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I kept all the statements from Argos since I opened my account back in 2004, and calculated that they have charged me over £55 in PPI/Coversafe payments, so I wrote to them to request my money back. The same letter has been used to request money from GE Money and I never had any problems, they paid straight away.
...But Argos has sent me a copy of the agreement with my signature, and to be honest I didn't even remember having signed for it. I did say in my letter that the policy had never been explained to me (because it wasn't), and that the staff member who created the document didn't have any insurance background, but they refuse to pay the monies back.
Where do I go from here? have I already lost this case?
That is just their opinion though. It is not necesarilly true that just because you signed for it that it still wasn't mis-sold. You need to check through all the reasons for mis-selling and see which, if any, apply to you.
What are the reasons you feel you were mis-sold?
Also in this letter did they state it was a "Final Response" (and if so did they say who you could complain to if you still weren't happy).
If it wasn't their final response you can still send a letter before action and see if that gets you any further and after that re-evaluate whether it is worth continuing.
Also is £55 the total they charged you from 2004 to date? Have you added interest to the charges @ 8% as well?
I have found some easier to deal with than others (I found Abbey/Cahoot far easier than I expected and Welcome Finance were very difficult even though the complaint against Welcome was far more straight forward than my complaint against Cahoot!)
I have written a letter to Argos, arguing exactly what you said, and in fact added your first sentence as it explains perfectly my point, and I have decided to post it here. My letter will answer your questions as well: (I will post it tomorrow first thing)
________________
I am writing to you, following your letter of 30 May 2008, with an answer to my complaint regarding PPI/Coversafe for this Card.
I believe that you have failed to answer my complaint satisfactorily, for the following reasons:
-Your letter states that your ‘store assistants do not provide advice in relation to insurance products but instead I was sent a full policy documents and details of my right to cancel’. The term and conditions of this policy were not explained when I signed for the card, and this makes this policy void under the FSA rules. I never received any documents offering me the possibility to cancel this insurance policy, and I am certain that you haven’t got a contract or term and conditions signed by me agreeing to this policy, because I never received such a thing. I only signed for a loan, which had been ticked by your store assistant, who never explained that I was signing for an added insurance policy as well.
-Four months after I took the card with yourselves, I moved from xxxxxxx to xxxxxxx in October 2004 and I was unemployed for over a month, but no policy was then enforced to help me through my unemployment, despite me making you aware of my situation when I rang to change my address. The policy didn’t help me with the stress of the move either, which was the reason I couldn’t work during that period.
-I only signed for a loan, which, in the signed copy, is swiftly attached to this policy, ticked by your assistant.
For these reasons, I still believe that the policy was mis-sold. Your letter of 30th of May doesn’t argue that it wasn’t. It only states that it was, in fact, sold to me even though I wasn’t aware of it.
As result of this, I must conclude that it is not necessarily true that just because I signed for the policy that it still wasn't mis-sold.
It is when I looked into my statements that I realised that under the conditions stated above this should have never been taken, although I never had a chance to refuse it, due to the circumstances in which I signed the loan (in a shop, without any time to look at the document), and because I never received a chance to cancel this policy.
The amount of £55.51 + £4.44 interest is appropriate and reasonable and I would therefore request a second time that you refund these premiums to me.
I look forward to a full and prompt response to this letter and for the matter to be concluded within eight weeks or I shall be contacting the Financial Ombudsman to investigate my complaint.
I have had a quick look and it also explains very well my point, I am certainly going to double check my letter as I may be using that criteria in my answer.
I am writing to you, following your letter of 30 May 2008, with ananswer (further response) to my complaint regarding PPI/Coversafe for this Card.
I believe that you have failed to answer my complaint satisfactorily, for the following reasons:
-Your letter states that your ‘store assistants do not provide advice in relation to insurance products but instead I was sent a the full policy documents and details of my right to cancel’. The term(s) and conditions of this policy were not explained when I signed for the card, and this makes this policy void under the FSA rules. I (have never at any time received any documents offering me the possibility to cancel this insurance policy.and (delete the and) I am certain that you haven’t got a contract or terms and conditions document signed by me. I never agreed to this policy, because I never received such a thing. I only signed for a loan, on which the PPI/Coversafe check box which had been ticked by your store assistant. This same assistant who never explained that I was signing for an added insurance policy as well as the Loan.
-Four months after I took the card with yourselves, I moved from xxxxxxx to xxxxxxx in October 2004.and (remove the and) I was unemployed for over a month, but no (claim was made against the )policy was then enforced to help me through my during my period of unemployment, despite me making you aware of my situation when I rang to through a phone call to inform you of my change my address. The policy didn’t help me with the stress of the move either, which was the reason I couldn’t work during that period.
-I only signed for a loan, which, in the signed copy, is swiftly attached to this policy, ticked by your assistant.
For these reasons, I still believe now know that the policy was mis-sold. Your letter of 30th of May doesn’t argue that it wasn’t. It only states that it was, in fact, sold to me even though I wasn’t aware of it.
As result of this, I must conclude that it is not necessarily true that just because I signed for the policy that it still wasn't mis-sold.
It is When I looked into my statements that I realised that under the conditions stated above this should have never been taken, although I never had a chance to refuse it, due to the circumstances in which I signed the loan (in a shop, without any time to look at the document), and because I never received a chance to cancel this policy.
The amount of £55.51 + £4.44 interest is appropriate and reasonable and I would therefore request a second time that you refund these premiums to me.
I look forward to a full and prompt response to this letter and for the matter to be concluded within eight weeks or I shall be contacting the Financial Ombudsman to investigate my complaint or if necessary I will proceed to the small claims Court to recover my money.
Some tweaking by me try removing the blue use the red and copy to a word document to see if you are ok with it. I do not mean to take over your letter just to make it more pertinant to your claim.
Argos Card PPI/Coversafe I need some help
/Coversafe payments, so I wrote to them to request my money back. The same letter has been used to request money from GE Money and I never had any problems, they paid straight away.
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Re: Argos Card PPI/Coversafe I need some help
