Not upheld: Card / payment disputes complaint against Prodigy Finance LTD

Decision detail

Summary

Mr D complained that he was unable to make loan payments to Prodigy Finance Ltd due to temporary unavailability of phone payment options, resulting in additional interest charges and an increased outstanding balance. Prodigy offered alternative payment methods, which Mr D claimed were unavailable or rejected. The ombudsman found that Prodigy provided reasonable alternatives and that Mr D had not made payments since November 2019, predating the phone payment issue. The ombudsman concluded that Prodigy was entitled to apply interest and charges in accordance with the loan terms and did not uphold the complaint.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that although Mr D's preferred phone payment method was temporarily unavailable, Prodigy provided reasonable alternative payment methods and explained them to Mr D. There was no clear evidence that Mr D attempted all available alternatives or that the alternatives were genuinely unavailable. The ombudsman noted that Mr D had not made payments since November 2019, predating the phone payment issue, and that he failed to continue making contractually due payments even after phone payments were restored in July 2020. Therefore, Prodigy was entitled to apply interest and charges in accordance with the loan terms when payments were not made.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website