Upheld: failure to investigate complaint properly; misleading final response; adverse credit file reporting complaint against NewDay Ltd trading as Aqua

Decision detail

Summary

Mr H complained about NewDay's handling of his credit card account after receiving multiple payment reminders following a payment he made on 3 September 2025. NewDay's final response only addressed one of Mr H's two Aqua credit card accounts, failing to mention a second account with an outstanding balance of approximately £1,300 and missed payments. This omission led Mr H to believe he had settled all balances, and subsequently his credit file was marked with missed payments for October and November 2025, resulting in a reduction to his credit limit. The ombudsman upheld the complaint, finding that NewDay should have investigated all accounts generating payment reminders when Mr H first complained, and awarded £300 compensation plus removal of the adverse credit file entries for the two months in question.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while NewDay did not make an error during the initial call on 3 September 2025 (as the representative could not identify the second account based on name and postcode alone), NewDay failed in its duty when handling Mr H's subsequent complaint about payment reminders. When Mr H complained about multiple payment notifications, NewDay should have investigated all accounts generating those reminders and provided a complete response addressing both accounts. NewDay's final response was inaccurate and misleading because it only referenced the first account and made no mention of the second account with an outstanding balance and missed payments. The ombudsman rejected the request to write off the second account balance as Mr H was liable for spending he had incurred, but upheld the complaint regarding NewDay's failure to properly investigate and communicate.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website