Yet more evidence against point of sale single premium PPI MUST be enough for change Paymentcare.co.uk comments on latest CC findings

Date:22 October 2008

Consumer scramble for protection means change needed NOW

TODAY'S latest findings by the Competition Commission on the shortcomings of the retail payment protection insurance (PPI) market is one step closer to the watchdog admitting they can see the elephant in the living room, says Shane Craig of independent PPI provider Paymentcare.co.uk.

How much longer do consumers have to wait before they are offered affordable, flexible and appropriate protection?

Scrapping single premium point of sale PPI is an absolute priority. This weeks £7m fine for Alliance & Leicester the latest in a series of massive fines slapped on high street lenders for similar failings - is surely evidence enough that this change is crucial.

It's getting on for four long years since the Financial Services Authority first raised the issue of the mis-selling of PPI and all this time consumers have continued to shell out huge sums on single premium policies.

With the frightening prospects facing millions of borrowers right now, if this isn't the time to make some very rapid changes, I don't know when is.

Over the past few weeks we have already seen a substantial increase in the number of worried borrowers applying for PPI and as the financial crisis continues to deepen, there's likely to be another wave of people scrambling for cover before they fall victim to the credit crunch.

There are a great many borrowers out there who want and need protection but right now, far too many of them are either paying unnecessarily high sums for inappropriate cover or going without.

It isn't fair to leave people to find out for themselves that, in fact, they do have options.

Waiting until next February before the Competition Commission finally comes to a decision on this issue is not good enough.