Member Article

North East financial expert warns of insurance miss-selling

North East financial expert Stuart Bell is helping the region’s business people to claim back millions of pounds in unnecessary fees, after the miss-selling of Payment Protection Insurance by banks.

He has warned that it is not just those in regular employment that have been miss-sold PPI, entrepreneurs and sole-traders are also eligible for refunds and should not miss out on the opportunity to claim back their money.

10% of the adult population in the North East are sole traders or entrepreneurs, meaning approximately £50m could be available to reclaim and be re-invested into small businesses in the region.

Stuart said: “This is not like making a claim for an injury or such, where we need to compile all sorts of evidence.

“This is money that is owed to companies and individuals, and in many cases the process of reclaiming is made difficult so as to discourage people from trying.

“In one instance recently, we secured £22,000 for a business, which demonstrates that this is not just small amounts of money.

“Particularly in the current climate, such claims could be quite crucial to individuals and businesses.”

Stuart advises that small business owners should not be afraid of upsetting their bank in claiming a refund, as banks are under strict instruction from the FSA and various other financial bodies to treat all their customers fairly.

Many PPI policies are not suitable for the self-employed, and it is unlikely that policy holders will able to make a claim, should they need to.

Real Time Claims was founded by Stuart in 2007 to help customers who had fallen foul of PPI miss-selling.

With the average compensation payout approaching £2,000 RTC aim to provide a trustworthy service, following Ministry of Justice guidelines.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .