The Financial Services Compensation Scheme has paid out just over £20m in compensation to LCF customers, close to a 50% increase since last month.

The FSCS has now issued 1,295 decisions as they work to pay customers as quickly as possible but increasing the size of the team handling the LCF case by 80%.

The body said in its most recent update that it does not now expect the complete the process before the end of December due to “the amount of data we need to review”. The original deadline for handling the claims was September 2020. 

There has been criticism of the FSCS and FCA for a slow response to the LCF mini-bond firm collapse which saw more than 11,000 investors lose £235m.

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme earlier this summer blamed potential claims from the London Capital & Finance mini-bond scandal for an additional £44m cost in its £649m 2020/21 budget proposals.

This is despite the fact that many LCF investors’ claims are likely to be rejected as outside the FSCS remit. A number of legal cases are already under way.

Financial Planners have been outraged in recent months by soaring levies and PI bills.

More than 250 Financial Planners and wealth managers have backed a campaign group called Financial Planners United set up to help smaller firms fight soaring regulatory costs. 

The group has been launched via LinkedIn to “unite the profession” and tackle a wide range of threats and challenges including rising bills.