Chances of success with Santander MPPI claim? - Updated

lunachick

Just wanted to pop back and say that it apears that it was a chance worth taking after all - complaint was upheld and received an offer of £2000. Was not a difficult process - one phonecall, one form to fill out, what appeared to be a check up phone call (saying they hadn't received my paperwork so could I go over my claim with them and then at the end of the call she suddenly discovered the forms were there all along!) and now the offer letter. Absolutely delighted!:j


With all the stories of PPI at the moment I decided to investigate whether I had any related to old accounts etc.
I called Santander to enquire about an old loan and as the man was taking my details and looking into it he mentioned I had PPI on my old Abbey mortgage. I was vaguely aware of this but hadn't thought about applying as I had no paperwork left about it.
He asked if I remembered how it was sold so I informed him that it was given as a condition for my mortgage being approved. He then proceeded to file a complaint for me (his suggestion) and got paperwork issued for me to fill in.
Having looked into this further I understand that this alone is not reason enough for it to be deemed as mis-sold but being a little older and (a bit) wiser I realise that mine and my husbands financial circumstances were not discussed fully at the time and the PPI may have not been required.

My main reasons for thinking it was mis-sold are:

I was (and am) working for a local authority and would have been entitled to full and then half pay for several months if I was taken ill. I would also be entitled to a redundancy package if that arose so payments would be covered.

My husband, although employed, was still in training for his job and as such was on a minimal wage. This meant that although he was named on the mortgage he was not actually making contribution to the payments -all came solely out of my account - therefore if he was ill or redundant the payments would still be made by me.

None of this was fully discussed at the time - we were just told that the mortgage would not go through if we didn't have PPI (not a valid reason - I understand) However we were led to believe it had to be their PPI and were not made aware that this could be sought elsewhere.

Do these reasons sound like grounds enough to continue with the complaint and if so, could I stand any chance of a payment?

dunstonh

Having looked into this further I understand that this alone is not reason enough for it to be deemed as mis-sold but being a little older and (a bit) wiser I realise that mine and my husbands financial circumstances were not discussed fully at the time and the PPI may have not been required.

It isnt that it is not enough alone. If you were told you had to have it and you didnt then it is mis-sold. The problem is that it is virtually impossible to have any evidence to support that allegation. So, not many get upheld on that point alone. They need another failure reason.

I was (and am) working for a local authority and would have been entitled to full and then half pay for several months if I was taken ill. I would also be entitled to a redundancy package if that arose so payments would be covered.

Redundancy pay has no overlap with MPPI. The FOS have been rejecting complaints with 6 months full pay and 6 months half pay on MPPI. It can be a strong reason with short term debt PPI (loan and credit card) but with long term debts it is not as strong and can be justified.

My husband, although employed, was still in training for his job and as such was on a minimal wage. This meant that although he was named on the mortgage he was not actually making contribution to the payments -all came solely out of my account - therefore if he was ill or redundant the payments would still be made by me.

Not a mis-sale reason. You live together. You earn together, you spend together. Any drop in income from one has an impact on the other.

None of this was fully discussed at the time - we were just told that the mortgage would not go through if we didn't have PPI (not a valid reason - I understand) However we were led to believe it had to be their PPI and were not made aware that this could be sought elsewhere.

One of the reasons most MPPI complaints fail is the seriousness of the debt being covered but another is that they do know a fair bit about you. The mortgage application tells them nearly everything you need to know. After so many years you would not be expected to recall conversations. So, there cannot be much weight on what you say you remember or do not remember. It could have been said but you cant remember. It may not have been said but no way to say either way.

Do these reasons sound like grounds enough to continue with the complaint and if so, could I stand any chance of a payment?

A decent file would be able to reject those points easily enough. They are not strong reasons. However, banks can be very scattergun in their responses by rejecting complaints that appear valid but upholding ones that should be rejected. Statistically, most MPPI complaints are rejected by both firm and the FOS. It is the one PPI that is generally well regarded and suffers less of the issues. However, a minority do result in redress payments for various reasons.

lunachick

Thanks for the reply.
As I said before I was originally enquiring about the only loan I've ever taken out (which doesn't appear to have had PPI anyway) when the guy from Santander raised the MPPI charges and he instigated lodging a complaint. I will fill in the forms and wait to see what they say - if it's rejected then nothing lost but a few minutes to fill out a form.

lunachick

Update in OP

[Deleted User]

lunachick wrote: »

Update in OP

Why edit the original post? Why not just update with a fresh post?

lunachick

I thought updating would bounce the post up (as it does on other forums I use) and I had already posted it when I realised it didn't. I then posted the second message rather than put the whole thing again - didn't realise this was frowned upon - it's quite common on other boards I frequent.

[Deleted User]

lunachick wrote: »

didn't realise this was frowned upon -

Not "frowned upon", just curious was all..