Not upheld: Complaints handling failures complaint against AJ Bell Securities Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr C complained that AJ Bell failed to complete his Lifetime ISA transfer on 1 March 2024, did not pay interest for 8 days in March 2024, and failed to pay the £1,000 lifetime ISA bonus for the 2023-24 tax year. The transfer was delayed because provider N did not provide the required Transfer History Form until 3 September 2024, and AJ Bell then encountered a system error causing a further two-week delay until 20 September 2024. The ombudsman found AJ Bell was only responsible for the system error delay and not the delays caused by provider N. The government bonuses were ultimately paid, and the ombudsman upheld AJ Bell's £150 compensation offer as fair and reasonable.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while Mr C's frustration was understandable, AJ Bell could not be held responsible for delays caused by provider N's failure to provide the THF in a timely manner. The ombudsman accepted that AJ Bell was only responsible for the short delay from 3 September to 20 September 2024 when it encountered a system error. Regarding the government bonus, the ombudsman noted that AJ Bell was unable to claim it until the transfer was completed, and the bonus was ultimately paid within the eight-week timescale AJ Bell specified. The ombudsman considered the £150 compensation offer to be fair given the limited errors attributable to AJ Bell.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website