Lloyds admits to PPI complaint ‘issues’

Lloyds Banking Group has admitted “issues” with the handling of customers’ payment protection insurance (PPI) complaints, after an investigation allegedly found that staff were told to ignore possible fraud.

Lloyds Banking Group have admitted there are 'issues' with their PPI claim handling. Picture: PA

An investigation by a newspaper claimed that contractors employed at the group’s largest PPI complaint handling centre in London were coached on how to forge information on customers’ loan agreements and advised that most customers would drop their complaint if rejected the first time.

The newspaper sent an undercover reporter through the training system where they were allegedly told to effectively turn a blind eye to the risk of fraud, on the assumption that Lloyds’ salesmen never mis-sold PPI.

A spokesman for Lloyds Banking Group said that last month it terminated its contract with Deloitte, which operated the complaint handling centre on its behalf.

He said: “Some of the comments made by trainers to reporter are not endorsed by Lloyds Banking Group and we believe they do not reflect our high training standards or our policies. We believe the comments to be isolated and they are now being addressed.”

PPI covers repayments on credit cards and loans if the holder loses their job or is unable to work due to an accident or illness.