Not upheld: Cifas fraud marker reporting; suspected mortgage fraud complaint against National Westminster Bank Public Limited Company (NatWest)

Decision detail

Summary

Mr G complained that NatWest unfairly placed a Cifas fraud marker against him after declining his mortgage application in December 2024. Mr G claimed he provided genuine documents to a broker who then altered them without his knowledge, resulting in false employment information and an altered bank statement being submitted with the application. NatWest refused to remove the marker, and the ombudsman upheld NatWest's decision, finding that Mr G remained responsible for the accuracy of documents submitted under his direct customer channel, that his explanation was not credible given he did not verify the application before submission or challenge the broker afterwards, and that the submission of false documents justified the fraud marker. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that NatWest had reasonable grounds to suspect fraud based on the submission of false employment information and an altered bank statement. Although Mr G claimed the broker altered documents without his knowledge, the ombudsman was not persuaded by this explanation because: (1) Mr G submitted the application directly and remained responsible for its accuracy; (2) it was unreasonable that Mr G would not verify documents before submitting a substantial mortgage application; (3) the video evidence did not prove the documents were unaltered when sent to the broker; (4) Mr G provided no evidence of challenging the broker or reporting the matter to police, suggesting complicity; and (5) Mr G failed to provide wage slips to verify his employment claims. The ombudsman concluded that submission of false documents is exactly the type of situation NatWest should report to Cifas.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website