UK Consumer groups Which? and MoneySavingExpert have come together to launch an advertising campaign to encourage victims of mis sold PPI to ‘do their own claims’ rather than using PPI Claims Companies… and get this, they’re also planning to hold a “PPI summit” with the big UK banks and credit card providers with the aim of working together to “restore trust in the reclaiming process”.
This story has been published by all household news channels on the internet and in hardcopy over the past few days. Initially, we didn’t really know how to respond to it as anything that raises awareness of mis sold PPI and encourages people to claim back PPI is surely a good thing… right?
The problem we have is that they’re all focusing their attention on PPI claims companies… again… rather than putting pressure on the banks to repay their customers. If it wasn’t for the work done by some of the better claims management companies, the majority of people who have now successfully reclaimed their money… would never have done so and the mis sold PPI scandal would not have become so prominent.
The banks are still delaying the settlement of PPI complaints without punishment and would love nothing less than for PPI claims companies to disappear altogether… as this would mean that the number of people reclaiming PPI would be reduced by upto 75%.
So if Which? and MoneySavingExpert are going to see this through to the very end… until all victims of mis sold PPI have been refunded then we welcome the move. But we live in a cynical world, so please bear in mind that nobody does anything for free not even these so called ‘consumer champions’. The fact that they’re holding a summit with the banks to discuss how to eliminate PPI claims companies is not supported by us at all.
So… do we think that you should, as Which? and MSE so eloquently put it, do you own claims? Well, that depends on you really. The majority of people that use claims management companies do so because they don’t have the time, patience or confidence to deal with the banks themselves. So, if you feel confident that you can see it through then you should consider it as an option.
We recommend that you use a reputable claims management company because this will ensure that you get back exactly what you are owed. The FOS, FSA and FSCS have all come out and said that you are not likely to receive anymore money if you use a CMC compared to doing yourself. And, the MOJ has also told CMC’s that they cannot say that they will get you more than if you do it yourself… but we’ve heard form countless readers and CMC’s that the banks regularly offer less money than is actually owed. We spoke to one bank employee who told us that if he’d had a fight with his girlfriend the night before, then all PPI claims received the next day were going to be rejected!
Please consider your options carefully before deciding on which course of action to take. The banks want you to claim yourself because they’ll get away with paying you less and will receive less complaints overall… saving them £billions. But DO NOT chose a PPI Claims Company that resorts to cold calling to obtain your business and do not pay anything upfront to start your claim.