Welcome to our site. Here you will find the latest information on how you can claim back thousands of pounds back in fee refunds from banks, credit card companies and payment protection insurance (PPI) providers.

The purpose of this site if to provide you with the tools, news and assistance you need in order to get money back that you are owed.

Bank charges have become part of our life and second nature but they are not legally enforceable. Penalty clauses in contracts in English (and Scottish) law for breach of contract aren’t legal if the penalty exceeds the actual cost of the breach of either party.

We all know that it does not cost a bank £25 to £39 to return a Direct Debit, Standing Order or cheque, and luckily so do judges, and indeed the banks. It’s purely a money making scheme, and a lucrative one at that – with estimates that the charges from the top 4 UK high street banks generated £4.7 billion in one year alone. One in five bank customers incur these types of charges, and because it's a bank imposing them, most people assume that the bank must be legally entitled to do so. Wrong.

How can charges get so big, why do people reclaim £1000s?

These charges snowball. Imagine you go beyond the overdraft limit, you're then hit with a fine for that and a couple of fines for bounced cheques or Direct Debits. Now suddenly you're around £100 down, which you can't afford to repay - next month there are more fines - and so it continues.

So, what are the rules?

Under the 1977 Unfair Terms (contracts) Act, the sheer fact that all banks make these charges makes this a breach of the act.

This is also a breach of the 1999 Consumer Credit Act (Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts - the OFT is already investigating the charges levied by Credit Card Companies) and possibly the Sale of Goods Act, and many others.

The short version is, with the correct advice and consultation it is possible for the client to recover all unfair bank charges for the last six years plus interest.

The government body warned the financial industry that card default charges - often at least £20 - should "only reflect the administrative costs of dealing with the default" and suggested £12 would be a fairer. It followed that up with a stinging left hook aimed at banks who charge current account customers upwards of £25 for slipping into the red even for a day, with extra charges for payments while overdrawn. They too, it warned, need to be reviewed.

As for the banks - the five largest of which last year posted profits of more than £30bn.

Payment Protection Insurance

Payment Protection Insurance, or PPI, as it is commonly known, is fundamentally an insurance policy that should be offered to loan applicants to safeguard an agreed monthly finance premium should they become ill, be made redundant or die. Under normal circumstances it is actually a good idea, and one that should be at least considered if you are going to commit to a monthly outlay for a fixed amount of money.

In my opinion, all retail outlets and loan companies should offer PPI to all its applicants because as any good insurance company will preach “You never know what’s round the corner”.

To take out an insurance policy for a motor vehicle, home and contents insurance or commercial liability, the applicant is carefully vetted with lots of questions. This procedure is called a “fact find” and as the term suggests, it is designed to gather all the facts to establish the level of risk to the insurance company, premiums to the client and to establish if the policy is appropriate for the person and for the risk which is being insured against.

This is where any similarity to any form of normal insurance cover comes to an end in relation to PPI. Although the same principle or procedure should apply to applicants of PPI, it doesn’t. Most people don’t even know they have a PPI policy attached to the loan or credit agreement as it was simply added to the premiums, usually without an explanation and often without the applicants’ knowledge. There is no fact find to establish suitability or appropriateness; it is simply given to the client, often without their knowledge.

Sometimes the client is made aware of the PPI policy but is forced to take the policy out because it is “part of the agreement or loan” and that the loan is conditional on taking out the PPI. The only reason the client is forced to take the policy out is to massively increase the profit margin of the seller’s product or the Loan Company or both.

The average profit on a PPI policy is around 350% and is equal to approximately 30-45% of the total debt.

The amazing fact about PPI policies is that the number of claims which are honoured is almost nil. In fact, they were not designed to be claimed upon and the policy provider will wriggle out of a claim by any method necessary. For example, the single largest reason for absence from work in the UK is “back problem”. This is specifically excluded from cover with the majority of PPI policies. It is estimated that between one in six and one in four people suffer from mental health problems at some time in their life. This is also excluded. The policies are often sold to people who are self-employed or on fixed term contracts. These categories are also excluded.

The normal approach an insurance company will take to avoid a claim is to simply point to the exclusion list, which is extensive to say the least, find the appropriate exclusion and ultimately avoid responsibility under the policy.

The client has no say in this decision, as they were not included in any “fact find”. Or the client was not told of the 6 months deferred payment by the insurance company making the client liable for any payments for the first 6 months and so on. In addition, the policies are often limited to a specific period, usually of 12 months.

This industry is huge, with massive profits. Pound for pound the most profitable insurance product in existence with no marketing costs, no acquisition costs, no point of sale costs, no staffing costs etc with virtually no claims being honoured.

Further, consider the figures below:

The motor insurance market equals £9 billion per year but at least they are real policies that can be claimed upon if needs be.

The home contents and building insurance market equals £8 billion per year but at least they are real policies that can be claimed upon if needs be.

The electronic and white goods warranties available at Comet and Dixons for example is a £3 billion per year market but at least they are real policies that can be claimed upon if needs be.

The PPI market is valued at nearly £6 billion per year with virtually no costs and no claims being honoured.

The sale of PPI props up almost all banking profits. For example, at the internet bank Egg, PPI sales accounted for 20% of its pre-tax profits in 2004, 17% at Lloyds TSB, 12% at Alliance & Leicester and 11% at Halifax.

PPI can still be claimed back even if an individual is undertaking a debt management plan to deal with a multiple debt situation.  Rent Collection PPI problems can also be considered. 

Other forms of legal claims such as RTA & motorbike accident claims require separate representation by a solicitor as they are unrelated claims.