FSA agreement offers lifeline to CPP Embattled credit card insurer CPP has agreed a potentially life-saving deal with the Financial Services Authority that could see the company pay compensation to hundreds of thousands of customers at a total estimated cost of £15m. The credit card and identity theft specialist, which has 4.5m policyholders in Britain, has agreed to contact all customers who have been directly sold its identity protection products in an effort to unearth cases of mis-selling. Crucially, the York-based company, has been allowed to retain its automatic renewals policy, though with more stringent conditions. Earlier this week CPP suspended the group's shares and warned that any requirement by the FSA for customers to actively buy credit card protection every year threatened the viability of the business. Paul Stobart, chief executive, said of the agreement with the FSA: "Clearly we still have a lot of work to do but we appreciate that the FSA has responded with great agility and concern for our customers and staff and made sure that all decisions are taken at the highest levels." The agreement marks a turning point in an investigation that the FSA began almost a year ago. The regulator had become concerned that CPP may have overstated the risks of identity theft to customers and not properly explained how its products worked. Identity protection products, which account for a quarter of group revenues, offer protection for lost or stolen credit cards, including a one-stop service for customers to cancel all bank and store cards. But consumer groups have complained that the policies have been unnecessary since 2009 when banks were made liable for losses on stolen credit or bank cards. Although details of the agreement are still being worked out, CPP has agreed to make a number of changes to its renewals process. These include extending the advance warning to 60 days and the cooling off period to 14 days, with an additional letter sent to customers halfway through. The FSA said details were still being thrashed out, adding that it would not issue a penalty that threatened CPP's survival in principle. We wouldn't make an agreement if there was no value in it. It would be pointless to make an agreement [CPP] had no hope to deliver," it said. CPP employs almost 2,000 staff in 16 countries, most of whom work in the UK. The inquiry had threatened to become political when employee representatives called for a meeting with the regulator and Yorkshire MPs warned of potential job losses, accusing the FSA of "dragging its heels." Despite the agreement the future of the business remains uncertain. Its £30-a-year product is sold through banks including Barclays, which decided against renewing its contract with CPP last week. The company is also in discussions with its lenders over their support for the business. As part of the deal, CPP has agreed not to pay any dividend until the impact of the review, customer compensation and potential loss of renewal business are finalised. CPP suspended its shares on Monday at just above 100p, valuing the company at £175m, down from £480m a year ago. Mr Stobart said he hoped it would be weeks rather than months before the company was relisted.