It has been all over the local news on TV and radio – Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) is one of the biggest scandals in the banking industry. There are millions of people who may have been mis-sold PPI in the past and could be eligible for compensation if they file a claim so there is a good chance that you could be owed money.
PPI was intended to be a policy that will cover repayments such as loans, mortgages or credit cards should you be unable to work or fall ill. This was supposed to be a good financial product, however it was widely mis-sold.
The main issues that were seen for a mis-sold PPI was:
- The consumer was not aware it was sold to them in the first place
- They were ineligible at the time the loan was taken out – the policy doesn’t cover people who are self-employed, unemployed or if you’re below 18 years old or above 60 years old
- It was not explained properly by the salesperson or they said that it was mandatory to get a PPI for a greater chance for the loan to get approved
If you think that these apply to you, you may have a reason to file a claim. It should not prevent you from claiming if you lost your paperwork or if you can’t find your account number that has PPI. Financial institutions are required to keep your documentation from six years back the loan was taken out. Now, your first step of action should be to contact the company that sold you the PPI policy. They do have eight weeks to take action on your concern – but if you’re not satisfied with the results or if you don’t get a response, you can contact the Financial Ombudsman Service. Keep in mind though, that with the volume of claims they are handling, it could take some time before they can get back to you.
How much money are you owed? There is a free PPI calculator available if you want to check on your PPI calculation yourself. This will just be a calculation guide as there are a lot of factors to consider on every individual PPI calculation. This type of calculation applies to those single premium policies, monthly premium policies or if it’s a policy for a loan, mortgage or credit card.
You can find out what type of policy your PPI is by finding the original credit agreement of the financial product you took out as this will show the cost of the PPI and the type of policy you do have. Just in case you don’t have the paperwork, it should not hinder you from making a claim. It is possible to still make a near-accurate assessment of how much you can claim back.
You might find the process of calculating your PPI refund amount a bit daunting as not everyone is comfortable dealing with numbers. There is no need to worry as you can get in touch with professional, if you wish to get advice or need assistance to process your claim for you.
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