Lloyds Bank refused my PPI claim 15/07/13

Richard_Collier

Hello All,



I would really appreciate your help with this matter.

In 1994 I was a self employed windlow cleaner and borrowed £2000 from TSB (With PPI on 6th April) on the 15th May I borrowed another further £1000 taking my loan up to a total of £3000 with PPI Included.

I was only 18 years old at the time and I was basically told by
the Salesperson (in the bank office with no witnesses) that without agreeing to PPI on my loan that I would be refused by
the Bank.

I was despearate to get a car and equipment and so agreed to the PPI policy. Lloyds in their response letter have advised me their Salesperson did not force me to sign the policy.

I have a major problem with the fact they were not witness to my meeting with Salesperson and did not hear the pressure applied to me - In my response letter they have also failed to acknowledge I was self employed.

Please can somebody help and tell me my next steps? I feel I am
due this money back and I do not want to give up without a fight.

The guy I spoke too had limited comphrehension of English, I had to repeat several times the same points and nowehere in the response letter is their any reference to me being self employed.

I don't believe my claim was investigated, I think they have sent me a bog standard response hoping I will give up my claim.

My response letter is below:

************************************************

I am writing to you today in relation to your complaint about your Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) policy.

After considering the evidence and any documentation or information available to me, I have not found sufficient evidence to agree with your allegations that your PPI policy was mis-sold. As such, I am unable to uphold your complaint.

As part of my review, I have considered whether you were eligible for the policy and whether the policy was suitable for you. I have also taken into account each of the concerns you raised with us in your complaint and any other issues identified when reviewing your file.

Having completed all of these steps, I went on to look at your complaint as a whole to ensure that we acted fairly towards you in relation to the sale of the PPI policy, giving appropriate weight and balanced consideration to all available evidence.

I am sorry that you felt the need to complain about your PPI policy and appreciate that my decision may be of disappointment to you. However, I can assure you that I have fully investigated your complaint and all surrounding circumstances.

YOUR COMPLAINT
You contacted us on June 2013 expressing dissatisfaction about your PPI policy. We duly wrote to you acknowledging your complaint.
During your telephone call on 13 June 2013 and in your subsequent telephone conversation on 8 July 2013, you were dissatisfied that:

1) You were led to believe that you could not get the loan without taking the payment protection policy
2) You were led to believe that taking out the PPI policy would improve your chances of getting the loan
3) Before you purchased the PPI policy, you were not told that the premium would be added to the amount provided under the credit agreement, interest would be payable on the premium and the amount of that interest.

FINDINGS

In order to address the concerns you have raised, I have reviewed all the available sale related evidence. I have established that you applied for your loan PPI policy in our branch on 15th April 1994.

To further assist my investigation I have also taken the following into consideration:
* Our knowledge of the sales process and documentation at the time
* Your policy booklet

It should be noted that prior to 2005 the sale of PPI was not regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). However, we were members of the Association of British Insurers (ABI),which expected its members to conduct business with the utmost good faith and integrity.

All your complaint points have been fully considered. For clarity, I have addressed your allegations under the following headings
* Cost of the policy - Was the cost of the PPI policy and associated interest explained to you?
* Optionality - Were you made aware that the policy was optional?


Cost of the policy - Relating to complaint point - 3
When you purchased the policy you would have been provided with sale documents that quoted the cost of your PPI policy. The documentation also showed the total amount of interest that would have been payable if the agreement had run full term.

In light of the above I am satisfied that you were informed of the total cost of your PPI policy.

Optionality - Relating to complaint points - 1,2
I can confirm that it has never been a requirement to take out a PPI policy in order for a loan application to be accepted, In addition, taking out a PPI policy would have not improved the chance of your application being accepted.
I have therefore come to the conclusion that you were made aware of the optional nature of your PPI policy.

Conclusion

In light of my findings, I feel that our adviser, when giving advice, acted fairly and reasonably throughout the sale.

I believe that the information provided at the time of the sale was a fair presentation of the features of the policy and explained the policy exclusions and the total cost of the insurance. I am also of the opinion that it was clear, fair and not misleading therefore allowing you to make a fully informed choice.

My review has not highlighted any failings with the sale that would lead me to your believe your decision to purchase the PPI policy would have changed.

I trust that I have clearly explained the reasons for my decision. However, If you do not agree with my decision please contact us on 0845 601 2683 or write in providing further supporting evidence to support your claim. I will consider any additional information and advise you whether it changes my decision.

If I do not hear from you within twenty eight days from the date of this letter I will close your complaint and consider it resolved.
In the event that you remain unhappy with my decision, you have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

Any referral to FOS must be made within six months of the date of this letter. I enclose a copy of the FOS's leaflet about its service.

-taff

You can either forward your complaint to the FOS, or you can write back and tell them they haven't investigated properly having not taken the fact you were self employed into consideration. Beware that the PPI may well have covered the self -employed, but it's usually the same payout reasons as employed, i.e. you would have to be in receipt of unemployment benefits or whatever the equivalent then was.

Your other complaint is the weakest one you can have.
You could have used single premium on a consolidated pair of loans....

misschicken

The policy may well have covered the self-employed but it may also have contained additional conditions which the self-employed had to meet in order to be eligible. If this was the case this should have been discussed with you at the time of the sale and should also have been stated in the policy documents you should have been provided with........

As Taff says above go back to them, tell them they've failed to investigate fully and also raise any additional points you may have - it's a long queue at the FOS so if you were to change the bank's mind at this stage it would be the quickest route. If you're still not happy with their next response or don't want to deal with them again now then go to the FOS - it's a big queue. Think of this as Round One for now.

Richard_Collier

Thanks for taking the time both of you to reply, I appreciate what you have advise me.

Do you think their is anything further I can mention in defense of my claim?

Anything that can aid me would be a help.

welshgasman

Go back and state that you categorically disagree with the sales process as they have described and that you distinctly recall the salesperson stating that you needed the ppi cover to obtain the loan

Again emphasise the fact that you were self employed.

Do it in writing.

dunstonh

Go back and state that you categorically disagree with the sales process as they have described and that you distinctly recall the salesperson stating that you needed the ppi cover to obtain the loan

And provide the proof to back up that allegation. Otherwise it is another easy rejection for them.

Again emphasise the fact that you were self employed.

Absolutely. However, be prepared to be told that self employed were covered. Many are. It is a good complaint reason when they dont or the terms were too onerous. However, if they did cover it and requirements are conventional then they can reject that point.

Richard_Collier

I thank you once again both for your advice, I appreciate it.

Any suggestions how I provide proof of the Salespersons conduct when this was nearly 20 years ago?

I do not remember his name but I distinctly being told in the private office of the Bank that due to my age (18 at the time) the bank would most probably reject my loan application If I did not opt for the PPI.

The policy was not explained to me in any detail or depth and I was asked simply to tick the box.

I regret that I was so niave but obviously I wanted the loan.

Any further suggestions? I will be writing my letter on the weekend so I would appreciate any advice that can be given to me.

dunstonh

Any suggestions how I provide proof of the Salespersons conduct when this was nearly 20 years ago?

Typically, you cannot. Which is why most unprovable allegations fail unless there is another failure identified. This is why are you better off focusing on the strong points.

Richard_Collier

Hi Dunston,


Thanks for the advice once again.

Can I ask...

How do you suggest I draft my letter?
Which points should I be focusing on?

Any details to focus on would be much appreciated.

Cash_Flow

Richard_Collier wrote: »

Hi Dunston,


Thanks for the advice once again.

Can I ask...

How do you suggest I draft my letter?
Which points should I be focusing on?

Any details to focus on would be much appreciated.

Did your PPI policy cover you even though you were self employed?

welshgasman

Richard_Collier wrote: »

I thank you once again both for your advice, I appreciate it.

Any suggestions how I provide proof of the Salespersons conduct when this was nearly 20 years ago?

I do not remember his name but I distinctly being told in the private office of the Bank that due to my age (18 at the time) the bank would most probably reject my loan application If I did not opt for the PPI.

The policy was not explained to me in any detail or depth and I was asked simply to tick the box.

I regret that I was so niave but obviously I wanted the loan.

Any further suggestions? I will be writing my letter on the weekend so I would appreciate any advice that can be given to me.

I would just tell them what you are telling us, in much the same words. You are adamant that you were told it was required, etc etc.