'I had £20,000 stolen and had to fight a 13-month fraud reporting rule to get it back'

'I had £20,000 stolen and had to fight a 13-month fraud reporting rule to get it back'Just nowShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleDan WhitworthRadio 4 Money Box reporterGetty ImagesSarah, not her real name, had £20,000 stolen in an investment fraud so sophisticated it was 17 months before she discovered it was a scam.Lloyds bank initially told her there was a 13-month time limit on reporting scams so it would only refund her £1,000. Within a day of BBC Radio 4's Money Box investigating it refunded her in full.National Trading Standards has called for an urgent review of the 13-month rule to better protect victims of push payment scams - when criminals trick victims into transferring money themselves.UK Finance, which speaks for banks, says only a small number of cases ever fall outside the deadline and victims can complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service.The 13-month rule is part of the Mandatory Reimbursement Requirement introduced by the Payment Systems Regulator in October 2024.It states, among other things, that victims of push payment scams should be reimbursed within five working days, up to a value of £85,000 but that banks and payment service providers must be told within 13 months of the date of the last payment being made.It replaced a previous, voluntary scheme and was intended to standardise responses to fraud across the finance industry. It has been described by some as a "game changer" for improving protection for fraud victims.But Louise Baxter, head of the Scams Team at National Trading Standards says the 13-month rule needs reviewing, reforming or removing. "It doesn't provide protection to all consumers from fraud and scams," she says.She believes the time limit should start from the point when a person realises their money has actually been stolen rather than, as is the case now, from the point of the last payment."Investment fraud can go on for a really long time," she says. "You could get...