Not upheld: irresponsible lending / unaffordable loan complaint against Barclays Bank UK PLC (trading as Tesco Bank)

Decision detail

Summary

Mr R complained that Tesco Bank irresponsibly lent him £15,000 in August 2025, claiming the loan was unaffordable and exacerbated his financial difficulties. Tesco Bank had obtained information about Mr R's income and expenditure and conducted a credit check showing approximately £8,000 in unsecured debt with no significant adverse information. Mr R argued that his actual financial position, including gambling activity and other unreported loans, should have prevented the lending. The ombudsman found that Tesco Bank's checks were proportionate and that it could not reasonably have been expected to discover Mr R's gambling or unreported loans without access to bank statements. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied the FOS approach to irresponsible lending, considering whether Tesco Bank's affordability checks were proportionate to the circumstances. The ombudsman found that Tesco Bank obtained reasonable information (income, expenditure, and credit check) before lending. While Mr R had some existing debts, these were not excessive relative to his income. The ombudsman concluded that Tesco Bank could not reasonably have been expected to request bank statements or be aware of Mr R's gambling activity, as the credit check showed limited unsecured debt and no significant adverse information. Therefore, the checks were proportionate and the loan was not unreasonably provided.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website