Upheld: inaccurate credit reference agency reporting following Debt Relief Order complaint against Zopa Bank Limited trading as Zopa

Decision detail

Summary

Mr W complained that Zopa failed to correctly report his credit card debt to credit reference agencies following the completion of his Debt Relief Order in August 2024. When Mr W discovered the error in August 2025, a balance was still showing and defaults continued to be registered despite the DRO having completed. Although Zopa acknowledged the error and made successive compensation offers (£150, £300, £475), Mr W rejected these as insufficient. The ombudsman found that while Mr W could not prove direct financial loss from the misreporting, Zopa's failure to correct the matter for several months despite repeated notifications caused considerable distress and worry, particularly given Mr W's plans to apply for a mortgage. The complaint was upheld and compensation of £550 was awarded to reflect the distress, upset and inconvenience caused.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Zopa's failure to correctly report the debt after DRO completion was not disputed. While Mr W claimed financial loss from higher interest rates or inability to access credit, he provided no evidence directly linking such losses to Zopa's misreporting. The ombudsman therefore focused on compensation for distress and inconvenience. The ombudsman considered that Mr W's creditworthiness was important given his DRO, that the discovery of incorrect reporting would have been shocking, and that Zopa's failure to correct the matter for several months despite repeated notifications caused ongoing worry, particularly as Mr W was considering mortgage applications. The ombudsman noted internal system issues at Zopa but concluded the matter took far longer than reasonably necessary to resolve.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website