Not upheld: Service failures generally complaint against Barclays Bank UK PLC

Decision detail

Summary

Mr D complained to Barclays about difficulties remortgaging a commercial property to buy out his ex-partner. He could not contact Barclays from November 2024 until February 2025, and the application took several months to progress due to valuation issues and the ex-partner's delayed paperwork. Most critically, Barclays told Mr D his offer expired on 5 August 2025 when it had actually expired on 22 July 2025, creating stress and financial risk. Barclays acknowledged service failures and offered £750 compensation. The ombudsman found this offer fair, concluding that while Barclays was responsible for the initial communication failure and the misinformation about the expiration date, other delays were not Barclays' fault, and the court deadline would likely not have been met regardless.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while Barclays failed to respond to Mr D's initial contact from November to February 2025 and misinformed him about the offer expiration date, not all delays were Barclays' responsibility. Property valuation issues and the ex-partner's failure to sign paperwork were outside Barclays' control. The court deadline would likely not have been met even with earlier application start. The risk Mr D faced was less serious than claimed because the court order did not require simultaneous completion of both transactions. The £750 offer falls within the FOS award category for cases causing considerable distress and worry over many weeks or months, and represents a fair outcome.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website