Seven ways to claim compensation worth thousands of pounds – from bank and broadband outages to mis-sold loans

GETTING money back can give your finances a welcome boost and there are several compensation schemes you could get cash from.

Banks and payday lenders are among the companies dishing out compensation and it could be worth thousands of pounds.

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Who can get the cash and how depends on the scheme, but here we’ve rounded up the ones you need to know about and how to check if you could get cash back.

Bank outages

Banks and building societies can often experience technical issues that leave customers without access to their money.

There’s no official scheme that forces banks to give out compensation, but if some outages are serious enough and leave customers short, they may decide to make a payment.

Nationwide has said that every customer affected by a January outage that caused thousands of direct debits to fail will get £60.

If you’re a Nationwide customer who was affected by the outage then you should have been contacted.

But if you haven’t then the bank has said to get in touch with them – here’s how to do that.

Even if your bank doesn’t launch an official compensation, you can still make a complaint if you’ve been left out of pocket to get the money refunded.

For instance if you couldn’t log on to online banking to pay a bill and got a late payment charge as a result.

There’s no guarantee of getting the money back, but it’s always worth trying. Each bank has it’s own complaints process and you’ll need to complain directly to them.

If you’re unhappy with your bank’s response you can escalate the complaint to the Financial Services Ombudsman (FSO).

Money.co.uk personal finance expert James Andrews previously told The Sun: “If you’ve lost out as a result of the service interruption, contact your bank and tell them what’s happened and what it cost you.

“Provide as much evidence as possible of any charges you’ve incurred as a result of not being able to access your bank account to have the best chance of a refund.”

Broadband outages

Millions of customers have experienced outages in the last year, according to Uswitch.

Not only is it frustrating, but with work from home rules in place it can stop you from earning money.

Luckily there is an automatic compensation scheme in place that means you could get cash because of serious issues.

You always need to let you provider know if you’re hit by an outage – but check it’s not just your router first.

Ernest Doku, broadband expert at Uswitch.com, told The Sun: “If it’s clear that the issues are beyond your control, contact your provider and they will be able to inform you of any problems in your area and, hopefully, an estimated time for a resolution.

“If your connection goes down for more than two days you could be entitled to compensation of just over £8 a day.”

If it’s longer than this you’ll get the same amount for each subsequent day without service.

Through the Automatic Compensation Scheme customers should get the compensation automatically as a credit to your bill within 30 days.

They will also pay £25 for each missed engineer appointment, or for appointments cancelled with less than 24 hours’ notice.

Plus you’ll get £5 for each calendar day delay to the start of a new service if yyou’re switching providers.

You can read more about your compensation rights in out guide.

Payday loans

Millions of customers took out payday loans over the years, but many were missold and companies did not do enough checks that they were affordable and could be paid back.

As a result, several companies have schemes that are giving out compensation to those affected and it can be thousands of pounds in some cases.

You’ll need to apply for this compensation but if you ever had a payday loan it’s worth checking, even it was years ago and the loan has been paid off.

For example QuickQuid customers could get a payout of £850, on average.

Customers of Money Shop, Payday Express and Payday UK are getting cash back that is due to hit accounts from today.

You’ll need to provide details about the loan you took out, for example emails or letters, and show that you couldn’t afford to take out the loan at the time that you borrowed it.

This could be if you couldn’t pay your bills or other debts at the time you took out the loans, or had any late repayments, or if you took out back to back loans. 

It’s best to apply sooner rather than later as some of these schemes are closing soon.

Anyone who took out a loan with Provident, Satsuma, Greenwood and Glo have until the end of February to make a claim.

Check out our guide on how to claim from missold loans and find a template letter for making a claim from the DebtCamel blog.

It’s advised you don’t go through a claims management firm as it will take a slice of the money you get back.

Some borrowers could also get money back if they were mis-sold a guarantor loan.

Train delays

Cold weather, rain and staff shortages can lead to train delays. But you could get money back if you’re affected.

Delay Repay rules mean you can claim money back if your train is running late by 15 minutes or more.

How much you get back depends on how long the delays is and the type of ticket you have.

Compensation ranges from 25% of the ticket price to 100% if your train was delayed by 120 minutes or longer.

Brits lose an estimated £1,200 every year not claiming this cash back from the train company.

SO next time you’re left waiting on a platform, check out our guide on how to get your money back.

Mouldy homes

A mum won £4,500 in compensation from her local council after her home became so damp that mushrooms started growing in her bedroom.

You can claim compensation from your landlord for any disrepair or poor conditions that damage your health or cause you inconvenience, according to Shelter.

You can take legal action against your landlord under the Fitness for Human Habitation Act.

Courts can grant an injunction forcing the landlord to carry out works or award compensation to the renter.

But you will have to stump up for court fees unless you’re entitled to free legal aid.

If you win your case, you might also get some of your costs back. Alternatively, you may get a payout by complaining to the Housing Ombudsman.

Renters can also complain to a redress scheme if you rent privately through a letting agent, but only if the agent contributed to the dispute.

Different rules are in place for renters in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Visit Citizens Advice Scotland and Northern Ireland Direct for more information.

Group claims

Group lawsuits are on the rise after a change to the law in 2015 allowing cases that apply to more than one person

It means millions of Brits could be owed cash for a range of problems, from overpaid card fees to data hacks.

These types of claims are relatively new, and the cases are involve a lengthy legal process, so there is no guarantee of a payout.

But several cases have kicked off already. Some you need to join and others you could get money from without doing a thing – if successful.

Brits could get £300 each in a class action lawsuit against Mastercard over claims that more than 46million people were overcharged by the card company over more than a decade.

A case is also being brought against Experian over data mis-selling claims, and hundreds of thousands of drivers who owned a diesel car could join action over claims of emissions cheating by car companies.

In some cases a company may choose to settle the case out of court.

For example, British Airways settled a claim from some passengers affected by a data breach.

You can check out our guide to some of the big claims, who’s affected and how to join.

Benefits underpaid

A blunder that meant thousands of people claiming Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) were underpaid for years has resulted in a large payout.

The DWP has already identified 118,000 who are owed backpay to make up for the mistake.

But one woman who escalated her complaint to the ombudsman has won compensation on top.

The case doesn’t automatically mean that everyone else affected will get money back automatically too.

But the ombudsman has called on the government to let them make a claim. Until then those affected could still make a complaint in the same way though there’s no guarantee of the same outcome.

You can find out more about the claim and who’s affected here, and check if you are one of the thousands who should get backpay too.

Meanwhile you don’t have to wait around for official schemes.

Simply making a complaint about something you’re not happy about could lead to cash back – here’s how the UK’s biggest complainer does it.

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk