Not upheld: Mortgage administration / arrears handling complaint against Barclays Bank UK PLC

Decision detail

Summary

Miss C complained that Barclays was unfairly keeping her mortgage account with its litigation team despite her making regular payments under a suspended possession order issued in early 2024. Her account had accumulated approximately £30,000 in rental arrears added over the years. Miss C wanted her account moved from the litigation team so she could explore remortgaging or other product options. Barclays responded that the account would remain with the litigation team until the arrears were fully repaid, but that Miss C could apply for new products which would be considered under its internal guidelines. The ombudsman found Barclays' decision to be fair and reasonable given the significant outstanding arrears balance and the litigation team's specialisation in such matters, and did not uphold the complaint.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that keeping the account with the litigation team was reasonable given the significant outstanding rental arrears balance, despite Miss C's regular payments. The ombudsman noted that the litigation team specialises in monitoring such situations. While Barclays should give fair consideration to any new product applications or proposals Miss C makes, the ombudsman could not hold Barclays responsible for decisions by other lenders or for the impact of the mortgage balance on Miss C's ability to obtain credit elsewhere. The ombudsman also clarified that new issues raised during the complaint process that Barclays had not previously considered could not be investigated under this complaint.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website