Not upheld: Irresponsible lending complaint against Nationwide Building Society

Decision detail

Summary

Mrs S complained that Nationwide irresponsibly provided her with two loans in October and December 2022 that she could not afford and which increased her indebtedness. The ombudsman reviewed the complaint and found that Nationwide had conducted reasonable and proportionate checks, verified Mrs S's income and expenditure, and confirmed she had sufficient disposable income to afford the repayments. Mrs S was managing her finances well, was not overdraft dependent, had no missed payments, and maintained a healthy current account balance at the time of the applications. The ombudsman found no evidence of financial difficulty or that Mrs S would be unable to sustainably repay the credit, and noted that Mrs S did not disclose any concerning circumstances until January 2025. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Nationwide's checks were reasonable and proportionate for the credit limits offered. The firm did not simply accept Mrs S's declarations but verified her income and expenditure, which indicated the repayments were affordable. Mrs S appeared to be managing her finances well with no signs of financial difficulty, overdraft dependency, or missed payments at the time of the applications. There was no evidence suggesting Mrs S would be unable to sustainably repay the credit, and Mrs S did not disclose any concerning circumstances to Nationwide until January 2025.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website