How to Claim PPI

1.

Claiming Back PPI – First Steps

You complete the claim application and read and sign the terms of business and letter of authority.  Then send them back to us along with copies of any documentation that you have relating to the sale of the PPI policy.

2.

Do I need to provide any documents to claim back PPI?

If you have documents then it would be particularly helpful if you can send us copies, for example if you have a loan or credit agreement.  If not, don’t worry, because the letter of authority will enable us to get copies of the information from the adviser or insurance company.

3. What can I claim for?

You can claim for the return of any PPI payments plus interest at 8% if your PPI policy was mis-sold. If you have been charged interest on your PPI payments, perhaps because it was included within a credit account, then you could claim the effect of the interest back as well.  However, you generally have to take action within 3 years of becoming aware of the problem or within 6 years of the event, whichever is later.

4.

How long does it take to Claim Back PPI?

The firm that sold the policy are required to resolve complaints generally with 8 weeks of receiving them.   Due to the High Court case that took place during 2011, lenders have been given a temporary extension to the 8 week timescales.    We may also have to refer your claim to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). The FOS generally settles a third of cases within 3 months and aims to resolve most cases within 6 to 9 months, although they also have backlogs of PPI claims.

We will be doing all we can to get your claim completed as soon as possible.

5.

How much does it cost to claim back PPI?

You won’t pay us anything unless we’re successful in winning your claim, in which case you will need to pay us 20% plus VAT of the total redress offered.

When we submit your claim to the adviser or insurance company, we may need to ask them to provide copies of any application forms, telephone recordings, sales scripts, policy documentation, etc, to help us with your claim.  Under Data Protection law, they are allowed to make a maximum charge of £10 to release this information.

You will need to pay this fee and we will ask you for a cheque or postal order made payable to the company concerned.

6. How will my redress be paid?

Redress can be paid in a variety of ways.  However your redress is paid, our fee is based on the total amount of redress that is applied, which includes cash payments and amounts offset against your loan or amounts used to restructure your loan.  This is why it is important to tell us about any arrears you have in relation to the credit or loan accounts.  The tables below set out some examples in more detail.

Example 1 – Where all of the redress is paid as a “cash” benefit.

Firstly, you may receive a cheque back for the amount of redress or it may be paid directly to your bank account.  This is usually the way if your loan has been repaid in full or there’s a refund due when you cancel the PPI policy.

Example 2 – Where some of the redress is paid in cash and some is used to reduce your loan.

If your loan or credit account is still in place with an outstanding balance then the lender may have to “restructure” your account.  This means that the lender has to recalculate what your outstanding balance would have been if you had not been mis-sold the PPI policy. In this case, you will receive some redress as a cash payment and the remainder of the redress is “paid” against your loan.

Example 3 – Where some or all of the redress is used to repay arrears on your credit account.

If you have arrears on your credit account then the lender can use the redress to pay those arrears before making payment to you.  If you have been issued with a “default notice” and your account has been terminated then the lender can use the redress to pay towards your outstanding balance as in the table below. Let’s assume that the full amount of your loan (£700) is outstanding.  Your redress of £1,000 will first be used to pay the balance and the remaining £300 will be paid as a cash benefit.  However, because our fee is £240 (based on the total redress) your cash benefit will be £60.

7.

Can I claim back PPI if I am in a debt management plan, an IVA or have been made bankrupt?

If you have an IVA or debt management plan you will be able to claim but you should be aware that the redress will be used to pay your creditors and you will still be liable to pay our fee.

If you have been made bankrupt and have not yet been discharged then any redress is usually paid to the Official Receiver to be paid towards your debts.  Our fee is usually paid out of your bankruptcy estate.

If you have been discharged from bankruptcy and the mis-sold PPI was taken out after your bankruptcy then you could be entitled to receive the redress directly.

8. Can you guarantee that my claim will be successful?

No-one can guarantee this, but we will be doing all we can to win your claim.  Remember, though, you don’t pay anything unless we win so you’ve got nothing to lose!

9. Why should I use Canary Claims?

Well, you can take up the claim yourself directly with the adviser or insurance company, and ultimately the FOS, or use one of the many other claims management firms out there.  By appointing Canary Claims you will be using an experienced and well established claims firm that will be working hard for you to get you the compensation you may be entitled to.

10. What if I’m not happy with the service you provide?

We pride ourselves on the high level of customer service that we provide, but if you feel that we haven’t delivered then we want to hear from you.  We have a full complaints handling procedure and if you’d like a copy of this just ask us or you can find it on our website.

If you’re not happy with our response to your complaint you can refer it to the Claims Management Unit at Claims Management Regulation, Monitoring and Compliance Unit, 57 – 60 High Street, Burton on Trent, Staffordshire, DE14 1JSYou can telephone them on 0845 4506858 or email them at [email protected].

11. Can I change my mind?

You can change your mind within 14 days of signing the agreement. You should tell us you’ve changed your mind in one of the following ways:

By telephone on 0800 634 8668

By emailing us at [email protected]

By writing to us at Canary Claims, 1 Farnsworth Court, West Parkside, London, SE10 0QF.

12. Will I have to pay anything if I cancel within this 14 day period?

No if you cancel within this initial 14 day period you won’t have anything to pay.

13. What if I change my mind after the 14 day period?

You can change your mind after the initial cancellation period by giving us 14 days’ written notice.  If we’ve already undertaken work on your behalf we may make a charge to cover our reasonable costs subject to a maximum of £150.

14. Will I have to go to Court?

We will help you with your claim right up to and including the Financial Ombudsman Service.  We will not represent you in taking legal action.  If you wish to take legal action you will have to arrange this separately and pay the costs yourself.

15. How can I keep track of my claim?

We’ll keep you informed of progress throughout the process and if the adviser or insurance company requests any further information that we need from you then we’ll get in touch.  Of course, you can call us at any time to check on the progress of your claim.

Canary Claims is a trading name of Claims Thru Us Limited which is regulated by the Claims Management Regulator in respect of regulated claims management activities.  Our authorisation number is CRM2233 which can be checked on the website www.claimsregulation.gov.uk