Not upheld: Direct Debit Guarantee claim refusal / unauthorised payments complaint against National Westminster Bank Public Limited Company

Decision detail

Summary

Mr K, a landlord, complained that NatWest refused to refund direct debit payments totalling approximately £4,800 made to a water company between July 2020 and May 2023, which he claimed were unauthorised. He had received a partial refund of £1,267 from the water company in July 2025 but sought the remaining balance through a Direct Debit Guarantee claim. NatWest requested a breakdown of which payments the refund related to, which Mr K could not provide. The ombudsman found NatWest's position reasonable, as Mr K lacked sufficient documentary evidence of the payment error and the water company's decision to issue only a partial refund suggested they would have contested a full claim. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that the Direct Debit Guarantee does not guarantee an unqualified refund in all circumstances and requires evidence of a payment error. While Mr K asserted the payments were unauthorised, he provided insufficient documentary evidence of the nature of the error or a breakdown of which payments the refund related to. NatWest's request for further information was reasonable given the five-year timeframe involved. Critically, the ombudsman inferred from the water company's decision to issue only a partial refund (after Mr K had already disputed the payments) that the water company would likely have contested a full DDG claim, meaning Mr K would have ended up in the same position regardless of NatWest's actions. Additionally, under the Payment Services Regulations 2017, NatWest was not obliged to refund as the claim was not notified within 13 months of the debit dates.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website