HSBC refused me £205 switching money as a result of I had account 21 YEARS in the past

Late final 12 months, HSBC was providing a £205 money bonus for brand spanking new clients switching checking account.

I checked the small print and certified for the supply, so I utilized and acquired the account. But I realised later I by no means obtained the bonus money.

When I known as HSBC to ask why, it stated I wasn’t eligible as a result of it was just for new clients who had not had any HSBC accounts since at the least 2018.

I as soon as had an account with Midland Bank (now a part of HSBC) however I closed it greater than 20 years in the past. Can you assist? D.W, Grimsby

Helen Crane, This is Money’s shopper champion, replies: Until just lately, swapping your present account to a special financial institution was a profitable sport. 

Today there is only one supplier providing such an incentive – Lloyds, which earlier within the week launched its new £175 Club Lloyds switching supply.

But in 2023, excessive road banks had been falling over themselves to reel in new clients with a little bit of free money – and a file variety of us took them up on it.

November noticed the very best whole variety of month-to-month present account switches for the reason that Current Account Switch Service was launched over ten years in the past, with greater than 162,000 folks taking the plunge.

HSBC’s supply within the autumn was significantly tasty, dangling a £125 carrot for opening an HSBC Advance or Premier present account, after which one other £80 on prime for opening a Global Money account for abroad spending. 

You went for it, however not earlier than you duly checked all of the small print to ensure you performed by the principles to get your £205. 

Banks make switchers soar by hoops to get their free cash, as a result of their objective is to get folks to make use of it as their fundamental checking account quite than merely change, pocket the money and run. 

This can embody organising a sure variety of direct debits on the account, depositing a particular sum of money in a set time frame or making a selected variety of transactions.

And to cease folks getting too switch-happy, they often prohibit the accounts to new clients solely, or those that haven’t banked with them for a sure variety of years. 

In your case HSBC stipulated that to get the £205, clients weren’t allowed to have had an account with them since at the least 2018. 

You did not assume this was an issue, as your final HSBC account was a not more than a distant reminiscence.

In truth, it wasn’t an HSBC account in any respect while you opened it, having finished so within the Eighties with the now-defunct Midland Bank. HSBC acquired the enterprise later in 1992, and also you closed the account in 2003.

That was 21 years in the past and the 12 months The Da Vinci Code was revealed, England gained the Rugby World Cup with a group that includes star participant Jonny Wilkinson and Yugoslavia was renamed Serbia and Montenegro.

So how might that cease you opening the account at present?

When you did not obtain the £205 bonus, you known as HSBC to ask why. First, you had been merely instructed you had had an account after the closing date of 1 October 2018.

That did not make sense, so that you dug deeper and came upon the account you had was closed on 6 September 2021.

You had requested for the account to be closed in 2003 by writing a letter to the Caerphilly department of Midland Bank, as this was earlier than you – and many individuals – had entry to the web.

But HSBC by no means took motion in your request, and the account had in reality stayed open all these years.

It nonetheless refused to pay you the £205 after you defined what had occurred, and that’s while you contacted me.

You assume HSBC ought to pay you because it was the financial institution’s error that account was by no means closed.

I can perceive why, after going by the annoying rigmarole of switching a checking account, you’ll be pissed off to finish up with no reward.

Most banks have a coverage to freeze or shut accounts if no transactions are made for a sure interval, so as to stop them moving into the palms of fraudsters.

In HSBC’s case, an account is generally classed as inactive or dormant if it hasn’t been used for 2 years. However, it could take for much longer for the financial institution to establish and shut it – and in your case, it stayed open for 18 years.

I contacted HSBC and stated I believed it ought to pay you the £205. It’s now inconceivable to work out what occurred to that letter you wrote in 2003, however it’s abundantly clear that the account has been inactive.

It checked its data for the final 10 years and located the account had not been utilized in that point, so it agreed to honour the money bonus. 

An HSBC spokesman stated: ‘We are sorry [the customer’s] request to shut his account wasn’t actioned on the time.

‘We can see [he] didn’t use his account for 10 years previous to us closing it in 2021 and now we have now credited his account with the £205 cost.’

However, HSBC did additionally say that it had despatched you some letters over time indicating that the account was nonetheless open.

You stated you had both not obtained or not opened these, maybe throwing them away assuming they had been junk.

I’m glad you bought your money bonus in the long run.

Where’s my signed Michael Ball e book? 

In December, my husband and I went to a night in dialog with the West End star Michael Ball at a theatre in London, the place he was speaking about his new e book.

I paid £106 in whole, which included £73 for the 2 tickets, a reserving price and an additional £25 to get a signed copy of Michael’s new e book. The night was organised by the occasions firm, Fane. 

The speak was great, Michael Ball was his good self and even sang on the finish. But once I went to gather my e book, it sadly wasn’t signed. 

There was a gentleman subsequent to me who was ready to choose up his spouse’s e book and he was additionally dissatisfied for a similar motive, as had been two different teams I spoke to. 

I paid £25 for a non-signed e book that I might have purchased for £10 on Amazon, so I would really like my £15 again. 

I contacted Fane and it stated there was no proof {that a} signed copy of Michael’s e book was promised. I seemed again on my bill and it simply stated ‘e book’. But I’m certain it was marketed as being a signed e book.  

Why else would so many individuals say the identical factor? Can you assist? H.F 

Helen Crane replies: I’m glad to listen to you continue to loved the present, however sorry to listen to it did not finish on a excessive notice as you headed dwelling with no copy of the signed e book. 

Michael Ball is understood for his performances in Les Miserables, amongst different West End hits, and also you had been left feeling pretty depressing your self as you did not assume you bought what you paid for.

Often with e book excursions, the e book is bought signed – or there’s at the least the choice to remain round on the finish and get your e book signed by the writer if you want. 

While I am unable to discover any proof that the e book you pre-purchased was marketed as being signed, I do assume it’s attainable that this was the case.

I discovered an advert for one more date on the identical e book tour – not organised by Fane – which stated the e book got here included within the ticket value of round £35 – so the very fact you paid an additional £25 for an unsigned e book on prime of your £36 ticket does appear expensive. 

I wished to ask Fane about this, and examine that you just weren’t being unfairly being finished out of your autographed copy.  

But sadly, that was inconceivable. Fane does not have a cellphone quantity, saying on its web site that the telephones are at the moment ‘not being monitored’ and and directing folks to its on-line FAQs.

I discovered a contact type and have despatched three detailed messages to this inbox during the last month, however have had no reply. 

It is basically irritating when corporations do that, as a substitute of creating it straightforward to choose up the cellphone or ship an electronic mail to an actual individual.

Hilariously, the one response I did get was an automatic electronic mail asking me to charge Fane’s customer support. That was not music to my ears. 

I take that to imply that the corporate is not going to be trying into this matter any additional, and I’m sorry I could not be extra assist. 

But if anybody studying this has a contact for Michael Ball, and he may be keen to signal a e book for a dissatisfied fan – do get in contact.