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Insurance disputes rise as PPI complaints triple

Published on 28 May 2009 under category: legal

The number of insurance dispute issues could rise as complaints about payment protection insurance (PPI) have tripled in 2008/09.

According to the annual report of the Financial Ombudsman Service, the 30,000 new cases mean the form of insurance accounted for almost a quarter of all complaints to the watchdog.

Sir Christopher Kelly said the figures were "especially disappointing", with complaints about private medical insurance increasing from 369 to 514 cases.

The figures show that of the almost 128,000 complaints made to the ombudsman in the last year one in six resulted in a full-blown dispute, with just under eight in ten of them resolved within nine months.

Sir Christopher said: "The financial world is a very different place now from a year ago - and the ombudsman, like everyone else, has been affected by the economic turmoil."

He added that as businesses tighten their belts and customers experience increased financial problems the ombudsman expects an increase in complaints.

Recently MoneyWeek branded PPI as a "pointless policy" as it is "expensive" and people rarely claim on it.