Payment Protection Insurance (PPI)
Probably the form of financial claim that achieved the greatest level of press and most public attention in recent years. But under what circumstances can you claim and what's involved?
Payment Protection Insurance, commonly abbreviated to PPI, is a product that, in theory, will maintain repayments on a loan or debt if your circumstances change and you are unable to.
The above definition works if PPI is suitable and has been sold correctly. A valid PPI policy is covering the risk of non-payment of the loan repayments should your income suddenly fall (for example, an accident preventing you from working) by making your repayments for you should such an event occur.
Over the last 2 decades Payment Protection Insurance became a huge source of revenue for lenders and brokers, with the commission made on its sale in many cases exceeding the profit on the sale of the actual product itself. However, it can be argued that certain lenders and brokers became greedy and saw the sale of PPI as a 'cash cow' and, with this, the mis-selling of PPI by lenders, brokers and individual (commissioned) agents began.
FSA Fights the Consumer's Corner
Following the British Bankers’ Association’s (BBA) application for a judicial review of the FSA's new PPI complaints handling measures, a 'win' has finally been declared for the long suffering consumer.
In 2011 the High Court handed down the long-awaited Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) judgement, upholding the FSA’s new rules on how complaints should be handled.
The banks’ trade body, the British Bankers’ Association, had initially requested a judicial review into the Financial Services Authority’s (FSA) new PPI complaints handling rules, which forced banks to look at old complaints. The banks clearly did not want to do this.
Many observers have stated that the banks had been trying to create the perception that PPI claims were "going down the same route as bank charges claims", a situation where the banks ultimately saw more success than the public. Fortunately on the subject of PPI, the FSA have fought vigorously for the consumer and it is now clear that the banks cannot hide from their responsibilities to compensate consumers.
PPI High Court decision – a win for the FSA and consumers
April 21, 2011 by flyeronline
The High Court has today handed down the long-awaited Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) judgement and upheld the FSA’s new rules on how complaints should be handled.
The banks’ trade body, the British Bankers’ Association, requested a judicial review last October into the Financial Services Authority’s (FSA) new PPI complaints handling rules, which told banks to look at old complaints and contact people who have been missold protection.
Martin Lewis, creator of MoneySavingExpert.com, comments:
“The banks have behaved abominably. They’ve deliberately mis-led reclaimers by telling them everything is on hold and used the memory of the bank charges hold to make it seem legitimate.
“The hold’s not been agreed by the FSA or Ombudsman, who have both lambasted it, and has potentially left 100,000s – each trying to reclaim £1,000s – wrongly in limbo and the Ombudsman over-stretched.
“If this goes to appeal, as expected, they cannot be allowed to continue. I believe they should be fined for the way they’ve tried to manipulate the system to consumers’ detriment.
“It’s time we had a system of collective consumer redress. The fact the banks can deliberately reject claims to put people off taking it further, even though the vast majority of those who go to the Ombudsman win, is against natural justice and needs to stop.”
PPI Only Claims with Grass Roots
If you only wish to pursue a potential PPI claim then Grass Roots can assist with our 'stand alone' PPI claim product.
You should always consider the advantages of our claimant and defended claims services. However, if you have already considered these and decided to only pursue potential claims for PPI mis-selling then this service has been designed for you.
If proceeding with a claim on a PPI only basis we defer our standard Service Fee payment until you receive a settlement, i.e. there is no upfront fee to pay. Why not contact us today and find out how Grass Roots may be able to obtain you a settlement in recompense of the mis-sale of PPI?
