The repayments on many loans and car finance are too high to be manageable so people get deeper into debt trying to repay them. This includes bank loans and loans taken for consolidation
This article describes how to complain, with templates. Many people have used them and got refunds – see the comments below.
If you win your complaint you will get the interest refunded or – if you still owe a balance – removed so you only have to repay what you borrowed. these complaints do not hurt your credit record.
The complaints here do not apply to mortgages.
You can also use this approach for logbook loans and car finance. But if you are still paying car finance, you may have a better option than an affordability complaint, so read HP/PCP car finance problems first. And then read Car finance affordability – what you get if you win a complaint.
If you have a guarantor loan, read Refunds from guarantor loans as it’s very different, and the guarantor may be able to complain as well.
Contents
Refunds from unaffordable loans – what is unaffordable?
A lender should have checked when you applied that a loan is affordable for you. The regulator says “affordable” means:
you can make the repayments without hardship or having to borrow elsewhere.
This applies to most forms of loans except mortgages, including large, long term loans, logbook loans and car finance.
It isn’t just for “bad credit” loans – you can win a complaint about an unaffordable loan from a high street bank. But as bad credit loans have very high interest rates, they are more often unaffordable.
For payday loans, it’s hard to get a refund if you only had one or two payday loans. That is because those loans are usually small so the lender doesn’t have to make good checks for the first few loans.
But the good news is that for larger and longer-term credit, the lender should have made better checks at the start!
Making a complaint and asking for a refund
Email addresses for lenders
It’s easiest if all communications are by email – free, instant and you have a copy with a date stamp to show the ombudsman.
For banks, see this list here: email complaint addresses for banks.
For car finance and logbook loans, see this list: email address for car finance lenders
Here are the email addresses to use for some larger non-bank lenders. There are a lot of other lenders, including many Credit Unions. If your lender is not listed you can still complain, look at the lender’s website to find how.
Abound (used to be Fintern) complaints@getabound.com
Admiral loansquality@admiralgroup.co.uk
Anico complaints@anicofinancialservices.com
Avant Credit emailcomplaints@avantcredit.co.uk
Bamboo Loans complaints@bambooloans.com
Better Borrow enquiries@chetwood.co
Everyday Loans – for loans after 31 March 2021 that date, a normal complaint can be made to complaints@everyday-loans.co.uk using the template in this article. It is no longer possible to make complaints about loans before that date
Fair Finance complaints@fairfinance.org.uk
Finio Loans (rebrand of Likely Loans) complaints@oakbrookfinance.com
Fluro (used to be Lending Works) cx@fluro.co.uk
JN Bank complaints@jnbank.co.uk
Koyo loans info@koyoloans.com
Lendable complaint@lendable.co.uk
Lifestyle Loans info@lifestyleloans.co.uk
Likely Loans – see Finio
LiveLend support@livelend.co
Loans by Mal (Monthly Advance Loans) Complaints@loansbymal.co.uk
Loans 2 Go read Loans2Go – how to complain
Match The Cash / Sharemyloan rob@matchthecash.com
MBNA mbnaonlinecomplaints@mbna.co.uk
Moneyline headoffice@moneyline-uk.com
Moolr admin@moolr.co.uk
My Community Bank complaints@mycommunitybank.co.uk
Novuna (used to be called Hitachi) ComplaintsTeam@NovunaPersonalFinance.co.uk
Plend complaints@plend.co.uk
Progressive Money complaints@progressivemoney.co.uk
Quick Loans customerscare@quickloans.co.uk
Reevo complaints@reevomoney.com
Salary Finance (Neyber) complaints@salaryfinance.com (for loans, not “pay advance”)
Savvy info@savvy.co.uk
Shawbrook Customercare.team@shawbrook.co.uk
Snap Finance customer@snapfinance.co.uk
TM Advances info@tmadvances.co.uk
Updraft complaints@updraft.com
Vanquis customer.relations@vanquisbank.co.uk
Zopa complaints@zopa.com
118 118 Money complaints@118118money.com
If your loan has been sold to a debt collector, you send your complaint to the original lender not the debt collector.
Start the complaint using this template
Email the lender to begin your complaint. Put AFFORDABILITY COMPLAINT as the subject of your email.
Template for you to adapt:
Can you please confirm the date(s) this loan started, the amount, the interest rate and the monthly repayments. [don’t include this if you already know the information]
I am asking you to refund the interest and any charges I paid, plus statutory interest, and to delete any negative information from my credit record. [the refunds for car finance can be a lot more complicated than this, see but this is all you need to put in your complaint]
I also want the CCJ that I have for this debt set aside. [delete this sentence if you don’t have a CCJ!]
I attach copies of my bank statements and credit report from the time I applied for this loan/these loans. [delete if you don’t yet have them yet, but they help your case if you do. Even if they show gambling, that supports your argument the loan was unaffordable.]
I didn’t know that the lender was supposed to check that I could repay the loan without having to borrow more. I only found out in [2022] when I saw a newspaper article in the Sun/an advert on Facebook for refunds/a friend said they had made a complaint/whatever. So I am complaining within 3 years of having found out that I have cause to complain. [only put this paragraph if some of your loans are more than 6 years old. It explains why you haven’t complained before. It’s only an example so change it so it really covers what happened to you!]
Add extra information if you want – see below for some ideas – you don’t have to do this.
If you want an affordable payment arrangement now, add a sentence to the complaint saying this. A payment arrangement is often a good idea as these complaints can take a long while to sort out so a payment arrangement gets your finances into a safe place while this gets sorted:
- a payment arrangement shows on your credit record, but if you win the complaint all negative marks will be deleted
- talk to a debt adviser such as National Debtline if you want to know more about payment arrangements
- but a payment arrangement for car finance or a logbook loan puts your car at risk, so you probably have to keep paying the normal monthly payments for that sort of debt.
Other details you can add if you want
The template above is fine, you don’t have to add a lot more details. I am not even sure some lenders read what you write!
It is better to write a short complaint summarising your problems than send pages telling the lender stuff they already know. For example, the lender doesn’t need a list of the loans they gave you – they already know that.
But if you want, you can include extra points if they apply in your case, for example
- my bank statements and credit record (attached) show that I was unable to afford the loan repayments.
- this was a large loan, you knew I had poor credit and may have been in a difficult position so you should have tried to verify my income and expenses. If you had done this, you would have rejected my application.
- during a telephone call, your agent suggested some figures should be lower to get my application accepted.
- if the lender was your bank – you should have seen from my bank account that I was in financial difficulty – mention if you were using your overdraft a lot or also had a credit card from the bank that you were only making minimum payments to.
And some examples of points about top-ups:
- a credit check would have shown that my finances had got worse since the first loan
- you didn’t ask if my income or expenses had changed, and they had
- you didn’t ask for bank statements so you could check if the new repayments were affordable
- I had said the first loan was to consolidate debt, but you should have seen that this hadn’t happened.
Also read Lender says I lied. That looks at the various reasons why your application may not have been accurate. People have won complaints where they lied because they were desperate but there are other reasons too, so think what may have applied to you.
While you are waiting for a reply
While you are waiting for the lender’s reply, try to get copies of your bank statements from 3 months before a loan to three months afterwards. You can get statements from closed bank accounts, normally going back 6 years.
Also get a copy of your current credit report now and download it. You can get one from TransUnion. Do this as soon as possible as sometimes the details change, so you want a full one saved to show the Ombudsman later if necessary.
Do not wait until the Ombudsman asks you for credit records or bank statements – you want them ready to hand. They will really help your case as they prove your financial situation when you took the loan out.
You should get a response from the lender within 8 weeks. If you don’t, phone them up and ask when you will get it – a couple of days is worth waiting for but many responses are rejections, so don’t wait weeks for one, go to the Ombudsman straight away.
The lender replies – go to the Ombudsman if a poor offer
Don’t be put off by a rejection! Or if the lender said it was your fault because your loan application wasn’t accurate.
Sometimes a lender will send a long, complicated reply designed to make you look as though you should give up.
Lenders are obliged to do checks. For one small payday loan, these checks could have been brief. But for a large loan, the lender should have made sure they knew enough to be confident you could afford it, even if was your first loan from them. If they didn’t, send your case to the Ombudsman.
I suggest you rely on your gut feel – if you know repaying the loan caused you a lot of problems then it is worth sending the case to be looked at by the Ombudsman.
If you aren’t sure, ask what other people think in the Comments below this article. You only have 6 months to send the complaint to FOS, so it’s best to do this as soon as possible.
It isn’t usually worth trying to negotiate with these lenders, you are just wasting your time. Though Bamboo and Loans2Go are two exceptions who will often improve an offer.
Send to Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS)
It’s easy! Use the “do it online” option to send a complaint to the Ombudsman. It asks you for all the details they need.
The main part of your complaint can be a version of what you sent the lender in your complaint. Add any more details you want, including pointing out if you think there are errors in the lender’s reply. Also attach:
- the reply from the lender
- Trans Union statutory credit record
- bank statements starting 3 months before first loan.
Your complaint will first be looked at by an adjudicator. If either you or the lender rejects the adjudicator’s decision, it will then be looked at by an Ombudsman.
Are you missing information that may help your case?
Don’t delay sending a case to the Ombudsman while waiting for this information.
If you don’t have the bank statements from the time of the loan application, get them now. You can get these going back at least 6 years even from closed accounts. And you can often go back a lot further with an account that you are still using.
This is a good point to ask the lender for a Subject Access Request (SAR) if you are missing information that may come in useful at the Ombudsman. This could be your loan applications, all credit and other affordability checks and assessments, and a statement of account for the loans, and – if you think this may be relevant – a record of all phone calls.
Your lender will have details of how to ask for this information on their website – it’s often included in their Privacy Policy, with a link at the bottom of web pages.
“Is there a time limit?”
You can’t complain about a loan that started before April 2007 – that is when the law changed to allow these complaints. Older complaints can be harder to win as there may be less evidence about your financial situation when you took the loan. But with an older complaint, if the lender rejects it, you can send it to the ombudsman for a decision.
Lenders will often reject a complaint if the loan started more than 6 years ago.
The Ombudsman has a 6 year rule too – but it also has another rule that applies to older complaints.
The Ombudsman can look at any complaint made about something that happened less than 6 years ago or where you complained within 3 years of finding out you have a “cause to complain”. So if you have only just heard that a lender should have checked the affordability, you can take your complaint to the Ombudsman when the lender rejects it saying that it happened more than 6 years ago.
The ombudsman also has a 6 month rule. You have to send a complaint to the Ombudsman within 6 months of getting a rejection or a poor offer from a lender. So don’t delay!
Need some help?
Don’t use a claims management company. They are expensive and often incompetent and use a similar template to the one in this article. And if you still owe money, then you may just get the interest removed so you owe less… which is great, but you don’t want to have to pay a claims company in cash when you never had a cash refund to pay it from.
Instead ask a question in the comments below.
Beth says
My partner has just received £6300 from Sainsburys for several loans he had in a short period of time – 4 in total, where they allowed him to refinance and take others out to the point he was paying them about £800p/m for 3 loans at very high interest rates. Sainsburys of course declined initially saying they couldn’t go back further than 6 years, although FOS agreed to look back from the beginning as he had only just learned about irresponsible lending.
Sainsburys continued to fight it and rejected the case handlers decision (to uphold), sending it to an Ombudsman and once at that level, it was upheld in my partners favour (and very quickly).
If you’re contemplating sending to the FOS, you absolutely must – it takes less than 15 minutes to send the initial form and if my partner had taken Sainsburys final decision at face value he wouldn’t be £6.3K better off right now.
It’s certainly not the quickest process in terms of decision making as they’re so busy and sometimes a case handler decides not to uphold either BUT you should follow through to Ombudsman level and if you’ve got a strong case, you might just find yourself better off financially.
Thanks Sara!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
great result!
Christiana says
Hello Sara,
On March 26, 2024, I submitted claims for unaffordable loan lending to Halifax. The amount I owed was £15000 and was recently paid off with great hardship, however I believe it was unaffordable, which is why I filed a claim. I received a call from them today (4 April 2024), 7 days later, informing me that Halifax did not agree to my unaffordable loan application and had rejected my claim. Should I wait until I receive the formal letter from Halifax before submitting my claim to the Ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think it is better to wait for the letter. There may be some points in the letter that you want to inform the Ombudsman that you disagree with.
Wes says
Good afternoon, I have a quick query inregards to amigo.
I had a redress for thousand years ago, seen on here about a possible scheme. Managed to get a complaint in and upheld.
There was a payment they’d take off the readdress about ‘tax’? Or something like that.
I’ve had an email saying I’m being given some more back, with whatever the p in the £ will be.
Is there anything I could do in regards to the tax payment they took off from the original complaint?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
See https://debtcamel.co.uk/ppi-payday-refund-get-back-tax/. Amigo will send you a Certificate of Tax Deducted with the new figures you need
Wes says
Thanks for the reply.
I can’t quite remember what the deduction that took off was called, I do remember commenting it on this website before and you mentioning that it was odd that amigo were doing this to upheld complaints. A few others had had it aswell.
I’ve emailed them querying again, but as I said it was a few years ago now.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ah that was nothing to do with tax. That was a deduction for unpaid interest. Please as on the Amigo Loans Creditor Facebook group about this.
r says
Hi Sara,
I was a compulsive gambler from 2018 – 2022, During this time i had taken several loans, credit cards and constantly in the red with my Overdraft. I earnt a decent income of over £2000 and had no other commitments apart from a car. My question is does being a compulsive gambler reject any complaints that I put through as the unsecured lending was based upon my disposable income? I did take out Loans with my own bank too but i am worried if i make a complaint they will close my account down.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This article looks at how gambling affects affordability complaints https://debtcamel.co.uk/gambling-refunds-loans-cards-overdrafts/
What is your current financial situation like? How many days a month are you in your overdraft?
R says
I am pretty much in my overdraft most months, i relapsed last month but am back on the mend and blocked all gambling activity.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you should be making complaints to your bank about th overdraft and loans.
And open a new account with a different bank where you have no history of gambling. You need a clean start for your banking.
James says
Had 1 of my complaints with Moneybarn upheld by them today at just short of the 8 week deadline. Didn’t agree with there fair usage calculation of over £5k for 21 months, especially as I know they sold the car for similar to what I paid after I returned it but happy to have the almost £10k outstanding cleared from my credit file and almost £1k refund.
A sencond complaint for a paid off agreement with them has been forwarded to the FOS as they refused to look at it as over 6 years old.
DTIM says
Hi Sara,
I had 3 credit cards with Newday (Fluid, BIP and Marbles). I made irresponsible lending complaints against Fluid which was closed in Aug, 2023 with zero balance and BIP (which Newday closed this card due to this complaint). To my surprise Newday upheld the complaints (including Marbles which was from years ago and I had forgot about). They have, or are in the process of refunding all fee and interest and have stopped charging interest on the balance of the BIP card.They’ve also said they will remove any negative impact from my credit file.
However, they are also saying that the did nothing wrong but are upholding the complaints and will not be refunding the 8% interest.
Question: is it worth bring this to the F.O.S? The 8% interest does not add up to a lot but I also want them to be told they were in the wrong.
Thanks
Dave
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They are refunding all interest? Or all interest after a certain date and credit limit?
Dtim says
I responded to their letter and asked, they said all interest and all fee except for the 8% interest.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
And ones the refund they are offering sound right for all interest and charges?
How large is it?
DTIM says
Hi Sara,
The refunds seem maybe less than what I would have expected but not by much. Over the weekend, my credit score dropped by 90 points as they have updated my accounts to ‘query’. The fluid card was paid in in Aug 23 – a week or two later the gave me 5p in credit for no apparent reason which has left this account as showing as open, despite me requesting the close it.
I think I’ll go to the FOS now as they have now negatively impacted my credit file.
Thanks
Dave
Sara (Debt Camel) says
the Query should not affect your credit score and should be removed now they have responded.
I suggest you phone up and ask why the account has not been closed.
DTIM says
Fluid said it was due to being in credit, (a whole whopping 5 pence they randomly added shortly after me clearing the balance and closing the account.) They’ve processed the £452 refund – though it’s not cleared into my account yet.
I had the card for about 18 months £300 limit for the first 6 months increasing to £1300 for the last year at 59% APR. Their response did not say how much interest was paid so I don’t actually know how much should be refunded – they did say all interest was refunded but forgive me if do not trust them…
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ask them to send you details of how much interest you paid every month.
Sara T says
Hi Ive had a response from natwest saying they don’t agree with my complaint for several loans, I was using several loans, credit cards and payday loans there was no late payments but only minimum payments made. They have said as they do a credit check and ask for income and expenditure if theres no automatic flags they don’t need to check and so don’t agree, baring in mind some or the catalogues and credit cards have upheld and refunded, is it worth ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How many loans did you have? Did one repay the previous one? Did the amounts or interest rates go up?
Sara T says
There were 7 from 2017 to 2022 all been repaid and dont know interest rates but borrowing amounts went up each time. Some were 2 loans at a time all debt consolidation. They just said its on me to of afforded them.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
straight to the Ombudsman! Natwest should have noticed how the amounts were rising , suggesting the loans were not helping you
Sara T says
Ok thank you, do we know how long wait times are with them?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They all seem reasonably short at the moment – a few months. Are you struggling?
Sandra says
Hi Sara,
Thanks for all your hard work. I’ve just put in some emails for refunds on the interest. I wanted to check if you are still paying off the loan but it’s sent to debt collectors, so you can request that you now pay the loan back to them? Also would you still be paying interest on it? If they do accept that I can pay the loan back to them and not the debt collectors, would that be on the original repayment agreed upon when taking out the loan? The reason I ask is because I’m currently paying the debt collectors lower than the monthly payments I was paying the loan company. And I’d want to increase what I’m paying at the moment but couldn’t afford to repay the original monthly sum when the loan was taken out.
I may be ahead of myself as I’m only at the beginning of this process, but thought it’s better to know this now!
Thanks,
Sandra
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Your complaint goes to the original lender. If it is upheld by them, or by the ombudsman, the lender has to resolve your debt with the debt collector. They may buy back the debt. or they may adjust the balance with the debt collector.
EP says
Hello Sara
I have just a had an outcome from my investigator in favour of the bank regarding my loan and credit card complaints.
I found analysis of the investigator to be extremely weak, basically starting the bank had done nothing wrong despite offering my 6 loans and 2 credit cards within short period where the entire time I was heavily using my overdraft.
There appears to be no consistency with other rulings made by the FOS in similar cases and the investigator seemed to be more interested in my transactions involving eating out and clothing than the hundreds if not thousands of gambling transactions.
I have asked for my complaint to be reviewed by the Ombudsman but I am shocked by the extremely poor analysis undertaken by the investigator.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You have set out a short summary of what the investigator has missed /ignired?
EP says
Hello Sara
Yes, I have provided a summary of what I feel the investigator missed and/or ignored and asked that this be placed on my file for the ombudsman.
With one of the larger loans the investigator even said the bank didn’t carry out proportionate checks but still feels it was affordable for me so does not rule against the bank.
Fred says
sounds exactly like my complaint.
I’ve had a several and the investigators have been excellent and ruled in my favour.
but for one (which I feel is the largest) I am getting this standard response saying they didn’t check it properly but I could afford it. but I clearly couldn’t
Nikki says
I took out a £20,000 loan over 60months with lendable in 2021. My income was £1900 per month, I was always at my max overdraft of £1600 and had numerous credit cards maxed. The repayment on this loan is £500 per month. For a while I managed this but I was also gambling (transactions showing on my bank statements but these weren’t requested). Since then my debt has spiralled and I’ve taken out 2 further loans in June and August 2023 for 4,500 and 5,500 respectively. I am now at a point where I just can’t keep up. I’ve sent affordability complaints to all 3 companies this week and have already had a rejection from lendable saying they felt they carried out proportionate checks. I feel that the length and amount of the loan should have warranted further checks. My mental health has suffered terribly and although I took out the loans I do feel it was irresponsible of them. Should I go to the ombudsman? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s a very large loan. If this was the cause of a lot of your subsequent problems, yes go to the Ombudsman.
But if the interest is removed, will you still have difficulty repaying it? Sometimes it’s better to look at getting a clean start through insolvency. How much do you earn?
Nikki says
Thank you Sara. I’ve now paid off 34 out of 60 payments so almost £16,500 of the principal loan amount but the interest was £10,000 meaning there’s still £13,000 to pay and I just cannot manage like this for a further 2 years. If they’d take the interest off and let me pay the remaining £3,500 of the principal loan (even a slightly lower payment whilst I paid that off) then that would massively help.
My job has changed and my income has gone up but approx 75% of my monthly wage goes on paying loans and credit cards.
I would really prefer to no go down the insolvency route but I’m struggling.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then yes, go to the Ombudsman. But this can take many months to go through – as the amounts are so large it may be more likely that it has to go to the second Ombudsman stage. I strongly suggest you consider a debt management plan for all your debts to get you into a safe financial space while all your complaints continue. Winning any will really speed up the DMP and if you don’t win, then you are in a sustainable, improving situation.
Talk to StepChange about this.
Nikki says
Thank you for your advice Sara. And for all the help you give to people on here. Much appreciated
M says
Nikki, I was in an almost identical situation to you. £20k Lendable loan taken out in 2018 – had further borrowing after that.
Lendable rejected my complaint but I pushed on with it. I had 3 months’ bank statements prior to the loan being approved as evidence when I forwarded the complaint on to FOS, I also requested a SAR from Lendable – there is a section in the application form pages entitled ‘affordability checks’ and mine was completely blank. I also forwarded my credit report which showed I was already in a lot of debt when they approved the loan.
Lendable were difficult, they threatened me with a home visit from Fieldcall Limited – they already had medical evidence on their files from my GP re my mental health but they ignored it. I put in a further complaint about their behaviour and the home visit didn’t happen. The adjudicator at FOS upheld my complaint and £9k in interest and fees were wiped. I didn’t let them get away with their bullying tactics either, they awarded me £200 compensation which also reduced the balance to £3,500 which is now cleared
I waited around 2 months for an adjudicator to pick up my complaint. Either way, please get to the safe place that Sara advised. I know your anxiety levels, I’ve been there, but things will calm eventually. I really hope you get a good result, stay determined and best of luck.
Fred says
I have a complaint in with the investigator level.
I took a loan of £7k but at the time I had multiple large loans cards maxed out and always in overdraft.
although I never had missed a payment it was really tight finanically. the additional loan put me in negative position every month. I had debts larger than my annual salary (not including mortgage)
The Invesitagor says they didn’t check properly when giving me the loan but looking at my bank statements they said I can afford it so don’t uphold my complaint. However the bank statements previously are not a true relflection as it had a one off bonus so my pay was different for the 3 months due to the bonus and tax adjusting. The lender didn’t have access or request these bank statements when I applied. I have explained this but they don’t seem to agree.
I don’t agree with their findings and have asked for it to go to the ombudsman, do you think I have a case.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think from what you have said that you need to emphasise the unsustainability of maxed out credit cards which you were only making minimum payments to.
Fred says
Thank you Sara, I have sent them a copy of my credit file and have asked them to add some more info to my complaint.
mehrnoosh haghighat says
Hi
Thanks for all the help here.
I got a car finance through credit plus but they were not the lender and the middle person for the loan. the lender was R. RAPHAEL & SONS LIMITED which has gone into liquidation. can I still send a complaint form to them ? or shall I send it to creditplus as they were the credit intermediary ?
thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Raphaels are liquidated – there is literally no one to contact that would reply to you.
Send the query to creditplus – it isn;t known at the moment whether you will be able to make a claim against them, but at the moment you are just asking for information about whether there was any discretionary commission charged.
Lauren says
Hi I went to ombudsman as Updraft rejected my complaint. The adjudicator agreed with me and upheld my complaint updraft rejected their decision and is now waiting on the ombudsman to make the final decision. How long does it normally take to get allocated to ombudsman and do they normally agree with adjudicator? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s typically about 1-3 months at the momen. Can sometimes be very quick, can be longer
Lauren says
Hi Sara thanks for getting back to me. Does ombudsman from your experience normally agree with adjudicator?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, but it is really case by case