UPDATES:
Do not use the templates on this page for the following lenders, instead see the specific page:
- Amigo has set up a Scheme of Arrangement. The deadline for making a claim has now passed, see Amigo’s Scheme for details.
- Buddy Loans went into administration in September 2021, see Buddy Loans goes into administration.
- George Banco & Trust Two set up Scheme of Arrangement, the deadline to make a claim to this has passed, see Everyday Loan Scheme for details
- TFS Loans went into administration in February 2022, see TFS Loans goes into administration.
Guarantor loans are very expensive. Often the lender didn’t check properly that you will be able to manage the loan repayments without having to borrow more.
If proper checks would have shown that you couldn’t afford the repayments, complain! There is a template letter in this article to help you.
You can get an existing loan reduced so you only repay the amount you borrowed, or get a refund if your loans have been repaid. If your complaint is rejected you can send the case to the Financial Ombudsman (FOS) who is upholding a lot (90%!) of guarantor loan complaints.
If you are the guarantor not the borrower, read Complaining if you are a guarantor which has a different template letter to use.
Contents
What is an affordability complaint?
A loan is not affordable if paying it left you so short of money you had to top up the loan, or borrow more from another lender or get behind with bills.
Does this sound like you? Then make an affordability complaint.
Just making the payments doesn’t prove the loan was affordable! You may have been repaying with difficulty, taking out other loans, because you didn’t want your guarantor to be affected.
You can complain if you are still paying the loan or if you have repaid it all.
If you win your complaint:
- interest is removed from a loan you still owe, so you only repay what you borrowed;
- your guarantor is released from the loan; and
- you can arrange to pay the remaining balance at a reduced rate.
When your loans have been settled, you get a refund of the interest you paid.
What should the lender have checked?
Guarantor lenders should have checked the loan was affordable for you before giving you the money.
The lender should have made sure you were likely to be able to make the repayments for the whole length of the loan.
Guarantor loans are large financial commitments. So I would expect a lender to have asked for evidence of your income, to have checked your credit record, and to have verified your expenses.
Some things a lender may have got wrong:
- It doesn’t matter if your guarantor is well off, the loan has to be affordable for you!
- You may have given said your expenditure was lower than it was, because you were guessing or desperate. The lender should have checked your figures.
- If you were self-employed or had wages that varied, the lender should have looked at how your income went up and down.
- The lender should have checked your credit record to see all your debts. If you had recently taken more loans or missed payments/defaulted, the lender should have been careful as your position was getting worse.
- When you top up a loan, the lender should check the new larger loan is affordable. If the current loan was causing you problems or your finances had got worse you shouldn’t have been given a larger loan.
If you feel there was something else unfair about your case, add that into your complaint as well!
What would a “fair solution” be?
If the lender or the Ombudsman decides the loan wasn’t affordable, this is what happens:
- The loan has been repaid, then any interest you paid should be refunded to you.
- The loan is still outstanding, then interest should be removed from the balance that is owing, so you only repay what you borrowed. Your guarantor should be released from the loan. The lender should accept an affordable monthly payment from you to repay the rest.
- Any payments made by the guarantor are refunded to the guarantor, not to you.
Will a complaint affect your guarantor?
Complaining won’t affect your guarantor if you carry on making the payments. The guarantor shouldn’t be told you have complained unless your complaint is being upheld.
If you stop paying the loan when you make a complaint, the lender may decide to get your guarantor to pay it. If you don’t want this to happen, you have to somehow carry on making the payments even though it’s hard.
If you can’t afford to carry on paying and you don’t want to hurt your guarantor talk to a debt adviser about your options in this difficult situation.
Making an affordability complaint won’t make things worse, and it may help in a few months time, but it isn’t an immediate escape from your problem.
Think about whether your guarantor also had a good reason to complain – see Complaining if you are a guarantor for details. If they win a complaint, they will be removed as a guarantor, which would take a lot of pressure off you.
How to complain to the lender
A template complaint to use
Don’t use this for Amigo of Buddy – see the update at the top of the page.
For all other guarantor lenders, including ones that have stopped lending, send your complaint by email – here is a list of lender’s email addresses.
Use SAR AND COMPLAINT BY BORROWER as the email title.
Here is a template. Change it to describe what happened to you and delete what doesn’t apply.
Only put this in if it applies to you: I took a top up of [£2,500] in [March 2018]
Add a reference number for the loan or give some other details such as your date of birth and your address when you took the loan out.
Please send me a copy of all the personal information that you have about me, including but not limited to all credit record checks, a copy of my loan application(s) and recordings of all phone calls from me. You have 30 days to reply to this Subject Access Request (SAR).
I am making an affordability complaint. This loan was/These loans were unaffordable for me and you would have realised this if you had checked properly before giving me the loan(s).
Delete or change any of the following so they are right for you:
[You would have seen from my credit record that I had recently missed payments/had defaults/was in a DMP/IVA.]
[I was on a low income/My only income was my pension/benefits.]
[You did not ask me for proof of my income or expenses and you did not ask about my expenses in detail.]
[I get ESA/PIP/DLA but you did not ask me if I had any extra expenses because of this.]
[I had a gambling problem which you could have seen from my bank statements.]
If you topped up the original loan: When I topped up the loan you should have seen from my credit record that my financial situation had got worse. [delete if not relevant: You ignored the fact that I had made several payments late to you.]
If you still owe money:[I am asking you to remove the interest from the balance so I only have to repay what I borrowed, release my guarantor and allow me to make lower monthly payments.]
If the loan has been repaid change that to [refund me the interest that I have paid plus 8% statutory interest.]
If you don’t want your guarantor to be told: [I want to carry on making the normal monthly payments because I do not want my guarantor to be affected. Please note I do not want my guarantor to be informed about my complaint unless my complaint is upheld.]
You have 8 weeks to respond to my complaint before I send it to the Financial Ombudsman.
If you would like some help with this, then go to your local Citizens Advice.
Definitely send bank statements!
It’s good if you can attach bank statements to your complaint. Send three months of statements before each loan or top-up and two months afterwards. So if you had a loan in August 2017, send statements for May-September 2017.
These statements will show how unaffordable your loans were. Don’t worry if there is gambling showing on the statements – that helps your case!
Don’t delay starting a complaint if you are trying to get your bank statements – just add them later. But now is a good time to get the statements as they can help your case.
Also get a copy of your credit record if this will show defaults, that your debts were increasing, that you had a large overdraft etc. Download this and keep it.
What to do with your personal information (SAR)
Copies of personal information (SARs) are often sent out by post, so if you have moved, make sure the lender has your new address. You should get the information within 30 days. It is often sent on a CD with a password.
This information is not the lender’s response to your complaint. Most lenders will send that separate from the SAR, usually a few weeks later.
You don’t need to do anything with the SAR, just keep it safe. You have asked for it now so that you have the details in case the lender rejects your complaint or makes a poor offer so your complaint has to go to the Ombudsman.
Taking a complaint to the Ombudsman
If the lender rejects your complaint, go to the Ombudsman
Don’t delay in sending a case to FOS – it has to go within 6 months. And while you have an “open” complaint at FOS, the lender cannot take you to court.
Lenders seem to reject many complaints and hope you give up! So don’t be surprised if a lender says No, the loan was affordable or We based our decision to lend on your application which was inaccurate.
If the lender says No, or you haven’t had a reply 8 weeks after sending your complaint, send your case to the Financial Ombudsman (FOS) the best way to do this is by using the FOS online form.
This is free to do and easy – you don’t have to quote laws or regulations. You can just send FOS the complaint you sent the lender. And if they have replied and said something that’s wrong, mention that as well.
You don’t need to go into details – a short FOS complaint is fine. If you want to add more details, read How Subject Access Request information can help an affordability complaint. But you don’t have to do this.
If only some loans are refunded, is this fair?
Sometimes a lender will say that just a few loans are unaffordable and remove the interest. Which is good, but should it be better?
If the rejected loans caused you difficulties and led to you needing a top-up, send your complaint to FOS and say you think the earlier loans too should be refunded.
Are you likely to win your Ombudsman complaint?
The Financial Ombudsman is agreeing with the customer on 90% of cases!
It is much simpler to win a case at FOS than a court case. If a lender has already started a court case against you, Citizens Advice can help you get the court case “stayed” (that’s legal jargon for put on hold) while you take an affordability complaint to the Ombudsman.
Complicated cases & help with guarantor loan complaints
If you want help with these complaints, Citizens Advice can help. Every Citizens Advice has access to the national Specialist Debt Advice Service if this isn’t something an adviser has come across before.
Leave a comment below this article to discuss what to do or talk to Citizens Advice if:
- your guarantor has made a lot of payments.
- you have been bankrupt, in an IVA or a DRO – read guarantor loans & insolvency .
- you have a CCJ from the guarantor lender – read guarantor loans & CCJs.
- if your debt has been sold to a debt collector.
Do not use a Claims Firm or a solicitor that is acting as a claims firm. There are two good reasons why you should avoid them:
- they will probably do a very poor job. They are not experts. They won’t put time into looking at your personal case.
- if you win a case but still owe a balance, this is usually just reduced. But the claims firm may expect you to pay their high percentage fee immediately even though you have not received any cash refund and still have the rest of the loan to pay.
Can you get an overdraft refund?
Card limit too high? Ask for a refund
Complaints about bank & other large loans
George says
Hi Sara, with waiting for Amigos response, I would like to know what I should be expecting if i was to accept.
£4000 initial loan – Topped up to £5500 – Topped up to £6750 – Topped up to £9000
I have made the continuous payments and my guarantor has not made any of the payments. Payments are as followed :
Current loan (£9,000) Cash Received £2500
– 24 months x £360.00
-4 Months x £160.00
Previous Loan (£6,500) Cash received £1000
-3 Months x £260.00
Previous Loan (£5,500) Cash Received £1500
-1 Month x £160.00
Previous loan (£4,000) Cash received £4000
-6 months x £160.00
Could you please help me with how much I would be looking to accept. My current balance sits at about £11,500 and still making payments towards this £9,000 loan.
Thank you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So the interest you have paid on eich of your four loans looks like roughly (remember you may have typed in numbers wrong or I may have, this is just a guess)
First loan £960
loan 2 £160
loan 3 £780
current loan you have repaid more than the 9000 you borrowed – £280 extra paid so far.
If you got a refund for all 4 loans the last loan would be cleared and you would get a cash refund of about £2180 at the moment.
George says
Thank you Sara, I believe all four have been unaffordable and hoping for the best results but they did come back and ask for a four week extension so now I have sent off everything to the FOS. Hoping for a good result as this is causing me huge issues as im sure it is with everyone.
Jordan says
Hi i sent this email out to them on 30th January
—————————-
You gave me a loan of £4,500 on 29th June 2016.
I took a top up of £5,500 on 1st October 2016, again on the 6th December 2016 for £6,250 then again on the 5th January 2017 for £7,500.
My details are Jordan …. Agreement number: 350…
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.
I am making an affordability complaint. These loans were unaffordable for me and you would have realised this if you had checked properly before giving me the loans.
You would have seen from my credit record that I had recently missed payments and had defaults from a number of payday loan companies.
[I was on an income where it was only affordable when overtime was available, and when I had the top up loans I had left my stable jobs do I was I fact working self employed through agencies.
You did not ask me for proof of my income or expenses and you did not ask about my expenses in detail. And anything I may have said was in a desperate measure.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think all the cases where people had several top ups like your are very strong. Lots of 1 loan cases are being won, but to have gone backed and been given 3 tops ups in about 6 months really suggests Amigo wasn’t checking properly!
Jordan Williams says
thisbis the rest of the email:
I had a gambling problem which you would have seen if you had looked at my bank statements.
When I topped up the loan you should have seen from my credit record that my financial situation had got worse.
You would see from October 2017 to June 2018 I was out of work and my guarantor was putting money into my account to cover my costs, he did not let it default to me As it would make my credit file worse.
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.
I am asking you to refund me the interest that I have paid plus 8% statutory interest.
I want to carry on making the normal monthly payments because I do not want my guarantor to be affected in any way by my complaint.
I understand that you have 8 weeks to respond to my affordability complaint before I send it to the Financial Ombudsman.
Yours Faithfully
Jordan Williams
Think I’ve got a good case?
Jordan Williams says
Plus it’s been 39 days since I requested an SAR I rang them today and they said Itl be with me in a week.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes it sounds a strong case to me.!
Gemma says
Hi sara
With everything going on with amigo and all the affordability complaints their receiving do you think it may go into administration soon the stocks keep dropping for them I’ve been watching this for past few days
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Unless the company goes into administration, the board room arguments and who owns the shares may not make a lot of difference to current complaints. But it’s hard to tell what is happening!
Jordan Williams says
So if it goes into administration our complaints won’t matter? And we will get pennies like we did off Wonga?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you still owe a balance, right? In an administration, you have the right of set-off of any compensation against the balance, so although you may not get much cash back, at least the current loan should be sorted.
Helen says
I’ve recieved my final response today from Amigo.
I had 3 loans in total the first loan was August 2011 when they were trading as FLM. As it’s over 6 years they won’t be investigating….. the lady at FOS did advise me the other day that might happen.
My second loan was for £3000 in April 2014 they are not upholding that one.
My 3rd loan for £7000 over 5years at £276.67 a month they are upholding. I had a balance of £2,582.67 to settle on the second loan which came out of the £7000 which left me £4,417.33 however you still pay back for the £7000 obviously. They said that they agree I should have been asked more questions before being paid the 3rd loan as to why my financial situation was how it was. To calculate they will deduct repayments made from the capital loan amount. Any overpayments will be refunded plus 8% interest.
Whilst I am really pleased, I have no idea roughly as to how much I may get back. Sara could you please enlighten me and thankyou ever so much for all the help you have given so many of us I for one am very grateful and appreciative of how much you’ve helped me and so many people 🙂
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Can you give me some more figures for loans 2 & 3?
loan 2 – borrowed 3000 – made how many payments of how much? (eg 14 payments of £127) – settled with 2582 from top up
loan 3 – borrowed 7000 – received 4417 in cash – made how many payment of how much?
Jordan Williams says
Helen did you only wait the 8 weeks or 12?
Helen says
This Thursday it would have been 12 weeks.
Helen says
Loan 2 which I took out April 2014 I made 7 payments and then I topped up in the November with 3rd loan and I paid that off completely so 60 payments
Sara (Debt Camel) says
On loan 3 you borrowed 7000 and paid 60 lots of 276, which is £16560, so you paid £9,560 in interest which should be refunded. Plus 8% interest. That’s hard to work out, but it should be at least £800.
I still don’t know how large the payments were for loan 2 so I can’t work out how much interest you paid on that. But it’s clearly going to be small compared to the 3rd loan so understandable if you don’t care about getting that back given the refund you will be getting :)
Helen Taylor says
Sara just had email from Amigo. They are refunding me £9,986.71 that’s the interest I paid on the loan and £1053.70 back as they put 8% simple interest after tax. They’ve sent refund today and told me to allow 3 to 5 days for it to hit my account. I’m so happy this is finally over. If it wasn’t for me coming across this site I would never have known any different. Thankyou so so much this money is going to make life so much easier for me for all the right reasons. Because of people like yourself who go above and beyond to help others the future now looks brighter for so many of us 🙂🙂
Sara (Debt Camel) says
[edited as I previously misread the numbers you wrote] Yes, I said the 8% should be at least £800 and that amount after tax is fine.
Daniel says
Hi,
I recently sent a complaint via amigo website and requested SAR.
I took my first loan in 2012 £5000, topped up in 2014 to £5000 again and again in 2015 to £7000. Accruing £250 of interest each month!!
The 2012 one I do not expect anything from as over 6 years old.
I ended up on a dmp in 2016 having defaulted twice on 2 separate loans and amigo took 75% of the money left over from my budget and my guarantor had to cover the rest of monthly payments to amigo. My dmp budget showed that paying my amigo loan meant i would have only £20 left each month.. (doesnt include other loan payments)
They have responded and asked for statements for 1 month before and 2 months after but should I send 3 months for every loan? It will show big payday loan payments and and show the amigo loan was never affordable for me.. I did tell them I was struggling before I went on dmp but they wasnt interested.. other debts freezed interest and after a few years, i was able to become debt free and safe to say… lesson learnt :)
Do you think my case is strong enough?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did your guarantor make a lot of the repayments to the last loan? When was the loan settled?
If it has to go to the Ombudsman, you ask for the 2012 loan to be included as well!
Daniel says
They made 28 payments for me, 29 if you include the final payment for the remainder of the loan. They were all card payments.
It was settled in october 2018!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think anyone with two top-ups may well have a strong case. lots of people are winning 1 loan cases at the o budsman, abd with every top up loan amigo should have been asking themselves if the previous loan had really been affordable.
I think you should send them the statements they asked for. Only send extra ones if there is someting specific they show that you think Amigo should look at, not just because they show what the other ststements also show. It’s best to send PDFs not post statements as one person has had their posted statements disappear somewhere.
The payments your guarantor made. Have you since repaid your guarantor? Normally those payments would be refunded to your guarantor, not to you. Would your guarantor be happy to tell amigo to refund those payments to you?
Daniel says
Hi Sarah,
I have sent the statements they asked for and have had an email acknowledging them. I presume I now wait 8 weeks from the date of original complaint and if I hear nothing.. off to Ombudsman it goes!
Would my guarantor have to prove I have paid them back? The last payment was a large one so would that be refunded also??!!!!
They would happily tell amigo though, I presume if my complaint for that loan is upheld, they should do that then?
Thank you for your help
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Your guarantor will usually be asked if they want the refund to come to them or to you. provided they are happy to say to you, Amigo isn’t going to ask for proof you have repaid your guarantor.
Emma says
Hi
I made my complaint back at the beginning of Feb and have been told there is a delay. I checked my credit report on equifax and experien this morning and since I last checked it (a week ago) my current amigo loan has been removed? I can see my previous ones that have a status of settled but the current one has disappeared. Even the section that states how much I owe to creditors has dropped by the amount I owed to Amigo.
Has anyone else had this? I can’t find any info as to why this is as my complaint has not been answered yet.
Thank you so much for all your help!
Jordan Williams says
This must be a positive thing?!
Jordan Williams says
Have you checked the amigo app to see if it’s still live on there?
Rosie says
Hi Emma,
Yes!! The exact same thing has happened to me.
I put my complaint and SAR request in on 24th January. I still haven’t recieved my SAR but Amigo loan has vanished from my credit file. My DD was due yesterday but it wasn’t collected and no pushy texts or constant phone calls.
I’ve checked the Amigo app, that’s still live and showing arrears.
Don’t know what it means at all but it’s got to mean something.
Rosie
ST says
Have you paid the original loan amount back so the monthly payments are now just interest payments? Thanks
Rosie says
Amigo take interest first.
So over the last 6 years I’ve paid around 22,000, my last loan was for 9,000 and my account balance is 9,750.
Jordan Williams says
Hi Sara, I’ve had a text saying my SAR is on its way…what do I need to look out for and do I do anything with it once I’ve got it
Thanks
Bonnie says
Hi looking for a wee bit of advice. i finaly put my complaint in last night. I just recieved this email as a reply after saying in the complaint email that they had bullied me and caused anxiety ect. Should i respond or just wait thanks in advance..Thank you for your email, I’m sorry to hear you’re unhappy with your loan.
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 am sorry to read that you are suffering with your mental health, is this something which you have been to your doctors for? Also do you wish to discuss with us? If so please let us know so we can see what steps we can take to accommodate.
Should you have any questions in the meantime, please feel free to reply to this email.
SONYA says
GUYS!!! Help!!! I have had a text from Amigo loans asking me further questions:-
1. Were you aware at the time you applied for the loan that you wouldn’t be able to afford to repay it?
2. The income stated at the time we paid out this loan you received £3,112.00, was this correct?
3. The expenditure stated at the time we paid out this loan was £1,651.91, was this correct?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you sent Amigo your bank statements?
Sonya Hawley says
They never asked me. Should I reply to this text?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The article above suggested that people should send bank statements with their complaint.
I suggest the best way to repay to this text is to ignore the questions and say you are sending them your bank statements which will show them you full position and you look forward to receiving their response to your complaint.
SONYA says
Thanks so much AGAIN!!!
stacey says
yeah i just ignored this message as well as they sent me this – they also asked me how i was feeling etc . clearly not great considering the stress they cause you !
Sonya Hawley says
God they do like to try it don’t they. I responded that I would send my bank statements. They’re welcome to look at my prescription for anxiety.
Do we think these are delay tactics. X
Beate says
Hi, received today a text message to fill out questionnaire from amigo loans. They are asking if I was aware that at the time I applied for the loan that I wouldn’t be able to afford to repay it?
Also they asking to confirm if my income and expenses is correct at that time loan was taken out.
Not sure how to answer as I knew that I wont be able to afford it because I was about to go in to maternity leave. Worried that they will tell me that it is my fault because I lied. Also expenses was not correct.
Should I answer truthfully?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Se the section If the lender comes back and asks questions in the article above/.
Sending your bank statements proves how unaffordable the loan was. Amigo should have verified what you said.
Phil says
Hi Sara
Amazingly I found some old bank statements going back to 2009 and the monthly instalment of £100.79 for a £2500 loan was on the statements but it only says DD payment and then the amount. No reference to FLM or any policy number. Amigo have already rejected my complaint coz of the age of it but can the bank tell me the DD details from then.
Sophia says
Just an update on my case with amigo – it has now been sent to the adjudicator and I’m waiting on a final response. Amigo rejected my case in early October due to being over six years old (the loan was taken out in 2009) so I sent it to the FOS straight away. Fingers crossed it is upheld!
Julia says
Same with me. I submitted my amigo claim and had a lengthy reply detailing why they won’t uphold, mainly that my guarantor ( Ex husband) is affluent!
I had fortunately already sent to the FOS so I’m about 6 weeks in to the FOS with them.. It has been assigned a case worker now.. but I’m not expecting a result. Already paid amigo 20k of a 10k loan.. another 9k to go!! Yay!
Don says
Hi do you mind me asking, just out of interest when you submitted your case to the FOS? I submitted my complaint to them at the end of September and I’m still waiting for it to be allocated. Whenever I ask for an update I keep getting told they are being dealt with in date order. Thank you.
Sophia says
I sent mine off at the end of October but in the last few weeks I have had a change in circumstances,and made the FOS aware of this,so I think they may have pushed my case forward. I was told there was a surge in complaints around the time I put my case in,so I’m guessing that’s why it has taken so long.
Craig Mason says
Hi Sara, with waiting for Amigos response, I would like to know what I should be expecting if i was to accept.
£2200 initial loan – Topped up to £2500 – Topped up to £4250 – Topped up to £5250 – Topped up to £6000 – Topped up to £6500
I have made the continuous payments and my guarantor has not made any of the payments. Payments are as followed :
Current loan (£6500) Cash Received £968.08
– 8 months x £256.91
Previous Loan (£6,000) Cash received £1052.49
-14 Months x £237.15
Previous Loan (£5250) Cash Received £1736.12
-6 Month x £224.57
Previous loan (£4,250) Cash received £2077.31
-11 months x £207.35
Previous loan (2500) Cash received £1043.87
-9 months x £121.97
Previous loan (2200) Cash received £2200
-19 months x £107.34
Could you please help me with how much I would be looking to accept. My current balance sits at about £6297.24 and still making payments towards this £6500 loan.
Craig Mason says
I should add the interest paid for each loan is as follows
Current loan – £1852.77
£6000 loan – £2852.02
£5250 loan – £1044.93
£4250 loan – £1544.73
£2500 loan – £770.42
£2200 loan – £1187.95
Charmaine says
Yesterday week 12 was up and amigo emailed today a really lengthy email, I’m not sure in how to respond?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what did it say? Have they upheld your complaint, partially upheld it (for some loans but not others) rejected it or are they still looking at it?
Charmaine says
They haven’t upheld any of my affordability complaint from what I understand I think they have said they don’t need to check affordability and because I’ve kept up with repayments therefore it made it affordable.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is a very poor argument. Tens of thousands of people have had refunds for payday loans that they repaid on time. Paying a loan says NOTHING about whether it is affordable or not.
Have you already sent the case to the Ombudsman?
K says
They said the same to me. Im still arguing with them about it & waiting for the adjudicator to make his decision which he said he is trying to do before my next payment is due. I literally cannot cope anymore with these payments, its leaving me with about £30 a month to live on, on top of my hours at work being cut from 27 a week to 12 i dont even know how we are going to survive
K says
They’ve said to me they dont need to check peoples incomes, i said so why do you now request statements before paying out a loan. They said they believe what people tell them about their income & outgoings to which I said so why are you able to take my word for it when I say im loaded but you cant take my word for it when i say im financially broken
Sara (Debt Camel) says
In the end you may have to not pay and tell your dad what is going on. I know you REALLY don’t want to. But you can explain you have a complaint being looked at by the Ombudsman.
K says
I dont even care about getting the interest refunded. As much as it would be great to have around £5k in my bank, just to have the thing gone & not have to pay anymore would be enough to satisfy me. The whole thing is just destroying my life
Charmaine says
I have replied, I have tried four times to fill in the ombudsman form but everytime I submit it it comes up saying failed.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh that’s unusual. Can you phone them up? 0800 023 4567
Catherine says
I had that loads so eventually phoned up and had all my complaints,even ones I’d already submitted online raised via telephone.
They said it’s quicker to raise by phone and avoids joining the mailbox queue,which has to be sorted through and then sent to correct department which then joins another mailbox queue.
As a result of raising via phone I have had all bar one complaint allocated and I only submitted them in Nov and Dec 2019.8complaints in total.
Julia says
Yes I had the same. Because I never missed a payment and because my guarantor is wealthy they refused to uphold the complaint!
( I’m a single mum working part time on universal credit!) and had 5 loans at the time with the worst credit rating ever.
Robin says
Hi Sara,
I complained and sent my complaint to the ombudsman in oct/November regarding amigi
I havnt heard anything from the ombudsman at all and am wondering what to do? I tried to email them is there some sort of delay that you know of?
Robin
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you asked the Ombudsman if Amigo have sent your case file over?
robin says
I’ve tried to get in touch with with ombudsman but havnt had any info, I don’t think anyone has been assigned to my case even though it was sent in Oct/Nov.
I don’t think they have even got in touch with amigo
Ria says
I wanted to leave a reply since ukcredit have upheld my complaint just to show others that there is light at the end of the tunnel!
I had been reading these replies hoping for some outcomes so here is a positive one for you all…
I took out a loan in 2015 for £5000, topped up to £7500 the same year. I have been paying £260 a month and recently have been really struggling with payments due to bad health. I did not know until visiting this site that I could actually claim. At the time of taking out the loan I had got myself into a lot of trouble payday loans and online gambling. ukcredit agreed that they should never have lent to me.
Today I got my offer letter through, redress just over £4000 and my loan is paid off. I am over the moon and have such a weight lifted off my shoulders.
I did not have to go to the ombudsman and did not have to send in bank statements.
Wishing every single one of you the best of luck with your complaints :)
A massive thank you to Sara for all your hard work and determination, without this site I would have continued to struggle for another few years at least, so thank you so much.
Bonnie says
Hi ive put my complaint in with amigo but im unsure of how they will work it out if they are upheld as last loan i started paying reduced payments could you help work it out please.
First loan £1000 – 5 x £103
Top up £3000 – 6x £146
Top up to £5500 – 3x 217
Top up to £7500 – 10x £296
Guarantor paid 1 £296
Then ive been paying £150 since november 2017 27x £150
Its been passed onto intrum so thevye not asked for another payment as of yet.
Thanks in advance x
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Bonnie,
can you tell me how much cash you received for each of the top-ups?
Bonnie says
Hi thanks im not sure if these figures are right as i cant remember how much they gave me i just worked out how much was paid back to each loan and took it off the next
Loan 2 2081.40
Loan 3 2638.81
Loan 4 2102.90
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so the interest paid on each loan looks like roughly (remember you may have typed in numbers wrong or I may have, this is just a guess)
Loan 1 £434
loan 2 £738
loan 3 £539
loan 4 no interest paid so far, still £490 to pay until the amount borrowed has been repaid by you (so ignoring that 1 payment by your guarantor which should be refunded to them if you win your case)
If you get all 4 loans upheld, then you would get a refund of about £1230 and the last loan cleared.
Bonnie says
Thanks for working that out for me fingers crossed. I worked it out roughly the same but thought i was doing it wrong x
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I’m interested in your story – is there a reason they haven’t pursued your guarantor? How long ago was your loan sold to Intrum?
Bonnie says
If i was ever late a day they would be contacting my guarantor . But in december 2019 they had sold it over to intrum without my knowledge or my dads (guarantor) . Id been paying reduced payments to amigo since 2017 i ended up on benefits. Amigo basically said intrum are partnered with them they never really explained properly why they sold it over i couldnt understand it as they were getting the money . Intrum suposedly got the last £150 payment. I spoke to intrum the start of january and they said they would be in touch within 6 weeks and ive heard nothing also my amigo account is closed on my credit clearscore. Thanks
Bonnie Knox says
Have you heard of anyone else on here saying theirs had been sold on? No idea whats going on with it atm lol
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes Intrum have bought a few debts. You will probably find them nicer to deal with than Amigo…
Jenny says
Gutted!
Had a response from amigo today saying that they wouldn’t look in to loans I had in 2012/13 because it was to long ago.
The two loans I had in 2018 have been refused as they said I could afford repayments.
They have also said that my credit rating when they gave me the first loan (4th) was 460 and went up before they gave me the second Lon (5th) if I had a score that high I would NEVER have needed to use a loan company with such high interest. I’ve looked back at my credit scores and they were roughy 125!
I have a complaint with the FCA but feeling really deflated right now and feel like its not going to be upheld…..Depressing.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Lots of people have felt deflated and depressed by a lender’s rejection and then gone on to win their guarantor loan case at FOS. In fact 90% of guarantor loan complaints were won from Oct-Dec 2019.
FOS will look at the earlier loans.
Andrea says
Hi Any help would be appreciated :- I sent my complaint to TFS on Sat 7th March by Tuesday I have a letter stating they would not look in to it as they were older than 6 years! they said I had one in 2012, 2013 and 2014 and do know they missed off a 2010.
Has anyone had any good ones from TFS loans? I have emailed it straight over to the FO last night, what’s my chances of them looking in to it?
Any help would be appreciated.
Andrea
Nige says
Hi my TFS loans from 2011 is currently with the adjudicator who has said they they can look into my loans re affordability. TFS have stalled and I should have heard something back by last Friday. I took a loan for £4500 in 2011. No idea how much interest I paid back . Basically the fos have seen in my favour
Sara (Debt Camel) says
FOS are looking at complaints about the older loans. Do you know how many payments you made and how large?
Andrea says
Hi Sara
Was this reply to Me or Nige?
My 2012 one was for £3500
My 2013 was £5000
And 2014 I believe was around £6000
I have the total last one with interest it was 72 payments of £222.35 = 16009.20i have two payments left!
I’m
Still waiting on my SAR info
I have all emails to and from them even ones where I asked how much I can borrow and the reply is “ we need to credit check your guarantor to see how much she can afford!! “
Ben B says
So I got a text yesterday from Amigo informing me of a default letter they sent. Then get another text today saying soon I may be issued with a LBA (Legal Before Action). Amigo stinks, when I was discussing my arrears via email I mentioned I can pay fully soon, that I’m not working so its not as if I’m suddenly got money coming in. They mentioned asking how can they help my mental health when surely badging me and my brother isn’t helping either of us.
Then get a text from my brother saying they are threatening legal action, and to get it sorted. I reply that I’ve done what I can, and he should raise a complaint himself to get him removed as a guarantor, plus my parents are pissed at me for causing him stress while he has his own problems, but hang on I’m depressed as well taking antidepressents and I have dyspraxia and aspergers as well.
Wonder if I can complain to them about the stress they are giving me and my brother.
Gemma says
There not bothered there a horrible company to deal with I’ve been telling them I have stress and anxiety there as bad as loan sharks 🦈 keep pursuing you know matter what!!!
louse says
Hi Ben , Yeah they keep pressuring me as well even though i have had a miscarriage and lost members of my family as well as suffering anxiety and depression
Every month I am left with practically nothing anyways and thats before making my debt payments so trying to enter into a DMP but they have again said it up to them if they accept the offer then they will look at my guarantor who cannot pay and has never really been in a position to pay really . i sent my affordability complaint in on 31st january they have just setn out my sar but not received it yet.
SamF says
Hi sara wondering if you can help me.
Today I received my CD with all of my info on it from amigo. When looking i seen my credit file from 2018 when I got my first loan from them.
My financial data I had –
Number of accounts – 14
Number of active accounts – 8
Number of settles accounts – 5
Worst payment status in last 12 months – D
For 36 months – D
Defaults in last 12 months – 3
Defaults in 36 months – 4
Surely looking at this they should never have given me this original loan never mind the top ups.
Can you advise me where to go from here, wether to email them or continue to wait on my decision?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You just need to continue to wait. Send the complaint to FOS when it gets to 8 weeks as at the moment Amigo are often taking a lot longer.
Amigo loans are aimed at people with poor credit – no-one else would pay such high-interest rates.
From what you have said before – being on benefits, with a large home credit loan and living in your overdraft – it sounds as though Amigo didn’t chek properly you could afford it.
Sarah Harris says
Hi my partner has just had a reply from George banco saying they don’t uphold his complaint, saying my partner had a disposable income of £500 a month(if only 😂) they didn’t ask for any bank statements so are just going what was said over phone, also my partner gave wrong wage he didn’t minus the tax or NI so looked higher they didn’t ask to see payslips either, this loan has really broke us this last year we have attachment to earnings on both our wage and a court order on our council house from paying these, I know you will prob think we are stupid to pay them 1st but there ruthless and we’re afraid there go after his semi retired mum who is garontor, my question is do I send to Fos it’s all very stressful we are due to pay £320 in 2 weeks and was hoping it would have been reduced for us , sorry for long messages (stressed😂) kind regards
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, I think you should send this to FOS.
The mistake with your partner’s wage is exactly the sort of error it is easy to make – that’s why lenders should verify income & expenses. Which is what FOS says they should do.
I know it seems stressful, but you are no worse off now than if you hadn’t complained and will gain a huge amount if you win.
It’s horribly being in this spot of feeling you have to protect your mum. People don’t realise how nasty guarantor loan pressure can be when they take one out.
Sarah says
Thankyou Sarah we will send off to the Fos in the morning thanks again just needed a little reassurance 😀
K says
I’ve just received an email from the adjudicator who has been assigned to my case. He spoke directly to Amigo 8 days ago & requested my case file be sent to him by the end of the day. He has just emailed me to tell me Amigo have failed to comply & have not sent the file over so he has asked for all my loan details & my bank statements & he is going to make his decision based on that with Amigo’s info out of the equation.
Surely & hopefully this can only be a good thing?? Im hopeful but will be devastated if he sides with them
Jordan Williams says
How long has the whole process been? 8 or 12 weeks for amigo decision? And how long has it taken the FOS to sort it for you?
K says
Thanks sara, heres hoping. Ive sent him all info & hes replied again saying hes working on it now.
Jordan, i sent my complaint to the fos on the day of week 8 when amigo asked for a further 4 weeks. Amigo replied at week 12 not upholding my complaint. I spoke to the fos on week 9 i think it was & they agreed to prioritise my complaint. Im at week 14 in total on Monday but the adjudicator is trying to get me a final response from him before my next payment is due on 3rd of april. I cannot fault him one bit, hes been very supportive of my complaint & listened to my worries
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Fingers crossed for you! from your previous comments it sounds like a strong case to me.
Terri says
I have received my disc from amigo, now what do I do from here. Can any one advise thank you :)
Jay says
Hi All
I recently made affordability complaints with Amigo and UK Credit. UK Credit have responded to me to today upholding my complaint and refunding all the interest on my loan. Even though this doesn’t clear the loan I can pay the rest back at a reduced rate which is a massive relief. My question is, as Amigo haven’t responded yet (it’s been six weeks) should I contact them and tell them about UK Credit upholding my complaint ? Would it add weight to my claim that the loans Amigo gave me were unaffordable ? I had two top ups with Amigo and the UKC loan was taken out between top ups one and two. Thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t think Amigo will pay any attention to this, so I wouldn’t bother.
But it should encourage you that your Amigo case is probably a good one so send it straight to FOS at 8 weeks if Amigo don’t reply by then.
Maria says
Hi I have received my SAR CD today but am not sure how to download the info. The only desktop I have use of it at work can anyone help
stacey says
HI I RECEIVED MY DSAR AND REQUESTED DOCUMENTAION FROM GEORGE BANCO BUT NOT SURE HOW I READ IT AS ITS QUITE DIFFICULT IT ALSO SAYS THAT I HAD NO DEFAULTS OR MISSED PAYMENTS BY WHAT I AM READING AT THE TIME WHICH IS NOT TRUE UNLESS I AM READING IT WRONG HAD A FEW AS WELL AS DMP MISSED PAYMENTS ETC
VH says
Still waiting to hear from Amigo.
Been since 20/01/20 that FOS sent my complaint back to them as it got rejected last October.
I have not been asked for any information but I submitted bank statements this week on my own accord as the deadline for Amigo to reply is 16/03/20. Spoke to member of their team today and my complaint still has not been looked at.
It seems they leaving it to the very last minute
Not holding out much hope, I’m expecting another rejection which the FOS will then look at.
For a company that is trying to sell itself you would think it would want good reviews the way it has been handling complaints I should imagine there will be a few poor ones posted.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Anyone wanting to leave a comment on how poor their complaints handling is: https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/amigoloans.co.uk
V says
Received my SAR cd today from Amigo but I don’t have the facility to play this?! I don’t have a cd rom/drive? Any suggestions to what I do now?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You don’t actually have to do anything with it, see the article above.
Do you have any friends with laptops? they can usually read a CD then you could email the files on it to yourself.
Catherine says
I asked for my amigo SAR to be sent in pdf paper form which they sent pretty quick.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is a good option unless there are recordings of phone calls that you think are important to your case.
Catherine says
I have the SAR cd too but no way to read it.Theres enough evidence on the paper SAR to show how unaffordable it was.
Mandy says
Hi
We are going to put in a claim, but not sure if it will be worth it, we had an original loan for £4500 which we paid every month, then we did a top up to £7500, when they did the top up they did not ask about a change of income within the term of the loan, my husband retired and his income dropped from £2300 to £652 a month, the loan payment is £400 a month, he now does not have enough money to pay all his bills.
As we have not missed any payments is it worth us doing this.
My mum is the gtor, she is retired and only does a small job for pocket money, so she could not afford to pay this loan if we did not.
Do you think we would be wasting our time.
Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How old was your husband when he retired?
It sounds as though your mum has a good reason to complain and be released as the guarantor. See this other page: https://debtcamel.co.uk/amigo-complaints-by-guarantor/ for guarantor complaints.
If that happened, you could then put the amigo debt into a debt management plan and pay it at a much slower rate.
Mandy says
Hi Sara
He retired at 55, he has used all of his lump sum to pay his monthly commitments, so now he is unable to keep up the payments as his outgoings are more than his income, I have been topping him up but this is now causing hardship on us both.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did he have a lot of debts that he has been paying as well as this Amigo loan? Was it really affordable before he retired?
Nige says
Hi Sarah can you assist ? The adjudicator said that they CAN look at my loans with TFS over 6 years but TFS have said no and it has now been passed to the ombudsman… Any idea how much longer I will have to wait ? It’s been with the fos for over 12 months !
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Not really. FOS seems to be accepting it can look at all the older loans but it still has to consider each case.
Mr F says
Evening all
It’s been a while since I posted but wanted to give an update i today recurved a final response of amigo it’s been roughly 10 weeks since I made my complaint…. that’s 10 weeks for them to say that because the loans were over 6 years they were not even going to investigate them (absolutely ridiculous as they sent me the dates of my loans on the first email – why not just say then that they were not going to look at them) I sent to the fos at 8 weeks – I don’t have any grounds for trying to get it prioritised anyone know roughly how long I’m going to be waiting for an adjudicator
Don says
Hi, I’ve got a similar complaint, mine were declined for being over 6 years. I put my complaint into the for at the end of September and I’m still waiting for it to be assigned.
Mr F says
I’m in for a by if a wait then I guess
Although I received an email off them today asking to read and accept a declaration before they could look at my complaint, this is the second email off fos first one was I assumed an auto response advising they were dealing with a lot of complaints(3rd March) I’ve had the same two emails off a complaint against Lloyd’s too initial email on 10th jan then the declaration email 12th March.
Jase says
Hi Sara I have just stumbled across this thread and have decided to put in my case also. Amigo loans
I took a loan of £5,000 in Nov 2014
I took a top up of in June 2015 back up to £5,000
i took another top up loan in May 2017 up to £6,250
I took another top up loan in June 2017 up to £7,250
I then took another top up loan in Jul 2017 up to £10,000
Another another top up loan to £9,750 in Nov 2018
Finally my last top up loan in Jan 2019 to £10,000
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 applications 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.These loans were unaffordable for me and you would have realised this if you had checked properly before giving me the loans.You would have seen from my credit record that I had recently missed payments/had defaults
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That’s a lot of top ups. Amigo should have stopped and looked closely at your applications.
jase says
Yes, so am I going the correct way about it? I would have settled the final top up by January 21 but I feel that the close top ups should have raised some eye brows atleast?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, if you know the loans have cause you problems, making you have to borrow elsewhere and get top ups from Amigo, then that sounds like a good complaint to me.
jase says
Also I wasn’t able to make all payments my garuntor made a few of them!
Thanks for your advice it was so random I can across this page.
Dan says
Hi Sara,
Thanks for this article, i’d super appreciate a response as I’m a bit apprehensive about putting a claim in.
I took out a £3000 ukcredit loan in Jan 19, me and my guarantor have been in full time employment ever since, but have changed our living situation since. Unfortunately this has massively increased our living costs.
I’ve not topped up via Ukcredit but have taken out a loan through a relative to help with expenses.
The loan is not fully paid, nor have I paid the amount borrowed (I’ve paid a total of £2700 out of £3000 not including interest).
Would I be able to get the full interest discounted from my account and just pay the remainder of what I owe with this information?
Once again, I’d really appreciate you taking the time to respond to my question, as resolving this loan would take a huge weight off my shoulders!
Kindest regards,
Dan
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you live with your guarantor?
What is the rest of your financial situation like? And your guarantors? Do you both have a lot of other debt?
Dan says
We were living together when i took out the loan and are currently cohabiting now. My partner is not in debt and can afford to make any payments, however she is suffering from an anxiety disorder and it seems to be affected when she thinks about being my guarantor.
My personal financial situation is very tight, i have about £30 disposable income remaining per month and that is before i take into consideration a payment towards this loan.
emily says
I won my claim with the FO and recieved my money. Amigo however said that I shouldn’t receive the 8% interest as I didnt make any over payments. Is this correct?
I was refunded 9,250 pound.
6000 was paid towards the rest of my loan and I recieved the rest as a bank transfer
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Amigo uses an odd way to calculate the 8% that funnily enough comes out lower than any other lender. But I can’t see why even Amigo are not paying you some 8% on the £3250. Was it really zero or just a low amount?
emily says
They just said that I didn’t qualify for the 8% when I emailed them about it. Should I bring it up with them again?
I was paying 275 a month
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes you should query this. Think of it this way, for the last year you have only been paying the money which is being refunded to you. They should be paying the 8% on this amount.
Ron says
Hi there! How long did Amigo take from you submitting your bank details to deposit in your bank? Just had my loan cleared and there is some to refund
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh good – was this complaint upheld by Amigo or through FOS?
Linds says
How do I calculate the 8% if I get a refund?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
who is the lender?
Linds says
It’s UK Credit.
I sent them a complaint which they rejected. Sent it to the FOS in November 19, the FOS have just sent me an email saying UK Credit have reversed their decision and made an offer directly to me.
I have not received the offer yet but I just want to make sure I accept what is fair.
I topped up my original loan in May 2018 to £2500, I have calculated I have paid £1648.37 in interest. I have a remaining balance of £1353.05.
I’m paying £127.06 a month.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is this offer just for the last loan? or the previous one as well?
“I have calculated I have paid £1648.37 in interest”
so you have paid £4,148 to this loan so far?
robin says
Hi Sara,
Amigo replied to the ombudsmen.
Amigo Loans has made an offer to resolve your complaint. It has now said it will uphold your complaints about loans three, four and five in the chain, along with loans two and six which it upheld previously.
Amigo says it continues to think it was reasonable for it to lend the first loan in the chain to you.
Amigo has made an offer in line with our guidelines to resolve your complaint about loans two to six. This means it would refund the interest charged on these loans, plus 8% statutory interest. This would be offset against the balance of your current loan.
Does this mean my gaurentor will be refunded the payments they made? Creating a balance that my refund would be paid towards.
Also is it worth accepting or should I pursue loan 1?
Robin
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That’s good – it always was an absurd offer by Amigo to refund 2 & 6.
You said about loan 1 – “Loan 1 Jan 2013 £1500 80 percent payments made by me, a couple of DD bounced and guarantor paid”. On that basis my guess is you would be arguing about less than a thousand pounds. And as the loan is over 6 years old, the argument could be protracted. It’s your decision if this is worth it.
I expect your guarantor will be refunded the payments they have made. Which you agree is fair as they took out a lon and you haven’t repaid them.
Can you go back through the loans and work out what you actually paid to each? Unless you know what that is, is really hard to say anything except wait and see what Amigo propose.
From our previous exchange, unless you are getting a significant refund it may be sensible for you to use any money to pay your rent arrears and then look to go bankrupt or have a debt relief order. Did you ever talk to a debt adviser?
robin says
From my figures I doubt I will get much of a refund, but that’s okay. If I do get a little it will go on debts.
I’ve actually managed to get back on track and implemented payment plans, of which I will with amigo if necessary.
How much of an issue is the 6years?
Thank you for the help and advice
I need to go over the figures, it may be critical to chase the first loan up. I guess my question is more do you think I have a good case to win the first loan? Do many people or do the ombudsmen tend to rule that the original was fair. I really don’t know?
K says
Hi Sara, I just wanted to update you…the adjudicator has just emailed me & he has upheld all three loans that I had out. He has emailed his response to amigo & they have 2 weeks to respond. His detailed response is…
To settle Miss W complaint Amigo should do the following:
To add up the total amount of money Miss W received as a result of having been given all her loans. The repayments Miss W made should be deducted from this amount.
a) If this results in Miss W having paid more than she received, then any overpayments should be refunded along with 8% simple interest (calculated from the date the overpayments were made until the date of settlement). †
b) If any capital balance remains outstanding, then Amigo should attempt to arrange an affordable/suitable payment plan with Miss W
To remove any negative information recorded on Miss West’s credit file regarding loans one to three.
† HM Revenue & Customs requires Amigo to take off tax from this interest. Amigo must give Miss W a certificate showing how much tax it’s taken off if she asks for one.
what happens next
I think this is a fair outcome in the circumstances, for the reasons I’ve explained. Please let me know by 27 March 2020 whether you agree to my recommendations. If I can’t resolve things then an ombudsman here can look at everything again and make a final decision.
If you have any questions, please get in touch.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Good! Fingers crossed Amigo accept and don’t drag this out.
K says
I hope they dont. I could actually cry with happiness right now. I cant see them wanting to send it to the ombudsman over the adjudicator decision so heres praying
K says
Has anyone had amigo upheld by fos then amigo still reject it & its gone to the ombudsman or do they tend to take on board what the adjudicator has said & refund?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They seem to be accepting most adjuidcator decisions and on the ones they don’t, they sometimes accept them later.
Gemma says
Hi sara
I’ve looked back and I took out a loan for £1500 in 2015 was paying £97 a month topped up in aug 2016 to £5000 and paid £296 a month then topped up in may 2017 to £8500 and pay £363 a month I have 18 months left to pay what would I’ve looking to get back if my affordability complaint is upheld?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
To work out the numbers, I need to know for each loan:
how much you borrowed (so that’s 1500, 5000, 8500)
how much you received in cash from each of the top ups
how many monthly payments you have made to each loan.
I assume your guarantor hasn’t made any payments.
Gemma says
Yes sorry I’m the borrower the first loan I received £1500 can’t remember the second and the third I received £1522.22 Out of the £8500 Ive made 31 of £363.59 off the third loan can’t get the old statements up for the first 2 loans but had this loan since 2015 and my guarantor hasn’t made any payments as I’ve struggled to pay it each month and fell in arrears with my gas and electricity of £2700 and rent arrears of £500 and council tax arrears of £1300 as I’m scared of them contacting my brother
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK, I can’t tell what you will get back if the first two loans are refunded without knowing the amounts you have paid. All this information should be in the SAR personal information Amigo will be sending you.
BUT this would be a good time tyo talk to your bank about getting those old bank statements around the time of the first two loans. You can usually do this going back 6 years even for closed accounts.
For the last loan, you have already paid more than you borrowed, so if that one is refunded the balance is wiped and you would get back £2750 plus a bit of extra 8% interest.
what is your brother’s financial situation like? he too may be able to complain…
Eddie says
Hi Sara,
Amigo have got back to me today to say they carried out efficient checks but have noticed that my credit got significantly worse between the initial loan of 5000 and the top up of 911, they are holding up the complaint for the top up but don’t believe there is a case against the original loan. My question is if I accept their redress for the top up will it just be the interest on the 911 or from that point on? Also if I accept can I still refer to FOS for 1st loan? Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Can you give some more details, it will clarify things for you I think if you know what you will get now and what you will get if you had a refund on both.
So the original loan was £5000. How many payments did you make to it before the top up and how large were they?
Then the next loan was how large? And how much did you get in cash at that point? How many payments have you made to it so far and how large are they?
Also can you say something bout what your situation was like when you applied for the first loan?
And have Amigo said they will be releasing your guarantor for the current loan?
Eddie says
Original loan was 5000, £243 per month for three years, I made 10 payments then topped up to £5000 again so was paid out £911 as that’s how much of the loan was paid off after the payments. This brought the loan back to £5000 over 36 months at 243 per month.
Loan has been repaid in full now so no need to release guarantor.
At the time I originally borrowed I had debts and late payments with 7 other borrowers, credit cards, payday loans and catalogues.
This is amigos response: Having reviewed the account, I have no concerns with the payout process completed with your first loan. However, I feel that we could have asked you more about your financial situation before your top up loan was paid out. I can see that you didn’t consolidate your debts with your first loan and that your financial situation deteriorated between the loans being taken. Therefore, I believe that the fairest option is to remove the interest that accrued on this and remove any negative trace of this loan from your credit file.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so the interest paid on each loan looks like roughly (remember you may have typed in numbers wrong or I may have, this is just a guess):
loan 1 – £1519
loan 2 – £3748
If you accept their offer, you would get a refund of the interest paid on the second £5000 loan (plus there would be some 8% interest added, when was the second loan repaid?).
How has Amigo phrased their offer – have they asked you to accept it or told you they will be sending the refund? All the cases i have seen so far have onvolved a last loan which is still outstanding, which is rather a different situation.
Eddie says
They have said overall they have declined that they lent irresponsibly but will refund the interest on the top up
‘We’ll be in touch in the next 5 working days to confirm the payment due to you’
Last loan was fully paid in 2018 but have only recently came across your site and knew that they shouldn’t have been lending me more money, I am so grateful for the site it has helped me a lot over the last year and I am now debt free because of it!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So your options are to
(a) accept the refund on the 2nd loan and give up. It’s a decent amount of cash back, the 8% added should be several hundred pounds extra. It’s all sorted with little hassle.
(b) to tell them you are sending the case to FOS as you think the first loan should be refunded. I don’t know what they will do but they may well not pay you now for the second loan. Not clear how long you would have to wait for a FOS decision. As you don’t owe any money and are out of debt, you aren’t going to be top priority for FOS.
(c) wait until they have paid you and then try to send the first loan to FOS. Not sure what FOS would think of that.
Marc says
Hello all,
I made a complaint to amigo a while back and have had my records sent to me via cd , but along with this i have now received emails asking for more time again! What shall i do? Do i wait again or just pass it on to
Fos
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send it straight to FOS. Amigo uphold some complaint, but not enough for it to be worth waiting…
Marc says
Could you please send me a link on how to do this it would be much appreciated
Sara (Debt Camel) says
see the “If the lender rejects your complaint, go to the Ombudsman” section in the article above.
Marc says
Thankyou for your help, my complaint was forwarded onto the fos today, will keep all updated,
Craig says
Hi Sara,
I took out a loan in July 2013 with Amigo Loans of £5000.
Between then and August 2016 which is when i borrowed money from my father in law to pay the loan in full i repaid a total of £11,936.61.
Over the course of the loan i fell into arrears on many occasions sometimes for 2 months at a time.
How much would i get back?
Do you think Amigo will look into my case because it was taken out 7 years ago?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you just had one loan and it was settled, with all the payments coming from you(not from the guarantor) then the calculation is simple: You paid £11936 – £5000 = £6,936 in interest and charges which would be refunded if you win this complaint.
To that would be added 8% simple interest. That’s harder to estimate but in your case i would expect it to be at least £2,250 more. 20% of that would be paid to the tax man though., so say £1750 extra.
Amigo are almost certain to reject your complaint, but just send it to the Finacial Ombudsman as they are looking into these older loans. Don’t expect this to be fast, but I hope you get a good result in the end.
Craig says
Hi Sara,
I’ve had a response from Amigo which is basically they are rejecting my claim as previously thought. What do you think the chances are that the financial ombudsman will uphold the claim?
Wayne says
Hi everyone,
Had an update Friday. My adjudicator at the fos has upheld my complaint and given Amigo until the 27th to respond.
I had one loan of 5k in Dec 2012 which was initially rejected by Amigo for being over 6 years. so I took my complaint to the fos on the 9th of September 2019.
I was wondering if anyone could answer my questions?
Has anyone had any success at this point?
Will Amigo reply by the 27th?
If they accept the adjudicator decision what’s the time frame before they pay out?
Thanks!
K says
Im in same situation. They upheld friday & gave amigo til 27th
Alfie says
How long your complaint been at the FOS?
K says
Alfie mine was sent to fos on 3rd feb & i got my adjudicator response on friday who upheld all three loans. Would be 14 weeks monday altogether since put complaint in & with fos 5 weeks
Alfie says
Wow K thanks – heard some horror stories of complaints being with FOS for 9months +
Don says
Hi, I’m sorry I can’t answer your questions but I’m hoping you can answer one for me. When was your case assigned to an adjudicator? I only ask because I submitted my case to the fos at the end of September and it’s yet to be assigned.
Fantastic result by the way!
Jordan Williams says
Hi Sara,
Had my SAR through the post, is a call score of 450 very bad?
File has defaults all over my file, should never have been given the loan…
Thanks
Jordan
Marl says
Dear Sara with the corv19 virus would amigo give a 2 month break from payments, as they don’t normally do this for guarantor loans ty for your time
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Has your income been affected by Coronavirus?
Karl Beattie says
Any update on what amigo said as I’m in a similar situation
Sara (Debt Camel) says
UPDATED
In April the FCA introduced new rules saying a borrower of a guarantor loan can have a three month payment break if their household finances have been affected by Coronavirus. And the lender CANNOT ask the guarantor to pay during this period. DUring this period interest will continue to be added.
And in June this was extended so you can get a second three month break if you need it.
frogman says
Hi Sara,
As advised, I have logged in my complaint today with Amigo. Wife who guaranteed my three loans has also lodged a complaint to be removed as guarantor. I wonder what my chances are based on the feedback we have been getting here.
First loan taken out in October 2015 for £4000 over 24months @ £247/m
After 6 payments, I topped up in May 2016 for £4500 over 60months @ £177/m (Got £1147 in the bank which means interest paid on the first loan was £837)
After 11 payments, I topped up in May 2017 for £8000 over 60months @£316/m (Got £4730 in the bank which means interest paid on the second loan was £720)
I have so far paid a total of £9509 on the third loan meaning I have covered the £8000. a total of £1904 of this amount was paid directly by guarantor when I could. I am now one month in arrears.
I have complained on the basis that proper checks were not carried out. I didn’t have a regular income – it was on and off (5 months statement prior to loan application supplied) . I had heavy gambling transactions, maxed my £2000 overdraft for most of the period for the three loans, at least three/four other loans showing on the statements and that I was heavily reliant on them, and wife, who was accepted as a guarantor relied on me for some of her essential bills and earns a fraction. I still wonder how they managed to accept her. She was actually on government maternity at the last top-up.
Any hints on what to expect will be highly appreciated.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So for you, obviously Amigo should have verified your income, especially for the top ups, and if they had seen the gambling should not have given you the loans.
If they are all determined to be unaffordable, your guarantor would get 1904 repaid to her. And you would get about £1200 paid you (obviously assuming all those figures are correct and this is just an estimate, I could have typed in the numbers wrongly.)
Your guarantor should have complained that (a) the loans were unaffordable for you, (b) they were unaffordable for her and (c) Amigo did not propelry assess her expenses given that hers and your are intertwined. For her compalint, only the last loan matters, and they should have seen if they had verified her income that she was on maternity pay.
frogman says
Thanks very much, Sara,
Is it too late to add (a)? (b) and (c) were covered in her complaint.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, she should just send them another email saying that she knows you have complained and therefore she also feels the guarantor loan should never have been set up in the first place as you could not afford it, so that is another reason she should be removed as guarantor.
Have you both stopped paying?
frogman says
The loan is 3 weeks in arrears now. They will still get money from my DMP through SC. Yes, wife has decided not to pay towards it anymore
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK, that is the big plus of both of you complaining.
frogman says
Does both of us complaining have any effect on the loan being paid? Guarantor has been told she needs to pay despite her complaint which went in late Jan. She doesn’t have DD or anything set up with them.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you complain and top paying, they would go after your guarantor. because she has also complained, they will still send demands but they can’t take her to court while she has a complaint open.
So if both of you are determined not to pay, both of you complaining is the best option.
C A says
Just listening to phone calls from Amigo from my SAR. The phone calls from Amigo varied for each top up from asking about just two payments on my credit file as an expenditure check to a more detailed conversation but on every loan/top up I applied for whatever figures I said were accepted as me telling the truth without me ever being asked for proof. Had they have asked for proof I’d have never been given the loans. Amigo rejected my complaint and it’s currently in the queue at the FOS.
Anon says
Hi, wondering if anyone can help? I’m trying to work out how much interest I have paid altogether on my Amigo loans. Loans as follows:
Nov 2018 – £750 loan
Apr 2019 – top up to £2750 (cash paid out to me £1,324.78)
Loan paid off early using a new guarantor loan: £2,649.61
Sara (Debt Camel) says
can you say for loan 1 how many payments of how much you made before the top-up? eg 11 payments of £58
And the same for loan 2?
Who was the new guarantor loan with and have you complained to them too?
Anon says
I believe loan 1 was 5 payments of £77.29 and from then 2 payments of £134.17 for the top up until I used the new guarantor loan to pay Amigo off. the new loan was with TrustTwo, who I have an open complaint with – they have until next Tuesday to reply before 8 weeks is up and I have tried countless times to advise them I can’t afford the £250 a month repayment with no response before I put in my affordability complaint with them. I hope it is successful but I’m not sure I will have much luck.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
On those figures :
loan 1 – interest paid £1061
loan 2 interest paid £167.
But the number for loan 1 looks surprisingly high. And for a loan 2 a bit low.
Can you double check all the num,bers as something may be wrong.
Victoria says
I have recieved a text from Amigo asking for a questionnaire for my recent loan but not the one from 2011. Does that mean there arent looking at it. Do I have to fill in questionnaire?
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
have you sent them your bank statements?
They probably will refuse to consider the 2011 loan – but if your case goes to FOS, FOS will look at it.
Ron says
Does anyone happen to know how long Amigo take to tell you your refund when they uphold your complaint and say give us 5 days? Are they fairly prompt? Thanks to Sara for her initial input. Very glad I pursued them
Maria Koutsofta says
Hi all,
I received my CD from Amigo which l could not download. I telephoned and asked them for a PDF version if possible which they agreed to send. I have just received this email “I have requested you to receive the information via email instead. I’ve been advised that it will be a 30 day process as all information will have to be retrieved again” Nothing like delaying the outcome.
Linds says
**UK CREDIT SUCCESS**
I had 1 loan then topped it up. I submitted an affordability complaint which they rejected.
I sent it to the FOS in November 19.
Received an email today from UK Credit saying they had changed their mind and made me an offer.
They have agreed to refund the interest I have paid plus 8%.
They have wiped my remaining balance of £1335.00 and refunded me £297.70.
I will have £127.06 extra in my bank every month now.
If a complaint is rejected by the lender, send it to the FOS, it may take awhile but you have nothing to lose.
Jen says
I have had my final response from Amigo today saying that they do not uphold my complaint after 10 weeks and 4 days.
They had my expenses as £120 for bills, rent and food which they deemed OK after looking at national average. I have 2 children!!!
They have also said the reason I gave for loan 1 was to pay off existing debts and the top up loan 2 (4 months later) could see the existing debts were not paid, but have stated ‘it is not our responsibility to check this’, but still have given the top up and said my expenditure included the debts being paid, which clearly they were not paid and could see this! Therefore showing the monthly amount owed to creditors was £150 more than my income, but they way they fiddled it shows £500 spare income.
I included my bank statements with my complaint and they has my income £357 higher than it was and shows on the statements too.
Their investogation is utter rubbish and I don’t understand why they are still pulling these tricks. I sent to FOS at week 8, so I am hoping they make more sense of it all.
I am just so shocked and know this is a safe place to share.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They had my expenses as £120 for bills, rent and food which they deemed OK after looking at national average. I have 2 children!!!
that is ridiculous.
£120 a week for bills and food would be more like it.
Good job your complaint is with FOS.
Jen says
I called FOS today to let them know I had got Amigo’s final response and forwarded it to them. They have also prioritised my cade, so hopefully won’t be months on end. We will see. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if they haven’t had the case file from Amigo in a couple of weeks, offer to send them everything on the SAR CD you have.
Jen says
I will do, thank you. I have the CD and have also asked Amigo to send it on PDF as I have no CD ROM to look at the SAR.
Jen says
Just an update. I emailed them back and asked for further clarification on how they thought the detail I gave was OK. Their response was simply ‘we trust what you tell us. Please be aware it is also your responsibility to ensure that figures are not falsified to obtain credit’, they are trying to land all of the blame on me!
I am hoping FOS see through this and uphold the complaint.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh I think FOS will see through that – the lender has a duty to make sure the loan is affordable and anyone with half a brain would have realised the figures you gave couldn’t be right for monthly amounts.
Graham says
Hi I had a £3,500 loan with glo. This has now been paid off. Would I be entitled to any sort of refund
Sara (Debt Camel) says
the definition of “unaffordable” is having to borrow more money or getting behind with bills because of the loan repayments. Was this the case with your Glo loan?
Tonia says
Hi Sara,
I have recently submitted my first complaint to amigo loans they have asked me to fill out a questionnare. Should i do this or should i refuse to?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you sent them bank statements? The best response for most people would be to ignore the questions (they are designed to make you feel it’s your fault – but actually the lender has a. Duty to verify the figures in an application) and reply that they can see your situation from your bank statements.
Tonia Dodd says
Hi Sara, yes they have asked for bank statements and I’m in the process of sending them through .
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK, so just ignore the questions and reply saying you are sending your bank statements which show what your full situation was.
Jacs says
Hi,
I have this evening sent my complaint to the FOS. I sent my complaint to Amigo on the 17th of January and they have yet to come back with a response. They did email me (after I phoned them to chase it up) to say that they apologise for the delay and are still investigating my complaint and that they anticipate they will be able to respond in the next four weeks.
So, more waiting and probably another payment to make at the end of this month and more struggling financially and having to borrow money for food, etc.
How long on average does it take for the FOS to sort this out and for Amigo to set up the lower monthly repayments?
Jordan Williams says
Could you breakdown the amount you think I will be owed?
Loan 1 £4,500 over 36months
3 payments of £219.55
Loan 2 48 months top up to £5,500 (payout £962.72)
1 payment of £235.26
Loan 3 48 months top up to £6,250 (payout £575.23)
2 payments of £267.35
Loan 4 60 months top up to £7,500 (payout £1306.29)
36 payments of £296.44
Thankyou :)
Jordan
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so the interest paid on each loan looks like roughly (remember you may have typed in numbers wrong or I may have, this is just a guess)
loan 1 – £695
loan 2 – £410
loan 3 – £478
loan 4 – £3156
which adds up to £4739 in interest acreoss all 4 loans.
Jordan Williams says
Well I still owe £4,469 from £7,500
And that’s after 36 payments of £296.44
Interest was about £250 a month only just started going less and that’s still £150ish
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I was working out what interest you would have paid if each loan was decided to be unaffordable. So interest is removed from the last loan.
Amigos interst calculations for loans in progress are largely irrelevant. For the last loan the 36 payments you have paid so far add up to £10,656 – so that is £3165 more than you borrowed for that loan so you have paid 33165 in interest which should be refunded.