Packaged bank accounts

Packaged bank accounts are current accounts that come with a “package” of extra features – from mobile phone and travel insurance, to preferential rates on overdrafts and loans. 

We sometimes hear from consumers who feel their account wasn't suitable for them, or that they weren't given a choice about taking the account. On this page you'll find information about resolving complaints about the sale of packaged bank accounts.

Packaged bank accounts can have names such as ‘Gold’ or ‘Reward’ accounts, and include additional features at a monthly fee for the customer. 

Customers may complain the account was mis-sold because they:

• weren’t given a choice between a packaged account and a free one
• were unaware of how much the account would cost or what features would be available
• were unable to use one of the account’s features
• didn’t want or need some of the features that came with the account because they already have these things separately
• didn’t know they were opening a packaged bank account
• were told by the bank that they had to open the account to get another product or service – an overdraft, credit card or loan, for example

We look at evidence from both sides to understand what happened. If you recommended the account, we'll need to know how you made sure it was right for that particular customer. This will mean understanding the customer's personal and financial circumstances at the time.

To make a fair decision about a complaint, we consider the things like:

• how the account was sold
• whether the customer was given a fair choice and if relevant, offered free alternatives
• whether the account features were clearly explained
• whether the customer was told how much the account would cost
• whether the account as a whole might have been useful for that particular customer at that time
• whether the customer was misled about how much they might save by choosing the account

We will also need to ask for evidence to help us make a decision, for example, recordings of calls or customer records. Once we have received a complaint, we may ask for you to complete one of our packaged bank account questionnaires for businesses.

When a customer complains to you, consider whether your customer was given a choice about having the account, what they were told about its features and how much the account would cost. You can read more about our approach to complaints we've seen in our published individual decisions and use the information on this page to help you.

You should give your final response to complaints within 8 weeks. Find out more about time limits for businesses.

We only look at complaints that you've had a chance to look at first. If a customer complains and you don't respond within the time limits or they disagree with your response, then they can come to us.

Find out more about how to resolve a complaint.

We'll review the complaint and let you know what we think. If we think an account has not been properly explained, or a customer has not been treated fairly we'll consider whether the customer has lost out as a result, and what you need to do to put it right. This could mean refunding the account fees, but deduct any savings made by the consumer, like savings on overdraft charges.

Read more about understanding compensation.

We expect claims management companies (CMCs) to practice in accordance with the rules set out by their regulatory body, whether this is the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). 

Our approach to complaints on this issue is well understood by banks, and they are usually able to resolve complaints before they come to our service, and our published data shows that the uphold rate for this product is low. So we expect CMCs to consider carefully the bank's final response before sending a complaint to us and to set out what other factors need to be considered. 

As well as using your own knowledge and experience, our approach is well-established and you can refer to published individual decisions and the information on this page to help you as you consider the business' response. 

To bring a complaint to us on behalf of a consumer, you'll need to provide detailed and specific reasons as to why the consumer believes their accounts were mis-sold. If the consumer is complaining about multiple accounts you'll need to supply separate arguments of what the consumer thinks went wrong for each individual sale. 

Where the business has explained that it believes the complaint is outside of our jurisdiction, we would expect a CMC to consider the reasons and the jurisdiction rules as set out in DISP and explain why these have not been correctly applied in the particular case when referring a complaint to us. 

If you are planning to refer large numbers of packaged bank account related complaints to us, we would encourage you to get in touch with us via our Business Support Hub first, to discuss this.

We also have information for consumers on packaged bank account complaints on a separate dedicated page. 

Businesses and consumer advisers can contact our Business Support Hub for general information on how the ombudsman might look at a particular complaint, or for guidance on our rules and how we work.

Search our database of published ombudsman's decisions.