The first thing you should do when making a claim for mis-sold
PPI is to determine whether or not you have a case for
compensation. So if you have ever had a loan, a credit card, a
mortgage, or a finance agreement then there is a huge possibility
that you may also have a PPI policy. Recent figures estimate that
the number of mis-sold PPI policies that have been sold can range
as high as 90%, because of these figures there is a strong chance
that you may have a claim.
It would be near enough impossible to list every single ground
on which a mis-sold PPI claim can be made, listed below are a small
number of different scenarios and circumstances which account for
the majority of mis-selling claims that are successful:
- Having a pre-existing medical condition at the time of
sale;
- Not being made aware of the inclusion of PPI until after the
sale;
- Not being informed about restrictions and exclusions in the
policy;
- Not being told that you could shop around for better
deals;
- Not being employed on a full-time permanent basis at the time
of the sale;
- Being sold a policy when you were already covered by other
insurance;
- Not being provided with adequate records or written conditions
prior to the sale;
- Being under 18 or over 65 at the time of the PPI sale;
- Being misled about the terms or purpose of the policy by the
salesman;
- Being sold a policy which was unsuitable for your needs;
- Being told that approval for credit was conditional on also
purchasing PPI.
These are just a few scenarios, but even they do not apply to
you it still may be possible to make a claim if you truly believe
that the PPI salesman unfairly dealt with you as well as misled you
when selling you PPI.
If you believe that you are the victim of PPI mis-selling, you
should be to make an official complaint to the financial services
provider that sold you the PPI. If it was sold to you by a broker
or financial advisor, then you should make a claim against that
person, not against the insurance company which issued the PPI
policy.
You should complain in writing, whilst quoting as many policy
details as possible in order to ensure that the business can locate
its records of the sale. Quote any policy numbers or references,
together with the date of the sale, the name of the person who sold
the policy to you, and details of the loan or other credit product
which the policy covered.
Next, you will need to make sure that you explain in detail, why
you feel the policy was mis-sold to you. It may help to begin by
stating that you believe that the policy was mis-sold because the
business breached the Financial Services Authority (FSA) rules on
PPI sales, as stated in the FSA's "Insurance Conduct of Business
Standards" (ICOBS), then go on to give specific examples of how you
believe the salesperson acted in an unjust and unfair manner.
Every business which engages in any sort of regulated financial
activity is required by the FSA to have a complaint handling
scheme, you should expect a response to your complaint within about
8 weeks. If you do not receive a response in this time, then you
should treat you claim as if it has been rejected and take the
matter to the next stage.
Rather than going to your local County Court, you should take
the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which is free to
use, unlike the County Court where you will have to pay listing
fees which depend on the value of your claim.
The Financial Ombudsman Service was set up by the government to
handle complaints about the conduct of financial services providers
which are regulated by the FSA. The Financial Ombudsman Service is
an independent body and it has the power to investigate various
complaints and deliver a binding ruling. If the Ombudsman finds
that the financial services provider has breached FSA regulations
and that your PPI was mis-sold to you, it will order the financial
services provider to pay you a full refund. Refusing to comply with
an order made by the Financial Ombudsman Service is a breach of FSA
regulations which could result in defendant being fined.
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