Payment Protection Cover

sdj25

Ahh the dreaded Payment Protection Insurance.

1. Has anyone opted in for this?
2. If not, why not?
3. How much are you paying ?
4. Have you succesfully claimed on it?
5. Have you unsuccesfully claimed on it?

Cheers

grumbler

Did you read the Credit card protection plans Martin's article? You can find some answers there ...

sdj25

Yeah I did see that grumbler. I was just trying to get the general consensus of the board - and to see if anyone had succesfully / unsuccesfully applied.

sicker

Like all insurance firms, covers everything except what you want it for.

John

Astaroth

As someone who has made a successful claim and they will swear buy it where as if you ask someone who has never had a claim or has tried to make an unsuccessful one then they will be much less keen.

Personally I dont have it, my balances are very low and I have money elsewhere that I could use to pay off the balances in full if needs be plus with the number of accident/ health/ life policies I have even if the worst happened it would be covered (before others point it out I know these wouldnt cover being sacked - but then most policies dont cover being sacked for gross misconduct)

The missus used to handle creditor claims for loans, credit cards and overdrafts and certainly with the insurer she worked for the some of the policies were rediculously weak - no exclusion for pre-existing conditions and on credit cards (and overdrafts) they would pay off 10% of the balance each month but there was no stipulation that you couldnt keep spending on the card.... she used to see people who were spending £10-20 a month on their card with an average balance of £300 spending £5,000 as soon as the claim was accepted and then just let the insurance pay for their new TV

Bisoy

For me I don't have it. It's basically a " rip off ". It's one of those add on products that they want to sell when you apply for a credit card or loans.
And when the time that you need to claim you will ask to ring their premiun or non-geographic telephone numbers another income generating strategy. So there you go.

Moggles_2

I agree with sicker.

If you knew (prior to signing up) that redundancy was imminent, leave your job voluntarily or get the push, you won't be covered. If you're self-employed, you may as well forget it.

Likewise, if illness or disability is connected with a pre-existing disorder (ie. diagnosed before you took out the policy), you don't qualify.

Doesn't leave a lot, does it?

IMO, you're better off putting the money you would have spent on premiums into a rainy-day savings account, preferably one of the top-paying savers recommended by our friends on the savings & investment board.

Tootsie_Roll

Back in the days when I was underwriting loans in a bank branch my PPI conversion rate was 98%. During that time I also processed hundreds of claims as well - more often than not they paid out. Sure they don't pay out for pre-existing conditions but show me an insurance policy that does. Sometimes they don't pay out because the claimant wont follow the correct procedure - hardly the insurance companies fault; e.g. on a different forum a poster was furious that his son's ppi wouldn't pay out after he lost his job. He waffled on with the usual argument about what a rip off it was etc etc. It transpired his son had refused to sign on - a basic requirement for any sort of unemployment cover.

I do agree though that they are too expensive when tied into the loan.

gem4

I never take the PPI. Waste of my money as far as I can see since I could pay off my cards with or without my job or by using savings.
As pointed out earlier, there are too many exclusions and conditions.