In spite of the High Court ruling that the FSA ( Financial Services Authority) was perfectly lawful in its demand that banks pay customers back their payments in the cases of mis-sold PPI, some banks are still using various techniques to avoid paying back this money. Mind you, it amounts to a lot of money. Estimated to run into billions of pounds, banks are obviously keen to keep as much of this as they can.
So what methods are they using? Firstly, they do not have to re-investigate any claim that they have already rejected. So if you have made a claim and previously had it rejected does this mean that you won’t get the chance for a PPI reclaim? Not necessarily, as you can appeal. If you have had your complaint rejected, then you must take your case to the Financial Ombudsman within six months.
Barclay’s Bank has capitulated to a certain extent in that it will payout on all PPI claims made before 20th April 2011 without argument, so if you are one of these, then you will certainly get your money. If you have not already claimed, or have claimed and been rejected, then it makes sense to get your claim in quickly to take advantage of the billions set aside by the High Street Banks to pay for mis-sold PPI. However Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Santander and Lloyds are saying that they will scrutinise carefully all claims made for mis-sold PPI.
One strategy used by banks in the past has been delaying tactics. Generally they will automatically refuse a claim in the first instance. This is more difficult now that the High Court has ruled against them, but you may still need to persevere in your PPI claim. Due to the large number of these claims, banks have a huge backlog. They also put numerous PPI claims on hold while the court case was being heard. Barclay’s decision is sensible as they will be able to process these claims much faster, but other banks may take an extremely long time.
The deadline for banks for claims already in place, set by the Financial Services Authority, is 31st August 2011. This is an extension due to special circumstances. In spite of this extension, banks are probably going to need to take on extra staff to process all the PPI claims which they are likely to receive. Banks should respond to later claims within 16 weeks. This response is being monitored by the FSA and if you receive no reply during this time, then you should complain to the Financial Ombudsman.
PPI reclaim is still a minefield for customers who were mis-sold. Banks traditionally have refused legitimate claims, and prevaricated, generally making it difficult for the customer to claim what is rightfully theirs. The keynote for PPI reclaim is perseverance. You may have to keep on and on with your claim. You may have to go to the Financial Ombudsman. Even if you have already been rejected and it is over the statutory six months, you may still be able to reclaim if it was not made clear that you have the right to appeal.
Author:
Canary Claims
Posted in: PPI
Tags: FSA, Mis sold PPI, PPI