PPI comparison tables now available on FSA website

Consumers looking to purchase payment protection insurance (PPI) can now get advice from the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

The watchdog’s website now has free, impartial comparison tables which are designed to help consumers compare the policies on offer and their cost.

PPI has been the result of bad press lately after a report revealed that 2 million customers have been sold potentially worthless PPI.

The policies cover monthly payments for goods, services or loans during illness and redundancy.

The Office of Fair Trading, the Competition Commission and Which? say they have found evidence of massive mis-selling.

The Competition Commission said insurers were overcharging their PPI customers by £1.4 billion a year.

Commenting on the new facility on the website, a spokesperson for the FSA said the tables are a starting point to provide customers with basic information about what the polices offer and what they cost.

PPI is nearly always optional and consumers need to consider their own financial circumstances when deciding to purchase it and make sure they understand what will be covered, added the spokesperson.

Many fines have been imposed by the watchdog to financial companies for mis-selling PPI policies.

Almost 11,000 complained to the Financial Ombudsman Service in the last financial year regarding the PPI policies they had bought. The insurance is now one of the fastest growing sources of complaint.

The tables invite customers to provide basic details about themselves and their requirements, the cost of the policies and what they offer is then displayed.

However, the FSA points out that the tables do not cover the whole of the insurance market as some chose not to supply details of their policies.

A recent survey by YouGov revealed that over a quarter of consumers are looking to save money by cutting back on their insurance policies following the credit crunch.

The survey discovered that 26% of consumers are likely to cancel their PPI policies as a result of cutting back.

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