Reclaiming mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance.

You have probably come across companies offering to claim back PPI payments that you made to your bank or asking whether you think you may have been mis-sold PPI. When trying to obtain a financial product (loan, mortgage, etc.) from a bank, there is so much information to take in and paperwork changing hands that it is not surprising if you don’t actually know if you were mis-sold PPI. Before deciding whether it is worth claiming back PPI you need to know what PPI is and how it is sold.

What is PPI?

PPI is Payment Protection insurance; it is a financial product that secures your loan or mortgage repayments for twelve months in the event of problems such as accidents, illness or unemployment. PPI can be a useful product to have but it can also be irrelevant and over-expensive. In 2011, a high court ruling made it possible for consumers to file a retrospective PPI reclaim if they were not talked carefully through the features of their insurance policy.

Have you been mis-sold PPI?

PPI has many synonyms including ASU, loan protection, protection plan and more, so it is easy to miss it on your loan agreement form. Even worse, some telephone lenders mis-sold PPI by simply describing their product as a ‘fully protected’ loan. If you recall being offered protection insurance and were advised it was not compulsory then you were probably not mis-sold PPI.

However, if you check your paperwork and realise you did have PPI but were not aware of it, you may be able to claim back PPI on the grounds that you were not made sufficiently aware of the product at the time of sale. The banks will have to prove that they did talk you through the features at the time.
Claiming back PPI is highly recommended if any of the following applies to your loan:

• You were told that the insurance was a compulsory part of the loan agreement
• You were told that you had to take out PPI with the lender that provided the loan
• You were denied acceptance of a loan on the grounds that you did not sign the PPI agreement
• You were told that you had to have PPI to qualify for a loan
• You were advised that a loan would be more expensive unless you took out the PPI
• You were coerced into buying the PPI
• You bought a loan online (or filled out a form) and the PPI option was pre-filled with a tick (an opt-out system)

Starting your PPI reclaim

To reclaim mis-sold PPI you first need to check if you had PPI on any loans or mortgages which were active in the last six years. If you are unsure, consider contacting a reputable credit reference agency to find out for you (it may cost you a small amount). If you know you had PPI but no longer have the paperwork, the Consumer Credit Act requires that banks provide you a copy.

Next, you will need to write to the bank. The Financial Ombudsman Service will not communicate with you until you can prove you have tried to reconcile the problem with the bank first. There are plenty of online templates and guides available to ensure that you approach the banks in the right manner.

Hopefully, your bank will immediately agree with your PPI reclaim and you will receive a cheque, although you may need to send a couple of follow-up letters. If your bank refuses to pay and you still believe you were mis-sold PPI, you will then be able to contact the Ombudsman who will carry out an independent investigation on your behalf.

Instructions - How do you get your PPI reviewed?

Contact us at:
t: 0845 409 3520
f: 01772 200127
e: info@help4upreston.co.uk

Our representative will ring you at a time of your convenience. It is the representative's job to ensure that you understand exactly how we work and take you step by step through the paperwork. You decide which products you wish to proceed with.

Investigation

In accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act, our processing team will now contact the lender to obtain your ‘client file ’, including the contract / agreement relating to the loan. Where the lender does not comply, an offence is committed and our solicitors will use the full power of the law to obtain this file.

Solicitor

With the ‘client file’ in, a further assessment of your case will be made and a specialist solicitor will be assigned where we believe you may still have a successful claim. Your solicitor will build a case, based around contract irregularities looking to obtain the maximum level of compensation for you. While many cases are expected to be settled ‘out of court’, should the need arise to take the lender to court, our solicitors will purchase, at their cost, a legal expenses insurance policy and obtain expert barrister's opinion where required.