Upheld: Account administration errors complaint against Wesleyan Financial Services Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs B and Mr B complained about significantly higher charges on their With Profits ISA in 2020 compared to 2019, including a service charge that appeared for the first time. Wesleyan admitted lack of transparency about how charges were displayed but argued the charges were correct and offered £50 compensation. The ombudsman found that Wesleyan failed to adequately answer repeated questions about whether charges were varied, when notice was given, and the basis for the Wesleyan Financial Services fee. Without satisfactory answers to these questions, the ombudsman could not confirm fair treatment and upheld the complaint, requiring compensation equivalent to the excess charges paid in 2020 over 2019.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Wesleyan failed to provide satisfactory answers to repeated questions about whether charges were varied, when notice was given, and the basis for the Wesleyan Financial Services fee. Without these answers, the ombudsman could not be satisfied that the charges were applied fairly. Although Wesleyan later provided explanations about the nature of the fees and their variability, these explanations did not address the core questions about transparency and notification. The ombudsman adopted the provisional decision finding that compensation was due.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website