Lloyds Banking Group fined £64 million by FCA over mortgage 'failures'

The FCA has handed out a fine of £64 million to Lloyds Banking Group after holding an investigation into the way the banking giant previously handled mortgage customers in financial difficulty.

Bank of Scotland owner Lloyds Banking Group has been fined by the FCA.

Between April 2011 and December 2015 the banks’ systems and procedures for gathering information from mortgage customers in payment difficulties or arrears resulted in the banks’ call handlers not consistently obtaining adequate information to assess customers’ circumstances and affordability, creating a risk that customers were treated unfairly.

The bank – which owns Bank of Scotland - said all customers impacted during this period have already been contacted and reimbursed – at a total of £300 million.

Mark Steward, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA said: “Banks are required to treat customers fairly, even when those customers are in financial difficulties or are having trouble meeting their obligations. By not sufficiently understanding their customers’ circumstances the banks risked treating unfairly more than a quarter of a million customers in mortgage arrears, over several years. In some cases, customers were treated unfairly, including vulnerable customers.

“Customers should still pay what is owed, but banks are obliged to treat their customers fairly when making new payment arrangements. Firms should take notice of the action we have taken today to ensure that their own treatment of customers meets our expectations.”

A spokeswoman for Lloyds Banking Group said: “We have contacted all customers who were affected between 2011 and 2015 to apologise and have already reimbursed all who were charged fees at the time. Customers do not need to take any action. We have since taken significant steps to enhance how we support mortgage customers experiencing financial difficulty, including investing in colleague training and procedures.”

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