Upheld: Service failures generally complaint against Saffron Building Society
Financial Ombudsman decision DRN-5763719 of 2025-08-20T00:00:00+00:00. Service failures generally complaint against Saffron Building Society. Outcome: Upheld.
Decision detail
| Reference | DRN-5763719 |
|---|---|
| Decision date | 2025-08-20T00:00:00+00:00 |
| Firm | Saffron Building Society |
| Product | Savings / ISA |
| Claim type | Service failures generally |
| Outcome | Upheld |
| Remedy | Saffron Building Society must pay Mr F £50 compensation in total to reflect the impact of its admitted poor service and shortcomings. The Society can deduct any compensation already paid to Mr F from this total. |
Summary
Mr F complained to Saffron Building Society about password issues accessing its app and the Society's delayed response to his secure message complaint. The Society admitted it failed to respond within its stated deadline and that its website did not clearly indicate that certain special characters were invalid for passwords. The Society initially offered £20 compensation, which Mr F rejected as inadequate given the time, trouble, and stress caused by the avoidable errors and multiple follow-up calls required. The ombudsman upheld the complaint and increased the compensation to £50, finding this fairly reflected the distress and inconvenience caused by the Society's admitted poor service, while noting that digital banking sometimes involves inconveniences that do not warrant significantly higher awards.
The Ombudsman's reasoning
The ombudsman found that while the Society's service failures were admitted and frustrating, the impact did not warrant a significantly higher award. The ombudsman acknowledged that digital banking sometimes involves inconveniences and that compensation should reflect the wider impact on the customer rather than just financial loss. Applying FOS guidance that typically awards less than £100 for one-off incidents or short delays, the ombudsman determined that £50 fairly reflected the distress and inconvenience caused by the Society's poor service, including the password issues, delayed response to the secure message, and the need for multiple follow-up calls.
How this compares
| Group | Decisions | Uphold rate |
|---|---|---|
| Saffron Building Society, all decisions | 29 | 26% |
| Service failures generally, all decisions | 32,767 | 33% |
| Savings / ISA, all decisions | 7,604 | 22% |
Source
Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website