Not upheld: satisfactory quality of goods under hire purchase agreement complaint against Zopa Bank Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Miss T purchased a 9-year-old used car through a hire purchase agreement with Zopa Bank Limited in December 2024. Approximately 12 months later, the car developed a significant timing chain fault requiring approximately £2,500 in repairs. Miss T complained that the car was not of satisfactory quality at point of supply, relying on an independent engineer's report concluding the fault was present or developing at sale. ZBL rejected the complaint, commissioning its own engineer who concluded the fault developed within the last 1000-2000 miles of driving and was not present or developing at point of supply. The ombudsman found ZBL's engineer's report more persuasive based on detailed technical analysis and calculations, and upheld ZBL's position that the car was of satisfactory quality when supplied.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied the Consumer Rights Act 2015 standard of satisfactory quality, requiring goods to meet the standard a reasonable person would consider satisfactory. Where conflicting expert evidence existed, the ombudsman weighed the evidence and found Engineer B's report more persuasive due to its detailed rationale, including calculations showing the timing chain completed 15-22.5 million cycles since purchase and the fault likely developed in the last 1000-2000 miles. The ombudsman noted that a recent service would have detected any audible timing chain noise present at point of supply, and there was no evidence of such issues at that time.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website