FCA fines CT Capital over PPI complaints failures

The Financial Conduct Authority has fined CT Capital just under £2.4m for “serious failings” in its historic payment protection insurance complaints handling processes.

The regulator said that between May 2011 and November 2013, customers missed out on redress payments they were entitled to because CT – the parent company of a group of lenders and loan brokers – failed to put in place handling processes to deal with PPI complaints appropriately.

During that time, CT Capital handled 6,669 PPI complaints.

The FCA said the effect on individual customers was potentially significant, as the average redress payment made in respect of a fully upheld complaint during the period was £5,959.

Mark Steward, director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: “Failing to handle complaints appropriately means that firms risk treating customers unfairly for a second time and it’s important that firms get this right.

“We have taken action against firms on numerous occasions and there’s no excuse for firms continuing to get it wrong. We remain determined to ensure that firms put right the harm caused by PPI mis-selling and regain the trust of the public. We will continue to monitor how firms are dealing with complaints and will not hesitate to take action where we see firms not complying with their obligations.”

Between 2005 and 2008, the group of lenders and loans brokers sold 31,591 regulated PPI policies, receiving around £63m net in commission.

Following feedback from the FCA in 2013, CT Capital undertook a substantial remediation exercise. This involved developing a revised PPI complaint handling process and reviewing around 4,800 complaints that had been rejected or not fully paid. By January 2016, CT Capital had paid approximately £74m in compensation and interest.