Banks pay out more than £38 billion in PPI claims

PPI scandal has become the largest consumer redress campaign in history

Banks have paid out more than £38 billion in Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) claims to customers so far, according to the financial regulator.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) says more than £38 billion has been paid out by banks since 2011, making it the "largest consumer redress" in UK history.

However, this figure is likely to go even higher as the FCA says that claims are still being processed.

The regulator says it will continue to monitor banks to make sure claims are paid fairly.

Jonathan Davidson, executive director of supervision, retail and authorisations at the FCA, says: “We set out to bring the issue of PPI to an orderly conclusion and prompt consumers who wanted to complain about PPI to act." 

The financial watchdog says 8.9 million complaints were submitted in the 14 months leading up to the August 2019 PPI deadline and 1.4 million alone in that month.

The regulator's 2019 PPI advertising campaign famously featured Arnold Schwarzenegger’s animatronic head to raise awareness of the deadline.

PPI explained

PPI was designed to cover repayments if you couldn’t make them yourself, such as because of redundancy or illness.

As many as 64 million PPI policies were sold in the UK, mostly between 1990 and 2010.

However, millions of PPI policies were mis-sold by the banks to customers who did not need them or were put under pressure to sign up - in some cases without their permission or knowledge.

The scandal is expected to cost British banks more than £50 billion. Lloyds Banking Group has been hit the hardest, setting aside more than £22 billion for claims so far.

The final deadline for PPI claims was 29 August 2019.

What should you do if you have not heard back?

If you have not heard back from your bank regarding your PPI claim you can escalate your case by contacting the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

However, in the run up to the PPI deadline last August banks were inundated with claims from customers, which means some claims have still not been processed.

So if you have not had a decision back regarding your claim you it might be best to contact your bank to find out what has happened first.

If you want to challenge a claim

If you have heard back from your bank but are unhappy with the decision made you can challenge the claim by going to the FOS.

You can also contact the FOS if your bank has rejected your complaint, but you feel it should be accepted, or if you feel your mis-selling payout is too low.