Help please-fobbed off by Barclaycard as claim too old?

Megahertz456

Hi,

I took out my Barclaycard in 1999, and PPI was added by default when I opened the account. It was all done over the phone, and I do not remember asking for it (and didn't have it on other loans or cards at the time.)

What is relevant was that I was a Director of a company, although my main income was from part-time self employment - I declared both incomes when I applied, as I wanted to 'maximise' my salary and hence my credit limit.

In 2003, my company went into liquidation and so, officially, I was made redundant from my Directorship, although I continued working with my part-time self-employment - I didn't claim on the PPI at that time.

In all honesty, I cannot remember when I became aware that the PPI was on the card - although obviously it was of no benefit to me in 2003, as losing my employment wouldn't have entitled me to claim.

In 2010 I decided to phone Barclaycard to see if it was worth claiming, and after being passed through to various people was told clearly that they would not consider a repayment, as the PPI had been on the account since opening in 1999, and the rules had only recently changed so that cases before 2007 were not 'mis-sold.' I accepted this at face value, but I did ask them to stop the payments at that point.

Reading around the forums now makes me think that a) It was mis-sold in 1999, because I didn't ask for it, and it was of no benefit to me, and b) I was fobbed off in 2010!

How would you advise me to proceed?

As explained previously, I was not initially aware of the PPI on the card when it was opened, and genuinely cannot remember when I was actually aware of it. Certainly I didn't have PPI on any other loans or cards, and wouldn't have taken it voluntarily.

It would be wrong to say outright that I NEVER knew about it (after all the charge was in black and white on the statement) but the important point (I think) is that I was not aware of the significance of the charge - in other words it was put on by default, and it was only after reading forums like these, and the information in the media, that I realised that I had been sold something that was of no use to me.

It may be that it was put on without me being told, or that the sales person told me that I needed it in order for application to be successful (I genuinely can't remember) but am I right in thinking that it doesn't matter either way as they shouldn't have sold it to me in any case?

Their attitude in 2010 was that I 'must have been aware' because of the timescale involved, but is this sufficient for them to avoid paying me back? Is it enough for me to say that they added it onto the account at the time of application, that I thought I needed it, that they shouldn't have added it as they knew I had a second part-time income, and that I cancelled it shortly after discovering it was of no use?

In total I paid PPI from 1999 to 2010, and had high balance on the card for most of that time. I was paying about £40 per month PPI at the time when I asked them to stop taking it.

Sorry for the long post, but this might potentially be worth something (and believe me I could use the cash right now) so I'd be grateful for any help and advice....

DevCoder

1. The FSA regulation on PPI sales was for post 2005 sales.
2. As you've stated you had visibility of the PPI for xx years
3. How do you know it was of no benefit to you, a lot of PPI covered the self employed.
4. Why do you think it shouldn't have been sold, what does your PPI documentation say on the extent of its cover?

Megahertz456

Thanks for the advice and information

1. Yes, it was 2005, not 2007- I mis-remembered.
2. I accept fully that I had visibility of the PPI on the statements, but I think the point is that I didn't immediately question why it was there, or what it covered / didn't cover.
3. and 4, I don't have the documentation available - although I imagine I could get it if that was the way forward. Certainly, most of the information on the web seems to suggest that policies were mis-sold if the recipient had two incomes, but again, I'm not 100% certain, hence my request for advice!

DevCoder

You could SAR them to see what information they hold on you, but documentation can be destroyed by the bank at any period (although 6 years is a best practise time period). Even 10 years wouldn't be enough.

I'd SAR them , costs £10 and see whats on the PPI cover.

-taff

I would say if you have the account number, make the complaint anyway.
You know you had it, you just can't remember how you got it, and a SAR probsably isn't going to help with that unless it comes back with an agreement you signed. It's more likely they'll send a similar agreement rather than the actual agreement.

TruthSleuth

barclaycard upheld my complaint that I was mis-sold the ppi - and that was from 2003 so forget the nonsense you were told in 2010. If you have any statements you can submit showing ppi payments - that will help and i also suggest you might use the letter templates on this site. They have been of huge value to me when putting in my claims. The first one brought me back £14.6k. I also used the FOS Questionnaire (also on this site but on FOS site too) and sent that in with my letter and copies of any other relevant stuff I had.

It took me two years to pluck up the courage to put in my first claim but mse gave me all the right tools and advice. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to my new-found zeal for standing up for myself!:j