Packaged Bank Account claim rejected - Please Help

[Jez198000]

Hi Guys,

I have just heard today that my complaint with RBS/Natwest around a Gold Advantage account has not been upheld which has completely surprised me seeing as I was unable to use any of the insurance products and that it was sold to me in branch in the space of 5 to 10 minutes (during a lunch break) and on the premise of being able to get an overdraft.

I thought this would be pretty open and shut case as I do not and have never driven. I live with my Mother and have done for the duration of the account being open which makes household coverage useless and when I tried to claim on the mobile phone insurance it was rejected rendering all of the insurance benefits useless.

I am pretty certain I have a case here and I am facing their first line of defence. When I asked how this account has been of benefit to me the staff member could not answer me and said they would reopen the investigation. The efforts have been terribel so far so I have now sent the following email to the CEO of RBS:

Dear Mr McEwan,

I am writing to you in regards to a recent decision by RBS/Natwest to reject my claim that the Advantage Gold account that I was mis-sold back in 2011. Having discussed this with a representative from your Chatham office today, I am unsatisfied with the reasons given to me as to why this was rejected.


My reasons for making this complaint are because I believe that the 5 minutes spent in branch (during a lunch break in which I still had to get lunch and eat it) did not allow sufficient time for the staff member to properly assess my needs around this account and certainly did not allow time for me to understand what I was being sold and how useless the products were.


I was led to believe that this was the only option for me to obtain an overdraft and that I would be saving money through the benefits offered when in reality these benefits were in fact useless to me.


I do not and have never driven a car so breakdown cover is useless to me (I am told by your staff in Chatham that the original paperwork displays a "big black" tick next to this benefit with the staff member today implying that I agreed this was useful. This is absurd as no one I know would agree to breakdown cover and pay for it when it is useless.


I do not own my own home and live with my Mother. As with the above, this was useless to me and again the staff member in Chatham indicated there was a tick next to household appliances. I can assure you that I made it clear that I did not drive and did not own my home.


Mobile phone cover - I actually had my phone stolen and tried to make a claim (while in Shanghai due to time constraints on reporting this. This claim was rejected so again, a benefit that was useless to me. i am told that Chatham are unclear who you were working with around this insurance and they have no record of my call which was extremely costly. I clearly explained this when I first called to complain but this seemed like new information to Chatham.


Travel insurance - This could have been useful as I did travel for work a lot at the time but had your staff member investigated my needs further they would have discovered that I was in fact covered by my place of work.


I do apologise for emailing you directly as I know you must be a very busy man but I do feel that this needs to be escalated as when I asked your staff member today what benefits I received from having this account I was deflected rather than being given an answer. Your staff member also kept on mentioning that the sales process would have involved a detailed examination of my needs to see if this was suitable for me and I did repeat that I was only in the branch for 5 minutes or so and there should be no big ticks on the original paperwork to suggest I would be happy with breakdown cover, home coverage, etc.


It seems that not all information has been passed along and I do feel efforts have been insufficient. Most unfortunately the line was cut off before I could finished my call with Chatham and I am now very confused. I am Bipolar and it causes me great anxiety to not know what is happening or where things are heading. I was told that this could now be another eight weeks. I did try to call back but the staff member was not available and did not call me back.


I would very much appreciate your advice and attention in this matter.


Kind regards

I would appreciate any comments you good people might have in terms of me pursuing this. I am pretty sure I will take this as far as it will go because although the money would certainly be useful, it is also about the principle and increasingly so when they seem to be doing their best to wriggle out of this.

Many thanks in advance!

[Amethyst]

Re: Packaged Bank Account claim rejected - Please Help

As you have had a final resolution from the bank now you should take it to the Financial Ombudsman.

[Jez198000]

Re: Packaged Bank Account claim rejected - Please Help

Thanks so much for coming back to me Amethyst. I have not yet had the final resolution as the lady on the phone today said she would reopen the investigation. On the basis that the insurance products were useless to me, do I have a case?

[Amethyst]

Re: Packaged Bank Account claim rejected - Please Help

I don't see why not, your case is certainly no weaker than many others that have gone on to win. The only item it appears that may have been useful was the mobile phone insurance, but your attempt to claim was rejected - was that because you were overseas at the time it was stolen? or some other reason ?

If the bank has reopened your case then you might need to wait for that to conclude before taking it to the ombudsman, but the reasons you have given for the products being useless show you wouldn't not have purchased them for any other reason than they were shoved at you in a 5 minute ''I need an overdraft'' conversation at the bank.

[Jez198000]

Re: Packaged Bank Account claim rejected - Please Help

Many thanks again. As I mention, I have emailed the CEO as well so will update on how this works out.

I was in the UK when it was stolen which was a day or two before I had to leave for a work trip. I managed to find time to report it to the police and thought I would put in my claim when I got back but I noticed online that the claim had to be made within a certain time so I rang (at great expense) from Shanghai.

They have no record of this and the lady I spoke with today didn't even seem to know what insurance company they were using at the time. The claim was rejected because the phone was not on my person and in my bag which was taken.

[leclerc]

Re: Packaged Bank Account claim rejected - Please Help

Many thanks again. As I mention, I have emailed the CEO as well so will update on how this works out.

I was in the UK when it was stolen which was a day or two before I had to leave for a work trip. I managed to find time to report it to the police and thought I would put in my claim when I got back but I noticed online that the claim had to be made within a certain time so I rang (at great expense) from Shanghai.

They have no record of this and the lady I spoke with today didn't even seem to know what insurance company they were using at the time. The claim was rejected because the phone was not on my person and in my bag which was taken.

I hate to be devil's advocate here but until you said that you had not made a claim in regards to the mobile phone insurance, I was looking at this case and licking my lips with anticipation. However, I'm not anymore once I read that part of the post.

I need to clarify a few points with you beforehand.
With mobile phone insurance you would have had to have registered your phone. Did you register your phone?
When you went to shanghai, were you insured by your company or by yourself?(ADGD has worldwide travel insurance so you were covered on that element)

I agree that other benefits did not cover you and that personally speaking, the way you have presented the facts ie that you would get an overdraft if you upgraded sounds about right for misselling but for me it appears that you may well have been aware of the insurance products as you have attempted to make a claim, and, but for them stating that the claim was not valid, you would have continued with the account knowing the benefits and knowing which ones you benefitted from.

.What i would like to know is what was the reason for the rejection of the claim? Have you simply argued you are not eligible for the insurance?

[Jez198000]

Re: Packaged Bank Account claim rejected - Please Help

Many thanks Leclerc for your response.

On the points where you need clarity, I was led to believe that I did not need to register my phone. I looked this up while in Shanghai and the travel insurance was pointless as my place of work at the time covered us for work trips.

Amazingly I have received a letter today telling me that they have not yet reached a decision which completely goes against what I was told yesterday. The reasons I was given were a little unclear as with now receiving this letter and the lack of knowledge displayed on their part suggest to me this has not been looked at properly at all.

The person I spoke to yesterday told me they had my signature and that I had agreed that home insurance and breakdown cover would be useful. I do not drive, never passed the test so I would never agree to pay for something I could not use and I live with my mother so the home cover was useless.

The account was sold to me on the basis that they could then give me an overdraft. I distinctly remember this as the amount offered was way to much and I only took a minimum amount.

Any comments greatly appreciated!

[leclerc]

Re: Packaged Bank Account claim rejected - Please Help

In that case, then my lips are most definitely juicier from this further piece of evidence. I would add that the bank have now given you your case from a potentially losing position to a dead cert victory because the so called paperwork, whilst it might have your signature on, is clearly fraudulently completed because if someone said sign here and you did then why would you sign a piece of paper that states breakdown cover would benefit you when you don't drive.

Just out of interest, could home insurance(I know you didn't take it out) have covered you or do you live in rented accommodation where ONLY contents insurance is something that you might even consider?

[Amethyst]

Re: Packaged Bank Account claim rejected - Please Help

I believe the OP lives with their Mother, so no need for any insurance.


Ah yes...

I live with my Mother and have done for the duration of the account being open which makes household coverage useless a

[leclerc]

Re: Packaged Bank Account claim rejected - Please Help

In that case we need the reasons for the final response and if it is breakdown cover and home insurance then this is misselling or at worst fraud in terms of their paperwork(to be honest).....

[Jez198000]

Re: Packaged Bank Account claim rejected - Please Help

Thanks very much Leclerc. It is a little unbelievable to me that when they are clearly in the wrong that they would go to such lengths to stop it being put right. The call yesterday where I found out they were rejecting stunk of an organisation chancing their hand. I asked repeatedly how I had benefited from this account and they could not answer. I also said to the lady, why on earth would I say breakdown cover would be useful to me and I am happy to pay of it when I do not drive or even have a license. I stated all of this when I first complained and she is now saying this is new information.

I rang them earlier and the lady dealing is not in the office again. I was told one of their managers would call me back today but nothing so called again at 4.50pm before they closed. I was told that a manager call back is done within 24 hours and they apologise. I know they must have a lot to deal with and I like to think I can be fairly patient but this is becoming a joke.

Home insurance would not have covered me as I live with my mother in a council home. Anything we need done is done by the council.

I am hoping that this can be resolved tomorrow with them calling me back for once and the CEO's office responding to me.

[leclerc]

Re: Packaged Bank Account claim rejected - Please Help

Stop ringing them Jez. Ask for their final response and then the FOS will deal with them. Deal with everything in writing because ultimately they can tell you anything and nothing is recorded. Remember, your word against theirs. Ask for a written response(none of this BS of that's new information).

If you emailed the CEO then ask for a copy of their paperwork relating to you having written down that you could benefit from Car Breakdown when you do not even own a car and home insurance when you live with your mum. In fact, ask them to see if an overdraft application was done on the day of the upgrade. If it was then it kinda supports your viewpoint.

Also, don't argue with a monkey cos the organ grinder might sack them. Ask them for a written formal response so that you can speak with the ombudsman and he can deal with that. Tell them you need a copy of the paperwork in which you had stated that home insurance and car breakdown would cover you because the ombudsman will need to laugh at such a piece of paperwork which will show that the bank person failed to even ask you if you even owned a car or whether you rented or owned a house. It's blatant misselling(and the fact that you didn't know about registering a phone(I assume that was an issue as well) shows that the one benefit that you might have benefited from was completely useless.

[Jez198000]

Re: Packaged Bank Account claim rejected - Please Help

Yes, I am worried that I am calling too much. Just frustrating as from all of my research and now what you guys are saying it seems pretty open and shut.

Thanks for the note on recorded calls. I thought all calls would be recorded.

I am fairly certain the overdraft application was done the same day. As I say, I remember them offering a large amount and me asking for the minimum on the day.

I am sure the ombudsman would have a laugh as the lady at Natwest said she has a list of the account benefits with the top ones being car cover, home insurance, etc all with big black ticks saying I agreed that these were useful which is simply untrue.

Will keep you guys updated, thanks so much for your help!

[Jez198000]

Re: Packaged Bank Account claim rejected - Please Help

Short update. I have had a call from one of the managers at Natwest to apologise for how this has been dealt with so far. She said this had now been escalated and would be looked at within 48 hours.

She was very polite and apologetic which I am grateful for. I did say this way it has been dealt with so far has really confused me and that I have been thinking that I should just let the ombudsman take over at this point. She urged me to give them one more chance.

What could this mean??

[leclerc]

Re: Packaged Bank Account claim rejected - Please Help

Give them until Wednesday then if nothing heard escalate to FOS if it's been over 8 weeks since you first complained.....