Guidance with forms. How to make a Do-it-Yourself Claim for mis-sold Personal Protection Insurance

Transcription

1 Guidance with forms How to make a Do-it-Yourself Claim for mis-sold Personal Protection Insurance

2 This is an excerpt from Lawpack s PPI Claim Pack. To find out more about making a DIY PPI claim and getting a refund, click here. Contents Introduction 1 What is meant by PPI? 1 Why are PPI refunds so topical now? 1 How to check whether your claim is likely to succeed 2 Getting your evidence together 4 What to do if you can t trace a lender 6 Writing to the lender 7 What levels of refund can you expect? 8 Complaining to the Financial Ombudsman Service 9 Appealing if your complaint is rejected 11 What to do if the Financial Ombudsman Service has no jurisdiction 11 EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY AND DISCLAIMER Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that this Lawpack product provides accurate and expert guidance, it is impossible to predict all the circumstances in which it may be used. Accordingly, neither the publisher, authors, nor any barristers or solicitors who have assisted in the production of this Lawpack product and updated or refined it, or whose name is credited as having so assisted and updated or refined it, nor retailers, nor any other suppliers shall be liable to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused as a result of the use of the information contained in or omitted from this Lawpack product. The law is stated as at 1 December 2012 Lawpack Publishing Ltd 2013 The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) PPI Consumer Questionnaire is available as a download by permission of the FOS

3 Introduction Personal Protection Insurance (PPI) was routinely offered to customers who took out credit to provide insurance against future low income, regardless of whether they really needed it, or whether it was of any use to them. Now, thanks to a recent court case, they are able to claim refunds of the premiums they paid refunds often amounting to thousands of pounds. Some customers, of course, did need such insurance and were correctly sold it; not everyone who bought a PPI policy was mis-sold that policy. This booklet will help you work out whether or not you have a valid claim. If you want to make a claim yourself, this ekit will help you through the process, enabling you to avoid having to pay large fees to a claims management company. Good luck with your claim! What is meant by PPI? Payment Protection Insurance (PPI), also known as Credit Insurance, Credit Protection Insurance, or Loan Repayment Insurance, is an add-on product that allows customers to insure repayment of credit or loans in circumstances such as illness, disability or unemployment. PPI can be purchased to insure all kinds of loans including car loans, loans from finance companies, and home mortgage borrowing, even catalogue payments. Credit card agreements may also include a form of PPI cover as standard. The problem with PPI is about the way it has been sold, Consumer watchdog Which? estimates that two million people have been mis-sold PPI they can t use, and consequently only 11 per cent of people have been able to claim on the insurance. Why are PPI refunds so topical now? In 1998, it came to light that banks and other institutions were widely mis-selling PPI. Between 1998 and 2011, a number of court cases and appeals took place between both consumers and banks, and the Financial Services Authority and the Financial Ombudsman Service. Finally, on 20 April 2011, the British Bankers Association 1 PPI Claim

4 lost a High Court Judicial Review against Financial Services Authority guidance, paving the way for potentially tens of billions of pounds of refunds to be claimed. In some cases, PPI was attached to loans without the consumer even being aware. The Single Premium Policy was the worst example. Here, the entire cost of the policy was added to the borrowing at the start of the term. This meant that consumers borrowed much more than was contractually agreed, ending up paying additional interest on their policies and loans every month, amounting to an excess of hundreds or even thousands of pounds. How to check whether your claim is likely to succeed You are likely to make a successful claim if you were either ineligible for PPI or you were misinformed about the cover it would provide. Here are some examples. You were ineligible In many cases PPI was sold even though the lender knew (or should have known) that you were ineligible. The lender could also have been selling PPI negligently by deliberately not enquiring if the insurance suited your circumstances. Look at your policy document to find out exactly what it covered, and think about your circumstances at the time of the sale. Consider the following questions to determine whether you were mis-sold PPI. Were you under 18, or over 65? Most PPI policies have age restrictions. The sales agent would have had your date of birth as part of the loan application process, so should have known that you were ineligible. Were you working part-time? Most PPI policies don t cover people who work less than 16 hours a week. The sales person should have gathered sufficient information within your application to know that you were ineligible. Were you on a temporary contract? Temporary staff or contract workers (and even agency staff under some policies) are ineligible for PPI cover. 2

5 PPI Claim Were you self-employed? Usually, being self-employed negates some or all of the cover, in particular any unemployment protection. Were you a student? If you were a student then you were probably not working full-time, or only employed only on a seasonal or temporary basis, so your policy would have been invalid. Were you already ill? Pre-existing conditions are likely to void any PPI policy, because if your illness were to worsen, it would inevitably lead to a loss of income. Were you unemployed? Being unemployed at the time of the sale would render any future claim invalid. The sales agent should have asked you about your employment status. Were you aware of pending unemployment? If you had reason to believe that you faced imminent job loss, then you would have been ineligible for insurance covering unemployment. Did you already have similar insurance? The lender should have investigated whether you had a stand-alone income protection policy or your employer provided a scheme which covered your liabilities for a set period in times of sickness or redundancy. You were misinformed In other incidences, customers were simply not given sufficient information about the PPI policy. For example: Were you misinformed about the extent of cover? Mental health issues such as stress or depression, and common muscular problems, such as backache, are often not covered by PPI policies. This should have been explained to you. Were you advised of the cost of the insurance? The sales agent should have explained how much it cost to purchase PPI. Was the insurance included without your knowledge? If this happened to you, this strengthens your case. Lenders are supposed to tell you if a loan includes PPI and ask you to sign for it separately. 3

6 Were you told that the insurance was compulsory? PPI is optional and does not affect your eligibility for a loan or the interest rates payable. You have a case if you were offered a loan discount if you took out PPI or if it was implied that your loan was more likely to be granted if you did. Were you advised of the cooling-off period? It was possible to cancel a policy within a set time period: seven days, later extended to 14, then 30 days. You should have been advised of this. Were you advised that other options existed? Failure of the sales agent to suggest that you could shop around for your PPI could constitute mis-selling, as many stand-alone products would have been a lot cheaper. Did you apply for credit online and find the PPI box already ticked? Before July 2007, this was common. You would have to have opted out of buying the insurance, rather than opting in; it was easy to forget to untick the box. Was the sales agent very pushy? If you felt intimidated to the extent that you couldn t say no, then this may help back up your claim for mis-selling, alongside other examples above. Getting your evidence together To begin with, you need to gather paperwork showing you have, or had, PPI and which lender sold it to you. You can sometimes reclaim without this evidence if documents cannot be traced, but expect long delays while searches are carried out. Here is a checklist of things to do. 1. Check your documents Check all your loan and credit documents and any other paperwork related to credit applications. Be sure to include any car loans, personal loans, secured loans, mortgages, even catalogue payments. If you have a PPI policy, it should be mentioned in the paperwork. Remember that PPI may be referred to as Repayment Insurance, Debt Repayment Cover, Mortgage Payment 4