Not upheld: default recording and credit file reporting complaint against Vanquis Bank Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Miss Q complained that Vanquis Bank Limited failed to record a default on her credit card account in 2017 when it fell into arrears, and that this omission led to a default being recorded much later by third-party debt owner X in June 2023, which negatively affected her credit file and ability to access credit. Vanquis sold the account to X in August 2019, at which point X became responsible for reporting the account to credit reference agencies. The ombudsman found that while Vanquis may not have recorded a default in 2017, they could not be held responsible for X's independent decision to record a default in 2023, several years after the debt was sold. The complaint was not upheld as X, as the data controller, bore independent responsibility for accurate and fair reporting.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman determined that while Vanquis may not have recorded a default in 2017 as they should have, they cannot be held responsible for a default decision made independently by X almost four years after Vanquis sold the debt. X became the data controller and owner of the account in August 2019 and bore independent responsibility for accurate and fair reporting to credit reference agencies. Vanquis' potential omission in 2017 did not directly cause X's decision to record a default in 2023, and any failure by Vanquis did not disadvantage Miss Q at the time it occurred.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website