Not upheld: scam reimbursement claim under CRM Code complaint against Santander UK Plc

Decision detail

Summary

Mr M complained that Santander should reimburse payments he made to Company A for building work on his property, claiming he was the victim of a scam after not receiving all goods and services paid for. Santander declined to reimburse, characterising it as a civil dispute, and an investigator agreed. The ombudsman upheld the decision, finding that while Company A was dishonest and failed to complete work satisfactorily, the evidence showed Company A intended to complete the work at the time payments were made, as substantial work was completed and materials were supplied. The dispute fell outside the Contingent Reimbursement Model Code definition of an APP scam, which excludes private civil disputes regarding defective or incomplete services from a legitimate supplier.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied the CRM Code definition of an APP scam, which requires that payment was made to another person for what the customer believed were legitimate purposes but which were in fact fraudulent. The CRM Code explicitly excludes private civil disputes where a customer has paid a legitimate supplier but has not received goods or services or they are defective. The evidence showed that Company A had the intention of completing the work at the time payments were made, as substantial work was completed and materials were supplied. While Company A was dishonest and failed to complete work to satisfactory standard, this constitutes a civil dispute regarding quality and completion, not fraud. The ombudsman found that Company A's requests for additional payment and lack of re-attendance could reflect unwillingness to complete work without further payment rather than fraudulent intent from the outset.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website