Not upheld: failure to show forbearance / irresponsible lending complaint against JaJa Finance Ltd

Decision detail

Summary

Mr H complained that JaJa Finance Ltd charged interest on his ASDA Money Credit Card while he was experiencing financial difficulties, despite advising JaJa of his vulnerability status on 30 December 2024. Mr H requested a refund of interest charged between November 2024 and July 2025. JaJa declined the complaint, noting it had been informed of vulnerability but not of financial difficulties. The ombudsman did not uphold the complaint, finding that vulnerability is distinct from financial difficulty and that Mr H's account conduct showed no visible signs of hardship, with all payments made on time and no arrears, providing no basis for JaJa to offer forbearance.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman distinguished between vulnerability and financial difficulty, noting that vulnerability alone does not necessarily indicate financial hardship. While FCA CONC rules require forbearance in cases of financial hardship, the ombudsman found that JaJa had no visible evidence of financial difficulties based on the account conduct. All payments were made on time, the account was not in arrears, and Mr H did not explicitly disclose financial difficulties. Although JaJa had an obligation to identify signs of financial difficulty, the information available to them did not reveal such signs. Therefore, JaJa was not unreasonable in continuing to charge interest in accordance with the account terms and conditions.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website