Not upheld: irresponsible lending / unfair credit relationship complaint against Clydesdale Financial Services Limited (trading as Barclays Partner Finance)

Decision detail

Summary

Mr B complained that Barclays PF unfairly entered into a conditional sale agreement for a used car in October 2016, claiming the monthly payments of £282.80 were unaffordable and caused ongoing financial difficulty. The complaint was made in October 2025, over eight years after the agreement was entered into. Barclays PF had conducted credit checks, verified Mr B's income against bank records, and found no adverse credit history. Mr B made all payments on schedule and settled the agreement early in November 2019. The ombudsman found that Barclays PF's checks were reasonable and proportionate, and that Mr B's repayment record supported the conclusion that the agreement was affordable, therefore not upholding the complaint.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied section 140A of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, assessing whether the lending relationship was unfair to Mr B. The ombudsman found that Barclays PF's checks were reasonable and proportionate given Mr B's profile as an average borrower with low existing credit, no adverse credit history, and income that appeared sufficient. The ombudsman noted that further checks would unlikely have revealed unaffordability, and that Mr B's subsequent repayment record (making all payments on time and settling early) contradicted his post-complaint analysis suggesting unaffordability. The ombudsman was not persuaded that Barclays PF irresponsibly lent to Mr B.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website