ELEVEN BANKS AND other lenders have been told to refund €67.4 million to 77,000 customers who were mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance since July 2007.
The amount represents over one in five PPI sales reviewed by the Central Bank in its investigation of the issue.
The figures were announced in an update from the regulator on its ongoing investigation into the sale of the policies, which ensure cover for loan payments if a person can’t work because of illness or becoming unemployed through no fault of their own.
The institutions were instructed to review their sales of PPI in 2011 after concerns were raised that they may not have complied with the Consumer Protection Code when they sold customers the product.
The average amount being paid out is €875, but some policy holders will received amounts far in excess of that figure.
According to the Central Bank’s Director of Consumer Protection, Bernard Sheridan:
Firms selling any financial products must ensure they properly assess the needs of consumers and provide products which meet those needs.This applies equally to add-on or linked products, such as PPI, and firms must ensure that these products are suitable for the consumer and that the consumer is fully informed.
Sheridan says however that around 6,000 policy-holders may be missing out on a repayment as they haven’t yet responded to letters issued by their credit institution.
The Central Bank strongly encourages consumers to act on the letters they have received.
The financial institutions that have been reviewing their sales and offering refunds are AIB, Bank of Ireland, Bank of Scotland, Danske Bank, EBS, GE Capital, KBC Bank Ireland, MBNA, Permanent TSB, RaboDirect Ireland and Ulster Bank.
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