Frequently Asked Questions on PPI reclaims
What is Payment Protection Insurance?
If you have a mortgage, a loan or a credit card then you may also have a Payment Protection Insurance policy (a PPI policy).
Also known as Accident, Sickness and Unemployment cover (ASU), Life & Accident, Sickness and Unemployment cover (Life & ASU), Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance (MPPI), Personal Loan Protection (PLP) or Credit Card Repayment Protection (CCRP), these policies can be sold alongside your credit card, loan or mortgage, or are ‘stand alone’ policies which are not linked directly to a specific product or credit arrangement.
These policies are intended to pay the customer’s credit-card or loan should the customer become unemployed or ill and become unable to pay the monthly amounts themselves.
Many companies sold these policies without informing the clients they were optional, without fully assessing the client’s employment status or medical history and in many cases this has led to the client being sold a policy they could never claim on.
Why can I claim back my PPI premiums?
PPI insurance has been found to have been frequently mis-sold by the Financial Services Authority. If it was mis-sold to you then you can make a claim to get back the proportion of your monthly loan or credit-card payments that represented the PPI payments, plus interest. There are many reasons why PPI may have been mis-sold to you in the first place but the main reasons behind making a claim are described below.
When you take out a PPI policy there are certain circumstances under which you cannot make a claim, known as exclusions, and if you were unemployed, a student, retired or self-employed when you took out the policy you may have not been able to make a claim under any circumstances.
Were you told it was a compulsory part of the loan? If so, you may well have been mis-sold the policy.
PPI is an optional extra and cannot be included as a requirement of taking out a loan or credit card. Although a PPI policy can be a good idea and an excellent form of insurance, under the correct circumstances and at the correct cost, it is optional and you do have the right to say ‘no I don’t want it’.
Were you even aware that you had taken out PPI when you took on the loan? Some credit-card companies, particularly certain store-cards, contained a box that you had to tick if you wanted to opt-out of taking PPI cover.
This was sometimes hidden amongst the small print and, whilst under the pressure of trying to fill in an application form whilst still in the store, easy to miss. The Financial Services Authority has since clamped down on this and new credit-card applications require the customer to opt-in if they want PPI.
What will I have to do to reclaim Payment Protection Insurance?
Just use the online application form and we’ll send you some paperwork. Just sign the paperwork and return it to us in the freepost envelope provided and we’ll do the rest!
Will I have to go to court to reclaim my unlawful charges?
No, you won’t. One of the benefits of using our service is that if we firmly believe you have a case and your loan or credit-card company refuse to cooperate we take them to court on your behalf.
Do you need all my credit-card or loan statements?
No we don’t, but it does help to speed things up. We can write to your lender and use the law provided by the Data Protection Act to force them to inform us of all the PPI charges they’ve made on your account. Companies are usually pretty slow in responding to these requests however so if you do still have your statements then send them in as you’ll get your money back sooner.
How much can I reclaim on my Payment Protection Insurance?
You can claim back mis-sold PPI costs plus interest for the last six years. Of course, we figure this all out for you.
Can I reclaim my mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance myself?
The simple answer to this is that, yes you can. Be aware though that it can be time-consuming and some claimants find the process intimidating. You also might need to go to the small-claims court which can make some people anxious. If you use our service all the work is done for you!
How long does it take to reclaim my PPI?
This very much depends on how long the loan or credit-card companies take to respond to us. Eight to twelve weeks is typical but it can take longer.
