If you have taken out a mortgage, loan, credit card or have obtained finance on any high value item in the last 10 years, there is a good chance you have a Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) policy. But did you know you had taken out a PPI policy? The Financial Services Authority (FSA) have launched a major crackdown on financial providers after finding millions of PPI policies over the past 10 years have been mis-sold to customers. You could have Payment Protection Insurance and not even know it!
Why would have payment protection insurance been miss-sold though? Research shows that banks and other financial providers encouraged sales employees to sell PPI policies by providing greater bonuses and other incentives. So often PPI was sold alongside mortgages, loans and credit cards by any means necessary, even if it meant ruthless tactics and misleading customers.
Some of the common sales tactics for selling PPI include:
- You didn’t ask for a PPI policy but it was sold to you anyway, without the cost being stated at the point of sale.
- Informing you payment protection insurance was compulsory or that purchasing it would improve your chances of getting a loan.
- Not being told PPI is optional or that a cheaper policy could be purchased elsewhere.
- Not asking you if you already have alternative payment protection cover, such as income protection, employer illness cover or a redundancy package.
- Not being informed the PPI policy is limited and will not cover the entire duration of your loan term.
Shockingly, the FSA have found that some customers seeking finance have been sold PPI even though they would never be eligible to make a claim.
Typical cases where you would not be eligible to make a valid claim on a PPI policy include:
- If you were unemployed or retired at the time of the insurance policy being taken out.
- If you are self-employed.
- If you were employed on a temporary or contract basis or worked less than 16 hours a week.
- Many policies have an upper age limit, usually 65 or 70, if you were older than this age at the time of being sold the policy, you would never be eligible to claim.
- If at the time of being sold the policy, you had a medical condition or an existing illness that could stop you from being able to work.
If you believe you have been the victim of ruthless sales techniques or fall into any of the unfortunate categories where you would not even be eligible to claim, there is good news, you do qualify to claim PPI payments back.
