Welcome to our Help section, where you’ll find guidance on a range of popular topics.
We hope you’ll find this information useful, but if there’s anything not covered here that you need our support with, please just get in touch to speak to a member of our friendly team.
We welcome your feedback
We would love to hear your feedback, to help us constantly monitor and improve our service to you. Whether you have received fantastic service or have a suggestion for things we could add or improve on, we’d love to hear your views, via info@beverleybs.co.uk
Complaints Procedure
SUMMARY OF INTERNAL COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
This is how we will try to put things right if we are in the wrong.
We aim to provide you with the highest standards of service. However, there may be
occasions when our service falls short of your expectations. Where this is the case, we are
very sorry, and we will work to resolve things quickly and fairly. We will make sure the most
appropriate person handles your complaint and will keep you updated where necessary.
We take all complaints very seriously and where we are at fault, we will take steps to avoid
it happening to anyone else.
Step 1: Let us know if something is wrong:
| Unless otherwise specified, our opening hours are | Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri 09:00 – 17:00 Wed 09:30 – 17:00 Sat 09:00 – 12:00 |
| Write or visit us at | Beverley Building Society, 57 Market Place, Beverley, HU17 8AA |
| Call us on | 01482 881510. We do not use premium rate numbers. |
| Email us at | website@beverleybs.co.uk |
| Other | We will do our best to accommodate non-standard methods where necessary. |
Step 2: What we will do to resolve your complaint
We will follow our internal complaints procedure to resolve your complaint quickly and fairly and in line with our regulators requirements and the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).
This process may include the following steps:
| As soon as possible after receiving your complaint. | We will provide you with the Society Complaints Procedure |
| Within three working days of receiving it. | We may contact you for further information. We will aim to resolve your compliant and if resolved, will issue a written summary of the resolution which will confirm that your complaint is resolved. You will be reminded of your right to take your complaint to the FOS if you remain dissatisfied. |
| If we cannot resolve it within the above timescales, then within 5 working days of receipt of your complaint, | We will write to acknowledge receipt of your complaint, explaining that we need more time to investigate your complaint fully. We may contact you if we need further information to resolve your complaint. |
| Within 8 weeks of the initial receipt of your complaint (Non-payment services complaints only) | We will write a final response.We will remind you that you have the right to take your complaint to the FOS if you remain dissatisfied with the outcome. |
| After 8 weeks of the initial receipt of your complaint (Non-payment services complaints only) | In the unlikely event that we have not provided a final response, you can refer your complaint to the FOS. |
| For Payment services the process is slightly different after 5 days | Payment Services complaints relate to electronic payments. |
| If we cannot resolve it within three working days, then within 15 business days of receiving the initial complaint.(Payment services complaints only) | We will write a final response. You will be reminded that you can take your complaint to the FOS. |
| In exceptional circumstances within 35 business days of receiving the initial complaint. (Payment Services complaints only) | We will write a final response. You will be reminded that you can take your complaint to the FOS. |
Please note that the deadline for Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance Complaints has now passed.
Financial Ombudsman Service
We are committed to ensuring all complaints are fully and fairly addressed. Should you remain dissatisfied following the completion of our review or final response or in the unlikely event that we have been unable to provide a final response within the set timescales, you will then be entitled to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service free of charge within six months of the date of our final response.
FOS can be contacted as follows:
The Financial Ombudsman Service
Exchange Tower
London
E14 9SR
Tel: 0800 023 4567 (Mon to Fri 8am to 8pm)
Visit: financial-ombudsman.org.uk for more information or updates to these details.
Data Protection We handle people’s information with care and discretion. More information about this is available in our Privacy Notice.
To print out our Complaints Procedure, click here.
If you require additional assistance, please contact us and we will do our best to help.
We’re here to help
We understand that anyone can find themselves struggling financially, often due to unforeseen circumstances and no fault of their own. Bills can pile up and it becomes difficult to make ends meet. If this happens to you, it might be quite scary and you may be tempted to ignore the situation hoping things will improve.
If you're worried about paying your mortgage please contact us so that we can support and explore the options available.
However, if you find yourself in this situation, the worst thing you can do is bury your head in the sand and let your borrowing mount up. Instead, it’s important to ask for help, so that we can help you navigate a way through your financial problems.
Free and Impartial Independent support
If you’re struggling with your finances, you might also want to consider contacting a free debt advice organisation, and there are several out there that will be only too willing to assist you in understanding your problem, analysing your budget and outgoings, prioritising your debts and, if necessary, negotiating with your creditors to agree a manageable way of repaying what you owe and getting back on track.
Debt Advice Organisations
Citizens Advice
Free advice on debt, benefits, housing, legal matters, employment and general consumer issues.
0800 144 8848
www.citizensadvice.org.uk
Money Advice Service
Many people are feeling financially squeezed as we emerge from the pandemic and enter new uncertain economic times. Struggling to stay on top of bills, dealing with reduced incomes, rising living costs or job loss can leave them feeling like they don't know where to turn.
We offer free, clear and impartial money guidance, available to everyone when they need it.
MoneyHelper is here to help people find their way forward.
0800 138 7777
www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en
Stepchange Debt Charity
Free advice on bankruptcy, charging orders, employment, benefits, money management and mortgage and repossession support.
0800 138 1111
www.stepchange.org
National Debt Line
Free and confidential advice on debt in general.
0808 808 4000
www.nationaldebtline.org
Business Debt Line
Free and independent debt advice
0800 197 6026
MoneySavingExpert – Money and Mental Health
No debt problems are unsolvable. It might not be easy or quick, but there's always a route. When mental health problems are involved, some special solutions apply.
The best way to prevent fraudsters and scammers from getting their hands on your hard-earned cash is to know how to protect yourself in the first place.
The tips below explain some of the things you can do to protect yourself and what to do if you become a victim.
Be careful with passwords and financial documents
Don’t use the same password for multiple accounts even though you may be tempted to – this decreases the chance of someone else being able to access several accounts belonging to you.
NEVER write passwords down or give your password, bank account details or PIN to anyone.
If your PIN can be guessed easily (e.g. 1234 or 0000) change it NOW!
You should try to change your passwords regularly and make sure they are complex and difficult to guess. A complex password includes a combination of letters (upper and lower case), numbers and symbols.
Shred or burn all financial and personal information. Even a standard branded letter or envelope may show you have a relationship with an organisation. You would amazed how criminals can piece together enough information to defraud you from the simplest of things.
Take care of your passbook and other account information, let us know immediately if your passbook is lost or stolen and advise us of any change in your personal contact details as soon as possible.
Monitor your account activity regularly
You should monitor all your accounts regularly and if you spot any unauthorised transaction, contact your building society or bank straightaway.
Let us know immediately if you do not receive any information from us that you are expecting.
If you are paying a cheque into your account, make the cheque payable to yourself and add your account number on the ‘payee’ line.
Looking after a vulnerable or elderly person
The vulnerable and elderly are often targeted and befriended by fraudsters, and can often be the hardest hit. They may be afflicted by illness, such as dementia, and it’s not uncommon for people to lose their life savings, get into debt or suffer additional health problems if they fall for a scam.
If you care for a vulnerable or elderly person, there are warning signs you can look out for, such as receiving a lot of junk mail, phone calls from strangers or becoming secretive when discussing their finances.
If you are concerned that a vulnerable or elderly person is being targeted for fraud, contact us or the police immediately.
Seven helpful hints to protect you against fraud
We take your privacy and security seriously. To help protect you, here’s a recap of some simple steps you can take to keep your personal information and account(s) secure:
- Take care of your passbook and other account information, let us know immediately if your passbook is lost and advise us of any changes to your personal contact details as soon as possible
- Check your accounts regularly and let us know if you do not receive any information that you are expecting to receive from us
- Take care when getting rid of personal information or post and always burn or shred printed material to dispose of it
- Never write down any security information, such as passwords or pin numbers, or give these details to anyone
- Don’t respond to emails asking for account details as we will not contact you in this way. If you receive any email asking you to do this, please contact us immediately and report it as a phishing attempt to the organisation the email claims to represent
- Always log out properly from any online service, avoid using computers in public places and be cautious about carrying out any sensitive transactions over public wifi networks
- If you are paying a cheque into your account, make the cheque payable to yourself and add your account number on the ‘payee’ line, to rule out any risk of it going to the wrong place.
Phone scams
Fraudsters may call and pretend that they are your building society/bank or the Police and tell you there’s a problem with your account passbook, debit or credit card. They may ask you for personal details, suggest you key your card PIN into the phone or tell you they are sending a courier to collect your passbook/card. Fraudsters sometimes say they are from a satellite TV provider, phone or utility company and offer you a refund but to process the refund, they’ll ask you for account details or to do a transaction involving your debit card. NEVER give them your account details, password or PIN.
Often, they will fire several snippets of information at you in the hope that perhaps one of them will ring true, and convince you to part with precious information or payment details. However, legitimate organisations will NEVER ask you to take action such as this over the telephone, so tell them to write you, without giving them your address details, and out the phone down. If they are genuine, they will have your details and will be willing to take the time to get in touch with you via this more official method.
Alternatively, tell them that you are going to hang up and call them back, and find the telephone number for the company they claim to represent. If they are bona fide, you will be able to make contact this way, if they’re not, you can flag the scam up to the organisation concerned, so that they can investigate further.
Be aware that scammers sometimes don’t hang up after the initial call so always check the call is properly disconnected before calling the bank or Police to report them – wait five minutes or use a different phone if you can to do this.
Look out for emails, websites and hyperlinks
Be careful of any email from a retailer, building society or bank that is badly-worded or littered with spelling mistakes, or of any email that has an urgent deadline for response. A common type of email scam relates to purported tax rebates. HMRC will never email you about any money you are owed – it will always write to you via the post.
You should NEVER click on a link and enter your password – no matter how genuine it looks. NEVER open an attachment unless you are 100% sure of its contents, as this can provide the fraudster with access to your computer and personal information.
If you are not familiar with a website, BE WARY, as bogus websites are sometimes set up to facilitate financial crime and just because something comes up via a popular search engine, it doesn’t mean it’s reputable.
Always log out properly from any online service, avoid using computers in public places and be careful of carrying out sensitive transactions over public wi-fi, which could inadvertently give fraudsters access to your accounts.
Keep your web browser up-to-date, install recommended updates to all your apps, as these often relate to security; and protect your PC with the latest anti-virus software, as web viruses are one method commonly used by criminals to steal money.
Keeping you safe
We take your privacy and security seriously. To help you remain vigilant, here is a list of things we will never do:
- Send someone to your home to collect cash, passbooks, bank cards or anything else
- Ask you to email or text personal or banking information
- Call or email you to ask for any PIN numbers or online passwords
- Send an email with a link to a page which asks you to enter any online login details
- Call or email you to authorise the transfer of funds to a new account or hand over cash
- Ask you to carry out a test transaction online.
What to do if you are suspicious or if you become the victim of a scam?
- If it looks or sounds suspicious, report it
- If you have sent money, DO NOT send any more and report the issue immediately to your account provider and, if necessary, the authorities
- If you have already responded to something you suspect was a scam, DO NOT enter into any further communication, and report it immediately
- Contact us straightaway via (01482) 881510 or email , or by writing to us our visiting us in-branch [insert contact us link to address] if you feel your account with us might have been compromised.
- Report the scam to the police through Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or actionfraud.police.uk
- Speak to the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 03454 040506 or the Financial Conduct Authority’s helpline on 0800 111 6768
- Beware of other scams as you may be targeted again, particularly by firms offering to recover funds you have lost.
Scammers continue to find ever-more creative ways to get their hands on your cash, so this guide can never be completely comprehensive.
One simple principle to remember at all times is ‘if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is’.
This guidance explains how you can manage a bank or building society on another persons behalf. It describes the circumstances where it is possible and how it can be done. The guidance applies to England and Wales.
How to make a lasting power of attorney
