Not upheld: irresponsible lending; failure to accommodate disability and mental health needs complaint against Barclays Bank UK PLC

Decision detail

Summary

Mr S complained that Barclays irresponsibly provided him with three concurrent loans totalling £24,500 between July 2021 and March 2022, and failed to accommodate his disabilities and mental health problems. The ombudsman found that Barclays conducted reasonable affordability checks showing Mr S had disposable income of £439-£663 per month after accounting for all repayments, and that the loans were used for debt consolidation. Since Mr S did not disclose his disabilities or mental health issues at the time of the mobile app applications, Barclays was not required to treat him differently under industry regulations. The ombudsman upheld Barclays' £50 offer for inconvenience caused by requiring repeated requests for assistance but rejected the complaint that the loans should be written off.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Barclays conducted reasonable and proportionate checks before approving each loan. The verified income and affordability calculations showed Mr S had sufficient disposable income to repay all three loans even when considered together. The loans were used for debt consolidation, which was a legitimate purpose. Critically, Mr S did not disclose his disabilities or mental health problems at the time of the loan applications via the mobile app, and industry regulations require firms to assume capacity unless informed otherwise. Therefore, Barclays had no obligation to treat him differently based on information it did not possess. The £50 offered for customer service failures in handling later requests for assistance was deemed reasonable.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website