Tens of thousands of people could be owed money by their current account provider, Martin Lewis has warned.
Speaking on Thursday's ITV Money Show, the consumer expert said banks and building societies are sitting on thousands of pounds worth of people's money - and it's time to claim it all back.
It's to do with packaged bank accounts - which often include monthly fees for access to extra benefits, such as travel or home insurance.
However, there's growing evidence that these accounts were systemically mis-sold - with many people flogged worthless policies.
"Thousands of people are owed money through packaged bank accounts that were mis-sold to them," Martin said.
"If you were told you needed one of these accounts - recently, or in the past - you may well have been misled.
"It could be that they said you needed one to apply for an overdraft, mortgage or to boost your credit score. If you were told you needed a packaged account when you didn't, you could be owed money."
How will I know if I'm owed money?
If you've got or had a packaged bank account - where you paid a monthly fee for extras such as travel, mobile or breakdown cover - you may be owed cash.
That's because you may have signed up under false pretences.
Many people agreed to these accounts for cheap insurance, yet many of them didn’t actually qualify for the insurance they were sold.
This may have been because they were elderly or had medical conditions that meant they were exempt from the cover they were paying for.
"Worse, some of these people saw their monthly fees hiked without warning," Martin said.
"Payouts can be up to thousands of pounds - so it's worth checking if you are - or have ever been - subject to the charges."
What counts as mis-selling?
The Financial Conduct Authority states that the bank should have checked that the account was suitable for you at the time of purchase.
However, the reality is that many lenders failed to carry out these checks.
In some cases, customers were told they needed a packaged bank account to qualify for an overdraft, in others, they were simply forced into opening one.
These are some of the reasons you may have been mis-sold:
- You were sold insurance that you didn't qualify for. This meant you were outright mis-sold.
- You were forced into taking out the account - and, in the process, weren't warned about the full costs or terms and conditions of it.
- You were told you needed it for a product, such as a mortgage or overdraft
- The cost of the account went up without warning
- You tried to cancel but were told you needed it and/or could not cancel it
- You were told you needed it to boost your credit score - when, in reality, there are much better (cheaper) ways of doing this.
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How much can I get back?
If you were mis-sold, you should get all the fees you paid, plus interest, back.
For example, if you paid £30 a month for two years, you should get £720 back plus interest.
How can I make a claim?
If you've read the above and think you may have been mis-sold a packaged bank account, you can make a claim though your bank or building society.
If the lender rejects your complaint, you have a right to take it to the independent Financial Ombudsman Service.
You can make a claim via MoneySavingExpert (using their free template letter) or an alternative free service such as Resolver.co.uk.
