Time ticking away for your PPI claims

HERE we continue our regular Need to Know column where we get to the bottom of some of those complex financial issues so you know where you stand.

This week we delve into PPI as there’s just six months left to claim back any mis-sold policies.

We chatted to Sarah Coles, personal finance expert at investment firm Hargreaves Lansdown, about what you need to know...

What’s going on?

More than 64 million PPI policies were sold between the 1990s and the mid-2000s. Many were sold without being properly explained, to people who could never have claimed on them, or with exorbitant commission fees.

It means that if you had one of these policies before 2006, there’s a good chance you can claim compensation.

The PPI mis-selling scandal has been rumbling on for more than a decade, and compensation has been paid for almost as long.

Since 2011, around £33.6billion has been paid to customers. So in an effort to bring an end to it, the Financial Conduct Authority set a deadline for any claims of August 29 this year.

How do I claim?

It’s actually very straightforward, and shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes. If you have any paperwork showing you paid PPI (it might have been called something different such as payment cover or loan care), you can complete a template on which. co.uk (search PPI claim) or Moneysavingexpert.co.uk and send it to your bank to make your claim.

What if I don’t have any documents?

It’s hard to keep track of endless paperwork over the years, but don’t worry. Even if you don’t have anything at all, there are things you can do, such as check your credit record, which will show any loans in the past six years.

If your loan is older than that, you can go to the FCA website (fca.org.uk) and find the name of the provider you borrowed from.

Then you’ll be able to click through to the provider and check if you had PPI with them. Once they’ve got back to you, send in your claim.

I’ve already had a claim rejected, so how does this affect me?

You may still be able to get some cash back. In 2017, the FCA brought in new rules as a result of a court case brought by Susan Plevin, who argued that because her PPI payment included a huge commission payment, and she wasn’t told about it, the policy had been mis-sold.

So if you were charged more than 50% commission and not informed about it, and your policy was active after April 2008, you can get a refund of the difference.

The average commission was an eye-watering 67%, so there’s a good chance you’re owed.

Last November, the FCA confirmed that these rules apply, regardless of whether you paid for your PPI in a one-off lump sum or monthly, so if you’ve had a Plevin claim rejected because you paid monthly, you should claim again.

What if the company says no?

You can take your claim to the Financial Ombudsman Service (financial-ombudsman.org.uk or call 0800 121 6222) within six months of the response you receive from the company concerned. In the last set of figures, FOS agreed with the customer in over a third of cases.

Can I just use a claims company?

You can but they will take a hefty chunk of your payout, typically around a third, and they won’t get you a payout that’s any higher.

However, if you know for certain you won’t get round to it unless you use them, then two-thirds of something is better than nothing.

Make sure you check they are working on a no-win-no-fee basis and they don’t charge money up-front to make a claim.

Around £33.6billion has been paid out to customers but the deadline for claims is August 29