Packaged Bank Accounts

What are Packaged Bank Accounts?

Packaged bank accounts, sometimes referred to as ‘privilege’ or ‘paid-for’ accounts charge a consumer either a monthly or annual fee. They can be sold as an “upgrade” to existing customers or as a new account. Quite often these accounts are marketed to make the customer feel important with titles such as – Premium, Gold, Plus, Reward etc.

Packaged Bank Account Features

The main feature of these accounts is that they offer bundled ‘benefits’ to the customer. These ‘benefits could take the form of travel insurance, breakdown cover, mobile phone cover, even access to premium airport lounges.

Who bought Packaged Bank Accounts?

10 million packaged bank accounts were thought to have been sold in the UK by January 2010 and many people were sold these accounts either knowingly or unwittingly. In many cases, it wasn’t made clear just how the additional products accompanying the accounts worked, what the insurance cover was for, what customers needed to do or the position that they had to be in to claim. Sometimes customers were put under pressure to open an account or were provided with inaccurate information making them think that they had to have one.

What happens now?

If you pay or paid a monthly fee for your bank account, you may be able to reclaim those fees. More and more people are coming forward to Blue Panda Finance to say that these accounts have been mis-sold to them. It could be that they were told that this was the only kind of account available to them, that they were charged way over the odds for the features that they would ever use if any, that they didn’t know other caveats were in place such as age restrictions on insurance or the need to register a phone before it was lost or broken.

How Much Could I Get Back?

If you have been mis-sold your packaged bank account, you could be entitled to all of the fees that you have paid plus interest. Take a look at the quick example below:-

Customer paid £15 a month for 5 years that’s £15 x 60 months or £900 + interest.

Why could Packaged Bank Accounts have been Mis-sold?

Because the banks are, in effect, actually selling insurance packages in the Packaged Bank Account, they have an obligation to find out if that insurance was useful, competitive and relevant for that customer. Please see below a list of concerns that may just ring a bell with you.

How were Packaged Bank Accounts Mis-Sold

• The bank told you that this was the only account suitable for you or that free accounts were not an option.
• You were not even aware that there was a fee associated with the account that you opened or transferred over into.
• Nobody told you that that travel insurance may not be right for you i.e. other factors such as age, destination, activity or pre-existing medical condition mean you might not be eligible to claim.
• You were informed that you needed this account or that having it made it easier to apply for a mortgage, loan or similar.
• You didn’t know that your mobile phone needed to be registered and that there was an excess to be paid prior to any claim.
• You tried to cancel the account but were told you had to keep it.
• You were informed that your packaged bank account could improve your credit rating.
• You already had cover in place for the bundled insurance products.

It’s easy to apply. Just call 0161 914 5620, or CLICK BELOW to complete the online form and one of our friendly advisors will contact you to assist you with your potential claim.