Brits with a bank account could potentially be owed “thousands of pounds”. Those who have held a packaged account, which require a monthly fee in exchange for benefits, for several years could be eligible for the cash.
Packaged account benefits typically include insurance policies, including vehicle breakdown assistance, travel cover and mobile phone protection. However, there is a chance the accounts have been mis-sold, with some people “upgraded” without consent.
As reported by North Wales Live, the Money Saving Expert (MSE) team, the website established by Martin Lewis, said in a recent update: “Were you flogged a packaged bank account years ago? You may be owed £1,000s.
“Actively choosing a packaged account for the right reasons is great. Yet while it’s not so much of an issue anymore, many were hard sold them in the past, eg, if you were told you had no option, told you could only get a mortgage if you opted for the account, or were ‘upgraded’ without consent. If so, you could be owed all the fees back.”
The site added: “But if you were flogged one by a pushy sales agent, told you could only get a mortgage if you opted for the account, or ‘upgraded’ without your consent, you could be owed serious cash. Banks have been found to have systemically mis-sold many of these accounts.”
According to MSE, these are some of the ways that count at mis-selling:
MSE added: “There is no time limit on how far back you can claim, but in England and Wales the statute of limitation is six years, while in Scotland it is five years. The further back you go, the harder it is to complain, but it is possible.
“So even if something was sold more than 20 years ago, if the firm was regulated at the time and you didn’t become aware of a problem until recently, you can make (and win) a complaint.”
If you think you meet any of the criteria, you should make a complaint to your bank. You can do this using MSE’s free online reclaim tool here, or you can use its free template letter available here.
However, MSE said people should be “prepared for a fight”. They added: “We’ve seen some banks just change the insurance so customers become eligible, as a way of appeasing complainants.
“But that doesn’t change the fact that you were still paying for useless cover in the past, so hammer home that you want all your fees back.”
