Not upheld: Rejection of Section 75 Consumer Credit Act claim complaint against First Holiday Finance Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Ms B purchased a trial timeshare membership in February 2015 using finance from First Holiday Finance Ltd and paid off the loan in January 2016. In September 2025, over ten years later, Ms B made a Section 75 claim alleging the Supplier had misrepresented the membership and breached contract. The Lender rejected the claim. The ombudsman found that both the misrepresentation claim (which should have been made by February 2021) and the breach of contract claim (which should have been made by December 2021) were time-barred under the Limitation Act 1980. Accordingly, the ombudsman concluded it was fair and reasonable for the Lender to reject the claim and did not uphold the complaint.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied the Limitation Act 1980 to determine that both the misrepresentation claim and breach of contract claim were time-barred. For misrepresentation, the six-year limitation period ran from 5 February 2015 (Time of Sale), meaning the claim should have been made by 5 February 2021. For breach of contract, the period ran from December 2015 when the contract ended, meaning the claim should have been made by December 2021. Since Ms B did not notify the Lender until 8 September 2025, both claims were significantly out of time. The ombudsman concluded it was neither unfair nor unreasonable for the Lender to reject claims made so long after the limitation period had expired.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website