Partially upheld: Service failures generally complaint against Zopa Limited
Financial Ombudsman decision DRN-4067850 of 2023-05-05T00:00:00+00:00. Service failures generally complaint against Zopa Limited. Outcome: Partially upheld.
Decision detail
| Reference | DRN-4067850 |
|---|---|
| Decision date | 2023-05-05T00:00:00+00:00 |
| Firm | Zopa Limited |
| Product | Investment |
| Claim type | Service failures generally |
| Outcome | Partially upheld |
| Remedy | Zopa Limited to pay Mr K £200 compensation for distress and inconvenience caused by avoidable delays in December 2022 and January 2023. |
Summary
Mr K held P2P lending accounts with Zopa for several years. When Zopa closed its P2P business in January 2022, Mr K requested withdrawal of his funds but was asked to revalidate his ID due to discrepancies in the account information and anti-money laundering compliance requirements. The ombudsman found Zopa's verification requirements were reasonable and proportionate, and that Mr K's initially supplied documents did not meet the stated requirements. However, Zopa failed to contact Mr K in December 2022 as promised and delayed responding for three weeks after being informed of financial difficulty in January 2023. The ombudsman upheld the complaint in part, finding these delays caused avoidable distress and inconvenience, and ordered Zopa to pay £200 compensation.
The Ombudsman's reasoning
The ombudsman found that Zopa's requirement for ID verification and bank account validation was reasonable given the discrepancies identified and anti-money laundering obligations. The documents Mr K initially supplied did not meet Zopa's stated requirements regarding currency and format. However, Zopa fell short by failing to contact Mr K in December 2022 as promised and by delaying response for three weeks after being informed of financial difficulty in January 2023. These delays caused avoidable inconvenience and distress during a personally difficult time for Mr K, though no financial detriment was evidenced.
How this compares
| Group | Decisions | Uphold rate |
|---|---|---|
| Zopa Limited, all decisions | 60 | 31% |
| Service failures generally, all decisions | 34,193 | 32% |
| Investment, all decisions | 14,180 | 34% |
Source
Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website