TSB Bank plc · DRN-6246146

The complaint Mr and Mrs T’s complaint relates to a property they had mortgaged with TSB Bank plc, which it repossessed in late 2024. They have complained that TSB didn’t keep them informed of what was happening with the sale of the property in 2025, which caused then distress. Mr and Mrs T also raised other concerns about the mortgage and what had happened at different points. I issued a decision on 20 March 2026 which confirmed that I would not be considering the other points for various reasons. As such, I will not include any further reference to those complaint points in this decision. What happened Mr and Mrs T’s home was repossessed by TSB in November 2024. The property was marketed for sale. An offer was accepted on 21 January 2025, but it fell through, and another was accepted on 17 February 2025. As the sale was moving ahead, the property was taken off the market. The property sale completed on 6 May 2025. Mr and Mrs T have said that they had noticed the property being taken off the market and also saw something saying that it had been sold. They said they then made enquiries in the spring of 2025, asking what was happening, but they didn’t get any answers. TSB has said that neither it, nor its solicitors had received any questions from Mr and Mrs T. Following the sale of the property, TSB’s solicitors wrote to Mr and Mrs T at the address they had provided for ongoing correspondence, telling them that the property sale had completed. The letter explained that the sale price had been higher than the amount owed and costs, so there was a sum to be paid to them. What Mr and Mrs T had to do to collect the money was set out. Two further letters were sent along the same lines. Mr and Mrs T didn’t contact the solicitors and so the money was lodged with the court a couple of months later, and Mr and Mrs T were informed this had happened. TSB responded to the complaint Mr and Mrs T subsequently made, in an emailed letter of 25 September 2025. TSB didn’t uphold the complaint as it didn’t consider that it had acted inappropriately as, following the repossession, it was not obliged to keep them informed of the sales process. Once the property had sold, Mr and Mrs T had been informed of that fact and the surplus that was available to them. Mr and Mrs T asked us to consider the complaint. One of our Investigators considered the complaint. He concluded that we could not consider the additional complaint points Mr and Mrs T had raised with us after the complaint was set up. The Investigator didn’t recommend that the complaint we could consider be upheld. Mr and Mrs T asked that the complaint be referred to an Ombudsman for consideration. They were not happy that we were not considering all of their complaint points and said that the complaint the Investigator had considered was too narrowly framed.

-- 1 of 2 --

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. Mr and Mrs T are unhappy that they were not informed about what was happening with the sale of the property, and their questions were not answered when they raised them. Once a property is taken into possession, we would not expect a lender to communicate with the former borrowers about the sale process. All that we would expect of it would be for it to sell the property for the best price possible at the relevant time, and once it had been, to inform the former borrowers that it had happened and the financial outcome – whether the sale price had covered the amount owed and costs or not. Solicitors acting for TSB contacted Mr and Mrs T following the sale of the property and told them there was a surplus and explained what they needed to do to claim it. It then wrote to them twice more to remind them. When Mr and Mrs T didn’t respond, the money was deposited with the court as it had told them would happen. So, following the repossession of Mr and Mrs T’s property, TSB did what I would have expected it to do. As such, I can’t uphold this complaint. I would make one further comment. TSB and its solicitors have confirmed that Mr and Mrs T didn’t ask questions of them before the sale of the property completed. So, it seems likely that they asked those questions of the estate agent that had sold the property. As Mr and Mrs T were not the estate agent’s customers, it would not have been able to provide them with any information about the sale. My final decision My final decision is that I do not uphold this complaint. Under the rules of the Financial Ombudsman Service, I am required to ask Mr T and Mrs T to accept or reject my decision before 22 April 2026. Derry Baxter Ombudsman

-- 2 of 2 --