£557million, a large sum of money to say the least, was refunded in the first half of 2011 for the mis-selling of Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) to thousands of people across the country, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has revealed.
They revealed the banks have dealt with a mass of 200,000 claims already and while this might seem as a step in the right direction in giving individuals back what they are owed, the FOS have stated in their recent report hundreds of complaints have been out-right rejected. It is clear reputations, costs and faith in the financial services sector shall continue facing huge barriers until the PPI issue is resolved to the public’s satisfaction.
Those firms selling PPI over the previous six years must discover whether or not any mis-selling took place, and if so, immediately offer the customers refunds through the correct procedure. With the amount of policies which could have been mis-sold potentially in the millions and the length of time the policies may have been sold under, the task at hand will be a lengthy and costly exercise.
The FOS reported in their newsletter they had been involved in 3000 plus complaints and claims in the past two months. This leads to the question of would claims ever be chased up fully if there were no pressure being applied by the FOS, consumers and the claims management firms like Brunel Franklin acting on their behalf?
Sally Bowyer, Managing Director of financial claims specialist BrunelFranklin.com says that the public are slowly becoming wiser to the tactics of mis-selling, but that a lot of the damage is already done: “It is important to realise that we may all unwittingly have taken out PPI during the years when lenders were offering a seemingly endless line of credit in the form of loans and credit cards in particular. It costs nothing to check your paperwork for insurances that you may not even know you are paying for. PPI per se is not a bad product, however the onus is on the vendor to ensure the product is the best for your needs at the time of sale. If the best product for your needs was not offered, or if you were unaware of the true cost, for example, you may 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.