K820x#14
complaint
Mr M complains that a fixed sum loan agreement was mis-represented to him by Carnegie
Consumer Finance Limited.
background
Mr M signed a fixed sum loan agreement with Carnegie Consumer Finance in September
2016 to pay for a training course. He says that he contacted the training provider to cancel
the course and he complained to Carnegie Consumer Finance in February 2017. He wasn’t
satisfied with its response so he complained to this service. He says that the agreement is
unaffordable for him, that he tried to cancel the agreement within the cancellation period and
that he was told that the course would be paid for by a grant.
The investigator didn’t recommend that this complaint should be upheld. She said that the
documentation that Mr M signed made it clear that he was agreeing to a loan and not a
grant. She also said that Carnegie Consumer Finance carried out a credit check on Mr M,
that an income and expenditure form was completed and that it looked at his bank
statements – which showed that he was able to afford the loan repayments. And she said
that Mr M had been unable to provide evidence to show that he tried to cancel the
agreement within the 14 day cancellation period.
Mr M has asked for his complaint to be considered by an ombudsman. He says, in summary,
that Carnegie Consumer Finance didn’t fully explain what the grant/loan was and that he
was in a way forced to sign an agreement which he didn’t understand. And he says that he
informed it that he wasn’t taking up the course and cancelled it.
my findings
I’ve considered all the available evidence and arguments to decide what’s fair and
reasonable in the circumstances of this complaint.
Mr M contacted the course provider about a training course and was then visited by a
representative. Mr M says in his complaint form that the representative described the course.
Mr M then signed a fixed sum loan agreement to pay for the course. It was clearly described
as a loan agreement between Carnegie Consumer Finance and Mr M. Immediately above
Mr M’s signature it says: “This is a credit agreement. Sign it only if you want to be legally
bound by its terms”; and Mr M agreed that he would: “… pay 43 monthly repayments of
£165”. There is no reference to a grant or to anyone else paying for the course. So I find that
Mr M signed the agreement to pay for the course and that he agreed to make the specified
payments.
In the agreement, Mr M declared that he’d received a copy of the agreement for him to keep
and that he’d received a copy of the pre-contract credit information before signing the
agreement. Carnegie Consumer Finance has provided a copy of the affordability
assessment signed by Mr M and a student status credit application also signed by Mr M. The
information provided by Mr M shows that the repayments were affordable for him at the time
that he entered into the agreement. And Carnegie Consumer Finance has also provided a
copy of the client compliance confirmation which has been signed by the representative and
which confirms that he had complied with the regulatory requirements.
Ref: DRN3869627
