Not upheld: Service failures generally complaint against State Bank Of India (UK) Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs K's attorneys complained that State Bank of India failed to professionally handle two requests: removal of one sister from a joint account (discovered six months later through HMRC contact) and registration of a lasting power of attorney (which took over six months). State Bank of India acknowledged 'demonstrably poor' service and multiple branch failures, offering £300 compensation. The attorneys rejected this and complained to the FOS, arguing two separate issues warranted more compensation. The ombudsman upheld the £300 offer as fair, applying FOS rules that restrict compensation based on impact to the actual complainant (Mrs K) rather than the attorneys, and noting the joint account issue caused only embarrassment.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman acknowledged that State Bank of India failed to deal with two separate requests professionally and efficiently, with both taking six months when they should have been completed much sooner. However, the ombudsman applied FOS rules which restrict compensation based on impact to the actual complainant (Mrs K) rather than the attorneys. For the joint account removal issue, the ombudsman found it caused only embarrassment and would have warranted an apology alone. For the power of attorney registration delay, the impact was on Mrs K. The ombudsman concluded that the £300 already offered by the firm appropriately compensated for the service failures.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website