Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Hughes of Woodside (Labour). It was answered on Monday, 5 March 2012.

Insurance: Payment Protection Insurance

Question: My Lords, is the Minister aware that there appears to be a scam on the go? I have had about 12 phone calls, in which I have always been addressed by name, saying that they will help me to get money back under the payment protection scheme. Is the Minister saying that this is a vicious and misleading practice by companies or that we are in danger of a scam? If so, should not the public be warned one way or another?

Answer: I would take the name of the company and report it to the Ministry of Justice. Cold-calling in person is banned; high-pressure telephone calling is banned; and unsolicited text messaging is banned. I am sure that noble Lords, to whom this has happened for the first time, have already realised that this is an industry where a lot of consumers' money is at stake because of the success in making the banks take responsibility for this mis-selling. As the noble Baroness said, there is something like £8 billion or £9 billion that could be returned to consumers and, to put it no higher, there are some very dodgy practices at work with people trying to get their hands on that money. I can assure noble Lords that the Ministry of Justice will accept its responsibility in this area. We are talking to the Financial Ombudsman Service as well and we shall pursue this matter in the best interests of consumers.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 735 c1550-1
Session: 2010-12
Oral question type: Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Lords chamber
Subjects: Compensation Consumers Credit Insurance Misrepresentation Claims management services
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk