Defaqto’s latest report, “Payment Protection Insurance - 2008  - The party’s over ” predicts that over the next two years there will be a  massive upheaval in the industry as lenders, underwriters and consumers are forced to adjust to consequences that will flow from the judgements of the Competition Commission.With an annual turnover of around £4.5bn and profits in the order of £1.5bn the industry is likely to suffer a severe dilution of profits when the Competition Commission’s statement of remedies is published. If this includes de-coupling the sale of PPI from that of the credit product, this in itself would have a huge impact on the industry. 

As a consequence of the inevitable tightening of the rules under which PPI can be sold, costs and charges across a wide range of other financial products and services will have to rise steeply if banks and credit card companies are to fill the holes in their balance sheets that this will create.

PPI products principally cover protection for loans, credit cards and mortgages but there are significant differences in the way the products are costed and sold. So, while the shortcomings of the PPI industry are well-documented, particularly in connection with the complexity of the products, the sale process itself, the sale to people not covered by the policy and the high cost of some plans, these findings do not apply universally.

PPI policies can and do provide a vital income stream to meet ongoing bills if accident, sickness or unemployment does strike and calls by newspapers and lobby groups to policyholders to cancel their policies could leave them seriously exposed if this advice were followed.

Commenting on the industry, Brian Brown, Head of Insight and lead author of the report said: “We must be very careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. PPI has been exploited by lenders as an easy source of profit, but the products themselves can be an extremely valuable.

Policyholders need to carefully examine their personal circumstances and their policy wordings and form a judgement as to whether to retain them, seek cheaper alternatives or drop them altogether.

PPI is the first safety net people fall back on before being forced to claim state benefits and PPI’s detractors should think carefully before advising people to cancel their policies unless they are prepared to accept responsibility for policyholders left unprotected by their advice.”

-Ends-

Notes to Editors:

¹The report “Payment Protection Insurance - 2008  - The party’s over ” is on sale priced £1,200 excluding VAT for a PDF version and £595 (No VAT payable) for a single printed copy. For further information please contact Chris Johnston on 01844 295457, or the Sales Department on Freephone 0808 1000 804 or visit http://www.defaqto.com/

 For further information contact:

Defaqto Limited 

Brian Brown, Chris Johnston or Luci Mylward

01844 295 454

Valentine’s Day is a chance to demonstrate your love by a gift to your loved one or by whisking them away for a romantic holiday. However, without proper insurance, what starts as a happy day could turn into a nightmare if things go wrong.

If you are planning to give your beloved something expensive you need to make sure that both of you are properly insured. Insuring expensive items when they are taken outside the house is covered by “personal possessions” insurance which is either built in as standard or can be purchased as an optional extra to the home insurance policy. Without this cover, any item of value that is lost or stolen away from the home is not covered. So, if you are intending to propose in a beautiful setting and you lose your nerve or the ring, you can be comforted that you will have another opportunity at a later date without having to dip into your savings.

If you are planning a romantic holiday abroad, the importance of taking out travel insurance is well known, even if it is for only a few days. Costs of medical treatment overseas can be very variable and loss of baggage could prove very expensive without proper cover. Single trip policies can be purchased online and there are many retail outlets, banks and building societies which offer competitive cover.

What is less well known is what happens if something goes wrong when you are travelling to a destination in the UK. If you have already purchased an annual travel policy, It is important to note that with some annual policies, in order for cover to be provided you must have pre-booked at least 2 nights accommodation in a hotel, guest house or the like.

Mike Powell, Consultant - General Insurance at Defaqto said: “By taking a few minutes to check your insurance cover, you can cover your losses from unforeseen problems and help ensure that you and your loved one have a Valentine’s Day to remember, for all the best reasons.”

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For further information contact:

Defaqto Limited 

Mike Powell, Chris Johnston or Luci Mylward

01844 295 454

Following the concerns from the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) about comparison websites, the spotlight is well and truly focussed on how these sites operate.What is less well known is that there are some comparison sites that genuinely cover virtually the whole market for their product areas and where products are compared against a set of features and benefits and not price.

These sites are powered by Defaqto Compare which utilises a method of highlighting how different products compare using a simple, yet highly effective, traffic light system. As Defaqto is an independent financial company, users can be certain that the comparisons are impartial and the data is right up to date.

At present Defaqto Compare is held on three insurers’ websites:

• Cornhill Direct - Car, Building and Contents Home Insurance¹
• Hiscox - Buildings and Contents Home Insurance²
• Pet Protect - Cat and Dog Insurance³

Consumers visiting each site will be able to compare the level of cover offered by the host insurer’s product across a number of important product features with the cover levels offered by any other policy. Three coloured symbols and some explanatory text are all that is needed to make very meaningful comparisons for the features shown:

• a green roundel with a tick indicates that the policy meets or exceeds the level of cover provided by the insurer;
• an orange roundel containing an exclamation mark indicates that the level of cover selected can be offered as an optional extra;
• a red roundel with a horizontal while bar means that the policy does not meet the level of cover provided by the insurer.

Brian Brown, Head of Insight at Defaqto said: “We have always emphasised the need for consumers to check out the quality of insurance policies, rather than concentrating just on price. If a policy does not provide the appropriate level of cover, while it may be relatively cheaper than one that does, it could prove very costly if something happened that wasn’t covered or not covered to the right level.”

-Ends-

Notes to Editors

¹ www.cornhilldirect.co.uk/homeinsurance/homedefaqtoComparisonTool.html

¹ www.cornhilldirect.co.uk/motorinsurance/car/motordefaqtoComparisonTool.html

² www.hiscoxonline.com/jsp/marketing/productsContents.jsp

³ www.petprotect.co.uk/TheRightCover/OurProducts/comparisontool.asp

For further information contact:

Defaqto Limited 

Chris Johnston or Luci Mylward

01844 295 454