Not upheld: unfair default of credit card account complaint against Capital One (Europe) plc

Decision detail

Summary

Miss K complained that Capital One unfairly defaulted her credit card account in October 2025. She had missed multiple repayments across 2025 and agreed to four separate repayment plans, all of which failed. A Default Notice required payment by 26 September 2025, and a final repayment plan required payment by 20 September 2025, but Miss K made no payment on either date. Miss K was hospitalized between 24-29 September 2025 and argued this prevented her from making the required payment. The ombudsman found Capital One's default decision was not unreasonable, as Miss K had already missed the payment deadlines before hospitalization, had not contacted Capital One, and had a pattern of broken repayment plans. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while Miss K's circumstances were sympathetic, Capital One acted reasonably in defaulting the account. The key factors were: (1) Miss K had already missed the repayment date in her final plan and the Default Notice date before being admitted to hospital; (2) she had not contacted Capital One about her situation; (3) she had broken four successive repayment plans; (4) there was no evidence she could have made the first payment or maintained subsequent payments; and (5) applying the default was appropriate forbearance as it stopped further interest and charges. The timing was unfortunate but did not make Capital One's actions unfair.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website