Have you been Plevined? I ask that question in the almost certain knowledge that most people reading this won’t have a clue what I’m on about.
Yet the answer is YES for millions, and if so that means you’re owed big money.
At the end of August, the financial regulator the Financial Conduct Authority launched a two-year Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) reclaiming deadline – to help the banks terminate their liability – even getting Arnie to star in its ads. But at the same time there was a big, somewhat hidden ‘Plevin’ rule change that anyone who’s had a loan, credit card, mortgage or catalogue debt in the last decade or more needs to know about.
Before we get into Plevin, let’s go back to basics – what is PPI and this deadline?
PPI was systemically mis-sold by banks and building societies which for decades used hard-sells or even lies to add it to most forms of debt. Already well over £27 billion has been paid back.
Common types of mis-selling include:
– Lying to you that you had to have PPI (it was never compulsory)
– Having PPI added without your permission
– Lying that PPI would get you a better deal
– Giving PPI when it was inappropriate, such as ‘unemployment cover’ for those who were self-employed, or not asking about pre-existing conditions that could invalidate it
It was designed to cover your repayments if you lost your job or got sick, but actually at most it paid out for a year, and the maximum payout for some policies was actually less than it cost.
If you think you may be owed money – or haven’t a clue – don’t delay, check now. You don’t need to pay a firm to find your PPI or get it back for you; you can do it for FREE. For full help, see our free PPI reclaiming tool and guide which should answer all common questions.
PS: Don’t assume your question or situation isn’t common – if it’s “I can’t remember my lender”, “What proof do I need?”, “How do I get my paperwork?”, “Can I claim for a deceased relative?”, “My provider’s gone bust” and more, they’re all covered.
And it’s worth doing. I’m constantly swamped with successes, like Paul Smith’s. He tweeted me:
@MartinSLewis I have seen you banging on about ppi for years. I thought I would give it try and I got £18000 pounds back. Please share.
— paul smith (@SkyPsmth2005) May 15, 2017
Though always remember when reclaiming, even if the bank says no, that isn’t the end of the story – if you believe you were mis-sold you can get the free Financial Ombudsman Service to adjudicate.
Have you been Plevined?
At the same time as launching the PPI deadline, a game-changing new category of PPI mis-selling has been introduced. In the past, to reclaim PPI you had to have been mis-sold it. But this new rule means, pretty much, if you had PPI from a bank on a product active since 2008, you’re owed some money.
It’s based on a 2014 court case brought by Susan Plevin. The court ruled that as she wasn’t told about the huge amount of commission taken from her PPI payment – 71% – she was mis-sold it. When banks sold PPI they received most of the policies’ cost in commission, which shows what a bad value product it was.
The regulator’s new Plevin rule says if over 50% of your PPI’s cost went as commission to the lender, and that wasn’t explained to you, you’re due back the extra above that.
And staggeringly the AVERAGE commission banks were paid was 67%, and I’ve never heard of anyone who was told about it (and while that doesn’t mean no one was, it’s likely to mean very few were). This means millions of people who’ve had PPI, even if it was sold correctly in every other way, are due something back. On a £10,000 loan over five years, ‘Plevin’ compensation alone would typically be £500 and a lot more if you were mis-sold in other ways.
If you think you’ve been Plevined, what do you do?
This depends on your situation and whether you’ve tried to reclaim PPI in the past…
- Already claimed and received money? If you’ve claimed PPI on that policy in the past and got your money, you’re not getting any more with Plevin; you don’t get to double dip (yet if you’ve other policies they may still have been mis-sold).
- Previously had a PPI claim rejected by bank or ombudsman? If you had a bank’s PPI policy in place at some point since roughly 2008, you’re likely to be due money from Plevin. The banks have to write to 1.2 million people in this situation by the end of November. Yet there’s no need to wait – if you think you’re due, you can contact them now (see Plevin claiming help for how to do that).
- Never claimed before? Well, assuming you had PPI, first check if you were mis-sold in any other way, as if so then you get all the PPI money back – with Plevin it’s only a proportion. If you think you have been mis-sold in another way (see our PPI Mis-selling Checklist), Plevin will be looked at automatically as part of it.
If you don’t think you were mis-sold in any other way you can start a claim purely over the ‘undisclosed high commission’. For full, easy, step-by-step free help on starting a claim, see Plevin claiming.
