Upheld: Goods and services under S75 complaint against Creation Consumer Finance Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr D purchased a TV and sound bar for approximately £692 using a running account credit agreement with Creation in early 2025. The TV was faulty, and in September 2025 both the supplier and Creation agreed to provide a full refund. However, Mr D experienced significant delays: Creation took eight weeks to assess his Section 75 claim (September to November 2025), and a further five and a half weeks elapsed before the refund was processed. Mr D complained about the delays and poor communication, initially requesting £400-£500 compensation. Creation offered £75, which the investigator increased to £150. The ombudsman upheld the complaint and confirmed that £150 was fair and reasonable compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused by the delays and communication failures.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman considered whether Creation acted fairly and reasonably in handling Mr D's Section 75 claim and the compensation offered for delays and poor communication. While the outcome of the refund claim itself was not in question, the ombudsman assessed whether £150 was fair compensation for the inconvenience and distress caused by the eight-week assessment period, the subsequent five and a half week processing delay, and poor communication. The ombudsman concluded that £150 was fair and reasonable compensation, in line with FOS guidance for repeated small errors or larger single mistakes requiring reasonable effort to resolve over this length of time, and that Creation had effectively already provided what Mr D was seeking by increasing its offer from £75 to £150.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website