Not upheld: mis-selling and incorrect information regarding separate agreements complaint against BMW Financial Services (GB) Limited trading as Alphera Financial Services

Decision detail

Summary

Miss S complained that she was given incorrect information when setting up a hire purchase agreement for a car and a separate fixed sum loan agreement for a warranty product with Alphera in April 2024. She claimed she was unaware of the separate warranty financing agreement and believed she had only one agreement, which she settled in April 2025. After settlement, she received arrears letters for the warranty loan and complained that she had been misled about entering into two agreements and that she thought it was a lease rather than a hire purchase. The ombudsman found that Miss S was provided with clear Pre-Contract Credit Information for both agreements prior to signing, that the documents clearly distinguished between them, and that her early settlement and choice to own the car demonstrated her understanding of the hire purchase nature of the agreement. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Miss S was provided with clear and not misleading Pre-Contract Credit Information for both agreements prior to signing them. The documents clearly distinguished between the hire purchase agreement for the car and the separate fixed sum loan agreement for the warranty. The fact that Miss S settled the hire purchase agreement early and chose to become the owner of the car demonstrates she understood it was a hire purchase agreement, not a lease. The statement that Alphera had no further financial interest in the car referred only to the car itself, not the separate warranty financing agreement which had its own repayment schedule.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website