Please help with reclaiming my PPI

steven1975_2

Hello all, I hope there is somebody who can help with our ppi claim. We were miss sold a mortgage payment protection in the form of Disability And Unemployment benefit 8 or 9 years ago by a financial adviser working for a company I shall not name. The policy sold was with another company (still going of which I have wrote to them with the same complaint form with no reply yet) I sent a complaint questionare form attached. Please see the companys reply below:

Dear (me and my partner)
RE: Disability And Unemployment Policy, Policy Number NUIxxxxxx
'We acknowledge your letter of comlaint, received on 25 January 2012 in which you informed us that you believe the above product was mis-sold to you.

We can confirm that I have briefly looked into the concerns you raised regardng the sale of the above olicy. However, we have been unable to locate such a policy from our records.

We must bring to your attention to the fact, that legislation introduced in January 2005, meant that General Insurance products became regulated by the FSA. Prior to this date, General Insurance was classed as 'unregulated'. This allowed independent Financial Advisors to have their own agencies with providers, enabling them to submit business and receive commision/s directly from product provider.

In your case, the initial advice was givn in 2003, which was prior to the regulaton. At that particular point, it would appear that Mr x, was acting as an agent for xxxx and the business was submitted directly to the provider and not via us.

We can therefore conclude that we are not responsible for the advise provided under your Disability and Unemployment Plan. We would suggest that you ay wish to refer you issues and concerns directly to Mr x.

Should you have any further queries please do ot hesitate to contact me.

Yours faithfully,
X'

Mr x they say was not the financial advisor who came to my parents house to give us advice as I still have his business card with the companies name all over it affiliating him to the company I wrote to. It also says on his busines card the are regulated by the financial services authority As far as I was concerned he worked for that company. Sorry for the long post but we really need some advice and help as would like to pursue this one on my own and notget a claims comany involved. Are we just being fobbed off?? Any advise will be greatly rceived.
Steve and Family.

dunstonh

Mr x they say was not the financial advisor who came to my parents house to give us advice as I still have his business card with the companies name all over it affiliating him to the company I wrote to. It also says on his busines card the are regulated by the financial services authority As far as I was concerned he worked for that company. Sorry for the long post but we really need some advice and help as would like to pursue this one on my own and notget a claims comany involved. Are we just being fobbed off?? Any advise will be greatly rceived.

Even if he worked for the IFA, the complaint is being correctly rejected as it was pre-regulation.

Someone can be an IFA, a tied mortgage adviser and a multi-tie or tied insurance agent all at the same time. Investment, insurance and mortgage are three different hats.

What they are saying is that the dates you give mean that the person that did it did not work for them and they cant find any record of policy sold. This is easily confirmed by contacting the insurer and asking them who the selling agent was. Not the current agent as that may have changed over the years but who sold the policy. They will know the agent details and can give them to you.

Your only hope for success here, in what is already a hard area to get an upheld complaint, is if the person that sold it was an agent of the insurer.

A claims company will not be of help to you as they use the same process you use and the law/regulation dates dont change because a claims company puts a stamp on your envelope containing the complaint instead of you.

Out of interest, what is your reason for complaint with the MPPI? I assume you know already that it has a much lower complaints success rate and is much easier to define as being mis-sold or not?

magpiecottage

The responses sound correct. Because we do not know the name of the adviser or the firm he worked for it is not really possible to comment further.

steven1975_2

Hi all, I didnt wan to name any company because im not too sure if I would be breaking the law. I will happily do so if i'm within my rights. dunstonh, my complaint is that we wre led to believe we had to have this to get our mortgage. Without sounding rude, is you view slightly bias because or your position as an IFA? That also applies to you magpiecottage also. My beef is that his business card had the details of the company (which I will name if it helps) on it so in my eyes he was representing that company. I have also sent the same complaint form to the insurer I paid my monthly premium to. I look forward to your reply in due course.
Steve.

dunstonh

dunstonh, my complaint is that we wre led to believe we had to have this to get our mortgage.

What evidence do you have to support that allegation?

Without sounding rude, is you view slightly bias because or your position as an IFA?

No. Firstly I am an IFA. Which means effectively an investment adviser. I, like most IFAs, am not a mortgage adviser. So, cant see how any perception of bias can exist. Plus, your complaint isnt about me. It is about some unknown mortgage adviser So, why should I care?

Also, I told you what to do to help you. I wouldnt do that if i was biased.

I have helped many many people over the years get paid redress against other firms and advisers. I am pro getting it right.

My beef is that his business card had the details of the company (which I will name if it helps) on it so in my eyes he was representing that company.

Ok, lets say he was representing that company. Your complaint fails because its pre-regulation.

I have also sent the same complaint form to the insurer I paid my monthly premium to.

Which is fine as if he is an agent of that insurer, then they carry liability. If he wasnt an agent of the insurer then its game over.

I paid my monthly premium to.

That eliminates the major area where MPPI is mis-sold. Single premium is bad. Monthly is good. Your just have a unprovable verbal allegation which you could be making up (seeing as you accuse me of bias - lets turn it around). Even if the complaint liability is found to be the insurer, they can easily reject it on that basis.

steven1975_2

Hi dunstonh,
Many thanks for your prompt reply. So what do I do now? If my complaint is based on my word only, and in many cases like mine I guess they are then do I go to the Finance Ombudsmen?
We were advised by a person who I guess worked for company A. I still have his business card and thats how I found the address to write to. Company A arranged my PPI with company B. I then pay company B a monthly premium. I think that's how it worked. Where do I go, who is my claim against? Do I go to the insurer who may have been wrongly represented?
Thanks again. Steve.

dunstonh

If my complaint is based on my word only, and in many cases like mine I guess they are then do I go to the Finance Ombudsmen?

A verbal allegation wont get far with the ombudsman. Whilst people often use it in a complaint letter, the uphold reasons are normally for something else. With loans, it is often single premium added to debt and charged interest on. With credit cards it was poor sales process leading to lack of info. MPPI tends to have a much better audit trail and doesnt suffer those issues. That is why there are few fewer complaints. For example, the UK's largest IFA and mortgage adviser network/compliance company (by a long way) had just 16 complaints about PPI with the FOS in the last period. Even the FSA acknowledge in their reports that MPPI suffers to a lesser extent.

If the company reject your complaint as you are not covered as it is pre-regulation then the FOS cannot take your complaint on.

Where do I go, who is my claim against?

The company that arranged the PPI. Only if that person is a representative of the insurer would you complain to the insurer - hence why you should ask the insurer who the selling agent was. They have the liability.

steven1975_2

Thanks dunstonh,
I'll see what my reply is from the insurer. I'll keep you posted