subject: Stand Up For Legal Redress: Mis Sold PPI [print this page] Stand Up For Legal Redress: Mis Sold PPI Stand Up For Legal Redress: Mis Sold PPI
It is rarely pleasant to find out that you have made an invalid purchase, and in these current times of economic decline, losing money can significantly impair a person's standard of living. Fortunately, in the UK, the legal system affords us a great level of protection against certain types of loss, particularly those acquired through no fault of our own, and mis sold PPI is one such loss.
PPI stands for Payment Protection Insurance, and is a type of insurance that is taken out against a loan or an overdraft facility. PPI covers the borrower from certain eventualities that may lead to an inability to repay a loan or an overdraft. Such eventualities may include, but are not limited to, sickness, unemployment, demotion, and even death. This latter category may seem unusual, after all, who is able to repay a loan after they have died, the problem with this however, is that debts are often passed on to the next of kin, and so family members may be saddled with a debt they neither wanted, used, nor can afford to repay.
Over the course of the last 20 years, lenders frequently mis sold PPI to borrowers particularly those who purchased insurance before the 14th of January 2005. For these individuals, financial redress is possible.
So, how do you know if you were mis sold PPI?
If the lender failed to make clear any exclusion that may invalidate the insurance policy, a claim is possible. For instance, if the lender failed to tell the borrower that a pre-existing medical condition would invalidate the claim, then they acted illegally and action is possible.
If the lender used terms such as we strongly recommend you take out PPI', or it is in your best interest to take out a PPI policy, and they did not issue a demands and needs statement', stipulating how much at risk the borrower was from defaulting on payments, and why PPI is necessary, the PPI was mis sold.
If the lender acted as if PPI was compulsory, rather than an optional extra, the PPI was mis sold.
If the lender failed to inform the borrower that PPI did not cover the full term of the loan or overdraft, the lender acted illegally and financial redress is possible.
Take a Stand
The OFT (Office of Fair Trading) along with the FSA (Financial Services Authority) estimate that up to 10 billion worth of PPI was mis sold in the UK over the past twenty years. This means that, roughly, 80% of people who took out PPI against a loan or an overdraft are entitled to compensation.
These people deserve financial compensation and it is important to act if you believe that you were mis sold PPI. Lenders have been acting unfairly and, believe us when we say, if circumstances were reversed, they would be coming after you. Lenders are able to charge extortionate amounts of interest, and over this we have very little control, but when it comes to some issues, the power is ours and it is important that we take a stand, particularly in the current economic times, which are largely the result of large financial organisations putting profits ahead of customers.
