Representatives from all the major banks and credit card providers, regulators and the Financial Ombudsman Service pledged to simplify and restore “trust” in the PPI claims process and campaign against Claims Management Companies (CMCs).
The collective, including Moneysavingexpert.com and Which?, agreed to write to the Justice Secretary Ken Clarke to call for tougher regulation of CMCs.
Of the £5bn yet to be paid out, £1.5bn could go to claims management companies, MoneySavingExpert.com’s, Martin Lewis warned.
Lewis said: “I’m delighted we made real progress to tackle the information deficit that has left claims companies wrongly persuading a nation you need pay to reclaim.”
“When the banks, consumer groups and Ombudsman all sit round the table and say ‘something needs to be done’ – you know there’s a problem,” he added.
Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: “[This] is just the start. We will continue to work with everyone present but the Government must also now up its game and speed up its plans to tighten up regulation of unscrupulous CMCs who are exploiting consumers who just want to claim back what is rightfully theirs.”
Chief executive of the Financial Ombudsman Service Natalie Ceeney, said: “Consumers don’t need to use a third party to complain about PPI. They will get the same outcome, just as quickly, if they do it themselves and get to keep all of their compensation.”
