Farepak customers not satisfied with pay-out

A pressure group representing customers who lost out when Christmas hamper business Farepak went belly-up are pushing for more compensation money from HBOS, Farepak's bankers.

The Unfairpak group still has the hump over the hamper company collapse and is calling for HBOS, now part of Lloyds Banking, to double the £10m in compensation so far paid out to disgruntled customers who lost money when the company went bankrupt in 2006.

The group is set to take its case to Business Secretary Vince Cable this Wednesday.

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Last week, Lloyds made an ex-gratia payment of £8m to Farepak customers, adding to the £2m HBOS paid out before the bank was taken over by Lloyds, after High Court judge Mr Justice Smith suggested it was the decent thing to do.

"It seems to me that what happened here, whilst apparently legally acceptable, might not be regarded in the public's eyes as being acceptable," the judge opined.

JH