An interesting topic for me as I just read this in the CAG mailshot.

As most people do,

I skim these mailings "in case" there is something interesting/useful then move on to more pressing emails

like the usual spam for increasing the size of my manhoo... erm bank account.

This one surprised me as I've been a subscriber of Experian's Credit Expert for quite a while now.

Like many people, I rarely read the T&Cs of a reputable(?) company when I agree to a *FREE* trial

and I provided my credit card details as requested (over SSL - remember, they're reputable) to allow them to confirm

and subsequently charge for their credit checking service, if I wanted to continue after the free trial.

Since then, my old credit card has expired and I've renewed my details using my Debit card as I found their service quite useful

- checking my credit status, confirming my details were correct etc.

All of the above is a prelim to my questions (2 off - bear with me).

I don't recall seeing anything about their supposed ID protection when I signed up to the free trial (quite a few years ago now),

maybe this didn't exist then?

Perhaps like most, it was in the T&Cs and I simply checked the "Yeah whatever" button?.

After a couple of years of using their service,

I started receiving emails from them saying my online exposure was fine -

My thoughts were "Thanks Experian, didn't expect this

- Nice to see my money is being invested,

I thought I was paying to see what the lenders had access to but now I see you're providing me with a pseudo real-time service".

After another year or 2, my bank sent me a text saying my account was overdrawn.

Strange... I phoned my bank, my identity had been stolen and someone had attempted 2 transfers totalling around £2000 to other (unknown) accounts.

My bank were very quick to refund the money (same day so no charges were incurred)

and apart from signing a pre-printed letter they sent to say I did not know the intended recipient(s),

the matter was resolved (from my perspective).

Now, my 2 questions are this... (*phew* - Told you to bear with me)....

1. If I received emails telling me my online profile is safe/good etc

(BTW - They also have me listed as Rating 999 - A safe credit risk).

How was it that my bank account was hacked [i forgot to mention, the ID theft also involved blocking access to my online login]?

I'm extremely careful when I use my bank card and I never give personal details to unauthorised persons

- Damn, I even help stop the [s-p-a-m]mers (CAG renames "s.p.a.m" [no dots] to "problem")

on the phone and a lot more behind the scenes.

2. If I had insurance

- Wouldn't I have used it in this circumstance (had I known about it)?

Or would it even have have been covered since my bank (god bless them) dealt with it entirely?

So am I potentially owed a: a refund of insurance money as the service was not provided or b: compensation for my identity being stolen>

Maybe I should put in a claim to refund the payments I've apparently made for this service,

that I never knew existed or I had paid for.

I'm truly dismayed that PIP (essentially this is what they have [mis]sold - Insurance I didn't ask for,

tagged on to my monthly payments without me realising)

exists outside the banking industry but I suppose given the close relationship,

I should be surprised.

time to reclaim then

get it in quick

dx

own thread created