Santander UK Plc · DRN-6149476

The complaint Mr Z complains about how Santander UK Plc has dealt with the mortgage account he holds in joint names with his ex-partner. What happened Mr Z has complained that: • Santander agreed to change the mortgage to interest only for six months under the Government backed Mortgage Charter with only the consent of his ex-partner. • Correspondence was sent to an incorrect address by Santander. • Santander held two customer profiles for him, which meant he couldn’t view his mortgage account online, and he was told they could not be merged but they now have been. • Santander treated his formal complaint as a “concern”. Our Investigator didn’t uphold the complaint saying that the compensation Santander had paid was fair. Mr Z didn’t accept this and requested a higher level of compensation. He asked for the complaint to be considered by an Ombudsman. So, it’s been passed to me to consider and make a final 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. The Mortgage Charter is a government backed scheme, which many lenders have signed up to, and that was set up in light of the cost-of-living crisis. This allows borrowers to make certain changes to their mortgages to make payments more affordable in the short term. The Charter was designed to allow these changes to be made quickly and on a light touch basis. Mr Z’s ex-partner applied to change the mortgage to interest only for six months under the Charter on Santander’s website. This required her to tick a box confirming that both parties agreed to this change, and she did so. Mr Z has said that his ex-partner had told Santander about their separation in February 2023, so it should’ve known of the marital dispute. However, having reviewed Santander’s contact notes, I can’t see any record of her doing so. Whilst I recognise Mr Z says his ex-partner didn’t have his agreement to make this change, this is a dispute between him and his ex-partner. Santander hasn’t made a mistake here. Mr Z has said that the payments were coming solely from his ex-partner’s current account, which again should’ve put Santander on notice of a marital separation. This in itself wouldn’t be enough to say there had been a marital dispute. Paying from a sole current account isn’t uncommon among married couples.

-- 1 of 2 --

In addition to this, the mortgage terms and conditions allow either party to make amendments to the mortgage without individual approval from both parties or on the request of the party who is now paying the mortgage - if it causes no detriment to the other party. Mr Z has confirmed his ex-wife was solely paying the mortgage, so I don’t consider it unreasonable for Santander to have made this change. Based on this, I can’t see that Santander was aware of the separation, and therefore it was entitled to make the changes on just the other party’s agreement. I’d also note that Mr Z has said the impact of this on him is that the mortgage balance is higher than it would’ve been. But this is something Mr Z can raise during divorce proceedings when assets are divided. Santander has confirmed it sent correspondence to the mortgaged property address. Whilst Mr Z had updated his address, he only did so for his other banking facilities. Santander requires separate instruction to change correspondence for a mortgage account. As I’ve said, I don’t think Santander was aware of the marital split, and I can’t see Mr Z specifically asked for mortgage correspondence to be sent separately to him as well. Given this was a residential mortgage, I don’t consider it unreasonable for this to be the default address that correspondence will be sent to. Santander has said that it wasn’t aware of an issue with Mr Z not being able to view his mortgage online until this complaint. And it’s since merged his profiles. It’s paid £250 compensation by way of an apology for any inconvenience the two profiles has caused. I consider this is fair and reasonable in the circumstances. So, I’m not going to ask it to do anything further in regard to this complaint point. With regards to Santander treating Mr Z’s complaint as a concern, rather than a complaint. It seems to me this is a matter of terminology, rather than substance. So, I can’t see it made a mistake here. My final decision I don’t uphold this complaint. Under the rules of the Financial Ombudsman Service, I’m required to ask Mr Z to accept or reject my decision before 1 April 2026. Rob Deadman Ombudsman

-- 2 of 2 --