I will get straight to the point with this Bounce Back Loan news update, after having read the disgusting way BBL Lenders have been treating customers I contacted the Financial Conduct Authority to ask what they expect the banks to do to put things right.
Please read my email to them and their reply below, and if you are one of the huge number of BBL recipients treated like a used tissue by your lender, then ensure you ask for compensation.
If you haven’t yet read their report, you can see it on the following link:
Here is the email I sent them:
Hello,
Can you please confirm, everyone who you may have discovered when compiling your report who it was discovered was abused by the lenders re them not acting fairly, have been offered full counselling and compensation, as I am aware many who have also been treated that way, are suffering, many in silence.
Also, as I now have a huge growing list of people reporting similar abuse by lenders who should they report it to quickly to get a prompt response as the FOS for example tell me BBL related claims can take a year or so and that outrageous delay could tip those abused over the edge and lead to a grossly unfair default?
This is the reply from the Executive Case Work Unit – Senior Leadership Team
Thank you again for getting in touch with us.
Where we identified customers had not received fair treatment during the course of our review, we flagged these files with the relevant bank, making our expectations clear that they must put things right for the customer where they have suffered harm.
This would mean putting them back in the position they would have been in had the issue not occurred. Where this includes monetary loss, we would expect the Financial Ombudsman Service (the Ombudsman Service) standard of 8% simple interest compensatory payment to cover the loss of use of funds during the period of time harm had been suffered and not remediated. Additionally, if individual cases revealed wider issues, we would expect firms to pro-actively investigate and take steps to provide redress to a wider population.
I am sorry to hear of the frustration that some SME customers are experiencing. Unfortunately, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has no powers to intervene in individual complaints, as this role sits with the Ombudsman Service.
Where SME customers are in financial difficulty, they should contact their bank to discuss their situation in the first instance. There are a number of tools available that customers in financial difficulty can be supported with by their bank, and we would expect banks to reach an appropriate arrangement for each customer’s circumstance.
If customers feel they have not been treated fairly, they should contact their bank to complain in the first instance. If the issue is not resolved to their satisfaction they can (where eligible) refer the complaint to the Ombudsman Service or, the Business Banking Resolution Service.
Whilst some complex complaints can take time to investigate, many are resolved much more swiftly, so we would encourage SME customers to engage with the Ombudsman Service where they feel they have not received a satisfactory resolution to their complaint after receiving a final response from their bank.
I hope that this is helpful. If you have any information regarding a firm we regulate that you would like our supervisory division to consider, please do share this with us. Although legal and policy confidentiality restrictions mean we cannot provide feedback on how we use intelligence we receive about the firms we regulate, I can assure you we do appreciate it.