Not upheld: irresponsible lending complaint against Salad Finance Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Miss C complained that Salad Finance Limited irresponsibly provided her with a £1,000 loan at 79.50% APR in December 2023. Salad had verified Miss C's income and non-discretionary expenditure using open banking data and conducted credit checks which showed no adverse information. The ombudsman found that Salad's pre-lending checks were reasonable and proportionate, and there was nothing in the information gathered to suggest Miss C could not sustainably repay the loan. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Salad's pre-lending checks were reasonable and proportionate for the loan amount offered. The firm had taken reasonable steps to understand Miss C's income and non-discretionary expenditure through open banking data and credit checks. There was nothing in the information gathered that suggested Miss C was likely to be unable to sustainably repay the loan, and no obvious red flags that would have required further evidence before lending.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website