Sarah (not her real name, because fraud is bad enough without internet trolls) had £20,000 stolen in an investment scam so sophisticated it took her 17 months to realize she'd been had. Lloyds Bank initially told her there was a 13-month time limit on reporting such scams, meaning they'd only cough up £1,000 - the portion paid before the new rules kicked in. But within a day of BBC Radio 4's Money Box poking around, Lloyds suddenly remembered it had a heart (and a legal department) and refunded the full amount.
This saga highlights a glaring flaw in the Mandatory Reimbursement Requirement, introduced by the Payment Systems Regulator in October 2024. The rule requires banks to reimburse push payment scam victims within five working days for losses up to £85,000 - but only if the victim reports it within 13 months of the last payment. That's a problem when you're dealing with investment fraud, which can take years to uncover. Louise Baxter, head of the Scams Team at National Trading Standards, is calling for an urgent review. "It doesn't provide protection to all consumers from fraud and scams," she says, suggesting the clock should start ticking from when the victim realizes they've been conned, not from when the criminal last swiped their cash.
Sarah, who thought she was making an ethical investment in social housing, had checked Companies House, the Law Society, and TrustPilot before transferring £20,000 from her pension in October 2024. She didn't discover the scam until March 2026 - well past the 13-month deadline. Lloyds initially refunded only the £1,000 payment made before the new rules, leaving her £19,000 short. "It really floored me," she says. "I had no understanding of the 13-month rule before it came in because it's impossible to spot these things." After the BBC intervened, Lloyds sheepishly reversed course, with a spokesperson expressing "a great deal of sympathy" and reminding everyone that investing with legitimate companies is generally a better idea than handing your life savings to strangers.
The Payment Systems Regulator defends the rule, saying it's "clear with payment firms about how this should be applied" and urging firms to consider individual circumstances. Victims can also appeal to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which has no time limit and can order reimbursements up to £455,000. But as Sarah's case shows, the 13-month window might as well be a trap door for anyone who doesn't discover they've been robbed within a year. She's now "over the moon," but the rest of us are left wondering how many more victims will lose their retirement money while banks wait for a journalist to call.