The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has urged consumers to act now before they lose the opportunity to decide whether or not to claim back money for PPI.

Research by the regulator shows that, of those who leave it to the last minute, a third (34 per cent) of people will leave their decision about whether to claim for PPI to the last 24 hours, while a quarter (24 per cent) won’t decide until literally the final few hours.

Emma Stranack, FCA’s PPI deadline campaign lead, said: “This is the final chance for consumers to think about whether they had PPI and submit a complaint directly to any providers right away. Consumers who haven’t complained to their provider by 29 August 2019 won’t be able to claim money back for PPI. FCA support is available online at fca.org.uk/ppi or by calling the FCA helpline on 0800 101 8800.”

How to make a PPI complaint

If you plan to submit a complaint, you have until 23.59hrs tonight (29 August 2019) to do so.

Products that commonly had PPI attached include loans, mortgages, credit cards or store cards. The FCA website includes a comprehensive list of providers that have sold PPI. This includes high street stores, catalogue firms, building societies and supermarkets.

Providers have online tools that make PPI claims simple. It’s free to do yourself and you don’t need to worry about paperwork. You just need your date of birth, and current and previous home addresses to get started. Providers are obliged to make complaining about PPI simple and will help you through the process.

A total of £340.4m was paid in June 2019 to customers who complained about the way they were sold PPI, taking the amount paid since January 2011 to £36bn. FCA figures show the regulator has had more than 5.4 million users access the PPI website. It has received 102,233 calls to its dedicated contact centre.

In the past nine weeks since the FCA’s final PPI push went live, the FCA has seen a 449 per cent increase in web users, and 689 per cent increase in calls, compared to the previous nine weeks.

Anyone planning to make a claim should understand how a PPI windfall could impact their benefits, care funding and inheritance tax.