PPI complaints - Firms' customer response letters December 2010

If you have recently complained about how you were sold payment protection insurance (PPI), you may have received a letter from a firm stating that they have decided to put your complaint on hold.

The firms' response is likely to include the following statements:

•we have registered your complaint;

•we will keep you informed if there are material developments in the court case that affect your complaint;

•we will revert to you once the matter has been resolved through the court;

•we will not take account of the delay for the purposes of calculating any applicable time bar period either in relation to court proceedings of for calculating any period within which a complaint should be referred to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

The reason you have received this letter is that some firms have decided that they are unable to provide a final response to the majority of PPI complaints due to ongoing legal proceedings. This refers to the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) legal challenge to our PPI complaint-handling measures published in August. These new measures are designed to ensure customers are treated fairly when complaining about the sale of PPI.



What does this mean for you?

In these cases you can still refer your complaint to the ombudsman service as normal. Here we provide some general questions and answers to help you with the next steps of your complaint.



I have received a letter from my firm telling me it is unable to provide a final response to my PPI complaint, what does this mean?

Firms should register and respond to each complaint within eight weeks of receiving it. If you are sent a holding letter – because a firm has decided it will not provide a final response to your complaint until the outcome of the BBA’s legal challenge is known – you can still refer your claim to the ombudsman service as normal.



The ombudsman service is a free, independent service for settling disputes between financial services firms and their customers. More information on how the ombudsman service is handling complaints can be found here



What information do I need to provide to the ombudsman service?

You should fill out the Ombudsman’s PPI questionnaire as well sending the firm’s response letter and any other evidence relating to your claim.



Are there specialist companies available to help with my complaint?

The ombudsman service is designed to be straightforward to deal with and, regardless of whether your PPI complaint is upheld, is a free service to you. Separately, there are specialist claims management companies that can help you submit your complaint to the ombudsman service. However these firms will charge you for using their services. The Ministry of Justice’s website provides information on claims management companies if you are considering using one.



What is the latest situation on the BBA’s legal challenge?

To try and ensure customers are treated fairly when complaining about the sale of a PPI policy, we developed a package of measures for firms to follow from 1 December 2010. These measures are designed to ensure firms handle complaints properly.



The BBA started legal proceedings on 8 October 2010 (known as a judicial review) challenging the lawfulness of these measures. We consider the measures to be a fair solution for consumers and the industry and are strongly contesting this challenge.


This article first appeared  on the Financial Services Authority Website