The growing, but not amazingly appealing job: dealing with payment protection insurance complaints

The mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI) is a huge burden for high street banks, and could potentially cost the large Scottish institutions - Lloyds Banking Group and RBS - hundreds of millions of pounds. The one plus, however, is that it's also creating jobs.

Lloyds is estimating that paying back PPI could eventually cost it 3.2bn, while RBS has already set aside 850m for any potential redress. In the long run, this could prove so costly that the banks could be forced to make yet more cuts, but in the short term, it's providing lots of jobs.

It's also requiring new investment in IT systems to deal with the volume of complaints - up to 7,000 a week in some firms, according to a report in the Times.

Banks are said to be doubling, or even tripling, the number of staff handling complaints and are so hard pushed to find sufficient supplies of candidates that they're considering outsourcing the work. However, according the Times, the issues surrounding PPI are too complex to be resolved by a third-party so external recruitment seems the most likely option.

In Scotland, perhaps predictably, these roles are predominantly on a temporary basis. However, unlike the recent raft of contract work north of the border, these positions are being classified as temp, and being paid on an hourly basis.

Recruiters dealing with these roles declined to be named, but suggest that a senior complaints handler can expect 15-20 an hour, while more junior roles pay 9-14, depending on experience.

Despite the fact that RBS and Lloyds are headquartered in Scotland, these roles are being spread across the UK. Both banks have live roles in Edinburgh and Glasgow, but they're also hiring in Leicester, Southampton, Bristol, Northampton and Chatham, should a move appeal.

You should expect, however, a pressurised, target driven environment where you'll be expected to deal with a high volume of (potentially irate) customers and maintain a sunny disposition at all times.