PPI claim being refused due to me being made aware of it more than 3 years ago.

DarkKnight43

FOS have taken my case on but i just want to give my experience of how underhand Liverpool Victoria have been in my case but feel free to give any opinions you want to add.
Firstly, i was Mis-Sold PPI, both in 2004 and 2006, one for personal loan and two when i refinanced the first loan.
I am self employed and was not covered by these policies but me being green than i am now, thought the premiums were mandatory and came as part of my loan, i.e. sign the agreement or no loan.
Anyway, in the last couple of months i became aware of these policies even though the loan was settled in 2009. I wrote to LV to complain about their mis selling and got a letter advising me that they had made me aware of PPI in 2009 and refunded me £109 interest for my PPI. so, would be unable to refund me my payments or compensate me.
I asked to see the letter they sent me and and having now received the letter can not believe how they can say i was given clear advice about my PPI.
As you can expect the letter was full of information about PPI and even said i am due a refund. However, and here's the trick. Further into the letter they explain i was being refunded the interest paid on my PPI + 8% and a cheque would follow in the next 14 days. it even says i need do nothing to receive this. I cant remember the letter but what would you do if your receive a letter saying your entitled to a refund (No amount quoted) and then later in the same letter a refund of 109 will be sent to you? you;d think they had already rectified their mistake? The letter is also full of terminology such as you MAY be entitled or IF the policy was sold inappropriately.
Also but not as important, they say, in bold type "Important Information for PPI sold after 14 Jan 2005" I always presumed i took the loan out in 2004, the date of the original loan.

roonaldo

Did you have any debt or arrears with them? as they may have applied it to this in the end as apposed to sending you a cheque.

DarkKnight43

no debt or arrears and they say they sent me the cheque and it cleared. that is not actually my issue. its really to do with wording of their so calling informative clear and concise PPI notice. i actually paid over £1500 in PPI premiums over 5 years.

roonaldo

You seem to more worried about a poorly worded letter rather than where your refund is. If I were you I would find out when this cheque was posted and cashed. Also the cheque would have a cover letter so ask for a copy of that.

DarkKnight43

i have asked to see the cheque and letter and they have said they will forward this to me at a later date. I am concerned about the wording of the letter because in all PPI letters advising that you may have been Mis-sold the insurance the FSA advised the letters must be Clear. the letter they say,, they sent me, is anything but clear and uses words like if and may alot then they say you are due a refund. then further in the letter they say im getting a refund and say i need to do nothing to get this refund. All very confusing when you consider it was 5 years ago when the PPI mis-selling scandal wasnt or was just becoming apparent and many people would, like me, presume the bank/loan company had our best interests at heart. tis a warning.

[Deleted User]

DarkKnight43 wrote: »

the FSA advised the letters must be Clear. the letter they say,, they sent me, is anything but clear and uses words like if and may alot then they say you are due a refund. then further in the letter they say im getting a refund and say i need to do nothing to get this refund. All very confusing

Banks have specialist teams who make sure template letters they send out are FSA compliant. I'd be surprised if the letter gives you any cause for complaint, although there have been instances I've seen where bank staff have mixed several template letters together in error. Perhaps you'd like to post it up on here so we can comment further? Obviously, you should remove any personal details.

EDIT;
Do note that if this letter was sent to you some years back it won't have had to adhere to guidelines issued by the regulator since that time!

antrobus

More information on this issue here;
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5098351

OP states that they "originally took out the loan with Morgan Stanley not Liverpool Victoria"; hence I would have thought any PPI mis-selling complaint would need to be addresed to Morgan Stanley.

DarkKnight43 wrote: »

...Also but not as important, they say, in bold type "Important Information for PPI sold after 14 Jan 2005"...

The significance of the 14 Jan 2005, is that it is the date on which the old FSA began regulating PPI sales. Other than that, it has no particular significance.

DarkKnight43

Moneyineptitude wrote: »

Banks have specialist teams who make sure template letters they send out are FSA compliant. I'd be surprised if the letter gives you any cause for complaint, although there have been instances I've seen where bank staff have mixed several template letters together in error. Perhaps you'd like to post it up on here so we can comment further? Obviously, you should remove any personal details.

EDIT;
Do note that if this letter was sent to you some years back it won't have had to adhere to guidelines issued by the regulator since that time!

Think this is why the FOS is upholding a lot of complaints that have had letters in the past advising of mis-selling but not being at all clear with the information provided. The FOS have advised me that they have taken on many such cases.

i cant provide a copy of the letter, no scanner, but i will try and quote passages here now.

: you had a PPI policy with LVBS
: The FSA has found that our PPI sales process was inappropriate
: A refund is therefore due to you
: Please Read this letter carefully and respond if necessary

Following an investigation by out regulator the FSA we are now carryout a review of all sales of PPI between 14 Jan 2005 and 31 Jan 2008. It is important that you read and , if necessary, respond to this letter.

When you took out your Personal loan xxxxxxxxxx with us on 26 Sept 2006 we also sold you a PPI policy. You paid for the PPI by single premium. The amount of the Premium £809.27 was added to your loan. Inyterest is charged on this amount throughout the length of the loan.

(the next two paragraphs talk about exclusions to PPI etc.)

If the PPI was sold to you inappropriately you may be entitled to a refund of the premium.

We have Decided to waive the interest payable on the part of your loan relating to PPI. We will refund to you the interest that you have paid on your PPI premium from the date of your loan agreement until the date of your loan agreement until the date you settled your loan. this amounts to £109.62. This sum is calculated as follows.

: interest you paid on PPI - £98.65 plus
: Compensation at 8% per year - £10.97

You do not have to take any action to receive this. It will be sent automatically by cheque in the next 14 days.

the last paragraph advises that they have decided to enhance the critical illness cover i purchased which may now cover me on diagnosis of one of seven critical illnesses defined in their policy.

roonaldo

I actually dont see something wrong with it! Its a perfectly normal letter. Its a letter saying you may have been mis-sold PPI and heres a refund. FOS will be more concerned about where your refund went. They are not obliged to pay it twice.

One thing that doesnt make sense is that you said in your first post the letter and refund was in 2006, this clearly was after 2008.

I would ditch your attempts to scrutinize the wording of the letter and chase where your cheque is.

DarkKnight43

roonaldo wrote: »

I actually dont see something wrong with it! Its a perfectly normal letter. Its a letter saying you may have been mis-sold PPI and heres a refund. FOS will be more concerned about where your refund went. They are not obliged to pay it twice.

One thing that doesnt make sense is that you said in your first post the letter and refund was in 2006, this clearly was after 2008.

I would ditch your attempts to scrutinize the wording of the letter and chase where your cheque is.

Yes thats what the letter says doesnt it. It also says i need do nothing to get the refund. It doesnt say heres the entire premium back because you werent covered though, the letter is cleverly worded to fool someone who didnt have a clue what PPI was. easier to do in 2009. I read this letter as a layman and they are saying, we made a mistake but we rectified it and are therefore refunding our mistake. My first post says the PPI was sold to me in 2004 and 2006. i then say i settled the loan in 2009

roonaldo

DarkKnight43 wrote: »

Yes thats what the letter says doesnt it. It also says i need do nothing to get the refund.

It sounds like either an admin error and it was sent or sent to wrong address or royal mail lost it or the possibility you have just forgotten about it.

It doesnt say heres the entire premium back because you werent covered though

why wouldnt you be covered? It covers self-employed people.

I read this letter as a layman and they are saying, we made a mistake but we rectified it and are therefore refunding our mistake.

Correct

My first post says the PPI was sold to me in 2004 and 2006. i then say i settled the loan in 2009

Yes but you said you were offered a refund in 2006 which you have just edited out !!!

Forget about the letter and chase your refund.