Misselling of payment protection insurance (PPI)
You may have heard the term ‘payment protection insurance’, or ‘PPI’ as it is often referred to a lot over the past 7 years. In theory, PPI was designed to add a useful layer of protection to borrowers, who may not be able to meet repayments because of loss of work, an accident or period of sickness. However, in 2011 a number of financial institutions in Ireland were accused of mis-selling PPI to customers, who would not benefit from this safety net. It was also proven that many customers were provided with PPI without signing up for the insurance. It has been estimated that PPI policies sold in Ireland equate to more than €1 billion, which includes roughly 64 million mis-sold policies.
In 2013 the Central Bank requested that several financial companies reviewed all of their lending, which involved sales of PPI from July 2007. The companies accused of possible mis-selling included; Bank of Ireland, Allied Irish Bank, EBS, GE Money, Permanent TSB, MBNA and Ulster Bank. The cut-off date of July 2007 was given to companies because this is when a new Consumer Protection Code began. If you think you were mis-sold PPI before this date, you may be able to claim a refund, but it will be difficult.
A PPI checker can be used to establish whether you were mis-sold payment protection insurance. You could be entitled to a refund if:
You were not sold PPI as an optional extra
You were not made aware of any pre-existing medical conditions which were not covered by the insurance
Your medical history was not checked
You were not told that interest would be charged for the PPI amount
You were not asked about your employment situation
No checks were carried out to see if you already held sufficient insurance
You felt pressured in any way to continue with the purchase
The finer points of the terms and conditions were not explained and sufficient answers provided to questions you may have asked
If any of these points were not satisfied, then you could be entitled to a refund of your PPI.
However, if you are yet to receive a refund but believe you were mis-sold PPI, you can still make a complaint and request a refund. The first step will be to write a letter to the lender which clearly explains the reasons why you feel the PPI was incorrectly sold to you, you should ask for them to return the following things within their reply:
A copy of any signed paperwork which showed your consent to the PPI payment
Confirmation of the fact-finding completed at the time by the person which sold the loan or card to you
The total cost of the PPI policy and confirmation of the amount paid by you so far
A copy of the original PPI policy document with any explanatory notes to help you understand the detail
The letter should be clearly addressed to the compliance officer which is responsible for reporting to the Central Bank.
The lender may decline the refund, but if you would like the complaint upheld you can still appeal to the Financial Services Ombudsman (FSO). If the complaint is regarding a policy taken out in the last 6 years, the process is very straightforward. However, if the loan was taken out more than six years ago, the FSO can only investigate the complaint if you became aware of any misspelling issues within the past 3 years.
This extension beyond the original 6-year claim period was brought in by new legislation in 2017. So, if you originally requested a refund but were declined because the loan fell outside of the 6-year window, you could be entitled to a refund now.
In 2013 the Central Bank requested that several financial companies reviewed all of their lending, which involved sales of PPI from July 2007. The companies accused of possible mis-selling included; Bank of Ireland, Allied Irish Bank, EBS, GE Money, Permanent TSB, MBNA and Ulster Bank. The cut-off date of July 2007 was given to companies because this is when a new Consumer Protection Code began. If you think you were mis-sold PPI before this date, you may be able to claim a refund, but it will be difficult.
Have you mis-sold a PPI policy?
There are many residents of Ireland which could be entitled to large refunds. So, if you took out a loan, mortgage or credit card in recent years It is worth checking your contract as you could be entitled to a pay-out.A PPI checker can be used to establish whether you were mis-sold payment protection insurance. You could be entitled to a refund if:
You were not sold PPI as an optional extra
You were not made aware of any pre-existing medical conditions which were not covered by the insurance
Your medical history was not checked
You were not told that interest would be charged for the PPI amount
You were not asked about your employment situation
No checks were carried out to see if you already held sufficient insurance
You felt pressured in any way to continue with the purchase
The finer points of the terms and conditions were not explained and sufficient answers provided to questions you may have asked
If any of these points were not satisfied, then you could be entitled to a refund of your PPI.
How to get a PPI refund
Although the companies reportedly completed their PPI reviews in early 2014, there are still many customers who have not yet made a claim, even though they are entitled to a refund. If the company’s investigation found that you were mis-sold PPI, you should, in theory, have already received correspondence offering you a full refund with interest.However, if you are yet to receive a refund but believe you were mis-sold PPI, you can still make a complaint and request a refund. The first step will be to write a letter to the lender which clearly explains the reasons why you feel the PPI was incorrectly sold to you, you should ask for them to return the following things within their reply:
A copy of any signed paperwork which showed your consent to the PPI payment
Confirmation of the fact-finding completed at the time by the person which sold the loan or card to you
The total cost of the PPI policy and confirmation of the amount paid by you so far
A copy of the original PPI policy document with any explanatory notes to help you understand the detail
The letter should be clearly addressed to the compliance officer which is responsible for reporting to the Central Bank.
The lender may decline the refund, but if you would like the complaint upheld you can still appeal to the Financial Services Ombudsman (FSO). If the complaint is regarding a policy taken out in the last 6 years, the process is very straightforward. However, if the loan was taken out more than six years ago, the FSO can only investigate the complaint if you became aware of any misspelling issues within the past 3 years.
This extension beyond the original 6-year claim period was brought in by new legislation in 2017. So, if you originally requested a refund but were declined because the loan fell outside of the 6-year window, you could be entitled to a refund now.
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