Do i accept or decline?

MrsQ2b

Basically some of you helped me out the other day re a letter replying to car giant about the ppi. They had offered me a "good will gesture" of £100.

My reply and their reply is below. Basically me and hubby think they are trying to get what they can as they know they will have to pay it all back. As why would they offer the money? He keeps calling me up and saying you dont have a case if you dont accept it we will win? Think its a bit of bullying tactics me. but if anyone can read and see your opinion that would be fab thank you.

Dear Mr ******

PPI number - *********

Thank you for the letter dated 29/7/2011

You have made me an offer of a goodwill gesture of £100, but I am not going
to accept this offer as I feel it's rather low compared to the amount I
requested in order of making my complaint with my reasons I have given you.

I am asking if you can consider the full amount I have paid into the
account, plus interest paid on each payment, and also 8% interest of what a
court would award. This amounts to £806.05 plus 8% at £870.53.

Please reconsider my reasons as below, also as stated on my previously,

I had no idea that this PPI policy was an opt out insurance scheme and the
money I was paying per month was in fact for this PPI and not the insurance
for the car in the event of an accident as originally discussed at the time
of buying the car.

I had a medical condition that was not asked about nor discussed at the time
of purchase which I would have mentioned at the time.

I truly believe I was wrongly sold this PPI and will be taking this matter
further if you again reject my complaint or if you do not reconsider the
amount as requested.

I look forward to hearing from you within 14 days of this letter, to give
you time to reconsider the above, and if I don't hear anything from you by
this time, or you do not change the offer, this will be going further for
investigation with evidence I have to support my case.

Any further contact please by letter not in the form of telephone.

Yours Sincerely

LQ


His reply..... which is obviously a template a its looooooooooooong but basically rejecting it and then offering £250....

Dear Mrs Q

Thanks for your e mail following our telephone discussion yesterday evening. As discussed we do prefer to reach fair resolution prior to involving a third party and as mentioned now we have your response to our offer will issue our final response which will include referral rights to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

You mention that you have taken the complaint already to the FOS and if they accept the case then our continuing efforts to reach resolution will obviously cease and all offers be withdrawn as we are bound to accept their decision. As we discussed they may reject the complaint in which case there will be no refund, or uphold the complaint when you would receive a full refund plus 8% interest.

I must apologise as I don't think I have made myself clear as to what policy you purchased. In my letter of 29/7/11 and in our discussions I endeavoured to explain that you did not buy the single premium type policy that attracted interest and may have had unfair cancellation terms. As such we have no option but to reject your request for "interest paid on each payment". Quite simply there was no interest paid on your premiums.

You suggest that the PPI payment was for Asset protection that was also presented to you when you purchased the car and you also purchased. This is understandable considering the transaction took place 3 years ago. However the 2 products are separate and were presented by two different people at different stages of the transaction. Our computer generated procedure is clear and allows for information to be given in an appropriate manner. Also the documentation of both products is completely separate, appears to be all in order and signed by yourself in at least 5 places confirming acceptance. As such it is hard to understand how you could have confused the products, nor indeed what else we could have done to help. I must add that this is the first such complaint of this nature that we have received in over 250,000 transactions.

We enclose a Policy Summary in every Deal Pack that is given to every customer purchasing a car and it is used when presenting the Asset Protection. Further when collecting the car we have inbuilt measures to ensure the correct information is given with a Collection Clerk reviewing the transaction, any products purchased, including price, and issuing a Policy Document. As you can imagine it is not easy to see how the products can be confused. Copies of the asset Protection are enclosed with the hard copy of this letter.

I also refer to previous correspondence and the information supplied by Cardif Pinnacle which does appear to suggest there was ample and further opportunity to ensure you were fully aware of what you had purchased.

I am not doubting your thought but from our view the probability appears to be that we did present the products correctly as confirmed by all the documentation.

You also advise of an existing medical condition that you state was not discussed at purchase. I note the question was asked as part of the Demands and Needs although the answer is documented as negative.

In our inquiry we try to give the complainant every chance to provide evidence and support allegations although it is noted that you have not replied to our question in the letter of 29/7/11.

I note in your email that you give cargiant 14 days to reply or you will take the case further.

Rather than repeat points from previous correspondence I ask that you take our letters of 16/6/11 and 29/7/11 as part of this response.

It is noted that the information given in Section E of the FOS PPI Questionnaire is not in great detail and I hope we have answered the point raised in the lower part of Section E.

To summarise I would like to confirm that we have fully reviewed your complaint and although it tends to be quite general by nature have endeavoured to make it as specific as possible. We have gathered as much evidence as possible including several documents signed by yourself indicating acceptance of the PPI. I can also confirm that our presentation process being computer led allows for clear information to be given at appropriate times. The Asset Protection and PPI were presented at different times, and by different people. Our recommendation was based on information you gave to us and recorded on the Demands and Needs. We issued Policy Summaries prior to purchase and that you received Policy Documents and Policy Schedules shortly thereafter.

We have not assumed what happened but taken as much evidence as possible and based our outcome on probability.

We have ignored the fact that you were under the impression you had purchased a Single Premium PPI policy and as such your policy did not attract interest nor, as you are aware have detrimental cancellation terms.

Our computer based system ensured that you were eligible for the PPI regarding age, employment and residency. Our systems, procedures and process have never included any such indication that the PPI is anything other than optional and over many monitored transactions not one has evidence been seen as to suggest otherwise.

Despite the above we are still keen to reach a settlement and bring the matter to an end. As such I can increase our offer to £250 as our gesture of goodwill to bring resolution. This is subject to the FOS not being involved. I am not sure how far you have gone with the FOS prior to advising us of your response to our offer letter, but as mentioned if they do contact us about this case we have no option but to withdraw our gesture and accept the decision they will make following their inquiry. Needless to say we have no option but to defend the case based on the information given.

If you do wish to accept our offer please complete the attached form and return it to myself. A cheque will be issued within 48 hours.

Our aim is to resolve all complaints internally although we recognise this may not always be possible. Cargiant are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. If we are unable to agree resolution you may be able to ask the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) to review the complaint. If you choose to follow this option you have 6 months from receiving this final response to bring the complaint to their attention.

You can find more information about the Financial Ombudsman Service in the enclosed leaflet "your complaint and the ombudsman.", hard copy only.

The hard copy also provides enclosures as detailed below

Sincerely


********
Compliance Manager

di3004

Hiya

So they did come up with another offer then?

So this one then i do take it will be the full and final decision, and they have pointed out the decision may change if investigated by the FOS - who may look at the case differently.

Now, once the complaint have been made to the FOS, then normally the business will not communicate directly with you, but to the Adjudicator at the FOS only, so it looks like they have given this further consideration and highered the offer slightly and will not go any further with the reasons they have given on this case.

The decision is now your's and we cannot suggest what is best for you as such, so you now do what you feel is right for you.
You can wait for other opinions on this as well if you want to.;)

If you have some time before you decide, then maybe others will post on their own views on this too, all the very best on this.:)