Points for consumers to keep in mind

As consumers, we may need to look in more detail at some schemes

11:17 25 June 2013

There are all types of tricks that consumers should keep an eye out for. All of these schemes do not necessarily involve scams, they could be legitimate products used in the wrong way, like the PPI situation in certain instances. Here are a few things to keep in mind when considering services and products:

 

• Need—if you are approached or asked by anyone if you want a particular service or product such as PPI, consider first whether or not you really need the product. It is a salesperson’s job to show you the ways a service or product can be useful, but at the end of the day you have to decide if you need it and can afford it.

 

• Relevancy—for people involved in the PPI issue, the problem was that many people signed up and were sold the Payment Protection Insurance even though they did not qualify to receive the benefits because the PPI was not relevant to their particular situation. Find out if the offer being made to you is relevant.

 

• Value—while PPI may actually have been a valid and valuable insurance protection for many people, it is not for everyone. You can listen to the value discussed by the sales person, but figure out if what they think of as value, matches your definition of value. If you do not have major loan purchases, or credit cards this type of protection is virtually useless. There is no value to you.

 

• Caution—use a fair amount of caution when talking to sales people about services or products such as PPI. If you are uncomfortable, feel rushed, or do not fully understand what is being offered and what the benefit would be, do not be shy about turning down the offer.