Not upheld: Account administration errors complaint against Trading 212 UK Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr S complained that Trading 212 incorrectly calculated his profit figures and unfairly increased the average price of his TMC shares after he purchased additional shares via a Trading 212 'Pie' feature. He believed he should have received an additional £2,000 when selling the Pie shares and that his unrealised profits on the original shares had been reduced. Trading 212 explained that the Pie investments are combined with ISA holdings at the ISA level and that profits are calculated using average share prices, a standard industry practice. The ombudsman found that Trading 212's calculations were correct, Mr S had suffered no actual financial loss, and the confusion was partly due to his own misunderstanding of how the account worked. While Trading 212 could have provided clearer explanations, the ombudsman upheld the £100 compensation recommendation and rejected Mr S's request for additional compensation.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while Trading 212 could have provided clearer explanations once Mr S's confusion became apparent, the firm's calculations were correct and based on standard industry practice. The averaging methodology was not new, was clearly explained when questioned, and Mr S had not actually suffered any financial loss. The confusion was partly attributable to Mr S's own misunderstanding of how the account worked, as the Pie feature was clearly described on Trading 212's website as simply a way of picking investments within the ISA. Since the ISA is tax-free, the exact increase in average price had no tax implications, and Mr S would receive the full profit when he eventually sold the shares outside the Pie.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website