Not upheld: failure to provide information and failure to set up payment plan complaint against PRA Group (UK) Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Ms B complained that PRA Group failed to provide information about her debt and failed to set up a payment plan when requested. The ombudsman found that while PRA made an error in taking approximately seven months to provide statements (due to a six-month delay in following up with the original lender), this had no impact on Ms B as she did not chase the matter and was unhappy with the statements when received. Regarding the payment plan request from May 2023, PRA responded appropriately by requesting an income and expenditure form and bank details, which are standard requirements for affordable payment arrangements, and Ms B did not respond to these requests for 15 months. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while PRA delayed obtaining statements by approximately seven months (failing to follow up for six months after the initial request), this error had no demonstrable impact on Ms B because she did not chase the matter and was unhappy with the statements when provided. Regarding the payment plan, PRA acted reasonably by requesting an income and expenditure form and bank details, which are standard requirements for setting up affordable payment arrangements. Ms B did not respond to these requests for 15 months. The ombudsman rejected Ms B's later claim about the online account not being set up, finding this was not raised in her original request and appeared to be a misunderstanding about what she had originally asked for.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website