PPI?

[BFCBaz]

Sick of all the ads regarding PPI claims, BUT, I just wonder.....
I've banked with Lloyds for donkeys' years, and gone through the usual routine when you're young and struggling to raise a family etc. so credit cards, loans etc used to be a part of life. Thankfully, I'm through that.
So, I wonder if I should explore PPI compensation, but with so much advertising by companies who would not spend so much on advertising if there were nothing in it for them, who should I trust?
Has anyone tried this route, and if so, who do you recommend?

[MiltonKeynesClaret93]

Don't hire anyone whatever you do. They usually take up to a quarter of it as your fee plus VAT.
Check this out:

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/e ... -insurance" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Caernarfon_Claret]

Get the forms for free from the Government fill them in yourself and don't bother giving 25% to someone else.

[leedsdave]

One lot that pestered me about this a few years ago sent me their forms to fill in. Hidden in the small print was something about them keeping 48% of anything they managed to reclaim. The forms went into the bin!!!

[Croydon Claret]

I went through one of these companies when the PPI thing first started. I only stood to get back less than £150 and I figured that it was worth paying somebody else as I couldn't be bothered sending any letters. My decision, I was happy to do that for a relatively small amount and it wasn't clear at that time how to go about doing a claim yourself

This was fine until the bank responded to their standard letter and requested additional info. The claim company basically wiped their hands of it and said I would have to deal with it from thereon.

Ended up sending 6 letters and calling the Financial Ombudsman. Eventually got my money then 6 months later got a demand from the PPI company expecting their 25%, even though I'd done all the work.

They tried pursuing me via debt collectors but as I'd moved house I just ignored it and refused to pay it. Wouldn't have minded if they'd saved me the hassle they were supposed to

Moral of this tale - never engage a PPI company because they still expect their payment regardless of who did the work. It's so easy to do it yourself these days

[BFCBaz]

Brilliant advice so far, and just what I was hoping for from you Clarets.
Thanks guys, will follow your advice. Wish me luck!

[DCWat]

If you've banked with Lloyds for years, go through Lloyds. They have a whole office building in Leeds outsourced just for PPI.

They'll do pretty much all the donkey work and won't take a penny.

[Wile E Coyote]

pretty sure i have been fleeced by the PPI scam, but i dont have my original documentation anymore.

[NL Claret]

Use the Financial Ombudsman- as mentioned above through Money Saving Expert.

Lloyds were deviant with me. I had PPI on a credit card in 1998. They denied twice before admitting it. Their first offer was £30 and after I complained they investigated properly and I got a £1000.

[Damo]

I claimed some from Lloyds a few years ago. I just phoned their dedicated helpline, told them roughly when I took out the loan and they sent me a cheque about 6 months later. They even paid me additional interest because they didn't pay me as quickly as they stated they would. It was really easy. Don't give your money away to a third party

[Damo]

pretty sure i have been fleeced by the PPI scam, but i dont have my original documentation anymore.

I didn't have any for a loan I had taken out years before. The loan company will have records. Get them to investigate

[CrispyClaret]

I bank with Lloyds and in the middle of a PPI claim directly with them. I popped into my branch for something else, mentioned PPI and the kind lady took me into a room, looked up my account and gave me the telephone number to ring and my loan reference number.
Quick phone call, brief details about why I thought I had a claim, a few days later a form arrived to fill in and return, pretty simple. I have had 2 phone calls from Lloyds plus text messages. The phone calls related to a previous loan from 1999, the one I am claiming for was from 2003, apparently they lump them all together and deal with it in one go. Didnt even know I had PPI on that loan. Just had a text to say decision is due anytime now.
Advantage of this route is you get the full amount and not the 30% fee or whatever the claims companies charge. Whole process should take 8 weeks to reach a decision and paid within 28 days of that.
Painless so far, just hope I get some pennies, oh and a plus is you get interest from the date of loan up to the date they pay you.

[CrispyClaret]

pretty sure i have been fleeced by the PPI scam, but i dont have my original documentation anymore.

You don't need the original paperwork, your bank will have all your loan details. I didn't have mine any longer but the bank gave me the required reference numbers.

[FactualFrank]

I think PPI adverts should be banned from TV. You can throw high interest loan company ads in there as well.

[Wile E Coyote]

many thanks.

[Rick_Muller]

does anyone know if the same applies to endowment mortgages where you're "forced" to take out redundancy protection to get the endowment? I have recollection of being forced into mortgage payment protection otherwise we wouldn't get the mortgage - that was in 1997 with YBS, all done through a broker in Burnley. thing is, I was actually made redundant and the policy didn't actually pay out until 6 months of unemployment...! I got a new job within 8 weeks...

[JarrowClaret]

I filled out the forms and sent them direct to the bank got the full amount and extra a year or so later. I have a claim with a PPI company ongoing at the moment only because I'm lazy and I can't be arsed doing the research into claiming from Northern Rock otherwise I would have done that myself as well.

[StuffyClaret]

I have just completed a contract working with Lloyds in Leeds reviewing past missold insurance and investments. We were paying out millions....and getting paid rather handsomely too! I didn't deal with PPI specifically as that was in another office but if you were ever told you had to take out life insurance or Income Protection in order to get a personal loan/mortgage, then give them a call and you should have a pay out within six weeks.

[Burnleyareback2]

Claimed mine back myself a few years ago.

Had thousand of calls until last year when I finally let one agency go and check everything again. I knew I had no other PPI, but what it did do is stop the calls.

There must be some sort of register, regardless I've not had a call in over a year.

[Shappie]

I was adamant that I had never been sold PPI. I had a phone call from a company called "the claims guys ". The bloke told me that I may as well have a look, because it is a no obligation search. Turns out I had over £3000 returned to me! The good thing about these people is They send you back all the details, but let you pursue the claim yourself. I didn't pay any commission at all. Would definitely recommend them

[MT03ALG]

I have had a few credit cards but never a loan. Could I claim PPI ?

[SonofPog]

I'm a PPI complaint handler for a major nation bank. So I have to careful what I say.

But "most of the time" These PPI companies, are taking up to 48% + VAT for writing a letter. A few don't even bother to respond to our requests for basic information like "what was their/your job".. They're just hoping we find a reason for upholding at our end.

You could have had PPI on any type of credit, a loan or mortgage or credit card. If you've ever had any of these, just write a letter or send the company an email asking them to investigate if your were mis sold PPI, that's it, that's what CMCs get paid for.

Even if you do use one, you'll be send a questionnaire for each Point Of Sale, and potentially receive a phone call interview that'll take 5-15 minutes. And as conpensation can run into the thousands (we have to pay 8% compound interest remember ) it's certainly not a waste of your time.

Oh, and you can't go straight to FOS, you'll need to have had your FRL (Final response letter) first. (Unless you've received poor service for some other reason).

So yeah, send a letter, if anything it'll keep me employed for a while longer

[2 Bee Holed]

does anyone know if the same applies to endowment mortgages where you're "forced" to take out redundancy protection to get the endowment? I have recollection of being forced into mortgage payment protection otherwise we wouldn't get the mortgage - that was in 1997 with YBS, all done through a broker in Burnley. thing is, I was actually made redundant and the policy didn't actually pay out until 6 months of unemployment...! I got a new job within 8 weeks...

Rick_Muller. I took out an endowment mortgage in 1988
with National and Provincial, who then became Abbey National, then Abbey and finally taken over by Santander. Funnily enough, when I did all my mis-selling 3 years ago, I got a phone call from Santander about a letter I had sent them. They coughed up £600 for a redundancy policy that National & Provincial had forced me to take out in order to get the endowment mortgage in 1988. So yes, give it a go.

You have now reminded me that I also had to take out their Home Insurance i.e. buildings and contents and I have paperwork here showing that for a tiny 1-bedroom cottage in Holmfirth in 1988, I was paying £315 per year!!!!! I am paying half of that now in a 3-bedroom house in Manchester which is in the second highest crime- rated postcode in the UK. What a rip-off! I am writing the letter as we speak.

[bob-the-scutter]

I bank with Lloyds and in the middle of a PPI claim directly with them. I popped into my branch for something else, mentioned PPI and the kind lady took me into a room, looked up my account and gave me the telephone number to ring and my loan reference number.
Quick phone call, brief details about why I thought I had a claim, a few days later a form arrived to fill in and return, pretty simple. I have had 2 phone calls from Lloyds plus text messages. The phone calls related to a previous loan from 1999, the one I am claiming for was from 2003, apparently they lump them all together and deal with it in one go. Didnt even know I had PPI on that loan. Just had a text to say decision is due anytime now.
Advantage of this route is you get the full amount and not the 30% fee or whatever the claims companies charge. Whole process should take 8 weeks to reach a decision and paid within 28 days of that.
Painless so far, just hope I get some pennies, oh and a plus is you get interest from the date of loan up to the date they pay you.

That`s the way to do it!
The PPI scammers are exactly that, SCAMMERS who will take around half of your money for doing next to Jack $hit. Just contact your bank about it and they are obliged by law to help you. We got over 12 grand back a few years ago in PPI and bank charges and we did it all ourselves very easy. We still bank with them and they`ve not been arsey in any way.

[cloughyclaret]

I went through one of these companies when the PPI thing first started. I only stood to get back less than £150 and I figured that it was worth paying somebody else as I couldn't be bothered sending any letters. My decision, I was happy to do that for a relatively small amount and it wasn't clear at that time how to go about doing a claim yourself

This was fine until the bank responded to their standard letter and requested additional info. The claim company basically wiped their hands of it and said I would have to deal with it from thereon.

Ended up sending 6 letters and calling the Financial Ombudsman. Eventually got my money then 6 months later got a demand from the PPI company expecting their 25%, even though I'd done all the work.

They tried pursuing me via debt collectors but as I'd moved house I just ignored it and refused to pay it. Wouldn't have minded if they'd saved me the hassle they were supposed to

Moral of this tale - never engage a PPI company because they still expect their payment regardless of who did the work. It's so easy to do it yourself these days

This is more or less what happened with my dad (he's in his 80's). My mum ended up dealing with it and he finally received his compensation. Then the letters began from the claims company, he ignored them until they threatened to make him bankrupt. Thst scared him into paying it. Scaring an 80 odd year old man! Its disgusting.

I was so angry I contacted Gordon Birtwistle.

Its easy to claim yourself, Ive done it successfully 3 times. Just fill in a form and sorted.

[Chester Perry]

I remember refusing a number of loans and mortgage offers at the time because of this - the organisations I was dealing with thought I was bonkers when I told them what they were doing was wrong and it would cost them a fortune in the long run. I always walked away, but that 8% compound interest sure beats anything on offer savings wise in the time period.

I know someone who has got nearly £40k back in PPI - She was gullible though and money continues to let money pour through her hands - my brother did the paperwork for her - she wasn't even going to claim - but then again she still doesn't see the reason to shop around for insurance or energy.

[BFCBaz]

I seem to have opened a can of worms with this one!
Thanks to everyone who took the trouble to answer my question; I knew I could rely on you all.
All the advice makes sense - do it yourself - and you make it sound pretty easy, fingers crossed.
I hope other Clarets have benefited from this. I will certainly be giving it a go.

Thanks again for all your help.

[CrispyClaret]

As a follow up. 7 weeks after starting my PPI claim directly with Lloyds, I have received my payment. On holiday in Lanzarote, checked my account balance after eating out last night and....£19,000 richer. My loans were only for £7000 and £10000 so it was a bit of a shock as I genuinely expected a few hundred.
Credit card paid off and our hotel has been upgraded to 5*, it is a one off so hang the expense.

[Sausage]

Not that this is any help to anyone, but I took out PPI on my first ever credit card in 1994. It was with Lloyds Bank in Burnley and I can still remember the name of the person selling it to me. As soon as I got home my dad (who has always been very savvy in these matters) asked to see the paperwork. On seeing that I'd signed up for PPI he drove me straight back to the bank, collared the manager and insisted he tear up the application. So I reckon I had PPI for about an hour and 10 minutes. I've never bothered claiming.

[aggi]

An interesting aside to this is interest rate swaps and consequential losses. Some of the work I've been doing has been representing companies who were tied into terrible interest rate hedging products by the banks in order to get loans, lost millions and either businesses went under or they couldn't invest in the business as all the money was going on servicing the hedging product.

The straight-forward bit is that the banks have to repay the excess interest, etc like PPI. The interesting bit is that people are also claiming for money to reflect the position they'd be in if they had been able to invest that money in the business at the time. Trying to work out the position of a business if they could have invested an extra million or something 6 years ago can be entertaining but banks are paying out on this.