Upheld: Service failure in processing ISA reinvestment instruction; inadequate attempts to contact customer complaint against Secure Trust Bank Public Limited Company

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs B applied to reinvest her maturing 1-year Fixed Rate ISA into a 3-year Fixed Rate ISA but provided an incorrect account number. Secure Trust identified the error and left a voicemail on Mrs B's unused landline on 12 October 2023 but made no further contact attempts. When the maturity date arrived on 20 October 2023, the funds were placed into a Matured Fund Access ISA instead. Mrs B did not realise the error until April 2025 after receiving interest rate reduction notifications. The ombudsman upheld the complaint, finding that Secure Trust should have made multiple contact attempts using email or post, and ordered the firm to pay interest compensation for the difference between what Mrs B earned and what she would have earned in the intended Fixed Rate ISA, plus £200 for service failure.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Secure Trust should have made further attempts to contact Mrs B using multiple methods (phone, email, post) when the initial voicemail was not received, as this was standard practice and the firm was aware of the importance of the instruction. While Mrs B's assumption that the welcome letter related to her requested ISA was reasonable, she should have recognised the account type discrepancy when receiving interest rate reduction notifications in August 2024. The firm's failure to adequately contact Mrs B at the outset was the primary cause of the loss, therefore compensation should cover the interest differential from the maturity date until August 2024, and then the difference between the 3-year Fixed Rate ISA and the 2-year Fixed Rate ISA (the best available option in August 2024) until the original maturity date.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website