Not upheld: Section 75 claim - misrepresentation and breach of contract (satisfactory quality, fitness for purpose, goods as described) complaint against Secure Trust Bank Public Limited Company trading as V12 Retail Finance

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs M purchased a smart treadmill using a V12 fixed sum loan in April 2022, advertised as offering access to a premium fitness platform. After two and a half years, the treadmill could no longer access the latest version of the fitness platform, only an earlier version with limited features. Mrs M claimed the treadmill was misrepresented and breached implied terms under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, requesting money back under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. V12 rejected the claim, and the ombudsman upheld V12's decision, finding no misrepresentation in the advertisement and no breach of contract, as the treadmill remained functional and compatible with an earlier version of the platform.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found no misrepresentation because the advertisement did not explicitly promise access to all future updates of the fitness platform, and it was unlikely the supplier knew about future software updates at the time of sale. Regarding breach of contract, the ombudsman concluded the treadmill still operates to its original specifications, remains compatible with a version of the fitness platform, and is not completely unusable. While the treadmill was sold as new despite being manufactured earlier, there was no supporting evidence it had been used before. The ombudsman acknowledged evidential challenges V12 faced and found V12's conclusions reasonable based on the evidence provided.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website