Not upheld: Goods and services under S75 complaint against Santander UK trading as Cahoot

Decision detail

Summary

Mr D complained that Cahoot failed to adequately communicate about a dormant savings account that he discovered in December 2023 when logging into his online banking. The account had been opened in 2012 and made dormant in 2016. Cahoot had sent a letter in September 2016 clearly explaining that the account would become dormant and that no further correspondence would be sent. The ombudsman found that this letter was clear, fair and correctly addressed, and that Cahoot was entitled to act in accordance with it. The ombudsman concluded that Mr D likely forgot about the account and that Cahoot was not obliged to send further communications given the explicit notice provided in 2016. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Cahoot provided clear, fair and non-misleading communication to Mr D in September 2016 explaining that the account would become dormant and that no further correspondence would be sent. The letter was correctly addressed and Mr D was given reasonable notice of this action. Cahoot was entitled to classify the account as dormant as a proportionate measure against identity theft and fraud. The ombudsman concluded that Mr D likely forgot about the account and that Cahoot was not obliged to send further communications given the explicit notice provided in 2016. The Consumer Duty did not apply to these circumstances as the account was not on sale as of 31 July 2023.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website