With the recent and disppointing news that the Office of Fair Trading does not intend to pursue the test case for unfair bank charges, the number of consumer PPI Claims look set to increase.

The bank charges case has served only to shed further light onto examples of consumers being, frankly ripped off by lending institutions and other big corporations and one such area that looks set for a surge in applications is the mis-sold PPI cases.
PPI, or Payment Protection Insurance, is often sold alongside loans, credit or store cards and is designed to protect the consumer in cases where he or she, through no fault of their own, becomes unable to make their monthly repayment. Examples include cases where an individual is made redundant, for example. While this in itself is certainly no bad thing, it is the way in which it has been sold (or rather terribly mis-sold) that is proving to be something of a huge concern for consumer groups.
Most policies stipulate in the terms that they will not cover you if you are unemployed, retired or self-employed at the time you take out your loan or card. Yet even people who fall into these categories and have explicitly made this known on their applications, have been sold these loans despite the fact that they will never be able to claim on the policies. In other situations, people have been sold the PPI without even realising it or without being made completely aware that it is optional. It’s not just loose change we’re talking about, either –  banks and credit brokers selling it. There are 20 million PPI policies in the UK, worth an estimated £5 billion annually to the industry.
The FSA has been issuing fines to companies who have sold the insurance incorrectly. The Financial Ombudsman has also complained to the FSA that it believes some lenders are deliberately declining all attempts by individuals to reclaim. Of the PPI claims that were referred to the Ombudsman in the 12 months from April 2009, 89% went in favour of the consumer. In fact, in September 2009, Lynne Thorius enjoyed a landmark legal victory against lender MBNA. Not only was she able to make a PPI claim, she also had her entire £8000 credit card debt wiped out as a result of being wrongly sold the policy.
Anyone who believes they may be eligible for PPI claims is advised to seek expert advice immediately.