My article on How to ask for a refund of payday loan interest looks at what to do if you had payday loans you couldn’t repay without borrowing again. It also applies if you have repaid your loans already or if you are still repaying them.
But if you still have payday loans, what do you do about this month’s repayments? You can’t put in a complaint and then carry on borrowing!
Payday loans keep you trapped, paying interest every month to the lenders and not improving your situation at all. It may feel that they are keeping you going and that you can’t manage without them, but you need to cut through this and break free. When in a hole, stop digging!
Look at a debt management plan
A debt management plan (DMP) is often the best option.
In debt management, your creditors are asked to freeze interest and accept a lower payment each month – depending on your situation this can even be a “token” £1 a month.
A good way to set up a DMP is to contact StepChange.
StepChange will look at your full situation and will be able to say whether a DMP is suitable and what your other possible options could be.
In a DMP you make a single payment each month to StepChange, who then divide this between your creditors. They don’t charge you a fee – all your money goes towards your debts.
Debt management can be a long-term debt solution, but it is often used as a temporary measure if you think your situation may change soon.
You want a stable situation where you don’t have to borrow any more
When your situation is stable so you don’t have to borrow any more, the pressure is off you and you can look at your options.
You may be able to make affordability complaints and get refunds from payday loans and refunds from doorstep lenders such as Provident.
Refunds may let you start clearing the debts in your DMP a lot faster! But because you are in a DMP, you can take your time with these complaints and you won’t feel under pressure to grab a very poor offer from a lender, instead you could send it to the Financial Ombudsman who is agreeing with the customer on many of the affordability complaints.
So after these complaints have finished, you may be in a much better position and you may have different debt options. You may even be able to end your DMP and go back to repaying your debts.
What order do you do this in?
Going to StepChange isn’t instead of trying to get refunds back from the payday lenders, it’s just the first step so the next few months are more under control.
So if you are wondering what you should do first, I suggest the following order:
- cancel any Direct Debits, Standing Orders and CPAs with your bank that make payments to your creditors.
- talk to StepChange – let’s assume they think a DMP is a suitable option.
- StepChange will tell your creditors about your DMP, you don’t have to.
- start thinking about affordability complaints to the payday lenders. This doesn’t have to be immediate – you may prefer to wait until your DMP has “settled down” for a few months.
A few Dos and Don’ts
- DO tell StepChange about all your debts. Even if it’s the payday loans that are your big problem, this is the point to get all your debts under control.
- DO read the comments at the bottom of the How to ask for a refund article – it’s good to hear how other people’s claims are going.
- DON’T worry about contacts from the payday lenders and your other creditors. Just tell them StepChange will be handling your DMP – they really do stop calling.
- DON’T use a claims firm to ask for payday loans refunds. You really can do a better job than they can! Also if the refund you get wipes out your debt, that’s great… but it would then leave you owing the claims firm their large fees :(
Reasons people worry about starting a DMP
Can a payday loan complaint be simple?
Stopping gambling – practical steps.
Angela says
Hi ty for help saftey net have offered me £658 refund and say it will be in my bank by the end of the day and money box 247 have offered to clear my account.
Just waiting on wonga and have took payday UK to ombudsman
Adam says
I had a gambling problem and ended up losing my wages each month I soon stopped gambling but to get through the first month I used wonga, when I got my wages I paid back wonga but found myself using wonga again the following month because I had no money left due to paying wonga back, this has happen for the last 3 months and I can’t get out of this spiral and I seem to be borrowing more each time, is there anything I can do?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If Wonga is your only debt, then you should contact them and ask for an arrangement to repay your current debt over a period of months that you can afford without having to borrow more each month. They will probably ask for income & expenditure details.
If you have other debts as well, it’s probably easier to set up a debt management plan through StepChange as the article above suggests.
Once your position is stable so you aren’t having to borrow every month you can then look at whether you can get a refund of interest from Wonga as it sounds as though they loaned you more than than you could afford. Any money back here will reduce your debt! But these complaints can take mainly months so get yourself sorted first.
Craig says
Many thanks for your advice Sara, glad I have found this site as there is so much help and similar cases I can relate to. I have set up a DMP with StepChange, what a quick and easy process that was, most creditors seem to have accepted their terms. 4 say they haven’t heard anything but on contact they have stopped my account for 30 days while waiting for contact from StepChange.
Is it best to wait for a few months before putting an affordability complaint in do you suggest I start as soon as the first payment has been made? Main creditors are 247Moneybox and SafetyNetCredit among 7 others.
Thanks, Craig
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you can probably start now, it sounds as though your DMP is well underway. Good luck!
Chris says
Great news!
After being told I wouldn’t be accepted I have managed to get a DMP set up through step change! Really happy about this! Going to start sending complaint letters off and hope for the best. Had a total of about 30 odd loans over the last 4-5 years so hopefully something good will come out of it. Thanks Sarah for all your work this website has been great advice, onwards and upwards!
Chris
luke grandin says
I took a loan out from quickquid couple months ago got the exact date on email but they are trying to charge me 270 in one hit and I’ve phoned them up and explained it’s too much in one go and they said they couldn’t change it so for ages I’ve been paying interest to keep holding of the loan untill I can afford it, is there any advise you could give me also I’ve had alot of loans from quickquid and wonga in the past but I’m getting confused with everything thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How much did you borrow? How much interest have you paid so far on this loan? How much do they say you still owe?
luke grandin says
I took out 250 and still owe 280 because they would let me break it down so because of that I’ve paid 84 pound interest and on the 29/3/18 will be a extra 26 to make it 110
A says
I’m currently in disputed with several loan companies. I’ve had gambling problems and now it’s just spiralled out of control. I’ve got about 6 different payday loans. However they aren’t listening to my request that I can’t pay them bk as much as they want. I don’t know what to do anymore
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You need to stop asking the lenders to be helpful and stop paying them. As the article above says in “What order do you do this in?” the first thing to do is to cancel the CPAs to them from your bank. After that, talk to StepChange.
Has the gambling stopped? If not completely, I always suggest that needs to be your priority. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/gambling/
Seth Brooker says
Hi I’m currently battling with cash converters over a payday loan although they like to call it a logbook loan £500 I total.
I been stuck in there loop for a while putting it back in with interest then taking it back out again this was going on for a about 6 – 7 months.
Then one month I had to hand over cash I borrowed off a friend to prevent friction.
So I dropped out of the cash converters full payments and paid £100.
They have put me on a replay of £200pm
With £4 a day interest.
I now have to drop it to £100pm so i can keep on top of a ccj.
I also ended taking out other payday loans but I just about managed to clear them off minus one off Loans2go with is still being paid off.
Any advise on cashconverters.
I have already complained to them because they won’t freeze the interest 14 days and I still ain’t heard back from them so im now in contact with FCA.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is this a logbook loan? You need to be quite clear about that. Loans2go – is that a logbook loan?
Seth Brooker says
The cash converters is a payday loan
I think Loans2go is a logbook loan
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, that makes sense.
But have you pawned an item with cash converters?
Seth Brooker says
No it was a payday loan no pawn
They pay me the loan I pay it back on my next pay day.
As mentioned i was juggling with this for 6-7 months then I was not able to cover the full amount and still don’t now.
I suspect it’s well over 1500 odd already on top the £500 I paid back already
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok then put in an unaffordable lending complaint to cash converters, ask for a refund back of all the interest you have paid, cut what you are paying to them down to an amount you can afford without needing to borrow anymore money. Template letter here https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/ but add to that the fact they are still adding interest even though you have told them you are in financial trouble
Also put in complaints to all the other payday lenders you have used. If the CCJ is recent, mention that as a reason why any loan after the CCJ should not have been given
See how these complaints go – the aim is to get back enough to clear the logbook loan!
Seth Brooker says
Hi thanks for the reply. I’ll get on that right away.
I’ll drop Fred back on here how it’s going :-)
Caitlin says
Hello,
Looking for advice before I send emails to lenders.
I still have outstanding money owed to 3 lenders, but I am sure that I have been irresponsibly sold loands since 2012.
If I send them emails asking for my loan histories, is there any way they could turn round and make me pay the outstanding money immediately because I have asked for this information? I don’t have the money to pay them back all at once so I’m keen to know this information before launching complaints.
Thank you for any advice in advance.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you put in a complaint, it may “wake up” a lender where you still owe a balance. But they can’t ask you to pay it straight away if you have a complaint in. Worse case is that you have to make an arrangement to pay an affordable amount monthly if you lose your affordability complaint. But if you had borrowed a lot from that lender before the last loan, you are more likely to get a refund that will clear most or all of the amount you owe.
The problem about leaving the complaints is
a) it is MUCH easier to make a complaint about loans that are less than 6 years old. If you delay a lot more of your loans could be outseide this time and take years (not kidding) longer to sort out
b) lenders don’t tend to forget about balances. The next you coudl here is that the debt ha been sold to a debt collector and you are being taken to court for a CCJ. At that point it is much more difficult to try to ask for a refund.
Gareth says
Hi,
I have posted in another article, I am struggling with Payday / Short term loans with;
Satsuma 1 Loan Outstanding
MyJar 1 Loan Outstanding (Payment Plan)
Lending Stream 5 Loans outstanding
I have notified them that I am struggling and whilst Myjar have given me a payment plan. I am not able to meet their payment. The others have not yet replied about the fact I cannot meet their payments.
My biggest concern is that this whole “Cancel your CPA with the bank” sounds like a massive risk and a leap of faith. I am worried that the companies will begin to charge additional interest etc and charges due to missing payments. Can I be assured that they will stop all interest / charges for not paying at this point?
Thanks
Gareth
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If Myjar are asking for an unaffordable amount, don’t agree to this – offer an amount you can afford.
“Can I be assured that they will stop all interest / charges for not paying at this point?” Not 100% but
1) the amount of interest and charges they can add on is very limited as they will soon hit the “payday loan cap” which is a legal limit they can’t break. they are never allowed to charge more in interest and charges than what you borrowed. So the old days where your debt just kept going up astronimically every month you couldn’t pay don’t happen any more.
2) if you win the affordability complaint, it dosn’t matter what they add on, it will all be taken straight off!
3) you don’t have any other better option. If you struggle to pay repayments which are too high, you will borrow again elsewhere so you can pay the rent and not starve… and you then pay more interst on the new borrowing.
So I do understand this feels so risky, but when you are trapped with unaffordable payday loans, refusing to pay the outstanding ones is your only way out. otherise you will still be borrowing in 6 month sor a year, the lenders will be much richer and you will still be desperate.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Also, 5 outstanding loans from lending Stream, wow, that sounds like an excellent case of unaffordable lending! But Lending Stream is one of the slowest and most obstructive lenders so it may well take many months before this is resolved. You can’t hope to muddle through for that long.
Gareth says
Sara, thank you so much for your advice. In the meantime I am in touch with Stepchange about sorting this mess out! All the best
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Good – putting these payday loan debts into a DMP with your other debts is a very good plan. Any refunds will help pay off the DMP more more quickly!
Gareth says
Hi Sara,
I have cancelled all of my CPA with these companies, however for some reason I have been refunded all of the old ones that I have paid before to the companies? It looks like Natwest (my account) have done this…..have you heard of this happening before?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No! Are you sure you didn’t tell NatWest that you never authorised the CPA or something? Is it a lot of money?
Gareth shaw says
Yes it’s over £3700. I filled in the online CPA cancellation request, provided dates of the net pymenta etc. The money has been placed to one side for now, out of fear it will cause issues. I have checked the amounts against my bank statements and some of these are payments were nearly 6 months old and just landed back in the account. I assume it was from the CPA cancellation, surely not from the loan providers? The reference number on my account is just my 16 digit card number. It’s all strange and somewhat worrying that I now owe this money back to the lenders again.
Natwest can surely only cancel stuff that’s due to go out? Not payments that were made months ago and will have been paid out to the loan provider.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I haven’t heard of this happening to anyone else. It would be very surprising if more than one lender had suddenly decided to refund money to your bank account without telling you. I think this sounds more like an error by NatWest. Who were your lenders?
Gareth shaw says
The ones I cancelled with natwest were;
Satsuma – refunds showing in acc
Lending stream – no refunds showing
MyJar – refunds showing in acc
I’m not sure where I stand if it is their mistake. I am tempted to transfer the money out of natwest altogether. But worries about reprocusions
Amber says
Hi,
Since the end of 2015 I have had approx. 14 loans from Wonga, safetynet, lending stream, 247moneybox, mr lender, TSB and smartpig.
I was getting loan after loan to help pay bills but they were still accepting me despite the rest being unpaid. How do I go about getting refunds? Do I claim the whole amount or just interest? Also still have outstanding debt on a few that have been passed to debt collection.
Thanks in advance!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Amber,
The basic templates and an overview of How To is over on the main payday loan refund page: https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/. That is the best place for any more questions you may have.
You should ask for a refund of any interest you have paid and for negative marks to be deleted from your credit record.
Where a debt has been passed to a debt collector, you still complain to the original lender, because it was the lender who made the bad decision to give you a loan you couldn’t afford. It’s a good idea to also tell the debt collector you are doing this so they don’t take you to court, but the complaint is to the lender – don’t let them try to fob you off by saying you should talk to the debt collector!
Glynis says
I have 6 payday loans. I cancelled the CPA/ Direct Debits in my bank this week. Going to write to them for refunds. Should I put these payday loans in a DMP before going for the refunds. Thanks in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Some people like to get themselves into a “safe” position in a DMP before they start making complaints. But if you want to do them both at the same time, there is no reason why you can’t start the complaints now.
Lisa says
Hi Sarah
I had a vanquis card with initially £300 limit that I paid every month,then they raised it to £1000 and after that £3000 automatically so now I’m in debt as I can’t afford the monthly repayments. I was hoping if I didn’t pay that they would pass me to a debt collector so that I can arrange a lower payment but the interest im paying is ridiculous. How do prove that this was forced on me and the limits not asked for by myself?
Thanks for your help
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you told them you cannot afford the repayments and asked for a payment arrangement and for them to freeze interest? You don’t have to wait until a debt is sold to do this.
Were you paying for their daftly expensive ROP product – check a statement to see if that is mentioned. If you were, I have some good news…
This page https://debtcamel.co.uk/refund-doorstep-loans/ looks at making a complaint that your limit should not have been increased. BUT these complaints can be very slow, this needs to be in addition to getting a payment arrangement set up, not instead of one.
Glynis says
Hi. I rang step change this morning. I’m starting a DMP. The lady I spoke to on the phone was really helpful. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. When should I start the payday loan refunds x
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Whenever you feel ready! By kicking off the DMP you will be sure your finances are in a stable position and not feel pressured to accept a poor offer from a lender.
If you want to what a few weeks until StepChange have told all the lenders you can. Or you could just complain now and add “I have just set up a DMP with StepChange, so you will be hearing from them soon about how much can afford to pay each month to my current balance.” to the complaints against lender where you still owe money.
PS whichever you do, tell your bank to cancel the CPAs to the lenders now.
Zack says
I have read through the comments and there is really useful information!
My situation is I have been spiraling out of control with payday loans.
Sunny: £386 (1 current and 9 settled)
Satsuma: £186 (1 current and 1 settled)
Mr lender: £632 (1 current and 1 settled)
Lending stream: £1000 (2 open loans and 5 closed)
118 money: £6000 (1 open loan)
I’m in a payment plan with MyJar: £201, I borrowed £1075 and they want £2150 back in full.
I have had other loans but these are the current ones I am still paying. I have been finding it very difficult to get by. I have got more loans to pay off other loans.
I think it is time to admit I have a problem and look into a dmp plan. But, is this a case of irresponsible lending I am in a repayment plan with Very. I don’t think the correct checks were made
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think that is a LOT of high cost borrowing. You need to end this borrowing spiral – talk to StepChange about a DMP for the payday loans, Very and any other outstanding loans and cancel your CPAs to the lenders.
Sunny and Lending Stream are clear cases of repeat borrowing. Get complaints in about them straight away.
Satsuma, Mr Lender and Myjar – also get complaints in against these – you may not have borrowed many times from them, but for the most recent loan they should have seen your dreadful situation from your credit record. It is worth making these complaints quite detailed. Work from the standard template letter but change it so it is clear you only had 2 loans from them. And go into detail from your credit record about what they should have seen when you applied for the first one, and then the second one. Send a copy of your Noddle credit record with these complaints.
118 Money is only one loan but it is huge, so it is well worth pursuing this one. I am writing an article on claiming against 118 Money and the other large loan, poor credit lenders this week – look out for it.
Glynis says
I have set up a DMP with Step Change which is starting 1st September. I have now sent step 1 unaffordable complaints to each of my payday loan lenders to get the ball rolling with the refunds.
Clara says
I’ve just had this reply from QuickQuid.. after sending initial email template 1. Do I have to provide them with all the info requested?
If your correspondence was intended as a:
1. Request for documents from us – this will be provided and where appropriate, we will also let you know if we need any additional information;
2. Credit reporting complaint – to help us investigate and resolve the matter quickly, please provide us with copies of your credit reference agency file(s) displaying the information you would like us to investigate;
3. Complaint – to help us reach a fair complaint outcome in a timely manner (and where appropriate provide an offer of compensation), please provide us with the following information as soon as possible:
· Bank statements (at the point/s you took out your loan/s with us)
· Payslips (at the point/s you took out your loan/s with us)
· Any additional information relating to your financial circumstances (at the point you took out your loan/s with us)
This information will enable us to complete a full investigation into your complaint.
Josephine Little says
Sara , I developed a gambling problem in 2008 as a result of medication. In 2010, our disposible income reduced and I started taking payday loans around 2012 as I had maxed out my credit cards. I sometimes paid my loans off with my winnings, then the cycle would start again. I was dealing with 20 companies around this period. In 2013, I suffered terrible depression and a breakdown. I was weaned off my medication and thankfully my husband supported me. Payplan set up a DMP for us. Our debt was £38000.00 by this time. All remaining payday loans, except one, CFO lending, agreed to freeze the interest. Sorry for the long-winded explanation but my bank statements for this period will show my gambling activity. Will the Ombudsman say that I induced this situation myself or as my credit file would have shown so many lenders agree that PD companies were irresponsible to lend to me? Thankfully gambling is again not an issue and we are debt free. 2 years ago, Wonga paid me approx £400 out of the blue so I have sent out letter 1 to 14 of the companies who have not gone bust. What do you think of my chances?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Glad to hear you are now debt and gambling free! Read https://debtcamel.co.uk/gambling-payday-loan-refunds/ as that describes how the Ombudsman often treats gambling cases.
Dan says
Hello. This is my first post, so apologies if I’ve posted in the wrong place or broken any rules haha.
Basically, I am looking to complain to my multiple payday loan lenders about irresponsible lending as my borrowing has spiralled so out of control, I did try and write down everyhing but it says my comment is too long.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Dan, nice to see you here. Complaining about multiple payday lenders is a long process but can be very worthwhile. It sounds as though you have current loans, that I guess you can’t repay without having to borrow again?
Joe says
How long on average does it take to complete the process from contacting them about irresponsible lending?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That depends on the lender and the details of your case. A tiny number are sorted in a week. A tiny number go on for more than a year. Which lender(s) are you talking about, how many loans did you have and do you still owe money?
Laura says
Hi I have got myself into some debt I had
1 loan ferratum- still outstanding
5 loans satsuma 1 outstanding
3 loans Wonga 1 outstanding
8 loans sunny 3 outstanding
1 loan 118118 money still outstanding
4 loans lending steam
These are all between March 2017 and july 2018
My credit report shows a ccj and also some defaults dating back many years.
Would you say this is reasonable grounds for irresponsible lending.
I was working part time when I took all the loans out but due to health reasons I had to leave work in June 2018. I am now struggling to pay back Eveything.
Thanks
Bill says
Hi Sarah, tried to cancel a CPA with Barclays, spoke to four people and not one seemed to have a clue to to cancel, I’ve had lending stream take contours payments, plus pounds to pocket, Barclays told me it doesn’t show these companies have implemented a CPA, is it me! Am I wrong? Thought it would be straight forward to cancel them
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It should be – ask to speak to a manager. See https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/banking/stopping-a-future-payment-on-your-debit-or-credit-card/ and read what it says there if a bank says it can’t do this.
Tom says
I was looking for a bit of advice on repayment. After being caught in a borrowing cycle for 2 years now, I’ve finally taken some initiative in the last month and started clearing as much of my debt as possible. Problem is, hours at my work have been cut back drastically over the next couple of months (my wage is largely based on overtime and it’s likely I’m going to see it for by more than half). Add onto this that onstride, a company that I currently have a Repayment plan with, has taken a much larger amount than they agreed which has left me bust for this month until I can sort it out.
I’m not confident, I was looking into getting a DPP (which is basically a DMP for people in Scotland) and have applied for one.
Before that though, I spoke to a friend is a financial adviser about this and how much I owe etc.
This is the part I need help with. They told me that the specifics of debt collection were different between England and Scotland and that my best option was to simply cancel all the CPAs, not pay the lenders and take the hit to my credit score. They seem convinced that because my debt is relatively small (about £3000 in total), the lenders will chase me up for the money for a while but ultimately give up.
I’m having a hard time believing this, but I know that laws are different in Scotland. Does anyone have any input on this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Cancel the CPA to Onstride and you pay them what you can afford. Have you sent them an affordability complaint, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/? If not, start this now. Also do this with any other payday loans or large bad credit loans you have.
A DPP (DAS) is a very formal sort of DMP. If you have potential refunds from affordability complaints it may be better to go for a simple DMP which is very easily changed. The advice to ignore your debts sounds poor! But I will ask a Scottish expert to comment.
Tom says
I have sent them an affordability complaint, I have been on a repayment plan with them too and I only made my first payment towards it last week (on the date we agreed upon) so have no idea what has caused this.
I am currently leaning towards a DPP purely because I have no way of knowing when shifts will pick back up for me. I have complaints with the ombudsman (another reason why I don’t want to just up and not pay) and I have already received redress from some lenders. All of that money has gone into bringing down my overall debt by about £600, but I’m still left with a little over £3000 as I said.
Alan McIntosh says
Hi Tom
I would suggest Tom you take Sara’s advice regarding the CPA’s then look at getting some free money advice and looking at all options including a DPP.
I would not go down the route of ignoring £3k of debt as you have no guaranteed they will just give up on it and the debts may just continue to grow, making your debt situation worse and forcing you into having to use a more severe option later.
The advantages of a DPP are it will:
freeze all interest and charges;
allow you to make just one payment per month that should be based on what you can afford; and
will protect you from enforcement action by your creditors.
It will damage your credit rating, but I think you have accepted that may be unavoidable anyway, but at least when the debt is repaid, your debts will show as settled on your credit file.
The one disadvantage of a DPP is you do have to accept liability for your debts to enter it, so if you were going to dispute your liability on the basis the debts were not affordable, you should do this first.
However, you can get help with this by contacting your local Citizen Advice Bureau or local authority money advice service.
Stepchange the national debt charity are one of the largest providers of DPPs in Scotland and will not charge you either, so they are another option, although they may not help you dispute your liability.