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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Business
Levi Winchester

Martin Lewis fan explains how they won back £3,500 from their bank - are you due cash?

A fan of Martin Lewis has explained how they claimed back almost £3,500 on behalf of her mum from her bank.

The MoneySavingExpert reader, known only as Elaine, said her mum had been mis-sold a packaged bank account.

These are a type of premium account that offers products such as breakdown cover, mobile and travel insurance in exchange for a monthly fee.

But these accounts aren't right for everyone - and if you were mis-sold, you may be entitled to money back.

For example, you may have been incorrectly sold your account if weren’t properly told what they were getting and paying for.

Or it could be that you didn’t realise you were paying a fee, or you couldn't use the insurance that came with the account.

Writing in to MoneySavingExpert, Elaine explained how her mum had a packaged bank account that she only used to make payments to a charity - she didn’t use any of the extra products attached to it.

"I have Power of Attorney for my 93-year-old mum who has Alzheimer's,” she said.

“I discovered all she had used this account with a monthly fee for was to make one monthly payment to a charity. I got my mum £3,456.23 back.

“I wouldn't have complained if I hadn't been made aware by your programme. Thank you."

How to reclaim packaged bank account fees

MoneySavingExpert has a checklist of all the different ways you may have been mis-sold a packaged bank account.

You may be owed money back if you fall into one of these scenarios:

  • You were wrongly told you had to get it

  • You couldn’t use the insurance

  • You were misled into taking out the account

  • The fee was added without you knowing

  • You tried to cancel but were forced to keep it

  • You were told it was the only way to get an overdraft

  • No one mentioned you needed to register your phone/car

  • You were told having one would improve your credit score

If you were mis-sold, you should get back all the fees you paid for the entire time you had the packaged bank account, plus interest.

How much you get will depend on how long you had the account for, so this could potentially run into the thousands if you had it for a long time.

To start a claim, you'll need to get in touch with the bank you had the account with and explain why you believe you were mis-sold.

There are free organisations such as Resolver that can help you word your claim.

If the bank rejects your claim, or doesn't respond within eight weeks, you can take your complaint to the free Financial Ombudsman for free.

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