A £1.3 billion compensation package for seven million people missold card insurance policies by card insurer CPP group was dismissed as "b*llocks" and a "ridiculous figure" by the firm's founder.
Hamish Ogston, who made an estimated £120 million after floating CPP group on the stock market in 2010, launched a fierce tirade at the compensation payout for consumers who had bought his firm's card insurance and identity theft protection policies.
Asked about the £1.3 billion compensation fund, Ogston dismissed it as "b*llocks", a "ridiculous figure".
“There’s never been a compensation redress scheme in history where it’s been 100% [success rate]," the businessman said, who had been awarded a CBE for his services to business by Princess Anne in 2011.
Ogston accused the Financial Conduct AUthority of "sensationalism, by quoting a huge 100% rate".
The Financial Conduct Authority announced on Thursday that the compensation scheme would have the support of over a dozen high street banks and credit card firms as they referred customers on to CPP products so "must share responsibility for putting things right."
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Banks including Barclays, HSBC, and RBS have already signed up the scheme, which involves the mis-selling of 23 million policies. CPP has already been fined £10.5m over the scandal.
The financial regulator said that card protection policies, which cost around £30 a year, and identity protection, which cost about £80 a year, were "widely mis-sold" by York-based CPP. The FCA said that CPP "greatly exaggerated" the risks of identity theft and tried to offer cover of up to £100,000 for cards even though they were already covered by their banks.
Ogston admitted that the furore over CPP's mis-sold policies had made him look "a bit of a chump". After founding the firm in 1980, Ogston still controls 57% of the business, although the share price collapsed by 36% to 16p once the compensation scheme was unveiled.
FCA CEO Martin Wheatley said: “We believe this will be a good outcome for customers who may have been mis-sold the card and identity protection policies.”