Not upheld: Other regulated complaint complaint against Iwoca Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

C, a limited company, complained that IWOCA Ltd unfairly declined its loan application after initially approving it, allegedly due to the director's foreign nationality. The director received an approval email at 09:27 on 22 April 2024 but the offer was revoked at 16:19 the same day after IWOCA conducted internal checks. C claimed this affected its trust and reputation and that it had made plans for the funds. The ombudsman found no evidence that the revocation was related to nationality and determined that IWOCA was entitled to apply its lending criteria and conduct internal checks without further disclosure. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while IWOCA's initial approval email could have been clearer, C would likely have made plans for the funds regardless. IWOCA's revocation was based on its lending criteria and internal checks, which it is entitled to design and apply. The ombudsman found no evidence that the revocation was related to the director's nationality. As C is a separate legal entity, it cannot suffer distress, and there was no evidence of wider impact such as missed alternative financing. IWOCA is not required to disclose its commercially sensitive lending criteria or detailed reasoning for the revocation.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website