BANKS and consumer bodies are to press Justice Secretary Ken Clarke for tougher regulation of the claims management companies used to obtain payment protection insurance (PPI) compensation.

The move follows a summit organised by MoneySavingExpert.com and Which? which saw representatives from major banks and credit card providers meet financial regulators to work out how consumers can claim back their money more easily without using third parties.

The bodies agreed complaints procedures across financial services providers should be standardised to make the PPI claims process simpler.

MoneySavingExpert's Martin Lewis said claims management firms often use template letters similar to the ones given out by consumer bodies for free.