Not upheld: Credit file / adverse marker disputes complaint against New Wave Capital Limited trading as Capital on Top (CoT)

Decision detail

Summary

Ms B, as personal guarantor for a credit card held by a limited company she formerly directed, complained that CoT unreasonably defaulted the account and reported negative information on her credit file. The account fell into arrears from May 2025, with no payments made in several months. CoT issued a termination notice in August 2025 and defaulted the account. Ms B claimed she did not receive proper notice and that CoT's correspondence was misleading regarding the impact on her personal credit file. The ombudsman found that CoT accurately reported the missed payments on Ms B's credit file and that no default was actually registered against her personally, only missed payments. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that CoT was entitled to report the missed payments on Ms B's credit file as they were accurate and she was responsible for them under the personal guarantee. The ombudsman clarified that no default was actually registered on Ms B's personal credit file, only missed payments. The correspondence mentioning a default was misleading only because Ms B had not informed CoT she was no longer a director, but this did not result in actual harm as no default was recorded against her personally. CoT was required to provide accurate information to credit reference agencies about the account status.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website