive a letter that MBNA claimed to have sent?
Whether it was to the correct address or not.

dunstonh · 25 September 2017 at 1:56PM

Is the fact that MBNA claim to have sent out these letters enough for them to deny a claim.

Yes. It is assumed that a letter posted is received as long as the address is correct.

Where would you stand if you did not receive a letter that MBNA claimed to have sent?

You would stand nowhere if the address is correct. You may have mistaken it for marketing. You may have opened it but not read and just chucked it. Bottom line is that if the address is correct, then it was assumed sent.

[Deleted User] · 25 September 2017 at 2:58PM

dunstonh wrote: »

Bottom line is that if the address is correct, then it was assumed sent.

Assumed received I think you mean.

MBNA PPI Claim - Time Limit

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