How the Lloyds and RBS sell-offs will affect you

November 3, 2009 6:14pm

If you’re a customer of Lloyds TSB, Halifax, Cheltenham & Gloucester, Bank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest, Direct Line, or Churchill… then I wouldn’t blame you for feeling confused by today’s news about bank sell-offs.

What will actually happen is this:

Lloyds Banking Group is going to sell off its Cheltenham & Gloucester branches, its Intelligent Finance subsidiary and its TSB brand, to satisfy European state aid rules. So if you have an account or a policy through any of these businesses, you’ll end up as a customer of another company.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is going to have to sell off it RBS branches in England and Wales and its NatWest branches in Scotland, to comply with the state-aid rules. It will also have to sell its Direct Line, Churchill and Privilege insurance operations.  So again, if that’s where you currently bank or buy your insurance, you will have to assess what a new owner can offer you, or transfer back to RBS or another company.

But don’t worry - nothing will change right now. Lloyds and RBS have been given four years to complete the sell-offs.

If you want to know what difference it will ultimately make to your finances, read our consumer guide here.