HBOS to refund Ultimate Reward account fees

BANK OF SCOTLAND customers are to receive compensation payouts after the institution admitted it had failed to inform them of hefty hikes in their monthly charges.

A substantial number of holders of the Ultimate Reward Current Account were not told when the cost of their account rose from £7.50 to £10.

Now, the bank, which first spotted the mistake last September, has written to inform those affected that they will receive a total of £56 paid into their accounts in compensation.

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Benefits for customers of the pay-for account included a range of insurance products - including mobile phone, travel and home cover. Bank of Scotland withdrew the account - its principal pay-for product - from sale in Scotland two years ago after it moved towards pushing Lloyds TSB accounts.

A spokesman for the Bank of Scotland said: “In 2011, we wrote to our Ultimate Reward Current Account (URCA) customers to inform them of changes to their account on 1 September 2011. Late in September 2012 we identified that some customers did not receive this letter, and have written to them to apologise for this.”

He added that customers now receive regular updates on details of the product. “We do apologise that a small number of customers did not receive prior notice of the change,” he said.

“We have now written to all affected customers again to draw their attention to examples of detriment which may be individual to them, and we will be refunding all affected customers with the increased fee plus interest.”

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