Three years ago I contacted the information commissioner was contacted about Norwich Union sending personal details abroad and, particularly outside europe. The information commissioner rebuked me for daring to suggest that overseas call centres were less secure. This article proves my concerns were justified.

R.Allely, Wales, UK

As long as the financial services industry continues to pay its top employees bigger bonuses than those of other industries, they will continue to think that they are better than the rest of us. If personal bonuses were counterbalanced by the possibility of receiving equally sized personal fines perhaps that would focus their minds a little.

Natalie, Northants, UK

James McColl: "The directors of NU appear to be eminently well qualified to become Labour Cabinet ministers.........." I reckon it's more the case that both business and government have mired themselves in so much bureaucracy- Snafus such as this are the unavoidable consequence of gigantism, and in an age where companies have larger turnovers than nations, that can be more of a problem for businesses than for governments.

Chris, Harrow,

This failure to counter fraud from Norwich Union seems to explain why they are one of the most hated companies in the financial sector. I like many others have had a insurance claim rejected by NU on spurious and changing reasons ranging from 'its an accident not an act of god' through to 'the wind speed didn't reach our secret internal guidelines'. Their initial response is to deny any claim, then pull out all the double talk small print and when that doesn't stop you they find secret clauses known only to them to reject the claim. Only when the financial ombudsman was called in did they finally cough up. This latest behavior is systematic of many arrogant financial companies out to scam people whilst looking after themselves. My recommendation to any one getting the run around by NU on a claim or any other financial matter is to go to the ombudsman the second they have shut you down. Over 90% of complaints are upheld demonstrating the high level of scams by big name companies.

Mike, Alicante, Spain

The fine is obviously peanuts for them however a jolly good roasting in the press should do wonders for their reputation and repeat business. Perhaps in future fines should be set at the level of the total annual remuneration of all directors plus their perks plus their pension contributions for the year? That should add up to a whacking great incentive not to treat their customers with contempt (as pretty much every company does once it gets big enough not to have to worry about losing the odd few hundred customers just becuase they are utterly incompetent).

phil, uk, london

I wish I could feel shocked and surprised by this but this sort of crass incompetence is just so commonplace amongst senior managers and politicians these days. Will we ever get managers/politicians who know how to MANAGE things instead of half-wits whose only skills are self-aggrandizement and a good line in patter ?

Mel, London,

It's not the first time that priorities have been skewed in this way. When the Equitable Life problems surfaced, policyholders thought they would all be taken care of since MPs own pensions were with them. Instead, Equitable and the Government did a deal to protect the MPs, leaving ordinary policyholders behind. I guess NU senior management took a lead from their masters.

Austin, London,

Customer service staff working in firms like NU are poorly trained, often with few qualifications. Customer service teams are generally run by school leavers with little experience outside their little world. The customer is always wrong. But you have to blame the companies because they employ them and allow them to trundle along oblivious to what it's really like to work in a commercial environment. There is no excuse for poor training and poor staffing. And I agree - a fine like that will barely hit NU - they will just reduce the staff salary pot in 2008.

Boris, Edinburgh,

Another well known charge-card company in the UK still relies for its security (sic) procedures solely upon the caller providing name, address, date of birth and mother's maiden name; each of which is easily available in the public domian.

Writing to point this out to them elicited a pompous response explaining thay the company "won't enter into correspondence concerning security matters".

Richard, Charlas, France,

For people involved in finance this cannot come as much of a surprise - all the big finance companies concentrate on one thing, and one thing only - making money! Endowment mis-selling, banking complaints, ever increasing profits, and big payouts for the fat cats at the top all point to one thing - honesty, fairness, and, most of all, people, are of no concern.

Kate , Glasgow ,

The directors of NU appear to be eminently well qualified to become Labour Cabinet ministers..........

James McColl, Guildford, UK

"When Aviva and NU belatedly woke up... their response was to rush to protect the personal nest-eggs of their own senior managers. There was no attempt to alert the other six million policyholders who were also vulnerable to the same fraud. "

Breathtaking. It's a manual of how to destroy a brand.

david, ely,