The State of PPI Claims – An Update

Making a payment protection insurance (PPI) compensation claim involves you, as the customer, proving you were mis-sold PPI on your accounts or products. For the majority of customers, in Payment Protection Scotland’s experience, this is a fairly straightforward process.

The mis-selling of PPI to the customer in the UK was done in such a way, that the majority of customers find that their claim is successful. But this isn’t always the case and with the PPI deadline only weeks away, we thought it was time for an update.

Not the Whole Picture

Unfortunately, some banks and lenders still find reasons not to refund PPI. In the event of this happening to any of our customers, we recommend that the case is taken to the Financial Services Ombudsman (FSO).

This is a summary of one such case - the full version can be found on the FSO website as can other examples of complaints being both ‘upheld’ and ‘not upheld’.

The customer decided to purchase the house of her grandparents. Her grandparents had been renting the property for some time and when the landlord decided to sell, the customer decided to buy the property with her grandparents still living in the property. The customer would be living elsewhere.

Hence, the customer arranged a mortgage with the bank making it clear she would NOT be living at the property. She purchased PPI, after completing the forms with the bank representative.

Unfortunately, the customer, sometime later, lost her job. She made an application under the PPI policy but was declined. The reason was that she was not living at the property and this was part of the policy’s terms and conditions. On complaining to the bank, she was told the decision would stand.

She took her case to the FOS who looked at all the evidence and found in favour of the customer. Even though it was in the terms and conditions that she must be living at the property, this customer had made it clear to the bank representative that this would not be the case.

Although the bank had not recommended the policy to her, the representative was more than aware that she would not be living at the property and that the PPI terms and conditions would effectively exclude her from cover.

The bank was told to put things right and that meant compensation, ensuring the customer was put back to the financial position she would have been in had she not been sold PPI.

If you think you have a PPI claim, why not call us first to talk through your potential compensation case? We offer straightforward advice – call us now!

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