Sponsored by
Banks pay out £2bn to settle claims in insurance scandal
Antony Jenkins
Nearly £2bn of compensation payments were made last year to settle claims from the mis-selling of payment protection insurance.
The figure of £1.9bn revealed by the Financial Services Authority included £441m in December – the largest monthly sum so far.
However, consumer group Which? urged banks to do more to step up the pace of redress and help consumers avoid the use of claims management companies.
Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said last year’s compensation of £1.9bn was still only a quarter of what lenders expected to refund.
He added: “Too many people are still finding the claims process too lengthy, the banks must streamline the process to make it easier for people to claim.
“Otherwise this leaves an open goal for claims management companies that charge people a hefty fee for putting in a claim which is easily done yourself for free.”
Which? said anyone who thinks they may have been mis-sold PPI should contact their lender or visit its website at which.co.uk.
The banks have set aside an estimated £7.6bn to compensate consumers who were mis-sold PPI but based on an average fee of 30 per cent the compensation could be worth over £2bn to claims firms.
Barclays, which has set aside £1bn to cover mis-selling claims, issued figures showing PPI fuelled a 67 per cent jump in the number of complaints in its general insurance and protection business to 122,922 in the second half of 2011. It has not disclosed how much it has repaid customers so far but said excluding the PPI figure its volume of complaints was down 29 per cent in the half-year compared with 2010.
Antony Jenkins, chief executive of Barclays retail and business banking, said: “Tackling complaints is our top priority and today’s figures show real sustained progress on delivering on our commitments.”
Consumers took out PPI to help repay their loans if they fell ill for a long period or became unemployed, but a widespread mis-selling scandal emerged. Three million people are could qualify for compensation.
Email to a friend
Print this page- Leeds lose Ward to Palace: Is there anyone they can afford now?
- Sheffield Wednesday leaving it late to hijack Leeds United over Ward
- As Snodgrass dithers over Leeds, Warnock throws a lifeline
- Ball is in Leeds United’s court over contract - Snodgrass
- Police turning blind eye to Asian voter fraud, says MP
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: East
Comments
There are 1 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
Banker Spanker
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 02:26 PMWow, Articles like this really make me laugh. Instead of talking about how much the banks have totally conned the British public, so called do gooders whom i suspect are in some way connected to the banks spout off about not using claims Management Companies. The country would not be in the mess we find ourselves in now if it was not for the stupid irresponsible mistakes made by greedy Bankers "on our behalf". Then all that happens is the media outlets who are funded by the banks then try and deflect blame to hard working companies acting in their clients best interests against the big corporations who use systematic bully boy tactics to discourage people making claims by themselves. This is why they look to claims companies to take this stress and hassle away because thats how the financial system is set up so only a select few big banking chiefs benefit. People regulary hire painters & decorators, Joiners, Plasterers, Gardeners, Designers, Conveyancers. These are all jobs we can do ourselves but choose to hire a professional in that industry so why is it not the same with financial claims?
Page 1 of 1
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.