Customers of major banks HSBC, Lloyds, Halifax and First Direct as well as Bank of Scotland are being warned they could lose £100 thanks to a new law.
Recently, new legislation was introduced covering bank scams which mean that banks must automatically pay out when customers are scammed out of money up to £85,000 unless the customer has been ‘grossly negligent’.
But banks are able to apply a £100 excess for each claim, which means customers requesting a mandatory reimbursement for the funds must pay £100 themselves up front.
Many bank account providers have promised to waive these fees. TSB says it will not charge customers, while Nationwide, Virgin Money and AIB have also promised not to invoke the £100 fee.
But five banks – HSBC, its sister bank First Direct, and the Lloyds Banking Group comprised of Lloyds, Halifax and Bank Of Scotland have all said they will not cover the first £100 excess fee for claims.
Starling Bank says it will cut the excess to £50 instead.
But the £100 excess can’t ever be applied to vulnerable customers according to the Payment Systems Regulator rules.
The new protections apply when a transfer is made to and from a UK bank account. They cover transactions made from October 7 onwards and do not apply retrospectively.
TSB said it has found that nearly half (48%) of purchase fraud cases are for £100 or less.
The cases it has dealt with include a male customer who paid £50 for a ticket to a concert that was happening that evening. The seller sent him a screenshot with the ticket on as proof and, once payment was made, the customer was then blocked.
Nicola Bannister, director of customer support, TSB, said: “At this time of year, we’re all shopping online more than ever – but it’s important to be wary of scams on social media platforms, as crooks are listing items that simply don’t exist.
“We’d advise sticking to reputable websites and only buying an item you’ve found on a social media platform if you can view it in person first.”
