Time running out to claim Sentinel AI Scheme credit card compensation

Don’t miss out on compensation for being mis-sold credit card protection.

There are just three days left to claim compensation for mis-sold credit card security products.

Around two million borrowers are eligible to claim for security products taken out with the likes of Barclays, HSBC, Tesco Bank and Santander.

But completed claims forms need to be received by the AI Scheme, which was set up to administer the redress process, by midnight on Friday 18 March.

Why you might be due compensation

Bank customers were promised protection if their card was lost or stolen or they fell victim to fraud and were charged a yearly fee. What they didn’t say was that you don’t need it – your bank offers you protection for this already once you've declared your card lost or stolen.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) says people who took out card protection products from Affinion International Limited should have been sent claims forms in August or September 2015. However, thousands haven’t sent them back.

The protection products were sold under the following names:

• Card Protection;
• Sentinel;
• Sentinel Gold;
• Sentinel Protection;
• Sentinel Excel;
• Safe and Secure Plus.

What you can get

As we revealed back in January 2015, Affinion and 11 banks and credit card issuers agreed to offer compensation for the ‘unnecessary’ insurance policies which covered the loss or theft of cards. For more information on this, read Millions offered card insurance compensation.

The cards cost £25 per year, so if someone has been paying for the maximum of eight years they’ll receive £200, plus £16 in interest. This charge applies to each card so those who took out more than one will be eligible for quite a financial boost. The FCA says that the payment will be an average of £180 per person.

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What do I do next?

Your claim form must be returned no later than 18th March 2016 in order for you to be considered for a compensation payout, so there’s not long left.

The FCA emphasised that you do not need to use a claims management firm or law firm in order to complete the claim form, and that if you do make a claim, your existing product will be cancelled.

If you think you hold one of the products covered by the redress scheme, but you haven’t received a form, you should contact the AI Scheme helpline on 0800 678 1930 (or +44 208 475 3103 if you are outside the UK) or you could visit aischeme.co.uk. However, bear in mind that the last date a request can be made to issue a new claim form is 16 March 2016.

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