Leading high street banks and lenders caught up in the Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) scandal have paid out an incredible £557 million in refunds as a result of mis-selling

Hundreds of thousands of people across the country have been a victim of the scandal, with banks and lenders taking money from consumers without their knowledge.

Since the scandal unfolded earlier this year, angry consumers have complained to the Financial Ombudsman Services (FOS) in their hundreds of thousands. They feel that they are simply seeking refunds for money which was rightfully their own in the first place.

The FOS has seen the number of claims for mis-sold PPI rocket with more than 3,000 a week in the last two months. The FOS has been swamped with so many consumer complaints about the controversial insurance that it has had to hire additional staff. The FOS has up-held nine out of 10 PPI cases in favour of the consumer, with refunds ranging from £200 to more than £10,000.

Several of the banks who were forced to cough up refunds are now under pressure to reconsider bonuses to top executives. Lloyds bank, which is 41% owned by the taxpayer, set aside £3.2 billion to settle mis-sold PPI claims. It has since reported a significant loss of profits and is now having to reconsider awarding bonuses to senior executives.

HSBC said it was also putting aside £270 million earlier this year for claims, and the Royal Bank ofScotlandhave also made an £850 million provision.

Sally Bowyer, Managing Director of financial claims specialist BrunelFranklin.com says that the public are slowly becoming wiser to the tactics of mis-selling, but that a lot of the damage is already done: “It is important to realise that we may all unwittingly have taken out PPI during the years when lenders were offering a seemingly endless line of credit in the form of loans and credit cards in particular. It costs nothing to check your paperwork for insurances that you may not even know you are paying for. PPI per se is not a bad product, however the onus is on the vendor to ensure the product is the best for your needs at the time of sale. If the best product for your needs was not offered, or if you were unaware of the true cost, for example, you may have grounds for a refund.”

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.