Not upheld: treatment in arrears, payment plan flexibility, affordability assessment complaint against Stellantis Financial Services UK Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr M complained about how Stellantis Financial Services handled his request to pay the final payment of a conditional sale agreement in instalments after falling into arrears due to serious health issues. Stellantis issued default notices and agreed to repayment plans, but Mr M failed to maintain these plans and instead made irregular lump sum payments. Mr M requested a documented affordability review and a 12-month repayment plan, claiming Stellantis's delays exacerbated his medical condition. The ombudsman found that Stellantis treated Mr M with reasonable forbearance by allowing him to keep the car despite terminating the agreement and accepting flexible payment arrangements, and declined to uphold the complaint or award compensation.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied FCA requirements for forbearance and due consideration when dealing with customers in arrears. While acknowledging Stellantis could have done better, the ombudsman found that allowing Mr M to keep the car despite termination and accepting lump sum payments constituted reasonable forbearance. The ombudsman noted that Mr M's own proposed solutions (affordability assessment and 12-month plan) were contradictory, and that Mr M had consistently failed to maintain his own proposed payment schedules. The ombudsman found no evidence that Stellantis's actions specifically exacerbated Mr M's medical conditions, and noted that Stellantis had already given Mr M more than 12 months to repay.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website