Not upheld: Account closure without notice complaint against Nationwide Building Society

Decision detail

Summary

Mr S complained that Nationwide Building Society was unable to stop cancellation of his lost debit card, provided incorrect information about replacement card timescales, and subsequently closed his account. The ombudsman found that preventing reversal of a lost card cancellation was reasonable operational practice, and that despite staff confusion about timescales, the replacement card was issued within the correct 5 working day period. The account closure was upheld as justified because Mr S was abusive and used offensive language towards staff during a complaint call on 7 April 2026, which constituted grounds for immediate closure under the account terms and conditions, particularly given his prior warnings for inappropriate behaviour towards staff.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Nationwide was not unreasonable in preventing cancellation of a lost card once the process had started, as allowing reversal could increase risks of cards not being cancelled when intended. While staff provided incorrect information about timescales, the replacement card was actually issued within the correct timeframe (sent Wednesday, allowing 5 working days for delivery). The apology provided was deemed sufficient for these minor errors. Regarding account closure, the ombudsman reviewed the phone call from 7 April 2026 and found that Mr S's abusive conduct and offensive language towards staff, combined with evidence of previous inappropriate behaviour and warnings, justified Nationwide's decision to close the account immediately under its terms and conditions.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website