From 7 October 2024, if you lose money as a victim of an authorised push payment (APP) scam, you will have a new right to reimbursement of your losses up to £85,000.
We will update our Terms & Conditions to include this right and will contact you once we have done this. But for now, we wanted to let you know what it means for you.
What is an APP scam?
An APP scam is where fraudsters deceive or manipulate their victims into making payments. This could be:
- being tricked into transferring funds to a fraudster; or
- transferring funds for what you believe is a legitimate reason but turns out is fraudulent.
Your right to reimbursement
You can only make a claim for reimbursement if:
- The payment was made via Faster Payment or CHAPS
- The payment was made after 6 October 2024
- You raise your claim promptly upon learning or suspecting you have fallen victim to an APP scam, and no later than 13 months of the last payment being authorised
- The maximum you can claim under this right is £85,000
Exclusions
There are certain exclusions which will mean you are not eligible for reimbursement:
- First party fraud
- Where you have acted fraudulently
- Gross negligence
- Where something you have done, or have not done, is very obviously wrong or careless
- Time exclusion
- Where a claim was made before 7 October 2024 or more than 13 months after the final payment made to the fraudster
- International payments
- Where an international payment was made
- Payments which take place across other payment systems
- Where a payment was made by cash, cheque or card
- Payments made to an account that you control at the time of the payment being sent
- Where a payment was made to an account you can access and make payments from
- Payments not authorised by you
- Where a payment was not authorised by you. In this case, you could report this to us as fraud and request a refund
- Civil disputes
- Where a dispute requires resolution
- Payments sent to or received by credit unions, municipal banks and national savings banks
- Where a payment was sent to or received by an account provided by a credit union, municipal bank or national savings bank (e.g. NS&I)
- Lack of co-operation
- Where we determine you have not co-operated with our investigations
What to do if you think you may be a victim of an APP scam
Contact us as soon as you can. Call us on 0345 111 7092 (we're open 9am-5pm Monday-Friday and 9am-1pm Saturday). Alternatively, send us a secure message via Internet Banking or our Savings Mobile App.
Our team will take some details from you and arrange for one of our Scam Specialists to get in touch. They will contact you as soon as possible, and will ask you questions around the fraudulent payments. We will require your full co-operation, or you may be excluded from reimbursement.
We may also advise you to report this to the police or Action Fraud, or we may report this on your behalf.
What you can expect from us
We will give you regular updates. We will consider each claim on a case-by-case basis and take into account any vulnerabilities you may have (including health, life events, resilience, and capability).
Where a claim is eligible for reimbursement, we will reimburse the funds to your Secure Trust Bank Account and let you know when we have done this.
If a claim is not eligible for reimbursement, we will contact you to let you know.
If you are unhappy with the service you receive, or the outcome of your claim, you can raise a complaint at any time.
Additional support
There are resources available if you require additional support:
For information on how to protect yourself from fraud and scams, see our keeping you safe online advice.
The Take Five campaign also offers advice to help prevent fraud. Visit the Take Five website.
Action Fraud is the UK's national reporting centre where you can report fraud or scams. Visit the Action Fraud website or call 0300 123 2040.
If you have been a victim of fraud, Victim Support can provide you with free and confidential advice or information. Visit the Victim Support website or call them free on 0808 1689 111.