This page covered the complaints and refunds process before Wonga went under on 30 August.
Events in August 2018
August 4 – Wonga forced to ask investors for £10million in funding as the cost of affordability complaints increases.
26 August – news reports that Wonga was in trouble.
- Sky News reported that:
Directors of the payday lender Wonga could appoint Grant Thornton as the company’s administrator within days, Sky News learns.
- Piece on Channel 4 News – including a Debt Camel reader talking about his situation.
August 30 – Wonga gives up and goes into administration
With Wonga in administration, complaints and refunds are now being handled differently, see Wonga – latest news of refunds for details.
That page will be kept updated, this one is now closed.
Much of the rest of this page is no longer relevant so the text colour has been changed to this.
Wonga affordability complaints before administration
If you had loans from Wonga that you struggled to repay, perhaps having to borrow again because you couldn’t afford the Wonga payment and get through the next month, then your loan may have been “unaffordable”.
You can ask for a refund of the interest you paid.
Slow complaints handling
Wonga sends a statement of your account without trying to charge you for it, but it can take a while. If you are trying to piece together your loan history from your credit reports or bank statements, old entries saying “Quickbridge” are Wonga loans.
The Financial Ombudsman’s rules say a firm is allowed 8 weeks to reply to a complaint. This clock starts running when you put your complaint in.
In summer 2018 Wonga is struggling to handle all the complaints. Here is a typical message people are being sent:
We’re currently investigating high volumes of complaints. If we can’t respond within our 8-week timeframe, we’ll contact you to explain the delay and let you know when you can expect a response.
If Wonga hasn’t answered after 8 weeks, take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman. Wonga will still be looking at your complaint and you could get an answer in the next few weeks.
Have you already had a refund from Wonga?
Wonga had a major refund program a few years ago. If you had a balance owing to them, this may have been written off at that point. They also made some small refunds in 2016 – out of the blue people had a letter saying they will be receiving £6.20 or £51 or some other random number.
You may still have a good case for your other loans being unaffordable – we have seen many people win affordability complaints after already getting a refund or a write-off. The more loans or rollovers you had before the one that was written off, the more you are likely to get a refund now.
Think of the write-off as being the first part of your refund.
Sometimes Wonga makes reasonable offers… but often it doesn’t!
Sometimes Wonga makes good offers, some of them very large:
- John was worried when he was told his case had been referred to their legal team, then a couple of weeks later he got a refund of over £10,000;
- in September 2017, Danny Boy was very happy to accept an offer of £11,934.
However, Wonga rejects some excellent cases, which are then upheld by the Ombudsman. Examples include: Rob got £3,000; Lou got £500; Mart got £6,455. So if your complaint is rejected, don’t assume it is a bad case and give up!
Making a random small offer
And sometimes Wonga offers to just refund on a few loans picked at random from the loans you had. When challenged they have no explanation for why they are offering to refund those particular loans, they just say that’s their offer. With these cases you can do a lot better by waiting for a decision from the Ombudsman:
- Wonga offered Tony £818 for just two loans – the Ombudsman said that all loans should be refunded – £4,800
- Ross had 60 loans from wonga over 5 years. Wonga only offered to refund one loan – £26. He went to the Ombudsman and got a refund on 54 loans – £4,650.
Sometimes refuses to pay out on loans after 2014
Wonga often refuses to pay out on loans after they changed their lending policy in 2014. It’s true that they made a lot more bad loans before that, but they are not getting all the decisions right now!
Many people are getting good refunds via the Ombudsman for these recent loans.
Don’t rush to accept an offer if it misses off a lot of loans
We have also seen people accept an offer from Wonga but then regret it when they realise it is only for three loans. If you are made an offer, sit back and think for a few days if it is good enough.
Could you lose a Wonga offer by going to the Ombudsman?
If you are offered some money but it’s a lot less than the interest you paid, you may be worried you could end up with nothing if you reject it and go to the Ombudsman.
So far we haven’t seen any case, from Wonga or any other lender, where someone who was offered a refund ended up with less by going to the Ombudsman.
Wonga are arguing about loans over 6 years
The Ombudsman’s rules say that complaints have to be made within 6 years, but there is an extra rule that says a complaint can be made later if you have only become aware of the problem within the last 3 years.
Wonga is refusing to pay out on loans over 6 years old. Other lenders have now accepted the ombudsman’s decision that they can look at older loans as people have only recently heard about these affordability complaints.
At the moment Wonga and the ombudsman are arguing over a few test cases and everyone else with loans over 6 years is just waiting until these test cases are resolved. I hope this will be soon!
If most of your loans are within 6 years and only a few are older, you may want to agree to drop the older loans to speed up your case.
Comments on this article are now closed.
See Latest news on Wonga refunds for what is currently happening and the comments there.
Fazza says
Hi.
I have been offered a refund of approx £600 but it looks like they have just picked some random loans to uphold. They have upheld something like 8 out of 40 loans.
Do you think I should go to FOS or tell them to reconsider their offer.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They won’t reconsider. Are any of the loans over 6 years old? If so, how many?
Anna McWhirter says
I am in the 8th week of my complaint from Wonga and the outcome is as follows :
Having looked in detail at your complaint and the information we had access to when we made our lending decisions, we have not found any indication that your loans were unaffordable. On that basis, we are unable to uphold your complaint.
Are there any templates that I can use to contact the ombudsman to take this further?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The main payday loan refund page https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/ looks at how to send your complaint to the Ombudsman. You can just use what you said before to Wonga or you might want to add some extra bits, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-refund-complaint-detail/
ash says
Sara, last week the Adjudicator ruled in my favour that 32 out of 40 loans with Wonga were irresponsible.
Wonga have since come back and not agreed with the outcome, and written a load of nonsense about how they could never detect problem gambling etc, or other payday loans that have not been disclosed at time of application, although admitted, most applicants are unlikely to declare this when applying for a payday loan.
They then accepted 4 loans were irresponsible and made me an offer of £500. I would be due much more should the 32 loans the adjudicator ruled irresponsible get settled. Do you think its wise to take this to ombudsman for a final decision, and is there now chance that if the ombudsman rules in Wongas favour I will receive no refund at all?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, I do think you should go to the Ombudsman. Borrowing 40 times should have been a HUGE warning to Wonga that something was very wrong and they should have stopped lending or looked into your situation more carefully – if they had asked to see your bank statements they would have noticed the gambling!
The most common decision by the ombudsman is to agree with the adjudicator. Sometimes the ombudsman makes a small change – perhaps saying you should have 25 loans refunded – or 35! It is VERY rare for the ombudsman to make a very different decision and they never seem to say less than what the Wonga has offered here, so you aren’t going to risk the £500 by going to the ombudsman.
Nat Garvey says
It has taken Wonga 2 and a half weeks to decide that my loans were affordable; but they have decided to refund 5 out of 6 loans (with 8% interest). I have accepted the decision today as there is only a difference of £20 or so from my own calculations. If it wasn’t for Sara and this website, I wouldn’t have even known this was possible. I have several complaints, some are still with lenders and some have gone to the FOS. The money will be going straight on to my outstanding debts.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Good to get a reasonable offer so quickly!
Richard Harrison says
Got paid by Wonga yesterday and only took 3 days,good result.
Craiggy says
Hello,
I took wonga loans out all throughout 2011- jan 2012. At which point I agreed with them to settle the capital amount due to my financial difficulty. During this time the loads went from £50- £1100 each month borrrowing more and more. In total it was probably about 25 loans. I was having to borrow more each mo th due to the interest I was being charged each month.
I sent my complaint letter last week after find out out I may have a case but they had responded today to say that they will not consider my case as it is over 6 years and I did not complain within 3 years of taking out my last loan. Will taking this matter forward with the ombudsman be worthwhile? Or should I have wrote to them by jan 2015? I’ve only just discovered that the FOS decided the loans were unfairly offered.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
Craig
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Nobody knew they could make these complaints in January 2015. The first affordability complaints started going to the Ombudsman in autumn 2015!
I think you should send the case to the ombudsman. the FOS thinks it can look at older loans and some lenders have agreed and are paying out, but not Wonga so far. It may take a VERY long while, but so what, you could get a nice surprise at the end of it.
Ben s says
I have been contacted today by Wonga saying I should have been aware my loans were unaffordable and complained within 3 years of the 6 year limitation that has now expired. They knew they were unaffordable as they wrote off the last loan of circa £1000. I believe I paid circa £4000 in interest. Shall I make them an offer for full and final settlement or go straight to ombudsmen and wait?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Straight to Ombudsman, they won’t consider a settlement offer.
Lauren says
Hi,
Can anybody help?
I had taken out various payday Loans with Wonga and Quickquid over a few years (i think between 2010-2014). I did complain directly to both Wonga and Quickquid about still offering loans without suitable affordability checks, my complain to them was back in June 2017. Both Wonga and Quickquid refused my complaints but after just relooking at them myself I think i have grounds to go to the Financial Ombudsman, however in the final responses refusing my complaint it does state
“This is our final response, however if you are not satisfied with it, you have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, free of charge but you must do so within six months of the date of this letter.
If you do not refer your complaint in time, the Ombudsman will not have our permission to consider your complaint and so will only be able to do so in very limited circumstances. For example, if the Ombudsman believes that the delay was as a result of exceptional circumstances.”
Well i had my first baby in August 2017 so lost track of everything and have only just been able to review this again.
Does this mean i have lost my right to go to the Financial Ombudsman?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes you are well beyond the 6 month limit, assuming you got your rejections after 8 weeks which would have been in August… But having had a baby that month is worth saying as a reason! Attach some proof (birth certificate?) to your ombudsman complaint and get it in today!
charlotte says
i borrowed 69 loans from 2013-2017 which did go up in amount and were every month or sometimes 3 in a month at a lower amount.
i’m not sure i even have a case but i did end up borrowing off family and borrowing again off them to have enough money for food etc.
i have just sent the second letter to wonga and was wondering how long they seem to take to reply? and if so how likely are they settle it without it having to be taken further?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“i borrowed 69 loans from 2013-2017 which did go up in amount and were every month or sometimes 3 in a month at a lower amount.” that sounds like a very strong case to me!
They normally respond at the end of the 8 weeks. It seems random who gets a good offer, who gets a poor offer and who gets rejected – but unless you get a good offer you should be sending your case to the ombudsman!
Mark says
I rang the fos 3 weeks ago to see what was happening. With my complaint which I sent at the start of may and found out nothing was happening because there was a few loans over 6 years, I asked her to remove them so the process will be quicker, does anyone know roughly how long until I get assigned to an adjudicator now, thanks a lot
Ruby says
I have borrowed £14,000 off wonga in 51 loans and sunny 38 loans £8,000 shocking when you got through your credit file!! I have gone through a claim company (which I wish I hadn’t now, but too late as 3 months in now) sunny offer me £40 back on 1 loans, no joy off wonga yet. My wonga loans started from January 2014 and sunny 2015….don’t know what to expect back but hope is all good, wish I had found your site earlier now
Ruby says
My claim company requested my credit score now which I have sent, they have asked now for my wage slips and bank statements from 3 months, not sure I want to send these 2 other requests, what shall I do ? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
By this stage you are probably wondering what the point of using a claims firms is if you have to do all this work. But if you are asked for this information, you need to provide it. Though if you don’t have the payslips, just say so!
Stan hood says
Just reading that Wonga are likely to go into admin soon……what does this mean for ongoing complaints? Will they not be followed through? Thanks in advanxe
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s not definite yet
Some firms have gone out of business in an orderly way and still paid out on compensation. Some have paid for a while then run out of money. Wonga will have significant reserves as the FCA has continued to allow it to trade. This is all speculation at the moment…
Stan hood says
Ok thank you 🙏🏽
Christopher says
I recently made a complaint to Wonga after reading about it on this website. It makes tough reading for me when it’s down in black and white but I received a total of 74 loans from Wonga, which includes top ups, from 2011 to 2016.
I’m not sure on the amount borrowed and the total interest paid back as I had to sift through my online banking statements but I paid back a total of £5811.00.
2011 – 23 loans £1651
2012 – 11 loans £480
2013 – 11 loans £644
2014 – 17 loans £1681
2015 – 9 loans £985
2017 – 3 loans £370
I received an email back about a week after making the complaint stating they had received it and then a further email on the 21st August stating they would hopefully have an outcome within the next 42 days.
What is the likelihood I will receive anything back? If it is accepted based on the figures above what sort of offer would be acceptable? And finally if it’s rejected is it worth taking to the ombudsman? I understand a lot of people out there have paid a lot more than I have and wonder whether it’s a waste of people’s time?
Thank you so much for the help you have given with regards to this, you guys are brilliant!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I can’t guess what is likely to happen – see new article https://debtcamel.co.uk/wonga-about-to-go-into-administration/
All you can do is wait and see what Wonga reply to you – at that point things should be clearer.
Christopher says
Thanks Sara, after today’s news I’d be surprised if I even heard back from them! Good luck everyone else with your claims.
Jade says
Hello all
Sara I have followed this forum for months and I put a claim in with Wonga, they go back to me today and offered a fair offer I have accepted.
Success story, it does Work guys, just be patient and persistent!
Mark says
I rang the fos 3 weeks ago to see what was happening. With my complaint which I sent at the start of may and found out nothing was happening because there was a few loans over 6 years, I asked her to remove them so the process will be quicker, does anyone know roughly how long until I get assigned to an adjudicator now, thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Some people have had an adjudicator assigned almost immediately after dropping the over 6 year loans – but they had been waiting a long time. As you complaint was only at the end of May, you are only now up to time when a “normal” complaint would have been picked up. So sometime in the next month is my guess.
Darren says
So – over a year after making the complaint to FOS, they’ve ruled in my favour.
There were 6 loans they argued were outside of the 6 year limit, which to speed things up last august I chose to skip, leaving 32 loans still to query.
They have said 26 of those should not have been issued, so interest and fees are to be repaid, along with 8% per loan per year.
The have 14 days to argue it (we’re currently on 1yr 4 mth), and then however long it’ll take them to refund it.
That’s the last lot now!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Comments on this page are now closed. I have moved a couple of the very recent ones to Latest News on Wonga Refunds which has up to date information.