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
Audrey says
Hi my husband has a loan with amigo his payments are £395 per month.it works out due to interest rate he only paying 100 pm to loan.he phoned them last month to say he couldn’t afford this months payment sent numerous emails onky had a reply other day. Then they phoned him after he received a very nasty email and threatening him and guarantor. They gave only given him 2 weeks to resolve it. I work part time at hospital as husband also at hospital. Dec 18 I had a small stroke and was off work for 5 months on half pay he still paid them. Any ideas how we go about claiming 3 month holiday from them. They said they could take him and guarantor to court. His guarantor has been sending them emails to. Saying that they are are not listening to our needs
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Audrey,
I have two sets of questions for you – the ones here are about your current financial situation:
sorry to hear about your stroke, are you still off work? Does this put you in a particularly vulnerable category for coronavirus? so is your or your husband’s income being affected by coronavirus?
What is your guarantor’s current financial situation?
Audrey says
Hi I’m back to work. Have hoffmans positive left side. I work on the front line at hospital husband was off last month due to back injury. Two weeks ago I was isolated from work due to cough.so husband had to isolate for 14days which only ended today. Guarantor has cancelled his card due to them threatening himself and us. His wife is not in good health. They only given us two weeks breathing space.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It sounds as though Amigo have been incredibly unhelpful and only allowed you two weeks breathing space because you both only had 2 weeks off because of coronavirus, ignoring your other health problems and your husband’s back problem.
I think that is a pretty disgusting way to treat 2 key workers. But that’s Amigo for you.
Do you have other problem debts as well? I assume you are renting?
You say your guarantor has “cancelled his card” – if that is his debt card he also needs to cancel the Direct Debit to Amigo, as sometimes when he gets a new card Amigo can still take money under the DD.
If you pay nothing or a lower amount, he is going to get pestering texts and emails about this – some people are pretty relaxed about this, other aren’t. I think you need to understand if he is ok with you paying less?
Audrey says
Yeah We are renting yes guarantor has done all of above. He is behind us one hundred per cent.he has said it’s disgraceful they way they are treating us. Not really debt problems just amigo. Small credit cards but they are fine
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The second set of questions are about what your financial situation was when your husband took out the loan.
How long ago was it?
Was it his first loan from amigo or was it a top-up?
£395 a month is a lot… before you got ill was this already proving difficult?
What was your guarantor’s financial situation at the time of the application for this loan – could he really have afforded to pay that much each month?
Audrey says
Roughly 5/6 years yes it was first loan.then he topped it up. When his mother suddenly died in 2013.Yes it was proving bit difficult never ask guarantor bout his financial situation as amigo do there own check.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how long until this loan ends?
Before you were ill, were your other debts going up or were you getting behind with bills?
I am asking these questions about how you were managing before because your husband may be able to make an affordability complaint. Nothing to do with coronavirus or payments breaks, a lot of people have been winning these complaints because Amigo lent them the money when the repayments were too much to manage.
Read the article above which talks about these complaints and how to send one in. If he wins this complaint, all the interest is taken away so he only has to pay back what he borrowed.
Audrey says
In response to your reply. They said his loan was 5 years. He topped it up itc2013. Our main debt is amigo. Few credit cards but They in hand. Guarantor is behind us 100%
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then the loan must be almost finished – he needs to find out when!
He can offer a lower payment that would be more affordable. If the loan is almost at an end, Amigo may accept that more readily?
And I do think you should both read the article above and decide whether to make an affordability complaint – that could wipe out the rest of the loan and even get you a refund if you win it. If you think your are in bigger finacial problems now than when the he took the top up loan, then the laon may have been unaffordable.
K says
I’m still waiting for amigo to respond to adjudicator. They’re sooooo good at their delaying tactics aren’t they! The adjudicator upheld my complaint march 13th. They hadn’t sent him any of my file over for him to make his decision they basically just ignored him. He asked for a response to his decision by march 27th…they’ve still ignored him. He emailed again 9 days ago to say they hadn’t replied so he’s sending the case to the ombudsman to review & make a decision. Now i think its going to be a very very long waiting game, twiddling thumbs still paying £296 a month until either they make a decision with adjudicator or until the ombudsman looks at it & makes a legally binding decision. You’d think they’d realise by dragging it out, if its upheld by ombudsman, they’re just going to have to refund even more interest!
AG says
Sorry to hear you’ve still had no luck K. My complaint was upheld 10th of March so a month now and still nothing.
K says
AG has the adjudicator assigned to your case sent to the ombudsman yet? Mine emailed me last Thursday to say because he hadn’t heard a peep from amigo it was being escalated to the ombudsman. I rang amigo to see what they were playing at & know for certain they’ve had the email off the adjudicator about escalating it because they said they have until 16th april to reply which is the date he put in the email to me, that if i had any further info i wanted considering with the ombudsman to send it to him by 16th april so amigo can’t deny getting the email. Hopefully they use some common sense & get it sorted sooner rather than later. Sorry you’re still waiting too, but we’re in this for the long haul & im sure neither of us will give up until we have got these out our lives
Joe says
Hi, so I approached buddy loans in an informal email regarding payment freeze etc, the initial response is below;
“Thank you for your email.
We have a variety of options available to clients who may be facing financial difficulties as a result of the current circumstances relating to COVID-19.
To ensure clients are receiving the most appropriate option for themselves and their Guarantors, it may that we require additional information and/or evidence. Each case is looked at individually and all staff will be able to advise on what option is best suited.”
My concern, is due to my finances being impacted by the pandemic, Buddy Loans would just turn round and say well if your guarantor isn’t impacted, we’ll just take money off them and go against the FCA advice? Technically, they could do this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Technically they could go after the guarantor. But that doesn’t mean that they will, so ask them! {EDIT – the FCA has now said a lender cannot go after a guarantor).
How has your situation been affected by the pandemic?
I know you have an affordability complaint already rejected by BL and with FOS. But what was your guarantor’s financial situation like when you applied for the loan – they may have been better off than you, but could they really have afforded tp make all the repayments to your loan?
Joe says
I have no income, waiting for the government job retention scheme to kick in (and be told if I will actually be furloughed) and then waiting for universal credit claim.
In terms of guarantor, they wouldn’t have been able to make all the repayments. To throw a further spanner into the mix, me and my guarantor no longer speak and haven’t done for over a year as there’s no longer any type of relationship there.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Could you still suggest to your guarantor that they put in a complaint and ask to be released as guarantor? Send him a link to this page https://debtcamel.co.uk/amigo-complaints-by-guarantor/comment-page-1/. You are doing him a big favour. If he complains and cancels has DD to Buddy Loans, then you can not pay them without worrying about the effect on him.
Explain that you have no income and may have no option but to default on the loan as it isn’t clear if you will be furloughed.
Claire H says
Hello there I am now at the 10 week mark with Amigo, i did my complaint through Resolver and have escalated my complaint to FOS at 8 weeks i still havent recieved my SAR from Amigo I also havent heard from FOS the only communication I’ve had is from amigo the same day I sent it over to FOS saying they needed another 4 weeks to respond, is there anything I can do to move it along or is ut just a waiting game?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Claire,
can you some more about your current financial situation?
and what was your guarantor’s financial situation like when you too out you =r current loan (I am assuming you still owe a balance.)
Claire H says
Hey, I finished paying off my £7000 loan in august 2019 3 months after the agreement time, I kept up all my payments, I had just started my first job in 10 years and a few months later I had to leave to become a carer for my son, I had maxed out all my credit cards was always in my £500 over draft and was taking out wonga loans through out the period when I took out the loan they are all over the bank statements I sent to them to amigo, taking out a guarantor loan was the worst decision of my life, it didnt help my financial situation at all if anything definitely made things worse, more fool me I suppose
S says
Evening all, just had my decision back from the FOS In my favour. All in, it’s been a year from first complaint with Amigo Loans (they said they had no records of me from Oct 2012). Cut to lots of to and fro from customer complaints with myself. Then sending to the FOS, sending lots of bank statements with a huge overdraft of over 4.4K.
Amigo have always stated they have no data on me. The thing that really got my goat is that in the decision document they gave to the FOS was they had my loan statements! I still have not seen them as of yet (I’ve requested these from my adjudicator). They have until the 17 Apr to respond to decision.
More to follow.
K says
Expect a wait for them to respond. The fos upheld all 3 of my loans on march 13th & asked amigo to respond by march 27th. Amigo have mad no communication with them at all. Its now being escalated from the adjudicator to the ombudsman
Sara (Debt Camel) says
progress for you S!
And K has just come back (https://debtcamel.co.uk/how-to-complain-guarantor-loan/comment-page-28/#comment-359773) and reported that Amigo have now accepted the adjudicator decision to refund all 3 loans, so I hope they will do the same with yours.
Karl says
Hi Sara,
I’ve got a complaint in with amigo it hit the 8 weeks and I got told they need 4 more which is also now up, I sent to the FOS on the 8 weeks do I chase amigo again or just leave it with the FOS now?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you ask Amigo when they expect to respond to your case.
Stuart Harper says
Hi Sara,
Surely the shear number of complaints that Amigo are getting is a sign of just how poor there checks are/were and that the number of complaint cases alone should indicate to FOS that they were not doing things correctly and lending irresponsibly .
In your opinion is irresponsible lending or unaffordable loans the best way to manage my exit from this horrible situation.
I have recently had the i need a further 4 weeks to deal with this complaint both myself and guarantor have complained, I think tjat they way Amigo lend is very confusing for alot of people the way they apply interest and also the way they top up loans is also very one sided the borrower is just shafted in all ways with Amigo.
Can you tell me what is the most common outcome at the moment from Amigo what do they seem to be doing in most cases at present or maybe its just too various you probably are well placed to know the answer to this .
cheers Sara the advice on your site is so valued.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Surely the sheer number of complaints that Amigo are getting is a sign of just how poor their checks are/were and that the number of complaint cases alone should indicate to FOS that they were not doing things correctly and lending irresponsibly.
Yes, but that doesn’t help FOS to make a decision on your case. Amigo could be making bad lending decisions 99% of the time and FOS would still need to look at the loans that you were given.
You can take comfort from the fact that so many people are winning cases. But there is no point in feeling that FOS should just rubber-stamp UPHELD on all Amigo complaints quickly, a full investigation is still done.
In your opinion is irresponsible lending or unaffordable loans the best way to manage my exit from this horrible situation.
You haven’t said very much about your financial situation when you applied for the loan(s).
This page has concentrated on unaffordable lending. And almost all “irresponsible lending complaints” are actually saying the loan was unaffordable.
Apart from affordability, do you have any other reason to argue for “irresponsible lending”?
what is the most common outcome at the moment from Amigo
This time last year they were rejecting all. Then for a few months in summer/autumn 2019, they were upholding most of them. Now in 2020 they are back to rejecting all.
And they are taking ages. So send your complaint to FOS when it gets to 8 weeks. It’s probably going to have to go there anyway, so you may as well get yourself in the queue as soon as possible.
Stuart Harper says
Cheers thanks for your answers i know its a long haul…..
I love the site tho Sara gave me and im sure others the confidence needed to start this process.
Hollie says
I have just submitted my ombudsman claim. I applied for an Amigo loan back in 2017. I was not in proper full time employment and was currently sofa surfing as had no fixed address (i used my mum’s address for the loan) at the time i had a crippling gambling addiction and huge debt. My mother a home owner (unemployed) decided to help me get a guarantor loan (i could only get a guarantor loan as i had terrible credit) to help me consolidate my other debts. I was mentally unwell and the pressure of the debts i had already along with the gambling had made my behaviour spiral out of control. My mother didnt really understand what she was getting in to but agreed to help as we were all at a lose as to what to do. I was excepted instantly and the next day applied for a top up which was accepted instantly. I now have a loan of £7,500 and instead of paying the £296.44 i am on a reduced payment plan of £99. I am a single mother on benifits and unemployed. Sara do you think i have a case?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So your Amigo complaint went in 8 weeks ago and you have now sent it to FOS.
It sounds like a good case to me. But let’s see if you have any other options…
Your mother isn’t being chased for the rest of the monthly payment amount? You say she was unemployed when the last top-up was taken – did she have any income apart from benefits at the time? Is she still out of work?
What are the rest of your debts like at the moment? Is £99 to Amigo really affordable?
Are you renting privately or social?
Have you managed to stop gambling?
Hollie says
Yes about 10 weeks ago. No shes not being chased but we are constantly receiving letters to say i am now in arrears and my mother could make up the rest each month if she wanted! No income at all .. not even benifits. She was literally just a home owner. Who had to leave her employment and look after my grandmother. My debts are awful. All in all i prob have about another 8k on top of Amigo. These are a mixture of payday loans and utility bills. I am renting privately and claim housing benefit. Yes i stoped gambling as soon as i was pregnant. I haven’t gambled since 2018
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest your mother too sends Amigo a complaint saying she should never have been accepted as guarantor as the loan was unaffordable for her. And she should cancel her DD to Amigo if she is worried about Amigo taking money and leaving her too short to manage. There is a template for the guarantor to use over on this other page: https://debtcamel.co.uk/amigo-complaints-by-guarantor/. If she isn’t sure what to do, she can talk to her loacl Citizens Advice or if they are difficult to get through to, talk to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000.
This should be unnecessary, when you win your complaint she should be removed as the guarantor. But it may be her complaint gets sorted faster than yours will so I think it is worth doing. She should send copies of her bank statements from the time of the top-up loan with her complaint.
Have you made affordablity complaints about all the payday loans?
Hollie says
Thanks Sara i will get on that. Only one and that was quick quid which i won. It would just be such a relief to get this one out the way as i feel its a noose round my neck
K says
Sara, good news…ive just spoken to amigo, on the off chance & the woman confirmed that they spoke to the adjudicator assigned to my case on the 8th of march & have agreed to his upholding on all 3 loans! Just got to wait to hear back off the adjudicator & amigo to send me the settlement figures! Will keep you updated
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is great!
If you are still making payments, cancel your DD immediately as otherwise Amigo may have to redo the calculation if you have made one more payment.
K says
They have cancelled the direct debit their end a while ago so i was making payments via card but made sure i didnt save my card details. I paid 3rd of feb then they gave me 30 day grace period on my march payment so my next payment isnt due until 3rd of may. Im hoping its all done & dusted by then fingers crossed
Chris says
Hi k ,how long from start to finish did your process take and where you priority case ?well done 👏
D says
Good news at last K!!!!
Amigo have said they have sent the info the adjudicator ask for, But he had already upheld my complaint. So I get the feeling they are just trying to make it as hard as possible for people to complain at the moment! But hopefully get some news tomorrow on mine.
K says
Hi chris. I put my complaint in to amigo on 7th of december last year. Sent to fos at week 8, amigo rejected my compaint on week 12, week 15 the adjudicator upheld my complaint on the original loan & the two top ups i had. I rang & asked if my case could be prioritised because of the financial problems it was causing me & it was. The adjudicator upheld on march 13th, amigo have ignored him at every step until he sent them an email on 2nd april telling them he was escalating to the ombudsman. After speaking to amigo today they’ve confirmed they spoke to him & gave his name & said they have agreed to his outcome so redress email with calculations will be through soon.
D, hang in there! Amigo did same to me, said they had sent him info when they had sent him nothing. He gave them about an extra 10 days after the date he originally gave them to reply to his decision which they never replied to. Its only since he sent the email telling them he was escalating it to the ombudsman that they have made any communication. Maybe send the adjudicator assigned to your case an email just asking how things are going. Thats what i did & he replied a few days later with the escalation to ombudsman email.
Knox says
Hi just wondering if this is what everyones been getting from amigo at this stage . They acknowledged the complaint 4 weeks ago and then the sent this on the 6th of this month..
Further to our letter acknowledging your complaint, I’m writing to confirm that we are still investigating the complaint you have raised. This is due to your complaint requiring a more detailed investigation or because we haven’t been able to pick it up as quickly as we had hoped. However, your complaint is important to us and I’d like to assure you that we will be responding to your concerns as soon as possible.
Thank you for your patience. We will write again as soon as possible, and at the latest, within 8 weeks of the date we received your complaint
Karl says
My complaint with amigo went in on 20/1/2020 been with FOS 4 weeks now spoke to amigo today and he confirmed they haven’t even looked at it yet 12 weeks after my original complain date!
Knox says
Thought as much thats ridiculous. Obviously keeping me quiet im expecting to have to send it to the ombudsman also by what your saying and everyone else :/
Amanda says
Hi, just an update, I put my complaint in on the 28/2/2020 and received the following on the 7th April: – should I still send my complaint to the FOS at the 8 week stage?
Thank you
Thank you for recently completing our online form regarding COVID:19. Our team of specially trained agents are working incredibly hard to ensure we are providing the right support for each customer at this difficult time.
Due to the volume of submissions we are receiving, it’s taking longer than we anticipated to respond to everyone. Therefore, we kindly ask that you allow us up to a further seven days to review your account and contact you with a resolution. We understand this may be frustrating, but please be assured we have paused all payments on the account until we are in a position to review it and contact you with a resolution.
We also politely ask you not to contact us for an update and to wait for a member of our Customer Review Team t
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so in addition to your affordability complaint, which gets to 8 weeks next Friday, you have also asked for a break because of Coronavirus?
EDIT – Amigo accepted Amanda’s request for payment break, a couple of days later, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/how-to-complain-guarantor-loan/comment-page-28/#comment-360225
H says
Hi Sara and all ,
Just wanted some advice I have a guarantor loan with buddy loans. I live with parter and mother in law , mother in law is self employed but hasn’t worked for 6 weeks due to her having to isolate as she works with vulnerable people . my wage has not been reduced but my contribution to the gas electric and food shopping has increased massively , I have been in contact with buddy loans but they are asking for proof from employer and being quite unhelpful when asking for a payment plan .
Please see below
In regards to a reduced payment we would still require supporting evidence to show the impact the current situation has had on your finances. We would accept wage slip, bank statement or letter from employer.
I haven’t said my income has been reduced it hasn’t I have just stated the above , and don’t really know where to go from here with them
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Go back to Buddy Loans and quote from the FCA guidance (https://www.fca.org.uk/publications/finalised-guidance/personal-loans-coronavirus-temporary-guidance-firms):
“An example of a situation in which a payment deferral may be appropriate is where there is or will be a temporary reduction in household income that would have otherwise been used to make loan payments.”
So you don’t have to prove your income has dropped, just that someone in your household’s has. Then you need something – almost anything will do – that shows that your MiL is self isolating.
H says
Thanks Sara
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Good news for people with Coronavirus problems. The FCA has clarified that you can ask for 3 month payments break and the lender will NOT be able to ask your guarantor to pay.
This is the FCA’s full guidance to firms: https://www.fca.org.uk/publications/finalised-guidance/personal-loans-coronavirus-temporary-guidance-firms. It says:
“In this guidance, ‘payment deferral’ means an arrangement under which a firm permits the customer to make no payments under their regulated credit agreement for a specified period without being considered to be in arrears. As the customer would not be considered in arrears we would expect firms not to pursue relevant guarantors for payment during a deferral period, in respect of payments deferred under this guidance.”
So if you already have an affordabilty complaint with a lender or with the Ombudsman AND you are affected by coronavirus problems, this is a way to get a break from having to pay while your affordability complaint goes through.
MnM says
Hi Sara
Can you please advise? Amigo last year upheld my complaint on all loans that I had with them from 2013 -2017. However I sent it to the FOS as I believed the 8% interest was incorrect for the following reason.
The refund I received was worked out by adding the interest of all loans and then deducting the outstanding balance. This then left me with a small amount and interest was added at this point.
Should interest of been added to all loans? Or just the outstanding amount of redress?
TIA
Lee says
Just sent my complaint to FOS after getting an email from Amigo basically saying they won’t be able to make a decision before 8 week cut off (due to expire on 04/05). So now I bc queue with FOS! I had 1 original Amigo loan £4000) with 5 top ups between 2017-2018, the last of which took me up to £7500 borrowing . Gambling issues, living in my overdraft, borrowing from other pay day lenders to meet my payments. I’m now in a DMP, stopped gambling and much better but Amigo never asked for bank statements where they would have seen I was in no position to borrow. I’ve never missed a repayment to them but only to protect my guarantor plus I was borrowing to afford the repayments.
Steph says
Hi Sara,
My complaint has been with FOS with both Amigo and GB since 04/04/2020. I was just wondering if I stopped my DD payments and my guarantor puts a block on them taking any money from her, would this affect FOS’s decision of my complaints in anyway? Due to the current COVID-19 situation I am unable to pick up any overtime which I would usually need to to cover priority bills after I have paid my 2 loans therefore if I pay them at the end of this month I will be in financial hardship and will be unable to cover my priority outgoings. My guarantor has also now sent her complaint in to both companies on 12/04/2020. Also what is the best way for me and my guarantor to stop them taking money from our accounts? by calling Amigo/GB directly or should we do it through our banks?
Many thanks,
Steph
Sara (Debt Camel) says
would this affect FOS’s decision of my complaints in anyway
no – FOS’s decision is based on your situation when you took the loans, not whether you are keeping up the payments now or not.
Due to the current COVID-19 situation I am unable to pick up any overtime which I would usually need to cover priority bills after I have paid my 2 loans therefore if I pay them at the end of this month I will be in financial hardship and will be unable to cover my priority outgoings.
In that case you need to ask Amigo and GB for payment breaks because of coronavirus. They should agree!
what is the best way for me and my guarantor to stop them taking money from our accounts? by calling Amigo/GB directly or should we do it through our banks?
by cancelling your DD with your bank. But also ask Amigo/GB for payment breaks too – if they agree to that you and your guarantor are not going to get any hassle from the lender for the three months.
Tom says
Hi All,
I submitted my case October last year and it has just been assigned to an adjudicator however they have advised that it will still take up to three months! Really struggling with payments of this £12,500 loan from amigo at £500 a month.
I have used the above form to request a payment break of 3 months and I hope that they agree to it. I’m a bit annoyed I’ve waited so long for this to be picked up and chased it so many times, then to be told another three months!
Good luck to all others fighting things and thanks Sarah for posting this advice
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if your household finances have been affected by coronavirus Amigo should give you a three month payment break.
3 months seems a long while for an adjudicator to take… I suggest you contact then again in say 3 weeks and ask if there is any more infomration you can provide – a sort of helpful nudge!
Nikki says
Hi Sara
Just want some advice… I put my complaint into amigo 4 weeks ago I was just wondering what are the chances it will be upheld?
I am currently still paying back my loan I took out on November 2018… my bank statements show large amounts of gambling and loads of borrowing from payday lenders. Do you think I will have a good case??
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I hope you have sent your bank statements to Amigo.
Having gambling showing on them means that you probably have a good case. But unfortunately Amigo are rejecting many of these so it may well have to go to the Ombudsman. Send it straight to FOS at 8 weeks even if Amigo ask for more time.
Are your finances being affected by Cornovirus at all?
Nikki says
Yes I have sent them 2 months bank statements before and after the loan was taken out.
Ok thank you.. does the FOS have better outcomes with the complaints rather than people complaining directly to amigo?
Yes I currently have been accepted for the 3 month breathing space! Just hope they did not chance their arm and add more interest!
Nikki
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is likely they will be adding more interest for the breathing space – but that doesn’t matter at all if you win your complaint as all the interest will be removed!
Luke Usher says
Myself and my guarantor have both been furloughed. I have asked Guarantor My Loan for a payment holiday. However they have said they are exempt from this as they fall under peer to peer lending. All they can offer ispayment defferal, which will continue to accumulate further interest. They linked me to the following site:
https://www.fca.org.uk/publications/finalised-guidance/personal-loans-coronavirus-temporary-guidance-firms
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This seems a bit confused. A “payment holiday” is the same as a “payment deferral” – as that link says “Firms are not prevented from continuing to charge interest during a deferral period.”
I suggest you accept the payment deferral if you cannot make the normal payments.
Have you made an affordability complaint about this GML loan?
Luke says
Thanks for the quick response Sara.
I have not yet made an affordability complaint. Does a payment deferral work in the same way in that no negative information will be reported on my credit file?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It should do, but you really need to check this with GML as I am not sure what they mean by saying that you can have a payment deferral but not a payment break.
Anyway in practice if you cant afford the payment, then a payment break is necessary even if it does impact your credit rating.
Is there a reason you haven’t made an affordability complaint? You have complained about a lot of other debts?
Luke says
Yes because my guarantor didn’t want any stress of having to deal with it all. But after some reassurance of telling them it’s in their interests to proceed with the complaint they are now on board.
AG says
Amigo have finally given in and partially agreed with the adjudicator. They agreed loans 2 and 3 shouldn’t have been given but not loan 1 – I didn’t make payments to loan 1 and therefore accepted the offer to have this all over and done with. I anticipate close to £2k back to me and finally freedom from my abusive ex! For anyone wondering on timelines I submitted my complaint to Amigo 30th Oct, to FOS 27th Dec, got FOS adjudicator decision 14th Mar and Amigo partial agreement 14th Apr. Keep fighting everyone :) (and I hope you see this K!!!)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
excellent. if you didn’t make any payments to the first loan before topping it up, it’s not worth fighting over that one!
AG says
Exactly what I thought Sara! Will update when I get a figure (finally)!
K says
AG thats amazing! Well done! Hopefully we are free of these now! I’m waiting for the confirmation in black & white from the adjudicator but amigo said they have responded to him on the 8th & have agreed to uphold on all 3 so fingers crossed the redress is calculated soon. I said the same, even if they said to me, we wont give you anything back we’ll just wipe the loan off id of been fine with that just for the freedom back 😂😂😂
AG says
I think I might have made one payment to loan 1 but loans 2&3 I’ve paid around £2,000. The logical part of me was screaming YES! while the stubborn part of me wanted to say no just out of principle. Obviously I have done the sane thing and saved waiting longer, adding to the ombudsman queue and months of extra stress for maybe £250 more. I’m actually guarantor not borrower (my ex spent it all, didn’t tell me, big mess and once I left stopped paying because he had no other control) so it they’d just said we won’t refund you and will remove you as guarantor I’d have taken that to be honest!
K says
Its an amazing feeling though isnt it AG. To know we dont have to pay anymore. I got confirmation from my adjudicator today that its all agreed & upheld, just waiting for amigo to now come back with the figures but i think around £4k ish maybe more to come back
AG says
Had an email on Friday saying they were refunding me £1680. I expected slightly more but I’ve provided bank details this morning and will be taking that sum and running far away! Not worth the hassle to argue any more :)
K says
Thats great AG
I spoke to amigo this morning as my next payment would be due the 3rd & they said they have sent the figures over to my adjudicator so they just need him to confirm with me i accept & then as soon as he messages them to say yes then they will put the figures in place on my account which they confirmed would pay off the £7,500 & also give me redress of between 3k & 4k they didnt give exact figure but they said its between those so im more than happy with that. I just need the adjudicator to get back to me & confirm to them im ok with it then they’ll pay me it back
AG says
Oh wonderful I’m so happy for you! Amigo just emailed me directly with an amount telling me to call up so I did as soon as they opened this morning. She said once it gets processed it’ll be in my bank in 3-5 working days!
Nikki says
I take it they rejected your complaint before you send it on to FOS? Did they say it was affordable??
AG says
Hi Nikki, they did yes on the 7th of Feb after almost 14 weeks. They said all 3 were affordable. FOS said 0 were affordable. We have compromised on 2 out of 3 not being affordable because almost all of my payments were to loan 3!
Fellowman says
How have you managed to get the f.o.s involved so quickly? Within 3 months it seems. Is that correct?
AG says
FOS agreed to prioritise for me as it was the result of an abusive relationship and due to mental health issues. It still took almost 4 months though! Just hang in there :)
LEE says
Good luck to all those who are undergoing complaints with Amigo and other guarantor lenders. I lodged my complaints on 06/03/2020 and am waiting to hear. Originally took out a loan for 4K in December 2017 and had five top ups over a two year period so that loan increased to £7.5k. Unfortunately I had a gambling problem and was borrowing more and more money, constantly living in my overdraft throughout that period. I’m hopeful they’ll uphold my complaint as I don’t think they should have loaned me the money, my credit score was shot.
I know when the 60 day deadline is up so am not hopeful Amigo will respond therefore I’ll be escalating my complaint to FOS.
Becqui says
I might be being really silly here my complaint went in about 3 weeks ago, what is the adjudicator? Is this part of amigo or FOS?? I also have complaints in with Sunny and provident.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Not being silly, people who are a long way into this process tend to assume everyone else knows the jargon…
“The adjudicator” is the name for a FOS member of staff who makes the initial decision about a complaint. If either the borrower or the lender disagrees, it goes to the second level where it is looked at by someone called an Ombudsman.
90% of cases are settled at the adjudicator level.
Ombudsman decisions are more formal, they are legally binding and they are published (although the borrower’s name is anonymised to Miss H or whatever.
Jay says
Hi All.
Just to set expectations for people. I have now reached 12 weeks for my complaint to Amigo. (sent to FOS at 8 weeks). I have today received the following:
Following the further extension we requested we are still to investigate your complaint. Unfortunately, some complaints are more complex and may take longer than expected to issue a response, as such we still need to look into this for you. I am unable to confirm a timescale for this, at present. Your complaint is not currently allocated to a complaints handler and is in a queue pending investigation.
So they haven’t even looked at my complaint 12 weeks in. As I have been impacted by the Covid crisis I have requested a payment break and am waiting to hear back about that.
They seem to be collapsing under the weight of complaints and the Covid crisis.
Out of curiosity- does anyone know what would happen if a guarantor loan provider went bust ? Would we all still be liable for the outstanding balances we have ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Your curiosity question… I am simplifying here…
if a lender – any lender, not specifically a guarantor lender – goes bust, then the loans still legally exist.
But customers with complaints about unaffordable lending are potentially unsecured creditors. The administrators are likely to ask previous customers if they would like to submit complaints. And the administrators will have to come up with a way of deciding whether these complaints are valid. In previous administrations (eg Wonga, Wageday Advance) this has been by developing a program to mimic what FOS would decide about a case.
And we know FOS has been deciding in favour of the consumer in 90% of guarantor loan cases in the last half of 2019.
If you win an affordability complaint AND still owe a balance, you have the right of set-off in an administration – you owe them some money – they owe you some money – they are offset so one of you owes the difference.
So this is what StepChange has said recently about this sort of “set-off” situation for BrightHouse:
If you have both an outstanding debt and a complaint with Brighthouse, you should stop paying the debt until the complaint is resolved. This is so that any redress they get can be offset against your outstanding debt. This should not put any goods at risk, because repossession action should not be taken where a complaint is under investigation.
In a very simple case where you only had 1 loan and the administrators decided, using FOS approach, that it was unaffordable, the interest would be removed from the loan so you only repay in total what you borrowed. If the administrators decided the loan was affordable you would still be liable to repay the loan.
Karl says
Hi Sara,
I’m with amigo and I’ve paid £4742.88 on my top up which totalled £5000 how much interest have I paid? Thanks in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If your previous loan(s) were determined to be affordable AND the last loan is determined to be unaffordable, the interest is removed from the last loan so you only have to repay the £5000 you borrowed. But you have already paid 4742, so you would be left with a balance to pay of £258.
Karl says
That’s great thank you
L says
Hi my 8 weeks have passed with Amigo. Had a look at Financial ombudsman form. What evidence do I need to send them? SAR, bank statements, or will they request it from Amigo?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You don’t need to send the SAR. Bank statements from around the time of each loan and a copy of your current credit report is good.
jase says
Hi Sara quick update,
Further to our letter acknowledging your complaint, I’m writing to confirm that we are still investigating the complaint you have raised. This is due to your complaint requiring a more detailed investigation or because we haven’t been able to pick it up as quickly as we had hoped. However, your complaint is important to us and I’d like to assure you that we will be responding to your concerns as soon as possible.
Thank you for your patience. We will write again as soon as possible, and at the latest, within 8 weeks of the date we received your complaint.
Just seems like a generic reply it’s been around 4-5 weeks now.
E says
I asked for an update on mine yesterday (11 weeks) and after I generic response I asked had anyone even looked at it yet and was told no, it was in a queue to be allocated still…. so wouldn’t get your hopes up for a fast response.
Claire says
I too have just had just had a email from FOM to say I was mis-sold my loans so all interest is to be removed and I only pay back what I borrowed.
I’ve been paying 290 for about 40 months now my loan was 7250 does that mean I’ll get the difference back plus 8%?
Amigos worse financial dission of my life!!!
Also how long does it normally take to get my refund and never have to think of this company again.
K says
Claire it all depends if/when amigo reply as to how long is takes. The fos will send a copy of their outcome to amigo, amigo then have about two weeks to reply, maybe longer with covid going on. Then if they dont reply or they disagree with the adjudicator decision it then gets sent to ombudsman which can take another 5-6 months. If amigo agree with fos decision then just have to wait for them to do calculation, send to adjudicator, then adjudicator sends to you to agree then get the money back. Im currently at the stage where amigo didnt respond, then my adjudicator said they were sending it to ombudsman so amigo agreed to the outcome & are now in the process of doing the calculation
Maria says
Hi Sara
I am now on week 11 of my complaint and have had an email advising they are still looking at my complaint. I have sent sent it to the adjudicator. I am also still waiting for data in PDF format which I asked for as I could not read the cd. My question is I asked amigo for a payment holiday or reduced payments but they have not responded and my account is now showing in red as in arrears. What steps can I take
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did you ask for a payment break because of coronavirus?
The FCAs new guidance, which came into force a couple of days ago, says that lenders, including guarantor lenders, have to offer a temporary payment freeze on loans for up to three months to people affected by coronavirus, which you are if you are being furloughed on 80% pay. And your guarantor will not be asked to pay during this time.
(The “up to” is because if you get back to normal pay, this help would stop.)
My guess is Amigo is getting a lot of requests and is just working through them. Perhaps give them a couple of days more and then phone and ask.
Maria says
Hi Sara yes I did and also sent my furloughed letter.
Robert says
Good afternoon Sara,
My case with Amigo was picked up by an adjudicator yesterday. Does anyone have experience with time frames on how long it takes them to come to a decision at this stage?.
Many thanks, Robert
Rob says
Hi Sara,
To start i just want to say a massive thank you for the above advise i have since sent a complaint into amigo.
I applied for a loan in June 2019 when i was in serious debt with credit card lenders and other creditors. When taking out the loan i listed my then fiance as my guarantor which they accepted. If they would have looked at my file they would have seen that i was defaulting or making minimum payments on all of my current loans. Even though i was in full time employment at that time the payment left me with nothing or in the minus at the end of each month.
(post part 2 below)
Thanks
Rob
Rob says
I have since lost my job putting more financial pressure on myself and my now wife. I tried to call Amigo to explain this to them, they gave my 2 days to call and make arrangements to meet the payment which was £250 a month me borrowing £5000 initially.
I have also since joined a Debt Management Plan for all my other debts however i was advised not to include Amigo as they would pursue my guarantor and not me. We have been scraping my to make the payment to amigo with my contributing what i can from my JSA and my wife topping that up to make the payment. that was until this morning when they took a payment of £168 from my wife’s account detailing it as a direct debit payment on their system, unfortunately my wife had called 2 weeks prior to tell them to cancel any direct debits as she was also in financial difficulties and with had a DMP set up with the same company as myself.
Amigo have sent an email saying that i haven’t contacted them to set up an arrangement and that i needed or they would seek a CCJ against me.
I wondered if you had any experience with this and if you could help at all. I was in no state to receive this loan when taken out and was already rejected by other loan companies when i applied for this one.
Thanks
Rob
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is good that you have put in an affordability complaint.
Were you living with your fiance at the time of the loan application?
Could she really afford the repayments if you didn’t make them? If not, she too should put in an affordability complaint and ask to be released as the guarantor, template letter for guarantors is on this page: https://debtcamel.co.uk/amigo-complaints-by-guarantor/. She needs to cancel the DD to Amigfo with her bank, not risk them taking more money and leaving her too short too manage.
You have lost your job – is this related to coronavirus?
Rob says
Hi Sara,
Yes i was living with her at the time of the loan application.
She couldnt afford to pay them in full no as she was struggling herself. I will speak with her to also put in a complaint.
She has called the bank who have cancelled the DD and also reversed the payment taken this morning thankfully .
Unfortunately not i lost my job just before the coronavirus hit.
Thanks
Rob
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you were living with your guarantor, when she complains she can argue that Amigo should have assessed whether she could repay the loan if you had lost your job, leaving her having to pay all the household bills.
If she has cancelled her DD, then there is no reason why the Amigo debt cannot now be included in your DMP so Amigo get their fair share of what money you can pay. Although if you are on JSA this is presumably minimal.
Is your wife working? Can I check you have applied for council tax support?
Ar you renting? private or social?
What was your job – will it be harder for you to find new work because of coronavirus?
Do you or your wife have other high-cost debts you could make affordabilty complaints about?
Rob says
Thats great i will make sure that is included when i send over her complaint also.
I will also speak with my DMP company to make sure that this is now added onto the plan.
My wife is working, Luckily we have had the support of my parents so we are currently living with them until we get back on our feet again. Due to all of these issue we havent been able to rent or look to buy our own property.
I worked for a signage company as an estimator so this has all had an impact on me as a lot of them have closed until this all passes.
This is mainly the only high cost debt that we have and this has always been the issue as Amigo dont give any breathing room. they weren’t very helpful this morning even when telling them they had left us no money for food for two week the adviser just said there was nothing we could do at it was her responsibility to pay.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can try asking Amigo for a Coronavirus-related payment break as it is impossible for you to find a new job under the current circumstances. If they agree, then you won’t be pushed to pay for the next few months.
K says
Thsi is the email that makes the wait worthwhile…after having amigo say over the phone they spoke to adjudicator on 8th & agreed the uphold he made, I was waiting confirmation in black & white from ombudsman & just got it….so happy! Thank you so much sara for all your help. Hopefully all will be resolved before 3rd of may which should of been my next payment date.
Good afternoon
Amigo have confirmed that they accept my outcome. I’ve asked them to provide a calculation which I will forward to you once I receive it.
Kind regards
St123 says
Hi K, how many loans have they upheld? Im on week 12 now, sent it to FOS 2 weeks ago and waiting an update. All interest paid getting refunded? Thanks s
Gemma says
I’m now over 15 weeks and 7 weeks with fos and nothing feeling pretty deflated!
K says
Hi st123, they’ve agreed to upld the complaint on all 3 loans, initial loan of £3,500 then top up to £5,000 & another top up to £7,500. Ive been paying since 2016. Amigo are doing the calculation which they will send to the ombudsman & he will send to me to confirm if i agree & payment will then be made
K says
Gemma, hang in there as it will happen. Its going a bit slower at the moment with staff all working from home etc but it will get there. Ive waited since start of december to get to this point
Jen says
I am on week 7 with FOS now too without it being assigned. Any idea how much longer? I spoke to them before lockdown and due to circumstances would prioritise, but not sure what this means timewise.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If they said they would prioritise the case, then contact FOS and ask what is happening. If they say they haven’t received the case file from Amigo, ask if you can send them the SAR information that you have if that will let FOS start work on the case.
PS have your circumstances got worse because of coronavirus?
K says
I got mine prioritised & took 7 weeks to get decision. But amigo ignored the adjudicator from the start so he based his decision on my bank statements & the ss i sent of my credit score & file. I didnt send him my sar & amigo sent nothing. They are working from home on reduced hours aswell so its all taking a bit longer
Jen says
I have tried to contact them via email, but had no reply. I will try calling tomorrow and ask for an update of they have a line open. I am not going to have an income as of end of June, so would really like this sorted.
Thanks for all your help, really appreciate it.
Jen says
I called and awaiting case file from Amigo. I did say I had my SAR that I could send, but didn’t want that. They have my statements already.
I am hoping this is over soon. We are keyworkers, so financial situation hasn’t changed, so haven’t applied for a payment break as have no evidence of affecting me and presume you need to show them something?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, you can only get a payment break if your household finances are affected by coronavirus.
Aiyesha says
I worry that as Amigo are dragging their feet and FOS have several months wait time, a lot of us who have only just realised we can complain may have missed the boat, fear for a lot of us I think is they go under and the light at the end of the long dark tunnel goes ‘Poof’…
H says
Hi Sara , I submitted a complaint to AMIGO on the 1st March and have been chasing them fo my SOA which I received today.
Paid out £1500 Interest £732.44 Paid Back £1853.80 Cleared
Paid out £1936 Interest £204.03 TOP UP
Paid out £894.74 Interest £2447.60 Paid back 2075.10 TOP UP
Paid out £955.27 Interest £1714 Paid back £2075 to date
Still outstanding £4177 paying back £158.10 a month currently.
If I have success I was wondering how they work this out? Is it the interest payments I would get back? If so this would still leave me with an outstanding balance? Or will they deduct the interest from the amount I still owe and I get the remaining?
Thanks H
Thanks H
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so when you have said “paid out” that is the cash you received? Do you know what the loan amounts were?
and the “paid back” are the sum of your monthly payments?
I’m not clear which loans were top-ups. When you wrote top up, did you mean that loan was a top up? or it was settled by the next loan which was a top up?
H says
Yes paid out is the cash I received I have made a few changes to the figures below as got them mixed around.
Paid back is the amounts I have paid on Direct Debit.
The top ups where always settled by the new loan so that’s why the paid outs are the amounts I received in cash.
The amounts are below:
£1500 31.07.2015
£2500 10.04.2017
£3500 21.06.2017
£4000 04.04.2019
I topped up on the £1500 £2500 & £3500
Paid out £1500 Interest £732.44 Paid Back £1853.80 TOP UP
Paid out £1936 Interest £204.03 Paid back £ 98.81 TOP UP
Paid out £894.74 Interest £2447.60 Paid back £2075.10 TOP UP
Paid out £955.27 Interest £1714 Paid back £1599 to date
Still outstanding £4177
Hope this makes more sense?!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so the interest paid on each loan looks like roughly (and remember you may have typed in numbers wrong or I may have, this is just a guess)
loan 1 £917 [edited]
loan 2 £204
loan 3 £1620
current loan you haven’t yet repaid the amount you borrowed, at the moment you are £2401 short of that.
If all the previous loans are refunded, then the current loan would be cleared and you would get a refund of about £340
H says
How do you work out those figures?
The interest from the statements I have added up is :
LOAN 1 Interest £732.44
LOAN 2 Interest £204.03
LOAN 3 Interest £2447.60
LOAN 4 Interest £1714
Still have £4100 outstanding.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
loan 1 I typed in a wrong number and £732 is correct. (I have corrected the numbers above)
loan 2 our numbers agreed
loan 3 you borrowed 3500
you repaid 2075
the loan was settled with 4000-955= 3045 from the fourth loan
so overall you paid 2075 + 3045 = 5120
that is £1620 more than you borrowed so that is the total of interest and charges on that loan.
You should ignore the interest figures on the statement for the last loan, they aren’t helpful. Just look at what you have paid £1599 compared to what you borrowed £4000. If interest is removed from the last loan then you only have to repay what you borrowed so the balance would be reduced to 4000 – 1599 = £2401.
C says
Hi Sara
Can you tell me what potential refund I would get if the FOS ruled in my favour with my Amigo loans/top ups please?
Loan 1 – borrowed £2000, made 12 payments of £129.92
Then received £3664.92 as a top up, made 19 payments of £197.62
Then received £694.22 as a top up, made 30 payments of £197.62
Then received £3351.62 as a top up, made 15 payments of £276.67
Then received £3134.37 as a top up, made 22 payments of £395.25
Then received £1145.12 as a top up, made 7 payments of £395.25 to date
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you have said the amounts you have paid and the amounts you received. The other piece of this jigsaw is the the amount you borrowed for each of the top up loans.
C says
Hi Sara
I borrowed £2000 in May 2011 and made 12 payments of £129.92.
The first top-up to £5000 was in May 2012. I received £3664.92 and made 19 payments of £197.62.
The second top-up to £5000 was in December 2013. I received £694.22 and made 30 payments of £197.62.
The third top-up to £7000 was in June 2016. I received £3351.62 and made 15 payments of £276.67.
The fourth top-up to £10000 was in October 2017. I received £3134.37 and made 22 payments of £395.25.
The fifth top-up to £10000 was in September 2019. I received £1145.12 and I’ve made 7 payments of £395.25 to date.
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So I make the interest you have paid (and remember you may have got some of the numbers wrong or I may have typed them in wrong, so this is a guess!) roughly:
loan 1 895
loan 2 3049
loan 3 4559
loan 4 4006
loan 5 7545
current loan – not yet paid more than you borrowed, if this was the only loan refunded your balance would be reduced to £7235
If all the loans were refunded, you would get a refund of £12,819.
The first two loans are over 6 years old. FOS seems to be upholding complaints about older loans, but the cases tend to go slower… if you only got a refund on the last 4 loans, that would be £8875
C says
That’s great thanks Sara.
I’ve had an adjudicator pick up my case about a different guarantor loan company about 2/3 weeks ago. I borrowed £3000 in August 2011 and made 21 payments of £151.15. I then topped up the loan in June 2013 to £5000 and received £3081.33. I made 59 payments of £180.66 and a final payment of £179.22. Once the loan was paid off they then said I owed them a further payment of £224.65 due to interest accrued from me changing the payment date at some point during the loan. I paid this off over 5 months at £44.93 a month. The adjudicator believes she can look at the complaint but the loan company are saying she shouldn’t as it’s over 6 years old. She has given them a couple of weeks to provide my file. If I won this case in full what refund would I be looking at please? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It looks as though (my guess) you paid c£2090 interest on loan 1 and £6093 on loan 2.
Nikki says
Hi Sara
I put in my complaint with amigo 4 weeks ago… I know they are under pressure and taking ages but is there any chance I could forward to FOS now or do I have to wait the full 8 weeks??
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can’t send the case to FOS before 8 weeks.
What is your current financial position? Do you have other debts? Are your finances affected by coronavirus?
And your guarantor – do they also have a reason to complain the loan was unaffordable fir them when if was set up?
Amy says
Morning everyone , hope you are all safe and well , I wanted to find out about this 3 month break from amigo , I’ve asked amigo about doing it myself because my financies have changed , do you know if I have to cancel my direct debit or will amigo do it all their end ?Also will it affect anything with my complaint , I had a phone call last week from a lovely gentleman saying that he is dealing with my complaint from the ombudsman and that he will be writing to Amigo to find out about looking into my earlier Loans as amigo have not upheld any or even looked at the ones over 6 years old, I have everything crossed to go in my favour as I’ve had nearly 20 years of stress with amigo.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
the 3 month break is only if your household finances have changed because of Coronavirus. It is completely separate from your affordability complaint and won’t affect it.
If Amigo agree to the three month break, they will probably stop taking the payments, ask them if you should cancel your DD – and they won’t ask your guarantor to make them.
if Amigo refuse a payment break, come back here and say why? I am expecting that they will be reasonable with these breaks but it is understandably taking them some time because of the volume of requests.
PS if you have now found from your bank statements how much you were paid in cash for the top-up loans I can go back and look at your numbers again.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
see Amanda’s comment below with the helpful response she had from amigo
Amanda says
Hi I received this today from AMIGOS: my complaint also goes to the FOS a week tomorrow at the 8 week point:
EMAIL:
Hi Amanda,
With the outbreak of COVID-19 we understand a lot of people may be experiencing difficulty and uncertainty at this time.
At Amigo, we’re committed to reacting and adapting to ensure we are doing all that we can to help our customers. We are willing to give you extended breathing space on your Amigo account until 20/06/2020 – which means we will not attempt to take payment from you or your guarantor during this time (unless otherwise agreed).
Due to the Credit Agreement that was agreed when the loan was first taken out, the contractual loan repayments are still in place. This will result in the account
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Good – nice clear email from Amigo:
– 3 month payment break
– they won’t take payment so you don’t have to cancel your DD
– your guarantor not affected.
Amy says
Lovely thank you :)
Marie I says
I have made complaints to both amigo and George banco….I am the guarantor for both. Amigo are now on week number 11 and have not yet allocated my complaint to a complaint handler….I contacted FOS after the initial 8 weeks, amigo are aware and are still in no rush to respond, telling me that the delay was initially due to an ‘influx’ of complaints but is now due to them reviewing how they respond to these types of complaints. George banco have 3 weeks left otherwise that one will be referred to FOS also.
robert says
hi
Im hoping for some advice
I am a guarantor for my sister for a loan she has with amigo.It has been paid monthly at £396pm since april 2018,Since january she has been on martinality pay (not alot of money !) However after reading some about complaining, I feel we should both complain.
1.she should never have been given it because she was in debt (reason she wanted the amigo loan)
2.we both were not asked to supply our bank statements as proof of income-expenduture
3.affordablility..she had-have loans at the time(and currently).I did have 2 loans (£70 per loan) and if she could not pay i would be spending about 60% of my monthly waves on debts
Would it be worth while complaining?
kind regards
robert
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Has she been paying the loan or have you since January? Is she a single parent?
£396 is a very large monthly payment. Was this her first loan with amigo or a top-up?
I’m going to make some quite picky points in answer to your three reasons, not because you shouldn’t complain, but to encourage you to focus on the most important things for winning an affordability complaint.
1.she should never have been given it because she was in debt (reason she wanted the amigo loan)
That by itself isn’t a reason not to give her a loan – almost everyone Amigo lends to has some debts.
What matters is whether she would be able to afford the repayments to Amigo and also be able to pay her other debts and to her everyday living bills and expenses. The more debt she has, the less likely that is, but it’s this affordabilty calculation that matters, not the fact that she has some debt.
2.we both were not asked to supply our bank statements as proof of income-expenduture
To win an affordability complaint two things have to be shown. (1) that Amigo didn’t check properly that she (and you for your complaint) could afford the loan. Not asking for banks statements supports that argument. (2) that if Amigo had checked properly, they would have realised the loan was not affordable.
So the fact they didn’t check bank statements helps your complaints but it isn’t enough on its own to win them
3.affordablility..she had-have loans at the time(and currently).I did have 2 loans (£70 per loan) and if she could not pay i would be spending about 60% of my monthly waves on debts
Again it is the overall affordabilty for you that matters, there isn’t some easy metric that says it’s ok to spend 30% of your income on debt but not 60%. But if you had to make all the payments to the loan from the start, could you have afforded your other debt payments, bills and normal living expenses? You have to be pretty well off to have a spare £396 a month to pay someone else’s debt…
So the complaint letter for her is on this page. And for you it’s over on this other page: https://debtcamel.co.uk/amigo-complaints-by-guarantor/
robert says
hi
and thank you for the quick and detailed reply!
I have paid 2 out of the 4 loan payments due to her not having the money,
and thanks for the link will have a look and see if i should apply.
this is her first amigo loan. she is married but her husband is not getting work cos of the virus he is an electrician
kind regards
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then she should ask Amigo for a 3 month payment break because of her husband’s drop in income. That will take a bit of pressure off you all. The regulator says Amigo have to give these to customers whose household finances have been affected by Coronavirus and during the 3 months they can’t ask you to pay. See the banner at the top of their home page and she should fill in the web form it leads to.
But if either of you can win an affordabilty complaint, that would solve her underlying problem.
Harry says
Hello Sara i am on week 4 but still havent recieved sar, do they take long to send this aswell?
Thanks
Adi says
I’m still waiting for mine after 5weeks
L says
Hi Sara
My mum sent her complaint to amigo on the 2/4/2020 and she got her text today asking her to fill out the questionnaire within 10days. She’s still waiting on her bank statements being sent through as she couldn’t get them online and they wouldn’t email them to her so they’re posting them and she’ll scan them and send to amigo.
Should she fill out questionnaire in time being? Or wait and just send her statements?
She’s already stressing out a bit about it all and doesn’t think she’ll win the complaint but I’m just trying to keep her positive about it. She would be in a much better position without the massive payments, by the time she’s paid her bills she has pretty much nothing left for rest of month. So I’m hoping she stands a good chance.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest she replies just saying she has asked her bank for bank statements and will send them when she gets them because they will show Amigo her true position.
Have her finances been affected by Coronavirus?
L says
Ok thank you. I don’t think they have, she’s been working from home but I don’t think her wage has been affected by Coronavirus
Ashley says
I sent my complaint back in February and have not had it resolved yet
I today have now sent it to the ombudsmen.
I will update the progress here. I’ve had 8 years of loans with Amigo and it’s been hell.
Thank you for the inspiration to make this complaint.
Iftakhar H says
Hi All,
I have stumbled across this site and am a little dismayed at comments either stating ‘They shouldn’t have done this or that’…’How much refund can I get if I win’, etc What are we all after here…a windfall?, I certainly am not, I just want a illegal wrong to be put right all the time showing respect and courtesy to a company that I was more than happy to take the loan from at the time, as everyone on here WAS. Lets not deflect from that moment and reflect, incomes were overestimated, expenditure was underestimated, all to serve a purpose for us and Amigo obliged, albeit irresponsible of them to do so. I think a humble approach considering our own shortfalls with regards to the situations we have found ourselves in is more justified as opposed to adopting a ‘lets attack Amigo for what they did’ mentality, we all played a part and I will admit my own input with regards to the dire situation I found myself in having being accepted for an Amigo loan.
I have had my mortgage arrears consolodated twice since my loans with them, as I always put them before my priorities, my credit report showing mortgage arrears for several years, I cannot pay Amigo without either borrowing, selling personal items or ignoring priority bills. Yes, I am very upset about that and affected badly, I want it to be put right so I have complained and will wait my turn to be advised. If they do not uphold, I will forward to the FOS and again wait my turn. I have zero income, debted to my eyeballs but will not call the FOS, cry my woes down the phone and attempt to jump the queue purely because I consider my issues to be more important than others and I desperately want my ‘windfall’??
all I am saying is let’s not consider our complaints against Amigo as a pending lottery win as I really do seem to think some are, we all played a part so lets not forget that aspect, be humble, patient and have faith that wrongs, where occurred, will be put right in turn without the need for anyone to try to scramble for first place. Amigo aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Before anyone asks, No I do not work for Amigo, I am a complainant just like you, I just do not believe a complaint against a company is any reason to constantly retribute, deflect from the core issue and start being rude to staff because although to them it is stated ‘ I want my complaint resolved’ they hear ‘I am not getting my ‘winnings’ quick enough?. If Amigo staff are rude, it is because they spend their whole day being shouted at…something we should all consider.
BTW, excellent service Sara
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It sounds as though you have a very strong case! So good luck with it.
Of course people should not be rude to Amigo staff. I don’t recall anyone suggesting it.
I don’t think many people here are after a “windfall”. If there is a current loan, most people’s top priority is to be released from the emotional pressure of having to make unaffordable payments to protect their guarantor. And this is people’s own money that is being returned to them – it is hardly a lottery win.
It is useful for people to know roughly how much could be refunded for each loan. If they are offered a refund on the last three loans and not the first two, it helps to know how much interest was paid on the first two when you decide if the offer is good or you want to go to FOS. And if they are likely to be left owing a balance to Amigo after winning their complaint, then it helps to know how much so people can think about debt management plans or other options.
If you are happy to wait until Amigo choose to reply to you before sending it to the ombudsman than that is your choice.
But please don’t criticise other people who are desperate for their case to be decided as soon as possible. Some people here have lost refunds when payday lenders have gone into administration so it’s natural for them to be worried. Some people have mental health problems. Some people are going hungry at the end of every month. In some cases there has been an abusive relationship between borrower and guarantor.
Amigo have made some of the most appalling lending decisions I have ever seen, and have refused to uphold absolutely clear cut complaints which they know FOS will uphold.
Adi says
I want this finished as soon as possible. Worst thing I ever did getting this loan. I’m not trying to queue jump but if the rules say Amigo ought to reply in 8 weeks and I can then go to the Ombudsman that is what I will do.
Nicole says
Hi Sara
If amigo were to go into administration would our pending complaints therefore not be upheld? Or do they still investigate them?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I have no reason to think Amigo is about to go into administration. But to answer your question…
If a lender goes bust, then customers who have a valid claim for unaffordable lending are unsecured creditors. The administrators are likely to ask previous customers if they would like to submit complaints. And the administrators will have to come up with a way of deciding whether these complaints are valid. In previous administrations (eg Wonga, Wageday Advance) this has been by developing a program to mimic what FOS would decide about a case. And we know FOS has been deciding in favour of the consumer in 90% of guarantor loan cases in the last half of 2019.
If you win an affordability complaint AND still owe a balance, you have the right of set-off in an administration – you owe them some money – they owe you some money – they are offset so one of you owes the difference.
This is what StepChange has said recently about this sort of “set-off” situation for BrightHouse:
“If you have both an outstanding debt and a complaint with Brighthouse, you should stop paying the debt until the complaint is resolved. This is so that any redress they get can be offset against your outstanding debt.”
In a very simple case where you only had 1 loan and the administrators decided, using FOS approach, that it was unaffordable, the interest would be removed from the loan so you only repay in total what you borrowed. If the administrators decided the loan was affordable you would still be liable to repay the loan in full.
Joe says
Buddy Loans are draggint their heels replying to me. I have requested the FCA payment freeze/holiday, in writing. They are yet to reply and my next payment’s due at the end of April. Concerned they’ll take this payment. What should I do?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If they haven’t resolved this in a week, I suggest you cancel the DD to Buddy to get yourself in a safe position.
This payment break is not something that the lender can refuse, it may take some time to be agreed because they will be getting a lot of requests.
Joe says
They replied, a very generic response but asking for either proof of furlough if employed, cancelled clients if self-employed or proof of benefits if claiming benefits. Also, they claim they want proof of changes since I took the loan out.
I queried a number of things, not least that they would not chase guarantor if I took three month payment holiday.
I was horrified to find out when I called to get some answers that they’d made contact with my guarantor, asking if he could cover payments as I was considering a payment holiday (not officially asked or accepted one) despite the FCA guidance and despite the fact my payments are not in arrears. When i queried why this was done , I was told its routine when a borrower falls into arrears – problem is my account isnt! So they’ve gone and added extra stress onto my guarantor now and seem to have gone against FCA guidelines by asking if guarantor can cover the payments if I have a payment holiday???
Bearing in mind me and my guarantor do not talk at all!
They really lack compassion! Can I report them for this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The most important thing is getting your payment break sorted out.
Do you have the “proof” they have asked for? Or is there something else you thing shows you are having coronavirus problems? This doesn’t have to be you directly, it could be another member of your household if this means you are now having to pay more of the bills.
they claim they want proof of changes since I took the loan out.
I’m not sure what they are asking for here?
I would expect most lenders to set a pretty low bar for “evidence” here.
re “reporting them”, can I check these conversations/emails happened after 14 April, when the FCA’s guidance came into force?
Joe says
The conversations happened on the 17th April, both email conversations and phone conversations.
I feel they purposely contacted my guarantor in the hope this would shame/force me into declining a payment holiday but even so, the guidance is clear that they should not chase guarantors for payments so not sure why they rang him and asked if he could cover payments for me if I took a payment holiday.
I have evidence of my claim for universal credit which I am sending them today, my first payment is not due until second week of May.
Also, this is quoted on their website;
“We are reviewing each case on an individual basis and are currently helping customers who are already experiencing financial difficulties (or reasonably expect to experience temporary payment difficulties for either yourself or other members of your household) as a result of COVID-19. If you believe you fall into the above category, then we may be able to offer you a payment holiday of up to three months or the option of a reduced payment plan. We can only do this once we’ve had the opportunity to discuss your personal circumstances to ensure the right solution is provided.”
I did not think the payment holidays were negotiable, i.e I thought lenders HAD to provide them?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
a UC claim should be fine as evidence.
The FCA says that lenders have to provide the holidays “unless the firm determines (acting reasonably) that it is obviously not in the customer’s interests to do so.”
I think you should assume you will get this payment break.
To “report them” you could email the FCA. The FCA will not investigate your case, that is what FOS is for (and I think you have already sent your affordability complaint to FOS?) but emails will be passed on to the section that supervises firms.
to do this email consumer.queries@fca.org.uk. Copy this email to nick.zapolski@buddyloans.com
Subject: Advancis Ltd (718849)
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Say that you have had to apply for Universal Credit because of Coronavirus. Say that Advancis trading as Buddy Loans asked your guarantor on 17 April if they would cover your payments if you took a payment holiday. Say you think this is unfair and they are trying to shame you into not taking a payment holiday. Also say it is unreasonable as you are not yet even in arrears.
End by saying you understand the FCA will not investigate your complaint, that you already have an affordability complaint about Buddy Loans with FOS, but you wanted to report the way they have handled your request for a payment break as you do not think it it is in line with the FCA’s guidance https://www.fca.org.uk/publications/finalised-guidance/personal-loans-coronavirus-temporary-guidance-firms which says “As the customer would not be considered in arrears we would expect firms not to pursue relevant guarantors for payment during a deferral period, in respect of payments deferred under this guidance.”
Joe says
Hi sara thanks for this. For an update, they emailed me back, the manager who emailed said my guarantor had been contacted prior to the 14th (when FCA updated guidance to say guarantors won’t be chased) but this isn’t the case, they contacted the guarantor on 17th (confirmed by advisor who called me on Friday and confirmed when I called this afternoon by anothet advisor to query what the manager said).
The email also said they have to contact my guarantor again so that he can agree to the payment deferral, is this accurate? Does he have to agree as well?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t think your guarantor has to agree – what does it have to do with him? He won’t be asked to pay because of it, so why should he have to say Yes or No?
Joe says
They claim he has to be contacted because it changes the terms of my agreement, and he has to agree to that?
Not sure?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
well I suggest you tell the guarantor that you will be missing payments so unless he agrees to the payment break he will have to pay them!
I also think you should contact the Ombudsman and ask if they can give you priority as BL are being very difficult about letting you have a payment break because of coronavirus.
Joe says
So BL have emailed me and I have confirmed I want the payment holiday and I replied today and asked has it been actioned, they said they can’t action it until guarantor accepts. I mean, i don’t speak to the guarantor and as the BL email asking me to confirm if I want to accept it went into my junk folder, this probably happened to them to. I have sent an email back to BL outlining this and they may want to call the guarantor too. I would think that from my side though it’s sorted as I cannot make the payments and will need to add them on to the end of my loan period, so it’s down to the guarantor as if they don’t accept, they’re liable for the missed payments still.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
urghhh – ask FOS is they can treat your affordabilty complaint as a priority because BL are making it so hard for a payment break to be set up.
Andrew says
Hi Sara
I took my first amigo loan out back in 2013 and have had 4 top ups over the years. I can’t actually remember the first amount i borrowed but i think it was £5000, topped back up to £5000 then 7500, then £10000 most recently in April 2017. Monthly repayments are £398 so on my last loan alone I have paid just over £9500 and the balance is currently sitting at £9800!!! I feel like am never going to get out of this. I was never fully checked, i was on mow income, i had online gambling and there were multiple defaults and missed payments in between all the topups. Problem i have is some of the bank statements i need are with an old account i no longer have open. I am going to submit a complaint to amigo, would i be intitled to all the interest back on all the loans not just the one i currently have live? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Amigo will reject any loans more than 6 years old but the Ombudsman is usually agreeing to look at these older loans.
If Amigo decided to refund the three top ups but not the first loan, you may decide that is a good enough result to not casre about the first loan.
What is your current financial position? Have you been affected by coronavirus?
What is your guarantor’s financial position like – if they couldn’t afford the £398 a month and still pay all theoir own debts and bills, they too may be able to complain and ask to be released as guarantor.
You can get bank accounts from closed accounts, start doing this now, don’t wait to be asked for them in a few months time. Bank statements show how unaffordable the loans were and gambling makes your case stronger not weaker as Amigo should never have lent if it was clear you had a gambling problem. But don’t delay your complaint waiting for bank statements, kick it off now.
Lillie says
Hi Sara,
An adjudicator from FOS has just emailed me saying that they’ve been assigned my case and asking for a copy of my credit file (this is great news as I first complained to Amigo back in October). I was just wondering how I go about acquiring this so that I can send it over to him?
Thank you!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can send a copy of your TransUnion Statutory Credit report: https://www.transunionstatreport.co.uk/
mb018538 says
Just an update post from me:
Basically everyone needs to be very patient. Amigo had my initial complaint on the 22nd January – so I’m now over 12 weeks without a final response from them. I know they will use Covid-19 as an excuse/means to take longer on decisions, which could be fair enough and justified, but they had 8 full weeks of normal trading before this set in to deal with the complaint. Anyone who has complained in the last month or two should expect a long wait, perhaps unprecedented. The FOS have had my complaint for 4 weeks and I haven’t heard back from them yet either, though it clearly states there is a 5 month wait for these types of complaint.
Sit tight folks. I will update you as things progress. Hopefully I would expect a response (likely a rejection) from Amigo very soon.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s good you have sent it to FOS already.
Cases are being picked up by FOS sooner than 5 months, see Lillie’s comment just above today.
Do you still owe a balance? Are you managing ok or have you been hit with coronavirus problems?
Stuart says
Hi Sara
I took a guarantor loan, and complained to the lender that it was unaffordable. They have accepted the complaint and deducted the interest from the outstanding balance. However they have insisted that the guarantor remains liable:
“In cases where we have made an error we would usually try to put the borrower back in the position they would have been in, had the error not occurred. In this case however, this is not entirely possible as the lending provided cannot be undone and there is still a balance left outstanding. By extension, the guarantee provided cannot simply be undone as a result of the borrower’s complaint being upheld.”
I can see that one way forward is for the guarantor to complain. However I wondered if there was any argument I could make to avoid needing to go to the guarantor?
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
which lender is this? and have they agreed to you making lower, affordable payments to clear the balance?
Nicole says
Hi Stuart
Did they accept your complaint directly or did you have to go through FOS??
How long did it take for you?
Nicole
Stuart says
Hi Nicole
They accepted direct, it took about 3 weeks.
Stuart says
Hi Sara
UK Credit, and yes they have agreed to making lower payments, and if I maintain those they will not contact the guarantor.
But I may go for insolvency (I’m getting advice on this), in which case if I stop payments they will contact the guarantor. So stopping the guarantor being liable is still important.
Thanks!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You are right, you do need the guarantor removed if you want to go for insolvency. Are you looking at a DRO or bankruptcy?
The fastest approach is for your guarantor to also make a complaint. The template letter here https://debtcamel.co.uk/amigo-complaints-by-guarantor/ has “The loan was unaffordable for the borrower so you should never have given the loan at all. You did not check properly that the borrower could afford the loan.” as one point – your guarantor can make that stronger by saying “You have already accepted a complaint from the borrower that the loan was unaffordable for him. You should not have given him this loan so I should not be the guarantor for it.”
Is your situation affected by coronavirus?
Stuart says
Hi Sara
I’m looking at both DRO or bankruptcy depending on how much the total debt ends up as.
Not really affected by coronavirus.
In the ‘complaints by guarantors’ page, I’ll speak to the guarantor about whether the loan was affordable for them, and whether they understood it. I guess it’s best to add up as many reasons as possible.
However if it is just a case of complaining on the basis that the loan was unaffordable for me (the borrower), is that sufficient and enough of an argument? It feels if they only complain about it being unaffordable for me, that might not be enough?
Thanks very much
Sara (Debt Camel) says
In theory they only have to complain that it was unaffordable for you. But I don’t think I have seen one of these complaints go through before as Amigo always remove the guarantor. I would be inclined to try to argue non affordability for the guarantor too if possible, belt and braces.
VH says
My complaint with Amigo been ongoing since Oct 2019. In brief was quickly rejected by them within 1 week. Sent details same day to FInancial ombudsman, waited until January for it to be assigned to an investigator. They then, after a conversation with me returned my claim to Amigo. I then had to wait the 8 weeks again which was up in 8th March and had the emails from Amigo needed more time. I informed the investigating officer at FOS and sent bank statements, they have now given Amigo a deadline for 23 April and then I believe they will make their own further investigations. Long lengthy process but I’m so hoping I get a positive result, but who knows what will happen. Good luck all with claims.
Tom says
Hi,
I took out a loan in April 2017 and had it topped up in may 2017 even though I was barely earning what my monthly payments would be. I had a terrible credit score and was in defaults with numerous credit companies.
I then lost my job and my guarantor had to step in and pay a lot of the loan off. I contacted amigo to ask to set up a reduced payment plan but they refused. They also kept adding extra interest due to the fact when I went in arrears (every time) they were waiting for my guarantor to pay.
My financial situation is resolved and I have since paid off the loan and mostly paid my guarantor back.
Please can you give me your thoughts? Thankyou
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“I took out a loan in April 2017 and had it topped up in May 2017 even though I was barely earning what my monthly payments would be”
That sounds like a good complaint.
BUT Are you on good terms with your guarantor? Because Amigo is likely to say that it has to repay the money the guarantor paid back to them, not to you. And that could then leave you owing Amigo money… this can be avoided if your guarantor says all the money should be paid to you. Then you can repay the amount you still owe to the guarantor.
Iftakhar H says
I am posting this on here because I have a question that may relate to others too, I have applied for a 3 month break from Amigo but as yet they have not come back to me with confirmation, my payment is due very soon, not sure what to do with regards to that?
Any thoughts?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am assuming here that you are asking for a 3 month payment break because coronavirus has impacted your finances.
The FCA has said (in https://www.fca.org.uk/publications/finalised-guidance/personal-loans-coronavirus-temporary-guidance-firms) that
a) lenders, including guarantor lenders, have to offer a 3 month payment break to people affected by coronavirus “unless the firm determines (acting reasonably) that it is obviously not in the customer’s interests to do so.” That exception is likely to be rare and if a firm thinks it applies, other help has to be offered instead.
b) this payment break will not cause the borrower to fall into arrears, so the guarantor should not be asked to pay
c) the payment break will not affect the borrower’s credit rating
d) that if someone has asked for break but it hasn’t yet been agreed “because of firms’ operational difficulties” and the customer misses a payment, the firm should make sure the credit record is not affected.
So if you have not had a response to your request for a payment break, it is probably a good idea to cancel your DD to Amigo with your bank. If you do, I suggest you also send Amigo another message saying that you are doing this because you are worried they will not have agreed to your request for a payment break before the payment is due.
Kelly says
I have also applied for the break, my payment is due on Friday, it did say they would respond as soon as they can and payments would be suspended in the mean time.
K says
Hi sara
Could I get a rough calculation from you if possible. Amigo have sent the breakdown of figures on my loan redress to the ombudsman who im waiting to check them over & get back to me then get it all confirmed but just double checked all my figures & not sure if ive worked out correct previously.
I originally got a loan of £3,500 paid 1 payment of £138.34
Top up to £5,000 paid out £2,388.80 made 5 payments of £237.15
Top up to £7,000 paid out £1,316.16 made 33 payments of £296.44
Outstanding balance at the moment is £7,902.21
Ive worked out roughly about £3,500 back in redress but not sure if thats right
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
the first loan looks a bit odd.
-You borrowed 3500
You only made 1 payment of 138 then settled it with (5000 -2388) = 2612
– that only adds up to £2750 – it’s less than you borrowed.
Either you borrowed less OR you made more monthly payments OR the settlement amount was more…
K says
Ive checked, double & triple on my bank statements
I got £3,500 on 10th feb 2016
I made a dd payment of £138.34 in march
I couldnt find the others because they weren’t direct debits, i paid online but found them now
I made 4 payments of £138.34 altogether
Payout amounts & top ups defo correct amounts
So £3,500 4 payments of £138.34
Top up to £5,000 with £2388.80 paid to me 5 payments of £237.15
Top up to £7,500 paid out £1,316.16 to me made 33 payments of £296.44 with outstanding balance left of £7,902.21
Ive written it all down off my online banking so hopefully they are definately all correct now
Sara (Debt Camel) says
last loan was 7500? before you said 7000?
K says
Yes was definately £7,500 double checked, little one was distracting me earlier
Audrey says
Hi how did you get in touch with fos?I sent complaint to amigo last week heard nothing
K says
You have to wait until 8 weeks have passed to send complaint to fos
Audrey says
Ok thanks hopefully I will get some joy
Karl says
So today marks 12 weeks since the start of my complaint, on the day of 8 weeks they said they were still looking into my complaint, I also sent my complaint to the ombudsman after there response, upto now nothing from either not even to acknowledge my compliant, where do I go from here? Does amigos have another timeline they have to follow? Should I send my complaint to the ombudsman again?
St123 says
Hello. Im exactly the same, 12 weeks is today. Been with FOS after 8 weeks, waiting on there response. Amigo just keep saying were looking at it bla bla bla. So frustrating! I took out £2500 and after 4 top ups over 2 years it was £7500. Luckily a family member lent me the money to close it. However so irresponsible from amigo i was in a debt and gambling mess which im now out off. Just hoping they hurry up and refund all interest which other lenders such as 118, sunny, LS, piggybank etc all have done! So thank you sara this site is brill
Jo says
Hi Sara, I am self employed and my
Income has gone completely over night. I am entitled to some universal credit but my monthly payments to Amigo are £306 so there’s no way I can pay this at the moment. Amigo have given me a budget to fill out. I’m worried that they will turn to my dad, my guarantor first payment. He is retired now and cannot pay either.
I don’t want my dad to lose his house. Thank you for any advice you can give.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You need to ask Amigo for a 3 month payment break explaining about your loss of income. The regulator says they cannot ask the guarantor to pay during this period.
BUT ALSO
was this loan really affordable before or was it causing you a lot of problems? If you think with hindsight you should never have been given such a large loan as it is causing you to get into more dbt elsewhere or behind with bills, then also put in an affordability complaint as the article above says. If you win the complaint, all the interest is removed so you just repay what you borrowed and your dad is released as guarantor, so you can make a payment arrangement to pay less. These complaints take a long while, by starting one now, you get the first three months done while you don’t have to make any payments to amigo because of Coronavirus, so that is a great help.
AND
Was it obvious that your dad would retired when you took out this loan? If so, Amigo should have asked how he could afford to pay it when he retired. he too may be able to make an affordability complaint and ask to be removed as the guarantor. that would take all the pressure off you… See this page about complaints by guarantors: https://debtcamel.co.uk/amigo-complaints-by-guarantor/
paul weeks says
I have been now waitin 12 weeks for my complaint to be looked at – No re
paul says
I have been now waitin 12 weeks for my complaint to be looked at – No response Nothing – I called amigo and I got was someone on the end of the phone stating that they understand my frustation etc,
I was told that they are now changing the way they are looking into irresponsible lending claims and this was causing a delay
I then asked how long this would take – They stated that they could not give a me a response – I asked am I know looking at over 16 weeks the person I spoke to hinted that I would.
This entire process is a joke – THey are delaying payments and looking into claims – My only conclusion is they have stopped looking into complaints due to the COVID situation. We have aour hands totally tied here there is no way to move this forward
Sara (Debt Camel) says
have you sent your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman? If not, do this today!
Paul says
I have done now – Thanks Sarah
Gemma says
Paul I’m just over 16 weeks nothing from amigo but an adjudicator picked up my case last week so finally some movement!
Paul says
Ive got no chance then of them looking at it – It really annoys me – As soon as you owe them money – Boom they text you and your guarantor they call you constantly , The wording they use is always threatning,
Then As soon as you chase them – Were busy , We havent looked ino your complaint yet.
I feel really bad chasing at moment due to the COIVD 19 situation, Belive me I would quite hapliy wait if they gave me the excuse that they are dealing with NHS, Care workers etc 1st. I also fee bad asy our not sure what is going on in the persons life that your talking to – But they need to be more honest with you on where they are with complaints and when you will get a response,
The responses they are giving just makes you suspicious that they are using delaying tatics. Im just going to have to be patient I think – Sarah great site – Looks like we a lot of people on here that are in the same situation – its great to be able to speak to people that understand your frustation – Yes we did take these loans out, But most of us were desperate for the cash and Amigo was our only option, An option that we should have not been giving – Hope everyone gets a response soon
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You shouldn’t feel bad about sending your complaint to FOS now.
If Amigo were doing a decent job and up holding the good complaints then you could decide to give them extra time. But they are rejecting many very good complaints. That’s is why they are losing 90% of cases at FOS. If they made good decisions, in line with what FOS will, which is how the FCA’s DISP rules say they should respond to complaints, then the FOS uphold rate should be less than 30%
Also they weren’t managing in 8 weeks before Coronavirus. If they had staffed the complaints department properly last year and started upholding the bleeding obvious complaints immediately at 1 or 2 weeks, they would never have got into this mess.
Paul says
Thanks Sara
Just for reference so far I have complained to
Wizzcash – Brilliant response Interest on loans was put in my bank same day when I recieved response 4 weeks
Cash asap – Brilliant response Interest on loans was put in my bank same day when I recieved response 8 weeks
Lending Stream – responded after 8 weeks got some interetst back 21 days after many phones calls watch them they like to play with you a bit
Safety Net Credit -They Repaid all my interest within 1 and were very friendly sorting out a payment plan for rest of money owed
Myjar – 6 weeks waiting repaid some of interest withing few days
Wonga – &%%$%%$$ we all know what happended there – Bit like Voldemort from Harry Potter we dont say their name
Payday Uk and Quick quid probably looking at another Wonga situation – should pay for a free Mcdonalds for the family
Amigo still waiting and waiting
Ive also raised a complaint with Very which should be interesting
I have a car loan as well but I’m far too scare to complain in case they take the car back
If is was not for your site and seeing how people can do this – I would be in a very dire situation at moment.
I feel one of the good things to come out of this is that people like me in debt cannot now go back to pay day lenders and increase my debt – Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
car loan – if you carry on making the payments they cannot repossess your car.
Catherine says
Hi, I have previously got several accounts, credit card personal loan and several store cards which I was struggling to pay. I then applied for a guarantor loan early 2019 to get a new car as mine broke and I needed it to get to work (travel was an hour each way, no other routes without taking hours each way and not possible with being a single mum). I took a loan and advised them of the debts I had, as I had been on a temporary payment plan through StepChange. They loaned me £5000 with interest of nearly 7k on top. Payments are £200 a month. I’ve now lost my job and they have advised they will chase my guarantor for the money. I understand this part, however thinking about it now, I do not feel I should’ve been borrowed the extra money as I already had a number of debts not being paid off. Could I complain about irrisponsible lending? The company also said for me to fill in certain parts of their contract and they would do the rest. Stupidly I did this but am worried about what they did. I applied for the loan over 3 years and they’ve put it for 5 years. Do you think I would have any scope for complaint?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I do not feel I should’ve been borrowed the extra money as I already had a number of debts not being paid off.
Guarantor lenders always lend to people with other debts, that on its own isn’t a reason to win a complaint.
What matters is whether you could afford the loan repayments at the time the loan was given. If you were in a DMP with StepChange, it would surely have been difficult to manage £200 a month? But why was your DMP temporary? Were you managing the payments OK until you lost your job, or have you been getting into more debt elsewhere?
The company also said for me to fill in certain parts of their contract and they would do the rest.
do you remember what bits you left for them to complete?
I applied for the loan over 3 years and they’ve put it for 5 years.
Did you realise they had done this when you signed the loan document?
I’ve now lost my job
Is this because of coronavirus?
What is your guarantor’s financial position like. Could they really afford to pay £200 a month for 5 years and still be able to pay all their own bills, expenses and debts?
Catherine says
Hi,
The plan was only temporary as it was a token payment plan. I was on the last month or two of this plan but was desperate as if I couldn’t get to work then I would lose my job and with owning the house, I didn’t get help from benefits.
My guarantor is unable to pay for any of the loan as his circumstances have now changed and he now has a baby.
The token payment plan was obviously reflecting on my credit file, they questioned it but I was honest and told them it was a token payment plan for 12 months only. Outside of the tpp, I couldn’t afford the debts I had at the time, nevermind now being jobless.
We had a mutual agreement for me to leave work due to my daughter being ill and my absence at work. The company has been sold on and everyone is being made redundant this year or next, and they had incorrectly paid me for the 19 months after I went back from maternity leave meaning I owed them money. They agreed to clear the debt and for me to leave.
I agreed to 3 years on my application; it said that on the form however he said it would be 5 years when I spoke to them. I’m sure it said 3 years on the contract, but that could be what they have changed.
The token payment plan ended some time ago and I am being chased for debts again. I have missed mortgage payments to ensure the loan is paid and it is spiralling out of control.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“The token payment plan was obviously reflecting on my credit file, they questioned it but I was honest and told them it was a token payment plan for 12 months only. Outside of the tpp, I couldn’t afford the debts”
That sounds as though the lender should have asked what was going to happen when the TPP ended – and if you couldn’t afford the debts plus the guarantor loan, then they should not have given you the loan. So I think that is worth making an affordability complaint about.
“I agreed to 3 years on my application; it said that on the form however he said it would be 5 years when I spoke to them. I’m sure it said 3 years on the contract, but that could be what they have changed.”
That sounds messy. If you applied for 3 years and the lender thought the £243 a month repayments were unaffordable, they may have suggested extending the term to 5 where the payments would reduce to £197. But this should have been explained clearly to you and you should have had time to decide if you wanted to proceed. Part of making a complaint is that you ask for a copy of all your personal information – it may be getting that data clarifies what happened.
BUT
you have bigger problems at the moment than the guarantor loan, because you have no income and a mortgage which is already in arrears!
You need urgent advice on benefits and debts. I suggest you talk to your local Citizens Advice. Or to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000.
You can describe your guarantor loan situation and say you are thinking of making an affordability complaint, but you need advice on what to do about the rest of your debts asap.
Affordability complaints take many months to sort out, they aren’t quick. And the best you can hope for is to win the complaint, have your guarantor released and have the interest removed, but you will still owe several thousand pounds on the guarantor loan.
While your affordability complaint goes through, you have to keep paying the debt or the lender will go after your guarantor. But you have no money… You need to have an honest conversation with your guarantor about this so he understands your problem.
My guarantor is unable to pay for any of the loan as his circumstances have now changed and he now has a baby.
Can you say what his circumstances were like when the loan was applied for? Now they are worse, but back in early 2019 could he really have afforded to make 60 monthly payments of £200? And still pay all his normal bills, expenses and debts? because if not, he too can make an affordability complaint and ask to be removed as the guarantor. The template letter for a guarantor is over on this page: https://debtcamel.co.uk/amigo-complaints-by-guarantor/
It may be a good idea for him too to take debt advice.
Catherine says
I know, I have been looking into IVAs DROs and allsorts and nothing is suitable! I’m stuck in a rut, but I’m going to make more effort to face it and try to get some advice no matter what it takes
Unfortunately, my home is with help to buy and selling wouldn’t help as it would be in negative equity. So I need to handle this very carefully. I am writing my complaint now and plan to send once checked tomorrow by email. Do you have any recommendations as to anything else I need to point out? I’mg to keep it strictly to affordability. The company is guarantor my loans, they won’t offer a payment holiday due to coronavirus as they are peer to peer lending and apparently this isn’t included with the new rules
Isn’t it expensive to go bankrupt? I can’t lose this house, we would be homeless. I would prefer to sort something else, anything else
Sara (Debt Camel) says
DROs you can’t have a property. IVAs you need a rock-solid income – a third of IVAs were failing even before coronavirus.
You may have to look at not nice options such as getting a lodger, selling the house, selling the car, bankruptcy etc. As soon as you can get the guarantor released the better as then the guarantor loan becomes a normal loan.you may ultimately end up with the choice between going bankrupt and trying to keep the house or going bankrupt and handing back the keys for a clean start. But there may be other options (though too many people try resist going bankrupt when they have no practical alternative and end up just delaying the inevitable by a few years.)
But for either of those need you to have got the guarantor released first… which can either be by you winning an affordability complaint or your guarantor winning an affordability complaint.
so talk to your guarantor, get your own affordability complaint in and talk to a debt adviser that can go through everything in detail.And apply for benefits. And job hunt.
What I have said is first pointers – it is not debt advice, you need someone to look at all the details with you.
GML are tiny – I have no idea how affordability complaints with them are likely to go.
But it didn’t sound to me as though you had a “coronavirus reason” to ask for a payment break? If you do, you should be starting with your mortgage lender.
Sam says
Hi Sara,
Thank you so much for this website.
I was wondering if you know whether cryptocurrency purchases fall under gambling? Should I add this point to my complaint?
Sam
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Not heard of that.
How much were you buying?
Did you have any mental health problems?
Johnny says
16 weeks into my complaint now and still no reply, they asked for 4 week extension after week 8 and still nothing, I’ve had 3 other fully settled complaints in that time. There in trouble and there delaying, another wonga in the horizon perhaps
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is this Amigo? I hope you have sent your complaint to FOS.
Johnny says
Hey Sara I gave them as much time as possible to respond but just get excuses eveytime, sent off to the ombudsman last night, yeah it was amigo, everyone else has settled for me inside the 8 week period with no problem.