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Banking code 'to help out debt strugglers'

Consumers are to be given better treatment in the new banking code, financial firms have pledged.

Included in the updated industry guidelines is a promise to provide extra help for customers struggling to pay off debt in the form of mortgages, credit cards and unsecured loans from banks.

Crucially, a previous pledge in the code to treat customers in such difficulty "sympathetically and positively" has been replaced with a promise to be "sympathetic and positive" in giving information and advice.

This shifts the onus on to banks to take the initiative and establish contact with the customers - rather than waiting to be contacted themselves.

Angela Knight, chief executive of the British Bankers' Association, said: "This new Banking Code gives strong commitments that banks will lend responsibly and will help customers who may be heading towards financial difficulties.

"The long consultation process, now complete, has shown clearly what customers want and expect from their banks. That has been the driver for these changes."

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