Official figures from the Financial Ombudsman Service show that over a million front-line enquiries and complaints, totalling around 4,000 each working day, were handled about financial products in the last year. In addition, The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has found that one in five people experienced a problem with contracts in the last 12 months. 51 per cent of these new cases were regarding the sale of Payment Protection Insurance (PPI).
More than 104,597 complaints about PPI were made – the highest number ever received in a year about a single financial product. It has been estimated that Payment Protection Insurance refunds could cost banks as much as £9billion: a conservative estimate puts it at somewhere between £3 and £5 billion!
PPI is usually taken out to protect a person should they lose their income and be unable to make debt repayments. It is sold with loans, mortgages and credit cards as well as hire purchase agreements and store cards. The policies cover customers for loss of income as a result of sickness, accident or involuntary unemployment.
Those at threat of losing their job may think they are covered with their payment protection, however with a spate of cases of mis-sold PPI seen recently; those who hold cover should check their policy to see if they are actually covered for all the circumstances they might expect.
If you already know you have PPI then check the small print to make sure you are sufficiently covered and that you are eligible to use the policy. In the past, some sellers led consumers to believe that it was compulsory to take out Payment Protection Insurance when applying for a loan, mortgage or credit card. Cover was also sold to some people who could not use the cover because something about their circumstances made them ineligible.
Remember, PPI is always optional, it is never compulsory.
If you are a student, a pensioner, or self-employed you are unlikely to be eligible for PPI and so you may have been mis-sold the product. Others who may be affected by mis-selling include people who are unemployed, work less than 16 hours per week or had a pre-existing medical condition when they were sold the cover.
Additionally, some people may have a loan or a credit card for which to their knowledge they are not paying PPI, but the cost has been embedded in their contract without their knowledge.
You may also have been sold Payment Protection on your mortgage. In the past some mortgage companies mis-sold Mortgage PPI in the same way some other lenders mis-sold PPI on credit cards and loans. Some Mortgage PPI policyholders have found themselves paying the premiums with no way of ever being able to claim on the insurance.
If you are self-employed for example, and have an existing mortgage you may be paying Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance (MPPI). Most Mortgage PPI policies do not cover self-employed people and it is unlikely you would be eligible to use the cover.
Did you know that more than 1.5m customers are reported to have already made complaints about being mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance? A High Court decision against the banks could also open the door for millions more to claim back the refunds they deserve.
If you believe your policy was mis-sold, you could be liable to claim a refund. The size of refund you may be able to claim will depend on the cost of your payment protection and how long you have been paying for the cover. The average customer claim is estimated to be around £2,500.
Sally Bowyer, Managing Director of Brunel Franklin says, “Chasing a vendor for a refund can be a frustrating and time consuming process to undertake with no support or technical knowledge, and this is where Brunel Franklin comes in. We would encourage anyone who believes they may have been mis-sold a PPI policy to talk to us, as a quick initial assessment is usually enough for us to decide if you have grounds for a refund.”
Learn more about PPI refunds and find out if you could apply for a refund today! Visit the website www.brunelfranklin.com or call Brunel Franklin, free, on 0800 051 54 51