Small claims court

bodoni

I am currently claiming £1,441.00 for mis-sold ppi with a bank (I'd like to keep this confidential at this stage). I am considering/close to taking a small claims action against them and just wanted to find out if anybody has done this and with what success. To clarify matters the paper trail goes something like this (keeping it brief):

Letter 1. My complaint for mis-sold PPI.

Letter 2. Their response using time-barring to reject complaint.

Letter 3. My letter outlining FSA directive on time-barring.

Letter 4. Their response of £350.00 offer of goodwill.

Letter 5. My response rejecting offer and advising that I will accept £1,441.00 in settlement which reflects premiums, compound interest and statutory 8% interest.

Letter 6. Their letter still maintaining they they are not upholding complaint but still offering £350.00 goodwill payment.

Letter 7. My letter advising them of my intention to take legal action in compliance with the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct.

Letter 8. 26/05/2012, their final letter to date still maintaining time-barring argument but increasing their goodwill offer to £500.00.

Any thoughts or advice on the above would be appreciated on whether its worth making a small claims court claim as my next move.

Many thanks.

[Deleted User]

I think this will be a waste of time and (your) money, to be honest. Your only real recourse is to use the Ombudsman Service.
Just how long ago was this?

dunstonh

I am considering/close to taking a small claims action against them and just wanted to find out if anybody has done this and with what success.

There are no known successes in court. Just failures.

The PPI issue is largely an FSA one. Not a legal one. It was the FSA that changed its mind on things and decided to retrospectively apply it. However, the courts are about the law and not FSA guidelines.

Even Black Horse who have a 99% uphold rate at the FOS have succeeded in court.

What is the timebar being applied in your case (i.e. is it pre-regulation or other)? The courts also have time bars which are actually more stringent that those of the FSA. For example, the 15 year time bar which the FSA do not have.

bodoni

Thank you Moneyineptitude and dunstonh for your responses.

Time period is approx 1991 to 1997 inclusive.

I have had other claims upheld that cover 1993 onwards.

dunstonh

I have had other claims upheld that cover 1993 onwards.

If the firm was regulated by a body prior to the FSA (e.g. the General insurance standards council or PLA) then pre-regulation complaints still need to be considered based on the dates those bodies applied. They cannot apply a time bar. Although documentation being destroyed under the data protection act requirements can see older complaints have mixed success if the firm has destroyed data.

Not all firms were regulated or were part of a body pre-2005. Most mortgage brokers/advisers and financial advisers were not, for example.

In the case of court, the key dates are the date you applied for the insurance (not the period of payment) and if it was greater than 15 years or not. So, if you bought it longer than 15 years ago then a time bar can be applied preventing court action.

It would help to know what type of PPI it is, who the firm is (so someone like maggpiecottage can let you know their regulatory position at that time) and what your reasons for complaint are (so we can see if it is an "FSA" reason rather than a "legal" reason)