Want a Refund on your Packaged Bank Account? Here’s a Step-by-Step Guide.
Part 3 – Last week we looked at how to make a claim for a packaged bank account that was mis-sold. This week we are going to delve into what makes a good claim.
How were you mis-sold?
Think back to when you first opened your account. Did you want an account where you had to pay a monthly fee? Chances are, probably not. So how did you end up with one? This is the key to how you create a good claim. Think about when your account was upgraded from a free account, did you fully understand what you were agreeing to? Were the benefits on the account properly explained? Did you plan to purchase travel insurance, mobile insurance and car breakdown cover that day? Had you just popped into the bank to make a deposit into your account and did you end up leaving committing to paying the bank a monthly fee?
How did you feel?
Sales tactics can often leave customers feeling like they don’t have a choice when it comes to purchasing products. Hard sales tactics are evident when you look at the history of how packaged bank accounts were being sold over the last 20 years. Bank managers were setting large sales targets for their staff to hit and, in some cases, they were even telling staff that if they didn’t hit those targets they could face losing their bonus or even dismissal. This resulted in hard selling and customers feeling pressured into having these accounts. Have a think about how you felt and if this applies to you. Did you feel like you had a choice?
Were you eligible for the benefits?
This explains why so many of these accounts were mis-sold to customers who didn’t want or need them. It also explains how some of these accounts were sold to customers who couldn’t use the benefits. For example, customers with pre-existing medical conditions weren’t asked to declare them. This meant that they couldn’t use the travel insurance that was included as they would have been excluded from the policy. Were the benefits on the account fully explained to you?
Did you know you had been upgraded?
Some of the most peculiar circumstances we hear about are those where customers are not even aware that they had been upgraded. The bank needs your consent to be able to upgrade your free account to a fee-paying account, this is standard procedure. The financial ombudsman is now finding it more and more common that the banks were upgrading without the customer’s consent. It’s important to note that the bank would not have been able to assess whether the benefits that came with the account would be suitable for your needs. This is an obvious lack of compliance, or in other words, mis-selling. Did the bank upgrade your account without your consent?
Next week we look at a few more of the ways accounts were mis-sold in a bit more detail, including;
- We’re you told you needed to upgrade your account to be eligible for an overdraft, loan or other service/product?
- Did you actually need any of the benefits that came with the account?
- We’re you informed about the cost of the account?
- Did the bank take you through the terms and conditions?
If you have been reading our bank account refund guide and thinking you would like some more help and advice, why not give us a call on 0800 007 3777 or drop your details below?