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Who’s side is your bank on?

The BBC programme, Watchdog, has investigated the story of a young victim who was beaten and left insensible in a park and then had his entire inheritance raided from his bank account. To make matters worse his bank, NatWest, refused to help him.

Attackers made 39 transactions in one day, raiding the victims entire account, all whilst he was lying unconscious in hospital. NatWest refused to accept that the £20,000 spending spree was nothing to do with him, despite being provided evidence he was in hospital at the time the transactions were made. The young victim, named in the … Read more

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More Mis-sold Financial Products !

Solar Panels, The New Nightmare For Barclays !

Barclays may have to pay a £38.5 million bill to homeowners over loans taken out to fund solar panels which may have been mis-sold. Barclays Partner Finance is a subsidiary of the bank and has said it will put aside a fixed amount to settle customer claims for compensation. They have also employed the services of Legal advisers to review its liabilities in relation to the case.

It was revealed in May that solar sales agents had misled homeowners into signing up to loan agreements for solar panels. After a surge in … Read more

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Tesco Fined £16.4 Million Over Cyber Attack

The Financial Conduct Authority has handed down a massive fine to the supermarket bank following a cyber-attack In November 2016. The attack did not result in any theft or loss of personal customers data, but did lead to 34 transactions where funds were debited from personal accounts and millions were stolen.

Tesco bank is the financial arm of one of the UK’s largest supermarket chains and holds 5.6 million customer bank accounts.

The FCA says that Tesco failed to protect its customers and is holding the bank accountable for its lapse in risk management. This is the first time the … Read more

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Pension Scam Victims Win Case Against Mis-sold SIPP

The Financial Ombudsman Service has upheld a complaint bought by five individuals who lost nearly £100,000 after transferring their savings following a free pension review.

The decision made by FOS could offer hope to thousands of other victims, who have lost their savings in SIPP’s, a successful way to claim back their money.

The five individuals invested into schemes, including Ethical Forestry and Global Plantations, between 2013 and 2016. The 5 victims claimed Guinness Mahon Trust Corporation worked with uncontrolled introducers, to facilitate non-standard investments.

The five victims were cold called and persuaded to invest their pension pots into … Read more

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First Ever GDPR notice served to Facebook !

GDPR made its highly foreseen debut back in May of this year and, until recently, the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”), who are in charge of enforcing the new regulations, had yet to issue any fines.

There had been a lot of speculation as to when the first fine would be issued and to whom, and now Facebook has been issued with the maximum fine of £500,000 under the terms of the Data Protection Act 1998. Under the terms of the legislation, companies must report data breaches to regulators within 72 hours and failures to adequately protect information can result in … Read more

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Financial Ombudsman Service Tells Banks To ‘Stop Blaming Victims’ !

In their latest newsletter, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has warned banks to treat victims of financial fraud more fairly, instead of assuming the victim was grossly negligent and to blame.

FOS see thousands of complaints from customers, who have had money stolen from their accounts, and assesses cases where the bank and customer both say they are not responsible for the loss.

Often victims have had their life savings stolen in sophisticated scams and to make matters worse, the banks often refuse to reimburse their customers when this happens. As state-of-art scams become more prevalent and more convincing, the … Read more

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Financial Ombudsman Service Review Too Lenient ?

Financial Ombudsman Service Independent reviewer calls for blanket response by FCA to mis-selling claims, but is the review too lenient?

Following an undercover investigation carried out by Channel 4 Dispatches programme, the government called for an independent reviewer to internally investigate FOS and the issues raised in the programme.

The review was carried out by former executive director of consumer rights organisation Which?, Richard Lloyd. The 53 page review concluded that although the service did need to improve, there was no evidence to support claims there is institutional bias against consumers within the service.

Among the allegations was that staff … Read more

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Timeshare Victims In Distress !

Praetorian Legal are representing a large number of claimants in relation to mis-sold timeshare contracts, many of which have bottle-necked with the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). These cases are ones where the finance provider has refused to acknowledge responsibility for the mis-selling of the contract, and so we have had no further option but to lodge complaints with the government body.

The Financial Ombudsman Service was set up by parliament as an independent public body to resolve individual Conflicts between consumers and businesses, fairly, reasonably, quickly and informally. As per their mission statement explains: “What matters most to us … Read more

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Interest-Only Mortgages, The Ticking Time Bomb !

Thousands could be owed Remuneration, if they were advised to take out an interest-only mortgage when other loans were available.

 

Experts in the industry have been warning for years about the ticking time-bomb of interest-only mortgages.

For most of us, our mortgage is the biggest and most important loan that we will ever have, a mortgage will be your largest debt. Given that the amount loaned can be spread over many years, the repayments are more manageable and affordable !

Before the financial crisis, many people were encouraged into interest-only mortgages. It was a popular and more affordable way … Read more

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FOS Appoints Independent Reviewer

FOS to Hire Independent Reviewer In Wake Of Channel 4 Investigation.

The Financial Ombudsman Service is to appoint an independent reviewer to consider issues raised in the recently broadcast Channel 4 Dispatches Investigation, the body’s chief executive Caroline Wayman has revealed.

In response to a letter from Nicky Morgan MP, Wayman said FOS had appointed an independent reviewer so it could better understand and address the concerns raised by the Reports programme.

Chair of the Treasury Committee, Rt Hon Nicky Morgan MP, wrote to Wayman in response to her letter Expecting the release of the documentary. In this first letter, … Read more

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