Are claims firms really worth it?
- 10TH JUNE 2007
With the recent intervention of the Financial Services Authority in to the payment protection insurance (PPI) sector and the mis-selling of policies, more and more people are claiming compensation - and many are successful too.
Payment protection insurance is taken out to cover monthly repayments for credit such as a loan, credit card or mortgage if you find yourself out of work due to accident, unforeseen unemployment or long term sickness. However, many policies have been mis-sold to people who have no hope of claiming of them should they evr need to.
Jumping on the bandwagon of consumers’ misery are firms who offer to deal with your compensation claim on a no-win, no-fee basis, but are they really needed?
While no-win, no-fee firms may seem like a good idea, with a winning fee being up to 25% of the settlement figure, it seems that maybe the consumers are still getting ripped off.
Simon Burgess from specialist payment protection insurance providers British Insurance comments that “These claims firms aren’t really needed and are exploiting a consumer’s vulnerability by taking such an excessive amount of their settlement fee.”
There is nothing that these firms do that is any different to an individual going to the Financial Ombudsman he adds and “there seems to be very little difference in the outcome of doing so or going with a no-win, no-fee firm.”
British Insurance sell payment protection insurance for a fraction of the cost of the high street banks and lenders and last year withdrew their own planned compensation claims service, deciding instead to offer a free service giving advice to those who needed it.
If you want to avoid the big scam of payment protection insurance but still have the safety net it can provide then pop along to British Insurance for your payment protection policy.
