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According to the Financial Ombudsman Service, a number of payment protection insurance companies are withholding important information from investigators in a bid to stall compensation claims over the mis-selling of payment protection insurance cover to consumers.
Payment protection insurance has been at the centre of controversy for some months, after the Financial Ombudsman Service found itself flooded with complaints from consumers that had not been provided with satisfactory information about the policy, its suitability, or the cost of cover.
A number of lenders have already been fined for the mis-selling of payment protection insurance on credit cards, loans, and other forms of finance. However, the Financial Ombudsman Service has now stated that in tow thirds of the cases that are being investigates crucial information has been withheld by the PPI company, which has resulted in massive delays for consumers that are waiting to claim compensation over this matter.
One official 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.'
The average time that consumers seem to be waiting for a decision to be made on their case is around three months, but when important information is withheld by companies this can be dragged out to far longer. In the first instance, those wishing to make a claim need to contact the lender or PPI company in question, and only if this fails should the consumer approach the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Tom Smith
28.02.07
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