Not upheld: credit limit reduction and account hold following vulnerability disclosure complaint against Shop Direct Finance Company Limited trading as Very

Decision detail

Summary

Miss W complained about Very placing a hold on her credit account and subsequently reducing her credit limit from £650 to £390. She had disclosed in May 2025 that she was undergoing ADHD testing and had compulsive buying issues, requesting account closure and balance write-off. Very placed the account on hold and referred her to the Specialist Support Team, but Miss W did not respond to contact attempts. When the account was returned to shopping status in November 2025, an affordability check resulted in the credit limit reduction. The ombudsman found Very's actions reasonable, as maintaining the hold was appropriate given Miss W's non-response and the credit limit reduction was justified by affordability assessment results and permitted under the terms and conditions.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Very acted reasonably in maintaining the account hold beyond the initial one-month period because Miss W had not responded to SST contact attempts, leaving Very unaware of whether the impulse buying issues had been resolved. It would have been irresponsible to unblock the account without confirmation. The credit limit reduction was justified as Very has an obligation to conduct affordability checks during the lending period, and the assessment showed the original limit was unaffordable. The terms and conditions explicitly permitted credit limit amendments at any time.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website