subject: Have All PPI Claims Been Put on Hold? [print this page] Have All PPI Claims Been Put on Hold? Have All PPI Claims Been Put on Hold?
The purpose of this insurance is to cover the borrower for not being able to meet the monthly credit commitments, whether through sickness, redundancy or death. In this way, the PPI would cover the borrower for the minimum payments on the debt, typically up to 12 months. PPI from the major British lenders ranged from around 16% up to 25% of the loan and it was even higher at some other financial companies.
However, it was found that PPI was being miss-sold very frequently. Many people were not told that PPI had been added to their mortgage, loan or credit card payments and others were told that their loan or credit card application would not be accepted without including it. Scandalously, the vast majority of customers that were given PPI were not even eligible to claim the insurance when it was needed.
For this reason, the FSA (Financial Services Authority) and the FOS (Financial Ombudsman Service) stepped in to prevent financial companies miss-selling PPI and paved the way for customers to be able to claim back the PPI that they had paid unnecessarily, if it had been miss-sold, either because you were not aware that you had it or because you would not be eligible to claim. This includes anyone who is self-employed, unemployed, retired or has one of a whole host of previous conditions who cannot claim on their payment protection insurance. It is thought that banks owe consumers somewhere in the region of 2 billion in compensation for miss-sold PPI and that over 20 million people in the UK are eligible to claim.
As PPI was such a big money spinner for the banks, they have not been keen to refund money and have done so quite reluctantly. In October 2011, Lloyds became the first bank to challenge the FSA and FOS's ruling and put all of their PPI claims on hold while they called for a judicial ruling. Most of the other major lenders quickly followed suit. While the judicial ruling is going ahead, the banks are still processing all of the applications and there will be no delay in placing your claim against your lender for miss-sold PPI. This is a temporary hold while the judicial review is continuing so there is no need to wait to put in your application. It is thought that the review will conclude in early 2011.
Claiming back your PPI costs will not only reimburse you for the money you have unnecessarily paid to your bank or credit provider, it will also mean that your future loan or credit card payments will be reduced because the PPI proportion of the payments will be removed. There are many reputable companies that will help you to claim back your PPI payments. It is a very simple process and you will be guided through it each step of the way, at no cost to yourself. You could get back thousands of pounds, which in today's climate is no small matter. Why continue to pay money for something that you will likely never see any benefit from?
Vincent Rogers is a freelance writer who writes for a number of UK businesses. For help with PPI Claims, he recommends Randall and Vickers.
