Santander UK Plc · DRN-6209816

The complaint Mr B and Mrs R complains that Santander UK Plc is holding her liable for transactions from her account which she says she didn’t authorise. What happened The detailed background to this complaint is well known to both parties. So, I’ll only provide a brief overview of some of the key events here. Mr B and Mrs R hold an account with Santander and have complained to this service about several transactions, which Mrs R says are unauthorised. Responding to the complaint, Santander explained that Mrs R had initially told it she didn’t make card payments to two retailers on 11 July 2025, but as she’d previously made payments to the merchant and the debit card was in her possession, she was advised to check the transactions and to call-back if she wanted to raise a fraud claim, which she didn’t. It further explained that it had no control over when a merchant claims the payment and that the account had gone into an unarranged overdraft when the payment to S debited because several card payments were made after the payment was made. Our investigator didn’t think the complaint should be upheld. She explained Mrs R had been unable to provide a clear list of disputed transactions, and that she’d given conflicting information about whether they’d been made by herself, by her son, or by an unauthorised third party. She noted Mrs R had mentioned a £10 ATM withdrawal, but Santander had shown there were no failed PIN attempts, the card was in Mrs R’s possession, and she’d also mentioned that she did withdraw the funds. So, she couldn’t conclude it was unauthorised. Finally, she was satisfied the level of service from Santander was acceptable and that any confusion on the calls was caused by references to other disputes, or contradictory information from Mrs R. Mrs R has asked for the complaint to be reviewed by an Ombudsman, confirming she doesn’t want to complain about her overdraft. 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. Having done so, I’ve reached the same conclusion as our investigator. And for largely the same reasons. I know Mrs R feels strongly about this complaint, and this will come as a disappointment to her, so I’ll explain why. I would like to say at the outset that I have summarised this complaint in far less detail than the parties involved. I want to stress that no discourtesy is intended by this. If there is a

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submission I have not addressed, it is not because I have ignored the point. It is simply because my findings focus on what I consider to be the central issues in this complaint. I understand that Mrs R’s feels she doesn’t recognise all of the transactions on her account, but she’s been unable to specify which ones she is disputing. More generally, I note she has given inconsistent accounts about who made various payments, and there is no suggestion that her debit card was compromised, so I can’t conclude that Santander is holding her liable for any unauthorised transactions. I note Mrs R had concerns that about the time it takes some merchants to debit her account, but it’s right that Santander has no control over when a merchant claims a payment. And I agree with our investigator that there is no evidence of poor service, so I don’t think Mrs R is entitled to any compensation. For the reasons I’ve explained, I don’t think Santander has done anything wrong and so I can’t fairly tell it to do anything to resolve this complaint. My final decision My final decision is that I don’t uphold this complaint. Under the rules of the Financial Ombudsman Service, I’m required to ask Mr B and Mrs R to accept or reject my decision before 28 April 2026. Carolyn Bonnell Ombudsman

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