Not upheld: Other regulated complaint complaint against Olton Alexander Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Ms S complained that Olton Alexander Limited acted without her authority to pursue motor finance claims and charged her an unfair cancellation fee. Ms S claimed she did not complete the online application or give consent for the firm to act on her behalf. However, the ombudsman found that an e-signature audit report showed the application was electronically signed from an IP address in Ms S's town, and the personal details matched her information. The ombudsman determined that Olton Alexander's online application process provided sufficiently fair and clear information for customers to understand what they were agreeing to. Since Ms S cancelled her claim 16 days after the application, which was outside the 14-day cooling-off period, the ombudsman found the cancellation fee of £60 per hour was reasonable and in line with the terms of engagement. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that on balance, Ms S likely completed the application herself based on the e-signature audit report showing an IP address in her town and matching personal details. The online application process provided sufficiently fair, clear and not misleading information for the average customer to understand what they were agreeing to. Ms S cancelled outside the 14-day cooling-off period, so Olton Alexander was entitled to charge a cancellation fee in accordance with the terms of engagement. The fee charged was reasonable and in line with the work completed.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website