Not upheld: Account closure without notice complaint against Bank of Scotland plc

Decision detail

Summary

Mr C complained about Bank of Scotland's handling of his account closure and the poor customer service he received when contacting the bank, seeking £300 in total compensation. Bank of Scotland had sent a closure notification message to Mr C's registered mobile number and offered £50 compensation for the service issues experienced during phone calls. The ombudsman found that Bank of Scotland did communicate the closure appropriately and that the £50 compensation was reasonable for the poor service during calls, rejecting Mr C's request for additional compensation. The ombudsman also determined that a separate IT glitch complaint should be addressed as a new complaint rather than being included in the current claim.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Bank of Scotland did communicate the account closure to Mr C via message to his registered mobile number, even though Mr C claims not to have received it. The ombudsman listened to the call recordings and determined that while the customer service was poor, the £50 compensation offered was reasonable for the experience received. The ombudsman rejected the claim that £150 was offered, noting it was mentioned but corrected to £50 on the same call. The IT glitch complaint was determined to be separate from the original complaint as it occurred after the initial complaint letter was sent, and should be addressed as a new complaint.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website