Jeff Salway: Think you have a claim? Your easy guide to compensation

Published on 02/11/2012 02:34

Millions have successfully claimed compensation after being mis-sold PPI – and the payouts show no sign of drying up.

Massive mis-selling of the product – designed to cover loan or mortgage repayments in the event of being unable to work due to illness or unemployment – led to a crackdown on providers, including Britain’s biggest high-street banks, with the compensation bill now more than £10 billion and rising.

Yet the scale of the mis-selling means many people may still be unaware that they too could be due compensation. So how do you make a claim?

1. The first step is to work out if you’ve been mis-sold a policy, perhaps because it was taken out in your name without your knowledge or you were sold a policy on which you would never have been able to claim (perhaps because you were retired or unemployed at the time).

If you’re sure you took it out but can’t find the paperwork, ask your provider for a copy of your records, which they’re legally obliged to supply on request. If you’ve made a claim on your policy, however, you won’t be eligible for compensation.

2. Take your complaint to the provider, setting it out in writing (e-mail or letter) and including any paperwork that may support your claim. Your provider has eight weeks in which to respond.

3. If you don’t get a satisfactory response within eight weeks you can then take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), provided you do so within six months.

Do not use a claims management company – they don’t improve your chances of compensation and if you do get a payment, they’ll take a cut of up to 30 per cent.

The FOS is a free service and can be contacted on 0300 123 9123 (by mobile), 0800 023 4567 or at [e-mail]. Its website – www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk - offers a downloadable complaint form.

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