Co-op Bank fined for PPI complaint stalling

The FSA has fined the Co-operative Bank £113,300 for halting payment protection insurance (PPI) complaints that should have progressed while banks brought judicial review proceedings from October 2010 against redress requirements relating to this product. Co-op's process for dealing with PPI complaints during the legal process was inadequate and allowed this to happen, says the regulator, even though the FSA issued a letter in January 2011 outlining its expectations for PPI complaint-handling during the judicial review period. The letter even set out the types of cases that should be progressed and warned that enforcement action would be taken if banks did not comply with their complaint-handling obligations.