PPI Claim - unfairly Time Barred by lender

DizzyLizzy14

Hi, I’m after some advice please! I am currently in a debt management plan and have been for about 3 and half years now. After a real low point in my life, losing my job and partner this company was my saving grace getting me back on my feet. I’m now back working and can pay this company an amount I can afford each month and they deal with all my debts for me. I hardly hear from my creditors now which is great after being harassed from them for along time before getting any help. Anyways a couple of years ago I started hearing about this PPI scam and that I could be entitled to some money. To begin with I was really scared to even look into this as I didn’t want to jeopardise my debt management plan in any way. However last year I did decide to at leastlook into it because I really wanted to get my debts paid off as quickly as I could and this did sound like something that could do that. I had taken out a loan and some credit cards/catalogues that I was pretty sure I’d paid PPI on. I spoke with my debt management company and they reassured me this will not make any difference to my plan with them and that I could do try and get this money back myself for free but I really didn’t want to contact these people so I found a specialist claims management company that could do it for me for 12% fees which seemed low in comparison to others I’d looked at. It took a few months for them to lookinto this for me but my catalogue for JD Williams came back saying that the claim was time barred as I'd left it too late to apply. The claims management company said this wasn’t fair as I didn’t even think I could apply with being in a debt management plan and they took the claim to the financial ombudsman for me to see what they thought. They have just come back this week saying thatit is time barred and they will not look at arguing this decision with JDWilliams. Is there anywhere else I can go with this as I feel like I’m being penalised for not understanding the process for reclaiming and after a long time of having debt companies harassing me for money I was so scared to doanything to jeopardise my plan and go back to being chased nonstop for money Idon’t have.
Thanks!

haras_nosirrah

You may have had a lucky escape.

I believe the rule is to never use a claim company if you have had debts written off or are in a dmp

Money goes to dmp or provider offsets against any debt written off and you are left with the bill to the claims management company

dunstonh

The claims management company said this wasn’t fair as I didn’t even think I could apply with being in a debt management plan

That is not a valid reason. That is just the CMC trying to do everything it can to get its cut and hoping the FOS would agree. However, in reality, it is not something the FOS were ever likely to agree.

Is there anywhere else I can go with this as I feel like I’m being penalised for not understanding the process for reclaiming and after a long time of having debt companies harassing me for money I was so scared to doanything to jeopardise my plan and go back to being chased nonstop for money Idon’t have.

No its game over. You could try the courts but PPI successes in court are unusual and you can end up facing costs if you lose.

Plus, there is the possibility that you wouldnt get the money on a successful outcome anyway if there was unpaid debt written off with this lender.

Effectively it is over for you.

-taff

Do not give this company any more information about any debts you may have had.

They should have made you aware that any successful complaint could be paid to whatever arrears you might have owed, leaving you liable to pay their fee.

I expect it is in their terms and conditions but they probably glossed over it quickly.
If you cancel your contract withthem now, they will want to charge you a fee for the 'work' they have already done, leaving you even more out of pocket.

You need to do some research too, instead of sticking your head in the sand. Your dmp management told you you could do it yourself, but you still went out to find someone who could do it for you, without actually checking what it was they can do - which is eaxctly what you would have done yourself.

The only penalisation is coming from you not doing any research.

If you want to make any future complaints, if you make them yourself and don't cancel the company, they wil charge you if you are successful even if they haven't done anything.

If you cancel them, you may have to pay them a fee for the woek they;ve done.

This is essentially the process, read it very carefully, pay attention tot he difference between closed and open accounts. And stop employing other people to sort out your finances, unless you actually need to pay someone.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/ppi-loan-insurance

DizzyLizzy14

Thanks for the responses, appreciate them.

I know theres some horrible companies out there but in fairness the claims management company I chose I really can't fault them. They've been great and they explained before looking into my claims what happens with cash and offset accounts. I've already had a settlement back that was offset and knowing I was in a debt management plan they set a payment plan up for me thats affordable. I have no problem with them at all. The problem is I feel like I'm being penalised for not understanding the PPI process and when I finally did research into it and found out I was eligible with no come back on my debt management plan the claim is now supposedly time barred I just think theres going to be other people in the same situation as me that also feels this is unfair!!

dunstonh

know theres some horrible companies out there but in fairness the claims management company I chose I really can't fault them.

First fault is that knowing you had arrears/defaults, they should have rejected their services as you could have ended up out of pocket.

I've already had a settlement back that was offset and knowing I was in a debt management plan they set a payment plan up for me thats affordable.

That is not good. They should have told you to do it yourself at the start.

The problem is I feel like I'm being penalised for not understanding the PPI process

There is no PPI process. Just the normal complaints process.

when I finally did research into it and found out I was eligible with no come back on my debt management plan the claim is now supposedly time barred

Time bars exist in law to prevent people putting in try-it-on complaints/claims or hedging their bets and trying to use hindsight. it doesnt take someone over 3 years to research the complaints process.

I just think theres going to be other people in the same situation as me that also feels this is unfair!!

There are and its only going to get worse as the three year timebar clock is now ticking on a significant number of cases. However, none of that is unfair.

haras_nosirrah

And how many consumers move house and effectively hide for years so that their debts are time bared and they don't have to pay.

What's good for the goose and all that

jellie

So you're paying a debt management company to manage your debt, but they didn't provide you with any guidance in how to potentially reduce that debt by making a PPI mis-sale complaint?

That's not the kind of company I'd want to be giving any of my money to.

-taff

The debt management company told her she could do i herself, but she decided against that, and decided to pay someone to do it anyway.

jellie

Since OP is paying them to manage her debt, I would have expected them to have made sure she pursued the PPI aspect, and helped her to do so.

magpiecottage

jellie wrote: »

Since OP is paying them to manage her debt, I would have expected them to have made sure she pursued the PPI aspect, and helped her to do so.

Unless they are authorised by the Claims Regulator it would be unlawful for them to do more than tell her that she could pursue a claim - which she confirms they did.