Not upheld: failure to act in customer's best interests / irresponsible lending complaint against CarFinance 247 Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Ms K complained that CarFinance 247 failed to act in her best interests when arranging a conditional sale agreement in November 2024, as a cheaper hire purchase option became available approximately seven weeks later with a different finance provider. Ms K alleged this alternative lender was available on CarFinance 247's panel at the time of her original application. CarFinance 247 provided evidence that the alternative lender was removed from its panel in late August 2024 and that nine lenders were approached for Ms K's application with only one accepting. The ombudsman found insufficient evidence to support Ms K's claim and therefore did not uphold the complaint, noting that Ms K had also failed to provide evidence the alternative lender would have accepted her application on the same or better terms.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Ms K had not provided sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the hire purchase finance provider was available on CarFinance 247's lending panel in November 2024. CarFinance 247 provided evidence that the lender was removed in late August 2024 and that nine lenders were approached for Ms K's application with only one accepting. Additionally, Ms K provided no evidence that the alternative lender would have accepted her application on the same or better terms. The ombudsman noted that complaint handling is not a regulated activity and therefore could not consider the failure to respond to the June 2025 complaint.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website