Thetownend.com

Question for the knowledgeable types....

I have put a PPI claim in on the off chance,  and they have accepted the claim and made me an offer.  It's not going to change my life but for the sake of half an hour and a stamp its been worth it.  Couple of questions....

A) is it worth querying the offer as per an insurance payout offer?

B) they have only included back to 2000 but I know it goes back earlier than that (it was PPI on a credit card), is there some sort of period of limitations on such claims?

Ta.

 Yes, they should cover the whole period. Threaten to take it to the ombudsman if they don't give you the full amount.

We took a claim out with ocean finance for miselling PPI on our mortgage when we did the home extension. They rejected so I took it to the financial ombudsman and after they reviewed the tapes decided in my favour to the tune of £7k

The way they work it out should be to re-instate you back to how you would have been had you not been paying PPI. Credit card PPI is some of the biggest payouts.  This is normally worked out as what you payed plus the interest they charged (compound) plus 8% per year (flat rate)
 
So if you paid PPI starting in 1995 an annual payment of £100 would work out at (assuming 25% apr) something like £43,000 in compensation.

Assuming 14 years quoted you should be looking in the region of £18k

Makes my £28 look feeble!

I must be owed a few grand myself. Fuck getting that sorted though, it'd be a right kerfuffle.

I've never had it or made a claim but all I know is that the bank/insurers have tucked away millions to cover potential misselling claims so I have thought it is worth pushing them.

 

The wife had a letter from Halifax recently telling her she may have been mis-sold PPI and would she like to complain.

Considering we never even realised there was PPI on the loan, I consider that definite grounds for a complaint!

I did some work for one of those companies that cold call offering to help with PPI a while ago (Sorry).

From the research that I had to do it was evident that the majority of those with a valid right to a claim had never even heard of PPI.

It's a much larger number than that. If you have had loans/credit in the past decade it's worth a shot.

Mind you I could do without the endless automated phone calls from Agencies that sound like they've been made up by someone throwing darts at a word board.

It's actually very easy - we just wrote to Ocean, they rejected it so I then wrote to the ombudsman who dealt with everything... To be honest, I knew I was taking out PPI and was pulling a flanker but when the ombudsman heard the tapes they discovered that the guy selling it didn't make it clear that the policy only covered the first 5 years and not the whole term of the mortgage...

How do you know if you ever have been sold PPI though?

May I ask you a question Horlock. Did you still have the CC account + documented proof of PPI payments, and did you have the original agreement assuming you claimed you didn't ask for it?

Had a few CCs in the past. Fairy sure all had PPI, fairly sure I didn't really ask for it. Not sure I have the agreements to support that, or evidence of the average PPI payment. Pretty sure I'll try it on anyway. Not much to lose.

If you have old statement, it should be on there.

I have no details of the loans that I had taken out though and considering my location, getting any documents will be quite an obstacle.

Write to each of them making a claim - if you paid it then they have to tell you, the burden of proof is on them to prove they sold it correctly not the other way round...

I never knew that. Thanks.

Sorry didin't reply last night, much easier to type in front of a computer rather than on phone..

In terms of the CC's I still have one (but cancelled the PPI in 2010) but the other one I allowed lapse. In terms of proof I did not acrtually provide them with anything on the claim, I knew that I had had PPI as I found some old bills when tidying out but all I provided on the form was my CC numbers and some background. I sent the forms in with no additional paperwork.

On the form I noted (truthfully) that when I was sold the cards (one over the phone and the other at a motorway service station when I was hugely hung over) they told me that such PPI was normal for such cards and that I was not made aware that it was not mandatory.

It literally took me 25 mins to fill in two forms, and they have made me an offer within a week of posting (inclusing easter!).

Just need to check whether to query why they have only gone back to 2000 on the card that I know I held from 1996, the other one I will just accept their offer.

Until a few years ago these kinds of insurance were sold by a negative option ie you had to opt out. I'd imagine some places would still apply this although illegal. The insurance covers unemployment and illness and financial institutions would have made no notes to say whether you wanted it or not. in a lot of cases the policies were unsuitable anyway self employment, pre existing illnesses etc. Unless they can prove you consented to it then you haven't and should be entitled to every penny back.
The three main types of cover are for loans, credit cards and mortgages - although the latter did not automatically come with the opt in.
Basically if you have had a loan or credit card in the last 15 years then you've probably had PPI whether you wanted it or not and should be able to claim.
This was a real cash cow for financial institutions who made serious money on it. For every £ spent, the insurer would probably make 5p, another 5p on claims and the financial institution somewhere near 90p in the £.

The only time I think I had PPI was when I got my first credit card in 1997. Can you go back that far?

I have no idea how long I was paying the PPI (wouldn't have been longer than a couple of years I wouldn't have thought) for and how much is this a stumbling block?

All advice gratefully received.

Thanks Horlock.

I had loans credit cards during the 90's - early 00's. I have no details left of any of them. I'd like to see if I could claim. My question is, are there ways of claiming without any details available ?

I think that provided it was still active wit hint he last 6 years then you can claim but I don't think this is a hard and fast rule... Depends on the company...

Cheers MacPlea. Think I got a different one about 5 years later so still far too long ago then?! It's what I suspected but was worth an ask.

I'm also a bit like arriba too and can't remember who the hell it was with.

The usual Limitation rule is that you have 6 years to make a claim from the date that the 'cause of action' arose (I.e. 6 years from the date of the accident if it was an RTA claim, etc). There is an exception under the LA though in cases where you're not aware of the claim because of either fraud, concealment or a 'mistake'. The latter of these is what I assume is being relied upon in PPI cases (arguably the former in some but proving fraud is more problematic). If the exception applies then the Limitation clock does not start ticking until you discover that you have a claim - so arguably you could say this would have been when all the publicity kicked off a couple of years ago maybe.

If you get within that then there isn't a limit on how far back you can go as such, you've got a right to claim for everything you've paid plus interest, but the difficulty you'd have is in getting the information from the bank as to what you've been charged etc. You've got a right to any old statements and other data held by them under the Data Protection Act, but they aren't obliged to keep records indefinitely, and after a certain point (say 10 years or so) they often say they don't hold the data anymore and even if its probably bollocks a lot of the time there isn't a lot you can do other than complain to the Information Comissioner (usually a waste of time).

Those are the rules if you were going to take a claim to court anyway, the Ombudsman will have their own guidelines for what they award and from what I understand the banks are folding pretty easily in most cases.

arriba, if I were you I would send of a claim letter without any details and just give as much information as you can about what you think you've been charged and when, and see if they accept it. Never know they may do. If not then send off a request for all your old statements under s.7 of the DPA. If they say they don't hold it any more blah blah then it still might be worth raising the complaint with the Ombudsman, its free so not much to lose really...