16/09/2009 by Bradders.

PRESS RELEASE - DAILY TELEGRAPH - SEPTEMBER 2009

Thousands of people who have been sold payment protection insurance (PPI) alongside a loan or credit card are almost guaranteed to get their premiums back if they pursue a complaint.

Figures published by the Financial Ombudsman Service indicate that the arbitrator rules in the customer’s favour in almost nine out of 10 complaints it receives about this controversial insurance product.  With some firms almost every complaint received is upheld in favour of the consumer – suggesting that banks and credit card companies are failing to deal with customer complaints effectively.

For example, 99pc of general insurance complaints made about Egg, Black Horse (the loan division of Lloyds TSB), MBNA Europe and FirstPlus Financial (part of Barclays Bank) were upheld in favour of the consumer. The figures were almost as bad for Capital One, Lloyds TSB and Northern Rock, where 98pc of the Ombudsman’s rulings on general insurance went in customers’ favour. Tesco Personal Finance and Co-operative Bank had 97pc of these complaints ruled against them, with Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays notching up rates of 94pc and 93pc respectively. The vast majority of general insurance complaints concerned payment protection insurance.

According to the Ombudsman’s figures, 89pc of all ppi complaints are decided in customers’ favour. In contrast, 59pc of all complaints received are settled in customers’ favour. PPI, which was routinely sold by banks, loan companies and credit card companies, was designed to cover repayments in the event of the borrower losing their job or becoming too sick to work.

But most providers failed to explain that interest was often charged on the insurance premiums, and that the policies were often riddled with exclusions – meaning that those who were self-employed or worked on a contract or on a part-time basis would never be able to claim. Given the poor track record of many banks and credit card companies in dealing with PPI complaints, there are concerns that thousands of consumers are not getting the redress that is due. Nearly 1m people had complained to their bank or building society – a rise of almost a third since the start of the credit crunch. However, the FSA reported that banks   

CALL CLAIMLINE UK ON 0800 622 6988

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14/09/2009 by Bradders.

Did you know that you could potentially be in line for a big payout if you were tricked or coerced into buying an expensive form of insurance?

If you took out loan or credit card in the past six years, you could be in line for a payday amounting to several thousand pounds. Anyone who has taken out payment protection insurance (PPI) who did not need it, did not want it or didn’t even know it was there could get thousands of pounds in compensation.

Without doubt, Payment Protection Insurance is up there as one of the biggest mis-selling scandal for years and there are estimates that up to £10bn-worth of missold ppi policies were sold. Recent reports from the Financial Ombudsman Service have confirmed complaints trebling, with 89 per cent of them decided in the consumers’ favour. If you think you one of those with ppi complaints think you should at least consider getting your money back?If you are paying for this policy, but are unaware that you’ve got it that in itself is misselling!

Everybody, who’s had a loan or a credit card in the last six years, should check if PPI was part of it, if so there’s a very good chance you were missold ppi applies even if the loan or card is now closed. The majority of people are unaware of the product or the huge cost because it’s commonly wrapped up as part of loan repayments.

Typically on a £5,000 loan over five years, £25 of the monthly repayment will be for this legally optional insurance, that’s £1,500 over the loan’s life – often substantially more than the loan’s interest. Often lenders have been making more profit out of ppi sales than the interest on the loan itself. This is leading to a huge rise in the number of ppi complaints now being received.

Fortunately word is spreading that in many instances these policies were missold and they can now claim ppi premiums back. The Financial Services Authority and the Competition Commission have been investigating the PPI market and single premium polices are to be outlawed from 2010.

They have also implemented regulations where the borrower cannot be sold PPI at the same time as they take out the loan. This will give the consumer a chance to shop around and make an informed decision and more than likely reduce the cost of the policy if they wish to take one out. Most people who have it are paying up to ten times over the odds. So if you want it, first calculate its cost. Then realise it’ll only usually make your repayments for a year, so if you’re likely to pay in roughly the same as the maximum you’d get out, it’s unlikely to be worth it. Were you mis-sold ppi?

According to Brad Martin of Claimline UK there are many categories for mis-selling.” For years the financial institutions have been making vast profits on this expensive form of cover. However in many instances when people have tried to make a claim on this insurance they have been turned down due to the many exclusions in the policies.

Somewhere in the region of one in six claims for unemployment or redundancy are now being rejected by the insurance company. When making your ppi complaints the important part is what happened when you were sold the policy.”. Were you told or sold the wrong thing? This covers everything from being told the insurance was compulsory, to not knowing you’d even purchased PPI, to the fact that you were already covered through your work or partner. Were you self-employed, unemployed or redundant? If so, and the policy included unemployment cover, it’s possible you were sold something that simply wasn’t protecting you. Have you had medical problems in the past?

If you had medical problems when you took out the policy, and it wasn’t explained they were excluded, you may’ve been missold. Has your provider already been fined for ppi complaints? Major providers, including Alliance and Leicester, Egg, HFC and Capital One have been fined millions of pounds for not treating customers fairly. . Were you sold a single premium loan policy?

This is the now banned system, where the whole cost of the insurance is added to the big lump sum at the start of the agreement, and then repaid over the term of the loan. If any of the above applies to you then there’s more than a strong chance that you were missold ppi the final word goes to Brad“ Remember; if you have been missold then these premiums should never have been taken from you in the first place.

If you do not want to pursue the claim yourself there are companies like Claimline UK that have been specifically set up to handle complaints on your behalf. We work on a no win no fee basis so there’s absolutely nothing to lose and we charge a fee of 20% on a successful claim which is below the industry average.

If you want someone to investigate your ppi complaints, contact Claimline UK on 0800 622 6988.

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10/09/2009 by Bradders.

Despite numerous firms being fined over the last 3 years and various investigations by the regulatory bodies it would appear that the lure of profit is still too much for some financial institutions Payment Protection Insurance policies, or PPI has generated nothing but negative news especially over the last year. This is due to the fact that these expensive, and in the main, badly designed policies have been sold to people for whom they are not appropriate.

This bad press has been compounded by various reports detailing just how profitable these policies are to banks. A Guardian investigation found that 10% of Barclays profits over the course of a year were made through the sale of PPIs probably due to the fact that on average only about 11% of claims ever pay out.PPIs are policies which cover your monthly repayments in the event that you are unable to work due to accident, ill health or unemployment.

They are usually taken out when applying for a mortgage, loan or credit card, although these policies can be bought separately from independent insurers and brokers at far lower premiumsThe FSA appear to be stepping up their crackdown on this practice and have issued numerous fines to credit providers and retailers for malpractice in relation to ppi which is now causing a rise in ppi complaints. Recently, a number of motor retailers were fined for selling the insurance product alongside car finance, without first ensuring they would be appropriate to the individual. The end result would be a refusal to pay out in the event of a claim due to the conditions of the cover. For the same reason, the Alliance and Leicester were issued with a record-breaking fine of £7 million earlier this month. Across a three year period from January 2005 to December 2007 Alliance & Leicester sold approximately 210,000 Payment Protection Insurance policies to customers seeking a personal loan at an average price of £1,265.However, there was a general failure by advisers to give customers details of the cost of PPI. In addition A&L sought to find reasons to sell PPI without properly considering what customers needed.It was also found that A&L did not make it sufficiently clear that PPI was optional and it trained its staff to put pressure on customers where they queried the inclusion of PPI in their quotation or challenged advisers’ recommendations.

These failings resulted in unacceptable levels of non-compliant sales and a high risk of unsuitable sales over the three year period increasing the number of ppi complaints. An undercover investigation also found the A & L guilty of routinely including PPI in quotes.Nevertheless, the FSA’s approach has been increasingly criticised in failing to have any effect on the widespread practice of mis-selling. They have responded by promising to escalate regulatory intervention by imposing harsher penalties.Brad Martin CEO of Claimline UK a claims management firm said “I am delighted that the FSA is now putting pressure on companies that have been using underhand methods to sell inadequate and overpriced insurance cover.

The fine imposed on A&L reflects the seriousness of the mis-selling that has occurred especially over that three year period. I would advise anyone who has taken out a loan with A&L to check if they have been mis-sold ppi either knowingly or unknowingly as they may well be entitled to a refund. I would also ask anyone who has  PPI cover to check that the cover was suitable for their needs at the time of purchase. If in any doubt I would suggest that they contact a specialist claims company to check on their ppi complaints on their behalf”PPIs have also been the subject of a lengthy and ongoing investigation by the Competitions Commission Their preliminary findings show, among other things, that consumers are generally overcharged, and providers are unwilling to point out that that the policy is optional. That their loan application has a greater chance of success with the purchase of such a policy. That there are ‘stand alone’, and potentially better value policies available from alternative providers.

If you are in any doubt raise your ppi complaints with Claimline UK on 0800 622 6988. 

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08/09/2009 by Bradders.

With the current global banking crisis and the onset of a recession, never has there been a more important time for consumers to protect themselves in the face of a rising tide of unemployment.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has significantly revised its economic outlook and in its most recent forecast, released in September, believes the UK is now entering a recession that will put hundreds of thousands of people out of work.

The CBI believes unemployment will rise over the course of the coming months, breaking the 2.5 million barrier sometime in 2009. This outlook is much more pessimistic than the CBI gave earlier in the year when it said the UK would avoid recession and is a clear indication of just how bad things are likely to get.

Over the last decade UK debt has hit unprecedented levels and if people find themselves on the receiving end of redundancy they will be looking at those insurance policies that they purchased at the time of the loan.

Over the coming months hundreds of thousands of people are going to lose their jobs and this is going to make it very difficult for many of them to meet their financial commitments. Finding new jobs is not going to be as easy as it has been in recent years and for those that do not have savings to meet the mortgage or pay their monthly credit card bills, getting insurance in place now will help them avoid financial disaster if they are made redundant.

 Despite changes to the Income Support for Mortgage Interest benefit, which will come into force next year, the vast majority of consumers will receive no help with their mortgage should they be unable to pay due to redundancy.However with the mis-selling of policies hitting the headlines on a regular basis the majority of consumers will feel that they are between a rock and a hard place as the financial turmoil starts to kick in and ppi complaints increase.

Within the last month Alliance & Leicester were fined an eye watering £7 million for mis-selling policies. Margaret Cole Director of Enforcement at the FSA which administered the fine said “The failings at A&L are the most serious we have found. The volume of ppi complaints is reflected in the record PPI fine. It is very disappointing that after three years of regulation we are still finding serious problems in PPI sales.”This case shows that we will continue to step up the action we take when firms do not sell PPI properly.

Customers should be able to rely on impartial advice based on their individual needs and demands. It is particularly unacceptable for a firm to train its advisers to put pressure on customers when recommending insurance cover which they have not asked for and may not need. Firms cannot rely on paperwork sent out later as an excuse for unclear or misleading statements given on the telephone.”As we said in our recent update on our PPI work, firms must ensure their PPI sales processes are up to the required standards. They must change their behaviour where necessary and if they are either unwilling or unable to sell this product in a compliant way, making sure that customers are treated fairly, they should not be selling it at all.

“There is now an unprecedented volume of the public now seeking ways to service their ppi complaints via one of the many Claims Management companies assisting them.Brad Martin CEO of Claimline
UK one of the UK’s leading claims management companys said “Never has there been such an important time to get this right considering the current financial situation and the implications attached such as unemployment. Until the situation is resolved with financial institutions accepting that bad practice will not be tolerated more mis-selling will occur which will result in more fines and compensation claims”

If you would like more information on ppi complaints contact Claimline UK on 0800 622 6988.

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03/09/2009 by Bradders.

PPI Complaints On The Increase. Here Is Why? 

This insurance, which is sometimes added to the loan is called the Payment Protection Insurance (PPI). Banks, insurance organisations and credit suppliers usually offer it as a product.
Due to financial crisis, if you are not able to keep up your loan payments on time, you will be able to avail this product by the credit providers. To some extent, the insurance providers can be different. The insurance applicant will be covered against redundancy and sickness, by taking the Payment Protection Insurance. Since usually these are the most common reasons for a person being not able to pay off loans, due to lack of income.

This insurance usually covers a minimum repayment against the loan or finance for a particular period, if all the appropriate criteria are met. Normally this period lasts for about 6 - 12 months or so. After this time, the person must find some other sources to repay the debt. Therefore, people who had undergone any accident or illness, claim on the policy if they bought such a policy.

The process of claiming the insurance is to contact the insurance provider and get the money from them whenever necessary, however prior to that, you must be have bought PPI insurance and be paying the premium for a minimum period. 

It is very important to be well informed about the PPI before applying for it. Many insurance providers can fool you by not informing about the complete guiding principles. After full information and knowledge, you will be able to claim for the loan, whenever required, from the insurance provider. However, many companies are misselling PPI leading many ppi complaints.

By writing to the insurance provider, you can make your ppi complaint and claim for what you need and if you do not receive a response from them, continue contacting them. If they respond by saying that you do not qualify for the loan due to certain reasons, you should never lose hope but try pushing them. If you are unemployed, give them the proof, which will show them that you do not have the funds of paying your loans. Even in the case when you are not being offered a fair refund after first claim, you should contact them again to push your ppi complaints and claim more insurance amount since you deserve it and emphasize on the fact that you need it.

A lot of people are under the impression that since they have been paying regularly a certain quantity of their loan, they will be eligible for claiming the insurance money, once they experience an accident, death, redundancy or sickness. Unfortunately, this is not the case since a large number of applicant’s claims are not accepted when they appeal for the policy.

They are then shown the detailed terms of the policy that create hindrances for claiming back Payment Protection Insurance. Moreover, many people find out that according to the terms and conditions of the policy, they were never in a position to reclaim PPI which is why the number of ppi complaints is rising. The policies that have been sold are mostly a fraud and you cannot claim your protection money back at the time of necessity. According to an estimate, about one in every four Payment Protection Insurance claims is rejected.

Therefore, claiming PPI is not an easy task and one should be very careful about the reclaiming process of PPI when buying one. 

For your ppi complaints contact Claimline UK on 0800 622 6988. 

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02/09/2009 by Bradders.

Ensure that you did not insure for PPI unnecessarily

Do you want to know how to claim your ppi premiums back ?

There has been a lot of press recently on the mis-selling of PPI policies and it should be in everyone’s interest who has taken out a loan, a credit agreement or mortgage payment protection insurance to check if they have it. With the marked economic slowdown there is always the potential of job losses and without regular income could throw your finances into a turmoil. To this end PPI is always worth a consideration but there has been a cloud of criticism of late that the vast majority of these policies have been mis-sold.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is currently investigating a number of ppi complaints against large institutions for mis-selling and recently fined HFC (a subsidiary of HSBC) a record sum of £1.1 million for not ensuring the minimum sales standards. They are not on their own either, when we include another half a dozen companies these fines total over £2million.

The problem is that many of these policies that are sold by the banks, credit companies and credit card issuers are not suitable for the people insured. In fact the terms and conditions that are laid down in these policies mean they would never be able to claim! Industry sources suggest that over 85% of people who are making ppi complaints have submitted a claim on one of these policies has been unsuccessful. Compare this with an 85% success rate on other forms of insurance and you will see a mis-selling scandal starting to become obvious.

The Citizens Advice Bureau are receiving a record volume of ppi complaints and suggest that PPI could equal as much as 56% of the cost on a car loan.

These PPI policies rake in over £5 billion and in many instances is a major profit contributor to the banks.

Brad Martin CEO of claims management company Claimline UK Limited said anyone who has taken out a loan or credit agreement over the last 6 years should check the following to see if they have potentially been mis-sold a policy and see how to claim ppi premiums back. “We take ppi complaints very seriously” he added. “From the number of ppi complaints we receive here are some of the main misselling reasons”.

Were you told that a pre-diagnosed medical condition will not be covered.

Was the cost of the policy explained to you and were you informed that you could buy it elsewhere, potentially at a cheaper price.

Were you led to believe that the cover was a condition of the loan.

Were you aware that PPI was attached to your borrowing

Were you told that being unemployed, self employed or on a fixed term contract would make you ineligible for a payout.

‘About 25 million PPI policies are sold every year” said Brad and in a lot of instances the recipient is unaware that they have it. Many people can now claim back thousands of pounds and around 4 out of 5 ppi complaints are upheld if it needs to go to the Financial Ombudsman’

To this end the The Financial Services Authority is stepping up its action over the mis-selling of Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) and investigating ppi complaints more rigorously.

This form of insurance cover is typically sold alongside a loan and provides cover if the debt repayments cannot be met.
An FSA mystery shopper exercise has exposed situations where customers were regularly not told the full details of the policies sold. Last month, the Financial Ombudsman Service said it had been deluged by ppi complaints about PPI mis-selling from people asking how to claim back missold ppi.

The exercise looked at how PPI was sold alongside a loan and discovered that very few customers were informed that the cost of the cover would be added to their loan and incur interest on it.

From the ppi complaints they received only half of people sold PPI were told what the limitations and exclusions of the policy were which allows the customer to decide if they would be eligible to claim.

A large proportion of people were also not told about both the monthly and the total cost of the policy, with the worst performing firms not offering adequate information on cost to the majority of customers. “Tackling poor PPI sales practices remains a high priority for the FSA”, said Jon Pain, managing director of the FSA’s retail markets. “We will intervene to ensure consumers are protected and are considering what regulatory powers are the most appropriate to deliver fair outcomes”, he added.

In light of the continuing bad sales practices and increased number of ppi complaints , the FSA is now deciding which of its full range of powers would be an appropriate response to the problems that it uncovered. Possible sanctions include financial penalties, stopping certain firms selling PPI, and even action against individuals.

The FSA has stated that it has told companies what is expected of them and if firms are unable to meet the criteria, the financial watchdog says they should stop selling PPI policies altogether.

In June this year, the Competition Commission concluded that banks and credit card companies were overcharging their PPI customers by up to £1.4bn a year.

A lack of competition at the point of sale when people took out a loan was cited as the main cause, and suggested that selling PPI at the same time as approving a loan might be banned. As the number of ppi complaints soared in 2009 this has now been tabled and looks set to change industry practises.

The commission will make its final recommendations in November or December.

Brad Martin CEO of Claimline UK said “never has there been such an important time to get this right considering the current financial situation and the implications attached such as unemployment. Until the situation is resolved more mis-selling will occur which will result in more fines and more ppi complaints.

All ppi complaints handled by Claimline UK. Call FREE today 0800 622 6988.

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02/09/2009 by Bradders.

Despite numerous firms being fined over the last 3 years and various investigations by the regulatory bodies it would appear that the lure of profit is still too much for some financial institutionsPayment Protection Insurance policies, or PPI has generated nothing but negative news especially over the last year. This is due to the fact that these expensive, and in the main, badly designed policies have been sold to people for whom they are not appropriate. This bad press has been compounded by various reports detailing just how profitable these policies are to banks. A Guardian investigation found that 10% of Barclays profits over the course of a year were made through the sale of PPIs probably due to the fact that on average only about 11% of claims ever pay out.PPIs are policies which cover your monthly repayments in the event that you are unable to work due to accident, ill health or unemployment. They are usually taken out when applying for a mortgage, loan or credit card, although these policies can be bought separately from independent insurers and brokers at far lower premiumsThe FSA appear to be stepping up their crackdown on this practice and have issued numerous fines to credit providers and retailers for malpractice in relation to PPIs. Recently, a number of motor retailers were fined for selling the insurance product alongside car finance, without first ensuring they would be appropriate to the individual. The end result would be a refusal to pay out in the event of a claim due to the conditions of the cover. For the same reason, the
Alliance and
Leicester were issued with a record-breaking fine of £7 million earlier this month. Across a three year period from January 2005 to December 2007 Alliance & Leicester sold approximately 210,000 Payment Protection Insurance policies to customers seeking a personal loan at an average price of £1,265.However, there was a general failure by advisers to give customers details of the cost of PPI. In addition A&L sought to find reasons to sell PPI without properly considering what customers needed.It was also found that A&L did not make it sufficiently clear that PPI was optional and it trained its staff to put pressure on customers where they queried the inclusion of PPI in their quotation or challenged advisers’ recommendations. These failings resulted in unacceptable levels of non-compliant sales and a high risk of unsuitable sales over the three year period. An undercover investigation also found the A & L guilty of routinely including PPI in quotes.Nevertheless, the FSA’s approach has been increasingly criticised in failing to have any effect on the widespread practice of mis-selling. They have responded by promising to escalate regulatory intervention by imposing harsher penalties.Brad Martin CEO of Claimline UK a claims management firm said “I am delighted that the FSA is now putting pressure on companies that have been using underhand methods to sell inadequate and overpriced insurance cover. The fine imposed on A&L reflects the seriousness of the mis-selling that has occurred especially over that three year period. I would advise anyone who has taken out a loan with A&L and wants to check how to claim ppi to check if they have been mis-sold ppi either knowingly or unknowingly as they may well be entitled to a refund. I would also ask anyone who has  PPI cover to check that the cover was suitable for their needs at the time of purchase. If in any doubt about how to claim ppi I would suggest that they contact a specialist claims company to check on their behalf”PPIs have also been the subject of a lengthy and ongoing investigation by the Competitions Commission Their preliminary findings show, among other things, that consumers are generally overcharged, and providers are unwilling to point out that:·         That the policy is optional·         That their loan application has a greater chance of success with the purchase of such a policy·         That there are ‘stand alone’, and potentially better value policies available from alternative providers.

For further information on ppi complaints contact Claimline
UK on 0800 622 6988. 

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