Payment protection insurance (PPI) factsheet – FOS

April 26, 2013
Posted by standout

The Financial Ombudsman Service factsheet provides information regarding payment protection insurance and information regarding ppi claims.

If you are fed up with those TV adverts and annoying texts- so are we. See below if we do things differently than other companies that you might have come across. Remember that you can do some of these claims yourself.

Claiming your money back just got more personal – we’ll explain how we do it. Call Maple leaf financial now on 0800 7747 624

Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) – FOS Factsheet

what is payment protection insurance?

Payment protection insurance (sometimes called “loan protection” or “PPI”) covers your loan or debt repayments in the event of certain problems – for example, if you are unable to work because of illness, or if you are made redundant.

How these insurance policies actually work, and the range of benefits they offer, can vary significantly from policy to policy. Payment protection policies are usually sold as part of the deal when consumers take out a loan, mortgage or credit card. But it’s also possible to buy a “stand alone” PPI policy.

does the ombudsman service look at complaints about payment protection insurance?

Yes. We have experience of dealing with tens of thousands of complaints about payment protection insurance. Three main types of problem arise that can lead to complaints to the ombudsman. The first type of problem is where a claim on a payment protection policy is turned down.

In other words, the consumer has bought a policy and made a claim on it – but the insurance company refuses to pay out, perhaps because of an exclusion clause in the small print of the policy.

The second type of problem involves payment protection policies that may have been “mis-sold”. This might be the case if, for example:

• a consumer did not realise they were taking out a policy that they did not actually want; or

• the policy was not properly described to them – and they bought it not understanding it wasn’t suitable or how it worked.

The third type of problem involves disputes about refunds of premiums –where the consumer has paid for a payment protection policy with an up-front single premium (frequently added to the loan). If the
consumer pays off the loan early, only a small refund may be available, which can give rise to complaints.

what should I do if I am unhappy about my payment protection insurance?

If you think you may have grounds for a complaint, get in touch first of all with the company you think is
responsible. Give them a chance to look into your concerns. You might want to look at our website for
more information on making a complaint: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints.htm

If this doesn’t sort things out, get in touch with us to see if we can help. Our contact details are at the end of this factsheet. Our job is to help settle disputes between financial companies and their customers. We were set up by law to do this – as independent experts – and our service is free to consumers.

how do I know which company is responsible?

This largely depends on what your complaint is about. If your complaint involves a policy that you think may have been “mis-sold” – or a dispute about the refund of premiums – you should normally get in touch first with the person who sold you the policy (for example, at the bank or building society where you
took out the loan, mortgage or credit card that the policy covered).

If your complaint involves a claim you have made that has been turned down, then this will usually be the responsibility of the insurance company whose name and details are set out in your insurance policy.
If you’re not sure who you think is responsible, get in touch with us. We should be able to sort out which
company is involved. And we can forward your complaint to the right person at the company, so that they can look into it first of all.

I’ve heard that payment protection insurance has been investigated by the watchdogs – does this affect complaints?

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) have both looked into payment protection insurance. Both these official watchdogs (or “regulators”) have said they have general concerns about the way some companies have handled these insurance policies.

The ombudsman is separate from the FSA and the OFT. Our job is to help settle individual disputes – not to investigate general concerns. Our findings depend on the particular circumstances of each individual case – not on any general findings by the regulators.

what happens if the complaint turns on the small print of the policy?

Many disputes turn on what the small print of an insurance policy says and means. We can help cut through the jargon of small print in a dispute like this – to decide whether the insurance company is acting fairly and lawfully.

what if I wasn’t aware I’d been sold payment protection insurance – or didn’t understand it?

Some companies added payment protection insurance automatically, unless the consumer “opted out”. And other companies made it difficult for consumers to see what exactly they were signing up to. But the person who sold you payment protection insurance should have made it clear that you were agreeing to buy
the policy. When consumers refer individual disputes to the ombudsman service, we listen carefully
to what both they and the company have to say about the way the policy was sold. And, where relevant, we look at the original sales documents and any other records from the time.

If it seems to us that the company did not make it clear that the consumer was taking out a payment protection policy – or did not give the consumer basic information about the policy and how it worked – we can tell the company involved to refund premiums the consumer has paid.

what’s the position on the refund of premiums if the loan is paid off early (or re-arranged)?

The premium for payment protection insurance is often charged up-front in one lump sum (called a single premium) that is added to the loan. So the monthly payments the consumer makes towards the costs of the insurance are not actually insurance premiums at all – they are additional loan repayments (and interest).

This means that consumers cannot simply stop paying for the insurance. Instead, they have to get a refund – which may be refused, or be for an amount the consumer thinks is too low.

Many consumers argue that these arrangements are unfair – especially if the loan is paid off early as part of a plan to
restructure (or consolidate) debts where a consumer is in financial hardship.

In these circumstances, we look at the individual facts of the case – particularly what the consumer was told when they
bought the payment protection policy.

If we decide that the company explained clearly how the policy works, we will probably only look at whether the refund
has been calculated fairly.

But if we decide that the company did not explain clearly the way the policy works, we will need to consider whether they should have sold this type of policy in the particular circumstances.

This could mean that we will tell the company to repay any premiums and interest that it should not have collected
from the consumer.

what about debt problems made worse by payment protection insurance?

We regularly deal with disputes that involve financial hardship – when a consumer’s personal circumstances mean they cannot repay loans and overdrafts. We take account of circumstances like these when we handle complaints.

But we cannot give personal advice on debt matters. If you are having difficulty repaying debts, you should think about getting in touch with a free specialist debt-advice service such as:

the National Debtline
www.nationaldebtline.co.uk
phone 0808 808 4000

the Consumer Credit Counselling Service
www.cccs.co.uk
phone 0800 138 1111

FOS Factsheet : http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/factsheets/payment-protection-insurance.pdf

Maple Leaf Financial PPI Claims Service

We’ll contact your lender and negotiate on your behalf for your offer of settlement making sure that all calculations are correct and that other previous and subsequent loans have been taken into account.

Claiming your money back just got more personal – we’ll explain how we do it. Call now on 0800 7747 624

+Tim Capper

11m people still unaware of mis sold PPI

April 23, 2013
Posted by standout

A report in the Metro today revelas that there are almost 11 million British Adults who are unsure if they were mis sold PPI.

£18.3bn of mis-sold PPI cash unclaimed as 11m still unaware

Customers are missing out on £18.3billion of compensation from mis-sold payment protection insurance, research out today reveals.

Almost 11million British adults are unsure if they are entitled to claim or if they have been a victim of PPI mis-selling, the report by claims company Emcas states.

With the average payout for a claim standing at £2,650, Britons could be depriving themselves of a substantial windfall.

David Walter, Emcas spokesman, said: ‘Our primary concern remains that victims of financial mis-selling reclaim what is rightfully theirs. The voice of consumers needs to be heard above that of the banks.

‘There are still significant sums of money due in compensation but 17 per cent of consumers aren’t sure if they are a victim of financial mis-selling.’

Emcas also warned that customers who are making claims are experiencing delays as banks refer more cases to the Financial Ombudsmen Service.

The study of 2,064 adults showed 31 per cent were confused whether they could make a claim or not while 22 per cent said they did not have enough time.

PPI was sold on a range of financial products such as loans, credit cards or mortgages as a means of covering monthly payments on credit agreements.

Full article: http://metro.co.uk/2013/04/03/18-3bn-of-mis-sold-ppi-cash-unclaimed-as-11m-still-unaware-3580063/

Maple Financial PPI Claims Service

We will work with you to ensure that you get the correct settlement or refund and any and all fair compensation that may be due to you as a result of PPI mis-selling. We will deal directly with your PPI provider, be it a bank or insurance company and neither we nor our specialist claims team will be fobbed off by them at any stage. If their offer is too low or derogatory and they won’t take us seriously we will challenge them on your behalf. Maple Leaf Financial will review your PPI Claim and will be happy to discuss your individual concerns and requirements : 0800 7747624

+Tim Capper

PPi claims increase over £4 million in 2012: Q2

April 19, 2013
Posted by standout

Consumer complaints over the mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI) topped out at 4.23 million complaints in 2012, according to data released by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). However, the number of complaints against mis-selling did drop in the second half of 2012 to about 2.1 million complaints. More than 2.2 million complaints were registered in the first half of 2012. The overall sum showed that PPI complaints increased by 5 percent over 2011.

PPI Claims : Q2

PPI complaints represented 63 percent of all complaints directed toward insurance companies and banks, the FCA reported. Complaints against other financial instruments dropped across the board. The FCA released these numbers:

* Complaints against credit cards fell by 14 percent.

* Savings account complaints dropped 20 percent.

* Current account complaints fell 6 percent.

Barclays won the dubious prize of being the bank that registered the most complaints by consumers. Consumers piled on Lloyds Banking Group, too, with 762,000 complaints, which covered all manner of financial products. Both banks have been buried in scandalous headlines over the past year.

This avalanche of complaints has resulted in interesting maneuvers by banks to shine up their images.

For example, Barclays has embraced a report from Rothschild to scrub up its image and add some sparkle. Barclays paid for a report from Rothschild that hammered the bank for its “winning at all costs” philosophy that embraced profit over customer service. The damning report inferred that the investment bankers at Barclays thought themselves above normal rules and that led them down the path of greed where they lost all sense of proportionality, the report said.

The writers at the which4u.co.uk blog suggest that the bank is engaged in self-flagellation in an effort to separate its slick, new self-image from its bad, old image and beg for mercy all at the same time.

It should be remembered that Barclays soiled its image pretty good back in January when a senior executive at Barclays Wealth, Andrew Tinney, tried to destroy a report from Genesis Ventures, a consulting firm.

That report slammed Barclays Wealth as a money-grubbing operation that pursued profit “at all costs.” The report painted Barclays Wealth as a den of hostility and intimidation that crushed all internal dissent.

To prove the report true, Tinney promptly shredded the analysis by Genesis and denied its existence to the bosses at Barclays.

The new chief executive at Barclays, Anthony Jenkins, was tipped off by whistleblowers and launched an investigation named “Project Helium.” After Jenkins uncovered the report, he read the riot act to Barclays’ 140,000 staff and told them they would get the boot if they didn’t embrace new rules that will uphold the bank’s values.

“My message to those people is simple: Barclays is not the place for you,” Jenkins said. “The rules have changed. You won’t feel comfortable at Barclays and, to be frank, we won’t feel comfortable with you as colleagues,” he added.

In his efforts to introduce accountability and integrity, Jenkins will need to decide if he will reduce the investment bank bonus pool to pay for the fines the bank will draw for its role in the Libor rate-rigging scandal.

As if the PPI scandal isn’t enough of a mess, the Ministry of Justice has now stepped in to turn the screws on claims management companies. A new rule will go into effect this summer that will bar companies from charging significant up-front fees to represent clients in claims against financial firms. The measure is mostly aimed at firms involved in PPI mis-selling claims.

These claims firms are involved in making random phone calls and texting to mis-selling victims. Some are charging that these claims companies are signing up clients without a written agreement and then charging them up-front fees to pursue a claim.

The new rules will force these companies to get signatures on contracts before charging clients fees for assistance. The ministry moved against claims companies last year and stripped 260 firms of their licences for cold-calling potential clients without their permission.

About 3,000 companies are licensed to go after claims. Some charge as much as 30 percent of compensation awarded. Mis-selling of PPI policies is a lucrative affair for claims companies. UK banks have already paid out £15 billion in compensation. Consumers should be aware that they can file claims themselves at no cost.

+Tim Capper

The Real cost of PPI to consumers

March 28, 2013
Posted by standout

The cost of the PPI bank scandal to UK citizens can be measured both in pounds and the falling trust that consumers have in their banking institutions.

The Cost of PPI

Which? has recently released an opinion to the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards that characterized the Payment Protection Insurance scheme as “a poor product that was sold badly.” Which? is a group that campaigns for the protection of consumer rights and offers an independent view on various subjects.

An analysis by Which? showed that UK consumers paid out £50 billion for PPI protection since 1996. The consumer advocate group highlighted numerous examples of lack of accountability and inappropriate sales schemes.

Which? presented evidence at the hearing that showed that Egg pushed PPI schemes with its credit card offers to more than 100,000 customers that earned Egg £16.7 million in premiums. However, 40 percent of telephone sales of PPI violated regulations, according to the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

Major high-street banks mis sold PPI schemes that covered only five years of 25-year loans, but the consumer was on the hook for paying for PPI over the entire life of the loan.

Which? also revealed that Lloyds TBS enjoyed a whooping 87 percent commission when it sold a particular brand of PPI. This commission set a record in the financial services sector.

Loan managers at Alliance and Leicester earned lavish bonuses on PPI sales that were six times greater than selling a loan without PPI. Bonuses were cut by 25 percent if they did not sell at least 50 percent of all loans with PPI included.

Which? also decried the overall lack of responsibility in the PPI scheme. Only one senior executive has suffered an enforcement action by FSA. That person was an executive at a sofa shop named Land of Leather.

“If the banks are serious about wanting to get this problem behind them, as they should be, they have got to engage in the process of sorting out the backlog of compensation claims,” said Peter Vicary-Smith, the chief executive officer at Which?.

In the meantime, UK citizens are starting to shed their respect for elite institutions and are showing distrust.

About 80 percent of people believe that UK banks have not done enough to prevent a future credit crunch, according to data from Which?. Seventy percent of people also believe that banks haven’t improved at all since 2007.

“Five years on from the beginning of the financial crisis, public confidence in the banking industry is at an all-time low, with a series of scandals exposing mismanagement and corruption at the very heart of the system,” said Vicary-Smith.

The most recent Edelman Trust Barometer shows that the public’s trust in banking institutions has fallen to a new low. Only 22 percent of people trust banks, said Edelman, a global PR company.

The culture of banking itself is taking a big hit. Edelman found that 59 percent of UK citizens blame the banking scandals on a toxic internal culture permeating banks.

The trust is gone. In a story related in hrmagazine.co.uk, the chief honcho at a wealth management firm said that the talk around the table at dinner parties and pubs centers on bashing financial services. Bankers are now the least liked people in the room, said the executive. The respect is gone. Another former executive at Citigroup said that “Even if you’re a cashier, your neighbour thinks you caused the recession.”

As unfair as that attitude might be, bankers are paying a price in trust for one scandal piled atop another. People are particularly incensed that nobody in banking seems to be paying a price. First came the outrageous financial meltdown in 2008. That was followed by the Libor rate-rigging scandal that involved some of the must trusted financial institutions in Europe, including Lloyds, Barclays, HSBC and RBS.

Next came the interest rate swap scandal that smashed into 40,000 small businesses, completely destroying some family businesses. Cleaning up that mess may cost banks £10 billion. If that wasn’t enough, the PPI scandal roared down the banking highway and crashed into all the other financial bangers.

These scandals have angered many across the UK. “The culture of tolerating, and even rewarding, any sort of behaviour for profit, hasn’t changed,” said John Greenwood, the head of Creechurch Capital in an interview in hrmagazine. “The alpha individuals get away with murder,” he added.

Greenwood, though, said that he’s starting to see things change for the better. With the public catching on to the lies, the City financial culture will change, he said, even if it’s only change motivated by fear of getting caught.

As the many scandals unravel, some eye-popping numbers around the PPI scheme are becoming known to the public.

For example, The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has been buried by more than 600,000 complaints about PPI since 2000. Nearly half of those complaints have been filed since July1, 2012. Between that July date and the end of December in 2012, 283,251 complaints have been filed with the ombudsman. That was an increase of 110 percent over the previous six months.

Lloyd’s Group was hammered the hardest with 93,454 complaints. Of that total, 42,195 were related to PPI with 86 percent upheld. The Bank of Scotland was hit with 34,434 PPI complaints with 81 percent upheld. Barclays saw 37,883 PPI complaints of which 77 percent were upheld.

The FOS has cautioned PPI complaint filers that the agency is swamped, and the time from filing to resolution is more than one year.

Maple Leaf Financial PPI Claims Service

Finally – a PPI claims service for people who weren’t born yesterday.

The principle is a simple one; the better your processes then the smoother your results.

Claiming your money back just got more personal – we’ll explain how we do it. Call now on 0800 7747 624

+Tim Capper

RBS PPI Claims

March 8, 2013
Posted by standout

Are you looking to make a PPI Claim against the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)? Below is all the information you need to make a RBS PPI Claim.

If you are not successful in dealing with Lloyds directly, we are always here to help.

RBS PPI Claims

You can contact our PPI Customer Concerns team in one of the following ways:
By Telephone
Call RBS directly on: 0800 015 0319

Lines are open Monday to Friday 8am – 5pm excluding public holidays.
Calls from mobile networks may incur a charge inline with your network provider’s tariff.
Calls may be recorded and/or monitored for training purposes.
By post
Complete the PPI Consumer Questionnaire (PDF, 50KB) and send it to:
PPI Customer Concerns Team,
Royal Bank of Scotland Group,
5th Floor,
Hardman Boulevard,
Manchester
M3 3AQ

To help us manage your complaint as quickly and efficiently as possible please fully complete the questionnaire.

Please note that you are not required to provide copies of documentation when making a complaint.

RBS PPI Claims Page

RBS PPI Claims FAQ’s

What is Payment Protection Insurance?
Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) is an optional insurance policy often taken with loans, mortgages, overdrafts, credit cards or store cards that could cover you if you can’t meet your repayments in the event of involuntary unemployment, illness, accident, disability or death.
How can I find out if I had PPI?
If you had PPI, full details of the policy will be included in your original product documentation. If you are unable to locate this please call our PPI Customer Concerns team on 0800 015 0319.
I was sold a PPI policy but cancelled it. Can I still make a complaint?
Yes, you can still make a complaint following the process outlined in the “How do I complain” section above.

Can I only complain about a policy sold to me within a certain period of time?
No, you can make a complaint about your policy regardless of when it was sold.

What happens after I make a complaint?
We are committed to investigating your complaint fully and fairly and each complaint is dealt with in the same way.

Click on the arrow to Expand the rest of the FAQ’s

Here are the steps we take on receipt of you complaint:

Acknowledgment Log it on our system before issuing you an acknowledgment letter which will include your unique PPI complaint reference. Within 5 working days of receiving your complaint
Investigation Collect all relevant information relating to your complaint before conducting a thorough investigation This could take up to 6 weeks
Final Decision Write to you to explain our final decision in detail and if appropriate, make an offer of compensation.

Any compensation payment will then be made within 28 days of your acceptance. Within 8 weeks of receiving your complaint

How do I get an update on my complaint?
All customers will receive an acknowledgment letter within 5 working days of receiving your complaint and a final decision letter within 8 weeks.

If you are able to provide a mobile number when you make your complaint, we will keep you updated via text message at key stages throughout the process.

What can I do if I am dissatisfied with your decision?
If, for any reason, you are dissatisfied with our decision you can contact the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) for further investigation. Their contact details are:
Financial Ombudsman Service
South Quay Plaza
183 Marsh Wall
London
E14 9SR
Telephone: 0845 080 1800
Email: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk
Website: www.financial-ombudsman.org

Please note that the FOS cannot consider a referral from you until the 8 week period has passed.

How do you calculate the offer of compensation?
We calculate our offer based on a refund of the PPI premiums you paid, interest on those premiums and 8% statutory interest.

This offer of compensation will take into account any arrears outstanding on the account/s the policy relates to.

I’ve seen a credit to my account today but it doesn’t match my offer amount. Why?
For closed products the refund of PPI premiums and 8% statutory interest are paid separately. The PPI premium refund will be visible the moment it is paid and the 8% statutory interest will be visible the next day. The two refunded amounts will reflect your total offer or slightly more due to additional interest.

For open products, it may be necessary to restructure the product taking into account the removal of PPI polices. This may result in an additional payment being made that, due to timing, wouldn’t have been included in your final decision letter.

Why do I have to pay tax on the 8% statutory interest?
The 8% statutory interest payable to you is treated as income which, in line with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) requirements, is taxable. If you believe you are exempt from paying tax please contact HMRC directly.
I have heard that the RBS Group and other Banks’ will write to customers who purchased PPI products. What does this mean?
Both the RBS Group and the FSA have some concerns regarding the way that PPI was sold to some customers. Where there may be grounds for concern, we will proactively write to customers offering to review the product sale.

Will all customers who had PPI receive a letter?
No. We will write to customers where we and the FSA agree there is a material risk that our sales process was not followed correctly.
If I receive a letter what do I have to do?
Full details, including the postal address and contact telephone number of a dedicated team established to manage your enquiries, will be included in the letter.
If I receive a letter does it mean I am entitled to an offer of compensation?
This depends upon the particular circumstances of your case. If our review concludes that a mis-sale occurred, you may be entitled to a refund of some or all of the PPI costs.
If I don’t get sent a letter can I still complain?
Yes, we are happy to investigate any complaint where you feel you have been mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance. Please refer to the “How do I complain about the way my PPI was sold? ” section above on how to do this.

Maple Financial PPI Claims Service

+Tim Capper

Lloyds TSB PPI Claims

March 8, 2013
Posted by standout

Are you looking to make a PPI Claim against Lloyds TSB? Below is all the information you need to make a Lloyds PPI Claim.

If you are not successful in dealing with Lloyds directly, we are always here to help.

LLoyds TSB PPI Claims Information

Call or write to us
At Lloyds TSB we are committed to making it as easy as possible to resolve your complaint. We’d like to discuss the details of your case with you directly so your concerns can be resolved as quickly as possible. You can write to us at Lloyds TSB, PPI Customer Services, BX1 1LT or call us on 0845 601 2683 (lines open 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday and 9am to 2pm Saturday) , our dedicated number for PPI complaints.

Download and complete a FOS PPI Questionnaire
If you decide you want to proceed with your complaint, download the
FOS PPI Questionnaire and fill in the details of your case. Filling in a FOS PPI Questionnaire from the Financial Ombudsman Service helps us process your complaint as efficiently as possible.

Send it directly to us
Send the FOS PPI Questionnaire directly to us at Lloyds TSB, PPI Customer Services, BX1 1LT. When a decision is made we will write to you clearly explaining our decision. If we are offering you a refund we are committed to ensuring customers receive payment within 28 days of our decision letter.

Lloyds PPI Claims Page

Lloyds TSB PPI Claims FAQ’s

1. What is PPI and how do I know if I have it?
PPI is insurance that pays out a sum of money to help cover your monthly repayments on your loan, credit card and/or mortgage in certain events, which could include unemployment, accident or sickness, hospitalisation or death. This type of cover may also be called loan protection, credit insurance, loan repayment insurance, ASU (accident, sickness and unemployment) insurance, account cover or payment cover.

An easy way to check if you have taken out PPI, is to check your product statements for evidence of premiums paid. Also, you may have policy booklets and loan or credit agreements that show information on PPI. Some of our product names for this type of insurance include Mortgage sure, Payment Protection plus, card or loan protection.

2. How do I make a complaint about the way that my PPI was sold?
Firstly, please check any available documentation as outlined in question 1 to obtain details of your PPI policy. This will help in progressing your complaint.
The easiest way to raise a query about a PPI policy is to complete a FOS PPI Questionnaire. By filling out the FOS (Financial Ombudsman Service) PPI Questionnaire we will have all of the information we need to assess your complaint.

Once you have completed the form please send it directly to us at:
Lloyds TSB
PPI Customer Services
BX1 1 LT

If you have any further query about the way your PPI was sold you can ring a dedicated telephone line for PPI customers 0845 601 2683.

Click on the Arrow to Expand the FAQ’s

3. My PPI policy was taken out many years ago. Can I still complain?
We will investigate any complaint received properly and fairly. Please be aware that if your policy was cancelled over 6 years ago it is unlikely we will have any documentation about the circumstances of your sale, so any information you are able to provide would help us to complete a full investigation of your case.

4. I cannot find any paperwork; can I still complain?
Yes, even if you can’t find your paperwork we will investigate your complaint properly and fairly. Please be aware that if your policy was cancelled over 6 years ago it is unlikely that we will have any documentation about the circumstances of your sale, so any information you are able to provide would help us to complete a full investigation of your case.

5. I have made a complaint, what happens next?
We will send you an acknowledgement letter within 5 days of receiving your complaint.

6. You acknowledged my complaint but I haven’t received a final decision. What will happen now?
We will provide a full response as soon as possible and aim to do this within eight weeks of receiving your complaint. If we are unable to resolve your complaint within the initial eight weeks, we will write to you at this stage explaining why we are not able to make a decision and tell you when you will receive a final response from us.

7. What will happen to unresolved complaints that are over eight weeks old?
We are committed to giving your complaint the attention it deserves and will send you our full written response as soon as our investigations are complete. The volume of complaints received by banks remains extremely high and we have expanded our team, and will continue to do so where needed, in response to the demand. Based on current numbers, we will send you our full written response as soon as possible and certainly no later than 16 weeks after receiving your initial complaint.

8. Can I complain about the delay?
If we received your complaint more than eight weeks ago, we will have explained that you can forward your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. This is a free, independent service for settling disputes between financial services firms and their customers. You may wish to contact the Financial Ombudsman Service first before deciding on what action to take or review the frequently asked questions on its website. In all cases where redress is owed, you will not be disadvantaged by any delay as any interest due will be calculated right up until the date of payment.

9. Will I be compensated for any delays?
We take all complaints very seriously and are committed to handling them on a fair and consistent basis. In line with our complaint-handling policy we will assess your PPI complaint and will provide compensation, including the backdating of interest and payments, where appropriate.

10. I have received your final decision letter but am still waiting for my refund. When will I receive my payment?
We are committed to ensuring customers receive payment within 28 days of our decision letter. However we have experienced a large volume of new cases over recent months. This has created some complications for us that we are putting right. As a result we are aware that in certain cases, there could be a delay in customers receiving their payment. We apologise if you have not received your payment within 28 days of our decision letter and thank you for your patience. If you are still waiting for your payment and it is more than 28 days since you received our decision letter, please call our helpline on 0845 601 2683. We’ll usually be able to make payment to you within 10 working days. If your case is complex it may take us longer and we will keep you regularly updated.
In all cases any interest due will be adjusted right up until the date of payment.

11. I have received a final decision letter upholding my complaint and containing an offer.

What does the final amount include and how do I understand how the amount has been calculated?
As a general rule, your refund will include a reimbursement of all insurance premiums paid, interest on those premiums and where applicable, interest calculated at 8%.
If you would like the details on the final decision letter explained to you, please call us on
0845 601 2683.

12. Will you be reopening my complaint which was originally not upheld?
We are not reopening complaints that have already been closed. When responding to complaints, we always tell customers that they have 6 months to raise any concerns over our decision to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). If you have new or different concerns, then we’ll be happy to review those as part of any new complaint you raise with us. We are also reviewing certain Payment Protection Insurance sales processes dating from 2005. If we find the need for a further assessment of the sale of your PPI policy we will write to you. At the moment, you do not need to do anything.

13. You have made an offer to refund my PPI policy premium. Will that offer change?
No. We will stand by any offer to settle a complaint that has already been made to you or a third party acting on your behalf.

14. I have a complaint that has been referred to the FOS. What will happen now?
We will work with the FOS and provide them with all of the relevant case notes to allow them to complete their investigation. We will also liaise directly with the FOS to deal with complaints as quickly as we can.

15. Can I still buy PPI from you?
No. In July 2010 we announced that we would no longer sell our range of PPI to personal and business customers.

16. I have cancelled my PPI Policy. Can I still make a complaint?
Yes. You can still make a complaint about how your PPI Policy was sold even if you have since cancelled the policy. Details of how to complain are provided above. It’s easy for you to complain to us directly so you don’t need to use a Claims Management Company. Your complaint will be assessed in exactly the same way if you come to us directly but you will avoid having to share any compensation payment with a Claims Management Company.

17. What was the Judicial Review and what was the outcome?
In October 2010 the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) asked the Courts to review the recently published rules made by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in relation to PPI sales-related complaints. The BBA also asked for a review of the guidance published by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) on the handling of PPI complaints. In May 2011 we announced that we would no longer be participating in the BBA’s Judicial Review. The BBA subsequently decided that it would not be appealing the Court’s decision that the FSA’s rules should be implemented in full.

Maple Financial PPI Claims Service

+Tim Capper

Lloyds PPI Claims reach 1.4 million a year

February 27, 2013
Posted by standout

Recent reports in the news is that Lloyds recieved 1.4 million ppi claims in 2012. This follows after recieving a fine in the last few weeks to do with severe delays in dealing with ppi claims from lloyds customers who were mis sold ppi. The fine for delays related to 140,000 Lloyds customers who were awarded their ppi compensation but did not recieve the payment for several months.

PPI mis-selling complaints at Lloyds total 1.4 million

Lloyds Banking Group received almost 1.4 million complaints about mis-sold payment protection insurance in 2012, it has admitted. The bank was fined £4.3m last week after it failed to pay compensation quickly enough to tens of thousands of PPI victims, yet it declared it has made “significant progress” on dealing with customer complaints.

Last week’s fine by the Financial Services Authority related to more than 140,000 Lloyds customers who were told they were due compensation by the bank between May 2011 and March 2012 but were not paid within the 28 days the bank had promised.

The partly state-owned bank revealed figures relating to its customer complaints for the second half of last year. It reported that, while it attracted more than 727,000 PPI complaints in the first half of 2012, the figure fell 9 per cent to 658,289 in the second half.

The group received 762,014 complaints about its Bank of Scotland, Halifax and Lloyds TSB brands. It pointed out that banking complaints fell by a quarter from the first half of the year, to 71,258. Martin Dodd, the group customer service director, said: “Over the last three years, the number of banking complaints we receive has dropped considerably.”

He said the bank should be judged on the number of complaints received per 1,000 customers. On that basis, the group received fewer complaints than any other major bank, even though it attracted the highest actual number of complaints.

At the end of 2010, the group received 2.1 complaints per thousand customers, which fell to 1.5 at the end of 2011 and to 1.1 by the close of 2012.

“By the end of this year, we aim to reduce the number of complaints to no more than one for every 1,000 accounts,” Mr Dodd said.

Read Article: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/ppi-misselling-complaints-at-lloyds-total-14-million-8512300.html

Maple Leaf Financial

PPI Claims Service

We will work with you to ensure that you get the correct settlement or refund and any and all fair compensation that may be due to you as a result of mis-selling. We will deal directly with your provider, be it a bank or insurance company and neither we nor our specialist claims team will be fobbed off by them at any stage. If their offer is too low or derogatory and they won’t take us seriously we will challenge them on your behalf. There will be little required from yourself by way of input.

+Tim Capper

Lloyds fined over mis sold PPI payment delays

February 20, 2013
Posted by standout

The FSA has landed Lloyds with a £4.3 million pound fine after they uncovered large delays in paying successful ppi claims to customers over mis sold PPI policies.

The FSA found that 140,000 Lloyds customers had suffered unreasonable delays in recieving their PPI compensation payments.

Perhaps Eric Daniels would like to Defend this fiasco after he launched a defense last week of Lloyds PPI policy selling: Banks defend PPI Policies.

Lloyds fined for PPI payment delay by FSA

Lloyds Banking Group has been fined £4.3m for delaying compensation payments to customers over Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) mis-selling.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) said that 140,000 customers did not receive their payments promptly.

Hundreds of thousands of people have received redress after they were mis-sold PPI they did not want or need.

Lloyds, which has apologised, is the first bank fined by the FSA specifically for delaying payments.

The bank said it had been surprised by the influx of claims last year.

“We had not fully anticipated the volume of complaints to be processed at the outset and experienced some administrative errors as we scaled up our systems and processes,” said a spokesman for the bank.

“We acknowledge that this led to some customers not being compensated on time and we apologise to those customers whose payments were delayed.”

‘Six-month wait’
PPI was designed to cover loan repayments if the policyholder fell ill, had an accident or became jobless. But the policies were mis-sold on a massive scale to those who did not want or need them, or who would have been unable to make a claim.

Thousands of customers of Lloyds TSB, Lloyds TSB Scotland and Bank of Scotland joined other bank customers to make claims for compensation.

Lloyds Banking Group, which encompasses the three banks, sent letters to 582,206 people between May 2011 and March 2012, informing these customers that they would be paid compensation.

Rules from the City watchdog stipulate that this redress should be paid promptly, and Lloyds Banking Group aimed to pay out in less than 28 days.

But 140,209 had to wait longer than a month. The FSA said that 8,800 people had to wait more than six months. Some were not told why the delay occurred.

In addition, payments to nearly 25,000 customers “inadvertently dropped out of the process”, the FSA said.

Other failings included:

Copy and paste errors, including one which led to customers being paid the wrong amount in compensation
Staff failing to process some payments, or processing the same batch twice Cheques being “stored inappropriately” in offices.

“The significant volume of complaints is a product of Lloyds Banking Group’s own failings and the least customers can now expect is that redress, when it is due, will be paid promptly,” said Tracey McDermott of the FSA.

“In short, Lloyds Banking Group’s PPI redress payment systems fell well below the standard the FSA expects, and the size of this fine reflects how seriously we view these breaches.”

All except a very small proportion of customers had now been paid in full, Lloyds said. Some of those received interest of 8% on the amount when there was a delay.

Huge bill
Banks have collectively put aside more than £13bn to cover the cost of PPI compensation, making it arguably the largest mis-selling scandal in the UK.

Lloyds has employed thousands of people to process claims made by consumers directly, or through claims management companies.

Although it is the first to be fined for delays to payouts, others have been hit with penalties for the way complaints have been handled.

For example, the Co-op bank was fined £113,300 by the FSA in January for PPI complaints handling.

Lloyds would have faced a fine of more than £6m if it had not settled with the FSA at an early stage in the investigation.

In January, the UK’s banks asked the FSA to set a deadline of April 2014 for all further claims for compensation.
Read Article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21505351

Maple Leaf Financial PPI Claims

Our PPI Claims Service

+Tim Capper

Banks defend PPI Policies

February 18, 2013
Posted by standout

“We were on the side of the angels,” said Eric Daniels as he defended the Lloyds Banking Group against charges of mis-selling payment protection insurance (PPI) to UK consumers. Daniels, who acted as the head of Lloyds until February 2011, sat before the MPs at the Parliamentary Banking Commission and argued his case that the majority of policies had been sold correctly.

Banks defending PPI Policies

Daniels contended that the current quagmire, which has cost the bank £5.3bn in provisions, is the result of a “difference in understanding” between the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the bankers. He pointed the finger of blame at FSA that changed the required sales rules for policies. These policies are designed to make loan repayments in the event of a job loss or illness by a customer who bought the policy.

Hmmm, you could have at least told the customers you were attaching the policy to their account

One of the FSA rule changes required evidence of verbal exchanges between banking staff and customers in addition to written documentation. A clearly flabbergasted Daniels said that written documentation was always in plain English and could be understood.

Daniels, though, was not beneath taking a share of the blame, stating that he was “deeply regretful” for mis-sold PPI policies. He further humbled himself before the commission when he said that “We were responsible” for not complying with FSA rules.

Daniels defended the PPI scheme and said that these policies were not highly profitable for the banks. Lord John McFall countered that these policies had an 87 percent commission rate. Daniels insisted that the profitability of these financial instruments was well below that of other financial products that the banks sell.

The hearing also revealed that Antonio Horta-Osorio, who succeeded Daniels, took back a £580,000 bonus paid to Daniels in 2010. He also blocked a £1.2m bonus that Daniels received for the ill-fated rescue operation that integrated Lloyds with HBOS and cost taxpayers 20 billion pounds.

The commission chair, conservative MP Andrew Tyrie, asked Daniels how many policies had been mis-sold. Daniels quipped that the number was about 200 percent, judging by the number of claims paid out. It’s believed that a good number of false claims were paid out by the banks because the bankers couldn’t handle all the claims in the timeline set by FSA.

“A fair number of bogus claims were paid out because the number of claims were so overwhelming that banks could not analyse whether or not they were genuine or not,” Daniels told the committee.

Overwhelming ? 6,000 reported in 2012 VS 156K legitimate and uphelp claims

Financial analysts are estimating that UK banks will face a final bill of more than 12 billion pounds to settle all the claims. It’s expected that the number of PPI claims will double before the dust settles. Daniels told the MPs that more than half the claims are bogus.

The most recent data shows that 6,000 people filed bogus PPI claims in the past financial year, according to the Financial Ombudsman. There were 157,761 gripes against PPI, which was a 51 percent increase above 2010-2011.

Critics have accused claims management companies of gaming the system to wring PPI payouts from banks. In the past financial year, claims companies have initiated 69 percent of all PPI claims referred to the ombudsman. This is down from 76 percent in the previous financial year.

There had been a four-fold increase in bogus claims to 5,661 in 2011, most of which were generated by claims companies. Sheffield, Birmingham and Belfast lead the way in bogus applications.

With a huge treasure chest of pounds about to be paid out in the PPI scheme, the effort naturally attracts people of a less sterling character. “At the same time we are seeing consumers being very badly misled by claims management companies,” said Chief Financial Ombudsman Natalie Ceeney.

It’s been revealed that claims companies are sending out emails and calling millions of people, encouraging them to file PPI claims. The claims companies will charge people 25 percent for their services. Some even ask for an upfront fee, and consumers end up losing their money.

Lloyds complained that it has been buried in claims, necessitating hiring 6,000 extra staff. Horta-Osorio at Lloyds claimed that one in four claims are from people who never had a PPI policy at the bank.

In the end, this fiasco proves that sometimes the devil sneaks in amongst the angels.

Maple Leaf Financial PPi Claims Service

Many claims management companies offering you a refund don’t fully understand this area of law either. These companies simply complete the paperwork on your behalf and send it into the lender. Once the lender rejects the claim they have nothing else to offer you but sending the claim to (FOS) Financial Ombudsman Service- where the claim will join another very long queue. We have known people wait 6 years for a result.

Very few of our claims are sent to FOS- we would rather run them correctly in the first place. We have sent less than 50 claims to FOS in Five years – what does that tell you? Quality workmanship.

We have successfully run thousands of PPI claims and would like to see if we can help you with yours- no matter how tricky it might seem. Confused?

+Tim Capper

Our Successful PPI Claims featured on BBC1 – Ripoff Britain

February 16, 2013
Posted by standout

Ripoff Britain on BBC1 with Gloria Hunniford, investigates mis sold PPI and one of our succesful clients, Steve White, discusses his PPI Claim.

We have provided a transcribed version of the Clip below.

Successful PPI Claim

Gloria Hunniford: Today we’ve been investigating PPI. In other words, Payment Protection Insurance. It’s the insurance meant to cover your debt payments, if you’re not able to work. But we’ve heard in thousand of cases, consumers simply haven’t been told that interest can be charged on the premiums and that the policies are all too often riddled with complicated clauses. And this is something that Steve White knows all too well.

Gloria Hunniford: Steve White from Luton has always worked hard for his money, yet like so many people, he’d managed to run up a number of debts on his credit cards, but came to get his finances in order. In 2004, he decided to take action.

Steve White: I consolidated my loans due to credit card debts and other small debts I had from other lenders and decided that was the best thing for it at the time was to get a lower percentage rate on the loan…and, um capture everything together to get the payments each month down. I thought it was sensible really to keep my outgoings as low as possible, because, uh…work hadn’t been too good, and, um there were no pay raises at the time, so it was all about keeping the outgoings as low as possible.

Gloria Hunniford: Steve applied for a loan of £24,000 over the telephone. He claims he was strongly encouraged to take out Payment Protection Insurance.

Steve White: The PPI was put to me in such a way that if I took it out, it would make obtaining the loan easier to get.

Gloria Hunniford: The cost of the PPI came to more than £4,000, which was added on to Steve’s loan. A considerable sum, but Steve had been led to believe that it would be money well spent should the worst happen. So when he lost his job in 2009, he thought he’d be okay, but he was wrong.

Steve White: I felt at the time I was covering all the options, and it wasn’t until four or five years later when I actually needed the policy that I found out that I wasn’t even covered for redundancy. I was paying all that money and then finding out I’m not covered I was disappointed and also angry. When you start looking back on the things you felt you could rely on and then finding out you had no cover at all, it seemed like a worthless exercise.

Gloria Hunniford: Steve’s PPI didn’t pay out because of a pre-existing medical condition, but he insists that he was never asked to disclose details about his health.

Steve White: I felt cheated when I realized I wasn’t covered. Um, £4,300 is a lot of money. I felt I was covered for every option, and it turns out that I wasn’t. And if they’d done a little bit more fact finding with me over the phone and actually investigated things a bit thoroughly, they could have declined me for any insurance. I now had a policy that didn’t cover me for anything as far as I was concerned. The attitude over the phone was more of well there’s nothing much we can do. So that was the…it was then I decided to take it further.

Gloria Hunniford: Steve started doing some research and quickly found out that he was not alone in having PPI problems. In the past financial year, around 135 people per day have launched an official complaint about Payment Protection Insurance. Steve took his case to a claim management company.

Steve White: The claims management company sent in the PPI Claim application to the lender, and within about three or four weeks I then had an offer letter of, um, it was £5,300, which was the repayment of all the Payment Protection Insurance premiums I paid plus the interest on the top.

Gloria Hunniford: Earlier this year, the Competition Commission banned the selling of the controversial insurance alongside personal loans, mortgages and credit cards. And the Financial Services Authority has also published new rules designed to offer customers further protection when it comes to PPI. Solicitor Alex Woods believes these changes are absolutely vital.

Alex Woods: The FSA forecasts for the likely number of complaints of the future have just been continually revived upwards to the point that they’re now saying somewhere in the region of half a million PPI complaints will be made each year for the next five years. That’s quite a substantial figure, and we’re talking about policies the value of one, two, three, four thousand typically; many more. That’s you’re now…you can see how you’re now talking about billions of pounds. It’s beginning to look as if it’s even worse than the mortgage mis-selling scandal of the last recession, endowment scandal of the last recession.

Gloria Hunniford: If like Steve, you think you may have been mis-sold a policy, remember you can ask the financial ombudsman to review your case.

Steve White: My abiding feeling about Payment Protection Insurance is that it should never have come out on the market. It should have been regulated far earlier. It’s been going for 20 years, and you can get cover far cheaper.