Central Bank warns consumers about firms handling PPI claims

Director of Consumer Protection at the Central Bank, Bernard Sheridan, has warned customers about firms charging to handle their claim for being mis-sold payment protection insurance.

Seven lenders have been ordered to review their sales of the insurance, amid claims that policies may have been wrongly sold.

The Central Bank has named six of the institutions as Bank of Ireland, AIB, EBS, Ulster Bank, Permanent TSB and GE Money.

Each of them will contact customers in the coming weeks, and if someone qualifies, they could be in line for a refund.

Mr Sheridan has said: "The charges can be significant, so what they might do, instead of charging an up-front fee they may say that if you get a refund they will take a cut out of that.

"That could range from 10% to 25% of the refund, so it could be significant and really there is no need for any customer to bear that cost at this stage."