EMCAS Stand Up for the Consumer as Banks Reject Over 44% of Claims in 9 months

(PRWEB UK) 20 June 2013

Victims of mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) are facing a second blow as UK banks stall for time. EMCAS, a leading claims management company has stepped in as they believe banks are stalling legitimate consumer claims, rejecting over 44% of claims in the past nine months.

In the light of the rising rejects, more consumers have had no choice but to refer their case to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) in order to ensure that they get their money back. EMCAS have spoken to 31 people whose independent claims have been rejected and only 6 then appealed to the FOS. In fact, 8 didn’t even know they could take their complaint further when it was rejected by the bank.

EMCAS have recently discovered how large the volume of PPI-related complaints are received by the FOS. In 2012 the PPI complaints rose by 240% to 355,263 and accounted for 28% of all their complaints. However, 82% of these were then overturned in favour of the PPI customer.

Consumer anger towards the banks is widespread, research released today by EMCAS demonstrated that almost 46% agree that banks should be more open about mis-selling mistakes and paying the money back. Around 37% of consumers agreed that the banks have ‘got off lightly’ for mis-selling.

Consumer confidence has also been knocked with 33% no longer trusting banks to give them advice about the appropriate products for them. Around 57% of those who have ever been mis-sold financial products feel angry with their provider for mis-selling to them in the first place.

Craig Bernhardt, Chief Executive at EMCAS said: “We know that there are over 6.9 million mis-sold PPI policies which consumers have yet to complain about. As a result UK Consumers are still missing out on money that is rightfully theirs. However, many are now experiencing further delays in getting their money back with an increasing number of cases being referred to the FOS. The FOS are then ruling in favour of consumers more than eight times out of 10 – highlighting a problem in the way the banks are handling their customers’ complaints.”

Since April 2010 EMCAS have had 89% of cases upheld in favour of the consumer by the FOS. The amount of compensation returned to consumers through these cases is over £10 million, highlighting the important role of perseverance in ensuring that a fair outcome is reached and that consumers get back what is rightfully theirs.

Craig Bernhardt continues: “We urge consumers to not be put off by the process or to be daunted by taking a claim through the FOS, especially if they are acting on their own. At EMCAS we are on a mission to ensure that all consumers who have been a victim of mis-selling reclaim what is rightfully theirs, and with banks increasingly rejecting cases which are later upheld, it’s important that the right final outcome is reached. To us PPI is very much just the tip of the iceberg and consumers should dig through their paperwork for other products that they may have been mis-sold over the years, across savings, mortgages and pensions too.”

For more information about how EMCAS can help you to make a claim for financial mis-selling please visit: http://www.missing-millions.co.uk

For more information please contact Katie Spreadbury/Abigail Sutton at Consolidated PR – 0207 781 2300 katies(at)consolidatedpr(dot)com or emcas(at)consolidatedpr(dot)com

Notes to Editors:

About the research

The consumer research was commissioned by EMCAS and all figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2064 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 15th – 18th March 2013. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+).

About EMCAS

Established in 2003, EMCAS is a leading financial claims management company based in Devon. To date EMCAS has helped over 470,000 customers from across the UK reclaim more than £365 million in compensation. We are passionate about restoring financial justice and our daily mission is to help consumers who have been mis-sold a financial product to reclaim what is rightfully theirs. Our team of experts deal with a range of products such as Saving & Investments, Endowment Mortgages, Pensions and Payment Protection Insurance. We also have a specialist Research and Development Team who are continually exploring new ways we can help people who been affected by the mis-selling of financial products. Visit http://www.missing-millions.co.uk

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