.....of paid-for 'packaged' current accounts

A clampdown to prevent banks and building societies mis-selling paid-for current accounts comes into force this weekend. The new rules follow fears that some customers have been throwing money 'down the drain' in monthly fees for accounts with add-ons such as travel or mobile phone insurance or car breakdown cover which later turn out to be useless to them. From Sunday, financial institutions will be forced to check whether a customer is eligible to claim under each policy as part of the new 'packaged' account rules introduced by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

They will need to share this information with their customers and alert them to policies where they are not covered. Annual statements will also be sent out so that people can check whether the account still suits their needs if their circumstances have changed. Packaged accounts are held by a fifth of adults in the UK and some charge about £300 a year. But the FSA found that a 'key risk' with the accounts is that customers assume they are covered by a policy, only to discover that they are ineligible when it is too late. Regulators want to make sure that customers are given the same level of protection they would have had if they had bought the products separately.....Read more here