PPI and Loans.co.uk

[tagal]

Hi, am at the moment trying to claim back PPI for a joint loan we took out with GE money. This was done through Loans.co.uk. I have received back usual standard letter from Loans.co.uk saying they will respond within a month.

 

I did read that Loans.co.uk were fined by the FSA in 2006 for mis-selling PPI and wonder if anyone has any experience of claiming back from them and would the fact that they have already been fined be in our favour.

 

Thanks X

[alanfromderby]

They should deal with the refund without much hassle - if not they will be inbreach of their agreement with the FSA.

[tagal]

Thanks Alan, I will see what they say in their response to my request.

[tagal]

Hi, have just received a final response from Loans.co.uk saying "we pride ourselves on the high levels of service that we provide to our clients..."

 

"The loan agreement was issued to you along with the terms of the PPI, and provided you with the opportunity to read and cancel the cover should the policy not reach your requirements. By signing the loan agreemment, you were confirming that you had read the policy details and were agreeing to the terms and conditions of the loan and the PPI."

 

Due to the fact that they have already been fined by the FSA for mis-selling PPI's, I am surpised they now say they "will not enter into any further correspondence regarding this matter", and we should complain to the the F.O.

 

Sorry for long post, but quick questions.

 

I am more than happy to pursue this through the F.O as I did with my bank charges. But deep down I feel they are really correct in saying that we read and signed for the loan and PPI although we don't know have any paperwork. I doubt we would have read all the small print etc. Do we have a leg to stand on?

 

If so, what should i put on the complaint form to the F.O.

 

Thank you X

[alanfromderby]

The law is quite clear and established in that they have a duty of care which means they must only sell you a policy that is suitable for your needs. If you have a good look through the stickies you will find plenty of caselaw that backs this up.

 

The fact that you signed the paperwork is irrelevant - you would not have been expected to wade through every clause and term. You signed it in good faith that they had not made any misrepresentations during the sales process.

 

The Misrepresentation Act switches the burden of proof on them to prove that they did not missell, it does not require you to prove they did.

 

Now, if you are going to go down the FOS they seem to be only willing to look at policies taken out after January 2005 - if your PPI is older than that then you would have to go the court route. Full details in the stickies.

[Bigmark]

Hi Tagal

Standard bog off letter from Natasha Williams and Loans.co.uk.

We pride ourselves on the high levels of customer service we offer our clients.? 14.000 mis-sold PPI,s Fines totalling £455.000, WHAT A GREAT SERVICE ?

[hellhasnofury]

Hi Tagal

Standard bog off letter from Natasha Williams and Loans.co.uk.

We pride ourselves on the high levels of customer service we offer our clients.? 14.000 mis-sold PPI,s Fines totalling £455.000, WHAT A GREAT SERVICE ?

 

Hello

 

They should all be shame faced. We all need to be reporting them to the relevant authorities. Even if these enforcement authorities, do not act on individual cases, the company will get a black tick:lol:

[the big g]

Hi Tagal,

 

Well in Feb 07 i started my pursuit of reclaiming £10,000 refund from Loans.co.uk, i put together a letter clearly stating all the facts of the loan and the PPI how it was sold ect and forwarded to the FO.

In Oct 07 i received a judgement from the FO ruling in my favour and instructing Loans.co.uk to repay in full all the premiums plus interest, cancel the PPI and instruct GE Money to restructure the loan without the PPI. It is now end Jan 08 and have receieved confirmation from GE Money that the new forms are on their way to me for signing, this after alot of time delaying by Loans.co.uk.

So my advice is to claim it back because you will win in the end, you will also find the FO is very much on your side and that Loans.co.uk is not flavour of the month with the FO anyway.

If you want any help off me regarding how i made my claim, just ask.

 

The big G:)

[Jonny Insider]

I'm not sure it is as simple as that. It may depend on when you took out the loan. Before Loans.co.uk were fined by FSA they gave advice on PPI however after the fine they stopped giving advice and moved to giving "information only", ie they would give you details of the PPI but not tell you whether or not you should buy it (at least that is the theory!). If they simply gave you information without making a recommendation and you chose to buy it, you may struggle to make a claim. Can you recall whether or not they specifically recommended you take out PPI? It's always worth threatening to go tothe Financial Ombudsman as it costs you nothing to do so, however the firm you are claiming against has to pay (even if they win the argument), so it's an added incentive for them to settle the claim early.

[lilal]

did the insurance underwriter provide you with a policy document .this would not come from ge or loans.co .my claim against ge includes a policy document not provided .other caggers have posted this too,try ringing the underwriters ,they may have been members of gisc before 2005 allowing the fos to take it on, failure to provide a policy they are as much to blame as the other 2.how would you check if it,s suitable for you .my policy schedule shows the benefits ,not the exclusions:mad: .may even be the same provider cardif pinnace:( hth

[tagal]

Thank you Big G!

 

To be honest I had a response from Loans.co.uk saying that I accepted the loan and as far as they are concerned that is that, so I was going to give up. But reading your response I have now sent of my forms to the ombudsman this morning, as the time I took out the loan I was in severe financial difficulty and would of accepted any insurance and with a pushy sales person I just agreed.

 

Anyway I will let you know how it goes, the ombudsman are good and the fact that Loans.CO.UK have already been fined by the FSA must be a bonus.

 

Thanks again, and am pleased that things worked our for you X

[tagal]

Sorry, I forgot to say thank you to everyone who as responded to me, I haven't been on this site for a while and am touched that you have taken the trouble to help. I will keep you all posted. I have decided it's worth a try to go the ombudsman route anyway X

[the big g]

Just an added note, my loan was taken out in early 2004 and did think that maybe the FO would not take it on because it was before 2005 but they did. The claim was based around the facts 1. the loan was over ten years and PPI only covered me for the first five, whats the point in that. 2. At the time of taking out the loan i was not informed of other forms of PPI such as monthy payments and most importantly you can obtain cover elsewhere at a much cheaper rate,

.

Geoffm

[tagal]

Unfortunately the loan was taken out in 2003 over 20 years and paid off after 4 years (Oct 2007). Not sure how I stand with it being before 2005. But worth a try. Wonder whether mine was only for first 5 years - I didn't look into that, and so didn't mention it to the FOS

[Jonny Insider]

Tagal,

 

You should still be able to go to FO on a couple of fronts. If loans.co.uk was a member of the GISC at the time (which is likely as most firms joined around 2001) FO still has jurisdiction. Also FO now has jurisdiction over loans following an amendment to the Consumer Credit Act in 2006. Definitely worth a try!

[tagal]

Thanks Johnny, will let you know how it goes X

[Bigmark]

Sorry Tagal,

 

My loan was taken out in 2002 over 20 years, PPI coverd first 5 years.

Repaid the Loan in 2003, FOS have stated they will look into my complaint.

 

good luck

[tagal]

Thanks Mark, Johnny and Big G,

 

Hopefully FOS will agree to take it on, would be great and will really help finances. Tracey

[OLIVE.FAMILY]

Hi there

 

I have reported to FOS about loans.co.uk for mis selling. As I had received the same sort of response from Natasha Williams. We paid £3,500 upfront which we borrowed on top of the loan. I have also had to persue my loan/mortgage company as well through the FOS for the same PPI (see Kensington Mortgages and PPI) Apparently waiting for FOS to instruct a ajudicator so FOS have written to both Loans and Kensington. Will keep you posted

 

good luck with it and I am sure you will win

[tagal]

Thanks Olive.Family, hope it goes wellwith you. Let us know how it is going X

[tagal]

Hi, after what BigMark had said I contacted the insurance company who was used for the PPI by Loans.Co.UK and can't quite believe what they told me:

 

They said that although the loan was for 20 years odd, we were only covered for first 5 years. She also said "we sent you no confirmation to advise you of this and therefore you need to tell the FOS this"

 

So basically if the worst had happened and we had to make a claim after 5 years we would not have been covered, therefore would of lost our house as it was a secured loan. They didn't think of telling us this when we took out the PPI. I am so angry, I have conctacted the FOS who have added this information to my complaint form. Hope this strengthens our case, he said it will take about 3 weeks to look at my complaint as there is a backlog. But the FOS are good, and managed to get me 3,500 bank charges back from Barclays, so I have every faith in them. Only worry is that loan was taken out in 2003. Will keep you posted. X

[Jonny Insider]

This is pretty standard for this type of loan. Generally the PPI will only cover you for between 5 - 7 years. The cost of PPI over a longer period would be even more prohibitive!

[tagal]

Johnny, should we have been told this insurance was only for 5 years. We would never of known until we tried to claim as insurance Co. have said they sent us no comfirmation. Quite unbelievable really, what do you think.

[Jonny Insider]

Undoubtedly this should have been made clear. I can't recall when you took out the plan but, if it was aftert January 2005 you should have been given a "Key Facts" document before you took out the insurance that made this clear. The Ombudsman would certainly consider this to have been a material restriction of the policy that should have been brought to your attention at point of sale. If it was not, you should have a pretty water-tight case. Even pre Jan 2005 you should have been issued with a policy document that would tell you this.

[tagal]

Well I can't recall anything or cant find any paperwork. The insurance company as I said, today told me that no confirmation was sent to us with regards to the policy, she also said they did not inform us the policy was for first 5 years, and told me to let FOS know this. To me it appears I am not the first person they have spoken to about this and I am sure, not the last. She said she would put this in writing for me to forward to the ombudsman.