LONDON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Complaints about the mis-sellingof insurance on loans and mortgages may have peaked, the head ofBritain's financial industry watchdog said on Thursday.
Natalie Ceeney, chief of the UK's Ombudsman Service - whichsteps in where banks and their customers cannot reach agreement- said it is currently receiving about 2,000 new complaints eachworking day and about two-thirds of its work relates to PPI.
That marks a slowdown from about 3,000 complaints a day atits peak, and backs up data from Britain's financial regulatoron Wednesday which showed complaints against banks had fallen.
It will raise hopes that banks will not have to shell outbillions of pounds more compensating customers mis-sold paymentprotection insurance (PPI). Banks have so far set aside 16billion pounds ($25 billion) to deal with what has become themost expensive consumer scandal in British history. The policieswere meant to protect borrowers in the event of sickness orunemployment but were often sold to those who would have beenineligible to claim.