Not upheld: service failure - delayed fund transfer and incorrect timescales complaint against Skipton Building Society

Decision detail

Summary

Mr T complained that Skipton Building Society delayed transferring his account closure balance of £11,404.69 by sending a cheque instead of using electronic transfer, and provided incorrect timescales (five instead of eight working days). The cheque arrived on 2 September instead of by 26 August, causing Mr T to lose interest with his new bank. Skipton acknowledged the errors and offered £175 compensation. Mr T rejected this, claiming his new bank calculated lost interest at £574.29. The ombudsman found Skipton's £175 offer fair and reasonable, determining that Skipton was only liable for interest lost on the transferred amount (approximately £10), not on Mr T's entire new account balance, and that the additional £165 appropriately reflected the service failures.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman distinguished between the interest lost on the amount transferred from Skipton (£11,404.69) versus the interest lost on Mr T's total new account balance. The new bank's calculation of £574.29 included interest on funds already in Mr T's new account before the transfer, for which Skipton cannot be responsible. The ombudsman agreed with Skipton's calculation that the lost interest on the transferred amount was approximately £10, and found the £175 compensation reasonable as it included this £10 plus £165 for service failures.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website