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Strategies & Market Trends : Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mishedlo who wrote (19195)	12/21/2004 11:16:41 AM
From: yard_man	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116555

ur thread number one @ the moment -- are we getting ready for some kind of bond rally or sumthin?

To: mishedlo who wrote (19195)	12/21/2004 1:41:33 PM
From: maceng2	Respond to of 116555

This is normal.. Lloyds TSB 'breaks lending rules' news.bbc.co.uk Lloyds TSB says it works closely with debt advice agencies Lloyds TSB staff break the Banking Code to meet sales targets, a former employee has alleged. The man makes the claim in a Real Story documentary revealing cases where Lloyds has given loans to those who cannot afford them, and sold expensive payment protection insurance that cannot be used. The bank told Real Story back in the summer that it had put a stop to such practices in 2003 - and pledged there would be no more mis-selling of loans. But after the programme dozens of people contacted its producers with more stories of mistreatment by the Lloyds group. Real Story: Are banks taking advantage of their customers? Monday, 20 December, 2004 19:30 GMT on BBC One Lloyds TSB in lending spotlight An ex personal account manager for Lloyds, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "I know people who are still there at the bank now and they tell me the selling culture is continuing. "If you didn't reach your figures your salary could be reduced. "You wouldn't want to sell to people who you knew couldn't afford it but, unfortunately, due to the high pressure sales environment, that was sometimes the case. "The sales culture was very, very aggressive indeed." Insurance costs The man's claims appear to be backed up by customers such as Eva Hughes who, already heavily in debt, was offered a £10,000 loan. Ms Hughes, 24, and her husband, who had been refused money by a string of lenders, went into their local branch in North Yorkshire after receiving a letter inviting them to borrow £3,000. The couple say that the manager offered them the larger sum of £10,000. The loan application was refused when their details were put into the computer, but a telephone call from the manager to someone more senior pushed it through. After insurance costs, the debt totalled £12,000. Eva Hughes wrangled with Lloyds for a year before her debt was halved However, Eva insists she stated from the outset that she did not want to take out Lloyds TSB's Payment Protection Insurance (PPI), which can add over 25% to the cost of a loan. "When it came to signing at the end we thought we were just signing for the loan." Shortly after, Eva's marriage broke up and, unable to trace her husband, the bank was seeking the repayments from her, a single mother on benefits. And, as the second named person on the agreement, Eva was unable to claim on the PPI. 'Absolute madness' Following lengthy correspondence, the bank offered to cut Eva's debt in half - but that still included more than £1,000 for useless insurance. Real Story showed details of the couple's banking to an independent loans analyst. Iain MacQueen-Sims from Omnicheck said it was obvious from her statements that she could never have kept up repayments on the loan. "It took about 20 seconds to work out that they couldn't afford it," he said. "It's absolute madness." But Lloyds TSB told Real Story that it stood by its decision to sell Eva the loan and the insurance, and that she had a 30-day period in which to cancel the PPI. It will now discuss a realistic payment plan with her. The bank also denies its staff are "purely sales-driven" and completely disputes the allegation from a former employee that the Banking code is broken.