A credit union with thousands of customers has collapsed into administration.
The London Community Credit Union (LCCU) had 17,000 customers when it went bust on January 22. Joint administrators James Sleight and Stratford Hamilton of PKF Littlejohn Advisory Limited were placed in charge of the administration process and confirmed the co-operative has ceased trading.
LCCU was covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) which means members’ savings up to the £85,000 per individual are fully protected. The FSCS usually pays out within seven working days. You should either receive an email from FSCS explaining how to request your money by cheque or bank transfer, or if you don’t have an email address, a cheque should be sent to your registered address.
If you have regular income or benefits going into your LCCU bank account, you will need to get in contact with whoever sends these payments to you, to provide them with alternative bank account details. You’ll need to do this before February 19, 2025, as this is when LCCU bank accounts will be closed.
You will also need to cancel any standing orders that you have going into your LCCU savings account as soon as possible. If you have a loan with LCCU, you will need to continue to make your repayments until it is fully paid off. The terms of your loan will remain the same, including the interest rate applied.
For further information, members can visit the LCCU website, email the administrators at [email protected] or call 020 7729 9218 or 020 7189 1379, or 0113 541 7890. A credit union is different to a bank, as it is owned by its members, while banks are owned by shareholders.
Administrator James Sleight acknowledged the impact of the collapse, saying: “This is, of course, hugely disappointing news for members and the local community. But I want to reassure everyone that their money is safe, and all deposits will be returned in full by the FSCS. Members don’t need to take any action to get their savings back and will hear from us or the FSCS shortly.”
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