FSCS settles compensation claims of £82 million

by Gill Montia

Story link: FSCS settles compensation claims of £82 million

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) has published its 2007/08 annual report, in which it illustrates the improvements it has made to customer service and in cost containment.

The scheme ended the year £6 million under budget and also reduced waiting times for consumers.

It paid more than £82 million in compensation, offsetting this figure by recovering £20 million.

The number of claims dealt with fell year-on-year. Both mortgage endowment and pension review claims continued on a downward trend.

In the financial year to end March 2008, 16,490 claims were received and 21,960 completed.

The FSCS achieved its core target of completing 90% of new claims within six months of receiving an application for compensation, and handled more than 96% of credit union claims within two weeks.

At the close of the fiscal year, only 7% of claims were older than six months, compared with 28% in 2006/07.

In 2007/08 successful general insurance claims totalled, 9,450 and accounted for £46 million of cash paid out.

The total compensation paid out by the FSCS since it was established in 2001 amounts to £1.04 billion.