Starting A Free PPI Check^*

Have you ever had a loan, credit card, store card, catalogue or mortgage? If so, don’t delay start your Free PPI check.
We can check if you had PPI with most banks or lenders.

*Free Check with Claims Service. Outcome is lender specific and may result in a complaint being investigated

What is PPI?

Many borrowers were sold payment protection insurance (PPI) alongside finance products such as catalogue accounts, credit cards, loans, mortgages and store cards. The purpose of PPI was to cover the repayments if the borrower found they could not, due to being out of work for the following reasons:

• Accident
• Illness
• Disability
• Redundancy
• Death

Information from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) revealed that high street banks and lenders sold UK consumers approximately 64 million PPI policies. The majority of PPI policies were sold from 1990 to 2010, however, some sales go back as far back as the 1970s.

How to check if you had PPI?

If you’ve had loans or other credit products in the past and are unsure if they included PPI, ask your provider directly, alternatively you can engage a claims management company to act on your behalf.

When using a claims management company (CMC), it is important that you first check if the company is authorised and listed on the Authorised Business Register from the Financial Conduct Authority.

Should you still have documentation for past loans and finance products, that’s great as it will expedite the process. If not, then the only information you need to get started is your name, date of birth and previous addresses.

Look for ‘PPI’, or the product names listed below, on original documents, credit agreements, recent statements, and the terms and conditions for each agreement. Information about the PPI policy and any payments you made may appear next to repayments and are sometimes shown as an additional charge.

Which product names to look for in your paperwork

As explained above, PPI policies were usually sold with other products like a loan, credit card, store card, mortgage, overdraft or with a car finance agreement.

If PPI has been included on a finance product you’ve had, the documents may state PPI clearly, others not so. There are many alternative names used to describe PPI and similar products. Look for the following terms on your paperwork:

1. account cover
2. credit insurance
3. loan protection
4. accident, sickness and unemployment (ASU) insurance
5. credit protection
6. payment cover
7. loan care
8. loan insurance
9. loan repayment insurance
10. income protection plan

How PPI was Mis-sold

If you find that you had PPI and are unhappy with how it was sold, you can complain about it to the bank or other provider concerned and claim back any money you’ve paid with interest. Find out about mis-selling of PPI and why you might be eligible to claim a refund.

It is likely you were mis-sold PPI if you experienced any of the following:

• You were pressured into buying PPI or told you must have PPI by the bank or other finance provider
• The bank or finance provider promised you a cheaper rate on your finance if you bought a PPI policy
• It was mentioned that your loan or credit application was more likely to be accepted if you bought PPI
• PPI was added to your finance agreement without your knowledge
• The advice given was to buy PPI even though it did not suit your personal circumstances or needs
• You were self-employed, unemployed or retired but was still advised to buy PPI
• There were pre-existing medical condition(s) at the time of buying PPI but you were not advised that the PPI policy would not cover these or you were advised that a pre-existing medical condition was included in your PPI policy (or advised that it wasn’t included)
• It wasn't made clear to you that interest was also applicable on the PPI if it was added to the loan
• The bank or provider did not make it clear that the PPI would end before the loan or credit was repaid
  

There could also be other reasons why you were mis-sold PPI which we can look into when you start your PPI claim. If any of the above examples were applicable to you or you believe you were mis-sold PPI in another way, please let us know as it will make it quicker for your bank or other provider to review your mis-sold PPI complaint.

Another Reason for claiming back PPI – High Levels of Commission

This provision for claiming back PPI focuses on the bank or lender and if they earned a high level of commission from the sale of the PPI. The crucial point to note here is this was not disclosed to you when you purchased the PPI policy.

What to do after you've checked?

If you find or remember that you did have PPI and you're unhappy with how it was sold to you, we urge you to proceed to make a claim before the PPI deadline of 29th August 2019. If you think you had PPI complete the form above and let us run a free PPI check on your behalf with your bank or other finance provider.

Please note: It can take up to 8 weeks for your PPI check to be completed.

Time is running out so we urge you to act sooner rather than later to allow you enough time to check if you had PPI and decide whether you have a valid complaint against your bank or other provider.