Not upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against J D Williams & Company Limited trading as Jacamo

Decision detail

Summary

Mr P complained that JD Williams unfairly held him liable for a catalogue account that had accumulated debt through purchases made by an authorized third party, X, after Mr P had instructed X to close the account in 2020. Mr P claimed JD Williams should have alerted him to suspicious activity and that he was vulnerable due to family health issues. The ombudsman found that Mr P failed to formally notify JD Williams of his wish to close the account or remove X's authority, and that JD Williams sent a clear notification email in October 2020 inviting Mr P to contact them if the contact detail change was unauthorized. The ombudsman concluded that JD Williams treated Mr P fairly and did not uphold the complaint, though reminded JD Williams to treat Mr P's circumstances with forbearance regarding repayment arrangements.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Mr P gave X authority to administer the account as an authorized third party. Although Mr P instructed X to close the account in 2020, he did not formally notify JD Williams of this instruction or his wish to close the account. The responsibility lay with Mr P to follow up and ensure the account was closed or X's authority was removed. JD Williams sent a clear notification email in October 2020 asking Mr P to contact them if he had not authorized the contact detail change, which provided Mr P with an opportunity to take action. The ombudsman found no evidence of suspicious activity that should have alerted JD Williams to potential fraud. While acknowledging Mr P's difficult personal circumstances, the ombudsman concluded that JD Williams treated Mr P fairly throughout.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website