By
Jeff Prestridge
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A new service has been launched to help people identify financial services companies that not only provide competitive products but also have a record of treating customers fairly and keeping nasty conditions out of policy small-print.
The web-based service, Fairer Finance, is the idea of James Daley, a renowned consumer rights campaigner who left Which? to set it up.
Daley believes too many people, driven by comparison money websites, buy products on price alone without taking into account other key factors such as onerous terms and conditions, the quality of customer service and complaints handling.
‘What we are trying to do is give buyers of financial products an idea of how they will be treated further down the road,’ he says.
‘Often, people buy plans that are cheap but riddled with exclusions. They don’t realise that until it is too late to do anything about it.’
Fairer Finance has identified the most trusted brands in six key areas – bank accounts, car insurance, credit cards, home insurance, personal loans and travel insurance.
Shocks: Campaigner James Daley
It has done this through a mix of analysis and canvassing opinion from 10,000 people.
It then scores each product provider on the happiness (or otherwise) of its existing customers, the trust customers place in the brand, its complaints handling record (over three years) and the transparency and clarity of any terms and conditions. It then combines these four scores to arrive at an overall score for how companies treat customers.
‘Our analysis was eye-opening,’ says Daley. ‘On car insurance, Endsleigh’s policy document runs to 37,674 words. This is in stark contrast to LV= which wraps up its details in 6,901.
‘On bank accounts, HSBC, Metro and Norwich Peterborough Building Society are the only providers to make overdraft charges and overseas card charges clear.
‘The rest make you scrabble around to find them, with most simply promoting the benefits of their products, without bothering to give you the whole picture.’
He adds: ‘With Lloyds, Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank, some of the charges – such as for high value payments and international transfers – are impossible to find.
‘They’re not in the terms and conditions and we couldn’t find them anywhere on the website.
‘As for personal loans, few banks provide details of default charges before you apply for the loan. Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Zopa were the only three to make these clear.’
Fairer Finance will update its research every six months.
First Direct, John Lewis, insurer LV= and Nationwide Building Society all come out of the analysis well.
Nationwide’s Steve Blore says: ‘We have a responsibility to our customers to be open and honest, to treat them fairly, and to be safe and secure. These principles affect everything we do.’
Royal Bank of Scotland and its sister brand NatWest fare badly.
Last month, RBS boss Ross McEwan admitted his bank was the ‘least trusted company in the least trusted sector of the economy’ and vowed to turn things around.
He added: ‘Our ambition is to be the best bank for UK customers.’
Fairer Finance will make its money from companies that use its customer-friendly endorsement in adverts.
It will also make profits from people who go on to buy its recommended trustworthy products via a price comparison site.
- Meanwhile, financial magazine Moneywise is asking people to cast their votes in its 2014 customer service awards. So far, 30,000 have voted at moneywise.co.uk/consumersurvey.
Comments (25)
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djh1975,
Telford,
moments ago
I can confirm that Natwest are useless but I don’t think many banks can be trusted these days.
OMG,
Bucks, United Kingdom,
10 minutes ago
Sadly have experience that no one cannot trust Nationwide, well anymore as they are different from what they were and not for the better many say
Dogdays1,
Wycombe, United Kingdom,
1 hour ago
Depends on what you want. Nationwide do not offer the complete banking services that the big clearing banks do. Personally my current account is with HSBC as they have treated me fairly for the last 30 years. Savings is another matter.
electric,
Stafford, United Kingdom,
3 hours ago
Too true……I gave up and cancelled an account opening after wasting loads of my time
electric,
Stafford, United Kingdom,
3 hours ago
KP,
Guisborough, United Kingdom,
3 hours ago
NATIONWIDE a Mutual??? it Now appears to Exist to Pay its Members Poor Returns, and its CEO and Directors Buckets Full of Money, “NATIONWIDE on the Slide”.
brownfield,
penzance, United Kingdom,
4 hours ago
Been with them 20 years, fantastic service
Westly12,
St Helens, United Kingdom,
4 hours ago
Can’t trust any of that bunch…
Westly12,
St Helens, United Kingdom,
4 hours ago
Can’t trust any of that bunch…
Westly12,
St Helens, United Kingdom,
4 hours ago
Can’t trust any of that bunch…
Sickofallpoliticians,
Glasgow,
4 hours ago
Add Swiftcover, and Halifax to the worst car insurance, bunch of con artists!
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Revealed: who you can trust ... The big firms that treat you fairly
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