Reclaim PPP

mrcreosote

Hi All,

A bit of advice needed!

Took out a Barclays mortgage in March 2008.
99.9% sure that I didn't sign the documents at the time to indicate that I wanted a payment protection plan but I believe they 'slipped it through' on the offchance that I didn't complain/notice.

Indeed they were right, at first I didn't notice and then when I did, I kept 'meaning to do something about it' and never did!
In June this year I finally wrote to Barclays Insurance Dublin to complain and demand they produce the documents.

Got a letter saying that the case has been referred to Barclays Retail Consumer Relations.
Called 0845 609 0806 some weeks later only to be told that they couldn't talk to me over the phone and I'd have to go into a branch to prove my ID.

Therefore I called Barclays Dublin again and they told me to cancel the policy (which I had not done on the grounds that it might affect my refund case) and they would nudge Customer Relations again.
I still have had no contact from Barclays over the matter.

Dublin don't want to know and say that it's not in their remit and of course Customer Relations have not replied.

Biggest problem is that I have a Dublin reference number which means nothing to Customer Relations, hence why they want me to visit a branch.

What to do now?

If they cannot produce signed documents by me, then they have taken £80/month from me illegally, surely?

Any advice?

MC

di3004

mrcreosote wrote: »

Hi All,

A bit of advice needed!

Took out a Barclays mortgage in March 2008.
99.9% sure that I didn't sign the documents at the time to indicate that I wanted a payment protection plan but I believe they 'slipped it through' on the offchance that I didn't complain/notice.

Indeed they were right, at first I didn't notice and then when I did, I kept 'meaning to do something about it' and never did!
In June this year I finally wrote to Barclays Insurance Dublin to complain and demand they produce the documents.

Got a letter saying that the case has been referred to Barclays Retail Consumer Relations.
Called 0845 609 0806 some weeks later only to be told that they couldn't talk to me over the phone and I'd have to go into a branch to prove my ID.

Therefore I called Barclays Dublin again and they told me to cancel the policy (which I had not done on the grounds that it might affect my refund case) and they would nudge Customer Relations again.
I still have had no contact from Barclays over the matter.

Dublin don't want to know and say that it's not in their remit and of course Customer Relations have not replied.

Biggest problem is that I have a Dublin reference number which means nothing to Customer Relations, hence why they want me to visit a branch.

What to do now?

If they cannot produce signed documents by me, then they have taken £80/month from me illegally, surely?

Any advice?

MC

Hi and welcome

I will leave this one for Dunstonh who I'm sure will have some useful advice for you on this, good luck.;)

dunstonh

If they cannot produce signed documents by me, then they have taken £80/month from me illegally, surely?

No that is not correct. Many insurances, especially general insurance plans, can be set up electronically without the need for signatures. Its quite normal and has been for many years.

When plans are set up electronically, you are sent the details along with cancellation rights and a schedule of payments (i.e. confirmation of start date and direct debit date) and policy documents.

Some mortgage applications have the MPPI application built into them as well.

Two issues here.
1 - I am sceptical about you saying you didnt know you had it. All that paperwork sent and 2 years of paying it. Chances are Barclays feel the same way as it "smells" like a try-it-on complaint. How can you overcome that scepticism?
2 - Barclays have not handled your complaint correctly. Even if they are also sceptical, that does not allow them to ignore you. They should just say they don't believe you (ok, they wont say it like that but thats what a rejection will mean).

Your complaint should be with the seller of the insurance. So, having it referred to customer relations is the correct response as its a sales issue and not an insurance issue. Your should be communicating with customer relations and not the insurance arm. Its quite possible that all they did was put your complaint in an envelope and forwarded it to the Customer relations team and they never got it. If you phone up customer relations they will tell you if they have had it or not. Forget the insurance company in Dublin. Its not their problem.

mrcreosote

OK, points taken.

As I recall, on the Mortgage application there were 2 sections, one for the mortgage and the second for the PPI.
I am 99.9% certain that I did not sign to accept the PPI, however they instigated it anyway.
I have had no documents from Dublin that I recall, save for a letter about some changes to policy which they sent recently.
At that time I was moving home and things were a bit hectic, I may have had the paperwork but I certainly don't recall.
To be honest, I noticed it after about 4 months and have had it on my 'to do' list ever since, you know how it is - entering into some battle with Barclays was not something I was looking forward to and evaded it on the basis that 'it should be dealt with at some point!'

Anyway, all that being said, I still truly believe that I never signed the application and some salesman chanced his arm.
Surely I am entitled to at least being shown a copy of the application that I signed?

How can I contact Consumer Relations if they won't talk to me on the phone because of ID? Send them a letter? If so, does anyone know the details for 'Barclays Retail Consumer Relations' - is it the same as personal customer relations - somehow I doubt it!

Thanks again!

mrcreosote

[FONT=&quot]An interesting take on this from another source which could be useful to some...
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[FONT=&quot]"One and only issue here – whether you asked for PPI, i.e. signed something clearly accepting it. If not, it’s very likely to fall into the massive mis-selling operation which is currently making a lot of [/FONT][FONT=&quot]ambulance-chasers [/FONT][FONT=&quot] very wealthy and the FOS very busy.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]As regards the electronic setting up of the policy, yes that’s common and no they do not necessarily require a signature. They should send you the certificate etc. and then you have a 14 day cooling off period, within which you can simply cancel. However, while not doing so would bind you into the policy itself I am pretty doubtful that this gives the other side a get-out on the PPI specifically – my understanding is that the banks can be hammered for this unless the customer has explicitly requested it, not simply failed to ask for it to be removed. The claims lawyers reckon that any case where a customer has not actually asked for it/needed it/been aware of it counts as mis-selling.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]Doesn’t really matter how long you’ve supposedly been aware of this, either. As a member of Jo Public, you are allowed to represent yourself as a complete idiot who doesn’t understand his rights and has been thoroughly gypped by nasty old big business – that’s what TCF is about, if I may be slightly cynical..."[/FONT]
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