Not upheld: Irresponsible lending complaint against Home Retail Group Card Services Limited trading as Argos Financial Services

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs F complained that Argos irresponsibly provided her with an Argos Card with a £350 credit limit. At the time of application, Mrs F was employed full-time earning £20,000 gross annually and had a clean credit file with no adverse indicators. Argos made their lending decision based on Mrs F's application data and credit file information without verifying her income or discovering her undisclosed personal circumstances including significant gambling, an ongoing redundancy process, and declining mental health. The ombudsman found that the low credit limit and positive credit file provided sufficient information for a fair lending decision and that Mrs F's personal circumstances, not disclosed during application, could not have formed part of Argos' decision-making. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that given the relatively low credit limit of £350, Mrs F's full-time employment status, gross annual income of £20,000, and a clean credit file with no adverse indicators, Argos had sufficient information to make a fair lending decision without additional checks. The personal circumstances Mrs F later experienced (gambling, redundancy, mental health issues) were not disclosed during the application and would not have been visible on the credit file, so they could not have formed part of Argos' lending decision. The ombudsman also considered the complaint under section 140A of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 but found no evidence of irresponsible lending or unfair treatment.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website