Earlier this year the bank was forced to set aside £731 million to refund people who have been mis-sold PPI policies.

Santander UK’s pre-tax profits fell 50% in the first nine months of this year, as the effects of the recent Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) mis-selling affair continue to take their toll.

The Spanish bank’sUKarm made a total pre-tax profit of £926 million (€1.1 billion) in the first nine months of 2011, down from £1.9 billion (€2.1 billion) during the same period in 2010. Earlier this year the bank was forced to set aside £731 million to refund people mis-sold PPI policies.

SantanderUKmade an attributable profit of £659 million in the first nine months of 2011. If you deduct the post-tax PPI provision of £538 million made in the second quarter however, profit was £1.198 billion – just 8.6% less than in 2010.

Capital requirements for banks will increase to a minimum of 7% by 2015, though the Independent Commission on Banking recently recommended a higher requirement forUKbanks of 10%. Maintaining low interest rates while the Bank of England base rate continues to sit at an all-time low of 0.5% has also contributed to a fall in income, Santander said.

The broader Santander Group posted attributable profit of €5.3 billion for the first nine months of 2011, 12.8% less than in the same period of 2010. Again the bank attributed the loss largely to the PPI provision in theUK.

Sally Bowyer, Managing Director of leading financial claims firm Brunel Franklin, said that consumers could recoup many years’ worth of premiums plus interest. “If you were mis-sold PPI, you may be entitled to several years’ premiums plus 8% interest, which can in some cases amount to several thousands of pounds.”

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.