Do you read ALL the paperwork your bank sends you? Many of us don’t, but at this stage – we really all should. If you haven’t filed all the extra pages in the waste paper bin, just have another look. They may tell you in one way or another that you have been the proud owner of a PACKAGED BANK ACCOUNT. There are millions of them, and the banks are putting aside millions of pounds to cover claims where they have been mis-sold.
Being mis-sold a financial product and sort of knowing about it is one thing, but some people are distressed to find that they have been ‘up-graded’ to a Packaged Bank Account without ever having been told about it.
Is your bank suddenly sending you an ‘Annual Statement’?
The financial regulator has recently insisted that banks and building societies must inform Packaged Bank Account holders that they have such an account, and must draw attention to the benefits and qualifying requirements. This letter takes the form of an annual statement, and you might have received one? Worryingly for many this will have been the first time they have become aware of paying for such an account. Their confusion is understandable. For a start, accounts that are sometimes known as a ‘paid for’ accounts, are described by many alternative names. Such names depend on the branding the bank has decided to use to attract customers, and such names often suggest the account offers attractive extras. Common sense demands that the banks make a profit. We’re living in a society where Capital makes the economy work, and so we are perhaps unsurprised to find that Peter deposits his money at 2% interest into the bank, which then lends to Paul at a thoroughly unattractive and decidedly ungenerous 22%. It’s true that money makes the world go round: but (and it’s a very big but), the banks’ goods and services have to be fit for purpose and not sold at the financial disadvantage of you and me.
Have I been mis-sold a Packaged Bank Account?
If you have received an annual statement that somewhere mentions a packaged bank account and it’s the first you have heard about it, there is a strong chance that you have been mis-sold the account. If so you have the right to claim a refund of the premiums paid, plus 8% interest. You might be surprised to find that that adds up to a lot of money. A quick scan of the annual statement will show the so-called benefits your account had ‘bolted on’. It might be clear to you immediately that the benefits were in reality not suitable: for example travel insurance was included in the package, but now you come to think about it -you had travel cover already. The due diligence on Packaged Bank Accounts has already been done for you: ‘Which’ has named Packaged Bank Accounts as the top 10 most useless financial products, and that statement speaks volumes about their lack of value.
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