FSA ups fines for firms falling short of PPI standards

It says it will look to increase the size of fines for firms deemed to be failing to treat its customers fairly and start conducting more mystery shopping exercises. It follows the publication of the regulator’s latest review of PPI selling standards which found “many firms” have failed to improve their sales practices. However, the report did find areas of improvement among some firms, notably in two of its five key requirements: telling customers PPI is optional; and offering cancellation refunds on single premium PPI policies. Clive Briault, FSA managing director of retail markets,...