Banks cave in over PPI

The banking industry has admitted defeat in its legal battle over the mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI).The British Bankers' Association (BBA) announced on Monday it would not appeal against a ruling by the High Court in favour of tough new rules on selling PPI.Several million people could now be in line for compensation after being sold PPI they didn't need or found they could not actually claim on.PPI is supposed to cover loan repayments if the policy holder cannot do so, for example, after losing their job, falling ill or suffering an injury.The banks took City regulator, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), and the Financial Services Ombudsmen to court arguing it was unfair that new rules on PPI would apply to policies sold before the regulations came into force.Thousands of claims of mis-selling had to be put on hold until judges in the High Court rejected this argument last month.Both Lloyds and Barclays have already said they would not contest the High Court's decision and are setting aside £3.2bn and £1bn respectively to deal with potential claims.The Royal Bank of Scotland says it is reviewing how it handles PPI claims.It is unclear how much individual claims could be worth but the FSA has estimated those who were mis-sold PPI and paid upfront single fee premiums could be in line for up to £1,800 on average.It estimates those who paid in instalments could claim an average of £900.Peter Vicary-Smith of the consumers' association Which? said it was a colossal error of judgment by the BBA to have brought this case in the first place."[It] has even further diminished the banking industry's reputation in the eyes of consumers," he said."PPI was mis-sold and complaints about it mishandled on an industrial scale for well over a decade. There could still be huge numbers of people out there who were duped into buying PPI and unaware they can make a claim," Vicary-Smith added.---mm