The Foskett Panel

Sir David Foskett has been appointed to chair the independent Re-Review Panel (also known as the Foskett Panel) to reassess the direct and consequential (‘D & C’) losses suffered by victims of the fraud committed at the ‘HBOS Impaired Assets unit based at Reading and Bishopsgate (‘IAR’)’. Sir David is joined on the independent Panel by Philippa Hill and Andrew Hildebrand.

The work of the Panel arises from the conclusions of Sir Ross Cranston’s report, known as ‘The Cranston Review’, published in December 2019. The Cranston Review concluded that the way Lloyds Bank had dealt with D & C claims in its original Customer Review was unsatisfactory and did not achieve the purpose of delivering fair and reasonable offers of compensation. He recommended that the process of assessing direct and consequential losses should be carried out again, but this time in a fair and proper manner. In a second report, published in April 2020, he suggested how the reassessment exercise might be carried out.

The Panel's Scope and Methodology Statement can be found here, and we have published guidance notes entitled ‘IAR Fraud and the Causation of Loss’ and ‘Quantifying D & C losses’.

Update from the Panel – November 2023

Update on our work and progress to date

For the purposes of the table above, a ‘decision’ refers to a Victim Status Decision (VSD), ‘Minded-to’ Decision (MTD), or a Final Decision (FD) issued to a Customer.

General Progress

Since our last update in July, we have issued a further 23 decisions to Customers.

There are 24 Customers yet to receive an initial decision from us, whether that be a VSD or an MTD. We are particularly conscious of these Customers. We hope to see decisions in these cases issued as soon as possible. In those cases where we require further information from a Customer before issuing a decision, our Case Managers are in contact with the Customer and/or the Customer’s advisers.

Our Case Managers are also in contact with Customers who have already received a decision from us, but whose claims remain to be resolved finally. They are (a) those who have received a VSD, but have chosen to remain in the Re-Review to have their financial loss claim assessed and (b) those who have received an MTD and who have indicated a wish to challenge the MTD.

There are, therefore, three separate work streams which are being undertaken at the same time.

Case Management and Challenges to ‘Minded-to Decisions’

The co-operation of Customers and their legal advisers, if any, is an important feature of the Re-Review. In our last update, we explained that overall progress would be quicker if responses from all Customers and their advisers were timely and that we would review the position in that regard before this update, particularly in relation to MTD challenges.

In a number of MTD challenges we are continuing to see delays in the submission of properly formulated and focused challenges. This is having a disproportionate impact on our progress and at times is making it very difficult for us and our team to plan work schedules.

Timetables are or will shortly be in place for those Customers or advisers who wish to submit challenges to MTDs. It is important that timetables agreed with Case Managers are followed. Where necessary, we may have to impose a deadline which, if not met, could result in us proceeding to a Final Decision on the material we have.

As Customers may recall, the MTD Review Stage provides an opportunity for a Customer to review and challenge the MTD in their case in the way Sir Ross Cranston recommended (as explained in our Scope and Methodology Statement on our website). It does not represent a forum for a Customer to challenge the procedure of the Re-Review itself, either generally or in relation to their own case. The challenge to the MTD needs to focus on our reasoning set out in the MTD, including our assessment of the material available.

Next update

We intend on issuing our next progress update in March 2024. In the meantime, if you have any questions about your own case, please contact your Case Manager.

Kind regards,

David Foskett
Philippa Hill
Andrew Hildebrand

Video Update from Sir David Foskett – April 2021

For the FAQ videos referenced in the above update, please click here.

If you have any questions or comments in the meantime, please contact info@foskettpanel.com.