BarclayCard email about 'unneeded' payment protection plan?

[printosaur]

I am reading in the news about an email that BarclayCard supposedly sent to cardholders.

In it Barclays says they won't try to sell payment protection and ID Theft protection anymore, calling them 'products you don't need.'

Has anyone seen this email? If anyone has it could you post it?

I am very curious about this. What are they going to do for the people who already bought this unnecessary product?

[frugalQ]

That's interesting. I was watching the news this morning and the business segment was about ID theft. According to the report, everyone will fall victim at some point in their lives. They went on to talk about the importance of monitoring credit card purchases and credit reports.

It's odd that Barclay's would suggest not needing credit monitoring.

[enharu]

The main idea Barclays is trying to get across is that you do not need credit monitoring to maintain an account with them. You can get monitoring services from them or somewhere else, but its entirely up to you.

This is probably due to the judgment Amex, capital one and a few other firms got slapped with for trying to sell services that are grossly misrepresented to clients. It's just to make sure that banks cannot exploit those who are uneducated with financial and legal terms as much.

[frugalQ]

Thank you for the clarification. I was under the impression that they were saying credit monitoring was 'products u don't need'

[bs6054]

In the UK, Barclays and many other banks got into trouble selling Payment Protection Insurance.  On their website (and nearly all UK banks!) is the below.  Can the story refer to this, or has something similar happened here.

We apologise that you have or may have to make a complaint about the way your Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) was sold to you. We don’t always get things right for our customers, but when we get them wrong we apologise and put them right.

If you think you have been mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance on a mortgage, loan, overdraft, credit card or store card by any bank or credit card company, our advice is to make the claim yourself. It’s the quickest way to make a complaint about your PPI.

This is what usually happens when you make a complaint about PPI:

1.       We will acknowledge your initial complaint in writing within 5 days of its receipt

2.       We’ll contact you directly within 8 weeks with a decision based on the case information

3.       If we are offering you a refund we’ll then make sure you’re paid within 28 days of your agreement to our offer

Please note there may be exceptions to this timeline depending on the information available to us and the nature of each individual complaint.

Making a complaint
If you have already made a complaint
We are working hard to resolve your complaint as quickly as possible however we are dealing with a large number of PPI enquiries. You do not need to do anything further once you have contacted us to make your complaint. We will be in touch with you directly with an update about your case as it progresses.

This complaints have spawned businesses in the UK, Claims Management Companies who submit the claims for you.  Barclays says:

We would strongly advise you to avoid using a claims management company (CMC). Contrary to any advice or information you may receive from CMCs, we make no distinction at all between complaints made via a CMC and complaints you make directly.

• Using a CMC will not get your complaint resolved any faster
• Using a CMC will not alter the outcome of your complaint and will not mean you would receive an increase in the amount of redress owed
• Using a CMC could mean you are charged a substantial portion of any money you are due, in some cases up to 25% of your final refund      

[webhopper]

I had my wallet stolen and the their tried to empty my bank account at chase using my ID and my check made out to me.

Lucky for me they went to the branch I usually use and the teller knew I always came inside; not go through the window as a passenger in someones car.
they kept my ID and called me and cancelled that series of checks and issues me a new bank account.

I'm working on DHs identity theft now.

Thinking about doing a minor alert for DD and getting a security freeze for her reports when she is 15.

[frugalQ]

Did this happen recently? Scary!

I have a family alert plan. I've added my oldest DD (11 yo) to it, but I haven't added my youngest yet.