UPDATE
In May 2022, the new Amigo Scheme was approved by the court and went live. See Amigo’s Scheme for details about this.
This page on the old Scheme is now no longer relevant. Please leave any comments and questions on that new page.
The approval process for the first Scheme (this ended in rejection)
On 30 March, the First Court Hearing gave the go-ahead for Amigo to organise the creditor voting.
An online page to vote was set up and a creditors’ meeting held.
The FCA has published a letter saying:
The FCA considers that a fair compromise could have, but in this case has not been, proposed to Scheme Creditors to vote upon. Therefore… the FCA has decided that it intends to appear at the Sanction Hearing through counsel to oppose the sanction of the Scheme, even if approved by the requisite majority of Scheme Creditors, on the basis that the Court cannot be satisfied that the Scheme in its current form is fair.
On 19 May the Second Court Hearing took place. The FCA opposed the Scheme going ahead
On 24 May the judgement in the case was published – the judge accepted the FCA’s arguments and did not approve the Scheme.
An overview of the first Scheme as it was proposed
Amigo is proposing a Scheme because it can’t afford to pay refunds to all the customers who were given unaffordable loans. It says it will go into administration if the Scheme is not approved.
Amigo says customers may get a cash refund of about 10% of their proper refund value. I think the amount may be lower.
Customers with a current loan, however, will be able to have the full amount of their refund deducted from their balance and their guarantor released in the Scheme if Amigo upholds their claim. And they can also get this if Amigo went into administration if the administrators uphold their claim.
About a million Amigo customers have been texted or emailed about the Scheme. This includes current customers – the borrowers and guarantors for the current 137,000 loans – and all previous customers whose loans have been repaid. If you haven’t received an email about this, check your spam folder!
Amigo has set up a website with information for customers about the Scheme. This contains the Practice Statement Letter (PSL) which sets out more details. And a longer Explanatory Statement.
If the Scheme starts, all open FOS cases will be sent back to the Scheme.
Under the Scheme, customers can put in a claim if they have affordability complaint or if they have any other complaint about a loan or the way Amigo treated them.
There will be a six month period for these claims to be sent in after the Scheme start date. After that time you will not be allowed to make a claim in the Scheme and will not be able to take a complaint to the Ombudsman either.
Amigo will decide whether to uphold each claim:
- The Explanatory Statement lists a lot of factors that will be taken into consideration in Schedule 4.
- Will Amigo uphold the same very high rate that the Financial Ombudsman (FOS) does? It has not said this.
- Amigo will appoint an independent person to look at any appeals – you can’t go to the Financial Ombudsman.
Amigo will then calculate the redress (the legal term for the refund you would have received if there wasn’t a Scheme) for the claims it upholds:
- for borrowers this is the interest they paid.
- it seems likely Amigo will be applying the “unpaid interest deduction” that it started making in summer 2020. This will reduce people’s refunds, see Amigo should end unpaid interest deductions and remove CCJs for details.
- guarantors the calculated refund will be a refund of everything they have paid.
- where a guarantor is being paid a refund, the guarantor payments are removed from the borrower’s account. If the borrower has also had a Claim upheld, interest will be removed from the borrower’s account. A borrower won’t be left worse off after this, but they may get little or no refund.
If you have a balance still owing to Amigo:
- your balance will be reduced by the refund;
- if you still owe a balance after this reduction, you can make an arrangement to repay it at a more affordable rate and your guarantor will be released;
- if the refund is larger than the balance this extra will be paid from the pot of cash Amigo is putting aside and you will only get a small percentage of it.
If you are owed a cash refund:
Customers whose loans have been repaid will have their cash refunds paid out of the pot of money Amigo is putting aside for this. But there won’t be nearly enough money to pay full refunds.
The pot will be divided up between all the people who are owed a cash refund who will all get the same “pence in the pound” percentage of their proper redress.
Amigo is putting in £15m, which could be increased by up to £20m if the balance reductions are lower than expected – this sounds unlikely to me. Amigo is proposing that it will add 15% of its profits in the next four years into this refund pot. As Amigo is currently loss-making this sounds like some jam in a few years, or possibly none at all.
Amigo says people may get paid 10% of their proper refund in the Scheme. On my figures, it could be even less, possibly as low as 5%.
Debbbie Lawrie says
Hi Sara, I sent it to
complaints.scheme@fca.org.uk
I got an email back saying thanks for contacting FCA complaints team in a generic email.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
good – that is the right address for a complaint about the FCA (rather than about amigo).
This is a formal complaint to the FCA. They have to reply to it. If it is rejected or they say they cannot decide this at the moment because it is an ongoing matter, reply that this is urgent because it is cause you harm at the moment and send it to the Independent Complaints Commissioner https://frccommissioner.org.uk/ – that is the equivalent of the Ombudsman.
I am not saying this will get anything done quickly – but the FCA needs to know the distress it is causing. And if enough people complain it may make a difference.
For anyone else that wants to do this, here are some points you consider making.
Put them into your own words! It needs to tell your story, but briefly because your complaint is not about Amigo but about what the FCA has done that is allowing Amigo to ignore your complaint and pressure you into paying money you would not owe if your complaint had been decided by the Ombudsman.
——————————————————————————-
Subject: “The FCA should not have allowed Amigo to stop paying redress
1) Give your name and postal address. Say you are complaining that the FCA has allowed Amigo to have “an informal moratorium on the payment of redress claims by Amigo” as it says here https://www.fca.org.uk/news/statements/response-amigo-scheme-rejected-high-court.
2) say if you are the borrower or guarantor of an Amigo loan.
3) explain the effect the FCA moratorium is having on you – Amigo is not responding to your complaint and you can no longer send it to the ombudsman OR the Ombudsman has put your case on hold
Say how this is affecting you and your guarantor.
Is Amigo pressuring you to pay even though you cannot afford it?
Could you afford to pay but you know you will lose most of the money if you pay now if you win your complaint so this is unreasonable?
Is it threatening to send you a letter Before Action or to go to court?
Has it reinstated a continuous payment authority over your guarantor’s bank account after the guarantor canceled it?
If this aggressive/harassing debt collection is causing you or your guarantor stress/anxiety mention this. If you have mental health problems, mention this and say if Amigo is aware of these but continuing to push you to pay unaffordable amounts.
Say if you also have priority debts such as rent arrears, council tax arrears or utility arrears.
4) point out that if your complaint is upheld, your balance will be cleared (or you will be released as guarantor) so you are being pushed to make payments to a loan where after set-off you will not owe anything. Say that is unreasonable and not treating customers fairly which is one of the FCA’s main principles.
5) say that by allowing Amigo this temporary moratorium, the FCA is harming customers. The FCA should have said that any moratorium should be “two-way” – if Amigo will not consider complaints or pay redress, it should tell the customers they do not have to make payments until their complaints are decided.
6) end by saying what you want the FCA to do to put this right – the FCA should tell Amigo that they must inform all people who have made a complaint that they do not need to make payments until their complaint has been decided. And that if a complaint is upheld, Amigo should have to refund all the payments a borrower has made in 2021 because they were put under unfair pressure, because Amigo has been profiting from is unfair and aggressive debt collection practices since it announced the Scheme and the FCA agree to the moratorium.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
and after you have sent the complaint to the FCA, why not forward it to some other people who would be interested? Just say you thought they should know about the harm being caused by the FCA allowing Amigo to suspend making redress payments.
– your MP or MSP – get their email address here https://www.writetothem.com/
– John Glen, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, email john.glen.mp@parliament.uk
– Mel Stride, Chair of The Treasury Select Committee. The Committee can ask the FCA or FOS to explain their actions. email mel.stride.mp@parliament.uk
– Yvonne Fovargue, Chair of All Party Parliamentary Group on Debt and Personal Finance. Email yvonne.fovargue.mp@parliament.uk
– Stella Creasy, who has been interested in payday lenders and Amigo for years, email stella.creasy.mp@parliament.uk
Debbie Lawrie says
Thank you Sara, I’ll do that! I hope everyone does too, strength in numbers and all that!
Hannah says
Hi Sara, I made an affordability complaint to Amigo sept 2020 this was rejected and forwarded to Financial Ombudsman in Oct 2020. I took out a final top up on previous loans for £10,000 in July 2019 I have made payments of £7312.98 so far, would I be right in thinking I would only have to pay the remaining £2687.02 and I will have repaid what I borrowed?. In Feb 2021 I had to enter an IVA as my debt had got out of control and I felt I had no other choice. Amigo agreed to the IVA and agreed to freeze interest which they have still not actioned. They receive payments through my IVA and I also have to reimburse my guarantor the payments they take from their account so in total I am paying Amigo £524.91 a month which is ridiculous and I cannot afford this as I am on Universal credit as I am a carer to my disabled daughter. Please could you advise what I can do going forward? Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Why did you choose an IVA rather bankruptcy? do you own your house or did you need to protect some other asset?
Amigo don’t have to freeze interest on a guarantor loan – as soon as you don’t pay they just go after your guarantor.
Hannah says
Thank you for your reply. I was advised by the IV company that an IVA would be the better option. I was so depressed and anxious at the time I just agreed to it.
Amigo agreed to my IVA if the term was increased to 72 months and the payments were £260 a month as they receive 67% out of that and that they would freeze the interest.
Would I be right in paying the remaining £2000 I have left on the loan and then advising my guarantor to cancel the direct debit and CPA would this effect their credit report?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It sounds as though your only income is Universal Credit and other child and disability benefits – is that right?
Do you know what the total of your debts was at the start of your IVA?
You are renting?
Do you have a car?
Who is your IVA firm?
I am asking these questions as an IVA may not be a good option for you at all. I have no idea how you can afford £260 a month…
How many Amigo top ups did you have?
Your guarantor – at the time of the last top up, could they have afforded to make all the payments to this loan out of their income and still been able to pay their own debts, bills and living expenses?
Steve says
I too have filed an affordability complaint both with amigo and the FOS. Took a £5750 loan out with amigo on 31/11/2018, and to date (04/07/21) have paid back £4447 plus £5,814.56 in interest , yet my balance is still £6,791.89 with monthly instalments of £227.27. Ceased to repay any money until a conclusion is reached with my complaint. Threats of court action etc and the barrage of calls , texts emails , I just revert them to my complaint number .
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You may want to think about making a complaint about the way the FCA is mis-handling this, allowing Amigo to not pay redress, which has meant that FOS has put all these cases on hold. It is wrong that Amigo should be able to threaten people with court action when it is choosing to ignore the fact that if your complaint is upheld you will not owe then any money at all.
Camille says
Hello Sara,
I emailed Amigos to let them know I will not be making any payments until news of my complaint.
I received this email this morning.
Hi Camille,
Thanks for your email.
As we are currently exploring our options in regards to complaints, all irresponsible lending complaints are on hold.
Any payments that are made whilst the complaint is ongoing will be taken into account within your complaint, but you are expected to maintain your credit agreement whilst the complaint is on hold. Your account is currently 464 day in arrears if you do not resolve this with us and the account falls 14 days in arrears then we will need to look to * as guarantor for payments, if she is struggling then we will speak to her regarding this.
If you cannot afford the repayments then naturally we will never ask you to pay more than you can afford, however we will need to discuss your financial circumstances with you so that we can understand what’s affordable and see if we can get a reasonable agreement in place with you. I have turned your payments off so that we don’t take anything unaffordable, but we need to speak to you.
Please do call us on 01202629103 before 6 pm so that we can come to a resolution with you.
Regards,
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Isn’t it nice how they say you have to call them before 6pm, but they have no plans to look at your complaint which remains on hold…
You can call them if you want. But you and your guarantor should not feel pushed to pay what you know you cannot afford.
Amigo should determine your complaint, until then you do not know if you actually owe them any money at all.
Camille says
My thoughts excalty!
They can do one!
My guarantor has also sent an email with regards to her situation.
Symes says
Hi Sara, my guarantor has received this email and we are worried;
“As there is no resolution in place, soon you may be issued with an LBA (Letter Before Action), this is a legal notice which will allow you to come to a resolution prior to a court claim being considered. In Court, an order for the full balance will be sought. A CCJ may be issued against you and ####, where it will stay on both of your Credit File for up to 6 years.
If you’re in a position to do so, please arrange payment of the arrears. Call me on 01202 629108 or make a payment now”
It has been less than 2 weeks since the payment was not made. I’m shocked at how quickly they have threatened us with this. In this time we have had numerous texts, emails, calls, and letters ..all in less than 2 weeks !
Both my guarantor and myself have submitted complaints so from reading on here I am right in thinking they cannot issue an LBA ?
I have also asked Amigo on 3 occasions to cancel the Direct Debit and CPA (have cancelled this with our banks) and they are ignoring me. My bank said that although they have cancelled it at their end Amigo can re-set it and take the payment from my guarantor. Is this true ? My guarantor cannot afford to pay this., she is currently on sick from work so only receiving sick pay.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I’m shocked at how quickly they have threatened us with this
They are one of the most aggressive lenders in the country :(
A couple of years ago they used to take very large numbers of customers to court. Now they threaten but actually going to court is now rare and I haven’t actually seen it happen for more than a year when there is an affordability complaint in place.
There is a chance they will issue an LBA. I have seen a few of those from them, but not recently. At the moment Amigo is walking a difficult line trying not to annoy its regulator the FCA too much – if anyone gets an LBA it should be reported to the FCA.
But read what they wrote: “soon you may be issued with an LBA (Letter Before Action), this is a legal notice which will allow you to come to a resolution prior to a court claim being considered.” I put those words into bold type…
They are not saying they WILL issue you with an LBA – that is what they hope you think they have said, but MAY is a lot weaker. I may win the lottery this week – but I probably won’t!
And even if you do get an LBA they are not saying they WILL go to court, just that they will CONSIDER it. I’ll consider running a marathon next week – but I don’t expect I will decide to do it.
re the CPA, it is your right to cancel. See https://www.fca.org.uk/news/news-stories/continuous-payment-authorities-it-your-right-cancel. If the CPA is reinstated, you can ask the card issuer (ie the bank) to repay you and take them to the Finacial Ombudsman if they don’t.
Symes says
They are very aggressive indeed. Bully tactics that simply shouldn’t be allowed. Surely this is borderline harassment?
I will be sure to report back here and to the FCA should an LBA be issued. How would I report this to the FCA please?
Thank you so much for your help-it is invaluable.
Also will be on to my bank again. Will also continue to contact Amigo to ensure it is cancelled.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Come back here if you get an LBA. I will be surprised…
Nicola says
My guarantor has received the same email and is also worried sick that they will turn up at her door.
Reading this has made me feel slightly better but still very anxious and will pass this information on to my guarantor l. But it is very scary when they send this type of email as you just focus on the scary words and presume that debt collectors will arrive on your door step.
I have sent an email to amigo over a week ago and same as my guarantor but have had no response when I mention that they are going against what the fca have advised whilst an affordability complaint is in place but haven’t heard a peep back from them which makes me even more anxious.
Do we know if there is any update on there next appeal ?
Thanks Sara for all you help it’s does help so much.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry, no update on what Amigo are going to do next.
Jt says
I tried to commit suicide because of the sheer pressure this shower put me under
I’m glad I didn’t succeed my poor family my children the thought of leaving them behind I owe 9,275 or there abouts I’ve not paid since 2019 and have received nothing in post nothing by phone on my credit file I’m stuck at 6 never been default these are a very aggressive lender worst bmi ever I ever made look what I tried and cud have lost
Utter scum
Sarah says
Hi
I’m really confused.
I filled in all the online stuff when Amigo emailed me about the scheme but i don’t actually have a specific claim in against them at this time.
I borrowed £10,000 top up loan back in 2019 which resulted in me physically getting just over £5000 as the rest was paid of an original loan.
I have paid off £11,709.36 total so far of which £6519.88 is interest only.
I still have an outstanding balance of £4322.63 which is been paid at a rate of £487.89 per month
i have 11 months left to make the monthly payment of £487.89 which to be honest is crippling me.
I have never missed a payment and never would as my son-in-law is my guarantor.
Should i be putting in a claim before the result of any scheme is decided.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Think back to 2019 when you took this top up… at that point could you have afforded to make all the £487 a month repayments and still been able to pay your other debts, bills and living expenses?
Have your other debts and arrears got worse because of this loan?
jenny says
Hello I have a loan with amigo I havnt received any info on the scheme until an email a few days ago we have had a loan since 2017/2018 we had a top up to 5k in may 2019 we have since been paying £223.88 a month we havnt missed a payment however my guarantee has been taken off the agreement since last year as they have a IVA we are now experiencing financial difficulties and cant afford to pay what would you advice
Be we have probably paid back the loan we still have a balance of £3,441,34 it’s never ending
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So this loan was listed in your guarantor’s IVA debts? In that case they probably don’t care what you do as their IVA payments won’t change and their Amigo debt will be wiped out when their IVA ends. This isn’t quite “being revel as guarantor” but I suppose for you it amounts much the same thing?
What is the rest of your financial situation like apart from this Amigo debt?
Hannah says
Hi Sara, I have just had an email from Financial Ombudsman stating that they will not be taking my Amigo complaint any further at this time die to Amigo not having a scheme in place. If Amigo reach a new scheme or in fact go into administration would I be able to make a new affordability complaint?
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes you will be able to in a new Scheme or if Amigo fails and goes into administration.
From our previous discussion you sound to have a very good claim. As you are in a form of insolvency making a claim will not help your own finances at all, but if you win it your guarantor will be released which is what matters to you.
PS you are in IVA at the moment but you may be able to save a massive amount of money by switching to a DRO where you do not have to make ANY monthly payments (the rules changed last week to let you do this) see https://debtcamel.co.uk/end-iva-change-to-dro/. But my above point is right whether you are in an IVA, or a DRO or bankrupt.
MEl says
I paid all my 2 loans off will I get a refund for the interest I paid it cost be so much
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If a new Scheme goes ahead, you can make a claim to the Scheme if you think the loans were “unaffordable” – making the payments left you short of money so you couldn’t manage without taking out more debt or getting behind with bills.
If Amigo upholds your claim to the Scheme you will get back a small proportion of the interest you paid. In their first Scheme, Amigo said it might be 10% – I thought it might be a lot less. I hope the second Scheme will be more generous to customers.
Sandra says
Hi Sara so the fos have sent me an email saying they can’t do anything about my complaint I put in last august and more aless that’s it, to be honest it’s very disheartening my complaint has been nearly a year with them and now they tell me they can’t do anything further. To say I’m
Annoyed is a understatement.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
is this Amigo?
It is incredibly annoying. Do you still owe a balance? If so, I have written about this here https://debtcamel.co.uk/stop-paying-amigo-pros-and-cons/
Sandra says
Hi Sara yes it’s with amigo the fos had got back to me in January and said they were sending amigo my complaint and that all the loans should be upheld apart from the first as I just was able to pay it but then had top ups a lot and the fos said they agreed the rest wasn’t affordable etc, now they are saying there is nothing they can do because amigo don’t know what they are at yes I still have a balance of £5000 but amigo did offer to bring it down to £1196 as they upheld the last two top ups but I had about 6 so I didnt except and I had paid them back probably three times in what I borrowed obviously the interest is crippling with them so now I haven’t a clue about anything
I stopped paying back in July last year I put a complaint in and so did my guarantor also back in august.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok so neither you nor your guarantor are currently paying?
Are Amigo pushing you to pay or have they given up?
Sandra says
Seems like they haven given up i haven’t heard from them at all in a long time
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK so it is annoying your complaint is sitting in limbo but at least they are not trying to collect this debt. I am afroad you have to wait and put in a claim to the nes Scheme, if they get that approved, or to the administrarors if they go under.
Victoria says
Hi im looking for help too, I also cannot afford my loan ive paid since march 2018 on a £5000 loan £197.62 per month until June this year I have paid £7509.62 to these cowboys who use it all as interest and say i still owe £4029.60 to them. Now currently 2 months into arrears dont offer any help at all my dad who lives off pension credit at 74. Amigo expect him to hand that over to pay them he is carer for my Mum who has dementia and pay for carers 2 times a day they show no empathy at all. We offered to pay half of this but they won’t accept it. Really in a stuck situation I also have had a compensation claim in since last November same story as above they can’t tell you anything because of their insolvency and exploring other options what other options? they’ve never told the customers anything at all. But they can harass you and send threatening emails and texts and letters and expect us to phone them every week absolute joke really need some help
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They are horrible to deal with :(
I suggest you read https://debtcamel.co.uk/stop-paying-amigo-pros-and-cons/ and think about you and your dad refusing to pay. You are going to get hassle whatever you offer if you can’t pay the full amount, so you may decide you might as well stop and save your money and refuse to phone them every week to be badgered? Any money you pay from now, you will get very little back in a Scheme…
PS it sounds as though your dad can also make a complaint that the loan wasn’t affordable for him. That will give two ways for him to be released as guarantor, if you win your complaint or he wins his.
victoria says
Thank you Sara I shall do this
Derek says
Hi Sarah
If Amigo go into Administration, how likely is it that Administrators will pursue loans and guarantors? I am praying for them to go into administration and I can just stop paying, I would prefer that outcome to any percentage of a valid claim that would come from compensation.
Interested in your thoughts. Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A loan does not disappear because the lender goes into administration. The administrators will want to continue to collect loan repayments and probably sell the loans to a debt collector at some point. The loans will not be sold until after claims have been decided,
BUT you will be able to make a claim to the administrators for unaffordable lending in the same way that you would be able to make a claim in any new Scheme Amigo sets up. In administration there may be little or no cash to distribute but you still have the right of set-off if your current loan is decided to be unaffordable, so any refund calculated will reduce your balance, possibly clear it. This set off applies even if there is no money to be distributed.
And if you win a claim your guarantor will be released and you will be able to repay any remainingbalance at a genuinely affordable rate.
The big question is, how likely are the administrators to approve your claim? From watching payday lender administrations, I know that administrators normally try to roughly follow (in an automated way) what the Ombudsman might have done. And FOS was upholding 88% of Amigo complaints.
So the administrators may be MORE likely to uphold your claim that Amigo are. Amigo have not said what their uphold rate is likely to be … but the fact they say they may payout 10% of calculated cash refunds suggests to me that they are expecting a low uphold rate…
Read https://debtcamel.co.uk/stop-paying-amigo-pros-and-cons/ which looks at whether you should stop paying Amigo.
Bee says
I have taken over management of the correspondence from Amigo re a loan my son is guarantor for due to his mental health situation. Complaint submitted back in December and then to FOS – but obviously now on hold.
I really cannot believe the amount of emails and texts I have had recently chasing payment. Followed yesterday by a lengthy phone call in which I stated I would not be recommending my son to pay until his complaint had been dealt with!
I was advised this could result in a lot higher arrears in the future and there was even a mention of attachment of earnings.
Unfortunately they could NOT give any information regarding what Amigos next plan of action was with regards to the scheme.
It makes me so angry that Amigo can just ignore and stop the handling of complaints and yet be very heavy handed chasing payments.
She wanted to record the details I gave her regarding my sons mental health ie did he have a GP diagnosis etc – is it possible they are secretly reviewing complaints to see what the current situation is?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I really cannot believe the amount of emails and texts I have had recently chasing payment.
harassing for anyone, and the idea of sending them automatically to customers who have mental health problems…
this could result in a lot higher arrears in the future and there was even a mention of attachment of earnings.
well obviously not paying means arrears increase. But as Amigo now caps interest at the amount originally quoted when the loan was given, it should not in the long run increase the amount your son has to pay if he eventually loses his complaint.
An attachement of earnings is not going to happen unless Amigo gets a CJ. See my new article https://debtcamel.co.uk/stop-paying-amigo-pros-and-cons/on why threats of going to court seem to be just empty at the moment – it isn’t happening where someone has a complaint in.
That article also looks at why this is the FCA’s fault for allowing Amigo to ignore complaint and there is a section on how to complain to the FCA about this. If you do this for your son, include a bit about the barrage of communication despit them being aware he had mental health problems.
She wanted to record the details I gave her regarding my sons mental health ie did he have a GP diagnosis etc – is it possible they are secretly reviewing complaints to see what the current situation is?
That would be good…
but unfortunately they have always asked for this sort of thing and it has not made any difference I can tell in how they trat people. Indeed it can almost seem like a way of dismissing Mental Health concerns – you may be feeling too anxious to want to talk on the phone to us but if you don’t have a diagnosis of anxiety from a doctor then it isn’t real (I don’t mean they have said that to anyone, but it is what some people have felt about Amigo’s requests for evidence about MH problems.)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
can I ask what the rest of your son’s financial situation is like? does he have other problem debts? Is he buying or renting? Is he up to date with household bills?
Bee says
His financial situation at the moment is good.
I paid off his credit card debt and cancelled the card. He has handed back his car he had on finance. He lives with me so no rent or bills at present. Trying to take him back to basics with money management.
Amigo assured me they would have done all the affordability checks however I dispute this as although he was making his car payments he was up to the max on his overdraft and had no money spare each month to cover a loan.
The person he is guarantor for is totally unknown to me so I also question why my son would make such an arrangement with an acquaintance.
Fortunately my son has not had to make any payments as yet to cover the debt and there is no means for Amigo to just take the money at present.
I will look into the FCA link
https://debtcamel.co.uk/stop-paying-amigo-pros-and-cons/ as I think Amigo need to be forced into action!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can ask Amigo for a Subject Access Request for a copy of all his personal information. That should show you the I&E they mocked up for him. Sometimes these bear little resemblance to what he actually spent money on… eg there will be the car loan there but no insurance, MOT, petrol or amounts for servicing repairs. Also it should include a recording of his phone call with Amigo – that may be helpful and say something about how well he knows the borrower.
If Amigo refuse to provide or ignore the request, make a complaint to the ICO https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/your-personal-information-concerns/. the FCA’s “informal moratorium” does not, so far as i know, mean Amigo can ignore SAR requests.
Lucy says
Hi Sara
I cancelled my direct debit with Amigo on 1st July. I emailed them to advise why, ie, complaint been put in and now with FOS, how I’d already paid over £1000 in interest with another 14 months to go.
The bullying texts, letters have already started.
My guarantor has done the same, cancelling his CPA .
My question is Sara, do I respond to these letters?
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can simply reply that you will be happy to look at r3esuming your payments after your complaint has been assessed in the new Scheme they are looking at.
You could also tell the FCA what you think of their allowing Amigo to try to bully people like this. See how to do this in https://debtcamel.co.uk/stop-paying-amigo-pros-and-cons/
Neil says
Hi Sara
I have stop all my payments to amigo and my partern as cancelled is cpa, I have written to fca and foc to complain about amigo not looking into the complaints. MY PARTNER AS RECEIVED A LETTER FOR AMIGO SAYING THAT THEIR WOULD TAKE PAYMENT OUT OFF IS ACCOUNT IF I HAVE NOT PAID IN 4 DAYS TIME. I Have explained to amigo my partern as mental health and we do have letters for the doctors and specialist .
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I assume your partner is your guarantor. I hope they have cancelled their direct debit to Amigo as well as phoned their bank and cancelled the CPA.
neil says
Hi Sara,
Double checked on my partner banking account there’s is no direct debit set up on is account from amigo
Thanks neil
Lorraine says
My Husband made a claim to Amigo last year, for five loans/top ups, unsurprisingly they said he had no case. He referred the case to the Ombudsman and had the email from them this week.
How does he stand with stopping payments please ? And he’s assuming that if it’s Amigo deciding ongoing claims he will be refused. What happens then ?
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
See https://debtcamel.co.uk/stop-paying-amigo-pros-and-cons/ which looks at the pros and cons of stopping paying Amigo and what he wouls have to do.
he’s assuming that if it’s Amigo deciding ongoing claims he will be refused.
It will be Amigo deciding complaints if they put forward a new Scheme which is approved – the last one was rejected by the court as being unfair to consumers.
With 5 loans, it is pretty likely that at least the later loans would be decided to be unaffordable in any Scheme. Even if this is only the last loan, his guarantor would be released and he could make a lower payment arrangement for any remaining balance. So a Scheme my not be a disaster for him.
If no Scheme is approved and Amigo goes into administration, he will be able to make a claim to the administrators – they normally try to follow roughly what the Ombudsman might have done so it may be more likely that his balance would be wiped out.
Lorraine says
Thank you for your advice Sara, he is going to stop making the £297 payments and email Amigo/FCA
Much appreciated 😊
James H says
Hi Sara,
On 24/10/2018, I settled an old loan of £8,761.29. The same day, I took out a £10,000 loan (a top up of £1,238.71).
I put in an affordability complaint using the Resolver website on 11/11/2020. They replied 3 times, saying they were looking into it and said I could complain to the FOS, but they stated they would still look into my complaint. I decided to wait and not complain to the FOS.
I continued paying monthly until 2 months ago, when I read about other customers having not paid since last year. I cancelled my DD and CPA last month, but it caused my guarantor lots of stress and worry. He is very concerned and won’t cancel his CPA as he doesn’t want his credit score affected if he doesn’t pay, which I completely understand.
Since then, we have been receiving texts and myself receiving emails and letters, telling me I need to make a payment. It worried my guarantor to the point that I have resolved to making the missed payment tomorrow.
I emailed them a few days ago, saying that I won’t make any payments until they go back to resolving my complaint, but I’ve had no reply.
Furthermore, should Amigo go into insolvency, how likely is it that my current loan will be written off, as I have paid back over £2,000 more than the loan I took out on 24/10/2018.
Many thanks,
James Harrod
Sara (Debt Camel) says
he doesn’t want his credit score affected if he doesn’t pay
His credit score will NOT be affected by not paying. The Amigo loan doesn’t appear on his credit record – he can check a credit report if he is worried about this.
It can only be harmed if Amigo takes him to court for a CCJ. But see https://debtcamel.co.uk/stop-paying-amigo-pros-and-cons/ for why Amigo may be threatening to take people to court but it is using very careful language which sounds worrying but doesn’t actually say they will go to court. And in practice Amigo is not going to court where there is an open complaint. This isn’t going to happen.
should Amigo go into insolvency, how likely is it that my current loan will be written off, as I have paid back over £2,000 more than the loan I took out on 24/10/2018.
A large top up loan is often a sign you are in financial trouble and the loan should not have been given. If you think Amigo should have realised the repayments would be unaffordable for you, then it sounds likely you would win a claim in administration – administrators usually try to follow what FOS might have decided.
You may want to think about complaining to the FCA about the pressure Amigo is putting you and your guarantor under. Because it is the FCA’s fault that they are allowing Amigo to not pay refunds, which is why FOS isn’t working on complaints any more. See that link for how to complain to the FCA https://debtcamel.co.uk/stop-paying-amigo-pros-and-cons/
James H says
Hi Sara,
Thank you for your swift response.
It may not affect his credit score, but the worry is that they will still take the repayment, even if he does cancel the CPA. He has stress at work and this is only increasing that stress even more.
I have emailed the FCA and relevant MPs, but I don’t anticipate a quick response as you stated on the other page.
I appreciate your help and wait with baited breath for what the coming weeks and months will bring.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If he has cancelled the CPA and Amigo still takes a payment he can ask the bank to return it. He has the right to cancel a CPA as the FCA explains here: https://www.fca.org.uk/news/news-stories/continuous-payment-authorities-it-your-right-cancel
James H says
Hi Sara,
Thanks for your swift reply again.
I don’t want to cause him even more stress, so I have used the link in the latest text from Amigo to pay the missed payment tomorrow, and then continue the repayments. I know I will lose most of the repayment amounts, but I’m at the stage now where I just want the debt cleared and not worry about it, or cause any stress to my guarantor.
Simon says
Morning Sara.
different email than normal from AMIGO this morning
Hi xxxx,
It’s Richard at Amigo. It’s important to me that you have the facts regarding the CCJ that we could apply for if we’re unable to come to a resolution regarding the missed payments. When the loan was paid out, we could accept xxxxx because of the strong credit score they had built. A CCJ may impact that score and set their own ability to obtain credit back years.
starting to take the biscuit now arent they
Sara (Debt Camel) says
more weasel words…
the CCJ that we COULD apply for
It isn’t saying they WILL apply for one.
Lloyd says
Hi Sara
Can you give me some advice please?
I have taken out a loan back in 2018 had a top up in 2018 basically I took £8k and have paid £8k in interest and still owe 8k.
If I stopped making payments till they have seen or resolved my case. Would this help with the repayments if they do return some money?
Also I have told my guarantor to cancel any direct debts and CPA they may have.
I have asked am sick for help as I’ve been on furlough for the past 16 months and find it hard to make payments and had never missed a payment yet. To protect my guarantor (my best friend)
What advice could you give me please?
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I have taken out a loan back in 2018 had a top up in 2018
Taking a top up very soon after the original loan is often a sign that you were in trouble. Were you finding it difficult to make the repayments to the first loan? Had your other debts gone up by the time you took the top-up?
I have asked am sick for help as I’ve been on furlough for the past 16 months and find it hard to make payments
Do you have other problem debts as well?
Any idea if you are going to have a job when furlough ends?
Lloyd says
Hi I have got other debt yes which have taken a hit most are bills I have not been able to pay due to my high amigo payments.
I have struggled for years but had to get cash after my separation and amigo was my only hope.
I am about to start another job to get back to full time work. With my debts building up it’s going to be hard to get straight for a while.
I have spoken to my guarantor he is happy for me to stop paying and has checked with his bank that he has not direct debt or CPA on his card he doesn’t even have the same card as then.
I have also insurances him it will not affect his credit score but will have to put up with there threatening ways
What’s my beat option in your point of view?
Thank you again
Sara (Debt Camel) says
As your guarantor is happy for you to stop paying, that is a great help.
It sounds as though you were in a difficult situation and should probably not have been given the loan. Of course it’s not possible to say that you will definitely win your complaint, but in your current position, it’s really important you catch up with essential bills. Can I suggest you talk to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 about your whole situation? Not just the Amigo debts, but your other debts and bolls as well? They can help you work out what your priorites are – getting a full time job is great but as you say with a buld of of problems it may take a while to get financially straight again.
Ryan says
Anyone get an email from amigo today about a new scheme with customers on the panel ? Reply if you want to be considered ….like they could be amigo works or friends who they pick …think there just clutching at straws now …trying everything .
Kelly says
Yes received the same email too.
I have just ignored it !
MEH says
Previously said my son is guarantor and FOS recently said they’ll not look into it any more. My sons mental health is not good and whilst he could afford monthly payments if he lived rent free with us, we are seriously considering paying it off for him, £13600.00 and increasing all the time. I read that a guarantor would get a refund if claim upheld but would this be 100% refund or just a small %age if a scheme goes ahead?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you settle the loan, any refund in a Scheme would only be a tiny percentage.
And it would be likely be nothing if Amigo fail and go into administration – in administration your son’s claim would be considered and the he may be removed as guarantor so he wouldn’t have to pay any more but there is likely to be no cash for paying any refunds.
It is a hard decision to make here. Read https://debtcamel.co.uk/stop-paying-amigo-pros-and-cons/. And as that says you could consider complaining to the FCA – the FCA is supposed to protect vulnerable consumers like your son, but their actions in allowing Amigo to not pay refunds are putting an unreasonable amount of unfair pressure on people.
MEH says
Thanks, FCA have been contacted but their reply was just a standard response and no help at all. If we pay the arrears of approx £2400.00 and continue to pay the monthly £400.00, presumably he will never owe more than the current £13600.00?
The problem though is there’s no end in sight, amigo can drag it on for ever and before we know it, it’s all been paid and nothing refunded if his complaint is upheld.
If we knew it would be resolved in just a few months that would be something, we’d rather get no refund on £4000.00 say, than £13600.00.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Amigo caps the interest it adds at what was stated on the original contract so this doesn’t carry on rising, if that is what you are concerned about.
Indeed Amigo can drag this on (which is why people should complain to the FCA who needs to stop allowing Amigo to do this) and every month you pay effectively throws away most of that money (assuming he wins the court case).
Amigo are bluffing when they are making threats of going to court, thousands of people are in this situation and no court cases are being started. So you can call their bluff and stop paying. In the worst case, if he eventually loses the complaint in 6-12 months time and Amigo could really go to court at that point you can either start making monthly payments or settle the debt before there is a CCJ.
Alternatively….
You said previously you son was always overdrawn, which suggests that he has other debts as well. Because you and he could consider another approach which is bankruptcy. You can pay the bankruptcy fee and continue to let him live with you. You can act as a guarantor for a tenancy if he later gets well enough to move out. And later, when he is discharged from bankruptcy, you could give him a present of a few thousand pounds. This would cost you a lot less than settling his debts and would leave him in a better position going forward. Bankruptcy drops off his credit record after 6 years – from that point he would be able to get a mortgage so bankruptcy is not a permanent bar.
He could talk to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 about this? He may feel less guilty about an option that costs you less?
MEH says
The interest cap would take the debt to £23k, another £10k on top of what is the balance now. He doesn’t have debts as such, he’s up to date with other payments (1 car loan) and is not likely to be granted bankruptcy. The point of our case is that when the loans were given, he was overdrawn regularly and 3 top ups within 12 months indicated debt problems. Its just the risk of the debt becoming £23k the longer it drags on.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
is not likely to be granted bankruptcy.
yes he is. He cannot repay the Amigo loan and pay reasonable living expenses (you should be charging him a reasonable amount of rent if he does go bankrupt). He may not want to go bankrupt (which is fine) but it is his choice whether to do so and it would not be refused.
If the borrower had 3 top ups within 12 months then that is a very good reason to complain. As is the fact your son was regularly overdrawn.
(Incidentally, will the borrower co-operate by doing this too? If your son is released as guarantor, that puts the borrower back on the hook so he has a good reason to claim so at least the interest will be removed from his debt.)
I am sorry but you face a complicated choice where there is no 100% right answer because it cannot be guaranteed your son will win his claim.
One thing you can do is to stop paying now and then, as soon as a Scheme or administration starts, at that point settle the debt. ALL payments made in a scheme or administration will be refunded 100% if he wins his complaint, it is payments made before the Scheme or administration that are the problem. If you pay the arrears and start making payments now, or settle the debt in full, you will only get back a tiny percentage in the Scheme and likely nothing in administration.
I would be very surprised if there isn’t a Scheme or administration before Xmas. November seems pretty likely.
Clare Smith says
I’ve stopped paying amigo. Advised my guarantor to cancel direct debit etc. There wasn’t one on his account. He’s had a letter basically saying they are now going to set a direct debit up on his account. Can they do this?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
no – he should tell his bank he does not want a direct debit set up and does not want Amigo to have a Continuous Payment Authority over his debit card.
Helen Mills says
That happened to my mum today. I cancelled all my payments, they only had an old card of my mums we have never set up a dd from hers. Then today Amigo have set up a dd from my mums account. Apparently they can do this each month. However bank were so helpful they will continue to cancelled the dd, and they are putting funds back in for my mum
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is disgusting behaviour by Amigo. Your mum’s bank is doing the right thing, but AmMigo should not be putting your mum under this sort of pressure.
Can I suggest you and your mum should make a complaint about the way the FCA is allowing Amigo to behave like this by removing any means you and your mum have to get complaints resolved. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/stop-paying-amigo-pros-and-cons/
Helen Mills says
Natwest have put the money back into the account, they said they need to get it back from Amigo by proving my mum hasn’t given permission to set up a dd payment. The bank said they might try again for payment next month even though no dd has been signed by my mum.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Point out it’s not possible for your mum to prove she never signed something.
But say she is happy to sign anything now to say if she gave Amigo permission to debit her account (which she denies) she is withdrawing that permission.
Clare Smith says
He’s rang the bank and they said there isn’t a DD set up on his account but if they do take anything they will get it back. What I don’t understand is I’ve received a letter today giving me till 02/08 to clear the arrears but my guarantors letter says the DD is being set up to take the money 30/07. They really are vile.
aden says
Has anyone else had the following email. seems like stalling tatics
Would you like to help shape how Amigo customers could be compensated?
Our first Scheme of Arrangement was not sanctioned by the High Court. The Judge asked us to increase customer involvement in deciding how a potential new scheme could work and defining what options are most attractive. As a direct response to this feedback, we are putting together an independent Customer Committee.
What is a Customer Committee?
We will select 8 people at random to form a collaborative ‘voice’ of our customers. The selected individuals will provide a representative customer opinion on Amigo’s potential options; including the possibility of a new scheme. A new scheme would define how (and when) we pay customers any valid compensation for loans which were mis-sold, for example due to affordability reasons. We would like your voice to be heard as there are alternative options, which include not doing a new scheme and Amigo filing for insolvency. We would like to have a mix of customers; past and present borrowers and guarantors, to be a part of the committee. The Financial Ombudsman will also be invited to attend, as the largest creditor of Amigo.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
In theory its good for Amigo to know what customers “would like”. Whether this 8 person creditor committee is a sensible way to go about this is highly dubious.
You can only take a good decision if you are properly informed and as the judge in the last court case decided, most Amigo customers will know little or nothing about corporate restructuring.
Amigo says “an independent advisor will provide a detailed overview [to the committe] and any relevant information on Amigo’s options. This will include the possible outcomes of the options, primarily focusing on the outcome for our customers, but also for other stakeholders. As a committee member, your responsibility will be to give thoughts and opinions on the information that you are given. You and other members will discuss and provide feedback.” It is far from clear to me that this bears any resemblance to what the FCA was talking about in court – allowing the committee to have access to professional (legal and accountants) advice.
Amigo and its advisers have already provided pretty misleading explanations about the first Scheme. Will they come clean now? Will they be explaining details that the first Scheme documents skated over – three key ones being:
1) “Why are you planning to impose deductions “for unpaid interest” which FOS never does and how many customers do you expect will be impacted by this?”
2) “what do you expect the uphold rate will be?”
3) why are you valuing write-offs of balance at only £1 – this effectively rigs a ballot against people with outstanding loans?
Without answers to these sorts of questions – which are not directly about the amount of money on offer – asking people to vote on a new Scheme is like asking them to vote to be placed in a lottery as people can have no idea whether their complaint is likely to be upheld by Amigo.
But will Amigo see this as “relevant information”?
And why does it want such secrecy about what the committee is told? This sort of information should all have been publically disclosed to creditors in the first Scheme but was not – by not letting people on the committee discuss this with anyone else, this seems to be compounding the problem, not resolving it.
As you say, this committee will also be delaying things. the committee meeting will not be over before the end of August. Every month Amigo pockets more money in repayments where it will onlt repy a tiny amount if a complaint is upheld.
See https://debtcamel.co.uk/stop-paying-amigo-pros-and-cons/ which looks at whether you should stop paying Amigo and whether you should make a complaint about the FCA allowing Amigo to stop paying refunds for such a very long period.
Tom says
“This means that even if we were to now start investigating complaints about Amigo again, we understand it wouldn’t pay any compensation we awarded. So we’re continuing to pause progressing complaints about Amigo, and we will not be taking on any new cases.”
Quoted from the FOS update for july regarding Amigo loans. This is criminal… amigo will basically refuse to pay out any compensation awarded by the FOS yet they have been given the green light to carry on bullying the people that would have a valid claim to repay their loans!! What the hell is going on!! Are the FCA and FOS share holders in Amigo Loans or what ???
Why are Amigo Loans being given this amount of breathing space yet the real victims are still being bullied by Amigo.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is the FCAs fault not FOS’s – FOS will find it very hard to work on cases fairly if Amigo refuses to cooperate and send over case files or respond to FOS questions, and what is the point when the FCA is allowing Amigo to ignore any FOS decisions and not pay refunds?
The FCA needs to change its mind and tell customers with a complaint in that they do not need to pay any more until the complaint has been decided.
People should send the FCA a complaint, not about Amigo but about the FCAs behaviour which is abandoning vulnerable customers to very aggressive debt collection. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/stop-paying-amigo-pros-and-cons/ which explains how to make this sort of complaint about the FCA.
Holmey says
I’ve just received this from Amego:
“Hello P*****,
Would you like to help shape how Amigo customers could be compensated?
Our first Scheme of Arrangement was not sanctioned by the High Court. The Judge asked us to increase customer involvement in deciding how a potential new scheme could work and defining what options are most attractive. As a direct response to this feedback, we are putting together an independent Customer Committee.
What is a Customer Committee?
We will select 8 people at random to form a collaborative ‘voice’ of our customers. The selected individuals will provide a representative customer opinion on Amigo’s potential options; including the possibility of a new scheme.
A new scheme would define how (and when) we pay customers any valid compensation for loans which were mis-sold, for example due to affordability reasons. We would like your voice to be heard as there are alternative options, which include not doing a new scheme and Amigo filing for insolvency.”
It continues, but full too long to post as comment…
I think as many of us as possible should sign up to this an tell them to get to hell, payout what they owe to clients who they have miss sold loans to and to take it out of the shareholders pockets, If they have to go into liquidisation, I’d rather that and take my chance with the administrators than trust them with a new scheme.
An angry Holmey
Michelle says
I got one too !!!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Indeed. And have you looked at making a complaint about the FCA for allowing Amigo to act this way? See https://debtcamel.co.uk/stop-paying-amigo-pros-and-cons/
Debbie says
https://www.ft.com/content/749c545b-7fa7-447b-a241-0813b1e93fbd
Why are the FCA not protecting customers? Amigo may have a field day with this and there is no end in sight!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think that FCA decision is pretty uncomfortable reading for Amigo – as that article says
“it decided not to block the plan in part because Provident has said it will close down the doorstep lending division entirely, meaning that unlike in the case of Amigo, “the group and its stakeholders will not be retaining a valuable stake in a continuing profitable business at the expense of redress creditors”.”
Simon says
Until enough of us cancel our payments and get affordability complaints they are in no rush to resolve this, if everyone stopped paying tomorrow then it sure as hell would be resolved quicker.
I feel sorry for those who receive the intimating messages and threats with court etc and keep paying – ive had this in the past and ended up paying due to the harassment wanting it to go away which led to my situation being worse.
Phil Lockwood says
I consider the way and as often as they have contact me and my guarantor could be considered criminal when it comes to harassment and intimidation offences, if not they are treading a fine line.
How often are they allowed to contact you, how far can they stretch the truth regarding threats to take you to court before they actually cross the line into criminality?
I’m considering reporting them to the police and letting them be the judge of that.
Camille says
I informed beloved Amigos that myself and my guarantor will not be paying!
I asked the status of my claim, and still awaiting a reply
Today I got this.
Camille,
It’s only fair to remind you that soon you may be issued with an LBA (Letter Before Action).
If the arrears are not paid, or an arrangement agreed, soon we will begin assessing your case and if we think appropriate, start preparing for court.
If you would like to discuss how we can prevent this from being necessary, please call me on 01202 629103. Remember we’re not open late at night or on Sundays, so it might be quicker and easier to reply to this message.
Will, Amigo Loans
🤣
Just have to laugh, the.balls of these people!
Dean C says
Don’t worry about any of it. I’m well past their deadline for threats of an LBA and Amigo have done precisely *nothing* except send the same empty threats, just with different words, in the hopes that I’ll somehow “crack”. No danger of that.
Camille says
There you go! I won’t buckle at all!
I will continue to wait for them to sort themseleves out!
Damn muppets.
Daniel Green says
Dear Sarah,
After months of fighting with amigo over my loans and top ups my complaint is still on hold I’ve asked for my mother to be removed from the loan as gaurentour but amigo has stated that she can and will not be removed from the loan as the money was paid in to her account I suffer with anxiety and depression and have been struck off work I’ve agreed with amigo to pay a revised amount but still struggle to pay bills and area’s on other bills can you please give me some much needed advice
Daniel
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you made an affordability complaint that Amigo rejected? did you send it to the Ombudsman?
What was your mum’s financial situation at the time the last top up was was taken – at that point would she really have been able to afford to make all the payments to the loan and still been able to pay her own debts, bills and living expenses?
What is her current financial situation – does she have other problem debts? Is she buying or renting?
Daniel Green says
My complaint is on hold but it’s definitely a valid claim as for my mother she wasn’t able to make any payment or afford such payments she’s still struggling to pay the rent and household bills without trying to cover any arrears I incurred with amigo I’ve kept paying the revised fees for a couple of months now but I’m still really struggling
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ok then if your mum could not have made all the payments to this last from when you took it it out, then the loan was unaffordable for her at that point. She will be able to make a complaint to Amigo in any new Scheme and to the administrators if Amigo go bust.
I suggest you read https://debtcamel.co.uk/stop-paying-amigo-pros-and-cons/ and then talk to your mum about you both not paying. You would have to cancel your direct debit to Amigo – she would have to cancel her direct debit and also phone her bank and cancel the continuous payment authority Amigo has over her debit card.
Does your mum have other debts as well that she is having trouble managing? She could benefit from getting good debt advice on this, she can call National Debtline on 0808 808 4000.
Daniel Green says
Not ones that are excessive as amigo but we will definitely look into the advice you have given thank you so much for your help
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is your mum renting privately or council / housing association?
Daniel Green says
It’s council
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ok then that means a debt relief order for her may be a very good option. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/debt-options/dro/
This could be soon because of her other debts – in this case you want to stop paying them NOW so Amigo demand she pays them (she can cancel her direct debit and continuous payment authority so they don’t get any money). If she gets aDRO she needs the Amigo debt included and that can only happen after they have asked her to pay.
Or she could keep it up her sleeve as her worst case fallback. So you stop paying now (as you can’t afford it) and she doesn’t pay and then waits for her claim and your claim to be decided in a new Scheme or in administration. If bothe of you lose your claims (so worst case) then she then opts for a DRO.
But if her other financial problems aren’t going to get solved, then a DRO now could resolve them and Amigo now, with no need to stress for the next 6-12 months. National Debtline can talk her through all these options.
Lloyd says
What’s everyone doing with these emails inviting use to be on the committee?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
no harm in putting your name forward! I am deeply sceptical that this will be a real help in getting info out of amigo but why not try/
Sarah L says
My payment has not been taken today never happened before
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Oh! Had you complained? Was it affordable?
Sarah L says
I have complained saying it wasnt affordable I am on reduced payments as when they checked everything I couldn’t afford original payment amount
What would you do about them not taking payment
Sarah L says
Well I took out a loan for 9000 4 years ago and now owe them £10000 it’s ridiculous as for stopping payments how do I go about it please
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Read https://debtcamel.co.uk/stop-paying-amigo-pros-and-cons/ which explains what you have to do (cancel your DD) and what your guarantor has to do (cancel their DD and also phone their bank up and cancel any continuous payments authority over their debit card. Even if they think there isn’t one and they have a new debit card they still need to do this.)
Richard Swain says
My payment was due on 20th and not taken either – none of the usual emails or chasing calls since either
Unfortunately it looks like they took my previous payment four weeks after I cancelled my DD and my guarantor his CPA – looks like they set up a DD with my guarantors details?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“Unfortunately it looks like they took my previous payment four weeks after I cancelled my DD and my guarantor his CPA – looks like they set up a DD with my guarantors details?”
Sorry can you go into more details? You cancelled your DD when? Did your guarantor also cancel his DD? Who did Amigo take a payment from – your account or his account after the DDs were cancelled? Have you/he talked to the bank about this?
Richard Swain says
I cancelled my DD months ago – they kept takaing payment from my guarantor – my Dad. He was fine with this at first but last month he cancelled his CPA with his bank. The payment wasn’t taken on 20th June and I was getting the usual chasers etc….. then nothing. My next payment was due on 20 July. I forgot to check at the time, so logged in last night and could see that a payment had been deducted by DD from my Dad on 19 July for the 20 June payment, but it’s now one payment behind again as 20 July is o/s. I’ve not had a chance to speak to my guarantor yet.
I made an affordability complaint with Amigo a while back – I’ve also been quite vocal with them when they’ve tried chasing for payments.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am sorry but I am still a bit confused.
You can log in to your dad’s bank account?
your dad cancelled the CPA but did he also cancel the DD?
Hari says
Me too. I complained via claiming firm in December. System error or have they suddenly got a conscience?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So it seems that 3 people have said this. It could just be a systems glitch as Hari says, in which case they will probably try to take the payment.
Have you looked at deciding to stop payments? See https://debtcamel.co.uk/stop-paying-amigo-pros-and-cons/. Because what you decide to do depends on whether you want to pay or not… If you have already paid them more than you borrowed and then you win your complaint, you will onlt get back a tiny proportion of every payment you make from here on, so stopping paying may be a good move even if you can afford the reduced payments. But you will need to explain this to your guarantor so they too can stop paying as that link says.
Louisa says
I’ve not made a payment for almost 3 months now and not heard a single thing from them, neither has my guarantor 🤷🏻♀️
victoria phillips says
Hi Sara, Amigo don’t respond to any of my emails but thay continually bully my dad who is my guarantor on speaking to him this morning he thinks that they have taken money from his account which is very distressing. My dad hasn’t given them the permission to do this and they are fully aware of my complaint and point blankly ignore me so continue to bully a 74 year old pensioner. I really don’t know what to do if they have taken this money from him. I am going through a DRO at the minute with the CAB. Not once have amigo offered any sort of payment break I’m really at my wits end now as I have no money and I shall have to repay all this back to my Dad which is 2 months arrears
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Has your dad cancelled his direct debit to them? Has he phoned his bank and cancelled the Continuous Payment Authority (CPA) to them?
VICTORIA PHILLIPS says
he never had a direct debit set up with them he checked with his bank about a month ago and he certainly never signed anything. I think they have just used his card details they have on file from when he paid previously
Sara (Debt Camel) says
and the money was taken by DD or by CPA? If it is DD then he needs to complain to the bank who will refund him. If it is CPA, he needs to tell the bank to cancel this.
VICTORIA PHILLIPS says
I’m not sure until I speak to him. I’ve also had a response to my claim and they are saying it’s not valid surprise surprise and that they shall be taking payments from my dad and that with interest a £5000 is over £11000 to which to date ive paid over £7200. Its like a nightmare ive got all my family mad at me. I’m doing a DRO but no idea what I can do to get my dad out of this they just keep threatening him constantly he doesn’t need it ge is 74 years old and a pensioner how do they expect him to pay it I’m so mad that they can even do this without consent
Sean Brooker says
I have told them I won’t be paying until my complaint is investigated, I have cancelled all mine and my guarantor payments. I told them to stop emailing us, and as long as you both email to stop being contacted they will.
Be firm, they know they will not go to court until resolved either way.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
By agreeing to be the guarantor, he gave them authority to take payments. So he has to remove that authority. If he did that and the bank staill paid them, then he should be able to get the money bank from his bank.
From what you said before, he is on pension credit so he should never have been accepted as guarantor – he too needs to send them a complaint and ask to be removed. That gives two ways he can be removed, if you win you complaint or he wins his.
This is the only way to get him out of this. You and the rest of his family need to support him in standing up to these bullies. Any money being paid to them now is just being thrown away as he will only get a tiny percentage back.
Neil says
Hi Sara, I had a email from amigo saying that they would sent a lba, I have email them back saying look into my complaint first and stop sending me emails. I would glad if I get a letter from court and I can complaint about amigo
Sara says
Morning has anyone had amigo loans still take money from tour account randomly. They have taken 200 from my account this morning and I’m unsure why as I paid them off over a year ago. There’s no direct debit set up and the bank has cancelled everything. This happened back in January and the bank refunded the money back..
Apart from changing banks how can I prevent this from occurring. I’ll get the money back but surely they can’t be allowed to do this
Thanks Sara
Sara (Debt Camel) says
have you phoned Amigo up and complained? Ask for an explanation and compensation for this. It should never have happened once, let alone twice.
Let us know what Amigo says?
Sara says
I can’t get through to anyone and the bank are saying that amigo loans set a direct debit back up in April. I have had no letters or anything from them saying that they want to start taking any payment.
My account was cleared through the Ombudsman in 2018. Surely they have to contact either way to set up a direct debit for my authorisation?
Thanks sara
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what they are doing is completely wrong – that is why your bank will carry on refunding you. Vut that doesn’t mean that you should have to put up with the hassle of doing this!
I suggest you send a complaint to the FCA that the FCA should not be allowing Amigo an “informal Moratorium” on paying redress – this moratorium is the reason Amigo can get away with not even trying to answer complaints or pick up the phone. And why you can’t send a complaint to the ombudsman anymore.
Complaining about the FCA is explained here: https://debtcamel.co.uk/stop-paying-amigo-pros-and-cons/#This_is_the_FCAs_fault_-_complain_about_the_FCA. That has a list of points to make to the FCA. But for your case, just say when your Amigo loan was settled in 2018 and say that Amigo has twice set up a new direct debit with your bank, without your permission and with no debt being owed, and debited your account, once in January and gain in July. Say your bank is refunding you but this is unreasoneable that you should have to go through this, say you cannot get through to Amigo to discuss this as they do not answer the phone, they are not responding to complaints and you have been told you cannot send a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman because the FCA has given Amigo an informal moratorium. Say you think it is wrong for the FCA to leave customers with no way to get errors by an authorised firm resolved quickly.
See
Debbie says
Received the following from Amigo today! I am finished with them in October officially but took reduced payments during furlough and Covid and now have deferred arrears, I’m happy to pay till the end just to get shot of them but what does deferred payments mean? Is my guarantor still liable if I can’t pay which is looking likely due to my current circumstances.
Hi Deborah,
Thanks for your email.
The £1069.40 deferred payment arrears does not mean your account is behind these are just the 4 months worth of payments in total that get deferred to the end of the loan. If your account was behind it would show a positive number on the actual arrears section which, as you can see is £0.
You did make 4 payments of £100 totalling £400 and this covered 01/09/2020 payment and most of 01/10/2020 payment. Regarding our interest, Interest on your loan is calculated daily on the outstanding balance, this means that at the start of your loan term when the balance is at it’s highest, so is the interest that accrues each month. Slowly as your balance begins to come down, so will the interest that accrues, and ultimately you’ll notice the balance reducing quicker as a result of this.
Also the interest on an Amigo loan is capped meaning you will only ever pay back the agreed amount when the loan was paid out and not a penny more. You hit you interest cap on the 01/09/2021 and don’t pay any interest until the loan finishes: 01/03/2022.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I’m happy to pay till the end just to get shot of them but what does deferred payments mean? Is my guarantor still liable if I can’t pay which is looking likely due to my current circumstances.
yes.
Debbie says
Thanks Sara! I just feel it’s a bit unfair because I have had an affordability complaint in since December 2020 and I wish to god Covid hadn’t happened because I would be nearly done! I had to take reduced payments as I was furloughed and now my hours at work are cut because of Covid also and the business I work at is struggling and trying to stay afloat too! Such bad luck! Just wish they would be an agreeable type company to help me with the little remainder I have left and not touch my guarantor but I don’t hold out much hope!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How good do you think your affordability complaint is?
Debbie says
Hi Sara! I had a decree against me at the time and was behind on my mortgage, but I have paid religiously with no top ups so I’m not sure at all, Amigo rejected it and now it’s with the ombudsman, I certainly feel like it was unaffordable, it’s been a sheer struggle but obviously I couldn’t risk my guarantor.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A CCJ and mortgage arrears sounds like a good complaint to me.
Can you not talk to your guarantor and explain why you want to stop paying? You have repaid more than you borrowed so If your claim is upheld any balance will be wiped.
See https://debtcamel.co.uk/stop-paying-amigo-pros-and-cons/ for the pros and cons. Your guarantor has to stop paying too (cancel their direct debit and phone bank and cancel their continuous payment authority) but this won’t affect their credit record.
Helen Mills says
I received the below today, its been a nightmare we have cancelled direct debits but for some reason they manage to still take money. They don’t have card details as my mum changed her card
Thanks for your email.
Whilst your complaint is ongoing your account will continue to run as normal and the credit agreement with yourself and your mum, Sonia, still remains in place.
Sonia’s liability remains in place, she’s unable to withdraw as guarantor unless the loan was to be settled in full. If a payment arrangement is not met with yourself we will look to your mum to step in to resolve the account with us. She falls liable to step in when the account falls 14 days in arrears. If her circumstances have changed we’d need your mum to contact us to discuss her situation in more details, however this would not remove her liability as guarantor.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They took money from you? or from your mum? If your mum, she needs to establich with her bank if this was by Direct Debit (which sh had cancelled) or by Continuous Payment Authority. Just changing card number does NOT cancel a CPA.
Helen Mills says
Yeah it was from my mum, they have now cancelled the dd payment, but Amigo have said they can set this up again with her authority
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so it was taken by DD and she had already cancelled it? She can ask her bank to refund that. they CANNOT set it up gain without her agreeing.
Kate says
Hi Sarah
I have stopped our payments, cancelled the direct debit and the CPA on the card. My guarantor has done the same and advised amigo of this.
This morning I received this email. Given that there is no ‘we might’ or ‘we could’ rather ‘we will’ I am a little concerned. Can you advice
As outlined previously, If the arrears are left unresolved for a further 7 days the account will switch to ****and a default notice will then be issued to yourself. We would then be expecting ****to work with us as the Guarantor for this loan to prevent the default notice from expiring.
Should your account then remain unresolved and the default notice expires, we would begin taking legal action against the two of you which is likely to be for the full loan balance rather than the arrears.
Legal action would likely result in County Court Judgements against you and ******which will stay on your credit files for up to 6 years and can make obtaining any further credit extremely difficult. This would include any loans, credit cards, a mortgage or potentially even phone contracts, it really can be quite devastating.
I hope through communicating with you in this way we can open a dialogue and find a resolution for your payment of £395.25 before the amount you must pay increases
Obviously I hope to be successful in my complaint but don’t want to do anything that effects my guarantor and don’t want to end up paying more
Thanks in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Amigo used to be very fast to go to court. But for the last 18 months at least they haven’t been doing this where there is a complaint in. They send the occasional Letter Before Action (LBA) – that is the step they have to do before starting a court claim. But they weren’t followed through with court papers. I don’t think I have seen an LBA this year.
There are a lot of good reasons why Amigo will not do this now.
The FCA rules (CONC 7.14.1) say ” A firm must suspend any steps it takes or its agent takes in the recovery of a debt from a customer where the customer disputes the debt on valid grounds or what may be valid grounds.”. You have a complaint with Amigo – that is “disputing the debt”.
Amigo is hoping the FCA will not object to its second Scheme, or that too may fail.
The FCA is in a difficult situation at the moment as it is allowing Amigo an “informal moratorium” on responding to complaints. But the FCA may stop doing that if Amigo starts taking customers to court!
So Amigo really doesn’t want to annoy the FCA at the moment – it isn’t going to start breaking this rule.
But suppose Amigo decides to go to court, not just try to bluff you into paying. I don’t expect this will happen, but if you want to know how the worst case scenario would play out.
First they have to issue a default Notice, then wait for that to expire.
Then they have to send you an LBA. You have 30 days to reply to that. You can wait until nearly the end of that period then reply (they have to send you a reply form) asking for more information and saying you will be taking debt advice.
They can’t go to court until 30 days after they have sent you the information that you request.
If they do send you a Court Claim Form, you can lodge a defence saying you are disputing the amount, you have made an affordability complaint and Amigo has not replied to it. I will point you to somewhere you can get help with this.
And then you just try to delay court proceedings. Which are incredibly slow anyway. Pre-pandemic defended cases took an average of 9 months to get to court and things are now worse as there is a larger backlog. But you can just ask for a stay (legal jargon for putting a court case on hold) pending Amigo responding to your complaint.
This is a long slow process that isn’t going to happen before a Scheme or Administration.
Amigo told the court for the first Scheme that it would not start court action in the Scheme. Administrators certainly won’t if Amigo goes bust – they will just want to determine your complaint.
Kate says
Thank you Sarah, that is reassuring
Nazia Bibi says
Hi sara ive received a e-mail from the fca today saying that they are still investigating my complaint about amigos and will keep me updated every 4 weeks just have to wait and see what the outcome will be i guess
Andrew says
Hi Sara,
Long time reader, first time poster.
I made an affordability complaint just before the High Court ruling, and Amigo has refused to look at my clam. I took out the loan (in desperation) and toped it up about 6 months later and again about 4 months after that. However I had gotten two CCJ’s before the first top-up. Even at the beginning I shouldn’t have been loaned the money (I feel really stupid taking it but I had a family to feed and no job).
Reading all the FCA and even their own rules my case is a simple one. I don’t even want any money back just the debt to be wiped and my credit report to reflect this. Working out the interest owed it would more than cover the remaining outstanding, about £1500.
If the ombudsman considering complaints from Amigo, can I take Amigo to small clams court to sort this out? or is there any other way to resolve this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So from what you have said, with 2 CCJs before the first top up, this sounds like a VERY strong case.
I don’t think legally there is anything to stop you taking Amigo to court. You may think your case is a simple one, but it may be complicated for you to set out – you would have to argue that Amigo was in breach of FCA rules on affordability checking and this constituted an unfair relationship under the Consumer Credit Act. This was the approach taken successfully in the Kerrigan case (see https://debtcamel.co.uk/kerrigan-elevate-credit-unfair-relationship/ which has a link to the judgment) which is the only case I am aware of. this is NOT a simple money claim as you have to argue why Amigo owes you a refund.
However my guess is Amigo would lodge a defence – if it simply paid it would get inundated with these cases. And there is a long backlog of small claims cases – in 2019 they took on average 9 months to come to court and the pandemic is likely to have made this worse.
So your case is simply unlikely to heard before Amigo either get a second Scheme of Arrangement approved or go into adminbistration – and in either event the court case would then end and you claim would be considered in the Scheme/administration. So you would have wasted the court fees and had had a lot of stress for nothing.
Instead I suggest you read https://debtcamel.co.uk/stop-paying-amigo-pros-and-cons/ and talk to your guarantor about you stopping paying and your guarantor cancelling their direct debit and continuous payment authority to Amigo.
Mike says
Has anyone seen the article in the Telegraph?
What is this looking like Sara? I’m not a subscriber so only read the first part..
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Someone has posted this text on Facebook:
Sub-prime lender Amigo has hired crisis experts to assist with winding down its business.
The London-listed firm is working with PJT Partners on contingency plans if it is unable to restart lending to customers, according to City sources.
Amigo, which serves the estimated 15 million Britons that cannot access loans from high street banks and building societies, has suspended most new lending since March 2020.
Like its peers, Provident Financial and Non-Standard Finance, Amigo has been hit by a historical mis-selling scandal over high interest loans.
In May a High Court judge rejected the company’s plan to cap compensation payments – a strategy that it said would allow all claimants to receive partial redress rather than only a proportion of customers securing full recompense.
Last week, the company was forced to delay the publication of its financial accounts after receiving a letter from the Financial Conduct Authority that “raised some issues which could impact on forward looking statements”.
It now has a deadline of Sept 2 to get a sign-off from auditor KPMG. The lender is also working with insolvency experts from PwC.
Amigo owes bondholders more than £200m. Its shares, popular with retail investors and worth almost 300p each two-a-half years ago, are now trading at just 9p.
Hopes were raised last week that Amigo could yet secure a deal to cap compensation. Rival Provident Financial received the backing of the High Court over its scheme despite the FCA raising “serious concerns” over the move.
Although the cap was backed by customers, the regulator said borrowers were in a “take it or leave it” position and would only receive a fraction of the redress that they were entitled to.
Amigo declined to comment.
Lewis says
Let’s hope this is true, I recently forwarded a complaint to the FCA about Amigo contacting people with existing complaints – all we can do is hope.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
it’s hard to know what to make of this. What is there to consider if you can’t start lending again? It could be just the Board playing mind games with the FCA or its shareholders.
Sandra says
Hi Sara what does this mean for us that have complaints in and have been told they are on hold as the fos didn’t know what was happening, thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
it doesn’t mean anything at all. I don’t think it is useful news in deciding what is likely to happen.
Ruth says
I took first Amigo loan out (£5000) over 3 years @ £243 per month. I renewed it in April 2019 paying off the balance owing (£3965) on the same basis – 3 years @£243.
I took the Covid break and paid £50 for 5 months and 1 month with no payment. They say i still owe £3,399 (interest isn’t currently showing as increasing – stayed on £25 so far this month) and I’ve got a further 14 payments.
Is it worth me putting an affordability complaint in and stopping the payments?
My guarantor should never have been approved as he has lots of debt to banks but they accepted him on both loans. I understand that he needs to lodge an affordability complaint to take him off as guarantor.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you think the loans were unaffordable? If you do, then it is absolutely worth you making a complaint, either when Amigo gets a second Scheme going or when they go into administration.
I can’t tell from those numbers if you have paid more than you have borrowed. If you have and the loans are upheld and you carry on paying then they will only get a small amount back of the £243 a month payments – Amigo thought 10% in the first Scheme (I thought less) and it would be unwise to assume it will be a lot more in any second Scheme… so you are effectively throwing away most of the money you pay from here on.And if Amigo goes into administration in this situation your balance would be cleared if the loans are upheld but there would be no cash back.
Read https://debtcamel.co.uk/stop-paying-amigo-pros-and-cons/ which looks at the pros and cons of stopping paying. And what you and your guarantor have to do. NB your guarantor must phone their bank to cancel the continuous payments authority on their debit card.
If you make a complaint at the moment, it will not be looked at. But if you decide to stop paying then I think you (and your guarantor should both make affordabilty complaints by email. keep them short – Amigo isn’t going to think about them – this is just giving the reason why you are stopping paying.
Ruth says
Thanks for your reply Sarah.
I took the first loan out in March 2018 on the same terms (3 years @£243) then Amigo took £3965 from my second loan of £5000.
To my reckoning I paid approx £6950 (including the £3965) on the first £5000 and since taking my second loan I’ve paid around £5600.
On my first loan I was earning around £13k per annum with WTC making my income up. The loans weren’t really affordable at any point.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so the repayments are not affordable now?
Ruth says
I struggle to meet them each month and have a payment plan in place.
When I started that I was told I couldn’t include Amigo as they would have gone to my guarantor
Gareth says
Hi, I had a £10,000 loan which I couldn’t afford to pay back, I lied about my income but they never checked, I’m not sure how to go about this and who I need to get in touch with, if you could help point me in the right direction that would be brilliant thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you still owe any money on this?
Gareth says
Hi, No my guarantor paid it.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You will be able to make a claim to Amigo if they get a second Scheme approved. You can’t make a complaint at the moment – well you can, but Amigo will ignore it so there is no point.
In a Scheme it is likely that any refund would be paid to your guarantor. If you have already repaid your guarantor hopefully he woukd pay you back?
But also the amount repaid in the Scheme is likely to be very low. Amigo said about 10% in the first Scheme.
Gareth says
Hi, Yes I have so whatever is owed will come back to myself but it doesn’t sound to promising at the moment then? The money they take off people who are pretty desperate is disgusting.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It isn’t promising. People with open loans can at least get balances cleared under a Scheme – people who have paid the loans will only be getting scraps back.
Ruth says
Latest from The Telegraph
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/08/15/amigo-faces-bailiffs-hedge-funds-take-aim/
Anyone have access to the full text?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Nothing that looks new:
“Amigo, the sub-prime lender, is at risk of being pushed into the clutches of hedge funds, depriving compensation from hundreds of thousands of people that were mis-sold high interest loans.
The chief executive of the London-listed firm has issued an impassioned plea to avoid the company being seized as it races to file its accounts. Amigo is understood to have just 12 working days from Sunday to publish its results before a group of US bondholders – believed to include Apollo Global Management, Polygon Capital and York Capital – can take control of the lender.
Company estimates indicate that the hedge funds, owed more than £200m, would be paid out almost in full if Amigo is forced into administration, according to City sources.
The forecasts leave little money to repay unsecured creditors such as compensation to claimants that were mis-sold loans in the past. The company is working with accountancy firm PwC and investment bank PJT Partners.
Gary Jennison, chief executive of Amigo, said: “In the last 10 months we’ve built an entirely new management team at Amigo to address the historic problems facing the business. We’re currently working night and day to do everything we possibly can to reach a solution that is best for all of our stakeholders.
“We want a scheme of arrangement that delivers fair recompense to customers; we want to deliver returns to our 8,000 individual shareholders and security to our bondholders; we want the regulator to be satisfied with our actions and we want to keep our 220 remaining staff in employment. In future we want to stay in business to serve the 15 million British people that can’t get a loan from a high street bank and can’t get a loan anywhere else at less than 100pc [interest rate].”
Amigo was left fighting for survival after the High Court rejected plans to cap compensation payments earlier this year. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) also opposed the plans.
Company insiders estimate that as many as one million lenders and guarantors could make claims.
Without capping the payouts, compensation would be paid on a first-come-first-served basis, meaning there may be insufficient reserves to pay those at the back of the queue, the company says.
Amigo bosses are working on a revised court submission that could increase the pot to pay redress. They are also working on a contingency plan with advisers to wind down the business.
Hopes have been raised that the High Court will back revised proposals – called a scheme of arrangement – after rival Provident Financial received the support from judges for a similar scheme earlier this month.
But the filing of accounts for the year to March 2021 has become a much more pressing issue.
Amigo was sent a letter by the FCA hours before filing its financial statements by a July 29 deadline. The regulator “raised some issues which could impact on forward looking statements contained within the annual report”, forcing Amigo to delay publication.”
Ruth says
Thankyou Sara!
Maria says
Hi Sara
I am garantor of an Amigo loan. The borrower have an IVA now and Amigo is included in it but is pestering me to pay the remaining instalments. I have already paid the 2 first instalments trough a loan from a friend, because I was made redundant (because of COVID the business closed the shop) am on benefits and my husband is disabled.
I can’t keep asking friends for loans and I want to cancel the situation. Can you help me?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Some questions before I can suggest possible options for you.
Can I ask if you have other problem debts as well? Are you behind with any bills?
Are you buying or renting?
Do you think when the loan was taken out that you could have afforded to make all the repayments and still been able to pay your own debts, bills and living expenses?
The borrower – how long ago did they start the IVA? Are you still on ok terms with them/
Maria says
I have credit cards to pay. We own our house. I had all organized when I signed the papers and was supposed to work all the way. The borrower has had the IVA for 2 monts.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK so the borrower – do they have any assets such as a house or a car? If not, then they may well have been missold the IVA – do you know what they are paying to it each month?
Can you ask the borrower to make an affordability complaint to Amigo. It won’t help them much as the loan is already in their IVA. But if they win the complaint then you will be removed as guarantor…
If the loan was not affordable for you at the start, you too can make an affordability complaint. Amigo’s affordability checking was shocking, just because you were better off then than you are now doesn’t mean repaying the whole loan would have been affordable for you. If the loan was not affordable then you too can make a complaint and ask to be removed as guarantor.
If the loan was affordable for you at the start but isn’t now, you need to make a payment arrangement with Amigo. To you this is just another unsecured debt – it is not a priority debt, there is no reason why you should borrow off friends to try to pay this. I suggest you talk to StepChange about a debt management plan for all your debts, – they will work out what you can afford to pay between them and divide them up between the debts. It’s harder for Amigo to argue with that! And interest will be frozen on your credit cards which will help. https://www.stepchange.org/how-we-help/debt-management-plan.aspx
And cancel your Direct Debit to amigo and phone your bank up and cancel the continuous payment authority over your debit card – that way they can’t help themselves and leave you too short of money to cope. It will take a few weeks to set up a DMP with StepChange so you need to be in a safe situation until that goes through.
Paul Johnson says
Hi is there any new news on amigo?? Also could I ask what happens to my complaint if they go into administration
Sara (Debt Camel) says
In the last month a few things have happened:
– Amigo has set up a “customer committee” with 8 customers who they are “consulting” about possible options for a Scheme 2.0
– they should have published their end year results on 22 July. They were delayed for a week. Then Amigo announced they would be delayed further as the FCA had written them a letter which affects “some forward looking statements” in their results.
– as a result of the delaying the results, some amigo bondholders issued Amigo with a notice of a breach. Amigo has to remedy this by publishing its results before 3 September.
Also the Provident Scheme was approved by the court. This may sound like good news for Amigo but it wasn’t, as the only reason the FCA did not turn up in court to object was because Provident was exiting the business, whereas Amigo wants to carry on lending.
So it’s hard to tell what is happening. Amigo could be heading for administration. Or they could be doing their best to make the FCA think that is likely in the hope that this will let them get away with a very poor Scheme 2.0.
–
Paul Johnson says
If they go into administration what happens to our miss sold claims?? Will the outstanding debt I have be wiped? I’ve payed over £8000 back on a £4500 loan and still have £2000 left to pay
Sara (Debt Camel) says
your complaint will be considered by the administrators. There will likely be no money to distribute, but you have the same “right of set off” that would reduce your current balance, on the numbers you have given you would have the balance wiped if your complaint is upheld.
Administrators normally try to make the same decision that the Ombudsman would. So in that respect many people with a current loan may well prefer it if Amigo goes inti administration, as no-one knows how Amigo will make decisions in a Scheme.
Have you looked at whether you should stop paying the loan now? If you win your complaint, every payment you make will be largely thrown away in a scheme. Better to owe more and get more written off, then end up getting back a tiny percentage of what you paid.
Paul Johnson says
Yes I would like to but my guarantor is my best friend and I don’t want any trouble falling on him, I have mental health issues and it really worrying yo me. I did a citizens advice affordability form and sent that to them, and got my payment reduced from 178 to 80 a month, I have an email confirming this but it still says my account is in arrears and I keep getting texts and emails saying I’m behind in payments they even txt my guarantor after saying they wouldn’t when I arranged the new payment. I just want it to be over even if I don’t get a penny back
Ryan says
Hi Sara
Just wondering when it comes to looking at our complaints what is determined as affordable or is it different for each case?
I’m a guarantor on an amigo loan (I’ve not made any payments) but I’ve made a complaint asking to be removed.
At the time I did have a fairly good job, and a mortgage but I also had a lot of unsecured debt too, car payments of over 300 a month and credit card debts in excess of £25,000, I’d be the first to admit my money management is poor, I feel like it Amigo had actually looked at the amounts of debt I had they should not have accepted me which is why I submitted the complaint.
I’m trying real hard to turn my money around now and am much better now, just worried if the loan stops getting paid and Amigo start chasing me for it would mess up all the other payments I’m making.
Cheers
Sara (Debt Camel) says
In a second Scheme or in administration, there will probably (I am guessing here but I have seen quite a few of these go through so it is based on experience) be a first “automated” assessment, looking at what Amigo already knew about you from your credit record when they accepted you as guarantor. IF that upholds your complaint, great. If it doesn’t, you will be able to appeal this and ask for it to be looked at again and at that point supply bank statements and any other evidence. Quite a few appeals are won in administrations.
What matters for your complaint is what your finances were like at the time you were accepted as guarantor. If they have improved since then, that isn’t relevant.
So long as the borrower is paying, you are ok at the moment. If you are told the borrower has stopped paying, at that point you should think about cancelling your direct debit to Amigo and phoning your bank and cancelling the continuous payment authority they have over your debit card. Because this confines the “problem” to the Amigo account – if your complaint is upheld then it will be resolved and it will not have affected your other payments. Otherwise you could later win the Amigo complaint, be removed as guarantor but have to live with missed payments or payment arrangements with your other debts harming your credit record for years.
Paddy says
Hi Sara
I have been following your excellent advice and comments for several months on the current situation.
I have lodged a compliant, with an ask for my guarantor to be removed, and payments to not include any interest.
My belief is I have a good case given my previous credit history, which i have gone through with an accounts manager recently.
The question I have is 2 part – In November if i pay half of the monthly amount, that will equate to all monies borrowed, so should I then stop paying until outcome is announced? They are aware I am struggling to pay, but I want to get to the November date.
Secondly, what are the timescales for scheme 2.0 ? Could it be resolved by November anyway?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if i pay half of the monthly amount, that will equate to all monies borrowed, so should I then stop paying until outcome is announced?
Paying the amount you borrowed makes sense to you – because then if you win your complaint the balance will be cleared. But this doesn’t make any difference to Amigo who will expect you to keep paying even after that point.
They are aware I am struggling to pay, but I want to get to the November date.
That’s your call. It depends how badly you are struggling of course – it is a big mistake to get behind with priority bills to pay Amigo.
Secondly, what are the timescales for scheme 2.0 ? Could it be resolved by November anyway?
We don’t know. Until they announce what scheme 2 will look like, they can’t start the process of getting it approved – it has to go through court to get the voting arrangements approved, then through voting on it and then back to court at the end to have the Scheme checked for fairness. In theory I suppose that can be through by November. But practice my be different.
Even when it is approved, Amigo will still expect you to carry on paying. And in the Scheme it could be 6-9 months before your claim is determined, even longer perhaps if they reject and it has to go to appeal.
Bret Mitchel says
hi Sara,
I’ve had my claims upheld in July 2020 and Amigo has redressed me £4000 in full that month. They did also remove the negative markers from my credit file but they didn’t agree to remove the accounts altogether. Should I push back in getting these loans removed completely from my file if they were completely upheld?
I ask because I’ve had other complaints upheld by other lenders and this is what all of them did. Redressed and removed the loans upheld.
Thanks in advance for your response.
Cheers,
Bret
Sara (Debt Camel) says
in general repaid loans with no negative marks help your credit record. People want payday loans removed as there is a special flag on them, but this won’t apply to an Amigo loan.
Plus you have zero chance at the moment of them even reading a complaint you send them…
Ruth says
Hi Sara
I’ve asked my bank to stop the CPA and they have said that Amigo have to stop it and until they do and I’ve spoken to them the bank can’t do anything??
What’s your advice
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Whoever you spoke to was wrong. This is what the FCA (the bank’s regulator) says https://www.fca.org.uk/news/news-stories/continuous-payment-authorities-it-your-right-cancel I suggest you ring them up again and refer them to that and ask to speak to a manager.
Ruth says
Thanks Sara. I actually spoke to the bank twice and had the same response both times. Will be calling them again tomorrow!
Keari says
Hi
I applied for a claim i Redress back in october 2020 my claim was put in hold until march and i have recently heard from the financial ombudsman that there is nothing they can do, i have yet to hear if my claim is valid and would be upheld could there not be a possibility of taking them to court for a decision and and redress due its been a stupid lenth of time and amigo will not even accept liability despite being well notified of the financial difficulties at the time of the load which was laid in full by my elderly grandmother due to the harrasment she was recieveing she took an equity loan to stop them bullying her through the phone and letters etc
Any advise would be appreciated
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Your grandmother was your guarantor? And she paid the loan off?
I am afraid there is nothing you can do at the moment to speed this long drawn out process up. And if the loan has been settled, you are on;y ever likely to get back a small percentage in a future Scheme.
Keari says
Hi sara thanks for your reply yes thats correct she was my guarantor and she paid the balance off .
It seems i was slightly too slow at making a claim up to july 2020 redress was being paid :( .
So frustrating 😫
Nicky Edwards says
My complaint is on hold with FOS due to the scheme. I have emailed Amigo a few times staying that I do not think it’s fair for me to keep paying them every month. When I feel like I’m throwing money away due to me never getting the full amount owed back when my case is upheld.
Amigo are ignoring all my emails and just sending there generic emails all the time now. My latest payment was due on the 17th Aug which I have not paid yet and they issued a default notice on the 18th.
Is this fair?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This payment is the first one you have missed? You have decided to stop paying them?
Have you talked to your guarantor about them cancelling their direct debit and continuous payment authority?
Nicky Edwards says
I’m usually late by about 8 to 10 days when paying and don’t usually issue a default notice by then. This is for 1 paymeny arrears and only 1 day after the due date? Can they issue a default notice a day after due date?
Yes guarantor has cancelled payments also.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
There isn’t a minimum time before a default notice can be issued. A default notice has NOTHING to do with recording a default on your credit record.
A default notice should have said what you have to do to remedy the breach, with a date. What did this say?
If your guarantor has cancelled payments, are you considering also cancelling your payments? You have said you don’t think it is fair to carry on paying them and regularly paying them late suggests they are causing you a lot of problems?
Nicky Edwards says
Yes the notice says I have to pay the outstanding arrears before the notice expiry date or I would have to pay the full outstanding balance.
Yes payments are difficult so always late, my payment have been late with amigo since it started.
I have thought about cancelling all payments but would hate it if they then ask for the full sum together. I have a claim but it’s on hold. I have emailed amigo to ask to delay payments or reduce payments until desicion is made but they are ignoring me now.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I have to pay the outstanding arrears before the notice expiry date or I would have to pay the full outstanding balance.
So you can pay the arrears now or make the decision not to pay.
but would hate it if they then ask for the full sum together.
Well this is your choice – but is that any worse than struggling every month to pay an unaffordable amount? There is no way Amigo will look at your complaint outside the Scheme. Which will take months before it gets going.
Alan Towers says
What’s happening in regard to Amigo Loans paying out compensation to its “mis-sold” loan clients
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Not a lot in public. Behind the scenes, they are trying to come up with a “Scheme 2”. They have a “Customer Committee” meeting this month several times who Amigo will present with some options. It’s hard to guess what these are, but there may be some element of time preference and uncertainty involved (eg “would you prefer £50 now OR £75 in three years time OR between £40 and £120 in 4 years time, but you won’t know until that point?”)
When that is clearer, then Amigo needs to propose the new Scheme through the court, which will need another two hearings and a customer vote in between, and also get the shareholder agreement to any dilution/shareholder contribution.
Amigo also has to publish its annual results before 2 September or it is in breach of some bond convenants. They may give more clue about what Amigo is thinking and timescales. Or not.
Doctor Sax says
With regards to Amigo, I filed an affordability complaint and last week they emailed to say they’d missed the 8 week deadline to respond. Should I just wait, given their problems, or escalate the complaint? Or is that pointless?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can’t escalate this to FOS any more.
Do you still owe a balance?
Doctor Sax says
Yes, a quite substantial one. So I suppose just wait?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Read https://debtcamel.co.uk/stop-paying-amigo-pros-and-cons/ which looks at your options now.