Competition Commission: Draft Payment Protection Insur Order
July 08 2009 - 2:57AM
Dow Jones News
The U.K. Competition Commission, or CC, Wednesday published a
draft order for consultation setting out how measures to introduce
competition into the Payment Protection Insurance, or PPI, market
will be implemented.
MAIN FACTS:
-The measures were outlined when the CC published its final
report into PPI in January this year, concluding that businesses
that offer PPI alongside credit face little or no competition when
selling PPI to their credit customers.
-To address the lack of competition, the CC announced its
intention to introduce a package of measures to bring competition
in the market.
-Measures included a prohibition on the sale of PPI during the
sale of the credit product and for seven days afterwards; a
prohibition on single-premium policies; and personal PPI quotes,
annual reviews and other measures to make sure that improved
information is available to consumers to make it easier for them to
compare and search for products and switch policies at a later
point.
-Although the CC's decision and proposed measures have since
been appealed to the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) by Barclays
PLC (BCS), the CC has started consultation on the detailed
implementation of the changes to enable it to move quickly once the
appeal is finalised and it has considered the CAT's judgment.
-The appeal hearing takes place from Sept. 7-10.
-The CC has already carried out consumer research in order to
ensure that the improved customer information contained in PPI
quotes and annual reviews is set out in a clear and easily
understandable format.
-By London Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires; Contact Ian Walker; +44 (0)20 7842 9296; ian.walker@dowjones.com