UPDATE: if your household income has been affected by Coronavirus, you can ask Amigo and other guarantor lenders for 3 month payment break. During this time the lender will NOT be able to ask your guarantor for payment.
This applies whether or not you are making an affordability complaint, which is what the rest of this article looks at.
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 already 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 won’t be told you have complained.
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
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 and I do not want them to be informed of my complaint]
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.
And do 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.
If the lender comes back and asks questions
Amigo has started asking people who complain to answer some questions about their loan application by text or email.
If your mental health is not good and they make you feel anxious, you do not have to reply at all. Amigo has to respond to your complaint. They can’t reject it simply because you ignore these questions.
There are a lot of reasons why people may not have accurately completed an application form – see Payday lender says I lied. A lot of payday lenders have made threatening noises about this and so far as I know nothing has ever happened when someone has taken their case to the Ombudsman.
A lender should have asked enough questions about your income and expenses and verified your answers before they give you the loan. Lenders know people are often rushed, desperate or don’t know clearly what their budget looks like. You may have hoped the loan would be affordable as it would be cheaper than your payday loans – that doesn’t mean it was affordable!
If you have sent them bank statements (which is a very good idea!) the best reply may be to ignore their questions and just say “You can see my income and expenses from my bank statement which I have sent which shows how unaffordable the loan was. I look forward to getting your response to my complaint.”
If you want to reply, keep it short, don’t write an essay. If you filled out the application very quickly and don’t remember what you said, just say that.
What to do with your personal information (SAR) when you are sent it
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
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).
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.
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 – a short FOS complaint is fine.
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.
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. See Amigo have only offered a partial refund – what should I do? for more details.
Are you likely to win your Ombudsman complaint?
From mid 2019, a lot of guarantor loan complaints are being upheld at FOS.
Guarantor loans are large and people are winning their case even if they only had one loan.
One Ombudsman decision went into a lot of detail so I have summarised it here: Ombudsman – Amigo did not check properly that a borrower could afford the loan.
Here is my summary of some other FOS decisions in mid 2019: Guarantor loans – more refunds being paid!
Cases are also being won against other guarantor lenders, for example UK Credit.
It is much simpler to win a case at FOS than a court case. If Amigo or any other 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 are 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 will 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.
How to ask for a payday loan refund
Board room bust-up at Amigo
Complaints about large high cost loans
mike says
Danielle, just wondering how you got on, hopefully ruled in your favour
Danielle says
They emailed me to say they will need a further 2 weeks to investigate due to high numbers of complaints. So still havent got an answer unfortunately
Dean says
Hi Sara and everyone who have an amigo complaint….
Hang in there guys- I have just recieved a call from my adjudicator from the FOS and they told me that amigo have made an offer to pay all interest and charges and also take any negative info off my credit file.
I ONLY HAD ONE LOAN WITH AMIGO OF £10,000
Most people who have been refunded have had more than one loan so I thought that my case will be declined.. I have made 24 payments of £395.25. I still had to pay 36 payments of £395.25 before my loan was completed.
I sent in bank statements 3 months before and 3 months after the loan—— then I just waited.. it took about 6 months. During the 6 months I called the FOS about once a month for updates…
DONT WORRY IF U JUST HAD THE ONE LOAN.. Sara told me because it is a large loan the FOS will look in to it.. good luck everyone
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can still win a one loan guarantor loan complaint even if your loan is “only” £2000.
Paul says
Hi Sara
1plus1 loans
The FOS adjudicator ruled in my favour my loan was unaffordable and to refund all interest on the loan & 8% interest. 1plus1 accepted this.
The loan was £3000 over 24 payments
i made 14 payments & my guarantor made 10 payments. i sent my guarantor the money for all 10 payments each month. in total £4800 was paid back.
1plus1 have sent me a statement of account to close the complaint stating
Capital Sum Loaned to you: 3000.00
Total Payments made by you: 2708.80
Refund Due: 0.00
8% Simple Interest on the Refund Due Amount: 0.00
Surely the other £1800 should be refunded? even if sent to the guarantor? what do you advise here? to go back to Fos or 1plus1?
Help appreciated!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So the 2708 they say you paid is correct?
Yes the 1800 plus 8% interest should be refunded to the guarantor. Have you asked them if they are going to do this?
Paul says
yes i paid the £2708 in my name that is the 14 payments.
My guarantor made the 10 payments as they charged me £7.50 pm extra if i paid on card, so i gave him cash each month to do a bank transfer to them.
They have not mentioned my guarantor at all. will they just try and get out of it stating the guarantor hasn’t complained etc.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Don’t anticipate problems, just ask them if they intend to refund the payments to your guarantor.
If they say no, go back to your adjduicator and say this is not fair. Point out that your guarantor can put ina complaint saying they should never have been accepted as guarantor because the loan was unaffordable for you and so it should never have been given.
Paul says
Thanks Sara will go back to 1plus1 and ask to refund the payments to the guarantor. They have said this brings your complaint to a close, so looks unlikely.
Dan says
Hi Sara
If amigo upheld my complaint for unaffordable lending, will agreeing a lower monthly payment affect my credit rating as an Arrangement to Pay (AR)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No. If the loan is unaffordable Amigo should accept a lower affordable amount and it should not harm your credit score.
You could put the balance into a debt management plan if you have other debts you are also having problems paying.
But there isn’t much point in planning too far ahead at the moment, wait and see how your complaint goes.
Emma says
Can I make a complaint about a loan taken out in 2011 when it was formally flmloans or is there a deadline.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
There isn’t a firm deadline that the loans have to be under 6 years old. There are a few people complaining about these old flm loans – I suggest you start a complaint off. It may take a while, it almost certainly will have to go to the o,budsman, but it’s worth a try if you think the loan was unaffordable and caused you difficulty.
Dhan says
Hi,
I have complained against amigo loans for irresponsible lend and the FOS has upheld the complaint in my favour. Amigo have agreed to rebate all interest and charges on all the loans I have had with them. I was wondering how long it would take to receive a payout from Amigo?
Kind Regards
Dhan
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It takes a couple of weeks sometimes. Do you still owe them money at the moment? Do you know the refund will clear that?
John says
Hi
It took 3 days to work it all out and said it will take upto 5 days to process and 3-5 to clear in my account.
Really please with how Amigo have dealt with my claim.
dhan says
Hi John,
Thank you for the update. I spoke to Amigo today and they said they are working out the calculations for the refund. So hopefully it comes through fairly quickly!
John says
Hi
Mine was clear today so within 5 working days which isn’t bad whatsoever.
dhan says
Hi Sara,
I do not owe them any money and have no outstanding loans. I did speak to amigo and they said its currently with the calculations team.
Annie says
After I sent FOS my acceptance for amigo, one week later they got in touch to say they would work out the breakdown of the refund, I received this 6 days later which stated funds would be in my account within 3-5 working days, so I should have my refund mid week. I have also asked them to look at the broker fee of £300 I paid with my first loan as this does not seem to be added to the refund, so double check that any fees have been included.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Quite right the broker fees should be refunded. Also any Chaps fees, late payment fees, and processing fees.
Aaron Fuller says
Hi, I got to 10 weeks on Friday and 15 minutes before 5pm a generic email stating “complaint is not upheld”. I called an asked for a response and amigo said no, we can’t be specific and refer the email and letter. I told her the FCA guideline on complaints being 8 weeks and she said it’s a guideline it’s not law as such at 10 weeks they had tried to resolve. I was pretty annoyed at this point and said they’d just gone passed 8 weeks and wasted 2 weeks to get the extra money from me. At 8 weeks when I had rang the guy said they were inundated and id find it “easier” to go to the Ombudsman than wait. “Easier” I took offence too as it felt like they weren’t even reviewing the case. It made me believe in the 8-10 week they’d waste time and reject (which happened).
1) can I report them on the 8 weeks or are they correct that nothing means they have to stick to this?
2) I missed out on Wonga and QuickQuid because they took so long (8 weeks) and the Ombudsman upheld after they’d folded (£23k interest alone lost). I am now looking at pennies. I’m worried this could happen again but amigo are much healthier right?
I’m just worrying as they seem to be going passed 8 weeks with many people then not upholding which is a worse sign that the pay day loans who actually stuck to guidelines.
Has anyone that’s gone over the 8 weeks with Amigo had a success or has everyone been rejected in the 8-10 week period?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s only in the last few weeks that Amigo has been missing the 8 week deadlines. I suggest you send your case to FOS now.
I don’t think Amigo have any financial problems at the moment.
N says
So did they not give you any explanation at all as to why they have rejected your complaint? The least I was hoping for is the reason if that’s the way they go. My additional 2 weeks is up tomorrow I will post back then to let you know what I get through. Not sounding hopeful by what you have put though
Darren says
Hi I have been battling a gambling addiction on off for the last 10 years. I had loans in 2014,15,17,18,19 I was always getting myself out of a hole I had created I never took any money to actually gamble with. I can’t go back to 2015/15 ones to get statements so I will struggle there I guess? My accounts will be riddled with gambling transactions and would have been on any they saw plus I was always chasing my tail in terms of debts. Will I have a case even though I had this problem?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Anyone who had 5 guarantor loans in 5 years has a VERY strong case. Send it in right now.
And set about getting copies of your old bank statements now. You can always go back to 2015 even if you have closed the accounts. So you will have them in a few weeks and can add them to your complaint.
Rob Williams says
I complained to Amigo on the 18th September 2019
I have received the cd disc
On the 14th November I received an email requesting bank statements and also stating that if I did not reply by the 28th that they would base their decision on the evidence that they held.
I responded on the 18th emailing with a list if the requested bank statements.
They have today responded with the following message
Dear Robert,
Thank you for providing your bank statements. I apologise you did not receive an acknowledgement of these sooner.
I’d like to assure you that these will be reviewed at the earliest opportunity. Once are investigation is complete we will be in contact to confirm the outcome of our investigation.
Do I now commence my report to the financial Ombudsman Service or wait to hear back from them?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would give them another week – but you can go to FOS now if you want.
Mike says
Hi Sara,
I’ve just received a reply from Amigo, 2 days before the 8 plus 2 extra weeks deadline. I am delighted to announce that they have upheld my complaint on the 3 loans!!!! They are coming back to me within 5 working days with calculations for the refund! I cannot thank you enough for your guidance and continued support, thank you thank you so so much from the bottom of my heart!!
Amanda says
Hi I took out an amigos loan and had a top up which paid my last loan .. I do have a guarantor, Iv been paying the loan off for over a year and my payments am not coming down I’m paying £395 a month and there putting £325 interest on every month it just doesn’t seem to be going down, I applied for an IVA but they rejected it twice .. Iv had to go part time at work I’m really struggling I’m still paying the monthly fee, I have emailed them asking if they could stop interest or help me has my circumstances have changed they don’t want to no.. at my wits end
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Amanda –
how much did you borrow? over how many years? This is a loan so your repayments stay the same all the time.
Do you have a lot of other debts as well?
was it easy to pay Amigo before you went part time or was it always hard?
Who is you guarantor? What is their financial situation like?
Amanda says
Hi my repayments wasn’t has much a month when I had a 5,000 loan I then decided to have a top up of 10,000 whilst paying the 4,000 I had on previous loan, I don’t no how many years is left to repay il have to look at paper work, I taken the loan out October 2018 I pay £395 month and because of the interest Iv still got over 9,000 just doesn’t seem like it’s ever going to be paid off !! I do have other loans with is into an Iva where I pay £196 every 4 weeks .. my guarantor is struggling there self and I don’t want it to be put onto them has they helped me out being a guarantor
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you have an IVA? when did you take it out?
Having a large top up is usually a sign that the loan is unaffordable so I would say it’s worth putting in a complaint now using the template letter above. You have to keep paying Amigo if you don’t want them to go after your guarantor.
If your guarantor is also struggling, they could asked to be removed as the guarantor… See https://debtcamel.co.uk/amigo-complaints-by-guarantor/ which has a different letter for the guarantor. But if you don’t want to talk to your guarantor about this now, you could complain yourself and hope you win your case.
Amanda says
Thankyou i will try the template and hope!! And sorry didn’t mean IVA it got rejected because of amigo I have a Dept management plan.. and I started it about 8months ago.. if I won the case would my guarantor be wrote of from the debt too?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s good you aren’t in an IVA as that really complicates things!
yes, if you win your case the guarantor is removed AND you can then set up affordable repayments – or just include the debt in your DMP as it is then like any other normal loan.
Amanda says
Sara, you no the template is that all Iv really got to send to amigo obviously just changing personal details? Or have I got to mention absolutely everything? Like not being able to afford etc
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The template says:
“This loan was/These loans were unaffordable for me “
But you can add more details if you want.
N says
I have also just heard back from Amigo 1 day before the 8 weeks plus 2 week additional time they have upheld my complaint as well. The reason for this was for not asking more about my financial situation when the loans were taken out. I was two years into my £8250 loan paying £325 a month and still owed £7600 despite only missing my last payment during that time everything else was up to date. Now thankfully as they have refunded my original loan and my two top ups I should virtually be clear of them maybe owing a few hundred pounds. To say this is a weight off my shoulders is an understatement. Sara thank you for this forum without it myself and all the other hundreds of commenters would be in a much worse situation you really are a saint.
Danielle says
Hi, congrats on your news!
Just wondering whether Amigo asked you for any bank statements? If so, at what point in your complaint was this? I havent been asked for any and havent sent any. Thanks!
N says
No amigo didn’t ask for any and I didn’t provide any. My complaint was that they didn’t do adequate checks prior to giving me a large loan nor when I had my two top ups. I had recent defaults on file and my income and expenditure showed I had a spare £1900 a month which wasn’t true. My complaint was why would someone need a high cost loan when I had £1900 free a month. I also tried to complain about the amount of interest added on but they rejected that part saying all of the information was in the credit agreement which is true however I think lending someone £8250 and then expecting them to pay back a lot more than double when they have been proven not good with money is a bad business model and should be far more tightly restricted.
Danielle says
Thanks for your reply, its put my mind at ease a little. Well done!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well done.
I agree the interest rate is absurdly high, but no-one is going to win using this argument, with Amigo or at the Ombudsman. For other people reading this, it isn’t worth bothering to mention this.
N says
No I agree. The problem for me is that when I took on the loan I didn’t really think of the consequences of having to pay such a large amount for such a long period of time. (stupid I know!) Total loan was 8250 total repayable was 19560 however as I put back one payment it just added so much more money and time onto it. Like many people on here when you are desperate and can’t get hold of good cheap credit and then see how easy it is you are encouraged to borrow more than you can afford. It is so demorilising having paid for two years and only taking around £800 off the amount borrowed. I estimate that without this verdict going in my favour I would have had to pay around another £13000 in the next 3-4 years. Thankfully with this it is now down to around £500 with no interest so I will be eternally greatful to Sara and this forum.
For anyone wanting to complain there is so much good information on this forum and at the top of the page. Read it all and understand it prior to putting in your complaint. Also look through the ombudsman cases that have been published and taylor your complaint accordingly. Also after I received my SAR information and went through it I emailed Amigo to update my complaint with relevant information to put onto my file which they were happy to do for me and which I feel was taken into account in the final decision.
Nat says
I’ve had a reply today 3 days short of the 6 + 2 extra weeks. My complaint has been upheld as they should have asked me more information regarding income and expenditure. Over the moon thanks to Sara and this forum.
Nat says
I’ve received my calculation this morning. The calculation looks about right. I’m just wondering if I should ask for a breakdown to double check?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How many loans did you have? Has the last one already been repaid?
Things to check – were you charged a “broker ” or “processing fee” or a CHAPS fee on any loans? Or any late charges? Have a look at the loan accounts you can probably see online. These extra fees too should be refunded, plus 8% interest, but Amigo often seem to not notice them…
Nat says
Only 2 loans, the initial and a top up. It has been repaid. There were no fees or late charges. The amount is pretty much what I had calculated so I don’t think there’s a need for a further breakdown.
Thank you so much. The information and guidance on this site has been invaluable.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Great – good result for you.
Andy says
Hi Sara., I won my complaints against amigo and bamboo they both removed garantor from my loans can this now be put into my dmp ?
Andy says
Bamboo didn’t remove my garantor from my loan is there any way I can ask them to remove him or is it too.late ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So both amigo and bamboo have agreed your current loans is unaffordable but you still owe a balance on it? And Amigo have said they are removing your guarantor but Bamboo haven’t?
Andy says
Yeah I’ve now put amigo in my dmp , is there anything I can do with bamboo as my garantor is still on the loan they didn’t remove my garantor just took interest off thankyou
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Go back to Bamboo and say unless they remove your guarantor AND allow you to include the remaining balance in your DMP, you will be going to the Financial Ombudsman with your complaint.
Andy says
This was over a month ago now can I really go back and say that ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes! they should have removed your guarantor. If they refuse I expect FOS will take your complaint. If FOS say it’s been too long, then get your guarantor to put in a complaint saying that they want to be removed as the guarantor as the loan was not affordable for you, so the loan should never have been given in the first place.
Andy says
That’s great will get that email sent now , would be nice before Christmas with amigo and bamboo together that will save me 420 a month , thanks again for all your help
amy says
Hello , I’ve currently got an amigo loan and have had them since 2008 (ish I think ) it started at £1000.00 and has been topped up to £6750.00
which was taken out 2017, I’ve only just found out about maybe being able to get some help with the interest as the money was always taken out due to needing help fund bills and rent etc.
I did not know I could do this on my own and have recently put a claim in with [claims firm]
I’m hoping this was a good idea?? I’ve googled the company and the reviews are very good, has anyone done this before?
Many Thanks, no harm is trying I guess :)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh dear. That claim firm – I have edited out the name – will send almost the same letter you could have used for free in the article above. They aren’t totally incompetent like some claims firms – they are unlikely to lose your claim or forget about it.
But they know very little about guarantor loan complaints and I wouldn’t want to rely on you being given good advice by them. Have they asked if you want to carry on paying the current loan while your complaint goes through? If you don’t say that you do want to do this, Amigo may cancel your DD and go after your guarantor. Is that what you want?
And they will take a huge amount of your refund. And if a lot of your refund on earlier loans is used to pay off the balance on the current one, they will still want 30% of that amount, even though you haven’t actually ended up with much cash to pay their large bill :(
If you are within the 14 day cooling off period you may want to see if you can cancel with them and do it yourself. Or I think they charge £180 if you cancel out of the cooling off period. If you win your case – and it sounds a very strong one! – that could be a bargain.
Amy says
Oh bugger , I’ve only used that company today I will cancel asap and go ahead and do it myself, do I have to do all indivudually as I have had 9 loans including the 1 I still have ? Many thanks :)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK, tell Amigo immediately by email that you are withdrawing your permission for the claims firm to act on your behalf and you will be sending a complaint to them directly.
You only have to send one complaint for all your loans. Read the article above through first to get a feel for how this works. Then look at the template letter and how you can change it. You can leave it simple or you can put in a few extra points eg the number of loans you had with them.
Amy says
That’s great thank you , I’ve not signed and sent anything back to that company, I’ve only don’t the first part of it and awaiting the claims pack , I’m going to sit down and go over it all now :)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Good luck!
There are a lot of comments on here from other people making complaints which you may find helpful or encouraging. Look back through some of the pages of older comments.
PS I have been deleting your surname as you may not want your full name on the internet?
amy says
Thank you , yes I’ve been reading them :) it’s all very helpful.
Oh I didn’t realise 🙈 thank you.
Once I’ve heard I’ll let you know :)
Roly says
Just had an email from the adjudicator looking at my case with Amigo, they have approached him with an offer to repay the interest on all loans, plus 8% and remove all negative entries from my credit file. Am delighted to say the least as the interest I paid on my 3 loans with them was over £7k. Thank you Sara, for this wonderful site and all the information here. My partner and I are finally in a place where we can manage our finances and get out from under the yoke of high cost debt, due to the success we’ve had. In total we have received just under £6k so far, with this latest result due soon.
Sadly, we were too late for Wonga (both of us), QQ (both of us) and paydayexpress (mine), so will only get a small amount of what we should have been due, but we have had success with Lending stream, sunny, paydayexpress (partner’s) and ferratum. Adjudicator has found in our favour with Satsuma (though as part of Provident they are taking their own sweet time dealing with it!), and we are awaiting info from 118118, Everyday and Provident (doorstep) still.
To everyone out there waiting, hang in there. I started this journey in January of this year, and though I know I have a wait ahead of me on some of the outstanding complaints, I have already had more success than I ever imagined possible.
Sarah Reid says
Hi Sara
Amigo have now come back and said they are in agreement with FOS to repay all overpayments with interest on both loans Do you know roughly what I might expect to receive?
First Loan – May 2013 – £3000
Top up Loan – Dec 2013 – £5000 – which some of it was used to pay off the first loan.
Paid off loan in full May 2018
Many thanks for your help
Sarah Reid says
Hi Sara
For the fist loan I was paying monthly – £161.01
For the top up loan I received in cash – £2,064.91
For the top up loan I was paying monthly – £197.62
Broker Fees – £300
I am not sure if I paid any late fees/processing fees, its hard to decipher from my statements? It may be worded as interest as I can see double entries for interest from Amigo for most months?
Many thanks
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So the first loan, did you get £3000 and they added the broker fees on? or did they reduce what you got to £2700?
Were there any broker fees on the top up?
How many months did you make monthly payments to the first loan? To the second? And was there a final settlement amount paid to the last loan as id doesn’t look like a simple 4 or 5 year loan?
Amigo are normally clear on their statements what a charge is for eg “Letter Charge” and “Late Payment Charge”. I think they may have stopped adding these charges, the ones someone reported were back in 2011/12,
Sarah Reid says
Hi Sara
The first loan the broker fee of £300 were on top of the £3000. No broker fees on top of the top up.
For the first loan I made 7 monthly payments from Jun 2013 through to Dec 2013 before topping up
For the second loan I made 52 monthly payments and then a final payment in May 2018 of £2711.09 to settle the loan.
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
For the first loan you borrowed £3000, made 7 payments of 161 = £1127, then it was settled with (5000- you cash payout of 2064)=£2963. Overall you paid 1127+2963-3000 in interest and fees = £1063. That was in 2013 so the 8% interest on top will be about £500.
For the second loan you borrowed £5000, made 52 payments of 197 = £10,244. Then you settled it with £2711. So in total you paid 10244+2711=£12955. That is £7955 in interest and fees.
BUT the figures for the second loan look on the high side to me. I can’t say they are wrong but something doesn’t feel right.
Sarah Reid says
Hi Sara
Thank you for your calculations.
I have now gone back to my statements and double checked the payments I have made to both loans. I can confirm the following payments were made:-
Loan 1 = £3,300- made 7 monthly payments of £161.01 = £1,127.07
Loan 2 = £5,000 – made 50 monthly payments of £197.62 and a final settlement of £2,711.09 in May 2018 = £12,394.47
Thanks Sara
Donna says
Hiya sara my loans 1,5,6 weren’t upheld so I have sent them to FOS my ex partner was guarantor and he has complained sayin how he paid my 6th loan off but he put it in my bank account and I paid it off whichya can see on my statements they have til the 2nd of December do ya think he has a chance of getting that back?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“he has complained sayin how he paid my 6th loan off but he put it in my bank account and I paid it off”
I haven’t seen one of these situations go through to the end, but I THINK Amigo will say that from their point of view, you, the borrower, paid that loan, not him as guarantor. So a complaint by him will not work.
Have Amigo released the guarantor from your last loan yet? And have they agreed to accept lower payments from you for the balance?
Donna says
Yes they have released him from the loan and FOS is taking in my case for 1,5,6 loans ya can see on my bank statements which he said he put the money into to my bank and I paid it off as I was in a hell of lot of gambling erm nd I haven’t been to afford to pay them the last 2 months as I am really struggling with money
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK, well wait and see what happens.
Emma says
Hi Sara, the 8 week deadline for my complaint to Amigo is due up on Friday 29th. My next instalment is due on the 1st… do you advise that I leave my direct debit as is and let the payment go through?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is a difficult decision.
Previously you said “3 top ups so far I’ve repaid £9500 on the latest loan of £6500”. That sounds like a very strong case to have the last loan refunded which would mean that there is no balance left as you have already repaid more to it than you borrowed.
But it can’t be guaranteed Amigo will do this. And recently a few people have been told it will take another couple of weeks to review their complaint :(
I guess you could cancel the DD and then pay them manually on Monday if they haven’t upheld your complaint?
Emma says
Good plan… I’ll do that! Thank you… fingers crossed for a good result, thanks Sara
Lesley says
Hi sarah ,
I have been reading all comments about amigo and put in a claim on 22/ 10/ 19 .. i recieved my c.d yesterday with a letter saying due to data protection the password is encrypted and say they have sent password to my primary email address and mobile which i have not recieved ..
On 23 /7 /16 i took out £4000 – total to repay was £7025.76 and was paying it at £195.16 per month ..my fiance was guarantor for this .. i paid every payment but did push the repayment dates back on a few occassions i got the loan down too 4,460.13 and on 10/11/17 i took out 5,250 settled old agreement of 4,460.13 and the paid me 789.87 .. my fiance was guarantor again been paying £325 per month since then but my fiance paid 2 of these paymemts and family member paid 1 payment as i was struggling as i had a gambling problem amongst other debts paydays .. if my compliant is a success do you know how much i could get back ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Tell Amigo you have not received the password.
It’s hard to work out numbers from what you have said. Can you add up what you paid to the first debt? And to the second debt? Did your fiance make the 2 payments because she was the guarantor, or did she give you the money to pay them?
Lesley says
thankyou for response
My first loan was 4,000 with 7,025 to be paid back. I paid £195 for 17 months and the balance remaining was £4,460.
i then took out £5250 and settled the £ 4,460, which left me with £790 paid to me,
i have been paying £325 from 10/11/17 until now never missing a payment my balance remaining is £290 which i will pay on the 30th of this month, then that’s me cleared,
my guarantor did pay twice and family member once, as i had a bad gambling problem and numerous other payday loans to pay, was just wondering with those figures if i was successfull in claim, if you could work out how much they could offer me,
i will email them about password for cd sent as me and my guarantor havent recieved password for cd
I really appreciate you replying
Thankyou sarah
Lesley says
Round about 2,500 i paid to 1rst loan and i have paid 7500 on 2nd loan
Lesley says
Hi sarah ,
Was just wondering if u could help estimate what i may be offered if they exept ,
My first loan was 4,000 with 7,025 to be paid back. I paid £195 for 17 months and the balance remaining was £4,460.
i then took out £5250 and settled the £ 4,460, which left me with £790 paid to me,
i have been paying £325 from 10/11/17 until now never missing a payment my balance remaining is £290 which i will pay on the 30th of this month, then that’s me cleared,
my guarantor did pay twice and family member once, as i had a bad gambling problem and numerous other payday loans to pay, was just wondering with those figures if i was successfull in claim, if you could work out how much they could offer me,
i will email them about password for cd sent as me and my guarantor havent recieved password for cd.
Round about 2,500 i paid to 1rst loan and i have paid 7500 on 2nd loan
Thanks sarah
Lesley
Stacy says
Hi, my Amigo case was picked up by an adjudicator 4 weeks ago,I spoke with then on 21st,they confirmed they have received all info they need from them, does anyone have a rough idea how long it takes after this for a decision and will it come from adjudicator or amigo if there is to be a positive out come
Thank you
Annie says
Took the adjudicator 3 weeks once he had all the info and gave amigo 2 weeks to reply which they did within a week and agreed to FOS recommendations, then a further week from when I signed and emailed back acceptance form to ask for bank details and said would send refund breakdown due within 5 days which again they did on day 5, then was 3 working days for payment into my bank. So all in all Amigo were actually pretty quick from accepting to sending payment and stuck to all timescales they gave.
The only thing I would say is that they did not add the broker fee I paid on my first loan, I emailed Amigo to query this last week and they said it would be investigated, no email to say but the £300 fee was refunded to me today, so make sure they include any fees or charges.
Stacy says
Hi, that’s great thank you for letting me know and well done on winning your case
Gemma says
Uk credit said I can’t make a complaint about my 2012 loan as it was too long ago- is this worth taking up with the financial ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes it is. FOS has upheld some complaints about loans more than 6 years old. Do you have the details about your loan?
amy says
I’ve sent my email with all the the dates and amounts, I’ve had a reply explaining that it is going to be looked into and been to sent to the relevant place.
Fingers crossed as I started my first loan in 2008 for a £1000 and I still have a loan outstanding, I worked out my current loan for £6750 which has been topped up over the years, after 3 years of paying £267.66 a month I’ve paid back nearly £10000 already.
Joe says
I received this today from amigo today after emailing them last night to see what’s happening as it’s nearing the end of the 8 weeks.
Thank you for your email. We are currently working to have our final
outcome for you as soon as possible and will update you on your
complaint no later than the close of business on the 5th December
2019.
Adam Williams says
Hi,
I have been told that amigo have upheld my complaint for loans 2 and 3.
Loan 2 (£2500) was taken out on 04/01/2012 and was settled with a reloan on 03/09/2014.
In total I paid about £2900 interest.
Loan 3 (£4250) was taken out on 03/09/2014 and was settled in full on 28/11/2016. In total I paid about £3500.
Total interest is about £6400. I don’t understand how to calculate the simple interest of 8%. Could someone help me and give me a rough figure. It’s possible that I will be paid this just before Xmas. I can’t believe it :)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Can you add up all the payments you made to both loans. Ignore if Amigo says they were interest or not. It’s unlikely you will have paid £2900 in interest on a £2500 loan in under 3 years.
Adam Williams says
Hi, I paid £108.69 X 31 which totalled £3369.39 then settled the rest of the balance £2056.77 which meant in total I paid £5426.16 I then took the £2500 from that which means I paid £2926.16.
The £4250 loan I used the same calculation and got £3500 ish interest. Have I done something wrong?
So Total payments made by me is £13451.97 – £6750 initial amount (£2500+£4250)
Total interest looks like £6701.97.
Does that mean that 8% interest is about £500 a year owed? Would that total £4000 so over £10k?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The caclculations sound right. There may have been a broker fee on the first one which you also get refunded which may explain why the “interest” looks high as it actually included other fees as well.
The 8% is complicated as it’s worked out on each payment you made. So for the first loan the refund will perhaps be an average of 6 years of 8%s and the second loan an average of 4 years of 8%. So about £2,500 very roughly.
Adam Williams says
Hi Sarah,
Thank you for your responses earlier.
I have had a response from amigo.
They say I paid £6216.43 interest in total on both loans. They have worked out my interest at £1143.06.
Does this sound accurate? I feel as though it’s wrong as I had my loans from Jan 2012 and finished paying in November 2016.
What do you think?
Many thanks
Adam
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Amigo seem to be using a version of the 8% calculations that no-one else does :(
Amanda says
I have received and email from them I only sent it this afternoon is this right? Il paste most of it below thanks
Good Afternoon Amanda,
Thank you for your email, I’m sorry to hear you’re unhappy with your loans.
Due to what you’ve advised, I have raised a complaint on your behalf. Our Customer Relations Team will be in touch within 3 – 5 working days.
I’ve also raised your subject access request and passed this to the relevant team. Please be aware that we have up to 30 days to send you this information.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That sounds standard. You get the personal information on a CD after 4 weeks then you have to wait until 8 weeks have gone before you get the reply to your complaint.
Amanda says
Thankyou will keep you posted
Jason says
Hi.
I have used your template and sent this to amigo loans. I have a current loan with them and I am maintaining a lower agreed amount due to not being in a financial position to put he original term.
I have received my CD with my data on and on the last day of the 8week response deadline I received an email from Amigo advising they are really busy etc etc and aim to respond within 2 weeks.
Should I wait for this potential response or forward over to the ombudsman now? If the later what do I send to the ombudsman and where do I send it.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would give them two weeks. They are upholding a lot of complaints, I don’t think your response being delayed means it is a difficult case or more likely to be rejected, just no-one has looked at it.
Amy says
Hi Sara
I put in a complaint on the 27th sept and on Friday I received the email to tell me they will give me a final response within the next 2 weeks. Could you help try to work out what interest I have paid please and what I could be due back?
I got £4000 Dec 2016 and made 25 payments of £195.16 I then topped up £3500 in Feb 2019 and paid a settlement fee of £2018.78 for the first loan which left me with £1489.22 I have so far made 9 payments of £170.76. my current balance left to pay as of today is £3013.06
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
For the first loan you borrowed £4000, made 25 payments of 195 = £4875, then it was settled with 2018. So overall you paid 875+2018-4000 in interest and fees = £2893. The 8% extra is hard to work out but at least £300 I would expect.
For the second loan you borrowed £3500, made 9 payments of 170 = £1,530. So you haven’t yet repaid the amount you borrowed on this loan. If the interest is removed you will still have £1970 to pay. But that will be more than covered if there is a refund on the first loan as well, then I would expect you to get about £1200 back in cash.
Amy says
They’ve emailed me stating that I’ll be refunded £977.
Thank you for all your help and advice xx
Lou7 says
Do amigo have a time limit to send information to the ombudsman? I have emailed my adjudicator and she said she is still waiting for information from the earlier loans and amigo haven’t sent it yet. It was picked up by the adjudicator on the 15.10.19. It’s so annoying because they don’t wait for payments!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
no :(
Abigail says
I have just received the following (I was asked to send 3 months of bank statements 4 days ago and have not yet done so, just wondering if that is still what I should do??)
“We write further to our letter dated 30th October to let you know that we are continuing with our investigation into your concerns.
As we are currently carrying out a high number of investigations, we have been unable to issue our final response to you. We apologise for the delay and we will write to you again when we have the results of our investigation into your complaint.
We anticipate, based on our current volumes, to be able to respond to your complaint in the next two weeks. However, we will endeavour to respond sooner.”
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Definitely send those bank statements!
Amy says
I sent mine on the 27th sept and put in the complaint that if they want bank statements they’ll need to provide me with an address to send them as there is so much paper……I received an email stating they need another 2 weeks and they’ve still not requested bank statements…..is there a reason for this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No one has looked at your complaint. The point of sending the statements now is so that at the end of 2 weeks you don’t get an email asking for them, with another 2 week delay.
You need to send the bank statements for the 3 months before each loan or top up. so if you borrowed in Jun 2016 and topped up in Nov 2016 you send Mar-May 26 and Ayg-Oct 17.
Rebecca W says
I took an Amigo loan out in 2010 for £2000 and then topped it up to £5000 about 10 months later. A year or so later my fathwr then offered to move the remaining balance to a 0% credit card but due to costs I have only been able to pay £50 a month and I am still only paying the interest off on this almost 10 year old debt.
Am I able to claim in this situation? Many thanks for your help.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So the Amigo debt was cleared and you are still trying to repay the resulting credit card debt? Was your father the guarantor, if yes, did he pay Amigo directly?
Rebecca W says
Yes I’m still trying to pay the debt that is on a credit card in my Father ‘s name.
And he was the guarantor and he paid it off with amigo via his log in.
Rebecca W says
The credit card is in my Father’s name and we have the bank statements showing payments from me to him, him to the credit card.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what is the remaining balance on the credit card?
what are the rest of your finances like at the moment?
I assume your father’s finances were pretty good back then if he could get a 0% credit card deal?
(Sorry for all the questions!)
Rebecca W says
We’re currently on a DMP and struggling – the debt is declared on the DMP too.
My Father’s finances were and still are good but mine were improving until I took the Amigo loan out.
There is about £1650 remaining and I’m only paying the interest at present.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry I missed your reply. Yes you can claim that both the loans were unaffordable. If you win (and it sounds as though the loans were unafffordable – you are the best judge of that – did the repayments make your situation worse?) then you would be refunded for any interest you paid and your father would be refunded for all the payments he made – ie the large settlement payment. He will get that back plus 8% interestest. BUT you would then be left owing the loan which was no longer settled… that’s OK as the interest will be removed from that loan and your dad can then give you back the money to settle the loan.
That must all sound complicated! but providing you and your dad are on good terms it should all work out and you should get back overall the interest that you paid. Which will help you clear the rest of that credit card debt to your dad!
Jo says
Hi
I put a complaint to Buddy Loans but they have not upheld it, I have sent this to FO, any idea on the timescale for them to get back to me. I got automated email saying they received my complaint
John says
Hi Sara,
Amigo loans upheld my complaint yesterday and came back with an offer today. I had two loans with them, but looking at the figures, It doesn’t look like they included my first loan. They insist that they have included refund and interest on both loans
loan 1 (01/02/2017) £1500
Monthly payment £92.72
Total amount to be paid £2225.28
Number of payments paid when I top up the loan 12 * 92.72 = 1112.64
Top up loan 1/02/2018 (£2500)
Monthly payments £154.54
Total amount to be paid £3,708.96
Number of payments made so far 22 x 154.54 = £3399.88
Can you please help and check if that’s accurate, am not sure how they did the calculation
Offered amount for the two loans from amigo loans including interest
Interest = £1,670.40
8% Simple Interest = £39.02
Balance before refund: £256.48
Amount to be refunded: £1,709.42
Balance after refund: -£1,452.94
Thanks
John says
£901.40 was used to settle the old loan.
So a top up £2500
Payout of £1,598.60
Settlement of old statment £901.40
Sara (Debt Camel) says
When you wrote:
Balance before refund: £256.48
Amount to be refunded: £1,709.42
Balance after refund: -£1,452.94
I assume that means the balance is being wiped and you are being paid £1452.
For the first loan you borrowed £1500, made 12 payments of 92 = £1104, then it was settled with 901. So overall you paid 81104 + 901 – 1500 in interest and fees = £505.
For the second loan you borrowed £2500, made 22 payments of 154 = £3,388. You have paid £888 in more than you borrowed – this is the interest that should be refunded.
So I would expect you to get a refund of £1393 plus the 8% which it’s hard to calculate but I make about £112 after tax is taken off. So that’s a bit more than they are offering.
You could go back and ask them what the interest paid for each loan is. And how they worked out the 8%.
John says
Hi Sara,
Please below Amigo’s response
Loan1
Interest refunded = £514.04
8% simple interest = £0
less 20% basic rate tax deduction on 8% simple interest £0
Total to be refunded = £514.04
Loan 2 (Top up)
Interest refunded = £1670.40
8% simple interest = £39.02
less 20% basic rate tax deduction on 8% simple interest £9.75
Total to be refunded = £1709.42
Remaining payment balance on loan = 256.48
£1709.42 – £257 = 1452.94
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Loan 1 the interest to be refunded is exactly right (my previous calculations i had ignored the pennies). But why haven’t they added on 8% simple interest?
Loan 2 That is a very bizarre way to quote the figures! They have put the £514.04 into the “interest to be refunded” line for loan 2. And they also include the “balance” figure in there which they then take off at the end.
I suggest you now ask them why they haven’t calculated simple interest on the first loan. And how they calculated it on the second loan, as that looks too low.
John says
Hi Sara,
Message from amigos
I have attached a table explaining the interest that accrued on each loan, as well as the 8% simple interest.
The 8% simple interest is only calculated on any overpayments made. As you did not make any overpayments on the loan 32315051, there is no 8% simple interest added to this loan.
In order to explain the method of calculation, below is some further background as to the principles applied when determining the amount of statutory interest that is due to you in this regard
The principal of the FOS guidance is that so long as the customer (yourself in this instance) has the benefit of the money borrowed, the principle amount should be repaid in full. Statutory interest of 8% is only due where the customer has repaid to the lender (ourselves) more than the principal they have borrowed. Therefore when considering a statutory interest calculation for a string of agreements, our policy is to calculate the cumulative cash borrowings and cumulative repayments at each point throughout the customer’s borrowing history and at any point in time where the customer has repaid more then aggregate of the cash received they are eligible for a refund of the over payment plus 8%.
We trust this information helps clarify our policy but further guidance can be found on the FOS website:
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/businesses/complaints-deal/consumer-credit/guarantor-loans
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you reply that at the point the first loan was settled you had repaid more than you borrowed which is why you should be paid 8% interest on the interest paid on the first loan.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
the rules aren’t as hard and fast as Amigo are saying. Most payday lenders calculate 8% interest at the level of each loan. If Amigo persists, it’s up to you if you want to take the case to the ombudsman to say Amigo is calculating interest in an unreasonable manner. My guess is it would make a difference of about £100 to your overall refund, but that’s a real guess.
Jenny says
Hi Sara, firstly thanks again so Much for your help on this site.
I had a great refund in October and only last week realised that they had not refunded the broker fee. O sent an email to ask for this plus the 8% interest and although I received no correspondence at all my bank account today is £400 higher!! This is of course fabulous but why does the broker fee not attract the same 8% interest ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A £400 broker fee – interesting, the ones other people have mentioned are £300.
Yes, 8% should be paid – how long ago was it?
Jenny says
It was back in 2011 so by my calculations the 8% interest is approx. £250ish so I’m definitely glad I asked for them to add this too. Whether they will or not is another matter but good to know that they should. Weird that there was no correspondence at all before they suddenly put the £400 in my account.
Jenny says
Hi Sara, for info. This is the reply I got from Amigo about the 8% interest on refund of brokers fee…
Further to my previous email this morning.
Our Accounts Department have provided me with an explanation.
8% simple interest is only calculated on any over payments made over the principal loan amount. We don’t include the broker fee in the principal as it’s a separate cost, so it’s just refunded directly back to the customer.
This is in-line with FOS guidelines on the award of 8% simple interest.
Do you think this is correct??
Annie says
Hi, looking for some advice, Amigo have paid out refund of interest on all my loans, they did not include the broker fee of £300 from my 1st loan so I queried this and this was also refunded Pretty quickly but should this have had the 8% simple interest added? As it was 8 years ago that’s approx another £200. Have they tried to be crafty? Should I also chase this up with them or am I wrong?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You are right, they should have added the 8%
Annie says
Thank you Sara for all you advice and help over the last 2 years, my plight is now over and I have had decent refunds from Wonga, payday Uk, casheuronet and amigo. I was very fortunate to get refunds before they all went into administration. Since I started my claims 2 years ago, I have never had to borrow so I now feel in a much better position than I ever though I would be, life is no longer worrying and I have a nice amount of savings now. Bless you for all you do, your generosity with your time is so undervalued and a massive thanks you and viral hug.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
pleased it has gone so well for you!
Amy says
Hi Sara,
I’d asked Amigo for a breakdown of my redress, as it’s probably my maths but wasn’t sure if it looked right.
1st loan £3000 x5 interest payments Sep 13 – Dec 13 total £422.03, 2nd loan after top up £5000 x38 payments of £197.62 + £248.94 Feb 14 – Apr 17, interest repaid £4263.81. Together £4685.84 and they’ve added the 8% as (after tax) £0.00 for 1st loan and 2nd £548.41 = £5234.25 total refund.
Minus £1895.24 payments made by guarantor (refunded to husband along with 8% £524.94, and all looks good) leaves £3339.01 refund.
Only thing I wasn’t sure of is the other simple interest as I’ve calculated each payment using the formula on the other page and it seemed would come out at a fair bit more even after tax. But not out of the question that I’ve done it wrong or misunderstood! So just thought I would see if you had any thoughts before I confirm and obviously it’s great if it sounds about right :)
Many thanks again!
Amy
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Amigo are using a very odd version of how to calculate the 8% interest. I don’t think it’s reasonable. See John’s comments above where he has the same problem. For him is wasn’t a lot of money. For you it looks like more.
It would be good to get the ombudsmna to look at this calculation, but that means you saying you don’t accept the offer. You won’t get LESS than they have offered by going to FOS, but it could take a while.
I hope FOS would pick up queries like this fast as they don’t involve much work for them to resolve and they could prevent more cases going to them in future.
Amy says
Thanks Sara I did think.
Adding up all the payments I’d reckoned about £204 for first loan and £1591 for second pre tax but given their figures wasn’t sure if I’d made a mistake and well off the mark! Would you say that sounded more like it?
I think I’ll go back to them to query and ask how they’ve calculated, as probably just me but can’t make out what they’re trying to say from response to John, and see if can challenge out with FOS, but that this is an option am prepared to look at.
Emma says
Hi Sara, I had the email today to advise they are still investigating and will respond within 2 weeks… should I make the payment on Monday do you think?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Can you do it without hardship? Can you explain to your guarantor what is happening?
Skids says
Hi, I submitted my complaint to amigo 4 weeks ago I used the template letter from here. I received my CD from them today with all my information on however there is only phone recordings from the previous 12 months I have had loans with them since 2016 so all the calls I have had with them in regards to affordability are not in there. Has anyone else had this issue? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t remember anyone else mentioning them. I suggest you go back to them and say you think the SAR information sent is incomplete.
Chris says
Further on for my complaint with Amigo Loans, which was passed to the Ombudsman, the adjudicator ruled that the loan of £4000 I received was unaffordable and for Amigo Loans to pay all the interest plus the 8% interest back to me. Amigo were given the date of 22nd November to get to the Adjudicator decision, Amigo apparently did write back and asked for another week 29th November. Amigo failed to reply back to the Adjudicator so now it has gone to an ombudsman to make a final decision.
Not sure what the difference is between an Adjudicator and an Ombudsman or how long this could take. If anyone else has had a similar issue?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
See my comments below to Andy.
Sorry no idea what the time to get an ombudsman decision is. I don’t think there can be much in the guarantor loan queue so I hope it could be quite quick.
Chris says
Thank you for the information, I hope the Ombudsman comes to the same conclusion.
Andy says
Hello people
Just looking for thoughts here.
A couple of weeks ago I had recieved my adjudicators decision to uphold loans 2 to 5 with amigo loans.
Since this time I have had a payment due I didn’t make also fos gave both me and amigo until the 29th to respond. Ofcourse I responded straight away.
In the mean time amigo has threatened to attempt to collect from my guarantor, I since managed to get them to apply breathing space until the 29 of November when our deadline to fos was due, no contact from them on the 29th so I called them this morning and apparently the team dealing with the investigation are in training that’s why I didn’t have a response yet.
I was also told on the phone the other day by a staff member who placed the first hold on my account that they will probably just reject the findings of the investigation, can they do this?.
Thanks guys this forum is quality stuff
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“they will probably just reject the findings of the investigation, can they do this?”
Yes they can. If they do, the case goes to the second “ombudsman” level for a Final decision. In 90% of cases the ombudsman agrees with the adjudicator, A Final decision is legally binding and the firm must payout.
So far Amigo have not, so far as I know, rejected an adjudicator decision.
But Chis’s comment above is one where Amigo haven’t responded in time. We know Amigo are snowed under at the moment as they aren’t responding to complaining within the 8 weeks.
From Amigo’s point of view the big downside of rejecting an adjudicator decision is that Ombudsman level decisions are published on the FOS website – the borrower’s name is anonymised.
Aden says
Hi Sara
Had good news as you know with bamboo loans however I have had my response from UK credit, they have rejected my claim as they feel they did sufficient checks even though they didn’t ask for statements at the time. Not sure how to respond or what to do- do I really have to wait so long for FOS to reply ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did you send bank statements with your complaint?
What other debts do you have apart from the other guarantor loans?
Are you still gambling?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Also what are your guarantors finances like?
Aden says
I did send a statement last week but they have emailed me back today saying the follow :
Dear Mr ****
All elements of the sale of the loan have been investigated, and I will not be changing the final decision, or removing your guarantor from the credit agreement.
In the section under, “You do not believe the loan was ever affordable” I have explained why UK Credit did not request a bank statement during the sale of the loan.
I informed you in the final response that you can make an arrangement regarding your contractual monthly instalment. If you contact our collections team, they will reassess your new financial situation to come to an affordable, sustainable monthly repayment. If this arrangement has a lower monthly repayment than the contractual amount, we will contact your guarantor for the difference.
Kind regards
Feel like they are just being difficult about it or i have unfortunately got the wrong person dealing with my claim. Complete different response from my bamboo loan.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They are just being difficult – I don’t remember any complaints being upheld by UK Credit.
There is nothing you can do here except send the case to FOS.
What other debts do you have apart from the other guarantor loans?
Are you still gambling?
What are your guarantor’s finances like?
Aden says
Hi Sara
Thanks will send UK credit to FOS, today received response from buddy loans upholding complaint which was taken out the same time as UK credit. Recieved email from from amigo saying it will be a further up to 4 weeks !! Shocking ! Good news about buddy though.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you should send the Amigo one to FOS too. 4 weeks is way too long. See my replies today to Kalvin.
Chris says
Does gambling effect your claim?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Having gambling showing on your bank statements actually supports a complaint that if a lender had looked proper at your situation the loan would not have been given.
Jason says
Hi Sara.
I have just received my final response from amigo via email. It says they have partially upheld my complaint, advising the 1st loan I took out they done everything they should of and was affordable. However the 2nd loan they feel not enough was done and will be paying the 8% interest etc etc.
The thing I’m confused about is I only ever had one loan application and sum with them? Amount £10,000 on 29/03/2018
They will be contacting me again in 5working days with figures.
Any ideas what they are referring to?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sounds like you have been sent someone else’s response… I suggest you phone them up and say this. Don’t waste a week waiting.
Julia says
Does it have your name and address at the top of the attached letter?
Julia says
Hi Jason,
This sounds suspiciously like you received a copy of my final response which I received myself less than 24 hours before your comment. I would be very grateful if you could check the name and address on the final response letter attached to your email and let me know if my name ‘Julia’ is there. Many thanks! :)
Jason says
Hello Julia. It was my final response letter. They didn’t mean to put 1st/2nd loan. They have upheld my complaint in full and I’m awaiting the figures through.
Just not sure what the 8% simple interest should be
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If this was the only loan you have, if you haven’t paid more than 10k to it in monthly payments, there will still be a balance owed and 8% isn’t relevant.
Julia says
Excellent news! Well done! :)
Julia says
Received over £6000 refund yesterday after complaining to Amigo using the template on this site. I really can’t believe it was that simple!!
It took about 30 -45 mins to write the initial complaint. Amigo confirmed receiving it the same day. They wrote to me 8 weeks later saying that hadn’t yet made a decision. I referred it to the ombudsman immediately (so friendly and helpful on the phone and only took about 20 mins). Three days later amigo wrote to me advising of the refund.
All in all about an hours work from me and a bit of patience has resulted in a huge refund and a much better quality of life for me and my family going forward!!
Please please do it if you think you may even have a slight chance of your complaint being upheld.
Sara, thanks so much for creating this excellent and informative site.
Abbie says
Have just had an email confirming that Amigo are going to uphold my complaint and will calculate my refund within the next 5 working days. :-)
Can’t fault them on response time, they have not once argued the case with me!
Thanks to everyone in this forum that has helped with advise etc and good luck to all
Laura P says
Hi
I recently complained to Bamboo about a loan in Feb 2017 for £3500. They have sent their final response saying they won’t uphold my complaint. When I took out the loan I was never asked for any proof of income or expenses and they said because I’d made payments, they were affordable.
At the time I took out the loan, I had a few pay day loan defaults and 2 CCJs on my credit file, and I was behind on paying my priority bills. I fell further behind with some bills due to paying the loan, and my guarantor made a few of my Bamboo loan payments. The account is in default and has been sold to a debt collection agency as we couldn’t afford the repayments.
In their response they said I passed all their checks and my credit score was positive (which I highly doubt!).
Is this worth taking to the FOS? Has anyone won a case with Bamboo? I only seem to see cases against Amigo.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A couple of people have won Bamboo loan cases but most have to go to the Ombudsman.
One person got Bamboo to change their mind by going back with more arguments after a rejection. That surprised me, but if you want to try this, you could say that you will be sending the case to the Financial Ombudsman if they don’t reconsider this, point out that with payday loan defaults and 2 CCJs on your credit record, your credit score cannot possibly have been classed as positive and list the priority bills you were behind with when you applied. If you didn’t send bank statements with your original complaint, attache your bank statements for Nov, Dec 16 and Jan 17.
Otherwise send it straight to FOS as this sounds like a good case.
Catherine says
Hi Laura
I got my final response from Bamboo on the 2nd of Dec,I replied asking for a member of the compliance team to look at it further and responded to every part of their reply-
Example-The business states in their response………however the business had ……..information that showed over ££££ of debt already etc etc and literally argued every point with a statement to back it up.
I also said I had sent it immediately to the FOS on receipt of their response but if the business agreed to investigate my complaint further and reconsider its decision I would withdraw straight away.
36 hours later and I had a email wiping over £5000 in interest which reduced long term by 17 months and after a payment of £416 my loan will be settled and I will be over £300 a month better off.
Really take your time to go through the response and draft a reply and check the figures as they actually said that even though I earned X amount they only needed to prove I had X amount of income for the loan to be affordable,but when I used this figure and deducted the housing and expense amounts they put in the response,they themselves had actually evidenced that the loan was unaffordable as it meant only £85 would be available for a payment to them but my payment was £283.
Check and carefully write a response and cross your fingers.
Good luck
Laura says
I have just checked this and with their verified income figure, I was about £60 a month short to make their repayments. I’ve sent them an email and said I will be sending it to the ombudsman as they basically proved themselves that it was unaffordable! Thank you!
Catherine says
Hi Laura,I messaged further down about success with my bamboo loan,I should add that mine was a personal loan from bamboo not a guarantor loan but that doesn’t mean requesting a further review by the compliance team if yours is a guarantor loan would be any different.
Catherine says
Hi Laura, Did you have any luck going back to Bamboo with additional affordability points after reviewing the points in their response.
I hope so.
Laura says
Hi Catherine
They said they’d escalate it and get back to me in 7 working days so fingers crossed, I should find out next week, and I’ll let you know what they say. Thank you for your help!
Catherine says
Oh fingers crossed,I’ve put in a few affordability complaints recently but the Bamboo one is the one I really wanted to succeed with.Getting rid of it is a huge 17 months of weight lifted.
Was yours a guarantor loan?
Good Luck
[edited out the name of an employee]
I’m crossing everything for you.
Laura says
Thank you!
Yeah it’s a guarantor loan. If I get the interest written off I’ll only owe about £160 to them, so here’s hoping!!
Catherine says
Hi Laura,Just scrolled through tons of messages to find yours as wondered how you got on asking Bamboo loans to review your complaint further.
Hope you got the response you wanted.
Callum says
Hi
I have received my final response letter. It has been partially upheld.
Loan 1: £5000 settled
Loan 2: 10000 Live
They have said loan 1 wasn’t unaffordable to me and they carried out the necessary checks and expenditure was done and cross referenced.
Loan 2 has been upheld and calculations being made.
Should I contest the decision on loan 1? If so how do I do that?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Getting the live loan settled must be a huge relief. But if you could also get loan 1 refunded as well, that would be even better.
How long had you been paying loan 1 when you took loan 2? Can you say a bit about your circumstances when you took loan 1 out?
Danielle says
Hi,
Just phoned amigo about my affordability complaint as I’m almost at the 10 week mark and still haven’t had a final decision. They told me that it is likely they will extend the deadline even further as I wont hear tomorrow due to them not making any progress at all with it in the last 10 weeks. This is ridiculous, is there anything I can do to hurry them up or should I just send it to FOS?
Thanks in advance!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you been the sent the CD with your information on it yet?
Do you still owe them money? Can you say something about your loans from them?
Danielle says
I havent been sent a CD (I didn’t ask for the information they have about me) and they havent requested any bank statements from me.
I had a loan of 5000 early 2018.. they didnt ask for any proof of income, my income was very low as I was a full time student with a part time job. I had old defaults on my credit record but they were from 2013-2014. At the time I had multiple pay day loans open from several different companies. I also had a bad gambling problem.
I lost my job in october 2018 but continued with my studies so had roughly £800 per month from student finance, gambling problem was over by this point. Phoned amigo in November to request a payment plan which they refused and said my guarantor would be asked to pay, continued to have payday loans to fund amigo payments. Fell behind with pay day loans, got 1 new default on my credit file in November 2018.
Applied for a top up in january 2019 after being made homeless due to rent arrears. Amigo requested 1 bank statement which showed an income for that month of £345.
Amigo approved my top up loan of £7500, which cleared the remaining balance of £4115 from the first loan. Payments were £296 per month.
Couldn’t afford it so my guarantor made a payment of around £6000 in June. Havent made any payments since as I cant afford it, balance owing is £2437.
Thanks!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, well you can’t complain they didn’t send you the CD if you didn’t ask for your personal information.
Why didn’t you send bank statements? The article says send them and that these help you case even if you have gambling showing.
I suggest you:
1) leave Amigo a bad review on Trust Pilot https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/amigoloans.co.uk saying they have missed not just the 8 week deadline that the regulator sets for complaints but also the extra two weeks they asked you for.
2) send the FCA, Amigo’s regulator, an email. This won’t help your case directly, the FCA won’t look at individual complaint, that is for the ombudsman, but Amigo may hate this and actually do something about your complaint. And it’s quick & easy to do. Email to consumer.queries@fca.org.uk. Copy this email to nick.beal@amigoloans.net and complaints@amigoloans.co.uk, the email addresses given on the FCA register.
In the email say that you had a loan from Amigo despite the fact you had gambling showing on your bank statements, you got behind and asked for a payment plan which they said guarantor would be asked to make payments but then Amigo allowed you to top up so your monthly payments were even more. Say you have complained that they didn’t properly check you affordability but they haven’t responded within the 8 weeks allowed, they asked for an extra two weeks but they have then missed this deadline too.
End by saying you understand the FCA will not investigate your complaint and you are sending it to the Financial Ombudsman but you wanted to report their very poor complaints handling to their regulator.
3) send your complaint to the Finacial Ombudsman as the article above suggests.
Danielle says
I didnt send bank statements as I wasnt sure how to download and attach these using my phone and didnt want to login to my bank via a library computer.
Thanks so much for this advice, I will follow it all and post the outcome on here!
Sam says
Good Evening,
I have just sent a complaint email to Amigo to start the process, would you kindly be able to help me work out if i will get anything back if I am succesful please.
I took the first loan out in February 2017 for £2500 (payments made 106.94 x 1)
I then took a top up loan which cleared the first loan for a total of £5250 in April 2017 (payments made 256.14 x 1)
June 2017 I took out another one which again cleared the current balance, the new total was then £8000 (payments made 390.32 x 2)
and in September 2017 I took out a final loan at the maximum allowed of £10000. (payments made so far 395.25 x 25)
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
First having 3 top ups in 6 months, going from 2,500 to 10,000 suggests that you have a very strong complaint for the current loan to be found to be unaffordable.
At the moment you have paid 9,875 towards the last loan. By the time your complaint is decided in 8 weeks, you will have made 1 or 2 more payments and will have paid over £10,000. So yes, you should get some refund.
If you want me to guess at how much can you go back and find out how much of the first top up was used to settle loan 1, how much of the second top up was used to settle loan 2 and how much of the last loan was used to settle loan 3.
Sam says
Hi Sara,
Thank you for such a quick response.
It’s hard to tell as I don’t have access to the old accounts to see the statements, but I think it is:
£1500 from the 5250 to pay off the first loan.
£3250 from the third to pay off the second loan
£8050 from the fourth to pay off the third.
These amounts seem awfully high but that is worked out from the payment from my guarantor’s bank to mine.
I hope that makes sense.
My current balance is £10,015.12 :(
Many thanks for your help.
Andy says
It’s heartbreaking isn’t it paying 25 payments and still at your original loan about 😡
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is Amigo? Can you not see the statements online? Those figures don’t look right to me.
Your current balance can be ignored as all the interest will be removed from the last loan.
Sam says
Yes, Amigo.
It doesn’t show me anything before the last loan top up.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ok, well you have asked for a copy of all your personal information, it will all come through with that.
Rachel says
Hi.
I put in a complaint with amigo on the 8th october 2019 the 8 weeks is up today. I have received an email saying they are inundated and that my complaint will need a further 2 weeks. If I am not happy to contact the FOS. Do i wait or contact FOS?
Thanks
Rachel
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you leave them a bad review on Trust Pilot https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/amigoloans.co.uk but allow them the extra two weeks. Did you send bank statements with your complaint?
Rachel says
No unfortunately I didnt silly me I will admit I didnt see the part on your advice until a few days ago. Should I send them now?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes I suggest you send them now. They may not be needed – Amigo may uphold your case without. But for some cases they may make the difference between Amigo upholding your complaint and rejecting it.
Rachel says
Hi Sara
Thanks I have just sent them now and looking at it I had borrow £10000 in 3 1/2 months!!
Rachel
amy says
Hello Sarah,
If I’m entitled to anything which I’m unsure of could you possibly have any ideas on how much please ,
I had my first loan in 2008 for £1000 I paid £48.79 for 2 months
then topped up to £3000 (closing first loan) I made 12 payments at £146.37
then topped up too £5000 (closing off loan) I paid 18 payments of £197.62
then topped up again to £5000 (closing off loan) 20 payments made of £197.62
then topped up again to £5000 (closing off loan) 16 payments of £197.62
then topped up again to £5000 (closing off loan) 29 payments of £297.62
then topped up to £5250 (closing off loan) 7 payments made at £207.51
then topped up to £6750 (closing off loan) 34 payments made at £266.79, still paying off and I still owe £5500 (ish)
I’ve worked it out I’ve paid around £28000.00 to amigo after every payment made :(
Do I stand a chance?
Many Thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The 6th loan – should that have been 29 payments of 197 rather than 297?
On the last loan you have already paid more than you borrowed. So if that is decided to be unaffordable (and with all that repeat borrowing you have a strong case!) you will be getting the last loan cleared and a refund.
I can’t tell how large a refund unless you know the figures for each top up. Do you remember how much cash you received for each top up? Then I could work out how much was used to settle the previous loan.
amy says
Hi Sara, thanks for the quick reply , yes it was 197 not 297 sorry, I have contacted the bank and have all the statements being posted to me if needed if asked so it should tell me on that what I received so I can let you know asap, i was in a position where I had to borrow the money which then left me in financial difficulty but i always paid as I never wanted my guarantor to pay as she was retired herself so did not have a lot of money. I really hope something can be done as after so many years it’s been very stressful.
amy says
I’ve just checked my last loan that I topped up to £6750 , I paid off my loan of £5145.64 and received £1604.36
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK, to show how this works:
for loan 8, the last one, you borrowed 6750 and have paid 34 x 266 (ignoring pennies) = 9044. So you have paid 9044-6750=£2294 in interest which should be refunded to you. And of course that will go up by £266 for every month you makie a payment while the complaint goes through.
for loan 7, you borrowed 5250, you made payemnst of 7 x 207=1449, then settled this with 5146 from the next loan. So overall you paid 1449+5146-5250=£1345 in interest which should be refunded to you.
When you get the pay out amounts from the earlier loans – either from your bank statements of from the info Amigo will be sending you – we can look at the earlier loans and how much interest you paid on them.
amy says
Thank you Sara , as soon as I know I’ll let you know :) You are an amazing person helping everyone out with all this information :)
Amy says
Hi Sara,
Following post the other day re simple interest I asked Amigo about their calculations and essentially received the same reply as John, no overpayments on the first loan so 8% not calculated then the rest of rationale.
Guess part of problem is i’m not great with numbers so don’t really understand what their method really entails, and certainly not been the experience so far. Have checked the link to FOS page and it only seems to mention “If this results in the borrower having paid too much, then any overpayments should be refunded, adding 8% simple interest” so assume is what they’re interpreting.
I guess the question is whether FOS would agree and could uphold. Given everything that’s gone on recently I won’t be alone in feeling anxious about the prospect of a further delay having reached this stage, but at the same time they do also reference this as their policy on response so don’t envisage any negotiation. Was thinking of maybe giving FOS a call to see if anyone could advise.
Also given how confused I am about it all now would appreciate any guidance as to how best frame response to lender, and am not even sure if the figures I’d calculated above were roughly right if someone were to ask how much I think repayment should be!
I had just worked out each interest amount using x days x 8 / 36500 formula then added together, am I right in thinking this would give the final amount of simple interest or is there another stage?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is the right formula.
Ljc says
This was in my local paper this morning Sara
https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/18078268.amigo-loans-told-give-information-guarantors/
Amy says
Hi Sara I’m almost up to the 10 week deadline (Friday) and I’ve still not heard anything….I’ve had my cd and they’ve received my bank statements. Is it worth emailing them or anything to help try and push a response…….I see you mention the FCA should I threaten them with that or will it not help? I’m worried they’re going to try make me wait another 2 weeks!!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you just have to wait.
Amy says
Do you know if it is likely that they will extend another 2 weeks? And if they do should I just wait again or go to the fos? As that will then be 12 weeks. I’ve got another payment due soon and was hoping it would be sorted before then
Mark says
My 8 weeks was up with TFS today, I recieved a phone call from them, completed security and they asked am I talking to the account holder I said yes.. she ok it’s just to let you know that you will recieve our response today via email and we will send it in post… the response I got was they are unable to respond to my complaint as they have concerns who is making the complaint! They have requested my passport, driving licence and a signed letter!
I sent it to them and rang, the lady dealing with my case who said she was completely independent had finished for the day until Friday. What I dont understand is when I spoke to them on the phone I said I cant understand why anyone else would make the complaint on my behalf, I also said that 4 weeks ago they requested bank statements from 5 years ago which I provided, how on earth would someone impersonating me get these bank statements as well as speaking to them almost weekly about the complaint. I believe this to be a stalling tactic to avoid responding to me in the 8 weeks. I rang the FOS straight away and they said they would take the case on as it doesnt seem right they have taken 8 weeks to request such information. When I told TFS this they said it would take a maximum of 30 days … What should I do!! Just cant believe it. I suffer with heart problems and anxiety and depression this is ruining me.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is VERY poor behaviour by TFS. You have done the right thing to send the complaint to FOS now.
I hope given your health problem FOS will treat this as a priority – if you haven’t told FOS about your health, make sure you do this.
Mark says
I’m in the process of filling out all the information for the ombudsman now, I couldn’t do it on the phone earlier because I had geared myself up waiting for the 8 weeks and to have that reply was such a disappointment. I havent heard anyone winning a case with TFS so thought it’s best I get the ball rolling with the FOS to put it all right. I just cant believe they came up with such a feeble excuse, who would make a complaint on my behalf ?! Completely unbelievable
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is right up there with the worst responses ever!
Beth says
HI, I have put an affordability complaint in with Amigo, who have advised that they have sent me out my Data Access request via post in the form of a CD. Is there anything else I need to do? Do I need to send out another email for the second stage or just wait for the final response? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can just put it on one side so you have the details in case the case has to go to the Ombudsman.
Danielle says
10 weeks have now passed since submitting my affordability complaint to Amigo, received no correspondence from them at all so phoned and was told they wont be able to meet the deadline and aren’t able to give me a timeframe as they still have alot to get through before mine. Left a detailed trust pilot review two days ago.. no joy. As advised, I will be emailing the FCA and passing the case to FOS today.
Ian says
Just thought I would update you on my Uk Credit complaint. I got a response back from my adjudicator today who has upheld the complaint which is great. Ive since had an email from Uk Credit asking for my nak statements as they never had these so wanted to verify what was written in the complaint. Im still not convinced that UK Credit will uphold the complaint and are likely to send to the Ombudsman. But im still happy the Adjudicator has seen in my favour. Ill keep you updated once I hear what UK Credit are going to do
Lou7 says
Hi all,
I am so annoyed!! I sent an email today to the adjudicator and she said she is still waiting on information from the first 4 loans. Amigo haven’t sent it to her, only info from the last 2 loans. She said without this she can’t progress the complaint. Is there anything I can do as I think it’s unfair that I miss out because they are being awkward?? Information would be greatly appreciated
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Your first 3 loans were a long while ago.
Which loans do you have bank statements for?
Lou7 says
Hi Sara,
All of them but the adjudicator as not asked for bank statements. She is saying she needs the dates of old loans, amount, monthly payments etc but I sent her all that via email because all that information was at the top of the statement. I was hoping it would have been sorted by now to be honest because it’s been nearly 12 months. It’s just frustrating when the payments are due.
Kalvin says
Just got my response from Amigo after the 8 weeks :
“We write further to our letter to let you know that we are continuing with our investigation into your concerns.
As we are currently carrying out a high number of investigations, we have been unable to issue our final response to you. We apologise for the delay and we will write to you again when we have the results of our investigation into your complaint.
We anticipate, based on our current volumes, to be able to respond to your complaint in the next four weeks. However, we will endeavour to respond sooner.”
Should I just take this straight to the Ombudsman or will I be better off waiting the extra 4 weeks (feels like a kick in the teeth after waiting 8 weeks…)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
4 weeks! That is very poor. I suggest you send it straight to the ombudsman.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
As well as sending the case to the Financial Ombudsman you can also:
1) leave a bad review on Trust Pilot https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/amigoloans.co.uk saying they have missed not the 8 week deadline that the regulator sets for complaints and are now asking for an extra 4 weeks, but they expect borrowers to make all their payments exactly on time!
2) send the FCA, Amigo’s regulator, an email. This won’t help you directly as the FCA doesn’t look at individual complaint, that what FOS is for, but Amigo may hate this and actually do something about your complaint. And it’s simple to do. Email to consumer.queries@fca.org.uk. Copy this email to nick.beal@amigoloans.net and complaints@amigoloans.co.uk, those are the email addresses on the FCA register.
Say you have complained that they didn’t properly check your affordability but they haven’t responded within the 8 weeks allowed and they have said they need an extra 4 weeks. If you are struggling to repay this so as not to affect your guarantor, add that you think you are being put under an unfair amount of pressure because of their slow complaint handling.
End by saying you know the FCA will not investigate your complaint and you are sending it to the Financial Ombudsman but you wanted to report their very poor complaints handling to their regulator.