Not upheld: data protection breach and privacy violation complaint against Nationwide Building Society

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs E complained that Nationwide Building Society shared account information with her ex-husband after he was removed from their joint account. Specifically, her ex-husband continued receiving weekly text alerts about her account balance for over eight years due to a system error where his phone number was not removed from the text alert system when the account was transferred to her sole name. Upon discovering this in January 2026, Mrs E raised concerns about her safety given her history of domestic abuse and multiple relocations. Nationwide acknowledged the error, removed the ex-husband's number, and paid £1,000 compensation. The ombudsman found the compensation fair and reasonable, confirmed that no address information was shared, and determined the firm had rectified the error appropriately.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman acknowledged the distress caused to Mrs E by Nationwide's error in leaving her ex-husband's phone number on the text alert system. However, the ombudsman found that: (1) Nationwide admitted the mistake and rectified it promptly; (2) only balance text alerts were shared, not the address; (3) the £1,000 compensation was in line with what the ombudsman would have awarded; and (4) the role of the ombudsman is to determine fairness, not to punish the business. The ombudsman was satisfied the compensation was appropriate for the distress and inconvenience caused.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website