PPI Claims Go Ahead & MOD Compensation Increased [10th May 2011]
The banking industry has this week, confirmed they will be dropping their legal battle over the mis-selling of Payment Protection Insurance (PPI). The British Bankers Association (BBA) have said they will not appeal against the recent case it lost which insisted that banks apply mis-selling rules retrospectively. This means that the banks involved have agreed to set aside billions to pay any future and current compensation claims. It has emerged that Lloyd's will put £3.2 billion in reserve, while Barclay's have put aside £1 billion. The Financial Services Association has claimed in the past that the total bill for all complaints could be as much as £4.5 billion however it is expected that this figure will be significantly more. Claims which had previously been put on hold until after the appeal can now be processed. Peter Vicary-Smith from Which? has said that they are delighted that the BBA have backed down and he wants to see those who were mis-sold reimbursed as quickly as possible. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced that the lump sum compensation payments they make to army personnel who are injured or become ill as a result of their service will be increased by as much as 25%. Payments for mental health issues will also increase from £48,875 to £140,000. In addition to this, the Guaranteed Income Payment which is paid to those who are left with lifelong injuries will also be increased to reflect the fact it will affect promotion chances and their ability to work until retirement. Andrew Robathon, the Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans has commented that the package shows their commitment to helping wounded personnel for life. Over the next year, previous compensation payments will also be reviewed and recipients will be informed of their new awards. An air stewardess has won a compensation payment from East Surrey HNS Trust due to the pain and distress she suffered after an operations which went wrong. The woman had surgery on one of her toes in 2008 during which a pin was inserted. This pin was removed before it should have been causing great pain and meaning the woman could not work for a further six weeks. Payment was made to the woman despite counsel warning the lawyers involved that there was only a 50% chance of success. Compensation was paid by the Trust but they did not admit liability. The lawyers pointed out that the woman may not have received compensation at all if the government's plans to change no win no fee arrangements had come into effect. It has emerged that the Cheshire Constabulary has paid out more than £46,000 in compensation over the past three years and all of the cases relate to dog bites. In fact UK police have paid out more than £770,000 in total for cases relating to dogs. In Cheshire, a 13 year old boy was bitten on the back and received £2,500, plus legal costs in excess of £7,000. In another case an officer was awarded £2,000 after he was bitten during training. The highest percentage of dog bites which occurred UK wide were bites to suspects, however some officers and members of the public were victims as well. Nick Ingram from the Association of Chief Police Officers has commented that police dogs are essential to their work and that they constantly seek out ways to improve their handling of the dogs. UK users of the Sony Playstation Network are still reeling from the news that despite being left without service for some time and having their details stolen by hackers, they have not yet received the compensation offered to US users. American users have been offered free identity theft insurance as well as the free month long subscriptions which have been offered to UK members. Sony say they are working to arrange similar compensatory scheme for users in other parts of the world. |
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