He always said he’d be back – and now he is. In a bid to raise awareness of the upcoming mis-sold PPI deadline, the Financial Conduct Authority has enlisted the help of the Terminator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Well, sort of.

In the latest adverts, on air now, viewers are confronted with Arnie’s rubberised robotic head, reminiscent of the special effects featured in the original Terminator film. Wheeling around a shop on tank wheels – yes, you read that right – comes complete with the Austrian actor’s dulcet tones reminding viewers that, when it comes to claiming for any PPI they were mis-sold, to ‘do it now!’. It’s a purposefully lunatic advert for an otherwise serious subject, designed to stick in consumers’ minds.

The deadline for claiming on mis-sold PPI will be August 29th 2019. After this date, claims will no longer be valid. It’s believed that there are still millions of consumers who are owed money, and the Financial Conduct Authority are keen to ensure as many people as possible are compensated before that time comes.

PPI – Payment Protection Insurance – was originally devised as a way to cover consumers. We’d would pay a little extra on our credit cards and loans and, in theory, would be covered in the event of loss of earnings or illness. 64 million PPI policies were sold between 1990 and 2010.

However, the problem was that millions who paid out for it simply didn’t need it or want it. It’s now considered the financial industry’s largest mis-selling scandal.

In order to rectify this, a compensation scheme was created, with banks setting aside a colossal £37 billion to pay claimants. So far, £27 billion has been paid out.

UK Finance, the financial industry’s ultimate body, welcomed the deadline from the Financial Conduct Authority, saying:

‘We fully support the introduction of the FCA’s PPI mis-selling deadline. The regulator’s deadline for PPI complaints provides additional clarity for consumers, with the accompanying awareness campaign intended to prompt action and help ensure that customers who deserve compensation receive it.’

Consumer group Which? were also optimistic that, with the PPI deadline in place, banks should now work tirelessly to ensure it’s easier for consumers to make a claim. Despite the fact that it’s free to make a claim, many consumers currently have them dealt with by third-party claims management companies – you know, the businesses that bombard potential victims with cold calls and text messages. These companies end up taking a cut from any compensation paid out, with one financial website estimating that more than 80% of PPI claims were made by such firms.

The Financial Conduct Authority are hoping that everybody’s favourite Austrian action hero can change that by getting customers to make a claim via the FCA’s website or discussing their potential claim with an adviser at a dedicated call centres. Discussing the £42 million advertising campaign, the FCA’s Chief Executive, Andrew Bailey, said:

‘Our campaign aims to cut through the noise on PPI. We want to encourage people to decide whether to find out if they had PPI and whether to complain or not.’

Or, as Schwarzenegger tells us in the ads: ‘Make a decision. Do it now!’ And you wouldn’t want to argue with Arnie, right?