'The Financial Ombudsman has accepted on your behalf'

ailsacraig

I made a claim re a Nat West credit card in mid August 2019.

I had heard nothing by November 2019 so contacted the Financial Ombudsman. The Ombudsman investigated and informed me that RBS would be making  an offer of compensation and continued 'The offer is in line with the ombudsman’s general approach where we decide that a consumer shouldn’t have been sold PPI. And this should put you in the financial position you’d be in if you hadn’t taken out the PPI policy. ... Natwest will be in touch with you directly with details of how much compensation they owe you and how they’ve worked the amount out. Natwest will need to look at your individual circumstances – including the actual payments you made for the PPI and any interest charged – so it will take time for them to carry out the detailed calculations.'

RBS texted me on 13.3.20 to say my payment should be with me within 28 days (56 days in certain circumstances). No further details of the payment were given.

On 9.4.20 I called RBS and the lady gave me a breakdown on the phone of the amount they were paying (split into refund of premiums, interest, and CC interest) and said - and this is the bit that confuses me - that 'the Ombudsman has accepted this on your behalf'. I reserved my position on that, as I don't recall giving the Ombudsman authority to do this. I also asked for a breakdown of how the refund of premiums element of the proposed award had been calculated. This is because she told me on the phone that it was £1263. I had this card for 20 years so that looks light to me. She said a breakdown would be sent to me. I have not received it yet.

On 14.4.20 RBS wrote to me a letter saying, amongst other things, 'thank you for returning the signed acceptance form'. I have not ever seen an acceptance form let alone signed one.

On 23.4.20 they sent me a cheque for the amount calculated on refund of premiums plus £1263 plus interest, totalling over £5k. The accompanying letter said 'we confirm this now settles the matter and your PPI case file has now been closed'.

So - it's very nice to get a cheque for £5k, but I am not happy because:

a) I haven't seen how they've calculated the premiums.

b) I have never signed an acceptance form.

My question is: when you refer a PPI complaint to the Ombudsman, are you authorising them to accept a claim on your behalf? Or has something gone wrong here? I'm not for the moment going to bank the cheque but instead write back to RBS. But I just need to understand if I have a leg to stand on in these circumstances.

Thanks in advance for any help and sorry if this has been covered before - I searched the forum and couldn't see anything but accept I may have missed it.

ailsacraig

On 23.4.20 they sent me a cheque for the amount calculated on refund of premiums plus £1263 plus interest, totalling over £5k. The accompanying letter said 'we confirm this now settles the matter and your PPI case file has now been closed'.

Apologies, there's a wrong word in that - it should read 'they sent me a cheque for the amount calculated on refund of premiums of £1263 .... '

They did not change the amount between the call and sending the cheque.

dunstonh

and this is the bit that confuses me - that 'the Ombudsman has accepted this on your behalf'. 

There is no haggle with these things.  The calculation is defined.  And the ombudsman has accepted the calculation used is acceptable.

I reserved my position on that, as I don't recall giving the Ombudsman authority to do this. 

Its not a case of permission being needed.  You either accept that or you accept nothing.  A binary choice.

I had this card for 20 years so that looks light to me.

Did you borrow on the card every month of that 20 years?    You only pay PPI in the months you do not pay the full balance.

On 14.4.20 RBS wrote to me a letter saying, amongst other things, 'thank you for returning the signed acceptance form'. I have not ever seen an acceptance form let alone signed one.

Acceptance forms are no longer required.  Some do it but many dont and since the CV lockdowns that step is being bypassed as its meaningless.

ailsacraig

dunstonh said:

and this is the bit that confuses me - that 'the Ombudsman has accepted this on your behalf'. 

There is no haggle with these things.  The calculation is defined.  And the ombudsman has accepted the calculation used is acceptable.

I reserved my position on that, as I don't recall giving the Ombudsman authority to do this. 

Its not a case of permission being needed.  You either accept that or you accept nothing.  A binary choice.

I had this card for 20 years so that looks light to me.

Did you borrow on the card every month of that 20 years?    You only pay PPI in the months you do not pay the full balance.

On 14.4.20 RBS wrote to me a letter saying, amongst other things, 'thank you for returning the signed acceptance form'. I have not ever seen an acceptance form let alone signed one.

Acceptance forms are no longer required.  Some do it but many dont and since the CV lockdowns that step is being bypassed as its meaningless.

Thanks. Yes I did borrow heavily on the card for about 15 of the 20 years I had it. 

So there’s no way of checking how the premium repayment element has been calculated? 

dunstonh

The calculation normally comes.   However, it won't specify the months/amounts. It will just breakdown the premium and interest split.

[Deleted User]

ailsacraig said:Yes I did borrow heavily on the card for about 15 of the 20 years I had it. 

So there’s no way of checking how the premium repayment element has been calculated? 

Well, only if you have comprehensive documentary evidence (statements) from your own archive. You'd have to total up all the PPI amounts you paid over the years and then "check" this against the refund. 

Note that PPI was a percentage  of the total borrowing  each month but  if your account had no balance outstanding in a given month no PPI was charged. 

The Ombudsman has awarded you a full refund of the PPI you paid plus 8% simple interest. The Ombudsman has instructed  the Bank to pay you this, so they have not "accepted" on your behalf. 

In addition, unless you can somehow show that this full refund is wrong (by producing the aforementioned statements)  there is no more  to accept other than the full refund (plus interest) you've been awarded. 

So you are indeed able to refuse the refund, but this won't result in a haggling session. The refund is a defined redress and is not negotiable. 

I hope that makes things clearer..