Not upheld: unauthorized transactions and account management - joint account addition complaint against Santander UK Plc

Decision detail

Summary

Mr E complained that Santander incorrectly allowed his sole account to become a joint account with his daughter Ms A and refused to refund over £87,000 transferred by Ms A without his knowledge. Mr E initially claimed Ms A fraudulently added herself using a third party, but later admitted he attended the branch with Ms A, claiming he did not understand what he was signing due to language and educational barriers. The ombudsman found Santander acted reasonably because Mr E signed the joint account declaration, Santander had no prior knowledge of vulnerabilities requiring additional protections, and all transactions by Ms A were authorized in her capacity as joint account holder. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Santander acted reasonably in processing the joint account request because: (1) there was no evidence Santander should have known Mr E didn't understand the implications, as they had no prior knowledge of vulnerabilities and it was not unusual for family members to support elderly relatives; (2) Mr E had signed the joint account declaration which authorized transactions from either account holder; (3) the subsequent transactions by Ms A were authorized in her capacity as joint account holder; and (4) while account activity changed significantly after Ms A was added, the large transfers would not have triggered fraud detection intervention since Ms A was a trusted payee and the account was joint, meaning both parties' authorization was not required.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website