Not upheld: Pension transfer advice complaint against Santander UK Plc

Decision detail

Summary

Mr and Mrs N complained to Santander after a transfer of over £600 to an external account was returned by the receiving bank due to an extra digit in the reference field. They claimed Santander was responsible for the error, but Santander explained that the reference was generated online by Mr and Mrs N themselves. The ombudsman found no evidence supporting Mr and Mrs N's position and concluded it was more likely they accidentally added the extra digit when entering the transaction details through their online banking profile. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found no sufficient evidence to support Mr and Mrs N's claim that Santander made an error. Since the transaction details were submitted electronically by Mr and Mrs N through their own online banking profile, it was more likely on balance that they accidentally added an extra digit to the reference themselves rather than Santander being responsible for the error.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website