Does using a claims company make it easier to get a payday loan refund? Is this worth paying their expensive fees for?
The answer turns out to be using a claims company may be slower, give you poorer advice and may get a lower refund than making a complaint yourself. And they are certainly very expensive!
“But I don’t know if I have got a good complaint”
Many of their websites say things like:
- our online validation system will determine if you have been mis-sold loans;
- get a free review of your complaint;
- our team will find out if you are due a big refund.
When you tell them the names of your lenders, they usually say Yes you should complain. Even if you put in the name of a lender you didn’t use!
There is no way they can tell if you have a good complaint without asking you for loads of details and then someone thinking about them. But that would mean work for them, so they don’t bother and just say you have a good claim. Basically lying to you.
And if you can’t remember who you borrowed from, they can’t help you.
“I don’t know what to put in a complaint”
Most people want some help with what to say – an affordability complaint sounds complicated and you don’t want to get it wrong and miss out on a refund.
That’s why I give templates letters for the different types of refunds. And a list of payday lender email addresses to send the complaints to – easy and quick for you.
My templates ask you to say a bit about your finances and what happened with your borrowing.
A typical claims company’s template doesn’t. It amounts to Mr X wants a refund of the interest he paid because the loans from you were unaffordable. It says nothing useful about your complaint!
Some claims firms ask you to send them bank statements, credit records and loan statements. But they don’t use this information in the complaint email to the lender.
The regulator said:
Failing to conduct a thorough assessment of a client’s financial situation during the period of lending being complained about may mean CMCs are unable to represent their clients effectively…
It may help resolve complaints more quickly if CMCs are able to provide this at the point of submitting a complaint.
Sending these identical complaints may make your complaint much slower if the lender rejects it and it has to go to the Ombudsman.
“I think I need help to do this, not just with the first email”
Some common questions include;
- should you carry on making payments if you still owe some money to a lender?
- can you win a complaint if you always paid the loans on time?
- is it OK to claim if you were in debt management or an IVA?
- does it matter if your loan application wasn’t accurate or you had a gambling problem?
- should you tell a debt collector about your complaint?
If you have one of these questions – or any of a dozen more – you would hope to get some support and advice from a claims company. But look at their websites, they don’t mention these sort of very common situations at all.
In contrast, if you leave a comment here on Debt Camel, you may get told what specific article to read that covers your situation, you can hear what other people have done and how well that worked for them.
For example, someone yesterday asked a question and was told: “My partner had a similar response and like you, we were reluctant to…”
It’s reassuring to hear that you aren’t the only one facing an issue, that other people have managed to get bank statements from closed bank accounts etc. Getting this sort of feedback helps you feel in control of your complaint.
“How do I know whether to send a case to the Ombudsman”
This is one of the hardest decisions you may have to make – one where you would really like good advice from an expert. But you aren’t likely to get it from a claims company!
Some claims firms seem to follow a blanket policy of sending every case to the Ombudsman that a lender has rejected:
We are receiving reports and evidence that suggest that some CMCs are routinely or automatically referring complaints rejected by the financial business to the Financial Ombudsman Service without first considering the reasons for the rejection. Additionally, it appears that some CMCs are not advising clients of the prospects of the complaint being upheld by the Financial Ombudsman Service, before seeking instructions from the client about how to proceed.
But this is pointless, most one and two loan cases are rejected by the Ombudsman, it is unusual for one to be upheld. Your claims firm should tell you this and whether your case is likely to be one of the unusual ones. Too often this isn’t happening.
Sometimes there is the opposite problem. If a lender has made an offer, you may be advised to accept it, even if it’s pretty bad. A claims company may be happy to pocket £35 of a £100 goodwill offer – just for sending an email, that is a pretty good result for them. But for you, it matters if you could have got five or ten times as much by going to the Ombudsman.
One person reported getting a text telling them about an offer when he was on holiday – he told the claims firm he would look at it when he got home. But the claims company didn’t wait and just accepted the offer. He couldn’t challenge this, buried in the small print was a clause allowing the claims company to use its discretion.
“I wouldn’t know what to say to the Ombudsman”
The Financial Ombudsman (FOS) doesn’t want a legal argument, they want to know what happened to you. It is easy to send a complaint to FOS – they have a simple online form that asks you for all the details FOS needs. Many of these are easy – like your date of birth and whether you are complaining jointly with someone else.
To win an affordabilty complaint at the Ombudsman and get a refund of the interest you have paid, you will need to provide a copy of your credit report and bank statements. If you use a claims firm, you still have to do this.
The adjudicator at the Ombudsman (who is sometimes called an assessor or an investigator) may come back with questions. Usually these are easy for you to answer, but all a claims company can do is forward you the question… they don’t know that the transfers to X on your bank statement are because X was your partner and they were paying the rent and council tax for example.
So you still have to do all the work! A claims firm doesn’t do anything useful, it just gets in the way.
“But do claims companies get better results?”
No, they don’t!
See Do claims companies get good results at FOS? which looks at statistics from the Ombudsman from 2020-21.
So no, it’s not easier to use a claims firm!
These companies charge incredibly high fees – 25%, 35% or more of your refund. For this it’s likely that they:
- will lie to you about whether you have a good claim, because they don’t check;
- send in a short, poor email complaint that is less likely to get you a refund directly from a lender;
- may tell you to accept a poor offer;
- may send your case to the ombudsman even though they know it is hopeless;
- get in the way, slowing down communications if the lender or (more likely) the Ombudsman needs to ask you a question.
You are the best person to explain your complaint. You know what happened to you.
With some help from the Debt Camel templates you will do a better job than a claim firm ever can! And you will have the support of hundreds of other people also asking for refunds.
No win No fee … but you can end up owing the claims company money
You may think a “No win, no fee” guarantee means you can’t lose.
But you can if the refund doesn’t get paid to you in cash. This can happen if you still owe money on the last loan… here any refund you get will be used to pay off the balance first. If you still owe a lot, that may mean you never get any cash, but you still owe the Claims Company their high fee.
I have seen people taken to court for a CCJ because they can’t afford to pay a Claims Compay’s fees after they have won their case.
Look at the comments below for some readers’ experiences with claims companies.
Is your credit limit too high? Not affordable?
Refunds from large loans & car finance
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Amy says
There was a company complaining on my behalf (it was before I had discovered this website!) Anyway they never managed to get anything for me from any of the payday lenders and I never really heard much from them.
In may I was contacted by email from wonga. They explained they were reviewing accounts and believed I should never have had the loans they had agreed to. The email from wonga stated that they believed that claims company had gone bust so would deal with me directly:
“We would like to offer you the total sum of £2,829.39 by way of compensation – this comprises of the total interest and fees paid on the two unaffordable loans, plus 8% simple interest calculated on the total of the loans from the date taken out to the date of redress calculation.
If you choose to accept this offer it will be in full and final settlement of your complaint.”
To cut a long story short they offered be just over £2800. If I accepted then the matter was closed. I did accept but now I’m thinking how much more could I have got as I know I paid a lot more than that in interest & Fes.
My question is, is there anything I can do about it now?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry I don’t think you can do anything about this with Wonga.
However it may be worth looking at your complaints with other payday lenders. that didn’t seem to get anywhere. If they replied to your useless claims company rejecting the complaint, you have 6 months form then to take the case to the Ombudsman. So if you want to pick these up, you need to do it asap.
Lorraine wilson says
Hi sara i wonder if you could help me, initially when i found out about redress i made the mistake of going through a third party for my wonga loans (im doing the rest myself after finding this web page), the company im with however arent really keeping me up to date, its now been 11 weeks with no info from the broker re going to the ombudsman, ive messaged then twice with no reply. Is there anything i can do? Thank you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is one of the big problems with using a claims company. People assume they will know what they are doing and be efficient dealing with a complaint, but often it is a lot slower than doing it yourself :(
You could phone and ask them what is happening. Ask them how much they would charge you now if you say you don’t want them to proceed any more.
Lorraine says
Thanks sara ive emailed them again with no reply, ill phone them tomorrow.
Stuart says
Hi,
I recently contacted [a claims company] on a facebook ad regarding a refund. I had no idea I could do it myself though. Since 2011 I have had 70 plus loans and want to make a claim to get back the interest etc as i fell into the payday loan trap when I was a student.
Both Wonga and Sunny have received my complaint via claims company. My issue now is that I think I will get a substantial refund, but the claims co will take 25%. When I first accepted this I hadn’t really done the research or realised how much I had actually borrowed over the years.
Any ideas on how I can get them out of the picture and have Wonga and Sunny only deal with me?
Thanks,
Stuart
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I’m sorry you have fallen into the clutches of a Claims Management company, but unless you are still within any cooling off period (you will have to look at the documentation that you have signed) there is probably no way out of it.
I suggest you need to take a close interest in your case. If they say you are offered £x and should take it, ask for full details of all the interest you have paid. Insist on a case going to the Ombudsman if you feel the offer isn’t enough – I have no knowledge of this claims company but it’s possible they would rather you settle quickly for a lower amount than you could get by taking the case further. Make sure you see any correspondence with the Financial Ombudsman and insist the claims firm corrects any errors. You are likely to find this involves the same amount of work as if you had done it all yourself, if not more, as there is another intermediary in the way slowing things down:(
The best revenge on this sort of Claims Company is for you to put a link to this page on Facebook yourself, saying people can get refunds by using these template letters.
SA says
Hi,
I recently signed up with a claims firm to do this but had no idea I could do it myself. I signed them over as an authorisor, but after looking at how much I could be due to get back (70+ loans since 2011) i now want to sort it myself. I am however past the cancellation period and I don’t now want to give away a third of my offer. neither Sunny nor Wonga have given a response yet.
Any advice on how I can do this?
Thanks,
Stuart
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry no. They are leeches. They aren’t experts and they won’t save you time. be careful if they recommend accepting an offer that it really is a good one and not just convenient for them.
SA says
Hi Sara,
Thankfully I managed to get myself out of it as I noticed they had my name mis-spelt and had my address wrong (500 instead of 50) on one of the templates sent to Wonga. So I have got them to drop their services due to mismanagement and I have contacted both Sunny and Wonga directly to deal with my claim. MMT threatened that I’d need to start my claim over that a second claim may not work. I said I already spoke to FO and they dropped everything.
Luckily both Wonga and Sunny have confirmed they will now deal with me directly and my original claim date will be honoured. Thanks to your resources, I put together an additional letter and now waiting for the 8 week mark to pass (28/07/17) so fingers crossed!
Stu
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so not just expensive but incompetent too. Well done Wonga and Sunny! Good luck with your claims!
Jono says
I have 2 claims, one with Quickquid and One with Wonga. They went to different adjudicators. The Quickquid claim came back about 3 weeks ago and the Adjudicator concluded that Loans were mis-sold from 2011 through to when I stopped using them in 2014 and they recommended they get repaid with the 8% interest. Fair Do’s. Then yesterday I got a conclusion on Wonga and the adjudicator has put he “couldn’t establish a full picture of expenditure between August 2010 and July 2012” and therefore could not determine if these have been mis-sold, but does recommend that the rest up to 2014 get repaid. How inconsistent is that!? They both had exactly the same data of my bank accounts, yet 1 has gone through and seen they are mis-sold during 2011-2012, yet the other one hasn’t even acknowledged them by saying he can’t work out my expenditure!? It’s a bit frustrating, that time there was £1,200 in interest paid which I now can’t claim for.
Anyone seen this before or know if I can reject these findings or ask them to be looked at again? I spent an hour on the phone with the 1st adjudicator talking through my situation, but didn’t hear a thing from the other one until these findings were sent in a letter to Wonga!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If this is the first contact with the Wonga adjudicator, it can’t yet be a final decision. I suggest you connect the Wonga administrator and ask what extra information is needed for Aug 10 to July 12.
How much interest did you pay on these earlier Wonga loans?
Jono says
Hi Sara,
I’m going to be honest and say i’ve been pretty lazy and have used a claim company to handle my claims with the offending companies. The claim company emailed me to say the Adjudicator had concluded their findings and have sent a letter to the offending company. I got a copy of the letter which stated this “Couldn’t establish full picture of expenditure” line. So i guess now that letter has gone out there is not much I can do
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh dear, it’s a big mistake using a claims company – this is the sort of mess that results. Having someone as an intermediary between you and a payday lender or you and the ombudsman means things go wrong. The claims company should be telling you what your options are and advising you – they clearly aren’t.
Also this about the 6th time you have posted here asking about things – nothing wrong with that, but this claims company isn’t saving you any time at all!
Find out if this adjudicator decision is final – if it isn’t, ask what more info they need. If it is final, tell the adjudicator you want the case to go to an Ombudsman. This could be a lot of money and it may be quite simple to resolve!
Ash says
This site has been so great to read, I was hoping anyone can help I’ve had constant payday loans from lending stream, sunny, wonga and quick quid Every month from 2014 finally got myself out the slump jan 2017. everything was paid on time never late and a claims company are looking into it for me the interest on all the accounts is totalling up to £3000 without the 8%. my credit score was as low as 13 in the middle of these applications. Do I have a chance of getting any of this refunded. I was a single parent who worked part time?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
eek using a claims company. If you are in the cancellation period, try to do this straight away! It sounds as though you have some very good claims and these are actually EASIER to do yourself, not having a middleman in the way.
If your claims go to the Ombudsman – which many do – they want to hear your story, not some claims company using standard words. It isn’t hard…
Ash says
Thanks, I have only recently set up with the claims company and they want 30% of what ever I reclaim . I am really clueless on where to start but I’ve copies of all of my statements which show iv’e take out 28 loans with sunny . 6 with lending stream and 1 or two with other companies. Any advice on how to move forward with this would be greatly appreciated
Thanks :)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you tell the Claims Co you want to cancel if you in the cooling off period – are you? Then use the template letters on here. Hundreds of people have done this, many of them would have called themselves clueless at the start! 68% of cases are upheld at the Ombudsman, very few using a claims company. That is much higher success rate than for PPI where most claims go through a Claims Co.
Ash says
I have bit the bullet and cancelled the claim. in the last 5 mins I have used the template given above to email the lenders. Do the companies advise me to the ombudsman or can I action this mysef if I don’t get the response I was hoping for?
thanks again
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The companies have 8 weeks to reply to your complaint. Make a note of when the 8 weeks will be up! After that you can send to the Ombudsman if they haven’t replied.
If Sunny or LS make you an offer and you aren’t sure if it is good enough, come back here and ask? Have you sorted out how much you paid each of them in interest? LS are always difficult, but Sunny can sometimes make good offers.
Christopher Toner says
I am just about to start some claims against various pd lenders however a company i had just looked on their site commenced a claim against which was rejected both are asking for bank statements do i need to give them this. The company acting on my behalf have asked for permission to take case to fos is it good to do this or start acting on my own behalf i.e start claim directly with wonga or go to fos myself?
I feel like i am in a pickle and just not sure what to do now. HELP
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did you authorise them to make a claim on your behalf?
Christopher Toner says
I went on the site just to enquire then got an e-mail from wonga saying my complaint was being looked at wasn’t sure what to do at that point so i must have ticked a box without reliasing.
Should i go ahead with rest of claims myself about 4 other lenders. I have received emails the debts have been sold on.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did you tell the Claims Company the names of the other payday lenders? Did you tell them you had loans from Wonga? Did you give them any information at all apart from your name, address & email address?
Christopher Toner says
No just said wonga but i did do give my details
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is why Claims Companies are hopeless for payday loan complaints. They will just have written a letter saying you have had unaffordable loans, can you have a refund… They don’t know anything about you so how they have written a proper complaint?
I don’t know what you have agreed to. I think you need to find out fast. Contact them and say you didn’t realise you had authorised them to make a complaint. Did they tell you there was a 14 day cooling off period? Ask them to send you a copy of their T&Cs.
I suspect you can’t now choose to take the Wonga complaint forward yourself. Which is a PITA as you are going to have to do all the work, with them getting in the way as an intermediary. You need to stay on top of this complaint, find out what the adjudicator is telling them or asking them and supply the correct answers and any explanations.
You also need to make sure you have not authorised them to make other payday loan complaints. If it looks as though you have, you need to write recorded delivery and withdraw your authorisation. Don’t mention who your other lenders are to them.
Luke says
Hi Sara is it best to go with a company in f I can’t remember all of my loans and dates etc as it was 2013 till about 2015
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No! A claims company has no more idea what your loans are than you have. They have no clever way of getting this information.
Use the standard template letters on this page https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/ – they start by asking the lender to send you a list of your loans.
Tom says
Hi im wanting to put a claim in I had over 100 loans with about 10 different companies over 3 years. I literally don’t have time to sort it myself. I work very long hours and long weeks and have a family as well. Is there any good companies out there that someone could recommend that don’t want 40% of my claim or is it a matter of take some time and do it myself. It would take me hours and hours to sort out with all the different companies I delt with. I also had a lot of mental health issues because of these companies and me spiraling into debt with them. Dealing with it all again I feel could send me back downhill. I don’t want the Hassel or the memories of what I went through with these companies and feel if someone else was doing it it would be much easier for me.
Thanks in advance
Tom
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Unfortunately it will be simpler to do it yourself. Claims Companies have no way to work out who you borrowed from or how much, you have to tell them. Have a look at the second template letter above – that is what a GOOD complaint looks like. A Claims Company can’t write that, you have to.
With 10 lenders it is likely that quite a few will go to the Ombudsman. When complaints go to the Ombudsman you have to supply your credit record and bank statements, a Claims Company can’t access these, you have to get them. And you are the one that knows the circumstances of what happened, if the Ombudsman has questions (which often happens) all the Claims Company can do is ask you to reply to them. It’s like using a really slow and useless person as the middleman but you are still having to do all the work.
You don’t have to do all 10 complaints at the same time. Why not pick the two lenders you think you used the most and have a go at those?
Tom says
It’s gunna be a right task 2 different addresses 3 different bank accounts all which are closed. But I’ll take you advice I’ll concentrate on the 2 main companies and slowly work my way through them. I reckon after the first 2 it becomes easier to sort.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes it will get easier. Take it step by step and there are lots of people here that can help. Who were you largest lenders?
Tom says
Wonga definitely largest. Probably once a month for 3 years ranging from £500-£1200. I was paying over £400 interest a a month most of the
time. Im gunna start with them and see how it goes and then think about the others.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That’s a lot of interest…
Wonga are erratic, sometimes they make very good offers, sometimes they reject a good complaint out of hand, sometimes they just offer on a few loans chosen apparently at random! The Ombudsman is upholding 77% of complaints against Wonga at the moment, so as you can tell they are often getting this very wrong.
But they will supply a list of your loans (though they are slow) and they are not unpleasant to deal with.
Bev says
I have been offered a refund from wonga, but also had an invoice from [claims firm] for £990. I sent the request direct to wonga and did not include them in any of the emails, the responses came direct to me with all my loan details on now I have had an offer through [claims firms] when they have done nothing do I have to pay this invoice
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did you ever have any dealings with this claims firm? Obviously, they didn’t do any work – and like thousands of people you have found how simple it is to make a claim yourself – but have you signed anything with this claims firm?
Bev says
I spoke to them some months ago about payday uk but did not instruct them do deal with this as I had already sent wonga emails and had a reply from them directly to me, just pees me off that they want nearly a third of my claim when I did all the work
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did you fill in any of their online forms? Have any emails from them? Have you signed anything they sent to you? Did yiu tell them who you had payday loans with? Why did you talk to them when you already had a complain5 in progress?
Sorry for all the questions but I can’t say anything unless I know the situation…
Bev says
I filled there form for payday uk before I found your site but that was the only one I asked them to look into
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK, I think you need to look at that form closely – was there something which said you were authorising them to make complaints to other payday lenders as well? If there wasn’t, then I suggest you reply to them saying you have never authorised them to complain to Wonga on your behalf, that you made the complaint yourself.
The fact that Wonga corresponded with you shows that they were not replying to the complaint from this claims firm.
If they don’t agree, put in a formal complaint to them and if they reject it take it to the Claims Management regulator. Details on their website.
If you have any other complaints against other lenders, you also need to tell them asap that you are pursuing these yourself and do not want them to handle them.
Rab says
Hi. I have received a offer from a lender of £788 but the claims company want 30% of the offer I.e £260 odds they say I pay that off the offer but feel that’s a bit much paying to them. Am I best going through the lender than the claims company or do I not have a choice I’ll still have to pay the £260 fee ??
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You are always best going direct to a lender, a claims company as a middleman doesn’t add anything – they get in the way, waste time and many lenders just contact you direct if a claims company sends them a complaint. So you are paying for nothing.
The claim company you mentioned even uses pictures from this Debt Camel site on their mobile sign up form – they really aren’t experts at all!
But if you have signed up to them then you are going to have to pay their absurdly high fee even if the lender deals with you directly.
Jess says
Hi, I received a cold call and they forwarded me on to a company called [edited]? Are these to be trusted? they knew all my details etc and have sent me a text message with a link to sign an agreement I haven’t signed it, however they advised me not to claim against one of the payday loan company’s as my last loan with them I did not repay because I simply couldn’t afford to. the payday loan company did not request me to repay via email or post after I cancelled the direct debit and it does not show on my credit file either. Would this affect me if I put in a complaint to them directly? Any help would be appreciated. Tyia
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No claims company is to be trusted. They do a VERY poor job with payday loan complaints – many lenders just take a complaint from a claims company and then write to you about it as they don’t want the claims company in the way – so you end up doing all the work and they still expect there large fees for writing a simple email at the beginning.
For this Claims Company, I suggest you reply to them making it absolutely clear that you have NOT signed their authorisation and you do NOT want them to make any complaints on your behalf. Otherwise they may start to!
They have told you not to complain to a lender you owe money to – that’s because any “refund” will be used to reduce what you owe so they are worried you won’t then pay them their fees. Nice advice for them, it may however be very poor advice for you! You could end up with a CCJ if you don’t complain which you could have avoided if you did…
Who is the lender you owe money to? How old is this loan? Did you have other loans from that lender before the one that defaulted?
Jess says
It didn’t default… it’s almost like the final loan I took out with wonga never existed. All my loans say settled from both wonga and quick quid on my credit file. I took the majority of pay day loans out in 2012/2013 (I can’t see any further back on my credit file). But I was stuck in rut borrowing from both lenders at the same time.
Thank you for your help
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think Wonga may have written off your last loan in 2014/15 – they would then have deleted it from your credit record.
If this happened, you can still put in a complaint for previous borrowing, but a refund you get will be reduced because of the write-off.
E says
Hi Sara, I lodged complaint on 2nd June last year (though stupidly through a 3rd party) they emailed back immediately to state how many loans I had had etc (57) and that they always make sure things are affordable blah blah. My 3rd party provided the information they requested to investigate and then we heard nothing until 22nd November!! This email said that they were now looking in to our concerns (apologizing for the delay) but I have not heard anything more since. Having read your article and other comments about the way LS behave with regards to complaints, do you think I am better to pressure them for a response or just save time by going straight to the FOC?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You are going through a claims company? It shows how useless they are that they have let this drag on. You should have been in the queue at the Ombudsman In August. I suggest you send it straight to the Ombudsman now as LS will just drag things out as long as possible.
E says
Thanks Sara. Yeah I know it was silly, wish I had found this site before I started the process. As they have left this and not done anything, am I within my rights to go direct to the ombudsman or do I need to go through my 3rd party still, having make he agreement.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh you can go direct to the Ombudsman, but the claims co is still going to bill you at the end :(
Pol says
I used a payday refund claims firm and after reading these posts I’m quite worried. Wonga have contacted me last week with a list of my loans, so I rang the claims firm and they really couldn’t answer any of my questions at all. Could I still go and make the claims myself even though I have used this firm already ? Thanks. You do some fine work here Sara
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes you can handle the complaints yourself, but unfortunately, the useless claims firm is very likely to still insist on charging you its fees.
Pol says
How do claims firms work? Will each lender contact me directly with an offer then at some point the payday firm will send me an invoice? Do they wait until they get a reply from all the lenders then offer me s lump sum? These are the questions I asked the firm but they couldn’t tell me anything.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well in theory the payday leNders should contact your claims company – but many of them prefer to bypass this and talk directly to you. If you accept, then the claims company will send you an invoice to pay.
Nadia says
A company called me one day saying they could do all these searches for me (like a ppi call) I’m so stupid I have my information now I don’t know what’s happened.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you signed anything with this claims company?
Nadia says
No I haven’t. Now I have have this page with the template I will approach the company’s myself and get things sorted on my own behalf.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I should have been clearer – you may have “signed” something digitally if you replied to an email or completed a form on line. But if you just spoke to them on the phone I think you should be OK. Go back to the firm in writing and say you do not want them to act for you in any complaints. Good luck with your claims!
Debbie Osborne says
Hi I’ve been reading through your posts to see if they can help me with my query but got a bit confused. Back in June last year I replied to a Facebook post from A claims firm – i received this back
Thank you for taking the time to complete our online enquiry form.
We are now progressing matters for you.
In order to assist us with your claim we would be grateful if you would kindly provide us with the following, if you have not already done so.
I never responded and never heard anything again. I have now sent a templates letter of to wonga and pursuing a claim myself. Will I still be liable to pay them fees.
Sorry for the long post thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It depends what your online enquiry form said. Did you name payday lenders you used?
Not having heard anything since June though is a good sign that the claims firm isn’t actually doing anything at all. Yiu could phone Wonga up and ask if the claims firm has already sent in a complaint?
Becci says
Hi Sara I’ve recently gone through a claims company silly me didn’t read into doing this myself I feel it’s too late now for me to pull out, the claim company sent my ‘agreement’ information which has been electronically signed by me (which I hadn’t authorised) and I had to chase for that they don’t have a lot of information the document states I can cancel upto 14 days from receiving it.. well I was only emailed this document on the 22/02 I filled out an online application on the 27/12 so it was out of date already by the time I recieved it so I’m not happy with that….I was going to highlight this to the claim company and also contact the lenders direct.. I’ve only heard from Wonga so far is this a wise move or do I just need to see it through with the claim company ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if you only got a document on 22/02 then it may well be that you have 14 days from that to cancel – I suggest you take the docs to your local Citizens advice asap and ask for their help.
Becci says
I’ve doubled checked to be sure and it states an electronic signature is as binding as signing with a pen and the date I signed was the 27/12, my argument is I wasn’t informed of really important details there’s an additional insurance cover I wasn’t aware of ? Also the original claim company I was originally dealing with seem to have disappeared the numbers have been disconnected or the constantly ring ? I finally managed to speak to solicitors today but I had to find their number because the number given on my agreement was disconnected (I had to pester to even receive the documentation in the first place) because I was concerned I hadn’t signed anything .. I’ve kept the trail of texts and emails which confirm what I’m saying.
Thank you for the advice I’ll take the information to the citizen advice and see what they make it
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Electronic signature is binding, but not if you were not given sufficient information before you “signed”. Claims firms are a slimy bunch…
Dan says
Hi Sara,
It it reasonable to assume that if a complaint is opened through a claims company, and then closed by the claims company (based on my instruction), i can then continue and open it again by myself by starting the process again?
Or would it end up being a once youve tried and cancelled it, its game over and cant be touched again? I have contacted all the lenders and said ignore all previous correspondence and only go by my latest emails (i used the templates off here of course).
Any help is appreciated!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No you cant assume that. If you try to close a complaint a Claims co has done any work on, they may (a) tell the lender you want the complaint closed, then the lender could refuse to reopen it and (b) try to bill you for the “work” they have done so far.
DanV says
Hi Sara,
Long story short, i signed up to a claims Company to do the leg work for me, however very quickly realised (thanks to your explanations) that i can do a much better job myself. As i was within the 14 day “cooling off” period, i am able to cancel the agreement, and go on by myself.
However, the Claims Company has told me twice that they have spoken to all lenders to inform them they are no longer involved, yet QQ and Wonga are still saying they haven’t received this info, so i have gone back to Claims co to ask what is going on etc.
Am i able to complain about them should they start playing daft with it all, seeing as they will have had a fee snatched from under them?
As mentioned, because of the cooling off period, they haven’t got any leg to stand on, and i haven’t had any offers from any lenders as yet….
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you have something in writing from them to show you cancelled and they accept this is within the cooling off period? If so you should be fine.
The Claims co you mention, who advertises extensively on Facebook, is useless. I see more readers with problems with them than any other firm. I wouldn’t be surprised if the letters/emails haven’t been sent or have gone to the wrong address or don’t mention your name or something! You are well out of their clutches.
DanV says
Have got an email confirming this, and also confirming that they have sent out emails to lenders etc.
However, was a bit fishy as QQ sent me all my loan info (20+ loans), however when i told Claims Co i wanted to cancel, they told me “oh, well QQ said you didnt have any loans so you cant claim from them anyway”, which is clearly a huge lie. Which also makes me think they haven’t sent the emails etc.
Now QQ are saying they wont deal with me direct until instructed by Claims co…
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“when i told the Claims Co i wanted to cancel, they told me “oh, well QQ said you didnt have any loans so you cant claim from them anyway”, which is clearly a huge lie.”
Well somewhere between an outright lie and total incompetence – not always easy to tell with these parasites.
“Now QQ are saying they wont deal with me direct until instructed by Claims co”
reply to QQ sending them a copy of the email from the Claims company. If they still won’t do anything, contact the Finanical Ombudsman.
DanV says
I have copied them in to a reply to Claims Co stating i want it confirmed as i would complain if they didn’t confirm.
Would me going to the Ombudsman bypass the 8 weeks i was supposed to wait for QQ, or would they simply agree i am to be dealt with, and the original 8 weeks stands?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s hard to guess what happens in unusual situations.
William says
I used a company to make a claim against quickquid ( Before I found this awesome website ) and feel i received bad advice from them. I feel I was pushed in the direction to accept an offer of £100 as a good will gesture. Quickquid felt I had no grounds for my complaint to be accepted. The company obviously got £30 ( 30%) of this. Can I reclaim about this against quickquid?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am sorry, that is the problem with using a Claims Co – by suggesting you settle, they pocketed £30 for sending a couple of emails. Either they had no idea that QQ often send out this sort of low offer for good cases or they didn’t care, they just wanted an easy result.
I think you can only go back to QuickQuid if there was a factual error in the reply they sent or they omitted to say that you could go to the Ombudsman.
Dan C says
Hello! I used a claims company (way before I saw this website) and I’ve received a payout from Sunny (and paid the 30% claims company fees grrr) but have now received an offer to wipe out my arrears with MyJar (£1516.95 on an initial £775 loan which is ridiculous to be honest). The claims company have informed me that if I do accept I’m on the line for c£400 for their fees…even though I’m not even getting a refund. I’ve told them I’ll hold off on accepting the offer because I’ll be out of pocket and getting out of the loan debt is what the point of these claims are.
Should I refuse their offer and go to the ombudsman? Should I be on the line for over £800 of interest? I did default on the loan though – don’t know how the ombudsman feels about that.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Oh dear – did you have other loans from Myjar?
Amanda says
Hello i stupidly used a company to reclaim my money back from Wonga, i have been awarded over £2500 and the company are charging me over £900. Wonga refunded my money to them on the 8th of May and they still have not paid me, they keep making excuses as to when it will be paid telling me by the end of the day and it never arrives. I have made three complaints and asked to speak to a manager, no one is getting back to me.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That particular Claims Company is regulated by the SRA. You should put your complaint in writing and take it to the Legal Ombudsman if you don’t get paid.
Amanda says
Thank you, i will do
Kirsty says
Hi guys,
I was wondering if anyone had any sucess with sunny? I used them all the time and one month i rang them when i got into a bit of trouble. They spoke to me like absolute cr*p, i had run up my loans stupidly, I was going to go through a payday loan solicitor but they want 30% of my claim!!
Is it worth going alone?
I never missed a payment to sunny and even paid the full amount off in time, as a family member lent me the money, they closed my account!
Please if anyone could give me advice?
I have sent the email asking for my records to be sent.
Kind regards,
Kirsty
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, lots of complaints won against Sunny. It’s just as easy to do it yourself, a claims company doesn’t add anything to the process, it’s you that has to tell your story. Come back here and ask if you are ever not sure what to do!
C says
I had good success and settled out of FOS with history removed also. Was prepared to go all the way though. As Sara says, a company will take your money while you do all the hard work anyway.
Kirsty says
Thank you guys, i will let you know how i get on.
gillian says
hi kirsty please put in your claims yourself it is so easy to do all you need is bank statements and a credit report both in my case have been easy to get the people at the fos are very easy and nice to talk to just tell them the truth about your finances at the time including any gambling problems or other expenses you had even if you think it makes you look bad they do not judge I was in constant debt since 2007 with loans and payday loans and credit cards borrowing from one to pay another thanks to sara on this site I received just over 20000 pounds total in refund from lending stream quickquid sunny payday uk and wageday advance two went to the final ombudsman three agreed a refund I was happy with it is just a matter of put the forms in and wait I can honestly say that sara as made my life so much better TY SARA I now do not worry that when my wage goes in the bank it goes straight back out I have savings at last and no credit plus just not borrowing from payday loans for the last 9 months I have seen my credit score vastly inprove as sara said if you need any help just come back and ask someone is always willing to help on here good luck
Sherrelyn says
Hi,
I just saw this page! Silly me. I’ve signed up with a claims company, and have received payouts from Wonga and Sunny. However, Payday UK, QQ, Lending Stream, Satsuma, Ferratum, Mr Lender and Trusted Quid are not being pursued, as they are apparently not good at responding. Is it worth trying to apply to them myself? Thanks for your time!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Good grief yes! Obviously it depends on your particular case, but people have got very good refunds from those lenders. Use the template letter over here: https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/ and ask questions there if you aren’t sure what to do, eg if you are given on offer and you aren’t sure if it’s good enough or you should go to the Ombudsman.
Sherrelyn says
Thanks! I’ll give it a go!
Shaun says
Hi,
Before I found this website I seen an advert for claiming back money from payday loan companies, I was intrigued and sent off my details. I signed the agreements and now realise I could have done this myself with the help of your website. I will have to pay this company 25% of whatever I am awarded, is there any way out of this to pursue the claim myself?
Also, the deadline has been set for the WDA and QQ to respond by 8/7/18, but nothing yet. I had 16 loans with WDA over 18 months, every pay day I would pay them back and then next day I would take out another loan, I earned £1000 a month and 800 being paid to them each month, I could not afford to not get another loan. With QQ it was similar apart from my bank statements don’t go back far enough to the start of my lending with them but from what I can see I had over 10 loans with them on a month to month basis again.
Do I stand a chance of receiving money back directly? Is it possible to negotiate offers with these companies? I work out I have paid at least £4000 in interest to these two companies. I am still in debt and would really like to receive funds soon to pay my debts off without having to go through the FO and wait another few months.
Kind regards
Shaun
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you only signed recently you may still be in the cooling off period when you can cancel it! If not you will have to leave to the claims firm to negotiate.
IA says
Hi, Sara
I have had many loans from different payday loans over the years. I have had a gambling problem. I still have debt to pay for loans.
Can I get refund from loans which I have taken 1 or 2 loans or had a top up?
Likelyloans borrowed £3k a couple of times, also topped up loan on.
Satsuma £1k still paying off altogether paying £1800 from initial £1k.
Myjar £1k still paying off probably pay £1600.
118118 had a couple of loans all paid of last year have not lent since £1k each time.
Piggybank paid off £1k altogether paid £1300.
All these loans I have not borrowed no more than 5 times. Is it possible to claim?
I have put claim in for payday loans below a couple months back through a Claims firm (which I regret as I have to pay 30% on these loans)
quick quid (50+ loans) At Ombudsman
Payday express (rejected) (3 or 4 loans)
Payday Uk (rejected) (less than 5 loans)
Sunny (20-30 loans) at Ombudsman
Wonga (10 loans or less) at Ombudsman
I have been offered £1.5k back from the companies (QQ £250, sunny £900, wonga £350) I have rejected and gone to FOS
I have worked out with interest I should have £5k roughly. Should get a reply in July by Claims firm?
I’m currently paying many payday loans:
Wagadayadvance
Lendingstream
Unclebuck
Likelyloans
Myjar
Satsuma
Can you please advise what shall I do with companies I havent complained about yet. I am just about staying a float with living costs.
Thanks
IA
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry you fell for a Claims Company’s advertising. As you can see from the comments on Debt Camel these complaints are simple to do yourself, and in many cases Claims Companies seem to delay things or give poor advice about which claims should be pursued.
“All these loans I have not borrowed no more than 5 times. Is it possible to claim?” yes – there is nothing significant about “5 loans”, two or even one loan can be found to be unaffordable, it depends on the facts of the case. Obviously if you took one loan for £100 from a lender and your repaid it on time you are unlikely to win that. But the Likely loans, Satsuma, Myjar and 118 loans you mention are all large, so the lenders should have been much more careful about what checks they did beforehand. I suggest complaints to all of them (and not via your Claims firm!)
Also your Payday UK and Payday Express complaints, how good were these? Payday Express loans can often be pretty big, and Payday UK loans may have been rolled a lot? Unless the gaps between the loans from a lender were large, you should probably take these to the Ombudsman. You have 6 months from the lender’s decision to go to the FOS.
“I have worked out with interest I should have £5k roughly. Should get a reply in July by Claims firm?” not sure what reply you are hoping for in July. if you made the complaints two months ago and they recently have gone to the ombudsman it’s unlikely you will get a decision before September-November.
“I’m currently paying many payday loans: Wagadayadvance, Lendingstream, Unclebuck, Likelyloans, Myjar, Satsuma”
Then you need to stop paying them – or you will just have to borrow again. When in a hole stop digging! You can’t rely on getting refunds coming through to help you over the next few months. So tell the lenders you want an affordable monthly payment arrangement, if there are credit cards involved as well, think about going to StepChange. And put in complaints to all of them, even if this is the first loan from that lender, they should have seen the HUGE amount of borrowing on your credit record and known you were in trouble.
luckyman says
Hi everyone
I initially used a claims recovery company to begin my complaint. My loans were back in 2012-2015 having now sorted out my financial situation and debt-free.
The claims company gave me a template which I sent to my 11 different lenders. After passing on all the replies the claims company were only interested in one of the complaints (against Wonga) as there were lots of rollovers and consecutive loans – still waiting for their final outcome.
So I used the follow up letters here to make my own complaints and……….
Just had a £2000 refund from Sunny – without involving FOS!
Have had some knock backs from others where there were ‘only’ 2/3 loans and will be pursuing these further as I know my credit report at the time would have shown a borrowing level getting out of control.
Good luck all….
Marc says
Hi guys
Again like the rest of you I’ve had loads of loans from lots of lenders, loans paid back in full but massive interest charges for the loans.
I’ve all the emails from each company when they sent my loans out etc.
Just wondering if any of you would recommend one of those claim companies who specialise in the field?
Yes I do know I’ll be charged a fee but if I haven’t got time to do the paperwork is there any companies you would recommend?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No. From what I can see they are all useless and slow. Having a middleman in between you and the lender, or you and the Ombudsman doesn’t help at all, it slows down things.
The paperwork is pretty easy, see the template letters above this article. You can skip step one as you already have all your loans details. It will be quicker for you to send off the step 2 full complaint letters (emails to send them to are here all here https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-lender-email-addresses/) then to start using a claims company.
Look at the info in that step 2 letter. How can a claims company know that unless they ask you? Lenders and the Ombudsman may want your bank statements – a claims company can’t get them, only you can.
Claims companies only tend to go after a few lenders. One person commented here “I have received payouts from Wonga and Sunny. However, Payday UK, QQ, Lending Stream, Satsuma, Ferratum, Mr Lender and Trusted Quid are not being pursued by the claims company, as they are apparently not good at responding. ” Well that is total nonsense. There are thousands (literally) of comments here from people who have had refunds from those lenders. You can frequently get a much better result from Mr Lender say than from Wonga or Sunny without going to the Ombudsman, because Mr Lender will listen if you go back to them and argue why you should be refunded on more loans… but then claims companies don’t want to be bothered to do that, because it would require someone to look at your case in details and talk to you about it, and all they want to do is send an email saying “Give me a refund” and not do anything else.
You may also be told to accept a very bad offer. One reader commented “I used a company to make a claim against quickquid ( Before I found this awesome website ) and feel I received bad advice from them. I feel I was pushed in the direction to accept an offer of £100 as a goodwill gesture. Quickquid felt I had no grounds for my complaint to be accepted. The company obviously got £30 ( 30%) of this.” Those sort of cases normally get 5,10 or 20 times as much by going to the Ombudsman. But the claims company just got £30 for sending out one email and was happy with that.
People have been told by a claims company not to claim against Wonga if they had a write off in 2014, but a lot of people can still get a further refund if there was a lot of borrowing before then.
Marc says
Really appreciate all the info , thanks and I’ll just get my finger out and do it myself :-)
Keep up the great work!
tom price says
Marc – it took me approx. an hour to fill out all the template latter for 14 lenders….. and I have managed to claim over 13.5 k back already and didn’t have to share with some dodgy company!
Marc says
Really appreciate all the info Tom , thanks and I’ll just get my finger out and do it myself :-)
Keep up the great work!
gillian says
hi it does not take long to fill out the paperwork I just emailed all the payday companies I had used stating that I had been using them for 6 years constantly and said they would have seen I was using other payday lenders and had defaults on my credit report if they had checked it also if they had ever asked for my bank statements they would have seen all payments going out and I would like a refund of all intrest paid that is basically all I put 4 settled within the 8 weeks for refunds I was happy with quick quid and lending stream I had to send ombudsman took ten minutes to fill out form online they then phoned and asked me to send bank statements and credit report took about half hour to go bank and ask for them then post of couple more phone calls from ombudsman 15 min at most to ask few questions the ombudsmen then does the rest you just have to wait they get in touch with you with the decision it that easy as sara said a claims company will only ask you to provide the same documents and them pass them on for you do it your self it that easy thanks to sara I received over 20000 pound refund all together it as changed my life ty sara
Marc says
Thanks Gillian For the info, will defo get this sorted now!
Tim says
Before finding this website I used a company to reclaim some money back from sunny I got a very small refund and most of my loans were not taken into account can I go through this process again and sunny to look into the loans they missed for a further refund?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No sorry. These claims companies are useless, but you have unfortunately agreed a final settlement with Sunny and they will not agree to reopen it.
Paula says
Hi,
I have a claim going through with a payday company for Lending Stream & Wonga.
The 8 weeks is up and I have just received this email below off the claims company xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
Hi Paula,
LENDINGSTREAM WARNING !!
This US and India based Payday Lender has so far failed to respond to claims submitted by ANY UK claims company or individual that we are aware of, and has failed to respond to over 10,000 complaints/claims we have with them on your behalf.
We are therefore about to serve legal proceedings against them, inviting them to the High Court to explain their lack of action and response.
Their latest tactic of avoidance is to get you to stop working with us and go direct to them where they will undoubtedly mess you around and seek to delay further.
They do this to avoid our legal action on them on your behalf.
If they write to you, please forward their emails to xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx so that our lawyers can use this to get them to settle properly and fully.
DO NOT FALL FOR THEIR LATEST SET OF TRICKS
Thanks
Payday Loans Claims team
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would say don’t fall for stuff a claims company sends you!
This letter looks like nonsense. Nobody starts a High Court case to invite their opponent to explain something.
The claims company has probably bitten off more than it can chew and is having a hard time trying to sort through the rejections and offers that LS has sent them and has sent this letter to use as an excuse for the delay. Using a claims company will always slow the claims process down as there is now a middleman in the way between you and the lender, and later between you and the Ombudsman.
I suggest you tell the Claims Company that regardless of any court action you want your complaint sent to the ombudsman immediately if LS has not responded.
And if the claims company tells you to accept an offer from LS, be very suspicious and make sure it is a good one before you do, as the claims company may just want to get some money coming in, they don’t care about your complaint.
Jaci william says
I would like to know how these companies find my information and try to entice me into starting a claim
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They probably bought a marketing list your name was on.
Elliott says
I have been using a company to deal with my payday loan refunds on my behalf
i have had 2 offers of compensation from different companies. The first one has been accepted by myself as i was happy with the amount.
The second offer however was quite a large amount (£1200). When the company called me to ask if i was happy with this offer i explained that i was on holiday and I would deal with it on my return. I have now realised the company has accepted my offer of compensation on my behalf without myself confirming it.
I am not happy about this, i have spoken to the creditor directly and they have confirmed that the offer has been accepted, does anyone have a next step for me? Would i be able to deal with the creditor myself or will the company charge me a fee?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I have shortened your long comment.
I am not surprised you are unhappy, but there is no way the lender is going to offer you more or that you can take this case to the ombudsman. The only way you can potentially get more money is from the claims company as it is them that have made this mistake – assuming you were clear in your reply to them that you did not want to accept the offer until you returned from holiday. How large a refund were you hoping for from this lender?
dave says
I went through a third party with some of my payday lenders pduk , quickquid ,lending stream the 8 weeks is up and had offers from pduk and quickquid. offered £2000 from pduk on 33 loans they said 4 we’re mis sold claims co said I wouldn’t get a better offer and kept saying I should take it so I agreed, but regretted it the next day so rang to say and was told it was too late now ,i had those loans whilst I was in a iva and told it would work against me surely the lender should check if I’m in a IVA or not .Going to wait on quickquid claims co telling me to take their offer and said ombudsmen don’t think I have a strong case had 55 loans with quickquid any advice thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I have deleted the name of the claims company.
Claims companies often tell people to accept an offer from a lender and not take a good case to the Ombudsman – it’s dead easy money for them, isn’t it! Often this is VERY poor advice – a refund on 4 loans out of 33 from PDUK does not sound good.
However your case is complicated by your IVA. One person with a case with the Ombudsman had the refund paid to the IVA company, not to them. I can’t tell if this normally or often happens, they may just have been unlucky. And some IVA firms are not interested in taking this sort of money after you IVA is completed. But you need to be aware that there is some risk that if you send a case to the Ombudsman.
dave says
my IVA was completed in 2013 and was paid off some of the loans were taken out whilst in the IVA but not all of them. Couldn’t understand why they were so eager for me to accept pduk makes me think pduk are offering the claims company a back hander
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ok you need to do the arithmetic for the QQ offer because you should get the refund for all loans taken out AFTER your IVA has finished.
dave says
have done thanks
Wayne says
Hello, I just been informed that been offered 4000 back and the company that did the research want 30 percent. Am I obliged to pay them 30 percent I don’t ever recall signing any documents or being told the fee. The money gets paid direct to me and then I pay the 1200. They want me to print off the wage day compensation form, fill it in, sign it and scan it then email it back. What happens if I pay them a token gesture of 10 percent. I only just come across this site.I would of done it myself
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can ask them to produce what you “signed” but this may have been done digitally online, rather than with a pen and paper. Assuming they can produce that, and it wasn’t misleading about the fees, then you do owe them this money. And if you don’t pay, they will probably take you to court for it. Sorry, all they did was send off an email, it’s a colossal rip-off but that’s what you agreed to.
Wayne says
Thanks for the reply so quickly, today was the first I knew about the 30 percent. Still might give the omnibus. A phone first. Glad I didn’t tell them about the others. Will do it myself from now on
I also haven’t agreed to 30 percent as I would of looked around.
JT says
Hi, I’ve just set up a check with a company to see if i’m owed any money and this started about 2 months ago. I’ve had over 30 loans with Sunny, 5 with Quickquid some with peachy and a few with Wonga, do you think I will get any money back from these? I’m not expecting any to be honest but thought it was free to check and wondered how everyone else has got on? seems a shame for people who have had a lot through Wonga
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“do you think I will get any money back from these?” why don’t you ask the claims company, you are paying them a lot to handle this for you. It isn’t “free to check if you are owed money” they haven’t done any checks at all, just sent the same email to each lender.
Charlotte Jessop says
Another excellent article Sara! I’ve been reading through all these comments too and it looks like you are helping so many people.
Alex says
Hi all,
I have 3 claims in with [claims conmpany]
57 days after my claims were received by the 3 companies I have complaints with, I had had no offers or even summaries from any of them. I emailed CC and was told that the 8 weeks is “just a guideline” and they would keep me posted.
This was 15 days ago and I still havent heard anything. Does anyone have experience or know if there is anything I can do to prompt them?
I appreciate it would have been better to do myself in an ideal world. Lots of informed commentators on here so any guidance would be sincerely appreciated.
Alex.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Your claims co sounds useless – a lot of them are. Which lenders are these claims against? How many loans did you have from each lender?
Alex says
Hi Sara,
Thanks for the reply. Quickquid Sunny and Wonga. Not expecting much from Wonga given their situation.
I had monthly loans with all of the above for a few years. Cleared every month and started again like clockwork. Must be 20-30 with each company and Quickquid especially almost always for £700-£900 per loan.
I guess I could ask each lender for the total number of loans taken per lender since my account opened with them? I assumed this would be the most basic info the claims co would get together! Also noticed my Sunny account has since been closed. I havent used Paydays for months and wont need to again but seems strange that has happened with no notice.
Have emailed the claims co today asking for update. This is the first time I havent gone ‘DIY’ due to busy work commitments but wish I had at the moment!
Thanks Sara
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You could phone the lenders and ask if a complaint has been put in on you behalf, if so what date was that?
If the Claims co doesn’t give a detailed update, you could also put in a written complaint to them saying that unless they put in a complaint to the Ombudsman for QQ and Sunny within a week you will be withdrawing their authority to act, taking over the case and will not be paying them any fees if you win. NB this would be the beginning of alegsl battle but I suggesting it mainly to kick them into action not as a course that will save you money.
Alex says
Thanks Sara lets see what happens…
Gina says
I’ve had previous loans with several paydays companies where my finances spiralled out of control. I’ve paid a lot off but still have amouts i owe them, but I would like to make a complaint of their practices. What is the best way to tackle this? Contacting each company separately?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, send an affordability complaint to each lender separately. Template letters are here https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/ which also explains the whole process.
Email addresses for payday lenders are here: https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-lender-email-addresses/
And because you still owe money, also read https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-refunds-defaulted-loan/ and DO inform the debt collect you are making a complaint as that says.
Brian Thomson says
Hey I have had payday loans from the likes of amigo, cash converters and others. Seen a thing on Facebook that I could claim fees and inteeest back, I must say I don’t like the look of the company so when I seen this website I was delighted that I could do it on my own.
Can you help me please. I need information and any assistance you can offer. I have never done any claim thing before so feel like a duck out of water.
Kind regards
Brian
gillian says
hi brian in my complaints to over 6 payday loan companies the first email I sent them I just put I would like to complain about unaffordable and irresponsible lending and stated I had loans continuously from 2012 to 2017 with them and if they would have checked my bank statements and credit files they would have seen default late payments and a very low credit score and should have realised I was in a circle of debt borrowing from one to pay another I had success with 4 within 8 weeks 2 lending stream and quick quid the biggest refused altogether so sent to the fos who upheld my entire claim and received over 6000 pound back from each off these two companies it is so easy to do yourself with the help of this site sara also does a template letter you can fill in and send them if it makes it easy for you do not worry if they refuse just send it to the fos who will look at it for you and decide just need bank statements and credit file what are easier than you think to get and once sent to fos they will attach them to all your claims if you let them know the ref numbers of each claim good luck and if you need more advice just pop back here everyone so helpful
Tim ber says
Had a few settled directly but got 5 with ombudsman now. One since beginning of march which has yet still not been looked at. Been with an adjudicator for 6 weeks now still not sorted. As long as you aren’t in a rush the fos is great. I sound like I’m whinging here but I’m not its just as a heads up as the fos are massively over subscribed at the moment and claims are taking a long time
Paul says
Hi, Thank you for this article, makes me feel alot better just knowing that this is possible. Just wondering, what is the usual time frame this can all be done in?
cheers
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That depends on the lender and how good your case is. A good case with some lenders can be settled directly, some in a few weeks, others in about 8.
But some lenders are just difficult and make random / poor offers on even good cases and won’t negotiate. Then it can take between 4 and 7 months at the Ombudsman, or even longer for the 10% of cases that get taken to the second “Ombudsman” level.
Do you still have balances owing?
Gemma says
If a pay day refunds company don’t get any joy, is it worth me sending complaints off myself? I honestly don’t feel like they are doing enough to pursue these. The forms they are sending to the ombudsman are not very detailed one line answers, I’ve had an email back from them as I’ve been chasing them for updates basically saying 4 have declined a couple were sent to financial ombudsman few weeks back but it can take 9-12 months before they get any kind of response. Is this true? If only I’d of seen this site sooner I’d of done it all myself!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They generally do a dreadful job. This isn’t like PPI where you n use the same letter for everyone, the Ombudsman asks questions about affordability complaints, often not difficult ones for you to answer but a one line stock reply from the claims company doesn’t hack it 😡
If you take over the complaint yourself, you still have to pay them their fees. I can’t tell if you are likely to speed a case up.
Gemma says
If you get no joy with a pay day refunds company can you send complaints off yourself? I have been told 3 have declined no explanation why and they won’t answer me when I ask if these have been sent to the FOS! .. never reply to emails it’s been well over 8 weeks and so frustrating. Do not use a payday refunds company people it is not worth it!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Oh they are useless. Yes you can take over a claim but they will still insist on being paid their high fee.
One possible bit of trouble is in the small print of what you have agreed to with the claims companies – some of them have a nasty clause saying that you authorise them to take all decisions relating to your claims. If they have agreed to withdraw the claim then there will be nothing you can do as the lender will refuse a new claim from you. But hopefully this won’t have happened.
Gemma says
I am tempted to give them a bad review on trust pilot but don’t want this going against me IF they manage to get me anything back
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That doesn’t seem likely – and you have to weigh it against the fact that a bad review may make someone actually look at your case not ignore you.
Gemma says
after putting a bad review i recieved an email about an hour later relating to quick quid asking me for bank statements.. the only problem i have is i changed bank accounts in 2016 so the account i was using is now closed and unsure whether i can still get statements from this? will quick quid actually read the statements? is it worth sending these at all? the pay day refund company literally just sent me an email which looks like a random email they’ve sent to everyone!
Rob says
Hello,
Before i discovered this website i put a few complaints in with a claims company. I am now having trouble with them regarding a win i had with a lender. At the start of me making complaints with the company i sent them 7 years worth of bank statements as they asked for them, they confirmed receipt of them. Then one of my complaints got picked up by the FOS adjudicator on 24th Sept and they emailed the claims company who contacted me, asking for bank statements for the time of my loans. I rang the company to explain i had already sent this to them and was assured they would forward to the FOS by the deadline of 1st Oct. 1st Oct comes and the adjudicator asks where the statements are and gives a few more days to receive. I was at this point very unhappy with the claims company and called them to ask what was going on, they apologised as the statements appeared to have not been sent. I told them to forget it and i would contact the adjudicator myself which i did and i emailed the statements to her. I won the case and received a refund of £1197. Then the claims company invoiced for their fee, they state they never charge more than 25% which would have been £299 but they were charging me £321. I had already complained on the phone about me having to essentially do their job for them re the statements. They are chasing for the £321 but i firmly beleive they do not deserve the full fee, do i have a leg to stand on here?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can obviously complain if they have charged more than they said they would (but did you allow for them adding VAT?)
You could also offer a lower amount as they appear to have been both slow an incompetent and you have had to do all the leg work you were employing them to do. perhaps offer them half?
Rob says
It says on their website – We charge 20.83% + VAT (overall 25%) – so me working it out on 25% shows they have over charged me
They haven’t responded to me as yet but i stated to them i felt seeing as they provided half a service they don’t deserve a full payment
Ruby74 says
Went through a payday refunds company received an email from them about an offer but can’t get through to them, tried phoning them and emails but no response any ideas
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Keep trying? Contact the lender directly? It’s hard to guess really, these claims companies can be useless. What did the email say?
Lukas says
Hello, back in the 2017-2019 i had taken a lot of loans, most of them got repaid, but then i got stuck into them and in the end now im in arrears. Can i get any refunds from claims if i owe them money at the moment? But before i had many loans repaid. I still didnt do anything, just gathering information, saw this today on facebook and almost filled in my details, but i thought i better google this myself.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Lukas, well done for googling – you may have saved yourself a lot of money. All the claims companies do is send off standard template letters like the ones you can find here https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/
Yes you can do this with lenders where you have repaid all the loans AND with lenders where you still owe money. It’s the same process and the same letters, but there are a few extra points when you still owe some money so read this article https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-refunds-defaulted-loan/ which looks at those.
Lukas says
I had around 10 or more loans from sunny, but the last one is defaulted. So i guess i can still claim then ones i have repayed?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Claim for them all. You don’t normally get the first few refunded, so a “typical” refund would say loans 4-10 or 5-10. With loan 10 which you haven’t repaid, the “refund” would be taking off the interest. So if you borrowed £300, have paid £50 and the balance is £490, that would be changed to the balance is 300-50=250 so you only repay what you borrowed.
If you then get a refund of 490 for the earlier loans you have paid, £250 of this will be used to settle the defaulted loan and you will get a refund of £490-250=£240. And the default will be removed from your credit record.
But you don’t need to do any maths now. Just put in your complaints, then if you get an offer you aren’t sure about, come back here and ask. because once you have said yes, you can’t later change your mind, so its best to think before agreeing.
Good luck!
Peter says
Hi Sara
I have 5 payday loan complaints with the Ombudsman ranging from 4-6 months with them with no response. The solicitor’s involved just reply saying still waiting for a reply. Do you think I should offer the company’s involved a chance to make an offer of just wait
Thanks
Peter
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think if you are paying a solicitor (why?) then they know more about your case and you should follow their advice.
Peter says
They are a pay as you win solicitor taking 30% but does not seem to be any urgency
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh a claims company, you won’t get any legal advice from them! nor much useful information. They clearly haven’t explained to you how these claims are likely to progress. I suggest you read the article above and read back through a few pages of comments on here.
embob says
having the same problem with hss solicitors been reviewing my cases for 18 months and fob me off with the odd email saying waiting to obtain a dsar from the payday lenders.had over 100 loans over 3 years with different payday lenders
Ann says
Hi there I used a claims company before I found this site. They have came back to me saying payday Express has rejected my claim as time barred. They have not said I can send to fos or asked for any info about why I didn’t send a complaint before the 6 years. Can I now just take over this complaint myself and send to fos? Thank you!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That may depend on the T&Cs of the contract you have agreed to with the claims company. Why don’t you ask them what can be done now? If they say nothing, I think you should be able to take over the case.
Ann says
I emailed them asking if they would do anymore with my complaint and that if not I will take over – over a week later with more chasing they replied saying they wouldn’t pursue it anymore but that I wouldn’t get anywhere myself…. upon reading the final response letter payday Express ask why I took so long to complain so they will look into it if I provide this information. claims companies are useless and are not even reading the responses they are being sent! Thank goodness for this website!
Bill says
Hello i have had loads of payday loans from 6/7 different company’s at the same time…. I paid most them bk but was using one to pay the other and had a gambling problem😔 I had a job but the expenditure was to much…. I was basically stuck in a loop untill won a bet £10.000 and paid them all off… I don’t gamble no more that’s was my last bet ever 3 years ago… so can I still claim back as I paid them all back……
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes you can! the loans were unaffordable if you couldn’t repay them from your inome – not gambling winnings and not by borrowing more.
See https://debtcamel.co.uk/gambling-payday-loan-refunds/ for some example cases involving gambling and use the normal payday loans template to start each complaint: https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/.
Peter Siddle says
Hi Sara
I have a made a complaint with FOS regarding my payday loan with a well know company. Complaint was made to FOS last year September and I have not heard back from FOS. I know there busy but nearly 8 months and no reply is ridiculous. Do I need to be worried?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“well known” – that could be well known for being useless… I suggest you phone up FOS to confirm they have your complaint.
Jen Arnold says
Hi
I used a claims company in April 2018 who managed to get me a small amount from a company , the others they asked me to get details ready for ombudsman, I however at the time got Ill and was happy to leave it and if I’m honest a bit scared of what it entailed . I’m in a better disruption mentally and physically it’s now been a year and I have sent letters to these three company’s , pay day Uk via money shop replied and said a final letter was sent with a response and they won’t be investigating , I’ve asked for a copy as the claim company didn’t supply this to me at the time . The others are looking in to complaint . So my questions is can I still put in complaint and will they consider it as it’s been 12 months since the claims company dealt with it . Also will the finiancial ombudsman even look at the case of its been 12 months ? X
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am sorry but the lenders are very likely to all refuse to look at your complaint. And FOS won’t take it unless you were very seriously ill (in hospital? or sectioned?)
If you can show you were misled by the Claims Company you may have a complaint against them, but it sounds as though they asked you for infomration and you didn’t supply it.
Jen Arnold says
Thank you for your response , the claims company didn’t send me a copy of a final response I’ve searched everywhere for them . they just asked for statements etc i then shortly after was ill . I will look into it with them . Quick quid and mr lender are looking into it my complaint but is it likely they will state the same as pay day Uk ? . I was quite ill for a while and was in hospital with a major op and off work for 5 months from September 2018 which was 5 months after they requested info.
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did the Claims Company tell you you only had 6 months to case the case to FOS?
Jen says
No as far as I’m aware they didn’t , I’m trying to hunt through old emails
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ok so send the complaints to FOS saying the Claims Company never told you there was a 6 month time limit AND you were seriously ill, go into details and supply as much evidence as possible, eg hospital letters, appointments etc.
Jen says
Fab thank you I will start preparing my case now
Dale says
Hello
I have used a claim firm and they have set there success fee at 35% which I am okay with considering I didn’t have to do anything at all however I have noticed they will be charging basic charges also? Is that usually what happens? And they seem rather expensive. From £118 per hour to £217.
I am really worried about this.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
First 35% is an outrageous amount for an entirely automated procedure sending the same template letter you can get here for free. And you will get LESS useful support from a Claims Company if you need to decide whether to accept an offer or go to the Ombudsman than you would here, see all the comments from people going through the process below the main payday loan refund page: https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/
You will have to wait and se what you are charged. If yiu think you are charged more than was clearly explained to you at the start – not buried away in the small print – then you can complain to the Claims Management Company and, if it is FCA regulated as many of them now have to be (hopefully over time that will get rid of many of the cowboys in this market) you can then complain to the Financial Ombudsman.
Dale says
Thanks for clearing that up. However I am concerned that I will charged by the claims company more than what I will win? Is that possible?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That would seem to be very unlikely but I can’t comment on the terms of your agreement. I suppose if you want to accept an offer from the lender but the Claims Company says it is too low and you should go to the Financial Ombudsman? But normally that wouldn’t happen and you should complain if it does.
Dale says
As it’s with wonga do you think it best to cancel with them? And use the form online?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Read the T&Cs you have agreed to — my guess is that trying to cancel now may mean you get charged a high amount “for the work already done” and if you leave it run you may only pay a % of the small amount you get.
Dale says
Okay thank you, so it’s best I leave it run with them then you think?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
All I can do is say again you need to read the T&Cs. There are dozens, possibly hundreds, of claims companies. You need to look at the specifics of what you have agreed to, not go on general guesses. If you are unsure, go to your local Citizens Advice and they can help you look through the documentation.
Customer says
Has anyone ever made a complaint against a claims company for incompetence and false information?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
From April 2019 these complaints can go to the Finacial Ombudsman if the claims company is FCA regulated – is it? can you say some more about your complaint?
Customer says
The end of emails from them states “Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in respect of regulated claims management activity” so they are regulated?
I had loans with a few different lenders. They sent away initial complaints to them. I asked for an update on one of them after the initial 8 weeks were up. For one of the lenders I was told it was time barred because loans were over 6 years and there was nothing else that could be done. I asked them to confirm they would no longer look into this and it took them 3 weeks to confirm they wouldnt and to send me the final response letter which actually said if you can let us know why you didnt complain sooner we can look into this. When they sent this to me they said they wont look into this for you anymore than they have for us.
My second lender asked for bank statements after 10 weeks. I forwarded these on and was told they were sent. I asked for an update a few weeks later and was told the 8 weeks had started again and they couldn’t chase them until then?? After another 8 weeks from bank statements being sent I asked for an update and was told the bank statements were sent to the wrong department so they’ve not been looked at yet and it hasn’t been picked up because noone chased it.
These lenders have now went into administration and I have potentially lost out on a few thousand pounds because of this claims company and their incompentency :(
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes they are now FCA regulated, that is good news as complaints can go to the Financial Ombudsman.
Are either the first or the second lender the Money shop, Payday UK or Payday express?
Customer says
Yes – The last complaint they were dealing with for me was against payday uk. They have still not been in touch with me to let me know there are any problems with payday uk or anything.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That just shows how poor they are at telling customers what is happening. All the details about the Money Shop and its other brands are here: https://debtcamel.co.uk/money-shop-to-close-two-million-customers-will-be-informed/
Customer says
Sorry me again! I’m writing out my complaint to send to the claims company and was reading through the complaints part on their website. They have said if you are not happy with their reply you can send it to the legal ombudsman? Is this where complaints used to go for these cases before the financial ombudsman? I just wanted to check as it seems a bit strange to have this on their website still. Thanks!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It sounds as though they haven’t updated their website. Anyone would think they didn’t want you to complain… Send your complaint to the Finacial Ombudsman.
PH says
I used Payday Loans Claimback (part of Investor Compensation). They were useless, so much so that I’ve complained about them (to them) and am awaiting a response from them. They had a response from 2 PDL claims for me – 1 which was rejected by the ombudsman (fair enough, but they didn’t tell me – I only found out when I had rang the FOS to be told it was closed 6 weeks earlier!) and the other which was accepted by the lender in April – I wasn’t told until the middle of June!!! Whenever I rang, I was told that the systems they were working on couldn’t access the PDL complaints and I’d have to wait for them to ring me back. I’m actually still waiting (5 weeks later!!) for them to ring me back about 2 open cases I have. They only became interested in the claim that I had won when I told them I knew the FOS outcome and it was clear they were going to get their little bit for what they had done.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If the CMC rejects your complaint, send it to FOS and ask for compensation!
Matthew says
Hello my name is Matthew and I have had several payday loans with several different companies all at the same time, I have got a copy of all my bank statements but was wondering how I would go about complaining? Is it easier with several cases to use a company or try and do each one individually?
Kind regards
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, it’s easier to do it your self. It’s easy to send the first emails and then you just wait for the replies. We have seen too many people have bad experiences with claims companies that don’t say what is going on and sometimes leave it too late to take a case to the Financial Ombudsman.
The template letters are over here: https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/ and that page has a link to all the email addresses for each lender. Once you have done one, you will find the next one trivial! the comments on that main page are the best place for questions eg if you are made an offer and you aren’t sure if it’s good enough.
Jim says
Hi Sara,
I was hoping that you can provide me with some advice and clarity.
I sent in an affordability complaint to QQ, via a third party company in May 2018. The complaint was not upheld, owing to the fact that the loans were over six years old.
The third party company were pretty useless and did not challenge or propose the idea of taking the matter to the FOS and did not provide me with QQ’s final response.
Having read numerous posts of people in a similar situation, and the fact that QQ are considering the more historical cases, I thought I would sent an affordability claim myself.
I got a response from QQ, stating that as a final response was issued in May 2018, they would not consider readdressing the matter or consider a new complaint, as it is company policy.
Following this response, I contacted the FOS about this case, and I was informed that because I did not appeal QQ’s decision within six weeks, they would not consider looking into this any further.
I was not aware that there was a timeframe from after a final response was made, as I was not informed by the third party company, nor did I receive the final response from QQ, which would have presumably advised me of my rights to appeal etc.
So you think I can take any further action with this?
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is the Claims Company now an FCA regulated firm?
Jim says
Hi Sara,
I do not believe so, it was a company called Consolidators Limited, T/A BankRebate.com.
The company received a winding up petition and no longer trades.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That’s a shame, otherwise you could have gone after them for compensation for mishandling your claim. But now I doubt you can do anything. QQ are perfectly within their right to refuse to look at the same complaint again.
A. says
So after complaining to a cmc and receiving an acknowledgement they have not sent a reply. Does anyone have any experience of sending these claims to the fos? Does it still take the same length of time as complaints against lenders? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The CMC hasn’t replied in 8 weeks? That’s poor.
My guess is that CMC complaints will go a lot faster at FOS because these are only just starting.
A. says
Yes it’s been 9 weeks today. I did send them an email chasing a reply but they have ignored that so I’ve forward to fos. They have been a joke from the start so I’m not that surprised. Will see what happens from here.
William Murray says
I contacted a claims company in january this year about a claim against clearaccount/safetynet credit.I have sent e-mail after e-mail without reply i believe they are tower partners.How do i find out if this claim is still live as they have no contact number now getting worried as the dont reply to any e-mail crrespindence.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you asked SNC what has happened to the complaint?
Dave says
I wanted to say Thanks to this information and site.
Sent off emails to all Payday Loan Company’s and was paid by them all (apart from the ones that went into administration)
Lending Stream Declined my complained, So i took it to the Ombudsmen
I received a email with a settlement of £2000 today and accepted. So am just waiting on the payment.
I am also now debit free, Its like the start of a new fresh chapter and with a nice amount to start it. I would of not even considered or attempted it if it wasn’t for this site. So thank you very much