Upheld: Service failures generally complaint against Black Horse Limited trading as Jaguar Financial Services (JFS)

Decision detail

Summary

Mr P purchased a used car under a hire purchase agreement with JFS in October 2024 and shortly thereafter experienced issues with the vehicle. He called JFS on 30 October 2024 seeking to cancel the agreement, and while JFS briefly mentioned his right to withdraw from the finance agreement, it did not explain this option sufficiently clearly in the context of other available options such as the dealership's 14-day money back guarantee and vehicle rejection. JFS promised to email the dealership but failed to do so. The ombudsman found the vehicle was not of unsatisfactory quality and was not misrepresented, but upheld the complaint regarding JFS's failure to properly facilitate Mr P's statutory right to withdraw from the finance agreement. JFS was ordered to allow Mr P to withdraw from the agreement retroactively, calculate the appropriate settlement amount, pay £250 compensation, and remove adverse credit file information.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while the vehicle was not of unsatisfactory quality and was not misrepresented, JFS failed to properly explain Mr P's statutory right to withdraw from the finance agreement within 14 days. Although the withdrawal option was briefly mentioned, it was not outlined sufficiently clearly given Mr P's confusion about the different options available (money back guarantee, rejection, and withdrawal). The failure to send the promised email to the dealership compounded this issue and prevented Mr P from properly exploring his options. Mr P's testimony and the call recordings demonstrated he was seeking to exit through all available means, and he should have been given clearer guidance on what withdrawal would entail.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website