UK Consumer Law Tested for Loan Protection
Insurance Blogger loves a peoples champion and as this test case has shown UK consumers may now have far more rights and
loan protection under UK Consumer Credit Law than was previously realised....
And the UK Courts will probably be filling up with cases as fast as those dealing with the mis-selling of loan and
mortgage protection insurance products as other legal firms jump onto the bandwagon.
Once again it will be Insurance that underwrites these ridiculous anti-social court cases......
Last week, a debtor secured a five-year block on his home repossession in a claims management case against his lender Blemain Finance, after consumer credit law was used to challenge his secured loan agreement.
The firm acting for Cardiff-based Peter Bentley, claims management company, Cartel Client Review, used the meaning of unfair relationships under Section 140A of the Consumer Credit Act (CCA) 1974 to claim that his loan contract with Blemain Finance was an unfair one.
Blemain also agreed to charge no further interest on the GBP 40,000 loan and cut his repayments from roughly GBP 550 to GBP 150 a month. At the High Court in Cardiff Judge Milwyn Jarman also prevented the lender from levying any charges or legal costs.
The judge barred Blemain for enforcing repayment via repossession for five years, but even after this period, it can only bring repossession proceedings if there are at least 12 months’ arrears on the new level of payments.
Bentley’s lawyers, Consumer Credit Litigation Solicitors (CCLS), successfully argued that Blemain had loaned the money to Bentley irresponsibly and that the agreement took advantage of his desperate situation.
CCLS argued that shortcomings in the decision making procedure on granting the loan, such as in the under writing, affordability checks and valuation processes, led to the credit agreement being unfair.
Andrew Settle, solicitor for CCLS, said: "The relationship between the parties was an unfair one within the meaning of Section 140A of the CCA 1974. CCLS is utilising a significant number of legal arguments, like those used on behalf of Mr Bentley, in thousands of cases on behalf of our clients."
CCLS successfully demanded to have the loan account re written, which is believed to be the first time a loan account has been rewritten under settlement, as a result of the unfair relationships test.
Carl Wright, chief executive of Cartel Client Review, claimed that Blemain made the offer to Bentley in a bid to prevent a judge in a High Court setting a legal precedent against its lending practices.
He added: "The consumer credit rule book is being re-written as a result of High Court settlements like Blemain Finance Limited v Bentley. With consumer victories won recently in the Courts and landmark cases settled, and further cases to be determined by the High Courts, the consumer financial landscape will change irrevocably as we move in to 2010.”
Mr Bentley’s financial problems started when his mother died in 2007. He began part-time work to look after his father, who was suffering from Alzheimer’s, and then took out a GBP 40,000 secured loan in February 2007 to alleviate his financial predicament.
Bentley later fell behind with his repayments and by the time the case was heard in court, the debt had risen to GBP 47,000.
Labels: Consumer Credit Law, credit cards, credit crunch, Debt, loan protection, loan protection insurance, loans, recession, Secured Loan Insurance, UK Courts
Mis-Sold Payment Protection Insurance? Claim It Back Now!
Have You Been Mis-Sold Payment Protection Insurance?
If you took out a loan, mortgage or credit card from a bank or building society in the UK the chances are that you were mis-sold payment protection insurance or PPI as it is often known. The law has now changed and it is possible to reclaim all your payments in full plus in some cases, damages, usually at no cost to yourself through a so called no win no fee agreement..
The types of policies that were mis-sold were
mortgage protection, loan payment protection insurance, Credit card insurance and in some cases and
income protection.
Whether you qualify to claim depends very much upon when you were mis-sold the policy. The new law only covers payment protection insurance policies sold after January 2005. However, many lawyers will pursue on you behalf policies sold before the cut off date, and in many cases recover your payments. there are numerous no-win no-fee law firms starting up to pursue these errant banks and lenders through the UK courts in what has become a multi-billion dollar business.
The good news for the claimant is that these law firms handle everything for you and the only contribution you have to make is confirming the mis-selling took place and banking the check.
You are eligible to claim through the UK courts against a lender who mis-sold you payment protection insurance if you can satisfy any one of the following 13 conditions.
1. The PPI was added without your express agreement or knowledge.
2. The sales staff or person selling the mortgage or loan insurance was coercive, pushy and strongly advised you to take out the PPI cover.
3. You were told you had to take the payment insurance.
4. You were told you could not get the mortgage without MPPI.
5. You were told you could not get the loan without loan payment protection insurance.
6. The cover you were offered was included in the loan or mortgage
7. You knew you were soon to be unemployed.
8. You were self-employed when the payment protection was sold to you.
9. You were retired or over the age limit for PPi cover which is usually 65.
10. You were not asked about any pre-existing medical conditions that you may have suffered from.
11. You were not told that pre-existing medical conditions could affect your insurance cover.
12. You were not informed that the UK's two largest problems for time of work, namely stress and back problems were excluded from the insurance/ or you informed the lenders staff about your medical condition but was not warned that this would affect the protection insurance cover in the event of a claim.
13. You were not asked if you already had any existing mortgage protection or loan insurance in place elsewhere or employer benefits that would cover my repayments.
If any of the above instances apply to you , you have probably been mis-sold payment protection cover and need to contact a solicitor or specialist lawyer who will claim on your behalf. Act now as there may well be additional time limitations put in place as the number of claims rises.
To learn more about
mortgage protection insurance and how to make a successful claim visit Personal Accident plc.
For the latest news of the cheapest
payment protection insurance available from independent UK suppliers visit the Payment Protection Insurance News website run by specialist provider Burgesses.com.
Insurance Blogger would like to thank Dave for the original Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dave_Healey http://EzineArticles.com/?Have-You-Been-Mis-Sold-Payment-Protection-Insurance?&id=2417542Labels: claims, cover, income payment protection insurance, income protection, loan protection insurance, loans, mortgage, mortgage payment protection, mortgage protection, mppi, PPI
What a bunch of Bankers! UK Banks challenge PPI ruling
Feelings are running high this morning in the Payment Protection Market and the consumer pressure groups with news that Barclays and Lloyds TSB are challenging the Competition Commission's ruling to ban the sale of Payment Protection Insurance at the time of sale of a loan mortgage or credit.
Insurance Blogger thinks this is outrageous after years of expenditure on the investigations by the FSA and Competition Commission and others, and the subsequent fines for misselling, that any institution, let alone a largely Government owned institution Lloyds Bank, should have the right to challenge any such decision!
Payment protection insurance lobbyist Sara-Ann Burgess from
specialist payment protection insurance company, Burgesses confirms our viewpoint. She said "
These institutions are without morals and intent on putting profit ahead of consumers' interests."
"This latest move is a bid by the banks to continue making billions of pounds in profits in order to prop up other failing business areas.
"We all know PPI mis-selling is rife amongst High Street lenders and their resultant profits are obscene. These delaying tactics, lodged to stop the ban going ahead in October 2010, only serve to prove just how shameless these firms are and the extent they will go to protect their 'cash cows'."
The UK Protection Insurance sector takes over £5 billion in premiums every year and around 90% of the premiums goes in profit to Banks and Building Societies.
In 2006, the Competition Commission reported the 12 largest distributors made profits of GBP1.4bn - before the recession kicked in and demand for unemployment insurance protection and income protection insurance policies grew.
After a lengthy investigation into anti-competitive practices, the Commission announced in January a series of measures to lower prices and widen choice in the PPI sector.
These included:
axing single premium PPI and replacing with monthly payments.
a seven day ban on selling cover alongside credit.
a requirement to offer PPI separately to credit.
The Financial Ombudsman Service predicted some 30,000 payment protection insurance mis-selling complaints would be received by the end of March this year and confirmed the majority of them can be traced back to High Street lenders.
It upholds at least 90% of cases and in the case of one lender, 100%.Sara-Ann Burgess concludes: "How can you on the one hand say banks are working to restore confidence and then on the other have two major players challenging decisions in order to maintain gigantic market shares and prevent freedom of choice? Actions are certainly speaking louder than words. These lenders are damaging the financial well-being of consumers and will continue to do so. What's equally insulting is the fact that Lloyds is paid for by taxpayers and our money is being used to ensure we continue to be ripped off."
Insurance Blogger couldn't agree more! The banks created the current recession by the misselling of mortgages and piggybacked missold mortgage payment protection insurance, and now they are trying to retain their ill gotten share of a market that wouldn't exist if they had done their job properly in the first place.
BancAssurance is a French joke - Keep your noses out of Insurance - Bankers!
For those of you still in a job, we wholeheartedly recommend Burgesses
Unemployment InsuranceLabels: Banks, income protection, income protection insurance, lifestyle insurance, loan protection insurance, mortgage payment protection insurance, mortgage protection, mppi, PPI, unemployment insurance
