PPI

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has shut down about one in five claims management companies (CMCs) over the past year, in many cases following complaints from consumers.

Compensation payments due to consumers mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) slowed in January for the first time since September, with £403m paid in redress.

Claims management firms are being investigated by the Ministry of Justice after a surge in bogus compensation claims filed for consumers who were mis-sold personal protection insurance (PPI).

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has set its budget for 2012/3 at £191.1m, meaning both the case fee and total levy will be frozen for the third year running.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has rejected a complaint that an advert for a claims management firm was misleading, after consumer bodies have warned against the firms.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has proposed a set of rules dictating how firms which sold payment protection insurance (PPI) must contact potential mis-selling victims to inform them of their rights.

Lloyds Banking Group made a loss of £3.5bn last year - largely due to money set aside to cover payment protection insurance (PPI) claims - and said its bonus pool was down 30% against 2010.

Which? has urged banks to streamline their payment protection insurance (PPI) claim process or risk exposing customers to claims management companies, after just a quarter of the promised amount of redress was paid out in 2011.

The strain of the payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling scandal shows no sign of slowing as figures from the FSA show redress payments surged to a new monthly high in December.

Phil Jeynes warns that removing components from simple products may mean weaker cover for clients.