Which? warns of £2bn claims management PPI burden

Consumers using claims management firms could lose more than £2bn in payment protection insurance payouts, according to Which?

Which? has said that claims management firms will take a standard fee of around 25% of any PPI payout. This means that a consumer's average PPI payout of £2750 would be cut by £825, claims Which?

Which? claimed that its investigation into claims management firms showed that 16 out of 38 firms claimed success rates of 90% or above with little or no evidence, while only 10 out of the 38 offered good advice.

Which? chief executive Peter Vicary-Smith said: “Anyone who thinks they may have been mis-sold PPI should complain directly to whoever sold it to them. By going to a claims management company, you’ll pay what could be a lot of money for something you can easily do yourself.

“If your bank rejects your complaint, always go to the Ombudsman - most complaints about PPI are upheld in favour of the consumer. This point can’t be stressed strongly enough as some banks have a record of rejecting legitimate complaints in the hope that consumers won’t take their complaint further.”