Upheld: unfair treatment of vulnerable customer / failure to provide reasonable adjustments / inflexible account access procedures complaint against National Savings and Investments (NS&I)

Decision detail

Summary

Miss M, who has a medical condition but retains capacity, sought to have her relative Mrs M manage her NS&I ISA account. NS&I refused to accept Mrs M's authority without either a POA or medical confirmation of Miss M's incapacity, despite Mrs M being a government-recognised appointee. This inflexible approach forced Mrs M to obtain a POA at significant cost (approximately £2,000). The ombudsman upheld the complaint, finding NS&I failed to treat Miss M fairly by not considering reasonable adjustments or informal support arrangements, and by placing the burden on Miss M to prove capacity rather than NS&I establishing incapacity. The ombudsman rejected other claims (about a mathematical sum and lost interest) as unsupported by evidence and ordered £275 compensation.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

NS&I's blanket approach requiring either medical confirmation of incapacity or a POA was inflexible and failed to consider reasonable adjustments or assistance for vulnerable customers who retain capacity. The ombudsman agreed with the investigator that it was not Miss M's responsibility to prove she had capacity, and that NS&I could not establish incapacity from Mrs M's letters. NS&I's failure to recognise Mrs M's government-appointed status as an appointee was another example of inflexible service. However, the ombudsman rejected claims about a mathematical sum being requested (call recording showed this did not occur) and rejected compensation for lost interest (Mrs M had not moved funds after obtaining POA).

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website