FOS having trouble getting information from PPI companies
According to recent reports from the Financial Ombudsman Service, a number of Payment Insurance Protection companies, or PPI companies, are withholding important information to try and delay compensation claims relating to this type of insurance cover being sold inappropriately to consumers. PPI is a form of insurance cover that is sold with finance deals such as credit cards and loans, bit has come under intense fire over recent months with regulatory authorities stating that this cover has been mis-sold to many consumers.
One spokesperson from the Financial Ombudsman Service stated: 'Our staff are requesting the files about individual cases from firms but in two thirds of cases information is missing. This is often information that is crucial to a claim, such as the application form that confirms if someone agreed to PPI. It is worrying because this is the information firms are supposed to have used to turn down complaints in the first place.'
Some companies have already faced fines and penalties relating to the mis-selling of this type of cover. It was deemed by regulatory bodies that in many cases consumers were being sold PPI that would never benefit them, and in other cases consumers were not being given enough information about the cover, yet were being given the hard sell by staff. Many consumers were unaware that they did not have to take PPI from the lender through which they were taking a loan.
According to the FOS the average time for a claim on this insurance is around three months, but this is being stretched out over a far longer period by some companies through their reluctance to provide vital information. Many consumers are now facing huge delays over their claims because of the delay in information being provided to investigators.
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