FAQs

PPI stands for Payment Protection Insurance. PPI is a kind of insurance contract that can be taken out with a loan, credit card, mortgage or other financing (such as catalogue or store accounts, or car financing). It was supposed to provide protection to individuals to ensure that credit repayments could be met if they were not able to work, due to illness or redundancy.

What is the claim about?
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Even though the deadline for making a complaint to your lender for having been ‘mis-sold’ PPI has now passed, it is possible for individuals to bring a claim against their lender due to a Supreme Court decision in 2017. This is because consumers were often not told that a large proportion of the money they were charged in PPI premiums were paid to the lenders by insurance companies in commission.

These claims are sometimes called ‘Plevin’ claims, after a case that was brought by Susan Plevin who had found out that nearly 72% of her PPI premium was paid to her lender in pure commission. She claimed she would never have taken the PPI policy out had she have known it would be so high, and therefore decided to bring her lender to court on the basis the amount of commission was unfair. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court, which agreed with Mrs Plevin and decided that secretly charging excessive commissions could render a relationship between a consumer and the lender unfair. That is the basis of our group claim.

As a result of Mrs Plevin’s case, the Financial Conduct Authority (‘FCA’) told all lenders to revisit certain consumers’ policies and refund any amount of commission charged on PPI policy that was over 50%. We dispute that this represents adequate compensation, but not all lenders made refunds even to this level. Consumers who have either not been compensated at all or who have only been partially compensated are therefore forced to issue legal proceedings to recover the commission, which can be costly and take a long time to conclude. A major downside to this is that all, or nearly all Plevin claims are heard by the County Court on an individual basis, even though all such cases are made on the same basis, raise similar points of law and share very similar fact patterns. The judges hearing the cases are not bound to follow any previous decision that another judge in a County Court has made in a similar case. This has resulted in inconsistencies in the way County Courts approach these types of claims.

The lenders’ response to this has been to take advantage of a lack of cohesion and to seek to ensure that claims made against them to recover PPI commissions charged are difficult, slow and expensive to pursue. This has often resulted in a number of claimants deciding to discontinue or settle their claim, resulting in little to no compensation at all.

We do not think that this is fair. We believe that by mounting a group claim against the key financial institutions to ensure they are held to account for the excessive commissions they charged thousands of consumers over the years we can provide a cohesive and cost-effective solution which will lead to better levels of compensation and a resolution for many more clients..

How do I know if I am eligible?
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We invite you to register with us so that our team can assist you to assess whether you are eligible to make a Plevin claim by making appropriate enquiries on your behalf. If you are able to, please provide us with any documentation relating to your credit product (such as a loan agreement, an agreement to provide you with a credit card or a credit card bill which may help us to make the enquiries. Should you no longer have copies of relevant documents which provide us with a full answer, we will either make a ‘Data Subject Access Request’ to your lender to obtain this information on your behalf or seek to agree with your lender that they should provide the information we need in a similar way.

You will not be eligible to join our claim if:

1. your credit product (i.e. your loan or credit card) for which you had PPI was taken out before 6 April 2007 and concluded before 6 April 2008;

2. you have been successful in making a previous Plevin complaint in respect of the relevant loan agreement in the past; or 

3. you have previously received full recompense for your PPI policy (including commissions).

How do I know if a communication from Harcus Parker is genuine?
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Your security is of the utmost importance to us. We will never:

  • Ask for your bank details over the telephone.
  • Request you to make a payment to us.
  • Ask for a payment to be made to a crypto wallet.

Please be wary of unexpected or unsolicited communications, especially if they:

  • Request personal or financial information.
  • Create a sense of urgency.

If you are unsure that the communication is genuine, please contact Harcus Parker through our main website https://harcusparker.co.uk/contact/.

How much compensation could I receive?
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The compensation you receive will depend on your loan size and the commission you were charged. On average, customers may receive around £3,2000 as a refund. The total claim is estimated at £18 billion

What is the legal basis of the claim?
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Section 140 of The Consumer Credit Act 1974 empowers the Court to assess the fairness of the relationship between a creditor and a debtor in a credit agreement and to order compensation if the relationship is unfair.

The PPI claim is based on the large undisclosed commissions charged within PPI premiums. There was an imbalance of knowledge between claimants and defendants, depriving customers of the opportunity to make informed decisions about purchasing, renewing, or cancelling their PPI policies.

Additionally, defendants failed fairly to assess and provide appropriate redress when handling customer complaints, as required by section 138D (2) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Consequently, claimants suffered financial loss due to the difference between the what they should have been paid and the actual rightful payments.

What documentary evidence will I have to provide?
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It would be optimal for you to provide:

(i) the original loan agreement / credit card agreement;

(ii) statements provided by the financial services provider;

(iii) correspondence between you and the financial services provider.

It is appreciated by us, however, that many people affected by the scandal will not know whether they were charged PPI premiums and will not have retained historic records, so that they will have to make enquiries of the potential defendants. We will help with this.

In addition, so that we can complete ‘know your client’ checks, we will need to ensure that you either pass an electoral role check or another identity check. It may therefore be necessary for you to provide a copy of your passport or driving licence.

Will I need to give any witness evidence?
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In a claim such as this in which there are likely to be tens of thousands of individual claimants, it is statistically very unlikely that you will be asked to provide witness evidence. It is possible, however, that you will be selected as a test case and be asked questions about your policy, albeit that it will be our primary case that individual evidence is not necessary. This is unlikely to be a challenging experience, and we would ensure that you were briefed as to what is expected of a witness.

All claimants will need to provide us with any documents they have relating to their claims, as indicated above.

Who will be running my case?
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Your case is being run by Harcus Parker, a London commercial litigation firm, founded in 2019, which specialises in bringing and defending complex claims, often involving large groups of claimants. Your claim will be dealt with by a team of solicitors, paralegals, and case handlers so that work is done at the right level of seniority and experience (and, therefore, cost).

I do not recognise this name: I thought I was registering with a different firm.
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Our claim has been advertised through a variety of marketing agencies and trading styles. We also have relationships with a number of claims management companies, who have asked us to act on behalf of their clients. If you have received a client update email from us, it is because our records indicate you have agreed to retain our firms.

If you believe that you have also retained a separate law firm in respect of your PPI claim, please let us know as soon as possible at ppi@harcusparker.co.uk.

What will it cost me to join?
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We will work on a damages-based agreement (DBA), which is a no-win, no-fee arrangement. You will not have to pay any upfront costs to join the claim. Harcus Parker in addition will cover all of the costs associated with pursuing your claim, including court fees and fees for experts and counsel. If your claim is successful, we will charge you 35% of the damages you receive, plus VAT if applicable, plus your proportionate share of certain disbursements such as any upfront After The Event insurance premiums.

Are there any circumstances in which I may have to pay my legal team’s costs
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We are acting on a no-win, no-fee basis. If the claims succeed, you will pay us 35% of your claim proceeds, plus VAT, plus your proportionate share of disbursements.

If the claims do not succeed, we will not charge you for our costs incurred in pursuing your claim.

If you terminate your retainer with us after we have carried out work on your behalf, we may elect to charge you other than in accordance with the above, as set out in our Damages-Based Agreement which is available through our registration questionnaire and which you should read carefully and in full.

Who will give instructions to Harcus Parker on my behalf?
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In group claims such as this, it is not practically possible for solicitors to take individual instructions on the management of the claim from each claimant. Instead, the Litigation Management Agreement that each claimant signs when instructing Harcus Parker, titled ‘Management provisions relating to collective action’, establishes a committee of claimants who will give day-to-day instructions as to the management of the claims. They also will have the authority to settle on your behalf (in which case, as we say elsewhere, all members of the group must recognise that in the settlement of many thousands of cases it may be necessary for there to be some rough justice). If you would like to be a member of the committee, please contact us at PPI@harcusparker.co.uk.

Who are the committee?
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The committee will comprise a group of claimants who are interested in taking a more active role in the litigation from whom we will take instructions on key elements of the claim. If you are interested in becoming part of the committee, please contact us at PPI@harcusparker.co.uk. For practical reasons there will be a limit on the number of committee members, but the intention is that the committee should be representative of the claimant group as a whole.

Who are the members of the legal team?
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Damon Parker is the Partner with overall management and supervision of the case. Mr Parker will be supported by Daniel Kerrigan, another Partner at the firm, and other members of staff, including Simon Gilbert-Kent, who is a Senior Associate, and Abigail Simpson, an Associate. We will involve other lawyers where that is appropriate, so that work is done at the right level of seniority and experience (and, therefore, cost). The Counsel team consists presently of Alexander Hutton KC of Hailsham Chambers, Max Mallin KC of Wilberforce Chambers, Andrew Clark of 9 St John Street and John Grocott-Barrett of Wilberforce Chambers.

How long may the litigation process take?
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Litigation can take many years to reach a conclusion and this is particularly true in group claims such as this. Claimants should not expect a quick resolution and should be prepared for the claims to take up at least 18 months. It is possible that the defendants elect to settle the claims at an early stage, in which case a much quicker outcome might be achieved.

How will the claims be run?
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The claims will be run on a group rather than an individual basis. This means that your claim will be brought together with the claims of other individuals with similar claims to yours. To date, many lenders have used their endless resources to limit or avoid returning the funds they took from their clients.

Through managing the claim in a group, our clients benefit from ‘economies of scale’ meaning that the claims can be run with the scrutiny and quality they deserve, whilst remaining financially viable. We believe that all claimants, regardless of their claim value, ought to be able to seek redress for the commission they were unknowingly charged. A group claim is the best way for claims for smaller sums to be pursued with the same rigour as larger ones. If settlement becomes an option, please be aware that it may not be cost-effective for there to be a minute calculation of the damages in every case.

Who will the defendants be?
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The proposed initial defendants are:

Barclays Bank UK PLC

Capital One (Europe) PLC

HSBC UK Bank PLC

Bank of Scotland PLC

Black Horse Limited

Lloyds Bank PLC

MBNA Limited

Santander Cards UK Limited

Santander UK PLC

All PPI claims against all potential defendants are, however, anticipated to be covered, and so we will also take on claims against:

1 American Express Services Europe Limited

2 BNP Paribas

3 Canada Square Operations Ltd

4 Clydesdale Bank PLC

5 First Plus Financial Group Ltd

6 Home Retail Group Card Services Limited

7 Intelligent Lending Limited

8 John Lewis Financial Services Limited

9 Lombard North Central PLC

10 Marks & Spencer Financial Services PLC

11 Max Recovery Limited

12 National Westminster Bank PLC

13 Nationwide Building Society

14 NewDay Ltd and NewDay Cards Ltd

15 Next Retail Limited

16 PRA GROUP (UK) LIMITED

17 Shop Direct Finance Company Limited

18 Studio Retail Limited

19 Tesco Personal Finance plc

20 The Co-operative Bank p.l.c. 

21 The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC

22 Yorkshire Building Society

What are my responsibilities in the litigation?
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As the sign-up process makes clear, you will be asked to sign a retainer which states you will become a client of Harcus Parker as a claimant to legal proceedings. We will aim to keep these responsibilities to a minimum, but we ask that you respond quickly and fully to any questions we ask you which relate to your claim, as we will use this information to advance your claim. This will involve us making representations to the defendant and to the Court, which includes signing statements of truth on your behalf. Because of this, it is essential that what we say is true and that you respond truthfully to requests for information. If the contents of a statement of truth are not true, there is a risk that court proceedings for contempt of court could be brought against you and us.

You will also have a duty to disclose (that is, tell the other side about and provide copies of) documents which might be relevant to your claim regardless of whether they are harmful or helpful to your own case. This means that whilst you are a claimant you must keep such documents safe and be prepared to produce them if required. By signing up to the group you are confirming that you will keep any documentation you have safe until the conclusion of the litigation.

What happens if the claims are unsuccessful?
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In litigation, the general rule is that the losing party must cover the costs of the winning party. If the claims are unsuccessful, there is a possibility that you may be required to contribute to the defendant's costs. Our funder, Katch Investment Group, will indemnify you in respect of the risk up to the end of the proposed application for a Group Litigation Order. Thereafter, to safeguard claimants from the risk of losing, we will obtain an appropriate After the Event Insurance policy. Insurance of this kind is specifically designed to cover these costs on behalf of the claimants. If the claims are successful, a portion of the insurance policy cost will be deducted from your claim proceeds, in addition to the 35% + VAT as outlined in your damages-based agreement.

Are there any risks associated with participating in the claim?
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We seek to eliminate all of the risks inherent in the litigation process, but there are some risks, however slight, which cannot be eradicated in their entirety. We list them below, with an explanation of what we do to mitigate them and why accordingly we are content to advise that your participation in the litigation will be, for practical purposes, risk free.

Risk 1: the insurer may deny or seek to withdraw cover, either after the unsuccessful conclusion of the case, or while the case is continuing.

It is our responsibility to ensure that the insurers are fully informed about all aspects of the case so that it is not open to them to refuse to honour a claim if the case is lost and we ask them to pay out. We are invested in the case, and we are equally anxious as you will be to ensure that the insurers are fully informed and have no reason to refuse cover.

Risk 2: the insurer goes out of business

There is a possibility that the insurer fails so that they are unable to pay. There is nothing we can do about this risk, other than to seek to take cover from insurers whose rating is sufficient to give us comfort that they will be able to pay. We mitigate the risk by sourcing insurance through expert insurance brokers who advise on the quality of the cover.

The terms of the damages-based agreements are such that we cannot take more than 50% of any damages you receive, but if too few claimants instruct us, so as to make the case not economically viable, we may have to terminate our retainer with you. This is extremely unlikely, and we would consult the Committee before doing so in order to make sure the group could continue to be adequately represented, if at all possible.

Risk 3: You succeed in your claim but other claimants fail in theirs

The insurance will be on a pooled basis, so that it will respond only if our claimants’ claims as a whole fail. If some claimants succeed and others fail, they will pay out only to the extent that the costs payable to the defendants in respect of failed claims cannot be paid from the amount recovered for successful claimants. This is unlikely to have a significant effect on any successful claimants.

I need to get in touch with someone about my claim: who should I contact?
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Harcus Parker will be dealing with the legal elements of your claim whilst Hattons will be assisting with the administrative elements.

To get in contact with someone regarding your PPI claim, please email us at ppi@harcusparker.co.uk