Have you moved house and trying to claim on your old PPI? Should you use your old or new address on the PPI claim form?
If you have moved house since closing the account, which of your addresses should you put on the complaint?
I had an interesting PPI problem recently. Back when I lived at my parents address I had an Ulster Bank (RBS) credit card which had Payment Protection Insurance on it.
The credit card account was closed several years ago so the last address Ulster Bank will have had for me was my parents address.
Wind the clock forward to the present, I am submitting my PPI complaint form and I have moved house since then.
I am wondering which of the addresses I should put on the form. My new residential address where I currently live, or my old address where I lived with my parents.
My parents still live at the original address so there will be no issues with me receiving letters to that address.
And as the credit card was closed while I still lived at the old address, before I moved house, Ulster Bank (RBS) should have that old address on their records.
Maybe it would be easier for them to find my details if I used the old address that they had on file at the time.
WRONG!!!
Having posted my PPI complaint form to Ulster Bank (RBS) using my old address, my parents address, I heard nothing for about three weeks. I thought this was a bit strange as they say that they acknowledge PPI complaints within around a week.
Then I received a letter addressed to me at my parents address, querying the address I had used and asking for proof of address.
Rather than making things easier I had made them much more complicated.
Ulster Bank (RBS) were now assuming I had moved back to my parents address having done an identity check and finding that the address I had given on my PPI complaint form did not match that returned from all currently stored records for me.
Long story short, always put your current residential address on your PPI complaint form, even if you have moved house.
I had to send them a letter explaining what I had done and why, and I provided my new residential address which would match the address they had obviously found via an identity check.
Embarrassing! And more hassle than it needed to be…
For those that are interested, here is the letter from Ulster Bank (RBS) querying the address change.
Thank you for your recent complaint regarding Payment Protection Insurance. Unfortunately the current address you have supplied does not correspond with that on our records.
To enable us to process your case, please can you provide us with two different pieces of information to confirm your current address. This can be:
Full driving licence
Utility bills
Council tax bill
Water rates bill
Bank statements
Credit card statements
Correspondence from HMRC
Any letter from the Benefits Agency confirming rights to benefits
Local council rent card or council tenancy agreementsThese must all be dated within the last three months except your driving licence which must simply be valid.
Please do not send originals or make any amendments/highlight any part of the documents as this may affect their legibility.
To enable us to locate your original correspondence, please quote …..
Upon receipt of the above documentation we will proceed with your complaint, however please note that if you hold any open accounts with The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, you should contact your branch to update your details or alternatively, if you are registered, you can amend your details with telephone banking.
Should you have any queries, please contact us on the telephone number at the top of this letter.
And here is a copy of the letter I sent back correcting my address mistake.
On my recent contact regarding Payment Protection Insurance I had provided you with the postal address …….. This was the address that was on my last Ulster Bank credit card statement from ……. It is still my parents address and I had provided it as I believed it might be easier for you to trace my records.
However, following your recent letter querying this address it appears that you may need my current residential address instead.
That being the case, please update your records with the following address:
.
.
.Apologies for any confusion in this matter
Along with my letter, I included a copy of their letter to me and a couple of proof of address items, just in case.
I have now received an initial standard response letter back from Ulster Bank (RBS) to confirm that my PPI complaint is being looked into.
Thank you for your recent complaint regarding PPI. We will now undertake a full investigation of the way in which the insurance was sold to you. We hope that our response to your complaint will show that we value our relationships with our customers and take seriously any grievance they may have about the service we have offered.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) guidance states we have eight weeks from the date we receive your complaint to investigate it and respond to you in writing giving our final decision. If our investigation is likely to take longer than eight weeks we will advise you of this. At this point, you will have the opportunity to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
If you are, or have been, subject to an Individual Voluntary Agreement (IVA), Protected Trust Deed, Bankruptcy or Sequestration, please provide us with the requisite details of that agreement as soon as possible. Failure to provide the information promptly will affect the length of time take to deal with your complaint. Please also ensure that you inform your insolvency practitioner of your PPI complaint if your alternative arrangement is ongoing.
For further information please find ‘What happens when I make a PPI complaint’ printed overleaf.
We understand that you may wish to discuss matters in relation to your complaint during the course of the investigation. If so, please contact our telephony team the number at the top of this letter and we will be happy to help you.
I have also received a couple of text messages to my mobile phone confirming that the PPI investigation is underway and confirming a date by which I should receive a final decision.