Shop Direct Finance Company LTD Issues

Ian81

Right this is going to be a long thread i'm after some advice and/or support of what actions to take next and how to resolve this.

So let's start I've had a account with SDFC (Shop Direct Finance Company Limited) for a while throughout numerous years which trades under the name of Very, among another one which trades under the name of Littlewoods.

My credit limit on one of the accounts is relatively high at £5,800.00 and it is currently over it's credit limit due to missed BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) dates for item/s with thousands of pounds of interest charged onto the account.

Upon placing all and/or if not a majority of the orders I wasn't eligible for BNPL due to my Credit Score been poor (I was informed by this after speaking with SDFC's underwriting team) which led to been forced to place the item onto a straight "Add to account" which relates to a Take 3 payment method.

I would usually call and/or have a webchat with SDFC's customer services and request items to be placed onto BNPL as I couldn't afford them been placed onto Take 3 as the system wouldn't allow me to select the 12 Month BNPL option. During these discussions the advisers wouldn't check my credit score and/or do any affordability assessments and/or check with the underwriting team why I wasn't aloud to place the order onto BNPL. They would simply override the system and place the item onto BNPL upon request of the consumer and quite a lot of orders have been placed onto BNPL because of this method.

Upon one of the latest items for a exceptionally high amount which was placed onto BNPL the adviser upon the time of transferring it to BNPL when I wasn't eligible informed me that a important script had to be read to me which the adviser never contacted me in relation to this and proceeded to put the item onto BNPL before reading this so called mandatory script. Obviously as the system already identified a issue via excluding me from BNPL I would take a educated assumption the checks were performed but agents ignored the exclusion of BNPL on the account and placed it onto BNPL anyways.

I'm currently arguing that SDFC haven't been a Responsible Lender via their advisers ignoring the fact that I wasn't actually eligible for the BNPL promotion due to their system doing a Credit Check on me in the background excluding me from that purchase option, and advisers transferring items to BNPL without sufficient Affordability and/or Risk Assessment checks to ensure it's affordable for myself.

I discussed this with the FCA prior to making a complaint with SDFC and they advised me of the Responsible Lending code specifically under the code CONC 5.2A (This part covers Responsible Lending) which organisations which are regulated via the FCA have to follow which SDFC is. They also advised me to make a formal complaint and usual procedures I.E obtain a Final Response and then go to the FOS (Financial Ombudsman Service).

As it stands I've currently raised a dispute based on the fact I don't believe SDFC has acted as a Responsible Lender via following the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) rules through their FCA handbook and outlined specific clauses within the FCA's Responsible Lending handbook which their Executive Customer Excellence Team is currently investigating to see what has happened.

I'm curious if anyone has been in this situation with SDFC and if anyone is in the same boat as myself.

DCFC79

I know for sure that your credit score wasn't used in any way to decline you, what was used was your credit report. which is what lenders see.

1974Marie

I knew once I had read this and scrolled back up it would have been written by a member with no posting history.

I have accounts with these. Can I double check what you are asking. You bought goods you could not afford and now you are blaming the retailer for giving you credit? Have I got that right?

sourcrates

You could have sent the items back within 14 days if you were unhappy, why didn’t you ?

boo_star

How would Take 3 be affordable (3 months interest free with 3 monthly repayments) but BNPL (12 months interest free with 1 repayment) not be?

This has to be one of the most ridiculous "unaffordability so want the debt wiped" claims I've seen for a while.

jlaw4

Your basically saying that you KNEW you couldn't afford the items on the account but because you'd twigged their customer service team was able to override the BNPL function you continued to amass credit with them?

They are regulated. They DID follow their responsible lending by NOT allowing you the function of BNPL online, YOU choose to call THEM and ask for it to be put onto it.

The only irresponsible person here is you. Go and seek some debt advice and stop adding to what sounds like quite a high amount of debt already.
This isn't shop directs fault, you deliberately found a way around their system to stop this from happening and now your in thousands of pounds worth of interest because you actually could never afford it.

Ian81

SDFCs Underwriting team informed me that they do checks with TransUnion and make decisions to offer BNPL or not based on risk if the option isn't there, the system has picked up a red flag on a individuals credit file so excludes the option of placing the item onto BNPL.

I was also informed by the underwriting team ic customers don't have the option to order items onto BNPL advisers shouldn't be transfering goods onto BNPL and they ain't aloud to.

Ian81

12 Month BNPL risks far more interest and longer repayment based on interest charged should their be a risk the customer won't pay it back.

The FCA believes that it's ultimately up to the elender to decide if something is affordable or not. I've been declined phone contracts that is responsible lending.

Willing2Learn

I'm sorry Ian, but you are not going to get a lot of sympathy and support on this forum, seeing how you circumvented the SDFC affordability policies, by complaining when you could not place a BNPL order.


I would though, be interested to know the outcome of your FOS complaint. I don't think that this is an example of unaffordable lending, as per the never-ending PayDay Loan sagas. Please let us know what happens, as it may help to advise on future threads when a similar subject is raised.

Ian81

Willing2learn I respect your opinions and everyone else's. I just believe SDFC policies shouldn't be changed they simply should not said you are not eligible and you need to return the product which I would of done.

Willing2Learn

Hello again Ian,

I thought I should try and add something helpful, so that you can learn how to budget properly, to prevent any future problems with your finances. (I am assuming that you have other accounts with whom you are in debt).

If you head on over to the Debt-Free Wannabe (DFW) board, then you can post up your Statement of Affairs (SOA), so that you can receive constructive advice, support and guidance on how to budget successfully.