March 22nd, 2010Am I Eligible To Reclaim My PPI?
For the last ten years banks and lenders have added Payment Protection Insurance to millions of mortgages, loans and credit sold to UK consumers. PPI is intended to cover your debt repayments if you find yourself in unfortunate circumstances such as injured or unemployed, however, the lenders have been making use of a loophole to sell PPI to customers who would never be eligible for cover or did not meet the requirements of the particular cover they were sold.
For the past decade, lenders have raked in an estimated 3bn by using the loophole and avoiding payouts at all costs. Although arguably getting by on technicality financial watchdogs have deemed them to be in breach of financial practice. Many high street lenders have been slapped with fines of up to 7m and stand to lose much more from refunds.
The scale of this rip-off was fuelled by commission hungry salesmen who would often stipulate if you did not take out the PPI, you could not have the loan, which is wholly untrue. Some lenders only mentioned the purchase of PPI in the small print and by signing the contract you implicitly agree to pay for it, despite not being included in your original quote.
Some people are ineligible for PPI by their very definition and have still been paying for it, for example if you are over the age of 65 you will not be able to utilise PPI as you are above the age of retirement. Anyone who has paid for PPI over this age is legally entitled to a full refund.
Those who are self employed are considered to be in a less stable financial position than someone in full time employment and will not qualify for payment protection insurance, however, lenders will be more than happy to offer it to them with no intent to pay out.
If you have a historical medical condition the chances are you will be considered a high risk individual and would not be offered the insurance as you are more likely to be off work on medical grounds. As you can guess, the banks will be more than happy to sell PPI to you even with a medical record in their hand and you have no chance of using the cover.
If you have been sold PPI and fall into one of these categories you are probably entitled to a refund, but it is more than likely that you will be entitled to a refund regardless. If you want your money back you will have to chase the banks for this and it is often easier to het the help of a legal professional.
If you are looking for good PPI claims solicitors then talk to Donns LLP who can guarantee to help you reclaim PPI