PPI claims rejected - worth following up

kixxb

About a year or so ago, I jumped on the PPI band wagon and sent letters to all of the credit providers I'd used over the year.

1 came back confirming that I'd had PPI on my loan.


This was Arnold Clark who I'd had car finance through for my 3rd car.


The confirmed that I'd had PPI added but advised that as I'd signed the agreement for this and the PPI insurance was appropriate for me i.e. if I'd had to claim on the policy, they would have paid out.


My reason for complaining had been that I'd actually never been made aware of the policy and it was never explained to me what it was for/why I needed it and I was never advised that I could shop around for this type of insurance - they claimed that their highly trained staff would never have mis sold me this product.


Their letter basically said that as far as they were concerned, this was the end of the matter and to be fair, I've never done anything about it since but I do sometimes wonder if it would be worth pursuing further but I just have no idea how to do this.


Is it a case of forwarding the details to the financial ombudsman or can I do anything else myself to confirm if I really was mis sold this product.

dunstonh

My reason for complaining had been that I'd actually never been made aware of the policy and it was never explained to me what it was for/why I needed it and I was never advised that I could shop around for this type of insurance - they claimed that their highly trained staff would never have mis sold me this product.

That is a very very weak complaint.
1 - it is a verbal allegation that you cannot prove
2 - there is and never has been any requirement to tell you that you can shop around. That is not a valid complaint reason.

Assuming there are not other failings (as we can only go by what you say), you would expect your complaint to be rejected as you almost certainly havent given them any evidence to support your allegation. They almost certainly have no evidence to support your allegation either. So, with the absence of that, they are going to reject.

Is it a case of forwarding the details to the financial ombudsman or can I do anything else myself to confirm if I really was mis sold this product.

If you do not agree with the response then you refer your case to the FOS and give the FOS your evidence supporting your complaint. The FOS will look at the documentation that exists. It will ask the dealer what the sales process was and if the sales process was compliant and there was no other failing then it will reject. If the sales process has faults then it will uphold.

We do not have the benefit of seeing the documentation that exists. You, the firm and the FOS will. However, you do need to be prepared for failure as your reasons are either very weak or not applicable. Do, you have anything stronger?

kixxb

Thanks very much for your reply!

To be honest, it wasn't something a put a great deal of thought into in the first instance other than trying to find out if I had PPI on any of my previous loans particularly as wasn't conscious of signing up for this - I used to work in a large store the pushed PPI as part of their store card and knew that it was something I didn't want/need.


I know several people who have complained using the same reasoning as me - it wasn't made clear to them that they were buying PPI as part of the loan.


If that isn't a valid reason, I'd be interested to understand what argument other people are using to get back their funds.

dunstonh

I know several people who have complained using the same reasoning as me - it wasn't made clear to them that they were buying PPI as part of the loan.


If that isn't a valid reason, I'd be interested to understand what argument other people are using to get back their funds.

The bit that isnt valid is telling you that you can shop around.

The rest of it is just unprovable allegations. Sometimes that will work but it will need another failing to be identified by the selling firm (maybe including one you havent identified) or getting lucky with an auto payout. Banks frequently auto payout but dealers do not.

-taff

You have 6 months to forward your complaint to the FOS after a rejection. If it was sold prior to Janaury 2005, you can't use the FOS in that case either.