Hargreaves Lansdown outage: Major UK stockbroker suffers IT problems with customers unable to check accounts

Hargreaves Lansdown, the UK’s leading retail investment platform, has issued an apology to customers following widespread IT issues that left them unable to access accounts at a time of significant volatility in financial markets.

The platform confirmed that it was struggling with technical issues affecting parts of its website and mobile app.

This prevented customers from logging in, viewing their portfolios, making transactions, or using other essential services.

Hargreaves Lansdown attempted to reassure users by stating that there was “no evidence of a cyber incident or data breach” and that “all customers’ assets and data are safe”.

The company added that it was “working to restore services as soon as possible.”

The outage was also confirmed by service monitoring website Downdetector, which recorded a significant increase in reported issues throughout Thursday evening and Friday morning.

The outage meant that some services were unavailable, including making transactions or adding or withdrawing funds from accounts.

Hargreaves Lansdown is the UK’s largest DIY investment platform, offering services such as investment and savings ISAs and retirement accounts.

There are less than two weeks until the fiscal year ends at the end of March.

The problems also arise in the context of increasing volatility in world financial markets, with oil and gas prices rising and falling sharply in response to developments in the conflict in the Middle East.

Stocks and shares have also had an up-and-down week; The UK’s FTSE 100 Index fell to a three-month low on Thursday, before recovering some of its losses on Friday.