Lloyds Banking Group is the UK’s largest retail and commercial financial services provider, serving 28 million customers and employing over 65,000 people. Since 2019, The Group has offered a wide range of support for customers affected by domestic abuse, including a specialist team of colleagues who provide tailored support to customers navigating complex and sensitive situations. The team currently handles around 1,400 calls each month. To make support more accessible to customers, the Group now accepts referrals via secure messaging forms, allowing us to support more customers in difficult circumstances.
Lloyds Banking Group recognises the close link between economic abuse and other forms of domestic abuse. Around half of the customers referred to the specialist team first contact us about financial issues such as lost access to income, joint account restrictions, or debts taken out without their knowledge or consent.
Each case is handled with care and discretion. A dedicated colleague supports the customer throughout, helping reduce the need to repeat their experience.
To build awareness and capability across the organisation, mandatory domestic abuse training has been introduced for all front-line colleagues. In addition, new products are developed using a comprehensive inclusive design framework, enabling them to create products, services, and experiences that are inclusive for everyone.
Lloyds Banking Group is an EIDA Beacon member. You can read more about their overall domestic abuse response in these slides from an EIDA Network Event in March 2023.
Insights for Employers
- Dedicated Roles: Employees central to a domestic abuse response should have this responsibility embedded in their core role. This ensures continuity and allows for the development of specialist knowledge over time.
- Economic Abuse Focus: It’s important to explicitly include economic abuse in your organisation’s domestic abuse response. The charity Surviving Economic Abuse offers valuable resources, including a Banking Support Directory outlining how UK banks support affected customers.
- Training for All: Consider making domestic abuse awareness training mandatory for all employees, not just HR or line managers. Disclosures may be made to any trusted colleague, and broad training helps ensure a supportive response across the organisation.
- Beyond the Workplace: Once a workplace response is well established, organisations may wish to explore how they can extend support to customers, clients, suppliers, or the wider community, following EIDA’s phased approach (see page 25 of the EIDA Handbook).
May 2025
EIDA Beacon Insights
