Not upheld: ISA / savings administration complaint against Assetz SME Capital Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr W complained about Assetz's introduction of a £35 ISA Transfer Fee on his Innovative Finance ISA account, arguing that the fee should not apply to funds already lent out based on Term 9.1 of the terms and conditions. Assetz closed its retail P2P lending platform in December 2022 and introduced the ISA Transfer Fee in August 2025 to cover costs associated with processing IFISA transfers, which had increased significantly following the platform closure. The ombudsman found that the fee is permitted under Term 7.3 (a variation clause allowing cost-based fees), applies only to cash funds available for transfer (not lent-out funds), reflects genuine costs comparable to competitors, and is fair given that only 43% of investors hold IFISAs. Although the fee can result in multiple charges due to staggered loan repayments, investors have options to mitigate costs. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Term 7.3 permits Assetz to introduce fees based on costs of providing the service, and while the variation clause has some fairness concerns, it is limited by the requirement that fees be cost-based. Term 9.1 does not prevent the ISA Transfer Fee because the fee only applies to cash funds that have been repaid and are available to transfer, not to funds still lent out. The £35 fee reflects genuine costs including third-party processing costs, internal administration, technical work, and overhead, and is comparable to competitor fees. Assetz fairly considered the alternative of increasing the Lender Fee for all investors and reasonably decided it was fairer to charge only IFISA users. The fee facilitates the solvent wind-down necessary to protect all investors' returns. Although the fee can cause foreseeable harm due to staggered loan repayments, investors have mitigation options: waiting for all loans to repay, making multiple transfers as funds become available, or using the flexible IFISA feature to temporarily move cash outside the account.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website