PPI: Is it safe to give out your sort code?

moonray69

Hello everybody.
I'm trying to find out if I've been charged PPI, I've contacted a company called GW Legal (which can do it on a no win-no fee basis).
However, they want to know my account number (obviously), and my sort code (which worries me).
They also have my address and date of birth.. Is it safe to give out all of these details? Could money be taken from my account?
Help, please! Thank you

mije1983

Your account number isn't unique, so that on it's own probably wouldn't be enough for them to check for any PPI even with your address and DOB.

But is there a reason you aren't doing the PPI claim yourself? Then you get to keep 100% of any money you get back, instead of a reduced amount. Especially if you are worried about giving details to third parties.

eskbanker

The standard answer on here is that anyone you've ever given a cheque to has your sort code and account number (it's the latter that's unique to you and therefore more sensitive than sort code), and someone in possession of these can't use them to access money (unless they set up a fraudulent direct debit, which can then be reversed under the guarantee, google 'Jeremy Clarkson direct debit' if you don't know the story).

However, you should be very cautious when signing up with any such ambulance-chasers (or anyone else you provide bank details to), i.e. ensure that you read any Ts & Cs very carefully and that you're not committing to paying them anything that you don't expect....

The wisdom of paying third parties to claim back PPI for you is another story, can you not find out from your own records?

[Deleted User]

moonray69 wrote: »

Is it safe to give out all of these details? Could money be taken from my account?

If you use a claims company, you're going to lose a whole bunch of your cash either way.

moonray69

The honest truth is I have absolutely no idea how to do this myself..so if I do not use a company I'd have to just give up on the idea.
Thank you all for your comments, still trying to make up my mind atm

takman

moonray69 wrote: »

The honest truth is I have absolutely no idea how to do this myself..so if I do not use a company I'd have to just give up on the idea.
Thank you all for your comments, still trying to make up my mind atm

You will need to provide the exact same information to the Claims Company as you would if you did it yourself. All they do is forward the information you send on to the people who may have sold you PPI and charge a very large fee considering the "work" they do.

All you need to do is contact every organisation who you took out financial products from and ask them if you had PPI it's as simple as that.

mije1983

moonray69 wrote: »

The honest truth is I have absolutely no idea how to do this myself

Have you had a read through the guide on this site? Will be much better for you to do it yourself.

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

[Deleted User]

mije1983 wrote: »

Have you had a read through the guide on this site? Will be much better for you to do it yourself.

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

To be fair, the MSE guide is now very out-dated.

All the Banks now have dedicated PPI sections on their websites.

It is usually a simple matter to check if PPI was purchased and to complain if was mis-sold.

The MSE guide spends entirely too much time advising about requesting the Agreement or sending a SAR when these are usually unnecessary for most people.

There is also too much emphasis on the use of the MSE-owned Resolver template.