Consumer Rights Daily: Lloyds App Glitch Compensation, Travel Insurance and the Middle East, FCA Fraud Warnings

29th April 2026 | Industry Watch

Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland: How to Claim After the App Glitch

If you bank with Lloyds, Halifax or Bank of Scotland, today's MoneySavingExpert update is worth reading. The botched 12th March mobile-banking app update was bigger than initially reported: 446,915 logged-in users were shown other customers' transactions, 107,937 of those clicked into exposed transactions and may have seen sort codes, account numbers and National Insurance numbers, and 80,805 joint account holders were affected without ever logging in.

Lloyds Banking Group has so far paid "just over £201,000", about £40 each, to around 5,250 people for distress and inconvenience. The Treasury Committee Chair has called it "an alarming breach of confidentiality." The ICO is investigating. The bank says it will "address any claims for financial loss and associated compensation promptly."

What you can claim:

1. Distress and inconvenience. Even if no money was taken, you can ask for compensation for the worry, the time you spent checking your account, and any precautions you took (changing passwords, requesting new cards). £40 is the bank's opening offer, your circumstances may justify more.
2. Financial loss. If your data was used (or attempted to be used) to commit fraud or open accounts in your name, that's a separate, larger claim. Keep evidence.
3. An ICO complaint. The ICO can't award you money, but it can act on a pattern of complaints. File one anyway, it strengthens any future regulatory action and creates an official record.

The route:

• Step 1: Complain to your bank (Lloyds, Halifax or Bank of Scotland). Reference the 12th March 2026 mobile-banking app data exposure.
• Step 2: If unresolved after 8 weeks, escalate to the Financial Ombudsman Service. The FOS can award up to £415,000 and isn't bound by the bank's £40 starting figure.
• Step 3: In parallel, file a complaint with the ICO at ico.org.uk.

If you saw someone else's data, or if you're a joint account holder who didn't log in, you're still affected, keep statements and screenshots, and document any subsequent unusual activity.

Going Abroad? What Your Travel Insurance Probably Won't Cover

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is currently advising against all travel to Israel, Iran and Iraq, and against all but essential travel to the UAE and several other Middle East destinations. If you have a holiday booked, MSE's analysis of 40+ travel insurance policies (28th April) is sobering: most standard travel-insurance policies automatically exclude war and armed-conflict claims, and most don't cover cancellations caused by airline fuel surcharges or fuel shortages either.

The exceptions MSE found:

• Urban Jungle: covers fuel-shortage cancellations once you've exhausted other recovery routes
• Lloyds Silver packaged bank account (£11.50/month): Europe only, 12+ hour delays
• Halifax Ultimate packaged bank account (£19/month): worldwide cover, same delay protections, up to £5,000 cancellation
• Revolut Ultra (£55/month): up to 70% of non-refundable bookings, capped at £2,500 per claim

Standard policies usually still cover medical-related cancellations, lost or delayed baggage, family emergencies, and standard departure delays (£10–£30 per 12-hour period). It's the war/conflict exclusion that bites.

What to do if your Middle East trip is at risk:

• Read your policy first: look specifically for war, "act of armed conflict", FCDO advisories, and "known events" wording. If FCDO advice was issued before you bought the policy, you're almost certainly excluded.
• Speak to your airline before your insurer. Under UK law, if the airline cancels (rather than you cancelling), they owe you a refund or rerouting under flight-cancellation rights. That's the strongest route.
• Tour operator package? ATOL/ABTA protection applies, push for a refund or alternative trip.
• Booked through a credit card and over £100? Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 makes the card issuer jointly liable if your supplier fails to deliver the trip.
• Booked under £100 or by debit card? Chargeback through your card scheme is the next route.

EvenStance generates the right letter for your specific scenario, airline, tour operator, insurer or card issuer, in minutes, free.

Motor Finance Redress: Update Coming This Week

Yesterday we covered the Finance & Leasing Association and Santander confirming they wouldn't contest the FCA's £9.1bn motor finance redress scheme. With the objection window now closed and only Consumer Voice/Courmacs Legal still challenging at the Upper Tribunal (arguing the scheme under-pays consumers, not that it should be cancelled), the FCA confirmed today it is "considering its approach" and will set out more "later this week".

Headline numbers haven't changed: around 12.1 million agreements between 2007 and 2024, average payout of about £830, total expected payout c. £7.5 billion. Implementation deadlines remain 30th June 2026 for loans from 1st April 2014 onwards, and 31st August 2026 for earlier agreements.

Our advice is unchanged: if you bought a car on finance between 2007 and 2024 and weren't told about commission arrangements, get your complaint in now. Don't pay a Claims Management Company, make the complaint yourself, free.

Two New FCA Fraud Warnings

The FCA added two more unauthorised firms to its warning list on 28th April:

• @Prime FX / Jay Trading (blueprint-world.com/ukk): operating via Facebook and Telegram
• TheAceTradingEarner (registered as Charlotte Square, Newcastle)

Neither is FCA-authorised, which means the Financial Services Compensation Scheme doesn't cover anything you put in. If you've already paid them, your realistic routes are a chargeback (if you paid by card recently) and a report to Action Fraud.

EvenStance helps you stand stronger in disputes with companies. We're a tool, not a Claims Management Company, we never take a percentage of your money. Built by a consumer, for consumers.

This roundup was generated 29th April 2026 by the EvenStance daily intelligence sweep. Sources: MoneySavingExpert, FCA, FCDO, web search. Last verified: 29/04/2026.