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

Decision detail

Summary

X complained that Halifax unfairly closed his student account and registered a default marker after he remained in an unarranged overdraft of £2,000 from August 2023 without making payments. X claimed he did not receive Halifax's letters and stated he had requested all correspondence be via email due to his neurodiversity, and that Halifax failed to make reasonable adjustments. Halifax maintained it sent correctly addressed letters and had no notification of X's communication preferences or neurodiversity needs. The ombudsman found Halifax acted reasonably in closing the account to prevent further indebtedness and fairly registered the default marker in accordance with regulatory duties. The ombudsman concluded Halifax was not aware of X's needs and therefore could not be held responsible for failing to make adjustments, and found no evidence of unfair treatment or discrimination. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that banks have discretion to decide whether to continue providing services to customers. Halifax acted reasonably in closing the account to prevent X from increasing indebtedness while in an unarranged overdraft, consistent with its regulatory duties as a responsible lender. The default marker was fairly applied in accordance with regulatory duties to accurately report account status. Although X claims not to have received letters, Halifax provided evidence the letters were correctly addressed and sent, and Halifax had no notification that X required alternative communication methods. Halifax was not aware of X's neurodiversity needs and therefore could not be held responsible for failing to make adjustments it was not informed about. The ombudsman found no evidence of unfair treatment or discrimination compared to other customers in similar circumstances.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website