Not upheld: service failure, delay in responding to enquiries, provision of incorrect information, failure to issue final response within eight weeks complaint against Raymond James Wealth Management Limited trading as Charles Stanley Direct

Decision detail

Summary

Mr M complained to CSD about delays in responding to his pension transfer enquiries and incorrect information provided about fee waiver eligibility. CSD failed to respond within a reasonable timeframe, provided incorrect information that was later corrected, and failed to issue a final response within eight weeks. CSD offered £100 compensation, which Mr M rejected as insufficient given the importance of the transaction and his fund size. The ombudsman upheld CSD's offer as fair and reasonable, finding that while the service failures caused distress and inconvenience, the error was small and corrected before causing direct impact, and Mr M suffered no material financial loss.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while CSD failed to respond promptly to queries and provided incorrect information about fee waiver timing, the error was small and corrected before causing direct impact. Although the delay in providing the final response was lengthy, Mr M was able to refer the complaint to FOS after eight weeks, preventing the delay from preventing him from progressing his complaint. The ombudsman considered that the distress and inconvenience caused—uncertainty affecting confidence in CSD, frustration, stress, and inconvenience—was appropriately compensated by £100, which falls within the FOS guidance range for repeated small errors or larger single mistakes requiring reasonable effort to resolve.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website