Not upheld: Other regulated complaint complaint against Carnegie Consumer Finance Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Ms S complained that Carnegie Consumer Finance Limited refused to allow her to transfer a loan into another person's name despite allegedly being promised this by a broker. Ms S claimed the broker had made this promise, but the WhatsApp messages she provided did not corroborate this claim. The ombudsman applied Section 56 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, which makes finance providers liable for broker statements, but found insufficient evidence of any such promise. The ombudsman reasoned that such a promise would be unlikely given Carnegie's responsibility to lend responsibly and their inability to conduct affordability checks on the proposed transferee. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

Under Section 56 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, finance providers are liable for statements made by credit brokers or suppliers before the consumer enters into a credit agreement. However, on balance, there was insufficient evidence that Ms S was promised the account could be transferred. The ombudsman found it unlikely such a promise would or could be made, as the business had a responsibility to lend responsibly and had not completed checks on the other person to determine affordability.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website