Debenhams Store Card - PPI Claim

Thanks Afrogirl just read your post.....will be definitely giving them a ring!:)

I phoned Santander 28th February this year to ask if they could give me the account number for a Debenhams account I'd closed some years ago and the delightful lady on the other end of the phone asked me a few question and said yes. She then informed me that she could see that I'd had insurance on the account and did I think that it had been miss-sold to me, I informed her that I was in full time employment in 1990 and would have received full pay for up to 12 months should I have been ill but said you can look into for for me as I had no idea about the insurance. This prompted me to look further and I contacted Genworth/AXA to see if they had any information.
2 weeks later I received a letter form Santander informing me that they had no record of ppi attached to the account and enclosed a copy of the original Consumer Credit Agreement signed by me at the time indicating that ppi was not required. No surprise there so I filed the letter in my keep for 12 months file.

On the 12th April I received a letter form AXA apologising for the delay in responding to my ppi complaint and that they would try to give me a reply within the next 4 weeks if they could get Santander to reply to them. This prompted me to take a good look at the copy of the Consumer Credit Agreement Santander had sent me using a magnifying glass so that I could read it, only to find that section 8 relating to ppi reads :-

[8.For your protection
I understand that optional payment protection insurance as described in the attached leaflet is available in connection with this account and will be provided (subject to availability) unless I initial the box below.
Payment Protection is not required
The box is empty.

Phoned AXA 10th May and they confirmed that Santander had also informed them that ppi was not on the account.

I phoned Santander for clarification and the man on the phone said '….. but you didn't tick the box'. I explained that the box didn't need a tick and that I'd been informed in February that there was insurance on the account. He said 'no you were not, you would have been told 'there may be insurance on the account' that's what we are told to say'. I replied that I must have been one of the lucky ones when the application was processed.

Be interesting to know if any other customer of Debenhams for the 1980/90's have take a good look at their Credit Agreement and been as lucky as I appear to have been.
Get looking at your agreement!

As suggested by AXA I've sent copies of everything to the Ombudsman Service, you never know.

Moneyineptitude I posted to highlight that the copy of the Credit Agreement Santander sent me shows that ppi was on the card and was wondering if anyone had the same agreement where you had to opt-out with a signature.

The tick box Santander say I'd not tick is nowhere to be seen on the agreement.
I was also wondering how many other people had missed the opt-out box and been told they didn't have ppi on their account, if its' only me then we have to put it down to a clerical error (in my favour) at the time of my original application.

My initial phone call to Santander had nothing to do with ppi it was they who instigated the investigation

I was advised by AXA (who by the way are not able to get any information from Santander) to contact the Ombudsman, I think I'd best send them your observation to save them advising others to wast the Ombudsman time!

"By all means refer "everything" to the Ombudsman Service, but expect nothing and you won't be disappointed"

I certainly won't be disappointed as I had no expectation in the first place.
This has nothing to do with claiming money for me but all to do with the wording on the agreement - leaving the box empty ppi on the account - put a signature in the box NO ppi on the account but lots who have been turned down by Santander may not have noticed this.