Not upheld: Irresponsible lending complaint against Vanquis Bank Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr F complained that Vanquis lent irresponsibly by failing to make adequate affordability checks before issuing a £1,200 credit card in June 2025. Mr F's credit file showed significant indebtedness of £62,866 and his current account records showed gambling transactions and tight cash flow. The ombudsman found that Vanquis's checks were not reasonable and proportionate, as they failed to verify employment and income beyond the application form and relied on unclear modelled expenditure calculations. However, the ombudsman concluded that had Vanquis made proper enquiries into Mr F's actual outgoings, they would have discovered sufficient disposable income to support sustainable repayments, making the lending decision fair despite the deficient process. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that Vanquis's checks were not reasonable and proportionate because they failed to verify employment and income beyond the application form and relied on modelled expenditure figures with an unclear buffer amount. However, the ombudsman concluded that had Vanquis made proper enquiries into Mr F's actual outgoings (without necessarily obtaining full current account statements), they would have discovered sufficient disposable income to support sustainable repayments on the £1,200 credit limit. The ombudsman used Mr F's provided current account records to reconstruct what reasonable checks would have revealed, finding discretionary spending and social activities indicating capacity to repay.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website