Upheld: unfair delay in recording default; account and communication handling complaint against NewDay Ltd, trading as Argos

Decision detail

Summary

Mr C complained that NewDay Ltd (Argos) unfairly recorded a default on his credit card account due to poor communication and account handling failures. Mr C opened the account in October 2024, made one payment in November 2024, then fell into arrears. Argos issued a Default Notice on 13 March 2025 requiring payment by 5 April 2025, and Mr C agreed to repayment arrangements but made no payments. The account was eventually defaulted in November 2025 after remaining in arrears for a year. The ombudsman upheld the complaint, finding the default was justified but should have been applied in April 2025, not November 2025, and ordered Argos to backdate the default and refund interest/charges applied after 5 April 2025.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while defaulting the account was fair given the persistent arrears and lack of maintained repayment arrangements, Argos should have applied the default shortly after 5 April 2025 when the first Default Notice deadline passed without remedy. By that point, the account had been in arrears for several months with no meaningful repayments and no clear indication it would be resolved. The delay until November 2025 was unfair. Issues with correspondence and the 'gone away' status did not change this outcome because Mr C was aware by April 2025 that payments were required and the account remained in arrears. The complaint handling process itself falls outside the ombudsman's remit.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website