We all worry about how we’ll cope if the worst happens and there’s no longer enough money coming in to cover household costs. Some people take out insurance to ease the burden of a possible financial crisis. For example, Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) covers loan repayments for up to one year if you lose your job or become too sick to work.
But a staggering 90% of PPI policies were mis-sold to people when they took out a loan, hire purchase, mortgage or a credit card1. Some people were sold it even though they didn’t need it while others weren’t eligible for it. Some people didn’t even realise that they’d signed up for it.
If you have PPI and think it was mis-sold, you could make a claim to get your money back. You could get a cash refund totalling thousands of pounds or reduce your monthly loan repayments.
You can submit a claim to your lender, but many people find the process slow, frustrating or intimidating. And some people are uncomfortable about seeking compensation from the organisation they believe failed to act in their interest in the first place.
Many people opt for the services of a third party advocate with the expertise and experience to deal with the banks and other lenders as well as the industry’s regulator, the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Choose an established claims company like PPI Claimline, which is led by financial and legal professionals and has been giving ordinary people access to justice for over 18 years. Check that the company you choose is open and transparent about fees and that you are not asked for money up front.
Not every PPI policy was mis-sold but the practice was common so it’s worth thinking back to what you were told and promised and, just as importantly, what facts may have been withheld from you.
You may have been mis-sold PPI if:
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The information you were given was not accurate. You might have been told that taking out a policy was obligatory or that it would boost the probability of getting your loan approved.
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You were ineligible for the insurance. If you were out of work, retired, working for yourself, in the armed forces, NHS or Civil Service, working less than 16 hours a week or suffering from a pre-existing medical condition you would not have been entitled to take out PPI. If your sales advisor didn’t check your personal circumstances, you may have been mis-sold PPI.
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You weren’t given the full facts. If you weren’t properly told about how much the policy would cost and the terms and conditions of the product then you may not have been in a position to make an informed decision about buying it. You may even have felt pressured into taking out the policy.
If you think you’re one of the estimated 33 million people in the UK2 who have been wrongly sold PPI, you can get an idea of the amount of compensation you could receive by using a PPI claims calculator. All you need to know is how long you’ve had your loan, how much the loan was for and how long you’ve been paying it off.