Have you had a catalogue, credit card or store card where your credit limit was too high? So high that the monthly repayments were hard to manage and you got into more debt?
Many people were originally given an OK limit, but the lender kept increasing them.
You may have a good complaint that the lender was irresponsible in allowing you to borrow so much that the debt was unaffordable.
This article explains how to complain and ask for a refund of the interest you paid
Contents
What is “affordability”?
The following is my summary of the regulator’s rules:
- a lender must check if credit is affordable when you apply for it. A mortgage lender will ask for bank statements, but a catalogue offering a £200 credit limit doesn’t have to go into so much detail;
- a lender should also make new checks when deciding to increase a credit limit;
- credit isn’t affordable if paying it leaves you short of money for your bills,everyday expenses, and your other debts;
- if you have to borrow more most months, this would not be affordable. This could be borrowing on the same account – making a credit card repayment but then using the credit card to pay for food so the balance never drops is “borrowing more”;
- you have to be able to repay the balance within a reasonable period of time. Paying the minimum amount is OK for a short while, but not for a prolonged period.
How to complain
Good reasons to complain
If the lender could see any of these on your credit record, they should probably have declined your original application:
- recent credit record problems: defaults, missed payments, or arrangements to pay, mortgage arrears, payday loans;
- you already had a different credit card with the same lender and they could see from that account that you were only making minimum payments and were using it for essentials like food and petrol;
- a level of borrowing that looks too high in relation to your income.
Your credit limit should not later have been increased unless you could afford it. In addition to the points above, the following should have also warned the lender you were in difficulty already:
- making minimum payments for a long while;
- using a lot of your limit for a long period;
- a lot of gambling showing on the account statement;
- recent missed payments or an arrangement to pay on this account;
- your overall level of debt on your credit record has gone up a lot.
If you were given two credit cards or two catalogue accounts by the same lender, often the second one should never have been given.
You don’t need all the details to complain
When your lender increased your credit limit, you don’t need the exact date. If all you can say is “you increased my credit limit several times” that is fine. You don’t need to ask for copies of all your statements – you would get a ton of paper!
But getting your credit record can help. You can’t go back and see exactly what your credit score was in say 2018, but take a copy of your current credit record as soon as you complain (get your free TransUnion statutory credit report). That will show what the pre-2018 problems were that the lender should have spotted.
Template to complain & the email address to use
The best way to complain is by email. It’s free, instant and you have a record of what you sent and when.
Some lenders want you to complete a form on their website instead. And for some lenders, you have to send a letter.
Here is a list of credit card and catalogue email addresses to use.
In the suggestions below, I’ve invented some examples for the bits in italics in brackets. You must delete or change these to tell your story.
I want to complain about irresponsible lending by you for my Barclaycard account number 987654/444. My date of birth is dd/mm/yy. The email address I used for this account was myaddress@whatever.com.
Then say they should never have given you the account:
You should never have allowed me to open an account with such a large credit limit. When I applied in 2015, you should have checked my credit record and you would have seen I had recent missed payments to a credit card and a default only two months before on a loan.
Or say that they should not have increased your credit limit:
You should never have increased my credit limit in 2015. At that time I had only made minimum payments on this credit card for a long while and/or I was using a very high level of my credit limit.
If you had properly checked my credit record before increasing my limit, you would have seen that in the two years since my account with you was opened, I had got additional late payment markers and defaults and/or taken out a lot of other credit. This should have warned you I was struggling with my finances and it was not responsible to lend me more. By increasing my credit limit you made my financial position worse. Instead you should have offered me forbearance by freezing the interest on the card.
I do not know the exact months of these credit limit increases. In your reply to this complaint, please tell me when the increases were and how much the limit went up to on each occasion.
If the lender should already have known you had problems with your account, mention these
You should also have realised that I was having difficulty because:
of the late payment charges you added to my account
of the gambling transactions showing on my card statement
I had missed two payments to you the year before in 2017
I had already asked you on the phone if it was possible to stop adding interest for a while.
End with asking for a refund:
I would like you to refund me all the interest I paid and any late payment charges from the point the account was opened
OR
I would like you to refund me all the interest I paid and any late payment charges after you increased my credit limit in 2018.
I would also like any late payment and default markers to be removed from credit records after this point.
I understand that if I take this complaint to the Financial Ombudsman, 8% simple interest is usually added to a cash refund.
Points to think about
Timing
These complaints can be made if your account is still open, or if it is closed and settled, or if it is with a debt collector (NB the complaint goes to the original lender, not the debt collector.)
You can complain if you already have a CCJ for the debt. Tell the lender you want the CCJ removed as part of the settlement of your complaint.
If you have had an IVA or bankruptcy after these problems, or if you are still in a DRO, then ask in the comments below, as this can be complicated.
Old accounts
The Financial Ombudsman (FOS) can only go back to April 2007, when the law changed to allow these complaints.
Many lenders will reject complaints about something that was more than 6 years ago and say the ombudsman won’t look at them. But FOS will often look at old problems if you have only found out in the last three years that you can make the complaint.
If your account was opened in 2015 but the lender increased your limit in 2018 and 2019, then the two limit increases are within the last 6 years and can definitely be looked at.
However, complaints about things that happened more than 6 years ago may be hard for you to produce much evidence for. But if you feel you have a strong older case and you have some evidence, then take it to the Ombudsman and let them decide!
An alternative approach for old accounts
If your account was opened a long while ago and you defaulted and still owe a balance, perhaps in a DMP, think about asking the debt collector to produce the Consumer Credit Act agreement for the account.
If the current creditor (not the original lender) can’t produce a proper copy of the agreement, the debt cannot be enforced in court and you can simply stop paying anything to it. This applies to all credit cards, store cards and catalogues.
It may be that the balance on the account is larger than any refund you might get. In which case if the CCA agreement cannot be produced, you would be better off.
Is a refund what you really need?
This depends how large your current financial problems are.
Complaining about newish debt will often only get the interest removed – you still have to repay what you borrowed. Don’t spend months arguing with lenders and going to the ombudsman and still be in a mess at the end even if you have won…
So phone National Debtline on 0808 808 4000, tell them you are thinking about affordability complaints but you would like to know what your other debt options are.
Poor reasons to complain
You can’t complain just because the interest rate was high or because you have paid them a fortune over the years.
A poor credit score on its own isn’t a reason why you shouldn’t have been given an account. But if your credit score was poor because you were having a lot of problems with your existing debt, the account should have been refused.
You won’t win an affordability complaint if something unexpected went wrong later in your life. If you had been managing a credit card fine for years but then you lost your job or separated from your partner and you defaulted, this isn’t the lender’s fault.
Don’t be put off by a rejection or a poor offer
Lenders often reject good cases
If a lender rejects your complaint or offers a low “goodwill” gesture, don’t be fobbed off – they want you to give up.
In particular, if the lender says you had made all the payments to them on time so they had no reason to think you had problems, you can ignore this. Or if the lender dismisses your complaint as the account was opened over 6 years ago.
When you have a Final Response from the lender – or after 8 weeks if you haven’t had a Final Response – send your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).
Is a “partial uphold” good enough?
If the lender says they should not have increased your credit limit in June 2018 when your limit was increased and they will give you a refund of interest for balances over the previous limit, that may sound good. It is sometimes called a partial uphold or a partial refund or proportionate interest.
But often the amount of money refunded in this situation is a lot less than you might expect. So tell the lender you want to consider their offer but need to know how large the refund will be.
Often you were already in a difficult financial situation at that point, with cards close to maxed out, being used for everyday essentials and only paying the minimums. At that point the lender should have stepped in and offered to help you by freezing all interest. That is why a partial refund is often not good enough, you should have all the interest refunded from that point.
How to send a case to FOS
Send FOS a complaint using their online form. You can just copy out what you put in your complaint to the lender but if the lender has rejected your complaint or given a poor offer, mention why you think this wrong.
If your credit record shows that you had other debt problems, send FOS a copy of it. If you have kept some, send the oldest one you have, otherwise send the current one. Also get your bank statements if they will support your complaint and send those to FOS too.
FOS is a friendly service but not fast. Just use normal English, not legal terms. Using a claims company or a solicitor doesn’t help or speed this up.
Ask questions below!
There are hundreds of comments from readers who are using this template. It’s a good place to see how these complaints often go and to ask any questions.
Nat says
Hello everyone! Just wondering if anyone has any complain details for Zopa? I am currently on a payment holiday
Sara (Debt Camel) says
complaints@zopa.com
Richard says
Hi, yesterday, using your template, I sent an affordability complaint for an old (2009) Nationwide credit card. I emailed to the address listed:
karlene.white@nationwide.co.uk.
Should I expect to receive any acknowledgement? I’ve had no reply and wonder if the email address is still in use for these complaints to Nationwide.
Cheers
Richard
Sara (Debt Camel) says
that remains the email address for complaints that Nationwide has listed on the FCA register. If you haven’t heard anything in 4 weeks, I suggest you phone up and aenquire about progress.
Richard says
Thanks Sara understood.
I think though, I’m going to additionally send it to them by post…I do love a letter! :-)
Have a great day.
ads says
Hi
Start of Feb sent irresponsible lending letter off to New Day for Fluid and Marbles cards.
Accounts were sold to Link Financial – however prior to them being sold I entered a DMP with Step Change.
I’ve called them today for an update, and the complaint has been upheld – Marbles £855 / Fluid £243 is to be refunded – this does not include 8% statutory as they state I was not put out of pocket.
This is also £400 lower than I originally calculated as from point of re-activation of Marbles and new fluid account total interest.
I expected the funds to be sent to me as I stated in my complaint “I would like you to refund me all the interest I paid and any late payment charges directly to myself and no third party, on BOTH cards from the point the Marbles account was re-activated (December 2020) and the Fluid account was opened.”, however the agent has told me this is being sent directly to Link Financial to reduce the balance of the debt, which is there policy regardless if I am in DMP / Financial Difficulty.
This refund would of equated to 12mths of payments directly to Step Change.
Can you please tell me:
1) Are they allowed to do this considering they’ve sold the debt to Link Financial – the agent states “NewDay still have an outstanding balance, even though it’s sold to Link so as a lender and for irresponsible lending we are obliged to reduce the debt by passing this to Link”
2) Should the 8% have been included?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, this is normal
They don’t normally add 8% unless the refund more than cleared the balance so you get a cash refund.
the refunds – do you think they are large enough? Are they full refunds or only partial refunds from an increase they agree they shouldn’t have given?
ads says
1) Marbles account originally in a payment plan until paid off – but then they issued a new card 29/12/2020.
From this date I calculate £499.88 interest and £96 in Fees (OL & Late) – they calculate: £156 OL, £72 Cash Adv, £579 interest – refund £855
2) Fluid gave me a card with limit of £900 in Aug 21, increased it to £1900 in Dec 21 then to £2900 in Apr 22. despite being more than 80% of limit on both cards.
From Aug 21 I calculate £838.55 interest and £48 in Fees – they calculate: £24 OL, £16 Cash Adv, £203 interest – refund £243.
Marbles sold with Bal £2931.50 and Fluid sold with Bal £1,363.57
The refund would pay off 4 of the 11 accounts giving an additional £55pcm to be split between the remaining 7 accounts
Sara (Debt Camel) says
well it sounds as though the refunds are inadequate and you nee to send this complaint to the Ombudsman.
But the refunds will be used to clear these specific debts, not paid to you.
ads says
Just went through statements again.
I cleared both cards off twice to a 0 during the history – which means 8% should be paid upto the point of zero balance (every little helps)
Also Going to FOS with:
Failed to address the agent pushing for additional funds whilst in Step Change DMP
By own admission, identified 2 defaults when Fluid card was issued BUT internal checks would show Marbles credit limit usage (80%+) & was in Payment Plans so Fluid card should never have been issued.
New Day state to contact them AFTER bal is cleared with Link to remove adverse info – As NewDay sold the Debt to Link Financial ALL instances of NewDay should be removed as Link Financial are now reporting.
Funds NOT be passed to Link Financial – New Day sold the debt to Link Financial (at a much lower price), as they no longer own the debt they should not be distributing refunds occured during contractual
transactions to a third party without agreement.
In addition to this as I am in a Debt Management Plan with StepChange the funds should be distributed to ALL creditors OR used to pay off balances of creditors to enable extra funding
being given to the remaining/clearing 4 current Creditors balances with this reinbursment frees up a minimum of £55pcm to be allocated to my remaining 7 creditors and essentially reduces the time frame of the DMP.
As the Debt was sold to Link Financial FULL and FINAL settlement could have been negotiated on at least one account
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The 8% point does not seem worth arguing about to me. The refunds only start to accumulate from the point where your limit was decided to be too high. If you had cleared a balance before then, it is irrelevant.
You won’t win the argument about the redress being passed to Link. This is normal. If the Link debt is in your DMP (is it?) then it makes no difference to the time to clear the DMP if it is distributed between the creditors or all to Link.
I suggest that the important point in your complaint is that the calculated redress is inadequate. Concentrate on what can make a significant difference.
Ruth says
Hi, I have a complaint logged with the FOS about Next Online and an investigator has been assigned. I submitted a complaint about affordability and how they put my credit limit up from £160 to £3500 in the space of 6 months. They agreed with my complaint but only offered to reduce the balance by £800 (account is currently with Lantern) and offered a Next voucher!
I was just wondering what people’s experiences were with a) timescale of complaints once with the FOS and also b) successful outcomes with Next Online.
Thanks in advance xx
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How long has the account been at 3500?
Offering a Next voucher is a cheek.
Ruth says
Since about 2019. I defaulted quite quickly as the repayments were unmanageable. I have paid the odd small token payment towards it since then via a DMP but barely dented it. I checked with Lantern this week and they have reduced the balance by the £800 they offered even though I didn’t accept anything and informed them of my intention to refer to the FOS so the balance is now about £2500. Thank you
Katie says
Hiya, I was wondering if I can get some help! I submitted an affordability complaint to PayPal about PayPal Credit and also how they are recording my debt.
I got my final response letter and sent it to the ombudsman, the investigator has come back and said they don’t believe they can help –
‘In your case, the account was opened in October 2017 and the limit was increased in May 2018 – this means PayPal were covered by our Voluntary Jurisdiction.
That being said, PayPal withdrew from our Voluntary Jurisdiction in December 2022. This means that any complaint about a lending decision that took place whilst they were covered under our Voluntary Jurisdiction had to be made before they withdrew as a member. By this, I mean the complaint had to be made before 1 December 2022.
Your complaint was made to us in March 2024, which was after PayPal withdrew from our Voluntary Jurisdiction. As a result, we can’t look at your complaint.‘
Has anyone else had the same? I don’t know where to go from here.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
FOS do have a problem looking at olde PayPal cases. This is what they told someone else:
The rules that applied at the time PayPal lent to you changed in January 2021, after the United Kingdom left the European Union. It meant that PayPal had to apply for permission to operate in the United Kingdom and give access to the Financial Ombudsman Service from that point on – but not for acts that happened before January 2021.
That date, January 2021, is before the date you were told of December 2022. But it is still well after the dates that are important for your claim. I doubt you can progress this.
Katie says
That’s what I thought about affordability. Thank you! They are still recording most payments as missed payments on my credit file, they never defaulted me and I have been in a payment plan with them since 2019. They have never had a missed payment, just less from the DMP. If they did have to rejoin after 2021, do you think this means this part of the complaint could be looked at? They refused to instead add a default at the beginning. Hope that makes sense!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Go back to them and say that PayPal re continuing to incorrectly report to your credit record to the credit reference agencies, every month, so can this be looked at?
Katie says
Will do, thank you!
R says
Hi Sara,
I was wondering if it’s worth putting a complaint through to MBNA who offered me a credit card back in 2017 with a credit limit of £7000.00, at this time it can clearly be seen on my Bank statement i had several gambling transactions, as well as this i was in a spiral of debt with other lenders which can be seen on my credit report, you will also find i was chasing at this time. Having been at the upper limit of my £5.5k on my credit card in Jan 2018 MBNA increased my credit limit to £10k and straight away i used this to do a money transfer again during this time i was consistently gambling and had revolving debt. during this time as well, Over time i have stopped gambling and my parents helped me clear the card in 2022. Is this a good case to put forward? I still currently have a balance of the credit card and don’t want it closed but is this what MBNA will do if i am successful / unsuccessful with the complaint?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you have old credit reports showing your situation in 2017?
R says
No i don’t think i do, if i used an online report agency coukd i obtain this, i do however have bank statements.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ok old bank statements will help as the growing payments to other cards will show there.
So this is worth a complaint. Expect MBNA to reject so it has to go to the Ombudsman.
If you don’t have my problems with the card now, add a sentence to the complaint saying that you haven’t had any problems with the card since 2022 when you were Gifted an amount to clear it, so you would like to keep the open.
r says
Hi Sara,
MBNA Called today and said they will not be upholding my complaint because it is time – barred. They advised they will email the final response letter, i am assuming it’s time to go to the ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes it is.
There may be quite a wait as the Ombudsman is conducting some review about when it can go back further than 6 years, but just send the complaint in.
R says
Hi sara, responce from mbna,, if you realised you had a reason to complain later, you needed to have told us within three years of that time.
As you applied for your credit card in May 2017, you needed to let us know about your concerns by May 2023. Because you didn’t get in touch with us by this date, we’re not taking any complaint about us giving them the account any further. We’re also not going to review any credit limit increase that happened more than six years ago for the same reason.
Based on what we know, we believe you would have been aware about any concerns shortly after the account was opened, during the term of the agreement, or at the latest, when we last increased your credit limit in January 2018. In view of this, it’s reasonable to think you ought to have realised the credit card account wasn’t affordable at that time and would have had cause to complain about this in the past. It is also reasonable for you to have been aware we may have got something wrong by giving you the credit card and been at least partly responsible for what’s happened with the account. Based on all these factors, we consider the three-year limit has already ended.
What we have considered for your complaint
As we received your complaint earlier this month, we won’t be reviewing anything that’s happened with your account before April 2018.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
As I said, MBNA will normally reject an “old” complaint so this has to go to the ombudsman. They haven’t said anything unusual in that response.
Judith says
Hi there, NewDay have upheld my complaint since I submitted evidence backdated to 2015. They’ve refunded approx £9066 in total but it leaves a balance of approx £4000 . I can’t work out if the figure is a good offer or not . However The letter says
“ Upon receiving the terms and conditions of the account, you would have been able to see all the information, including interest rates and charges. Signing the credit agreement meant you had read, fully understood and agreed with the terms and conditions for your Opus and Marbles Mastercard accounts.
Please be advised that NewDay Ltd rebranded from SAV Credit in 2014. As a result, your Opus and Marbles account was transferred to NewDay in 2014.
As part of acquisition of Opus and Marbles, it was understood that the administration of the accounts up until this point had complied with industry guidelines.
I can confirm your Opus account ending with xxxx was opened on 10 July 2008 and Marbles account ending with xxxx was opened on 31 January 2003. Therefore, due to the time elapsed since you opened your account, we do not have a record of the details of your application as the account opened more than six years ago.”
Based on this information
I have requested a copy of the original consumer credit act agreement in 2003 and 2008.
Can I assume if this can’t be produced the remaining balance on my 2003 card cannot be enforced ?
Thanks in advance .
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes that is correct. But the loan stays on your credit record for 6 years after a default or settlement. if hit hasn’t defaulted, then when you stop paying a default will be added.
Judith says
Thank you 🙏
Currently my account is up to date with a pay down plan in place based on the original balance. £473 a month .
Can I request a new pay down plan based on the new balance now the refund of £9066 is applied without it impacting my credit record ? Or – would it be marked as an arrangement to pay – bearing in mind my affordability complaint was upheld ? I’m keen not to impact my 5 yr clean credit record . With Many thanks – a huge help ! :)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you can ask Newday to confirm they will delete all negative marks from your credit record when the balance is cleared. Then carry on with the current repayment plan..
But you cant Stop paying.
Heather Newton says
I submitted a complaint to Vanquis at the beginning of February and they have emailed to advise that they apologise that they have not returned with any update within this time and that I can now refer to the ombudsman. They have advised they aim to have an update within 2 weeks, should I wait the 2 weeks or refer to the ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would send it now.
Jason says
Hi Sara, did you manage to get any info on this statement that some of us have been receiving from the FOS? Thanks
Since we last spoke, an internal decision has been made to place certain complaints on hold whilst we review our approach to these complaints. This is due to a recent ruling that impacts the way we consider complaints.
This means that your complaint is currently on hold whilst we look into this. I do apologise for this, as I’m unable to provide you with a date for when we can review things. However, as a Service we feel this is the right thing to do for the consumer.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
All I have found out is that there is some form of review ongoing.
Jason says
OK thank you
D says
Hi Jason
For your complaint, is this to do with jurisdiction (over 6 years old) ?
e says
Hi Sara
I sent three affordability complaints:
Nationwide have rejected: ‘We cannot see we have done anything wrong’; For background, they approved a credit card one month after I applied for a Barclaycard credit card with a £5000 limit (I had been left a single parent with post natal depression and I can see it was irresponsible on my part). I banked with Nationwide, so they could see that my earnings were very low and I had other credit.
Shop Direct/VERY have written: ‘Shop Direct Finance considers this complaint is outside the jurisdiction of the FOS’ (last credit increase was 2017). Lowell, who bought the debt in 2020, have ignored my complaint against which points out I’ve been repaying this debt monthly via Step Change since 2018 (no spending) at approx’ £28 per month but the current balance is higher than the default balance Lowell recorded 3 years ago. I have two accounts with Lowell – only one CCA for Shop Direct/VERY has been provided.
Link Financial (bought debt from Barclaycard) responded on their behalf. They maintain they’ve provided a complete CCA. Though no credit limit has been provided, this is fine. Irresponsible lending won’t be upheld as the original lender conducted all necessary checks prior to accepting an application. I had late plus missed payments on two other separate credit accounts when I applied for the credit, however.
Feeling despondent. Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send the Nationwide one to the ombudsman.
Are you asking for a CCA at the same time? That is simply confusing.
SD – did you have two Very accounts? or one Very and a Littlewoods?
Have you made an affordability complaint to Barclaycard?
e says
Hi Sara
Thank you – I will send Nationwide to Ombudsman. It is out of the 6 year time frame but Nationwide didn’t mention that.
I requested CCA’s and statements for all my debts in December. I then read on here about affordability complaints and I submitted two out of my three debts, last month.
I had one VERY/ShopDirect account plus a Debenhams credit card both sold to Lowell in 2020 when I lost my job. Only one CCA provided for VERY.
I have made the affordability complaint to Barclaycard which they (Link Financial) have said it will not uphold on the basis that Barclaycard undertook all the necessary checks when I applied.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you had a reply from Barclaycard itself?
e says
No, I haven’t. I did send the complaint direct to Barclaycard and CC’d Link into the email.
Do you think I have a legitimate complaint against Lowell concerning my balances. My balance is higher now than it was 3 years ago, despite paying £28 monthly via Stepchange and no spending. Had you not advised me to look at my reports held with the 3 CRA’s I’d never have realised. I asked them for an explanation some 4 weeks ago but no response. I also reminded them I’d been waiting 5 months for a CCA for the second account held with them but no response.
I need to secure more appropriate accommodation for my children and I and am so desperate to repair my credit score. Hence trying whatever I can to reduce debt or have defaults removed.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Don’t cc Link on complaints to Barclaycard. It has nothing to do with them.
Did the reply from Link say you had the right to take the complaint to the Ombudsman? Did it say specific they are replying on behalf of Barclaycard? Can you copy in what it said
e says
From Link Financial…
INVESTIGATION DETAILS
Following receipt of your dispute, I have conducted a full investigation into your concerns and can confirm the following:
Firstly , I would like to advise that we have fully complied with my request under section 77/78 of CCA. The information that has been provided to us has deemed your account legally enforceable. (They now provide the date the account was opened, previously missing). (Credit limit is missing). They state breaching Section 78 does not, on its own, create an unfair relationship…
2) Irresponsible lending
Having reviewed the points in relation to irresponsible lending, I have been unable to uncover an explanation as to why you believe there has been an unfair relationship. Barclaycard are responsible lenders and they consider numerous factors and conduct all necessary checks etc.. At any time you are unable to maintain the amount of credit it would be your responsibility to ensure that the original lender is made aware….
I request you to contact Barclaycard to allow a full investigation (letter was fully addressed & emailed to Barclaycard, Link cc’d regretfully).
OUTCOME
Due to the information I have provided, your dispute has not been upheld. Currently you remain responsible for the outstanding balance of £xxxx.
I believe a reasonable response has now been provided. Should you remain dissatisfied, you should contact the FOS within 6 months.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ok Link says you need to ask Barclaycard for a response to the affordability complaint.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you stopped making payments to the account Lowell cannot produce the CCA for?
Ask Lowell for a Statement of Account for the account they have produced the CCA for.
e says
Yes. I won’t resume payments for the account without the CCA.
I asked Lowell in a letter sent 4 weeks ago to provide an explanation for why the default balance they recorded with CRA’s in 2020 is higher today , despite 3+ years of regular payments and no purchases. I’m awaiting a response from them.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Go back and also ask for a statement of account.
e says
Thank you Sara – I have now requested a statement of account from Lowell. Looking at my credit report it appears they randomly added £400 to the balance of one of my accounts in October 2021, but nothing to the other account – all very odd.
Is there a template letter on here for referring to FOS? Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
no, the article above has the link to the FOS online form to use (much better then email).
In a complaint to FOS, don’t mix up different things – affordabilit, CCA, money being added after default – all separate issues.
Affordability complaints are against the lender, not the debt collector – you don’t yet have a reply from Barclaycard about that affordability complaint. so it cant go to FOS.
You can’t go to FOS with your complaint against lowell for the money being added as they havent yet had 8 weeks to reply.
e says
Thank you again, Sara- I will complete the form being clear about what the complaint is. It is all becoming very muddly as the more I’ve researched the more I’ve uncovered.
Hence, I do have a few other questions if I may! All of my debts defaulted in early 2018 and I contacted Step Change Debt Charity in May of 2018 setting up a re-payment plan for each. Lowell bought two of my 4 debts in summer 2020 and applied defaults; one in June 2020 and September 2020. (I read that consumers affected financially by Covid-19 were given forbearance during this time and adding defaults between April – October 2020 was against the FCA’s guidelines?). I then read the information below on this site:
When a debt is sold to a debt collector, the new creditor should use the same default date as the original creditor did.
If the original lender didn’t add a default, you can ask them to add one, then the debt collector will have to use that.
In the unusual case that the lender didn’t report to a credit reference agency at all, the debt collector should apply the same ICO rule that the original lender would have used.
Once I have a statement of account from Lowell and if my complaint is not upheld – can I request they amend the default date to May 2018? 5 months on Lowell have still not produced the CCA for one of the accounts so could I ask them to amend the default date now? In this case, it would drop off next month.
I appreciate your time.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, you ask the original lender, not Lowell
AQ says
Hello Sara,
I opened MBNA credit card in July 2017. I have all the bank statements from 2017 and credit file showing persistent debt in overdraft, payday loans like satsuma , then statement showing amigo loans , loads of gambling transactions, safety net etc. My question is ; is it worth registering irresponsible lending as MBNA will definitely reject it saying time barred but do you think FOS will look into it.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
FOS may decide it can back further than 6 years.
AQ says
What reason should I give to FOS. I’m asking this because I complained to Lloyds outside 6 years for my Premire accout last year and FOS rejected it saying this is not good enough reason that you only came to know now that you could complain.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
FOS has asked you some questions about when you realised Lloyds was partly to blame for your problems?
AQ says
Yes they did ask me when you came to realise you could complain and why now , and my simple and honest answer was that I didn’t know I could before today and their response was it’s not a good enough reason, so I was asking what should I tell them this time
Sara (Debt Camel) says
have they asked you some specific questions?
Paul says
Hi Sara, thank you for all the advice you provide on here, it’s been invaluable.
Last year you helped with a query regarding the FOS investigator partially upholding a credit card refund claim I had submitted only after my limit had been raised, the Ombudsman has now made a decision on this which mirrors the FOS investigators decision. One of the Ombudsman’s instructions for the CC company is to:
“Rework the account removing all interest, fees charges and insurances (not already refunded) that have been applied to balances above £600.”
I do not believe this is particularly clear and assumed this meant if my balance was £650, I would be refunded all charges for this the full £650, however the FOS are saying the CC company would only have to repay interest on the £50 over the previous limit of £600.
I just wanted a second opinion on this wording, as I believe this wording infers this is all interest and charges on the full balance whenever the account is over £600. Are they correct and I’m fighting a losing battle here?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, sorry, FOS is right on how that wording is meant to be interpreted
MK says
Hi Sara
I hope you are well and thank you so much for all the help on this site which is so invaluable.
I put in an affordability complaint to Very which they did not uphold considering l also had an account with them a few years ago and struggled to pay and was put on a repayment plan then. I sent my complaint to the Ombudsman Service who have found in my favour and requested Very to refund all interest and charges to date. This was 5 weeks ago. As l have a nil balance now on my Very account having cleared this after much struggling will this affect the redress from Very. I am a bit mindful that l have yet to hear from Very.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Having a nil balance means you are going to get more 8% interested added. Hve you told your adjudicator about the delay?
MK says
No I will do I was just so thankful they found in my favour I did not want to chase. I will do if I have not heard by the end of the week.
Steve says
If it was an adjudicator, did Very accept their decision? Has the adjudicator from FOS written to you and informed you that Very agree with them?
MK says
Hi Steve,
Yes the adjudicator emailed me to confirm Very had accepted their decision and would be contacting me direct. I have tried to login to my Very account which until Friday showed a nil balance but l cannot now login – l think maybe they have closed the account. Should l inform the adjudicator or try and contact Very direct?
Steve says
Hi, I would go back to the adjudicator, if you check their response it probably states something like: come back to me if they haven’t been in touch to resolve within 28 days. Have an identical situation myself so will keep you posted on mine too.
MK says
Thank you have emailed adjudicator will keep you updated
e says
Good morning,
I have now had two responses to affordability complaints from creditors, both stating they won’t uphold as I’m out of time. Have there been many successes from those who refer these complaints to the FOS?
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes lots, but it’s erratic. Send it to FOS, you have nothing to lose!
MK says
Hi all
I finally received a response from Very, they are upholding the complaint with a credit limit of £600 when the account was opened in February 2022
Standard interests: £84.16
BNPL deferred interest £122.41
Admin charges £24.00
Simple interest £1.86
less 20% interest £0.46
Total redress £232.43
They have not mentioned the credit increase to £1000 in April 2023. I have sent this letter to the FO but should l respond to Very – they do not have an email address on their letter just a telephone number and my Very account is now closed.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have they refunded all the interest charges on the account?
MK says
Hi Sara
The above is what was on the letter – l believe l paid more interest and have telephoned Very and asked for them to email me my statements and also pointed out that l would have paid more interest when the credit limit was increased as l went over my credit limit.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ok, good to check this
Thomas O’Brien says
Hi there, I have had Barclaycard accept my unaffordability claim. They have refunded the interest and taken it off the balance I owed, however they said they will not update my credit report until I have cleared the balance. I am currently paying off the debt through an arrangement. Should I take it further with the FO that the negative effect on my credit file should be removed? Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
FOS often says that this approach is ok. How long will it be before the debt is cleared?
Thomas O’Brien says
It will likely take over 10 years for the debt to be cleared completely
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How large are your other debts? Will you not be able to increase the payments to this one?