Not upheld: irresponsible lending complaint against Creation Consumer Finance Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr O complained that Creation Consumer Finance Limited irresponsibly lent him £20,100 in November 2025 because the repayments were unaffordable. Creation had obtained information about Mr O's income, expenditure, and conducted a credit search showing low existing debts and a historic defaulted account. The ombudsman found that Creation's checks were proportionate for a first loan and that the loan amount would consolidate Mr O's debts into a single payment. The ombudsman concluded that the information available did not clearly demonstrate the loan was unaffordable and therefore did not uphold the complaint, though it reminded Creation of its obligation to exercise forbearance given Mr O's later stated payment difficulties.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

Creation obtained a reasonable amount of information before approving the loan, including income, expenditure, and credit checks. The ombudsman found that Creation was not required to conduct a full financial review of multiple bank statements for a first loan. The existing debts were low and the loan amount would consolidate them into a single payment. The information provided by Mr O did not clearly demonstrate he could not afford the monthly repayments from his stated income after deducting living expenses and existing commitments. Therefore, more thorough checks would likely not have led Creation to conclude the loan was unaffordable.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website