Welcome finance (again)

steve811

Last month I managed to find in some old paperwork the credit agreement for car HPI I took out in 2000. The agreement clearly said PPI was included at £86 per month, at that time I was in full time employment and if I went sick I was entitled to six months on full pay and six months on half pay, which negated the PPI claim if I had to make it. I told the salesman this but was told "no PPI, no loan" and that we could cancel at any time! we paid off the loan in 2002 and I did not claim on PPI as I was unsure if I had any proof we even had it!

Firstly I received a letter from Welcome Finance saying they had looked at my accounts and rejected one on the grounds PPI was never taken, and enclosed a statement of accounts for an account settled in 2004! The one in 2000/2002 was never mentioned. I wrote back and pointed out that I had supplied them with copies of the agreement, including the account numbers and that they had not answered the complaint. Today I received a further letter telling me that "the decision is to reject the complaint because it is outside the relevant time limits. The rules of our regulator (the Financial Conduct Authority - FCA) state that where a complaint refers to an event that took place before 27 February we are not required to investigate your complaint."

It then goes on to tell me that I should make a claim to the insurance provider, not the broker! It also tells me that the claim is ineligible under the FCA DISP rule 2.7.6 and "cannot be considered by the Financial Ombudsman Service. "

I have read rule 2.7.6 and cannot see how they can call it ineligible, perhaps someone cleverer than me can see why! The question is, what is the next step?

jellie

Welcome weren't regulated until 2003, so they don't have to investigate your PPI mis-sale complaint. Also, you can't refer Welcome's response to FOS as the pre-regulation makes it outside of their jurisdiction.

Your only option is to complain to the insurance provider, which is what Welcome told you to do.

steve811

Ok, I can see that they were not regulated, but how does that make a claim invalid? The rules on the FCA site they quote do not make the claim ineligible. And if I can't claim through the FOS then I can surely start a small claims court action against welcome?

McKneff

I don't think small claims court covers this sort of thing.


I think you are flogging a dead horse to be honest.

societys_child

Who actually sold you the policy, was it the car salesman?

steve811

It was Welcome themselves. The paperwork does not mention the insurance company that they claim was the underwriter (Aviva) but mentions three others!

Nasqueron

steve811 wrote: »

Ok, I can see that they were not regulated, but how does that make a claim invalid? The rules on the FCA site they quote do not make the claim ineligible. And if I can't claim through the FOS then I can surely start a small claims court action against welcome?

You make a claim based on the financial regulations covering miss-sold products, if the sale was before the regulations started, they do not apply, ergo they can dismiss your complaint.

steve811

Actually I did not. I made a claim based on a false sale, that is one made on false information given (you cannot have the loan without PPI) that was a basic breach of law not any time based regulation.

Insider101

steve811 wrote: »

Actually I did not. I made a claim based on a false sale, that is one made on false information given (you cannot have the loan without PPI) that was a basic breach of law not any time based regulation.

What you've made is a complaint, not a "claim". They have responded to state that as they did not fall under the jurisdiction of the FCA or any predecessor regime. Therefore, they do not have to consider your complaint. I don't get the reference to DISP 2.7.6 either but unfortunately they have given the right decision for the wrong reasons.

If you want to make a "claim" against them alleging breach of the law then the only option open to you is to go to court, in which instance you will need to provide some hard evidence to back up your allegations.

[Deleted User]

steve811 wrote: »

that is one made on false information given (you cannot have the loan without PPI) that was a basic breach of law not any time based regulation.

If you want to allege a law has been broken, you have to have far more than hearsay evidence. If you go to court simply stating what you were "told" verbally, you will lose.

steve811

Firstly it is not hearsay, it is direct evidence from me and can be backed up by testimony from my wife who was there, again not hearsay. Secondly this is civil not criminal law, and a court would decide on the "balance of probabilities" as the burden of proof is lower than in criminal cases, and the accuser does not have to prove "beyond reasonable doubt" their case. Given the large number of mis-sold PPI policies it may not take much to persuade a court that this was one, regardless of who was regulating at the time.