Not upheld: administrative error and service failure (delayed correction of erroneous credit) complaint against Barclays Bank UK PLC trading as Tesco Bank

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs B complained that Tesco Bank credited her credit card account with £399.20 in error in May 2025 and delayed correcting the issue after she reported it. Tesco Bank acknowledged the error and paid £100 compensation but required repayment of the amount. Mrs B argued she should not have to repay because it was the bank's error and they delayed in responding. The ombudsman rejected this argument, finding that Mrs B was never entitled to keep the money and that the delay actually benefitted her by allowing the credit to remain longer on her account. The ombudsman upheld Tesco Bank's position that the £100 compensation was fair and the £10 monthly repayment arrangement was reasonable.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman accepted that Tesco Bank made an error and failed to respond promptly to Mrs B's report. However, the ombudsman concluded that Mrs B was not entitled to keep money that was never hers, regardless of the delay. The ombudsman reasoned that Mrs B could have chased Tesco Bank for a response or assumed the balance was incorrect given she had reported the issue. The delay actually benefitted Mrs B by allowing the credit to remain on her account longer. The ombudsman found the £100 compensation fair for the inconvenience caused by the error and delay, and the £10 monthly repayment arrangement reasonable.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website