Partially upheld: poor communication and service quality in trust administration complaint against Scottish Widows Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Ms A complained about Scottish Widows' service when attempting to place her life insurance policy into trust in 2025. She experienced multiple rounds of corrections to her trust form, contradictory information about trustee residency requirements, and incorrect trustee details in correspondence, leading to frustration and eventual loss of trust in the business. The investigator initially found no serious failings but revised her view after reviewing a call recording, identifying failures in communication and advice. The ombudsman partially upheld the complaint, finding that while Scottish Widows was genuinely attempting to help and much contact resulted from Ms A's own errors, the business should have provided clearer and more coherent communication after Ms A expressed frustration, and the £200 compensation offered was fair and reasonable.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman agreed with the investigator's revised view that Scottish Widows' communication could have been better. While acknowledging that Ms A completed the form incorrectly on several occasions and that Scottish Widows was genuinely attempting to help Ms A avoid harm by identifying discrepancies, the ombudsman found that the level of contact exceeded typical hassle expected when setting up a trust. The ombudsman noted that after Ms A expressed frustration, Scottish Widows should have provided more coherent dialogue to help her reach her financial objective. However, the ombudsman found that the impact was not significant or long-lasting, and the £200 compensation was reasonable given the genuine attempt by the business to assist.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website