Card Protection was an optional protection product we used to offer that provided assistance and cover for your debit and credit cards, store cards, membership cards and some of your belongings if they were lost or stolen. This product was administered by Card Protection Plan (CPP) Ltd.
Card Protection is not Payment Protection Insurance (PPI).
Who are CPP Ltd and what happened?
CPP Ltd administered the protection policy on behalf of first direct But the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has confirmed that some policies may have been mis-sold due to the fraud protection element, and we are sorry about that.
The FCA found that, in explaining the Card Protection product offered by CPP Ltd, the fraud protection information may have been misleading or overstated. Examples of this included:
- some more recent policies provided cover for up to £100,000 of unauthorised transactions that occur after you inform your bank or card issuer that a card was lost or stolen.
However, you wouldn't have needed this cover as your bank or card issuer takes responsibility for any transactions after you tell them your card has been lost or stolen.
- some more recent policies offered cover for you for up to £5,000 of unauthorised transactions that occur before you inform your bank or card issuer that a card is lost or stolen.
However, CPP Ltd didn't fully explain that you're only liable for unauthorised transactions in limited circumstances, as your bank or card issuers will usually cover you for anything over the first £50 of those transactions.
CPP Ltd agreed with the FCA to proactively contact customers whose policies may have been mis-sold to them, and give them the opportunity to apply for compensation. The focus of this exercise was for policies sold or renewed after January 2005.
Do I need to take any action?
The deadline for taking any action has long passed, - but here's what happened...
If you had a policy and paid a premium after 14 January 2005 you should have received an initial letter from CPP before 21 September 2013. CPP wrote to customers again (over a period of three weeks) from 10 February 2014 confirming customers had voted in favour of the compensation scheme.
CPP then contacted customers a third and final time to ask if they wanted to be considered for compensation and, if so, to submit a claim form. The deadline for submitting claim forms was 30 August 2014. There was an 'exceptional circumstances' period where customers may have been able to make a claim after this date, however, this ended on 28 February 2015 and any claims submitted after this time will be unsuccessful. If you want to speak to someone about the compensation scheme, please call CPP on 0800 085 0227 between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday.
If your complaint is about a policy that would have been covered by the CPP compensation scheme, you should have received details of the timescales involved from the scheme.
Details regarding the handling of complaints relating to CPP are available here Opens an overlay [Will show a security message first].
I'd like to complain about a CPP policy that I closed before January 2005, or premiums that weren't covered by the scheme, what do I need to do?
If you have any other queries or complaints relating to a Card Protection policy which ended before 14 January 2005 (not covered under the CPP Ltd compensation scheme) please write to us telling us about your concerns.
If you had a policy but haven't paid a premium after 14 January 2005, then you won't have been contacted by CPP Ltd. However, as with any product or service provided by us, you can make a complaint if you feel we've let you down or failed you in some way. If you have any concerns about the policy or the service you received from us please explain what these are so we can investigate further.
To help us assess your concerns, please provide full details of why you were unhappy with the Card Protection product.
This Consumer Questionnaire is the best way to tell us what happened.
Questionnaires can be sent to us at:
first direct
40 Wakefield Road
Leeds
LS98 1FD
You don't need to use a Claims Management Company (CMC)
If you feel you need to make a complaint, there's no need to use a Claims Management Company (CMC). If you contact us directly we will assess your complaint in exactly the same way that we treat complaints sent in by a CMC and you won't incur a fee.
For independent guidance on how CMCs work visit the Which? website Opens an overlay [Will show a security message first].
When should I get a response?
For any other complaint, as with all areas of our customer service, we always aim to resolve any concerns you raise with us as soon as possible. We'll acknowledge your complaint within five working days and will be in touch within eight weeks to update you on our investigations. If you haven't received a reply from us within eight weeks of raising your complaint, you have the right to refer your case to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Or you could just give us a call and see what's happening.
The FCA published details in regards to the handling of complaints relating to CPP which are available on the FCA's website Opens an overlay [Will show a security message first].
If you've already made a complaint, there's no need to do anything further. We'll review it as soon as possible and then write to you confirming the outcome of our investigation.
Our Card Protection complaint process
- Step 1 - your complaint is received by us
- Step 2 - your complaint is reviewed and logged on our system
- Step 3 - we'll acknowledge your complaint by letter - if you have raised a complaint via a Claims Management Company (CMC) this will be sent directly to them
- Step 4 - processing your complaint - we'll gather all the background information and documents
- Step 5 - the decision - based on all the evidence, your claim will be upheld or rejected
- Step 6a - settlement offer - if your complaint is upheld you (or your CMC) will be sent a settlement offer
- Step 6b - complaint rejected - if this happens we'll send you (or your CMC) a letter to confirm
- Step 7 - settlement - once you've accepted our offer, we'll pay your settlement with four weeks.
What can I do if I am dissatisfied with your decision?
If after receiving a decision regarding any of our services, you're still not happy, you have the right to refer your complaint to:
Financial Ombudsman Service
Exchange Tower
London
E14 9SR
You can telephone them on 0800 0 234 567
