I've seen reference to submitting the complaint to the PPI underwriters, as the policy is from that long ago - anyone had any experience of this?

I appreciate it's not a swift process - so is my next move to submit the case to the FOS, or try another shot at Paragon?

Most of their letter is quoted above, but the following is their final statment: "Your compaint relates to your belief that the PP policy was mis-sold and I hope I have addressed the issues you have raised. This is our final response and we consider your complaint closed." MSAR, did you get a refund eventually?

So...resubmit the complaint to Paragon, or as they have indicated this was their final response, go to the FOS?

The complaint was via letter, I have not filled in any FOS forms yet.

I recently via a SAR received a full statement of an account held with Universal Credit/Paragon Finance starting in 1993; the statements clearly show PPI payments every month from 1993 -2003. I put in a claim for the PPI being mis-sold on the grounds that I haad employer sickness cover, the true cost of the insurance was not explained, I was never asked if I had alternative insurance or that is was available elsewhere. The reply, which they state clearly is their final response, says "The sale of general insurance (including PPI) was not regulated by the FSA untill 14th January 2005. As the policy was taken out in 1993 it therefore falls in a non-regulated environment. This means the concept of an advised sale did not exist and such products were ofered on an information only basis ie the customer would be offered the product and would make the decision whether to take it or not. When you applied for the loan, the information relating to the insurance would have been provided in written form. There was no regulatory requirement to verbally discuss the details of the insurance at that time; the final decision to take out the insurance or not would have been your decision. We would also stress that the insurance was not a condition of the loan." They go on to suggest I refer to the Finance and Leasing Association is I am not satisfied with this reponse. The CCA agreement (from 1996, when the amount of the loan was increased, not the original 1993 one) sent in response to the SAR contains the amount of the monthy premium for the PPI, and an acknowledgement that the customer understsood the T7C's of the agreement,a nd this has my signiature. Is this a fob off, or are they right? Any suggetions about the next step?

Hi CAG, After too many years of letting this rumble on, I have finally resolved to sort out my account with Paragon. I took out a loan initially in 1993 for £5k, and a further £4k in 1996, which was made into one loan with a balance of £8500 in 1996. I had some trouble with repayments off and on between 1997 and 1999, and in 1999 entered into a Debt managemnt agreement (I can't recall the name of the company I used however), and maintained the agreed payments until 2003. On receiving a letter from Paragon in 2003, I was shocked to see that in spite of being 80% of the way through the repayment plan, the balance owed to Paragon was still £9k. In 2004 I had a home visit from them, and in that visit a repayment plan was arranged that would "cover the interest", and I have been maintaining those payments (£160pm) since. Not having the original documents, I submitted a SAR to Paragon, and this returned a copy of the 1996 loan agreement, and a full statement of my account since 1993. There was no mention of the home visit, or a copy of the form I remember signing then, nor was there any mention of the agreement with the debt management company; in their response to the SAR, Paragon state that anything that is held on "paper file or microfiche that is not a relevant filing system for the purposes of the (Data protection) Act" will not be included. The statement showed a current balance of £10800, so I need to know where to go from here. By my calculations the sum owed on a loan of 8500 at their APR (23%) over 5 years (the original terms) is about £14500; according to the statement I have paid them around £31k, with a balance of £10800. I appreciate I had a couple of problematic periods, and I am not trying to wriggle out of paying my dues, but the sums paid so far and the amount claimed to be outstanding are outrageous. While I have no written record of the home visit agreement, I distinctly remember the agent saying the payment of £160 would cover the interest and a small bit of the captial. However, the first interest charge form 2004 immediately following the visit was £190, so this agreement was, in their full knowledge, never going to do anything but accumulate the debt, which it did, leading to a balance of £14700 in 2010, when Paragon froze the interest on their own initiative, and in the 2 years since the balance has of course fallen to its current level - but only from the position that their lack of transparency allowed it to reach in the first place. There has also been PPI payed on the loan, all the way from 1993 to 2003. So: What do (can) I do about the balance outstanding? Is there any recompense for the amount I have overpaid to them? Is their withholding of information in response to the SAR justified? Do I have a chance of reclaiming the PPI? Many thanks! D

Hello CAG!I have held a car insurance policy, via a local Swinton office, for 9 years. I recently took a look at a price comparison site, and found that Swinton's own insurance for my circumstances was about half the amount I am currently paying (£20 vs 50 per month, roughly). I have contacted Swinton, and have heard back from my local office that the cheapest they can do for my circumstances works out at £30 per month, as they cannot match the online discount. I realise I have let my insurance payments creep up without giving them too much thought until recently, but I have yet to hear any reason why they have charged me £50 per month for this financial year, when by their own admission they could have offered me the same policy for £30 - and this is not even considering what I have been charged in previous years. Do I have a leg to stand on in asking for a refund of the difference, which for this year comes to around £120? Thanks for any advice.D