Not upheld: irresponsible lending complaint against Evergreen Finance London Limited trading as MoneyBoat.co.uk

Decision detail

Summary

Miss C complained that MoneyBoat lent to her irresponsibly when she could not afford the repayments. She took an £800 loan in February 2024 repayable over six months, which remained unpaid by January 2026 and was being managed through a Debt Management Plan. Miss C argued the loan was part of an unsustainable borrowing pattern. The ombudsman found that MoneyBoat carried out proportionate checks, verified Miss C's income at £1,800 per month, and that the loan was affordable given her living situation with parents and total monthly credit costs of approximately £840. The ombudsman noted that Miss C's subsequent entry into a DMP occurred after the lending decision and was therefore not relevant to assessing whether the loan was responsibly lent. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied the standard that lenders must carry out proportionate checks to understand whether lending is sustainable. For early-stage lending relationships, less thorough checks are generally reasonable unless factors such as low income, high loan amount, or impaired credit history suggest deeper investigation is needed. The ombudsman found that Miss C's circumstances did not trigger the need for more extensive checks: her income was verified and adequate, she was living rent-free with parents, her credit history was good with only minor issues, and her total monthly credit costs of approximately £840 left sufficient funds for living expenses. The ombudsman noted that events occurring after the lending decision (the DMP) are not relevant to assessing whether lending was responsible at the time of the decision.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website