Payment Protection Insurance (PPI)

Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) provides cover for the monthly repayments of your loan(s) if you are made unemployed, have an accident, become sick or die.

first direct stopped selling Payment Protection Insurance in April 2008. Prior to that time, four main products had been sold:

Personal Loan Protection Plan
Balance Protector
Flexiloan Repayment Protection
Mortgage Repayment Protection

Regulatory and Media interest has been focused on PPI products for the last few years due to concerns that some of these products may have been mis-sold when customers took out Loans, Credit Cards or Mortgages.

Following a legal ruling in April 2011, rules set out by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) regarding how firms, including first direct, should deal with PPI complaints have been adopted.

If you believe you were mis-sold PPI

We're sorry that you have a concern about Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) and we will do our best to investigate your complaint as swiftly as we can.

You don't need to use a claims management company

If you feel you need to make a complaint, we would like to highlight that there is no need to use a claims management company (CMC) to make your complaint. Whilst you are of course free to do so, the claims management companies usually take a fee or percentage of any compensation you are paid.

If you contact us direct we will assess your complaint in exactly the same way that we treat complaints sent in by a CMC and you won't incur a fee.

To help us assess your complaint, please provide full details of why you believe you were mis-sold PPI. You may find it helpful to complete and send us the questionnaire available on the Financial Ombudsman Service website, however, it is not mandatory for it to be completed.

Sending us this form should ensure we have all the information we need to process your complaint efficiently and as quickly as possible.

Questionnaires can be sent to us at:

first direct
40 Wakefield Road
Leeds
LS98 1FD

How long will I have to wait before I receive a response?

As with all areas of our customer service, we always want to be able to resolve any concerns you raise with us as soon as possible. We expect to resolve your complaint within eight weeks. In any event, we will acknowledge your complaint within five working days and be in touch within eight weeks to update you on our investigation. If you have not received a reply from us within eight weeks of raising your complaint, you have the right to refer your case to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

We are also working closely with the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) to ensure that any PPI complaints that have been referred to them are resolved as quickly as possible.

The FSA has published details of the timescales for the handling of complaints relating to PPI, these are available on the FSA's website.

If you have already made a complaint, there's no need to do anything further. We will review it as soon as possible and then write to you confirming the outcome of our investigation.

first direct PPI Complaint Process

To make the whole process as straightforward as we can we've listed our complaint process detailing the steps taken until the complaint has been resolved.

A PPI complaint can take up to eight weeks to fully investigate. During this time we will keep you informed of our progress and ask that you await our update. If we don't provide this update within the eight week period you have the right to refer your case to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

• Step 1 - Complaint received by us

• Step 2 - Your Complaint is reviewed

  Once we receive your PPI complaint, we review the details and log it onto our systems.

• Step 3- Confirmation by letter

  Once your complaint is received and logged, we'll send you a letter acknowledging it has been received. If you have raised a complaint via a Claims Management Company (CMC) this letter will be sent directly to them.

• Step 4 - Processing the complaint

  To support our investigation, background information and documentation will be gathered regarding your complaint.

• Step 5 - Decisioning

  Your complaint will then be reviewed and a decision will be made to either reject or uphold it, based on the information received.

  If your complaint is upheld, we will progress with Step 6.

  If your complaint is rejected, we will send out a letter to confirm. If you raised it via a CMC this letter will be sent directly to them.

• Step 6 - Settlement offer

  It the complaint is upheld, a calculation of the redress offer will be sent to you, (or the CMC if applicable).

• Step 7 - Settlement

  Once you have accepted the offer, the settlement payment will be made within four weeks of receiving your signed acceptance.

Frequently asked questions

To make the whole process as straightforward as we can, we've listed below some frequently asked questions about PPI and further independent sources of information for you if you have any further questions.

A claims management company (CMC) has offered to handle my complaint for me. What should I do?

We'll assess complaints sent directly to us in exactly the same way and in the same timescale as complaints sent in by a CMC, so there's no need to use their services. For independent guidance on how CMCs work visit the which? website.

What else do I need to know about the process?

If you need more information you might find it helpful to consult the Financial Ombudsman Service, which provides an independent source of information. Visit www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk.

I would like to complain about a PPI policy that was sold to me in the past, what do I need to do?

Please provide us with full details of why you believe you were mis-sold PPI. You may find it helpful to complete and send us the questionnaire available on the Financial Ombudsman Service website.

Please send your questionnaire to the address below to ensure we have the information we need to process your complaint efficiently and as quickly as possible.

first direct
40 Wakefield Road
Leeds
LS98 1FD

I cancelled my policy early, can I still make a complaint about PPI?

Although you may have cancelled your PPI policy early, you can still make a complaint by following the process outlined above.

My circumstances have changed, can I still make a complaint about PPI?

Although your circumstances may have changed, you can still make a complaint by following the process outlined above.

What was the outcome of the Judicial Review?

In April 2011 the High Court announced that it had dismissed the British Bankers Association's (BBA) Judicial Review application, which challenged the way the Financial Ombudsman Service and Financial Services Authority said banks should handle complaints about the sale of Payment Protection Insurance (PPI). The Court dismissed the Judicial Review application in its entirety.

What is first direct's position regarding the High Court judgment?

first direct accept the High Court's decision and we are working with the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Financial Services Authority to ensure we handle all Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) complaints in accordance with the new FSA Dispute Resolution (DISP) rules.

What can I do if I am dissatisfied with your decision?

After receiving our decision if you remain dissatisfied you have the right to refer this matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London, E14 9SR. You can telephone them on 0845 080 1800 or visit www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk for further information.