Millions of people who believe they may have been mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI) could find their demand for compensation is treated more favourably after the the Financial Services Authority (FSA) issued new rules on how the banks should handle such complaints.
The FSA is concerned that too many individuals are being forced to take their case to the ombudsman, rather than getting a swifter result from the bank when they first complain. According to recently published data, on average, banks and other lenders reject almost half of the PPI complaints they receive, with some rejecting almost all of them. However, around 30 per cent of rejected complaints go on to the ombudsman, where over 80 per cent are overturned in the consumer's favour, says the FSA .
It has been estimated by the FSA that the number of complaints about PPI will rise to around 550,000 a year for each of the next five years. It has now set out new procedures on how banks and other lenders should approach the issue.




