With the Banks and Claims Companies all in the news with regard to recovering this, that and the other from each other – it is no wonder that people question whether something is a scam or not, (particularly when you hear all the horror stories and we all get the abusive texts and telephone calls from various call centres dotted around the World asking for this, that and the other). This of course makes anyone who has received these text messages or calls, not only hostile, but also dubious as to the fact that whatever they are being told, is probably incorrect. There are a tremendous amount of scams out there, and people are wise to be correct and question anything they are being told by a third party, unless they can verify it or know the third party involved.
However, rest assured, the recovery of Packaged Bank Accounts (PBA) is in fact genuine. Again, do not trust me with regard to this, just type in claim Packaged Bank Account charges and there are plenty of news articles from large newspapers which do highlight the problems that the Banks have been facing in relation to the mis-selling of Packaged Bank Account products.
There are approximately 11 million packaged account facilities throughout the UK and these make up a large proportion of the current account market which the Banks operate. Unfortunately, the Banks have used the packaged account facility to generate tremendous amounts of revenue on a monthly basis from individuals who, until the account was established, were not paying for anything in operating their current account.
The regulators, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) undertook a study into the way that the Banks sold these particular accounts. They established that a large proportion of them were incorrectly sold and promoted. The Banks have stringent regulations following the way that they do promote the products, which should offer clients the full opportunity and protection of a full review to make sure that:-
- The account is appropriate for them and;
- If there are any exclusions to the product, which as a result of the client’s personal circumstances would apply, these are highlighted, discussed and reviewed to consider whether the product is appropriate or not;
- The product is also offered in line with other facilities which are available, including the fee free accounts which were not (as was normally portrayed) a policy only for people with no income.
Whilst the recovery of Packaged Bank Account charges is not a scam, it is not a guarantee of successful money recovery. In order to obtain a refund the account facility must be found to have been mis-sold. We do this by establishing the sales process that the Bank employed and the client’s recollections, following which a case is presented to the Bank for them to review. Of course, they do not necessarily refund in all cases, and some of our claims have now been progressed to the Financial Ombudsman for adjudication.
We are finding that, in the claims that we are representing clients, that those who receive refunds are receiving approximately £1,000 to £3000. Any refund takes into account all the fees that were applied in relation to the Packaged Bank Account, along with associated interest and compensatory interest which runs at 8%.
There are many people who do believe that the Packaged Bank Account is a good product, and for those people, clearly there is no claim to be made. However, for those people unhappy with paying the monthly fee, particularly when they did not have to for the services that they do not necessarily need, then it is certainly right to look at a claim. We look after a tremendous number of claims and work on behalf of our clients on a “No Win No Fee” basis.