Not upheld: unfair debt pursuit and lack of transparency in balance and valuation calculation complaint against Go Car Credit Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr E complained that Go Car Credit unfairly pursued him for an outstanding balance of £8,150.12 following repossession and sale of a financed vehicle, and failed to provide sufficient information about how the balance and vehicle valuation were calculated. Go Car Credit had terminated the hire purchase agreement in June 2025 after a prolonged period of arrears and repossessed the car. The ombudsman found that Go Car Credit provided adequate information showing the balance calculation, that Mr E suffered no financial detriment from the car sale method (being credited more than actual proceeds), and that there was no evidence of unfair treatment during the customer's financial difficulties. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied the balance of probabilities standard where information was incomplete or contradictory. The account records clearly showed how the balance was calculated: starting balance of £13,075.12 minus credit of £5,275 plus recovery costs of £350 equalling £8,150.12. Mr E actually received a credit higher than the actual sale proceeds, so suffered no financial detriment. No valid statutory right to voluntary termination was exercised before the agreement was terminated for arrears. The evidence did not show that Go Car Credit refused reasonable requests for assistance or acted unfairly in account management.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website