UK financial regulator FCA found major banks are failing vulnerable customers, including the homeless, by pushing them towards unsuitable online applications instead of basic bank accounts. Nine institutions have agreed to improve access.
UK banks are failing vulnerable customers, including the homeless, by pushing them towards unsuitable online applications instead of offering basic bank accounts. The FCA found a third of customer experiences with these accounts were poor or very poor.
Ovo Energy will pay over £10m after Ofgem found inadequate monitoring of vulnerable customers with prepayment meters posed a risk of harm. The settlement includes £7m to Ofgem's redress fund and £3.4m in credit/debt relief for customers, plus £1.1m for rural Scottish customers.
British Gas will pay up to £112m in compensation and debt write-offs for forcibly installing prepayment meters in thousands of homes during the 2022 energy crisis, following an Ofgem investigation.
British Gas agrees to pay £20m into a redress fund and write off up to £70m of vulnerable customers' debt after Ofgem investigation into forced prepayment meter installations by debt agents.
British Gas agrees to £20m redress fund and up to £70m debt write-off after Ofgem investigation into unauthorized prepayment meter installations in vulnerable customers' homes.
Kelly Kershaw, 54, a Nationwide Building Society cashier in Caernarfon, stole from vulnerable customers including an 85-year-old stroke victim and a 49-year-old man with learning difficulties to fund an extravagant lifestyle. Colleagues became suspicious after seeing her social media posts showcasing expensive holidays to Africa, Paris, Tuscany, Dubai, and the Caribbean, plus a BMW convertible. She was caught through an internal investigation launched in October 2024 after suspected signature forgery and unauthorized cash withdrawals.
