Not upheld: Card / payment disputes complaint against Barclays Bank UK PLC trading as Barclaycard

Decision detail

Summary

Mr D complained that Barclaycard was holding him liable for a credit card opened in his name in January 2015 without his authorization, allegedly by his ex-partner. He claimed he only became aware of the account in late 2022 and sought to have the balance written off and credit file information removed. The ombudsman found the complaint was out of time under FCA rules, as Mr D had reasonable knowledge of the account well before June 2025 when he raised the complaint, evidenced by 69 notifications sent to his genuine phone number until January 2017. For spending after June 2019, the ombudsman concluded on the balance of probabilities that Mr D was aware of and authorized the account activity, particularly given his regular payments until March 2025. The complaint was not upheld and no remedy was ordered.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied the FCA's time limit rules (DISP 2.8.2R) requiring complaints to be made within 6 years of the event or 3 years of when the consumer knew or ought reasonably to have known of cause for complaint. Mr D received 69 notifications to his genuine phone number before January 2017, which the ombudsman found he would more likely than not have seen. Therefore, Mr D had reasonable knowledge of the account well before June 2025. For spending after June 2019, the ombudsman found on the balance of probabilities that Mr D was aware of the account activity and either made the payments himself or authorized his ex-partner to do so, particularly given the regular payments he made until March 2025 and the balance transfer to another account in his name.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website