Shawbrook Bank Limited · DRN-6173833

The complaint Mrs and Mr D complain that Shawbrook Bank Limited hasn’t varied the interest rate on their savings account as they believe it should. What happened In July 2022, Mrs and Mr D opened an Easy Access Savings account ‘Issue 29’ with Shawbrook which had a variable rate of 1.75%. Mr and Mrs D expected this rate to vary, in line with the description of the account. In 2023 they found that while the interest rate on their account had varied on some occasions but then stayed the same, while Shawbrook had released new ‘issues’ of the product paying better interest rates than they were receiving. Mrs and Mr D complained to Shawbrook about this, as they felt that their account hadn’t varied as it could and should have – instead it had operated more like a fixed rate product. Shawbrook responded to the complaint to say that it doesn’t automatically upgrade accounts to the latest issue, but it will apply any relevant interest rate changes to the issue of an account that a customer has. Shawbrook said that while the interest rate on its savings products are variable, they don’t track any external factors such as the Bank of England Base Rate. It said that it’s up to customers to make arrangements to upgrade their accounts to the latest issue which may offer the best rate. Shawbrook did acknowledge some issues in relation to the service it provided Mrs D and offered £85 in compensation for these. Mrs and Mr D referred their complaint to this service where one of our investigators looked into it. They found that Shawbrook acted fairly in the circumstances in applying the interest rate on Mrs and Mr D’s account. The investigator found that the information provided about the account was clear and that Shawbrook operated this in line with the relevant terms and conditions. They also said that the £85 offered for the service issues was fair in the circumstances. Mrs and Mr D didn’t agree, saying (in summary) that the information Shawbrook provided around the account was misleading. While they accept that the rate may have varied on their account before and that Shawbrook may have offered new issues of a product with better rates of interest, their complaint was that Shawbrook had stopped varying the rate on their product with it. They were also unhappy with the standard of service and communication received from Shawbrook. As no agreement could be reached, the complaint was referred to an ombudsman to decide. 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 starting point here is the information that Shawbrook provided around how Mrs and Mr D’s account would operate; they feel this was misleading and that the product was mis- sold on this basis. Shawbrook believes it is clear though – so I’ve looked at this independently and impartially.

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For clarity, as Mrs D has raised concerns around what terms apply here, I have seen the Key Product Information document that relates to the Easy Access Issue 19 product they had, which states: The Interest rate is variable and may be altered in accordance with this document and Section 17 Change to Interest Rates of our Terms and Conditions for Personal Savings Accounts. Within Section 17 of the terms and conditions there are several reasons why the interest rate on the account may vary. We may make any change to the interest rates that apply to Your account for any of the following reasons: i. for any of the reasons given in condition 16.5; ii. a change in the Bank of England base rate, or any rate which replaces it; iii. to reflect changes in market conditions or the interest rates paid or charged by other banks and financial institutions, or the cost to Us of money We lend; and/or iv. to respond to Our internal policies on competitiveness, market share and/or the profitability of Our business as a whole, providing We act in a reasonable manner. v. Where Your account features an interest rate which tracks a publicly available reference rate (e.g. Bank Base Rate) any change in interest rate, which mirrors a change in that reference rate, will be applied on the day the reference rate changes or as detailed in the Key Product Information and You will not be notified in writing. I think the above is clear that it is at Shawbrook’s discretion as to when or why it might vary the rate on an account. It states that the rate on the account is variable and may be altered and that Shawbrook may change the rate for the reasons given. I haven’t seen anything in the terms that obliges Shawbrook to change or vary the rate in set circumstances. Where that’s the case, it’ll be difficult for me to say that Shawbrook has acted unfairly if the account has operated in line with these terms. Mrs D feels the above is misleading, at one stage saying that ‘variable rate accounts’ are conventionally understood to be those with rates that change with Bank of England base rate changes. But there are a number of types of account that could be described as ‘variable rate’ on the market – including ‘tracker’ products. By this I mean accounts where the interest rate is ‘tied’ to external rates like base rate in a way that means it will follow the fluctuations in such rates. I haven’t found anything in the terms of their product with Shawbrook to suggest this product works in such a way. Mrs D later stated that she didn’t expect the account to track base rate and is instead unhappy that while it varied for a period of time, it then stopped. But, in my view, that is a foreseeable outcome based on the terms of the product – which don’t oblige Shawbrook to vary the rate at any point, or for any particular reason. Ultimately, the interest rate on the account varied on four occasions between 15 August 2022 and 23 June 2023 and so the account has operated as a variable rate account, even if it didn’t vary in the way Mrs and Mr D wanted or expected it to. There are no penalties or fees for withdrawing money from the account and so Mrs and Mr D were free to move their savings to another account or provider if they were unhappy with the rate.

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Mrs D has confirmed their complaint is focused on how Shawbrook administered this account in particular, but for completeness I realise that during this time, Shawbrook also released new issues of the account, but it hasn’t varied the rate on the issue Mrs and Mr D held and so didn’t notify them of any changes where it hadn’t made any. In considering whether this is a fair and reasonable position, I’ve considered that with an easy access savings product like this, there is an onus on customers to monitor their savings accounts and make sure they are getting the best value in a competitive market. Shawbrook published its rates on its website and has confirmed that Mrs and Mr D would have been able to apply for these rates without any penalty. So I don’t find that Shawbrook has acted unfairly or unreasonably in the circumstances. In respect of Mrs D’s concerns about the service she has received, Shawbrook acknowledges that it didn’t respond to a number of emails it received. That will have been frustrating for Mrs and Mr D and inconvenient to have to chase responses. For this Shawbrook has paid £85, which I think is fair and reasonable in the circumstances. Mrs D is also unhappy with the service she received during some calls with Shawbrook. I’ve listened to these and can see that one call handler said that the rate ‘wouldn’t be automatically upgraded’ but didn’t offer any further information. I can see why that was unhelpful for Mrs D, as the rate had been automatically upgraded before. I think the call handler could have added that it wouldn’t have been upgraded to be in line with new issues of the product and in my view, another call handler she spoke to could have been more helpful. But these minor service failings haven’t impacted Mrs D from getting a response to her complaint – which was later confirmed in writing. I also see Mrs D’s point that Shawbrook could have quoted the relevant sections of the terms and conditions about the interest rate in its response to the complaint – but its summary of the relevant sections was ultimately accurate. I do think Shawbrook could have been clearer in some of its interactions with Mrs D, but equally I think much of what Mrs D sees as a lack of clarity is because she was expecting Shawbrook to justify that the rate on the product is fixed, which it wasn’t – even if she views it differently. Shawbrook explained why it wasn’t fixed and based on my findings here, I think that’s a reasonable position to take. In terms of the clarity of information provided in response to the complaints – Shawbrook is entitled to decide how it responds to complaints and on the level of detail it gives. Ultimately, consumers are always free to refer to our service if they are unhappy in such circumstances. So while I think Shawbrook could have been clearer here, the shortcomings it has identified are relatively minor in the context of this complaint in my view. So overall here, I don’t require it to do anything more in relation to this complaint. My final decision I do not uphold this complaint. Under the rules of the Financial Ombudsman Service, I’m required to ask Mrs D and Mr D to accept or reject my decision before 28 April 2026. James Staples Ombudsman

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