Missold PPI is one of the biggest scandals the credit market has ever seen.  A large percentage of borrowers in the last few years could be entitled to claim back PPI that was sold mistakenly or even fraudulently to them.

Gladstone Brookes can provide expert services to help you claim back PPI.  Our specialist advisors can guide you through the process and make this a stress free task.

Missold PPI

If you are unfamiliar with the credit market then it can be too easy for you to make mistakes. You may end up getting talked into taking out products you don’t really need such as payment protection insurance (PPI).  If you have taken out a PPI product in the last few years then you need to review this carefully.

Many people have been conned into taking out PPI when they were either not eligible for the cover or did not really need it.  Gladstone Brookes can provide you with the expert advice you need to claim back PPI that you may have been missold.

Claiming PPI

It is important to get expert help when you claim back PPI.

• Banks and other lenders have been inundated with claims in the last few years.
• This backlog has been difficult for them to deal with and has had a serious impact on their credibility as financial institutions.
• Although lenders have been ordered to clear outstanding claims they will not want to just hand out money straight away.  It is likely that at first they may try and put you off.
• They may insist that you agreed to the PPI when you signed the forms and so have no right to now claim back you money.
• This can be inaccurate and you need to provide strong evidence of your right to claim back money on missold policies.
• Get as much advice and support as you when you claim back PPI.

Expert help from Gladstone Brookes can assist you make a claim quickly and easily.  We will be able to provide advice on building a case and submitting a claim.  This will help to reduce delays and make sure your case has a successful outcome.

With millions of people in the UK yet to claim back their PPI it is clear that there are a number of reasons why some people are taking longer than others in getting back the cash they paid out.

Perhaps ones of those reasons is the amount of jargon which surrounds the subject. In an effort to help you cut through all of this jargon we have listed here some explanations for the most common names and acronyms you are likely to see when you start investigating this subject.

PPI

This is Payment Protection Insurance and it is simply a type of insurance cover which is intended to provide peace of mind for the customer when they take out a loan or some other form of finance. You might see it called ASU (Accident Sickness and Unemployment cover), LPI (Loan Protection Insurance) or other names which include words like protection or cover in them.

Misselling

The crux of the PPI issue is that the UK banks missold PPI policies to millions of their customers, but what does misspelling actually mean? This simply means that the policy either wasn’t right for that person, it wasn’t properly explained to them or that it was in some other way badly sold. An example could be when the bank adviser tells the customer that they need to take this cover regardless of their wishes, while some more extreme examples include the client not even being told about it.

Premium

This is the amount you pay for any type of insurance cover. In the case of PPI it is usually on a monthly basis, although you may also have what is called a Single Premium Policy. In this second case the premium was added onto your finance as a lump sum when you took it out.

FOS

This is the Financial Ombudsman Service. They are an independent body designed to settle disputes between UK financial companies such as banks and individual customers. The FOS has been heavily involved in the issue and has helped make sure that the customers who have been missold these policies can claim back the money.

If you are one of the thousands of people in the UK who has been mis-sold payment protection insurance in the past ten years, you may have a valid PPI claim.  Taking advantage of the refund that banks are now being forced to offer when it comes to these mis-sold insurance packages, means that you will receive a lump sum settlement and your monthly payments will be considerably reduced.

How Were PPI’s Mis-Sold

The obvious questions is how did this happen? In most cases payment protection insurance was added to loans, mortgages and credit cards as a default addition, though clients were not informed that they could choose whether to take the extra protection or not.  The protection is paid for monthly and should cover you in the event you can’t pay your bill due to loss of income or illness.

Many providers didn’t even ask their clients if they were employed or if they had a pre-existing medical condition, both of which impact heavily on the customers’ ability to claim.  It was found that providers were reaping in huge rewards for selling the PPI on certain loans, but the clients would never be able to claim in some cases.

How Do I Get My Money Back

It’s difficult to understand that you have been paying a large sum of money every month or something you may never be able to use.  This money could have been used for something else to do with your new home or added to your credit card reducing the interest.

Now all financial institutions have to repay any mis-sold cover within eight to twelve weeks, but only if you approach them to have your situation investigated.  £215 billion has already been refunded in the first six months of this year on mis-sold ppi claim and they are anticipating paying out another £7.4 billion in the second half of this year.

Lloyds bank is already sitting at a £3.9 billion loss due to mis-sold ppi claim.  But you do not have to worry your relationship with your bank will not be affected as these mis-sold insurance policies were the fault of the bank and not yours.  Check your statement and PPI should be a separate charge, if you weren’t aware you can contact a specialist company who will handle your claim for you.

If you are one of those lucky people who see the good side to everything then you might even consider something as unpleasant as miss sold PPI to be some sort of blessing in disguise.

Admittedly this is unlikely to be the first reaction of many of the UK bank customers who have been miss sold PPI over the last few years. However, let’s have a look at see if we can find something positive to take out of the experience.

Get Back a Lump Sum

It is a pretty unorthodox way of saving but it has to be said that the monthly premiums you have been paying for a number of years will translate into a very handy sum of cash when it all gets paid back to you. The process for claiming back miss sold PPI is now really easy so you should get your hands on the money pretty quickly. As it your cash which you weren’t expecting to see again it will be great to see it hit your bank account.

Help Other People

With the enormous scale of the problem it is pretty certain that you know other people who are in the same boat. All you need to do is mention to a few people at home, in your workplace or in the pub and you are bound to see a few raised eyebrows. Lots of people don’t even know that they have been miss sold PPI cover and if you can tell them how easy it is to sort it out they will probably go ahead and do so pretty sharpish.

Improve Your Monthly Finances

We could all do with a bit more money each month, and if you can resolve this issue then it could be a huge help. If you are still paying the monthly insurance premiums then having your claim successfully upheld will see these premiums stopped as well getting you a decent lump sum. Feeling a little bit richer than you were a month ago is a wonderful sensation and it could help you forget about the fact that you were badly advised by the bank in the first place.