DRN-6241935

The complaint Mr G complains about the support Secure Trust Bank (who I’ll call Secure Trust) provided, and the level of compensation they paid him. What happened The detailed background to this complaint is well known to both parties. So, I’ll only provide a brief overview of some of the key events here. Mr G entered into a hire purchase agreement with Secure Trust in March 2020. He referred a complaint to this service as he said Secure Trust were irresponsible to lend him that money. Our service issued a view on that complaint in October 2024. The investigator didn’t uphold Mr G’s complaint and as he provided no additional evidence the complaint was closed. In August 2025 Mr G raised a new complaint with this service which is the subject of this decision. He said he’d been provided with £110 compensation by Secure Trust as they’d accepted their level of support could have been better while he was experiencing financial difficulties repaying his hire purchase debt. Our investigator didn’t think the compensation was unreasonable but as Mr G disagreed, his complaint has been referred to me, an ombudsman, to make a decision. 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. I agree with the investigator’s view of this complaint and for broadly the same reasons. Where the information I’ve got is incomplete, unclear, or contradictory, as some of it is here, I have to base my decision on the balance of probabilities. I’ve read and considered the whole file, but I’ll concentrate my comments on what I think is relevant. If I don’t comment on any specific point, it’s not because I’ve failed to take it on board and think about it but because I don’t think I need to comment on it in order to reach what I think is the right outcome. I will not be reconsidering whether this agreement was affordable as that aspect of Mr G’s complaint has already been considered by this service. When a consumer is experiencing financial difficulties, we would expect a firm to be supportive and to show some forbearance. I think Secure Trust did that here, they arranged several payment plans and payment holidays to help Mr G manage his expenditure and they placed a 30 day hold on his account so he could obtain debt advice before the debt was eventually sold. Secure Trust accepted that they may have been more supportive of Mr G and have, for instance, recognised where he needed additional support. They offered £110 in

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compensation and I think that was reasonable in the circumstances as I’ve not seen any evidence of failings in that respect that would warrant a higher award. Mr G says Secure Trust were unreasonable and unsupportive to sell the debt, but the terms of the finance agreement allowed them to do that, and I don’t think that decision has disadvantaged Mr G as his rights remain the same. My final decision For the reasons I’ve given above, I don’t uphold this complaint. Under the rules of the Financial Ombudsman Service, I’m required to ask Mr G to accept or reject my decision before 26 May 2026. Phillip McMahon Ombudsman

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