Halifax Rejected claim - what next

[Tungata]

This weekend I’ve received a letter from Halifax rejecting a PPI miss-selling claim and I’d appreciate any guidance that can be offered over possible next steps

 

 

Background to my claim is as follows

• Personal Loan taken out 12/13 years ago. I know PPI had been applied
  
• A SAR to Halifax returned the original agreement only, with no other data/information
  
• Submitted the claim, using the FOS Questionnaire and the CAG Single premium PPI spreadsheet
  

 

My claim essentially stated that (at the time of the sale)

• Benefits & exclusions were not fully explained
  
• Not told it was optional
  
• Not told it could be cancelled
  
• Not told I could have sought cover elsewhere
  
• Not asked about my health or employer benefits
  
• Led to believe that PPI would enhance a successful loan application and was pressured to take out the policy to meet sales targets
  

The reasons for rejection basically falls into a number of categories

 

• Benefits and exclusions were defined in a policy booklet sent to me at the time of the application
  
• I had 30 days to cancel and the agreement and policy booklet defined all of the costs
  
• Sales techniques used at the time meant that I wasn’t pressured
  
• No alternative products were available at that time
  
• Identification of particular needs would only have been taken where it was practical to do so
  
• Halifax are satisfied that there was no miss-selling
  

Finally the letter advises I have the option to submit additional information, or otherwise I can take the complaint to FOS

 

Given all of the above, it appears to me that Halifax are not rejecting the claim based on any hard evidence, but more over “what would have happened at that time”, therefore my interpretation of this is that it becomes a dispute over my word against theirs and therefore it will difficult to force a change in this viewpoint.

 

Is there any guidance that can be offered about where I can go with this, or am I at the end of the road? I’ve got initial views, but would welcome any alternative views before I make any further decisions on this

 

TIA

[ims21]

You can go back to them and refute their findings.

 

Appendix 1 of the FSA handbook may provide some ammunition for your counter arguments

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?305682-FSA-Handbook

 

Alternatively you can pass the case to fos to deal with.

[Tungata]

Thanks for this, I'll try and get my head round all the points in the Appendix

 

I have read other threads on here about the relevance of the 30 day rule, which based on my limited knowledge is difficult to argue against. What is the recommendation to counter this point?

[ims21]

Matters not that they say you had 30 days to cancel a PPI policy.

 

It has only just come to light through media attention and the other reasons you have given that it was mis-sold so any alleged cancellation terms are out of the window.

[Tungata]

Another question

 

In the rejection letter, from Halifax, they state:

 

It should be noted that prior to 2005 the sale of PPI was not regulated by the Financial Services Authority. However we are members of The Association of British Insurers which expects its members to conduct business with the utmost faith and integrity.

 

Given that I’m pursuing a claim that relates to a PL taken out on 1999, does this have any real relevance or is it just smokescreen?

[ims21]

Makes no difference

[Tungata]

Just to pick up where I left off with this

 

Finally got round to reading the FSA Handbook and the Appendix, loads of useful stuff in there, so thanks for the tip

 

Basically I've gone back to Halifax, saying that my understanding is that they

 

· Should not rely solely on the detail within the policy’s terms and conditions. Which they are

· Should not reject my claim based on the fact that I signed documentation. Which they are

· Should not reject my claim because I failed to exercise a right to cancel. Which they are

· Should not give more weight to general evidence of selling practices at that time. Which they are

 

Sent this off today (registered of course). Don't know where it will get me, but I'm trying to get my ducks in a row for taking this to FOS

 

Are Halifax under any obligation to respond to my follow up letter within a given period of time?

 

TIA

 

T

[ims21]

Normally you would put in a time frame so it is really a matter of waiting a reasonable time before sending a reminder. If it were me, 14 days would be when I chase it up.

[Riskman]

Have you made any progress with this?

[Tungata]

Have you made any progress with this?

 

Despite the recommendation of IMS to chase this after 2 weeks, I did not do so until last week. I called them last week, essentially to ask when I can expect a response to my rejection (of their rejection) and to remind them that I am expecting an answer. I was told that my case had only recently been passed on for a more detailed review. Not bad being as they had then had my letter for 7 weeks..... Ultimately, I'm in no rush to close this quickly, so I'm reasonably comfortable that they are (supposedly) looking at it again