The Ultimate Guide to Choosing a PPI Claims Company

The situation

You have seen all the hype about PPI, you have checked your statements and loan agreements and know that you have PPI on your credit cards or loans, you have decided you do not want to pursue the claim yourself as your worried that you may get bogged down in the details and be unsuccessful through in-experience. You decide you want to use an experienced professional, but who can you trust? Who will provide a great service and successfully get your PPI compensation back as soon as possible.

Making your decision

During the decision making process you may be swayed by certain things like advertising and reputation but be sure the provider ticks all the boxes, gaining PPI compensation can be worth a life changing amount of money so its important you make the right choice.

The initial questions you need to get answers to are:

• How much do they charge? Typically up to 25% plus VAT, anything more then its an instant no.
• Is there a minimum fee? If so ensure it is significantly lower than your possible compensation amount.
• Do they charge anything upfront? If yes then avoid them.
• Are they a ‘No Win No Fee’ company?  If no then you could be charged a fee if you lose, worth avoiding as there is plenty who are predominantly No Win No Fee.
• Are there any cancellation fees? Worth checking just in case your situation changes but should be no charge to cancel in first 14 days whoever you use.
• Can you pay your fee by credit card? If so you are well protected by your credit card provider for fees over £100.

The next stage is to clarify there authenticity, honesty and reputation:

Check to ensure they in the Ministry of Justice database and therefore regulated, if they are not there they operating illegally.

Do they claim any of these? “Guaranteed payout” “You will get more money from us” or “its quicker if you use us” then these are exaggerated claims and these firms should be avoided as no payment is guaranteed.

How long has the firm been operating and how many claims have they successfully processed, the more experience they have the better.

Important administrative details you need to know:

• Do they have an average time frame for dealing with your campaign.
• How will they keep you updated about the claim.
• What are there hours of operation.
• How do you contact them for information.
• Do you have a unique customer reference number.
• What details do you need to provide for them to pursue your claim – The provider will need to get some information from you about your claim, personal details, loan and credit card information and other bits, if they do not ask for this kind of information then they may be operating with templates and this will not help your claim.

Other important things you need to know:

Was your lender FSA regulated at the time you took out the loan or credit card? Some lenders will not take on the claim if pre 2005 as some lenders were not regulated at this time.

If your account is in arrears with the lender it is rare that you will get an absolute refund, generally your refund will be deducted from your arrears on the account. The lender should detail this within there terms and conditions or verbally.

Choosing your PPI claims handlers

In conclusion you should be looking for someone who ticks all the right boxes but most importantly that they are registered to do so. The Ministry of Justice regulates the process of PPI claims so ALL possible PPI claims handlers should be regulated appropriately. The average claim is around £3000 which varies by lender and handler, the cost of the service should be around 15-25% plus VAT, I would question any firm with a higher or lower fee than that.

You should also not be subject to an upfront cost unless they are one of the providers who offer an additional service in some way, home visits for example. Home visits are offered by many of the PPI claims handlers in the UK, they tend to be very productive in identifying additional claims and one claim often turns into 2 or 3 thanks to a home visit as the additional support and information enables you to identify other accounts you were not aware you could claim on. Often these home visits are chargeable but in most cases this is fully refundable, if your claim is successful the money is refunded, if your claim is unsuccessful, your money is refunded so either way you win!