Not upheld: Service failures generally complaint against OakNorth Bank plc

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs D and Mr D complained that an OakNorth advertisement for a fixed rate cash ISA paying 4.5% with monthly interest misled them into believing the interest would be paid monthly to their nominated accounts to generate extra income. They opened accounts expecting this but discovered the interest was paid to the ISA account itself. OakNorth's final response rejected the complaint, citing the terms and conditions and key features documents that Mrs D had electronically signed. The ombudsman did not uphold the complaint, finding that interest is genuinely paid monthly to the ISA as stated in the clear terms and conditions, which Mrs D had confirmed reading and accepting before opening the account.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman concluded that interest is paid monthly on the account as stated in the terms and conditions and key features, which Mrs D signed to confirm she had read and accepted. The ombudsman found that the location where interest is paid (to the ISA rather than a nominated account) is not hidden but is as prominent as other terms and conditions. The advertisement itself does not promise or suggest that interest can be paid to a nominated account - all such detail is contained in the terms and conditions. The ombudsman rejected the argument that the advertisement was misleading for lacking a disclaimer about terms and conditions, noting that OakNorth is not obliged to offer the same product structure as other providers.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website