Upheld: Account administration errors complaint against XTB Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr G requested two withdrawals from his XTB investment account totalling £837, but XTB duplicated the payments due to an internal error, resulting in Mr G receiving £1,674. XTB attempted to contact Mr G twice by email and 13 times by phone to resolve the matter, but Mr G did not respond. XTB then withheld Mr G's pending withdrawals pending resolution and sent communications threatening legal action and cost recovery if Mr G pursued the matter further. After Mr G eventually contacted XTB, the firm offset the duplicate payments without authorization and released the remaining funds. The Ombudsman upheld the complaint, finding that while XTB was entitled to temporarily withhold funds under CASS regulations, the firm's error, prolonged process, and inappropriate legal threats fell below expected standards, warranting £300 compensation but not reimbursement of overdraft fees.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The Ombudsman found that while XTB was entitled to temporarily withhold withdrawals under CASS 7.11 pending clarification of the overpayment position, and made reasonable efforts to contact Mr G, the firm caused inconvenience through its own error, prolonged the resolution process, and made inappropriate comments about legal costs and potential liability. The Ombudsman emphasized that firms cannot recover legal costs from customers for referring complaints to FOS, and such threats are inappropriate and risk deterring consumers from exercising their statutory rights. The Ombudsman rejected the claim for overdraft fees because XTB had made sufficient contact attempts, placing responsibility on Mr G for not responding.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website