Partially upheld: Goods and services under S75 complaint against National Westminster Bank Public Limited Company (NatWest)

Decision detail

Summary

Mr L purchased a folding phone for £849 on credit card in December 2021. After less than 12 months, the folding screen began to crack and malfunction. Mr L raised a Section 75 claim in September 2025 seeking a full refund, supported by a phone repair shop report identifying a 'known issue' requiring a £380 screen replacement. NatWest offered £380 to settle without admission of liability. Mr L rejected this, arguing for a full refund and £800 compensation for poor service. The ombudsman upheld the complaint in part, directing NatWest to pay £380 for the repair cost and £100 for service failings, finding that a full refund would be disproportionate given the phone's age and that the evidence of defect, while mixed, did not conclusively establish breach of satisfactory quality.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while the evidence regarding the phone's defect was mixed and not conclusively persuasive on the balance of probabilities, NatWest's offer of £380 (the repair cost) would have been fair even if a breach of the satisfactory quality term had been established. A full refund would be disproportionate given the phone's age (nearly 4 years old) when the claim was raised. The ombudsman agreed with the investigator that service failings by NatWest warranted £100 compensation, as the same information was requested multiple times and there were avoidable delays caused by the account transfer process.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website