Upheld: service failure - delays and errors in providing Capital Gains Tax reports; irresponsible administration of estate portfolio complaint against RBC Europe Limited trading as RBC Brewin Dolphin
Financial Ombudsman decision DRN-6266849 of 2026-05-26T00:00:00+00:00. service failure - delays and errors in providing Capital Gains Tax reports; irresponsible administration of estate portfolio complaint against RBC Europe Limited trading as RBC Brewin Dolphin. Outcome: Upheld.
Decision detail
| Reference | DRN-6266849 |
|---|---|
| Decision date | 2026-05-26T00:00:00+00:00 |
| Firm | RBC Europe Limited trading as RBC Brewin Dolphin |
| Product | investment portfolio management / wealth management |
| Claim type | service failure - delays and errors in providing Capital Gains Tax reports; irresponsible administration of estate portfolio |
| Outcome | Upheld |
| Remedy | BD must pay the estate £2,461.80 (comprising £2,051.50 in legal costs plus 20% VAT) within 28 days of the estate accepting this decision. If payment is not made on time, BD must pay interest at 8% simple per annum from the date of the decision to the date of settlement. BD must also pay any evidenced reasonable professional fees incurred by the estate in producing and presenting the solicitors' schedule of additional work and fees. Upon receipt of evidence of any HMRC penalties, interest or charges applied to the estate directly resulting from BD's errors and delays in the CGT reporting matter (including the omitted/incorrect 2024/25 tax voucher), BD must cover or compensate the estate for such costs. |
Summary
The estate of Mr U complained about delays and errors by RBC Brewin Dolphin in providing Capital Gains Tax reports needed for probate and HMRC submissions in 2024. The solicitors requested the reports on 28 June 2024 but had to chase BD three times before receiving a report on 16 September, which contained errors. Subsequent reports issued in October and November also contained errors, requiring the solicitors to manually correct them before submitting to HMRC in March 2025. The estate claimed £2,461.80 (including VAT) for additional legal costs incurred due to BD's delays and errors. BD initially offered only £747 but later revised its offer to cover all blue-highlighted costs (£1,122 pre-VAT) while disputing the pink-highlighted costs (£929.50 pre-VAT). The Ombudsman upheld the complaint and ordered BD to pay the full amount of £2,461.80 plus interest if payment is delayed, finding that all additional legal work was directly caused by BD's errors and delays and would probably not have occurred otherwise.
The Ombudsman's reasoning
The Ombudsman found that BD caused delays and errors in providing CGT reports, which the firm conceded. The key issue was determining which additional legal costs were directly caused by BD's errors and delays. The Ombudsman accepted that all blue-highlighted sections of the solicitors' schedule (£1,122 pre-VAT) represented additional work directly resulting from BD's delays and errors. For the pink-highlighted sections, the Ombudsman examined the timing and nature of the work: the 8 October entry (£176) occurred during a period of significant delay and related to addressing the CGT issue caused by BD; the 30 October entry (£176) involved detailed emails addressing BD's ongoing problems; and the 14 November entry (£577.50) explicitly referenced seven units spent correcting BD's incorrect statements. The Ombudsman concluded that all three pink sections were directly connected to BD's responsibility for errors and delays, as the work would probably not have occurred but for those errors and delays.
How this compares
| Group | Decisions | Uphold rate |
|---|---|---|
| RBC Europe Limited trading as RBC Brewin Dolphin, all decisions | 1 | 100% |
Source
Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website