Not upheld: Service failures generally complaint against Barclays Bank UK PLC
Financial Ombudsman decision DRN-6076343 of 2026-07-02T00:00:00+00:00. Service failures generally complaint against Barclays Bank UK PLC. Outcome: Not upheld.
Decision detail
| Reference | DRN-6076343 |
|---|---|
| Decision date | 2026-07-02T00:00:00+00:00 |
| Firm | Barclays Bank UK PLC |
| Product | Current account |
| Claim type | Service failures generally |
| Outcome | Not upheld |
| Remedy | No remedy ordered. The ombudsman found that while Barclays made an error, no financial loss, pain and suffering, damage to reputation, or distress or inconvenience to Mr L was established. No direction was made as the LPA was already properly registered and account notes correctly recorded Mr L's capacity status. |
Summary
Ms L, holding a registered lasting power of attorney for her father Mr L, complained that Barclays improperly responded directly to Mr L regarding a complaint letter challenging the LPA, rather than directing the response to her as the registered attorney. The bank knew Mr L lacked mental capacity and that the letter was likely not genuinely from him. The ombudsman found Barclays made an error in its approach but upheld the complaint in outcome only, as no financial loss or compensable harm to Mr L could be established. No remedy was ordered, though the ombudsman acknowledged Ms L's inconvenience.
The Ombudsman's reasoning
The ombudsman acknowledged that while Barclays' response was polite and substantively correct, the bank made an error in concluding that Mr L had written the letter and responding directly to him. Given the bank's knowledge of Mr L's lack of capacity and the registered LPA, the bank should have recognized that the letter likely came from a third party without Mr L's authority. However, the ombudsman found that no financial loss or compensable harm to Mr L resulted from this error, and therefore no remedy was appropriate. The ombudsman also noted that it could only award compensation to Mr L, not to Ms L in her own capacity.
How this compares
| Group | Decisions | Uphold rate |
|---|---|---|
| Barclays Bank UK PLC, all decisions | 11,233 | 21% |
| Service failures generally, all decisions | 34,229 | 32% |
| Current account, all decisions | 48,691 | 19% |
Source
Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website