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July 7, 2015 
Daniel Lee The next mis-selling scandal is upon us, and just as PPI before, the banks have been found not to be acting fairly when dealing with valid Packaged Bank Account complaints raised.
The product may be different, but the rules have been broken in the same way.
Packaged Bank Accounts will be the all over the news soon, and we’re already seeing a huge increase in customers approaching us to deal with their cases.
Just as with Payment Protection Insurance complaints, banks appear to be blanket rejecting Packaged Bank Account complaints in the hope that they will go away.
Unfortunately, in far too many instances, UK customers accept a decision by the bank and take the matter no further.
However, if they were to escalate the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, they stand an 80% chance that the rejection is overturned, and compensation is paid.
So why do banks reject valid complaints?
Simple really, we estimate the banks have saved £17 BILLION in compensation pay-outs simply based on customers not sending their rejected complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
It’s our belief that banks and lenders should be facing far greater fines for their frankly disgusting tactics, but the City Watchdogs and regulators appear to be under the spell of the banks.
Do you pay a monthly fee for your account, or have you in the past?
If the answer is yes then you may be one of the estimated 1 in 5 UK customers who have been sold a Packaged Bank Account.
Over 10 million of these accounts are currently active with potentially millions more that are no longer.
A Packaged Bank Account generally costs between £5 – £30 per month and includes various so called ‘benefits’ that commonly include things such as vehicle breakdown cover, mobile phone cover, travel insurance, life insurance amongst other things.
There are various reasons why a packaged bank account may be deemed as having been mis-sold.
Choosing Your Money Claim means we look after your case.
We’ll deal with the banks on your behalf every step of the way.
We know the tactics that the banks try to use, and we know how to overcome them.
We beat the banks every day of the week, and there’s nothing we enjoy more than being able to contact our customers and give them the good news that they’re thousands of pounds better off.
So, why not put your claim in the hands of the experts?
Simply fill in our online form, or contact us via phone, email or our live chat facility. We’d love to hear from you.
Packaged bank account complaints
October 7, 2014 Daniel Lee That’s right, it’s not a joke! HSBC chairman, Douglas Flint, says the bank and it’s staff are suffering from fatigue in trying to comply with tougher rules and regulations that are aimed at protecting customers. Now let’s all feel sorry for the banks shall we?!!
Mr Flint claims that slumping HSBC profits, who also own HFC and First Direct, are down to an ever increasing compensation bill for scandals such as the mis-selling of Payment Protection Insurance, and the recent increase in complaints regarding Packaged Bank Accounts.
Should we feel sorry for HSBC?
The illegal practises that generated billions in profits for the banks have been uncovered, and Mr Flint and his cronies have the sheer audacity to bemoan the fact that it’s costing time and money to try and put things right, and to adhere to new rules to try and avoid a future recurrence.
Should we feel sorry for HSBC?
Mr Flint has stated that his sales staff are nervous regarding selling products to it’s customers for fear of falling foul of tougher regulations. He even states some staff are having to work weekends.
Would these be the same staff who were systematically mis-selling PPI, packaged bank accounts and numerous other products in exchange for big bonuses?
Should we feel sorry for HSBC?
Were these the same staff who were happy to work every hour possible because of the huge rewards gained at the expense of their customers?
Should we feel sorry for HSBC?
Unfortunately, due to poor regulation even now, banks and lenders will never have to fully compensate the nation in the way it should. They still operate various tactics in an attempt to avoid paying out the compensation they should. They still reject valid complaints brought to them by members of the public who were innocently conned out of their hard earned money.
Should we feel sorry for HSBC?
Your Money Claim put right what the banks have done wrong. We’re used to beating the banks, we do it every day. If you’ve been mis-sold PPI, if you’ve been mis-sold a Packaged Bank Account, we’ll get you the compensation you deserve.
If you’re unsure whether you’ve had PPI, we’ll do the checks. We’ll deal with the banks every step of the way.
Put your claim with the experts, and together we can make HSBC pay for the errors of their ways.
Should we feel sorry for HSBC?
Simple answer really…..NO
HSBC profits hit
November 19, 2015 Daniel Lee Since 2009, there’s been one thing after another for the vast majority of the banks in the UK in terms of scandals, trouble and generally one bad thing after another.
One of the major banks in this country, Lloyds has already been fined billions for mis-selling a number of their products like Payment Protection Insurance or packaged bank accounts.
They have recently been fined another £28 million for promoting a ruthless sales culture but it would appear that these millions of pounds in fines don’t seem to have the desired affect on the banks.
Lloyds profits in 2013 stood at £3,205 million. A £28 million fine is therefore 0.87% of their profits. With the average UK income standing at around £26,500 that’s the equivalent of a £230.55 fine.
Not really a deterrent when you consider the profits generated by the tactics of Lloyds Banking Group, which includes Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Black Horse generated almost £2.4 BILLION in investments and premium payments.
Referring back to the average UK salary again. That’s the equivalent of receiving a £230.55 fine, but receiving a bonus of £19,843.20!!!
Will the regulators clamp down further? Don’t hold your breath.
An email from within Lloyds has emerged a just a week after Lloyds’ bill for mis-selling PPI has topped £10bn which reveals the aggressive sales culture that still exists within the bank.
The email was sent by an as yet anonymous regional manager to a branch and it shows how employees at the branch are set targets.
We can assume that, in all likelihood, emails of a similar nature are a common occurrence across the bank.
Targets set targets to make as many appointments with customers as is possible.
In the email, it goes on to mention that they should be helping customers with credit cards and uses the term ‘needs met’ to describe sales.
Given the historical conduct of UK banks and lenders we can safely say that ‘needs met’ does not reflect on the needs of the customer, it will no doubt be the needs of the bank as it always is.
As well as all of this, staff are set targets to hit for the number of ‘referrals’ they get.
This means that when they pass a customer on to another department of the bank to where they will try to sell the customer a different product or investment. In the industry, this is known as ‘cross-selling’.
In the email, the manager piles on the pressure and reprimands the branch staff for not hitting targets and for falling short.
One extract from the letter reads: ‘I will require the number of lending appointments booked again by email before you go home from every branch. Detail needed – how many lending [sic] booked for the next 5 days, how many advisers in the business.’
Also, talking about the number of daily appointments that the advisers are expected to make in a week, it advises: ‘I’ll give you a clue that 1’s, 2’s and 3’s are simply not acceptable.’
Another extract from the reads as follows: ‘9 customers helped with a credit card (which embarrassingly is our busiest day of the week!!!).
With volumes and productivity being measured, I don’t understand how 43 advisers can only help 20 customers with an internet (a free product?) and 0 with a credit card (another free product?)’
The letter then went on to warn staff who didn’t hit their targets that their bonuses will be cut: ‘Come on team you are better leaders than these numbers are telling me. You have ten working days left this quarter to make a difference to your half year.’
Mark Brown, of Lloyds Trade Union, which represents staff at the bank and has alerted the City watchdog to the email, describes the email as a clear threat to the staff.
Talking about the email, he said: “It’s not even implied. It’s gratuitous, offensive and menacing.’
The Union has since come out and accused the bank of being unfair and setting unachievable targets which, they added, ‘drive the wrong kind of behaviours, to the detriment of customers potentially.’
The email was written ad sent out in June of this year, just 6 months after Lloyds were fined a record £28m for promoting a sales culture in their branches and throughout the company in which a number of different workers were told that they would be receiving half of their pay if they didn’t hit targets that were set for them.
There were also ‘champagne bonuses’ put in place for selling customers certain kinds of investments that they didn’t want or need.
Members of staff got that desperate at one stage that one salesman sold himself insurance, his wife and a colleague in order to stop his salary from being cut.
Does this behaviour sound right and fair to you? No, that’s because it isn’t. The banks have had enough out of the population of the UK in the last few years, just look at the PPI mis-selling scandal and the next big one, mis-sold packaged bank accounts.
If you think you may have been mis-sold PPI or a packaged bank account, get in touch with us here at Your Money Claim.
We’re used to beating the banks on a daily basis, and we’d love to help you.
Lloyds Bank Fined
June 29, 2017 Daniel Lee Have you had a mis-sold Packaged Bank Account?
The mis-selling of packaged bank accounts is increasingly finding its way into the news columns and bulletins.
It’s touted at the next scandal for the banks after PPI.
One of the main questions we are asked is what actually qualifies as a mis-sold packaged bank account.
Bank sales people were often set targets on selling PBA’s, which led to sales techniques not dis-similar to that of PPI mis-selling.
If any of the following statements are true then get in contact, as you may have been mis-sold a PBA…..
We can build your case for you, based partly on your recollections of how you took out the account, couple with a more technical argument surrounding sales regulations and consumer contract law.
The banks know that we are aware of their tactics and they know that we won’t go away, we fight to the end, even taking the case to the Financial Ombudsman Service if we need to.
We handle the paperwork for you, keeping you regularly informed of your claim’s progress and ensure that the case is resolved as quickly and as efficiently as possible.
Start your claim today and you could soon be hundreds, or thousands of pounds better off.
Don’t let your bank get away with another mis-selling scandal.
Fill in the simple ‘Start Your Claim’ form to receive one of our claim packs, or simply click ‘Download Claim Pack’ if you wish to print and post your form.
Mis-sold Packaged Bank Account
August 14, 2014 Daniel Lee Your Money Claim strive to be more than just financial claim experts. We like to help out where we can, as well as claiming thousands in compensation for our customers.
You can keep up to date regarding our good causes, and if there’s anything extreme or interesting that you’re involved in, or planning, we’d like to hear from you.
Sometimes it’s nice to get an insight into what we do on a day to day basis, and we were only too happy to assist when we were contacted by Jamie England, one third of the 24 Hour Walkathon trio we’re currently following. Jamie is currently studying at University and was on the lookout for a little experience in a legal environment that could be of benefit to him. Jamie recently spent a few days in our offices seeing what we do. Now we did warn him that his current views of banks and lenders may be permanently altered after experiencing what they’re like, but he gave it a go anyway!
If you want to keep up with Jamie’s story, and his blogs, then you can follow him here. So, what did Jamie have to say…..
As a student sniffing around for work experience in the summer before my final year at university, I could have done a whole lot worse than spending time at Your Money Claim. The people were great, the work was interesting and I got my own little spot on the ‘important desk’!
I wanted something that would provide a nice stimulus for two of my interests: writing and finance. I’m fortunate enough to have a handy contact in Online Marketing at YMC and with a bit of negotiation we settled on a date for me to come and experience life in the real world – no student siestas or professional procrastination here. And to be totally honest, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was really, very different from what I expected it to be.
Firstly, meeting the boss-man, Danny, was great. He’s a very welcoming character and incredibly easy to get on with. I felt I could ask questions about the business and delve further into areas that sparked my interest as I researched them. We spent a considerable amount of time discussing the way banks operated in reality and I found the intricacies of the Libor fixing scandals and development of the PPI process truly fascinating.
The other man in charge, Nick, kindly allowed me to pick his brains on the second day. I think he called me a ‘nosey ******’, but he was very good and satisfied my – er – natural intrigue about how these two directors of YMC began their business careers, spotting an opportunity and making a beeline for success.
With Jake (Head of Online Marketing) overseeing my work, I was set tasks such as writing material for the blog, researching potential outreach targets and contacting relevant people to spark a working relationship. The best bit for me was being able to learn so much about the banking industry in such a short amount of time. I really enjoyed collecting information and then writing blog posts relating to the latest news.
It was also good to listen to Danny dealing with customers and clients. We had a good conversation about how reclaimed PPI sometimes was deducted from a debt owed to a bank by a client and how this is dealt with. Not long after the conversation Danny was on the phone to a woman, helping with her queries and the questions we probably all have. It was good to see how hard they work to keep people happy and stress free. It felt like a business which was in it for the right reasons, so every party could win (except, perhaps the banks, but do we care?)
The ethos as the company was brilliant and I will doubtless have many more boring experiences in placement than that at YMC! I got to try different things and ask loads of questions and am glad to say I got more from the experience than I originally expected. I like being around hard-working people and good, personable individuals with plenty of drive and plans for the future; I also asked plenty of questions about the upcoming Your Cash Cow venture and how they felt that was going to work. It’s interesting to be in a position where you’re practically interrogating businessmen and I can only hope I wasn’t too nosey (I’m lying, I don’t care).
To round it off, Danny was a fellow Burnley fan so we could give Jake (a Preston North End fan) some stick about his team.
It was a top placement and I look forward to keeping in touch with the guys at Your Money Claim!
Work Experience
October 7, 2014 Daniel Lee Lloyds Banking Group, which includes Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Black Horse amongst others, has admitted it has only received complaints on 40% of the total number of Payment Protection Insurance policies it has sold since 2001.
We cannot see any reason why this won’t be the same across the financial sector, with the likes of HSBC, Barclays, Santander and RBS/Natwest.
Following on from my previous blog regarding my calculation that approximately 7 million people have yet to make a PPI compensation claim, it appears the banking industry is hoping that the majority of people who have valid reason to complain do not come forward.
I think it’s fair to assume that the majority of those who have come forward so far to claim their PPI compensation were aware they had been sold PPI, but were mis-sold it based on the policy not being explained properly or were not aware the policy was entirely optional.
That still leaves an astonishing number of UK customers who have yet to stake their claim to what is rightfully theirs. It’s clear that one of the main reasons why so many haven’t yet claimed their compensation is due to the fact that lenders systematically added PPI to loans, mortgages, credit cards, store cards and hire purchase agreements without the knowledge of their customers.
With policies worth £50 billion sold since 2001, the banks and lenders have set their bar very low in assuming the final bill to the financial sector for the scandal will be around £25 billion. The message simply must get out to the UK population to check to see if you’ve had PPI. We believe that if you took credit out prior to 2010 you would be in a minority if you weren’t sold PPI. So…please don’t assume you haven’t had PPI, you may be very surprised.
If you have access to your credit agreement you may be able to check from that. However, it’s not always clear from first viewing. The majority of us won’t have access to credit agreements, especially if the loan, mortgage, card etc was taken out a long time ago. This is where Your Money Claim can assist.
With years of experience in the financial sector, Your Money Claim has set up fast-track systems with most major lenders whereby we can check whether you’ve been sold PPI in the first instance. With a few simple questions we’ll be able to see if you have a case. Then comes the tricky part, but it’s where our experts thrive, dealing with the banks and the tactics they may try to employ to try to wriggle out of paying the compensation. We deal with every step of the process, and nothing pleases us more than being able to contact our customers to advise them that we’ve beaten the banks again, and secured thousands, or even tens of thousands of pounds in compensation.
So why wait…start your claim today and who knows, you could soon be in receipt of the compensation you deserve.
PPI compensation
