Lloyds Banking Group-STOPS SELLING PPI

Lloyds banking group which includes Lloyds, Halifax, C & G and Bank of Scotland have stopped selling PPI.

At last they have caved in to the pressure (and the claims for compensation). They have said in their press release that "existing policies" will remain in force-we will continue to do our best to have them cancelled and compensation paid.

This insurance has been mis-sold for years and worth up to £5bn a year for the lending industry.

Lets hope the other banks will quickly follow Lloyds and stop selling it.

Links to obtain credit files

These links allow you to obtain your file for £2 rather than signing up for more expensive ways of obtaining them.

Equifax    

http://experian.metafaq.com/resources/experian/Downloads/standardAppdec08.pdf

Experian https://www.econsumer.equifax.co.uk/consumer/uk/uib/images/EFX_UK/en_GB/your%20equifax%20credit%20file%2012-07.pdf

Call Credit

http://www.callcredit.co.uk/files/creditfile-app.pdf

Wrong Claim Settlements

During June 2010 in excess of 90% of offers sent to us by lenders to settle claims were incorrect, and in all cases except one the offer was less than it should have been !.

Its vital that all offers are checked by someone who is familiar with these types of calculation before accepting an offer or banking a cheque.

PPI set to be Banned

Plans to restrict the sale of the controversial payment protection insurance (PPI) look set to go ahead.

The Competition Commission wants to ban PPI being sold at the time loans are granted.

It said customers would benefit from being given time to find more appropriate and better-value cover.

PPI is supposed to enable borrowers to pay off loans such as credit card bills or mortgages if they fall ill or lose their job.

The commission's decision is still provisional and open to final consultation - with a final verdict to be published in July.

Plans to restrict PPI sales were first proposed in January 2009. However, after an objection by Barclays, the Competition Appeal Tribunal asked the commission to review the plans - especially whether they would inconvenience customers who could not buy PPI at the same time as taking out a loan.

How far back can you claim?

Credit Files-Don't Overpay

We have noticed an increase in the numbers of advertisements on the television trying to get you to send for your credit file.

The Law states you can obtain your file for £2 by post, this is vastly cheaper than the other methods that the Credit Reference Agencies want you to use. Don't pay more than you need to, the links for the application forms for the agencies are

http://experian.metafaq.com/resources/experian/Downloads/standardAppdec08.pdf

https://www.econsumer.equifax.co.uk/consumer/uk/uib/images/EFX_UK/en_GB/your%20equifax%20credit%20file%2012-07.pdf

http://www.callcredit.co.uk/files/creditfile-app.pdf

Out of touch MP'S

The housing minister John Healey today told the BBC that for some people, having their home repossessed "can be the best option".

It just goes to show out of touch MP'S are with real life. He clearly won't lose his home with a Minister Salary, Massive Pension and expenses.

Perhaps he would like to meet some people that have struggled to maintain their IVA contributions for up to five years, and repeat himself in front of real people rather than from the warmth of a BBC studio.

How ironic that the MP'S and BBC'S income comes form those same people he thinks would be better off losing their homes.

After Your IVA News-Jan 2010 Edition

BANKS

It looks as though despite all the hot air from Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling last year, 2010 has started with more Banks paying huge bonuses to their staff.

Despite the Government saying they want to increase competition between the banks, the Treasury are starting to sell almost 1,000 high street branches that are owned by us the taxpayer. It is feared that many will not find buyers and thus decrease competition.

It is interesting that some banks have made over 10% of their annual worldwide profits from the sale of Payment Protection Insurance.

Regarding PPI-The Citizens Advice service said

Payment protection insurance is failing many of those who need it most, adding to their debts instead of protecting them against hard times, a new report from national charity Citizens Advice says today.

Their report  says the insurance sold to cover credit payments in the event of illness or job loss is often very expensive, mis-sold to people who cannot possibly claim on it, and designed to exclude many of the most common situations that can lead to debt problems.

If you have been sold PPI insurance then its worth investigating making a complaint and getting YOUR money back.

Bank Charge Update

Since the Supreme Court ruling on Bank Charge Claims, a number of avenues are currently being explored, rather than announce them on this site (which can be viewed by anyone), we have written to the clients concerned directly.

Claims already made under the Hardship Exemption

If the above applies to you then you should by now have received some paperwork from us for signing, if you haven't please get in touch as soon as possible, as we believe the timing is critical.

More news will follow in the next few days.

MP'S Table Motion on Bank Charges

Lib Dems Shadow Chancellor Vince Cable has tabled an early day motion in Parliament this week calling on banks and building societies to refund 'unfair' overdraft charges.

Cable is also calling on the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to continue fighting to help customers get their money back. The petition has been signed by 35 other MPs.

We suggest that everyone requests their own MP to add their signatute to the petition.

Not the end for Bank Charge Claims

Despite the amazing decision of the Supreme Court last week, all is not lost. If we have submitted a claim for you under the FSA "Hardship Exemption" we will be writing to you in the next few days.

We are working on making claims for the return of bank charges on another basis to the one the existing claims were submitted, and will give you a further update later this week or early next.

Banks

Having given the shock judgement 24 hours to sink in, here are our thoughts-

If you go to the Office of Fair Trading's website the first thing you see in large lettering is

Making markets work well for consumers

The OFT's mission is to make markets work well for consumers. We achieve this by promoting and protecting consumer interests throughout the UK, while ensuring that businesses are fair and competitive."

Yet the highest Court in the land (newly formed) rules that the OFT can't decide if bank charges are unfair.

Why has the Supreme Court made this decision. Does the Supreme Court think it can amend the whole UK legal framework without Parliament’s input? Or was the decision made to stop the banks having to pay out.

Clearly if you are a Director of a Bank you can make wreckless stupid decisions and waste billions of pounds, and the Goverment (us the taxpayer) will bail you out. If you are a hardworking member of the public who goes overdrawn by a pound the banks can charge you £38

This decision isn't one that should be accepted and we suggest that you complain to your MP, you can e-mail them by clicking http://www.parliament.uk/mpslordsandoffices/mps_and_lords/alms.cfm

Suitable wording could be Dear Mr/Mrs

We refer to the decision of the Supreme Court on the 25th November 2009 that allows the banks to carry on ripping us off and refusing to refund the charges already taken from our accounts. We feel the decision is  a disgrace and cannot understand how the newly formed Supreme Court can impose their understanding of the Law on us which is opposite the view of two lower Courts.

We will take this decision into account at the next election.

Yours sincerley

Mr/Mrs/Miss xxxxxx

Taxpayer, Voter and Part Owner of the state owned banks. 

Please ask everyone you know to write to their MP, the more that do so the more chance we have of correcting this injustice.

Banks Win

We were shocked this morning at 9.45 when the newly formed Supreme Court found in favour of the banks. The judgement finds that the Office of Fair Trading cannot decide if bank charges are unfair or not. Despite two lower Courts including the Court of Appeal finding that the OFT could decide, this newly formed court (taken over from the House of Lords) has said the opposite.

The judgment runs into many pages which will take some time to read, but it looks as though the Office of Fair Trading, a body designed to protect us the consumer cannot stop the banks "ripping" us off. The banks some of which are owned by us the taxpayer can now carry on charging what they want.

The banks and their lawyers will no doubt be drinking champagne today while the public that have been "ripped" off continue to suffer.

We suggest that you

1) Check with your bank how much they charge for unpaid direct debits etc and vote with your  feet.

2) Check if you have had any loans with Inusrance added-make a claim against the banks.

3) Check your credit card statements, if you have been charged late payment or over limit fess in excess of £12-make a claim against the banks.

4) Check your current and old credit card statments to see if any insurance was added (it maybe called something other than Payment Protection Insurance) if you have-make a claim against the banks.

5) Tell your friends. relatives and work colleagues the type of claims that can be made.

We will update the site when the full details of the judgement have been read.

Bank Charge Decision

The Supreme Court (Taken over from the House of Lords) will give their decision on the Office of Fair Trading versus a number banks at 9.45am Wednesday the 25th November 2009. We will put the decision and are thought on the site as soon as we receive the decision.

Even if the decision goes against the banks which we think it will, then the matter of getting the refunds could still take some time.

If you are suffering Financial Hardship its better to submit the claims under the Hardship Exemption (if you have submitted your claim and since then are suffering hardship, you can amend your claim).

Bank Charge Decision

Bank Charge Update

We have today spoken to the Supreme Court and asked when their decision will be published. Their answer was "This Autumn", and would not expand on that any further.

If you are suffering from "Financial Hardship" then its worth having your claim processed now under the FSA hardship exemption.

Bank Charge Update

The House of Lords hearing into the Office of Fair Trading legal case against a number of banks  ended on 25 June 09, we were told to expect their decision in October, it wasn't given and is now likely to be November. The OFT still hasn't announced if it thinks bank charges are actually unfair (why bring the legal action if they don't ?) . It has though announced it is going to look at the terms of Lloyds, HSBC and the Clydesdale Bank  to make the process quicker (The Legal Case has been running since July 2007-make it quicker ?).

Meanwhile while the House of Lords/Supreme Court haven't announced their decision, and the OFT are going to look at three banks charges two and a half years after the court case started, our Government has handed over another £37 billion to Lloyds and HSBC, of the taxpayers money.

Its time everyone voted with their feet, make sure everyone you know thats had Bank Charges submits a claim, and if you aren't happy with the new bank charges that your bank have imposed on you, switch banks.

Bank Charges-Hardship Cases

Banks have today been told by the Financial Ombudsman Service that they have to deal with claims from people that are suffering hardship now.

The Banks are supposed to consider such cases, even though all other refund claims are on hold pending the outcome of the long running legal  case.

Under Financial Services Authority (FSA) rules, banks are supposed to treat hardship claims sympathetically.

Bank Charges

Take Care Accepting Offers

Our records show that 91% of offers received by us for settlement of Loan PPI, Credit Card PPI/Charges are inaccurate and have been refused.

In some cases even the method of calculating compensation by some of the major banks is wrong. In one case the offer was only 67% of the correct amount when calculated correctly. The bank although not admitting they were wrong sent another cheque!

Often cheques are sent to settle claims, and the banking of them is acceptance of the offer regardless of the offer being right or wrong.

If you are handling your own claims be sure that the amount you are offered is correct before accepting it.

Bank Charges-Claiming them back Now

We are getting a lot of queries from people wondering if they can have their claim processed now rather than waiting for the litigation between the Office of Fair Trading and a number of banks to conclude.

The Financial Services Authority allowed the banks to put claims on hold as long as they processed claims from people who were suffering Financial Hardship, the FSA define that as

“A complainant is considered to be in financial difficulty when his or her income is insufficient to cover reasonable living expenses and meet financial commitments as they become due.”

The reality is that if any of the following apply to you then we can probably get your claim processed:

Do your payments regularly bounce?

You can’t afford mortgage, loan or credit card repayments.

You no longer have money coming in due to redundancy etc.

You living off credit, struggling to repay it and regularly needing to increase credit limits? Or do you have a special arrangement with lenders to pay arrears.

Have incurred over £500 in unauthorised overdraft charges in the previous 12 months.

If in any doubt that you may be able to have your claim processed now rather than wait, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Bank Charge Update

The House of Lords decision regarding the OFT action against a number of banks is now expected in October 2009. The banks have been granted another six months in which they can refuse to process claims. The situation is a disgrace and we suggest that everyone complains to their local MP (who is probably hoping for your vote at the next election).

In the meantime we can get claims processed if you are suffering financial hardship, please call us if you believe you are in this position.

Getting your Credit Report

Each of the credit reference agencies will supply your statutory report by post for £2 (which is much cheaper than the online reports), here are the links for the application forms from the three main agencies.

http://experian.metafaq.com/resources/experian/Downloads/standardAppdec08.pdf

https://www.econsumer.equifax.co.uk/consumer/uk/uib/images/EFX_UK/en_GB/your%20equifax%20credit%20file%2012-07.pdf

http://www.callcredit.co.uk/files/creditfile-app.pdf

Writing off Credit Cards and Loans

Adverts claiming to be able to write-off debt are increasing and often claim that Credit Card Debt and Loans can be written. These firms often charge fees "Up-Front"

The Ministry of Justice, which regulates these types of firms, recently warned consumers of the danger of trying to get their debts written off. Even though many firms are licensed, there are no official stats illustrating how many borrowers successfully manage to avoid repaying their debts.

In fact, the chances of getting your debts wiped out is unlikely, according to Citizens Advice.

Bank Charge Update-26th June

The bank charges fiasco continues as  Five Law Lords met in the House of Lords between Tuesday and Thursday this week to hear the whining banks appeal against the Court of Appeal's decision that they have been charging us more than they should have.These include the banks that are practically owned by us the taxpayers.Their judgement is due in the next six to eight weeks. Its possible that even if the banks lose the House of Lords may allow them to appeal to Europe, which could drag things on for another year or so.

If you are suffering financial hardship we can get your claim processed now rather than waiting for a payout after the legal action.

Bank Charges-Update

The appeal by the Banks to the House of Lords will be heard on the 22nd June and estimated to last for three days. So we will get  a decision before the end of the summer. Claims can be submiited now, and even processed now in cases of "Financial Hardship". We have managed to get charges refunded to people who are still in IVA'S. Contact us for details. 

Bank Still Charging

Reclaiming Bank Charges