Not upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against ClearBank Limited (trading as Tide)

Decision detail

Summary

V, a limited company, made a £500 payment through Tide to another company C for marketing materials that were never delivered. V believed this was a scam and requested reimbursement from Tide, but Tide declined, treating it as a civil dispute. The ombudsman found no compelling evidence of deliberate fraud, noting that C had created some materials and maintained normal account activity. The ombudsman upheld Tide's decision that this was a contractual dispute rather than a scam and declined to order reimbursement.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while V had no direct relationship with Tide beyond sending funds to an account held with them, Tide could only be held responsible if there were specific acts or omissions that should have prevented the loss. The ombudsman was not persuaded there was compelling evidence of a deliberate scam, as opposed to a contractual dispute over delivery of agreed materials. The fact that C had created some materials and maintained an account with normal activity patterns did not indicate fraud. Tide's conclusion that this was a civil dispute rather than a scam was therefore reasonable.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website