British companies have paid back nearly £25 billion to customers in the last 5 years
British companies embroiled in the payment protection scandal have now repaid more than £23 billion to customers affected, according to the latest data from the Financial Conduct Authority.
The FCA released the data on Friday, which shows that since the scheme to repay mis-sold PPI was launched in 2011, firms in Britain have paid back £23.3 billion to consumers, with a total of £423.9 million paid back in February, the last period for which data is available.
That figure is the highest since January 2015, when £424.5 million was paid back. February's number is also the second highest since the end of 2013. Here's a monthly breakdown of PPI repayments in the last three years.
PPI was misleadingly sold alongside loans, credit cards and mortgages, and banks have been forced to pay back customers who were wrongly persuaded to take the coverage. A huge portion of consumers who had PPI never knew they were paying for it.
Britain's financial regulator notes that more than 95% of all repayments on PPI have been made by just 23 firms. The UK's biggest five banks - HSBC, Lloyds, Barclays, RBS, and Santander - have set aside a combined £32 billion to deal with the claims, according to the Guardian.
PPI repayments have become synonymous with annoying TV ads asking if "You've been sold PPI you didn't need, want, or ask for" and irritating automated cold calls, and whilst the amount of money being paid is massive, so too is the number of calls being made about the claims.
According to a report from consumer watchdog Which? earlier in April, there were 32,739 complaints to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) about PPI calls in 2015, and according to Which? that's up 85% from 2014.