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The looming deadline for your PPI claim

Young woman sitting on sofa browsing online
Maxine McCreadie
Maxine McCreadie

20th August 2019

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You could be entitled to £1000s from your mis-sold PPI policy

We’ve witnessed the growth of a brand new industry where customers and PPI claim companies have each lined up to take their share of the funds from mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance.

Don’t miss the deadline

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) declared a deadline in March 2017 that all claims against PPI providers must be made by 29th August 2019. After that, any money you may have been entitled to will safely stay in the hands of your lenders.

How to know if your PPI was mis-sold

A ruling, titled ‘Plevin’, stated that if more than 50% of the PPI cost was a commission to be paid to the lender, and that the insurance hadn’t been explained in full to the customer, then the customer would be entitled to claim back any amount over the 50% limit.

The average commission on PPI policies was 67%, and that’s why so many—millions of customers—are owed billions of pounds.

The term Plevin originated in 2014 when a court ruling announced that borrower Susan Plevin had been treated unfairly, with a 71.8% commission being taken from her PPI payment, and was unaware that this was the case.

How much could you earn from PPI payouts?

To date, there has been over £35.3 billion paid back to loan, mortgage and credit customers who have been mis-sold the insurance in accordance with the FCA ruling. It’s possible that the full amount could be over £50 million; so there’s still a vast amount of capital waiting to be claimed.

The average payment for a PPI claim is £1,700

Obviously, nobody is going to guarantee that you’ll receive this award after making a PPI claim check. Claim awards will vary from either end of the scale, but with an average of £1,700, it’s undoubtedly worth seeing what PPI you can claim back, if any, as the whole process is completely free and with no risk.

One of the largest payouts was to businessman Mike Weaver who had taken out a selection of loans ranging from £40–£80k in the 1990s and early 2000s. His award reached a staggering £247,000!

No time to waste—make your PPI claim check now

The FCA is urging anyone who thinks they might have a claim to make it now. With only a matter of weeks left to start a claim, it really is a now or never opportunity.

There are masses of tools available online to check your entitlement, search for PPI providers and even estimate what you could be owed using a PPI claim calculator.

How to start your PPI claim

All you need is your name, date of birth and address (and any previous addresses from the time you held the credit or loan agreement) and you can make a direct claim to your provider.

Your bank or lender may already have an online application form for direct enquiries. This system is streamlined to your advantage for an even quicker result.

If your provider doesn’t provide a written response within 8 weeks, you can make a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service who will investigate the matter on your behalf.

PPI claim companies

If the thought of managing forms and paperwork puts you off the idea of making a claim, there are plenty of companies ready and willing to take care of the process for you.

Be aware, though, that these businesses will take a healthy cut for their efforts.

The process is simple enough for most customers to handle matters without any help and receive the full amount of the award.

Your PPI claim letter

Your PPI complaint should include as much relevant information as possible. That way, it will be simpler and faster for your provider to check whether you’re entitled to compensation.

You should include each of the following:

  • Your full name
  • Your date of birth
  • Your telephone number
  • Your current address
  • Any previous addresses
  • PPI policy number (if available)
  • When you bought your PPI (if you can remember)
  • Any loans or credit agreements you had (again, if you have record or can remember)
  • Your employment status and personal circumstances at the time

Reasons for complaint

There are 2 reasons for complaint:

1. PPI was mis-sold

The miss-selling of PPI covers cases where you didn’t need PPI, didn’t know it was added to your loan or credit agreement or were sold the policy under false pretences.

Mis-selling can include:

  • Being told the PPI was compulsory
  • Not being told you had PPI cover
  • Your provider not making appropriate checks into whether you had cover through alternate means
  • The term was for the wrong length of time
  • Specific rulings weren’t applied for self-employed workers, unemployed or retired customers
  • There was no enquiry into medical exceptions

2. The commission level of your PPI was over 50%

Even if you’re not sure whether you were subject to either of these reasons, you should still make a complaint. It’s the bank or lender’s job to let you know the details and your claim entitlement.

In most cases, just having been sold PPI will grant you reason for an award, as so many policies fell into the mis-sold bracket by default.

Fast-tracking the complaints procedure

Due to the expected amount of last-minute claims, at least 6 of the major banks, building societies and lenders have instigated a streamlined service for PPI claims.

Barclays, Nationwide and Lloyds have all streamlined their process to automatically submit a complaint where your initial application presents one. Before the new system, you had to personally submit a separate complaint when you were told you had just reason, to apply for the compensation.

Although only a few of the major lenders have actioned the new voluntary service so far, the FCA has announced most banks have signed up to the process and will follow suit imminently.

The deadline for complaints

You need to start a claim with your provider, or through the Financial Ombudsman Service, before 29 August 2019.

You have 6 months to complete the claim from the receipt of the written response from your provider.

What happens after the deadline?

The deadline is only applicable to the start of new claims. As long as you make a claim against your provider before the end of August, then it should be fully investigated and implemented as expected.

If you miss the deadline, then the lender is under no obligation to investigate your claim and, sadly, you’ve missed your opportunity.

Don’t wait—make your claim today

With the deadline so close, it’s imperative that if you think that there’s the slightest chance you could be owed compensation then you should start your claim right now. It could well be worth it if you do.

If you are struggling with any debts and would like to discuss your options give us a call on 0800 043 1320, where one of our friendly money advisors will be able to assist you. 

Maxine McCreadie
Maxine McCreadie

Maxine is an experienced writer, specialising in personal insolvency. With a wealth of experience in the finance industry, she has written extensively on the subject of Individual Voluntary Arrangements, Protected Trust Deed's, and various other debt solutions.

How we reviewed this article:

HISTORY

Our debt experts continually monitor the personal finance and debt industry, and we update our articles when new information becomes available.

Current Version

August 20 2019

Written by
Maxine McCreadie

Edited by
Ben McCormack

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