Not upheld: irresponsible lending complaint against Fairscore Ltd trading as Updraft

Decision detail

Summary

Mr P complained that Updraft lent irresponsibly when approving a £10,000 consolidation loan in July 2025, arguing that insufficient checks were carried out given his newly self-employed status, £112,275 existing debt, and undisclosed gambling addiction and mental health issues. Updraft verified Mr P's declared £110,000 income through open banking (applying a 70% reduction to £8,151), confirmed affordability with £2,318 monthly disposable income against £287 loan repayments, and found existing debt was being well-managed with no delinquencies. The ombudsman found the checks were proportionate and reasonable, the lending decision was fair, and there was insufficient information available to Updraft to raise concerns about vulnerability, as Mr P had not disclosed these issues prior to lending. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Updraft's checks were proportionate to the loan size and circumstances. The firm verified Mr P's declared income against open banking and CRA data, applied a cautious 70% reduction to account for income fluctuations, and used higher expenditure estimates where appropriate. The resulting affordability assessment showed sufficient disposable income to sustainably repay the loan. Although Mr P had high existing debt, it was being well-managed with no delinquencies. The gambling transactions visible in open banking were not at a level that should have prompted further investigation relative to his income. Critically, Mr P had not disclosed his vulnerabilities prior to lending, and there was insufficient information available to Updraft to raise concerns about vulnerability.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website