Not upheld: Account administration errors complaint against Rothesay Life Plc

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs T complained that Rothesay Life Plc issued an incorrect P60 for tax year 2022/23 in respect of her annuity, causing increased income tax liability. She believed Rothesay changed the basis of tax treatment from arrears to advance payments compared to the previous provider, and that a payment was reported twice in the same tax year. The ombudsman reviewed extensive evidence including P60 documentation, tax code records, and correspondence between the parties. The ombudsman concluded that Rothesay did not change the payment treatment, did not report duplicate payments, and correctly applied HMRC-instructed tax codes. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman concluded that Rothesay did not change the basis on which annuity payments were treated when it took over from Provider A. The key finding was that if Rothesay had changed the treatment, Mrs T would have received two annuity payments in one tax year and none in another, which did not occur. The ombudsman noted that the tax deductions arose from Mrs T's changed circumstances (spousal income after her husband's death) and that Rothesay had no discretion in applying tax codes instructed by HMRC. The timing of Mrs T's tax code change to K prefix in November 2022 (rather than earlier in 2017/18) supported the conclusion that no double income reporting occurred in 2017/18.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website