Partially upheld: account access failure and service failure; credit reporting accuracy complaint against Zilch Technology Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Miss S complained that Zilch Technology Limited failed to help her regain access to her account after she lost access to the email address used for two-factor authentication. Zilch could not restore access without her regaining the old email and only offered the inconvenient workaround of closing and reopening the account. Miss S subsequently missed payments and sought removal of adverse credit file markers, attributing them to her inability to access her account. The ombudsman partly upheld the complaint, awarding £100 compensation for the distress caused by the access failure, but refused to remove the missed payment markers as they accurately reflected the account status and evidence suggested Miss S had other reasons for non-payment beyond the access issue.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

While Zilch's inability to allow Miss S to change her email address was an error and breached the Consumer Duty to support customers in using its services, the missed payment markers on her credit file are accurate and fairly reflect the account status. Although Miss S attributed the missed payments to her inability to access her online account, the evidence shows she had already missed several payments before contacting Zilch about the access issue, and Zilch provided alternative payment methods (bank transfer) which Miss S indicated she would use but did not. The ombudsman found no persuasive evidence that the lack of online access was the primary cause of the missed payments, and noted Miss S did not raise financial difficulties with Zilch at the time or explain why she did not make the bank transfer payment despite having the necessary information.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website