PPI case could "open floodgates"
Credit card companies could face millions of court actions after a woman won her fight to have £8,000 of debt wiped out for the unfair selling of payment protection insurance (PPI).
Lynne Thorius, 49, of South Shields, had been sued by MBNA for an outstanding balance on a Sunderland AFC credit card. The woman said she had paid thousands of pounds for the PPI scheme over seven years despite never having asked for it.
A judge at Newcastle-upon-Tyne County Court ruled MBNA had breached the Unfair Relationships Act, because the credit card provider earned commission from the insurance company for the policy it had sold.
While all previous attempts to sue credit card companies over insurance policies have been settled out of court, the fact Mrs Thorius was the one being sued rather than the credit card company meant the case went all the way to a judgment.
MBNA insisted the case did not set a legal precedent, but Carl Wright, chief executive of claims management company Cartel Client Review, who successfully defended Mrs Thorius, disagreed.
He said: "Now Lynne has won, the floodgates could open for millions of other people. It will change the way banks lend money and issue credit cards."