Competition Commission expects first document in autumn
- 6TH MAY 2007
The Competition Commission announced its self-imposed deadlines for its investigation into the payment protection insurance (PPI) market on 12 April 2007. A conclusion to the investigation is expected by 6 February 2009, although the first document relating to it will be released in Autumn 2007.
The Office of Fair Trading referred the payment protection insurance market to the Competition Commission in February 2007 after it had found that there was a distinct lack of choice of policy for the consumer during the course of its investigation into the selling practices employed by providers.
It is estimated that healthy competition between payment protection insurance providers could actually save British consumers in excess of £1 billion as well as offer better value protection. When you consider that 7 million policies are taken out annually, it puts this figure in perspective.
The results of the Competition Commission’s investigation should help to ensure that consumers get a fair deal in the future. With more people than ever in debt with large mortgage repayments and/or loan and credit card repayments, it is an exceedingly good idea for those individuals to seek a form of payment protection insurance. The policies are designed to make monthly repayments should illness, accident or redundancy prevent an individual working for an extended period of time.
Consumers should investigate all of their options before settling on a payment protection insurance policy. There are already alternatives to the policies offered by high street lenders, like those from independent protection specialists British Insurance for example. They offer low cost policies which often have additional benefits than those offered by the traditional providers.
Come 2009, the consumer should have enough information about payment protection insurance at their disposal to make an informed decision.
