Things can be tough in the UK for all those affected by the recession and its ongoing effects. We are living in a country being ravaged by incessant economic turmoil, with an increasing lack of public funding, dwindling job prospects, high taxes, and rocketing fuel and energy costs creating an ever greater divide between rich and poor.

People are getting tired of hearing about it. Already unpopular words such as bills and expenses are viewed with an extra air of contempt in the current economic climate. People have lost confidence in the banking system with issues like PPI, higher interest rates, unjust charges and bonuses dominating many a headline.

Banks and bankers are often held accountable as the people responsible for keeping the country's economy strong and vibrant, and are the easiest to blame when the economy hits disaster, as it has done time and time again.

While the banks have faced a lot of justified and not-so-justified condemnation from the government, the British public and the media, one area of complaint has been undeniable and has caused quite a stir in the banking community for the past ten years:

Mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI)
PPI is insurance which banks sell to people who sign up for loans, credit cards and mortgages. After coming under heavy scrutiny from both public and private investigations, the banks have had to admit that much of the selling of PPI over the past ten years to trusting customers has generated profits for them in an unfair and unethical manner.

Which? Magazine, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the Office of Fair Trading (OTF) among others uncovered many aspects of the scandal in their investigations, and it continues to be a very serious issue, which has affected millions of people in the UK who should be made aware of the financial compensation they have the right to claim for.

Some of the facts uncovered by the various investigations have been remarkable and it affects the majority of banks in the UK who have and will continue to shell out for a flood of financial compensation claims and PPI reclaim charges for the foreseeable future.

Some of the evidence uncovered by Which? Magazine includes the fact that approximately 2m people had been mis-sold an insurance policy that they would never actually be able to claim on. 1.3m people have been deceived due to the mistaken belief that they would be approved for credit if they agreed to PPI when they applied for credit cards.

Lloyds, Barclays and HSBC are the worst affected banks, with Lloyds setting aside a massive £3.2 billion provision for people taking legal action over mis-sold PPI claims.

It is not so difficult to pick up the phone or to seek advice from a no win no fee solicitor to issue a PPI complaint and to help get something back which the banks have unjustly taken. The banks aren't exactly advertising these mistakes and it is highly possible that people missed this scandal due to a number of reasons. These could range from the huge amount of substantial news stories over the years to the pressures of everyday life brought on by the ongoing financial crisis. It could also be due to a dislike of banking or legal jargon and the time and effort it takes to process insurance claims or legal procedures.

There are many people out there who are still unaware of the whole PPI debacle and have no idea that if they have taken out a mortgage, applied for credit cards or signed up for loans from banks then it could be more than possible that they have been mis-sold PPI. In the tough economic climate, it could prove especially essential and worthwhile to find out if a claim can be made against the banks with which the loan, mortgage or credit card was taken.

It simply isn't right for the banks to get away with it.

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Bryan Lewis is a jack of all legal trades, who has written a fair bit about the law in his time. He has contributed to a number of different legal sites, including legal information on PPI mis-selling and mortgage complaints.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com

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