Complaints Data Publication report

Firm Name: Leeds Building Society
Period Covered in this return: 01 January – 30 June 2011
Brands/trading names covered: Leeds Building Society

	Number of complaints opened	Number of complaints closed	Complaints closed within 8 weeks	Closed complaints upheld by firm
Banking	172	137	99%	47%
Home Finance	176	146	97%	38%
General insurance and pure protection	201	122	98%	11%
Decumulation, life and pensions	18	15	53%	13%
Investments	1	1	100%	0%

For Banking, the 172 complaints equates to 0.22 complaints per 1,000 accounts.

For Home Finance, the 176 complaints equates to 2.13 complaints per 1,000 accounts.

We received 201 complaints about General Insurance and Pure Protection, which equates to 3.08 complaints per 1,000 policies.

The 18 complaints received under Decumulation, Life and Pensions relate to historic endowment policies, the investigation for which takes longer than other complaints due to information being required from external third parties. As the Society stopped selling endowments in March 1988, it does not have a relevant metric for comparison.

Please note: The above table reflects the standard format prescribed by the Financial Services Authority for reporting complaints performance in the various product areas.

Which products fall into the above categories

Banking

This includes:

• Current accounts;
• Credit cards;
• Unregulated loans;
• Savings (including ISAs);
• Other banking.

Home Finance

This includes:

• Mortgages, including buy-to-let, equity release and loans to people with impaired credit histories;
• Other regulated home financial products.

General Insurance and pure protection

This includes:

• Payment protection insurance
• General insurance (such as household and buildings and contents);
• Critical illness;
• Other pure protection.

Decumulation, life and pensions

This includes:

• Personal pensions and FSAVCs;
• Investment linked annuities;
• Income drawdown products;
• Endowments;
• Other decumulation, life and pensions.

Investments

This includes:

• Investment bonds;
• PEPs/ISAs (excluding cash ISAs);
• Investment trusts;
• Unit trusts/OEICs;
• Structured products;
• Other investment products/funds.

Customer Service Commitment

The Society’s commitment to our customers is enshrined in our mission statement, which is "To be a successful independent building society, providing excellent value through quality customer service, efficiency and competitive products".

As an independent mutual, our members are also our customers and we work hard to ensure they receive the products and service that meet their needs. In the first half of 2011, the Society achieved almost 450 ‘best buy’ product mentions in independent media publications. During the same period, we also dealt with 85% of customer transactions on the day of receipt.

In the latest independent customer survey*, 97% of customers said that they were satisfied with the service we provided, whilst 94% would recommend the Society to their friends or family.

However, when a customer feels that their interaction with the Society has fallen short of their expectations, we will investigate and resolve any issue as quickly and efficiently as possible.