Q&A Payment Protection Claims

The FSA’s recent court win over mis-sold payment protection bills means millions more will claim compensation, but what does it all mean? MWR Solicitor, Sharon Rigby explains;

Payment Protection Insurance, otherwise known as PPI, is an insurance product that is designed to cover a debt that is currently outstanding.  Typically it is offered by banks and credit providers as a service to cover the borrower against an accident, sickness, unemployment or death, or any other circumstances that may prevent them from earning a salary/wage by which they can service the debt.

PPI has been widely mis-sold by not only the banks or providers but also by third party brokers.

With 2 million people now having successfully claimed compensation for this mis-selling and the recent industry defeat in the PPI case, an extra compensation bill could run into billions of pounds.

The FSA estimated that its new measures would boost the expected number of complaints to 550,000 a year for the next five years – in other words 2.75 million.

If you believe you were too mis-sold payment protection, here are some tips on how to proceed;

1.       If you still have the paperwork, look back at all your loans and see if there was any evidence you bought a PPI policy.

2.       Check the details of the PPI policy itself, if you have it. Ask yourself some questions:

3.       Did you realise at the time you were buying this insurance?

4.       Were you told (falsely) you had to buy it?

5.       Did it really cover you in the first place? (Self- employed people, for example, are not covered by PPI)

6.       Did you even need it?

If you think you have grounds for complaint, write to the firm which sold the policy and lodge your complaint.