Partially upheld: Account administration errors complaint against Assetz SME Capital Limited
Financial Ombudsman decision DRN-5832615 of 2025-09-22T00:00:00+00:00. Account administration errors complaint against Assetz SME Capital Limited. Outcome: Partially upheld.
Decision detail
| Reference | DRN-5832615 |
|---|---|
| Decision date | 2025-09-22T00:00:00+00:00 |
| Firm | Assetz SME Capital Limited |
| Product | Investment |
| Claim type | Account administration errors |
| Outcome | Partially upheld |
| Remedy | Pay the estate 8% simple interest on the cash amount available on 2 May 2024 (approximately £2,500) calculated from 2 May 2024 until the date the funds were paid in July 2024, to compensate for the loss of use of those funds. |
Summary
The estate of Mrs T complained that Assetz Capital was unfairly restricting withdrawals from her peer-to-peer crowdfunding account to quarterly payments following her death. Assetz had implemented a quarterly bereavement payment policy during its platform wind-down to manage costs and resources. The estate provided the grant of probate on 20 April 2024, only 13 days after the previous quarterly payment window on 7 April 2024, and had to wait until July 2024 for the next payment. The ombudsman found that while the quarterly policy is fair and reasonable, the specific circumstances warranted a one-off payment when probate was received, as Mrs T would have been entitled to a free withdrawal had she lived. The ombudsman ordered Assetz to pay 8% simple interest on the available cash from 2 May 2024 until July 2024 but rejected the estate's claim for compensation for time and distress, as estates are not eligible complainants.
The Ombudsman's reasoning
The ombudsman found that while Assetz's quarterly bereavement payment policy is reasonable and fair given the platform's wind-down and resource constraints, the specific circumstances of this case warranted an exception. The estate provided probate documentation only 13 days after the previous quarterly payment window (7 April 2024), making it unfair to require a three-month wait until July 2024. The ombudsman reasoned that Mrs T would have been entitled to a free withdrawal had she lived, and that Assetz had not incurred additional costs in dealing with the account during this period. The ombudsman rejected the estate's claim for compensation for time and distress, as estates are not eligible complainants in their own right and can only bring complaints on behalf of deceased persons.
How this compares
| Group | Decisions | Uphold rate |
|---|---|---|
| Assetz SME Capital Limited, all decisions | 54 | 10% |
| Account administration errors, all decisions | 25,844 | 25% |
| Investment, all decisions | 14,114 | 34% |
Source
Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website