Lloyds overhauls service after topping complaints poll

Lloyds Banking Group has overhauled the way it handles its customer complaints across its three core high street banking brands after admitting that its handling of complaints hasn’t been “customer-centric” in the past.

Lloyds

Lloyds Banking Group had more complaints referred to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) than any other banking group during the second half of last year, according to a report from the watchdog. Data from the FOS, published this week, shows between July 1 and December 31 the FOS got 20,310 complaints about Lloyds.

The financial firm has introduced a new complaints handling platform to track complaints made to call centres, online and in branches by Lloyds TSB, Halifax and Bank of Scotland customers.

It is hoped that the system will allow bank staff to deal with customer complaints regardless of where they were originally made. A complaint online, for example, can be followed up when a customer visits a branch.

Previously, complaints made in different channels were registered on different systems that weren’t compatible with one another.

The platform, created with software company Charter UK, is to be expanded to other Lloyds Banking Group-owned brands later this year.
Complaint data will also be analysed to improve service in the future.

Martin Dodd, customer services director at Lloyds Banking Group says: “The way our business has grown over a period of time we were in a position where we had different complaints systems in different channels for different brands.

“This wasn’t customer-centric. A big part of this strategy is making it simpler for our consumers to make complaints and follow them at multiple points across our brand.”

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