Upheld: misrepresentation and unfair credit relationship under Section 140A and Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 complaint against Shawbrook Bank Limited
Financial Ombudsman decision DRN-6285720 of 2026-04-24T00:00:00+00:00. misrepresentation and unfair credit relationship under Section 140A and Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 complaint against Shawbrook Bank Limited. Outcome: Upheld.
Decision detail
| Reference | DRN-6285720 |
|---|---|
| Decision date | 2026-04-24T00:00:00+00:00 |
| Firm | Shawbrook Bank Limited |
| Product | loan |
| Claim type | misrepresentation and unfair credit relationship under Section 140A and Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 |
| Outcome | Upheld |
| Remedy | 1. Refund all repayments under the Credit Agreement including settlement sums and cancel any outstanding balance; 2. Refund the difference between Fractional Club and European Collection annual management charges; 3. Deduct value of any promotional giveaways used; 4. Add simple interest at 8% per annum on net repayments from date paid until settlement; 5. Remove adverse credit file information recorded within six years; 6. If Fractional Club membership still exists, Lender must indemnify Mr and Mrs C against all ongoing liabilities provided they assign or hold the Allocated Property interest in trust for the Lender. |
Summary
Mr and Mrs C purchased Fractional Club timeshare membership on 2 June 2013 for £11,760, financed partly through a £3,760 loan from Shawbrook Bank. They made the purchase while Mr C was facing life-threatening brain surgery, seeking to exit their existing European Collection membership which they believed they could not surrender. They were told conversion to Fractional Points was the 'only way forward', but were not informed of the Supplier's Exceptional Circumstances Policy which would have allowed them to surrender their membership due to Mr C's medical condition. The ombudsman found this constituted misrepresentation and an unfair credit relationship, upholding the complaint and ordering the Lender to refund all loan repayments plus interest, refund excess management charges, remove adverse credit information, and indemnify them against ongoing liabilities if they assign their property interest to the Lender.
The Ombudsman's reasoning
The ombudsman found that Mr and Mrs C's primary motivation for purchasing Fractional Club membership was to obtain a shorter membership term to exit their European Collection membership sooner due to Mr C's life-threatening health condition. They were misled by being told this was the 'only way forward' when in fact the Supplier's Exceptional Circumstances Policy would have allowed them to surrender their membership at any time due to Mr C's medical problems or when Mrs C reached 75 years of age (2025, two years before the Fractional Club membership was due to end). The ombudsman rejected the Lender's arguments that Mr and Mrs C had been informed of the policy in 2011 (before Mr C's health issues arose) and that they should have complained sooner, finding that 18 months was a reasonable timeframe and that the complexity of timeshare litigation justified the delay.
How this compares
| Group | Decisions | Uphold rate |
|---|---|---|
| Shawbrook Bank Limited, all decisions | 2,486 | 17% |
Source
Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website