You have undoubtedly heard about this, but have you checked! Think you never paid it? Are you absolutely sure?? Not just loans, but credit cards, store cards, finance agreements of all sorts may have had you paying PPI without even knowing it.
The deadline for checking has been set for 29 Aug 2019
Beyond that date, you can’t claim so why wait, check it out now. You ‘might’ be owed something.
Be careful who you claim through
I just spent 10 minutes searching for this, as I spotted someone who had a big post with a lot of small print.. I read the small print and guess what, it had some sneaky clauses… check this:
The following text has been taken from a sneaky site looking to make a profit from your claim
“The PPI check is a free checking service. Once the check is completed and if PPI is found, a claim can be made on your behalf. If your claim is successful, a fee of up to 39.6% (that’s 33% plus VAT) of the total PPI refund you receive would be chargeable. You could make a claim yourself and you would not be charged any fees.”
Claim for FREE
I like reading Martin’s Money Tips. He always has some good ideas and tips when it comes to finance. The PPI claiming issue is no exception and the bottom line is this:
You don’t need to pay anyone to reclaim Payment Protection Insurance
Use this link (from the Martins Money Tips site) so you can DIY at no cost.
While the reclaiming deadline’s just been set as 29 Aug 2019, the regulator will push big money into publicising this – and likely jam up the reclaiming system. Doing it NOW gets you ahead of the queue.
Worries about claiming?
Understandable. The form they give you asks you to have to hand, details of any banks or lenders you dealt with, along with account numbers and any details. This is a problem for many, but don’t worry, there is a way to deal with it.
Here’s what you need to do…
Don’t know if you even took out PPI? Check your credit files
First, you can try finding out by going back through all your old loan and mortgage statements and checking for any mention of an insurance fee or product to cover your payments if you lost your job through accident, sickness or unemployment.
Look for something that may be called ‘payment cover’, ‘protection plan’, ‘ASU’, ‘loan protection’, ‘retail payment protection’, ‘loan care’ or similar.
If you don’t have those documents or simply cannot remember which lenders you’ve borrowed from in the past, don’t worry – you can check your credit report.
Your credit report holds details of previous borrowing. You can see all this and check your credit report for free at the MSE Credit Club.
It could be really worth your whole. Don’t be put off
Example from someone who claimed successfully.
“We honestly believed we never had PPI and ignored all your suggestions to check. Until… we saw you say that even if we didn’t think we had, we should phone to check. Now it turns out we had three policies over the past 20 years and have recently had almost £5,000 back. Thank you, thank you, thank you!– K.H”
Suspect you had PPI but have no paperwork? Ask for it
It’s not uncommon to have thrown old agreements. Once they are settled, why keep it. You aren’t alone and there is a way to get hold of it. If you don’t have a copy of the agreement or T&C’s, ask your lender for a copy.
TIP: Make sure the T&C’s aren’t current. You need the Terms to be valid at the time of your agreement.
What to ask your lender
This depends on whether your account is still open or is now closed. Martins Money Tips provide some letters you can use as templates, to get the ball rolling.
Is your account still open?
Some banks may ask you to pay a small amount for a copy of the agreement. This is £1. To speed the process up, include a £1 cheque to cover this situation.
Is your account now closed?
You can ask for a full breakdown of your whole account, specifically including the insurance.
If it takes longer than 40 days, report it to the Information Commissioner.
This breakdown can cost £10 so you could include a £10 cheque (not cash).
Ask your bank directly
The easiest way to check is to contact your lender.
Most will be able to tell you whether you’ve had PPI, either now or at some point in the past.
For example, Nationwide has an enquiry form you can complete online to find out.
Under the Data Protection Act, if your account is still open, you are legally entitled to a copy of your agreement from them for £1.
If your account is closed and the lender can’t find your PPI policy terms, it will be harder to process your claim. Contact your provider with as much detail as you can, or ask for a full breakdown of your account. It can cost £10 to get this.
There is NO Time Limit on how far back you can claim
The only time limit is getting this all sorted before 29th August 2019.
You can complain about a product sold at any time though here are some guidelines which may help. It’s easier if your insurance was active in the last six years, but don’t let this put you off.
- Insurance started in the last six years: There’s no issue here at all as you can request information from the lenders going back six years. Even if the loan’s now paid off, you can start a reclaim.
- Older insurance that’s still active, or ended within the last six years: You can start a reclaim. The six-year rule applies to active insurance, so a policy taken out 12 years ago but paid off five years ago was still active within the key six-year period.
- If your policy ended over six years ago: The ‘statute of limitations’ means banks don’t need to keep records that are over six years old. However, there is no official cut-off time so if you’ve still got the paperwork – while your chances of success are a little lower with older loans – many still do successfully reclaim.
You do NOT need to pay a company to reclaim PPI for you
You do NOT need to pay a company to do this for you. (Well almost never, which I’ll come to very shortly.)
Companies known as claims handlers do very little that we don’t already do for you below in our new reclaiming tool.
They usually take about 25% of the proceeds, plus VAT, yet it’s easy to do yourself.
Many people give away £1,000s unnecessarily when they could keep all the reclaimed cash themselves.
Some of the websites popping up now, seem to make it sound ‘easier to deal with them’ but the truth of the matter is this. You will still need to do all the work yourself, as suggested here and on the Martins Money Tips website, but someone will be asking you over the phone to do it. They will send you emails asking you to find out certain information and will do very little for their potentially huge commission.
Keep it all yourselves and get the ball rolling to see what you are entitled to.
Take the first step
Crack on and grab a copy of your credit report