WHAT IS FINANCIAL MIS-SELLING?

If you have had had a personal loan, secured loan, credit card, store card or catalogue credit then you may be able to reclaim £1,000s. The mis-selling of Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) on these products has been so severe, you may not even know you have it.

If you take out a loan, the lender will try and sell you insurance to cover your repayments if you are unable to work. Lenders usually make more money from the insurance than the loan itself, on a typical £10,000 loan over 5 years at 6.5%, you'd pay £1,700 in interest but £2,100 in insurance!.

Worse still for many this insurance is often unnecessary, unsuitable and will not pay out if you need it; plus you could've got it at a quarter of the price elsewhere. Luckily now the regulator is investigating these mis-sales you may be able to claim all of your money back.

How do I know if I was mis-sold insurance and can reclaim?

Simply check if you fit into one of these mis-selling categories:

• Were you self-employed, unemployed, redundant or retired when you got the loan/credit card?
• Did you have medical problems before you got the loan/credit card?
• Has your provider already been fined for mis-selling? Many major providers have already been fined for systematically mis-selling the insurance.

Were you given full details of the insurance? This covers anything from being told the insurance was compulsory, to not knowing you had even purchased PPI when taking out the insurance. Lenders selling PPI polices are obliged to tell you about the specific criteria of the policy and to confirm that it is the right product for you.

If you have any concerns regarding the above issues, you may be eligible to claim. Complete our on-line questionaire to see if you qualify.

All claims are assessed by Finance Reclaim Limited, which is regulated by the Ministry of Justice in respect of regulated claims management activities.

WHAT THEY DO?

Finance Reclaim is no ordinary claims company. They are specialists in finance claims. They do nothing else.

They specialise in claims for -

• Missold loans and mortgages
• Unnecessary supporting lump sum ASU policies
• The recovery of undisclosed commissions
• Challenging your loan/mortgage company with their badly drafted paperwork on loan recovery

Probably most of us at one time in our lives have been missold a mortgage, a loan or some supporting insurance policy.

Often the misselling takes hold by some grasping broker selling a mortgage at 3% or 4% above the kind of rates generally available to you and taking a large fee, often undisclosed to boot.

Regularly the loan is supported by an accident, sickness and insurance policy (ASU) vastly overpriced, paid as a lump sum and not even suitable for you. It's not uncommon to see a loan of £12,000 supported by a £4,000 ASU policy added to the loan - which you just don't need!

The loan companies even charge their usurious rates on the unneeded policy. So your loan of £12,000 escalates by the slip of a pen to £16,000 - all at largely increased loan interest rates.

No wonder the public is fed up and fighting back. No wonder the banks and other financial intuitions are just not trusted. And no wonder that vast profits are still made month after month by our banking fraternity.

Further, often commissions are taken on these hopeless policies which are not even disclosed to the borrower.

With the techniques our panel solicitors adopt they get to the heart of your claim and ensure that every penny you have been taken advantage of is repaid to you, often with interest. You pay nothing in advance. The panel solicitors work no win no fee.

They differ from most other finance claim companies because all of their claims are handled by specialist firms of solicitors working fearlessly and independently for you.

These are solicitors who understand the market and the breaches. Solicitors who know to look not just for a missold policy but also the unlawful commissions taken over from your money - often without any knowledge on your part.

An ASU policy sounds like a good idea. Your repayments are paid while you are off work or the whole loan repaid if you die during the term of the policy. But do you know about the exclusions? Do you really understand the cover provided? Was any of it explained to you?

When you took out an ASU policy you should have been told that if unemployed, retired or even self-employed you are ineligible to make a claim under any circumstances.

Were you forced to take out the policy because you were told it was a compulsory part of the loan? Were you told the interest rate would increase if you did not take out the policy? Were you told about commissions being paid on the policy to brokers or lenders? If you knew there were commissions did you know the amount?

Did you have medical problems before you took out your loan and supporting ASU? Were you advised of the exclusions that apply here?

Would you have rather paid £12 a month for an equivalent policy month by month than pay a lump sum of £4,000 up front with interest at say 15%.

Have you been paying a mortgage at sub prime rates of maybe 10%APR when you should have had available a mortgage at 5%?

These are some of the questions they are interested in. Complete the on-line form to see if you are eligible to claim a refund of the premiums of a policy and unlawfully paid commission in connection with a loan that just wasn't suitable for you.

Without paying any upfront fees they will, through their panel solicitors, investigate the information given to you at the point of sale, the options explained to you whether the policy is appropriate and whether there is a claim for a rebate of commissions paid out of your loan repayments.

Most claims companies investigate financial claims themselves without professional help from legal practices. They are not a firm of solicitors - no claims company regulated by the Ministry of Justice in the management of regulated claims activities is!

They recognise that claims in this field can involve complex issues of law - best conducted by specialist solicitors. It's one thing to claim the cost of some oversold policy. Where they are different is that their panel solicitor will often add £1,000s to your claim by seeking out hidden commissions and bad practices.

To do this work often requires the hand of trained lawyers, regulated by the Law Society.

Only a trained solicitor can effectively challenge your loan company that its paperwork is so poor/illegal that it should not be able to force recovery if its loan.

While they carefully source the information and detail of your claim, their specialist solicitors, normally appointed on their recommendation by you, pursue your claim: no win no fee.

And they will not simply pursue the premiums you have paid on a useless policy. They will claim interest on monies spent, unlawful commissions improperly taken and sometimes will even apply to set aside a mortgage or loan wrongly entered into because the paperwork is illegal.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. If I am retired, a contractor, unemployed or self-employed should I still have PPI?

A.- In the case of being retired or unemployed or only work 16 hours per week the answer is NO. PPI is designed to replace income in the event you cannot earn it. If you do not have income any claim on the policy would be rejected. If you are self employed or contracted it becomes more complex. Some policies provide some element of cover but with restrictions. Often it will only cover not being able to work due to illness, injury or critical illness as opposed to lack of work opportunity. This information should be acquired by the sales person before suggesting a policy.

Q. When I took out my loan I was told I had to take out PPI, is this true?

A.- Payment Protection Insurance is in most instances optional, even though it is generally sold as part of a loan or finance agreement. PPI is extremely profitable to companies and large incentives are offered to staff to 'sell' these policies. If you have any doubts as to whether your PPI is optional they are happy to take a look for you. Although companies that do make it compulsory to take out their PPI are not technically breaching any particular rules, they may be contravening the Financial Service Authority (FSA) in 'treating customers fairly' or the 'acting in a fair and reasonable manner'. The UK banking code states that banks should not make customers take out their policies.

Q. I don't want my PPI anymore but my lender says I have already paid for it PPI as part of the loan and won't give me a refund?

A.- Single premium PPI or front loaded PPI (where you pay the whole amount of the PPI at the beginning of the agreement), is a possible issue for mis-selling in itself if the seller did not advised you that cheaper 'monthly paid' are available.

Q. Do I have to use Finance Reclaim to make my claim or can I do it myself?

A.- If you do not wish to appoint an agency, such as Finance Reclaim, to process your claim it is possible to initiate a claim yourself. If you decide to undertake the work on yourself without the help of Finance Reclaim make sure you keep the insurer under pressure. If your claim is rejected you will need to take your claim to the FOS or FSCS.