Payment Protection Insurance or PPI has become the costliest of Britain’s financial mis-selling scandals with the total bill expected to top Stg£20bn.
Complaints about payment protection insurance are levelling off and “possibly falling”, according to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).
With claims of mis-selling mounting, Barclays increased for the fifth time its PPI provisions by a further Stg£1.35bn. It has now set aside compensation of more than £4bn.
But data from the FOS shows the number of complaints arriving at its doors – and it only considers complaints once the customer and bank cannot agree – are gradually falling.
Natalie Ceeney, the Chief Ombudsman, said the daily inflows of new complaints now tally 2,000, down from a high last December when they regularly reached 3,000. Quarterly figures also show a fall, albeit small, between the first and second quarters.
Meanwhile, in Ireland, banks are currently contacting an estimated 13,000 clients as part of a Central Bank led investigation into mis-sellling of PPI. The review is ongoing with Central Bank officials refusing to speculate as to the levels of mis-selling that may have taken place.
