Not upheld: Unknown / needs review complaint against Charterhouse Claims Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr M complained that Charterhouse Claims Limited unfairly charged him a settlement fee following a successful unaffordable lending claim against his lender, which resulted in a £2,694 balance reduction rather than a cash award. Mr M was in a debt management plan and argued CCL should have conducted affordability checks and waived the fee. The ombudsman found that CCL acted fairly within the contractual terms of the no-win-no-fee agreement, which explicitly permitted fees on balance reductions, and that no affordability checks were required as CCL was not providing credit. The ombudsman noted that Mr M failed to disclose his DMP status despite the opportunity to do so and had signed the agreement confirming his understanding of the terms.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that CCL acted within the contractual terms of the no-win-no-fee agreement, which explicitly stated that fees would be charged on monetary redress including balance reductions, and that clients may need to find alternative payment methods if the refund was applied to reduce the outstanding balance. CCL was not providing credit, so no affordability checks were required. While Mr M was in a DMP, he failed to disclose this despite the opportunity in the fact find document, and he signed the LOA confirming he understood the terms. The ombudsman acknowledged Mr M's medical condition but found no evidence that CCL acted unfairly based on information available to them at the time.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website