There are millions of unsuspecting consumers that have been mis-sold Payment Protection Plan (PPI) in the UK. This policy was sold alongside mortgages, loans, credit cards and store cards. PPI is actually a good product as it is supposed to cover the repayment of the loan you’ve taken out, should you have fallen ill or have lost your job.
What happened and why is there such a huge scandal about this? A lot of people were mis-sold PPI since they were not thoroughly informed about the policy or it’s not even suitable for their circumstances making them unqualified to benefit for the policy. Also, a lot of sellers did not clarify that the policy was optional and even some saying that your loan application will more likely be approved if you also took out the PPI.
If you think you have been mis-sold PPI, you can go ahead and file a claim to get compensation. Here are several simple steps you can do to file a PPI claim:
1. Check if you were ever sold PPI or if you have existing payment protection insurance applied to your loan. You can do this by contacting the company that sold you the loan or you can check the paperwork that you have.
2. Once you have checked your documents and you have confirmed that you were mis-sold PPI, you need to ask yourself these questions – Was I clearly informed on the details and the purpose of the policy? Was I pressured into getting the policy? Did the seller mention that in order to get the loan approved, you would need to include the policy? Did you have pre-existing medical conditions or were you self-employed that will make you unable to benefit from the claim? If you have answered “yes” to any of the questions, you will need to file a claim.
3. Filing a claim is quite simple. You will need to write a letter stating your claim or if you have several PPI you will need to file, you can get the assistance of a PPI claims company and they can help you out in filing the claims for you for a minimal fee, if you need professional help.
4. Complain to the lender or the bank that sold you the PPI. You will need to provide as much information as you can to show and the reason you believe that you were mis-sold PPI. Financial institutions are required to give you a response within eight weeks. If you haven’t received a response from them during this time or you were not happy and satisfied with the outcome, you can file a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. You’d have to take into consideration the volume of complaints they are receiving and it’s possible that a decision could even take up to a year to be finalized.
To be successful with your PPI claim, provide as much information as you can to show proof of mis-sold and be honest as this can make your claim stronger. Be patient and give time to financial institutions to respond back to you as it may take some time to process the request. Make your claim as it is your right to get your money back.
Kara Perez is the original founder of From Frugal To Free. She is a money expert, speaker and founder of Bravely Go, a feminist financial education company. Her work has been featured on NPR, Business Insider, Forbes, and Elite Daily.