Consumer Law Blog

The trouble with DIY PPI reclaims

As message board forums across the internet will testify, clawing back your money from the banks when you have been mis-sold PPI can be a long and gruelling process. A column by the financial agony aunt in the Observer recently demonstrates how a reader who had received advice from the Observer on claiming PPI from Halifax was fobbed off by her bank despite being eligible for a claim.

The agony aunt, Margaret Dibben states "When he phoned Halifax he was asked for his PPI policy number. He no longer had this, although he did know the old mortgage number. The clerk was adamant that, without the PPI number, there was nothing the bank could do. CT insisted that I had told him he could make a claim even though he had not paid premiums since 2005".

Unsurprisingly, after the customer told the bank they were working with the Observer things changed very quickly. "" Is that the Observer newspaper? In that case we have a special phone number to call", the customer was told. "The woman who answered needed only his name and address to find his file. Twelve weeks later he received £4,500 including £1,000 interest." Unfortunately the Observer do not share Halifax's special phone number.

This case underlines why it could be worth your while seeking help with your PPI claim. The Guardian has reported that the Ombudsman is currently taking over two years to get through its backlog of claims. This is an unacceptable wait for many - unfortunately, as a consumer it could be difficult to make tight-fisted banks part with the money they owe you before they are forced into it by the regulator.

The benefit of making a claim through a company that handles PPI claims is that the banks know that we know what we are doing. They know that if we take on a case we will almost certainly win it and they know that we know when we are being fobbed off. They also know that unlike the average consumer we won't back down under any circumstance, so it is in their interest to pay up immediately rather than entering years of pointless delaying tactics and wrangling with the ombudsman.

If you are owed PPI, don't delay, claim today with our no win no fee, no squabble service!

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