CPP Group

CPP Group plc
Public company
Traded as LSE: CPP
Industry Life assistance
Founded 1980
Headquarters York, United Kingdom
Key people

Jason Walsh, Chief Executive Officer

Sir Richard Lapthorne, Non-Executive Chairman
Revenue £76.8 million (2015)[1]
£23.0 million (2015)[1]
£20.8 million (2015)[1]
Website www.cppgroupplc.com

CPP Group plc is a British-based company selling life assistance products. It is primarily based in York but has subsidiary offices globally. It is listed on the Alternative Investment Market.

History

The Company was founded by Hamish Ogston in 1980 as a provider of card protection insurance.[2] It acquired its Homecare Insurance and Mobile Phone Insurance businesses in 2001, Metris Enhancement Services in 2003 and Leapfrog Group in 2009.[3] It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2010.[2]

Sir Richard Douglas Lapthorne, Nicholas Ian Cooper and Mark William Hamlin joined CPP on 5 May 2016 replacing the previous board after a 'General Meeting' was requested by shareholder, Schroder Investment Management Limited. Jason Walsh was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Group with effect from 16 May 2016 .[4]

Operations

CPP is an international assistance business operating in the UK and overseas within the financial services and telecommunications sectors. CPP primarily operates a business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) business model providing services and retail, wholesale and packaged products to customers through Business Partners and direct to consumer. [5]

FSA Probe

On 29 March 2011 the company announced that the Financial Services Authority had launched an investigation into the sale of one of its products to UK customers. The Financial Services Authority's investigation centred on allegations that CPP overstated the risk of identity theft when selling insurance for that purpose. CPP suspended the sale of the product with immediate effect with the intent of creating a new package, possibly without insurance.[6][7]

On 20 February 2012 CPP announced that its shares had been suspended on the London Stock Exchange for a two-week period to allow for negotiations with the FSA to take place. CPP maintained that the proposed redress for alleged mis-selling would force the company to close and that the action being demanded by the FSA was disproportionate.[8] On 25 February 2012 an announcement was made indicating that a compromise agreement had been reached. This was reported as be being expected to cost CPP in the region of £10–15 million.[9] CPP shares were re-listed on 27 March 2012.[10]

In the following week a number of MPs voiced their concerns about the way in which the FSA's review had been carried out and the impact that closing the company would have on the staff and the local economies of the areas in which CPP's offices are based.[11]

As part of the FSA investigation, the FSA has stated that the referral partners including the high street banks will also be investigated and the number of consumers affected by this mis-selling scandal could be significantly higher.[12]

The redress scheme to compensate for the mis-selling the products took place from January 2014 until August 2014 and by 5 March 2015, the scheme administrators paid £451m of compensation to 2.37 million claimants, an average of £190 per claim [13]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Annual Report 2015" (PDF). CPP Group. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  2. 1 2 CPP Group goes for float to pay down debts Evening Standard, 18 February 2010
  3. ↑ CPP Group: History
  4. ↑ Board of Directors
  5. ↑ "About Us". CPP Group. Retrieved 20 October 2016.]
  6. ↑ CPP shares plummet after FSA probe revealed thisismoney.co.uk, 29 March 2011
  7. ↑ FSA investigate ID theft insurance firm CPP Choose.net, 12 December 2011
  8. ↑ CPP shares suspended as FSA calls for new review, The Daily Telegraph, 20 February 2012
  9. ↑ Credit card insurer CPP faces £15m bill for review, BBC, 25 February 2012
  10. ↑ CPP plummets on restoration of listing Hargreaves Lansdown, 27 March 2012
  11. ↑ FSA inquiry puts 1,000 CPP jobs at risk in York, BBC, 22 February 2012
  12. ↑ High Street Banks Also Face Investigation For Mis-Selling CPP News Observer, 30 January 2013
  13. ↑ CPP card and identity protection compensation scheme closure FCA News, 27 March 2015

External links

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