About Mis-sold Payment Protections Insurance
Payment protection insurance policies were introduced by financial services companies to cover the cost of a borrower’s loan repayment, in the event that they are off sick, injured or made unemployed. Traditionally, these policies are taken out against loan and mortgage repayments as well as credit card debts.
In the last few years, there have been a number of high-profile companies forced to repay vast sums of money to victims of mis-sold payment protection insurance. These people have been able to claim refunds on their payments as they were sold the policies in an unfair way.
There are a few easy steps to find out, firstly, if you have been mis-sold the policy, and secondly, how you can claim the money back. With Britain reportedly preparing for a staggering £2 billion worth of claims and with as many as 8 out of 10 claims being mis-sold – it’s definitely worth investigating if you believe you qualify.
So, how do you know if you were mis-sold payment protection insurance?
There are a few very common cases of mis-selling that would mean you are able to make a claim for a refund. If any of these apply to you, be sure to look into a payment protection insurance refund:
1. If you were told, when taking out a loan, mortgage or credit card, that you would have to take out payment protection insurance to be accepted – you can make a claim.
2. If you felt pressured into taking out the payment protection insurance – you can make a claim.
3. If you weren’t told that there were a number of exclusions, including being self-employed, retired, a student or many more – you can make a claim.
But how do I make a claim for my payment protection refund?
Once you have decided that you have been mis-sold your payment protection insurance, it’s time to make a claim. The first step to making a claim is to write a letter to the company that sold you the policy. If you are unable to reach a resolution, you need to prove that you made every effort to resolve the issue before contacting a financial ombudsman – an independent financial specialist at solving disputes.
Financial services companies are under a legal obligation to respond to your query within five days and resolve your dispute within eight weeks. So if they are not forthcoming with a resolution, put your claim to the financial ombudsman. From here everything will be done for you, including all correspondence, chasing and negotiating before they settle on a final refund amount.
It is estimated that 40 million payment protection policies have been sold in the UK in the last six years alone. With mis-sold customers winning back more than £100 million in the last six months of 2009, and complaints to the Financial Services Authority increasing year on year – it seems like a problem that will continue to run and run.
Simon Cole is an expert in debt consultancy who is currently researching websites that offer payment protection insurance including many claim groups
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