Not upheld: incorrect information about account balance and credit file reporting complaint against Capital One (Europe) plc

Decision detail

Summary

Miss C complained that Capital One provided incorrect information about her credit card account balance and incorrectly reported a late payment to credit reference agencies. On 3 November 2025, an agent told Miss C her account would be in credit by £86.80, but three days later another agent correctly stated the credit balance was £8.00. The ombudsman found that while the initial information was incorrect, the correct balance of £8.00 was accurate and the account was never actually in credit by £86.80. The ombudsman also confirmed that Capital One correctly reported the missed payment to credit reference agencies as required by law. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that although Capital One provided incorrect information on 3 November 2025 about the credit balance (stating £303.10 instead of £381.90), the correct balance of £8.00 was accurately reported three days later. The ombudsman determined it would not be fair to require Capital One to refund £86.80 because the account was never actually in credit by that amount. Regarding the late payment marker, the ombudsman confirmed that Capital One is obliged to report accurate information to credit reference agencies and found no evidence of error in the reporting of the missed payment.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website