| If you wish to claim back your payment protection | | | | you lodge the complaint as soon as possible. |
| premiums, the first thing you need to do is to make | | | | In light of the fact that a growing number of |
| sure that you actually have PPI added to your loan, | | | | complaints are being submitted each year about |
| mortgage or credit card. If you have a loan you can | | | | payment protection insurance, a more standardised |
| usually find this information on your credit agreement. | | | | form of complaints handling would assist consumers |
| Single premium PPI attracts interest in the same way | | | | with making a complaint. At present, each company |
| as the loan, so it is normally indicated as a separate | | | | has their own complaints procedure and their own |
| loan amount on the agreement. | | | | method for investigating complaints. What this has |
| The date of the agreement is important. Anything | | | | resulted in is a number of people reporting different |
| sold before January 2005 will be classed as a | | | | experiences with different lenders. Some |
| non-advised sale and in this case you may need to | | | | complainants have found that their complaint hasn't |
| do some further investigation to see whether it is | | | | been properly investigated while others have |
| viable to make a successful claim. For any policies sold | | | | received only partial offers of compensation. It's not |
| after this date, a separate set of rules may apply | | | | always easy to calculate exactly how much you |
| which works in the consumer's favour. | | | | should receive back in compensation. |
| You then need to document your recollections about | | | | There are various claims management companies |
| the sale. It is helpful to know whether you were | | | | who can manage the complaints process on your |
| shown alternative methods of protecting your | | | | behalf. A good claims company will have solid |
| repayments, whether the adviser led you to believe | | | | experience in dealing with a wide variety of lenders |
| that you had to take out the policy in order to get | | | | and will have sound knowledge of their complaints |
| the loan and what your employment circumstances | | | | processes. They will also know how to check the |
| were. | | | | calculation of any compensation due. This is especially |
| In depth discussion of the legal aspects relating to | | | | important as individuals can often be short changed |
| compensation claims are beyond the scope of this | | | | simply by not knowing what they are entitled to. |
| article. However, it can be useful to have a basic | | | | Remember, you can only make one complaint to the |
| understanding of the Statute of Limitations Act and | | | | lender so it is important to get it right from the |
| how this may affect your claim for compensation. In | | | | outset and make sure you know how much you are |
| short, there are time limits that apply to making a | | | | entitled to. |
| compensation claim. The best thing to do is to ensure | | | | |