23
2012
PPI Claim Hitch Makes Wedding a Near Miss
Posted by Rachel S. with 2 Comments
Image source: Contexto.com.ar
For a Somerset couple, the delay in their self-handled PPI claim proved nearly disastrous for their family happiness. Their story began with potential mis-selling by Lloyds on a credit product. The husband reached out to Lloyds and was promised a large redress for the mis-selling.
Several months later, they had received just £8,000 – far short of the amount they were due and promised. When they contacted Lloyds again, they were assured the remainder of the payment was in the offing.
Based on those assurances, they decided to dedicate some of the intended funds to cover the wedding of their son and his fiancée. The Somerset couple was racing against the clock to arrange the nuptials. Their son, who is in the Royal Navy, was destined for Afghanistan and they had to carry out the wedding before he was carried out of the country.
Image source: Navynews.co.uk
When the money continued to be delayed, they did as we have been advised to do with unresolved PPI issues and they contacted the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). The FOS website advises to give the company that mis-sold you PPI eight weeks to process your claim before turning to the Ombudsman for help.
For the Somerset couple though, it had been triple that time when they reached out to the FOS. However, because of the gross amount of mis-selling that was practised by the banks, and their inefficiency or unwillingness to properly process refunds, complaints to the Ombudsman have skyrocketed.
Many consumers impacted by PPI mis-selling who do turn to the FOS are seeing 12 to 18 months delays in their cases being reviewed and any assistance being offered. The worst case has been a four year delay!
Image source: Bankcomplaint.co.uk
The Guardian reports there are some banks taking advantage of this window of time to convince mis-sold customers to settle for less rather than face waiting for FOS to sort them out. The Ombudsman told the Guardian that while they are adding extra staff to handle the volume of PPI complaints “the delays some people face were unacceptable.”
Many consumers are seeing their experiences with settling PPI claims growing more and more dissatisfactory as banks are taking an increasingly combative approach toward the tide of refund requests – even though this entire debacle is entirely their fault.
The Somerset couple turned to the FOS, but this crippling backlog left them with no recourse that would ensure they got their refund in time to arrange their son’s wedding before he was shipped out to Afghanistan. In desperation they turned to the Guardian’s financial expert for an assist. Once the Guardian was on the case, Lloyds caved and issued the remainder of their £30,171 refund plus an additional £200 for their trouble.
Image source: Royalmilitary.tumblr.com
It is a happy ending that they were able to secure an advocate and get the cash they needed for the wedding, but for most people, the Guardian is not going to step into your claims process to help out. They are not equipped to handle the volume of PPI claims complaints and apparently neither is the FOS!
If you have a PPI claim that is being low-balled, ignored or stalled by your lender, consider instead using a reputable claims company as your advocate. They can cut through the time delay and excuses and secure your redress much more rapidly than you can do on your own or by waiting for the FOS to sort it for you!
Empire Claims is the #1 choice for recovering money you are owed for PPI products, bank and credit card charges. Their No Win No Fee philosophy means you don’t pay a penny if they don’t win your claim. If you believe you’re owed a claim from your bank, lender or other creditor contact Empire Claims to get help right away!
[...] I wrote yesterday, one young couple almost missed getting married because of the delays in promised payments and it took a newspaper consumer advocate to get it [...]
Nice job!