Not upheld: irresponsible lending complaint against Evergreen Finance London Limited trading as MoneyBoat.co.uk

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs H complained that MoneyBoat irresponsibly lent her loan 3 for £1,500, arguing her multiple credit accounts and high monthly repayments meant she could not afford it and that MoneyBoat should have requested bank statements. The ombudsman found loan 3 was not irresponsible lending because over a year had passed since her previous loan, her high income and up-to-date credit accounts suggested affordability, and MoneyBoat's checks appropriately reflected her outgoings. However, MoneyBoat agreed that loans 4 and 5 should not have been lent and agreed to refund all interest, fees and charges with 8% interest and remove adverse credit file information for those loans.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that the significant gap of over a year between loan 2 and loan 3 meant it was reasonable for MoneyBoat to treat loan 3 as the start of a new lending relationship rather than evidence of continued borrowing dependency. Although Mrs H had multiple credit accounts with high monthly repayments, her high income and the fact that accounts were up to date suggested she could afford the loan. MoneyBoat's checks appropriately increased her declared outgoings, and there was no obligation to request bank statements. The second mortgage was not a monthly expense as it was set up to repay itself from rental income.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website