Barclays Payment Protection Cover
It is estimated that there are currently 20 million active PPI policies in the UK. Of these Which? The consumer campaign group estimates around 2 million may have been mis-sold. If your payment protection cover was mis-sold it means you could be paying for costly insurance cover that may be of limited use to you. In the worst instances you may have been sold a policy that you are ineligible to use meaning you have cover you will never be able to make use of.
Barclays Payment Protection Cover has been sold to an estimated 1.6-2.4 million customers. Of this number it is unknown how many policies have been mis-sold, but many thousands of unhappy customers have already claimed PPI refunds.
The issue of Mis sold PPI was first raised by The Citizens Advice Bureau in 2006. After an intensive investigation the organisation launched a super complaint alleging widespread failings within the PPI market. It claimed that the cover was often over-priced, provided very little value and was widely mis-sold.
Further investigations by The Office of Fair Trading and The Financial Services Authority confirmed many of the Citizen Advice Bureau’s suspicions. It found problems across the PPI market including a failure to train staff and to implement sufficient processes to prevent mis-sale. Following the investigation several lenders were reprimanded and fined.
If you have Barclays Payment Protection Cover it is recommended that you look carefully at the terms and conditions of your policy to find out whether you have been sold a policy unsuitable for your needs. Common forms of mis-selling include being sold a policy that excludes your personal circumstances – for example if you are over the age of 65 or have a pre-existing medical condition. You may also have been mis-sold a policy if you were not fully informed of the cost of the policy or that cover was available elsewhere.
Since the FSA investigation 1.6 million people have registered PPI complaints and lenders have paid out millions of pounds in compensation. It is predicted that many thousands more people may be eligible to make a claim; however, and many banks, including Barclays, have recently made substantial financial pledges to deal with the problem. Barclays has allocated £1 billion giving some indication of just how many PPI policies may have been mis-sold.
Barclays has also recently taken the step of announcing it will settle all Barclays Payment Protection Cover claims made before 20th April 2011. The reason for this is that Barclays, as well as most other major British banks, placed PPI claims on hold whilst The British Banking Association (BBA) launched a High Court challenge of new FSA guidelines announced in 2010. The BBA chose to challenge the new rules as it felt they would unfairly force lenders to review complaints retrospectively against new conditions. The Courts rejected this idea; however, and, in May 2011, released a judgement in support of the FSA. Given that many Barclays Payment Protection Cover claims had been on-hold for up to four months at this time, Barclays chose to settle these claims on a ‘no-quibble’ basis as a ‘gesture of goodwill.’
With £1 billion in reserve for future claims, there is now, perhaps, no better time to make a Barclays Payment Protection Cover claim. To get started call us today on 0207 471 2000.
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