Trouble at the commission, ke-mo sah-bee?
NICHE MORTGAGES - 1ST OCTOBER 2007
The recent £182,000 FSA fine of Hadenglen Home Finance plc and its chief executive, Richard Hayes, for remortgage and payment protection insuranceselling failures, is another example of the extent of customer exploitation is in this sector.
Despite on-going investigations by the Competition Commission, a number of payment protection insurance providers continue to over-inflate premiums, use jargon to confuse purchasers and adopt bully boy tactics to achieve sales. Although the OFT referred this sector to the commission in February 2007, the deadline for implementation for any remedial measures isn’t until February 2009.
I applaud the efforts of the FSA in helping to weed out unscrupulous providers, but I wonder if it feels like the Lone Ranger without Tonto.
We need intervention from the Competition Commission now, not in 18 months time when even more vulnerable consumers will fall victim to dubious sales practices.
Simon Burgess
Managing director
British Insurance
