Partially upheld: Mortgage administration / arrears handling complaint against Lloyds Bank PLC

Decision detail

Summary

Mr G complained that Lloyds failed to prevent gambling transactions after he disclosed his gambling addiction on 3 March 2025. Although Lloyds placed blocks on his account, it did not explain that these blocks would not prevent transfers via Open Banking, allowing Mr G to continue gambling between 3-19 March 2025. Mr G also raised concerns that Lloyds should have identified his gambling problem earlier from his transaction patterns and that call recordings were delayed. The ombudsman found Lloyds' failure to explain the Open Banking limitation was a service failure but concluded that Mr G would likely have gambled anyway given his history of circumventing payment restrictions. The complaint was partially upheld with compensation increased to £200 for service failures.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while Lloyds failed to explain that transfer blocks would not prevent Open Banking transactions, this omission would not have deterred Mr G from gambling, as he had previously circumvented a gambling card block by using alternative payment methods. The ombudsman determined that Lloyds was not required to have identified Mr G's gambling problem earlier, as his account did not show signs of financial distress and consumers are entitled to use their money for gambling. However, the service failures regarding block explanation, documentation handling, and call recording delays warranted compensation.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website