Not upheld: data security incident and distress caused by technical glitch complaint against Lloyds Bank PLC

Decision detail

Summary

Miss A complained to Lloyds Bank after a mobile banking app technical glitch on 12 March 2026 exposed some customers' transaction data to others. Although Miss A's account was not affected and she was not logged in during the incident, she experienced distress and took administrative steps due to concern about the potential breach. Lloyds apologized and confirmed her data was secure, but Miss A sought £200 compensation for distress and inconvenience. The ombudsman did not uphold the complaint, finding that since Miss A's data was not actually breached and she suffered no financial loss, the distress caused was at a level of day-to-day inconvenience not warranting compensation, and the bank's apology was sufficient.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

While the ombudsman acknowledged Lloyds' legal obligations to keep customer data confidential and that some customers could see others' transaction data, the technical evidence showed Miss A was not logged in during the incident, meaning her data was not breached and no one saw her information. The ombudsman distinguished between the seriousness of the technical glitch as a regulatory matter and the impact on this individual complainant. The distress Miss A experienced was characterized as day-to-day inconvenience rather than severe impact warranting compensation, particularly given there was no actual disclosure of her data and no financial loss.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website