This page covered the complaints and refunds process before Wonga went under on 30 August.
Events in August 2018
August 4 – Wonga forced to ask investors for £10million in funding as the cost of affordability complaints increases.
26 August – news reports that Wonga was in trouble.
- Sky News reported that:
Directors of the payday lender Wonga could appoint Grant Thornton as the company’s administrator within days, Sky News learns.
- Piece on Channel 4 News – including a Debt Camel reader talking about his situation.
August 30 – Wonga gives up and goes into administration
With Wonga in administration, complaints and refunds are now being handled differently, see Wonga – latest news of refunds for details.
That page will be kept updated, this one is now closed.
Much of the rest of this page is no longer relevant so the text colour has been changed to this.
Wonga affordability complaints before administration
If you had loans from Wonga that you struggled to repay, perhaps having to borrow again because you couldn’t afford the Wonga payment and get through the next month, then your loan may have been “unaffordable”.
You can ask for a refund of the interest you paid.
Slow complaints handling
Wonga sends a statement of your account without trying to charge you for it, but it can take a while. If you are trying to piece together your loan history from your credit reports or bank statements, old entries saying “Quickbridge” are Wonga loans.
The Financial Ombudsman’s rules say a firm is allowed 8 weeks to reply to a complaint. This clock starts running when you put your complaint in.
In summer 2018 Wonga is struggling to handle all the complaints. Here is a typical message people are being sent:
We’re currently investigating high volumes of complaints. If we can’t respond within our 8-week timeframe, we’ll contact you to explain the delay and let you know when you can expect a response.
If Wonga hasn’t answered after 8 weeks, take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman. Wonga will still be looking at your complaint and you could get an answer in the next few weeks.
Have you already had a refund from Wonga?
Wonga had a major refund program a few years ago. If you had a balance owing to them, this may have been written off at that point. They also made some small refunds in 2016 – out of the blue people had a letter saying they will be receiving £6.20 or £51 or some other random number.
You may still have a good case for your other loans being unaffordable – we have seen many people win affordability complaints after already getting a refund or a write-off. The more loans or rollovers you had before the one that was written off, the more you are likely to get a refund now.
Think of the write-off as being the first part of your refund.
Sometimes Wonga makes reasonable offers… but often it doesn’t!
Sometimes Wonga makes good offers, some of them very large:
- John was worried when he was told his case had been referred to their legal team, then a couple of weeks later he got a refund of over £10,000;
- in September 2017, Danny Boy was very happy to accept an offer of £11,934.
However, Wonga rejects some excellent cases, which are then upheld by the Ombudsman. Examples include: Rob got £3,000; Lou got £500; Mart got £6,455. So if your complaint is rejected, don’t assume it is a bad case and give up!
Making a random small offer
And sometimes Wonga offers to just refund on a few loans picked at random from the loans you had. When challenged they have no explanation for why they are offering to refund those particular loans, they just say that’s their offer. With these cases you can do a lot better by waiting for a decision from the Ombudsman:
- Wonga offered Tony £818 for just two loans – the Ombudsman said that all loans should be refunded – £4,800
- Ross had 60 loans from wonga over 5 years. Wonga only offered to refund one loan – £26. He went to the Ombudsman and got a refund on 54 loans – £4,650.
Sometimes refuses to pay out on loans after 2014
Wonga often refuses to pay out on loans after they changed their lending policy in 2014. It’s true that they made a lot more bad loans before that, but they are not getting all the decisions right now!
Many people are getting good refunds via the Ombudsman for these recent loans.
Don’t rush to accept an offer if it misses off a lot of loans
We have also seen people accept an offer from Wonga but then regret it when they realise it is only for three loans. If you are made an offer, sit back and think for a few days if it is good enough.
Could you lose a Wonga offer by going to the Ombudsman?
If you are offered some money but it’s a lot less than the interest you paid, you may be worried you could end up with nothing if you reject it and go to the Ombudsman.
So far we haven’t seen any case, from Wonga or any other lender, where someone who was offered a refund ended up with less by going to the Ombudsman.
Wonga are arguing about loans over 6 years
The Ombudsman’s rules say that complaints have to be made within 6 years, but there is an extra rule that says a complaint can be made later if you have only become aware of the problem within the last 3 years.
Wonga is refusing to pay out on loans over 6 years old. Other lenders have now accepted the ombudsman’s decision that they can look at older loans as people have only recently heard about these affordability complaints.
At the moment Wonga and the ombudsman are arguing over a few test cases and everyone else with loans over 6 years is just waiting until these test cases are resolved. I hope this will be soon!
If most of your loans are within 6 years and only a few are older, you may want to agree to drop the older loans to speed up your case.
Comments on this article are now closed.
See Latest news on Wonga refunds for what is currently happening and the comments there.
Julie G says
I have just rang wonga, and I’m shocked I’ve had 50 loans from 2010-2014 the last loan was written off because I obviously should never have been given a loan from them do you think it’s worth me trying to claim compensation, I’m worried because the last one was written off I have the original costs of the loans but have asked for all information to be emailed to me x
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Julie, 50 loans, wow :( Yes it is absolutely worth trying to claim compensation for these. Taking out so many loans is a clear sign that they were “unaffordable” – you weren’t borrowing because your washing machine had died, you had got into a pattern of having to borrow because repaying the previous loan left you too short of money to live on the next month. I bet the loans tended to increase in size too… I suggest you ask for a return of interest plus any charges plus statutory interest at 8%.
It may be that if it goes to the Financial Ombudsman, he says tp deducts the amount Wonga wrote off from this compensation – but I think you should claim it all and let the Financial Ombudsman make that decision. Best of luck!
john walker says
Hi I rang wonga up regarding reclaiming interest and charges on nearly 30 loans due to affordability checks not being taken properly and I got response within 2 weeks and it was upheld and I received 1.1k paid within 2 days :) go for it!!!
I also have won my case with quickquid via the ombudsman and there 1 month deadline to finalise my settlement is up on Nov 17th 2015
Sally B says
Hi
I stumbled across this website after looking into further details about receiving compensation from pay day loan companies because out of the blue wage day advance sent me a letter advising they had lent me over the lending criteria and I received the full amount, interest and 8%, a total of £675. This prompted me to look into other pay day lenders I had used in the last 3 years and I have sent an email to all of them. I received an email from Mr Lender straight away offering to clear my outstanding debt of £168 and a gesture of good will for £150 I tried to ask for more but was refused so I took their offer. However, after looking into it further I have borrowed well over £2500 and paid nearly double this amount in interest as I rolled over my loans again and again so it clearly shows I was struggling so I am going to take this further with the financial ombudsman.
I have received all the info back from Wonga and I was absolutely astonished to see I had loaned over £17,000 and paid nearly £3,500 in interest. It clearly shows on the report that I had repaid back and nearly all the time re applied the same day for a further loan or topped up to a £1,000 within a few hours of borrowing £500. This should of raised alarm bells with wonga and I should of been refused. I have now paid all this back but I am still very hopeful in getting a refund of some sort from them, because I am pretty sure the financial ombudsman would rule in my favour as it clearly shows irresponsible lending.
I am still waiting on Sunny, Quick Quid and a few others but again I have borrowed large sums with them and topped up, rolled over on many occasions. I will let people know on here once I get a response.
Go for it people and get claiming!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Sally, “This should of raised alarm bells with Wonga” – indeed it should! Good luck with your complaints
Duane says
So Wonga got back to me today to say the following:
Our Understanding of Your Complaint
You have suggested in your complaint that the Wonga loans were unaffordable and as a result you suffered financially.
Our response
In investigating your case, we have considered the affordability of your loans based on information available to us at the time of application. That includes your personal circumstances, the value of the loans and top ups against your stated income, the frequency of your borrowing and any other factors which indicated financial difficulties as a result of the loan, such as arrears and repayment arrangements.
Before approving a loan, we carry out a credit reference agency check. This information is available to us from CallCredit and Experian and can be accessed instantly by us when we receive a loan application. When you applied, we combined that data with the personal data you provided to us including salary, employment, marital status, dependents, home ownership status, motor owner status amongst other information, and we also considered your repayment history. All of this information was entered into our underwriting system so we could carry out an assessment of affordability. You achieved an acceptable underwriting score and the loans were approved on that basis.
When you did fall into financial difficulty we assisted you by freezing interest and setting you up on an affordable repayment plan.
However, having looked in detail at your loan history, we see that although majority of your loans were repaid on time with no issues, some loans may have been unaffordable as they were significantly high compared to your stated monthly income.
You have told us that you have taken a loan with another lender in order to repay your Wonga loans. If you are struggling to repay that loan, we would encourage you to get in contact with your lender to discuss your circumstances with them. They will be able to put in place a suitable repayment plan in order to help you to repay in a sustainable way. You can also get free debt advice from a number of organisations including:
Step Change Debt Charity – 0800 138 1111
National Debt Line – 0808 808 4000
Citizens Advice – 03444 111 444
Outcome
Based on the above, there may have been more that we could have done to assist you in relation to the loans identified and so we have decided to uphold your complaint relating to those loans.
Additionally, we will also request for the redressed loans to be removed from your credit record. This may take up to 30 working days to be updated fully on your credit file.
We would like to offer £248.47 which is an amount equal to the interest and fees on the following
I went back to them to ask them to reconsider based on only 3 loans out the 27 were in their eyes unaffordable
and they said the value is non negotiable apparently so off the FOS we go.
Michelle says
Most of this is their standard letter as first two paragraphs under our response are word for word the same as mine.
My complaint is with the FOS so hopefully will have some joy
Michelle says
What about if the debt was sold to a debt collection company, can you still persue the original lender for a refund or not?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes. Ask Wonga (or whoever the payday lender was) for a refund on the defaulted debt as well as previous loans. If this complaint is upheld, Wonga will usually settle or write off part of your current balance with the debt collector. If the refund is larger you will get some money in addition.
Whilst the complaint is being considered, the simplest thing is to carry on paying the debt collector if you are currently making payments. This doesn’t affect your claim – every £10 you pay off the balance will increase the case coming to you by £10 if it is upheld.
Emma says
Hi Sara, I wonder if you can advise if I have a good case or not. From 2011 for about 4 years I took out 50 loans with wonga I didn’t default on any but was borrowing every month as soon as I paid one loan off with them. Sometimes I’d borrow twice. In total my amount borrowed was over £10,000. Do you think I have a good case if I borrowed every month even though I didn’t default or ask to extend the loan. I’m still waiting for my statement of account but can imagine it’s going to be very big.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes that sounds like a good case. Borrowing every month with small gaps between them, for so long shows you were dependent on these loans. Wonga should have noticed this and stopped lending.
Emma says
This is what I thought and hoping I have a good basis for a claim as I was reliant on them. Like so many other people on here it was for gambling and I earn more than enough to cover the repayments but think Wonga should have realised I was dependent on them.
Nick says
I have asked for a statement from Wonga but have not received a response for a few weeks however I have gone through my emails and although there are definitely emails i have deleted I have had a total of 58 Loans from Wonga between 12/11/2010 and 25/05/2014 totaling £11,474 and £1847.84 In interest (Excluding £5.50 transmission fee’s. How should I approach Wonga and what should I be asked for?
Michelle says
Hi,
I have just sent a complaint to wonga i had approximatly 24 loans with wonga totally to just under £3,000 and about £300 in interest.. i mad apart payment on some loans but paid most of them back but there is a pattern of getting a loan paying it off then needing another.. it was on and off starting from 2013 until jan 2016 i got a good job in jan and never needed one again but before that i worked self-employed and had bad credit s couldn’t get money elsewhere. I do feel they used vulnerable people…
if i can get anywhere with this do they just [ay the interest or the full amount of the loans as I’ve heard people getting thousands is that just interest they paid? Mine is quite low compared to most so unsure if I will get anything but id like some back if I can.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Your interest sounds unusually low. It is possible if a lot of your loans were just a few days but I’m wondering if it was right? I think you should follow the steps in this article – ask for a statement of account from Wonga then put in a complaint as you clearly borrowed a lot from them.
Michelle says
Yes most of my loans for only for a week as I was self employed (but on a low wage) and all my benefit money was paid weekely too so as what started off as 5 day loan before I got my tax credits became a spiral…. I have just raised a straight complaint I haven’t asked for all my loan info I have every email and worked out it’s slightly more in interest around the £400 mark.. to be honest though I’d be happy to get anything back as it would be nice is it right you get 8% interest ontop too? It all confuses me but I’ve had a response saying they have received my complaint and ain’t to get back to me within 8 weeks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If Wonga make you an offer, they usually automatically add on 8% simple interest. Good luck & let us know how it goes!
Jean donnelly says
Hi
I have put my final email into wonga asking for my interest returned. It’s been nearly 6 weeks and no reply and no acknowledgment of my emails after I sent an email weeks later requesting this. Is this normal ? Do they send an offer by post ? Please help
Jean
Adam says
I got a response at just short of the 8-week mark with an offer to refund the interest on 3 of my 18 loans. They were the largest loans I took from them and accounts for half of the interest I paid. I am wondering whether to pursue this further with the Ombudsman or just accept? I am going to question back to them to give more justification of why these have been offered a refund whereas others have not but I am not expecting a response.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It sounds as though you could well get more by going to the Ombudsman. How much money is involved?
Adam says
Hello, Thank you for the advice. I borrowed in total £6700 and paid interest of £1287. I entered an arrangement with them with one of my loans (which is one of the ones the are refunding the interest on). They have offered me £676 (+ the 8%) which is the interest from the 3 biggest loans I took from them.
I think I shall pass on to the Financial Ombudsman and see if I can get more. I assume they can’t take back their offer?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Although you could get all the interest back from going to the FOS that would be unusual. It is more common to get a refund on all loans after some point. Realistically you could get several hundred more from going to the FOS, plus 8% interest and that might be more proportionately if the loans they haven’t refunded are the earlier ones, so there will be more interest added.
So it’s not a bad offer but you could well do quite a bit better. I haven’t heard of a case where a lender withdraws an offer to refund certain loans – I don’t think the FOS would think that was fair.
Adam says
Thought I would give an update.
After my case got assigned and Adjudacator and they started contacting Wonga the offer was increased. Previously they had offered refunds on 3 loans ignoring the other loans I took out between them. They have now offered refunds on the majority of my loans not including the 1st and latter ones after a gap. I have put complaints in against multiple lenders and this is inline with what the Adjudacators have been recomending for the other cases so I am happy with that. I will update when I get the money to give an idea of how long it took. Thanks for the help.
AW says
I have to thank the author of this blog, as I happened upon this by chance, and decided to fire off some emails…
I complained to Wonga at the beginning of September. Having not received statements of account from them at my initial request, I complained anyway based on what I could see on my credit file. After about 6-7 weeks, they came back with statements detailing all my loans. They totaled around £30,000 over 4 years, across 45 loans. This was a monthly thing for me for a very long time. Total interest and charges totaled £6,172.
They came back with a final response accepting they were wrong to lend me 34 of these 45 loans, and made an offer of £5,500 – plus the 8% interest for a total of about £7,500. I cannot believe it. I nearly took their arm off to accept this offer.
I submitted complaints to Quick Quid and Pounds to Pocket (accepted a £200 settlement from them despite paying £2,500 in interest alone, as I felt I didnt have much of a chance here) and forwarded QQ to FOS after an offer of just £230 on £2,000 of interest going back 5-6 years. I am hopeful this will go in my favor.
Does anyone know how long it takes Wonga to make a payment when you accept their offer? I am assuming they wouldnt bother delaying as this was their suggested figure rather than one forced on them by FOS?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Nice one, AW!
You may get more replies to your comment if you put it on here https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/ as that’s where most comments go.
Craig says
AW
this is great!! and very similar figures to myself
I am awaiting for Wonga to send me details of all my loans, however I have gone back through my emails and found 75 loans across the period of November 2011 to April 2016, I know there is some missing as I was deleting emails when an ex partner found some and questioned me about them
From the ones I have found it totals £26,375 total borrowed and £6652.91 in interest, of these 33 are additional loans where I have topped up the amount. And several examples of borrowing on the same day and also paying off amounts on my pay day to then re apply for loans 2 hours later. Clear evidence I was dependant on these.
I have my complaint ready to send to them, I will wait a week for their response but if I don’t receive anything around my loan statements I will fire my complaint over to them.
I have also complained to Peachy, Sunny and Lending Stream as they were more recent I have up to date emails from them from the period March 2015 until November 2016.
Would be great to keep each other up to date through they payment stages and also other complaints. Best of luck with your others
C rich says
Hello
I had 22 loans with wonga over 2 years.They did write my last loan off which was £927 for bad debt collection practices.As i work it out from the statement of account they sent me i would still be entitled to a refund.
Can i still make a claim? If so can i claim against all loans for unfair lending even thou ive had a loan written off for unfair debt collection? Or can i only ask for the difference and interest now? Thanks
CR
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes you can claim. You don’t need to be specific about the amount which you are claiming – just ask for interest and charges to be refunded on unaffordable loans.
The Ombudsman at the moment seems to be finding some of these cases tricky so they are on hold. But I wouldn’t delay starting your complaint or going to the ombudsman at 8 weeks because of this.
John says
Thanks so much for this site.. hopefully will help me get back into the black..
Wonga have came back to me with details of 3 accounts. Wasn’t sure of the next action so I sent them the following email to the customer care email which they have sent the standard receipt acknowledgement to.
Will this email suffice or have I missed anything?
Dear wonga.
Firstly thank you for sending me details of my loans taken with you as requested.
On reviewing this information it is apparent that I have taken out 3 loans that clearly were not affordable as they were each rolled over, one actually ran for 13 months and went to default stage, yet even given this I was still granted a loan afterwards.
As a responsible lender it should have been evident that I was borrowing my way deeper into debt. It was not just yourself I was borrowing from but also other lenders and using one loan to pay another and get through life paying such high interim interest payments.
I have paid £1321.25 on top of the original amounts borrowed on these 3 loans which were unaffordable.
The loan refs are xxxxxx3 , 5xxxzzz22 and 1xxxxxxx
The ombudsman also suggests that interest should be paid at the statutory rate on the amount paid.
I can see that wonga have now changed its lending practices and also believe that you will treat me fairly as you have supplied me the information thus far with little resistance.
I would respectfully ask for a full refund on these loans to enable me to get my life back on track as I am still struggling to recover from the damage caused by taking out these and other unaffordable loans.
Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you in due course.
Kind regards
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Could you add anything about your income and expenses that shows the loans were unaffordable? How large were they?
John says
Hi Sarah.
The first loan was 400 I paid back 919
the second was 600 I paid pack 1219 and this took 13 months to pay and incurred a default on the way
The last was 400 granted after the default and the 13 month repayment and I paid back 518.
I genuinely don’t have or know my I And E from back then… I’ve sent it now so if they ask for more information I’ll come back. I also realised I’d sent to the customer care so the forwarded it to the customer complaints too… thank you so much for your help
Jared says
Brilliant website and article.
I am in the process of waiting for Wonga to send me my statement. I was initially told it would be 12 working days. I have not received anything yet so I called up. I was told they are running behind and it is now a 30 day wait for the statement. I guess more and more of us are trying to get statements for these refunds.
I can’t check my bank statement for the loans I had over a 2 year period as I closed it but I have checked my old emails, and of the ones I have not deleted I have worked out interest in 2012 alone on loans was £600+
Hopefully, I will get my statement sooner rather than later. Out of curiosity, what does the statement look like ? Is it each loan broken down by borrowed, interest, fees, paid back ? Or just one gigantic sum between first and last loan i.e Jan 2012 – April 2014 – Borrowed £3000, Paid back £4500 with interest (just random figures)
Thanks again for a great article.
Nick says
I was also told 12 days, I’m close approaching 30!
Jared says
Any luck Nick ? Mine came through yesterday. Total amount of interest and fees is £1566 over 20 loans!
I have requested my old p60s from my old employer as I was on a 0 hour contract , only earning about £130 a week, I quite clearly couldn’t afford them.
Next step will be the covering letter of complaint.
Nick says
I have just phoned for an update and have been promised I will receive a statement in the next two days.
Interestingly they claim I have had 48 loans. My records (Which I know are incomplete due to deleting emails to try and avoid the problem) Is 58.
Jared says
I wrote to them on live chat everyday. They escalated it eventually. I think mine are all included as I can see all of them on my credit record. They add up to exactly 20 on there.
If you are querying it, you could sign up to noddle.co.uk for free and check the loan history on there.
Nick says
Finally received my statements (Day 28)
With the power of Excel I have unraveled this information into something that is more likely to yield results –
Total loan amount – 12943.46
Total Interest – 1792.46
Between 2011 – 2013 there were 557 days of which I had an active loan with Wonga
A total of 15 loans were extended during this time
Wonga did repay an entire loan in May 2014 during their initial FCA investigation to the tune of £852 for a loan I was paying off using a DMP with Stepchange. This was my last loan with Wonga after recieving support from Stepchange.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Nick, have a loan that was defaulted and written off complicates the arithmetic.
Total loan amount – 12943.46 – can you do work out this figure EXCLUDING the last loan
Total Interest – 1792.46 – ditto, exclude the last loan.
The last loan – what did you borrow? How much did you repay to it, if anything?
Nick says
Hi Sara,
I didn’t include my last loan that was written off in my calculations (there is obviously nothing to gain here) I guess its only really of use to show how much financial distress was caused.
29/05 – £702 Loan issued
19/06 £150 top up
27/06 £217.62 interest
05/08 £91 payment through Stepchange DMP
05/09 £92 payment through Stepchange DMP
01/10 £896.62 Settlement (Write off)
06/10 £93 payment through Stepchange DMP
11/11 £93 Refund
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s correct there is “nothing to gain” on the last loan. But what may well matter is how “generous” the last write off was. You borrowed 853 and had repaid 183. If this loan hadn’t been written off and was included in your affordability complaint, and the Ombudsman said it should be refunded, this would be done by removing the interest and then using refunds from other loans to repay any balance – in this case the balance would be 852-183=669.
So if the Ombudsman decides all your loans were unaffordable (often the first few aren’t included, but let’s suppose), the amount you would get back may be 1792 + 8% – 669 so about £1500 probably.
This all sounds cut and dried – but actually the ombudsman is Having A Think about these sort of calculations. But what I have set out here seems logical to me :)
Jared says
I have given wonga 8 weeks and they have emailed saying they need another 6 weeks so I have sent claim to FOS.
I have sent the FOS statements of all loans I had with Wonga, the intial covering letter I sent to wonga, income from that time period with p60s, outgoings of all bills I paid via direct debit, proof of rent I was paying and any other outgoings at the time. Will then FOS need any further information from me ?
Mike says
Does anyone know how long Wonga have to answer when sent a decision by the adjudicator? I was emailed today by the adjudicator saying they have recommended I get the vast majority of the loans refunded and they’re waiting to hear back from Wonga. How long will this take?
pooreefer says
Ok i have just sent off a complaint for unaffordable loans.
i had taken out around 15 loans i also found 3 others on my bank statement which wonga didnt send statements for
loan values £8749 repayments £13300.85 – the 3 i found on my bank.
i originally asked for the statements back in September but never received them so i called yesterday 9th nov and asked for them via the call i was told another 30 days, however later that afternoon i received 15 statements for loads i had taken out.
ive just wrote and sent off my email so fingers crossed thanks Debt camel for all the info
Tom says
Wonga offered me £2004 based on over 50 loans I took out with them over an 18 month period. Having looked at it, it seemed fair so I have accepted. I wonder if anyone knows how long they have to actually pay the money over to my account now that I have accepted?
Lyndsey says
Hi tom, can I ask you how long it’s took them just noticed this was November and I now am in the situation of waiting for a payment it’s been 3 weeks and I haven’t heard one thing, do I phone them and ask or just keep waiting….. thanks
dale says
Does anyone have any experience on how long Wonga take to make payment from acceptance. Accepted their offer 3 weeks ago providing bank details for payment but no acknowledgment or payment despite chasers
SB says
Today been offered £3832 after tax this was for just 4 of the 17 loans I had taken they said the first 13 were affordable unsure to go to odbusman or not advice please plus how long is odbusman normally take to look at
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Things to look at to help decide how good / poor this offer is:
– were the last 4 loans a lot larger than the previous 13? If the first 13 were all less than 200 then the last 4 were 500+ that would be a good reason to only think the last few were unaffordable.
– what were the gaps between the loans? if they were pretty much every month from soon after you started borrowing, then the Ombudsman would typically decide that the loans were unaffordable after the first 3 or 4.
– have you added up how much interest you paid on all of them?
There is a random element in how long a case takes at the Ombudsman, but Wonga cases are quicker than most because a) Wonga don’t ignore the Ombudsman b) they will supply a list of your loans quickly to the FO and c) they don’t routinely take every case to the second ombudsman stage.
Thomas says
Having a look through my past bank statements, there was a period where I kept on topping up multiple times on my loans. Borrowing from other lenders. All within a short amount of time. The following is the activity on my account from wonga. Do you think I would have a good case?
Total borrowed: £7500
Total repaid: £10967.37
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I’m going to remove all the details from your comment as it is too long! I hope you have a copy of these – I will email you the list just in case you haven’t….
As far as I can see, from Dec 10 to Feb 14 there was only one month in which you didn’t have a debt owing to Wonga – even though the loans were often quite small that is a clear example of prolonged borrowing suggesting you were dependent on these loans and a responsible lender would not have continued to lend. It should be a good case. Take it to the Ombudsman if Wonga reject it or only offer a refund on a few of the loans.
Thomas says
I’ve got a copy. Thanks! Sorry for the long post :)
Tunde says
Hi Sara, tried to go back to my questions but for some reason i cant. Just like to ask a quick question. I have few lenders from whom i only borrowed 1x or twice. Do i still have a case? In the same time i had loans from other lenders.
Many thanks
Tunde
Bill says
Does anyone know if the short term loan products from the likes of Wonga sunny etc can be complained about?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes! The affordability rules are the same for all loans. You have to show that you can’t afford the monthly repayments.
Shell says
Hi
I have taken out so many payday loans over the last 20 months. Wonga, sunny, quickquid & lending stream are the main ones that have been topped up etc. I have also taken others out only once or twice but my credit file is riddled with them and i was basically robbing Peter to pay Paul. Have paid them all on time but clearly couldn’t afford them in the first place as spirialling more & more into debt. Is it worth pursuing the lenders I used once or twice during the course of this? Thanks!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Are you still borrowing? If you are, this needs to stop first, then make complaints. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/help-payday-loan/.
After that I suggest complaining about the ones you borrowed most from.
You can win a complaint about a single loan but they are harder and also obviously you will get less back… But for the lenders they may decide to settle if the complaint seems good as the problem is so recent and it won’t cost them a lot to settle it.
In your situation I suggest being very specific in your complaint, not using just the standard template letter. Your complaint could go along the following lines: “On 12/12/15 you gave me a loan of £300. At that point you should have seen the following debts with outstanding balances on my credit record: lender amount, lender amount, lender amount…… You will also have seen that I had had 12 payday loans repaid to other lenders in the previous 5 months. This should have shown you that I did not have a temporary problem but had debts I was struggling to repay and so it was irresponsible to give me this loan. You could also see that the monthly debt repayments showing on my credit file added up to a very large proportion of my income so your loan was also likely to unaffordable.”
Adrian says
I have recently had problems with wonga I have been borrowing from them for a long time every month upto my maximum limit off a £1000,when I spoke with them they had my wrong email address so I have never received a credit agreement via email how do I stand with this can i claim back intrest as I have not seen this
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you have been borrowing from them for a long while you may well have a simple affordability complaint.
I think that is likely to be a better approach than just complaining about the email problem meaning you weren’t sent the CCAs. CCA agreements can affect the enforceability of a debt, but aren’t usually relevant to debts that have already been repaid.
Carl says
Hi,
In November 2014 Wonga informed me that I was “affected by the affordability issues resulting from changes to our lending criteria. ”
They confirmed that my balance had been reduced to remove all interest and fees on that loan and a month later entered into a repayment plan with me to repay the loan over 4 months as I had fallen behind the original schedule. I was also told that all records of the loan with credit agancies would be removed etc. I assumed the payments were being taken and have had no contact from Wonga since Jan 2015. Last week out of the blue their collection agents rang me to say they were pursuing the outstanding payments on this same loan.
Checking back Wonga did contact me in Jan 2015 re. the payments not going through but that was the last they sent me. I genuinely didn’t see these emails which either went to junk or got lost in what was then my very large and unorganised inbox.
2 queries really – 1) How can they justify not contacting me for nearly 2 years re a debt I was not aware of. I sense that they were being “sensitive” in their pursuance of outstanding repayments in the light of the refunds they were having to make etc but secondly, why did they just pick that last loan to refund fees and interest on when I had taken up to 10 loans out with them in the previous 18 months or so?
It all seems a bit random, and now after getting back on my feet I am really scared at the prospect of trying to find over £1000 for Wonga so long after I dealt with them.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
1) isn’t worth thinking about, you are where you are, no point in trying to work out why a payday lender behaves oddly.
2) Wonga just did an automatic trawl looking for certain things. And I think they mainly looked at outstanding loans. You may still have a case that previous loans were unaffordable – if your last loan was 1000 when the interest was removed, your previous loans may also have been big! Any redress for the previous loans may be reduced by the fact they have already given you redresss fir the last one, just think if it as having got the first part of your refund already and now asking for the second.
So I suggest talking to their collections and making a new arrangement to pay and also putting in an affordability complaint.
Tony says
Today is the 8 weeks time for wonga to reply about my complaint and I received a letter stating there sorry for the delay and that it can take up to another 6 weeks due to so many complaints being processed and that if I’m not happy then I should make a complaint to fos.
Question is do I give them time if just send a complaint anyway?
Thanks
Nick says
Yes, From what I’ve read refer the complaint straight the FOS.
My complaint is 8 weeks next Monday and I will be referring straight to the FOS. They are much more likely of giving you a fair offer than Wonga
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I’m a bit disappointed in this – before Xmas I was getting the impression that Wonga had got on top of its complaints mountain and was processing them in 8 weeks.
I would say put in the complaint to the FOS now. You can always withdraw it if wonga make you a good offer in a couple of weeks. But it would be really disappointing to wait 4 or 6 weeks then get a rejection or an offer to just refund a couple of random loans.
Tony says
Thanks for the fast replies how do I go about forwarding on the complaint is there a set standard/format?
Kate says
Hi, I’ve just had a letter to say they need a further 6 weeks! It’s been nearly 8 weeks already. I borrowed 38 loans over 2 years totally £10000 with around £2500 interest.
I’ve just written my letter to the Ombudsman hoping they can help me further as I don’t seem to be getting anywhere with Wonga.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Good move, Wonga will still look at your complaint, so you may get a good offer and be able to withdraw your FO complaint. But if they reject or make a lie offer on just a few loans, you are already in the Ombudsman queue.
Lou says
Hi I complained to wonga in October and six weeks later they offered to refund 16 out 18 loans. They were not going to refund the first one and loan 9. I referred to the ombudsman as even though it was a good offer I want to try and get all record of wonga off my credit file if it’s possible. Wonga then withdrew their offer at the start of December. Fos got in touch asking me to complete a form at start of December. Then last week they asked for my bank statements and credit file etc. I sent this at the start of this week. Does anyone know how long it roughly takes once I have sent this stuff in?also is it likely that I could end up with nothing as they withdrew their offer? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
First I have to say unless you defaulted on loan 9, you might want to reconsider whether you shouldn’t just phone Wonga up and ask if you can accept their offer. Payday loan debts that you repaid on time do NOT harm your credit score. And unless they are very recent – in the last year – they won’t affect your likelihood of getting a mortgage. You could be going through a lot of hassle and get very little or nothing more at the end of it.
From here it could take several month, possibly 6 if it ends up going to the Ombudsman level.
It’s very unlikely you will end up with nothing. We have never seen a case where the ombudsman suggests less than the lender has offered.
sarah says
Hi,
I had 5 payday lloans from 2011-2014 when it became too much and I had to seek help with a debt consolidation company. Won ha were by then giving me a £1000 loan a month and I was having to pay back £1300 I was just by then juggling them all against one another. I was on maternity leave and only took home £1000 a month and was overdrawn £1700 with my bank.
I have emailed all these company’s using a template letter. So far only quick quid have responded.
Wonga is the one I had the biggest loans with but so far I have had no reply. How long so they normally take to respond? Thank you.
Craig says
Hi Sarah
Wonga should reply to you within 5 days to say they are looking into your complaint, will be a pretty standard email.
They then have 8 weeks to reply, I put in my complaint on 01/12/16 so my 8 weeks will be a week tomorrow. From previous comments on here they generally take the full 8 weeks, which in a sense is good as they are actually looking into the complaint.
What I would do in the mean time, is get all your loan details if you have them on old emails and add up the amount you borrowed and then paid back. Also if you had any top up loans at parts during the month, I have all this information ready so if they come back with no offer or a measly one I will be forwarding onto the ombudsman.
Hope this helps
Nick says
I got to 8 weeks and at week 9 I was emailed to ask for a further 6 weeks. Luckily on exactly 8 weeks I forwarded my complaint to the Financial Ombudsman who are now assisting!
sarah says
Thank you for your help
sarah says
It’s been a week now with reply from quick quid, payday uk but not a peep from wonga? If I don’t hear tomorrow I am going to email again. Anyone else put a recent complaint to wonga and had a reply?
James says
So I Had 27 Loans from Wonga between 24/1/11 and 24/1/14 some with repayments over £1000.
Total Borrowed – £8453
Total Re-payed – £10890.35
There was also about 5-6 more over 6 years old for approx £400 – 500.
My issue is I think I always just kept my Financial information the same as it was when I first started and just changed my address.
I was a student for a vast majority if not all of these loans, I was foolish and I suffered for it, I ended up with an awful credit score due to missing other payments and burying my head.
I would like to try and Claim some of this back though. Any Advice?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you were a student for most of it, your finaical information probably wouldn’t have changed much – not as though you lost your job or something? I wouldn’t worry about that, if you wer a student all the loans were probably unafforsbla right from the start!
I suggest putting in a complaint about all the loans. You can always decide whether to drop the older loans at a later point, but the sooner you get the claim in the more are going to be within the 6 years.
James says
I think that I first got Wonga whilst i was on about £900 a month maybe £1000 before going to uni ( I was working at Co-op almost full time whilst at college), so I just never changed it if I remember Correctly, so actually I’m probably in the wrong on this issue?
Though saying that, that’s roughly what my student Loan amount covered too.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I wouldn’t worry about this – if you are borrowing repeatedly, the lender should have either refused to lend more or asked you more detailed questions about whether the loans were affordable.
James says
Thank you for your advice,
I have sent my Email off. fingers crossed :)
James McBurnie says
Thought i’d give an update, they asked for few more weeks which i was ok with doing, the got back to me yesterday with their settlement offer.
£1635 inc interest. I believe this to be a fair offer
Suzanne says
I asked Wonga for my loan information which hey provided. I have totaled up that I have paid £4200 approx in interest over the course of 4 years and that was consecutive and loans increased. I have put in my complaint using the template last week and today I’ve had a generic reply giving me a case reference number.
Does anybody know how long they take from this point to get that with an offer ?
Thanks
Jared says
I sent off my complaint to wonga nearly 9 weeks ago. At 8 weeks they asked for a further 6 weeks so don’t expect anything fast. At 8 weeks i forwarded to the ombudsman who have contacted me twice in less than a week and say they will get in touch with wonga directly and I should hear back from the ombudsman within 2 weeks.
Suzanne says
That’s great thank you for your reply
Jared says
No problem.
I have had an email from ombudsman since though, saying that the 8 weeks start from when Wonga first reply to your complaint, not when you send it in.
Wonga are allowed 5 working days from physically receiving a complaint by email or post etc to process and then the complaint process starts.
I sent in on 24th Nov and then counted 8 weeks before going to ombudsman.
However, Wonga only replied to me on 1st December so I have to wait 8 weeks from this day before ombudsman can do anything.
That is in fact today so if tomorrow I haven’t heard a peep from Wonga, ombudsman will help then.
Just a heads up if you think it has been 8 weeks but it hasn’t by the way they work.
sarah says
That’s annoying as I emailed my complaint to wonga nearly 2 weeks a go and have heard nothing!
Dave says
Hi, enjoy reading these stories and feel empowered by them. Recently put in claims against Wonga, QQ and Lending Stream. I had loans with all three pretty much every month between 2011 and 2014. Constant rollovers and new loans the day a loan was paid off. I’m anxious about having to send bank statements to the FO due to high numbers of gambling transactions. Would this jeopardise my claims? Am I wasting my time? These years were a very bad time of my life and the loans certainly escalated my problems. I’m ashamed of this now but at the time couldn’t stop. TheY were definitely unaffordable and looking back I can’t believe they continued to be approved. I’d appreciate your view. Thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Dave,
We have had many gamblers who haven’t had any problem at all with their cases at the O budsman. But I know you would rather hear this from someone in the same situation :) so I suggest you post over on https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/ where there are more than 10 tmes as many commenters as on this article.
Noel says
FOS arbitrator found in my favour on 27 loans, Wonga offered on c60% of the potential amount in monetary value. Given the 3 month+ wait I have currently outstanding with the Ombudsman on another lender, & a big bill I have to pay this week end& would have had to take a loan out for, I accepted. Wonga were not particularly great to deal with until the end, & they could have avoided all this by not denying all blame earlier, but they did pay me within 48 hours of the 28 day window once I had accepted their offer.
sarah says
Hi I’ve complained to 4 lenders quick quid, Mr lender, payday UK and wonga.
I’ve had emails back from all bit wonga it’s been 2 weeks and I’ve had no response at all. Wonga was my biggest one and I’ve worked out over 3 years I paid well over £3000 in interest so keen to get this one moving but worried they’ve not responded has anyone else waited this long for a response? It says on their complaints page they respond within 5 days
danni says
Hi All,
payday loan trap!!!!!
I’ve taken 33 loans with Wonga over 3 years. Loan total £21,575 interest £4254.
my first loan was £150 (07/13)and within a 6 month period I was able to take out 13 loans in total last loan amount being £1100 (02/14).I had had to resort to payday loans because I had maxed out over draft and loan with my bank and had a very poor credit score. in march 2014 I had to take out a very high interest loan to pay off all my payday loans thinking it would make my situation more manageable. It didn’t I then started taking out more pay day loans with Wonga and other payday companies QQ uncle Buck plus more. for the last two years ive borrowed almost every month from Wonga with the amounts being from £900 to £1500. I get paid £3000 a month so I don’t no if I have a case? as you probably have guessed im a gambler which im so ashamed of but currently seeking help to stop. I felt this process of looking at all my loan for the first time ever has helped me see how bad I need to get my life back in order and this is a perfect place to start.
Do you feel I could have case even if they see my money was going on gambling?
many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
People with a lot of gambling on their records have won cases.
But a complaint isn’t the perfect place to start… the perfect place is to carrying on with getting help to stop gambling. If you don’t every penny you get back you will be donating to the bookies again… Do yourself a big favour and look forward to putting in a complaint against Wonga and any others as being a reward for having gone 3 months clean.
MR says
Danni – it is almost irrelevant what income you receive or what you spend it on. It is a question of whether these loans were affordable and/or irresponsibly given to you. This can only be determined by the lender (1) carrying out more detailed credit checks (possibly seeing other loans and credit entries on your credit file), (2) asking for a detailed summary of your monthly expenditure and outgoings (irrespective of how and on what you spend your money) and (3) asking for copies of your bank statements. Payday loans are only intended for short-term borrowing and successive payday loan borrowing (or top-ups or roll-overs) should alert the lender the lender to the fact that you have become either reliant on these loans for long-term borrowing and/or that these loans are unaffordable – and should carry out more detailed checks. In my case, my net income was in excess of £5,000 p/mth, yet have been able to reclaim over £11,000 in settlements from QQ, Wonga and H&T (with more in the pipeline).
Tony says
Well Friday I decided to call wonga for the second time in the extra 6 weeks they wanted they said that a offer is being calculated and I should receive this by Wednesday this week.
I’ve still not managed to send it to the ombudsman I planned to do this as soon as the 8 weeks was up but one thing led to another and just kept putting it off.
MR says
Tony – I know it can be a pain, but make the effort to submit your claim to FOS. You can do it online and can be done in 10-15mins. And don’t wait any longer for Wonga to respond. Once your claim is submitted to FOS, then you can take a bit of a breather – they will soon start to progress the claim for you (and obtain any required information they need to progress it). Even if Wonga subsequently issues a final response, just forward it onto FOS (especially if you are not happy with their offer). FOS will be in control of the complaint and invariably you will always come out with the best offer through FOS.
Nick says
After 14 weeks I have finally received a response from Wonga, They have offered to refund the interest of 4 out of 38 loans totaling 383.27 + 8% These loans are at really weird times for example 2 of them were actually when I was at my most financially buoyant during this time!
I have forwarded this to the FOS of course. The FOS tell me today that after 6 weeks they still haven’t received the case file from Wonga and that it may be quicker for me to forward all of the loan summaries I have to assist.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
One of Wonga’s “random offers”. Not worth waiting 14 weeks for!
Jared says
This morning I woke up to an email from Wonga with an offer.
They offered to refund 8 of the 21 loans I had with them. This doesn’t sound like much but it totaled to £1310.72.
All 21 loans interest and fees combined was £1566. It seems they have offered the interest back on the largest loans and not worried about the smaller ones. I am more than happy with this.
The total settlement with the 8% interest and after tax is £1669.05. I am so chuffed with this.
Sara, I just want to say a massive thank you for creating this article and helping us all with constant advice and support. It has taken a while since initially asking for the statements of loans from Wonga all the way back at the beginning of November but it has been worth the wait.
When I first found this article it seemed like something I wanted to do but seemed a lot of effort. I didn’t have any proof of my income at the time, I had closed my bank account so didn’t have the loans to hand and genuinely thought it would not be worth it, but it really has.
Thank you again and good luck to everyone else doing theirs.
Suzanne says
Jared can I ask how long you have waited for an offer please ? I send mine at the same time as my brother and he has had an email asking for more time nothing for us. It hasn’t been the 8 weeks yet however
Jared says
Initial complaint sent on 24th November. Wonga acknowledged on 1st December. After 8 weeks they said they needed a further 6 weeks but it has only been about 3-4 weeks since that. Overall from acknowledgement nearly 12 weeks. Hope this helps :)
MR says
Jared – if you haven’t accepted Wonga’s offer yet, you might want to hold back and refer it to FOS. 8 out of 21 loans seems low! The Financial Ombudsman might be more likely to order a refund of interest and charges (plus 8% interest) (plus removal of entries from your credit file) of even 15 or 16 of your loans. In my case, I complained to Wonga – was offered £NIL. I then referred it to FOS – the Adjudicator’s decision would have resulted in a total settlement of approx. £5,500 (Wonga then offered £3,280). I rejected their offer and it progressed to the Ombudsman for a final decision – I have now been awarded an amount totalling approx. £7,000!
MR says
Suzanne – It is not uncommon for Wonga to ask for more time beyond the initial 8wks. Ignore it – make a complaint to the FOS immediately after expiry of the 8wks. This generally prompts Wonga in to action and the involvement of FOS will invariably result in higher offers. See my other comments regarding my own Wonga complaint and how this worked out (from £0 offered, to then £3,280 offered, to finally almost £7,000 awarded in total!)
Kate says
So I’ve finally had a final response off Wonga 12 weeks down the line offering refunds on 3 out of 38 loans (£1275) They have literally cherry picked 3 loans which they say were unaffordable. My complaint has been with the ombudsman since week 8 so hopefully may get a better resolution from them. I must say though that Wonga are putting increased pressure on me to settle or else they will close the case. Think I might risk my chances and wait. Ombudsman have said they have had to ask twice for the info they need from Wonga. If they don’t get it by weds they are going to assess the case with only the facts I’ve provided. Wish me luck.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Another “random” offer from Wonga.
The offer from Wonga is now effectively the least you can get – we have never seen a case where someone has got less by going to the Ombudsman. Good luck!
MR says
Successful claim against Wonga.com (approx. £7,000) for unaffordable Payday loans and irresponsible lending. Helpful also to see timeline between original complaint and Ombudsman’s final decision:
1. 10/08/16 – original Complaint to Wonga (re 24 Loans and 23 top-ups between 08/11 and 08/13).
2. 17/10/16 – Final Response from Wonga – rejected (NO settlement offer). Immediately referred to FOS.
3. 23/11/16 – Adjudicator decision – refund all interest and charges from 04/12, plus 8% interest (approx. £5,500). Wonga offered £3,280. Rejected and referred to Ombudsman.
4. 6/1/17 – Provisional Decision from Ombudsman – refund all interest and charges from 01/12, plus 8% interest (approx. £7,000). Both me and Wonga had until 6/2/17 to accept/reject provisional decision. Both of us accept by this date.
5. 16/2/17 – Final Decision from Ombudsman (as per his Provisional Decision). Only I have until 16/3/17 to accept and make decision binding.
6. 17/2/17 – I couldn’t accept Ombudsman’s Final Decision quick enough! Wonga now have 28 days to make payment.
From start to finish (including payment) is approx. 7mths – it took longer as Adjudicator had to obtain copy bank statements from my old (closed) bank account. But you have to immediately refer your complaint to FOS after the initial 8wk period given to lenders to respond (even if you haven’t yet received a Final Response from them). You have to diarise the date from your original complaint and actively follow-up immediately thereafter to speed up the process. Once FOS becomes involved, you can generally sit back and wait for the lender to either make, or increase, their original offer.
It can be so tempting to accept earlier settlement offers (especially if you need the cash), but persevere and, in my case, this resulted in a final award of approx. £7,000 (£7,000 more than Wonga’s original £0 offer and £3,720 more than its second offer). I myself already regret accepting a £3,300 settlement from the first lender I complained to early on in that process. Looking back, I could have doubled that! The more experience you gain, the easier it is to deal with other complaints.
I am now over £11,000+ in refunds against 3 lenders, with another 3 at varying stages with others. PLUS all adverse entries on my credit files removed. Until I came across this website, I almost wasn’t thinking about complaining about any of my past Payday loans.
Steph says
Thank you for this breakdown of the timescale it is really helpful and has definitely made me re-think about accepting my first offer. Although I am really tempted because i could do with the money your breakdown has convinced me to wait it out :) I have submitted to FOS and am waiting to be assigned an Adjudicator. Wonga did offer me a refund but was a random selection of loans and less than half of the loans I took out with them, even though i took out loans almost every month for nearly three years. I think if i wait it out I could possibly get an extra £1000 interest which I paid them. These loans were between 3-6 years ago and with the 8% interest added on top of this i think this could amount to a lot more than their original offer. I have my bank statements ready to send so hopefully this will speed the process up. How long did Wonga take to make the payment after the ombudsman’s final decision? Thank you
Louise Lockwood says
Just a little advice if possible. My partners complaint was upheld by the adjudicator and wonga chose not to respond. This was back in November 2016, the adjudicator then advised it was being passed to the ombudsman. We chased the FOS in December and were told it had not been allocated and was unlikely to be seen before new year.
We chased again in January only to be told the following: ‘Unfortunately there’s been no progress with this one. I’m not sure if I’ve told you before but we’re currently waiting for the Financial Conduct Authority to make a decision about how we look at payday cases where some of the loans have been assessed under a ‘redress scheme’ (i.e a scheme put in place by the FCA which forced the company to look at certain loans). When they give us the green light we can continue to look at these cases. Until then, they are on hold.’
I have spoken to the adjudicator and said that as far as we were aware these loans were not assessed under a redress scheme He said he didn’t think they had been either but they had no choice but to put the cases on hold.
Has anyone else come across this as we would like this settled as the complaint has been going on since the middle of last year.
Thank you for your help.
Kim says
In 2010 I got a Wonga loan and rolled it over, never missing a month payback then getting another loan a day or so after until 2015. I also did this did this same thing with QuickQuid at the same time so 2 payday loans almost constantly either upped or paid off and reloaned out to me within days. Do I have a good case? I wrote an email to Wonga yesterday asking for statements and they replied today saying I should call them to deal with this querie. Any suggestions?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This sounds like 2 very good complaints. Get the QQ one in as soon as possible, loans over 6 years old can be tricky. You can ignore the lenders if they say the Ombudsman won’t look at the olde lkoans, but it’s still a good idea to complain asap so more loans are in the “easy” category.
Kim says
Thank you for the swift reply.
I did think I had a strong case here as my 2 payday loans were coinciding together, never had more than a few days before they were settled and then reapplied for again or upped, depending on the options available on the website account. This constant juggling lasted over 5 years before i finally folded under the pressure.
So far I sent one email to QuickQuid and one to Wonga, both almost exactly the same as the first letter on this post, requesting a statement-interest and fees etc..
This was yesterday, nothing from QuickQuid yet but already movement woth Wonga. I’ll keep you all updated of progress.
Michael says
This question may have been asked all ready, but can the transfer fees from wonga be reclaimed too, each loan and top up has a transfer fee of £5.50.
Example
According to wonga statments.
Total borrowed £6833
Total repaid £7979.19
Total intrest paid £882.19
Total Transfer Fees paid £264
So would I be right in thinking that the most I could hope for is £882.19 + 8%
£952.75
Can anyone tell me if I’ve worked it out correct?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The transfer fees are just another charge that may be refunded :)
Sarah l says
Just won my case against Wonga, how long after giving FOS your bank details do they normally pay out??
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They don’t normally drag this out too long. Could you come back and add a comment to say what happened for you?
Kate Shuttleworth says
Hi Sarah,
Can I just say thank you for this amazing thread. I started my complaint with Wonga back at the beginning of November and had to refer to the ombudsman due to the timescale and subsequent poor offer from Wonga.
The adjudicator saw in my favour apart from loans that were pre 6 years ago and suggested that Wonga refund all the loans post 6 years plus 8% interest. Wonga had until next Wednesday to accept or provide fresh information.
Wonga came back yesterday and settled with the ombudsman decision.
The money is already in my bank account .. £2600!!
They previously offered me £1200, so holding out and perservering paid off.
Can’t thank you enough…. now I’m off to book a holiday! xx
Thomas says
With regard to you starting your complaint in November… is this when you submitted it to the FOS or Wonga?
Well done on the amazing result!
Kate says
Hi, I submitted my complaint to Wonga in November and went to the ombudsman at week 8. Wonga asked for a further 6 weeks at week 7! Long process but worth it in the end.
So glad I didn’t accept the first offer of £1200!
Charlie says
Hi DC
Just thought id give a quick update with regards to Wonga. I still haven’t yet had a response with regards to my Statement Of Account Request after two requests so i will be hitting them with a third one request tomorrow. Should i wait a bit longer after the 3rd request or go straight to the complaint email?
PS – I sat at work today and went through my Noodle Credit Report with a fine tooth comb with regards to Wonga……I felt sick with what i found, 35 loans amounting to…… £5620! Any advice?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you go straight to a complaint – you know enough to be able to say how often you borrowed and over what period. Add at the end of the complaint that they haven’t yet sent you the statement of account and that you still want that.
Katie says
Yes totally second that. I was assured by Wonga that I would get my statements of account within 30 days. I received them at 7 weeks. After 8 weeks after my intial complaint I got an email to say they needed another 8 weeks so although I am still waiting I have forwarded to the FOS. Don’t wait any longer submit your complaint. I submitted my complaint 2 days after my request for statements.
Chris hanley says
Thanks to this page I complained to wonga around 12 weeks ago, today I got offered 7k. Gonna be a good summer. Cheers guys
Chris hanley says
My Mrs done the same and had a smaller offer and after accepting was in her account on day 4 so fingers crossed. Debt free!! Whoop whoop
Tony says
Was this without the fos getting involved.
How much were you expecting?
Chris hanley says
Didn’t need to get fos involved. After 8 weeks they asked for another 6 but made an offer on weeks 12.
I probably could of got more if I’d of got fos involved. But this will cover my depts and will have some money left over, accepted and ran!
Chris hanley says
I didn’t even know what to expect. No figure in mind. Really happy with the offer though
Nick says
Crikey that’s a good result. Surprised they settled so quickly with you!
Chris hanley says
So was I, I was expecting a long wait! I’ve got the fos involved in the only other lender I used, quickquid. They haven’t even bothered to reply to my original complaint.
Tony says
Wonga have been a pita if I’m honest waited 17 weeks now and still no final response call Wednesday last week to be told there is a decision and should have a final email within 24-36 hours
Called them again Monday this week to be told in the final email they will require my bank details to send the refund and that the final decision is awaiting quality assurance approval and that I should have this email by Monday night Tuesday morning and still nothing.
Nick says
Mine has been with the Ombudsman since 11th of January. I can only imagine they are quite busy with similar complaints. I will
hopefully receive a response by the end of week.
Tony says
Well have a response back just now after chasing them again today
I worked it out to be around £8700 with the 8% interest based on all loans I must admit it’s a nice figure and unsure if I’ll carry on with the fos as the money would be seriously handy.
I’m going to compare with my notes and make a decision tonight ideally I should follow on the the fos.
They have
Indication of Financial Difficulties:
In your recent complaint you suggested that you were experiencing financial difficulties and we should not have lent to you. As such we have considered your position at the time and have found evidence that you:
• fell into arrears with your loans
• continued to borrow over an extended period of time,
• took out a further loan immediately after repayment,
• advised us you were in financial difficulty,
• borrowed high loan amounts when compared to your stated income.
You have suggested that we acted negligently when providing loans, however, the UK courts will not generally consider a claim of negligence if the event happened more than 6 years ago. The dispute resolution rules set by the Financial Conduct Authority also state that complaints cannot be considered by the Financial Ombudsman Service if the complaint is made about something that happened more than 6 years ago, or if later, more than 3 years from when the customer should have realised there was a problem.
Given the above, we do not consider it appropriate to investigate your complaint about the loans sold more than six years ago. Furthermore, as this complaint relates to loans being unaffordable, we think it should have been clear that the loans sold more than six years ago were unaffordable by the time these loan accounts were closed.
Your loan agreement 115428419 has already been assessed under our affordability forbearance programme. As a result your balance was written off and all records of the loan were removed from your credit file.
If you are struggling financially, you can contact one of the UK`s free debt advice services, such as:
• Step Change Debt Charity – 0800 138 1111
• National Debt Line – 0808 808 4000
• Citizens Advice – 03444 111 444
However, having reviewed your complaint, we accept that the loans in the table below may not have been affordable given your circumstances.
Outcome
Based on the above, there may have been more that we could have done to assist you and so we have decided to uphold your complaint.
Additionally, we will also request for the redressed loans to be removed from your credit record. This may take up to 30 working days to be updated fully on your credit file.
We would like to offer £3669.58 which is an amount equal to the interest and fees on the following loans:
Loan reference
Date
Interest and fees
112489901
23/01/2014
£ 69.66
92750025
11/06/2013
£651.89
87165353
19/04/2013
£145.10
78220118
01/02/2013
£301.60
67581934
01/11/2012
£504.07
59166132
19/08/2012
£393.44
47075213
28/04/2012
£590.90
33965625
10/12/2011
£514.80
24928269
18/08/2011
£498.12
Interest of 8% simple per year has been added to the total redress for each loan from the date the loan was taken out until the date of calculation. Please see the outline below.
total interest and fees
£3,669.58
8% interest net
£1,079.08
total settlement
£4,748.66
tax
8% interest gross
£1,348.85
basic rate tax deduction
£269.77
Compensatory interest is subject to income tax at the basic rate under UK tax legislation and, therefore, tax will be deducted at the basic rate of 20% from any payments made to you. If you do not pay tax, you may be able to reclaim some or all of this tax reduction from HM Revenue and Customs.
If you are a higher rate or additional rate tax payer, you may have to pay additional tax on the compensatory interest via your tax return. Please see HMRC.gov.uk for more details.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s a lot of money so it’s good to get this decision right. In the end it comes down to what you are comforatbale with, but getting full information is often the key that let’s you make up your mind.
Some questions:
how many loans did you have? how many of these are older than 6 years?
does your £8700 figure include the loan 115428419 which they have already written off?
Can you give some details for this write off – how much did you borrow on that loan, how much did you repay (if anything)?
tony hammett says
Thank you Sara i’m really happy with the outcome and cant thank you enough for your help this site is amazing.
Well looks like i had my figures wrong out of 15 loans i received refunds on 9, 3 were older than 6 years and were low amounts so not to worried about those, 2 were in 2014 and was about 500 in interest so i decided other than waiting for the ombudsman i excepted the final offer.
Considering that 6 loans were not included i worked out i should recieve>> “”interest and charges £4551.85 8%= £364.15″” and today i was offered a total settlement of £4,748.66
The right off was for 115428419 was
Loan £200.00
Top up agreement dated 03 Apr 2014 £1,000.00
Total loan amount £1,200.00
Payment Summary
Total Repaid £912.00
Settlement Write-off 670.74
Chris hanley says
Sweet result! Love people getting results from these blood suckers. Update when you receive the cash so others know how long they have to wait till payout
Chris
Chris hanley says
Have you heard anything Tony? I just had to ring them to make sure they received my acceptance email, no one had even opened it!!! It’s now sent for processing!
Tony says
No nothing yet Chris, I called them that afternoon to make sure they recieved my acceptance form they said they did an that I would get a follow up email when the complaints team has delt with it then I would have a estimated time the funds would be available.
Tony says
Again I wish to thank you Sara you have put me in a much better position.
Well today I recieved a number of emails from Wonga.
1st was..
Dear Mr ……
I am pleased to learn that you wish to accept our offer to pay you £4748.66, as outlined in our Final Response, in full and final settlement of your complaint.
I confirm that your refund has been sent for approval today, which may take a few days to complete, we aim to send payment to the account you have provided us with, ending in 9495 within 3 – 5 working days from approval.
A request has also been made to the credit reference agencies for the affected loans to be removed from your credit file, this may take up to 30 working days to reflect on your credit file.
I trust this brings this matter to a satisfactory conclusion.
Thank you for your continued patience and co-operation in this matter.
Kind regards,
Samantha Steyn
Complaint Handler
The second was a email to say that the credit reference agency’s have to told to remove all data linked to the loans in the final response.
3rd was
Dear Mr …..
You recently contacted one of our Customer Service agents. We’d really like to know how it went.
Could you spare a minute to give us your feedback?
Thank you very much for the page you have created its great.
It’s a shame company’s like this prey on those who were in a less fortunate financially get ripped off.
Chris hanley says
Congrats, hopefully I’ll get mine next week
Tony says
Money went in the bank 10 minutes ago ???.
Suzanne says
We had our first acknowledgment on 24th Jan and our 8 weeks was up yesterday. I had an email about 2 weeks ago to ask for further time to respond so I’m undecided whether to go to FOC or just wait. I’ve emailed for an update twice, are people getting more joy by ringing for an update?
Nick says
Go straight to the Ombudsman, It will make no difference to Wonga’s offer but potentially result in a better settlement.
Daniel says
I’ve had a full response from Wonga this morning and they offered me £1494.66. I’m going to accept this as I work out the unaffordable loans slightly less than this amount.
I’m a little confused about them mentioning tax, £95.37 basic tax rate deduction. And 8% interest gross £476.85. Are both of these taken off my final settlement offer?
If so it suddenly becomes less than interest etc. I’ve had a full refund from QQ and tax was never mentioned.
Slightly confused at wording. Doesn’t indicate final amount correctly etc.
Thanks Dan
Tony says
I had this too I think the £476.85 is the before interest then the £95.37 taken away from that further up it will give you the amount minus tax at least that’s how I saw it.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Daniel & Tony,
Tony’s description is correct. I just wanted to add that you can probably claim some – possibly all – of this tax back. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/ppi-payday-refund-get-back-tax/ but note that if you have several claims, the £200 you can get back is per year, not per claim.
Steph says
Hi Daniel,
What were the timescales for Wonga offering you this? Was it a reasonable offer compared to what you’ve paid in interest?
I submitted a complaint 8 weeks ago, they’ve asked for an extra 8 weeks ….
Daniel says
Thank Tony, that’s spot on.
Steph I personally found the offer was excellent and they took the blame for the loans I had myself considered unaffordable.
I worked out around £800 in interest return. So they’ve offered more than I expected to get.
It’s been around 11 weeks. I also had the 8 week extention email, all I did was contact the FOS and inform Wonga I had done that. I was just gathering statements and credit file today when I received the offer.
Which I’ve accepted as they’ve been very fair in dealing with it unlike some companies.
Michelle says
Good evening all
So happy as after rejection from Wonga on my 49 loan complaint FOS upheld in full. I will give full credit to Wonga that despite all delays in responding to me and delays with FOS once they knew it was final decision which was sent to them Friday they confirmed receipt of this Monday, approved it Tuesday sent to their finance team who actioned it yesterday and boom today I received £11,816 into my bank account.
I had some serious debts to pay immediately as I had some arrears on my mortgage and other accounts but such a weight of my mind.
Thank you Sara
Tony says
Wow that’s a great outcome and a fast response from wonga hopefully mine is paid out soon.
Aaron jackson says
Congrats! What was the date you first put your complaint in? Thanks
Michelle says
Hi Aaron
I complained to Wonga at the end of October 16. I tracked all my loans of my bank statements as I had read on here they were been slow with statements which I’m glad I did as they took 6-7 weeks to provide the statements to me
Kevin says
Amazing stuff just shows there’s a chance for everyone, and what a great result.Cant say enough about Sara , without her we would have nothing, total respect and gratitude what a lady.
Chris says
I have recieved my final response yesterday from wonga and they have offered me just 3 of my 33 loans that i had taken out with them. The FOS have the final response letter aswell.
I dont know if i should take there offer or take it further. They have offered me a refund on my last 3 loans but some of my erlyer loans have a little more intrest on them and they are really the loans that got me caught up in the dept spiral. Does that make any difference to my case? How long does it usually take to get anouther offer from wonga after i take it further with the FOS?
This is my final response email off them:
Further to recent correspondence, we are writing to confirm that we have investigated your complaint and our findings are set out in more detail below. Please accept our sincere apologies for the delay in responding to your complaint.
Our understanding of your complaint
You feel we should have noticed that your loans were unaffordable given your pattern of borrowing and the other information available to us.
Our response
When investigating your complaint we can confirm that we have looked at all of your successful loan applications.
Information obtained at the point of loan:
We asked you a number of questions during any application including:
• Details of your salary, employment status, marital status, dependants, home ownership status, motor owner status, amongst other information.
This information was taken in good faith and at the point of each application we had no reason to believe the information you provided to us was not correct. As a result we relied on this information and it formed part of our assessment when determining the affordability of the loan.
Before approving a loan, we carry out a credit reference agency check. This information is accessed instantly by us when we receive a loan application.
Credit checks:
We undertook an independent credit check through internal system checks and a Credit Reference Bureau. This information was accessed instantly upon receipt of your loan application and our checks included:
• your credit score at the time of application,
• your employment status,
• whether you were currently insolvent,
• whether you had any outstanding loans with Wonga,
• whether historical accounts with us had been subject to a “Do not Relend” status,
• whether you had a previous loan which was written off due to outstanding arrears.
When considering the affordability of the loan, all the above factors were taken into account before your loans was approved.
Information about total cost
Our website and customer journey is designed to provide you with all the information you need to make an informed decision about whether our service is appropriate for you. The “sliders” on the homepage allowed you to work out:
· the total cost of the loan before you applied,
· the term that suited your needs,
· and was supported by all the documentation you needed to read before finalising your application.
We therefore believe that you were fully aware of the costs of a Wonga loan before applying.
Indication of Financial Difficulties:
In your recent complaint you suggested that you were experiencing financial difficulties and we should not have lent to you. As such we have considered your position at the time and have found evidence that you:
• fell into arrears with your most recent loan,
• continued to borrow over an extended period of time,
• took out a further loan immediately after repayment,
• advised us you were in financial difficulty on your last loan,
• borrowed high loan amounts when compared to your stated income on three of your loans.
However, having reviewed your complaint, we accept that the loans in the table below may not have been affordable given your circumstances.
Outcome
Based on the above, there may have been more that we could have done to assist you and so we have decided to uphold your complaint.
Additionally, we will also request for the redressed loans to be removed from your credit record. This may take up to 30 working days to be updated fully on your credit file.
We would like to offer £416.54 which is an amount equal to the interest and fees on the following loans.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Offering on only 3 out of 33 loans sounds pretty poor – I suggest sending it to the Ombudsman to have a look at it. There is very little specific to your case in that letter, and it ignores the fact that borrowing repeatedly for a prolonged period should have been a red flag for Wonga to look more closely at your sitution.
Chris says
Thank you sara, you have made up my mind.
I shall email the FOS tonight or tomorrow morning. I didnt think it was very reasonble myself but this is my first ever claim and didnt know what to expect.
I just want to thank you for all the advice on the website and in comments. All the information that i have been pursuing my claim with has been off the website :).
Thank you :-)
Chris
Adam says
Hi – I just wanted to say thank you for all the advice you include on this website. It has really helped me.
Here’s my story:
I complained to Wonga on 5th Jan 2017 and have just received an offer from them today. However, they have only offered £1,345+8% yearly interest on total loan interest that totalled £2,309 over a three-year period. It looks like they have just randomly chosen 6 of the 24 loans so I have written to the Ombudsman today to see if they agree that the 18 loans that Wonga rejected were unaffordable too.
I’ll let you know the outcome but even if I do just receive the initial offer, it’s something I would have not even considered applying for had I not read your advice here. Thank you!
Sara says
Between 2012 to 2017 I took out over 40 loans with wonga totally £11794 I have paid back over £3000 in interest.
I would often repay a loan and straight away take out another loan. I borrowed from about 4 other payday lenders at the same time. Borrowing from one to repay another. I also maxed out 3 credit cards in this time just to cover living expenses.
I pit in a complaint to wonga on 9th Feb. 8 weeks was up today. I emailed them numerous times to ask for an update. Today I received a response saying that it may take another 8 weeks for a decision. I have now sent the complaint to the ombudsman and advised wonga that I have done this.
Do you think I am likely to be offered a refund?
Does it tend to speed wonga up knowing it’s gone to the ombudsman? How long has everyone else had to wait for a decision
Chris hanley says
Just have to wait it out Sarah. Looks like you have a good case. Wonga are unpredictable with offers. They took 12 weeks to make an offer to me. I accepted the offer on the 21st of march and have yet to receive anything
Chris
Suzanne says
I have today received an email today that I thought was going to be an offer, but it has completely disregarded my complaint and has a statment that says
” Indication of Financial Difficulties:
In your recent complaint you suggested that you were experiencing financial difficulties and we should not have lent to you. As such we have considered your position at the time and have found no evidence that you:
continued to borrow over an extended period of time,
took out a further loan immediately after repayment,
borrowed high loan amounts when compared to your stated income.
We are not aware of any other factors that indicated affordability. ”
I dont even feel they have looked at my statements because this completely contradicts everything my statements show.
I have sent an email to the FOS but have also replied to Wonga in a hope that they may look at it again.
Andy says
Ok thanks for this, I am also wondering whether I should encourage my girlfriend too chase Wonga as she had at least 20 loans with them mostly for £1000 at a time, however the final loan with them was wrote off when there was about £1300 still owing, she was on benefits when these loans were taken out and was only receiving a few hundred pounds per month. So these loans were totally unmanageable. Could we challenge all loans except the last one maybe?
Any help would be much appreciated.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Your girlfriend needs to look at how much interest she paid to Wonga on the earlier loans. If this is a lot more than what was written off, then she should complain. But she can’t only complain about the earlier loans, they will take into account the write off in deciding what is fair.
Andy says
I just want to say a massive thank you as I have just received over £2000 from Wonga after following advice from this site.
Kyle says
I have received and offer of £2080 and for around 9/22 loans I took.
I reckon If I push it I’d could potentially receive a further £700.
I am tempted to take what I’ve been offered and run. Although the one thing that means more to me other than the money is the deletion of the loans on my credit history.
For those who have declined an offer, how did you do it? does it have to be a formal reply stating why your declining what’s been offered or do you simple state that I wish for this to be reviewed with an adjudicator?
cheers
Sara says
Hi Kyle
Can I ask when did you submit your complaint to wonga and how long did it take for you to receive an offer?
Mine is at the 8 week mark now and they’ve said they need another 8 weeks
Kyle says
I got told the same then they seemed to have messaged me a few days after being told it would take a few more weeks.
At this point I had already written to obudsman, so don’t know if that had anything to do with it.
I originally emailed around late Febuary to request statement of accounts.
Nick says
I submitted my complaint mid November and have in the last week received a settlement after taking the case to the FOS. It’s a long old process!
Suzanne says
Has anyone’s complaint been completely disregarded and still managed to have success through FOS ? I don’t even think Wonga have looked at my file they have said there is no evidence of loans being taken out immediately after repayment yet in the statements they sent there is well in excess of 20 loans that did just that, same day if not same week
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Wonga can be very erratic – just send it to the FOS.
If you page back through the comments John on April 3rd got a payout of thousands from Wonga – they had orginally rejected his case.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Everyone,
here https://smartmoneypeople.com/consumer-credit-awards is your chance to tell people what you think about Wonga, their unaffordable loans and their complaints process… and the recent data handling breach.
You can given them a 1 to 5 star rating and add a comment. You don’t need to give your name, just an email address.
Let’s have some real life experiences shared! You can vote for other lenders too if you want.