Oakbrook Finance Limited · DRN-6163645

The complaint Mr M complains about Oakbrook Finance Limited trading as Finio Loans’ decision to report his personal loan as defaulted to credit reference agencies (CRAs). What happened Finio Loans provided Mr M with a regulated fixed sum loan for £1,000 in December 2024. The loan was repayable across 18 months with equal instalments of around £80 and had a total repayable value, including interest, of around £1,480. Mr M complained to Finio Loans in October 2025 about its decision to default his personal loan after arrears had accrued due to a period of monthly payments under the contractual amount. Mr M was unhappy with Finio Loans’ overall communication about the process which led to the account being terminated and the default being reported to CRAs. Finio Loans issued a final response in which it didn’t uphold Mr M’s complaint. Unhappy with its response he referred his complaint to our service for review. One of our investigators looked at the details of the complaint and didn’t uphold it. On review of the evidence they concluded Finio Loans had reasonably provided Mr M with details of the account status, in line with its regulatory obligations, and had acted reasonably when terminating the agreement and reporting it as defaulted to CRAs. Finio Loans didn’t respond to our investigator’s view; Mr M responded and disagreed. In summary, he maintained his position and said while Finio Loans may have met its regulatory obligations in providing details about the status of the loan, it hadn’t treated him fairly or acted within the spirit of the regulations. He said had he been made aware the loan would be defaulted that he would have explored other options available to him with a view to preventing this action, given a default will adversely impact his credit file for a considerable period of time. Mr M asked for an ombudsman’s review, so the complaint has been passed to me to decide. What I’ve decided – and why I’ve considered all the available evidence and arguments to decide what’s fair and reasonable in the circumstances of this complaint. The information in this case is well known to Mr M and Finio Loans, so I don’t intend to repeat it in detail here. I’d like to assure both parties that I’ve carefully reviewed all submissions provided. However, in my decision I’ve not referenced all of the points or touched on all the information that’s been provided. Instead, I’ve focused my findings on what I consider to be the key points and relevant facts of this complaint. I don’t mean to be discourteous to Mr M or Finio Loans by taking this approach, but this simply reflects the informal nature of our service.

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Finio Loans has provided details of the engagement it had with Mr M throughout this agreement. I’ve seen Mr M’s contact in March 2025 where he informed it of financial difficulties as he’d been made redundant, and that he wouldn’t be able to meet his contractual payment due that month. Finio Loans agreed to a period of 30 days breathing space; the contact notes confirm that the representative informed Mr M that the breathing space did not remove the requirement for the contractual monthly payment to be made. The note also indicates that general information was provided about the impact of non-payment to Mr M’s credit file. Mr M had further contact with Finio Loans in April and May 2025, informing it that his situation hadn’t changed. In both instances Finio Loans extended the breathing space it had provided by a further 30 days; and in May 2025 it agreed for Mr M to make token payments of £1 a month for the next two months. I’ve seen that separate to the phone call engagement, in April and May 2025 Finio Loans sent Mr M regulatory communication providing details about the arrears status of his account. The communication in May 2025 was a Default Notice, setting out what Mr M needed to do to bring his account in line with his contractual obligations, and what action would be taken by a deadline if this didn’t happen. This included termination of the account, possible sale of the debt to a third party, and a default being registered with CRAs. Each of the letters I’ve reviewed were addressed to Mr M at the address he’s provided our service. The contact notes show these letters were sent to Mr M via email on the same dates, and the email address used is the same as that provided by Mr M to our service. So, I’m satisfied Finio Loans reasonably provided Mr M with information about the status of his account and the actions that would be taken if it wasn’t brought back in line with its contractual obligations. I acknowledge that Mr M feels it unreasonable that Finio Loans defaulted the account when it did, given his vulnerable financial situation and that he’d agreed to make token repayments of £1 a month for at least a couple of months. Mr M has also said that Finio Loans should have exercised forbearance and that the recording of a default should be a last resort when the relationship has broken down. When reaching this decision I’ve taken into account the regulatory requirements on Finio Loans, as well as guidance set out by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) – published by the Steering Committee on Reciprocity (SCOR) – which is titled “Principles for the Reporting of Arrears, Arrangements and Defaults at Credit Reference Agencies”. Based on the evidence available to me I’m not persuaded Finio Loans acted unreasonably when defaulting the account in June 2025, even though token payments of £1 were being made. I say this because the contact notes show Finio Loans exercised forbearance when Mr M made it aware of financial difficulties, by providing him with breathing space on the account on a number of occasions, and engaging with him monthly to obtain updates on his financial situation. The Notice of Sums in Arrears letter sent in April and Default Notice sent in May 2025 reasonably made Mr M aware of the status of the account; with the Default Notice setting out that the account would be defaulted if certain conditions weren’t met, and provided details of how to prevent this from happening. This notice also provided Mr M with more than 14 days to bring the account up to date, which is the minimum notice period set out in the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

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The default was only registered once the account had been at least three months in arrears, in line with the guidelines I’ve referred to above. And although Mr M had agreed to make token repayments, a lender can still default an account whilst reduced repayments are being made. In the individual circumstances I think that was reasonable, given the token payments of £1 were significantly below the contractual monthly repayments, and arrears were accruing at a sizeable level on the account. Finio Loans, like all lenders, has a responsibility to report accurate information to CRAs, and in registering a default it doesn’t mean forbearance wasn’t shown towards Mr M. I acknowledge Mr M’s personal circumstances appear to have positively improved in the months that followed, and that he agreed to increased monthly payments to clear the arrears on the account. However, by this point Finio Loans had already reported the loan as defaulted. Mr M is still obliged to repay the outstanding debt, so I don’t consider it unreasonable that an increased repayment arrangement was agreed, after having been assessed as affordable, enabling Mr M to repay the outstanding arrears and clear the outstanding debt sooner. Mr M has said Finio Loans didn’t make him aware of the default during contact in July 2025; Finio Loans’ contact notes and representations say it did make him aware. While I consider it would have been helpful for Finio Loans to have informed Mr M of the status of the account in its communication with him in July 2025; in any event I don’t consider this impacts the action it had taken. I say this given the default had already been reported by the time this contact took place, which I’ve found above to have been reasonably applied. So, while Mr M would have been in a better informed position, it doesn’t change the reporting of the default, or Mr M’s obligation to repay the outstanding debt. I note that Mr M has said were he better informed that token payments of £1 per month would still lead to the account being defaulted, that he would have explored other options available to him, including, he’s said, engaging with other organisations such as debt charities to obtain advice and discuss other forbearance measures. The communication sent after Mr M made a payment of £1 in June 2025 set out that a Notice of Default would be issued when the account was 65 days in arrears, if not already sent (and in Mr M’s circumstances this notice had already been sent in late May 2025). This communication also set out that a default would be issued once the account was 93 days in arrears. So, I consider both the Notice of Default and further communication in June 2025 reasonably made Mr M aware that the account would default if it wasn’t brought back in line with the terms of the agreement. While I don’t doubt Mr M’s comments about what actions he would have looked to take had he known the loan may be defaulted, I note from his testimony to our service that he said he couldn’t afford the contractual payments to this loan. And on review of the credit file he’s provided our service, I note that a number of Mr M’s other credit accounts were reporting as consecutively in arrears around this time; therefore, supporting a lack of financial ability or sustainability in any event for Mr M to have made additional payment to this loan to prevent the default from taking place in June 2025. I acknowledge my decision will be disappointing to Mr M; in no way is it intended to doubt or downplay the personal and financial circumstances he’s made us aware of. But for the reasons I’ve set out above, I’m not persuaded that Finio Loans has acted unreasonably in the details of this complaint; so, it follows I’m not directing it to take any further action in resolution of this complaint.

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My final decision My final decision is that I don’t uphold Mr M’s complaint about Oakbrook Finance Limited trading as Finio Loans. Under the rules of the Financial Ombudsman Service, I’m required to ask Mr M to accept or reject my decision before 28 April 2026. Richard Turner Ombudsman

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