Money Saving Expert reveals what to do if you missed the PPI claim deadline
The deadline to claim for mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) has now passed.
Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis urged people to check if they were eligible to claim for PPI by August 29, 2019.
Banks and other companies were forced to pay billions to customers who were unaware they had bought PPI.
Around 60 million policies were sold over the last few decades.
Millions of Brits were able to get thousands of pounds back – but unfortunately the deadline has now passed.
There was a massive rush to claim for PPI, which saw bank websites crash .
- PPI claim websites crash on deadline day – here is what to do if you are affected
That means many Brits may have been unable to claim for insurance which was sold to them without their knowledge.
Although the deadline has passed, Money Saving Expert believes there are a handful “exceptional circumstances”, which means claiming can still be possible.
The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) said: “As the deadline has now passed, you can no longer make a complaint to the financial business, unless your PPI policy was sold after 29 August 2017 or your complaint is about a claim being turned down by an insurer.
“But if you can clearly show that there were exceptional circumstances that meant you missed the deadline, you might still be able to complain."
The FOS’ examples of exceptional circumstances include “periods of serious ill health, or a bereavement at the relevant time in question”.
- What is PPI? Credit card, loan and mortgage owners could be owed thousands
Money Saving Expert also lists the banks having system crashes as a potential exceptional circumstance.
The website says: “Barclays, Co-op, NatWest, RBS and Santander all admitted they had major issues.
“If you were affected by a bank systems error, urgently contact your bank to file a claim under exceptional circumstances if it doesn’t have your original claim.
“If it has but insists you missed the deadline, urge the bank to look at it.”
- PPI claim deadline: How to make a claim with free Money Saving Expert tool
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said that the firms had to be “pragmatic” if customers weren’t able to submit a claim.
Money Saving Expert said: “In plain English, it’s ordering banks to look into these claims, and we certainly expect banks to consider claims where their systems prevented people from reclaiming.”
Santander has officially extended its deadline to 8pm on Friday, August 30.
Another option which Money Saving Expert has put forward it small claims court.
However, there is “no guarantee it’ll work and we don’t have loads of info on previous cases to help give you guidance”.
Money Saving Expert continued: “You’ll need to make sure you’re comfortable with the details of the argument and doing it yourself.
“Alternatively, you could hire a firm of solicitors (on a no-win, no-fee basis) to do it for you.”
It is also worth remembering you can reclaim the tax you had on a PPI claim payout if it came on or after April 6, 2016.
This could be “worth £100s, or even £1000s in some cases”, said Money Saving Expert.
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