Why Everyone Should Make A PPI Complaint Now!

*SPONSORED – I’ve worked with the FCA on this blog post*

Ok, ladies and gents, repeat after me. ‘I WILL check if I had PPI. That’s it. And again. ‘I WILL check if I had PPI.’ Good.

I am on a mission to get every single person in the UK over 25 to check if they had PPI (Payment Protection Insurance) because:

You don’t know if you were mis-sold PPI on products, they may have added it on without telling you
It takes about 15 minutes of your time to start the process
All you need is your name, date of birth, phone number and current address/relevant past addresses
There’s a chance you’ll get a load of money back

If you’ve been following me on Twitter, you’ll have heard me blab on about my friend’s dad who got £10k PPI compensation – even though he thought applying was a waste of time. Also, my own parents reclaimed thousands!

THERE’S A CHANCE YOU COULD BE OWED MONEY – CHECK IT OUT. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO LOSE?

Ok Lotty… I’m listening – talk me through this PPI stuff

I’ve been hearing about ‘PPI this and that’ in the background for years, and like a lot of people, have not really engaged with it.

You know when something sounds too good to be true? I also didn’t recognise the term, so assumed it has nothing to do with me.

But it’s legitimate. It’s compensation for the unethical way PPI was mis-sold. You’re entitled to it. Get what you’re entitled to.

You have until 29 August 2019 to make a complaint.

What is PPI?

If you’ve ever taken out a loan, mortgage, credit card, bought something on credit (car, store cards etc), there’s a real chance you were sold PPI – even if you don’t remember it happening or if you didn’t notice it at the time.

Millions of PPI policies were sold in the UK, and a lot of them were mis-sold. Over £35 billion has been claimed back since 2011.

Here’s what mis-selling looks like (although, to check for PPI, you don’t have to know if any of the below apply to you):

PPI being added without you knowing
Being pressured into taking it out or being told you had to
Being advised to buy PPI when you were unemployed or had a pre-existing medical condition

You can even complain if you think your bank or other provider earned a high level of commission from your PPI and did not tell you when you bought it.

SO, LISTEN UP – see why you need to put in a complaint?! These providers were either adding PPI without proper explanation, saying you had to have it, or even adding it on without telling you altogether. You DON’T KNOW if you were mis-sold. You might as well check!

I have no idea if I took out any loans or who they were with

Yeah, I don’t remember what I had for lunch yesterday, never mind what products I might have got 10 years ago.

But there’s a trick you can do to find out. Check your credit report. It’s free to do/sign up – and it will tell you everyone you’ve ever taken credit out with.

Checking out the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)’s helpful list of providers can also help jog your memory for any products you may have taken out. You can see this at fca.org.uk/ppi.

Write down the providers relevant to you and make a claim for every single one of them.

Is it a faff/expensive to claim PPI back?

No. It’s totally free to apply and it takes no time at all.

You just need to remember who you’ve taken out loans with in the past (or look it up with a company like Experian).

Here’s what you will need:

Your name

Date of birth

Your phone number

Address (and relevant past addresses)

How do I make the complaint?

Complaining is free and you can do this yourself by complaining directly to the provider who sold you PPI. Banks and other credit providers are obliged to make the process of claiming easy. You can also make a complaint using a free third-party tool.

Identify your provider

The next step is to identify your provider using the FCA’s list at fca.org.uk/ppi, or just google FCA PPI. Providers have online tools that make PPI claims simple and will help you through the process. You can also call the helpline for advice on 0800 101 8800.

Complain directly

It’s as simple as it sounds. Go to the provider and make a complaint directly, by 29 August 2019.

You can contact your provider directly via online, telephone or in branch to make a complaint
Your provider will look into the complaint
They must tell you within eight weeks as to whether you are owed money or not.

They won’t be weird, angry or awkward with you – there is no reason to be nervous about it.

A free third-party tool

Another way to do it is it to use a free third-party tool such as Which’s – https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/how-to-reclaim-mis-sold-ppi

It took me all of five minutes to fill in what you know (you don’t even need to know what kind of loan it was or have any more info), and the tool will make the claim for you. It’s really easy.