Reclaiming PPI from HFB Bank

[Scooby_Doo2]

Don't worry - the stalking wasn't that bad - I didn't need a restraining order anyway

 

I can't see any attachments though which is what we really need to work out how much they charged you for the PPI and associated insurance (which they used to call "specialty insurance").

 

It's important to note that whilst you were sold PPI, you were also sold additional insurance which would be subject to the same regulations as the PPI. HFC were fined just over £1m for failing to adhere to those regulations. Furthermore, the premiums for the additional insurances could be monthly or single premium. If they are single premium, they would be added to the loan (thus increasing your debt) and attract interest over the full term of the loan (further increasing your debt).

 

Nobody here will or should advise you on whether to keep those insurances or not. Even if someone is qualified to give advice in their day job, they shouldn't do it here (main reason is they don't know enough about your personal circumstances to make a recommendation). So that's up to you to decide, or seek independent advice from a qualified advisor.

 

However, with copies of the legal agreements, we can work out how much the premiums were and how much you were charged in interest. If you took your case to the Financial Ombudsman Service and won (which seems likely from our previous discussions), then you would also be awarded 8% simple interest from the date the policy started and maybe an amount for distress/inconvenience (usually £100-£200).

 

I am fairly certain that for a £10k loan, your PPI premium would be a lot more than £938. This might be the joint life part of it (on the legal agreement the PPI was split into the Life premium and the ASU premium as the life portion went to Hamilton Life Assurance Company Ltd and the ASU went to Hamilton Insurance Company Ltd).

 

If your Critical Illness and Accident Cover policies were single premiums, you would also have been given separate legal agreements for these.

 

As dx100uk said, HFC are talking rubbish. In fact, if they have lost that information, then they have some very serious failings in their systems and controls. It sounds to me like they are hoping you'll accept the first offer they make. If they don't believe they sold you PPI, where the hell did they get £1592.93 from and why would they offer it in the first place?

 

Forget the fact that it is near to Christmas - don't let them fob you off.

 

The 6 months that dx100uk refers to is the time limit you have to take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service once HFC have issued a final response letter (their last word on the matter). I would doubt HFC's first offer was a final response as they operate a 2 stage complaints process, but even if you didn't respond within 6 months, this would not prejudice and legal action you could take.

 

Sorry for the wall of text - get your documents uploaded (black out any personally identifiable information) and we can let you know where you stand.

 

Scooby

[Scooby_Doo2]

Sorry for the delay.

 

This is what's happened:

 

You took a loan for £10,000. Of that, £8,140.13 was received by you. £1,324.87 was used to pay off existing credit. That leaves £535.00 unaccounted for. I'll come back to this in a minute.

 

The PPI premium is calculated on the full £10,000 and added to your loan. The premium was £938.13 meaning your total loan was £10,938.13.

 

Interest is then calculated on £10,938.13 over the full term of the loan.

 

One important thing to point out is that missing £535.00. I suspect this is likely to be your Critical Illness Cover policy. This is totally separate to the PPI. Critical Illness Cover normally pays out a lump sum in the event of a serious illness (certain cancers, heart attack, stroke etc). You'll need to check your policy documents to see what you're covered for.

 

Now, in order to sell you this policy, HFC should have followed the same process to sell you PPI and establish that you had a need for the policy and also to make sure it was suitable for your needs.

 

The FSA took over regulation of general insurance on 15th January 2005, so in selling this policy HFC must comply with the regulations and be able to demonstrate that they did so.

 

The documents you have posted are not your legal agreements. It is actually a Key Features document that shows you all the information about the product you are about to purchase. This is designed to give you all the information you need to know before signing on the dotted line on the real agreement.

 

When HFC sold a loan, PPI and a Critical Illness policy (as a single premium), you would get 2 legal agreements - 1 for the loan plus PPI, the other for the Critical Illness premium plus PPI. The net loan on the two agreements together in your case would add up to £10,000.

 

Now, your PPI cost was £938.13. The interest for this over the full term was £657.87 giving a total repayable of £1596.00. This doesn't take account of the PPI premium or interest on the £535.00 for the Critical Illness policy.

 

You may well be wise to either ask HFC to provide you with copies of your legal agreements (making a request under the Consumer Credit Act) or making a full data subject access request to get copies of everything they hold about you. If you have the proper legal agreements, I can tell you exactly what they charged and for what element of the loan/PPI.

 

I don't think HFC have tried to cover anything up here, but I do think they have neglected to look at your other insurances that were sold at the same time and by the same person that sold you the defective PPI policy.

 

That said, I think it's rather arrogant of HFC to say they don't accept your allegations when they were fined over £1m by the FSA for failing to treat customers fairly when selling PPI. I suspect there are legal reasons why they said that to be honest.

 

Hope this helps.

 

ps. Your letters to HFC are excellent by the way!