UK’s high-street bank sector allocate larger fiscal reserves for their payment protection insurance refund allocations. According to analysts, the bank industry is still struggling with its past misdeeds. All the banks have allocated hundreds of millions for PPI, which they predict would be their last allocation before the 2019 PPI deadline.

Before this arrives, RBS has added £396m for litigation costs and misconduct charges from the US Federal Housing Finance Agency. The bank’s charges come from its mis-selling of mortgage-backed securities in 2005, which proved to be toxic according to further regulator investigations.

Barclays had set aside £700m for its PPI refund package for the first half of 2017. The bank said its PPI costs, along with other profit losses, were necessary costs for its planned reforms.

Lloyds has allocated almost £1bn to provide for all its troubles. However, the bank is successfully re-integrating itself into the UK private sector.

The UK’s PPI claims crisis, from 2009, had accumulated more than £38bn in the last decade. The FCA had announced an August 29, 2019 deadline for all PPI complaints. According to FCA CEO Andrew Bailey, the deadline will urge consumers to make a claim instead of putting it off.

The UK’s biggest insurance fiasco has yet to see its end until the City watchdog’s appointed deadline; analysts expect banks to add more than £500m to the enormous bill of £30bn for mis-sold payment protection insurance.

Lloyds, the biggest mis-seller of PPI, is likely to announce adding a further £200m to its total PPI bill, which could reach £18bn, more than half of the UK total. Analysts also expect HSBC and RBS to announce top-ups to their respective PPI bills.

Following the Financial Conduct Authority’s PPI claims deadline announcement, consumer claim numbers grew in size. According to the Association of Claims Companies (ACC), banks faced with shocking claims figures have employed rejection and delaying tactics. The ACC said banks who used the excuse of “missing consumer files” against consumers with legitimate complaints increased in number since April.

The City watchdog believes its decision to put in place a PPI deadline by August 29, 2019 is enough time for consumers to make a complaint and receive all their refunds. However, consumer groups find it unfair that the banks’ claims processing procedures are still lacking fluidity and fairness. The FCA responded by announcing the final rules and guidance for banks regarding PPI before the announced deadline.

According to the Sunday Post, it has uncovered that banks are finding it difficult to refund every single PPI they mis-sold to consumers. Procuring data from a UK thinktank, they said banks continue to use the “excuse” of “not finding the applicant’s PPI details” when dealing with consumer PPI claims.

The Alliance of Claims Companies shows in its data that lender Blackhorse has increased its use of this excuse by 80% in April compared to the 0% this excuse was used early January.

Other banks have begun to reject consumer complaints for the same excuse past August 2016.

ACC Chief Simon Evans said there is “no doubt this is just the latest delaying tactic the industry has come up with” and that this information indicates the UK’s banks are finding it difficult to repay consumer refunds.

This comes as pessimistic news following the FCA’s positivity that the PPI claims deadline set on August 29, 2019 would work. FCA Chief Andrew Bailey said a deadline would urge consumers to make a claim. This information indicates consumer groups were correct; that banks and lenders have yet to improve their PPI refund investigation and services.

The ACC is a representing body of different UK claims management companies (CMC) all opposed to the PPI claims deadline. Mr Evans said their members do not charge upfront fees and it is not in their “economic interest to submit claims without any chance of succeeding.”