Not upheld: Account administration errors complaint against Lloyds Bank PLC

Decision detail

Summary

Mr H complained to Lloyds Bank PLC about multiple declined credit card transactions in November and December 2025, poor service, a dropped call with no callback, and a dispute that was not raised. Lloyds upheld the complaint in part, refunding the disputed transaction of £44.93 and paying £30 compensation for the dropped call. The ombudsman found that the declined transactions were due to legitimate reasons (Apple Pay limits and fraud prevention), that £30 compensation was adequate for the dropped call failure, and that the refund was a fair resolution for the disputed transaction. The ombudsman rejected Mr H's arguments that the root cause of the declines had not been established and that compensation should reflect cumulative impact, ultimately not upholding the complaint.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that most of Mr H's issues were not caused by Lloyds' errors. The Apple Pay transaction failures occurred before reaching Lloyds' systems, so Lloyds could not be held responsible. The fraud flag was a standard application of Lloyds' fraud prevention policies, and banks have commercial discretion in how they respond to fraud alerts. While Lloyds should have called back after the dropped call, £30 compensation was adequate for this service failure. The refund of the disputed transaction without a chargeback claim was a fair resolution. The ombudsman rejected the argument that compensation should be increased to account for cumulative impact, as Lloyds was not at fault for most of the events.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website