Following the deadline set by the Financial conduct authority (FCA) the ability to reclaim PPI ended at the end of August 2019. Claims that were in place prior to that date could still be resolved but no new cases can be taken on. If you believe that PPI was applied to any form of loan, credit card, mortgage, bank account, car finance, catalogue or store card then sadly you are out of time to make any form of claim in relation to PPI.
Despite PPI having come to an end there is still a whole raft of mis-selling scandals that have and are occurring that you can look at claiming against.
Top 10 Mis-selling Scandals
1. Mis-sold Packaged Bank Accounts (PBA)
A packaged bank account is basically a bank current account which attracts monthly fee of anywhere between £10 and £30, which is payable and attracts benefits such as travel insurance, car breakdown cover amongst other things.
The Financial conduct authority or the FCA conducted a review of the way the banks sold packaged bank accounts to clients. They found that many of the so-called benefits either duplicated or not required by clients. That current account holders were not provided with the required opportunity to either shop around or use the free facilities.
Packaged bank accounts have been running for many years and certainly since the late 1990s. If you have or did have one of these accounts then it is certainly worthwhile checking as to whether the account was sold correctly or not as refunds can run into several thousand pounds depending on the length of time the account was in place.
2. Mis-sold Pensions
Financial institutions that either promote, offer or sell pensions both now and in the past are terrified the mis-selling that has occurred in relation to pensions over the last 30 years. Pensions run into a number of forms such as SIPP’s, annuities, personal pensions and transfers in relation to final salary or employment pensions to personal pension schemes (DB Transfers).
There are considerable numbers of complaints in relation to all forms of pensions that are being seen by firms as people with pension policies in place regardless of the type of scheme or mechanism they have in place question the product they have and sales process that was followed at the point of sale.
Pensions are an extremely important form of income upon retirement and poor advice can have catastrophic effects to anyone’s income when you come to retire. It is essential that anyone with a pension questions and checks the advice they were provided and the product they have for compatibility, performance and whether it was appropriate for an individual’s financial situation.
3. Mis-sold Investments
When financial advisers are approached for advice in relation to any form of investment then you expect to be provided with fair appropriate and tailored advice. Sadly when investments are made this advice can for whatever reason be incorrect or inappropriate I’m not tailored to meet the requirements of an individual’s financial situation both at the time of investment and in future financial planning.
Investments can go up as well as down and so any form of financial product that you have always sold at some point in the past is worth reviewing to make sure that it was fair, correct and appropriate for your financial needs. Any form of mis-selling can have serious financial impact and so assessing the sales process and ongoing care your financial requirements is essential. If an investment has been mis-sold then you can claim compensation for the loss or potential loss that you have suffered
4. Overcharging by Pay Day Lenders like Brighthouse.
Following the advent of easy short-term credit which attracted huge interest payments another mis-selling scandal has reared its ugly head. Many of the firms offering this short-term lending were not properly controlled and as such they abused their position and did not offer the protection that clients looking at raising funds in this way should have had.
They did not assess applications correctly to establish affordability, or provide assistance or respite if in financial difficulty when the product was in place. Interest rates were considerable and were often not explained properly leaving clients in considerable financial distress.
Lenders such as Bright house now have to look at a raft of complaints against them where their sales tactics and product are being challenged and considerable redress is being paid in the event of mis-selling.
If you have had a short-term loan with one of the lenders and feel uncomfortable as to any form of the process regardless of whether the facility has now been repaid you could potentially sat on a considerable redress running into hundreds if not thousands of pounds if they did not follow the procedures to assess your financial position correctly.
5. Life Insurance
Life insurance is a way of life and a staple product for financial advisers to sell and promote is often whilst not necessarily demanded by lenders it is certainly important to look at in relation to cover any form of borrowing such as mortgages that you may have.
Life insurance is an important level of cover that individuals and families can have in place to protect themselves from not only death but in certain policies life-threatening conditions such as cancer or heart disease. Products can run from traditional life cover providing a lump sum in the event of death: through to decreasing life cover that reduces as time passes: to critical illness cover that covers serious illness.
All of these elements of cover attract a differing premium over a certain specified period of time. It is important that the right level of cover is applied and the options view to search the marketplace are provided by the financial adviser offering these products. If these financial commitments are not sold in the correct way not only could you be paying over the odds but you also might not have the level of cover you believe you should which could if called upon leave your loved ones in considerable financial distress should any of the traumatic events occur.
- Mis-selling can occur into various in relation to life insurance:-
Firstly the selling of the product itself and whether it was correct, appropriate and cost-effective. Where your rights to shop around should have been discussed and offered. Any form of life insurance is worth checking as it can be too late to do so when called upon. - Secondly in the event of death or serious condition occurring the life cover in place pays out. If it does not pay out that this is an area that certainly should be challenged even though you probably do not wish to do so at the time of emotional distress.
6. Payment Break Plans
Payment break plans are some ways similar to payment protection insurance and thought of in the same way. They are however completely different products but worthwhile challenging the same way that anyone would challenged a payment protection insurance policy.
Only a few lenders such as Barclaycard, Monumental or Sky offer payment break plans which for a monthly fee offers the ability at some point in the future to freeze your payments without attracting fees or charges. Unfortunately like PPI they can and have been mis-sold and so if you do have or had payment break plan it is worthwhile checking to make sure the sales process fully explained to you and the terms of the product were detailed as of course it was not all would not have been a requirement to have this in place to secure the product.
If the product was mis-sold then a refund can be obtained running into at times several thousand pounds.
7. Mortgages
Mortgages are the mainstay of financial residential homeowners and businesses alike. The range of products on offer and variations in interest payable both now and in the past are considerable. The potential for mis-sale is vast and in the past due to easy credit mis-sales have taken place that can have considerable financial impact within a reasonably short period of time but also over the longer term can lead to tremendous financial distress.
Mis-selling can occur in many ways so anyone with or who has had a mortgage product should sit back and assess whether they are or were comfortable with the advice they were given in taking the product but also financial impact that it is had on their lives.
Just one area involves the now ruled out self certified mortgage or interest only mortgage which were incredibly popular but have found people trapped in a financial product that they cannot leave or transfer leading to financial distress and hardship.
8. Car finance
With the advent of PCP car ownership, or should we say car rental which is nearer the truth has never been so easy. Practically anyone can walk into a car showroom and walk away with a brand-new vehicle with very few questions asked.
The question is is this right? The honest answer is no, like any form of lending if the car dealership has not assessed your financial situation and made the appropriate checks as to the affordability and impact the financial commitment has upon you then the financial transaction should not have taken place.
Was the interest rate explain to you correctly, were fees discussed. Was the impact of financial concerns in the future assessed and talked about if you are unable to meet with the financial commitment.
If this discussion did not occur that there is a good chance that the car facilities that you have had certainly if you are unhappy with them can be challenged.
9. Loans
Almost everyone has had a loan either in place or in the past. Traditionally loans are made to individuals or businesses by lenders for a fee possibly on arranging the facility but certainly over time through interest agrees to lend money over a period of time.
Both personal loans and business loans are important in the vast majority of people’s everyday lives. Again it is important to make sure that they are fair correct and appropriate to an individuals or businesses needs. That affordability and appropriateness of request are established and meet the needs not only at the point of sale but over time.
Particularly regarding business loans fees and charges can be applied and occur not only at the point of sale but during the life of the facility. Like with any other financial product it is worth making sure that this lump sum liability that you have had or have was correct for your requirements and that no mis-sale took place and overcharging occurred.
Another area is when financial difficulties do occur the lender correctly addresses these and takes the correct action as if they do not they could be liable for recompense.
10. Fraud Reclaims
With the advent of technology, the introduction of emails and the ease at which third parties have access to your details the number of fraud cases has skyrocketed. From being scammed out of several hundred pounds by clicking on a link in an email through to losing money directly from your bank account fraud is affecting society and an individuals finances in a huge way.
There are numerous ways that frauds occur both against individuals and businesses. Financial institutions whilst they may not be directly responsible for the fraud have to make sure that they do not facilitate the ability of fraudsters to take advantage of their clients. Financial institutions benefit greatly from the advent of technology. They have been able to close branches, reduce staff numbers and make an enormous cost savings. However, in doing so they have not provided the level of protection they should have done what should be doing for their clients both to avoid a fraud taking place but in the event of a fraud taking place offering recompense to make sure the client is not disadvantaged financially.
If you have suffered from a financial fraud that has taken place and this is not been addressed see you have lost financially it is important that you take this further as you as an individual or business should not lose out if protection should have been in place by any financial institution involved.