Martin Lewis calls for crackdown on banks selling insurance

MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis has called for banks to face having their licenses to sell insurance suspended following a court case between the British Bankers' Association and the FSA.

Lewis said this was needed to force banks to comply.

Speaking to Insurance Times, Lewis said: "The aim is to get them to comply, not to get rid of their license.

"We need that type of threat to get them to play ball. Fining them a couple of million quid on this won’t work."

Lewis urged consumers that bought a loan or credit card over the last six years to check for evidence of PPI misselling.

The British Bankers' Association today lost a court case against the FSA over how to handle payment protection insurance complaints.

A Judicial Review at the High Court found that banks must accept compensation claims from people who were sold a PPI policy before the end of last year.

Banks have the right to appeal before 10 May.

A spokesman for the FSA said: "We believe this decision signals the end of years of poor complaint handling and will trigger a dramatic improvement in the way customers are treated when complaining."

A BBA spokesman said: "We are disappointed with today’s judgment and now need to consider the details of it very carefully as well as next steps, including whether it would be appropriate to apply for permission to appeal."

The FSA ordered banks to review previous PPI sales from the end of 2010, but the BBA claimed this was unfair and demanded a judicial review.

PPI providers have been criticised for misselling to millions of customers.