The PPI scandal is hardly a young one. The original investigation that uncovered the scandal took place in 2005, and the court order that made refunds mandatory was handed down in 2011. Nonetheless, there are still thousands of claims being made every week, and each month sees hundreds of millions of pounds paid out in refunds and compensation.
Many people are only just discovering that they were mis-sold PPI, and many more remain completely unaware. A quick look over the details of the scandal can help you to work out whether you are due a refund.
Who Might be Affected?
In short, anybody who has taken out credit in recent years might have been affected by the scandal. This includes mortgages, credit cards and personal loans to name a few of the most common examples. Payment protection insurance is designed to cover your monthly repayments if you are made redundant (excluding voluntary redundancy). As such, it can theoretically apply to almost any kind of credit agreement and as such it has been sold and mis-sold with a wide range of different loan products.
When can I Claim?
PPI in itself is a legitimate and often useful product, so not everybody who has had a PPI policy of any kind is entitled to a refund. If you were a victim of mis-selling, however, then a refund is your basic legal right. There are several circumstances that lead to a PPI policy being classed as mis-sold. Perhaps the most shocking example is that some people had PPI attached to their credit agreement without even being told. Others were given policies that were unnecessarily comprehensive in order to bump up costs, or that were designed to ensure they would never be eligible for a claim. One of the most common, and arguably most subtle, tactics involved failing to make customers aware of their rights. When taking out credit, you have a right to shop around for a better PPI policy and you should have been told this by your lender. However, many lenders fostered the idea that customers needed to settle for their own PPI policy.
Making a Claim
If any mis-selling tactics were used to sell you a PPI policy, you have a right to make a claim. You can do this yourself or turn to a claims management company to handle your case for you in return for a portion of the money you claim back. If you are unsure where to begin with your claim or which approach to take, you may wish to seek out more information from the PPI Claims Advice Line website.
