Not upheld: failure to identify gambling payments and apply appropriate safeguards complaint against Lloyds Bank PLC

Decision detail

Summary

Mr T complained that Lloyds Bank PLC failed to identify large gambling payments (approximately £5,000) made in July 2025 while he was in hospital and failed to apply appropriate safeguards. Lloyds initially treated the matter as a potential fraud claim, but established the payments were authorised by Mr T and made to a legitimate gambling site. The bank advised Mr T about the gambling block, which he subsequently applied, and provided information about support agencies. The ombudsman found the complaint not upheld, determining that Lloyds could not have reasonably identified or stopped the payments as there were no sufficient warning signs in the account activity before July 2025, and even if gambling had been recognised, the payments would have been completed before intervention could occur.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that bank accounts are not manually reviewed, so Lloyds could only have been alerted to potential problems through specific indicators: fraudulent transactions, financial difficulties, or unusual activity. The gambling payments were made to a legitimate payment service and were not identified as fraudulent. Mr T's overdraft usage was normal and did not exceed limits. The gambling activity only became evident in mid-June 2025, and the July payments were not significantly higher than previous months. Even if Lloyds had recognised gambling, the payments were made over three days and would have been completed before intervention could occur. While the adviser's tone on 4 August was harsh, Mr T was able to implement a gambling block and successfully stop gambling thereafter.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website