Talking about insurance, loans, and PPI claims with Mrs. Callahan
My favorite customer in the boutique that I work for came in today. Mrs. Debra Callahan has always been one of my favorite customers. She's a very chatty 68-year-old lady, who loves red pumps and white bags. She was her usual bubbly self when she came in to buy a pair of shoes for her daughter's wedding. "Sweetheart, I can afford to buy two pairs of shoes today because I just got my refund for my PPI! Can you get me a size 8 of this gold one please?"
When I came back from the stockroom bringing Mrs. Callahan's shoes, she continued, "Did you take out a loan lately? Did you buy a PPI along with it?" I had no idea what she was talking about. "PPI is payment protection insurance. It's usually sold to you by a bank or financial institution when you apply for a credit card or take out a loan in case something happens to you and you can no longer pay your debt," she explained to me. She further explained that PPI's are generally applicable only to employed individuals who are 18 to 65 years old. However, a lot of people have been mis-sold their payment protection insurance. Some people were told that their loan or credit card application won't be approved if they don't buy the policy. In other cases, the banks sneak the policy into the loan. They don't tell the borrowers about adding the policy. In other cases, which was what happened to Mrs. Callahan, she was sold the policy even if she didn't need it since she was already retired when she applied for her credit card.
"I did apply for a credit card last year, and I remember a "Credit Care" item appearing on my statement," I told her after she finished her explanation. "I actually don't know what it is all about, but I didn't think about it too much." Mrs. Callahan excitedly clapped her hands. "That could be it! If you are unsure, you can check out this site out, " she said as she wrote the website http://www.ppi.com/ on a piece of paper. "They'll check if you are eligible for a refund!"
When I got home today, I found out that http://www.ppi.com/ actually does the processing of your PPI claim, and they won't charge anything until you receive your refund. Now all I have to do is to look for the paperwork for my credit card application.
(Photo credit: Image: hin255 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net)