Not upheld: failure to notify of termination and voluntary termination eligibility complaint against STARTLINE MOTOR FINANCE LIMITED

Decision detail

Summary

Mr E complained that Startline Motor Finance failed to notify him of the termination of his hire purchase agreement in October 2023 and should have allowed him to voluntarily terminate it in 2025. Mr E fell into arrears and Startline issued a default notice and terminated the agreement in October 2023. Mr E claims he did not receive these communications and believed the agreement remained active. In January 2025, Startline sent a letter about voluntary termination that stated VT would not be available if previously terminated. When Mr E requested VT in June 2025, Startline declined because the agreement had already been terminated. The ombudsman found that the notices were likely received, the default was reasonable under ICO guidance, and Startline was entitled to decline VT since the agreement had already terminated. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that the default and termination notices were sent to the correct address and, on balance of probabilities, were likely received by Mr E. The default was issued when Mr E was three months in arrears, which was reasonable under ICO guidance. Although the January 2025 VT letter may have caused confusion, it clearly stated that VT would not be available if the agreement had previously been terminated. Since the agreement had already terminated in October 2023, Startline was entitled to decline the VT request. The ombudsman was not persuaded that Startline provided materially incorrect information or acted unfairly.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website