Not upheld: Service failures generally complaint against Vanquis Bank Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr D opened a credit card with Vanquis in May 2025 and in November 2025 sought temporary support due to a change in vocation resulting in 90 days without income. Mr D claimed to have sent a letter and made phone and email contact attempts, but Vanquis had no record of these. When Mr D formally complained in December 2025, Vanquis declined to uphold the complaint and suggested he contact customer service with an income and expenditure assessment. The ombudsman found that Vanquis likely did not receive the initial contact attempts and that its response to the formal complaint was fair, as it reasonably requested further information before offering forbearance. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied a balance of probabilities test to the conflicting accounts of whether Vanquis received Mr D's initial letter and contact attempts. Given that Vanquis provided system-generated notes and Mr D could not provide evidence of calls or emails sent, the ombudsman found it likely that Vanquis did not receive the initial contact. However, the key issue was whether Vanquis's response to the formal complaint in December 2025 was fair. The ombudsman concluded that requesting an income and expenditure assessment before offering forbearance was reasonable and fair based on the information Vanquis had at that time. The ombudsman also found that Vanquis did provide alternative contact methods including email, despite Mr D's preference for written communication.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website