The Big Four banks are finding it tough to meet their deadline of the end of this month to refund tens of thousands of customers wrongly sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI).

Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotlandare now fighting to clear a backlog of complaints, with just ten days to go. In particular, many customers will not know exactly how much refund they are being offered, or see any sign of the money.

HSBC says it will send out decision letters ahead of the deadline, but customers might not receive their offers of refunds until four weeks later. Lloyds says it is on track to provide ‘a clear response’ to each customer ahead of the deadline. However, only some will get an offer of a refund at the same time, with others facing a wait to establish what the bank is willing to pay. RBS says customers will get a decision and an ‘indication of the figure we will pay’.

Refunds will include premiums, plus backdated interest at 8%. Where the cost of PPI was added to a loan, there will also be a refund for the extra interest a customer had to pay.

Barclays has decided not to investigate fully all claims, but is checking only that someone was a customer and had PPI with the bank before it pays out as a ‘goodwill gesture’, the Mail reports. The bank says it is on target for all customers to receive offer letters and detailed calculations of what it will pay by the end of this month. Cheques will follow within four weeks.

But on new claims, Barclays says it too will split the decision on whether someone has a valid claim from the calculation of how much redress is due. The bank says all customers will get a yes or no within the watchdog’s 16-week target, but calculations of refunds will follow later.

Some customers who took their cases to the Financial Ombudsman Service may also not have claims settled on time, according to the paper. More than 87,000 were on hold with the FOS pending the outcome of the recent court battle.

“BrunelFranklin.com has helped thousands of people who have been victims of PPI mis-selling. If you have grounds for a refund, it will be pursued by our dedicated staff, experienced in the complexities involved to give you the very best chance of securing the maximum payout.” says Sally Bowyer, Managing Director of Brunel Franklin.

Learn more about PPI refunds and find out if you could apply for a refund today! Visit the website www.brunelfranklin.com or call Brunel Franklin, free, on 0800 051 54 51