# Claiming Payment Protection



## alpac (25 May 2011)

I was made redundant last week due to company liquidation. I immediately signed on and that seems to have gone quite smoothly. My problem now is trying to claim for the payment protection I have been paying for the last number of years.

I have a personal load with AIB. They were relatively helpful and said they'd send me out the neccessary form. Their representative on the phone warned me not to return it until I had definitely been unemployed for over 15 days (this is their waiting period before application processing). I felt this was fiar enough. She said I would have to get my employed to sign part of the form, I mentioned the liquidation and asked if the liquidator could do that and she answer in the positive. Overall, so far, not bad. I am, however, still waiting for the form to arrive (Another letter from AIB that they were to send out the same day arrived on Monday morning). I'm hoping that it'll go ok.

EBS on the other hand have not been as forthcoming. I had thought I had a 30 day wait, now it turns out I have 90 days to wait, which means I have to cover my mortgage for three months, which I'll struggle to do, but should manage (I'm already on interest only due to paycuts pre liquidation) The representative on the phone mentioned I had to get my employer to sign part, on the mention of a liquidator she became unsure, then changed the info and said there was no part for my employer to sign. I felt uneasy at this and then the form arrived yesterday with a huge section for the employer/liquidator to sign, along with the Social and FAS. There was no info at all into how to fill out the form or when, only a slightly intimadating number of pointers at the front (one of which mentions representatives visiting my home). 

I'm growing very nervouse about filling these forms out, as everyone else I know who applied had to jump through hoops and avoid minor traps that would allow their banks to refuse payment. Casual work is one example, if I were to recieve some freelance work I'd happily tell the Social Welfare and have my JB adjusted accordingly, but by all accounts if the bank find out they'll cancel my protection payments, so I seem to be better off staying away from employment in case it has a negative long-term affect. 

I should point out that I have paid payment protection from the moment I drew down my mortage 6 years ago and have paid the number of increases too.

Could anyone give me some pointers on how to deal with these forms or what approach I should take?


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## Ildánach (27 May 2011)

Well as far as "staying away from employment", you obviously need to be  genuinely seeking and available for full-time work to qualify for a  Jobseekers payment.  Refusing a reasonable offer of employment, even  part-time or casual work, would be grounds for stopping your dole.

You might be eligible for Mortgage Interest Supplement, which provides  short term cover for interest portion of mortgages, although i'm not  sure the implications if you've a protection plan that will kick in a  few months.  See here for more details  http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Schemes/SupplementaryWelfareAllowance/Pages/MortgageInterstSupplement.aspx

or for more detailed guideilnes: 
http://www.welfare.ie/EN/OperationalGuidelines/Pages/admin_mis.aspx


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## alpac (27 May 2011)

Thank you for your reply. I have already applied for more work, so hopefully things will work out quickly. I'd rather not take more state money tbh, especially when I had the forethought to prepare for something and which I've been paying a considerable amount of money for over the last 6 years. 

My AIB forms arrived today. These came from a seperate insurance company, and again there was no information supplied with it, no letter, no indication it was even for AIB, I had to check my original agreement to see if they were the right company.

I simply find it odd that when I applied for these loans both banks gave me very specific instructions and how to fill out forms, but now I want some of my money back, I'm on my own.


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## sean.c (8 Jun 2011)

Call your local branch and make an appointment with an advisor to go through filling out the form.
If they turn you down for payment protection, sue them for misselling the policies to you.  Google it - the industry in the UK have had to shell out truckloads of cash due to mis-selling these policies, and there's no reason to suspect that Irish banks weren't doing the same mis-selling.


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## sine-shine (9 Jun 2011)

Sean pretty sure the Irish banks where doing the same, it happened to me, I've sent a letter requesting a full refund. Sure we will just have to wait and see if anything comes of it.


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## alpac (9 Jun 2011)

Can I ask why they refused to pay?


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