Banks To Refund 4bn To PPI Customers
Refunds for Payment Protection Insurance on loans, mortgages or credit could cost banks well over 4bn after it was revealed that most customers were a victim of a unlawful sale. It had previously been estimated that up to 1.2bn could be claimed by customers who attempted to reclaim payments but this new figure includes the added amount of customers who the banks will be required to give refunds to.
A vast amount of customers have been sold PPI insurance that was not appropriate for them or no needed in their situation. Among those who were persuaded to buy policies were those with long lasting medical conditions, the self-employed and pensioners who, by definition, were ineligible for cover.
The Financial Service Authority estimates that insurance brokers may have to pay up to 450m and the rest being paid by a variety of PPI providers such as banks and insurance companies. The average amount repayable to people who purchased single policies is 2000 and being such a large chunk of money it has attracted a lot of attention.
A number of high street banks have already been fined as the FSA attempts to make examples of them as well as forcing them to offer refunds to all of the eligible customers. High street insurance broker ‘The Swinton Group’ have been fined 770,000 for serious failings and were made to offer a full refund to over 350,000 customers while Alliance & Leicester have been fined 7m.
Financial giants are strongly opposing the plans to regulate and control the future sale of policies. The FSA aims to stop companies putting pressure on customers to buy ineffective policies. Adam Phillips of the Financial Services Consumer Panel, says “for too long banks have regarded PPI as an easy product to sell and make money without considering whether it is really right for the customer
If you want to make a PPI claim, then visit Dons LLP for the best PPI claims lawyers.
