Not upheld: Account closure without notice complaint against Cambridge Building Society

Decision detail

Summary

Mr W, who has a disability affecting his ability to use the telephone and has limited mobility, complained that Cambridge Building Society unreasonably refused to update his address and close his account. A previous complaint about the same issue in 2023 had been closed after the ombudsman's investigator found the options provided were reasonable. When Mr W re-raised the complaint in 2024-2025, Cambridge offered additional options including email communication and use of a verification app. The ombudsman found that Cambridge had provided reasonable options that accommodated Mr W's needs while balancing legitimate fraud prevention duties, and rejected Mr W's claim that he had sent ID documents. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Cambridge had reasonably believed the 2023 options resolved the matter and was justified in referring Mr W back to those options when he re-raised the issue in 2024-2025. The ombudsman concluded that the two options provided in September 2025 were reasonable and accommodated Mr W's needs, particularly the email option given his established communication preference. The ombudsman balanced the customer's disability needs against Cambridge's legal and regulatory duty to prevent fraud and protect accounts, finding that requiring identity verification before making account changes was a legitimate safeguard. The ombudsman found no credible evidence that Mr W had sent ID documents in January 2025 and noted that Mr W had not stated he was unable to comply with either option offered.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website