Magazine date:
Jun 2011 Following a legal battle of several years, British banks have admitted defrauding nearly 3 million customers by imposing on them insurance schemes they did not need. The granting of a mortgage was illegally conditioned to the underwriting of an insurance policy covering illness or job loss.
These guarantees were imposed even if the borrower was already ill or disabled and therefore normally ineligible for such insurance. Rates were significantly higher than those offered by independent insurers. More than 12 million policies were distributed. For banks, revenues amounted to 6 billion EUR (7.9 billion USD) per year.