Arnold Schwarzenegger to make £1.5m from PPI claims scandal

The PPI gravy train even has room for Hollywood legends. Arnold Schwarzenegger is to be paid £1.5 million to be the voice of a new advert warning people about the deadline to claim for PPI mis-selling.

See also: Kylie's new range of glasses: ten odd endorsements

See also: Celebrities cashing in on the grey pound

The Sun reported that Schwarzenegger will earn his huge payday by providing the voiceover of an advert, which will evoke memories of his 1990 film Total Recall, and plays on the idea of PPI customers trying to recall whether they were ever sold the product.

The advert is aimed at anyone who may have been mis-sold payment protection insurance. This was designed to cover loan repayments if the policyholder fell ill or lost their job. Around 45 million of the policies were sold over about 20 years, but it later emerged that in many cases it was sold poorly, to those who were not suitable, and in a way that meant many people had no idea they were paying for the insurance.

The advert is part of a broader awareness campaign designed to highlight the fact that a deadline has been imposed for claims, so anyone who has a claim to make needs to submit it before 29 August 2019. The deadline was introduced by the Financial Conduct Authority in order to bring an end to the rumbling mis-selling scandal.

The huge sum is being funded by banks and finance companies who sold the controversial loan insurance in the first place. However, there are those who argue that the money could be better spent on actually working to identify and contact the victims of the scandals, and reach them direct.

Odd faces of finance

Schwarzenegger will join a legion of stars who became the unexpected faces of finance. And there have been some really odd choices.

George Cole: Those with very long memories will remember the adverts he starred in as Arthur Daley, for the Liquid Gold account from The Halifax. The character was known for his dodgy deals, so it's fairly apt that the account (which hasn't been open to new customers for the past six years) now pays an astonishingly poor 0.05% interest.

Iggy Pop: In 2009 the musician became the face of Swiftcover. What makes this an even more unexpected choice was that at the time Swiftcover's small print meant it wouldn't cover pop stars - so the face of the product couldn't actually buy the cover he was claiming to have. The policy was swiftly changed, and Iggy made regular appearances for the firm.

Kerry Katona: Using the former bankrupt as the face of Cash Lady turned out to be something of a miscalculation. The first advert was banned for targeting vulnerable people, then to add insult to injury the star went bankrupt again. She was soon dropped from the gig.

Martin Clunes: The actor appeared opposite the cartoon dog in Churchill adverts, and all was going well until a year after he signed up. Clunes revealed he had accumulated 12 points on his driving licence, and as a result had received a driving ban. Suddenly he seemed like a less obvious choice.

Stacey Solomon: There was no controversy when Stacey Solomon was announced as the new face of NOW pensions - just bafflement. Even Now Pensions agreed most people wouldn't naturally associate the reality TV star with their finances, but insisted that this was part of her appeal.