09 Jan 2012

CUSTOMER DATA VITAL TO AVOID FOS PENALTIES OVER DELAYED PPI CLAIMS

Equifax Single Customer Insight for Regulatory Compliance helps banks identify and resolve their exposure to PPI claims

London, 9th January 2012 - A new report from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) suggests that banks are still struggling to manage PPI mis-selling cases. At the weekend FOS said that it is receiving around 3,000 fresh cases per week from customers who have not received a response or are unhappy with the decision.

Leading consumer credit and analytics expert, Equifax, believes that a lack of insight into customer data across multiple products may be contributing to the delays. Equifax Single Customer Insight for regulatory compliance provides a solution to this problem that is quick to implement and that will help streamline the PPI claims process enhancing the experience for consumers.

“Establishing total exposure to PPI claims continues to be a major challenge for firms, especially where they have offered multiple products with PPI policies over the last 6 years,” explains Karl-Magnus Wadsack, Strategic Consultant, Equifax.

“Equifax Single Customer Insight for regulatory compliance can play a crucial role in helping our clients through the whole process, from quantifying their total exposure, to verifying claimants and handling claims accurately and efficiently. Harnessing the power of the Equifax databases and our matching expertise we are helping to reduce the administration costs and reputational risk of PPI claims. We are also helping banks ensure fraudulent claims do not get through.”

By using Equifax’s comprehensive consumer datasets to match PPI and credit account databases, firms can accurately calculate their claims exposure, even across different brands and products. The Equifax matching process is also able to qualify the eligibility of a PPI claim, for example, where there is a discrepancy between policy and loan terms or where a policy was put in place outside of specific age limits.

The Equifax solution offers financial service firms several distinct benefits:

Correctly identify eligible claims - The Equifax ‘evidence-based’ matching process utilises data on more than 45 million adults across 28 million households representing 98% of the population to qualify the eligibility of a PPI claim. Crucially, with credit histories and address links maintained for six years, Equifax is ideally placed to provide banks with the history to meet the new FSA requirements for PPI products
Identify customers with multiple products that may have PPI policies - The Equifax Single Customer Insight process shows whether customers have more than one product relationship with a firm, which is vital in providing a consolidated view of PPI claims exposure
Trace and target claimants - Data enrichment is used to update claimants’ contact details on a bank’s database, appending information from Equifax’s own data sources in order to ensure that the right individuals are contacted in the most efficient manner
Develop an efficient, robust claims management system - The Equifax rules-based system minimises the chance of duplication or overpayment during the claims process, reducing errors and costs.
Demonstrate best practice to customers and the FSA - By establishing the total PPI redress exposure and claims value, the Equifax solution helps firms accurately plan resources in order to handle claims as efficiently and fairly as possible

“With FOS reiterating that every claim it examines costs the company to which it relates £500, it is crucial that firms deal with this issue as quickly and accurately as possible”, continued Karl-Magnus Wadsack. “Equifax Single Customer Insight for compliance combines our best-in-class data and leading-edge analytics expertise to help our clients identify and resolve PPI redress quickly and effectively, with a high level of accuracy.”

“By working in partnership with the banks we are not only helping them to manage their business costs and reputation; we are also helping to improve the claims experience for consumers.”

Ends

For further press information please contact: Wendy Harrison, Jenny Thorneywork or Clare Watson at HSL on 020 8977 9132 / Fax: 020 8977 5200 or Email: equifaxbtobteam@harrisonsadler.com

About Equifax

Equifax is a global leader in consumer and commercial information solutions, providing businesses of all sizes and consumers with information they can trust. We organize and assimilate data on more than 500 million consumers and 81 million businesses worldwide, and use advanced analytics and proprietary technology to create and deliver customized insights that enrich both the performance of businesses and the lives of consumers.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Equifax operates or has investments in 17 countries and is a member of Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500® Index. Its common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol EFX. For more information, please visit www.equifax.com.