Banks have been in denial over PPI provisions

Now £13bn set aside by the banks, making Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) the biggest mis-selling scandal of all time, but provisions could still run out in a matter of months.

HSBC have today announced a further £220 million provision for re-paying mis-sold PPI, taking the total amount set aside by the banks to a whopping £13 billion. It comes after RBS announced a further £400 million provision and Lloyds announced an extra £1 billion in provisions last week.

However, if current pay-out rates continue, PPI provisions would run out in a matter of months.  Even with the increases, Lloyds’ provisions would only last until the end of March 2013 and RBS’s provisions would only last until June 2013. At the same time, senior Lloyds executives who presided over PPI are still due to get bonuses worth hundreds of thousands of pounds early next year.

Which? chief executive Peter Vicary-Smith said:

“The banks have been in denial about the true scale of this scandal. Their piecemeal approach to topping up provisions is an inadequate response to what is now the biggest financial mis- selling scandal of all time.

“The banks must now come clean about how many more complaints they’re expecting, publish monthly updates on the amounts that have been paid back, and claw back bonuses from executives who presided over £12.7bn mis-selling travesty.

“Consumers are continually being let down by banks. We’re campaigning for big change so that banks work for customers, not bankers and to protect the public from further mis-selling scandals.”

Notes to editors:

  • PPI is the biggest mis-selling scandal of all time, surpassing previous financial mis-selling scandals including pensions (£11.8bn) and mortgage endowments (£2.7bn).
  • New Which? analysis suggests that, as of 5th November 2012 if PPI payouts continue at the same pace as the first half of this year, the following banks provisions would be used up by:

·                Lloyds – March 2013

·                Barclays – September 2013

·                RBS – June 2013

·                HSBC – December 2013.

[As at 10am on 5th November 2012]

  • New PPI claims continue to rocket, more than doubling to 2.2 million in the first half of 2012, a 129% increase on the previous six months.
  • If you think you have been mis-sold PPI, it’s easy to claim it back yourself free. Just visit www.which.co.uk/ppi and follow our free, quick and easy guide to making a claim.
  • Which? has launched a major new campaign ‘Big Change’ to put consumers’ best interests at the heart of banking reforms. The public can support the campaign by signing the ‘Big Change’ pledge here. ‘Big Change’ is calling for:

–         Bankers to put customers first, not sales.

–         Bankers to meet professional standards and comply with a code of conduct.

–         Bankers to be punished for mis-selling and bad practice.

Major banks, who have announced Q3 results, amount paid back for mis-selling PPI

Bank Amount paid out between 1 January 2012 – 30 September 2012 (£ million) Total amount paid out to 30 September 2012 (£ million)
Lloyds Banking Group £2,655 £3,700
Barclays £690* £1,123*
RBS £721 £1,041
HSBC £440* £610*

Estimated date of when current provisions could run out (banks who have announced Q3 results)

Bank Amount of provision left as at 30 September 2012.
(£ million)		 Estimated month when current provision could run out if payout rates continue at the same pace as during 1 January 2012 – 30 June 2012
Lloyds banking Group £1,675 March 2013
Barclays £875* September 2013*
RBS £693 June 2013
HSBC £735* December 2013*

* Please note: Barclays and HSBC did not disclose the amount they had paid out in Jul-Sep 2012, so we have assumed that the pay-out rate in Jul-Sep 2012 continued at the same rate as Jan-Jun 2012.

Totals for HSBC have been converted from US dollars to GB pounds at the current exchange rate on 5 November 2012.

 

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