If you are one of the many people to have taken out a loan, mortgage or credit card, or have entered into a credit agreement since the 1990’s or earlier, there is a very realistic possibility that you were also sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI). PPI was sold as an insurance policy to ensure that repayments on credit are kept up to date in the event of an unexpected illness, sickness or any other instance that would leave a borrower unable to work.
PPI was marketed as a very useful, practical and helpful product that provided real benefits and comprehensive cover; however, it was often mis-sold to customers, in many cases being added to the package without their knowledge or consent. It was also common practice for lenders to insist that the policy was compulsory, when in fact it is and always has been, optional. Also, in many cases, the PPI cover was inappropriate or worthless as customers would have been unable to claim due to restrictions put in the policy by providers.
A large number of PPI policies have been described by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) as being totally disproportionate to the amount borrowed and represented poor value to customers.
The PPI complaints deadline of 29 August 2019 set by the FCA has now passed. Generally, if you didn’t make a complaint to your provider on or before 29 August 2019, you can no longer claim money back for PPI by complaining to providers or the Financial Ombudsman Service.