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February 26, 2015 
Daniel Lee It’s that time of year again when the major banks release their quarterly figures to the city, which all too often sees them having to increase their PPI compensation pots.
First up this time is RBS, which also owns Natwest, and we are already off to a flyer!
In the last set of figures released approximately 3 months ago, RBS added £150m which took their total PPI bill to a gigantic £3.3 BILLION!
At that time we made what some considered to be a bold prediction, stating that over the course of the following twelve months we believed that the RBS PPI fund would surpass £4 BILLION.
Well, even we have to admit that we didn’t think the target would be within touching distance just a few months later.
In their latest figures released today, RBS have set aside a mammoth £2.2 BILLION for various regulatory failings and fines, ranging from the recent foreign exchange rigging scandal to the IT failures, not forgetting the interest rate hedgings.
Of the £2.2 BILLION set aside by RBS/Natwest, £650 MILLION is to be set aside to cover compensation claims for mis-sold PPI.
This sees the overall cost so far to the troubled high street bank stand at £3.97 BILLION.
With further quarterly announcements due later in the year it now appears our bold statement will actually turn out to be a bit of an underestimation, much to the surprise of city experts.
Where will the final bill stop? Well, with an estimated 7 million yet to claim, we believe the end is far from near.
Not sure whether you’ve been sold PI? Our fast and comprehensive checking systems that have been set up with almost all banks, including RBS and Natwest, allows you to find out whether you’ve been one of the millions who have had PPI.
Not sure whether you qualify? Check here to see whether you may.
Want to know how much you may be owed? Why not try our PPI calculator.
If you have had an RBS or Natwest loan, mortgage or credit card within the last 25 years there’s every chance you’ll have been paying for PPI.
We’ve made claiming easy, taking the stress out of you having to deal with the paperwork, the stress, and the tactics employed by the bank to try and wriggle out of paying.
So….how do you start your claim?
#1: The first option for you is to fill in the form which can be seen on every page. By doing so, we will send you out a form in the post for you to complete. Once we’ve received the form back in the freepost envelope we send you with your form, we can make a start on your PPI claim.
#2: The second option for you is to download our form, which again can be found on every page by clicking the ‘download pack’ button. Simply print it out, complete it and send it back to us, our address can be found here. Once we receive is back we’ll let you know and make a start.
Our team of experts are on hand to answer any questions you have via telephone, email or our live chat facility.
So….why wait, let’s get started!
RBS PPI fund up £650m
August 11, 2015 Daniel Lee The Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) claim process can be very confusing. This article is part of a series that Your Money Claim are publishing to clear up common misconceptions about PPI and help you better understand your right to compensation!
There are arguments for and against whether every PPI policy is bad.
Our opinion would be that a separate Income Protection Policy that is not sold as part of a package, such as a credit agreement, is a far better way of protecting yourself against accident, sickness and/or redundancy.
The problem with PPI is that it only covered your credit agreement payment that it was attached to.
Sales teams at banks and other financial institutions were targeted and pressured to sell PPI to customers as the profit to the banks was huge, which in our opinion is a clear indication that the policy was not value for money for the customer.
PPI was sold on virutally any form of credit that has been provided to a customer.
Barclays even had the audacity to attach PPI products to some of its current accounts!
The idea of PPI is to protect the customer should they fall ill or lose their job and struggle to make repayments on that mortgage, loan, credit card etc.
So think of all those scenarios where you are committed to making repayments – PPI could be included, possibly without you even knowing it!
Examples products include: mortgages, car finance, store cards, loans, catalogues, credit cards, hire purchase agreements.
There is no definitive start date for the mis-selling of PPI, although it is generally accepted that PPI started being sold in the early 1990s.
Whilst it is unlikely that PPI was added to credit agreements prior to the 1990s that is not to say it is certain, so it is still worth checking, which is something we can do.
The simple answer is yes – the fact that you later made a claim on the policy does not alter the way the policy was initially sold to you.
If the policy is proven to have been mis-sold and compensation awarded, the lender will simply deduct any amount paid out by the insurance from the compensation award.
It is highly likely that any claim would bring your existing PPI cover to an end, given you are arguing that it was mis-sold.
However, as explained earlier in this article, there are better policies out there that offer comprehensive income protection cover which are much better value for money.
Yes, there are plenty. Lenders used various names for what is basically PPI so don’t be fooled into thinking you haven’t had PPI just because you haven’t seen ‘PPI’ in any paperwork.
It could be named ‘payment cover’, ‘ASU’, ‘loan care’, ‘protection plan’, ‘loan protection’, ‘retail payment protection’, or something similar.
If you are unsure, simply contact us and we can quickly tell you whether you’ve been paying for PPI. We do not even need any paperwork from you to discover whether you can make a claim.
Not sure whether you’ve been sold PPI? Our fast and comprehensive checking systems that have been set up with almost all banks allows you to find out whether you’ve been one of the millions who have had PPI.
Not sure whether you qualify? Check here to see whether you may.
Want to know how much you may be owed? Why not try our PPI calculator.
If you have had a loan, mortgage, hire purchase agreement, credit or store card within the last 25 years there’s every chance you’ll have been paying for PPI.
We’ve made claiming easy, taking the stress out of you having to deal with the paperwork, the stress, and the tactics employed by the bank to try and wriggle out of paying.
So….how do you start your claim?
#1: The first option for you is to fill in the form which can be seen on every page. By doing so, we will send you out a form in the post for you to complete. Once we’ve received the form back in the freepost envelope we send you with your form, we can make a start on your PPI claim.
#2: The second option for you is to download our form, which again can be found on every page by clicking the ‘download pack’ button. Simply print it out, complete it and send it back to us, our address can be found here. Once we receive is back we’ll let you know and make a start.
Our team of experts are on hand to answer any questions you have via telephone, email or our live chat facility.
So….why wait, let’s get started!
PPI Questions Answered – Part 1
August 11, 2015 Daniel Lee Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) has been a hot topic in the media over recent years.
Millions of consumers have already sought compensation from financial lenders that have mis-sold them PPI, with an estimated 7 million yet to launch their claim.
The banks and lenders in the UK have had to set aside tens of billions of pounds in order to meet these claims and the bill is continuing to rise.
You could also be owed compensation, but what was PPI added to?
This article lists some of the financial products that were typically used to mis-sell PPI – find out whether you may have a claim!
Many large mortgage lenders such as Lloyds, Halifax, Santander and Alliance & Leicester have been fined, or faced tough action from the regulator, for the malpractice of mis-selling PPI. Mortgage lenders have paid out huge sums in compensation.
From huge institutions such as HSBC, Clydesdale and RBS / Natwest, to the smaller Welcome Finance, companies that loaned money over the last 20 years often mis-sold PPI. Could this have affected you?
Various credit card providers, including Barclaycard, MBNA and Capital One mis-sold PPI insurance to their card users.
Black Horse and HFC lent hundreds of thousands of people money to finance their car purchases. Hire Purchase Agreements were an opportunity that many organisations used to mis-sell PPI.
From Asda to Debenhams, Tesco to Sainsburys, it wasn’t just the mainstream banks and lenders who were mis-selling PPI. Have you been using a store card over the last 25 years? You may have been mis-sold PPI.
Essentially any time that an organisation provided you with a form of credit – creating a situation where you owed them money – it is worth checking whether you were sold PPI at the same time.
Not sure whether you’ve been sold PPI? Our fast and comprehensive checking systems that have been set up with almost all banks, including Alliance & Leicester, allows you to find out whether you’ve been one of the millions who have had PPI.
Not sure whether you qualify? Check here to see whether you may.
Want to know how much you may be owed? Why not try our PPI calculator.
If you have had a loan, mortgage, hire purchase agreement, credit or store card within the last 25 years there’s every chance you’ll have been paying for PPI.
We’ve made claiming easy, taking the stress out of you having to deal with the paperwork, the stress, and the tactics employed by the bank to try and wriggle out of paying.
So….how do you start your claim?
#1: The first option for you is to fill in the form which can be seen on every page. By doing so, we will send you out a form in the post for you to complete. Once we’ve received the form back in the freepost envelope we send you with your form, we can make a start on your PPI claim.
#2: The second option for you is to download our form, which again can be found on every page by clicking the ‘download pack’ button. Simply print it out, complete it and send it back to us, our address can be found here. Once we receive is back we’ll let you know and make a start.
Our team of experts are on hand to answer any questions you have via telephone, email or our live chat facility.
So….why wait, let’s get started!
What was PPI added to?
August 11, 2015 Daniel Lee You may recall back in November I made a prediction that the PPI scandal would take another 3 years before we can finally say that the matter had been closed.
This wasn’t popular amongst the banks and lenders who are at the centre of the scandal, who have been claiming for what seems like years that we’re almost at an end.
Well, yesterday the chief Financial Ombudsman confirmed that the compensation payouts would take years, confirming my thoughts.
Whilst the number of PPI complaints are steadily failing they are still at epic levels.
Banks and lenders have been caught dealing with complaints unfairly and forced to reopen 2.5 million complaints.
Also, banks and lenders have still not put in sufficient trained staff and systems in place to deal with complaints, despite the saga first being uncovered in the late 2000s.
It’s no surprise that the PPI scandal has years left to run.
Finally, it’s our estimation that there are still approximately 7 million people who have yet to make a claim.
PPI was mis-sold for so many reasons. Our statistics show that the majority of people who approach us now are not aware as to whether they’ve had PPI.
Simple checks can be carried out to see whether PPI has been added to any form of credit agreement, from loans and mortgages to credit and store cards.
Many customers are astounded to find that they’ve been sold PPI, and this is down to the tactics employed by sales staff who often didn’t tell customers they were being sold the useless policy, instead electing to hide the policy within the small print.
Did you honestly think that was it? The next scandal is upon us, and very much like PPI, it’s currently under the radar, but not for long.
Do you pay a monthly fee for your bank account, or have you in the past?
With 1 in 5 of us currently paying for a Packaged Bank Account, in exchange for various ‘perks’, it’s becoming clear that banks have been at it again.
Not sure whether you’ve been sold PPI? Our fast and comprehensive checking systems that have been set up with almost all lenders, allows you to find out whether you’ve been one of the millions who have had PPI.
Not sure whether you qualify for PPI compensation? Check here to see whether you may.
Want to know how much you may be owed? Why not try our PPI calculator.
Do you pay a monthly fee fore your bank account? Check here to see whether you may qualify for compensation.
#1: The first option for you is to fill in the form which can be seen on every page. By doing so, we will send you out a form in the post for you to complete. Once we’ve received the form back in the freepost envelope we send you with your form, we can make a start on your PPI claim.
#2: The second option for you is to download our form, which again can be found on every page by clicking the ‘download pack’ button. Simply print it out, complete it and send it back to us, our address can be found here. Once we receive is back we’ll let you know and make a start.
Our team of experts are on hand to answer any questions you have via telephone, email or our live chat facility.
PPI scandal has years left to run
December 15, 2014 Daniel Lee The recent mis-selling scandals of Payment Protection Insurance (PPI), and Packaged Bank Accounts (PBA), were largely down to banks and lenders laying down strict sales targets to its staff.
The huge profits on offer for selling these overpriced, and often useless policies, led to a culture of rewarding staff who hit high targets, and punishing those who didn’t.
Customers were mis-sold policies in so many varied ways, from being advised they had to take them, to not even being aware they had been added to their credit agreement, or bank account.
Staff had targets to hit, and had to find the ways and means of selling these products.
For more information on how PPI policies were mis-sold follow this link.
Likewise, for information on how PBAs have been mis-sold, we’ve created this little guide too.
The uncovering of the malpractices has led to millions of complaints, and billions in compensation being paid out.
Indeed, our estimations suggest there are still around 7 million who haven’t yet made a claim, probably because they are unaware they’ve been sold PPI.
The new PBA scandal is upon us, and with at least 1 in 5 UK consumers affected, this has the potential to reach the heights of the ongoing PPI scandal.
The Lloyds Banking Group have been by far the biggest culprits, accounting for 40% of compensation payouts and complaints.
So, you’d think they’d be focusing on trying to put their wrongs right…
Almost a year ago to the day Lloyds were fined £28 million by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for their continued practises of targetting staff with sales.
Given this was the major reason behind the PPI scandal, and with the PBA scandal upon us, you would have assumed that a £28 million fine would give Lloyds the kick they deserved and needed.
Unfortunately it comes as no real surprise anymore that the banks take little notice of such regulatory action, and this is evidenced via an allegation made by the Lloyds Trade Union (LTU).
The LTU allege that Lloyds staff are still, even after fines and compensation payouts, being targetted on sales!!!
Why are Lloyds and other banks and lenders continuing to break the rules in the search for profits?
It’s simple really. The regulatory fines issued to banks serve as no deterrent.
Whilst they may look large at first glance, when you take into account the profits that are on offer for breaking the rules, it becomes abundantly clear that things must change.
Rather than issuing a bank with a set fine, the FCA need to move to a fine based on the percentage of profits made by banks.
New rules introduced in the Claims Management industry mean that any company who breaches rules could be hit with a fine of 20% of turnover.
We welcome new guidelines as we believe it will flush out any rogue companies that may remain.
We just wish that banks and lenders faced the same tough action.
Not sure whether you’ve been sold PPI? Our fast and comprehensive checking systems that have been set up with almost all banks, allows you to find out whether you’ve been one of the millions who have had PPI.
Not sure whether you qualify for PPI compensation? Check here to see whether you may.
Want to know how much you may be owed? Why not try our PPI calculator.
Do you pay a monthly fee fore your bank account? Check here to see whether you may qualify for compensation.
#1: The first option for you is to fill in the form which can be seen on every page. By doing so, we will send you out a form in the post for you to complete. Once we’ve received the form back in the freepost envelope we send you with your form, we can make a start on your claim.
#2: The second option for you is to download our form, which again can be found on every page by clicking the ‘download pack’ button. Simply print it out, complete it and send it back to us, our address can be found here. Once we receive is back we’ll let you know and make a start.
Our team of experts are on hand to answer any questions you have via telephone, email or our live chat facility.
So….why wait, let’s get started!
Lloyds staff targeted on sales
December 11, 2014 Daniel Lee With millions of valid Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) claims being rejected by banks and lenders you would think that they would be focusing on getting their own house in order.
However, we are all aware that banks are driven by an insatiable appetite for greed and profit, with little regard for their customers.
We’ve estimated that banks have saved around £17 BILLION thanks to their tactics of rejecting valid PPI claims.
Once a PPI claim is rejected, the matter can be escalated to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) who deal with disputes that cannot be resolved.
However, there is still a staggering number of customers who will accept a letter of rejection from their bank and not escalate the case to be independently investigated by the FOS.
Once the FOS receive a complaint, they firstly complete checks to ensure the matter is something that they are able to investigate.
If it is, they initially contact the lender to advise them that they have received a complaint and that they intend to investigate it.
The lender then has the opportunity to change their stance, and in the case of a PPI claim, or Packaged Bank Account (PBA) claim, make an offer of compensation.
If the lender chooses to accept liability at this stage, the FOS do not charge a fee.
Should the lender choose not to change their stance, the FOS charge the lender a £550 fee for the cost of investigating the complaint.
Let’s get this right shall we….a lender can mis-sell PPI or a Packaged Bank Account in order to unfairly take money from their customers to boost profits.
A lender can then reject the valid PPI or PBA claim in the hope that the customer will accept the rejection and take it no further, thus saving the lender the cost of paying compensation for their wrongdoing.
In the event that the complaint is escalated to the FOS, the lender is then given a second chance, at no extra cost, to rectify their wrongdoing and make an offer of compensation.
Is it any wonder then that lenders are systematically rejecting valid complaints?!
As if the above isn’t bad enough, lenders have recently challenged the current setup, requesting that customers who escalate complaints to the FOS should be charged a fee of between £50 – £100.
Thankfully the FOS have rejected this latest request, stating that a free service to complainants underpins confidence in the financial services industry.
Even though the FOS have made the correct decision when rejecting these latest calls from lenders, the current setup is still weighed far too heavily in the favour of the lender.
Why should lenders be allowed to get away with rejecting valid PPI cases, only to be allowed a second chance to do the right thing?
It’s no wonder that the majority of cases escalated to the FOS regarding PPI and PBA’s are found in favour of the consumer, as has been the case since the scandals first became apparent.
The only way to stop these abhorrent practices is to hit banks where it hurts.
The £550 fee needs to be charged to the lender regardless of whether they then choose to retract their wrongful rejection.
Furthermore, for every day that goes by where the FOS are overturning over 50% of complaints that are raised against a lender, that lender should be fined, and fined severely.
Only then will we start to see customers being treated fairly by lenders, as only then will it be in the interest of the lender.
Financial Ombudsman Service
