In a year that has seen mis-sold PPI grab all the financial industr headlines with tales of mis-selling and billion pound refunds, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has handed out record levels of fines. A total of £54.5 million has been levied against offending companies which is a hefty amount but not enough to make George Osborne, the Chancellor, change his mind about shutting down the financial watchdog.

Last week the coalition Government announced that the FSA would be replaced by 2012 on the grounds that the regulator didn’t do much regulating. In response to this the FSA handed out £1.2 million in fines in one day, £500,000 for the photo booth comapany Photo-Me and £700,000 to the money broker Vantage. Still getting replaced though, too little too late.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) was created by Gordon Brown in 1997 and designed to regulate UK banks, issuing fines and penalties if they misbehaved. Basically they were the police of the banks, only that’s not really fair on the Police. That’s because the FSA didn’t stop the banks misbehaving and a few million mis-sold PPI victims and unemployed people across the UK can vouch for that.

Anyway, it seems the shelf life of an FSA is 15 years because the current Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said he will abolish the Financial Services Authority and give most of its power to the Bank of England, starting in 2012. Osborne blames the FSA for failing to prevent the financial crisis that left us in the deepest recession in post war times.

Over the next two years the watchdog will be wound down and replaced by three bodies:

- Prudential Regulatory Authority
- Financial Policy Committee
- Consumer Protection & Markets Agency

Whether having three regulators instead of one will make any difference remains to be seen and many have already criticised the move as “simply rebranding”.

In a move to help PPI claimants understand the scandal of PPI mis-selling and the claim process for seeking recompense, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has released some case details. In total eight cases that were brought to the FOS have been made publicby the regulator which has also been taking other steps to support the ever-increasing number of PPI claims.

Resources have been shifted from other departments to deal with the overwhelming number of PPI complaints that the FOS are receiving. Last year 135 complaints were made a day with 60% of them coming through claims management companies.

If you have Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) on your radar, you’ll no doubt notice that a week doesn’t go by without another report about mis sold PPI and the problems associated with it. The much maligned insurance has taken quite a hit over the past few years after it emerged that millions of policies have been mis sold.

As important as it is that this scandal is exposed and those responsible are brought to account, it is also important to remember that it is still worth considering PPI cover if you have a borrowing. PPI, when sold correctly, is fundamentally a good product and with countless Cameron cuts on the way it really could be a life-saver. For sure reclaim mis-sold PPI payments but also look into insuring yourself through a trusted independent insurer.

The well-known PPI claims campaigner, Which? has voiced it support for the recent confirmed proposals for a ban on the sale of Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) alongside credit agreements. The ban was subject to an appeal by Barclays who claimed customers were at risk if they were left to find PPI themselves, but this was rejected and it seems like the new regulation will go ahead.

Which? is well known for it’s campaigning for consumer rights and when it comes to PPI, it believes companies should not sell PPI at the same time as offering other products. The watchdog’s thinking falls in line with a lot of industry commentators who think the consumer and the marketplace will benefit from the ruling.

You nkow that we’re all about fighting against the injustice of mis sold PPI and getting the cash back in your pocket but… there’s never been a more important time to consider getting some appropriate cover. With the announcement of more Government cut backs to aid the recovery and cut the deficit, potentially thousands of people across the UK still facing the threat of unemployment, especially those in the Public Sector.

Nurses, teachers and the like are those most at threat so if you didtched your PPI or MPPI because it was mis sold, well done, but consider the costs of your mortgage and outgoings and look into some appropriate cover. Remember: with so much economic uncertainty, a responsible sold and understood policy could be a home saver. Anyway, back to fighting for justice!

Hello followers of the PPIRefundsUK blog, you may have noticed we’ve given the website a lick of paint recently, ain’t it lovely?! We think it is quite possibly the easiest and most informative PPI claims site around and to let everyone know, we’ve written a press release about it, have a read here…

Bolt on financial products, also known as ‘tie-ins’ are commonplace in the finance industry, you ring up about a loan and get payment protection insurance (PPI) as well. Although PPI is very much an option these days, it wasn’t always that way and it was the indescriminate inclusion of unwanted or ill-explained PPI that caused many to make compaints to the Ombudsman.

PPI itself is a perfectly worthwhile product when sold correctly, with the customer’s health and employment situation considered and at a fair and competitive price. But quite often mis sold PPI was thrown in with loans, credit cards and mortgages without any permission or knowledge from the customer, costing individuals thousands for completely worthless cover.

As if trying to impress it’s new boss, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has been handing out more fines to banking institutions who have failed to handle PPI claims and complaints or act appropriately. The most recent lender to get a note on their windscreen is German financial services outfit Commerzbank, receiving a £595,000 fine for failing to accurately report trading data.

The FSA give regular and repeated reminders to banking firms of their obligations to provide accurate data but despite this; Commerzbank failed to recheck its submitted figures. The watchdog also discovered reporting failures at Barclays Capital and earlier fined Credit Suisse, Getco Europe and Instinet Europe a total of £4.2m on the same charges. It’s good to see the the banks getting a wrap on the knuckles but we fear it just seems all too much like a £100,000 a-week footballer getting a £60 speeding fine.

Financial Regulation – it’s up there with chocolate teapots, inflatable dartboards and Anne Frank’s drumkit as the most useless of things ever to have graced the planet. For years now, millions of banking customers have been right royally ripped off due to the serious lack of effective regulation. The Financial Services Authority (FSA), which is funded by the banks, has for too long been a toothless Guppy masquerading as a hungry Piranha.

The major failing of the FSA has been in the area of payment protection insurance, a mis-selling problem that was first pointed out way back at the beginning of the 90’s by consumer campaign group Which?. For years now, lenders have not only mis sold PPI but also grossly overpriced the policies and earned massive commissions. Meanwhile customers falling on hard times found that their policy was worthless, despite having paid every month for it, and couldn’t make the repayments. It seems the FSA did very little to stop this from happening and only now, after it’s all come out, are they threatening, fining and sanctioning – a little late don’t you think? Lets hope the new Government can give us financial regulation that lives up to it’s name and does exactly what it says on the tin. Good old Ronseal.