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Spurious misselling claims are a serious and growing problem which is threatening to overwhelm the system
A remark by outgoing FSA chairman Sir Howard Davies will resonate with all those who have to deal with consumer complaints.
Referring to the increasing number of complaints about missold endowments, he warned that the endowment review is overwhelmed by spurious claims due to the UK's growing compensation culture. Complaints have been made by consumers even where they were fully aware of the terms of the products.
You only have to read the Financial Ombudsman Service's reports to realise that this is a serious and growing problem. An increasing number of unscrupulous individuals are prepared to complain of misselling or some other misdemeanour even when it is perfectly clear that they knew absolutely what they were doing.
One of the most common examples of this "try it on" approach familiar to every financial journalist is the homebuyer who pretends not to have understood early repayment penalties on a loan.