British Insurance Insures Howard
With HBOS and Lloyds TSB having some 140.000 staff, figures have been bandied about as to how many members of staff will be lost with their amalgamation, and it is thought to be somewhere in the region of 40.000. Finding a new job certainly won't be a cakewalk within this current, ailing economy.
So it may seem that it is a case of payment protection insurance to the rescue, as British Insurance, the biggest payment protection specialists in Britain, are offering the figurehead of the Halifax marketing campaign, Howard, a free payment protection policy.
Yes, the spectacled, all singing, all dancing bastion of Halifax's advertising, who has even graced our screens in clay-mation, may do well to protect himself, also.
The managing director of British Insurance, Simon Burgess, has spoken out;
"Halifax has made a virtue of always offering its customers extra. Now it has run aground, what will it offer staff? By offering a policy to Howard we want to give him some valuable protection and show others that PPI insurance is affordable, despite the exorbitant rates charged by HBOS and Lloyds TSB."
He added; "If anything, the events of the last few weeks have shown how quickly major organisations can be brought to their knees."
It is thought that the CEO of Halifax, Andy Hornby, is going to be wallowing in the profligacy of �2m in shares, while a massive portion of his former workforce, wane in job centre queues. It is a case that protection insurance cannot be taken out, subsequent to such an occurrence, so those facing the heave-ho will certainly be at a loss.
The paradox in al of this, is that the two companies that are joining forces, do so as two of the worst offenders for overcharging the4ir customers for PPI. After making millions from such inflated pricing, they are now going to further maximise profits by making a massive amount of their workforce redundant.
Simon Burgess had more to say, in elucidation; "As ever, it's the average employee who will suffer. In the past many people have been put off PPI because of the high premiums charged. However it is so important people realise that they can protect themselves at affordable rates so they can create a financial safety net for themselves and their families."
A quick overview of the prices charged for PPI, and more specifically, mortgage Payment Protection Insurance, shows that the financial institutions are filling their boots. Cheltenham and Gloucester, that handle mortgages on behalf of Lloyds TSB, charge �7.70 for every �100.00 covered, and Halifax, �5.94. Match these prices with the �2.40 charged by British Insurance, and you see just how much these companies are benefiting.
Burgess went on to explain that the only real winners with PPI attached to borrowing, are the financial institutions that are grossly overcharging for it. It is going to fast become the case that if people are put in a position where they cannot afford PPI, then they will simply not bother with it, and live with the risk of not being covered.