Have You Been Mis-sold Christmas?

Hold onto to your festive hats folks.

It’s emerging billions of people worldwide may have been mis-sold Christmas.

You may be affected.

Mis-sold Christmas – what, more porky pies?

Stories about flying reindeer, sacks of presents disappearing down chimneys and a white-bearded jolly soul riding a sky-high sleigh, may, just may, contain a whiff of untruth…

Have you been affected?

Are you a victim?

Have you been mis-sold Christmas?

Whatever the warmth of your memory, act now. Fill in the form below and share your story with me. Or write a long letter and list your complaints. Everything should be addressed to Lapland. Be assured, no one will ever call you back. And no one will pressure you to claim compensation for being mis-sold Christmas.

HaPPI Christmas?

Whilst I love the festive season, I’m no fan of the billion-pound ‘PPI’ industry. (If you’ve been on an extended break to a remote Pacific island ‘PPI’ is Payment Protection Insurance that was typically mis-sold by banks to unaware consumers who purchased other financial products).

Don’t get me wrong, if people have been mis-sold PPI, they have a legal right to their money back. I have no problem with those genuinely affected being compensated.

But to be pestered with pressure phone calls and inane TV and radio adverts urging me to share my details (with some faceless company hell-bent on making a greedy financial killing) is not for me.

Since the banking scandal hit the headlines, over £22 billion has been claimed by UK individuals and according to the Daily Telegraph, a further £10 billion is still to be handed over. And further research suggests that agencies seeking to claim for individuals are making up to 42% commission on cases. That’s hundreds of millions of pounds just for moving money. Nothing new is built or created.

Blame, Claim, Drain

Opportunistic PPI companies may see themselves as entrepreneurial, but for me they only help foster a culture of dependency that poisons and infects how people think.

According to latest research, our society has increasingly sought compensation over recent years. For example, according to the BBC, “NHS trusts in England paid out more than £1.4bn in medical negligence claims” in 2015 “compared to £583m in 2008.”

‘No-win no fee’ legal practices have catalysed the compensation culture. But it’s the volume of companies continually encouraging people to claim for minor injuries such as whiplash or a ‘sprained ankle’ that is so exasperating. People tripping over paving slabs or slipping on supermarket floors don’t just pick themselves up and dust themselves down. Not a bit of it. Because whirring minds are already thinking £££ compensation.

As a society we need to somehow get out of this self-destructive and draining tail-spin. The billions being channeled to the main beneficiaries of compensation culture (such as PPI companies) is cash we don’t have for stretched public services. More significantly, we are creating a dependent culture that supports blame and the notion that fault always lies elsewhere. Humbug!

Changing direction

There are signs within education that students are being encouraged to make mistakes; the resultant circumstances are rich learning opportunities. No one finds failure easy but the more people understand their own faults and vulnerability the more they accept their own shortcomings and attract others to them. Critically, people also become more compassionate, understanding and less quick to blame.

At its heart, enterprise and entrepreneurship education is about getting people to take responsibility for their own actions and developing a strong and independent mindset. We need our future champions of society to lead by example and challenge the idea that if something wrong happens, other people will always pick up the pieces.

With his Truth and Reconciliation Act, Nelson Mandela demonstrated that there is a powerful and far less costly alternative to blame. We need to have greater opportunities for open mediation and this could be fast-tracked if government also caps minor claims and tightens the law on the way PPI-style companies operate.

And to all entrepreneurs out there investing blood, sweat and tears CREATING AND MAKING STUFF for a better world, I applaud you. Can I also share with you the one item I have on my Christmas list this year. If you can make this, I would be very happy.

In my Christmas stocking I would like a telephone voice-mail talky system that automatically picks up PPI-type calls and engages the caller for hours (days are preferable) in inane yet wonderfully realistic banter that just like the whiff of mis-sold Christmas, goes nowhere.

That leaves lots more time to relax and enjoy the festive season.

Wishing you a very happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Peter