The FSA has vowed to contest the British Bankers’ Association’s (BBA) judicial review of new payment protection insurance (PPI) complaints handling measures.

The regulator says that, in the interests of consumers, firms will be expected to continue handling complaints while this process is ongoing. If consumers are unhappy with how their complaint has been handled they may refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

In the last five years there have been more than a million complaints made to firms about PPI. In 2009/2010 alone, customers referred 49,196 complaints to the Ombudsman which then upheld nine out of 10 in the complainant’s favour.

Since the FSA took on regulation of PPI in 2005 it has taken enforcement action against 24 firms for sales failings. The FSA has carried out three thematic reviews, issued warnings, halted the selling of single premium PPI with unsecured personal loans and visited over 200 firms in order to improve the market.

The FSA strongly believes that the package of new complaint handling measures outlined in policy statement 10/12 is a sensible and fair solution for consumers and the industry alike.

Which? chief executive, Peter Vicary-Smith, said: “It makes you wonder what planet the banks are living on. Not content with the billions they have made from this over-priced