WFAC Staff Spread Christmas Cheer with Charity Campaign!

Once again our staff have been busy raising money for another wonderful cause, and this month We Fight Any Claim’s festive fundraising has been dedicated to local charity, the Torfaen Santa Appeal.

Employees who usually take part in weekly dress down Fridays were offered the option to dress down every day during December for a special price of £20. The campaign which was organised by manager Jason Miguel has raised an incredible £4,792 for the local cause.


The Torfaen Santa Appeal provides Christmas gifts to children and young people living in care in Torfaen.  The appeal aims to help put a smile on the face of those children who may not receive a present or a visit from their family on Christmas Day.

The money raised this month has bought 140 Christmas presents for children in the local area. Employees who donated to the cause personally signed the gifts donated, while staff members Danni Jones, Amy Jones, Holly Griffiths, Charlotte Portlock, Kamila Hajler-Davies, and Yasmin Thomas spent time shopping for presents, packing up gifts, and delivering them to the charity’s offices along with Sadia Mohammed who personally donated an incredibly generous £100 to the cause!

WFAC’s managing director Simon Chorlton, accompanied by brand ambassador Joe Calzaghe, and manager Jason Miguel paid a visit to the Torfaen Santa Appeal on Thursday 19th December to meet the staff behind the appeal. The representatives also enjoyed a game of football with some of the children and young people who will receive the presents donated by We Fight Any Claim at the Cwmbran Football Factory.  


Here at WFAC we are extremely humbled by the generosity and far-reaching efforts of our staff in helping to put a smile on the face of children in our local community this Christmas. Our staff have tirelessly organised, packed, and bought gits for the appeal with money from their own pocket. We are proud of every single member of staff who has so generously donated to the cause and we hope to have helped make Christmas a more special time for those children facing a Christmas without their family or presents.

We would like to thank our staff for their generosity towards the Torfaen Santa Appeal this Christmas- without them our festive dress down campaign could not have been the success that it has been!

“Champagne Bonus” and “Serious Failings” Lands Lloyds Record Fine

Lloyds bank have been handed a record breaking fine from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for “serious failings” relating to their bonus schemes and sales incentives.

Lloyds bank has offered an apology to its customers after the FCA fined the group £28 million for highly pressurised bonus incentives where employees faced substantial pay cuts for failing to meet sales targets. Employees at Lloyds TSB were offered a “champagne bonus” of 35% of their monthly salary for meeting targets, while Halifax and Bank of Scotland offered “grand in your hand” rewards on a monthly basis.

According to the FCA’s report, more than 200 Lloyds TSB sales advisers were rewarded with bonuses despite the fact that they had mis-sold unsuitable or potentially unsuitable products to their customers. Offering an insight into the highly pressurised sales environment, the FCA revealed that in one case “an adviser sold protection products to himself, his wife and a colleague to prevent himself from being demoted”.

Richard Lloyd, Which? Executive Director responded to the FCA’s findings:

“It’s right that in this case the FCA is taking strong action by imposing their largest fine. This should send a clear message to the banking industry that mis-selling won’t be tolerated and that customers, not sales, must come first”

For Lloyds, their £28 million penalty, follows a history of scandal and fines, the bank was handed a £1.9 million fine in 2003 for mis-selling “precipice bonds” coupled with a £100 million compensation bill, and have so far set aside £8 billion to compensate victims of the mis-selling of PPI, the biggest compensation pot out of all the UK banks.

While the bank will be offering redress to eligible customers and have issued an apology to those who were mis-led as a result of their sales incentives, we need to see a ‘big change’ in banking from Lloyds as well as the entire industry if customers are expected to trust the companies responsible for handling and banking their hard earned cash.

In the same week the scandal surrounding Lloyds hit headlines, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) announced that the UK economy is set to surpass its pre-recession peak next year. We need to see UK banks supporting the economic recovery and most importantly put an end to their irresponsible sales incentives and mis-selling scandals. 

High Street Banks Face Investigation Over Latest Scandal

Britain’s banks are once again facing questions from consumers and regulators as two high-street banks have this month become embroiled in yet more scandal.

RBS and Co-op bank have both come under fire following damning allegations against both lenders. The Co-op bank, who have found themselves in financial difficulty since they failed to take over 630 branches from Lloyds and a £1.5bn capital shortfall, this month was on the receiving end of allegations regarding former chairman Rev Paul Flowers who has been released on bail after being arrested in connection with a “drugs supply investigation”.

The bank has admitted that it is losing customers following the recent revelations amongst existing scandals. The bank said- “Recent events may have caused some brand and reputational damage, but it is too early to form a definitive view as to the extent of such damage”. The ethically branded company last week faced a vote to decide on the restructuring of the bank, which resulted in the bank being saved from collapse however it means that 70% of the Co-op bank will be owned by investment institutions.

Banking giant RBS has also faced criticism following a damning report by government advisor, Lawrence Tomlinson who has accused RBS of putting viable businesses into default with the intention of making more profit. RBS would allegedly pass ‘risky’ loans to the Global Restructuring Group (GRG) lending division which then generates revenue for the bank through increased profit margins and the purchase of the devalued assets.

Business Secretary Vince Cable has referred the Tomlinson report to city regulators, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) while Bank of England governor Mark Carney described the allegations as “deeply troubling and extremely serious”.

The FCA has since announced that they will investigate the claims made in the Tomlinson report citing “concerns as to whether RBS has treated customers appropriately, in particular those in financial difficulties”. The FCA will assign an independent person to review the allegations and take necessary action if the findings reveal issues.

While the UK economy continues to build momentum, the continuing stream of banking scandal does little to support consumers working hard to recover from the lasting effects of the recent recession. To learn that both RBS and Co-op are facing investigation over alleged wrong doing is another blow to consumers who over recent years have already suffered as a result of significant and long lasting banking scandals.