Next Directory PPI Mis-selling Complaint

[Bazza]

I had a Next Directory account opened in 1991 in which was paid off in full in 2004 and closed.

On checking my old statements it has come to my notice that their are various monthly PPI amounts deducted (£1,244 in total) in which I cannot locate any agreement to or ever signing anything.

So I sent the standard template letter with payment requesting Credit Agreement details etc. I received a response from Next advising that when the account was opened a pack was sent to me explaining that PPI was automatically added and would appear on the 2nd statement. I was also invited to write to Next to advise if it was not necessary and how it could be cancelled.

Therefore it was not their responsibilty for suitability of said policy as they were not regulated at the time.

They also go onto say in the case of Next Directory consent is not given in the credit agreement but is contained within the T & C's which appear in the Directory and on the website and cannot confirm how the account was opened due to length of time ?

Next basically say that they do not need my consent to share information with such agencies as this would be addressed by agreeing to T & C's when placing orders.

Finally they are unable to provide a copy of a signed agreement and that by law they do not have to anyway but have sent a blank copy of Credit Agreement and final statement of account details.

I have today received a further letter from Next advising that I contact the policy administrator First Assist re PPI complaint, who I called and they basically advised that it is Next's responsibilty for mis-selling ( as it was sold by Next) and not theirs ?

Now my questions are obviously what do I do next ? Do I pursue First Assist / underwriters if regulated ? If underwriters how can I find who they are ? Also do I still submit a SAR to Next or am I wasting good money ?

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

[di30]

Re: Next Directory PPI Mis-selling Complaint

Email the CEO first and let them know you have been told that NEXT were responsible for the selling of the insurance and attach any letters of paperwork you have received to proof this to them if this was told to you in writing and a copy of your complaint if you have this and ask if this can be looked into please.
CEO email address here:
simon_wolfson@next.co.uk

Tell them what you know about your policy, like the amount etc and any evidence you do still hold.

Good luck x

[Bazza]

Re: Next Directory PPI Mis-selling Complaint

Email the CEO first and let them know you have been told that NEXT were responsible for the selling of the insurance and attach any letters of paperwork you have received to proof this to them if this was told to you in writing and a copy of your complaint if you have this and ask if this can be looked into please.
CEO email address here:
simon_wolfson@next.co.uk

Tell them what you know about your policy, like the amount etc and any evidence you do still hold.

Good luck x

Hi Di,

Many thanks for your comments and will do.

Will post up a reply once received.

Cheers

[Bazza]

Re: Next Directory PPI Mis-selling Complaint

Sorry Di,

is there a particular worded letter that I can use for my e-mail or do I just keep it brief and refer to letter contents received ?

[di30]

Re: Next Directory PPI Mis-selling Complaint

Hi Bazza

No template for the CEO in this case, but as you said brief is fine and the attachments of the letter contents, tell him you will appreciate the matter looked into after you were informed that NEXT was responsible and at the same time request for details of the underwriter, they must provide them to you also on request. :tinysmile_twink_t2:

[Bazza]

Re: Next Directory PPI Mis-selling Complaint

Hi Bazza

No template for the CEO in this case, but as you said brief is fine and the attachments of the letter contents, tell him you will appreciate the matter looked into after you were informed that NEXT was responsible and at the same time request for details of the underwriter, they must provide them to you also on request. :tinysmile_twink_t2:

Hi Di,

Much appreciated as usual and will keep you / forum up-dated.

Cheers

Bazza x

[Bazza]

Re: Next Directory PPI Mis-selling Complaint

Hi Di,

Much appreciated as usual and will keep you / forum up-dated.

Cheers

Bazza x

Just an up-date to say that claim still with fos but did receive a correspondence at the end of July stating that they would respond in details by December 2014.

So in the meantime I contacted Next again and asked for any policy details and confirmation of any financial relationship with administrator and Underwriters.

Well I today received a copy of the Master Policy and confirmation of the policy number. It also clearly states that the policyholder Next are to declare every month to the Insurer / Underwriters premiums received and refunded and shall pay to Underwriters the net premium and IPT due after deduction of commission.

They also stated that policy administrators First Assist received remuneration from Underwriters / Insurer and the policy issue and insurance premium collection was carried out by Next.

So as Next plc were not regulated at the time of sale but Underwriters were, does the above confirm a financial relationship between all parties involved ? Is there anything else that I should be asking or to whom should I be addressing further requests ?

Thanks

[L'pool64]

Re: Next Directory PPI Mis-selling Complaint

Hi Bazza,

first of all, I have been reading of your recent successes. Brilliant and very well done. As the saying goes, "keep up the good fight" and with the support that you are getting from DI & Victoria, only good things will come. Are they not just the best?

I know your Next case is with the FOS and you expect them to come back to you at the end of Dec. I don't know if that is for a final decision or for your further comments. I have a few thoughts which you are very welcome to discard! Don't you just love the way these companies hide behind "we were not regulated at the time"......... Didn't stop them taking the monies generated by the sale of PPi at the time? Which as I'm sure you know, was anything up to 95% of the premium. As the saying goes, "at least Dick Turpin wore a mask!!!!!!!!"

It would be useful to obtain a copy of the pack that was sent to you, to see how clear they actually made all the information. The other thing that Victoria always stresses and, I totally agree with her is....."were you given enough information before committing to the contract, to make an informed decision." If the information was only sent to you afterwards then the answer is clearly "no". That is the crux of the matter.

I wish you the very best of luck with your continued battles, which we are all still fighting. As I have said before, it is only perseverance that defeats these companies. Even then, sometimes we don't win but at least we have tried!!!

I myself am about to embark on another court case and, as with the last one, my attitude is I may very well lose.......but they will lose more than me!!!

live long & prosper,

:beagle:Xxxxxxx

[Bazza]

Re: Next Directory PPI Mis-selling Complaint

Hi Bazza,

first of all, I have been reading of your recent successes. Brilliant and very well done. As the saying goes, "keep up the good fight" and with the support that you are getting from DI & Victoria, only good things will come. Are they not just the best?

I know your Next case is with the FOS and you expect them to come back to you at the end of Dec. I don't know if that is for a final decision or for your further comments. I have a few thoughts which you are very welcome to discard! Don't you just love the way these companies hide behind "we were not regulated at the time"......... Didn't stop them taking the monies generated by the sale of PPi at the time? Which as I'm sure you know, was anything up to 95% of the premium. As the saying goes, "at least Dick Turpin wore a mask!!!!!!!!"

It would be useful to obtain a copy of the pack that was sent to you, to see how clear they actually made all the information. The other thing that Victoria always stresses and, I totally agree with her is....."were you given enough information before committing to the contract, to make an informed decision." If the information was only sent to you afterwards then the answer is clearly "no". That is the crux of the matter.

I wish you the very best of luck with your continued battles, which we are all still fighting. As I have said before, it is only perseverance that defeats these companies. Even then, sometimes we don't win but at least we have tried!!!

I myself am about to embark on another court case and, as with the last one, my attitude is I may very well lose.......but they will lose more than me!!!

live long & prosper,

:beagle:Xxxxxxx

Thank-you so much L'pool64 for your comments in which I always appreciate as well as from others like the lovely Victoria and Di on this site.

Well I was thinking of submitting a SAR to Next but believe I have most details anyway. They admitted that insurance was added automatically without any explanation when I opened the account but say as they were not regulated, no can do !!!

They did suggest underwriters though in which I approached and they rejected my claim, hence its now with FOS. I am not to confident with this one as I can see where this is going, so that's why I am now trying to establish a relationship between all parties involved with sale.

All I have is letters / e-mails confirming remuneration but no evidence of any actual payments and commissions.

I just wanted to be prepared for what response I receive from the adjudicator as when searched on FOS website, I cannot see any similar claim that was up-held.

I would appreciate any advice as what else I can do next, is it worth sending a SAR to Underwriters ?

[Victoria27]

Re: Next Directory PPI Mis-selling Complaint

Thank you, dear Bazza and L'pool for your kind words.
Let's see what our fabulous Di will suggest.
My feeling is that if you are prepared to spend £10 and wait for 40 days SAR is always good and useful.
I am a great believer in SAR. You never know what you can find there or even better, sometime, not to find there. Often, as you know, companies invent some non existing conversations and facts, however SAR usually shows whether it really did take place.

You've done so well, it should give you an inspiration to keep going.

L'pool, my dear friend, your posts always make my day. I just love your dry sense of humour

Bazza, whatever happens, it is important to know you have done all you could.

Those are the most difficult and frustrating cases when the relationship between the parties is not 100% clear.

May be some useful information will appear in SAR from some unexpected angle.

Best,

V

[Bazza]

Re: Next Directory PPI Mis-selling Complaint

Thank you, dear Bazza and L'pool for your kind words.
Let's see what our fabulous Di will suggest.
My feeling is that if you are prepared to spend £10 and wait for 40 days SAR is always good and useful.
I am a great believer in SAR. You never know what you can find there or even better, sometime, not to find there. Often, as you know, companies invent some non existing conversations and facts, however SAR usually shows whether it really did take place.

You've done so well, it should give you an inspiration to keep going.

L'pool, my dear friend, your posts always make my day. I just love your dry sense of humour

Bazza, whatever happens, it is important to know you have done all you could.

Those are the most difficult and frustrating cases when the relationship between the parties is not 100% clear.

May be some useful information will appear in SAR from some unexpected angle.

Best,

V

A belated thank-you Victoria.

Well I decided to send SAR to both Underwriters and Next Directory and I am still awaiting a reply from FOS adjudicator.

Today I received an email acknowledgement from Next complaint resolutions advising that details will be provided within 40 days. They also responded to the following additional questions that I asked :-

1) Did Next, the policyholder receive any remuneration from Underwriters ?
2) Did Next receive any remuneration from the policy administrator ?
3) Did Next retain any commission after any monthly payments made to Underwriters ?
3a) And if not, to whom was the commission paid to after deduction of premium and Insurance Tax ?

Basically they have said that after advise from their Legal Department, Next are under no obligation to disclose the commercial arrangement applying to PPI scheme, so they are unable to answer my questions.

I have attached a copy of the Master Policy previously submitted by Next in which mentions in the conditions that.... ' Within 14 days of the end of each month, the Policyholder (Next) shall declare in writing to the insurer the numbers of Summaries issued and cancelled, the total outstanding debt balance under all Agreements insured under this policy, premiums received and refunded during the month and shall pay the Insurer (Phoenix / GAN / Aegeas) the net premium and Insurance Premium Tax due after deduction of commission at the agreed rate.'

As previously mentioned, I am still awaiting SAR details from Next but cannot see what else they will provide further on the above comments, as to what I already have.

Is there anything else I should be asking or should I just forward details to the FOS adjudicator ?

Thank-you

[Bazza]

Re: Next Directory PPI Mis-selling Complaint

I just opened another letter received today and its from the FOS adjudicator. I will post up edited copy rather than typing it all out it seems that they are looking as to whether Underwriters were responsible for mis-sale and not Next, as they were unregulated.

Any further thoughts would be appreciated.

[Bazza]

Re: Next Directory PPI Mis-selling Complaint

Sorry but can anyone possibly further comment or shall I just forward latest details to adjudicator ?

Cheers

[Victoria27]

Re: Next Directory PPI Mis-selling Complaint

Dear Bazza,
You are always welcome.
I have not had a chance to post last few weeks being very busy.
If you let me know by pm that you have a question, I will get email notifications straight away and look into it with first opportunity.
I think with the Ombudsman you can send them all the information as it comes to you. If later you get additional information you send it to the FOS. They will add it to your file. They, the FOS did not give you any deadline, so you can send them every document as it comes to you.
V

[Bazza]

Re: Next Directory PPI Mis-selling Complaint

Dear Bazza,
You are always welcome.
I have not had a chance to post last few weeks being very busy.
If you let me know by pm that you have a question, I will get email notifications straight away and look into it with first opportunity.
I think with the Ombudsman you can send them all the information as it comes to you. If later you get additional information you send it to the FOS. They will add it to your file. They, the FOS did not give you any deadline, so you can send them every document as it comes to you.
V

Just an up-date regarding my complaint that is currently with FOS.

Well in the meantime I have been trying myself to establish a link between Underwriters and Next and received a further response today from them with the attached original Phoenix Assurance PPP details indicating that PPI was automatically added for a peace of mind etc.

So I forwarded details to the FOS adjudicator mentioning that I was trying to address the agency relationship between the two parties and received the following interesting reply.

"Thank you for your email – it has been added to your case file.

There may have been a financial relationship between Next Directory and the underwriters. But a financial relationship alone is not enough for us to conclude to that the underwriter should be responsible for the actions of the seller. We would need to establish an agency relationship i.e. where Next are carrying out the sale of PPI on behalf of the underwriter.

There is currently an example case with the ombudsman, where we are investigating if the insurer can be held responsible for a sales by Next Directory. As it stands, that example case is still on-going. We have made some progress, as the ombudsman issued a provisional decision on our authority to consider cases such as yours. However, the insurer disagreed and made some further submissions, which are now being assessed by our service. Once this example case is resolved, we should be in a better position to advise you if we have the authority to consider your complaint.

We will keep you updated on any further developments."

I am a bit confused re their comment in establishing that Next carried out the sale of PPI on behalf of Underwriters. Surely this has been proven by Next admitting they sold the PPI issued by Insurers ? Or am I missing something ?

Would be happy for any assistance in responding to FOS and if anyone else has a similar situation.

Cheers

Bazza