Banks have set aside billions of pounds to compensate those who have been mis-sold PPI. This is money that you can now claim back and with the average claim in excess of £2,000 it is certainly worth checking whether you were mis-sold one of these policies.
PPI may have even been added to your credit card or loan agreement without your knowledge and so it’s vitally important to check your credit card statements and your loan agreements to check whether this type of insurance has been surreptitiously tacked on without your consent. If you don’t have access to this documentation you can always contact your lender to request further information about the type of products you took out with them.
Once you have determined whether you have taken out PPI it’s time to figure out whether you can make a valid claim. Despite the major high street banks setting aside huge sums of money, not everyone will be able to make successful ppi claims. There are many things you need to consider before knowing whether you have a fighting chance of claiming some money back.
Those who took out this insurance policy within the last six years stand the greater chance of successfully recovering their premiums. However, where the policy was taken out further back than this, it can be more difficult and sometimes impossible to claim compensation.
If you are struggling with getting to grips with claiming a refund or you simply wish to hand over the process to someone else, you can always instruct a claims management company to deal with the whole claim for you. While there is a fee involved, this is usually only payable upon successful completion of the claim.
A good starting point is this PPI mis-selling checklist. If any of the below apply to you then your lender certainly has a case to answer and you could be due a sizeable refund.
- The lender added PPI to your account without your knowledge.
- You were told you had to take PPI out otherwise you could be refused credit.
- You were not in full-time employment when you took out the policy.
- If you took out single premium PPI, it wasn’t explained to you that you would have to pay interest on top of these premiums.
The checklist above is not exhaustive but only covers some of the major reasons for PPI mis-selling. We recommend that you do some more extensive research or seek professional help if you wish to take things further and see whether you can make a claim.