Not upheld: Service failures generally complaint against Skipton Building Society

Decision detail

Summary

Mr B complained that Skipton Building Society failed to make clear he was transferring his ISA into a non-ISA cash savings account (Base Rate Tracker Issue 5) rather than another ISA. Mr B believed he had maintained his ISA tax wrapper but later discovered he had moved his funds out of it. Skipton acknowledged it had not provided an explicit warning but argued the information provided was clear about the account type. The ombudsman found that although no explicit warning was given, the account name did not include 'ISA', the application information contained no mention of tax benefits, and an internal transfer message alerted Mr B to use the specific ISA transfer option. The ombudsman concluded Skipton had provided sufficient information for Mr B to understand the account type and did not uphold the complaint.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied FCA rules requiring firms to provide information that is clear, fair and not misleading, and to support customers' understanding with information meeting their needs. The ombudsman found that although Skipton did not provide an explicit warning, the account name 'Base Rate Tracker Issue 5' clearly did not describe it as an ISA, whereas Skipton's actual ISA products include 'ISA' in their names. The application information explained the account features and made no mention of tax-free benefits. The internal transfer message also alerted Mr B to use the specific 'Cash ISA transfer' option if transferring an ISA. The ombudsman concluded that by the time Mr B confirmed his instruction, Skipton had provided sufficient information for him to understand the account type and that he was not transferring to another ISA. Mr B's misunderstanding of his own instruction did not constitute a breach by Skipton.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website