Upheld: incorrect information about account settlement and interest charges complaint against Vanquis Bank Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr I complained that Vanquis Bank Limited provided incorrect information about the interest required to settle and close his credit card account, telling him £16.01 would clear the balance when further interest had already accrued. After paying this amount, Mr I received an unexpected direct debit for £16.92 and recalled it without contacting Vanquis, causing the account to fall into arrears and incurring a £12 late payment fee. The ombudsman upheld the complaint but only to the extent of requiring Vanquis to pay the £50 compensation they had already offered, finding that while Vanquis gave incorrect information, Mr I's failure to contact Vanquis before recalling the direct debit contributed to the subsequent problems and was unreasonable conduct.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Vanquis gave Mr I incorrect and incomplete information about the interest required to settle the account, which was reasonable for Mr I to rely upon and caused confusion. However, the ombudsman determined that when Mr I received the unexpected £16.92 direct debit, it should have prompted him to contact Vanquis to query the payment rather than immediately recalling it without speaking to Vanquis. The ombudsman found that Mr I's decision to recall the direct debit without contacting Vanquis first caused the account to fall into arrears, and therefore Vanquis did not act unfairly in applying the late payment fee or initially being entitled to report a missed payment. The ombudsman rejected Mr I's claim that he had called Vanquis in September 2025, finding Vanquis' records and the absence of any such call more credible than Mr I's testimony.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website