Nationwide Building Society · DRN-6242589

The complaint Mr G complains about Nationwide Building Society’s (‘Nationwide’) failure to take responsibility for the poor service provided by his breakdown assistance provider. What happened The details of this complaint are well known to both parties, so I will just provide an overview of key events here. Mr G had a FlexPlus account, a fee-paying packaged bank account (PBA), with Nationwide. The account provided a range of benefits including breakdown assistance, which was provided by a third party who I will refer to as ‘Company A’. Mr G’s car developed problems related to its battery charging in November 2025 and he had to spend a good deal of time making arrangements, under the car’s warranty, for a garage to agree to carry out full diagnostics and any necessary repairs. Mr G then contacted Company A who attended his home address but then refused to transport Mr G’s car to the garage. So Mr G complained to both Company A and Nationwide. Nationwide responded to Mr G’s complaint in November 2025. It told Mr G it had forwarded his complaint to Company A and asked them to investigate, as Nationwide said Company A were the right team to look into this matter. Mr G remained unhappy and so brought his complaint to this Service. He said that as Nationwide sold him the product they should take ownership of the service provided. Mr G said he had to make alternative arrangements for his car to be recovered at a cost of £192. He asked for this cost to be reimbursed, as well as compensation for the considerable time and stress experienced while dealing with this matter. Our Investigator considered Mr G’s complaint but did not uphold it. As Mr G didn’t agree, this came to me for a decision. What I’ve decided – and why I’ve considered all the available evidence and arguments to decide what’s fair and reasonable in the circumstances of this complaint. I’m aware that Mr G raised a complaint with Company A about this matter and they have provided him with referral rights to a different dispute resolution service. So any concerns Mr G has about Company A will not be addressed here. The issue I am looking at here is about whether Nationwide made any errors in relation to how it dealt with this matter after Mr G contacted it to complain about the service provided to him when his car developed problems. When Mr G complained to Nationwide, it forwarded his complaint to Company A so that Company A could investigate the matter. So I’ve considered whether it made any errors

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when it took that course of action, and I’m satisfied no errors were made. I’ll explain why I say that. I’ve looked at the terms of the FlexPlus account and I can see that Company A, and not Nationwide, are the providers of the breakdown assistance cover. This means that claims related matters need to be dealt with by Company A. So I’m satisfied that Nationwide acted fairly when it forwarded Mr G’s concerns to Company A and declined to get involved with looking into whether Company A should have handled Mr G’s claim differently. I know that Mr G is concerned about Nationwide potentially not being responsible for the actions of third party businesses who provide the benefits attached to the PBA. He feels that as he pays his monthly fee to Nationwide, then it is the responsible party. It’s certainly the case that Nationwide do have some responsibility towards consumers in relation to the benefits provided by the PBA, but these are somewhat limited. For instance, I would expect Nationwide to ensure consumers are provided with the relevant terms relating to PBA benefits when the account is first sold to them and, thereafter, for providing consumers with notable changes to the terms of the third party services provided. Nationwide, as the providers of the account, facilitate access to a range of PBA benefits including the breakdown assistance. But, as I said, the actual providers of the breakdown cover are Company A. And as responsibility for claims decisions rests with Company A, and so are broadly speaking outside of Nationwide’s control, I don’t think it would be fair to expect Nationwide to share responsibility. I do understand Mr G’s frustrations, and I appreciate that he feels let down in relation to the breakdown cover. I know my decision will disappoint Mr G, but I could only ask Nationwide to take further action, or suggest it should have acted differently, if I thought it had made any errors here. But I’m satisfied it didn’t and that it acted in line with the PBA terms when it forwarded Mr G’s concerns to Company A. My final decision It’s my final decision that I do not uphold this complaint. Under the rules of the Financial Ombudsman Service, I’m required to ask Mr G to accept or reject my decision before 20 April 2026. Martina Ryan Ombudsman

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