Pressure for the ppi industry to pull the appeal has been building since Lloyds, the 41pc state owned lender, said last week that could not really part and set aside 3.2 billion pounds to compensate customers mis-sold ppi cover. The death knell for the actions came over the past weekend when Barclays joined Lloyds in taking out the action, leaving Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC isolated on the mis-sold ppi issue.
The decision by banks to go after the actions after all the help they've received during the financial crisis has caused controversy over the political spectrum and angered the public. Barclays verified today it would not be part of the appeal. The bank said it has put aside 1 billion pounds over mis-sold ppi claims and would now start to process all on hold and any new problems from the customers about mis-sold ppi policies.
The chief executive of Barclays mentioned they don't usually get things suitable for their customers when they get them wrong, they do apologize and put them right. That is their commitment to their customers and it applies to the way in which they'll deal with their mis-sold ppi complaints.
The BBA, the industry body, had until May 10 to appeal. It said in the statement on Monday, in the interest of providing certainty for their customers, the bank and also the BBA decided that they don't intend to appeal. The BBA, led by chief executive Angela Knight had previously argued that the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) had retrospectively changed the rules on selling payment protection insurance plans, which set a dangerous precedent.
The chief executive financial ombudsman said it is very good news that the banks won't be appealing the High Court's clear cut judgment, that endorsed the ombudsman and FSA's approach to mis-sold ppi complaints. They are pleased that the banks will be dealing with their clients'complaints.
Consumers should come to the Ombudsman's office if they're uncertain about what to do next. Meanwhile the FOS will be working with the banks over the coming weeks to make sure that consumers?complaints are dealt with fairly and promptly. The ombudsman service said it continued to handle large volumes of mis-sold ppi complaints from consumers. It has been receiving up to 5,000 ppi issues a week because the BBA launched its legal challenge in October 2010.
Author Resource:
Harry Tomas specialises in Mis-sold-ppi and other financial products for UK based site www.PPIClaimsUK.co.uk . He also lifts the lid on unfair loan charges and the financial claims sector generally, in addition to writing pieces on personal finance, house sales, repossession and business finance.