05/02/2010 by Bradders.

Anyone who has payment protection insurance with a loan, mortgage or credit card and doesn’t really know why should seriously question if they have been missold ppi. For those that discover that they have this insurance attached to a credit agreement by chance then the have a definite cause to make a formal ppi complaint. With cases by the thousands being presented to the financial ombudsman for compensation we are still only scratching the surface. 

This insurance has been a cash cow for the financial institutions for many years and was putting billions of pounds on their bottom line. Even though for many years this form of insurance has been known to be worthless for many people not many realised they could receive ppi compensation 

Whether you were unemployed, self employed or had a pre-existing medical condition at the time of the sale these are all reasons to make a ppi complaint. 

Once you ascertain that you feel you were missold the next stage is to obviously get your premiums returned plus any interest due. At this point in many instances inertia sets in and the complaint never gets actioned. However if people were to persevere and find out the best way how to claim ppi then the financial institutions would fond themselves having to pay back far more money than they have probably bargained for. 

So, if you have ppi ask yourself whether you bought it or were you ‘sold’ it. If you have any form of credit agreements check to see if it was applied without your knowledge. Once you ascertain this then you need to feel comfortable to clam this back yourself or employ a claims management company to do it on your behalf on a no win no fee basis. Only when they have successfully completed your case will you need to pay a fee and this should never be more than 20% and they have to be regulated by the ministry of justice. 

Remember, if you think you were missold ppi you probably were

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02/02/2010 by Bradders.

With banks and building societies having to come up with whatever methods necessary to keep the excessive profits coming in, a new ploy has hit the high street.Record profits are being made after hitting customers with the highest personal loan interest rates in almost a decade. Loan rates are averaging 12.4 per cent, despite the fact the Bank of England base rate is at a 300-year low of 0.5 per cent. According to the BOE the amount borrowed rose by £ 52million - to £226.4billion - in December, the first increase since June 2009.

There has rightfully been condemnation that taxpayers cash used to bail out the banks is being loaned back to the taxpayer at extortionate interest rates. The average rate on a £5,000 loan repaid over three years is 12.4 per cent. This is up from 12.1 per cent a year ago and 7.8 per cent in early 2006. In 2001 the average loan rate was 12.5 per cent, however the banks ’only’ made a 6.5 per cent profit as the base rate was 6 per cent. Thanks to the current low rate, bank profit margins are now 11.9 per cent. The latest personal loan figures were collated by the experts at the moneyfacts.co.uk website. Spokesman Michelle Slade said: ‘There is no security that a personal loan debt will be repaid. In such a risk-averse market, lenders are only offering loans to the most creditworthy applicants and then at a premium. It has been cited that a primary reason that headline interest rates are up is because the finance giants have been prevented from imposing rip-off charges on the Payment Protection Insurance (PPI).

The banks have made billions of pounds for years by charging sky-high premiums on the insurance sold alongside personal loans. There is evidence that millions of people were mis-sold ppi, which is supposed to provide payment to cover essential bills in the event of sickness or unemployment.The Competition Commission has ordered strict controls on the cost of the insurance and hard pressure sales tactics. However, it appears the industry has responded by simply putting up the price of the loans. 

With unemployment climbing close to a 13 year high of around 2.5 million, with many families struggling financially, it is no surprise that the level of competition in the unsecured loan market has subsided.Not only is the risk of defaults higher in the current economic climate, the highly profitable Payment Protection Insurance cash cow is no longer there to subsidise lower loan rates.It would seem if they can’t get you one way there’s always an alternative route. However, for anyone who believes they have been missold ppi they should act now to get their premiums back.

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01/02/2010 by Bradders.

With complaints against the financial institutions rising at an alarming rate and the banks attitude to complaints leaving a lot to be desired the financial ombudsman service is the public’s saviour. For many years the institutions have faced a backlash from the media and consumer watchdogs for many forms of unscrupulous sales practices. In the eighties and nineties it was pensions and endowments, the noughties brought us bank and credit card charges. Now we are faced with unprecedented levels of complaints in the form of missold ppi policies. What started out as a trickle towards the end of the last decade is now starting to gather momentum as literally millions of people are now realising that they have been on the receiving end of sharp practice. The financial ombudsman s having to plough their way through a deluge of complaints and the figures seem to keep rising. At the current rate of growth it will only be a matter of months before the FOS will be receiving over a 1000 complaints a week for missold ppi.  

Whilst some institutions are facing up to their responsibilities and try to resolve the matter internally others are fighting every case and referring them to the ombudsman. Interestingly it’s not the independent brokers or sub prime lenders who are the worst offenders but some major names in the high street. One of these banks is currently trying to be the ‘friendly’ face on the high street with their staff friendly advertising and vehemently denies any wrong doing even when it is obvious to the contrary. At some point the FOS must surely come down hard on this practice as their admirable service starts groaning under the weight of complaints and the wronged consumer has to wait ever increasing amounts of time to get redress. 

The time it takes to get a case for missold ppi processed through the financial ombudsman service can vary and depends on a variety of reasons. Firstly they need to have all the correct information to enable them to assess if there is a case to be heard. It will also depend on how cooperative the institution is in supplying the necessary paperwork and t is not unheard of for a bank not to supply information until they have been asked at least three times over as many months. From there they can disagree with the findings of the adjudicator and take it to the final level the ombudsman. What should in many instances be a simple procedure and not take longer than a couple of months can in some instances go way, way beyond this. Finally when its all processed and found in the favour of the consumer it doesn’t quite end there. The banks still have up to 12 weeks (3 months) to reimburse the money that should not have been taken in the first place! 

Anyone who feels they have been missold a ppi policy should act without delay because delaying it could potentially add months to the claim     

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