Not upheld: missing deposit/credit error complaint against Nationwide Building Society

Decision detail

Summary

Mr H complained that Nationwide Building Society failed to credit a cash deposit of £4,350 he claimed to have made on 25 January 2025. Mr H stated he made two separate deposits of £4,350 each to circumvent a £5,000 daily cash limit, but Nationwide contended only one deposit was made and the duplicate entry was a cashier error corrected the same day. The ombudsman reviewed the evidence and found on the balance of probabilities that Mr H made only a single deposit, as both credits were logged by the same cashier within a minute, the till balanced correctly, and Mr H transferred his corrected account balance three days later without complaint. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied the balance of probabilities test to determine what most likely occurred. Key factors supporting the conclusion that only one deposit was made include: (1) both credits were logged by the same cashier within a minute, making two separate deposits unlikely; (2) the till balanced correctly with no surplus cash; (3) Mr H transferred the corrected balance three days later without complaint; (4) the corrected balance shown on 30 January 2025 matched what would be expected from a single £4,350 deposit; (5) Nationwide's £5,000 cash limit policy would have prevented two separate deposits of £4,350 in one visit; and (6) Mr H's failure to report the discrepancy until September 2025 suggests he did not notice a shortfall at the time of subsequent transactions.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website