Guess who’s back? Animatronic Arnie returns to raise awareness of PPI deadline

In the new TV ad and nineties and noughties themed radio adverts, Animatronic Arnie highlights that PPI was sold alongside a vast array of products which many people may not think of. These products include car finance, catalogue credit, credit cards, store cards and mortgages.

Andrew Bailey, Chief Executive of the FCA said:

“We know that PPI was sold on a huge variety of credit products throughout the 1990s and 2000s, but many people just don’t realise they had it.

“Since we launched our campaign the largest firms have told us that the proportion of people complaining to them directly has increased. This may in part be due to the improvements we asked firms to make to their complaint handling processes, including the introduction of online checking and complaining tools. This means that more customers get to keep more of the redress that they are due.

“We want people to act before the deadline. Dig out that old paperwork, visit our website or call our helpline to find out how to check if you had PPI and how to decide whether to complain.”

The new adverts will run on radio, social media, video on demand and outdoor advertising including bus stops. They will run alongside some of the existing adverts which first appeared in August.

Since the campaign launched on 29 August 2017 the FCA has received nearly 17,000 calls to its helpline and nearly 900,000 people have visited its campaign website.

People who want to discuss whether to complain about PPI can call the FCA’s dedicated helpline on 0800 101 8800 or visit the FCA’s website www.fca.org.uk/ppi[1] for more information.

Notes to editors

1. Did You Have PPI? TV Ad[2]
2. FCA PPI – The 90s Radio Ad[3]
3. FCA PPI – The 2000s Radio Ad[4]
4. FCA PPI – Mortgage in the 90s poster – PDF[5] or JPG[6]
5. FCA PPI – Car finance from the 2000s poster – PDF[7] or JPG[8]
6. The number of people complaining directly has increased from 46% pre-campaign to 55% as of the end of February.
7. Since 2011 £29.6bn in redress has been paid out[9].
8. See the full breakdown of the campaign response data[10].
9. The new adverts will run from 4 April to 16 May.
10. On 1 April 2013, the FCA became responsible for the conduct supervision of all regulated financial firms and the prudential supervision of those not supervised by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA).
11. The FCA has an overarching strategic objective of ensuring the relevant markets function well. To support this it has three operational objectives: to secure an appropriate degree of protection for consumers; to protect and enhance the integrity of the UK financial system; and to promote effective competition in the interests of consumers.
12. Find out more information about the FCA[11].