How to Reclaim Your Mis-Sold PPI
If you are one of the millions of people who were mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI) by a bank or other lender, you could be in the running for part of the more than £2 billion expected to be awarded to UK residents after the Financial Services Authority issued new rules on how complaints over PPI sales should be handled. The additional good news is that many services that will process PPI claims will not charge you unless they are successful at getting your money back.
If you are having difficulty meeting loan payments, or simply want to be reimbursed for your purchase of PPI, it behooves you to take some action to get your money back from a mis-sold PPI. Here are a couple of helpful steps to accomplish just that:
1. Determine if you are eligible
This can be a bit tricky because PPI came in many guises on many products. It could have been termed “loan protection”, “credit protection”, “accident cover”, “sickness cover” or “unemployment cover”, among others. Many brokers and banks told prospective borrowers that such PPI was essential to receiving a loan, so mention of it might only be in the fine print of your agreement. PPI was added most often to personal loans and mortgages, as well as to credit card agreements.
With loans, consumers were often quoted all-inclusive monthly repayments that enfolded PPI, when they should have been quoted two payment amounts—with or without PPI. Credit card users might have mistakenly ticked a PPI box or failed to opt out of a default plan that was presented. PPI usually shows up as a debit item on the monthly bill in such cases. If you were sold any type of PPI over the past six years, you could have grounds for a claim. If you have a claim older than six years, you will need to dig out the original paperwork, because the sellers are only obligated to keep theirs for six years.
2. Complain and proceed
A first step that many consumers take is to complain to the bank, credit provider or mortgage broker who sold them PPI. If the complaint is rejected, they are to obtain a “deadlock letter”, which can then be taken to a claims company or other financial service. Many of these claims companies have forms to fill out online to get quick action, and the power of a persuasive company arguing for them with the banks and other lenders at fault. Many consumers prefer to find help through companies that know how to navigate the process and do not charge unless a complaint is successful and money is awarded.
PPI was often misrepresented, then mis-sold to millions of innocent consumers. Join the crowd of borrowers and credit users that are finally getting this marketing and sales wrong righted.
