Thursday 29 August 2013

CPP COMPENSATION – HOW TO CLAIM

UPDATE AUGUST 2015
CPP Compensation can no longer be claimed through this scheme. If you had a similar product from Affinion and have had a letter from AI Scheme Limited see my Affinion blogpost and see Exceptions below to see if there is another way you can claim compensation.

UPDATE 3 October 2014
CPP compensation can no longer be claimed through the scheme except in the most exceptional circumstances. The deadline for those claims is 28 February 2015. The normal closing date of 30 August 2014 is long past and the Financial Conduct Authority has published the outcome of the scheme. It paid out only £450 million to just under 2.4 million customers, an average of £190 each. That is about one third of the number who were entitled to compensation and who were contacted by the scheme. And it is about a third of the £1.3 billion compensation bill that was expected. So the banks and other providers have once more got away with mis-selling profitable rubbish and keeping most of the proceeds. See my blogpost Misleading with Impunity.

UPDATE 3 FEBRUARY 2014
The Financial Conduct Authority formally launched the compensation scheme on 3 February 2014.

It admitted to me that 140,000 people bought these products from a firm that has not joined the compensation scheme. And the scheme does not include premiums paid before 14 January 2005. In both cases you can still make a claim to get them back through other channels. That process is explained below.

Although the FCA says it is 'compensation' in fact no compensation is being paid. You will just get back the premiums you were tricked into paying and taxable interest at 8%. So far no firm that colluded with CPP to to mis-sell these products has been fined. See my blogpost Misleading with impunity

CLAIM COMPENSATION
If you paid a firm called CPP to insure your credit or debit card against loss or fraud you are almost certainly due compensation. And if you paid the same firm for ID theft protection you should also get money back. These products may have been sold under different names. But they will all have come through CPP.

Seven million people could be due up to several hundred pounds each. If you are one of them it is well worth claiming.

Compensation will normally be due if you bought or renewed either product from 14 January 2005. To qualify you will have to say you were mis-sold the product. The form you are sent will tell you what to say. The sales process was so bad that everyone was mis-sold.

You should NOT use a claims management firm to help you. They will just take a share of your compensation but will do nothing useful.

A few people may not be entitled. Details of who may not get compensation are set out later.

TIMETABLE
The CPP Redress Scheme should have written to you last autumn to let you know you had one of the products. You may not get this letter if you have moved and it does not have your up to date address. You can call 08000 83 43 93 to let the CPP Redress Scheme know about your change of address. This number is free from landlines but from a mobile you could be charged a lot. You can also call that number if you are not sure if you had a policy. If you have moved you should insist that it checks your details.

The High Court approved the redress scheme on 14 January 2014 and it formally begAn on 31 January 2014 and the Financial Conduct Authority formally launched it on 3 February 2014

In February 2014 the Scheme will send you a form to claim compensation for being mis-sold. You will get two forms if you had both credit card protection and ID theft protection.

On this form there will be a box asking why you think you were mis-sold. The paragraphs above the box explain the reasons why it was mis-sold. All you have to do is copy one or more of those reasons into the box. The products were sold so badly that everyone should get compensation.

The sooner your return the form the sooner you will be paid. The first payments will be made from late March or early April 2014. You must return this form by 31 August 2014. If it arrives after that your claim will not be considered unless you have a very good reason for the delay.

If you claim compensation and you are still paying for the product your policy will be cancelled and any future payments will stop. The consensus is that these products offered little that was of use and were not worth the high premiums charged. Card protection insurance cost CPP 60p but it sold the product  for around £35 a year. ID Theft insurance was sold for £84 a year but cost CPP £16.

If you are refused compensation or disagree with the amount there will be a way to challenge it. 

COMPENSATION
All the premiums you paid from 14 January 2005 will be refunded. Interest at 8% a year will be added to those premiums from the date they were paid until the date of your settlement around the middle of March 2014. Tax at 20% will be deducted from the interest but not from the compensation. People who do not pay tax can reclaim the tax deducted from HMRC. People who pay a higher rate of tax will have to pay extra. Any money you have already had paid out on the insurance will be deducted from the compensation.

The CPP card protection product was sold under various names such as CardGuard, Card Safe, Card Protection, Cardholder Protection and Egg Emergency Cover.  The ID theft product was sold under the name CPP Identity Protection. Most people bought the products after calling a number on a new or replacement credit or debit card to ‘activate’ it or report its safe delivery. Those cards will have come from your bank or card provider but the product was supplied by CPP.

Apart from CPP itself the firms in the scheme are

·                 Bank of Scotland (part of Lloyds Banking Group)
·         Barclays Bank
·         Canada Square Operations Limited (formerly Egg Banking)
·         Capital One (Europe) Plc
·         Clydesdale Bank Plc (part of National Australia Group Europe)
·         Home Retail Group Insurance Services Limited
·         HSBC Bank Plc
·         MBNA Limited
·         Morgan Stanley Bank International Limited
·         Nationwide Building Society
·         Santander UK Plc
·         The Royal Bank of Scotland Plc
·         Tesco Personal Finance Plc

So if you were encouraged to buy the product by any of those firms you will be in the compensation scheme.

EXCEPTIONS
Some people who have one of these products may not get compensation through this scheme. But they can still claim compensation through the usual channels – put in a formal complaint to CPP or your bank or card provider and if it is refused go to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

The card protection product was changed in 2011. If you bought it for the first time after it was changed you will not be covered by the scheme. The date of change varies depending on your card provider but it is between 1 March 2011 and 18 September 2011.

The ID theft product was not changed and is covered for all dates. However, CPP Identity Protection is not covered if it was bought face to face or online. Only telephone sales are covered.

Other things that are not covered:-
  • Premiums paid before 14 January 2005 are not covered by the scheme. That's because insurance was not regulated by the Financial Services Authority until that date.
  • Similar card protection or ID theft insurance from other companies is not covered.
  • Some CPP products were sold by firms that are not one of the 13 firms in the scheme which are listed above. They may be included later but it is best to put in a separate claim now and if it is refused go to the Financial Ombudsman Service. 
  • If your CPP product was sold as part of a packaged bank account.
Even if your sale is not covered, you can still try to get compensation by putting in a formal complaint to the bank or card provider or the firm involved and if it is refused go to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

YOU DO NOT NEED TO USE A CLAIMS MANAGEMENT FORM FOR THIS PROCESS EITHER. 

ALREADY CLAIMED
If you have already claimed compensation and been paid then you cannot claim under the Scheme. If you claim was rejected then you still have a claim if you fulfil the scheme criteria. You should be sent the claim form. But if you have not received letters about the scheme late last year then contact the Scheme and make sure you are included.

If you claimed compensation on 22 August 2013 or later then your claim will not have been processed and you should have been told that by letter. You will be sent the claim form in February and should fill it in including the box about why you were mis-sold. It will be processed with all the others.   

MORE INFORMATION
The CPP redress scheme

My blogpost Misleading with Impunity explains how the banks and card providers have got away with their part in this mis-selling.

The FCA statement on CPP redress scheme on 22 August 2013

The original FSA notice about the fine on CPP issued 15 November 2012

The full findings of the FSA on the misselling 15 November 2012

CPP claims 2.12
28 August 2015