Hi All

I have opened a claim for refund of Additions account fee's and have received a questionnaire to complete; which I would like some advice on how best to proceed.

Here are some background details first:

I first became aware of Package Bank Accounts last year when a colleague at work told me that he had reclaimed some money.

I was shocked; having only ever banked with barclays for the last 24years I genuinely thought that I had to pay for my bank account and that the insurances etc. were free perks.

I decided to pursue a claim myself;

I only have statements from 2011

I did an SAR request on the internet in around May last year.

After 45 days I had not heard or received anything

I rang the number given on Barclays site;

the telephone banking agent gave me a number to ring for the SAR team.

I rang the number several times but it was a dud number.

Made an appointment at the Bank,

spoke to an advisor who gave me an SAR request form to fill in;

I filled this in and sent it recorded delivery with my cheque for £10.

They received the form but again after 45 Days nothing.

At this point I gave up.

In December I recieved the letter from Barclays saying Additions was being removed and offering the Fee Free Account;

In January I went to the bank and cancelled the Tech and Travel pack.

This spurred me to look at claiming again.

I read on the internet that even with an SAR they only go back 6 Years;

so I thought well I won't gain much from it anyway.

Is this true that they only go back 6 years?

this is what I know:

I opened my current account with Barclays in March 1993 at the age of 21;

this was my first current account and to this day is the only current account I have ever held.

Through research I found that the Additions account wasn't introduced until 1996

I must initially have had a fee free account?

I do not recall ever agreeing to the Additions account;

I do not recall agreeing to iot being upgraded to Additions Plus.

I do not recall agreeing to the cost of the account being hiked up over the years.

As long as I can remember I have paid a fee;

I definitely remember it being £6.50 a long long time ago it may have even been £5.00 but not sure of this.

I remember it being Additions then Additions Plus;

before I opted for the Fee Free account without the Tech or Travel pack in Jan this year the fee was £16.00.

Over the years the fee increased;

I rember it being £13.50 at one point.

I think I may have had it from the beginning before Breakdown cover was included;

I know I had CPP card protection and I have a vague recollection of having a tag to go on your keys incase you lost them?

I suspect that my account was upgraded to Additions from my original fee free account without my knowledge.

Initially I did not have an overdraft with the account;

I asked for one at some point many years after I had opened the account somewhere between 2000-2005.

I only asked for a small overdraft for emergencies only and it was only a small one I would have only wanted £100 and probably wouldn't have used it in the beginning.

Maybe I was conned into having additions at this point; but I am sure I already had it.

Regarding the insurances;

I have only ever used the Breakdown cover and only once bcause I thought it was a free benefit to an account I had to pay for anyway.

I have never had any expensive gadgets or a mobile worth insuring

I have never used gadget insurance.

I only holiday in the UK and would never use travel insurance.

Over the latter years I have used my overdraft but again only because I thought it was a free perk to an account I had to pay for.

If I had had a fee free account I would have managed my money differently and could have done without the overdraft.

On January the 24th I this to file a claim:

Packaged Bank Account Claim: Barclays

Sort code or branch name: xx-xx-xx

Existing complaint reference: N/A

xxxxxxxxxxx

I am writing to you as I believe the packaged bank account which I have had since some time after March 25th, 1993 was mis-sold/inappropriate for me. This is because...

- I don’t remember ever agreeing to having this account.

- I was upgraded without my knowledge

Additional information:

- The addressess that I have lived at whilst holding the packaged bank account are:

xxxxxxxxxxxx

I have no recollection of ever having opened a package bank account.

I started banking with Barclays on 25/03/1993 when I opened a current account; I think that the reason for opening the account was that I needed an account to have my wages paid into.

You are the only bank that I have ever banked with and this is the only current account that I ever held. At some point it seems, my current account became a packaged bank account but I do not remember ever agreeing to this; I remember along time ago on my statements paying a £6.50 account fee which has been risen over the years to £16.00 without my consent!

I thought that this account fee on my statements was exactly what it stated; a fee for my account that I had to pay to have a current account; I did not know that the fee was for the additional benefits such as travel insurance, breakdown cover etc.. I thought that these came FREE with the account and that the account fee was for the account itself and NOT to pay for these benefits; which I never requested anyway.

Upon receipt of your recent letter informing me that Additions is being removed and giving me the option of removing the benefits; I have cancelled the tech and travel packs and now have a fee free account whilst retaining my overdaft facility which is all I have ever required from my bank account.

[removed template details - dx]

Today I recieved a reply and a questionnaire to fill in.

After researching on this site;

I think that my strongest complaint is that Additions was applied to my account without my knowledge or approval rather than it being mis-sold.

I think that this is reflected in my Complaint letter above.

Reading the questionnaire:

Section A asks for details of my Package Account.

Section B asks - Am I complaining about the sale of the account. - If NO go straight to Section F

Selecting NO here skips all of the questions in the questionnaire and takes me to Section F - any additional information

Section G - Your declaration.

End of Questionnaire.

Should I select 'NO' in Section B and skip all the questions.

Can anyone advise what additional Information I can give?

Also If the question is asked of when I became aware that I could have a fee free account and could make a complaint;

should I say December 2016 when I received the letter which is simpler

( But will they be suspiciouse of my earlier SAR requests and visit to the bank regarding them).

Or should I be honest and say that I heard through a colleague early in 2016

( They may ask why it took me so long to switch to a fee free account and to make a complaint - which was because I was waiting for my two SAR requests).

Any advice on how to proceed with my claim will be gratefully accepted;

I will keep an eye on my thread, respond to any replies and update my progress.

If I am succesfull I will make a donation to the the forum in thanks.

Thankyou in advance.

Alice

id be sending them an sar first

the address is in the Barclays sticky on this forums homepage

we KNOW they have data going back to the 1980's!!

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?443926-Barclays-additions-account-1999

Hi,

Thanks for your reply, will I have time to do another SAR though. As I started my claim with them and have recieved the questionnaire. How long can I delay before returning the questionnaire?

Thanks again for your reply.

received - I before e unless after C

theres no timelimit on the questionnaire

Thanks, I will do another SAR.

Sorry for poor spelling.

Hi Alice and welcome to CAG

You need to get used to the fact that YOU can dictate the way you reclaim Additions Fees. The bank cannot call all the shots. Take your time to get your reclaim right !

1. Do you have old statements for this a/c. If so, how far back do they go.

2. Do you know when you first started paying a/c fees.

Your first post is way too long - there may be useful info there but I'll trawl through it later if needed. Meanwhile, please answer my Q's.

Thankyou, sorry for long thread - wanted to include as much info as poss.

I only have statements from 2011.

Don't know when I started paying fees.

For as long as I can remember, have had my account since 1993.

Remember paying £6.50, have paid a fee for at least 15 years.

Possibly up to 20 years, need info from SAR to confirm.

Sure I had Additions before breakdown cover,

had CPP card protection and a fob for keys incase of loss

(I am sure this was through Barclays)

SAR time

Thanks dx100uk and slick132 for your replies.

Should I:

Submit a new Full Subject Access Request using the template on this site.

Or

Submit a failed SAR, for my second SAR that I sent on 23rd of September 2016 using Barclays SAR form. I have proof of postage for this request, it was delivered to the Knutsford address on 26th September, with my Cheque for £10 enclosed. I can print off the proof of delivery.

Thanks Alice

how many £10's have they cashed..?

They haven't cashed any.

good

pers i'd be sending a new sar then.

Thanks dx100uk,

Can you confirm that the address to send the SAR to; Listed on the Data Protection Public Register; is

Barclays Bank Plc

Head Office Customer Relations

1 Churchill Place

London

E14 5HP

and not the address I sent the last one to (Which I have found on this forum Is where to contact if you have no reply to sar)?

Privacy and Data Protection

Radbroke Hall

Knutsford

Cheshire

WA16 9EU

Thanks.

I'd use their London HO address.

Use Royal Mail Signed For delivery or get a free Certificate of Posting at the PO.

Thanks slick132

Would you recommend that I ask for all information that they hold, or should I include that I specifically want information relating to the opening of my additions account?

Thanks

The general SAR is all you need send and they should supply what you need.

Thankyou slick132

I will get this sent today and update my thread as soon as I hear from them.

Thankyou

Alice

Update and advice needed please.

I sent my SAR Monday 6th Feb it was received at the London address on Wednesday.

Today I have received another Questionnaire the same as I had already received and a covering letter asking me to fill it in and return, if I have not already returned the original.

It also says:

"If we do not receive this we will continue to investigate your complaint using the information we already hold"

What should I do, I do not want them to investigate and conclude the case without the opportunity to fill in the questionnaire using information from my SAR as a guide.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Alice

Respond to the latest letter saying your are awaiting data in response to your SAR.

Ask that they wait until you submit the first questionnaire , which you'll do when the SAR reply comes back.

Thanks for your advice slick32.

I will do that thankyou, Alice

I have blown my claim I think!!

Sent the letter asking them to wait for my questionnaire until I had a response from my SAR - First Class Recorded Delivery on Monday

Checked tracking and by Thursday it still had not been signed for.

That same day I had a call from the bank regarding my claim; it took me completely unaware and I panicked.

The guy said he had enough information; reeled of a list of dates that I had Additions. I had had it since May 1996 when it first came out; I opened my account in 1993. I did not hear all of the dates as I was in a noisy environment; should have asked him to repeat them but the call had stressed me out. He asked me if I had had any welcome packs etc and I said no; he then said I would recieve a letter in the next few days.

Recieved the letter; they have rejected the claim:

Most importantly they are saying my original Additions account is time barred as they are saying that I converted to a fee free account on 01/02/1998 and then converted it back to two months later to Additions on 16/04/1998. I cannot think for the life of me why I would have done this and have no recollection of this at all; I am absolutely sure that I didn't. I only know that I took a loan out in April 1998.

I think that if It wasn't for this my case would have been upheld - very convenient for Barclays.

They have said I upgraded to Additions Plus in branch on 21/06/2005; at this time I had found out that I was going to be made redundant so I cannot understand why I would upgrade my account to a more expensive one. Again I have no recollection of this at all.

Regarding my SAR they recieved it on the 8th Feb but they still haven't cashed my cheque.

Am I done now?

Is my case closed?

Should I still pursue my SAR to see if I can find evidence otherwise?

Can I ask for proof of closing Additions in Feb 1998?

Sorry for being such an Idiot; please can someone advise me.

Thanks Alice.

I have blown my claim I think!!

 

 

 

Am I done now? Not at all

Is my case closed? No

Should I still pursue my SAR to see if I can find evidence otherwise? Yes

Can I ask for proof of closing Additions in Feb 1998? Ask for proof of everything as the above seems illogical

Sorry for being such an Idiot; please can someone advise me.

 

Keep at them

 

Thanks Alice.

Andy

Thanks Andy!!

I have just been looking at the dates; and the date they said I closed additions 01/02/1998 was a Sunday. How the could I possibly have converted to a fee free account on a SUNDAY.

Also although I have put 16/04/1998 for re-opening additions (because I was at work writing my previous post without the letter), they actually haven't given a specific date, just APRIL 1998. Strange that they are so specific on the other dates.

Thanks again. Alice

Hi Alice,

Your case has not been compromised. However, You must NOT deal with this by phone at all from now on. If they call you to discuss your case again, tell them, IN WRITING ONLY.

Write to the bank using the address they've written from and get a free Cert of Posting or use RM Signed For delivery. Tell them :-

I refer to your letter of xxdate.

I am presently waiting for Barclays to reply to my SAR sent on xxdate.

I do not accept your findings for reasons I will go into later.

I enclose a copy of my SAR letter which enclosed the £10 fee. Please ensure it is replied to as required within 40 days.

Amend this as necessary to reflect anything I've not got right.

Also, what was the exact address you sent the SAR to ?