The OFT refers the UK payment protection insurance market to the Competition Commission for further investigation...
The OFT has referred the UK payment protection insurance (PPI) market to the Competition Commission (CC) for further investigation.
The decision comes after a period of public consultation following the OFT's earlier proposal to refer the PPI market to the CC on 19 October 2006.
Having considered the views of respondents to the consultation, the OFT is of the view that the competition concerns it identified prior to the consultation exercise remain valid and that an investigation by the CC is now warranted.
John Fingleton, OFT chief executive, said: “Our examination of the evidence presented to date gives us reasonable grounds to suspect that there are features of this market which restrict competition to the detriment of consumers.”
While there was some evidence of client satisfaction, on the whole Fingleton said consumers were getting a “poor deal” and this warranted calling in the Competition Commission to investigate the market and, if necessary, “ensure that appropriate remedies are put in place.”
