England 17/07/2013 – A year after the FSA report that highlighted the fact that UK firms had been mis-sold Interest Rate Swap products many have yet to log a claim.
It seems that many firms do not realise they are running out of time to lodge a claim for mis-sold interest rate swaps. The Limitation Act of 1980 limits how long a business or individual has to bring a claim to Court. It seems that even those firms who know that a time limit exists do not necessarily know how long they have to make a claim. This is because the limitation varies depending on the case, and the nature of the financial product that was mis-sold. Even the amount of money being claimed for impacts on when and how a claim can be made.
Many UK firms do not know where to turn for advice. They know that the financial product they were sold did not perform as it should, and know that the risks were not properly explained to them, but simply do not know what to do about it. Typically, they find themselves logging a complaint with the bank or financial institution that sold the product to them. Usually, a few months pass before they receive a reply. In many cases, the reply is that the institution does not believe they are at fault. The net result is that precious time has been wasted waiting for the bank or financial institutions to reply, pushing more and more firms into the situation where it is too late to make a claim. Fortunately, finding interest rate swaps advice is getting easier as more solicitors get to grips with the issues and solutions.
The web is the main source of current information
Firms like the renowned Manchester based firm of solicitors, Berg, are amongst those addressing this knowledge gap. Their interest rate swap advice website is providing firms with a place to go and gather the information they need to make a claim. After just a few months, they realised that one of the main problems was that firms still did not realise that there was effectively a statue of limitation on making a claim. As a result, the firm is trying to highlight this fact in as many ways as possible.