Millions of people are expected to receive letters from their banks in coming months, informing them that they have been miss-sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) sometime in the past. As a result, they are
eligible for compensation when they lodge complaints. The relevant authorities who realized some people actually bought PPI policy without even knowing ordered this campaign. Therefore, it is important to know what to do when you receive a letter or if you had complained previously, but ignored by the bank. Furthermore, you need to know what to do, if you do not receive a letter, but still suspect you may have been miss-sold PPI in the past.
· A possible miss-sale
PPI is intended to provide coverage for credit repayments, including loans and credit cards, in the event that you are not in a position to work as a result of redundancy or illness. However, it has become apparent that PPI was miss-sold widely. The issues arising include people who purchased PPI but did not know it was actually sold or did not require the policy because they had enough cover elsewhere. It is also becoming apparent that some people could not have made claims on the policies due to limitations or exclusions (e.g. the plan did not facilitate coverage for self-employed people). If any of these cases apply to you, then you have a good reason file a complaint.
· Lodging a complaint
If you suspect you were miss-sold PPI, consider contacting the business that issued the policy. They are required to look into the matter within eight weeks. If you do not receive a response or an unhappy with their response, you can contact the financial ombudsman. Nevertheless, given the large volume of PPI claims currently being handled by the ombudsman, your complaint may take a couple of months to be resolved. You have the choice of filing the complaints yourself or hiring a claims manager to pursue the matter.
· Time limits
Currently, there are time limits imposed to make PPI claims. Generally, the complaints need to be raised within 6 years upon the policy being sold or within 3 years of realizing sale of the plan was not in order. Fortunately, the majority of people filing complaints are "in time" because they did not realize there was a problem until recently. Nevertheless, if the policy was sold several years back, records of the PPI may not be available. As a result, neither you nor the seller will have any proof or evidence.
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