Not upheld: Fraud reimbursement (APP scams) complaint against Barclays Bank UK PLC

Decision detail

Summary

Mr and Mrs M complained that Barclays failed to refund all losses from an alleged APP scam involving Company B. They initially claimed 8 payments totalling £350,000 with £3,000 in returns, but bank statements revealed 12 payments totalling £545,000 with £36,000 in returns. A disputed £84,000 payment received in February 2020 appeared to be sent in error to their personal account (intended for Company T) and was immediately forwarded by them to Company T, yet Barclays deducted it from the refund. While the ombudsman found Barclays likely acted unreasonably regarding the £84,000 deduction, the complaint was not upheld because Mr and Mrs M could not provide sufficient evidence (missing investment contracts for £4,500,000 in payments) to enable fair calculation of their actual loss, creating risk of betterment if additional compensation were awarded.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while Barclays likely acted unreasonably in deducting the £84,000 payment (which appeared to be sent in error to Mr and Mrs M's personal account rather than Company T's), the complaint could not be upheld because Mr and Mrs M failed to provide sufficient evidence to calculate their actual loss. The complainants' initial claim (8 payments totalling £350,000 with £3,000 returns) did not match bank statement evidence (12 payments totalling £545,000 with £36,000 in returns). More critically, of approximately £7,400,000 in total payments made by Mr and Mrs M and Company T to Company B, only £2,900,000 could be linked to provided investment contracts. Without the missing investment contracts, the ombudsman could not determine whether additional returns received by Company T should be deducted from Mr and Mrs M's potential redress, making it impossible to calculate fair compensation without risking betterment.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website