Rejected PPI claim - conditions on appeal to Ombudsman

mpa61

My PPI claim has been rejected.  Letter from building society states that the Ombudsman does not have its permission to consider my complaint if what happened was more than six years ago and I am complaining three years after I realized, or should have realized, there was a problem.  I realized about PPI when many people did, when the scandal hit the press, but did not claim until the deadline.  Can they do this (refuse permission); and do I need to provide a lot of evidence to explain to Ombudsman why I did not complain until August 2019?

dunstonh

My PPI claim has been rejected.  Letter from building society states that the Ombudsman does not have its permission to consider my complaint if what happened was more than six years ago and I am complaining three years after I realized, or should have realized, there was a problem.

The three and six year rule means they haven't even looked at your complaint.  They are refusing to consider it by applying the timebar rules. You do not get the right to use the FOS when timebarred.

I realized about PPI when many people did, when the scandal hit the press, but did not claim until the deadline. 

PPi complaints started about 17 years ago.

 Can they do this (refuse permission); and do I need to provide a lot of evidence to explain to Ombudsman why I did not complain until August 2019?

The FOS will not be interested in why you took so long unless you are incapacitated for the whole period.    They will only overrule the timebar if it has been applied incorrectly.

mpa61

Thanks this is really helpful.  This did send a 2.5 page letter giving reasons that weren’t really reasons but they did not mention the time bar or say they were ruling my claim out of that basis.  The only time I became aware it might be a problem was when they were covering my rights.  This seems like a really devious way to operate.  I have spent quite some time preparing the appeal.  

dunstonh

This seems like a really devious way to operate.

Time bars exist in law covering all walks of life.  The 3 & 6 year time bar rule is actually more consumer friendly than the law as there is no automatic long stop.

The key thing is that there needs to be a trigger point for the 3 year clock.   They cannot say you should have known about it.  There has to be something that they can point as that trigger. e.g. a letter inviting you to complain if you feel you were missold.

mpa61

Very many thanks for taking the time to respond.  This is really helpful.