Santander Bank Loan PPI Check

What is Santander PPI?

There are many ways of referring to Santander payment protection insurance (PPI), these include credit insurance, credit protection or loan repayment insurance. The purpose of PPI was to help a borrower make their repayments to Santander if they couldn’t due to an unforeseen event, such as sickness, injury or redundancy.

PPI is often confused with income protection insurance. They are two completely different products. PPI provides short-term cover and is provided alongside loan and credit products. Any pay-outs under PPI go straight to the loan provider instead of the policyholder.

Income protection insurance is designed to cover 70% of the policyholder’s income if they can’t work due to accident or sickness. This is long-term protection and can cover a person until they retire if they are too ill or injured to work.

Many PPI policies sold by Santander were added on to a loan, credit/store card, mortgage or an overdraft.

The duration of Santander PPI usually covers a period of 12 months allowing the borrower to time to seek employment or return to work, if appropriate.

How was Santander PPI mis-sold?

Some customers were sold Santander PPI without knowing it had been added to their loan. Consumers say that Santander advised them their loan, mortgage or credit card application would not be approved if they didn’t buy Santander PPI. This meant borrowers took out the Santander PPI, even though they may not need it because they didn’t want to risk losing the deal.

Were you mis-sold PPI by Santander?

It is possible PPI may have been mis-sold by Santander if any of the following facts occurred at the point of sale:

• • Were you unemployed, self-employed or retired at the time Santander sold you the PPI policy?
    • Had you been unemployed, self-employed or retired when you were sold your PPI policy by Santander, you would not have received any benefit from it as you would not have been covered.
  • Did you know that PPI had been added to your agreement by Santander?
    • If you had no idea that Santander had added PPI to your agreement, it could have been done without your consent. Alternatively it could have been an opt-out box that wasn’t clearly visible.
  • Had the Santander explained the total cost of Santander PPI to you at the time of sale?
    • All costings relating to the PPI should have been explained to you by Santander. This will be a major mis-selling factor if it wasn’t done.
  • Did Santander make it known that that some of the PPI premium may have been paid as commission?
    • If more than 50% of your PPI premium was paid as commission to Santander, this is classed as high commission under the Plevin rule. You were mis-sold and due a PPI refund.
  • Were you made aware by Santander that you could cancel the PPI policy?
    • Santander should have explained that you had a cooling off period and could exercise your right to cancel the PPI policy within that time.
  • Were you made aware by Santander of any circumstances or exclusions where you would not be successful in making a claim?
    • If Santander had not made clear any exclusions or circumstances that would prevent you from claiming, you may have been mis-sold Santander PPI policy.
  • Were any enquiries made by Santander if you had other PPI cover that would cover repayments?
    • Santander has a responsibility to find out if you had sufficient PPI cover elsewhere.
  • Were you pressured into purchasing the Santander PPI policy?
    • Santander should have looked at your personal situation to assess if you would benefit from having PPI without any pressure or hard-sell.
  • At the time of taking out the PPI policy with Santander, did you have any pre-existing medical conditions?
    • If you had any pre-existing medical conditions that meant you could not have worked for the duration of the Santander PPI term, you would not be covered by the Santander PPI policy.
  • Was it implied to you that Santander PPI was necessary to get the finance?
    • If the finance sought was such that required a PPI policy, Santander should have let you know that you could shop around to find and compare PPI cover or if you already had PPI in place, Santander should not have sold you their PPI policy.
  • Did Santander PPI have an upper age limit, if so, were you older than it?
    • If Santander PPI specified an age limit for cover and you were older than this, you would not be covered by the policy.
  • How long was the term of Santander PPI, was it was shorter than the term of finance agreement? Did Santander explain that there would also be a period of no cover towards the end of the finance agreement?
    • If Santander didn’t explain that you would have a period of no protection during the term of the finance agreement, you Santander PPI policy was mis-sold to you.

What could you claim from Santander?

If your claim against Santander is upheld, you may receive a full refund of PPI paid to Santander, including any interest charged on the PPI. Statutory interest of 8% per year would also be payable on the premiums and any interest charged.

How to Make a PPI Complaint to Santander?

The PPI deadline (29th August 2019) set by the FCA has now passed and we are no longer accepting any new PPI claims.