Guide on Dealing with Mis-sold PPI and Getting Your Compensation

For the past few years the widespread mis-selling of PPI has put the lenders and financial institutions in a big fix. The consumers claiming for compensation are rising in numbers with each passing year. Further, the situation has been exploited wrongly by certain claims management companies, which mislead customers with false promises. If you have been mis-sold PPI, here is a guide that will help you to deal with it the right way possible.

Understanding PPI

PPI or payment protection insurance is in essence an insurance policy that covers the loan repayments you need to do in relation to the credit cards, mortgages, overdrafts, and store cards you have. Doing so, you are safeguarded in case of illness, accidents or unemployment or death.

Verifying PPI Existence

The first step in making a claim, when you suspect of PPI mis-selling, is to check whether you do have a policy. This can be found by looking into the loan agreement. The PPI cost might have been included in the statements in case you used a credit card.

Sometimes the policy may not be explicitly stated as PPI, but may be termed as credit insurance, loan protection, Accident, Sickness and Unemployment or ASU, loan repayment insurance, payment cover or account cover.

If the above steps do not give you a clear idea on whether you really have taken a PPI, you can ask the bank or the lender who had sold you credit card, loans, mortgage or any other such product. To know more about PPI, you can refer to the site, www.freeppicalculator.co.uk.

Confirming Mis-selling

Even if you have a PPI, it need not be a case of mis-selling, as PPIs are generally good policies when they are sold in the right manner to the right individual. The mis-selling arises only when they have been sold on false pretences. Here are some of the ways that mis-selling can be identified.

• When you have taken the policy under pressure from the lender
• When you were not informed about it being optional
• A PPI that is not suitable
• When you were led to believe that the policy was necessary to increase the chances of getting a loan or credit
• If the loan was added without your formal assent
• If you were not informed on the expenses you incur because of the PPI, and the end of the PPI period before the concerned loan has been repaid.

There are several such causes that can make the PPI a wrongly sold policy. You can also get aid from the Financial Ombudsman Service to confirm about the mis-selling.

Getting Compensated

The claim can be made on your own and it is completely free. Since the cases of PPI mis-selling have been steadily on the rise, there are many claim handlers or management companies present now which can be approached to get your compensation. But these companies demand a certain percentage of the claim money as charges, which sometimes end up with you having to pay out of your pocket, if your case is not proved to be a mis-sold PPI. So you need to carefully consider on the service you approach and the fees they charge, before you hire them.

You can also approach the Financial Ombudsman Service to get the right assistance. There are some companies that also go for a ‘no win no fee’ agreement which is also a good option to consider for getting your compensation.

Author Box:

Chris Stamper helps you deal with the act of mis-selling, if the PPI you availed looks apprehensive. He also suggests checking through www.freeppicalculator.co.uk to realize the different grounds of making your claim.