‘Eight years waiting for my PPI’

Since Robert Axworthy first turned to the ombudsman for help with a PPI claim in 2012, the Queen has met three separate prime ministers, the House of Windsor has extended its bloodline by four and Apple has released 13 new iPhones.

But the 68-year-old accountant from south Wales is still waiting for what he expects to be around £20,000 in redress after the national arbiter of financial disputes, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), left his complaint languishing unresolved.

In what may be the longest-running PPI complaint in history, the mediator has, following this newspaper’s involvement, said the case will finally conclude in the next week and the complaint will be upheld – a resolution that, for Mr Axworthy, has been almost eight years in waiting.

That’s a year longer than it took the Beatles to release 17 number-one singles and change popular culture forever, and two years longer than it took British and French engineers to build the Channel Tunnel, carving through more than 30 miles of chalk, 250ft below the sea floor.

The vast majority of complaints about mis-sold PPI that require mediation from the FOS are resolved within three months. Often, complaints where the ombudsman does not have to get involved can be dealt with in a matter of weeks.

PPI, or payment protection insurance, was sold to borrowers alongside loans and credit cards to pay out in the event they could not afford their debts. But many were sold cover they already had elsewhere, leading to Britain’s biggest mis-selling scandal.

Firms mis-sold around 64 million PPI policies alongside various types of loan between the Seventies and late 2000s.

Until August, firms were required to pay back the cost of the mis-sold policies when customers with genuine claims complained. When claims were rejected, consumers could take their case to the ombudsman to mediate.

The FOS deals with more complaints about PPI than anything else – taking

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Mr Axworthy has been waiting – he should soon hear that his complaint has been upheld on 400,000 in just one year at their peak in 2014, and 180,000 in the past year alone.

Mr Axworthy was mis-sold cover in 2005, when taking out a personal loan.

He complained to his provider and later to the FOS when his claim was rejected, but was kept waiting while various firms passed the buck and the ombudsman failed to take decisive action.

“It’s been an absolute nightmare and caused a huge amount of stress and anxiety for me and my wife,” he said.

“I have completely lost faith in the FOS, its procedures, independence and ability to resolve complaints.”

It comes as the number of complaints still left unresolved 12 months after being lodged with the ombudsman has increased elevenfold in the past three years.

Whistleblowers still working at the organisation have said staff lack proper training, morale is low and consumers are being let down.

MPs and campaigners, including

How long would you wait for a complaint to be heard? Harry Brennan investigates what may be the longest PPI claim ever ‘I have completely lost faith in the ombudsman and its ability to resolve complaints’