When you visit a Llolyds TSB/HBOS/Halifax branch office – BEWARE! You may get your ‘free’ £5 but the chances of being sold an inappropriate insurance product or unecessary savings account are very high indeed.

Lloyd Group were the second most complained about UK bank during the first six months of 2009 – as advised by the UK Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS)when it published the complaints record of major financial institutions for the first time.

A total of 8,283 complaints were made about Barclays – 12 per cent of the total made about the financial services industry – while Lloyds group received 5,804.

Both banks settled high levels of cases in favour of customers, 81 per cent for Lloyds and 71 per cent for Barclays, showing that the overwhelming majority of complaints about them were completely justified.

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) decided to publish complaints data for 142 of 10,000 financial providers because sending individual data to banks had resulted in “no improvement” in their behaviour.

“I believe putting this information into the open will give those worse-performing businesses vital encouragement to improve – which should mean fewer customers having to bring complaints to the ombudsman that should already have been resolved,” said Walter Merricks, the chief ombudsman.

Individuals can make a free complaints to FOS about a financial product, whether banking, loans, credit, cards, insurance or investments, after going through a firm’s complaints process.

As a ‘frontline’ UK independent adviser I have helped clients claim successfully (100% success aret so far)for mis-selling by Lloyds TSB/HBOS/Halifax. The standard of ‘advice’ (aka ‘product selling’) would make your hair stand on end. Where a customer said ‘no risk please’ they were floged a £50,000 corporate bond with 25% investment in ‘junk’ high yield bonds! The FOS have found in my client’s favour.

Owing to the inability to manage their own business (techically HBOS and Lloyds were insolvent but for the Government rescue), the Lloyds TSB Group now owe the the UK Government so much money that they are under pressure to continue to sell any old toot – regarless of how appropriate it is to the consumer – you and me.

LET BUYERS BEWARE!

Seek out impartial indpendent advice via http://www.unbiased.co.uk