Payment protection

If you think you’ve been the victim of an APP scam, here’s some helpful information about what’s covered under the new rules:

• Payments made by individuals, microenterprises and charities
• Payments made using CHAPS, Faster Payments or internal transfers
• Payments made within the UK
• Payments made on or after 7 October 2024.

You must report an APP scam no more than 13 months after the last fraudulent payment was made. And the maximum amount you can claim is £85,000.

There are some situations where you won’t be able to get your money back under these new rules. This includes if: 

• You paid using cash or cheque
• The payment was made to another account you control or you didn’t authorise it
• There is a civil dispute over the payment
• The payment was sent/received by a credit union, municipal bank, or a national savings bank account
• You have acted fraudulently
• You haven’t met the consumer standard of caution. 

The consumer standard of caution is a set of steps you must follow before and after you make a payment. If it’s found during an APP scam investigation that you haven’t followed these steps, it could mean your claim is unsuccessful. 

Meeting the consumer standard of caution means that:

• You must follow our advice to check that your payment is genuine and any of our warnings if we let you know that we suspect the payment you’re making is or could be fraud. You also need to follow any instructions from the police or the National Crime Agency.
• You must report the fraud as soon as possible and within the APP scam time limit.
• You should provide additional information we may ask for about your claim.
• We might ask you to report details of the scam to the police or do this for you. You must consent to this where possible and reasonable.

• Contact us immediately if you think you’ve been the victim of an APP scam. You can do this by popping into your local branch or calling us on 0800 121 8899 Monday to Friday 8am-7pm or Saturday 9am-2pm.
• Our Financial Crime team will then begin to investigate what’s happened and look into reimbursing you for your loss. They may ask for further information, like documents, messages or screenshots or suggest the police should be involved.
• We’ll assess every APP scam claim on a case-by-case basis, looking at the evidence you present along with any information we have.
• We will keep you updated on timescales as the investigation progresses.

Remember! You must report an APP scam no more than 13 months after the last fraudulent payment was made. And the maximum amount you can claim is £85,000.

If you’re unhappy with how we dealt with your claim and don’t agree with the outcome of your complaint, you can contact the Financial Ombudsman Service. This is a free, independent service. For more info, please visit www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk