Partially upheld: credit limit increase decline and misleading payment reminder complaint against Vanquis Bank Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr A complained to Vanquis Bank Limited about the decline of his credit limit increase request, a payment reminder that caused him to make an unnecessary payment despite having a direct debit in place, and inconsistencies in the final response letter. The ombudsman partially upheld the complaint, finding the payment reminder was unfair and the £50 compensation offered was appropriate, but upheld Vanquis's decision to decline the credit limit increase as a fair commercial decision following proper affordability check procedures. Account access difficulties were not found to have caused financial loss or impacted the lending decision.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Vanquis followed its processes for the credit limit increase by requesting income verification as required by lending obligations. The decline was a commercial decision within Vanquis's discretion. However, the payment reminder caused confusion and distress to Mr A despite him having a direct debit in place, which the ombudsman found was unfair. The inconsistency in the final response letter regarding the credit limit amount (£300 vs £3000) was explained as an automated proposal versus manual application but did not impact the lending decision. Account access difficulties were not evidenced to have caused financial loss or impeded the process.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website