Not upheld: scam reimbursement claim / APP scam complaint against Santander UK Plc

Decision detail

Summary

Miss H paid electrician Mr M £4,320 for electrical work that was incomplete and of poor standard. Mr M falsely claimed NICEIC registration and failed to complete the agreed work. Miss H obtained a County Court Judgement against Mr M, who made partial repayment but not the full amount. Miss H claimed this was a scam and requested Santander refund her loss under the CRM Code. The ombudsman found this was a private civil dispute involving poor workmanship rather than an APP scam, as there was insufficient evidence Mr M intended to defraud Miss H from the outset, and therefore Santander was not liable to refund the loss.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied the CRM Code definition of an APP scam, which requires evidence that the customer was deceived into transferring funds to a different person or for fraudulent purposes from the outset. While Mr M's conduct was unprofessional (false NICEIC registration claim, poor workmanship, name changes, multiple closed businesses), this does not meet the high legal threshold for fraud. The fact that Mr M did some work, engaged with court proceedings, and made partial payments suggests legitimate but poor business conduct rather than intentional fraud. The dispute is therefore a private civil dispute excluded from CRM Code coverage.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website