In the last few weeks, several readers have been offered a “partial uphold” by Amigo. Here are some examples:
Amigo only accepted my complaint about the first and final loans which were both relatively short.
[Amigo] have upheld loans 2, 5 and 6.
I have had around 6 with [Amigo] including top ups they have rejected the ones I paid off previous to the loan outstanding now
This isn’t happening to everyone. Some people are getting a full refund.
These offers sound pretty odd – how likely is it that the first and last loans were unaffordable but the ones in between weren’t? And anyone who had six loans probably has a very good case to get most of them refunded!
So what are your options if you are offered a partial refund?
If you are thinking that any refund from Amigo would be great and wondering how you can get one, read How the borrower of a guarantor loan can complain.
It’s good news if your current loan has been upheld
In most cases, the last loan is one of the ones that is refunded.
If you still owe money on this loan, this Amigo refund is great news for three reasons:
- interest is removed from the loan, so you now owe a lot less.
- your guarantor should be released from the loan.
- you can now set up a more affordable payment arrangement for the remaining balance.
Often Amigo releases your guarantor automatically, but if they haven’t done this, tell them you want your guarantor released.
Amigo doesn’t ask if you would like lower payments, but you can insist. You can also include the loan it in a debt management plan, knowing your guarantor can no longer be affected.
But could you do better?
Your first thought may be huge relief that the last loan is now more manageable and your guarantor is now safe.
But if more of your previous loans were refunded, that would mean your remaining balance went down further. You might get a refund if you paid a lot of interest on the earlier loans.
So this is well worth looking into. See on reader’s comment below:
I complained to Amigo and, after sending bank statements, they agreed to refund loans 4-8 out of 8.
I went to FOS and a few weeks ago Amigo decided to revise their offer and refund interest on ALL of the loans.
Definitely worth going to FOS – I’ve gone from 15k debt down to 1k just from Amigo.
You can send your complaint to the Finacial Ombudsman (FOS). This is easy to do. Their online form prompts you for everything FOS need to know to start your case. You can just copy out what you said to Amigo originally about the loans being unaffordable, then say what Amigo have offered and say you think the other loans were unaffordable too.
You can add more details if you want. The CD from Amigo with your information could help with this.
But it’s fine to keep these complaints simple and the start. If your adjudicator – the person at FOS who looks at your complaint, also called an investigator – wants more details, they will ask for them.
Some questions you may have
Can Amigo withdraw their offer if I send the complaint to FOS?
No! They can’t go back on that decision! It wouldn’t be fair on you, or your guarantor, if Amigo were to change their mind.
So far no-one has had this problem.
Might FOS offer me less than Amigo have?
What a FOS adjudicator usually does when someone says “I was offered a refund on loans 4 and 5 but I think I should have a refund on the earlier loans” is start by saying “Both sides agreed 4 and 5 should be refunded so I will just look at loans 1-3 where there is a dispute”.
In theory an adjudicator doesn’t have to do this.
But in thousands of affordability complaint, I don’t remember one where a borrower had an offer to refund ceratin loans and FOS then decided that the refund should be smaller. The only time I have seen someone get less is when the lender’s offer was a small, goodwill offer of £25 or £50. If you reject that and go to FOS, who agrees with the lender that your loans were affordable, you won’t get that token offer.
Perhaps a loan that was repaid was affordable?
It may have been. But just paying a loan doesn’t make it affordable.
You may have got into difficulty with other debts and bills trying to repay Amigo. Or you may have needed that top-up or you couldn’t have afforded to clear the earlier loan.
Many people have had a full refund of all the loans from Amigo, even the ones that were repaid.
The loans not refunded were quite small and I didn’t pay much interest
If you think the offer is fair, there is no need to take it any further. You have a great result already!
But if you know the loans not refunded caused you a lot of stress and hardship, and may have meant that you ended up borrowing more from Amigo, then the loans were probably unaffordable.
I was going to go bankrupt anyway
With a lot of other unmanageable debt, then getting your guarantor released from the current loan may have been your main aim, not the refund itself. Now you can go bankrupt or have a Debt Relief Order.
If getting a refund on the earlier loans would let you pay off a lot of other debt it might be worth pursuing. But if it wouldn’t make enough of a difference then get some debt advice on your options and if that says a DRO or bankruptcy go for it!
There is no point in taking a case to FOS if you are about to go bankrupt or have a DRO. See guarantor loans in DRO / IVA / bankruptcy for details.
How long will it take?
I don’t know. The backlog of FOS cases early in 2019 has mostly gone so new cases should go through quicker. With an affordable payment arrangement for the current loan in place you won’t be under any financial pressure. So does it matter how long it takes?
How to decide what to do
If Amigo has only refunded some loans, think if that is fair.
If it doesn’t feel fair to you because the loans caused you a lot of problems, it’s easy to send a complaint about the unrefunded loans to FOS and you can’t be worse off by doing this.
The three examples I mentioned at the top of this article all sound like good cases to send to the Ombudsman to me!
If you aren’t sure about how much extra you could get from a refund on the other loans, post a comment with some details about your loans and how much you have paid to them over on the main guarantor loan refund page. Getting real numbers can help you decide what to do.
This applies to all guarantor lenders, not just Amigo. But all the “partial uphold” cases I have seen so far are Amigo complaints.
Can you complain about an Amigo CCJ?
Complaints by the guarantor for a loan
Refunds from Provident & other doorstep loans
aa says
Hi Sara,
i had a amigo loan refund and they upheld all 7 loans. this meant that my 13,000 balance went down to 1733.00 however it was a struggle with miscalculations. various emails and spreadsheets they missed out over 5k off my first refund and then a further 2k off the second refund. after having to go back to the fos about this they finally refunded what i was owed however it didnt stop there. my credit file was still in arrears for 6 months and even now my loan balance is 1300.00 however they reported on my credit file this was still 13k having raised 2 disputes they firstly said that no changes should be made to my credit file and the second is still on going. the other loans have not be taken off my credit file and the current is still up to date on payment terms but not balance. i didnt pay them this month out of principal and they have not contacted me or my guarantor about the missed payment. im still awaiting records to be updated so good luck anyone who deals with them.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Your guarantor should have been released from the contract. If they haven’t been, tell them to put in a complaint!
The team that sorts out the refunds seems to be wrestling with a poor system which makes it difficult for them to see what is happening. But this is made much worse by the way they don’t really read what people are saying when they point out errors or ask questions.
Borrower – why aren’t I being refunded for the CHAPS and broker fees?
Amigo – you didn’t pay any
Borrower – there is a CHAPS fee on loan one and a broker fee on loan 2
Amigo – here is a revised calculation with the broker fee
Borrower – what about the CHAPS fee? and the 8% on them?
Amigo – here is a revised calculation with the CHAPS fee included
Borrower – why hasn’t the 8% changed?
Amigo – here is a revised 8% calculation
This took a couple of weeks. A complete waste of everybody’s time.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Amigo needs to develop a simple report to send to a borrower detailing how the refund has been calculated, one line per loan showing:
– date borrowed, amount borrowed, cash paid to borrower, amount paid during the loan, amount paid to settle the loan, interest and charges paid on the loan, 8% interest on on loan if any.
Just giving one line and telling people to reconcile it with the online account statements is unfair to customers.
Their online statements are poorly laid out. Who ever decided to put them in reverse date order should be shot! No CR or DB against entries. They are unwieldy to use if you can print them all out, but for anyone managing on a mobile they are useless.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
re your credit file:
The balance should be amended. The current one is not accurate and gives a misleading picture of your finances. If they don’t sort this within 8 weeks from the dispute, send the complaint to FOS!
Did FOS say all the loans should be deleted from your credit record? Often they only say to remove negative marks?
aa says
Hi Sara,
Please see below.
I realise that Amigo have also acknowledged that they could’ve done more, and I agree with them. However they haven’t put forth a suggestion on what they should do to put things right for the consumer. Therefore I will be recommending Amigo do that following:
– Refund all interest and charges that Miss A paid all loans
– Pay interest of 8% simple a year on all refunds from the date of payment to the date of settlement*;
– Remove any negative information about all loans from Miss A credit file.
aa says
Thank you for your email.
We confirmed with Equifax on 6/11/19 what the exact balance is. You will need to contact Equifax to confirm they have updated your credit file accordingly.
Kind Regards
Alasdair Brownsword
Customer Relations Team
Amigo Loans please note this is still ot fixed and the balance remains the arrears have gone but yes very frustrating.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, I don’t know what report you are looking at but if it is not directly from Equifax, I suggest you get a copy of your statutory credit report, see https://www.equifax.co.uk/Products/credit/statutory-report.html, this is free and gives the realtime information – some other reports are delayed.
If that still shows the balance as wrong then it’s up to you. You can go back to Amigo and insist it’s up to them to fix this or you go to FOS with a new complaint about it, or you could put in a complaint to Equifax, who will then raise it with Amigo. I have no idea which is likely to work faster.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That looks like a pretty standard FOS award.
It says that negative infomration should be removed from your credit record, not that the loans themselves should be deleted. Unless there are any late payment or defaults on the earlier loans, there is no reason to change them or delete them.
But, as I said, I think Amigo should correct the balance outstanding as it is misleading to other potential lenders.
aa says
Thats what ive been screaming about since july however this has still not been amended but yet they said they have and to wait 6 weeks for this to be reflected in my credit file. if this is not updated by jan i will send this to the FOS.
louise says
hi sara going back to my recent posts regarding amigo partially uphelding my loans and releasing my guarantor i just have one last question about offering them a lower repayment as my payment is £306 per month i cannot afford that as im having to clear rent and council tax arrears, can i offer them say £50 a month and do they have to accept what i offer them? thank you in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes you can offer them a lower amount – and if you have rent and CT arrears these are priority debts! So you should be paying less to your other debts to clear the arrears. But do you have other consumer debts as well – credit cards, loans, catalogues, overdraft?
Ceri Thomas says
Amigo have agreed to repay me but are dragging their heals, saying that has the debt was sold on they have ro buy it back.
I have contacted Intrum who owned the loan and they have told me that its down to Amigo and nothing to do with them.
The loan was paid off to Intrum and the CCj removed.
Yet Amigo are saying they will be doing the removal of the CCj via the courts ?
I have been really patient and obliging but feel now I am being messed around by Amigo.
Should I contact the ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is the CCJ still on your credit record?
Ceri says
Yes it remains in my Guarantors credit file. When I contact Amigo the answer I get is that the case is with the Transaction Team for calculation of payment.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Can I be clear?
You said “The loan was paid off to Intrum and the CCj removed.” but also “it remains in my Guarantors credit file”
Do you mean you just paid the CCJ? Was this within 30 days so the CCJ was removed from your credit record?
Or was it after 30 days so the CCJ is marked as Satisfied but it is still showing?
When did you get the decision on your complaint from Amigo?
Ceri Thomas says
After sending all copies of bank statements they agree to pay in October 2019. Then they said they needed to buy the loan back from Intrum.
I contacted Intrum over the next few weeks they had made no contact, and that in fact it was nothing to do with them that it was down to Amigo.
I just keep getting told that its with the Transaction Team.
My guarantor has emailed them also she has had no reply as yet, that nearly a week no reply.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK, October is way too long. At the lest they should have sorted the moeny out by now even if sorting the CCJs out takes longer.
So:
– does the CCJ show on your credit record? If no, when was it removed?
– the CCJ still shows on your guarantor’s credit record?
– Amigo haven’t refunded your guarantor?
– Amigo haven’t told you what your new balance will be, if anything?
Who repaid the CCJ – your guarantor? Did they have to borrow money to do this?
Ceri Thomas says
My guarantor paid the balance in full from sale of a house. The CCJ says satisfied and is still on their credit file.
No refunds made to either of us
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Right, I suggest you email them and say you will be sending your complaint to the Ombudsman in two weeks if they have not responded to you and to your guarantor with the settlement amounts and with a timescale for when the CCJ will be removed.
Ceri Thomas says
My Guarantor has just received an email with an offer of £8494.04. The email says that should she accept that offer £6600.30 will be posted back onto my account and added to any balance owing. There is no balance. Therefore paying her interest of £1893.
Surely they cannot expect me to pay that £6600.30 ? There is nothing owing to Amigo .
They have asked her to contact them by 5th Feb with bank details. If she does not contact them they will assume she is happy for her payments to remain on the account.
I have received no email from Amigo about my refund.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This refund puts your guarantor back in the position she should have been in EXCEPT the CCJ still needs to be removed. She needs to point this out to Amigo.
So Amigo now need to rework your account. Yes the payments made by the guarantor disappear. But they also have to remove all the interest from the last loan. And were there any previous loans to be refunded ?
Ceri Thomas says
I had two loans, a £3000 then topped up with £2500. Both paid off.
I repaid the first loan at £154 a month the second loan which was a top up . The loan was £2500 £188 a month I had paid more than half before getting to trouble. Ended up more than I borrowed.
There loans were all paid off. The guarantor paid £4724 to finish the settle the loan .
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am having trouble making sense of these numbers.
If you guarantor paid £4724 to settle the CCJ, and didn’t make any payments to either the first loan or the second until the settlement (correct?) then i don’t know why Amigo have refunded her £6,600 plus interest.
Can you did out the details for each of the loans?
loan 1, you borrowed £3000 over how many years? You paid how many payments of £154 a month?
loan 2, how big was the loan and how much did you get in cash? How many years was the loan? You paid how many payments of £188 a month before getting into trouble?
Ceri Thomas says
Hi, sorry for the confusion.
1st loan was £3000 over 36 months at £154 a month top up loan was for £2500 over 36 months !! at £180 a month.
The Guarantor paid the £4724 to finish the loan because of the CCJ. Leaving me paying her back.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you mean you got £2500 in cash for the 2nd loan? In which case the loan was bigger than that because some of it was used to settle the first loan. And a loan of only £2500 over 36 month is repayments of only £121 a month.
Do you have the account statements for each of the loans?
Ceri Thomas says
I have found paperwork dated 2016, the loan was for £5k balance £4812.97 @ £188 a month.
This loan was a top up loan that paid off £3k loan at £132 a month.
The CCJ was for £4772.93, !
Hope this helps
Ceri Thomas says
Yes I believe I have all paperwork will go through it.
Major concern over the statement in their email.
“Please bare in mind, that if you choose to accept the refund, the payments would be posted back onto Ceri’s account and her balance will increase accordingly
Whilst we have agreed to refund the Interest Ceri, me, has paid on the loan, we would still be expecting her to repay the outstanding loan balance if there was one outstanding.
Hoping you can make headway of it
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Please bare in mind, that if you choose to accept the refund, the payments would be posted back onto Ceri’s account and her balance will increase accordingly
Well let’s see what happens to your account shall we? If you can get the numbers, it will help.
But I think it’s worth you double-checking now with the guarantor that she only paid £4724 – the money to settle the account at the end. No other payments. She should then query why she is being refunded so much! And will she then repay you the money that you have refunded her?
If that is right she should tell Amigo the refund amount look wrong as she only paid £4724.
Ceri Thomas says
Am I being dull, but does it mean should my guarantor accept the full amount Amigo expect me to repay the £6k?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes and no. (sorry! And you aren’t being dull, this stuff isn’t at all obvious!)
1) any 8% interest paid to the guarantor is ignored, you can never be asked to pay that. Also I think the settlement amount will have included additional costs for the CCJ. the guarantor gets those back but you can never be asked to repay that.
2) What Amigo are doing is saying “OK, so the guarantor should never have been asked to pay anything so we have to give that all back. But that means Ceri’s loan was never settled. So how much does she owe?”
But in practice they aren’t just giving the money back to the guarantor which makes it look as though you owe a lot more. they also have to refund you for the first loan. And take the interest off the second loan. If you had paid off more than half the second loan before the settlement, the balance may well be cleared.
3) but the 6k amount sound wrong! your guarantor never paid that. She shouldnt get that back. So your account should never get worse by this amount.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am assuming you are on good terms with your gaurantor so they will repay you the money you have already paid them for this? If not, say this and you can argue that what Amigo are doing is unfair. But honestly it will be simpler if your guarantor just refunds you than you try to have this argument.
Ceri Thomas says
Thanks that makes it clearer, I think !
I have heard nothing from Amigo yet with my offer.
Does seem an obscure way of doing things. Its been admitted by Amigo that I have a claim, yet they could be ‘billing me’ £6k.
Ceri Thomas says
All loans over 60 months
Tony says
I’d like some advice if possible. I took a 10k loan out in mid 2017, I was paying around 500 a month, this became unmanageable and I fell into arrears. I ended up suffering some health problems due to this and in the end my Father in law paid it all back. I’m now paying him back. He paid 15k back so that’s 5k interest as well as the extra interest and fees I paid.
Can I still message them and make a claim that I was in no way able to afford that loan originally. If I had the interest back I’d be able to pay my original debt back to my Father in law.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is a guarantor loan from Amigo?
Was it the first loan you had from them? (Lots of people have won one loan cases against Amigo but I am. Just asking because you may have had smaller ones before.)
Was your father in law your guarantor?
Tony says
It was my first and only loan with Amigo and my girlfriend was my guarantor. I had numerous other pay day loans out and was juggling to be honest. My loan was 10k but I paid around 16k back in only 18 months. My Father in law settled it in full.
Can I complain to Amigo as a first time complainant or do I have to go to the Ombudsman directly. I’m thinking the first option, can I still complain is what I’m asking?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes you can complain. You have to complain to Amigo first, you can only send a complaint to the Ombudsman when the lender has replied to your complaint or after 8 weeks if you haven’t had a reply.
A 10k loan should have been looked at very closely especially if you had payday loans. Amigo may. Not have checked properly that you could manage the repayments. I asked if your father in law was your guarantor because if he was, the money he repaid would be refunded to him not yiu, but as he wasn’t the guarantor any refund will come to you.
Patricia Grainger says
I have had a complaint upheld by FOS, Amigo have amended my account and repaid interest on all 3 loans and i now owe £1980 and no further interest will be added.
i had 3 loans
loan 1 £3250
loan 2 2000
loan 3 £7500 of which i received £3121.12 as the rest was used to pay off loan 2.
I made 23 Payments of £158.57 Total £3647.11
3 Payments of £219.55 Total £658.65
10 Payments of £296.44 Total £ 2964.40
So i paid in total £7270.16 yet still owe £1980?
I have asked for a break down of there calculations as no explanation has been given.
Do i go back to FOS if i do not get a reply from Amigo?
Louise says
My experience:
I complained to Amigo and, after sending bank statements, they agreed to refund loans 4-8 out of 8.
I went to FOS and a few weeks ago Amigo decided to revise their offer and refund interest on ALL of the loans.
Definitely worth going to FOS – I’ve gone from 15k debt down to 1k just from Amigo
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Great example for other people wondering if this is worth it!
Amy says
I took a £3500 loan in April 2013 and a top up loan of £5000 in January 2015. I made a complaint to amigo 12 weeks ago and they have just come back to say they will uphold my complaint on the second loan however the first loan is too old and I haven’t complained in a reasonable length of time so they will not even look at it. Is this right or should I take this to the FOS for the first loan? They have told me this is the regulation set by the FOS.