PPI Claims Scammers

When I recently received a text on my smartphone telling me I was owed £3350 I knew straight away it wasn’t true.  I’ve never taken out PPI  so I couldn’t be owed a refund.

I added the text I received to this site and the site’s visitor numbers skyrocketed.  Clearly I wasn’t the only person receiving the text.  Strangely we are all, apparently, owed the same amount of money. (update 17 Oct 2012 – thanks to a comment left by a reader, I see that the ppinomore website has been taken down.)

I decided to do a bit of investigation for you guys.

What is PPI?

It stands for payment protection insurance.  Apparently it was offered to people taking out mortgages, insurance policies and loans so that their repayments would be covered if they became unable to work, lost their job, died, etc.

At face value it sounds as if it could be a useful thing to have, especially if you have family commitments and need to be sure that mortgage payments can be met in case of unforeseen circumstances.

What’s the Problem with PPI?

The problem seems to be that this type of insurance was mis-sold.  Purchasers were given the impression they HAD to take out the insurance, when they didn’t.  Or they were charged for the insurance without even being told that they were being given it.

I’m not a financial expert of any kind – so if you want to know more about it I recommend this from the Money Saving Expert http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/ppi-loan-insurance

What’s the Scam?

PPI scammers abound.  Wherever there is money to be made you will scammers.  The scam comes about because everyone seems to have jumped on the claims band wagon.  Clearly there is money to be made and many companies aren’t too bothered about the tactics they use to get you on board as a PPI claimant.  They will bully you, and take money from you.

Some of the PPI claims companies offer affiliate schemes.  This means that the affiliate gets paid either a fee for everyone they refer to the claims company or a portion of the final payout.  Clearly the first in particular is fertile ground for scammers.  They will do everything they can to get  a referral so they get paid.  The ppinomore team appear to have been based overseas.  They don’t care if their tactics involve spamming, lying or bullying.  They want their payment.  Their current website has been shut down, but I wonder how long it will be before they set up another site?  If you get a text, please let me know so I can add it to this site. (carol (at) it-teacher d0t co dot uk)

According to the Money Saving Expert it is perfectly possible to claim back any PPI that you feel you were missold without the need to use an expensive claims company.  All the forms you need and the relevant advice are there on the site.

Finding a Reputable Claims Company

It seems to me that a reputable claims company is not going to write to you, email you, text you or phone you out of the blue.  No company can know how much you are owed unless you give them the information, so no company can genuinely contact you about a claim unless you have contacted them first.

So – ignore ANY company that cold calls, writes, emails or texts.  They know nothing about you.  The Ministry of Justice website has a useful page about avoiding scams http://www.justice.gov.uk/help/fraud

If you feel you can’t make the claim for yourself, you will need to find a trustworthy company.  I can’t make recommendations.  I can suggest:

  • Use Google – look for horror stories but also look for reputable companies.
  • Before using a company, check their registration on the Ministry of Justice website https://www.claimsregulation.gov.uk/search.aspx
  • Check carefully – many scammers will use a fake claim of accreditation OR will use the details of a legitimate business.  Check that the details you have been given match the details on the MOJ site – it’s easy for a scammer to use someone else’s Authorisation Number.
  • Join the Money Saving Expert’s forum http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=185  they have a whole section for PPI claims.

I Need PPI

If you feel you need PPI, and I’m sure many people genuinely want it, then you can’t claim a refund.  If you understood about PPI and what its benefits were and you wanted to take out PPI then you can’t claim it was missold.

Be realistic – the claims are for missold policies – those sold to people who didn’t want them/didn’t need them/didn’t know they were paying for them.

1 Comment

  1. Susan Hinds
    December 11, 2012 @ 11:43 am

    You recently sent us a text message saying we were owed £4150 for the PPI we took out. Who owes us this money? How do we claim? How much will it cost?

    Reply

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