I have banked with Barclays for years. The last few have been difficult and much of the time I have been a good investment for the bank as they have made a fortune from me by way of charges for being overdrawn, bouncing cheques and direct debits etc. I struggled but still got it wrong.
I have a Barclays mortgage and linked house insurance. A couple of days ago I got another letter from the bank. For a change it wasn't about what I owed them but what they owed me! The letter stated that following an audit it had come to their attention that my mortgaged property had been "dually insured" with Barclays Insurance Services and their Block insurance policy. They went on to say that the block insurance policy is no longer in force and that they have credited my account with a refund of premiums collected since January 1999! This was just under £1900. They then requested that I accept their "sincere apologies for this oversight and any inconvenience that may have been caused". Don't ask why I didn't notice the dual insurance, I just didn't. In fact my wife deals with the day to day finances but I know that's not an excuse.
My question concerns wether I have justification in asking for a refund of charges levied on my current account for being overdrawn when in fact it may not have been for a lot of the time if only the money that had mistakenly taken had been in my account. I am talking about charges re unpaids, overdraft charges etc going back to 1999. It's possible that some of the charges for unpaid direct debits related to the insurance itself. In addition, what about interest on the premium they have just repaid? They appear to have made a refund with no consideration of interest on money they held.
They have very clearly accepted liability. Barclays is a group and includes divisions dealing with banking, mortgages and insurances. Having said that though, they are all part of the Barclays empire and it's not like I had insurance with a completely separate organisation. Do I stand any chance in making a claim for a greater reimbursement? Who should I claim from?
I could go back through my account statements and assess the amount due but of course they would want to decide the amount for themselves if I did have a valid claim.
All comments appreciated.