Not upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against Bank of Scotland plc, trading as Halifax

Decision detail

Summary

Ms H paid company E for timeshare cancellation services in October 2023 but discovered the service was not provided and she had received false and misleading information. She requested reimbursement from Halifax, claiming fraud, but Halifax declined on the basis that it was a private civil dispute. The ombudsman upheld Halifax's position, finding that company E was a legitimate business and that Ms H's circumstances fell within the private civil dispute exclusion of the CRM Code. The ombudsman concluded that while Ms H received misleading information, this did not constitute fraud, and Halifax could not reasonably be held liable for the loss.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while Ms H was induced to make payment by false or misleading representations, this does not necessarily evidence fraud. The ombudsman determined that company E is a legitimate supplier and that Ms H's circumstances meet the definition of a private civil dispute explicitly excluded from the CRM Code's scope. The ombudsman reasoned that it is not reasonable to assume fraud is the most probable explanation for E's failure to provide services when other plausible explanations exist, such as administrative or employee error.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website