Complaints about bank account closures have jumped in the wake of the Nigel Farage debanking scandal, new figures show. The Telegraph has more.
The Financial Ombudsman opened 1,613 new cases related to all bank account closures in the six months to the end of September, new figures show, equivalent to around 268 cases each month.
This compares with 2,708 cases across the whole of 2022-23 – a rate of just over 225 a month – and suggests complaints are on track to climb by a fifth to around 3,200 this financial year if the current trend continues.
The data has been revealed in a letter to the Treasury Select Committee (TSC) published on Wednesday and also show that an increasing number of complaints are being upheld by the regulator amid greater public scrutiny.
It came as the committee warned that high street lenders have been shutting accounts of small and medium-sized businesses without reason.
The committee is scrutinising the issue in the wake of a scandal over the treatment of former U.K. Independence Party leader Nigel Farage by private bank Coutts, a division of NatWest.
Mr. Farage was informed his account would be closed this summer after staff internally decided his views did not “align” with the bank’s own values “as an inclusive organisation”.
The revelations of judgements made about Mr. Farage have sparked fears about widespread illegitimate account closures.
Worth reading in full.
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.