Upheld: service failure - erroneous card block complaint against Clydesdale Bank Plc trading as Virgin Money

Decision detail

Summary

Mr W complained that Virgin Money erroneouly placed a block on his debit card preventing payments to online marketplace V after he had specifically asked them not to take action. The block remained in place for just under two months, requiring Mr W to contact both Virgin Money and V multiple times, obtain a new debit card, and update recurring payment details. Virgin Money initially denied the block existed before later identifying and acknowledging the error, offering £50 compensation which Mr W rejected as insufficient. The ombudsman upheld the complaint and increased the compensation to £150, finding this fairly reflected the inconvenience caused despite being unable to fully verify Mr W's claimed frequency of contact with Virgin Money.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman concluded that both parties accepted the block was added in error, making this the likely case despite Virgin Money's inability to provide the call recording. While Mr W claimed multiple contacts with Virgin Money, he provided evidence of only one phone call and one live chat conversation. The ombudsman found that Mr W was caused inconvenience through having to contact both V and Virgin Money, obtain a new debit card, and update recurring payments over a period of just under two months. The ombudsman considered £150 to be fair compensation in line with FOS approach for such inconvenience.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website