Not upheld: irresponsible lending complaint against Fluro Platform Limited trading as Fluro

Decision detail

Summary

Ms Z complained that Fluro irresponsibly lent her £15,000 in March 2023, arguing that the firm should have conducted more detailed affordability checks given she was about to incur significantly higher housing costs upon moving into her new home. The ombudsman found that Fluro completed proportionate checks including CRA verification of income, obtained actual housing costs via mortgage letter, and used industry-standard modelling showing healthy disposable income. Although Ms Z experienced financial difficulty shortly after the loan was approved, this was not foreseeable to Fluro at the time given her zero active unsecured debt and clean recent credit history. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

Fluro made proportionate checks appropriate to the type and amount of credit. The firm verified Ms Z's declared income through the CRA (an industry-standard method), obtained proof of her new address and actual housing costs via mortgage letter, and used industry-standard modelling for the affordability assessment. The assessment showed healthy disposable income remaining after loan repayment. Ms Z's subsequent financial difficulties and increased credit utilisation were not foreseeable at the time of lending, particularly given her zero active unsecured debt and clean recent credit history. The firm was not required to conduct further checks such as bank statement review, which would have shown artificially low costs from the pre-completion period anyway.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website