Payment protection insurance selling not good enough

In a sample of 30 firms offering payment protection insurance (PPI) with revolving credit (credit and store cards, and catalogues), unsecured loans and sub-prime mortgages and secured loans, studied by the FSA, around half that claimed to sell on a non-advised basis had inadequate measures in place to prevent staff from giving advice. Half of the group also failed to operate measures to stop sales to customers who would not be able to claim under the policy or who would only receive very restricted cover. Suitability checks were deficient and instead of oral explanations, advisers tended to rely too much on product documentation.