HSBC makes remediation payments to customers in arrears 

After an internal review of its policies, HSBC discovered certain areas for improvement in the handling of some arrears cases. A HSBC spokesperson confirmed that previous issues in customer service included poorly worded and disengaging letters.

After deciding on a remediation exercise, HSBC has been sending payments to a small proportion of customers who were previously in financial difficulty and may not have received a good experience.

HSBC wasn’t able to provide a number on how many customers are being contacted, but those who are due to receive a payment will do so by the end of Q1 2021. The cheques will be for between £25 and £100.

A HSBC UK spokesperson said: “We always strive to do the right thing by our customers. Regrettably, some historic cases where customers were in arrears at times fell short of this commitment. We are taking action to put that right and remediate customers who may have been impacted.”

Last summer, HSBC’s results revealed that its collections and recoveries operations were under an FCA investigation, though that is not related to this remediation exercise.