Customers may see windfall from ‘reckless’ Barclays mistakes

Up to 300,000 customers could be in line for a few hundred pounds from the issue which dates back to October 2008.

It comes after the bank revealed it is facing a £50 million fine over claims it acted “recklessly” in its multibillion-pound bailouts from Qatar in 2008.

A spokesman described the latest problem, which relates to arrears notices and statements, as “technical documentary errors” .

It was revealed in a 185-page bank document in which Barclays stated it has “identified certain issues with the information contained in historic statements and arrears notices relating to consumer loan accounts. It is therefore implementing a plan to return interest incorrectly charged to customers”.

A Barclays spokesman said: “Barclays has proactively reviewed information it has historically sent to its customers relating to interest charges where we have found technical documentary errors.

“As a result Barclays has identified certain issues with the information contained in some statements and arrears notices relating to consumer loan accounts.

“Due to these notification errors, interest was not due on certain accounts during the period that Barclays made this mistake, and whilst no one has been mis-sold to, customers are entitled to have their interest payments returned. No customer will pay more than they were ever contractually expected to.

“Barclays has notified the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) which is responsible for consumer credit issues and is implementing a plan to return interest payments to customers as swiftly and efficiently as possible.

“Barclays is undertaking a review of all its businesses where similar issues could arise to assess any related issues.

“Any affected customer will be contacted by Barclays and customers do not need to take any action.”

Barclays is facing further complaint after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) accused it of agreeing £322 million of secret payments to Middle Eastern investors to secure their support for cash calls totalling more than £5 billion at the height of the financial crisis.

Barclays, which contests the FCA’s findings, said the fees relate to advisory services over five years.

It is also being probed by the Serious Fraud Office and regulators in the US, and admitted it does not know how much the final cost will be.