previous credit company chasing you for PPI, scam?

[wannabedomesticgoddess]

DP just got a call, on his mobile (which he has only had for a month) from a well known finance provider who he had a motorbike on credit with when he was 18. It was all paid on time and paid in full etc etc.

They are saying hes entitled to a PPI claim. They wanted our address to send a solicitor round.

DP didnt give any details, especially not the address. Is this a scam? How would they have got his mobile number? Its just a payg sim.

[annh]

Did he even have a PPI agreement for the bike? If he did, a possible claim certainly wouldn't involve sending a solicitor. You complete a form, send it off and the money gets paid (or not). Sounds like a scam.

[TiAAAAARGHo]

Definitely sounds dodgy. If he had PPI he should ust go the the Financial Ombudsman website to download the form (for free) that you have to fill in, and send it iff (also for free).

[wannabedomesticgoddess]

Yes he did have PPI.

The company knew all the dates, amounts, location, his address at the time, his date of birth etc.

They offered to send "a local" solicitor round after DP refused to give them the address or go to an office.

Bit concerned now that someone has all that info.

[RandallPinkFloyd]

Scam, they wouldn't involve a solicitor.

Financial institutions are obliged to proactively contact customers who were potentially miss-sold PPI, it's part of the ruling, but there is no benefit in involving a 3rd party.

The info these scammers have is unfortunately very easy to get hold of.

Contact the loan company directly to make a claim.

[wannabedomesticgoddess]

Financial institutions are obliged to proactively contact customers who were potentially miss-sold PPI, it's part of the ruling.

That is what we were just wondering. Thanks.

I suppose he could phone the company. If it was genuine they would have a record of the call.

Thanks all.

[RandallPinkFloyd]

Yep, can't go wrong that way. Good luck!

[olgaga]

wannabe if your DH was paying PPI and he thinks he might have a claim, please don't do it through a solicitor. It's very easy to do yourself and these companies will take up to half of your settlement if you are successful.

This tells you how to do it yourself. It really is quite simple:

www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/ppi-loan-insurance

[wannabedomesticgoddess]

Oh I forgot to update.

He phoned them and they confurmed they had made the call. He gave them the address to send out a form.

Then last night they called back. I cant remember why and hes out, I will ask him later.

But what Im wondering now is, if the company does it themselves do they take a fee? Would we be better doing it thrlugh the FSA form linked up thread?

[wannabedomesticgoddess]

Confirmed*

[RandallPinkFloyd]

I'm a bit confused tbh. The bank called to say that you should make a claim via a solicitor?

[wannabedomesticgoddess]

No that they would send a solicitor on their behalf to get the form filled in.

Im confused too. DP says they were going on about sending someone again last night.

[olgaga]

Definitely do it through the Ombudsman, and use the link above for a guide. If you do it any other way you will pay a fee which is completely unnecessary.

These solicitors are just making money out of you for something you can easily do yourself.

Please read this before you do anything else!

blog.moneysavingexpert.com/tag/scams-2/

[wannabedomesticgoddess]

Thanks for the links.

Hes owed around £750 which we could really do with right now. But tbh we are so stressed about other things I can see this becoming another nuisance.

We will fill in the form and send it off. But I know that if it starts to become a chasing game DP will walk away from it. And from all their calls it looks like it will end up that way :(

[RandallPinkFloyd]

Hmm, very odd. Don't want to out myself as to why I know what I'm talking about but if you want any advice please feel free to pm.

Don't involve a 3rd party under any circumstances. The average fee is a minimum of 30% of the settlement. Plus there is nothing they can do that you can't do yourself.

I'm also not a big fan of Martin Lewis but that a personal preference, imo he gives some decidedly dodgy advice and over-simplifies things.

Down load the form direct from the FOS website here

All the info you need is also there but as I said, more than happy for you to PM if you have any questions.

It really is a lot easier than you think.

[wannabedomesticgoddess]

The confusing part is that the phonecalls are from the finance company themselves. So I dont know if there is a third party involved.

But I have downloaded the form from fsa and we will go that route!

Thanks!

[RandallPinkFloyd]

Don't worry about it becoming a chasing game. If the bank mess you about in any way at all you can go to the Ombudsman direct.

One letter and they will take over. Once they've done that the bank have to communicate with them directly rather that you so you won't hear anything ,ore from them.

Banks are very keen to avoid you taking that route as FOS charge them £800 for every complaint they take on.

Remember if your PPI was miss-sold, for any reason, you will get your premiums back with interest PLUS and extra 8% statutory interest. Depending how long ago the policy finished that could work out a nice hefty amount! Definitely worth doing.

[RandallPinkFloyd]

Ah wait, I see. They are using a solicitor for their side of the claim rather than asking you to use one for your side. I understand now, sorry, should have read your post more closely.

Slightly odd way of doing it but won't make any difference to you. It is the bank who will be paying them as they are employing them to service their side of things IYSWIM.

[olgaga]

OP you won't get anything quickly out of this whether you use a third party or not. There is a massive backlog of claims which could now take a couple of years to sort out.

[RandallPinkFloyd]

Nope, not the case at all. The FSA guidelines are very strict regarding how long the claims process can take. The consequences for frequent breeches of the time limit are very serious.

[HauntedLittleLunatic]

That's not the case Olga.

I believe that the banks are obliged to settle within 8 weeks of the claim. I tecieved mine within 6 weeks.

[wannabedomesticgoddess]

FSA website said upto 12 weeks I think. We arent expecting it at all so time limits arent an issue. Its more the hassle. At the minute we are facing homelessness and having problems with our benefits.

This is just another issue to deal with iyswim.

DP didnt even know there was PPI on the finance until last night. And it was 6 years ago now so could be worth more than that then. Good to know!

[RandallPinkFloyd]

12 weeks is right.

4 weeks for initial response then 8 weeks is the time limit from acknowledging the claim to sending the offer.

Sounds like you are having a really shit time, hope this can be a little bit of luck for you

[olgaga]

I began the process in February 2012.

I received an acknowledgement in March, and an offer to settle in April. The offer was for a few hundred pounds, for a claim which I calculate to be worth a few thousand even without interest.

I then referred it to the Financial Ombudsman in May. The responded in June with a further brief form for me to fill in.

In August they wrote to me to acknowledge my complaint and said:

"We will deal with your complaint as soon as we can, but it may take some time. We handle complaints in the order that they arrive and at the moment yours is waiting to to to our case handling team to be assessed. Because of the large number of people coming to us, we aim to resolve PPI complaints within 12 months but if your case is particularly complicated or an ombudsman has to review it, it could take much longer".

So you may receive an offer to settle reasonably quickly, but do work out how much your claim is worth first!

[wannabedomesticgoddess]

How do I work it out?

:(

[RandallPinkFloyd]

It's very difficult to work it out yourself as the interest calculations aren't as straight forward as people think.

As regards DID that's a very strange answer they gave so I wouldn't like to comment.