The taxman says three and a half million people are due a refund, but two million will have to fork out for underpaid tax.
Bad bankers should be 'struck off'
Bankers who fail to come up to scratch should be "struck off" in a similar way to poorly-performing doctors, a consumer group has urged.
Bankers who fail to come up to scratch should be 'struck off' in a similar way to poorly-performing doctors, says a consumer group
Bankers who fail to come up to scratch should be "struck off" in a similar way to poorly-performing doctors, a consumer group has urged.
The call from Which? to force bankers to meet more rigorous standards to help prevent further mis-selling scandals came as it found that only one in 10 people believes that bankers are well-regulated.
Two-thirds of people (67%) think that bankers are unlikely to lose their job if they lie or cheat and only one in 10 trusts bankers to act in the best interests of the customer, a survey of more than 2,000 people across Britain found.
Only politicians and journalists were held in even less esteem and those surveyed were more likely to mistrust bankers than estate agents, builders or lawyers.
Which? has launched a campaign called Big Change, which is calling for bankers to be forced to comply with a code of conduct similar to that used by the medical profession.
The consumer body said that in the worst cases, those who fail to comply should be stopped in their tracks in the same way that doctors can be struck off the medical register for the most serious patient complaints and not allowed back to work.
People working at the most senior levels should also have to gain qualifications and training in ethical behaviour and in resolving conflicts of interest and more should be done to claw back bonuses in the event of a mis-selling scandal, Which? said.
Around two thirds of people surveyed believe that under current conditions bankers are unlikely to lose their job if they fail to comply with industry codes of conduct, deliver consistently poor service or receive a high number of customer complaints.
A spokesman for the British Bankers' Association (BBA) said: "Banks are fully aware that they need to restore customers' trust and that this can only be done by proving that they are on the customers' side.
"There is absolutely no room for bad behaviour and the industry is committed to ensuring that codes of practice and ethics are rigorously upheld and that customers' interest are put first."
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16Comments
19/09/2012 13:51
Did you also know that when Bankers don't comply with the rules and regulations and you complain about them to the Financial Services Ombudsman that they can stop the Ombudsman from investigating their mis-selling practices if they take you to court. This has happened to us, the Bank even admits that they have broken the rules, yet they advised the Ombudsman they could not investigate, nor take action since the complaint is going to court. If you cannot count on the Ombudsman to help you, then against the force of a Bank as an individual you have very little chance to see justice done.
19/09/2012 16:21
19/09/2012 15:23
19/09/2012 16:21
19/09/2012 15:03
19/09/2012 16:37
Bankers are already subject to the threat of being "struck off" but the Financial Service Authority ( FSA ) constantly asleep at the wheel ( Northern Rock etc ) have never had the guts to properly enforce the rules against the banks. No use having rules if they are not implemented Hopefully their replacemenft will do the job properly
19/09/2012 14:59
19/09/2012 16:43
19/09/2012 13:49
Did you also know that when Bankers don't comply with the rules and regulations and you complain about them to the Financial Services Ombudsman that they can stop the Ombudsman from investigating their mis-selling practices if they take you to court. This has happened to us, the Bank even admits that they have broken the rules, yet they advised the Ombudsman they could not investigate, nor take action since the complaint is going to court. If you cannot count on the Ombudsman to help you, then against the force of a Bank as an individual you have very little chance to see justice done.
19/09/2012 20:02
19/09/2012 19:34
Mis selling started with personal pensions followed by endowments and then PPI. The FSA presided over all this because that was what sucessive governments wanted. If that was not the case why was the treasury advocating a hands off regulatory regime. The Bank of England now controls regulation, lets hope that they do a better job than they are doing with the economy!!
19/09/2012 14:17
19/09/2012 13:23
You don't need a license to be a banker. They are under the same employment law as anyone else. They can't be struck off, they can be sacked but why would someone sack a banker who makes a fortune for you? Which are morons who ask poor people what they think of rich people, of course there won't be a positive, intelligent, constructive answer, hence this suggestion.
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