Not upheld: unfair treatment following fraud-related payment difficulties; complaint handling complaint against Capital One (Europe) plc

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs P complained that Capital One failed to provide adequate support after her direct debit was cancelled due to fraud on her joint bank account, resulting in missed payments and adverse credit reporting. She sought removal of adverse data, refund of fees and interest, a sustainable payment plan, and compensation for poor complaint handling. Capital One maintained that all charges and reporting were correct under the account terms and that it had offered appropriate support and signposting. The ombudsman found Capital One had accurately applied charges, offered multiple opportunities to discuss forbearance through statutory notices and emails, and that Mrs P had not responded to these invitations or provided the detailed financial information needed to set up a payment plan.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while Mrs P experienced genuine hardship due to fraud, Capital One acted in accordance with the account terms by applying charges and reporting arrears. Capital One offered multiple opportunities for Mrs P to engage on forbearance options through statutory notices, emails, and final response letters. Mrs P's failure to respond to these invitations, combined with her provision of only high-level household information rather than detailed income and expenditure data needed for a payment plan, meant Capital One could not be faulted for not setting up a sustainable repayment arrangement. The ombudsman also clarified that complaint handling itself cannot be reviewed as a separate complaint about financial services.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website