Not upheld: Account administration errors complaint against National Westminster Bank Public Limited Company

Decision detail

Summary

Mr M complained that NatWest deducted four loan repayment standing orders from his business current account without authorisation after he emailed the bank on 14 November 2024 instructing it to stop taking such payments. While the ombudsman acknowledged that NatWest made an error in failing to acknowledge or act on this instruction, the complaint was not upheld. The ombudsman found that Mr M was contractually obliged to make the loan payments and could have taken reasonable steps to prevent the December payments by checking his account or contacting the bank. The ombudsman also noted that circumstances changed between the instruction and the December payments, as an expected property sale did not occur, and Mr M may have chosen to allow the payments to continue. Therefore, the ombudsman was not satisfied that NatWest's error caused Mr M to suffer a loss warranting compensation.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman acknowledged that NatWest made an error in failing to act on Mr M's instruction, but found that Mr M was contractually obliged to make the loan payments regardless. The ombudsman considered that Mr M could have taken reasonable steps to prevent the December payments by checking his account after the 19 November payment or by contacting NatWest or cancelling the standing orders himself. The ombudsman also noted that the situation changed between 14 November and 19 December 2024 when the expected property sale did not occur, and Mr M may have chosen to allow payments to continue. Therefore, the ombudsman was not satisfied that NatWest's error caused Mr M to suffer a loss.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website