Santander/A&L PPI claim questions

[bbr]

Hi all

 

I have been going through many posts on this site but was hoping that someone could give me their opinion on the following.

 

I took at a personal unsecured loan back in April 2005 with A&L, over a 4 year period, which I had PPI on.

 

 

I wrote to Santander advising that I believed that they mis-sold the PPI to me over the phone.

They have just responded declining my claim stating the following:

 

Santander undertook a customer contact exercise for customers who purchased A&L PPI via the telephone between 14 January 2005 & 31 December 2007.

 

This exercise took place between January 2009 and October 2009 where we wrote to you at ***** for loan account *****. T

he purpose was to advise that we had identified problems with the sales of some PPI products

and that depending on your circumstances that you might be entitled to a refund.

 

In order to investigate this possibility we requested that you contact us on the telephone number provided in our letter or write to us using the pre paid envelope we enclosed.

 

As you did not respond to the letter, we sent you a follow up letter, enclosing a copy of the original letter,

advising that if we did not hear back from you within 14 days we would consider the matter closed.

 

For your reference, i have enclosed template copies of both the letters you would have received.

 

Our records show that you chose not to register any complaint following either letter.

 

The FCA (previously FSA), who regulate Santander, allow us to place a reasonable time limit on when we will accept complaints from customers

we have written to advising that they may have been mis-sold and notifying them of what they need to do next in order for us to assess if any compensation is due.

 

This is known as "time bar" and means that you can only complain about the sale of a policy if you do so within 6 years of the sale of your policy,

or, if later, 3 years from the date of our letter sent to you.

 

I am satisfied that 3 years have elapsed since we wrote to you in which you had the opportunity to decide whether

or not you had any concerns over the way in which your PPI was sold, a

nd to make a complaint about it, therefore your complaint is now time barred.

 

 

I was going to respond stating that I am not happy with their decision but just wanted to run this by you guys to make sure what I am saying is correct:

 

1. I did not receive the letters that they state they sent to me between January & October 2009.

The copy letters that they have provided do not have an address on or any of my loan details, they are merely templates.

 

 

Can I state that this is not proof that they sent these letters to me unless they can provide actual evidence of the original letters and also the dates posted?

 

 

The loan finished in April 2009 and I moved out of that address in September 2009

- if they sent the letters in September or October that year then I would not have received them.

 

2. They are stating that my claim is "time barred" so I am assuming they are referring to the Limitations Act

and they say that I can not claim if 6 years have passed since the sale of my policy.

 

 

Am I right in saying that the Limitations Act on time barring is 6 years after the last payment made

(last payment date being April 2009) and not from the date of sale (April 2005)?

 

3. If point 2 is 6 years from the sale date then am I right in saying that as I did not receive the letters they "sent" in 2009

then I have 3 years from the time that I became aware of the mis-selling?

That being 3 years from now and not from the date of the letters?

 

4. I take it that the wording in their reply also confirms that I did have PPI as I do not have any paperwork?

 

Sorry for it being sooo long but hope someone can help!

 

Many Thanks

[dx100uk]

oh dear

 

 

satans bank and that advisor are WRONG.

 

 

the FSA guidelines clearly state that they should take

reasonable steps to ensure they write to the correct address

 

 

blindly sending out letters to their recorded last known address

for the person that took out the loan is not deemed as 'resonable'.

 

 

if you've been on voters - lets say, since you moved

 

 

they should have looked there or on your cra file for an updated address.

 

 

my mrs got a letter from MBNA for a card she had in 1992!!

 

 

they wrote to her at her new address as of 2008.

 

 

there's a PDF on the FSA website that outlines the steps and the process

 

 

sadly I'm not on my usual PC to post the link.

 

 

dx

[t18con]

what about SARing them to see what address is actually on those letters they sent out to you??? then you have proof they messed up?

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Yes SAR now, and specify exactly what you want as well as all personal data held.

[Andybars]

The other important thing if this is the same template letter that I am thinking of is that it actually tells you that your right to complain is unaffected - am I right in thinking two paragraphs from the end it states

 

"If we have not heard from you by DATE we will assume that you are satisfied with your policy. Please note that this does not affect your right to raise any concerns at a later date"

 

If it is this particular template Essentially, Santander assume that if you do not respond you are "satisfied" *i.e unaware of a problem and a need to complain so the 3 year time bar clock would not start. Also your "right to raise any concerns at a later date" is unaffected i.e it will not seek to time bar your complaint.

 

I would also be very surprised if any SAR provided copies of the actual letter given previous experience with Santander.

 

Hopefully, this will be helpful to you and to anybody else where Santander (Alliance & Leicester) are attempting the same stunt even if they claim to have sent to the correct address

[bbr]

Thanks for your replies.

 

They have already confirmed that they wrote to my old address so all I need from them is the exact dates they sent those to me. If they sent the letters after the middle of September 2009 then I would not have received them at that address. Would spending £10 on a SAR be worth it just to get the exact dates, especially as it is not guaranteed that they will have these dates?

 

Also, as Andybars has stated, they can't time bar me as I was not aware of the problem at the time they wrote to me as I didn't receive the letters and that it didn't affect my right to complain in the future. Is this right and that as I am complaining now that the 3 years starts from now?

 

Many Thanks

[dx100uk]

further [page 3 ]

[bbr]

dx100uk - is what you are referring to in favour of me or Santander?

[dx100uk]

both:

[bbr]

Thanks dx100uk.

 

So, most of that is in favour of Santander in that they included all of the relevant wording and "sent" a CCL to me and a reminder.

 

But, on my side I have page 6 under Other obligations including record keeping.

Points 13 & 14 state that they need to make sure my address is correct before sending the letters,

ensure that they have systems and controls in place to prove that they have sent the CCL and when,

and they must keep adequate and accessible records of:

the content, distribution, posting and likely receipt date of the CCLs and any reminders.

 

So,

would my next step be to write back to Santander stating that the copy template letters they provided

do not prove where (although they have already said my old address) and when they were sent and to provide accurate evidence of this?

 

 

Would I quote their obligations to keep a record of this as set out in those FSA guidelines?

 

Cheers

[dx100uk]

its something I'm 'revisiting ' and gathering stuff together again.

 

 

IMHO, they did not take or make satisfactory investigations upon your correct address

at the time of the CCL

so it invalidates their claim you are out of time.

 

 

andy?

 

 

dx