Not upheld: payment due date terms clarity and refusal to amend payment date complaint against Frasers Group Financial Services Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr I complained that Frasers Group Financial Services Limited refused to change his credit account payment due date from the 26th to the 30th of each month, which aligns with his pay date. After Frasers changed all customers' payment dates from the 7th to the 26th in March 2025, Mr I began receiving late payment fees and credit file impacts because he pays on the 30th. Mr I argued the terms were ambiguous about the payment date and that Frasers should be able to change it since it had already done so business-wide. The ombudsman did not uphold the complaint, finding that the terms clearly indicate Frasers controls the payment due date through monthly statements, that Mr I could have checked this before agreeing to the account, and that the change to the 26th was a business-wide decision intended to benefit customers by extending payment time.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Frasers' terms of agreement clearly state that the payment due date is provided on monthly bills and statements, which Frasers produces, thereby making it sufficiently clear that Frasers controls the payment due date. The ombudsman concluded there is no ambiguity suggesting Mr I could set the date himself, and that if this was important to Mr I, he could have checked before agreeing to the credit agreement. The ombudsman also found that the change from the 7th to the 26th was a business-wide decision intended to benefit customers by extending the time to pay, and that Frasers adequately notified Mr I of this change via email. The ombudsman noted that Mr I could have continued to pay earlier in the month if he wished, and that managing money month-to-month is Mr I's responsibility.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website