Not upheld: unfair credit relationship (Section 140A CCA) and connected lender liability (Section 75 CCA) complaint against Shawbrook Bank Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr and Mrs L purchased timeshare membership for £2,980 financed by Shawbrook Bank Limited in May 2019 and complained in April 2025 alleging misrepresentation, undue pressure, inadequate affordability checks, and insufficient cost disclosure. The ombudsman found no credible evidence of actionable misrepresentation, as Mr L's questionnaire lacked specific details of what was said and how it was untrue. The complaint of undue pressure was rejected because despite a lengthy sales process, the complainants provided no evidence they felt compelled to purchase and failed to exercise their 14-day cooling off right. The affordability argument was dismissed as there was no evidence the £2,980 lending was actually unaffordable, and the prior IVA (ending two years before the sale) did not automatically preclude lending. The ombudsman concluded that while the supplier may have failed to provide sufficient cost information, this did not render the credit relationship unfair as it would not have changed the purchasing decision.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found insufficient evidence of actionable misrepresentation because Mr L's questionnaire did not clearly specify what was said at the Time of Sale or how it was untrue. Regarding undue pressure, while the sales process was lengthy, there was no credible evidence that Mr and Mrs L felt they had no choice but to purchase, particularly given they did not exercise their 14-day cooling off right. On affordability, the ombudsman was not satisfied the lending was actually unaffordable despite the prior IVA, as no evidence demonstrated actual unaffordability. Regarding information disclosure failures, even if the supplier failed to comply with Regulation 12 of the 2010 Timeshare Regulations, there was no evidence this would have changed the purchasing decision. The ombudsman applied the principle that regulatory breaches do not automatically render a credit relationship unfair; the impact on the complainant must be demonstrated.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website