Market Investigation into Payment Protection Insurance

Volume I: Summary and Report and Volume II: Appendices and Glossary

Author:

Competition Commission

Publisher:

TSO (The Stationery Office)

Price: £169.00

On 7 February 2007 the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) referred the supply of all Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) (except store card PPI) to non-business customers in the UK to the Competition Commission (CC) for investigation under section 131 of the Enterprise Act 2002. The reference followed the receipt of a super-complaint about PPI on 13 September 2005 from Citizens Advice. This document, together with its appendices, constitutes the CC's final report.

PPI covers repayments on the insured credit product if the borrower suffers an insured event - usually accident, sickness, unemployment or death (referred to as life cover.) PPI is sold to cover a variety of credit products, but nearly 95% of PPI sold in the UK in 2007 is either personal loan, credit card, mortgage or second-charge mortgage. Two other types of PPI are also covered in this report, motor finance and retail finance.

In investigating PPI this report considers customers, market definition, the extent of competition between PPI providers and factors affecting the nature and extent of this competition. It also looks at potential benefits to consumers in comparing PPI policies and if there are barriers to search for comparable policies. The report also identifies barriers to switching PPI and to entry and expansion.

Having considered the distribution of PPI in-depth, the report looks at the underwriting of PPI and whether any adverse effects on competition (AECs) arise from a PPI policy distributed by a company being underwritten by a company within the same group. The report then goes on to identify the features of the markets for PPI which, alone or in combination, prevent, restrict or distort competition in the supply of PPI to non-business customers in the UK.

Finally, the report sets out the remedial action the CC intends to take. This includes a package of remedies to form a comprehensive solution to the AECs and detrimental effects on customers resulting from the AEC.

The report makes use of a variety of financial industry publications and data sources such as; Mintel UK Credit Insurance reports, Defaqto payment protection insurance reports, Financial Services Authority (FSA), OFT reports and surveys and PPI Insight and Datamonitor reports. The CC also undertook qualitative research, two quantitative surveys and a quantitative experiment among PPI customers during the investigation.

Extent	Volume I: 320 pages; Volume II: 505 pages	ISBN	9780117067363
Size	A4	Price	£169.00
Format	Paperback	Published	31 Mar 2009
Availability	In Stock: 1 - 2 days	Delivery	Delivery options and charges