Not upheld: unfair credit relationship under Section 140A of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and rejection of Section 75 misrepresentation claim complaint against First Holiday Finance Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Mr and Mrs B complained that First Holiday Finance Ltd acted unfairly by participating in an unfair credit relationship and rejecting their Section 75 claim for misrepresentations regarding a Fractional Club timeshare membership purchased on 30 July 2014 for £39,431 (£5,520 after trade-in), financed through a £4,591 credit agreement. The ombudsman found the Section 75 claim failed because the purchase price exceeded the £30,000 statutory limit and that the credit relationship was not unfair under Section 140A because Mr and Mrs B failed to provide sufficient evidence that investment returns motivated their purchase or that they were unduly pressured. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied a holistic analysis of the credit relationship under Section 140A, examining the Supplier's commercial conduct, information provision, commission arrangements, and evidence of what occurred at the time of sale. The ombudsman found insufficient evidence that Mr and Mrs B were unduly pressured, that investment returns were a motivating factor in their decision, or that any alleged breach of Regulation 14(3) rendered the relationship unfair. The ombudsman also confirmed that the Section 75 claim failed because the purchase price of £39,431 exceeded the £30,000 statutory limit, regardless of the trade-in arrangement.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website