Martin Lewis criticises 'outrageous' PPI comments from Barclays boss

Speaking to The Mail on Sunday, McFarlane said that an "enormous" proportion of claims for compensation over mis-sold payment protection insurance have been bogus. But speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Martin has said his comments were "a little rich" and Mr McFarlane should have "kept his mouth shut."

The latest Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) figures show £32.2 billion has been paid out to PPI claimants since 2011, and some estimate the total of mis-sold policies to be around £50 billion.

But Mr McFarlane said in his interview that it was "almost inconceivable to think that £50 billion was missold."

If you've been mis-sold PPI, the clock is now ticking. With the regulator spending millions to advertise the 29 August 2019 reclaim deadline it'll likely jam up the system, so act now to beat the backlog. See our  guide for full help.

Martin: 'This is absolutely outrageous'

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Martin said: "You'd say this is the pot calling the kettle black, but it's more the cauldron calling the thimble black. This is just absolutely outrageous.

"We have to remember that banks' PPI selling was a systemic, deliberate, scripted protection racket that raked in well over £30 billion by selling insurers' policies, and then an average of 66% of what people paid just went to give [the banks] a bung in the form of commission.

"These were policies where the premiums you paid were sometimes more than the maximum they would ever pay out, and people were lied to that they were compulsory.

"This was a fraud on one of the biggest scales we've ever seen in the UK and not one banker has been prosecuted for it. So I find it a little rich that the boss of one our biggest banks decides to call out the public for fraud.

"I think the man should have kept his mouth shut."

Think you may have been mis-sold? Act NOW

The FCA has warned that claims over how PPI was sold must be received by the firm you're complaining to on or before 29 August 2019, or they won't be considered – so if you think you've been mis-sold, act now.

See our Reclaim PPI for Free guide for full help and our free reclaim tools.