Quality not Quantity – the new approach from UK banks towards unsecured lending, oh and hiking the interst rate as well, that’s the other approach. Figures released by industry analyst Defaqto revealed that a £5,000 loan wil cost you 42% more today than it would’ve 2 years ago with the average APR on a up from 9.8% to 13.9% in the same time period.

As well as loan rates, credit card interest is at it’s highest point for 12 years and all because the banks need to cover all the wreckless, care free lending they issued throughout the boom. But that’s not the only reason for rocketing the rates, mr banker also wants to pocket some extra money to make up for the all the Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) policies that they can’t mis-sell or forceably include alongside borrowings.

Here’s a little interesting piece of research conducted by home insurance company Liverpool Victoria. They’ve discovered that; due to mass unemployment, the British Public will spend an estimated £132 million this Christmas on ‘black market’ goods. It’s a fascinating insight into consumer behaviour in times of hardship and will no doubt leave legitimate retailers feeling rather bitter.

Now, some of you may be asking ‘what does this have to do with PPI claims and refunds?’ and the answer is: ‘absolutely nothing’, but you’ve got to admit – it’s an interesting point. Of course, the large scale unemployment means that banks and policy providers are currently covering more repayments than ever before, which in itself will be a welcome Christmas present for many.

Where you watching Prime Ministers Questions yesterday? Ok, so that’s 3 of you, but this session gave us all an insight as the PM revealed more about the new Financial Services Bill. The Bill was brought up as Brown tried to dodge a question about the bank charges test case result and in doing so he disclosed some interesting information about future finance related legal cases.

The Financial Services Bill will ring in some essential changes to the way banks, building societies and lenders are regulated, but it’ll introduce one feature in particular that’s going to make a massive difference. As a result of the Bill, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) will gain ‘Class Action’ powers that enable it to bring a number individual PPI claims together and fight their cases as one. This means that 100 people complaining about one particular bank can have all their cases and evidence put forward in one single hearing against that bank. Powerful stuff.

As if we hadn’t heard enough about banks and lenders cheating customers into paying for worthless Payment Protection Insurance (PPI), yet another tale of bankers greed has emerged. Roy Barker, 56, paid £22,000 in PPI payments ALONE to FirstPlus, a subsidiary of Barclays. Then. when Roy fell ill with Cancer and couldn’t make his loan repayments, he tried to claim on his £22,000 insurance policy only to find he was not eligible due to mis-selling. As if that wasn’t enough, FirstPlus then started repossession proceedings.

With this level of deceit and irresponsibility it’s no wonder that the number of PPI claims being made against lenders has reached an average of 750 a week. Thankfully, Roy complained to the Financial Ombudsman about his situation and now he has secured his home and had the PPI payments refunded. The banks can’t get away with this disrespect any longer and you can read the entire story at the Daily Mail’s website.

The jig is up. Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) is a scam, it’s been mis-sold, mis-placed and mis-trusted but why did the banks, lenders and providers take the wee wee out of us so much? This might explain it: When you took out a PPI policy with a borrowing, be it a mortgage, credit card or loan; the sales person typically received 80% commission based on your initial premium. So you can imagine they were some-what keen to sell.

As if that wasn’t enough, according to the Competition Commission, when someone did actually need their policy and made a PPI claim due to unemployment or illness, they were turned away. In fact, only 14% of claims were ever paid out on which equates to £14 for every £100 taken in premiums. Scandalous doesn’t quite cut it.

I’d like to, if I may, discuss Free Banking. Now I understand £100’s of billions of tax-payers money being pumped into the banks might not be described as ‘free’ but I’m talking account services here. Us Brits expect free banking, we don’t even think about an alternative,  it’s free to have and use an account but it aint like that across the water, in both directions.

In Europe and the US, customers pay monthly fees for their account along with charges on most transactions and with the raft of changes proposed by HM Government, it’s only a matter of time before our Bentley boys begin charging for the basics.

The financial institutions have already voiced their thoughts on the matter, Nationwide Building Society believes that a proposed change to credit card T’s & C’s could cost banks more than £500 million in lost revenue. And if the bank charges case rules against the banks then they stand to lose an estimated £10 billion, how will they cover that gaping whole? We haven’t got any tax money left.

Another large expense for them is the hundreds of thousands of PPI claims which will cost another few billion. All these positive steps towards a better banking system are necessary but we should be under no illusion – they are not cost-free.

If you took a poll of the British public on their opinion of Payment Protection Insurance (PPI), I should think there’d be a split of two results. Half would probably spit on the ground when you mention the acronym PPI and the other half wouldn’t know what you are talking about.

One thing’s for sure, no-one would sing the praises the insurance cover, unless of course one of the people you asked was Tony Byrne, managing director of IFA Wealth and Tax Management. Unsurprisingly, he isn’t thinking about all the PPI compensation claims when he tells FT his thoughts on the FSA and Payment Protection Insurance.

Another cosumer support body has come out and made a case against the bank bossess, saying they should be personally fined if their Institutions are found to have mis-sold PPI to their customers. Adam Phillips, chairman of the Financial Services Consumer Panel (FSCP), has declared he wants the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to hold the most senior executives accountable for the mis-selling.

This is a view shared by many people both inside and outside the banking industry but it’s one that suffered a minor set-back after Barclays won an appeal against the Competition Commission’s proposed PPI ban. One thing’s for sure; if bank executives were held personally accountable and made to pay-out, there’s a lot of Bentley, Jaguar and BMW salesmen out there that may well lose their best customers. Shame.

You can read more about this in the Guardian.

Recent industry figures show that more people than ever are asking banks for their Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) payments back. But behind the scenes, more delays on the decision to ban the sale of PPI are brewing after Barclays win their case.

In an appeal led by law firm Clifford Chance, Barclays has won an appeal against a decision by the Competition Commission to ban the sale of PPI alongside credit cards and loans.

You’d think that as one of the UK’s leading banks and after the debacle of unfair charges, mis-sold cover and the thousands of PPI compensation claims that Barclays would let it go. But no, PPI is a billion pound business and they obviously want to keep hold of as much of their cut as possible. What all of this means is that the decision by the Competition Commission will have to be reviewed by… the Competition Commission.

I challenge someone to find me a QUANGO with a backbone.

If you know about Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) then you’ll know that it’s been mis-sold to thousands and potentially millions of UK banking consumers. The result of this is the increasing number of PPI refund claims entering the system every month but do you know the ways in which it’s been mis-sold?

Well, there’s loads including one that has been at the centre of what could be a landmark case in the PPI claim world. Lynne Thorius, a cleaner from South Shields has had an £8000 credit card debt completely written off because MBNA didn’t disclose that they were getting commission on her insurance. Check out more at the Guardian website.