Not upheld: account switching error and handling of incorrect account details complaint against HSBC UK Bank Plc trading as First Direct

Decision detail

Summary

Miss D and Mr W attempted to switch their joint account from First Direct to bank S but provided incorrect account details in their second attempt, resulting in Mr W's sole account being switched instead. The joint account remained with First Direct because it was overdrawn and no arrangement existed with S to accept the debt. This caused direct debits to fail and Miss D had to manually update all creditors. Miss D complained that First Direct should not have allowed a sole account to be switched and that the switch of a sole account to a joint account should have been flagged. The ombudsman found that First Direct acted on the information provided by the receiving bank and had no reason to dispute the customers' wishes, and therefore did not uphold the complaint.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that First Direct acted on the information provided to it by the receiving bank S, which had been supplied by Miss D and Mr W. The joint account could not be switched because it was overdrawn and no specific arrangement existed with S to accept the debt. The sole account details were correctly matched to Mr W's account, and First Direct had no reason to dispute the legitimacy of the switch request. The problems that arose were due to the incorrect details provided by Miss D, not First Direct's actions. First Direct properly declined to discuss Mr W's sole account with Miss D due to data protection regulations, as Mr W was not a party to the complaint.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website