PPI Claims: A Guide To Filing A Successful Claim
As you are probably aware, the recent PPI scandal has had far-reaching effects in the financial world, as thousands of people file claims for the return of PPI payments made over the last ten years.
The situation, if you are not familiar with it, is this: in the last decade numerous loan products, including credit cards, mortgages and more, have had an insurance product called Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) attached.
PPI is meant to protect the lender – not the borrower, despite what the name might imply – in the event that the borrower becomes unable to make payments on the loan. PPI has typically been sold alongside loans at the point of sale of the loan.
What Is The PPI Claims Scandal?
The high courts recently determined that for the last ten years, several financial institutions have been mis-selling PPI to borrowers.
Lenders, the courts decided, have been misleading customers as to the nature of this insurance in a number of ways: failing to explain what PPI is, improperly explaining what PPI is, and implying that PPI must be purchased through the lender’s chosen company, and that as such the borrower does not have the right to look elsewhere for a better deal.
This violated the rules governing the sale of PPI, and the courts determined that any institution guilty of misleading customers in this way must repay all PPI fees to any customer who could prove that they were mis-sold during the ten-year time frame.
Additionally, the courts determined that PPI could no longer sell PPI to borrowers at the point of sale of a loan. As a result of the ruling, various financial institutions have set aside over £12 billion specifically to pay those who file PPI claims.
How Do I File PPI Claims?
The first and most important step to filing a successful PPI claim is to find a good solicitor to help you. While it is possible to go through the PPI claims process and be successful on your own, it is significantly more difficult.
A skilled solicitor can guide you through the process and make your claim more solid, thereby making it harder for your financial institution to deny. You should look for a solicitor who only charges a fee if you win. Otherwise you run the risk – however small – of filing an unsuccessful claim and still being stuck with legal fees.
Do I Qualify To File A PPI Claim?
This, of course, is the big question. There are potentially thousands of pounds available for those who file a claim, and many people rightly want to know if they are eligible.
Fortunately, figuring out whether you are is quite straightforward. If you have taken a loan any time in the last decade, and if you purchased PPI on that loan at the point of sale of the loan, and if you were mis-sold that PPI, then you can file a claim.
The crucial bit, of course, is that you have to prove that you were mis-sold. If you were not appropriately informed of what PPI was or were led to believe that you had to purchase PPI through your lending institution, then you were mis-sold. In that case you are eligible to file a claim and stand a good chance of success.
How Likely Am I To Succeed?
This, unsurprisingly, is the other major question. You may be eligible to file a claim, but if fewer than half of those filing PPI claims are successful, you may rightly wonder what the point is. Fortunately, your odds of success are actually quite high. Many lending institutions have set aside large amounts of money specifically for the purpose of paying these claims, and more people are making claims every day.
As noted above, to file a successful claim you will have to prove 1)that you have taken out a loan in the relevant time period, 2)that you purchased PPI on said loan, and 3)that you were mis-sold the PPI. Being able to prove all of those points makes you almost certain to be successful in your claim. In fact, most institutions are paying on well over 90% of the claims filed.
Since the process is so straightforward and the success rate so high, why not find a solicitor and begin the process of filing your claim today?