Thursday, June 03, 2010
Payment protection insurance restrictions likely to come into play
Plans to restrict the sale of the controversial payment protection insurance (PPI) look set to go ahead.
The Competition Commission wants to ban PPI being sold at the time loans are granted.
It said customers would benefit from being given time to find more appropriate and better-value cover.
The commission's decision is still provisional and open to final consultation - with a final verdict to be published in July.
Plans to restrict PPI sales were first released in January last year.
However, after an objection by Barclays, the Competition Appeal Tribunal asked the commission to review the plans - especially whether they would inconvenience customers who could not buy PPI at the same time as taking out a loan.
Its further study found that "many customers would place very significant value on being given the time and space to choose the right PPI product - or indeed to decide that PPI is not right for them", said commission deputy chairman, Peter Davis.
A "significant" number of customers appreciated the convenience of buying PPI at the point of sale of credit, he added.
"Overall we concluded that PPI providers are overstating the loss of convenience that would result from the introduction of a prohibition on selling PPI during the credit sale."
DATED: 03.06.10
FEED: AM
