Not upheld: irresponsible lending complaint against Barclays Bank UK PLC

Decision detail

Summary

Mr B complained that Barclays irresponsibly provided him with four personal loans from July 2024 onwards which he could not afford. Barclays conducted credit searches, verified Mr B's income and expenditure, and found no adverse credit information or indicators of financial difficulty. Mr B maintained a credit score of 885, had savings exceeding £17,000, and successfully managed his loan repayments and current account. The ombudsman found that Barclays' checks were reasonable and proportionate, and that Mr B did not disclose his full circumstances or medical conditions to the bank until making his complaint. The ombudsman concluded that Barclays did not act irresponsibly and did not uphold the complaint.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman concluded that Barclays' checks were reasonable and proportionate given the credit limit offered and what it knew about Mr B's financial situation. The checks confirmed Mr B's income and expenditure suggested repayments were affordable, with sufficient disposable income remaining each month. There was no evidence of financial difficulty, adverse credit information, or inability to sustainably repay. The ombudsman found that Mr B did not disclose his full circumstances to Barclays and that reasonable checks would not have extended to requesting information about personal circumstances that were not evident from the information obtained. Even if further checks were necessary, they would only have extended to finding out more about regular living costs, not a full financial review. The ombudsman also considered the Consumer Credit Act 1974 s.140A but found no basis for a different outcome.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website