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%.
Joanne Lea says
Hi put a complaint in myself in July last year. After lots of phone calls and emails, they told me on 21st Dec they were working out the redress. Baring in mind they was doing it against a loan 11yrs ago and one from 2yrs ago that is paid.
Hasten to add, I was appalled, when I rang again after Christmas to find out that at the moment no redress because of this scheme. The man I spoke with said would hear by end of January. Have emailed, and of course they tell me there is no timeline of when I’ll will hear back.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
they told me on 21st Dec they were working out the redress.
Do you mean they had said they had upheld your claim and were just working out the numbers?
Or something vaguer that someone was looking at it and you would Hear soon?
Jon says
complaints will be paid as long as fos has had them and upheld them and amigo have offered them to the fos on and b4 21.12.20. Anything else will go towards there scheme
David says
Hi Sara.
Another question please.
I raised complaint 03/07/2020, and believe if Amigo acted according to the rules / regulations, my complaint would have been resolved by August (03/07 + 8 weeks).
Since then I’ve paid £2k in monthly payments, and will continue to pay £4k a year until mid 2023 loan end, or earlier if any cut off date.
I’ve written to FCA to ask how can they allow a scheme to go ahead where I will pay £4k a year, but get zero or tiny amount in redress, so it seems like we are paying for the Scheme + a lot more. What will all these future monthly payments be used for?
My main issue now is the future monthly payments, as I know I’ll now get zero or a few hundred pounds in redress whether administration/scheme.
Have you any idea at what point monthly payments would be stopped for me? I’m sure Amigo will try and continue receiving payments until the date a complaint is resolved in the Scheme, but I’m assuming this is going to be 2 years at earliest (time to scheme approved + time to set up scheme + 6 months portal window + time to process complaints).
If Amigo had resolved my complaint:
£8k balance written off
£11/12k in redress
Amigo not resolving my complaint:
10k (potentially less or more) in monthly payments from Aug 20 to complaint resolution date.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Once the Scheme starts, if you win your complaint, any payments you have made during the Scheme will be repaid in full.
The same thing happens in administration if they go bust.
Of course if they went into administration now, rather than wait for a possible Scheme in a few months time, you would then get a refunds of several more months of payments.
For you the big risk is that with a Scheme Amigo may not uphold your complaint. They haven’t handled complaints very well so far as you know… in administration the administrators normally try to follow what the Ombudsman would have done. Of course that is what Amigo should do in the scheme but they are silent on the issue.
Is making these payments causing you hardship? Have your finances been affected by covid-19?
What is your guarantor’s financial position now? What was it like when you took the loan out – could they have afforded to make all the loan repayments and still been able to repay all their own bills, debts and living expenses?
David says
Fortunately I’m still working so can afford the payments.
My issue is that I intend to apply for a mortgage at some point but currently have £336 a month and £8k balance, I was hoping my complaint would be resolved in 2021, ahead of mortgage application, but now it looks as though this will have to be included in my mortgage application, unless there is a ruling that any existing complaints are resolved ahead of the Scheme, which going by the open complaint volumes is unlikely.
Ultimately for me, this complaint being unresolved could be the difference between me getting a house, or having to wait longer.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I guess it’s possible for balance write-offs to be sorted this year for some people – the very small cash refunds won’t be. But it depends how Amigo sets things up – I don’t think you can rely on it happening and your credit record being corrected this year.
And of course you can’t rely on your claim being upheld in the Scheme!
David says
Ok but I thought once the Scheme starts, that the resolution time for complaints would be a lottery? Unless they are processed in order?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
We don’t know how Amigo will organise it. That’s why I said I guess it may be possible but you can’t rely on it.
Jacs says
Hi Sara,
I won my affordability claim last year and was refunded all the interest I had paid. I have a current arrangement to pay £45 per month to clear off the outstanding balance which is currently just over £2,000.
What happens to this balance owed and my monthly repayments if Amigo go into administration and no longer operate any more?
Does this get written off, or would I still be paying this back to someone?
Thanks!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If the Scheme goes ahead, your payments will continue.
If Amigo go into administration the administrators will usually sell all or part of the loan book to a debt collector who you can carry on making payments to. This isn’t anything to worry about, most debt collectors are a LOT nicer to deal with than Amigo!
Sometimes an administrator is unable to sell some or all of the loans, in which case they may make you a low full & final settlement offer. Or your loan may be written off. But this is less likely than the debt being sold.
Mike says
Hi Sara
First of all thanks for your help, I just have used your template to make the complaint to Amigo but I still owe £993 to be paid by August. Also I made 2 more complaints to Lloyds Bank for £2500 in Overdraft and Tandem Credit Card £1.700. I am unemployed right now getting universal credit, do I have any opportunity to win the complaints? I have been struggling about that during 3 years until I read your article.
Thanks regards
Mike
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The fact you are on UC now won’t help you win an affordability complaint – what matters is whether you could afford the Amigo loan when the loan was given and the Tandem card when the credit limit was set. But a lot of Amigo loans were unaffordable from the beginning.
If you lost your job after the pandemic started, you should be able to get 6 months payments breaks from Amigo and Tandem – have you had these? During a covid-19 payment break Amigo cannot go after your guarantor.
If you haven’t had these payment breaks, ask for them now!
If you have, you can still ask Tandem for a £1 a month token payment. And ask Lloyds to halt charges on your overdraft.
Mike says
Yes I took only 3 months break but I didn’t know I could get 3 more. The Lloyds overdraft and Tandem are on default , the overdraft is managed by a recovery agency but I sent the complaint to Lloyds as you suggested in previous comments.
I got in many debts because the overdraft , the total of the overdraft it were £5000 but I paid off £2.500 with another loan, I had some issues with gambling and I got all proofs. When I got in all these debts I was on a low income also.
Any recommendations? Thank you so much
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you ask Amigo for a further 3 months break – that will take some of the pressure off you.
The best thing may be to paying a token £1 a month to all your other debts – see https://debtcamel.co.uk/coronavirus-can-you-pay-debts/ and talk to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 about your options.
Dan says
Hi Sara
Amigo initially rejected my affordability claim and it has now been with Financial ombudsman which I’m still waiting a response and have been for months how will this affect my claim will this go back to the amigo scheme or will the ombudsman still make the decision?
Thanks in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
FOS is working on complaints but Amigo is going to be ignoring what FOS do – not satisfactory is it!
If the Scheme goes ahead – and at the moment we don’t know – FOS will return all open complaints to Amigo.
Do you have a current loan?
David Constable says
Hi
I Have a no win no fee company dealing with an amigo claim. Amigo rejected my original claim so now it’s going through the financial Ombudsman Service.
Is there anything immediate that I need to do as I’ve received a txt and an email regarding this scheme. Or shall I just let the solicitors handle it?
Regards
David
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you still owe Amigo a balance?
David Constable says
No I don’t. I’ve paid 3 loans off successfully. There was an initial loan and 2 top up loans
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok then if the Scheme goes ahead you are likely to get a very small amount back of the interest you paid – tiny. Bad news for you.
Ainsley says
Hi
I have FINALLY been offered my calculation of redress after my complaint to FOS was upheld.
It’s about £5000 and Amigo want to use my redress to reduce my current balance first – I would like to know if i can request to have the redress sent to my bank account instead and have a reduced payment plan set up. Because the three loans were unaffordable it’s put strain on other credit commitments over the years and that money would really help now if I could distribute it how I choose instead of it all going toward reducing the balance with amigo.
Can you advise?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
taking it off your balance is what almost always happens. Unless you are on the point of being evicted or something like that, this is what FOS says should happen.
What will your remaining balance be? How large are your other debts? Because with your guarantor being released, you can simply dump the Amigo debt into a debt management plan with all your other debts aor indeed look at a debt relief order.
Mimi says
Hi Sara
We currently have a complaint outstanding with the FOS that was raised on 6th November that Amigo failed to respond to so we escalated it to the FOS. As we have not yet received a response from either does this many any decision will be delayed and any redress based on this new proposed scheme? We believe the loan was wholly unaffordable and we’re hoping that were the complaint upheld that there would be sufficient refund to repay the loan and also money back to us but are now worried that this will not even get considered.
Many thanks
Amelia
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If the Scheme goes ahead – and at the moment we don’t know – FOS will return all open complaints to Amigo.
Are the payments you are making affordable? Have your finances been affected by covid-19?
What is your guarantor’s current financial position like?
Ghabi says
Hi Sara,
I was contacted last month by Financial Omdurman investigator telling me that my complaint has been upheld, they gave amigo till 8th of February to reply to the finding of paying all interest paid plus simple 8% interest, what would the news about the scheme effect my complaint?
Kind reagrds
Sara (Debt Camel) says
was this an adjudicator decision or from an Ombudsman?
Ghabi says
Hi, it was the finding of the investigator, how ever the made an offer previously that I did not accept.
Kind regards.
The loan was settled on March last year, and complaint initiated on April.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then I think Amigo is planning to ignore this :(
Reece says
Hi Sara,
I currently have an ongoing complaint with the FOS which was started in March last year. Due to Covid, they are still waiting for someone to start the investigation with a new start date of April this year to look into my complaint but isn’t 100% guaranteed they will start then. I was added as a guarantor on a loan which I believe shouldn’t have been given to the lender who then immediately went into an IVA a few months after, forcing me to pay the loan. Is it likely that regardless of the FOS decision, Amigo will reject their decision because of this scheme? I’ve only asked to remove myself as the guarantor and don’t want any compensation.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is it likely that regardless of the FOS decision, Amigo will reject their decision because of this scheme?
I think it’s more likely that Amigo will simply ignore a FOS decision :(
Are you being asked to make any payments at the moment?
Reece says
No, I haven’t made anymore payments since I first sent my case to the FOS back in March and they haven’t contacted me either chasing any payments. Just wondering whether to continue letting FOS to investigate of just cancel it if they aren’t going to accept their decision anyways?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
there is no point in doing that – we don’t know this Scheme is going to get approved or what might happen. Just let the FOS complaint run.
Danielle says
Hi sara,
I made a complaint and used your template in August last year, they sent me a redress letter in November but now ive heard nothing since. Is this because of the scheme
Sara (Debt Camel) says
did they make you an acceptable offer? Did you accept it?
Zac says
Hi
I put in a claim for an unaffordable loan about 18months ago and they declined the claim is worth trying again now?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think if the Scheme goes forward you will be able to put in a Claim and you may also be able to do this if they go into administration. But there is no point in putting in a complaint now that is a duplicate of what you sent before.
Do you still owe a balance?
Zac says
No I payed my loan off about 2 years ago it was a £5000 loan + interest
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so this is a huge pity you did not take the case to the ombudsman 18 months ago. Now in a Scheme you will only get a small fraction of the redress you could have had.
But there is nothing to do at the moment.
Col says
Thanks for the write up!
We filed a complaint with Amigo at the beginning of October and escalated it to FOS early Jan.
We borrowed £10,000, have paid back £13,000 (well over the principal) and it’s still showing an outstanding balance of £9,500.
Under the scheme is it likely some of that would be paid off?
Also, if Amigo went under would we still have to pay back the £9,500 even though we’ve paid back well over we borrowed already?
Thanks for your help.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If that loan is upheld in the Scheme – and that is a VERY big if as Amigo has NOTHING about how it will do this – the balance would be written off and you would get a very small amount of the 3k you have repaid over what you borrowed. possibly only 5% of it.
If Amigo go under then if your claim is upheld you would still get that balance written off. Ironically you would be better off if Amigo went into administration now then into a Scheme in a few months as you would save all the payments you are making for these few months.
For you the main problem will be whether you are more likely to get the loan upheld in the Scheme or in Administration. Administrators normally try to follow what the ombudsman would do. Amigo has no said what it wants to do.
Col says
Thanks for the reply. It looks like it would definitely be better for us if Amigo go into administration.
Looking at their timeline if we keep up repayments until they plan to make first payments mid 2022 we’d have paid them another £7,000 ish. I’m guessing this would be taken into account too.
People will have to juggle debt to keep up repayments on an unaffordable loan for that length of time.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think it is too early to make that call.
What is your guarantor’s current financial position?
Col says
72 year old on a £580/mth pension. Loan payments a £396.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OMG. Was they their financial position when the loan was approved?
Col says
Yes nothing’s changed. I want to stop payments until we know what’s going on (because I’ll most likely be throwing money down the drain) but we want to get a mortgage as soon as we can and I’m worried about how it will affect that. I know we can put notes on credit files to say we’re in a dispute, are these notes ever taken into account and would we be able to get things removed if our case is upheld? Thanks for all your help!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what are the timescales for your mortgage application?
Col says
6-12 months realistically. (Just spoken to guarantor and income was actually around £1100 If she takes into account benefits and attendance allowance.)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Her benefits and attendance allowance are income but they are normally indicative of someone having higher than usual expenses. Amigo should have asked about those when they heard what the benefits were.
Your guarantor could put in an affordabilty complaint herself and ask to be removed as guarantor. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/amigo-complaints-by-guarantor/. Then she could cancel her direct debit. her credit rating cannot be affected – the Amigo loan is not on there. Obviously in your situation you could offer to repay the loan if you do not have your complaint upheld, so she would not then be at risk If you stop paying Amigo will send texts, emails etc talking about going to court but these are just an unpleasant form of bluff. I have not seen Amigo them take anyone to court in this situation for years and now, with a Scheme coming up I don’t think this is going to happen.
BUT the problem for your complaint is that is the loan really unaffordable? If you expect to be able to get a mortgage soon? Thinking about how much you would get back in a Scheme or administration and if you shoudl stop paying is all pretty irrelevant if the loan was affordable.
David Smith says
Hi
Thank you for the fantastic advice.
I had a loan for £3000 which I topped up to £9000.
I’ve paid around 13 payments of £355 a month but my balance is still £9500.
I complained to them about affordability and being mis-sold the loan but I got a final response about another subject completely.
I didn’t refer to Ombudsman and I’m still making my payment of £355.
When I received the text message today, it was obvious that the scheme was to save Amigo’s own skin and was not in the customers interest unless you had repaid your loan and were seeking a refund.
Am I best to hope that they go to insolvency? Should I continue to pay or can I ask for a holiday?
I’m happy to join the scheme but should I vote against the scheme?
Thanks for your help
Sara (Debt Camel) says
when was the rejection from Amigo?
the question for you is whether you are more likely to have a claim upheld if Amigo go into administration then set up this Scheme. Administrators try to follow FOS rules so you may get your claim upheld then, in which case interest would be removed from your balance.
It is unclear what Amigo will do in a Scheme – except you know they rejected you once!
If the Scheme goes ahead, all complaints will be in it – it isn’t a question of “wanting to join it” – it will be compulsory.
Katy says
Hi Sara, I have received an email and a text about the scheme but I had all of my interest refunded last year on 2 loans (I had taken out 3). Is there no point in me entering the scheme? I no longer have a loan as it was paid off. Thanks, Katy
Sara (Debt Camel) says
When you had that refund, do you remember if there was a deduction for “unpaid interest” on the email which did the calculations?
Peter says
I received the text today. I currently have an outstanding complaint with the FOS. Should I just await the outcome of that… Am I required to do anything now?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No you don’t have to do anything now. This is just information from Amigo. The voting is months away if the Scheme proceeds, which it may not.
step says
I agreed a reduced monthly amount to pay the balance of my loan last November of £20 per month but amigo have marked my credit file with a missed payment in January although i made the payment and continue to make payments, can i force them to correct the error or should i go to the fca?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
was this after you had a complaint upheld and your guarantor released?
step says
yes it was
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They should correct this but it may be hard to get them to listen at the moment… I would send them an email with CREDIT RECORD ERROR as the subject.
Kyle the tent dude. says
I think it’s disgusting that Amigo are still allowed to take money from people if they have stopped paying redress. They are pushing this scheme as tho it’s already started. What are the FO doing about amigo not paying redress to people who have had their complaint upheld by the FO? They just ignoring everyone and not paying out then?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I agree.
Lou says
Hi there,
I sent my affordability complaint to FOS in August and at the beginning of Jan the FOS advised that Amigo had agreed to uphold one of 3 loans. I rejected and they have since advised (not a final decision just the investigators findings) that Amigo should uphold all 3 loans meaning my balance should be written off and a refund would be due. I understand that I’m now going to have to wait for this scheme thing to possibly go through and I’ve already kind of accepted that I’m not going to get anything back really.
My issue is paying over £300 a month on loans that are hopefully going to be wiped off and I won’t get any of this money back. Is there anything I can do while we wait for this scheme to be decided on or do I have to keep paying? I’ve already had a 1 month payment break due to Covid about 6 months ago.
Thanks
Lou
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Are your finances still affected by Covid-19?
In your situation with a FOS decision in your favour that would clear your balance I think you should seriously consider stopping paying now. Yopu would need to explain this to your guarantor who would also need to cancel their direct debit to Amigo.
This would not affect your guarantor’s credit record – if they check, the Amigo loan is not on there. Your guarantor would get some hassle and Amigo may threaten court but this seems to be just bluff. They have not been going to court in this situation.
Lou says
Hi
Yeah they’ve been affected since the beginning of the pandemic as I relied on grandparents for childcare and I’ve been managing just working school times. Now schools are closed I’m managing with the help of whoever I can get my hands on!
Thanks
Lou
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so if your income has dropped or you expenses gone up because of covid-19 you can ask for a second payment break -n you can have up to 6 months in total and you have only used 1 month. The big advantage of this is Amigo cannot go after your guarantor during one of these breaks.
Lou says
Thankyou I’ll probably give that a try
Chloe says
Hi,
I am currently awaiting the response from amigo due to a complaint inputed by the borrower.
I am the guarantor on the said loan.
I have no contact with borrower any more an only recently they’ve started making payments.
Amigos responses are few and far between.
What does the scheme mean in regards to the result of the complaint and redress?
What would be the better option for me, after having received the above text.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Are you currently making payments if the borrower has restarted?
Can you afford the repayments and still pay all your own bills, debts and everyday expenses?
Chloe says
Hi,
Not for the last two months when the borrower has made payments.
I have made payments in the past.
Paying Amigo leaves me with very little left monthly.
What should I do in response to emails & texts
Peter says
Hi Sara
I am a guarantor with a complaint about an Amigo loan that a FOS investigator upheld in December 2020, but we have had no further response from Amigo about this. I have read their proposal about the scheme and received the text & email this afternoon.
I am currently still paying the monthly instalments (and have been for over a year). I know the documentation from Amigo states I must continue to pay under the original terms, however if Amigo does go bust at some point down the line and I get nothing back from them I feel aggrieved that I should continue paying for a loan that FOS said I should not have been guarantor for in the first place.
Do you have any advice regarding making ongoing payments as a guarantor in light of this proposal?
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If the Scheme goes ahead, you will only get a small amount of every month’s payment back.
If you cancel your DD to Amigo you will get some hassle, but what can they do? It won’t affect your credit record – the loan is not on your credit record. They may threaten court but they aren’t going to do it. They are not going to court at the moment where there are open complaints. And if they were mad enough to try you can say you have a counterclaim against them and produce the FOS decision to support this.
Peter says
Thank you Sara
They currently take payments straight off my debit card – do I need to contact my bank to apply a stop on this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you don’t have a direct debit set up, this must be a Continuous Payment Authority. You need to talk to your bank and get them to cancel that.
Peter says
Thanks Sara – just spoke with Natwest and they have sent me a link to an online form to complete to stop any further transactions being taken from my card. They have also cancelled the inactivated direct debit. Thanks for your help.
One final question, can Amigo start to report this on my own credit file for non payment as a guarantor?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No. They would have to go to court for a CCJ, that is the only way this can end up on your credit record.
Gianne says
I’m currently waiting for a decision on my complaint from December 14th. By my reckoning, they have until February 8th to respond. Am I likely to hear from them do you think?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would be very surprised if you hear anything.
Brend says
I am in the same position.
Response due by 05/02/21.
If I do not get a response from Amigo by then should I still escalate my complaint to the FOS so it is logged?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can do. It’s easy to do so you may decide, Why not? But it may not be of much use unless the Scheme falls through (possible) and they don’t go into administration (also possible but less likely).
H says
Has anyone actually received a reply or payout from Amigo recently?
It seems that Amigo have completely ignored their responsibility of continuing to resolve the existing complaints they have and seem to be concentrating on a scheme which hasn’t been approved and also breaching the DISP with the FCA ( they withdrew the waiver so should be carrying on with resolving complaints and redress)
Why have the FCA not done anything about the way Amigo have been behaving?
How can they even expect people to vote for this scheme to resolve complaints when they aren’t even competent enough to resolve the ones they already have.
Vanessa says
Just received message about the scheme from amigo . Im unsure as what i should do i wrote to amigo in November so i would be able to enter the scheme but they sent me a response to say they were still looking into my case and as the 8 weeks were up i could go to the ombudsmum but im sure as what to do , do i wait for the scheme or write to ombusdum ive never done anything like this before has anyone got any tips or advice . Plus if i write to the ombudsmum what do i need to send them i want to get it right thanks im advance vanessa
Kelly Hazell says
Hi, I have just had an email about this scheme, I had my claim upheld and paid out through using your template last year so am I right in assuming I won’t be entitled to anything should the scheme go ahead?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes that is the case. Unless Amigo only upheld a few of your loans?
Kelly Hazell says
Thank you, I thought so just wanted to check
Sandra says
I had an email today also about this scheme I take it if we don’t vote for it they go into administration and what happens then if they do? I currently owe £1384 to amigo but if they had upheld the first two loans I wouldn’t have this as the first two loans would of wiped the balance and I’d of probably had a few pound back to be honest not bothered about receiving anything just want them vanished for good, my complaint is with a fos case handler since August last year and only got picked up in November.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
As you have a current loan if they go into administration and the first two loans are upheld, then they would be set off against your current balance.
In a Scheme exactly the same would happen and you might get a few quid back as you say.
BUT the difference is whether Amigo would uphold your first two loans in a scheme. In administration, the administrators usually try to follow what FOS might do. Who knows if Amigo will do that…
Mark says
I received that automated email and message in regards to the scheme that’s being introduced. My complaint was upheld about 6 months ago. The interest was removed and my guarantor was removed. Do I need to do anything, just because it says “action required”. I am currently on breathing space due to being furloughed which ends this month then a payment plan of £200 will start from the end of the month.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No you don’t need to do anything.
Will you be able to afford the £200?
Mark says
No not really but after all the interest was taking off the loans I owe just under £3000 now. I want this paid back ASAP as I suffer really bad from anxiety and I am scared this affects my guarantor even tho her liability has been removed from the loans. I’m confused about this scheme, will this affect my previous “final response” or will it not affect me at all due to the complaint being upheld?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am scared this affects my guarantor even tho her liability has been removed from the loans
it won’t. 100% sure about that!
This Scheme should not affect you at all.
Mark says
will I just continue to making the agreed payments until the remainder of the loan is paid off? my guarantor received the same text message and email so i was really worried about it. I’m just scared incase they had to try take me to court etc over it, so after my breathing space is up I’ve agreed to pay £200 PM to get it cleared. The stress of this is too much I’ve been worried about this for months, also didn’t help I was furloughed so had to ask for breathing space. During this time I still made sure I paid something towards the loan, I had £30 after my bills so I paid this off the loan.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
All current and past borrowers and guarantors are being sent the same stuff. It doesn’t mean your guarantor is at risk at all.
Do you have other problem debts?
Andy says
Hi.I issued a complaint to Amigo on 17 November 2020.I was guarantor for a loan ,the friend who had the loan did not pay the repayments.The total due was paid but the loan should never have been allowed neither should I have been allowed to be guarantor.This is because:no affordability checks were made and the loan repayments were unaffordable::no credit checks were made(Amigo admitted this!)and I had a bad credit rating.So I applied for compensation .Eight weeks have passed,and Amigo have said that they are not able to look into the case,or give me a decision.Please advise the best way for me…is it to do nothing,to escalate it to the FOS,or claim in the Scheme of Arrangement?
Thank you Andy
Sara (Debt Camel) says
We don’t know if the Scheme will go ahead, if Amigo will go into administration or something else.
If you send the complaint to FOS, probably nothing much will happen and it will later be returned to Amigo for the Scheme or to the administrators if they have gone bust. But… it’s quick and easy to send the complaint to FOS see https://help.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/help, so it’s up to you.
SarahS says
I’m a bit confused. My loan was paid off mid 2020. My guarantor never made any payments for me but got the email today about the court hearing and I didn’t.
It says action is required but there is no instructions on what to do.
I expect like the other creditors that tried this it won’t get approved by the FCA and they’ll end up in administration meaning we’ll get nothing, but we don’t want to miss out if this one goes ahead.
Does anyone know what we do?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think the texts and emails are being sent in batches – yours may turn up later. You could also check your spam folder.
Yes the “action is required” is worrying some people. What they want you to do is read the info they have sent links to. You don’t have to do anything now. If the scheme gets through the first court hearing you will be asked to vote, but you will get another email before then.
if the loan is repaid and your guarantor never paid anything, there is no chance of them getting a refund – obviously as they never paid anything.
Melissa says
Hi,
I made a complaint through resolver back in October/November. I have been advised by amigo (through resolver) that they are investigating my case etc and to expect reply/offer by 8th Feb.
Today I got the txt about this scheme but, as far as I can read on the statement, it says this doesn’t apply to complaints made BEFORE the “stop date” 29th December. Does this mean my complaint will be dealt with regardless of this new scheme as I made complaint before the “stop date” or, will I be included in this scheme?
I currently have a loan o/s and pay monthly. What does this “stop date” mean?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I expect Amigo will not replay to your complaint. And if the Scheme goes ahead – which isn’t yet known – your complaint will be handled within it.
The Stop Date (which is the 21st December 2020, not 29th) is the date after which Amigo has unilaterally decided to stop paying out or settling complaints unless a final decision has been made before that date.
So far as I can see this is in breach of the FCA’s rules. I have no idea why Amigo is being allowed to get away with doing this. When another lnder applied for a Scheme in 2019, it carried on settling complaints properly until the Scheme was up and running.
Nigel says
I’ve had 10 loans over 8 years, building in total from 1000 to 5000, many were topped up. I submitted a claim Sept 2019 for unaffordable loan as I had other pay day loans running throughout, Amigo rejected it but after I told them I’d successfully appealed to the FOS regarding pay day loans and threatened FOS action on them. They refunded Jan 2020 me interest (+8%) for my last 5 loans, which paid off my remaining balance and almost 2k refunded back to me. So glad I acted when I did…
Ash Alexander says
Amigo are on the ropes and I can guess they won’t make it to the end of the year and go into insolvency they are finally getting what they deserve and the fat greedy company who prayed on vulnerable people and charged eye watering interest rates are getting their nail put into their coffin like Wonga sooner or later they will get taken down by the financial law practices. We can all celebrate and cheer when they are no longer a viable functioning business. Goodbye Amigo and they lost all their Amigos on the way to their demise .
Jacs says
Ash, I hope you’re right!!
David says
Hi Sara
Amigo rejected my claim for redress in August and I then sent my claim to the FOS and it is currently with a case handler. I owe 6k on a 8k loan is it worth chasing the FOS or just sit tight?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you will be wasting your time chasing FOS at the moment.
Is this your first loan from them?
David says
Yes, however when I took the loan I was in a dmp and struggling with gambling addiction as evidenced on my bank statements at that time!.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, I wasn’t asking to see how strong your case was – for that large a loan the lender should have looked in detail and seen your gambling problem & DMP.
I was asking because if you had had previous loans, refunds from those could matter.
For one loan the math is easy – you borrowed 8K, how much have you paid to the loan so far?
David says
Loan is £8K my balance is £6690. I paid £4K in instalments.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If your complaint was upheld at the moment, your balance would be reduced to 4k (8k borowed minus what you have paid).
This would be the same if your complaint was upheld in the proposed Scheme or upheld in administration if Amigo goes under.
The only possible difference for you is if your case is more likely to be upheld in administration (where the administrators usually try to mimic what FOS might have done) or in a Scheme (where Amigo has said nothing about how it will decide to uphold a case).
David says
Hi Sara,
Will it not be really obvious to the Courts / FCA that Amigo have not handled complaints properly? Hence they would want something in place to ensure they do handle them properly in any Scheme?
I’ve got no knowledge how things work but its hard to imagine Amigo going through the Scheme application process without this issue being addressed.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I agree. See my new article which looks at the problem with the current pretty vague proposal: https://debtcamel.co.uk/amigos-scheme-key-points/
Kerry says
Hi Sara, my circumstances are the same. Our complaint is with the ombudsman. We have not been allocated a case handler. We currently have a balance with Amigo
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So with a current balance the question is can you afford to keep paying? And should you do this? Not easy decisions.
Was this your first Amigo loan?
What did you borrow? how much have you repaid so far?
Have your finances been affected by covid-19?
Kerry says
We have had 3 loans in total. Original 5K and 2 top ups of 7K and 7.5K (actually only received about 9K in cash due to having to pay off the previous loans). We have repaid £20, 605 so far and still owe about 6K.
We took the 6 month COVID break but Amigo have said they cannot extend it further. We are REALLY struggling to pay Amigo each month. Our guarantor is not able to pay as she is now retired and has very little income. Amigo threatened to go to her if we didn’t start paying again after the COVID break. We knew she couldn’t afford it either so we have been trying to pay but we have had no income for most of the last year but feel we have to keep paying.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Could you guarantor have afforded to make all the payments when the last top-up loan was taken out? And still paid her own debts, bills and normal living costs?
Kerry says
Hi, at a push, she probably could of when the last loan was taken out in 2016 as she was still working. She retired early in 2018 but didnt get her state pension until Nov 2020. Theres no way she could afford it now. They took the deeds to my mums house as security should she not pay so we are terrified to stop paying incase they threaten to take her house.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They took the deeds to my mums house as security
Sorry can you say some more about this? It sound very odd.
Kerry says
Morning Sara,
When we applied for our original loan in 2014, they asked about my mums employment status and whether she owned her home to assess her suitability as our guarantor. When she said that she owned her home outright with no mortgage they asked for us to send them a copy of the deeds to her house. We are scared that if we stop paying they will threaten to take action to take her house to recover what we owe from her. She is elderly now and couldnt cope with the stress of Amigo threatening or harassing her.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This just means they know she has a house. They are not “holding her deeds as security” – that would require them to register this with the land Registry – they do not do this.
Amigo should not start court action when there are open complaints. They may send texts, emails etc talking about going to court but these are just an unpleasant form of bluff. I have not seen Amigo them take anyone to court in this situation for years and now, with a Scheme cooming up and them wanting to look “clean” to their regulator they are very very unlikely to do this. It isn’t going to happen.
I know this is such a difficult situation for you but if you cannot pay, then getting behind with the rent or other important bills is a disaster. Could you talk to your mum and reassure her?
Tania says
Hi Sarah! I have an amigo loan complaint which should have seen me receiving £3700 refund back and £1344 wrote off from my remaining balance. Because of all this I know I won’t see majority of it (if any) but I’m devastated because I can’t contirue to pay for it. I was wondering what would happen if I was to just refuse to pay the remaining £1344, I know they’d approach my guarantor and leave a mark on my credit score but surely they don’t have a leg to stand and perhaps I could appeal anything they do try. If I continue paying it looks like the most I’ll get is £400-£500 at some point next year or in 2022. But if I refuse to pay anymore, I’ll save myself £1344, what do you think of this please? Do you know where I can get some more advice?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Getting £4-500 back from a £3700 refund means a pay out over over 10% – I think it will be less than that in 2022,
From the point the Scheme goes ahead, you will get any payments you make back if the loan is upheld. But there are several months before the Scheme will get going and you will not get those back.
Any negative marks on your credit record will be removed if you win your complaint.
If paying this now is a hardship then can you stop and explain to your guarantor what is happening? So they too can cancel their Direct debit or continuous payment authority to Amigo? Their credit record will not be affected. The risk here is that your complaint is not upheld of course.
Have your finances been affected by covid-19?
What were your guarantor’s finances like when the loan was taken? Could they have afforded to make all the loan payments and pay their own bills, debts and living costs?
If you would like to talk about your current situation, try National Debtline on 0808 808 4000.
Tania says
Thankyou so much for your advice. Sorry I didn’t explain that very well, what I meant was if I was to continue paying my loan it would be payed off by June and I’d have given them £4933 in interest which would mean the most I’d get back is £493 in 2021/22. Where as if I just refuse to pay now I’ll in effect save myself £1300. I’ve asked my guarantor if she’s happy to tell them that we aren’t paying anything anymore and she agreed so long as she doesn’t have a default on her credit score. Amigo had already accepted they’re in fault just refusing to pay any redress. I’ve seen you mention a covid break but I have no idea how to find that on their website or anything. The loan is actually putting me in debt each month. Who exactly can get a covid break and for how long as if I was to have a few months to put together my reasoning for not paying anymore of my loan that would be good and researching it some more.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Your reasoning about the money you will “save” is correct.
I was pointing out some problems to think about
– the negative marks on your credit record if you don’t win the complaint
– the need to discuss this with your guarantor so they can cancel their direct debit.
If your guarantor is happy, then that’s good.
“Amigo had already accepted they’re in fault just refusing to pay any redress.”
can you say what has happened?
Jonathan says
Hi Sara,
Amigo love sending e mails. I’ve had 6 in the last 3 days as well as text messages. They have now sent a default notice tonight as well threatening all sorts. Going to take money off the guarantor and then after the 19th Feb they want the whole balance. The guarantor has cancelled his payment methods with Amigo on Thursday. They haven’t phone me at all just sent e mails. I have my affordability/irresponsible lending complaint with them since November and now with the FOS. No replies apart from “still investigating” 8 weeks now well past. Got text tonight as well about vote for Scheme. They are still breaking FCA guidelines and DISP wavier withdraw so how can they stop processing complaints and still issuing defaults and collecting money off those with outstanding complaints. Just looks as if they want to collect as much as they can before insolvency. Better for the share holders even though their share price has dropped again over the last week!
Ryan says
Don’t you think the time frame for this scheme and stuff if goes ahead is a joke seen something mentioned about November 2021 …seems to be just dragging it out for another year …can’t be hard just to make a decision …and say this is happening ….no amigo no scheme and yes amigo you have the go ahead .
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think Nov 21 is the cut off for claims. They have to allow 6 months from the Scheme start.
But it isn’t clear this will go ahead – the FCA has rejected similar schemes in the past where the lenders wanted to carry on in business. Only the Money Shop’s was approved – because they were headed for liquidation anyway, scheme or no scheme.
Jacs says
So, what decides if the scheme goes ahead? The FCA or the customer vote?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Legally it has to be approved by the customers and the high court. But in practice if the FCA doesn’t want it to go ahead, it can’t.
Vince says
Hi Sara,
Before I rant, this is no reflection on the great support that you and Debt Camel have given over the years, we appreciate it.
I cannot understand why the Ombudsman has not stepped up in regards to Amigo ignoring the cases against them and the cases the FOS have upheld.
It beggars belief, it should be business as usual until Amigo try to railroad this scheme in, if you have seen the email, you will of noted that Amigo are blackmailing the people that have cases, saying if they lose the vote for the scheme the will go into insolvency, I mean really are they allowed to say that?.
You may feel I am talking out of turn, but FOS have just given up, there are no updates, they have mentioned nothing about the scheme, what I am seeing is the FOS wanting the scheme to go ahead, to lessen the burden of the number cases as they will pass them back.
They are there to protect us, but I do not see this.
My worry is that if Amigo railroad this scheme in, then they will start throwing cases out and you will not be able to contest it, the fact that they are completely ignoring FOS at the minute, speaks volumes.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
FOS will lose about £10million in case fees in the Scheme – I suspect they are as fed up as you about it!
Kelly says
My Dad won a guarantor case against Amigo and a settlement was agreed in October 2020. Amigo haven’t paid it. The Ombusdman aren’t pushing it and just say to be patient but how can 16 weeks after settlement be reasonable? How do I pursue this? I looked into submitting an N322A form to ask a court to make them pay but don’t know if this is correct or what we can do?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The N322A form is only right if you had a Final Decision from an Ombudsman. Did you?
Kelly says
Thank you for your quick reply.
Amigo initially informed us they had come to the decision without the need for the Ombudsman to make one despite them being involved. So possibly no final decision! I’ve emailed the ombudsman for clarity. We have only dealt with an investigator up to now. I didn’t realise there were different levels my apologies
Sara (Debt Camel) says
no problem, this can be very confusing.
In this case you cannot use that form or that procedure which only applies to enforce an Ombudsman final decision.
Have you phoned Amigo up and asked why he has not been paid?
Kelly says
Thank you for the clarification. This is disappointing. Amigo just said they cannot give any updates to FOS cases right now. I’ve asked why it is on hold and they say it’s not and is still being worked on. But clearly they’re just delaying and holding out for as long as possible
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so one thing your dad can do is email the FCA, Amigo’s regulator, and ask why Amigo is being allowed to delay paying him like this.
To do this, email consumer.queries@fca.org.uk and copy this to nick.beal@amigoloans.net and complaints@amigoloans.co.uk
Subject: Why will Amigo (708284) not pay my refund, offered 16 weeks ago?
Give your Amigo reference number, your name and address.
Give the details of the loan(s) and the offer from Amigo – when it was made and when you accepted.
And describe how Amigo has not confirmed they will be paying you and you don’t understand why.
If you have immediate need of this money say something about it. Say how stressful this is.
Also leave them a bad review on Trustpilot https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/amigoloans.co.uk if you haven’t already done this.
Kelly says
I will, thank you so much for the info. I’ll action all that this afternoon
Kelly says
The FCA have replied telling my Dad about the scheme of the arrangement and said that whilst they can’t do anything in this case they will note it against the company. Amigo haven’t responded to the emails nor the trustpilot review yet. We did have a final decision from Amigo in September 2020…will my Dads case likely be entered into this scheme of arrangement do you know please?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It shouldn’t. Amigo should pay out on a final decision taken before 21 December.
Kelly says
Thank you for all your help on this matter, Amigo made contact with my Dad and he is now waiting for the payment (should be made by 20th Feb at the latest if they stick to the 15 days). The balance of the loan is now being passed back to my brother. If the scheme of arrangement doesn’t go ahead and Amigo go into Administration will my brother still have to pay this? If they do get the go ahead I assume he would then have to make his own case against them..
Sara (Debt Camel) says
For your brother this is now a normal loan with no guarantor. He can ask for a payment arrangment if he can’t afford it, put it into a debt management plan or even go bankrupt if he has other problem debts.
Has your brother already made a complaint? If not he should do so now. (Well unless he intesnds to go bankrupt, in which case there isn’t much point.) If he wins, interest will be removed from the balance.
If Amigo go into this proposed Scheme, he can make a Claim in the Scheme. If Amigo go into administration he can make a claim there. From his point of view here is probably no difference between a Scheme and administration (I am assuning he does owe quite a large balance now your dad’s payment have been put back on it) except the worry that Amigo may not uphold the claim in a Scheme so he may do batter if the claim is upheld in administration.
If you are on speaking terms with him (sometimes families fall out badly over these loans) then you could suggest he reads this?
Kelly says
Thanks for your quick response as always. I think he would be better off going bankrupt with his situation. Thanks for clarifying
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Depending on the level of his debt a Debt Relief Order may be appropriate – can you suggest He talks to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000?
Baz says
Hi. I received a refund offer after my complaint on the 15/12/2020 from amigo. I accepted the offer on the same date and was told by amigo that I will receive full payment in 35 working days which so happens to be today.. Will I still receive this money or will I be effected by the new scheme?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you should be paid now in full. Fingers crossed your money comes today if not be a nuisance about asking why it has not been paid.
Ian says
Hi. I have a loan currently with Amigo. I complained about irresponsible and unaffordable lending in September last year. They didn’t uphold the claim and so I escalated it to the FOS. I heard from FOS over Christmas but no decision has been made yet. I work in the events industry and as such my income has been pretty much zero since March 2020. Currently on UC, Amigo have been ruthless to be honest as most others have said on here.
I can’t see this scheme getting a green light. I calculated the redress and that would clear the balance with a few quid left over. Amigo are adding interest and i’m not paying them right now because I can’t afford to. We did an affordability thing over the phone and they agreed I couldn’t afford it. They’ve done the same with the Guarantor who is also in the same position so Amigo have said that they will take it to court.
I’m so worried about this to be honest and the emails, texts and letters are coming in daily.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You have had a 6 month covid-19 payment break I hope?
Has your guarantor also sent in an affordability complaint? If yours is upheld, this won’t matter, but it gives a second way of getting the guarantor freed – template here for a guarantor: https://debtcamel.co.uk/amigo-complaints-by-guarantor/.
Have your guarantor’s finances also ben affected by covid-19 – they can ask for a 6 month break as well.
Amigo should not start court action when there are open complaints. These texts etc seem an unpleasant form of bluff. I have not seen them take anyone to court in this situation for years and now, with a Scheme cooming up and them wanting to look “clean” to their regulator they are very very unlikely to do this.
Ian says
Hi. I had to work hard to get a payment break, I think it was 6 months but Amigo has been turning the thumbscrews since. Yes, the guarantor has sent in an affordability complaint. She also has been affected by COVID so she’s not in a position to cover the payments either. Both of us have filled in an income/expenses report with Amigo over the phone.
I’m guessing there’s no point in me contacting the FOS to see if they can hurry it along a little? I’ve heard some others on Facebook saying they’ve done this but am not sure if this is real or “Facebook reality”.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
She can now ask Amigo for a 6 month break too. She has a separate legal contract to yours. She is entitled to the break based on her circumstances. Would take some of the pressure off!
Ian says
That’s really useful info, thank you. They are so hit and miss with contact, they haven’t spoke to her since before Christmas but she will ask them when they do get in contact. When they do get in contact you just get bombarded by phone/text/letter/email….it’s relentless.
I’m guessing this is going to end badly for Amigo. The scheme won’t get a green light, they’ll offer discounted final payments just to get cash in, they’ll end up closing the doors and selling any outstanding debts on. That’s what my crystal ball tells me.
Harry says
Hi Sara,
I put my complaint in with Amigo in November with the 8 weeks being up on 20th January. I have been calling asks emailing them chasing up etc. When I asked for a final response and whether my complaint would be in any kind of shame they have stated the below, talking in riddles really. Should I go to the FOS? I had payday loans, latge overdraft, defaults, late payments etc and a low variable wage at the time.
“ Thanks for your email.
Your complaint is still being worked on. However I cannot confirm when your final response will be issued and I cannot confirm if your account will be included in the scheme.
This is so that our customers are treated consistently with all customers under the Scheme. I can assure you we’re not ignoring anyone or purposely delaying anything.
A member of the team will be in touch with an update as soon as they’re able to.”
Thanks,
H
P says
Hi Sara, I have an open complaint with Amigo and also an outstanding balance. I made an affordability complaint on 17th September as well as payment support as the repayments were too much to handle. I was not affected by COVID but other circumstances had made these repayments unaffordable. On 22nd October Amigo suspended interest on my loan. They first told me I had cleared the interest, then that I had ‘hit my cap’ then finally that it was done as a good will gesture for not completing my complaint on time. this was after only 5 weeks after my complaint and well within the 8 week deadline that is set. Does this sound normal?
I have still not been offered a reduced repayment plan without them telling me my loan will default and my credit score will be harmed. If I continue to repay my loan in full then the loan will be finished early. due to the interest now being frozen. I have asked to divide my balance by the number of months I have left on my agreed loan term which is much lower than the full repayments I currently pay but Amigo will not accept this. What choices do I have? I don’t want my Guarantor to have to pick up the bill
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
are the current repayments affordable?
P says
Thanks Sara.
No they are not, I have contacted them about reducing my payments but they keep saying my loan will default and harm my credit rating if I don’t pay the full amount. My argument with them is as they have frozen the interest I can reduce my payments and still pay the loan off by the end of the loan term.
Is it normal for them to suspend the interest as a ‘goodwill gesture’?
I took a £10k top up loan for 60 months at £395.25 per month (Jan 2018 – Jan 2023). I have 24 payments left. When Amigo suspended my interest it meant that if I continue to repay £395.25 per month then my loan will be paid off in May 2022 as interest is no longer accruing on my loan.
I told Amigo the £395.25 is too much for me to handle at the moment but if I reduced my repayments to £262 per month for the next 24 months (which I can afford) then I would still finish paying my loan off by January 2023 as agreed. They are telling me that this will default my loan and harm my credit rating.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry, I missed that you had already said you had made a complaint.
If you win the complaint any negative marks , missed payments or defaults will be removed from your credit record. So there may be little point in arging about this now as it actually the affordability complaint that matters. But the facts about default reporting are as follows:
If you have a payment arrangement that means your account gets into arrears compared to what the normal contractual payments are. When an account is in 3-6 months arrears, a lender can add a default.
On your numbers you would be getting £130 in arrears each month and it would take 9 months for you to get “3 months in arrears”. If a default is added before then – and it is not uncommon for lenders to get this sort of calculation wrong and apply a default sooner! – you could theoretically challenge it and take the case to the Financial Ombudsman.
I said theoretically because if the Scheme is set up or Amigo go into administration (which between them are MUCH the most likely scenarios) you can’t take your case to the Financial Ombudsman.
So those are the facts. It seems to me from what you have said that if the repayments are unaffordable then you need the payment arrangement. Whatever the impact on your credit record. I am not sure you should let their threats of a default deter you from making this choice, especially as the default will disappear if you win your case, in the Scheme, in administration or in any other scenario.
If you want to talk to a debt adviser about your options, phone National Debtline on 0808 808 4000. They can talk you through the pros and cons and look at your whole financial situation. Tell them you have made an affordability complaint – they are familiar with them.
P says
Thank you Sara, this is very helpful
Trevor says
Hi I currently have ongoing claim with FOS against amigo, will this be affected
Kind regards Trevor
Sara (Debt Camel) says
probably nothing much will happen with your FOS complaint – if FOS uphold it, Amigo are likely to ignore this.
If the Scheme goes ahead, FOS will send your complaint back to Amigo to be settled in the Scheme.
If instead Amigo go under, FOS will return the complaint to the administrators who are appointed.
Something else may happen, but those two options are much the most likely.
Do you still have an open loan you are repaying?
Sam says
Hi Sara,
I took out an amigo loan plus 2 top ups (5k total) and I’ve checked the payments I have made which total to roughly 5k.
I have a complaint open with FOS which I’ve asked for just the original 5k to be paid back with interest removed.
Would it be worth me stopping the payments now until said decision is made if I have paid the whole 5k back? What do you think I should do as I’d rather just try and get the payments stopped now rather than wait for the scheme and only get a small percentage of that back?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is making the current repayments a problem for you? (Apart from not wanting to throw the money away!)
Have your finances been affected by covid-19?
sam says
They are just about manageable but has got harder since covid due to my housemate moving back home as he is a key worker( family business so made sense) my guarentor (my mum) has now lost their job so is on UC and I don’t want them getting letters etc trying to get the money off her
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If there is less money coming in as a housemate who shared the bills has had to leave, then that is a good reason for you to ask for a covid-19 payment break. It is much harder to find a new housemate because of covid-19.
During one of these breaks Amigo cannot go after your mother.
If you were to stop paying and your mum was asked to pay, she can then say she has lost her job and ask for a 6 month payment break.
But these decisions aren’t easy I am afraid. You don’t know if your claim will be upheld by Amigo as they have said nothing about how they will decide claims.
Richard says
Hi sarah just an update. My account is now saying loan repaid and it’s in the minus just waiting on redress now hopefully wont be much longer. Thank you sarah for the help of this page
Mohammed says
Hi Sara,
I took out a 10k loan back in August 2018. The loan was unaffordable to me at the time as I had taken out a lot of credit and this was funding my gambling addiction. Amigo did not ask for bank statements or anything. The loan was paid off last year in full (wife took out a loan) with no payments being missed (guarantor had to make two on my behalf). After reading your article on making a complaint I was ready to send the email, now reading this article I am unsure of where I stand.
Thanks for your help
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You may as well send the complaint now. We don’t know if the Scheme will go ahead, if Amigo will go into administration or something else.
But as the loan has been repaid, even if the complaint is upheld in the Scheme by my figures you will only get a tiny amount back :(
Have you looked at affordability complaints against your other lenders from that time?
Mohammed says
I will send the complaint regardless.
If there is no scheme would I get back the interest plus 8% statutory rate? I wish I had looked into this earlier. I take it if it goes down the scheme route then itll be pennies to the pound?
I havent looked at affordability complaints against the others yet. I thought i would start with Amigo.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If there is no scheme would I get back the interest plus 8% statutory rate?
Yes.
Unless they go into administration – in which case there may be no money at all to distribute.
Look into all affordability complaints NOW. Who knows how long other lenders will still be in business?
John says
I rejected Amigos offer back in July and it was passed to the fos they upheld 3 of my loans but said no to the other. Am I correct in thinking the new scheme will not affect me as my case has been on going .
Thanks
John
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you have an adjudicator decision from FOS? what date? Has Amigo accepted it?
Was there an “unpaid interest deduction” applied by Amigo?
John says
No it has not been assigned to an adjudicator yet but they have my case sat with them. I rejected Amigos offer of upholding 3 loans as they rejected 2 loans in July. 1st loan upheld 2nd and 3rd not 4th and 5th upheld.
Yes they applied an interest deduction
Regards
John
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So this Scheme will definitely affect you if it is approved.
FOS send open cases, including your, back to Amigo to go into the Scheme – this is gally what has to happen, it’s not FOS’s decision.
Amigo then has to assess your case. I hope they will start from scratch and apply new decision rules. And that those new rules won;t include a deduction for unpaid interest. But we have no idea.
IF instead Amigo goes into administration , your case gets passed back to the administrators instead. Who then have to make the same decision. We know that administrators rules tend to try to mimic what FOS might have done. And I cannot beleive that would include a deduction for unpaid interest.
Do you owe a balance at the moment? How much are you paying a month?
John says
Yes I have a balance of 6k but if I had accepted the first offer it would be 2k. I did contact them and say I would accept the offer made in July last month and the women agreed it accepted it over the phone then emailed me saying no as I had refused it and sent it to the FOS the offer has been refused. I reduced my payments to 150.
In the small print on the scheme it does say “who is not affected by the scheme” If you had received a settlement offer from amigo dated on or after the 21st June 2020 which you did not accept or reject you are exempt
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ah that is 27B in the PSL. I have NO IDEA what it means.
I do not think Amigo intends to bar people who have gone to FOS from the Scheme.
See https://debtcamel.co.uk/amigos-scheme-key-points/ where I have mentioned this as a problem.
John says
Can I refuse to pay them
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes.
You will get hassled. Your credit record will be affected, but negative marks are removed when you win a claim.
Your guarantor will be asked to pay. Can you explain to your guarantor what is happening and why you are stopping? So they too can cancel their Direct debit or continuous payment authority to Amigo? Their credit record will not be affected.
Amigo may send texts, emails etc talking about going to court but these are just an unpleasant form of bluff. I have not seen Amigo them take anyone to court in this situation for years and now, with a Scheme coming up and them wanting to look “clean” to their regulator they are very very unlikely to do this. It isn’t going to happen.
The risk here is that your complaint is not upheld of course.
Have your finances been affected by covid-19?
What were your guarantor’s finances like when the loan was taken? Could they have afforded to make all the loan payments and pay their own bills, debts and living costs?
John says
My guarantor has been removed and is no longer involved. My finance have not been affected by covid 19. But as I explained they made an offer and I rejected it so the likleyhood is if they do go in to Admin that the offer would still stand.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh so that makes it much easier for you – you only have to consider yourself in the decision about stopping paying.
I think if they made an offer before you can have more confidence either the offer would be available or they would again uphold your case in a Scheme.
Mark says
While you probably can stop repaying interest, remember that the capital still is their so you can’t just keep it.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
John expects the balance to probably be cleared – I think he knows more about his case than you do.
raymond says
i am a guarantor for my grandaughter how will it affect me
Sara (Debt Camel) says
She has a current loan? Do you know if she is finding it easy to repay?
Have you had to make any payments to it? Could you afford top make all the payments if you had to?
Mark says
Hi
Thanks for the great guide!
I’m currently a guarantor on an amigo loan – the loan is fully upto date and paid by who took the loan.
At the start of December I submitted a complaint that I should not have been accepted as a guarantor as it would have been unaffordable to me, unfortunately Amigo have not got back to me other than automated mails saying they are looking into my complaint. As it’s fallen out of the 8 weeks have submitted to the FOS although may take some time to go through them if it does atall.
I’m not looking for any refund as I’ve not had to make any payments as a guarantor (although I guess this may change If they fall behind on payments in next few months) just want to be removed as a guarantor and not have this hanging over me.
I’ve looked through the scheme and can’t see any mention of how a complaint like mine would be dealt with, although I’m surprised they will be allowed to ignore any FOS rulings if this scheme goes ahead sounds like it would be all upto amigo!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The PSL doesn’t really say much. See my new article today which looks at several points https://debtcamel.co.uk/amigos-scheme-key-points/.
Your claim would be considered in the Scheme. If it is upheld, he won’t get a refund as you haven’t paid anything, but you would be released as guarantor.
If the Scheme goes ahead, your complaint will be returned by FOS to Amigo to go into the Scheme.
If Amigo go under, your complaint will be returned by FOS to the administrators.
For you the only think that matters is whether you are more likely to get your complaint upheld in the Scheme or Administration. Amigo have said nothing about how they will assess claims. Administrators normally try to follow the same sort of line that the ombudsman would.
Mark says
Thank you just had a read. The part which surprises me the most is this scheme would mean we can’t escalate the case to the FOS if the claim under the scheme is denied giving amigo full control – even if they say it’s independent I can’t see how that can be allowed / how it would be any benefit to the consumer!
Mark says
Hi Sara,
My complaint is still with the FOS with no movement as expected so far.
I’ve had a text from Amigo to say the loane has missed a payment and they are working with them etc (Funny how quick they are getting in touch when it comes to collecting money!!)
I’ve already removed the direct debit and asked Amigo to remove the continuous payment authority – my question is how long can I hold off from paying as a guarantor whilst my complaint is in with them / the FOS before they may do something which would affect my credit record – as I want to avoid that at all costs.
Thanks for your advise as always!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
asked Amigo to remove the continuous payment authority
you need to TELL your bank to do that, not ASK Amigo.
This loan is not on your credit record – if you aren’t sure, have a look!
It can’t harm your credit record unless Amigo go to court and get a CCJ.
They should not do this while you have an open complaint with them or with FOS. It would be in breach of the FCA rules. Amigo probably will threaten this but they are not going to court in this situation. And this will apply in the Scheme as well until your complaint is determined.
Worst case if your complaint is rejected in the Scheme and you have appealed in the Scheme and lost, then you will have to start paying them or they may go to court. That is 9-12 months away.
Mark says
OK great thank you will get onto my bank. Hopefully its resolved before then but good to know have some time on my side if needs be!
L says
Hi Sara
My mum won her complaint last September but she was charged over £4000 of unpaid interest. I was her guarantor and we’ve both had the text and email about the scheme. Do we need to do anything? She sent a complaint to the FOS with regards to the unpaid interest but still hasn’t heard anything. The unpaid interest charge was ridiculous as each loan had been paid off by the top up loans
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Does she still have a balance owing at the moment?
Toby says
FOS service went in my favour end of November Amigo acknowledged this on the 8th December confirming they were calculating my redress. Amigo contacted me yesterday with a figure which I accepted, they asked me to call today confirming my bank details which I did and the money was in my bank this afternoon.
I had 5 loans in total with them. I accepted Amigos pay out on the two loans they accepted responsibility for back in August then had to go to the FOS about the remaining three which I was paid out on today.
I know everyone’s circumstances are different so could be different for other people. All my loans were paid off before I made the complaints and my guarantor never had to make a payment for me so don’t know if that made it easier I terms of my claims.
Hope this information is of help to someone with complaints won with the FOS before the scheme was announced.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Thanks – it is good they paid you rapidly at the end.
Stacey says
Hi Sara,
I have an open complaint with FOS after rejecting amigos offer to pay them thousands in unpaid interest. As I haven’t had a decision yet, if the scheme goes ahead, will my case be referred back to them? They’ve already given me their stance that although I was lent to when I couldn’t afford it I still owe unpaid interest on a previous loan so my assumption is if it goes back to them for a decision in the scheme I might as well just pay it?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if the scheme goes ahead, will my case be referred back to them?
yes.
my assumption is if it goes back to them for a decision in the scheme I might as well just pay it?
At the moment I am trying to get Amigo to decide that they will stop applying this unfair unpaid interest deduction… I can’t say how likely this is to work but it is so unreasonable it could. In which case in the scheme, they should remove that deduction and your balance will drop.
So I suggest waiting until the Scheme has the go-ahead and things are clearer.
Stacey says
Thanks Sara, does this mean you think it would be best to vote in favour of the scheme?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No idea – for you what they are doing about the unpaid deduction is important.
For other people the most important question is how likely are Amigo to uphold their claim?
For people who have a current loan, they can get that reduced / written off in administration, so people don’t have to choose between taking a risk on the Scheme or carrying on paying the loan.
Francis Kearney says
Hi Sara
I have an outstanding complaint with FOS over an amigo loan. Have they paused their decision making until this scheme fiasco has been decided. Also am I to understand if I have paid back my loan principle amount, I would still need to pay any outstanding interest. Under the scheme amigo proposes.. however if FOS uphold my complaint I would not.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
FOS haven’t stopped looking at complaints. But even if they make a decision Amigo is going to ignore it :(
Say you have borrowed £4000, you have repaid £5000 and you have a current balance of £3000. Does that sound something like your situation?
If FOS uphold your claim and Amigo paid out (which they are not going to do if the Scheme goes through), you would have the balance wiped and get a refund of £1000, the amount you have paid more than what you borrowed.
If Amigo uphold your complaint in the Scheme then you would have the balance wiped and you would get back a small percentage of the £1000. My incredibly crude calculations came up with about 5%.
If Amigo go bust and your claim goes to the administrators and once again is upheld, then again you get the balance wiped, but then there will not be any money left over and you wouldn’t get any amount of the cash refund.
So the big compensation you get – having the balance wiped, is the same whatever happens.
And what is then important is will FOS uphold your claim? will Amigo? will administrators?
Administrators normally try to mimic what FOS might have done. But what will Amigo do? we don’t know.
Francis Kearney says
Thanks Sara
figures aside that’s pretty much where I am at. Just one more question amigo have said they are going to all borrowers, back to 2005 regardless of them making a complaint or not. If they are told they will get a percentage back however small. Is this not just gerrymandering to load the vote. Also is it my understanding that they will pay any guarantor. All monies and interest they have paid. Release them from any obligations then load that money onto the current borrower to repay.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is this not just gerrymandering to load the vote.
No, they have to contact potential creditors who may be affected by the Scheme. That’s how these things work.
is it my understanding that they will pay any guarantor. All monies and interest they have paid.
Only if the borrower wins a claim that the loan was unaffordable for them. Or they should not have been accepted as guarantor for some other reason. or if the borrower wins the claim the loan was unaffordable for them.
The guarantors don’t automatically get the money back, a claim has to be won.
And the borrowers will only get a small percentage paid out as well. just like the borrowers.
Caroline says
Hi Sara
I complained to Amigo in July and had a rejection in Sep 2020 which is now with the FOS awaiting allocation of an adjudicator at some point if ever.
My question is to you, I notice from my Amigo statement today that the interest stopped being added in Sep 2020, I have 5 payments of £631 left but only a balance of £2022 so I’m quite confused and cannot get hold of Amigo to discuss either by call or email. Has anybody else noticed interest not being added after a complaint rejected?? Seems a little strange!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t remember this happening.
P says
Hi Caroline
I also had my interest stopped in October 2020 (I made my complaint in September but it is still outstanding and have not had final response). Amigo told me this was done as a good will gesture for not completing my complaint on time even though the 8 weeks to finalise complaint was not overdue at this point. I have raised this with Amigo but they are still standing by it being a goodwill gesture.
Caroline Gibbs says
Thank you, just hope that they don’t then apply all the missed interest at the end. So as far as you are aware with your loan, will it finish earlier than predicted? I’m paying £631 a month and have 5 payments left but the balance is now just £2022. Maybe month 5 they will still take payment as interest!?? All very confusing! Pleased I’m not the only one. Weird that they don’t advise you of this, maybe it’s done so that have comeback when and if the FOS upheld my complaint.
P says
Hi Caroline
Yes, my loan is now due to finish early if continue to make full repayments. I wouldn’t expect them to add the interest back in at any point, I have had it confirmed via email that the interest is gone on the remainder of my loan. It is very confusing and a bit strange I agree. Are you able to access your online Amigo account? There is a section under ‘your payments’ where you can see ‘your payments’ ‘your balance’ and ‘your statement’. If you click on ‘your balance’ it should tell you when your loan will finish. I hope this helps
Caroline says
Thank you P
That was very helpful and yes it states my Loan will finish a month earlier. Great news.
Much appreciated
Caroline
Ryan says
My complaint is with the ombudsman right now and they have ruled it in my favour that i wasn’t fit to have the loan, amigo were meant to get back to them on the 22nd of January and have not done this, so now have till the 9th of Feb or it will get raised higher according to the ombudsman. Why are amigo not replying are they allowed to just ignore them like this? Surely I won’t have to enter this scheme if its at the final stage with the ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
My latest article https://debtcamel.co.uk/amigos-scheme-key-points/ looks at what I think the main points of concern are about this Scheme, including why Amigo thinks it’s OK to ignore Ombudsman decisions.
I have no idea why the FCA, Amigo’s regulator, is allowing them to be in breach of the DISP rules in this way.
Amigo says they are trying to be fair to all their customers, but I can’t see how not following good complaint handling is compatible with this. The Scheme will take months to start if the current timetable does not slip and it may not go ahead.
If the Scheme goes ahead, the Ombudsman will have to return all open complaints to Amigo, even at those at a late stage. in a Scheme this is what has to happen, FOS does not have a choice in the matter.
Do you still owe money on a current loan? Or has it been repaid?
Beki says
Hi sara
So reading through some of these posts i can’t believe it. I sent in my complaint in July 2020 and nothing…. some people I have read sent theres in November and received their redress… I have forwarded my complaint to fos in September. Amigo kept telling me things that were going to happen and then not doing it. Questionnaires my final letter all was relayed to me as will be sent in the next week. This has been going on since early Sept from the 8 week turnaround. Lost count on how many weeks they are over now what a joke..
Sara (Debt Camel) says
the last 6 months has been incredibly random. Did your guarantor make any payments?
Beki says
Hi
Yes she did and they told me they had done a full investigation and I was just to wait 2 week (this was in November) for my final response to be issued. Then after that I contacted them again and they told me a questionnaire was being sent out to myself and my guarantor which was not received by either of us.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, that is why your complaint went into extra slow motion… all complaints where the guarantor had paid did.
Have they agreed the loan(s) were unaffordable in writing?
Beki says
Nope not done anything agreed to anything nowt.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK then I am afraid it sounds as though your complaint will end up in the Scheme if it goes ahead (which we won’t know for months).
Do you still owe a balance? If yes, are you or your guarantor paying?
Beki says
No i owe nothing all my loans were paid off. Just annoys me how some were sorted and settled withing months. Seems like they were holding me off and looking at 12k redress.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then if the Scheme goes ahead you will get little, even if all the loans are upheld.
Ingrid says
Hi Sarah,
I have received refund from Amigo loans-thanks to all your help!
They have agreed to also remove the CCJ. It has been 2 months but CCJ is still on my file, when i asked amigo why is that they just told me that they have reported to the reference agency and there is nothing else they can do about it.
Do you think it will be removed? What can i do about this?
Thank you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The CCJ will not be removed unless Amigo apply to the court to have it set aside – the credit reference agencies cannot help here. I suggest you reply to Amigo saying this and asking when it will be done.
The only alternative to this is for you to apply to the court, where you will need Amigo to have agreed to a Consent Order. This would cost you £100 which Amigo should refund. I can’t help with drafting a consent order or the application to the court – you could talk to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 or post on the Legal Beagles forum https://legalbeagles.info/forums/forum/legal-forums/court-claims-and-issues (or both).
It will be much simpler if Amigo just get on and deal with this as they should!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would be interested to know what Amigo say about this.
Ghabi says
Hi Sara,
I was reading about the scheme, it state that it is not for those who received an offer for settlement and rejected it, I have received an offer that I have rejected it was sent to FOS.
What does that mean in my case?
Regards.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
that is 27B in the PSL. I have NO IDEA what it means.
I do not think Amigo intends to bar people who have gone to FOS from the Scheme.
See https://debtcamel.co.uk/amigos-scheme-key-points/ where I have mentioned this as a problem.
Siobhan says
As you know my complaint has been ongoing since April 2019, FOS have made a final decision and did this before the scheme was announced. Where do I stand now? Amigo are still ignoring them. They’ve ignored numerous of my emails. I have contacted FCA twice. Can they really ignore an FOS decision made before the announcement? My adjudicator upheld, amigo disagreed, adjudicator explained why it is upheld. Amigo ignored adjudicator so FOS made the decision. This is causing me massive amounts of stress and upset and I’m so tempted to get a solicitor involved.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you had a FOS final decision from an Ombudsman before the 21st December, Amigo are not going to ignore it.
What was the date?
Sean mcconkey says
Hi sara,
Still had no contact about my case from FOS after 7 months now, with thi scheme does that I will be waiting even longer now and thats even if I win my case at all lol.