Nairobi, Kenya – The High Court has ordered Equity Bank to pay KSh1,080,000 in damages to a customer after the lender lost a car logbook used as collateral for a KSh500,000 loan taken in 2015.
According to court records, Pauline Wanjiku Njenga secured the loan from Equity Bank on March 19, 2015, by depositing a logbook for a vehicle, registration KAU 205B. Although the logbook was registered under Anne Wangari Gitonga, Wanjiku was in the process of purchasing the vehicle and using it for business. A sale agreement was provided to prove partial ownership.
After fully repaying the loan in 2016, Njenga requested the return of the logbook, only for the bank to admit it had misplaced the document. Equity claimed it had reported the loss to Thika Police Station and had started the process of replacing the logbook, but accused Njenga of frustrating the process by failing to present the registered owner.
Njenga denied these claims, saying Equity had agreed to the loan terms after reviewing her sale agreement and failed to notify her about the loss. She later filed a civil suit in 2019, arguing that the missing document hindered her ability to access new credit and caused financial losses.
An earlier ruling awarded her KSh4.68 million for the bank’s three-year delay, but Equity appealed. In the appeal ruling, Justice Florence Muchemi found the bank liable for only one year’s worth of damages, awarding KSh1.08 million.
