The regulator said this incorrect information breached Article 4 of the Payment Protection Insurance Market Investigation Order 2011. 

The breach was self-reported by Nationwide.

The CMA found that between April 2012 and December 2023, 131 customers with mortgage PPI policies with Nationwide were given the wrong information in one field of their annual review statements. 

This field included information about the amount of the monthly payment covered by the policy, but only contained the mortgage element of the cover. It did not detail any additional cover the customer may have had. 

The regulator concluded that the breach was caused by an error regarding how the systems were set up after the annual review statements were introduced. 

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The CMA said that, if customers had the correct information about what the policy covered, they might have made different decisions about keeping their policies. 

It said the correct information would have made it easier for policyholders to understand the costs of PPI and switch providers where appropriate. 

The regulator said the breach could have “adversely affected” customers.  

There were concerns around the nature and duration of the breach, the CMA said, as it showed Nationwide either did not fully understand the systems in place or did not verify their accuracy in compliance with the order. 

 

Nationwide pulls PPI deals 

Nationwide withdrew all of its PPI products in March this year and has written to former policyholders who may have decided to end their PPI policy based on the incorrect information given. 

Due to this, the CMA said it would not be appropriate to take formal action against Nationwide. 

The regulator said all affected customers except for one had since discontinued their policies, and the remaining customer had their annual review statement corrected. 

Nationwide will write to 13 former policyholders who may have ended their PPI policy due to incorrect information. 

A Nationwide spokesperson said: “There were a very small number of cases where some information wasn’t included in the annual review document for mortgage PPI policies. While there was no customer detriment in terms of any claims previously made, we have contacted 13 former customers who may have ended their policies prematurely as a result of this issue.”

In 2019, Nationwide was ordered to refund up to £2m for PPI breaches.