Payment Protection Scotland - PPI Blog

The newspapers and social media are awash with the PPI deadline, a signal that the debacle of mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI) is coming to an end. But for many people, several unanswered questions remain.

Is the PPI deadline of 2018 now set?

At the time of publication of this blog post (October 2015), the PPI deadline of spring 2018 has NOT been set. Currently, the deadline is in the proposal stage with various groups and organisations being consulted on whether a deadline is now needed, the timing of the deadline and how it will work.

How is the deadline date arrived at?

The Financial Conduct Authority who will set the deadline will have to follow guidelines and regulations that govern imposing a deadline. These rules state that the consumer needs fair warning that a deadline is being imposed, thus the lead time is usually 2 years.

When is it expected to be announced that the deadline will be officially in place?

An announcement is expected in spring 2016, thus making the deadline cut-off date for PPI compensation claims sometime in spring 2018.

Are there other deadlines that customers need to be aware of?

In some cases, customers have already been making a claim for compensation within a deadline as back in 2013, banks and lenders were told to write to customers that they knew had PPI and to invite them to make a claim.

The customer, on receiving the letter, had three years from the date of the letter to make a claim. In some cases, this will mean that have until sometime in 2016 to make a claim.

Why impose a deadline?

Consumer groups, regulatory authorities and some small banks have been opposed up until this point, against imposing a deadline.

However, the Financial Conduct Authority now believes the time has come to change its approach to the banking industry in the UK. Many banks have faced investigations and fines in the way that they operate, and so many people now feel that the banks have changed in shape and attitude.

Some people still believe there is a lot more to be done but by imposing a deadline, a line can be drawn under the biggest mis-selling scandal ever to have hit the UK banking industry, confident that lessons have been learnt.

There is also a growing air of confidence that the new shape regulatory body, the Financial Conduct Authority, has more power and bite to prevent such a scandal developing again.

Can I still claim compensation for mis-sold PPI?

Yes, you can and Payment Protection Scotland, for a fee, could help you. Why not call us?

The proposed deadline for PPI compensation payments of 2018 represents a significant sea-change in how the banks are being viewed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

The outgoing head of the FCA, Martin Wheatley, was appointed to drive the change that was so obviously needed in the banking sector in the UK. This in the main, has been achieved and thus, a change is coming.

The FCA feels that it now needs to warm to the banks and start to create a new footing for a regulatory relationship in the future.

The PPI saga has been a difficult interlude in the UK banking history, with many banks from the smallest to the biggest banking groups facing huge PPI compensation bills, as well as footing heavy fines for breaking the rules.

And quite rightly so, but many people feel the time has come to compensate the remaining thousands of customers and draw a line underneath the issue. This in effect means that the ability to claim PPI after the proposed deadline of 2018 would end.

Good or bad news for the customer?

A mixture perhaps but it may galvanise people in to action to make the PPI compensation claim that they need to in order to claim their money back.

In essence, the information and evidence of wrong doing may now start to become stale and this is what the FCA is thinking is starting to happen.

As a result, claims are becoming more difficult to resolve, although there has been a recent court ruling on commission paid as part of PPI sales that once again favours the consumer.

And this is where a concern lays for the banks. There are still known to be thousands of policies left that consumers have yet to make a claim on.

And so, with the announcement of a proposed 2018 imminent at the start of next year, advertising campaigns are likely to be stepped up and thus, this may galvanise the consumer into action to make the claim for compensation that is rightfully theirs.

Have you yet to make a claim?

Don't let your claim be bogged down in the deadline rush, start the process today with the help of Payment Protection Scotland.

We have successfully helped thousands of customers to claim the compensation to which they are entitled, and we could help you too. Just contact us for an informal chat.