“I believe I have been mis-sold breakdown cover by Barclays Bank where I had a Packaged Bank Account facility with them and where this cover was applied. The reason why I think this cover was mis-sold is due to the fact that, as a client of theirs, I already had cover in place. At the time of sale, I was not asked about this, or made aware that I could not have cover in place with two different companies. I am concerned that if this part of the policy was mis-sold to me, then was I mis-sold everything else to do with the Packaged Bank Account facility that I have had with Barclays for a number of years?”
We have heard time and time again from our clients who say exactly this and where they have had Packaged Bank Account (PBA) facilities with their Bank. Over the years they have paid considerable sums of money, with the packaged account fees ranging from between £10 to £30 per month and those clients are now looking to obtain refunds.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) undertook a study several years ago. In that study, they found a number of aspects regarding the promotion of PBA account facilities by the Banks to be, at best, poor. So if you believe that you have been mis-sold a Packaged Bank Account in the past, you can now look at obtaining a refund for this.
The refunds that we are obtaining for our clients includes the packaged fees that have been paid, together with interest at the prevailing rate of the current account and compensatory interest at 8%. The refunds we have obtained for our clients range from between £1,500 to £3,000, although some are slightly more or less depending on the individual’s circumstances and how long they have had the account.
Throughout the UK there are approximately £11million Packaged Bank Account facilities in place. From the FCA report, it is understood that a high proportion of these were mis-sold. If that was the case, then this further windfall in terms of the Banks’ mis-selling on the back of the PPI scandals can be seen as a way of addressing the issues and compensating clients for the mis-sale of these particular accounts. Mis-sales can take place in a number of ways, such as highlighted above. A mis-sale can take place where the Bank does not establish if there are individual aspects of the account which are not relevant to the specific client, or whether those facilities available throughout the policy were applicable to them which, in order to conduct a successful sale they should have established.
As a Company, we have been dealing with these types of complaints for many years and have worked on all different forms of clients’ problems with their Banks and Building Societies. We are seeing a growing number of complaints being made against Banks in relation to PBA accounts whereby the Banks themselves are now making higher provisions in their annual accounts to deal with the compensation that they are having to pay.
Whilst the scale of the PBA mis-sale will not reach the same levels as the PPI scandal (which at present stands at £25billion worth of refunds) there is still going to be a large proportion of refunds – which will run into many billions of pounds.
To be part of this recovery process, it is essential that if you have one of these accounts, and you are unhappy with paying the amount of money for what the Banks have offered you in return, then you could well have a valid claim and should consider this. We work for clients on a “No Win No Fee” basis, so if for some reason the claim is unsuccessful, then there is no fee to pay.