The Financial Services Authority has announced it is giving more time to consumers to make a payment protection insurance complaint.

While it “works to resolve a long term solution to ensure customers are treated consistently and fairly when complaining about the sale of a PPI policy,” the FSA has suspended the existing six month time limit for referring complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

The FSA has said that this will “ensure recent PPI complainants are not disadvantaged by running out of time to refer their complaint to the Ombudsman.”

It will ensure customers are treated fairly, it said, when complaining about the sale of payment protection insurance.

The temporary suspension of this limit is effective immediately and will run until 27 October 2010, and applies to consumers who have made recent PPI complaints and have already been sent a final response from a firm between 28 November 2009 and 28 April 2010.

The move from the FSA has been welcomed by consumer groups, with the Consumer Panel glad to see a suspension of the time limit after complaining about the length of time it takes to resolve problems concerning PPI.

Kay Blair, vice chairman of the Financial Services Consumer Panel, commented: “Consumers affected by the delays need tough action from the FSA and this suspension of the six month limit is a step in the right direction.

“We have been concerned by the time it is taking to resolve the problems with PPI. Firms have been getting away with not handling customer complaints fairly.”

Ms Blair added that she hopes a long term solution to PPI complaints is around the corner.

Consumer watchdog Which? also approves of the FSA’s decision, with an estimated two million consumers having been missold payment protection insurance but only a fraction actually making a complaint.

Which? principal policy advisor Vera Cottrell, said: “It’s outrageous that so many consumers are still waiting for fair redress, and we hope that this decision encourages more of them to persist. Our advice to people is: Don’t let your bank fob you off.”

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