UPDATES:
Do not use the templates on this page for the following lenders, instead see the specific page:
- Amigo has set up a Scheme of Arrangement. The deadline for making a claim has now passed, see Amigo’s Scheme for details.
- Buddy Loans went into administration in September 2021, see Buddy Loans goes into administration.
- George Banco & Trust Two set up Scheme of Arrangement, the deadline to make a claim to this has passed, see Everyday Loan Scheme for details
- TFS Loans went into administration in February 2022, see TFS Loans goes into administration.
Guarantor loans are very expensive. Often the lender didn’t check properly that you will be able to manage the loan repayments without having to borrow more.
If proper checks would have shown that you couldn’t afford the repayments, complain! There is a template letter in this article to help you.
You can get an existing loan reduced so you only repay the amount you borrowed, or get a refund if your loans have been repaid. If your complaint is rejected you can send the case to the Financial Ombudsman (FOS) who is upholding a lot (90%!) of guarantor loan complaints.
If you are the guarantor not the borrower, read Complaining if you are a guarantor which has a different template letter to use.
Contents
What is an affordability complaint?
A loan is not affordable if paying it left you so short of money you had to top up the loan, or borrow more from another lender or get behind with bills.
Does this sound like you? Then make an affordability complaint.
Just making the payments doesn’t prove the loan was affordable! You may have been repaying with difficulty, taking out other loans, because you didn’t want your guarantor to be affected.
You can complain if you are still paying the loan or if you have repaid it all.
If you win your complaint:
- interest is removed from a loan you still owe, so you only repay what you borrowed;
- your guarantor is released from the loan; and
- you can arrange to pay the remaining balance at a reduced rate.
When your loans have been settled, you get a refund of the interest you paid.
What should the lender have checked?
Guarantor lenders should have checked the loan was affordable for you before giving you the money.
The lender should have made sure you were likely to be able to make the repayments for the whole length of the loan.
Guarantor loans are large financial commitments. So I would expect a lender to have asked for evidence of your income, to have checked your credit record, and to have verified your expenses.
Some things a lender may have got wrong:
- It doesn’t matter if your guarantor is well off, the loan has to be affordable for you!
- You may have given said your expenditure was lower than it was, because you were guessing or desperate. The lender should have checked your figures.
- If you were self-employed or had wages that varied, the lender should have looked at how your income went up and down.
- The lender should have checked your credit record to see all your debts. If you had recently taken more loans or missed payments/defaulted, the lender should have been careful as your position was getting worse.
- When you top up a loan, the lender should check the new larger loan is affordable. If the current loan was causing you problems or your finances had got worse you shouldn’t have been given a larger loan.
If you feel there was something else unfair about your case, add that into your complaint as well!
What would a “fair solution” be?
If the lender or the Ombudsman decides the loan wasn’t affordable, this is what happens:
- The loan has been repaid, then any interest you paid should be refunded to you.
- The loan is still outstanding, then interest should be removed from the balance that is owing, so you only repay what you borrowed. Your guarantor should be released from the loan. The lender should accept an affordable monthly payment from you to repay the rest.
- Any payments made by the guarantor are refunded to the guarantor, not to you.
Will a complaint affect your guarantor?
Complaining won’t affect your guarantor if you carry on making the payments. The guarantor shouldn’t be told you have complained unless your complaint is being upheld.
If you stop paying the loan when you make a complaint, the lender may decide to get your guarantor to pay it. If you don’t want this to happen, you have to somehow carry on making the payments even though it’s hard.
If you can’t afford to carry on paying and you don’t want to hurt your guarantor talk to a debt adviser about your options in this difficult situation.
Making an affordability complaint won’t make things worse, and it may help in a few months time, but it isn’t an immediate escape from your problem.
Think about whether your guarantor also had a good reason to complain – see Complaining if you are a guarantor for details. If they win a complaint, they will be removed as a guarantor, which would take a lot of pressure off you.
How to complain to the lender
A template complaint to use
Don’t use this for Amigo of Buddy – see the update at the top of the page.
For all other guarantor lenders, including ones that have stopped lending, send your complaint by email – here is a list of lender’s email addresses.
Use SAR AND COMPLAINT BY BORROWER as the email title.
Here is a template. Change it to describe what happened to you and delete what doesn’t apply.
Only put this in if it applies to you: I took a top up of [£2,500] in [March 2018]
Add a reference number for the loan or give some other details such as your date of birth and your address when you took the loan out.
Please send me a copy of all the personal information that you have about me, including but not limited to all credit record checks, a copy of my loan application(s) and recordings of all phone calls from me. You have 30 days to reply to this Subject Access Request (SAR).
I am making an affordability complaint. This loan was/These loans were unaffordable for me and you would have realised this if you had checked properly before giving me the loan(s).
Delete or change any of the following so they are right for you:
[You would have seen from my credit record that I had recently missed payments/had defaults/was in a DMP/IVA.]
[I was on a low income/My only income was my pension/benefits.]
[You did not ask me for proof of my income or expenses and you did not ask about my expenses in detail.]
[I get ESA/PIP/DLA but you did not ask me if I had any extra expenses because of this.]
[I had a gambling problem which you could have seen from my bank statements.]
If you topped up the original loan: When I topped up the loan you should have seen from my credit record that my financial situation had got worse. [delete if not relevant: You ignored the fact that I had made several payments late to you.]
If you still owe money:[I am asking you to remove the interest from the balance so I only have to repay what I borrowed, release my guarantor and allow me to make lower monthly payments.]
If the loan has been repaid change that to [refund me the interest that I have paid plus 8% statutory interest.]
If you don’t want your guarantor to be told: [I want to carry on making the normal monthly payments because I do not want my guarantor to be affected. Please note I do not want my guarantor to be informed about my complaint unless my complaint is upheld.]
You have 8 weeks to respond to my complaint before I send it to the Financial Ombudsman.
If you would like some help with this, then go to your local Citizens Advice.
Definitely send bank statements!
It’s good if you can attach bank statements to your complaint. Send three months of statements before each loan or top-up and two months afterwards. So if you had a loan in August 2017, send statements for May-September 2017.
These statements will show how unaffordable your loans were. Don’t worry if there is gambling showing on the statements – that helps your case!
Don’t delay starting a complaint if you are trying to get your bank statements – just add them later. But now is a good time to get the statements as they can help your case.
Also get a copy of your credit record if this will show defaults, that your debts were increasing, that you had a large overdraft etc. Download this and keep it.
What to do with your personal information (SAR)
Copies of personal information (SARs) are often sent out by post, so if you have moved, make sure the lender has your new address. You should get the information within 30 days. It is often sent on a CD with a password.
This information is not the lender’s response to your complaint. Most lenders will send that separate from the SAR, usually a few weeks later.
You don’t need to do anything with the SAR, just keep it safe. You have asked for it now so that you have the details in case the lender rejects your complaint or makes a poor offer so your complaint has to go to the Ombudsman.
Taking a complaint to the Ombudsman
If the lender rejects your complaint, go to the Ombudsman
Don’t delay in sending a case to FOS – it has to go within 6 months. And while you have an “open” complaint at FOS, the lender cannot take you to court.
Lenders seem to reject many complaints and hope you give up! So don’t be surprised if a lender says No, the loan was affordable or We based our decision to lend on your application which was inaccurate.
If the lender says No, or you haven’t had a reply 8 weeks after sending your complaint, send your case to the Financial Ombudsman (FOS) the best way to do this is by using the FOS online form.
This is free to do and easy – you don’t have to quote laws or regulations. You can just send FOS the complaint you sent the lender. And if they have replied and said something that’s wrong, mention that as well.
You don’t need to go into details – a short FOS complaint is fine. If you want to add more details, read How Subject Access Request information can help an affordability complaint. But you don’t have to do this.
If only some loans are refunded, is this fair?
Sometimes a lender will say that just a few loans are unaffordable and remove the interest. Which is good, but should it be better?
If the rejected loans caused you difficulties and led to you needing a top-up, send your complaint to FOS and say you think the earlier loans too should be refunded.
Are you likely to win your Ombudsman complaint?
The Financial Ombudsman is agreeing with the customer on 90% of cases!
It is much simpler to win a case at FOS than a court case. If a lender has already started a court case against you, Citizens Advice can help you get the court case “stayed” (that’s legal jargon for put on hold) while you take an affordability complaint to the Ombudsman.
Complicated cases & help with guarantor loan complaints
If you want help with these complaints, Citizens Advice can help. Every Citizens Advice has access to the national Specialist Debt Advice Service if this isn’t something an adviser has come across before.
Leave a comment below this article to discuss what to do or talk to Citizens Advice if:
- your guarantor has made a lot of payments.
- you have been bankrupt, in an IVA or a DRO – read guarantor loans & insolvency .
- you have a CCJ from the guarantor lender – read guarantor loans & CCJs.
- if your debt has been sold to a debt collector.
Do not use a Claims Firm or a solicitor that is acting as a claims firm. There are two good reasons why you should avoid them:
- they will probably do a very poor job. They are not experts. They won’t put time into looking at your personal case.
- if you win a case but still owe a balance, this is usually just reduced. But the claims firm may expect you to pay their high percentage fee immediately even though you have not received any cash refund and still have the rest of the loan to pay.
Can you get an overdraft refund?
Card limit too high? Ask for a refund
Complaints about bank & other large loans
Phil G says
Hi
Happy to report that Amigo have replied to me – not the final day of the 8 weeks of course – and have upheld my affordability complaint on the basis of not enough checks were made when I took the loan out, which was only November 2018 and I only took out one loan. I took out a £4250 loan and will now be paid back £1467 in interest to be paid in the next 3-5 working days – I have also now cleared the loan. I didn’t even have to go to the FOS…
I was in a DMP at the time as well as struggling with a gambling problem. I am now no longer in a DMP and have overcome my gambling.
With this win and I’m also a QuickQuid “spreadsheeter” so with these, my life has totally turned around and am now very much back on track.
Just wanted to say a big thank you to this website and Sara for all the help and advice but also share a complaint success story.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Great news
Lani G says
That’s brilliant news, Phil, well done
Can I ask, did they provide a calculation with their response on mine was:
Therefore, we are calculating all interest that you had paid on your third loan, plus 8% simple
interest. Once this figure has been confirmed we will contact you to make you aware.
I’m just curious as to how long I need to wait for this calculation or if it’s worth chasing them up about it?
Also, – Sara, if they responded within the 8 weeks (2 days before the 8 weeks), but I’ve asked them to reconsider part of their outcome does the 8 weeks timeframe start again?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, you can send your complaint to FOS at any point. So after 2 weeks I suggest you do just that.
Phil G says
Hi Lani G
No, not exact calculation breakdown but as I only had the one loan from Nov and quite simple in my case, I’d worked the amount a few weeks ago plus interest so just had a full explanation of how they investigated, how they came to the conclusion and the amount offered – which I was happy with.
Although they literally waited til the last day of the 8 weeks to send the final response – can’t actually fault them for how they’ve handled my complaint, responsive and kept to their word etc…. unlike a certain QuickQuid…
Thanks
Linds says
That’s great news!
JK says
Hi Sara,
Reading various themes on this site has been very informative and helpful.
I had a redress figure sent to me via the Ombudsman adjudicator, from Lending Stream. I accepted the full and final settlement and duly waited my 28 days. Day 30 (a Tuesday) LS stated redress would be in my account the following Friday (100% guarantee this would happen). It did not LS made a mistake in calculation and was referring back to Ombudsman.
My adjudicator then needed more information from LS and are still waiting for it. Having spoken to my adjudicator ( who has been great with her handling of my case) she is now considering taking my case to the Ombudsman, due to LS delaying things. My question is how long do you think this will now take place. It has now been 2 months since my redress figure.
JK
Emma says
Had a rejection from TFS today so it’s off to the Ombudsman!
Between myself and my partner so far
Amigo upheld
TFS rejected sending to FOS
Buddy rejected sent to FOS
George banco rejected sent to FOS ( currently at adjudicator)
So fingers crossed.
PSA says
Hi Emma, did buddy take the full 8 weeks to respond?
Amanda says
Can I ask why TFS rejected yours, as amigo accepted mine and then TFS rejected
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It doesn’t really matter what they say. TFS seems to reject all complaints at the moment.
Amanda says
Ok, but people could be sending complaints on different things.
So was interested to no as mine is irresponsible lending
Sara (Debt Camel) says
In many ways affordability and irresponsible lending are the two sides of the same coin. It is hardly ever worth trying to say you are complaining about one and not about the other.
I prefer people to focus on affordability, as the points there are easier to make simple comments about from your own case. “At the time I applied for the loan I had 3 payday loans and had never been out of my overdraft for 6 months” is factual.
You will sometimes get a lender denying irresponsible lending but offering a full refund of all interest plus 8% for no clear reason or because of something that sounds minor. Just shrug and pocket the money!
Claire says
Hello
Can you help? We had one loan from amigo loans for £7,000 and where paying back £16,000 altogether at £278 a month, we have made a complaint and they have come back to say that they partially upheld the loan and to send in bank statements? Do you know what it means by partially and if this will help us get rid of the Intrest, since our taking the loan we are now in a dmp and just can’t afford the payments but we paying them as we don’t want our guarantor to pay.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“Partially uphold” is an odd term they use.
They seem to mean that they think they probably should have done extra checks. But they need to see your bank statements to see what those extra checks would have showed.
So if you send the bank statements, then may decide to uphold your complaint and remove the interest from the loan. And at that point you can put it into a DMP :]
Claire says
Ok thank you I’ve just re read the email and and it’s says that they practically uphold the complaint but couldn’t agree that interest on the loan isn’t decreasing in line with how interest is applied to the account? Do you no what the outcome usually is for this will they just lower payments if they uphold the complaint about affordability?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“but couldn’t agree that interest on the loan isn’t decreasing in line with how interest is applied to the account? “
I guess you added something to the standard complaint to say that you thought the interest was being wrongly calculated?
It doesn’t really matter if they reject that if that do agree the loan was unaffordable and should not have been given. Because that means they will remove the interest so the question about their calculations becomes unimportant.
Janice says
Loan & health issues
I was under a shrink in 2012 when I first talked my guarantor into taking on responsibility. I didn’t explain my personal circumstances at the time. I was in a DMP at the time and also have 9 payday loans, 2 overdrafts and bank loans.
Amigo loans
2012 £2000
2013 £3000
2015 £5000
2016 £7500
2017 £10000
I rolled over constantly and the DMP was in effect 2012-2015. I was committed to hospitals and had family pay ever increasing payments. I lied to my guarantor and defaulted for them to make payment throughout what is now 7 years. I am ashamed and have been I. Regular psychiatric care the whole period.
Affordability wise I get benefits and was working on and off but I wasn’t fit to take the loans, can’t manage money and don’t know if there’s ability to just ask they cancel the loan? I don’t want a refund even though interest works out around £24k. I just want them to stop as it wears me down. Is there a chance or anyone experience similar? I’ve never not paid a monthly and I’m fully up to date but that because I borrowed constantly and had to be bailed out by a guarantor I lied too
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I’m sorry to hear of your mental health problems over so long a period. Mental health problems can make money harder to deal with. And money worries make mental health worse, so it’s a nasty vicious circle.
The good news is that Amigo are now much better than they were a few months ago to deal with.
I’m going to ask a few questions to see what the easiest way forward for you is. If your complaint to Amigo can mention some things it means Amigo will hopefully need to ask you less so I hope it’s less stressful to answer my questions than Amigos!
Don’t worry that some of your answers are ‘wrong’, your case sounds a very good one. Whatever the answers are.
Were Amigo aware of your health problems at any point?
Are you currently getting any disability benefits, ESA or PIP? Are you currently on any medication?
Many people with big mental health problems find they go up and down in cycles. If you do, are you in an okish position at the moment? I’m not asking if you are “better”!
Has your guarantor had to make any payments to Amigo directly? On the current loan or previous ones?
Did other family members make payments to Amigo or did they put money in your account so you could pay them?
what is the current loan balance? Doesn’t have to be exact.
Janice says
Thankyou for responding Sara,
I’ve answered your queries
Are you currently getting any disability benefits – yes since 2012 as I need help at home. Medications daily since 2011
Are you okish- I’m still in treatment, I’ve not been out of care/help since 2011. The shrinks letter tells them my issues are permanent due to the condition.
Has your guarantor had to make any payments to Amigo directly? On the current loan or previous ones? – guarantor has made multiple payments (11 in the last 18 months and about a quarter on all the rolled over each year).
Did other family members make payments to Amigo or did they put money in your account so you could pay them? Yes about a third using their credit cards and current accounts
what is the current loan balance? Doesn’t have to be exact. – I’ve paid back £8500 of the current 9500 loan. They’ve never not been paid so I’ve never had a credit mark as people have stepped in.
I would add one thing. Due to the stress and effect beyond my other issues I asked amigo just to please close the loans and not effect the credit profiles for me and guarantor. In interest alone I know I’ve paid upwards of £20k but I just want it to stop as it effects me so badly. Is there a chance they may see that I’m being reasonable? I know I can go to the fos but I just want it over. Sorry Ive forgotten my email
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ok, some important points to make.
1) you have a VERY VERY strong case. Amigo should never have given you a top up loan if the guarantor had had to make payments on the previous loans.
2) you should send the letter from your shrink to Amigo if you haven’t already done this.
3) Amigo will refund any payments your guarantor made to the guarantor, not to you. I don’t want you to be surprised by this.
4) I suggest you go back to Amigo and say you are complaining about the affordability on ALL of your loans after the first one because your guarantor had to make payments. The first loan was small and a long while ago. All the rest you should ask for a refund for.
5) Asking for a refund isn’t going to prolong this process. You may think it’s easier to just ask for the balance to be cleared but actually it is easier to make a “standard” complaint which can be handled in a standard way, rather than ask for something unusual.
6) And getting money back will mean you can clear other debts and repay family. This is going to put you in a much better position going forwards. Getting relief now is good, but getting a solution that will help with other issues as well is better!
Janice says
Sara, I am so grateful. I get lost in it all most days. I’ve paid the interest on all the loans and extra. My calculations were slightly wrong as of today over repaid 100% of the current £10000. I don’t expect something for nothing I just felt that what was taken has been returned on the current loan and all the rest they got capital and interest. It’s just time lines I guess. If they take 30 days I’m paying more and struggling worse. I will keep you updated. Your help and everyone on here is superb
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, plase ask Amigo for a refund of interest on all loans. You deserve to get this money back for all the stress they hoave put you through over the years.
robboa says
So i spoke to the adjudicator assigned to my case last night and they followed up with the below email.
I’m just wondering when i should expect to hear from Amigo and should i chase them up.
“Thank you for speaking to me moments earlier. I’m writing to let you know about some news on your complaint.
We’ve been speaking to Amigo about the cases we’ve been seeing with issues similar to those you told us about in your complaint. In particular, how Amigo looked into your financial position and whether you could afford the repayments before it agreed to lend.
Amigo has now told us it would like to make an offer in full and final settlement of your complaint. And we wanted to let you know about this offer so that you can decide whether or not you want to accept it.
Amigo’s offer
Amigo will write to confirm the full detail of its offer including any amounts due – however, it has told us that it will follow our general approach. This includes:
– Amigo refunding all of the interest and charges (if any) that you’ve paid on all the loans you’ve had with them;
– As your loan has been repaid, your refund will include interest at the simple rate of 8% per year (less any tax properly due), from the date you repaid the loan until the date of settlement;*
– Amigo removing any negative information that has been recorded on your credit file concerning the loan”
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest contacting Amigo on Monday if you haven’t heard from them.
Stu says
Hi, I had the same call from FOS yesterday, amigo emailed me 2 hours later to confirm bank details. Had 2 loans with them £4k + £7.5k
Emma says
Hi PSA
Yes buddy took the full 8 weeks to respond to my complaint.
Hi Amanda
TFS rejected my partners complaint mainly saying they did do enough checks.
Good luck to you both
Tasha says
Just had a call from amigo. 8 weeks today. Said he agrees me & guarantor both due a refund but needs to speak to her first before can go any further with me. Is this normal? What will he need to discuss with her first?
brendan says
Hi sara
financial-ombudsman investigator email today say Amigo is requesting bank statements for the 3 months prior to the payout of your loan. Are they allowed to requesting this? Why did they not ask at the time of the loan when i took out the loan?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well they can ask for anything they want. You don’t have to provide it, but if your statements show the loans were unaffordable, why wouldn’t you?
It’s not an unreasonable request. Amigo have decided they should have looked more closely at your application but at the moment they don’t know what they would have seen if they had looked at your bank statements.
C says
Hi sara, I’ve had this simple reply off amigo after sending bank statements in and waiting almost 3 weeks to hear back.
‘’ Dear ..
My transactions department has got back to me with the figures.
A total refund of £3,626.95 is due. We have used this to reduce your loan balance.
The new balance of your loan is £3,534.72.
If you need to discuss your repayments with us please contact our Collections Team on 01202 629 161.
Kind regards
I’m happy that the balance has reduced but they haven’t said if the interest has been frozen or not also I wonder if I will be able to make an affordable payment instead of still paying £276 a month. I’m really not happy with that basic reply I’ve got back if I’m honest.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you had one loan and a top up? did you supply bank statements just for the the top up loan or for both?
If this is a refund just for the top-up loan, you should think if you also want a refund for the original loan – you could ask the ombudsman to look at this… So how large was the original loan? How many payments did you make to it before topping it up? When you applied for the original loan, did you have payday laons? a lot of other debt? problemsn showing on your credit record?
Amigo must have removed all interest from the last loan and they will not add any more. How much did you borrow? How much had you paid them so far – ignore if this was interest or not, just what have you paid them?
So you should be able to get them to agree to accept a more affordable amount – what could you repay a month? Do you have a lot of other debt?
Amigo should agree not to go after your guarantor. In fact your guarantor ccould complauin and ask to be removed as the guarantor just beasuse the loan was unaffordable for you.
C says
Hi Sara,
They said that they only partially upheld loan 2 so I only supplied bank statements for that one. The original loan was for £3000 I made three payments of £146 totalling to £438 before the top up. I had a recent default before taking out the original loan and I had a recent pay day loan showing.
I topped up to £7000 only receiving £4000 and I’ve paid a total of £3320. I’ve logged onto my account and noticed they made the changes on 23rd but only got back to me today. However interest has been added since they have reduced my balance? So I don’t think they have frozen it.
£150 would be affordable for me to pay as I’m still paying off my last 3 pay loans and I have rent to pay. I’ve just turned into a student and going part time at work meaning I won’t have that much disposable income at all now & will most likely struggle.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Right. Having payday loans and a recent default makes it sound as though your first loan too should have been included. If you can get that one refunded too, you would probaby have £400-£500 extra off your balance – so that seems worth trying for? If you want to do this, email Amigo and say you are glad they have agreed your last loan was unaffordabel but as you had payday loans and a recent default before your fuirst loan, you are going to ask the Finacial ombudsman to look at that loan. And then send FOS your complaint.
I can’t see there is any risk with this. After all Amigo have already accepted the top up loan is unaffordable and so if they were mad enough to go after your guarantor, your guarantor can just ask to be removed as the guarantor. And you don’t care if FOS take a few months to look at this as you can still reduce your payment to the current loan.
I suggest you also ask Amigo to confirm that no interest is being added to your current balance. And offer a repayment of £150 a month.
C says
Hi Sara,
I’ve just checked my account and interest is still being added, so I will chase that up with them in the morning. I’ll also be in contact with the collections team to see if I can have a reduced payment.
My guarantor has been contact and has informed me that amigo has emailed her and removed her as a guarantor. This information was presented to me and I don’t like the lack of information they have provided, however I am happy that she is removed because I know if I do come into any problems in the future she won’t be affected !
Thank you very much for your template, you’ve me out a lot and got me in a better position.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s good that Amigo have release your guarantor. That is what FOS would say they should do. But it’s still good that they should do it without quibbling or making you or the guarantor argue the case.
Now you can do whatever you want with the remaining debt. You can put it and your payday loans and any overdraft into a debt management plan and pay it off that way. If you had impossibly big debts (which you don’t, but other people reading this may) you can now safely go bankrupt or for a debt relief order.
So you aren’t asking collections for a favour in reducing what you pay you are telling them what you can afford. But offering £5 a month isn’t a great idea as I expect you would really like to clear the debt and never deal with Amigo again!
And if you go to FOS about the first loan, it may take many months to resolve but that could chop another few hundred off the balance.
C says
So Sara,
I’ve been in touch with amigo about lowering my monthly payments I’ve told them my new circumstances & they’ve said that by lowering my payments I will be issued with a default notice, I’ll have late payment marks on my file and it will extend my loan duration! I didn’t think that would be the outcome considering I’ve had my complaint upheld. I also actually have just over £4000 left to pay that’s why interests is still occurring despite it only showing £3500 left.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
1) “I also actually have just over £4000 left to pay that’s why interests is still occurring despite it only showing £3500 left.” I don’t understand this. If the last loan was unaffordable, they should have removed all interest and no further interest should be added.
2) Also as they have decided the loan was unaffordable, they can’t reasonably say that they will add a default if you want to make lower – and affordable! – payments. The Ombudsman isn’t going to think that is fair.
I suggest you go back to Amigo by email and make both these points.
Obviously making lower payments takes longer to pay the loan off. If you pay £100 a month it will take twice as long as if you pay £200 a month. Thats why I said you don’t want to offer something very low like £5 a month.
C says
I’m not happy with anything at all and I will be sending this complaint to the FOS without letting them know because the way they have gone about things is totalling unacceptable. I will be emailing them and letting them know this I probably won’t be getting a response but it’s worth a try!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t blame you. Not only could you get the first loan included, but it’s not fair to mess you around with the offer on the top-up. As your guarantor has been released from the loan, you can reduce your monthly payments while the Ombudsman case goes through.
But it is worth telling them that you have gone to FOS and the reasons.
Stuart James Anderson says
Hi Sara,
Just to update everyone on my complaint with Amigo. I submitted my original complaint on 2nd August and received my final response today.
I’ve had 6 loans including top ups since 2015. I currently have a loan of around £4,300 outstanding.
They’ve worked out that based on interest payments and 8% simple interest In due back £7238.78. This clears my current loan and gives me back £2,840.50.
I’m also getting a refund of £1850 from Sunny for my payday loans.
This means I can now clear my overdraft and credit cards and I’m now more or less debt free!
Can’t thank this site for all it help and information enough!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Debt free – one of the nicest phrases in the English language!
Tasha says
Did you get your response by email.
Someone from amigo rang me today and said I’ve made a decision and you & your guarantor are both due a refund but wanted to speak to her before he’d tell me anything or what I was due back? He’s taken her bank details to repay her £3,000 and I’ve gone onto my app & there isn’t a loan there now so it’s cleared but waiting for a call tomorrow to see what refund I’m getting?
I was under the impression they emailed with a letter then we get in touch to provide bank details & tell them if we accept?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I’m very happy your gut feel that Amigo would reject your complaint was wrong!
I think they probably phoned the guarantor to ask if they wanted the 3k they had paid repaid to them or to you – legally the default would be it goes to them but some guarantors are happy for it to go to you. This is probably easier to sort out quickly in a phone call than by sending an email the guarantor won’t be expecting and may be confused by.
So when they call or email you. You want to know which loans they have agreed to refund and you want the figures for how the refund is worked out. Then later – off the phone – you can decide if that’s enough or you want to go to FOS about any loans they haven’t included.
Tasha says
So amigo rang first thing this morning to advise they’re repaying every bit of interest for all 3 loans (original plus 2x top ups).
My mum is getting £3000
The nearly £10,000 balance is already wiped I’m due £10,634.05 by the end of next week.
Thank-you so much Sara. When they refused my initial complaint in May I was going to give up but after seeing your encouragement decided to push them for a second opinion and it’s definitely paid off. We go on holiday a week on Sunday so that’ll land in the bank just in time, plus I can pay everything off that I owe.
Thank-you so much Sara! Not all heroes wear capes!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have a great holiday!
Neil says
Hi Sara
Just wanted to quickly pick your brain if possible. I sent my complaint into amigo 6 weeks ago obviously still awaiting the outcome but I hold little to no hope of them upholding my complaint. This being my guarantor had also contacted them to ask to be removed from the loan basically because she no longer is a home owner and now works part time and has 3 children to support. They called her to apparently discuss her financial situation and concerns! She stated she was worried that if I didn’t make a payment they would come after her for the money, around 20 minutes later they basically said although my Payments are generally around 2 weeks late I have never missed a payment over the 27 months so doubt I will now. Obviously this has caused her stress and worry as they were very matter of fact about things, just wondered if there was anything else I could do??
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“I hold little to no hope of them upholding my complaint” don’t be pessimistic! From your previous comment, you had missed payments to the previous loan you had with them. this should have been a big red flag to Amigo and they should have checked your new loan application in extreme detail before approving it. This is a very strong case!
Because your guarantor contacted Amigo asking to be removed as the guarantor, it’s fair that Amigo should talk to her about her concerns. It’s not fair if they have tried to talk her out of making an affordability complaint though…
She could go back to them and say she still wants her complaint to be considered as she doesn’t think she should have been accepted as a guarantor and it is causing her stress…
But as you should get the result of your complaint in the next two weeks, it may be sensible to just wait until then? Because if your last loan is considered unaffordable, then she will be released as guarantor without having to do anything more.
Neil says
Ok Sara fantastic thanks so much for your advice I’ll keep hoping for a positive outcome and will let you know their response
Thanks so much again
Jaz says
Hi
Sara/guys
I also was rejected by Amigo loans, so I did pass this to the FOS, I was just reading on what Tasha had commented, you mentioned that they refused your initial claim, and that you pushed them for a second opinion, could you tell me please on how you went on about doing this. Thanks, and Sara if you think I can go back to Amigo and ask them if there can look at my claim again, what advice can you give me on this matter on how to go by doing this. Thanks again for your help everyone/ Sara..
Tasha says
Hi Jaz,
When I first complained they didn’t ask for any bank statements etc so I emailed saying could they look at my complaint again or I will go to ombudsman. They said have you got any further information for us to consider and could I send bank statements 3 months prior to each loan and top up which I did and then they looked again.
I first complained in March/April time & they refused it in May. Since then, what was coming back from ombudsman was all overturning amigos refusal (about 80%) I believe and therefore they’re now looking at the cases differently & more often than not in our favour.
Hope this helps & you’re successful. My previous bank account was closed down so I just popped into the branch & they sent them out then I sent photos of each one
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think your complaint was very recent, Jaz?
Tasha’s was a while ago, before FOS started upholding most guarantor loan decisions.
Have you sent your case to FOS?
Elaine says
Sorry have I missed something here, or I’m just being thick, my guarantor could potentially get a refund also? I don’t actually speak to my guarantor anymore, we fell out over one late payment about two years ago, so if it was her decision whether I got money or not, I’m not holding out much hope !!
Joseph says
From what I’ve read on here, you just get back your payments – so say if you paid half via your own debit card then you just get your payments back (interest that is) and if your guarantor made any on his/her card then they will get theirs back – Seems a pretty fair way of doing it in my opinion
Tasha says
That’s not the case.
My guarantor got back the payments she paid. I’m getting back all the interest i’ve paid
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if your guarantor only made 1 payment, that payment would be all she got back.
MelD says
Hi Sara, a little advice please.
Received SAR from TFS LOANS, no bank statements at the time of application on their file. Surely this should be standard part of their checks for affordability? They refused to look at my complaint as it’s older than 6 years. (2012) I was in arrears with them 1 month after taking the loan for 3 months.
£1,000 loan at £62 per month. But financially I was very irresponsible with money hence the loan. Bank statements would have shown this. Income was good but outgoings were high. Only thing I can see is credit card bank statement I had at the time and It was £675 with £700 credit limit. Ended up in a debt consolidation with many other companies but kept TFS loans out of it as my mum was a guarantor and didn’t want it falling against her. I settled the debt 2 years later as I was giving money from an insurance claim.
Do you think I have a case with FOS?
Many Thanks
MelD
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you have your bank statements from that time?
Did you have payday loans?
MelD says
I don’t, Iv changed bank since then so I’m not sure if I would be able to get statements from my old bank from the 3 months before application. I had payday loans with wonga and lending stream etc but I can’t quite remember it these were before or after my application and my credit report no longer shows any of these loans as they are so old. Don’t know why.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So I suggest you:
a) ask your old bank for bank statements. You want to go back as far as possible.
b) put in an affordability complaint to Lending Stream and with this ask for a statement of all the loans you had from them
c) put in a claim to the Wonga claims portal if you haven’t doen this already.
Once you have some evidence about your situation back at the time of your TFS appplication, you can send the case to the Financial Ombudsman. You have 6 months to do that from the TFS rejection. If you can’t find any evidence this may not work as the loan wasn’t that big and you didn’t top it up.
Donna says
Hiya sara, just had a final response from amigo they have upheld my 2,3,4,7,8 loan which in total they have took 7361.14 off my balance so my new balance is 2322.32 will they stop the interest on this and also do you think it’s worth taking my 1,5,6 loan to fos as I had paid these off in full or should I just take the lot there I am stuck at what to do now thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“will they stop the interest on this” yes they should I suggest you ask them to confirm this.
They should also have informed your guarantor that they have been released from the current loan – can you check this with your guarantor? Once you know that has happened, you can also reduce your monthly payments to an affordable level.
“do you think it’s worth taking my 1,5,6 loan to fos as I had paid these off in full” I assume you haven’t been asked if you accept Amigo’s offer, they have just gone ahead and reduced your balance? If that is the case, then yes I think you should go to FOS for the other loans. If you got those refunded it may well reduce your balance to zero or even give you a small refund.
Donna says
No my guarantor hasn’t been taking off my loan and I didn’t accept they didn’t ask if I wanted to they have just took it off my balance I did ask again if they would look in my loans 1,5,6 and this was yesterday but had no email at al I don’t know what to do from here
Andrea says
Hi Sara.
I have make Affordability Complain for Bamboo loans.
“We have reviewed our records which confirm you originally enquired about a loan for £5,000 with a repayment term of 48 months on the 06th September 2016. You were shown a Guarantor loan quotation with an APR of 49.7% and monthly repayments of £213.37”
I have final respond today, basically they said that they will write outstanding balance of £1949.49 off and leave negative information on my credit score:
“”Our investigation shows that you had no significant adverse recorded in your name, you were up to date and within the limits on all of your credit and there were defaults or CCJs registered against you. Your net disposable monthly income was good, and we could find no evidence to suggest that you were experiencing financial hardship. In view of this, we are unable to uphold your complaint
However, we acknowledge that you were in a cycle of taking out payday loans and if you were to re-apply through Bamboo today it is unlikely that you would be approved under our current underwriting criteria. In view of this we think that is a fair and reasonable resolution to close your loan with immediate effect and take no further repayments from you.”
“Please note that, whilst we are willing to waive the remaining amount due, we are unable to remove negative information from your credit report as, under the principles of reciprocity, we have an obligation to report factual information.”
And that’s when I am truly worried, because I have worked very hard to get this score good as I’m self-employed and need it to be on right side for future. How this leave me with score now if I accept or is it better to just reply that I like to pay as normal? Is it worth to go for FOS in this case?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Andrea,
I haven’t heard of this happening before.
I have copied in the information about your loan size. It looks to me as though you have paid well over £7000 to this loan.
You could reject Bamboo’s offer and send the case to the Financial Ombudsman. As Bamboo never asked you for bank statements and you had a lot of payday loans in the previous year, you are likely to win this case, but I can’t say it is 100% certain. If you win the case, the balance would be wiped and you would get a refund of over £2000 and there would be NO negative marks on your credit record.
Or if you don’t want the refund and are happy with just the loan being wiped, you could go back to Bamboo and say this. So what could you say…
That depends on whether there are any problems on your credit record already for this Bamboo loan. Have you made all the payments on time so far?
Andy says
Bamboo also replied to me with the exact same email but changed the outcome that they will close your loan as mine was just decreased , but mine too they will not do anything with my credit file . I don’t know if it really effects me as I never missed a payment I just had a load of payday loans at the time
Andrea says
Hi Sara.I never miss any payment my score are very good .I have borrow £5000 from them and have one more year to pay it of..I don’t know what is best to do now ?Is it worth to replay them first?Can I ask Bamboo loans to not to not give any negative information at my ‘credit score?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK, well I suggest you go back to them and say you haven’t yet decided whether to accept the offer as you realise you may be able to get a refund if you go to the ombudsman. But you need to know how they intend to mark your credit record, because you have never missed a payment to the loan.
Let’s see what they reply with. If they say they will add a default, that is bad. If they say they will just mark the account at partially settled, that actually doesn’t affect your credit score. I’ll go into more detail when they say what they will do.
Andrea says
Hi Sara.
Thank you for your reply.
I have now replied to Bamboo and will post update when available.
Andrea says
Hi Sara.
I have received email from Bamboo loans,that they will mark my credit score as settled.
I assume that,this is good news for me.They also say in email that this will take 2-3 months.Please can you confirm if this is ok ,and I can go ahead with they offer?Thank you for all your hard work.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That sounds as though it isn’t going to harm your credit score at all.
If you take the case to the ombudsman you may get a refund, but if you are happy with just getting rid of the balance, thenthis is a good result for you.
Ruth says
Hi, Sara, I have sent over all the info on my complaint as requested by the ombudsman (I sent it in but it was in a queue I think they are now looking at it) my complaint got rejected from amigo after partially upholding and then rejecting after bank statements were sent in) but I got my 1st 2000 pound loan in July 2017 topped up to £5000 in October2017 and then again £5500 in Dec 2017, fingers crossed they will uphold it for me as I didn’t realise they were that close together.
Paul says
Hello,
i submitted a claim against 1plus1loans in october last year to ombudsman £3000 loan on 24month, Paid back close to £4500 (2016-2018)
Adjudicator has ruled it was lent irresponsibly.
“Where a 1Plus1 has made an error, our service would usually aim to put the consumer back in the position they’ve would’ve been in had the error not occurred. However in cases where a 1Plus1 has lent irresponsibly this isn’t entirely possible, as the lending provided
cannot be undone.
In this case, I think it fair that Mr should only have to repay the money he borrowed (and had the use of). So I think 1Plus1 should refund all of the interest and charges Mr has paid on his loan.”
Woo Hoo Success with 1plus1 Loans
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Excellent – first case against 1plus1 I can remember.
Fingers crossed they accept the decision and don’t drag it out to the ombudsman level.
Don says
So 8 weeks to the day and I have received my final decision response from Amigo.
They state they have not investigated my first two loans as they were taken out in 2010 and a top up in 2011 which was settled in 2014 due to the amount of time passed. They say the FOS states it’s 6 years from the date in question or 3 years from when I reasonably could have known I had cause to complain.
Amigo have not asked me when I knew I could have complained.
My first question is should I ask them to reconsider their decision as I had no idea I could complain until I submitted my complaint, or should I send straight to the FOS?
They have upheld my third loan which I took out in March 2015 and paid off early due to receiving some inheritance in January 2016. They state they have partially upheld my complaint in respect of this loan as even though they don’t agree it was unaffordable they should have asked further questions to fully understand my situation. They have stated they will be in touch with a figure for this and ask me to confirm my bank details for payment to be made.
So my 2nd question is me accepting this payment doesn’t effect me taking my complaint re loan 1 & 2 the the FOS does it?
Thank you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t think they will reconsider in this sort of situation.
Do you have your bank statements for 2010 and 2011? What sort of problems will they show?
Don says
I think I may have bank statements if not I’m still with the same bank so could ask if they would provide them. They would confirm that at the time I had numerous payday loans, I was taking them out to pay things such as my mortgage etc, I had mortgage arrears etc as well, payments being bounced.
All this was documentented on my credit file along with late payments, defaults and a recent ccj at the time of taking out the first loan and the situation getting worse on taking out the 2nd. I know they have my credit files from both the first and second loan as they have sent me a copy when I requested my SAR.
In fact I probably had more stable finances when taking out the 3rd loan and having looked at the paperwork and listened to the phone calls they asked more questions for this loan than the first two.
Am I best just heading straight to the FOS?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Definitely chase up the bank statements. It sounds as though you have lots of other evidence but bank statements may still be useful so chase now, don’t wait to be asked by FOS for them in a few months time.
The credit records Amigo sent you in the SAR – did they show mortgage arrears?
Don says
Yes it showed them and by the time of the second loan they had got worse.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think this is worth going back to Amigo with. Point out that you only found out what an affordability complaint was in the last year, so you are within the FOS “3 years from when I had reasonably knew I had cause to complain” rule. Add that your credit records showed the mortgage arrears, recent defaults and a recent CCJ you had when you took the first loan and that your situation had got worse when you took the second loan.
Say you will be going to FOS if they do not reconsider.
Daniel says
hi my partner has amigo loans .she has put in a complain and got her sar back we have looked through it and for some reason they have put my income on the budget even tho its not in my name and we was not leaving together and i didnt agree for me to be at the time she took it I had my own set of bill plus my rent and full-time dad to my 2 kids i was working how do I go about this ? removing me from the budget
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The fact that they included your income when they should not have strengthens her complaint.
Your being on this budget doesn’t harm you (NB I am assuming you aren’t the guarantor?) but it could support her complaint if you write to Amigo (get the email address and her reference number from her) and say You don’t understand why your income was included in her budget in 2016 (or whenever) as you were not living together at the time and you were not supporting her.
Paul says
Hi all
If I make a complaint to Amigo will the guarantor be informed/given specific details of the complaint ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you carry on making the normal monthly payments, there is no reason why the guarantor should be informed. You can add an extra sentence into the template saying “Please not I do not want my guarantor to be informed that I have made this complaint” if you want this to be very clear.
Andy says
I’ve complained on 2 garantor loans and my garantor has not been affected in any way , although I have kept up with my payments and bamboo has been resolved with no issues with my garantor just waiting to hear from amigo . Good luck
NA says
I’ve just had a response from Guarantor My Loan (not sure if anyone has dealt with them before), rejecting my claim to clearing all interest and repaying the original borrowed amount. They’ve stated that when i took the loan out (9 months ago) i told them i was paying other payday loans off, which i was but that was the tip of the iceberg at the time.
I haven’t missed a payment with them as i don’t want to affect my guarantor but this, coupled with alot of other loans make it hard to see any break in the clouds for the next 6 months. Shall i send it over to the FOS or is it pointless?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Definitely send this to FOS. The lender – a small one, I don’t remember anyone commenting on them before – knew you had payday loans so they should have looked at your situation in detail. it doesn’t sound as though they did so FOS may well uphold your complaint. You have nothing to lose by making this complaint and could gain a lot!
Have you also made affordability complaints about payday loans and other high cost borrowing?
You will have to carry on making the payments to GML while the FOS complaint goes through to protect your guarantor. But you could make payment arrangements with your other debts if you are struggling?
Samantha says
Heh can someone please explain how the 8% payment works? So my first loan for amigo was November 2016, topped loan up 4 times. Final payment was October 2018. Total amount of interest paid on all loans was £1833, so how does the 8% extra work? Does anyone know how much I could get back, Thank you!!
GM says
After reading the comments here I lodged an affordability complaint against Amigo. I took my first loan in 2014 and topped up 4 times. On my most recent loan I had made payments of £395 a month for 23 months and my balance was £9,650. Amigo upheld my complaint in relation to loans 4 and 5 which meant the interest paid cleared the balance of the loan and I recieved £1300 within 5 days. They requested bank statements for the time when loans 1, 2 and 3 were taken. I recieved an email yesterday stating that they also upheld my complaints in relation to loans 1, 2 and 3 and are now refunding me £6,777. Once this money is recieved I will be debt free for the first time in many years.
Thank you so much Sara for setting up this page. If it wasnt for you I would have been paying the outstanding loan for another 3 years and struggling to live each month
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Another great result!
Paul says
Hi
Earlier today I raised the question that if I as the borrower complained to Amigo will the guarantor be informed?
Expanding a little more I have been thinking if I put in an affordability complaint stating I have been paying on time each month for the last xx months but I have had to take out further credit and get behind on other bills to just pay them wouldn’t they say it was reasonable for them to contact my guarantor to request they make payments?
Amigo may think this would “help me” so I can afford my essential expenditure…
Any thoughts would be very helpful.
Paul
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They have no legal right to ask your guarantor to make a payment when you have not defaulted on your payments.
Amigo may say that they won’t take a payment from you because you can’t afford it. But you need to insist that you do want to make the payment even though it means you are struggling. Only a couple of people have had a problem like this and both of them got amigo to back down by sending an email to the FCA who is Amigo’s regulator.
I know this may all feel risky to you. But most borrowers posting here have felt the same. Look back through there comments. Most of them are getting good or great results, aren’t they?
Can I ask who your guarantor is? What is their financial situation? (NB I am not suggesting you stop paying Amigo and let them pay!)
Andy says
I was also taking out loans to make payments to amigo and bamboo , they will only go to your garantor if you miss the payments but if your payments doesn’t really matter how as long as your making them your garantor should never be approached , but that’s what won my complaint as I was in a spiral of payday loans before and while I took these loans out so it should just make your case stronger as it shows you can’t afford it . Hope this helps
P says
Hi Sara
I made a complaint about amigo which FOS has upheld, amigo have agreed to refund interest on all loans i had 2, i but more curious on my biggest one (2nd) it was for 7500, the balance is 8000 I have had 8878 in charges put on and I’ve paid to date 8343, not sure how it works do i get the interest back and the amount I have actually paid gets taken of the 7500 as obviously this has to be clear or does the interest disappear and the payments I’ve already made go toward the balance? It’s very confusing
Thanks sara
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You borrowed 7500 and and have repaid 8343 to date – I assume that is the total of cash payment you have made to Amigo. And that none of those payments was made by your guarantor.
The easy way to think of this is that as Amigo has accepted the loan was unaffordable, you only have to repay what you borrowed. No interest or any other charges Amigo have added on for whatever reason. So the balance should be wiped and you should get a refund of interest and charges of £843 plus 8% statutory interest.
Amigo goes through a more complicated calculation because to calculate the 8% statutory interest they have to know when you made “interest payments”. But the end result should be similar.
Was the first loan repaid or topped-up by the second one? Have you calculated the interest on that?
p says
hi
thanks made it more clearer for me, it was a top up loan so i am not sure if its classed as 1 loan or 2 i cant remember the interest that i paid on that it was 2000 i think and the balance was 2600 when i topped up.
It will be very nice to have the loan clear its a big weight off and anything back is a bonus really, yes all payments have been made by me.
thanks sara
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, come back if you aren’t sure if the figures Amigo calculates are right.
Matt says
I made my initial complaint to Amigo on 14 August 2018 and was sent the standard letter back from them rejecting my claim for two loans (one current). Within 6 months I send this to the ombudsman and have been waiting for it to be allocated to an investigator. I chased this up in July 2019 and was told the following;
Thank you for your email.
Your comments have been noted and I can confirm that your complaint file is currently in the Admin team waiting to be passed to an Investigator.
In fairness to all our customers, complaints are progressed in order according to the date they arrive in the Admin team.
I can assure you that your complaint is progressing here at the Financial Ombudsman Service. We have obtained the file of papers from the business to complete your case file and to avoid further delays at the assessment stage.
When your complaint is assigned to an Investigator, they will contact you directly. In the meantime, we will keep you informed of any progress.
———————————————————————
Is this normal to go on this long without going to an investigator? Is there anything I can do to speed up a decision as it has been over 13 months from my initial complaint?
Thanks in advance.
Matt
Sara (Debt Camel) says
After this long I suggest phoning them up every few weeks and asking about progress. If making the payments is causing you great difficulty (any priority debts? mental health problems? is your guarantor in a vulnerable sitution?) explain this.
Matt says
Hi Sara
I have a letter from them in March saying they are still waiting to allocate to an investigator. I have another from May to say the case is still being looking into and will be several months before I hear anything again.
I chased it up via email in July to be told my case was still current and will be looked at soon.
I have just emailed again for a progress report, would ringing be better than emailing? I like to email as it gives a paper trail and time stamp.
Thanks in advance,
Matt
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I just think it’s easiest to sound stressed and in need of help on the phone…
Lou7 says
Hi Matt,
It’s been exactly the same for me. Coming up to 12 months and I am still no nearer to being assigned anyone. The stress of trying to find £296.44 per month is taking its toll on me and when I ask for an update it’s the same generic email.
Matt says
Wow talk about timing, I sent them another email to another email address and I have now been assigned an investigator who jas asked for bank statements from 3 months prior to each loan. Hopefully this will lead to an answer soon. I will keep you posted. Lou7 which email address have you been sending to as I can let you have the one I received a 18hr response from.
Sara is shall I include my credit report with these bank statements? Is it worth including more than the 3 months they asked for?
Thanks in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Definitely send a credit report. If you have been asked for specific bank statements, I would just send those unless there is a particular reason why you want to send another one? FOS will be mainly interested in your situation just before applying for a loan – as that is what Amigo should have looked at in detail before giving you the loan.
Charlie H says
Hi Sara, me again,
I sent the bank statements as requested to Amigo approx. 3 weeks ago after they had partially upheld my complaint. I emailed them on Friday of last week to ask for an update and had a response which said that they hadn’t got round to looking at them yet but were hoping to over the course of Friday and Saturday and that they would keep me updated regardless. As of now on Monday, 09:18, I haven’t heard anything. At what point should I just refer the complaint back to FOS. I personally believe that 8 weeks to check the initial complaint, then 3 weeks for the statements should be more than enough but I am prepared to wait another couple of days if you think that would be best.
I have to say that I was alarmed that another person here said their complaint was partially upheld but when they sent in the bank statements, it was rejected. My statements show significant use of payday loans which FOS have upheld all complaints about so I’m hoping that will make a difference but the question really is, how can they partially uphold then reject. Just doesn’t make sense to me
Thank you once again for your support to us all
NA says
I currently have 2 loans outstanding, both i haven’t yet paid the original borrowed amount off. With the affordability complaint, will they only ever refund the interest (+8%) meaning the original loan amount will always have to be paid back minimum?
Andy says
They should take off the interest on the loan so you pay back was was originally borrowed and refund interest that you have paid too
Sara (Debt Camel) says
These are two guarantor loans? Are they from different guarantor lenders?
If you have already repaid more than the amount you borrowed, then the balance is wiped. But if there is a balance left it is VERY VERY rare for the ombudsman to say it should be wiped.
Are you worried you still won’t be able to repay what you borrowed?
After winning an affordability case you can put the balance into a DMP do it is paid back at an affordable rate. If that isn’t going to work for you as your debts are too big, you can look at bankruptcy or a debt relief order, The lender can’t go after your guarantor when you have won an affordability complaint.
So even though it may feel these complaints don’t solve your situation, they can open up other debt solutions that will.
Andrew says
Hi all – just to update everyone. With the help of this amazing site I have just had response from FOS saying that Amigo have agreed to refund interest and charges on all 7 loans and 8% interest and credit reference markers removed,
Amigo did this without a decision being made by FOS.
Thank you again for all your help on this site.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Excellent. With that many loans being refunded, I hope that will clear your current balance and you will get some refund!
matthew peacock says
Hi, do they pay 8% interest per year on each loan or is it 8% on interest total regardless of duration.
thanks
Danielle Bird says
Hi All,
Just wanted to update you all. I put in a Complaint with Amigo on the 24/07/2019. They upheld my complaint and I had my refund 17th September! Over £2,000 received back. I have had 5 out of 10 complaints upheld, and the rest are with FOS or Wonga type situations where I am waiting for them to decide what they are going to do next! Amazing website, I can’t thank Sara enough :)
Jenny says
Sara, OMG, you are a superstar. I put my Amigo complaint in exactly 8 weeks ago today but with little hope of getting a direct yes due to times of loans (2011 & 2013) respectively. I sent the 3 months of statements prior to taking out each loan and sat back to wait!!!! Had the response this evening, full refund of all interest charged on Both loans plus 8% interest accrued. THANK You so much, I totally expected to have to take this to ombudsman and have to wait a year to get a result. Don’t not bother asking because you have predecided the result, it’s Always worth a go! No final figure as yet but my calculations make it just ove £14,000!!!!! Loans are all paid off last year so its a win win!!!!!
Vk says
Hi Sara,
I sent complain based on affordability on 7th of August and so far I haven’t received any reply.I tried to contact them yesterday and they said they will revert back by end of 8th week.
I believe end of 8th week is 1st October as 9th week starts from tomorrow.
I will keep you updated and fingers crossed.
Many thanks
Vk
Sophie says
Hi Vk.
Did you get a reponse?
My 8 weeks is up tomorrow. Fingers crossed.
Vk says
Yes i did today and the response is positive.They have agreed to pay back all the interest and remove guarenteer
Sophie says
Fantastic news.
I am hoping for some good news tomorrow.
Laura says
So I’ve had a decision – yay! Adjudicator confirmed on Friday that Amigo was prepared to refund interest on both loans. First for £2,500 then a top-up to £4,000. I was only really hoping for the refund on interest for the second loan so this is a great result.
My loan is now wiped and I am due a refund of nearly £2,000. Thanks Sara!
Annie says
Can I ask how long it took adjudicator to make a decision after they pick up your case, I got an email last week to see it was now being assessed so hoping for a quick response as they already have my bank statements etc. Thanks
Laura says
Hi Annie, I think it was just over a week, so pretty quick. Good luck!
Kelly B says
Hi Sara
3 weeks have passed now and no word from Amigo regarding my bank statements. They told me last week they hadnt got round to looking yet and would update when they do. Should I message them again? Or just wait to hear from them?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
3 weeks is ridiculous. I suggest you phone them up and ask to speak to a manager.
Kelly B says
I thought so too. I had sent them so much evidence including my step change debt plan amongst others as well as the statements. I will phone today
Jean says
Hi sarah
I have sent my bank statements to amigo 3 weeks ago has my claim was partially upheld pending statements
Have not heard anything back. payments of course are still coming out but on line interest show has only £12.00 instead of the usual £200 and something……
I have sent an email to them Monday still have had no response . Not sure what to do at this point ??
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Phone them up and ask what is happening. 3 weeks is a long while to be waiting.
Jean says
Hi Sarah
Received an email today stating that they have rejected my claim for affordability they state even though l had payday loans….. in there opinion l was not reliant on them even though l have won three payday loan complaints at the time i took out amigos loan l was paying back a payday loan and had been for a couple of years and after l took out the loan with amigo l has to enrol with step change because my debt was becoming to much …
I have since left step change and have agreed with all my creditors a monthly payment
So not sure how they cane to that decision???
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry to hear that. Send the complaint straight to the Ombudsman.
Your guarantor – could they afford the repayments? I’m not suggesting that you should stop paying, but if you know they really can’t afford them, then they could complain and ask to be removed as the guarantor.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Let’s be clear, from what you said before, if they are upholding only your second loan, then you have already paid so much (from the numbers you previously gave) that the balance should be wiped and no more interest should be charged. It is hard to imagine how £12 interest could ever be correct!
Also if they say they will refund the second loan and not the first, come back here and ask.
Kathy says
Ive been the same,. ive been told 16th then 24th and now sometime this week. Theyve had my bank statements over 4 weeks.I sent email asking for update and to be honest the response was quite blunt saying you were told previously we are busy. You will hopefully get reply this week.
Jack P says
Has anyone had their Amigo complaint rejected on the 8-week deadline? Mine quickly approaches (less than 10 days) and I’ve already sent my bank statements with the original complaint so if it was going to be a rejection I’d have thought I would’ve heard by now…
I’m not holding out hope for a response but I’ve relied solely on my partner and family to pay this loan.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Most people don’t get a reply until the end of week 8. i don’t think rejections come any sooner. So no news isn’t good or bad, it’s just no news.
Jack P says
Thanks Sara,
I don’t know how strong a case I have, although I’ve never missed a payment it has mostly been my partner who has paid this loan. Without their wage, I would never have afforded this at all.
I’m hoping I have a strong case but guess I will know in 1 week!
Andy says
It’s the same for me I’m in the last week now and heard nothing other than they have got my complaint , good luck
Andy says
Hi all, adjudicator has upheld my complaint against UK credit they have until tomorrow to reply , any one had this have to go to ombudsman, and different outcome , thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
UK Credit often rejects adjudicator decisions. In the ones i have seen, the Ombudsman has upheld the adjudicator decision. eg https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/files/252810/DRN5436535.pdf
Rach says
I got a loan of £2,000 in August 2015. I took a top up of £3500 in September 2017, Then a further top up loan in December 2018 of £5000. Do I have a case? I struggle and have done for the past 4 years with this! Leaving me nothing each month. The top up in December 2018 the Gurantour was only allowed to stand for me up to the value of £5000 does that show that they couldn’t afford it too?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Definitely worth making a complaint and sending it to the Ombudsman if the lender – is it Amigo? – rejects it.
Plenty of people are winning one loan cases. And every top-up makes your case stronger!
You should be hoping for refunds on all of your loans. Getting the first one refunded will make a lot of difference to the balance you still have to repay once interest is removed from the current loan.
Can I ask if you have other high cost debt as well? or previous payday loans now repaid?
Your guarantor – do you think they could really afford the monthly repayments on the current loan without problems? If not, they too can complain and ask to be removed as a guarantor. It doesn’t help you win your case, but getting them removed will take a lot of pressure off you!
Lillie says
Hi Sara,
I sent an email to Amigo Loans yesterday using your template (thank you for being so helpful!) I just wanted to check that my complaint is founded as I have a bad gut feeling that it will be rejected.
In July 2017 I got my first loan from Amigo. I had just finished uni and became self employed but when I applied to Amigo Loans I had no proof of this as I hadn’t had a tax year yet. This wasn’t an issue as the didn’t ask for proof or bank statements or anything.
My guarantor was also self employed and they were not asked for any proof either. No credit checks were made on either of us. Despite this and despite me saying I only earn £9000 a year, they lent me £5000.
In October 2017 I applied for a top up loan. This happened quicker than the first time. I used the same guarantor and they did just as few checks, if not less. I had the money within hours. This left me in £10000 of debt.
I have only had one or two late payments in the whole time I’ve had a loan with them as I prioritise paying them so it doesn’t effect my guarantor but having the loan has caused me to struggle to pay other things.
I seriously regret borrowing from Amigo Loans but I felt I had no other option at the time.
Thank you again for all the help you give on here!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think that sounds like a very good case. With no income history, how could Amigo feel confident you could afford to repay the first loan?
You should expect to get a refund on the first loan and the top-up. If Amigo say No, or only offer to refund the top-up, send the case to the ombudsman immediately.
Many people here have thought they would never win but they did!
Jasmine says
my complaint has just been accepted by the FOS however I only ever had 1 Loan and topped it up 4 times. I still have a balance of £8000 and unsure if I will actually receive anything back.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Jasmine, how long ago was the original loan and how big was it and all the top ups?
Jasmine says
Hi Sara thanks for the reply.
I am positive the original loan was taken out in 2015. I don’t have all of the information as I am waiting on them sending it to me but I am positive it started with £1000 and then was topped up to £2000 and then up to £3000 then £4000, then £5000 and then finally £8250 in January 2018. My balance is £8800 at the moment.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK, well first the interest will be removed from the last loan. Do you know how much you have paid to it so far?
Jasmine says
I know from going back my bank statements that I have paid around £7000 since January 2017
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That’s a lot of money but it isn’t much help in knowing whether you will get a refund.
If you have all your bank statements you can work out how much you paid since the last top up.
Also if you used the template letter in the article above, you should have been sent a copy of all your personal information – this should have the contracts for each loan / top up. And the settlement account for each of the previous loans – can you find them?
Jasmine says
I’ve not got that information as I sent the complaint in before I found your website. However I know from bank statements I have paid just under £5000 since January last year when I topped up the loan to £8250
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK, well if you don’t think Amigo’s calculations sound right, you should ask them for a copy of all your personal infomration now.
If you have paid c £5000 already to the last loan, then that one would be reduced to c £3250. Then refunds from the previous loan will be used to repay that. Unless you can work out what you paid to each loan seperately AND you have the loan contracts which show for each top up how much was used to settle the previous loan, it’s not possible to say much more.
I would be surprised if the balance isn’t cleared, but it does depend on the detailed numbers.
Jasmine says
Thanks for all your help Sara.
I have just emailed asking for all the information. I just hope I find out soon, having the balance cleared would be amazing. Anything else would be a bonus. Thank you
Jasmine says
Hi Sarah.
So amigo have cleared my balance by £7810.39. Leaving a balance of £995.88. However it’s my understanding that I would only pay back what I borrowed which was £8250. Does this sound correct or should I ask for a break down of the figures?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I can’t tell but I definitely think you should ask for the figures. Say you want a breakdown of how much is being refunded on each loan / top-up. And that you would like a statement of account for each loan and top-up.
Vk says
Hi Sara,
I am really happy to share my success story with amigo with your guidence. Finally I got my reply today after 8 weeks and amigo has agreed to partially upheld my complaint and agreed to return my interest along with 8%simple interest.Theybhave even agreed to remove my guarenteer which is a big relief for me.
I took a 10k top up loan 14 months back and despite me paying 395 pounds a month my outstanding balance is 9750 which made me cry .Finally after seeing this site I made a complaint and amigo has agreed to return 6325 which now leaves me with just 3386.
Thank u so much sara this means a lot to a middle class family.
Thanks
Vk
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That’s good news for you. Amigo should also agree to accept a lower monthly payment from you if that would help?
Vk says
Hi Sara,
What is the difference between fully upholding the complaint and partially upholding the complaint.
Does they apply interest on the outstanding balance once they return the interest as per partially upholding the complaint?
As they agreed to return interest on my 10k loan my current balance has come down to 3250 approximately.Will they apply interest on this balance as I can see they have added 82 pounds interest from the statement
Many thanks
Vk
Currently
Kel’s says
Hello everyone,
My partner put in an unaffordability request on 25th July with Amigo.
He received the SAR information a month ago and then had nothing since.
He phoned amigo on Monday and was told they had his email. He advised they had 48 hours to respond as it had been over 8weeks.
He chased them again today as had no reply again to be told they sent an update on 18th September and they will not be doing anything. If they had sent the email, I don’t understand why on Monday he was not given the same information.
My partner is one payment away from paying the loan amount, anything else will purely be interest. He has had to borrow money from me over the last 2 years. He Was on a temp contract when he took it out and only made permanent last month. Amigo at no point ever asked for proof of income to him or his guarantor.
He has now referred it to the FOS
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So has he actually seen the rejection email? If not he should ask for it to me sent again.
Quite right to send the case to the ombudsman.
If his guarantor would find it difficult to pay, then perhaps the guarantor too could put in a complaint and ask to be removed as guarantor?
Kel’s says
Hi Sara
He still hasn’t received anything in writing, do you think this will make his case with the FOS stronger?
He had also emailed amigo telling them he has referred it and still not had a reply to that
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“do you think this will make his case with the FOS stronger?”
No. he will win or lose his affordabily complaint based on his situation when he applied for the loan(s) and the quality of the decision Amigo took (often pretty poor!).
He may get £50 extra for unhelpful complaint handling, but probably not more than that.
Has he phoned them up and asked them again for the rejection email?
Kel’s says
Thank you, he has referred it anyway.
He asked them to resend it last Wednesday when they said no over the phone and still hasn’t received anything
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh yes, definitely send to FOS. But he should still ask for a copy!
Kel’s says
Hi Sara,
He has rang them again and will no email received.
He even verified the email address on the phone to them and they were going to resend it.
This is the 4th time he has called them regarding it.
Charlie H says
Hi All,
Just an update on my claim. Amigo agreed with 2 out of 5 loans based on those I could provide bank statements for which I can understand. They have agreed to refund £8400 which I have to say, I am over the moon with. Didn’t need to take it to FOS in the end so that’s an even better result. Just a case of waiting for it to arrive in my bank account now.
Sara, can I say one huge thank you as you have helped me with Payday loans and this Loan too all of which have been agreed giving for me a total in excess of £12000 back. I cannot tell you how grateful I am for your excellent advise and help. Thank you so so much :)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That’s good – all your loans were quite old, weren’t they? How old were the two refunded?
Charlie H says
They were. They didnt do the most recent from 2013 but agreed the 2010 and 2011 loans so they do seem to be a bit hit and miss on whether they look at old ones or not. Either way, I’m pleased and wish luck to everyone who is going through the process
Emma says
Thankyou again to you all.
The adjudicator at FOS has upheld my complaint against George Banco. Fingers crossed they agree.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I hope they agree!
Robin says
Hi Sara,
Thanks for all the advice on here firstly.
I’ve just had a respond from amigo stating they partially agree but only on two loans, they have also said they want to refund my guarantor as they made a lot of payments and this will make the debt mine! I’m worried this will ruin my credit report if my guarantor accepts and I also can’t afford to repay as I’m in debt!!!and scraping by as it is.
Do you have any advice on what options I have moving forward?
Thanks.
Robin
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Some more details will help.
How many loans did you have? Can you give some details – size of loans, dates etc
Which loans did your guarantor make payments on? Did the guarantor actually settle any loans in full?
robin says
Sure,
Maybe 6 or 7 loans…growing in amount each time over the years, usually between 1000and 4000. Some were top ups that wiped the existing loan out ect…
At lot of the time I started out making payments and then the guarantor took over and settled some.
I think I only settled 2 of the 6
I had two different guarantors during the time
Amigo have only agreed to the complaint about the smaller first ones.
Hope this helps, happy to.provide any other details if needed
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest your starting point should be that if a guarantor made payments to a loan, then it is VERY likely that the Ombudsman will decide that that you should never have been given top ups or another new loan after that. So if Amigo has not accepted all your loans for a refund, then you should send your complaint to the Ombudsman right away.
If you win your case – and it sounds a strong one! – then your credit record can’t be affected and if there were any missed payments showing before, they should be deleted.
Did you ever repay your guarantors any of the money they paid on your behalf?
If all the loans are upheld – and it is VERY odd if Amigo have only upheld the smaller ones, anyone might think they were trying to get away with refunding as little as possible – then what should happen is:
– all monies paid by the guarantors should be refunded to them.
– all interest should be removed from all the loans
– all the payments you made should be taken off the loan balances.
– any negative marks should be removed from your credit record and no new negative marks can be added.
For some loans you may end up owing more money. Often even though a guarantor is refunded money, the fact that the huge amount of interest is removed means the borrower is ok. You are going to have to look at what you paid to each loan to be sure.
For other loans – the ones you settled – even if your guarantor made a few payments it is very likely that you should be owed a refund that can then clear some of the other balances.
Do you have a current loan?
robin says
Thank you for this Sara! Great advice and I am taking it forward.
I don’t have any current loan with them these are all older loans. I havnt ever paid any money back to the gaurentors.
I’m just mainly worried that if this becomes debt and I can’t pay or the payments are so small it affects me in the long run
Sara (Debt Camel) says
For what it’s worth, I think if Amigo refunds your guarantors so much that after taking off the interest you still owe money, you can argue that this is unfair.
First because of the FCA’s overarching principle of Treating Customers Fairly. You have made a complaint which has been upheld that the lender incorrectly set up the loans originally – it is not reasonable that you should be left worse off because of this.
Second because of the common law principle of Estoppel. You have conducted your affairs since the loans were repaid on the basis that you no longer owed this money. Amigo should not then be able to change its mind – because of an error on its part, not yours – and say you still owe money.
So if Amigo comes out with an end result that means you still owe money, you should send the case straight to the Ombudsman.
robin hutchinson says
Hi Sara,
So it all got confirmed and my guarantor got refunded.
Amigo agreed on loans 2 and the final one only.
This has resulted in me getting a message saying I owe 2.6 grand and the want me to start making monthly payments November 1st at 160pcm which I simply cannot do!!!
I just don’t get why they don’t agree on the other loans also??
I’ve out this to the ombudsman, I’m also a bit miffed as I complained on my own and they went straight to my gaurentor instead of giving me any choices to communicate myself the situation
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok so your complaint to FOS is:
1) that you also want refunds on all the other loans.
2) that Amigo has not handled your complaint reasonably by leaving you in a worse position than before you complained despite Amigo agreeing that they had been ar fault. Mention both the FCA’s TCF principle and the legal right of Estoppel as I described above.
Amigo cannot take you to court while you have a complaint underway. I suggest you say you will not be making any payments until the FOS case is resolved.
Natalie says
Hi robin, your case is very similar to mine! I referred by case to FOS and it has been assigned and is currently being investigated. Last I checked Amigo had provided everything my investgator needed and now they can investigate. Fingers crossed for a fair outcome as my case my set precedent for yours!
A says
Hi I took a amigo loan and uk credit loan in 2012 over 5 years but have recently just found out you can claim on these like pay day loans but it is now over 6 years old does that mean i have no chance of getting anything back? I had a payday uk case upheld by fos in 2016 but they never mentioned I could claim for these too otherwise I would have done! Any advise is much appreciated
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Amigo are settling some loans over 6 years. Get your complaints in ASAP and send to the Ombudsman if either lender rejects it.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
See Charlie H’s comment above – she had older loans settled
Jenny says
Hi A, Amigo have just repaid all my interest on 2 loans from 2011 and 2013, without need for ombudsman. All within 8 weeks, refund hit my account this morning, a whopping £14500!!! 6 year rule not necessarily a reason not to try 😁.
Thanks to Sara, wouldn’t have known it was possible to complain without this site 😘
A says
Wow that’s amazing well done!! And gives me hope thank you
Shahid says
Hi All
I had my complaint accepted back in August. Once I got mine accepted, I confidently shared this with my brother and my best friend.
We had all taken Amigo Loans out in 2017 and had struggled extremely badly. Our relationship took a toll at some point, before thankfully recovering.
I would like to update you all. All 3 Amigo complaints were accepted! I cannot thank Sara, this website and everyone here enough. It has been the greatest help.
All three loans were first 7,500 and then topped up to 10,000 as soon as we became eligible.
Remaining balances on them are now between 1,200 to 2,000.
In total, we have saved interest that would total nearly £40,000.
Thank you so much!!!
Louise says
Hi can anyone tell me how long it takes Amigo to calculate a refund and how long for them to pay you it please.Thankyou..
Jenny says
Hiya, mine was agreed on Monday, had amount confirmed on Tuesday and money was in my account today.
Louise says
That’s pretty fast,Thankyou for your reply..
Alan Smith says
I’ve just been through my records and it looked like I put a complaint in 2016 about unaffordable lending with amigo this was well before guarantor loans was being accepted and won by people but was rejected very quickly by amigo my head was not in the right place and didn’t follow up as i didn’t think had leg stand on would taking a case to ombudesman after 3 years be a no no? Even though they clearly state they wouldn’t object after 6 months.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Normally you have 6 months to take a complaint to the Ombudsman after a lender has rejected it. The “three year” part of the ombudsman’s rules isn’t relevant here.
BUT unusually Amigo was happy not to put a 6 month time limit on this. If you go back and read your 2016 decion, I am pretty sure it will have said you could take it to the Ombudsman but would not have mentioned a time limit.
In this case you can send your complaint to FOS now! However, you may get a quicker result if you ask Amigo if they would like to look at your 2016 complaint again, enclose your bank statements from the 3 months before your loan and any top-ups. Say that you will be sending this to FOS if they reject.
Alan Smith says
Thanks for that! I’ve just fired off an email to amigo asking them to looking at my case again. In regards to bank statements that account closed down a year or two ago because of debt relief order and I don’t think just 5 years would be enough to cover the start I did have payday loans out from 2009-2014 with pay day uk which I won and got paid out on through the fos so surely that would show I couldn’t afford it especially since I took amigo in 2012
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Get as many bank statements as you can!
Sophie says
Has anybody experience of Amigo not responding within the 8 week deadline?
I still have not heard and the deadline is today which worries me.
Don says
Hi Sophie, I didn’t get my final reply from them until around 6pm on the last day of the 8 weeks so hopefully it will be on its way to you if you haven’t had it already.
Sophie says
Thank you. Nothing received yet though,
Sophie says
Hi Sara,
Where do I stand when 8 weeks have expired? I sent my complaint 10pm on 8th August and received an acknowledgment the following day and also received the data requested at the beginning of September.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well you could send it now to FOS, but it’s better to phone them up today and ask why you haven’t had a response.
Sophie says
Absolutely over the moon. Complaint partially upheld, interest refunded and now frozen and £50 refund for Amigo turning off my direct debit when I asked them not to.
Sara you are absolutely fantastic, this will make a huge impact on my finances.
Does anybody know what ‘Bank Payment’ means on their statement? It has occurred on mine today but I haven’t made any payment only direct debits.
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Great.
In case Amigo haven’t made it clear, your guarantor will be released from the loan.
Sophie says
They have indeed which is amazing xx
MnM says
I have been following this thread for weeks now. I have a complaint in with Amigo that is approaching the deadline a week on Saturday. My complaint spans over 2 loans and 5 top ups dating back from 2013. I have suffered gambling issues and borrowed from multiple payday loans and family members, all of which shows on my bank statements. I currently have a £10k loan to which of my complaint is upheld should get the remaining cleared.
It’s gut wrenching waiting on their decision as I know it will change so much for me if upheld.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think that sounds like a very strong case. You don’t just want the last couple of top-ups upheld – with payday loans and gambling you should expect to have them all refunded.
fingers crossed for you!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
PS have you looked at affordability complaints for the payday loans too?
MnM says
Hi Sara, thank you for the positivity I do hope so. I have yes I am awaiting a response from Cashfloat, Ferratum and SafetyNet Credit. I currently have Sunny, Satsuma, Provident and Lending Stream with the FOS. Myjar upheld my claim but was only small about £180….worth having though. I am also awaiting claims from WDA, Payday Express and Payday UK as they’re all with management companies. If everything gets upheld I will be debt free and cash in the bank. Fingers crossed 🤞
Sarah says
Hi Sarah i would appreciate any help you can give me. My complaint with Amegio loans was declined by them in November 2018 I forwarded it on to the financial Ombudsman. I suffer from depression and anxiety and have a brain condition that affects my memory. I was unable to work due to depression and the third top up was allocated. I have numerous payday loans on my credit file that I was unable to pay. But Amegio said they don’t lend based on your credit file.
Sarah says
The Ombudsman allocated a adjudicator June 2019 and for some reason they passed on the case back to amigo loans to relook at, they refused. Then I rang the Ombudsman back up and asked them to look into it. They got in touch with Amegio requested for the files.. Then I got an email September 1st saying that the case details weren’t traceable, but they have found them now the case was waiting to be assigned an adjudicator. Im still waiting. In the meantime Amegio loans are refusing to help i no longer work and get universal credit. But the date has changed and Amegio are refusing to change the date. I have never missed a payment and in total paid over £ 8569. I struggled to make this month’s payment of £395 and they said that they would take me ti court and add a default notice on my credit file. Because my partner is my gurantor and we both are claiming universal credit. So if either one of us pay it leaves us in the same position. We were on universal credit when topped up and Amegio never checked if we could afford it. thanks Sarah
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry quite a few questions:
Have you told the Ombudsman about your mental health problems? You said earlier the Ombudsman had agreed to look at it asap. Have you heard anything?
Has your partner put in a complaint asking to be removed as guarantor?
How large are your other debts? Your partner’s other debts?
Are you buying or renting?
It sounds as though you are unlikely to be able to go back to work soon – what about your partner?
Sarah says
Hi we are renting and my partner is carer for our adopted eight year old daughter. I won’t be going back to work any time soon with my depression and the needs of my daughter. We are waiting for the Ombudsman to asign another adjudicator. I rang last week and they said that everything was going as it should and they expect it to be picked up soon. I never mentioned my mental health issues to the Ombudsman. But I did to Amegio loans who refused to keep everything via resolver as i struggle with telephone conversations. They just kept telling me i had to ring so they can go through things. My partner put a complaint in on the 10th September and ameigo replied saying that they were looking into it. They will be in touch with in 8 weeks.
Sarah says
My partner has debt up to 1000. I have debt up to 13000. They have my balance at £10000 and it isn’t coming down even though I’ve been paying £395 a month since the last top up in August 2018 every time I pay £395 they put it back on in interest. :( thanks Sarah
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Good.
I suggest you work out what you can afford to pay Amigo and offer them that. It doesn’t matter if they do add a default to your credit record. If you win your case 9and you should – it sounds a really strong one) and negative marks will be removed. If you lose, well you still can’t actually pay more than you can afford and leave your family short.
I suggest you phone the ombudsman up tomorrow and explain about your mental health issues and all the stress you are under and that Amigo are insisting on wanting to talk to you which you just can’t manage because of your mental health. Ask if your case can be given priority.
Sarah says
Hi Sarah i rang the Ombudsman today and they said they will speak to their manager about making my case a priority. They didn’t seem very hopeful though. I have again tried getting in touch with Amegio loans they have yet to get back to me. So let’s hope i start to see progress. Thanks Sarah
C says
Hi Sara,
It’s me once again, I got in touch with amigo with the concerns I had voiced a couple days ago and I was advised by them that all interest has now been frozen, they have apologised for not letting me know about my guarantor being released. They also apologised about what the collections team & advised me that I will be able to set up an affordable payment without anything effecting my credit because they will be removing the loan all together off my credit Repot which is great but will take 8 weeks.
My only problem is I’ve logged onto my account after receiving that email and can still see interest being added daily. This is getting abit ridiculous now because this is now twice I’ve been told interest is frozen when it isn’t! I don’t see anyone else that’s had this issue!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So this is all good. Well apart from the fact you have had so much hassle!
I suggest you email them and say that after your conversation yesterday (I assume this was on the phone) you are pleased that they have acknowledged your guarantor has been released, that no more interest can be added, that you can set up an affordable payment arrangement without it affecting your credit record. Point out that today interest still appears to be being added. Say you will check back in 2 months and if interest is still being added or the loan is still on your credit record you will be going immediately to FOS and asking for compensation.
And then get the monthly payment set and forget about it for 2 months. Stick a date in diary.
Mike says
What was amigo loans called before,
I’m sure it had another name?
Mike says
They were called FLM before they changed name to Amigo
Mike says
Thankyou it was driving me crazy.
Can you still put a complaint into FLM now?
I put one into amigo but they came back with they can’t find any previous loans I held with them
Sara (Debt Camel) says
FLM was Amigo – it just rebranded (seehttps://www.amigoplc.com/about/history). Amigo is the firm to complain to.
There have been several cases where Amigo has denied either being able to find a loan or has said that everything relating to that loan has been deleted, where later on the process details have suddenly appeared and been provided to FOS. Of course I can’t say this will happen in your case.
I assume you have provided Amigo with date of birth, old home addresses and old email address – things that might enable them to locate the old loan.
If they can’t, I suggest you send the case to the Financial Ombudsman if you have some evidence that the loan existed. Bank statements should show how much you borrowed and repaid. Any proof that you had payday loans, CCjs, gambling the time of taking the loan out.
If Amigo says they can’t find anything, then provided you have details of what you paid it may still be possible to win the case.