Not upheld: irresponsible lending - affordability assessment complaint against National Westminster Bank Public Limited Company

Decision detail

Summary

Miss H complained that NatWest lent to her irresponsibly by providing two loans (£8,000 in November 2023 and £11,000 in October 2024). The ombudsman found that NatWest conducted proportionate affordability checks by reviewing Miss H's income, expenditure, and bank account transactions, and checking her credit file. Miss H's credit file showed no signs of financial difficulty, missed payments, or heavy credit reliance. Although Miss H claims her finances were worse than the checks showed, she did not disclose this to NatWest and it would not have been discovered through proportionate checks. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that NatWest's checks were proportionate to the circumstances of the loan applications. The checks included verification of income and expenditure through bank account review and credit file checks. The results of these checks, combined with the absence of adverse indicators on Miss H's credit file (no missed payments, defaults, or evidence of financial difficulty), would have led NatWest to reasonably conclude that the loan repayments would be sustainably affordable. The refinancing did not indicate financial difficulties. The ombudsman noted that Miss H's actual financial difficulties were not disclosed to NatWest and would not have been discovered through proportionate checks.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website