Not upheld: ISA / savings administration complaint against Castle Trust Capital PLC

Decision detail

Summary

Mr H complained that Castle Trust incorrectly processed his ISA maturity instructions, withdrawing his funds to his bank account when he intended to reinvest them into a new ISA product. Mr H argued the online process was unclear and caused the error. Castle Trust maintained it had correctly followed the withdrawal instructions received and that the online process was clear. The ombudsman examined the online maturity process, which contained two separate options with amount fields and system safeguards preventing dual allocation. Finding that the system record showed a withdrawal instruction was submitted and a confirmation screen would have displayed this, the ombudsman concluded the process was sufficiently clear and that Mr H had likely made a genuine mistake rather than Castle Trust making an error. The complaint was not upheld as HMRC rules do not permit reinstatement of ISA funds withdrawn in error by the customer.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman concluded that Castle Trust's online maturity process was sufficiently clear with two distinct options and amount fields, supported by system safeguards preventing erroneous dual submissions. The system record showed Mr H submitted a withdrawal instruction for the full amount, and a confirmation screen would have displayed this selection. While accepting Mr H likely made a genuine mistake, the ombudsman found no evidence of error or misadvice by Castle Trust. HMRC rules only permit reinstatement of withdrawn ISA funds in very limited circumstances involving incorrect advice from the ISA manager, which did not apply here. The ombudsman's role is to determine if the business did something wrong in the specific circumstances, not to regulate business processes.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website