LAST CHANCE TO CLAIM A PPI REFUND
IT’S certainly one of the more memorable ads on TV right now. A campaign by the Financial Conduct Authority ( FCA) features the animatronic head of Arnold Schwarzenegger shouting at shoppers and people in the library: “Do it now!”
The commercial is part of a £ 42.2 million drive by the FCA to raise awareness of the August 2019 deadline for Payment Protection Insurance ( PPI) claims and it is proving spectacularly successful. Over 400,000 people have accessed the FCA’s website following the ad’s launch in September, generating 1.25 million page views. Meanwhile the regulator’s PPI helpline has received more than 9,000 calls from potential claimants looking for advice.
“Our campaign aims to cut through the noise on PPI,” says Andrew Bailey, chief executive of the FCA. “We want to encourage people to decide whether to fi nd out if they had PPI and whether to complain or not. Our message, and Arnie’s, is ‘ Do it now’ and I urge people to make a decision before the deadline.”
So how do you fi nd out if you’re due a payment? And what is the easiest way to go about claiming it? The good news is if you haven’t yet claimed you could be owed thousands. The really good news is getting that money is far easier than you might think… What is PPI? PPI was an insurance policy sold with products that you need to make repayments on such as loans, credit cards, mortgages, store cards, overdrafts and car fi nance products. As many as 64 million of these policies were sold in the UK between 1990 and 2010 – and an investigation by the regulator found that many had been “mis- sold” with people either taking them out unnecessarily or having them imposed upon them without their knowledge.
There has been a boom in claims over the most complained about fi nancial product ever following a campaign starring an animatronic Schwarzenegger that highlights 2019 cut- off
Why did banks mis- sell PPI? PPI was hugely profi table for just about everyone other than the policy holders. According to Martin Lewis of moneysavingexpert. com, the policies generated a massive £ 5 billion a year for the companies involved, simply through many of us paying out for potentially worthless cover. How much has been paid out in PPI claims so far? When the scandal broke, initial estimates were that three million people had been affected. There have been more than 12 million compensation payouts totalling more than £ 27billion, with £ 16.5 billion set aside for future claims. How do I know if I had PPI? If you took out any kind of loan or credit product between 1990 and 2010 the chances are you had a PPI policy and are entitled to make a claim for compensation. And according to Martin Lewis, a 2014 court ruling “pretty much means that if you got a loan or credit card from a bank or building society you were mis- sold PPI”. How can I claim for it? Many are put off claiming money back because the process appears complicated, or time- consuming, or they worry they don’t have the relevant paperwork. In reality making a claim is very simple. If you have original documents for loans or credit products look for phrases such as “accident, sickness and unemployment ( ASU) insurance”, “account cover”, “credit insurance”, “credit protection”, “loan care”, “loan insurance”, “loan protection”, “loan repayment insurance,” “mortgage payment protection insurance ( MPPI)”, “payment cover” and “protection plan”.
You should then head to the FCA website ( fca. org. uk) and follow the links to a list of PPI providers: clicking on whichever one sold you your policy will open up a page to fi ll in an online claim form directly to them, or a downloadable form you can print off and post.
It is worth making a note of the FCA’s list of reasons for why you think you were mis- sold PPI. You will then hear within eight weeks whether your complaint has been successful and if so how much money you will receive. Alternatively moneysavingexpert. com has a very easy- to- use free reclaiming tool that helps you draft a letter, sends it for you, tells you when you’ve had a response and keeps track of your complaint. What if I’ve lost my paperwork? Don’t worry! You can still call or write to your provider and they will check if you had PPI. All you’ll need to give them is your full name, your address at the time you took out the loan or credit product and the approximate dates you had the product. They will respond within 40 days and following that you can claim for compensation as above. Do I need to go through a third party to make a claim? There are many companies offering to check and claim PPI on your behalf. While it may seem tempting to have someone else do all the work, in reality they won’t be doing anything different from the above – and will take up to 30 per cent of your payout ( plus VAT) in commission. How much money might I get? It varies – the amount you receive will depend on the amount you paid for the policy, plus interest. The average payment for PPI mis- selling is £ 1,700 but some have received amounts in the tens of thousands. Why a deadline for claims? The deadline of August 29, 2019 was set in order to ensure a clear end to the scandal. But both the FCA and Martin Lewis are urging people not to wait until the last moment to check if they’re owed money. As animatronic Arnie says: “Do it now!”