Seven ways to claim compensation worth thousands of pounds

RECOVERING money can give your finances a welcome boost and there are several compensation schemes you can get money from.

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

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

bank failure

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

There is no formal system that requires banks to pay compensation, but if some outages are serious enough to leave customers short, they may decide to make a payment.

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

If you are a Nationwide customer who was affected by the outage, you should have been contacted.

But if not, the bank has asked you to contact them. Here’s how.

Even if your bank does not initiate official compensation, you can still file a complaint if you have been left out to get the money back.

For example, if you were unable to log in to online banking to pay a bill and you received late fees as a result.

There’s no guarantee of getting the money back, but it’s still worth a try. Each bank has its own complaints process and you will need to complain directly to them.

If you are not satisfied 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 lost as a result of the service disruption, contact your bank and tell them what happened and what it cost you.

“Provide as much evidence as possible of all charges you incurred due to the inability to access your bank account to have the best chance of getting reimbursed.”

Broadband interruptions

Millions of customers have experienced outages over the past year, according to Uswitch.

Not only is it frustrating, but with the work-from-home rules in place, it can keep you from making money.

Luckily, there is an automatic compensation system which means you might get money back due to serious issues.

You should always let your provider know if you’re hit with an outage – but check first that it’s not just your router.

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 can let you know of any issues in your area and hopefully an estimated time frame for a resolution.”

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

If it’s longer than that, you’ll receive the same amount for each subsequent day without service.

With the Auto-Compensation program, customers should automatically receive compensation as a credit on your bill within 30 days.

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

Plus, you’ll get £5 for each calendar day you’re late until a new service starts if you switch providers.

You can find out more about your rights to compensation in our guide.

Payday loans

Millions of customers have taken out payday loans over the years, but many have been mismarketed and companies have failed to sufficiently verify that they are affordable and repayable.

As a result, several companies have schemes that pay compensation to those affected and this can amount to thousands of pounds in some cases.

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

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

Money Shop, Payday Express and Payday UK customers are receiving cashback due to affected accounts from today.

You will need to provide details of the loan you took out, for example emails or letters, and show that you could not afford the loan at the time you took it.

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

It is best to apply as early as possible as some of these schemes are closing soon.

Anyone who has taken out a loan from Provident, Satsuma, Greenwood and Glo has until the end of February to make a claim.

Check out our guide on how to claim badly sold loans and find a sample letter to make a claim from the DebtCamel blog.

It is advisable not to go through a claims management company as this will cost you some of the money you recover.

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

Train delays

Cold weather, rain and lack of staff can lead to train delays. But you could get some money back if you get hit.

Deferred refund rules mean you can request a refund if your train is 15 minutes or more late.

The amount you get back depends on the length of the delays and the type of ticket you have.

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

Britons lose around £1,200 each year without claiming this cashback from the rail company.

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

moldy houses

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

According to Shelter.

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

The courts can issue an injunction requiring the lessor to carry out work or award compensation to the tenant.

But you will have to pay court costs, unless you are entitled to free legal aid.

If you win your case, you may also get some of your costs back. Alternatively, you can obtain payment by complaining to the Housing mediator.

Tenants can also lodge a complaint with a repair scheme if you are renting privately through a rental agent, but only if the agent has contributed to the dispute.

Different rules are in place for tenants in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Visit Advice for citizens of Scotland and Live Northern Ireland for more information.

Group claims

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

It means millions of Britons could be owed money for a range of issues, from overpaid card fees to data breaches.

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

But several cases have already started. Some you have to join and some you could get money from without doing anything – if successful.

Britons could get £300 each in a class action suit against Mastercard over allegations that more than 46 million people were overcharged by the card company for more than a decade.

A case is also being filed against Experian over allegations of data mis-selling, and hundreds of thousands of drivers who owned a diesel car could join a lawsuit over allegations of emissions fraud by automakers.

In some cases, a business may choose to settle the matter 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 is affected and how to join.

Underpaid benefits

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

The DWP has already identified 118,000 people who owe arrears to make up for the error.

But a woman who took her complaint to the ombudsman obtained additional compensation.

The case does not automatically mean that everyone else involved will also receive money automatically.

But the mediator called on the government to let them file a complaint. Until then, data subjects could still file a complaint in the same way, although there is no guarantee of the same outcome.

You can read more about the claim and who was affected here, and check to see if you’re among the thousands of people who should also receive a refund.

In the meantime, you don’t have to wait for official diets.

Just complaining about something you’re unhappy with could lead to cash back – here’s how the UK’s biggest complainer does it.