Packaged Bank Accounts

1. Packaged Bank Accounts What is a Packaged Bank Account? Packaged bank accounts or paid-for accounts, charge a consumer a monthly or annual fee. These accounts are often under names, such as gold, premium or reward, they may hide under many different guises but the thing they all have in common is that they all include benefits and perks. For example a typical account might include things like travel insurance, breakdown cover, phone insurance and overdrafts. These usually cost £5 to £25 per month for the consumer. Packaged accounts are a good option for some, providing they know what the benefits are and how they can use them to their advantage. But now, it has emerged that many were mis-sold an account and can now make packaged bank accounts claims against their banks. Packaged Bank Account Claims: Am I Entitled to Refund? The controversy surrounding packaged bank accounts is that some customers are unaware they even had them in the first place or those that did were unaware they were paying for the benefits. Some customers who had insurance policies attached to their accounts, were unable to claim and discovered that they were never covered in the first place. Common reasons being an age limit or a pre-existing medical condition. There are many limitations in these policies that people have run into in their packaged accounts. Often these are things the customers wouldn’t expect to find in stand-alone insurance policies. Sometimes in order to activate these policies customers had to buy the packaged accounts. Even if the bank gave advice, it’s important they gave correct and concise information about the cost, workings and the specific products available, that way the customer was able to make an informed and clear decision about getting the product.

2. How Long do Refunds Take? Banks are given up to 8 weeks to issue their final decision. Should they then offer a refund, they are given another 28 days to issue that refund, once it has been accepted by the customer. It currently takes around 8 weeks for us to get an offer of settlement. If we need to involve the FOS this will be longer. If you require any more help regarding your packaged bank account claims, get in touch using the form or the phone number and we’ll endeavour to advise you through the process HOW TO APPLY: Stages Completing our Free Assessment application is really easy. If you have any difficulty or would prefer to talk to us, please call on 0800 862 0571  Step 1 (Your Details) We need all of your contact details, not just to help the bank locate your account but so we can update you throughout the process. To ensure we contact the correct bank account provider, if we start a claim, we need to know the name of the bank you used.  Step 2 (Your Claims) You will need to provide information regarding your circumstances at the time and the packaged account sale. Will use this information to make an assessment on the likelihood of your account being mis-sold and the strength of your mis-sale claim.  Step 3 (Choose How You Want To Receive Your Pack) Once we have received all your information we will advise whether you are able to claim for compensation or not. After which you can choose whether you wish to continue using our services.

3. CONTACT US: Email customer.services@i-smartbusiness.co.uk Telephone 0800 862 0571 Company Registration Number 05238848 Registered in England and Wales iSmart Consumer Solutions is regulated by the Claims Management Regulator in respect of regulated claims management activities CRM2506; it’s registration is recorded on the website www.gov.uk/moj/cmr Please remember, you are free to make any complaint regarding mis-selling of PPI directly to your provider yourself. PLEASE VISIT:http://www.packagedbankaccounts.co.uk/