Not upheld: irresponsible lending and unfair relationship claim complaint against Moneybarn No. 1 Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Miss B complained that Moneybarn irresponsibly provided her with a conditional sale agreement for a car in June 2024 with monthly payments of £371.56. She later claimed the dealer mis-sold the agreement and that the relationship was unfair under section 140A of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. Miss B's health declined in November 2024, causing her to miss payments, and Moneybarn subsequently issued a default notice and terminated the agreement in January 2026. The ombudsman found that Moneybarn's affordability checks were reasonable and proportionate, showing Miss B had disposable income of £764.17 to cover the monthly payment at the time of lending, and that the subsequent income decline did not affect the fairness of the original lending decision. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Moneybarn's affordability checks were reasonable and proportionate for the type of credit applied for. The checks showed Miss B had sufficient disposable income (£764.17) to afford the monthly payment of £371.56 at the time the agreement was entered into in June 2024. Although Miss B's health declined and income reduced in November 2024, this occurred after the lending decision and did not affect the fairness of that decision. The ombudsman was not persuaded there was sufficient evidence of mis-selling or irresponsible lending.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website