NewswireTODAY - /newswire/ - Sheffield, South Yorkshire, United Kingdom, 2008/01/31 - Nat West threatened with legal action over alleged ‘fraudulent’ sub-prime selling of PPI.

The consumer champion BrunelFranklin.com is prepared to take Nat West to court over a recent case where an unemployed man alleges that he was mis-sold PPI policies totalling more than £11,000 that were worthless, as he couldn’t claim against them.

Phil McGrath from Ross on Wye in Herefordshire says his original loan agreement was altered twice by NatWest to hide the fact that he was unemployed at the time of sale. Mr McGrath has not worked for seven years and receives both Disability Allowance and Severe Disablement Allowance. His monthly payment on the Nat West loan was £500 against a monthly benefits income of just £1000.

Mr McGrath says he has suffered considerable financial hardship as a result of taking out the loans with NatWest and has been served with an eviction notice. He is effectively bankrupt and says he doesn’t have enough money to eat. BrunelFranklin.com’s specialist PPI compensation team Conkers.co.uk is now in the process of issuing a letter to NatWest that will result in legal action being taken if NatWest does not fully pay back Mr McGrath the PPI payments plus interest.

Anthony M Sultan, managing director of BrunelFranklin.com and Conkers.co.uk said: "We are starting to see more and more sub-prime lending where PPI takes the customer over the edge financially. How is an unemployed man supposed to be able to afford £25,000 in loans, never mind worthless PPI policies costing over £11,000 that aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on? One of the main exclusion clauses on most PPI policies is unemployment, so we are absolutely staggered as to how this sale could have happened. We are hoping that NatWest will see sense and that legal action is not required. We are however passionate about ensuring consumers get redress against PPI mis-selling and should this case be proved in the Courts it will be one of the worst examples we have ever seen. We will not let it rest and will take this case all the way on behalf of our client if necessary.”
Even though he said he was unemployed, Mr McGrath alleges he was sold two PPI policies by NatWest; one totalling £7639.00 in connection with a £17,000 loan, and then another for £4540 covering a refinancing loan for £25,000 when the payments became too expensive to afford.

Mr McGrath says that when he tried to claim against one of the PPI policies for a serious kidney condition requiring hospitalisation, he was told that he was not covered. At that point Mr McGrath decided to consult the experts and took the 60 second test at Conkers.co.uk

Anthony Sultan added: “Changing loan agreement documentation to serve your own purposes is fraudulent. We are sure that if a Court accepts Mr McGrath’s version of events that the judge will find in favour of our client. We believe Nat West should pay up now before any further action is taken.”

Agency / Source: BeyondPR

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