Not upheld: APP scam reimbursement and application of claim excess complaint against Santander UK Plc

Decision detail

Summary

Miss A lost £200 to an APP scam involving a fraudulent delivery service advertised on social media. She reported the scam to Santander on 13 February 2026, two days after making the payment. Santander reimbursed £100 under the Reimbursement Rules but applied the permitted £100 claim excess. Miss A complained that she should receive full reimbursement given the sophisticated nature of the scam and her good faith. The ombudsman found that Santander acted fairly in applying the excess as permitted by the Reimbursement Rules, that Miss A was not vulnerable in a way that would prevent the excess from applying, and that the payment did not appear suspicious enough to warrant further enquiries by Santander.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The Reimbursement Rules entitle payment service providers to deduct a claim excess of up to £100 from APP scam reimbursements unless the consumer was vulnerable in a way that materially affected their ability to protect themselves from the scam. Miss A was not vulnerable in this sense and did not argue she was. The payment itself did not appear suspicious to Santander (not unusually large, to an individual, in character with normal activity), so Santander was not required to make further enquiries. Fund recovery was unlikely given the typical speed at which fraudsters move funds, and Santander's attempts to recover were unsuccessful.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website