Not upheld: failure to change address and alleged unauthorised sharing of financial information complaint against Santander UK Plc

Decision detail

Summary

Mr W complained that Santander failed to change his address as instructed, resulting in sensitive financial information being shared with his ex-partner, which he claimed affected his custody arrangements with his children. Santander initially apologised and paid £300 compensation but disputed that Mr W had provided a new address. The ombudsman reviewed call recordings and correspondence and found no evidence that Mr W explicitly requested an address change, and a letter dated 4 April was confirmed to have been sent to his old address, contradicting his claim. The ombudsman did not uphold the complaint, finding that while Santander could have handled the situation better when learning of Mr W's homelessness, it had not failed to action an instruction that was never given.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman reviewed all available evidence including call recordings and correspondence. While Mr W discussed his housing situation in calls, he never explicitly asked agents to change his address. The letter dated 4 April, which Mr W claimed proved he had updated his address, was actually sent to his old address, contradicting his assertion. On the balance of probabilities, the ombudsman found no evidence that Mr W gave Santander his new address, and therefore Santander did not fail to action an instruction. The ombudsman noted that while Santander could have handled the situation better by asking for an alternative address when learning of Mr W's homelessness, this did not constitute the failure Mr W alleged.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website