PPI help!

James_Wise

I have had a series of Customer Service Reviews at my bank where I have been encouraged to take out top-up loans to pay off credit card. 1st loan was for £2000 in 2005. I've since had 8 or so service reviews and on each occasion have been offered a further loan to pay off any credit card debts. I am now saddled with a loan of £18500 with the bank. I believe I was missold Loanguard Insurance by the bank on numerous occasions. I am also very unhappy about the way the bank has led me down this road. As a result I have had to take out a Debt Management Plan. I've had to change my bank (very happy to do that) and I would admit to being financially naive. The company dealing with my PPI claim have contacted my bank, the bank have been entirely uncooperative and I have been asked to contact my bank personnally for the policy numbers for the Loanguard applied to the loans. I won't be debt free for about 7 years as a result. I would seriously advise anybody going into a "Customer Service Review" at their bank to be very wary about what is offered. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated, thanks James

oldnthrifty

Hi James,

I am currently claiming against my PPI with my bank. One of my key points in claiming is that during an account review my bank increased my debt by £8000 on a loan PPI.

At a time of hardship my bank increased my debt for the banks profit. the bank wanted me to pay of a competitors card and discretely added PPI to the sum of £8K. This was definately not acting in my best interest whilst vulnerable and therefore unfair.

Sorry to hear that you are using a reclaim company, it will cost you a lot in the end.

Better to do it yourself.....Good luck.

James_Wise

Thank you oldnthrifty. I was aware at the time of applying for both the PPI refund and the Debt Management Scheme that I would be paying over the odds for the service. I was in a situation where I was paying so much interest on both the loan and the credit card that my wages were not sufficient, leading me to have to use the credit card as a means of obtaining cash for the last week of each month (something I had originally sworn never to do). I was hardly paying the interest off on the loan and credit card let alone the balance. To be honest I am absolutely disgusted that a supposedly reputable financial organization such as a high street bank could allow someone on a relatively low income such as me to get myself in such a position. Yes I do hold myself responsible for my current situation up to a point, but feel that a Customer Service Review should be aimed at helping the customer rather than further increasing their debt. I am now with another bank, on a basic current account, no overdraft, no credit cards. My new bank have been very helpful, I am happy with them. My previous bank interestingly is the one in the news at the moment which has relied on Government handouts and thereby taxpayer to bail it out of trouble. I will shed no tears if it goes under. Sorry to sound so bitter! Many thanks for your support, James

di3004

James_Wise wrote: »

I have had a series of Customer Service Reviews at my bank where I have been encouraged to take out top-up loans to pay off credit card. 1st loan was for £2000 in 2005. I've since had 8 or so service reviews and on each occasion have been offered a further loan to pay off any credit card debts. I am now saddled with a loan of £18500 with the bank. I believe I was missold Loanguard Insurance by the bank on numerous occasions. I am also very unhappy about the way the bank has led me down this road. As a result I have had to take out a Debt Management Plan. I've had to change my bank (very happy to do that) and I would admit to being financially naive. The company dealing with my PPI claim have contacted my bank, the bank have been entirely uncooperative and I have been asked to contact my bank personnally for the policy numbers for the Loanguard applied to the loans. I won't be debt free for about 7 years as a result. I would seriously advise anybody going into a "Customer Service Review" at their bank to be very wary about what is offered. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated, thanks James

Hi James and welcome.;)

I see that your using a company to deal with this for you.

May I ask if they are charging you for this?

If this is the case and you decide to want to give it a go yourself, you will also receive help from this site, all free and get to keep all your refund.

However, wishing you luck with your reclaim, please keep us posted.;)

oldnthrifty

Hi James,

One of the great things about the MSE forums is that you find out that you are not alone, many others have followed a similar path.

The bitterness is totally understandable and the forums help you channel your anger. In my case a single bank charge got me so angry that I found the MSE website and decided to get even with the Banks. Take a look at my thread and you will see that I am fighting back. Using all the free tools and support and advice. http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1976279

Keep us posted on how you are getting on.

shooby1

James_Wise wrote: »

Thank you oldnthrifty. I was aware at the time of applying for both the PPI refund and the Debt Management Scheme that I would be paying over the odds for the service. I was in a situation where I was paying so much interest on both the loan and the credit card that my wages were not sufficient, leading me to have to use the credit card as a means of obtaining cash for the last week of each month (something I had originally sworn never to do). I was hardly paying the interest off on the loan and credit card let alone the balance. To be honest I am absolutely disgusted that a supposedly reputable financial organization such as a high street bank could allow someone on a relatively low income such as me to get myself in such a position. Yes I do hold myself responsible for my current situation up to a point, but feel that a Customer Service Review should be aimed at helping the customer rather than further increasing their debt. I am now with another bank, on a basic current account, no overdraft, no credit cards. My new bank have been very helpful, I am happy with them. My previous bank interestingly is the one in the news at the moment which has relied on Government handouts and thereby taxpayer to bail it out of trouble. I will shed no tears if it goes under. Sorry to sound so bitter! Many thanks for your support, James

same bank as us and same story we too borrowed after a customer review:mad: this post has made me soooo angry i hadn't realised how scummy these banks actually are they put £9000 on top of our loan for ppi when we were in a bad situation makes great sense eh!!!!!!!

James_Wise

Hi again everyone. Thanks for all your comments, it's something of a relief (although I am sure that's not really the right word to use) that I am not alone in this. Yesterday I finally found a number at my old bank to ring where they help with PPI problems. I spoke to a very helpful man who gave me all the information I needed (namely the 9 policy numbers). He asked me if I wanted to claim free of charge through them or return to the company I was originally using (and being charged if claim was successful). He put me under no pressure whatsoever and said I could ring back any time if I wanted to. I am not sure what the original company was charging me for as they were unable to obtain this information and actually asked me to get it for them myself. I have not yet contacted them with these policy numbers and am sorely tempted to go through the bank thereby avoiding any fees. I presume most of you would urge me to go that route. Any comments greatly appreciated, thanks loads for being out there and by the way this website is an absolute godsend! James

di3004

James_Wise wrote: »

Hi again everyone. Thanks for all your comments, it's something of a relief (although I am sure that's not really the right word to use) that I am not alone in this. Yesterday I finally found a number at my old bank to ring where they help with PPI problems. I spoke to a very helpful man who gave me all the information I needed (namely the 9 policy numbers). He asked me if I wanted to claim free of charge through them or return to the company I was originally using (and being charged if claim was successful). He put me under no pressure whatsoever and said I could ring back any time if I wanted to. I am not sure what the original company was charging me for as they were unable to obtain this information and actually asked me to get it for them myself. I have not yet contacted them with these policy numbers and am sorely tempted to go through the bank thereby avoiding any fees. I presume most of you would urge me to go that route. Any comments greatly appreciated, thanks loads for being out there and by the way this website is an absolute godsend! James

Hi there James,

Wow 9 of them.......:eek:

So just to double check who are this company who said they would help free of charge?
Hope you don't mind me asking.

James_Wise

Hi Di3004, no I don't mind you asking at all. Basically their full title seems to be PPI Customer Concerns Team Regulatory Risk (they are a part of the RBS group which is as you've all guessed now the bank that I am having issues with). I originally got a letter from them stating that they had looked into my case and found that I had opted out of PPI on my last top-up loan in March 2009 which I do not deny. I have no idea why they sent me this letter as, in the info I sent to the PPI claims company I was using I did not include this loan in the details. My concerns were with the 9 previous top-up loans. I suspect that the company acting on my behalf did not do their job properly. I have to admit that I find the whole top-up loan thingy quite complicated. Each time the bank seemed to actually give me a new loan to cover the previous balance outstanding plus whatever funds I needed to pay off the credit card. The credit card debt wasn't actually all that great each time. The first loan was for £2,000 in April 2005. 8 "Customer Service Reviews" later the total of the funds that had been released to my account was £18,000. During this time I never missed a single loan repayment. Please forgive me for being so financially naive but I cannot understand how my current loan still stands at £18,000 approx. Anything I can get back from these people would be a bonus but my main concern re. the PPI claim is that if I go via the RBS Group themselves will they be less favourable to me? If you or anyone want the RBS telephone number that I rang I would be happy to give it. Feeling really bitter about this business...off to work soon so sorry if I don't reply for a while. James:mad: Some of my anger is directed back at me for allowing myself to get into this situation. Thanks loads for your support!

James_Wise

Hi, me again...thought has just occurred to me. As well as Customer Service Reviews please would anyone reading this be very wary of Current Accounts where you pay a monthly charge for supposed benefits...I've done this with the RBS for many years now. They were originally £5 monthly, then increased to £6 monthly. For some reason I was persuaded to upgrade to a "Royalties Gold" Account a few years ago with a monthly charge of nearly £13. It was only when all this hassle kicked up that I realised that I wasn't actually using any of the so-called benefits. As I said earlier I now have a bog-standard current account with another bank. I will no doubt be invited to upgrade my account but I promise to refuse absolutely! James

di3004

James_Wise wrote: »

Hi Di3004, no I don't mind you asking at all. Basically their full title seems to be PPI Customer Concerns Team Regulatory Risk (they are a part of the RBS group which is as you've all guessed now the bank that I am having issues with). I originally got a letter from them stating that they had looked into my case and found that I had opted out of PPI on my last top-up loan in March 2009 which I do not deny. I have no idea why they sent me this letter as, in the info I sent to the PPI claims company I was using I did not include this loan in the details. My concerns were with the 9 previous top-up loans. I suspect that the company acting on my behalf did not do their job properly. I have to admit that I find the whole top-up loan thingy quite complicated. Each time the bank seemed to actually give me a new loan to cover the previous balance outstanding plus whatever funds I needed to pay off the credit card. The credit card debt wasn't actually all that great each time. The first loan was for £2,000 in April 2005. 8 "Customer Service Reviews" later the total of the funds that had been released to my account was £18,000. During this time I never missed a single loan repayment. Please forgive me for being so financially naive but I cannot understand how my current loan still stands at £18,000 approx. Anything I can get back from these people would be a bonus but my main concern re. the PPI claim is that if I go via the RBS Group themselves will they be less favourable to me? If you or anyone want the RBS telephone number that I rang I would be happy to give it. Feeling really bitter about this business...off to work soon so sorry if I don't reply for a while. James:mad: Some of my anger is directed back at me for allowing myself to get into this situation. Thanks loads for your support!

Hi James
Thanks for this.;)

Well in my personal opinion I would give it a go myself, with what you said in regards of being less favourable and yet it may not go all your way, so give it a go yourself if you want to with the help from on here.

At least you know this way you do get to keep all your money in what your entitled to.
If a top up loan have been taken with one on top of another, then they would have still counted the PPI as part of the settlement, by also rebating a little but you will need to see the calculations on this if you can, on each one.

So you should find the info within the SAR....hopefully.

There is probably quite a bit to come back and you can also request for the extra 8% interest of what a court would award too.

More on reclaiming on this link here James, shout up if you require any help from here, it will only cost you at the most a few stamps, and where you use recorded delivery - this is advisable but well worth it.;)
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/ppi-loan-insurance