Partially upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against Lloyds Bank PLC

Decision detail

Summary

Mr P complained to Lloyds about several unauthorised payments totalling £250 in December 2025. Lloyds determined the payments were authorised as they were made using Mr P's registered device, which he confirmed no one else could access. Although Mr P received a refund from the merchant, he remained unhappy about the poor communication and delays from Lloyds during the claims process. The ombudsman upheld the complaint in part, finding Lloyds acted fairly in its fraud assessment but provided inadequate communication, and awarded £75 compensation for the service failures.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Lloyds reasonably concluded the payments were authorised based on evidence that they were made using Mr P's registered device with no indication of unauthorised access. However, Lloyds provided poor communication throughout the process with delays, conflicting information, and lack of clarity. Since Mr P suffered no financial loss due to the merchant refund, the complaint was upheld only in relation to service failures in communication. A modest compensation award of £75 was considered appropriate for the frustration caused by the communication issues, though the errors were characterised as small.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website