Aifa backs PPI challenge

14 October 2010 | By Natalie Holt

Aifa believes the FSA has a case to answer following the British Bankers’ Association’s decision to challenge the principle of introducing retrospective regulation via its rules on payment protection insurance.

Last week, the BBA filed papers with the High Court to seek a judicial review of the FSA’s new PPI complaint-handling rules and some decisions taken by the Financial Ombudsman Service.

The BBA says the industry has been told to consider complaints based on the conduct of business rules that applied at the time and the FSA’s latest guidance.

It says this effectively creates a precedent for the FSA to apply new rules to previous sales.

Aifa director Robert Sinclair says: “Certain firms may have been given guidance by the regulator in the past that people now feel has been lost somewhere. I think the BBA’s challenge is a legitimate one and it is legitimate that it should be argued out in the public domain and be subject to the full force of judgment and debate.”

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