HSBC granted extension on PPI claims

HSBC has been granted an extension on processing complaints relating to the sale of payment protection insurance (PPI) while the legal wrangling relating to the issue rumbles on.

Extensions were already granted this week by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to RBS, Lloyds and Barclays - although the latter of these announced plans to settle outstanding claims on a "no-quibble" basis in order to resolve the issue more quickly.

Now the same privilege has been given to HSBC, meaning customers who have lodged an objection with the bank about the way their PPI policy was sold to them or charged will have to wait longer to receive a resolution.

The extensions mean that any complaints made during the recent court action should be resolved by the end of August at the latest.

Any objections lodged after the court case ended must be dealt with by the relevant banks within an extended period of 16 weeks, due to end by September 1st.

From then, until the end of the year, a 12-week time period will be in place to deal with any new complaints raised by customers.

The FSA says that, from the beginning of 2012, all complaints will be expected to be handled within the usual time period of eight weeks.