Speaking at a meeting of the Association of Short Term Lenders, the outreach manager at Fos said that even though the service had taken on 1000 new staff last year, it needed a further 1000 to deal with the rising number of PPI complaints.
He said the ombudsman was receiving more than 2000 complaints a day, while the socio-demographic profile of complainants was shifting towards the C2DE (working class) category. This group, he said, traditionally were less aware where to turn to with money-related problems.
Elsewhere, recruitment company ManpowerGroup said last week that up to 20,000 new jobs had been created by the big banks alone solely to service PPI claims, with an even greater number employed by claims management companies.
ManpowerGroup UK managing director Mark Cahill said: “The consequence of the PPI scandal will not only mean cash in people’s pockets but will also translate into jobs. However, we must not be fooled by the figures. These extra jobs are not a sign of a thriving banking sector looking optimistically to growth – these roles are all about clearing up mistakes from the past.”
| Background |
As of December 2012, the ombudsman had received 341,666 PPI complaints for the financial year and had upheld 47 per cent. Mr Bristow expects this figure to exceed 350,000 by the end of March. The FSA said in January it had been lobbied by the British Bankers’ Association over a cut-off date for PPI complaints. |
Adviser comment
Keith Churchouse, director of Guildford-based Chapters Financial, said: “Maintaining consumer confidence is paramount, so continued redress for situations such as PPI mis-selling is worthwhile.
I have no doubt some of those hired to deal with these claims at the ombudsman or the financial services providers will be former IFAs driven out by the Retail Distribution Review, but the vast majority of claims will have been dealt with or refuted over the next couple of years, so these are short-term jobs – unless we have another mis-selling scandal.”
