On 24 March 2021, Amigo announced some feedback from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on its proposed Scheme of Arrangement. Full details have now been given - the FCA's Letter of Concerns was published on 31 March 2022. This said: the FCA considers that the Scheme ... may not be compatible with the FCA's rules, principles and strategic objectives. In particular, the FCA is concerned … [Read more...]
Debt news and policy
Debt Camel articles on what's changing - and what ought to change - in the world of personal debt in Britain.
If you are interested in a specific area, look at: High cost credit news & policy and Insolvency news & policy.
I write a weekly round-up of debt and poverty news on Sundays. There are only kept for a month or two, see Weekly News Summaries.
There are still some good 0% transfer deals in 2021
For more than two years the 0% balance transfer credit cards on offer have been getting slowly less good. And there aren't so many, so they are also harder to get. This steady decline has not got a lot worse because of Coronavirus. You may have been shuffling credit card debt around for years with not much problem, but it is becoming harder. Banks are offering a lot fewer deals Two years … [Read more...]
Amigo should end unpaid interest deductions and remove CCJs
I asked Amigo about some details of the redress people will get if they make a claim to the proposed Scheme and Amigo upholds the claim. Amigo has had a complete change in its Board of Directors. It now likes to suggest that it will be handling complaints much better. But the answers to my questions are disturbing. The "unpaid interest" deduction Amigo applies this when it has decided a … [Read more...]
Provident’s Scheme – will customers get less than 2% ?
Provident is proposing a Scheme of Arrangement to limit the refunds it has to pay to customers making affordability complaints about provident doorstep lending and Satsuma payday loans. This article looks at how much customers might hope realistically to get back from the Scheme. Further reading: Provident’s Scheme to cap refunds gives the background to the proposed Scheme Provident … [Read more...]
Chief Ombudsman Caroline Wayman resigns
Caroline Wayman, the Chief Ombudsman and CEO at the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has resigned, announcing on 10 March 2021 on LinkedIn that: After 22 years at the service and nearly 7 years as chief executive and chief ombudsman I am stepping down from the role. Her resignation comes the day after a highly critical article in the Daily Mail which pointed out: Fraud victims and cheated … [Read more...]
Amigo & Provident complaints soar – new Ombudsman data
On 3 March 2021, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) published two sets of statistics. quarterly data for October-December 2020 summarises the types of complaints FOS has received. half-year data shows which firms had the most complaints in July-December 2020 and how often FOS upheld the customers' cases. Caroline Wayman, the FOS CEO says: "Excluding PPI, new complaints are up by … [Read more...]
Amigo’s Scheme – key points to think about
On 25 January 2021 Amigo announced that it is proceeding with the next stage of its proposed Scheme of Arrangement and published the formal Practice Statement Letter (PSL) that describes the Scheme for the customers affected. I have summarised the proposal in Amigo’s Scheme - timetable for approval & how it may work. This article looks at seven points of concern about the Scheme. A … [Read more...]
Amigo – many customers may do better in Administration than a Scheme!
When Amigo announced it was proposing a Scheme of Arrangement in December, it said: Amigo continues to explore alternative options but it is likely the alternative options would result in those with Redress Claims receiving considerably lower amounts (if any at all) than they would under the Scheme. But that isn't correct for one large group of borrowers who would be significantly better off if … [Read more...]
Lessons from Amigo & Provident – FOS needs to be faster
In administration, customers with complaints at the Financial Ombudsman (FOS) have them returned to the administrators to resolve. The same happens in a Scheme of Arrangement which has been proposed by Amigo in December 2020 and by Provident in March - there FOS complaints are returned to the Scheme to be determined. FOS said in January 2021 it had about 13,000 open Amigo cases and about 500 … [Read more...]
Amigo’s Scheme – who’s next? Implications for the bad credit market
If Amigo's proposed Scheme of Arrangement is allowed to go forward by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), what would be the impact on the guarantor market and the wider bad credit market? UPDATE - the FCA opposed the Amigo Scheme on the ground that it was not the fairest possible for customers. The Scheme was rejected by the court in May 2021. See Court rejects Amigo Scheme of Arrangement for … [Read more...]
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