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

Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and Royal Bank ofScotlandare battling to clear a backlog of complaints in the next ten days.

In particular, many of the tens of thousands of customers will not know exactly how much of a refund they are being offered or see any sign of the money.

• HSBC said it will send out decision letters ahead of the deadline, but customers might not receive their offers of a refund 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 show an offer of refunds at the same time.
• RBS said customers will get a decision and an ‘indication of the figure we will pay’.
• Barclays will not fully investigate 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 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.

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.

Sally Bowyer, Managing Director of Brunel Franklin said: “Everyone accepts that banks provide a valuable service and are entitled to make fair and reasonable charges for services. But people shouldn’t be sold PPI without being furnished with the full facts. PPI mis-selling cases serve as timely reminder of how careful we all need to be when taking out new loans and other credit card agreements.”

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