Barclays Additions Mis sale

[cria28]

Hi

I am after some advice...here is my story in brief:

 

I have successfully claimed back PPi misold to me by Barclays on a loan and have recently discovered that the same personal banker also lied to me in order to get me to sign up to an "Additions" account.

 

I agreed to the account in 2003 as i was told that I had to have it because of having an overdraft. So for the past 8 years have paid on average £10 per month for the account. Now don't get me wrong I knew that the account also included certain benefits such as breakdown cover etc but as I did not need to use any of these benefits as most of them I already had through work then I haven't used any of them at all since having the account, I simply had it as I was told that I had to for my overdraft.

 

In October this year I phoned Barclays to make an amendment to a standing order and it was then that the Barclays rep asked if I was interested in upgrading the account further to have travel insurance included, I said no as I already have travel insurance through work and then i innocently said that I only have the additions so I can have my overdraft...she then told me that i don't have to have Additions to have the overdraft. i was livid so wrote to Barclays asking me for my money back.

 

i have since had a telephone call from them to discuss my complaint and they basically said that as they are unable to investigate what the personal banker actually said in 2003 then they can't do anything and will not uphold my complaint. They have made me an offer of goodwill of £90 which I am not happy with.

 

My questions are:

 

Do I stand a chance of getting my money back? I have drafted a letter saying that i do not accept their offer and I want a refund IN FULL including interest. Is there anything else that i should say in my letter?

 

If they say no what is my next step? Do I go to the FOS? I have nothing to lose and would be happy to take them to court if I thought I would win!

 

Any advice you can offer would be appreciated!

Cath

Edited November 28, 2011 by citizenB
formatted to make reading easier

[citizenB]

Any letter you send to the bank should be headed up FORMAL COMPLAINT, that way they wont deal with it as a general enquiry. They will have 8 weeks in which to respond to you (a general enquiry has no timescales)

 

You should include as much detail as you remember. Probably best to use numbered points.

 

Send the letter by either Recorded or Special delivery method and keep the receipt.

 

If you dont receive a response or a response that you are happy with within the 8 weeks then you can take your complaint to the FOS. Be prepared for a long wait!

 

Court is an option, but you would need to be extremely sure and confident of your case first. If you lost in Court, you would not then be able to go to the Ombudsman.. However, you would be able to go to court if the Ombudsman is unable to help or again, doesnt satisfy your requirement.

 

Will also try to find some further help for you. So hold fire on any complaint for the moment.

[slick132]

Hi Cria,

 

I think the FOS will be a waste of time as they are likely to find in favour of the bank. Your case is not as strong as it would be if Barclays had changed the a/c to Additions status without your knowledge or consent. You agreed to it, but only on the basis of misleading advice.

 

I think you should go back to Barclays and pursue the complaint on the basis that the Additions status was only agreed to because you were told you needed it to get the OD you wanted.

 

Tell them you reject their offer of £90.

 

Enclose a spreadsheet listing all the Additions fees and tell them that, unless they agree to refund the fees in full, you will make a court claim for the fees plus compound interest in restitution.

 

Use this spreadsheet and use a nominal interest rate of 24.9% - http://www.shweb.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/interestcalcs.xls

 

Tell them you require their written response and will not deal with this by telephone.

 

See how they respond.

 

If they try to discuss it again by phone, tell them you require a written response which you are entitled to.

 

[Airwolf]

It might help your complaint with Barclays and/or the FOS, if you can provide any evidence that you did not need some of the added facilities. Do you have anything from your employer, such as a booklet or contract detailing the provision of these facilities ?

 

In your complaint you can make the point, why would you be paying for facilities that you already get for free.

 

You want to place as much emphasis as you can on that you did not need the additional facilities, to show that it was your understanding that you had to have it for the overdraft.

 

It is a long shot (a very long shot) but considering the amount of the possible refund, you could SAR Barclays and ask for copies of all notes made in regard to telephone calls.

 

If your lucky there may be a record of your conversation in October that will support your complaint. However as I said this is a long shot.

[caro]

This is precisely the kind of thing exposed on the Whistleblower programme. I think you'll find this article interesting. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6476155.stm

[cria28]

Thank you for all your responses, I have today written to Barclays rejecting their offer and arguing the case a bit more.

I have argued that surely not using any of the "benefits" in 8 years is some sort of proof that I didn't knowingly take the account out for that reason! I have also argued the case that the person who lied to me about this was the same personal banker that missold me PPi on a loan at the same time which I have already received back from Barclays. I included a spreadsheet of all the charges and told them that I will happily take this further.

Will wait and see whathappens next!

PS thanks for the Whistle-blower link, I will look at this later when I finish work!

Kind regards

Cath

[slick132]

Let us know how they respond.

 

[cria28]

Well they responded by telephone to say that as they have no evidence dating back to 2003 then they can't do anything. They are sending me their "final response" letter. When I have the letter do i just get in touch with the FOS? Help??!!

[slick132]

A complaint to the FOS may cost you nothing but it may also get you little or nothing in the way of a refund. It'll also take many months for them to complete their review.

 

Alternatively, a court claim for the fees plus compound interest in restitution will not cost you too much but the refund, if you are successful, will be far greater.

 

Wait for their final response, or 14 days from your Preliminary Claim letter. Then send them your LBA with an updated spreadsheet showing charges plus int't in restitution and give them a final 14 days.

 

Whilst you await their response, decide whether to use the court or the FOS.

 

[Airwolf]

I have argued that surely not using any of the "benefits" in 8 years is some sort of proof that I didn't knowingly take the account out for that reason!

 

Hi Cath,

 

Personally, I would not use the above argument if you decide to go to the FOS. Most of the "benefits" of these type of accounts are usually forms of insurance, such as travel, mobile phone etc.. The fos will most likely say that is like Car insurance, you pay for it but you may never claim on it.

 

I consider a much stronger argument to use would be

 

I did not need to use any of these benefits as most of them I already had through work, I simply had it as I was told that I had to for my overdraft.

 

I am thinking along the lines of the arguments used for PPI which have been very successful with the FOS.

[cria28]

Hi

I took my complaint to the FOS who sided with Barclays, i then appealed and they still sided with Barclays saying that they believe I had sight of enough documentation regarding the additions account. Anyway I am now thinking I just take their goodwill gesture of £90!

[slick132]

Hi Cria,

 

Well, the FOS ran true to form on this one !

 

As I see it you have 2 choices :-

 

1. Take the £90 offered and that's an end to it.

 

2. Make a court claim against the bank for the return of Additions Fees paid on the basis of mis-selling. I reckon the Fees must come to around £1000 approx.

 

If you choose option 2, the court claim will cost £60 to £80 to file depending on whether it's under or over £1000 and whether your use MCOL or the new regional claims handling system. There would be no AQ Fee if the claim is under £1500.

 

In our experience, there's every chance that Barclays would settle the claim before a final hearing.

 

However, it's not guaranteed so you could well have to represent your case in a final court hearing. The onus is then on you to show that, on a balance of probability, Barclays told you you needed the Additions status so you could have the O/D. This may be difficult to prove but you could add weight to the claim by referring to the claims which Barclays are settling for PPI where it was mis-sold in thousands of cases.

 

Did you put the Fees onto a compound interest spready. If so approx how much are you looking at in fees and in compound interest at 24.9%.

 

[cria28]

Hi Slick

 

Thanks for your response. I am in two minds what to do to be honest. With the FOS siding with Barclays is that not an indication that I would be disadvantaged if I took them to court?

At the end of the day it is my word against theirs, yes I would argue that it was the same advisor that missold me the PPI on a loan that they refunded but I just don't know if I would be up to arguing in court! I am angry that they blatantly lied to me and that has cost me dearly. I have worked out that I have paid £1086 not including the interest, I have a spreadsheet that I have entered all of the payments on but it asks for Statutory Interest Annual rate and Daily Rate in order to work out the interest...not sure what I am putting??

If it was you what would you do? I still Bank with Barclays so want to be careful!!

If I decided to go down the court route, how do I go about it?

 

Kind Regards

Cath

[caro]

Slick was spot on in post 3. FOS are a waste of time. Personally I'd be looking at court, but you must do what's right for you.

[slick132]

Hi Cria,

 

The FOS decision has no bearing on any court action, if you decide to take this route. The FOS are notoriously biased in favour of the banks and we see this time and time again in their decisions.

 

Use the spreadsheet in post #3 above and set the compound interest rate to 24.9% on the basis that you are claiming this as a nominal rate for Interest in Restitution.

 

Let us know roughly what the interest comes to.

 

If it was me, I would be minded to take court action as Barclays have a tendancy to defend, but then back down when a court date is set. If you win, any court costs will also be repaid to you as part of the settlement.

 

However, there's no guarantee this will happen and you may have to let the case run to a final hearing. It's an informal court process and good preparation will give you a reasonable chance of success.

 

Ultimately, it has to be your decision as you are the one who would pay the court fees and you would have to represent yourself if it went to a court hearing.