Lloyds Share News (LLOY)

Consumer groups today claimed a major victory as Lloyds Banking became the first high street bank giant to stop selling payment protection insurance (PPI).State-controlled Lloyds stopped selling new PPI policies last Friday across all of its business including Halifax, Bank of Scotland, Cheltenham & Gloucester and Lloyds itself."Lloyds decision to stop selling PPI is a huge victory for consumers," said Which? chief executive Peter Vicary-Smith. "Hopefully other banks will follow suit and we'll finally see the back of this poor protection product.""This insurance, which has been scandalously mis-sold for years leaving many consumers in misery, is estimated to be worth up to £5bn a year for the industry," added Martin Lewis at consumer website Moneysavingexpert. PPI is sold as a backstop for borrowers in the event they lose their jobs or become ill, but critics say the conditions are often so restrictive to make it almost useless in many cases.Critics say it has been hugely overpriced when sold alongside loans, with borrowers having little indication of the actual costs. In the past year 30% of all new complaints that were submitted to the Financial Ombudsman Service were about PPI.The Financial Services Authority, which has clamped down on its sale in recent years, earlier this year estimated that cost of redress to customers mis-sold PPI could top £4bn. It wants a complete ban on the sale of PPI policies at the when a borrower takes out a loan.Lloyds said existing policies will stay in force and are unaffected by its decision to stop selling new policies.