UK bank fined over mortgage complaints

Abbey National was today fined a record £800,000 (€1.1m) for mishandling endowment mortgage complaints by Britain's City watchdog.

The Financial Services Authority said consumers had potentially lost out on up to £19m (€27.5m) of compensation after the bank rejected complaints it should have upheld.

It said Abbey had mishandled around 5,000 complaints and had also provided the regulator with inaccurate and potentially misleading information over the issue.

The fine is the highest the FSA has levied in relation to a group’s handling of mortgage endowment complaints.

The previously highest fine for the issue was £725,000 (€1.05m)which was levied on Allied Dunbar Assurance in March last year, while while Friends Provident Life and Pensions was fined £675,000 (€980,000) in December 2003.