PPI claim rejected

rowanremote

I did the last day speculative 'dunno if I had PPI but can you check for me'. It turns out I did from 1997-2002. The bank has provided an application form that I completed and signed that apparently proves that I knew what I was signing for at the time. They sent a couple of old bills to show it was itemised on the statements. This was my first credit card and I didn't really know whether is was required or not. For all I knew that was what everyone did. I don't recall the criteria for recommending it (not shown on the form), needing it, or even having it. I don't recall how it was 'sold' to me. Whether I did it in branch or phoned them up to check, or just picked up a form from the branch. 
Is it worth me challenging this with the Ombudsman or just accept that you squiggled on the line there... tough luck? 
Does anyone have an experience of this where they have either lost or won the challenge?  How should I present my strongest argument to the Ombudsman? Probably worth a go as it's 5 years... could be quite a lot. 
Thanks for your help. 

[Deleted User]

It would seem pointless going to FOS as your complaint reasons were so weak.

You signed for it and you knew you had it. 5 years was long enough to cancel if if you didn't want it.

dunstonh

 I don't recall the criteria for recommending it (not shown on the form), needing it, or even having it. I don't recall how it was 'sold' to me.

Almost certainly it would have been a non-advised sale.

Whether I did it in branch or phoned them up to check, or just picked up a form from the branch. 

They have a form.  So, its fair to say it was a paper application.

Is it worth me challenging this with the Ombudsman or just accept that you squiggled on the line there... tough luck? 

On what basis would the challenge be?

Does anyone have an experience of this where they have either lost or won the challenge?  

Statistically, 3/4s of complaints are currently being rejected by the FOS.  However, there would be all sorts of complaints reasons and people with different scenarios to you.

 How should I present my strongest argument to the Ombudsman?

You present your strongest argument to the card provider.   The ombudsman is an independent arbiter and is not the place to change your story.

-taff

You need good reasons to have a complaint upheld and it also depends on how it was sold. If you can't remember how it was sold you may have filled the form in in branch which although you woulnd't have been 'advised' to tick the box, you don't know that.

Good complaint reasons for PPI are good savings, good sick pay, cover elsewhere. If you can show you had no need of it, you're more likely to have a complaint upheld.

No idea how yours is going to work now though but you'll lose nothing from sending it to the FOS.

rowanremote

Interesting twist to this one. I'd got busy and forgot about it, then got a letter from bank asking for my bank details and if I accepted their offer. Wasn't sure if it was a scam as I'd not received an offer in writing. Could have got lost in the post. So I called the bank. They offered me over the phone over £1,500 to settle my claim. I said thanks, please send that to me in writing. I got a letter saying it was an error and nothing more to do. Where do I stand with this? I've spoken to someone in their PPI claims team, they've made me an offer and have noted the name, time and exact offer value. Had I given them my bank details would I have received the money I wonder? It makes me think, they had allocated a claim amount to this. Would I have just given away my bank details when it was not required? Advice please. 

sparelogin

If you'd received the money in error, you'd just need to repay it.

sourcrates

I remember quite clearly sat in our local Halifax branch in the mid 1990`s whilst finalising a loan to buy a car I think it was.
The salesman sat there, filling out the agreement, and I can recall his words quite distinctly, he said this is your monthly payment, and this is your monthly insurance premium, Insurance I said, yes he said, it will pay your loan if you can`t (not entirely true) oh I said, do I have to have it ? yes he said, it`s a condition of acceptance for the loan, that you take the insurance as well.

Now hindsight is a wonderful thing, and time has proven that statement to be wrong, the guy lied through his teeth, gave me a copy of the agreement, that was it, nothing else, I wasn`t asked about my suitability for the insurance, wasn`t told about any cancelation rights, nothing, nada, ziltch, just sign here and you can have the money.
That is how they operated in those days, like a 70`s Gene Hunt giving someone a slap, the banks were doing the same thing to us, here`s the cash, don`t ask questions.

This is all pre-internet days, and before sites such as this existed to tell us our rights. Basically, we trusted the banks back then to do the right thing, and they took advantage of that fact.

So yes OP, your situation may not have exactly mirrored mine, but take it to the ombudsman, they may or may not agree with you, but it will cost you nothing to find out.

[Deleted User]

sourcrates said:

I remember quite clearly sat in our local Halifax branch in the mid 1990`s whilst finalising a loan to buy a car I think it was.
The salesman sat there, filling out the agreement, and I can recall his words quite distinctly, he said this is your monthly payment, and this is your monthly insurance premium, Insurance I said, yes he said, it will pay your loan if you can`t (not entirely true) oh I said, do I have to have it ? yes he said, it`s a condition of acceptance for the loan, that you take the insurance as well.

Now hindsight is a wonderful thing, and time has proven that statement to be wrong, the guy lied through his teeth, gave me a copy of the agreement, that was it, nothing else, I wasn`t asked about my suitability for the insurance, wasn`t told about any cancelation rights, nothing, nada, ziltch, just sign here and you can have the money.
That is how they operated in those days, like a 70`s Gene Hunt giving someone a slap, the banks were doing the same thing to us, here`s the cash, don`t ask questions.

This is all pre-internet days, and before sites such as this existed to tell us our rights. Basically, we trusted the banks back then to do the right thing, and they took advantage of that fact.

So yes OP, your situation may not have exactly mirrored mine, but take it to the ombudsman, they may or may not agree with you, but it will cost you nothing to find out.

This is long after the 6 month referral deadline.

Further, how would you prove your claims about what you were told? How do you know that he lied (vs it being the case at the time that you did need that). Non-advised sales like a bank application do not need to check for suitability. Your cancellation rights may well have been a lot different in the 90s. Whatever your issue with banks, most bank staff were not on commission to sell products like PPI and if you had needed to claim on the policy, assuming it would have paid out, then there is no problem. Not needing an insurance policy is a good thing, having it as a back up just in case, is a good thing.

DP64

I put in a PPI claim in 2018 with Santander who subsequently declined the claim, saying I didn’t have a case. I have now received a letter from them (3 years later) offering me a final settlement of a few hundred pounds. Should I just accept it or is it worth pursuing it through the Ombudsman now they have accept there is a claim? 

brettcta

There isn’t a ‘claim’, they’ve re-reviewed the decision and either changed or offered you a Plevin refund which is non-negotiable. 

What does the letter say?