Not upheld: Service delays; information provision; ISA allowance management complaint against Hargreaves Lansdown Asset Management Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs Y complained that HLAM caused her an investment loss of approximately £850 by failing to clearly explain that a Share Exchange transaction would count towards her ISA allowance, resulting in an oversubscription. She also complained that HLAM's corrective options email failed to warn of potential losses and that the execution of the corrective trade was delayed. The ombudsman found that HLAM made clear on their website and during calls that the transaction would count towards the allowance, that the corrective options email was not misleading, and that the trade execution timeline was reasonable given the requirement for ISA cancellation team review. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that HLAM made sufficiently clear on their website and during calls that the Share Exchange transaction would count towards ISA allowance. Although HLAM did not explicitly state this during the calls, Mr W demonstrated understanding by asking what would happen if the transfer exceeded the allowance, and Mrs Y knew her existing contributions with other providers. The corrective options email was not misleading as it was not HLAM's role to advise on which option was best or to warn of potential losses from market performance. The timeline for executing the corrective trade was reasonable: the instruction was received mid-day on 2 April 2025, reviewed and approved by 4 April 2025, and executed on 7 April 2025 when markets reopened, which is within reasonable timeframes for a corrective ISA trade requiring additional review.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website