Not upheld: irresponsible lending complaint against National Westminster Bank Public Limited Company (NatWest)

Decision detail

Summary

Mr A complained that NatWest irresponsibly lent him £8,300 on a credit card in July 2022, arguing that as his primary bank, NatWest should have known he had limited disposable income and signs of financial difficulty. NatWest verified Mr A's declared income of £2,300 and calculated approximately £717 in monthly disposable income after expenses and existing credit commitments, approving the application through their Credit Decisioning System. The ombudsman found NatWest's proportionate checks were reasonable and the lending decision was fair, noting that the account balance was cleared by July 2024 and no financial difficulty was evident until a missed payment in April 2025, at which point NatWest acted with forbearance. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

NatWest carried out proportionate checks appropriate to the type and amount of credit being offered. The declared income of £2,300 was verified as accurate using CATO, and the expense calculations using a combination of declared figures and ONS data were reasonable. The ombudsman found no requirement for NatWest to manually review bank statements despite Mr A's account being with them. The promotional interest rate offer provided an opportunity to improve Mr A's position. The account performance in the first year (with balance cleared by July 2024) showed no signs of financial difficulty prior to the missed payment in April 2025, at which point NatWest acted with appropriate forbearance.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website