In August 2017, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) launched a campaign to encourage people to claim for payment protection insurance (PPI) before the deadline. We take a look at whether the PPI awareness campaign has worked.
PPI awareness
The very memorable ads featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger as a cyborg, bursting into people’s lives and telling them to ‘do it now’ left a long-lasting impression on many.
Following the launch of the ads, PPI awareness saw a huge spike. Consumers began to realise that PPI wasn’t just an annoying cold call. Instead, it’s a real financial scandal that could affect them.
PPI deadline
The FCA’s ad campaign was launched to mark two years until the PPI deadline. After the 29th August 2019, consumers will no longer be able to put in a complaint for mis-selling. Instead, the banks will keep the billions still left unclaimed.
While some will be left behind when the deadline passes, the FCA has created huge awareness with the campaign.
Campaign success
The proven success of the PPI awareness campaign has been in the number of enquiries raised. The FCA’s latest progress report states that 8.4m people enquired about their PPI in one year. This is a 40 percent increase on the previous year.
The FCA also received 1.3m Plevin enquiries that had been rejected before the landmark ruling was made. You can read more on the Plevin rule here.
From the 8.4m enquiries made, 40 percent resulted in complaints. The 3.7m complaints were a 67 percent increase on the previous year.
Successful PPI claims
From the 3.7m complaints, the success rate was huge. 75 percent of mis-selling cases and 66 percent of Plevin cases were upheld.
As a result, £3.7bn was paid out, which was a 64 percent increase on the previous year.
Time to claim
As the deadline draws nearer, we are urging people to see if they are owed PPI. This could be based on mis-selling, which you can read about here.
Consumers can also complain based on the level of commission paid on the product. A recent landmark case named Doran, which you can read about here, has seen people take back more than ever before.
If you think your policy was mis-sold, or you were charged an unfair level of commission, get in touch. One of our experts can offer you support and advice.
