Many people with a gambling problem have been given unaffordable credit. This fueled their gambling and they got deeper into debt.
Credit is affordable if you can repay it and still pay your other debts, bills and expenses. If it is unaffordable, then you can ask for a refund of interest and charges and take a complaint the lender declines to the Financial Ombudsman (FOS).
But gambling complicates this – perhaps that loan or credit card would have been affordable if only you could stop gambling? Many people who have made an affordability complaint are worried that their complaint will be rejected because of their gambling.
This article looks at some FOS decisions that have involved gambling and affordability complaints.
FOS takes the view that a lender should not have given the credit if they knew – or should have known – that the borrower had a gambling habit.
It doesn’t matter who the lender is. As you can see from the cases below, it’s not just payday lenders, it can be major high street banks.
It is the general approach to gambling that matters here, and FOS’s approach is broadly the same across all lenders and different types of credit.
Contents
What does FOS look at when making a decision?
A lender can’t argue that the borrower should have said they had a gambling problem
Case 1: The fact the customer had not told the lender he had a gambling problem isn’t relevant:
if it had looked at Mr H’s bank statements, it would’ve quickly realised Mr H was gambling and that Mr H couldn’t afford to repay. I don’t think Mr H’s failure to tell Mr Lender about the gambling means he shouldn’t receive compensation as Mr Lender didn’t carry out proportionate checks.
Gambling isn’t discretionary expenditure
Case 2: Payday UK argued that the adjudicator shouldn’t have considered gambling transactions as part of Mr C’s expenditure when looking at affordability as they weren’t essential expenditure.
The Ombudsman didn’t agree:
Mr C’s bank statements show he was regularly spending quite a lot of his income on gambling by this point. So if Payday UK (having a full understanding of his circumstances) was thinking about what Mr C would have available the following month, based on his previous spending patterns I think it’s likely he would’ve continued to spend similar amounts on gambling.
I don’t think it’s fair to say Mr C’s spending on gambling was discretionary at this point.
Gambling showing on bank or credit card statements
Case 3: SafetyNet Credit had access to the borrower’s bank accounts. In this case, the borrower was on a good income:
Mr M was working and typically received an income in the region of £3,000 each month. Some months he also received a bonus in addition to his regular salary. This income is not however significant when comparing it to Mr M’s expenditure.
[SafetyNet Credit] had more than enough information to accurately consider Mr M’s financial position… it should have been obvious that Mr M was living beyond his means, which was likely to have been caused by his compulsion to gamble.
I think that the lending from SafetyNetCredit, and other parties, was used to fund his gambling or other existing commitments, which he couldn’t afford because he’d already spent money on gambling. It seems as though he was caught in a significant cycle of lending and gambling.
Case 4: Vanquis increase a borrower’s credit card limit despite significant amounts of gambling transactions on the credit card. The Ombudsman decided:
I’m not convinced that it can be fairly or reasonably said that any of the subsequent credit limit increases can be considered as being affordable or suitable for Mrs B at the times that they were implemented. And I say this because of the usage of Mrs B’s Vanquis credit account, which demonstrated a high number of gambling transactions which I feel should have given Vanquis cause for concern, as well as the deteriorating wider financial position of Mrs B, as demonstrated by her credit file…
Vanquis explained to this service that they wouldn’t discriminate against an account holder on the basis of how they use their account. But I’m not convinced that this argument can be considered reasonable when an account holders’ transactions highlight a potential gambling addiction.
Lenders should check all accounts a customer has
Case 5: RBS increased a borrower’s overdraft limit significantly and gave him a large loan despite gambling showing on his bank statements. The decision:
A cursory look at Mr B’s statements showed that he’d been gambling significant sums in the lead up to the overdraft increase… Mr B had gambled in excess of his declared monthly income and this had taken him close to and marginally over his existing credit limit in the month proceeding the increase.
In these circumstances, I thought that it ought to have been apparent that there was a significant risk Mr B might have struggled to sustainably repay what he already owed. And he was therefore unlikely to have been able to repay any additional credit without undue difficulty or borrowing further.
Bearing this in mind, I was minded to find that RBS shouldn’t have increased Mr B’s overdraft limit April 2019 and also suspended the use of his facility. And considering the monthly loan payments of just under £800 also took up just under half his monthly income, I found that RBS shouldn’t have provided Mr B with a loan in April 2019 either.
Case 6: Nationwide gave a customer a credit card with a large limit, £6,500, despite gambling showing on bank statements:
When conducting my own review of the performance of Ms B’s Nationwide current account – as Nationwide described that they would themselves have done – it’s of immediate and obvious concern that Ms B was consistently overdrawn throughout this period, often by significant amounts and close to the overdraft limit.
Nationwide explained to this service that they wouldn’t decline a customer’s credit application solely on the basis that the customer maintained a consistently overdrawn balance with them. I can understand Nationwide’s point here, to a degree, but it would be expected that the consistently overdrawn performance of Ms B’s current account would have been of concern here and should have prompted a more detailed check.
And, had Nationwide checked the statement transactions for Ms B’s current account for the months immediately prior to the credit account application, it would have been seen that these included a large number of gambling transactions. Because of this, I find it difficult not to conclude that Nationwide would, or should, have arrived at a different decision with regard their approval of Ms B’s application for credit, had they undertaken a more thorough check.
When lending continues, lenders should look for warning signs
Case 7: Lending Stream had given a series of loans to the customer over several years. It argued that:
it was for Mr P to provide accurate information about his income and outgoings. It said it wasn’t required to make further checks if the loans looked affordable.
The Ombudsman agreed that Lending Stream did enough checks on the first loan and was entitled to rely, at that point, on the customer’s information about his outgoings. But:
… Lending Stream’s check showed that Mr P was heavily and increasingly in debt to a range of lenders. The amount of his debt had increased greatly by the time of his second loan…
… He had credit card and short term loan debts. He was reliant on increasing short term loans to fund his gambling habit and his living expenses. I think if Lending Stream had made further checks it would have seen, as I have, that Mr P was dependent on short term loans. And so it would have decided that giving him further loans would be irresponsible.
Check what the customer tells you
Case 8: Everyday Loans spotted a lot of gambling on the one bank statement it asked the customer for – he explained that he didn’t have a gambling problem and had closed his account. But the Ombudsman decided:
Mr C’s gambling expenditure was significant. In the month before he applied for the loan he had spent an amount in excess of his normal income.
Mr C’s earlier bank statements show clear evidence that he was in fact regularly spending large amounts on online gambling transactions. It is clear from those statements that the spending wasn’t, as Mr C had suggested, simply related to the summer football tournament. His statements appear to show that he was in fact suffering from an addiction to gambling, and he was funding that expenditure by borrowing from a range of other lenders. I don’t think, had it seen that additional evidence, that [Everyday Loans]would have agreed to give this loan to Mr C.
Case 9: George Banco gave a guarantor loan to consolidate payday loan credit without considering the borrower’s full circumstances:
George Banco hasn’t provided any evidence to show how it understood which [payday loans] would be repaid and at what cost. I can’t see that it could make a fair lending decision without knowing this. In addition, Mr S was spending a significant proportion of his income on what seem to be gambling transactions in the months prior to this loan. So from this, combined with his reliance on payday loans, I think the lender ought to have realised Mr S was having problems managing his money and there was a high risk he would be unable to sustainably repay this loan.
Hard to win complaints
Not every complaint involving gambling is upheld.
Cases where the loans are small and someone only borrowed a few times are always difficult to win regardless of the gambling element. The lender often just didn’t know enough to see that the borrower could be in trouble and the amount of credit was so small detailed checks did not need to be made.
Case 10: A Myjar case involving five loans. Here the lender had offered to remove the interest from the last loan and accept a repayment plan but the customer felt that was insufficient. The Ombudsman agreed that only refunding the last loan was reasonable as the loans were small so the checks made were proportionate.
It is also hard to win cases where gambling has only recently become a problem. If you have a good credit record and are well paid, there may be no warning flags that suggest a lender should look in detail at your application.
The “standard” compensation
FOS awards in the vast majority of cases
The standard compensation if an affordability complaint is upheld is for interest to be refunded. If a balance is still owing, the interest refund first reduces the balance and any remaining amount is refunded in cash.
The effect is that people have to repay the amount they borrowed but not any additional interest or charges added.
FOS says about credit records:
We’d typically expect a lender to remove any adverse information on a loan, from the borrower’s credit file, where a complaint is upheld for irresponsible lending.
The refunds and credit records also include taking account of payments made to a debt collector if the debt had been sold, and removing (the legal term is set aside) any CCJ.
It is very unusual not to have to repay what was borrowed
This only tends to happen when the lender was specifically aware that the borrower had a major gambling problem – not by working it out from bank statements but because of previous interactions with the customer where gambling had been discussed.
Case 10: Lloyds gave a customer who had asked for a gambling block on her account two large loans within 6 months, both were said to be for the pur[pose of buying a car. The first loan had been repaid soon after it was given. The Ombudsman found that Lloyds had made reasonable checks for the first loan, but not for the second much larger loan:
The entire amount of the funds advanced for loan 1 were transferred to a betting company, which transactions to were supposed to be blocked, the day after the funds were provided. Lloyds said the use of a third-party service to make the transfers meant that any gambling block would have been negated. Although I wasn’t entirely persuaded by this argument given the payments were made using a well-known third-party payment service to a highly recognisable high-street betting company, which Miss D had been told transactions to had been blocked, clearly appeared within the transactions…
Lloyds chose to lend [the second loan] in these circumstances despite the reasonably foreseeable prospect of
the funds dissipating as a result of being gambled away and being no longer available to repay any debt as a result…
I don’t think removing the interest fees and charges goes far enough. The circumstances of this case and in particular the financial hardship which is likely to be caused by requiring Miss D to pay funds she doesn’t have and is unlikely to get, lead me to think that the fair and reasonable thing for Lloyds to do here, given all the circumstances, is write off the outstanding balance on loan 2…
it seems to me removing adverse information from Miss D’s credit file, increasing the chances of her being able to borrow further would be counterproductive and arguably not in her best interests, or those of any potential lender. So I think it’s fair and reasonable for Lloyds to reflect what I’m asking it to do in relation to the outstanding balance on the loan and record it wrote off a balance on this loan on Miss D’s credit file.
How to complain – tell your story
There isn’t a special template for gambling related complaints. Instead, use the template letters for affordability complaints that is right for the sort of credit you are complaining about, see links to the refund templates.
If a lender rejects your complaint, you can send it to the Ombudsman. You can’t go direct to FOS.
If one of these cases above sounds a lot like your situation, this doesn’t mean you will get the same result. But as you can see from these cases, FOS doesn’t start from the position that it is your fault you were gambling.
When you are sending a case to FOS, be completely open about your gambling problem and the way it interacted with your borrowing from this particular lender. Just tell your story.
And do send your bank statements – they are the evidence that supports your complaint!
But if you are still gambling…
You can make an affordability complaint if you still have a balance owing to the lender (or debt collector if it has been sold).
But making these complaints if you still have a gambling problem is pretty pointless. If you get any money back you will probably soon be donating it to the bookies and their shareholders…
I know it’s hard, but you need to stop gambling first. Then when you have been “clean” for a while, these complaints can help rebuild your finances.
So read How to escape from the bad credit trap on how a debt management plan can help and How gambling wrecks your finances which looks at the different ways to get help.
Refunds from large loans & car finance
Refunds from cards and catalogues
Can you get an overdraft refund?
M says
Thank you!
Ernestkola says
Good afternoon Sara… just quick question pls… l make complaint about My interest on my NatWest overdraft… … in July 21 … because l have agreement 2013 that l will not pay any interest on my overdraft. And last year natwest write to me that make an error for not changing me anything for years and they will be charging me from now from overdraft of £3000… and they compensate me £100 for their mistake . Can l still take it to FOS now is over 6month now
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Can I be clear, you made a complaint about overdraft charges which Natwest rejected when they weren’t actually charging you anything?
Ernestkola says
Yes…because l have agreement with them in 2013 when l lost my job ..l was not charging from 2013 till 2021… but they admit the error… … over 6month now ..l make a complaint but they reject it…
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what is your current situation? Are you in work? what other debts do you currently have?
Ernestkola says
Am working at the moment.. but l already have arrangement for order of my debt by paying them back every month some are default
Sara (Debt Camel) says
then you need to go back to NatWest and explain this and ask them not to start charging you. It maty be simpler to move banks and then put all your debts including the NatWest overdraft into a debt management plan.
Ernestkola says
But is over 6month now…l dont think l can still go back to them or FOS. 4 complain…. what is the best pls?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
But now you are not making a complaint at all – you are just explaining your situation and asking them not to charge you interest because of this. You will need to talk through your current income and expenses.
this has nothing to do with them saying they wouldn’t charge you interest in 2013 – it isn’t a complaint.
Ernestkola says
Ok thanks…. l talk to them about it already and they said l have to default if they have to set arrangement with me … l dont want to default ..l have about 4 account already on default
Sara (Debt Camel) says
then 1 more isn’t going to make any difference, is it? It is normal for your credit score to be harmed if interest is frozen – I don’t see you have an alternative, have you?
Ernestkola says
No any alternative
Sara (Debt Camel) says
then just forget about the defaults. How much do your total debts add up to including this overdraft?
Ernestkola says
About £15k .. with credit cards and overdrafts
I have mortgage for 16yrs but l never missed any payments before… am try to get my self together with my credit score because l want to do remortgage next year
Sara (Debt Camel) says
and how much a month are you paying to these debts?
if you have 4 recent defaults you won’t be able to remortgage with a different lender at an OK rate.
Ernestkola says
How about if l paid all my default in full still not be able to remortgage next year? Am waiting for a injury payout soon… l want to remortgage and buy new houses aswell.. what is the best plan for that pls?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
well wait until you get the payout and then see. But yes, you normally have to have settled defaulted debts at least a year before getting a new mortgage.
Ernestkola says
Good afternoon Sara … how are doing well? Pls just quick question l just received email from FOS now .. l made unaffordable complaint to my capitalone credit and Ocean credit card both credit owed by the same company…l open capitalone in 2016 with credit £200 and then increased about 3 times to £1550 . And the ocean credit card open in 2018 with credit limit of £1250 no increment on the ocean credit card. I make complaint to them in December but they reject it and then send it to fos straight away. I got reply from fos today asking m3 this question.From what I’ve seen, it appears that you opened your first account with Capital One on 5 January 2016. Please can you tell me when you first became reasonably aware that the credit card was unaffordable and if there were any extreme circumstances that prevented you from bringing your complaint sooner.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you reply saying when and how you first heard about affordability complaints that credit cards had raised their limit too high, and that was wiithin the last 3 years, so you believe you meet the “within three years of becoming aware you had a cause to complain” rule.
Also point out that some of Capital One’s credit limit increases were within the last 6 years of you complaining.
Ernestkola says
I open the capitalone credit in 2016 and Ocean 2018 … what year you think is better to tell them that heard about the affordability complaints pls?? And credit cards raised limit too high withing 3yrs ?They will call me tomorrow
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The Ocean card is clearly within the 6 year point, that won’t be a problem.
Just tell the truth about when and how you found out about these complaints. Most of the Cap One credit limit increases must be within 6 years anyway.
Ernestkola says
Good afternoon Sara .. am sorry to disturb you.. just quick question l just received l call from fos now… the ask me what day in last 3yrs was ar where that the credit card is not affordable for me and what make me or the reason that make me ar where the credit is affordable for me
And the reason l did not bring the case early to fos
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Just tell them how and when you found out about these complaints. Say you knew before the credit was causing you problems but didn’t realise that the lender should have checked the higher limits were affordable, so you did not know you had a cause to complain before finding out about these complaints.
Ernestkola says
Good afternoon Sara .. just received from fos to explain.You previously explained that you became aware in January 2019 because your credit was causing you causing you problems, please can you specifically explain what what these problems were. I don’t know what to say pls?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t know – what happened in January? Did something specific happen with your personal finances that made you look around for options and find out about affordability complaints? Like maxing out a credit limit or being declined for a loan or your new years resolution to improve things or… there arent any wrong answers here, just say what happened to you.
Ernestkola says
Just because I told them that l notice affordability in 2019 because my credit is causing me problems.. they want to know the problems that my credit is causing me. Do do so sorry to disturb you
Trickyd1983 says
I replied to the same question – I said I became aware just before I complained, as was looking online in despair from being in so much debt. This answer was satisfactory 🙂
Ernestkola says
Thanks so much Sara… both credit cards is default now.. l only aware last yr about affordability complaint that the credit raised too high.. just have arrangement with them now pay monthly
Matt S says
I know this is off topic a little, but would there ever be a case for putting in a complaint to an online bookmaker for (i’m not sure of the right term) but something like ireesponsibility, lack of care… something like that?
Only reason i ask is that i along with many built up large debts due to a gambling addicition. With one online bookmaker i just made small deposits of £5-£10 regularly but for 5-6 years in a row i was losing about £2000-£3000 a year to them (i wasn’t a good gambler)
I know this is a completely different scenario to lending but surely there must be a level of responsibilty for them to ensure their customers can afford to lose the amounts that they are? I understand they have responsible gambling measures but these put everything solely on the customer. At some point they must realise that some particular customers continue to lose money day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year? Surely at some point they should be checking to ensure the customer can afford these losses.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am sorry but this is not an area I have any knowledge of. I am a debt adviser, so I know the rules around giving credit.
Ernestkola says
Good afternoon Sara .. pls l need your advice on overdraft of £4500 … starting limit from £3400 April 2009 and £4000 may and £4500 in July 2009
And then l took a loan of £10.000.00 in July 2009 .
Total £ 14.500.000.00 buy have £12.000.00 from the money left £2500 which am still paying at the moment .. any grand of me making any complaint pls?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
see https://debtcamel.co.uk/get-refund-overdraft/ for overdraft complaints. I can’t guess if you have a good complaint or not, but if you feel it was unaffordable then mak it.
Jack says
Morning. Just a quick question unfortunately I am a gambler and took out a loan with Monzo bank. I sctually banked with Monzo so there saw my day to day spending and in a 2 and a half year period it was way over my income. Some months 8000 pound and days a thousand pound a day. Terrible I know. My credit score was also 399 out of 1000 and each month I was paying more out than I was coming in. I also took out a overdraft with them 3 days prior to my loan. Do you think as a company there system to pick up such a large volume of transactions. I was also emailed about the loan 3 times in 2 weeks offering me this saying I was pre approved. No income or expenditure just my banking habits was used. I know I have to pay the loan and my responbilty just seems crazy to me that they would offer loans when there is a history of 70000 pounds worth of transactions. Also a big defecit
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how large was the overdraft?
Jack says
The overdraft was 1 thousand pound all be it I didn’t go into it. My wages went in to Monzo and my spending to a betting company was 75 thousand pound with 65 thousand of that being since March 2020. My income each month was 1560.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok if you didn’t use it, then this is just a reason why they should also have thought twice about the loan.
this is the article with a template for making a complaint about a loan: https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-large-high-cost-loans/. If they reject it, send it to the Ombudsman and enclose copies of your bank statements for the 3 months before the loan was given.
Have you stopped gambling now? Because if you haven’t, this is all pretty pointless. Any money back you will just lose. better to sort out the gambling first then after 6 months clean, have a go at rebuilding your finaces.
Trickyd1983 says
You will get all your intrest and charges back and possibly some of the capital. Complain to you bank about unaffordable/irresponsible lending and the grounds of you being a degenerate gambler and had they have some checks they should have known this. Just list the accounts that are relevant, along with any and all statements. Job done. They probably say no, you send same complaint to ombudsman, easy case.
Ernestkola says
Good afternoon Sara.. can you make unaffordable against car finance pls ? Have paid them off.. but take another one now still paying it at the moment.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
See https://debtcamel.co.uk/unaffordable-car-finance/
Ernestkola says
Do you have any templates pls?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Read the article again…. It links to one with a template.
Ernestkola says
Thanks ..so much ..l find the template in the article now is the same template for large loan .. do you think l have good grand for this complaint pls?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You are the one that knows if the repayments were affordable. Me making a guess isn’t going to make any difference. I am sorry but you have left 70 comments on different pages. You know what an affordability complaint is. Just read the articles in detail, have a think and make a complaint.
Ernestkola says
Good evening sara… hope is ok to include payday loans and gambling transaction in my account for car finance unaffordable complaint pls? Because did not ask me for my bank statement only payslips.. they ask for when l took the loans and also can make complaint from 2015 till date pls? I have a lot of gambling transaction and payday loans on my bank statement
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes show them the bank statements.
3 months before and three months afterwards is good. You dont have to print them if you can download them from your back – just send the pdf by email.
Emma says
I made a complaint to Aqua about them giving me a second credit card 5 weeks after defaulting on one with them. They upheld my complaint and refunded interest and charges but they’ve declined to remove the default from my credit card.
I’ve asked them to reconsider but will send to FOS if needs be
Am I likely to win this case with FOS?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would hope so.
Simon says
Hi Sara,
Up until December I had a serious gambling problem (I am 98 days without a bet now). In October I took out a logbook loan secured against my car for £2500. My bank statements show my salary going in (around £3000 per month) and about £6000 going out to another account in my name which I used to gamble. Should the lender have asked further questions on the large outgoings to another account in my name before providing the loan? They did the econsent check where they can see 3 months worth of transactions, so they would have seen this.
Just want to know if it’s worth raising an irresponsible lending claim.
Thanks
Si
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes I think they should have checked that.
Did you have other high cost loans? Did you have Your credit card or overdraft limits increased too high?
PS 3 months clean – well done!
Simon Walters says
I was using other payday lenders and also had 2 credit cards at their limits although they were not increased. Luckily I didn’t have overdraft on this account.
Thanks – it’s been a bit of a rough ride but hoping I can get the interest of this loan written off and start rebuilding my finances :)
Si
Simon says
Hi Sara, I had a response to my complaint today to say they are not upholding it because I didn’t declare the gambling as an issue and my pay was enough to cover the payments. They have offered me £50 as a goodwill gesture which I have declined. The complaint I made was not about affordability rather than irresponsibility on their part, I am in a fairly well paid job and could afford the repayments but I believe Logbookloans were irresponsible to lend to me given the obvious level of gambling on my account . Do you think I have a case with the FOS?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
But if the bank statements you showed then showed 3000 coming in and 6000 going out, how was the loan affordable?
Ed says
Hi Sara
Where is the template letter i can use for car cash point loans when i used the money on gambling?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-large-high-cost-loans/
Ernestkola says
Thanks so much 🙏 Sara .. for your help ..l have every bank statement sent to them by PDL … l have took 3 different car finance with the same company.. starting from 2015 paid it off and then get another car in 2018 paid it off and got another one in 2020 still paying it at the moment.. during 2018 that l hit the car l was paid 17k injury money in to my account . .. hope that money will not be a problem pls? And also l if have grand to make complaint from 2015 pls? I was struggling to pay the money that time and have to take payday loans to pay for the car… and alot gambling transaction in my account but they did not ask me for my bank statement when l took the loans .only payslips… what do you think about situation pls? My 1st car £5000 deposit from hand and 10.000 Finance and second car £9.000 cash and £8.000 finance and 3rd car £8.500 cash and £10.000 finance. What do you think about this situation pls.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am sorry but you have left over 70 c0mments on different pages. You know the definition of affordable, Make a complaint about the car finance if you feel it was unaffordable.
SlowLearner says
Just coming on here to say that eventually Coop accepted my adjudicators’ findings and have said they will settle in line with her recommendations. Fingers crossed that’s the last delay now and I will hear from them within the four weeks. It took them three months to finally accept the adjucicators recommendations but we didn’t have to take it to the Ombudsman so that was a relief.
The whole process for me from initial complaint took just over a year. Stay patient and persistent everyone!
Ryan says
Hi Sara
Few questions
I’ve had a refund offer from Tappily for £750 which is all the interest I paid on a £4000 loan I had with them a few years ago
I was thinking about using this to offer a partial settlement to Tesco whom I have a £1500 credit card balance with that is currently marked as persistent debt (over 2 years of minimum payments)
I have an outstanding complaint with Tesco which has been passed to FOS regarding gambling transactions and irresponsible lending
If I offer a partial settlement now, what would happen with my FOS complaint? Is it better to wait until that is resolved?
Also do you know what percentage of the outstanding balance is a good point to start with when it comes to partial settlements?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Unless you have defaulted on this debt, it is very unlikely that Tesco will accept a settlement offer. Do you have any defaulted debts? It would be better to use the refund to make an offer to settle some of those. Or to pay a chunk off your car finance so you get closer to the point where you can make a complaint about that.
Partial settlements don’t affect your chance of winning a FOS complaint, but they will reduce the amount you get back If Tesco accepted £750 to settle a £1500 debt (which I doubt they would), this would be treated as £750 of the redress you should get.
Steven says
Hi Sara,
I took a Nationwide Credit Card out which was attached to my Nationwide current account, I was given a £5400 limit straight away even though I had a lot of gambling transactions on my current account and I was increasing my current account overdraft pretty much every month from October 2018 – January 2019 (500 – 1000).
I took the Credit card out in January 2019. I have put in an affordability complaint to Nationwide but ever since I opened the complaint on the 22nd March, they’ve sent me numerous letter saying that it’s taking longer than usual to investigate the complaint.
My question is: How long should I wait for a response from them before going to the FOS? Is it still 8 weeks / 56 day?
I’ve repeatedly called them once a week to be told it’s being looked at but had nothing back. The next deadline they’ve set for the investigation to be done is the 25th April.
Is there anything else I should be doing?
Thank you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
it is 8 weeks. there is no point in hassling them about this – they are allowed 8 weeks and you arent going to speed this up.
You should be prepared for this to be rejected – a lot of good complaints are, just send it straight to the Ombudsman if this happens.
If you are struggling with money at the moment, talk to StepChange about a debt management plan – you can’t assume an affordability complaint will get you a quick solution, you need to get yourself into a safe financial place where you can wait for an ombudsman decision.
Steven says
Thank you for the response.
It’s already defaulted and is with a debt collection agency, they’re collecting the debt on behalf of Nationwide. I’m just paying them a very small amount at the moment.
I know there is another for this but, I also have outstanding complaints with Everyday Loans, Safety Net and 118 Money.
They have until next week 29th before the 8 weeks is up, do I send the complaint to FOS on that day, or do I need to wait till the 30th to escalate my affordability complaints?
I noticed Safety Net along with the others have reopened my accounts on Clear Score (changed from Closed to Up-to-date) is there any reason for this? Or is this because they’re investing my complaint?
Thank you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you wait until the 30th.
I have no idea why Safetynet Credit has done this, it doesn’t actually harm your credit score, but if the case has yo go to the ombudsman you can also complain about them doing this.
Dave M says
Hi,
I have had many payday loans leading into the thousands of pounds due to unaffordability and gambling. What is the best way to tackle this? Do I email them the normal complaints templates? Can I still claim back from Sunny?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
See https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/ for the template to use. Sunny I am afraid has been liquidated.
May says
I put in a complaint with bamboo loans and I’ve had my final response today and they have not upheld my complaint but have offered £100 . Should I send it to ombudsmun or not bother.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The loan has been repaid I assume?
how much did you borrow? how much did you repay?
when was the loan taken out and what was your financial situation at the time?
May says
I had a 4k loan with them i paid it of a year later with a consolidation loan. My income was 1k a month an the bank statement I sent them on application had all gambling transactions . They said that I had 290 going out for hire purchase etc and they said 300 a month for household bills which left 444 disposable . I was paying 170 to dot dot a month. 300 for bills a month is not right I spend way more than that plus my gambling problem .
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so how much did you settle the loan for?
This sounds like a good case, but Bamboo will negotiate sometimes, so I am asking to suggest what you could say to Bamboo, rather than going straight to the ombudsman.
May says
I paid 170 a month for 14 months I think then I paid them 4k to settle. They trying to say cause I’m a home owner with good credit history and always paid on time and had enough money left over is why they didn’t upheld my complaint. But with my gambling problem I had hire purchase for 120 a month vanquis card to max constantly in my 700 overdraft plus all my household bills which I live alone .
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so it sounds as though you paid about £2380 in interest. Can you check up on exactly what you paid them – how many payments and the exact settlement amount?
If they saw a bank statement with a lot of gambling then they should not have given you this loan without looking very closely at it. just being a home owner isn’t good enough! And if your bank statements showed you were paying more on bills than they said then this is a very strong complaint.
So you shsould go back to them and point this out and say you will be sending it to the Ombudsman unless they refund you the interest you paid.
You could if you want say that in order to get this settled quickly, you are happy to just be paid the interest, but you understand that the Ombudsman will also add 8% interest on.
James says
Hi Sara,
I took out a loan in the amount of £6000 several years ago. Prior to taking out the loan I had been living off pre-existing savings and was gambling large sums of money, five figures, most months. On my loan application I stated that I was in full time employment, which wasn’t true, my only source of income was gambling and my rapidly diminishing savings.
Are these circumstances grounds for an affordability complaint? I’m worried that, as I was not truthful on my loan application, my complaint may be rejected and I may suffer adverse consequences.
Incidentally, having received professional help over the past 18 months, I’m now free of my gambling addiction, and I’m finally looking to get my finances in order.
Thank you for all that you do, James
Sara (Debt Camel) says
who was the loan from? how much other debt did you have at the time?
James says
I had a £1000 overdraft, no other debt. The loan was with Lendable.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what was the interest rate?
James says
Realtively high – the APR was 27%. Looking back through my records, I can see that I’d also taken out a credit card (£800) one month prior to the loan .
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, then I think you should make a complaint and argue that this was a large loan and they knew you were in difficulty or you would not have applied to a bad credit lender and they would not have offered the loan at such a high interest rate. So they should have taken the basic step of verifying your income.
James says
Thanks for this, I’ll draft a detailed complaint over the weekend. The fact that I incorrectly stated that I was in employment; do you think this will be a problem?
Thanks again
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well obviously it’s not good! But the lender should not have accepted an application if they thought there was something wrong with it. And if you earned that much with a great credit record why on earth would you apply to Lendable for a loan?
Kelly says
Hi
Please advise.
On my lloyds account I have a gambling freeze but its still allowed payments out for gambling companies. Can I money back and make a complaint? Any help would be great
Sara (Debt Camel) says
are the payments going directly to a gambling form, or to a third party such as Paypal?
Kelly says
Direct to them bot via PayPal
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then this may be difficult but it is well worth a complaint, if Lloyds could see who the money was going to.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you also have an overdraft with lloyds?
Christine James says
Hello Sarah. 2 years ago I took out a £9000 loan with tesco for a car. The majority of that money was spent of home improvements and baby stuff as we also had our first child around that time. That year I had also become addicted to gambling online and lost a small fortune. Exactly a year later September 2021 I took out another £9000 loan for the car I was supposed to get the first time round. However when I called to ask for the loan I was very surprised they accepted as my bank statements showed numerous gambling transactions, many many transactions I’m surprised they missed. I feel like something should’ve been flagged up when they did the checks, and I wish they had declined the loan. I used most of the loan for gambling. And I did get a car, I am now left with so much debt. I’m in a good job, my Credit score is fine, I wouldn’t say I can’t afford to pay the debt but it’s not leaving me with much disposable income each month. I know I am at fault and I have since stopped gambling, but is there anything I can do to bring the debt down? And can I complain? Do I even have a leg to stand on? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can try a complaint about irresponsible lending – when you applied for the second time for a car loan, they should have seen the gambling and declined it.
What was the interest rate on the first loan? On the second loan?
Christine James says
I’m not sure what the rate of the first loan was, when you top up with tesco they use the new loan to pay off the old one so you’re only paying off one loan. The rate is 3%apr. The total interest on the loan is £1414. Will it effect my credit score if I was to complain? And what’s the best way to go about complaining as I’m very embarrassed about this situation. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
sorry I should have asked – did you bank with Tesco’s? So the gambling transaction were on an account with them?
Christine James says
No my current account is with Barclays. Surely though loan companies run checks on your bank statements before allowing you to take out a loan with them?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well possibly not for the first loan as your credit rating was obviously great and your salary good.
But in a complaint you can argue that tesco should have looked closely at the 2nd loan application because it was for the same reason – a car – that the first one was, suggesting that something had gone wrong. And if they had looked they would have seen that your you had acquired a lot more credit in the last years and seen the gambling on your bank statements.
This may not be easy to win, but it’s worth a try? If you win, the £1414 would be removed from the balance. It will have no affect on your credit record if you carry on make the loan repayments.
To complain use the form here: https://tescobankportal.icasework.com/resource?id=7228740&db=tescobank
Say you are complaining that it was irresponsible of Tesco to give you the second loan as they should have looked closely at your situation because you were again applying for a loan for a car but that was what you said you wanted the previous loan for. And they should have seen that you had got a lot more credit during the year. And if they had looked closely by asking for bank statements, they would have seen a lot of gambling transactions and should not have lent.
Ask them to resolve this by removing the interest from the current loan balance.
Attach the Barclays bank statement for the month before the 2nd loan application to the complaint.
Christine James says
Thanks for the advice. I’m very embarrassed about this situation and I would like to resolve this with tesco via email if possible as I couldn’t bare to have the conversation over the phone. So my credit score wouldn’t be affected by their response? And what do you think the chances are that I will succeed in this matter? The bank statements leading up to my loan application are ridiculous and I only applied for the loan in desperation. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Your credit score can’t be harmed if you make the contractual payments.
I can’t guess what the chances are of you succeeding, all these cases are very individual, but if you don’t try you have no chance…
Chris says
Hello, great article. I have been a problem gambler for many years now, stopping and relapsing multiple times over the years. I had built up huge debts to almost every payday loan company, bank and credit card. Most have cleared or the payday loan companies have liquidated. I made a number of complaints over the years, but mental health etc from my situation made it hard to see them through and a lot were rejected. 2 years ago I applied for a 0% interest credit card to transfer a balance. I was given a £6300 limit, within weeks I had run it up fully on gambling (PayPal and revolut top ups allowed me to do this). I spoke to Santander about my situation fully hoping they could help me. They said because it was 0% and I had income to cover the minimum payment (which they reduced to about 1% of the balance) they didn’t need to out it into payment plan or anything.it was still ‘affordable’. I managed to stop gambling and the company returned my card to normal function, I recently managed to clear the remaining balance by transferring to a new 0% card. A month ago I started doing the same again with the Santander card. Transferring £1000 at a time via Xoom to PayPal and the into my bank accounts or directly to the gambling sites. It has all be used to gamble. I am thinking I should approach Santander again, with the information. They have about me they should have at least recognised what I was doing again, or stopped my card once the balance was paid. Have a I got a case here?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well you can try.
But to Santander, you look as though you recovered from your problems, don’t you? Why should they close the account when you BTed the balance away? Someone who had recovered could complain that it would be unfair to close their account in that situation.
You have deliberately exploited a loophole to allow credit cards to be used for gambling. Do you want to stop?
Turtle says
has anyone had gambling transactions refunded (credit card affordability complaint in this case) along with interest and charges?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you mean a refund of the amount you borrowed, as well as the interest and charghes?
turtle says
Yes (as in transactions on a credit card).
Ryan says
Hi Sarah,
I’ve raised complaints to all of the lenders excluding one & sent there final letters onto the FOS but the FOS have said there not upholding the complaints as the lenders carried out appropriate checks. I earn around 2000 a month and currently on contract hire/lease, loan & minimum credit card repayments I’m paying out 1650 a month, I don’t understand how they can consider these as affordable when I only have 350 left over each month. with the current repayments I wont be debt free for at least 3 years.
I raised the point about gambling but they’ve argued the site I was using is classed as gaming and not gambling but if you look at any YouTube videos or reviews they all show it as a gambling site and in my opinion looks at what classes something as a gambling this should be included. (the site is called DatDrop)
Is there anything I can do without going into a solvency solution, I do feel like the various lenders(Lloyds, Aqua, Level, MBNA, Likely Loans, JN Bank) have taken advantage of my situation. MBNA & Likely Loans argued that my loan with JN Bank doesn’t show on my credit file which is correct as it only shows on my TransUnion report. When I raised the point with the FOS they said its acceptable for a lender to only check one credit agency
My income varies due to being commission based but if I have a bad month my pay drops to around 1650/1700.
Kind Regards,
Ryan
Sara (Debt Camel) says
which lender have you not complained to?
what is your total debt at the moment?
Ryan says
I haven’t complained to JN Bank, they are the oldest active lender I’ve got at this point in time. They provided a consolidation loan but all of the other lenders have claimed they cant see it because its not on my Experian or Equifax credit report. I feel like they’ve not done anything wrong, they provided a loan when I needed it at 11% interest when everyone else was offering 25-28%.
My total debt is around 31k (7k is credit cards, rest are loans from JN, MBNA & Likely Loans)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
have you appealed all the Ombudsman adjudicator decisions to an Ombudsman?
Firms recognise gambling by a merchant code indicating gambling on the transactions. They don’t sit and look at someone’s statements and look them up if they don’t recognise the name (which I didn’t). But gambling or not, you have been allowed to borrow an enormous about so there is an argument that the later lenders should not have lent.
Ryan says
I haven’t as the emails from the adjudicator all came across as this wouldn’t make a difference, would i just need to respond asking for an Ombudsman’s final decision? is there any extra info I should give(I’ve already sent bank statements and credit reports).
I know the transactions went through via a merchant called g2a pay, when I’ve I included this in the complaints they came back to say that its classed as a gaming transaction and therefore shows as me overspending instead of a gambling problem.
I will prepare email’s to send back in the morning, would it be worth complaining to JN bank for not reporting to Experian & Equifax as the other lenders have already claimed they couldn’t see the loan on there final letters. Likely loans even stated on the final letter that I had a debt to income ratio of 22% when at the time my statements showed me earning 30k and my debt was at around 36k.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if you think the decision is wrong, then yes you should. You need to set out for each lender, why that particular lender should have realised you were in trouble and had too much credit.
No you can’t complain that a bank only reports to one CRA.
But it seems unlikely you will win many of these and I think you should talk to a debt adviser such as National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 about your options.