Every week at Claim My Loss, we talk to people who’ve lost life-changing sums in scams or mis-sold investments. We know how devastating it is when your trust has been betrayed, and when your bank or payment provider seems to shrug it off.

So, let’s talk about what’s changing for victims of fraud and mis-selling.

Payment Processors and Banks in the Spotlight

If you’ve lost money in an investment scam, crypto fraud, or romance scam, you probably know the feeling of helplessness when the fraudsters vanish without a trace. For years, victims have hit a brick wall trying to get their money back.

Often, the banks and payment processors who moved the money just say, “You authorised the payment, it’s not our problem.”

But regulators and the courts have been clarifying when payment providers can be held responsible, and there’s new hope in the form of stronger rules and evolving standards.

What Hamblin v Moorwand Tells Us

A recent High Court case, Hamblin v Moorwand (2022), highlighted how difficult it can be to hold payment providers legally responsible for fraud just because they processed scam payments. The court found that simply handling a payment doesn’t automatically make a provider liable as the scammer’s ‘agent’ or create a duty to block the transfer.

While that ruling didn’t create new routes to sue payment processors, it clarified what claimants need to prove. More importantly, it’s pushed attention onto where real change is happening, through regulation and better consumer protections.

Why Victims Still Have Hope

If taking legal action against payment providers directly can be difficult, victims still have other strong options:

1- The CRM Code

Many UK banks follow the CRM Code, which requires them to refund victims of APP (Authorised Push Payment) scams in most cases unless the customer ignored clear warnings or was grossly negligent.

Even for banks not signed up, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) uses it as a benchmark for what’s fair and reasonable.

2- New PSR Mandatory Reimbursement Rules

Even bigger changes are coming.

This year, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) is introducing mandatory reimbursement rules for APP fraud on Faster Payments.

• Banks and payment service providers will have to reimburse victims in most cases.
• The cost will be split between sending and receiving providers.
• Customers will typically only pay a small excess.

This will give scam victims much stronger and clearer rights to get their money back without needing to prove negligence in court.

3- FOS Expectations

The Financial Ombudsman Service continues to require banks and PSPs to refund scam victims if they missed obvious warning signs, failed to provide proper warnings, or processed suspicious transactions without checks.

Even if some legal claims fail, the Ombudsman can still order reimbursement based on fair and reasonable practice

What About Time Limits?

If you’re thinking about making a claim, remember that time matters.

In English law, you normally have six years to bring a claim for financial losses like fraud, negligence, or breach of duty.

• If you made a payment in 2023, you usually have until 2029 to bring a claim.
• If you made a payment in 2020, your deadline would be 2026.
• If your payment was before 2019, you might be out of time, but there can be exceptions if you only recently discovered the fraud.

Don’t wait too long to get advice.

How the Year of Payment Affects Your Chances

Beyond time limits, the year you made your payment can affect your case for other reasons,

• Older payments, The longer ago the transfer, the harder it can be to trace the money or get records.
• Recent payments, Banks and payment firms today are under much more pressure from regulators to detect fraud.

Don’t Give Up, Check Your Case

If you’ve lost money in a mis-sold investment, crypto scam, or any kind of misleading promotion, and you paid by bank transfer or card, you might have more options than you think.

• The CRM Code and FOS standards already help many scam victims get refunds.
• The PSR’s new mandatory reimbursement rules will make it even easier to recover losses from APP fraud.
• And banks and PSPs are facing growing expectations to monitor and block suspicious payments.

At Claim My Loss, we’re passionate about helping victims fight back. If you’re worried about time limits or simply want to know your options, get in touch. It costs nothing to have a conversation, and it might just change everything.