Willis approached us to review his case after his bank denied his claim that his packaged bank account had been opened without his consent.
What happened
Willis’s bank upgraded his bank account from a standard to a packaged bank account. A packaged bank account comes with extra benefits – like insurance and roadside assistance – but also charges fees.
In December 2019, Willis complained to his bank about the upgrade. He claimed that bank staff had upgraded his account without his permission, and that he wanted a refund of 15 years of fees.
His bank denied that it had done anything wrong, adding that Willis had agreed to the upgrade at the time.
It sent a final response letter confirming that it wouldn’t offer any refunds. Unhappy with the bank’s response, Willis decided to bring his complaint to us.
What we said
We spoke to Willis’s bank, who told us it didn't think we'd be able to look at his complaint because over six months had passed since it had sent its final letter.
In line with the rules we operate under, six months is our usual cut-off point for considering complaints. But we can accommodate customers who refer their complaints later than six months in exceptional circumstances.
When we spoke to Willis, we learned he’d been in a serious accident and spent nearly two months in hospital. He’d contacted us as soon as he’d been able to in recovery.
We recognised this situation as ‘exceptional circumstances’ and informed Willis and the bank that we could look into the complaint.