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
Gemma says
Getting the run around now. Last week the complaints team said they had reviewed my complaint and I would get my final response by end of this week! So I emailed yesterday just to get an update only to receive an email today stating my complaint is still to be investigated!!! 21 weeks in back to square one yet again.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
:(
Paul says
OK guys n gals Week 20 of complaint called Amigo today – Apparently my case has now been alllocated to agent ???
I then asked how long till I wait for a response they could not answer
I then asked is the Agent that is looking into my complaint actually working ( ie not off sick etc )
They confirmed that they are working – Does anyone know the turnarount time from the date the agent picks up the complaint till the final response ? I have a funny feeling that I know need to go through a further period of time to wait ( another 8 weeks) before I get another response.
Chris says
I’m currently on an agreed 3-month payment break with Amigo and Bamboo (due to covid-19) and don’t have to resume payments until August. I’ve been planning to put in complaints to both but I’m not sure what the best timing is. Should I send them now or wait until the payment holiday is up? My worry is that they will receive the complaint and cancel the payment break, requiring me to begin paying immediately, which I can’t afford right now.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you think the loans were both unaffordable from the start and that the lenders would have realised that if they had checked properly , send in the complains now, there is never any reason to delay. Lenders CANNOT cancel your payment break because you complain.
By complaining now you will get the first couple of months payments “off” while your complaint is going through. So that will make it easier waiting for a decision on your complaint and sending it to the Ombudsman.
Chris says
Thank you for the advice. I will get the complaints sent off in the next few days. Once the complaint is with the Ombudsman, will I need to resume paying as normal until I’ve had a decision? It would obviously be a lot easier if this wasn’t the case as I could send the complaint to the Ombudsman before the payment break is up.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You don’t need to start paying as normal if you have a payment break because of coronavirus – that’s why it’s not a good idea to to delay your complaint until you are making normal payments again.
Chris says
What I mean is, if I send the complaint tomorrow and I don’t get a response within 8 weeks, I’ll then send it on to the ombudsman. Shortly after that, the payment break will end. Will I then need to start paying again or will I not need to because the complaint is now with the ombudsman? I’m sure I read this somewhere but I might be mistaken.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes you then need to start paying UNLESS you are happy for them to go after your guarantor.
If your guarantor has also put in a complaint and cancelled their DD to the lender, then the lender cannot take them go to court while a complaint is at the Ombudsman. In that situation you can stop paying and know your guarantor is safe, although they will get texts, emails etc demanding payment and possibly threatening court action.
Will says
Hi Sara
I have recently send affordability complaints to amigo, George banco & bamboo. I was not in a good financial standing at the time of the loans & top ups but on the of the occasions of the loans I took out I already had loans with one of the other companies. I today received a reply from bamboo asking for my banks statements for the previous 2 months of my loan. Surely this just proves that they did not check my finances properly before giving me the loan? What are your thoughts? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send them the statements! And also send statements from around the time of the loan (3 months before and 3 months after is best) to all the other guarantor lenders. These can really help your case that the lons were unaffordable.
You aren’t likely to get a refund just because they didn’t ask for your bank statemnts – the bank statements also have to show that the loan was unaffordable.
A.n says
Hi Sara
I have a complaint with Amigo. It has been 10 weeks.
Amigo refused me a payment break as I was not impacted by Covid but my partner was and is on 80% income. They didnt approve a break and needed evidence apparently.
A question though. If I have a complaint with Amigo, do I have to make any payments while the complaint is open. If i dont pay or my guarantor until i have an answer will they do anything?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Go back to Amigo with evidence that your partner is on 80% of income. emails, payslips whatever.
You are entitled to a payment break if your HOUSEHOLD finances have been affected.
If you don’t have a payment break arranged and you stop paying, they will go after your guarantor. What is your guarantor’s financial position?
A.n says
My guarantor cannot pay. I am hoping my complaint is resolved asap.
Gemma says
Hi Sara I emailed my investigator this morning after that appalling email from amigo to see if there was any update with her as i downloaded my SAR just over a couple of weeks ago to give the information she needed to start looking into my case and this was the email I just got
Thanks for your email.
We’ve contacted Amigo to request the information relating to your complaint and received an acknowledgement a few weeks ago telling us they’d send this to us the relevant information as soon as they can.
We’ve also had some bulk offers made from Amigo relating to other case, so i’m unable to say if your case is being looked at in regards for an offer to be made by Amigo.
We will be chasing information from them again soon.
So I’m in so limbo now with everything this is a never ending?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Amigo have said today in a stock exchange announcement https://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail/AMGO/14554886.html that:
“Amigo is committed to managing complaints raised by customers in accordance with regulatory requirements. We have significantly increased our staffing and recently agreed a Voluntary Requirement with the FCA to work through and reach a decision, before the end of June 2020, on a backlog of complaints which have arisen principally in 2020. Each complaint will be assessed on a case by case basis to ensure fair outcomes for our customers.”
This explains the good settlement offers some people have been receiving from Amigo in the last few weeks.
Fingers crossed more of you will get one soon!
Emma says
Oh this looks promises Sara. I asked for an update (week 17 now) and asked specifically for them to tell me if my complaint had been assigned and if they had sent the requested info to the FOS who have prioritised my case. I said please don’t send me the generic response you sent the last two times….. guess what I got…generic response. Living in hope that I’ll get an answer soon to end this living nightmare.
Ben B says
Hello Sarah,
Do you think this includes complaints they’ve already not upheld but are waiting to be assigned an adjucator at FOS?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am guessing that it does!
Abigail says
Hi Sara,
I am awaiting a final decision from the financial ombudsman as Amigo have not responded to the adjudicators decision.
I wondered whilst I am waiting, if the ombudsman does uphold the complaint what I could potentially be entitled to.
Here goes:
Loan 1 – £2000 (24 month term)
7 payments – £123.63
Loan 2 (TOP UP) – £4250 (60 month term)
Settlement of loan 1 – £1722.43
Payout – £2527.57
8 payments – £167.98
Loan 3 (TOP UP) – £5000 (60 month term)
Settlement of loan 2 – £4158.72
Payout – £841.28
23 payments – £197.62
1 payment – £4316.99 (paid off by my partner due to the money issues the £197 a month was causing me)
If you are able to give me a rough estimate that would be great. The adjudicator did advise all interest plus 8% on overpaid interest.
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
(Second attempt as I didn’t spot the settlement on the last loan the first time!)
The interest paid on each loan looks like roughly :
loan 1 £584
loan 2 £1245
loan 3 £3862
total interest paid to be refunded c. £5691
How long ago was the settlement of the last loan?
Abigail says
Thank you,
Settled it on 30th October via card payment.
Thank you
Rosie says
Good morning Sara,
Google showed me this and wondered if you seen it.
https://www.ft.com/content/3093f813-6e0d-4a1a-9549-56386729619d
Kind regards
Rosie
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, the board / major shareholder war continues. One interesting fact us that they have more than £100million in the bank, so no sign they are about to run out if money!
Rosie says
That’s very reassuring and they say they’re aiming to get rid of the backlog by end of june which will be amazing for everyone, including myself.
Abigail says
Do you know how they’d work out the 8%, is it on total interest paid?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, but Amigo only start the calculation from the point you don’t owe them any money. My guess is it might be about £400 on your figures.
Luucy says
Hi Sara
Just a quick question really. So I’ve emailed Avant Credit and Amigo making affordability complaints to both for each loan taken out with them..£3000 each ! This was in August 2018 so still paying about £130 each with another 2 years to go !!
I was on a DMP through Stepchange and have collated my bank statements at the time showing this . As was only 1 loan each and I’ve never topped up, what do you think my chances are ?
Thankyou again and again !
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s not like payday loans with these large bad credit loans – you can win one loan cases against both of them. Being in a DMP suggests it would be hard to afford the loan repayments. Did you send the bank statements from around the time of the application to both lenders with your complaint?
Lucy says
Yes Sara I did. 3 months worth before I took the loans out.
Ann Plummer says
Hi I put my claim in on 29th jan keep being told they have a lot of claims a jernerick email it’s been 17wks now not sure weather to wait or go to FOS I have also asked for another month payment freeze due to covid as my salary has dropped by £500a month hopefully they will agree just getting me down now.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you should send that to FOS – Amigo has had long enough to reply.
Ann says
Thank you Sara I have now done this and emailed amigo to let them know they said I could only have the 2 months payment freeze due to covid so I will struggle on in hope.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you asked them why you cannot have three months?
Beth says
RESULT!!!
Just wanted to send an update on my claim with Amigo, I have about 30 minutes ago received an email from them confirming they agree with FOS and have refunded interest on both my loans, which pays of my second loan balance and gives me a cash sum of £3814.84.
For those of you still waiting for a response, my complaint was first sent to Amigo on 06/11/19, No response from Amigo, so sent to FOS on 02/01/20, Response from Amigo on 2nd February rejecting my claim. FOS adjudicator picked up on 02/05/20, final response in my favour 21/05/20 Final response from Amigo confirming redress figures 28/05/20.
Hang on in there and don’t give up! You will get the results you are hoping for.
I know many people have said this, but if it hadn’t been for finding this site when I first received the WageDay Advance email, I never would have known it was possible to get out of this terrible financial mess. Massive thank you to Sara for her hard work and dedication, and I know it would drive me nuts if I had to answer the same questions over and over, but she deals with all of us as an individual and is an inspiration.
Luucy says
Congratulations Beth and yes Sara you’re just fantastic and have helped so many of us !
It’s been such a weight off knowing that I’m not the only one !
Carole says
Hi All, just to let people know of time scales. I sent my complaint to Amigo 21st March, no final decision By 8 weeks but I called almost every day since the 8 weeks past and today I was just informed someone was investigating it yesterday for a lengthy time now. So that’s week 10 they actually are starting to investigate it now.
Aiyesha says
Hey Carole,
That’s fab!, I am exactly same stage, sent Sat 21st, they acknowledged receipt as Mon 23rd (Every day counts to them evidently), I got a response today…usual copy and pasted generic blah blah, basically ‘we’ve done bugger all yet’ response…I havn’t called them everyday though so that may have swung it for you Lol!
It’s good news re the June aspect, waited 10, another 4 will be tolerable so long as they finalise before my Covid break is up, then I’ll hassle them 5 times a day before my payment becomes due in July!!..so I have a plan LOL
Let us know how you get on, it will be amazing if they stop automatically placing everyone on the conveyor belt to the FOS and uphold from the outset!
Fingers crossed for you!
x
Carole says
Hi Aiyesha,
I’m in exactly the same position (date wise and payment holiday)as you so it would be very interesting to see how long apart they take to deliver the outcomes to us. Keep in touch and I’ll do the same. 👍. Good luck!
andrew says
hi sara i hope you can help with this one,
i see a lot of people talking about 8% interest being paid back. i am wondering what that is in relation to?
here is a quote from the adjudicator regarding my case
To settle Mr McKenzie’s complaint Amigo should do the following:
• refund all the interest and charges (if any) that Mr McKenzie paid on all the loans he had with Amigo
• If Mr McKenzie is still repaying the loan, Amigo should reduce the amount he owes on the loan by the refund amount (above) and no future interest should be applied to it. If the total he has paid in interest and charges is more than the amount owed, this amount should be refunded to him.
is this different to what others are hearing back?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You should have some 8% statutory interest added – check with your adjudicator who will clarify this. This may not be a lot. If you can give some numbers I can say?
Stacey says
Good news Beth well done!!
I am into 17 weeks now so I am praying it is soon.
Just keep getting the generic emails though nothing promising . Sent to fos but they have a backlog too so I am also waiting to hear from them also to guess its just a waiting game
Thanks again sara for all you do this has been a big help for so so many
Needed a bit of help in working out what i woild roughly be looking at getting
4th june 2015
£4000 pay out
Paid £2927 back in cash
Top up £6750
Settlement of old agreement £3136.36 – i take it this was interest on the £4000
Paid out was only £3613.64
Paid £2667.90 in cash myself back on this
Topup 3 -£10000
Settlement of old agreement £6698.26
Paid out only £3301.74
Paid back £9486 back so far in cash
If its upheld whst roughly would i be looking at
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The interest paid on each loan looks like roughly (remember you may have typed in numbers wrong or I may have, this is just a guess)
loan 1 – £2109
loan 2 – £2616
loan 3 – no interest paid so far, still £514 to pay until the amount borrowed has been repaid
So if they are all upheld, your should get an refund of interest of about £4211.
L1991 says
Hello, has anyone had much luck with TFS loans? I had two at the same time one amigo one TFS. I have complaints in with both, amigo at 12 week mark and TFS 4 weeks in. Seen lots on Amigo so not holding my breath for a reply soon but TFS not so much on them? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you sent the Amigo one to the Ombudsman?
TFS – most complaints seem to have to go to FOS, but here is one recent one where TFS refunded the borrower directly: https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/comment-page-191/#comment-363049
L1991 says
Ah brilliant thank you. Yes submitted to FOS, I did mine via resolver before stumbling across this site but for some reason it made me wait for 11 weeks before escalating. It went last week. Thank you for all your support on this site.
Rebecca says
TFS wrote to me so make sure they have your correct address. I had one loan with them for 5k, never topped up. They paid me out within 2 weeks of me accepting. I still haven’t heard back from amigo and it’s been 12 weeks. Good luck
L1991 says
Thank you that’s great. How long did it take for TFS to reply to your complaint from submission?
Rebecca says
It was around 6, I didn’t need to chase them just received a letter in the post. Hope yours is the same
L says
Hi Sara
My mum is at 8 weeks today and received this from amigo today
“I am sorry to say that we have not yet been able to issue a response to your complaint. We are presently experiencing a large number of customer enquiries and the Covid-19 crisis has impacted our ability to respond as quickly as we would like. I am sorry about this delay, but want to assure you that we have not forgotten about your concerns and we will be issuing a full response as soon as we can.
As you may be aware, now that eight weeks have passed since you referred your complaint to us, you do now have the option to refer your complaint directly to the Financial Ombudsman Service without waiting for our final response to your case. Their details are set out below. But please rest assured that we will progress your case as soon as we can and once you have seen and considered our full response you will still have the opportunity to refer your case on to the Ombudsman if you remain dissatisfied.”
Does she hold off or go ahead and send to FOS?
Thanks
L
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If your mum is currently struggling with repaying an Amigo loan, I would send it to FOS now.
L says
Thank you
What would happen if she sends it to FOS but then amigo send her offer that she would be happy with? Will it be affected if it’s already been sent to FOS?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
She just tells FOS what the offer is and that she wants to withdraw her complaint.
Amigo carries on looking at complaints even after they have been sent to FOS.
Karl says
Currently on week 19 with amigo (sent to FOS at 8 weeks) still nothing from amigo since week 12 I’ve rang once a week and each week told will get a response by the end of the week (obviously there weeks are longer than 7 days haha) if you have complained and get to 8 weeks don’t hesitate send straight to FOS and get in line straight away!
Ann says
Hi
I am at week 18 with Amigo and like most people getting no response. Sent to FOS 6 weeks ago.
Roughly how long is it taking for FOS to pick these up, I just received an email to say they are busy and cannot look at it yet.
Fed up chasing Amigo, told them it was causing me anxiety and all I got was an email asking loads of questions about medication I am on and what treatment I am getting, I never told them I was on any medication at all just said it made me anxious., but they still have not responded to my complaint.
ilias says
Hello, Sara,
I had a 5000 loan with Amigo on September 2015 for 256GBP per month and I top up for 10000 on August 2018 in total so 6000 more for 395GBP .
I did a complain following your guidance to Amigo Loans for irresponsible lending. My guarantor also did a complain as well.
I was student and working as a taxi driver. So I told them my income and my expenses and they were ok even though my disposal income not including the new loan was 530 GBP. For the top up for 395GBP per month they didn’t ask me for any proof or anything. In that point I was contractor for an automotive company through ltd but even though they were passing more money through my account I had more expenses for my business and the related commitments.
Regarding the complain I gave them the 8 weeks they responded within the limit to tell me that they need more time and they rejected my complain 12 weeks after. They were saying they did a very good check and at the moment I could afford. I tried to explain them the points that they were wrong but they were answering me like robots with automated answers. So 2 weeks ago I sent a complain to FOB. I didn’t receive anything yet. I will keep you updated. Finger’s crossed
Danny Walton says
Hello
17/05/2020 I submitted my affordability complaint
19/05/2020 Email confirmation from amigo
26/05/2020 2nd email stating they were investigating my complaint & processing my SAR
29/05/2020 txt message stating delay processing SAR request sorry for the delay due to covid-19
So hopefully
Mb018538 says
Be prepared for potentially a very long wait!
I submitted mine 22nd January…over 18 weeks ago. Nothing back at all. If you get to week 8, send to the FOS immediately. Don’t delay. Good luck!
Stacey says
So I complained to trust two /everyday loans on Feb 12,2020.they just gave me a final response not upholding my compliant saying there was no ccj on my credit report so they didnt ask about one. So they did their checks. I had already sent to FOS by week 8. I kindly responded to trust two that I had ccj registered from 2016 on my credit report which sits there for 6 years so either they didn’t check my report or lied they did. The loan was from 2018, I also asked if they wanted my bank statements at the time to which they said no. They’ll just check the guarantor. So I’m happy to continue to wait for the fos to pick up the case and get back to me in due course.
Jay says
Hello
Took out Amigo loan in August 2018 for £4000. Top up loan taken in November 2018 for an extra £100. (£5000 total).
When I applied the guy was super horrible on the phone and I felt really belittled by his attitude. I have had a very rocky credit file for the last few years. Loads of defaults and missed payments. My credit score was below the 100 the few months before I applied. When I applied for the first loan I was self-employed at £1000 a month. Been paying just under £200 a month. I sent a complaint yesterday so now the waiting game. Thanks for the website its been helpful so far :)
Emma says
I can vouch for their rudeness Jay. Some staff have been utterly vile to me in the past few years. My dad is my guarantor and he was so disgusted by the way they spoke to him when I applied he urged me to reconsider. Wish I had :(
One guy reduced me to tears after I’d been late with a payment and was trying to come to an arrangement, really quite threatening. My affordability complaint is now at 15 weeks, hoping for good news eventually. Good luck with yours, hope it goes your way :)
Kyle says
I sent an affordability complaint to Amigo loans on January 2nd 2020. They asked for 8 weeks, I did so. They replied a week after the 8 weeks to ask for another 8 weeks, I waited. They then asked for another 4 weeks. Then I left it in light of everything happening, then emailed because I was going through more hardship during this time. They said they are still looking into it and sorry for inconvenience. It is now 5 months since, I have just submitted my complaint to the Obunsdmen because I think they are using this covid to their advantage to not pay people the compensation. I told them in the email I understand to wait longer because of everything but 5 months is taking the mick.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I agree with you. 5 months is shocking.
Do you still owe them money at the moment? what are your finances like?
Kyle says
I don’t owe them any money luckily, but because of their huge interest rates and such it got me into a spiral of pay day loans and credit cards. I’m now -£1500 on one credit card and -£450 on the other. Just had to take out another loan, oh and I’m homeless and have been for 3 years thanks to the spiral they got me in. So atm, luckily I still have a job, and staying at mates house until this is all blown over, but back in the tent when it is all over. I felt like maybe the compensation from them could help me get back on my feet ya know. Atm I can live luckily, but still a struggle. Amigo loans have done so much damage to me it’s unreal. I hope they reply soon and tell me they will pay me, but for now I feel like they are fobbing me off and using covid as an excuse. Or until they go into administration, then everyone would be screwed. I feel like they are biding as much time as they can. I’ve told them all this, they gave me a phone number to a homeless shelter thing and apologised. Still didn’t make them rely with a final decision. It would be a massive blow if after all this time and emotions they said no.
C says
Hi Sara
An adjudicator has picked up my complaint against GML. If my complaint was upheld in full can you give me an idea of total value please?
Borrowed £5000 and made 22 payments of £195.35.
Then topped up to £7250 and received £3100.21. To date I have made 23 payments of £283.26.
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I make the interest paid on the first loan is approx £3440 (remember you may have typed in numbers wrong or I may have, this is just a guess).
No interest paid so far on the second loan, still £3041to pay until the amount borrowed has been repaid.
So if both loans are decided to be unaffordable, the interest on the first one will repay the reduced balance on the second and you would get a refund of about £400.
J says
Hi sara
I have been awarded this but I believe the 8% is way too low , what do you think? I started the loan in May 2015 and had three top ups during time.
Interest paid to be refunded – £14,063.99
Fees paid to be refunded – £300
8% statutory interest awarded – £21.95
20% tax already deducted from 8% award – £5.49
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That does look low. Who is the lender?
Can you say for each of the 4 loans:
– what you borrowed
– what the cash pay out was for the top-up loans
– what cash payments you made to each loan (eg 5 monthly payments of £121).
Amanda says
Hi,
Can I ask do you had complained to TFS or did they just write to you theirselves?
I have had a complaint with TFS since the beginning of the year and I am just going back and forth with them. I’m at the stage they offered compensation, but I want the loan wiped as I submitted irresponsible lending complaint.
Thanks very much
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Amanda,
how much did you borrow from TFS and how much have you paid to the loan so far? Normally if you win an irresponsible lending complaint interest is removed from the loan, so it is only wiped if you have already repaid more than you borrowed.
Have you sent your complaint ot the Ombudsman?
Rebecca says
Hello, I put an affordability complaint in, sent them my bank statements and then they wrote to me to say they agree that if they saw my bank statements they wouldn’t have given me the loan so refunded me all the interest. When I took the loan out it was for consolidation so they ended up paying off a few payday loans and credit cards directly but with the amount of gambling on my statements I think this was the reason why they agreed to refund all the interest in the end.
L1991 says
I submitted via Resolver and they’ve been good at replying so far. I had to send them a bank statement for proof of income as I was missing one payslip and the bank statement I sent shown 4 bounced direct debits! They still loaned me the money. Still waiting on an outcome. Out of interest Sara- I borrowed £7500, paid 27 x £234.55 then borrowed money off family to settle the loan which cost £2818.60. If successful how much would I expect back? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You borrowed 7500 and have repaid 25 x 234 = 5850 plus another 2818. So you paid 8668 in total that is £1168 interest to be refunded.
how long ago was the loan settled?
L1991 says
Hi Sara, it was settled April 2019. Does the early settlement affect things?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes. it means you will get about £90 worth of 8% interest added on :)
Andy B says
I spoke to a very helpful agent at Amigo yesterday – (I’m testing the potential for civil litigation against them as an adjunct to my FOS complaint – it’s pricked their ears up, they have until Monday for MCOL for recovery of statutory costs owed to me for additional cost of lending, emails etc…) and the agent claimed they have been given a target by the FCA of clearly all overdue complaints by the end of June 2020. I wonder if the FCA have been minded to take action against them.
I did get clarification on a few points I’ve picked up over the last few weeks:
– There are no ‘new’ staff, it appears as if staff that usually handle new loans have been redeployed to complaints handling, no comment on whether this is connected to the retraction of new lending at the moment;
– There are ‘some’ staff at Bournemouth office for the collection of post, and documents served to the head office are being actioined as-per;
– The process seems quite unclear, I got the impression that the staff aren’t entirely sure in which order cases are being handled/settled;
– Staff are working 7 days a week to clear complaints and additional daily hours.
Purely my conjecture, I wonder if the FCA have issued a provisional notice of revocation stayed until the end of June as a last resort?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
they have until Monday for MCOL for recovery of statutory costs owed to me for additional cost of lending, emails etc…
are you saying you will lodge a Claim on Monday or they have until Monday to enter a defence?
Andy B says
I’ve told them I’ll commence Monday which I’m quite prepared to do. It’s a few hundred pounds and it could potentially cost me money but I’m intrigued if there is a case for it.
They refused to acknowledge an LBA, I think – they think I’m bluffing.
I just want my claim settled, they are far without the expectations they accepted when they took their credit licence, it is not acceptable for them to cry foul and point squarely at their lending terms when payments are late or missed but disregard wholesale their obligations of contract on the grounds of being ‘busy’.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, well I am not a solicitor and I am not going to give you advice on how to handle a court case.
There are very good reasons why people prefer to go to FOS. I will say a few things for you to bear in mind:
– you need to be VERY careful if you want to progress both a court case and a FOS claim. If you lose a court case, FOS will normally refuse to look at a similar complaint. If you are trying to split your case in two and have part go through the court and part through FOS, I have no idea why you would want to to do that and it could come unstuck if you win the court case and FOS closes your complaint. I think you need legal advice before you attempt to do this.
– if you are trying to get a refund of interest through the court, have you taken advice on how to ask for this? what legislation do you intend to mention? I have not seen a case like this. Again I suggest you need legal advice, including on whether there are any circumstances in which you would have to pay Amigo’s legal costs.
– you mentioned an FLM loan. It is possible you could get this refunded through FOS but a court would be extremely likely to dismiss it because of the Statute of Limitations.
– county court cases were slow even before Coronavirus. By now I would expect there to be quite a backlog but I have no data on this.
Andy B says
Hi Sara,
It’s taken on board, however this is adjunct to the FOS claim, it’s not related to affordability and there’s no way they should be conflated.
I have approached the FOS for affordability, I am considering civil litigation for something else totally unrelated to affordability.
I need to be a touch careful what I say here, so forgive my brevity.
Hopefully they’ll respond over the next day or so and the whole point will be moot.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Good luck but I repeat my suggestion to take legal advice.
Andy B says
Thanks Sara,
I do appreciate your concern.
Fortunately legal advice is something I ‘have to hand’ so to speak.
I’ve been very careful with my words with Amigo.
Again, I can’t predict what will happen. I would just like them to accept my very reasonable offer for write-down of the loan (it’s in its autumn stage) and 50% interest returned to me for all loans painlessly without recourse to the FOS.
Andy B says
Turns out I had had the right ‘spider sense’ tingling feeling when I was talking to the Amigo representative regarding them about to get a knock on the door from the FCA.
I think they know their days are numbered, and the staff probably feel like they’re re-arranging the deckchairs on the titanic. I think they *know* massive issues are about to be uncovered and hence they suspended the majority of lending to avoid digging that figurative hole any deeper….
michael says
Hello everyone.
Just looking to see if anyone else has this issue….
I have been on redused payments for the last few months with amigo and I am paying £150 a month till the end of june and my normal payment is £427 a month.
Now I was told that with the agreement of temporary reduced payments during covid 19 there was to be no intrest added. I have just looked at my account and it now shows that the payments that were missed/redused will now be added to the end of your contract there by extending your contract but my problem is that they are adding the full months amount to the end of contract not the amount that was due to be paid. I should only have £277 added to the end for each month of redused payments not the full £427. Has anyone else got this on there account? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It sounds like an error on Amigo’s part – phone them up and complain.
Maria says
Hi Sara I have just checked my Amigo account and it shows this message in respect of the 3 month breathing space:
“What are deferred payments?
Arrears that have occurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic (due to us allowing the contractual repayments to be deferred for 3 months), are called ‘deferred payment arrears’.
We’re required to send you notices about these from time to time, however it’s important you understand they have not negatively impacted your credit file and you will not be expected to clear these immediately. Instead, we’ll simply extend the loan term to allow any ‘deferred payment arrears’ to be cleared by continuing to make the normal monthly repayments.”
Is this correct
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It probably is. Sending out notices of “arrears” will be deeply embedded in Amigo’s systems and hard to “switch off”. So they are basically telling you that the arrears notices don’t matter and your credit record will not show as in arrears.
Davy Crockett says
Hi. I sent my complaint to Amigo 27th January (so 18 weeks tomorrow) Sent to FOS at week 8, so I’m in their queue.
Strange thing is, I’ve not heard anything at all from amigo since the 8 week mark. I got the generic email asking for 4 more weeks but haven’t had anything else. I emailed them at week 15 to ask for an update but didn’t even get a generic response.
Is it worth giving them a call tomorrow, or am I wasting mine and their time?
Karl says
You will prob all get the same pointless response most of us are getting from them! We have a big back log, we look at them in date order and we are trying our best to get through them. Oh and not forgetting the I understand your frustration haha!
Stevan says
Does anyone know if people are still winning cases against amigo through the FOS or direct with them.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
All the recent wins are EITHER from FOS OR where Amigo has picked up a case already at FOS and settled it.
Not (so far as I remember) from Amigo direct.
Dean says
Hi Dave, I’m exactly the same dates as you 27th jan after 8 weeks sent straight to FOS.
Same with amigo no interest for 3 months haven’t heard a peep.
I’m just hoping it’s a good thing and I check the amigo app everyday for it to say settled 🙏🏻🤞
Good luck with your case.
David says
Im on week 10 now i filled form in for FOS at week 8 as seems amigo are delaying people for some odd reason they gave me a huge loan even though i have bad gambling problem only earn 177pw in my pt job clearly wish they did there job properly and do the checks before throwing money at people who are already in bad way. I even asked them as nice as possible not to inform the garantor odd months where i would struggle to keep up payments as the garantor would send me violent threats if i miss payments and they would still tell him i have missed them just to cause me more trouble i would have to find the money or borrow it off other people to keep up with payments to stop threats amigo dont care they just want your money
Cally says
Please may someone help . I took out a loan for £5,000 £197.00 a month over 5 years finally paid it back in January this year. At the time I was working part time and had loans out before Amigo , I only earned £700 a month I was behind on council tax and other bills just to pay Amigo loans, . I defaulted quite a few times over the years . Would it be worth trying to reclaim for irresponsible lending also if my case was won roughly how much do you think I would get back . Many. Thanks 😊
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That sounds like a strong complaint – that is a very low income to have to repay a large loan from.
If you had made all the payments on time, you would have paid £11,820, which would be a refund of £6,820.
But if some payments were late you will have been charged more interest and possible fees. Which you would also get back.
Did you make all the payments or did your guarantor have to pay any?
Also when was your last payment?
Antony says
Just had a look on my amigo app, looking at my balance as another 400 pound comes out of my bank and I have noticed the yellow bar saying you can’t top up at the moment has disappeared. Just wondered if it was the same for everyone or is it a sign I might get a decision. Here’s to wishful thinking
Andrea says
Sorry same for everyone, as soon as they have a complaint registered that “ you can borrow more” disappears.
Antony says
I put my complaint in on the 27th Jan and it’s only just gone off in the last week. Maybe it was missed or something. Here’s to living in hope they are actually looking into it
Kev says
Hi has anyone had a complaint upheld successfully with Amigo, with gambling transactions on their bank statements? I had a severe gambling problem throughout the whole time I was lending from Amigo.. spending a good potion of my wage each month on gambling, I was also lending off a lot of other lenders the whole time I was borrowing from amigo. I’m just wondering if they will claim I was the irresponsible one for getting the loans rather than them being the irresponsible ones for lending to me. I had a good wage the whole time I was lending from them but most of my wage was going on gambling and other lenders I owed the money to. I also defaulted on a lot of my other debts I had at the time, but this was mainly due to my gambling rather than paying Amigo back each month. I just feel like Amigo never done enough checks on my credit score at the time as it would have been terrible, also they never asked to see my bank statement as they would have seen me gambling so much and realised these loans were used for gambling also. I’m now on week 9 of my complaint and it is now with the FOS. I’m just wondering if I’ve got a good chance of winning my complaint, as the longer it’s taking the more I’m worrying it will be rejected. Thanks in advance for any help
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi has anyone had a complaint upheld successfully with Amigo, with gambling transactions on their bank statements?
yes! So far as I know, in the last year everyone with a lot of gambling showing on their bank statements has had their complaint upheld.
I’m just wondering if they will claim I was the irresponsible one for getting the loans rather than them being the irresponsible ones for lending to me.
Amigo has to check if you could afford the loans. You may have had a good income, but if you had a lot of defaults, that should have suggested Amigo needed to look closely. And if you applied for top-ups, why did you need more money? had your financial position got worse?
the longer it’s taking the more I’m worrying it will be rejected.
it’s common to be worried about this but Amigo is being slow responding to EVERYONE. Your complaint isn’t sitting in a pile marked “reject” or “difficult” – no-one has yet looked at it.
Kev says
Thanks for the quick reply. Yes my situation got worse and worse as the years went on, a lot more debt piling up, including 4/5 top ups from amigo and lending off numerous other lenders. They would just top my loan up with hardly any questions asked, I keep getting the same email from them saying it is waiting to be looked into, but it’s now been with the FOS for a week now so hopefully someone picks it up from there and they can help me win my claim. Thankfully my debt is all cleared now and I haven’t gambled for months, I just feel I’m entitled to some money back from amigo as they had a massive part to play in me getting in the financial mess I was in. Thanks so much for the reply.
EM says
Spoke to a lovely gentleman at Amigo today. He couldn’t give me any real information other than to confirm the FOS had sent them a request for information. However, he was the first member of staff that spoke to me like I was a human and not dirt. Week 18 for me. No response and FOS prioritised my complaint. Hoping they just send the stuff to them so they can deal with it
Samantha says
Hi Sara I was just wondering if u could tell me roughly how much I could get back I’m at week 20 with my complaint with amigo sent to fos at week 8 but herd nothing
Loan1 £3000 recieved
Made 4 payments of £197.62
Top up £7750
Paid of old loan £5132.89
Recieved £2617.11
Paying £306.32 a month I have made 12 payments on it so far think I’ve got the figures right
Sara (Debt Camel) says
On those figues I make it (and one of us may have typed in the numbers wrongly)
loans 1 – paid £2921 in interest.
loans 2 – paid £3672 so far, so another £4078 needs to be paid before you have repaid what you borrowed.
So if both loans are decided to be unaffordable, the refund from the first will be used to clear more of the current loan, leaving you still owing a balance of £1157.
You can then repay that at an affordable rate.
Anthony says
Hi Sara,
I am thinking of raising an affordability complaint. When I took this loan I was a student and they used my student loan as a bonus as I was working part time. The loan is fully paid back, I finished it in February this year, and it was for £4,000 at 158.10 a month for 60 mons. I see that in most cases people get 8% interest. I cannot work out how much this would be in my case. Could you help?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you have paid c, £5,480 in interest.
So very roughly you stopped paying back what you borrowed 34 months ago before you settled it. From that point on you get 8% interest on the payments you make which were accumulating, so not much interest at the start. That is equivalent to 17 months of interest at 8% on £5480. Plus another 3 months after the loan was settled. So that’s about £730.
Amigo has a more complicated way to work this out but if their figure comes to much less than that, ask them to explain how they did it.
VH says
Second deadline today for Amigo to meet the FOS recommendations to refund the interest and 8% of the loans I had with them.
I called today and was told that would hear by end of day, it’s nearly the end of day And I’ve not heard from Amigo or FOS investigator. It’s nail biting to day the least. If they don’t respond then it will be escalated to Ombudsman.
I hope I hear today, keep you posted.
For those wondering this has been since October 2019. Waited til FOS investigate Jan 2020. It’s been a long tome.
andrew mckenzie says
Hope you hear soon. My first deadline is today. There have been a couple of people on here that have heard back before the deadline, I was hoping to be one of them
C says
To all those waiting for a response from Amigo hold in there! I put a complaint in December 19 this was not upheld by Amigo and they said they would not look at loans older than 6 months. Complaint picked up by adjudicator in March 19 who agreed to look at loans older than 6 years. After requesting the files from Amigo on 3 occasions, they eventually replied to the Adjudicator upholding all loans… 5 days later refund was in my account of nearly 16K! Hold on in there guys… there is a light at the end of the tunnel!
Liam says
Has anyone else had similar situation like I have with Amigo.
So my last top up was last May and was for a period of 60 months in the agreement. Have been totally ignored by amigo for the last couple of weeks I am on week 11 so am not expecting anything from them anytime soon but I have sent my case to the FOS. But strangely logged onto my account today to make sure the payments were on hold due to COVID 19 and it now shows I only have 25 payments left. But I have only made 12 payments over the last year!?!?!?
Confused to say the least have emailed but will probably be ignored.
Was just wondering if anyone else had anything similar in their dealings with Amigo.
Nick says
Hi Sara,
Quick question please. My Garantor was paying some of my monthly payments (because I was missing them) for Amigo and told me the emails they were sending my Garantor were getting quite serious. I am currently waiting on an affordability complaint and have sent to FOS but my Garantor informed me this morning that they have switched the payments to come out of my Garantor’s bank account instead of mine. Will this have any affect on my affordability complaint do you know please? Can my Garantor have the payments switched back? Sorry, this is all the info I have at present.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
my Garantor informed me this morning that they have switched the payments to come out of my Garantor’s bank account instead of mine
was this Amigo’s decision or your gaurantor’s?
Will this have any affect on my affordability complaint do you know please?
I don’t think this is at all relevant for your complaint.
Can my Garantor have the payments switched back?
Are you worried that you will be asked to pay which you cannot afford? Or that your guarantor is being asked pay which you don’t want?
Can your guarantor afford these payments?
Nick says
According to my Garantor it was Amigo that made the decision.. I do not want my Garantor making these payments as it is my responsibilty and I can make the payments moving forward.. I missed 3 or 4 months and I think they have sent some emails to my Garantor putting pressure on.
Apologies, until I speak to my Garantor properly I don’t have the full picture.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then you should go back to Amigo and say you are now able to make the next few payments and you do not want your guarantor to be asked for them.
VH says
Sara
Please could you advise. My complaint with Amigo upheld by FOS investigator, they had been given 2 deadlines to meet, 25 May and 1st June, they did not respond, spoke to Amigo yesterday and they said I would hear hope by end of the day.
I have been in contact with the FOS investigator and as they not heard from amigo they have now escalated to Ombudsman for final decision. Do you Know if these outcomes are successful. Not sure I can handle the stress seems it’s going to Be more time waiting.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
At the moment Amigo seem to be accepting most decisions late while they are in the ombudsman queue. But those that do go to an ombudsman decision seem to be agreeing with the adjudicator decision. Across all FOS cases, that happens 90% of the time.
If your FOS adjudicator case was given priority then you can ask for the ombudsman decision to also be prioritised.
VH says
Thank you Sara
For information do you know if Amigo would act of the investigators decision still, or now it’s escalated do they wait for the Final Ombudsman decision.
Seeing these outcomes are published would this speed up Amigos response to prevent this.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Amigo have been accepting some adjudicator decisions.
Last week they said as part of an update to shareholders:
We have significantly increased our staffing and recently agreed a Voluntary Requirement with the FCA to work through and reach a decision, before the end of June 2020, on a backlog of complaints which have arisen principally in 2020. Each complaint will be assessed on a case by case basis to ensure fair outcomes for our customers.
So I would hope your complaint will be one of those they reassess.
If you look at the new comments posted today, a couple of people have just had an email from amigo settling their complaints.
VH says
Thank you, I’m hoping I will hear soon.
The investigator at FOS been amazing but now she has escalated as I said to the ombudsman as amigo did not Reply in time frame given to reply and refund me, that’s what I’m
Finding unnerving but Fingers crossed won’t be long.
Jenny says
Thank you soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much to this page. I didn’t even know I could make a claim until one day I came across the comments after searching for more information about Amigo. I complained in December 2019 and then escalated to the Financial ombudsmen after 11 weeks as I hadn’t heard back from Amigo. In March they sent me a letter to say that they do not uphold my complaint as I was in a position to pay (wasn’t really true but I was desperate!) and also showed the figures to my credit rating when I took the loans out, well into the three hundreds (?)which its never been!
I have just received an email this morning to say I am to be refunded £15,412.21
£10.482 will repay the loan i have with them off and the rest will be refunded to be within the next seven days!
I couldn’t believe what I was reading so I called them to confirm what the email said so I could be sure!
If it want for SAra I would never have even thought about making a complaint. I am still in shock and can also say that it couldn’t have come at a better time fro my family and I. Please persevere with this company and don’t give up if they deny you the first time!
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!
Ben says
Amigo just sent me an email, 3 months after declining my complain saying they have now upheld and it has not even been assigned it FOS yet.
Thanks very much Sara for all that you do, really appreciate it!! i can now enjoy some rest and peace.
Craig says
When did you submit your claim and did you send it to fos?
Ben says
I submitted my claim and December and sent to FOS in March. However FOS still haven’t picked it up. Amigo themselves randomly sent me an email overturning the previous decision this morning stating they went back over the case and are now upholding it
Brandon C says
Hi just wondering if anyone has rough estimate on the FOS time.scales at moment my guarantor raised her complaint with FOS 29TH Feb haven’t heard anything since apart from could be up to 6 months it’s been 3 months now and don’t know if it’s been assigned as of yet
Amigo admitted that the loan was irresponsibily lent to myself but with my guarantor making the over payment on the loan from her card with me paying her every month she had to raise the complaint to win back her money she had paid as there was £88 left from the amount of payments I had made on loan of £7500
25 payments £296.44
13 guarantor payments £296.44
I was told by FOS on my complaint that the guarantor had to complain to get the refund but thought it would of been sorted by now as the adjucator had said to me it would be simple as they had al the case file from my complaint
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This case is unusual and I don’t think what is happening to other people will help you.
But Amigo said last week to shareholders that:
We have significantly increased our staffing and recently agreed a Voluntary Requirement with the FCA to work through and reach a decision, before the end of June 2020, on a backlog of complaints which have arisen principally in 2020. Each complaint will be assessed on a case by case basis to ensure fair outcomes for our customers.
So I hope that will include your guarantor’s complaint.
Jamil says
@Andy B — somewhere on this thread, or possibly elsewhere on the site going back several months, I predicted the demise of Amigo and their business.
They have been engaged in a totally unethical business model and ‘lending’ to some of the most vulnerable people, myself included, on a very spurious basis and not adhering to any semblance of responsible lending.
To not check bank statements and the affordability of a borrower to give a true snapshot of the reality of their financial circumstances, and to lend simply on the basis that a guarantor shall meet the obligation if the borrower does not, is a disgrace.
It seems that the right outcome will be the demise of Amigo, at least in its current form. Also to add to this, it is diabolical that borrowers and guarantors face nearly 50% interest.
For all these reasons it is no surprise that the original founder of Amigo has been so scathing about them and a legal case is unfolding and also that the Financial Conduct Authority have now announced an investigation into Amigo’s business practices due to the sheer scale of complaints, in my humble opinion it is not a question of if not but rather when the implosion happens.
A.n says
Hi Sara
If a complaint is upheld what happens if the guarantor made payments on your behalf?
I assume the guarantor also doesnt need to raise a complaint as this loan should not have been offered in the first place?
How does this work ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Irritatingly this isn’t clear.
Amigo used to refund the money the guarantor paid to the guarantor. But sometimes they now just settle up with you. If you get lots of money back of course you can easily repay your guarantor. but if you still owe money after the refund and the guarantor wants their money back, they may have to complain – and when they do get a refund you end up owing more.
If you can say some more about your situation and how many times your guarantor made payments, that would help.
A.n says
Of course.
I had about 7 top ups with Amigo and initially had the first loan in 2013.
Lots and lots of gambling on statements even though I had a good income.
I still owe from my last loan which was 10k (shows 10k still owing) bit have paid amigo 17k in interest alone since 2013.
Guarantor probably has paid 2k in payments.
I guess I will have to wait and see but I am at the 10 week mark and I guess I have another 10 weeks from reading the feedback of others.
Heres hoping anyway
Tony says
Thank you Debt Camel. My affordability complaint was initially rejected by Amigo just before the the 12 week deadline. I took this up with the Ombudsmen and was left waiting for 5 months for my case to be handled. Today, Amigo have emailed me to apologise and reverse their rejection. Balance due cleared and a cash refund of over £2000. I cannot thank you guys enough!
Andy B says
My suspicion, judging on the actions today is that they’re urgently revisiting previously ‘closed’ cases. I wonder if the FCA are making them review previous decisions before moving on the current outstanding pile?
Either way, I would imagine it’s good news.
Nicole says
Hi Sara
I submitted my claim to amigo in March and have referred to FOS. Currently waiting.
Out of interest.. I had a lot of payday loans at the time of amigo and high levels of gambling transactions.. do you think I would win complaints with the payday loan companies as well as they also lent to me when I had lots of other loans and gambling transactions on my bank statements?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
To win affordability complaints about payday loans you either need to have used the same a lender a lot of times or the loans need to be very large. Who did you borrow from and how many loans from them? Any outstanding loans?
Nicole says
Yes I have used the same lenders multiple times! I borrowed from my jar.. had about 5-6 loans with them, mr lender, lending stream, fernovo etc and yes they are all outstanding.. all the payments are through a debt management plan as I could afford them as there was so many!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, then here is the template letter to complain to them: https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/
Joanne says
Like a few others here, I wanted to share the good new with you. I helped my husband put a claim in with Amigo after coming across your site and it was originally rejected. I’ve spent the last few months trying to persuade him to take it to FOS but unless I actually write if for him, he is not one to do it himself!
Today he has received an email to say they have revisited his unaffordability claim and now uphold the claim and plan to redress accordingly – close to £4,000 before tax. I’m utterly gobsmacked that they have come back of their own accord and it couldn’t come at a better time for us.
So huge thank you to everyone here as we wouldn’t have got this without you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Excellent – fourth person reporting this today!
By the way, he may be able to reclaim up to £200 of any tax deducted, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/ppi-payday-refund-get-back-tax/. Though it sounds as though you may have to fill out the form for him :)
Emma says
Hi Joanne when was this rejected originally? I’ve been keeping everything crossed this will happen with mine! I’m with FOS they are waiting for my info from Amigo
Joanne says
Hi Emma,
I think it was around January time. He did his not long after I did mine with other payday lenders. Mine are all got sent to FOS in January, where they are currently sat waiting! Only 1 is actually with an adjudicator at the moment and the rest are still waiting to be assigned. It’s nice to have the good news!
Gook luck with yours !
Skids says
Hey guys
I submitted a complaint to amigo about 4 months ago and it got rejected, i completely forgot about it and didn’t follow it up with the FCA…. randomly today I had an email saying they have now reviewd it again and are now upholding and refunding me almost £6000 and I have a balance of £4500 with them so I will receive back a cash payment of £1500 which is great in the current climate. I will respond tomorrow but has anyone else had this and how long did you have to wait to receive your payout?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you look through the other comment, 4 other people have had this amazing email today 👏
Steph says
RESULT!!
First of all I want to say a BIG BIG thank you to Sara for this incredible information she provides! If it was not for this web site that I happened to stumble upon then I genuinely don’t know what my next steps were!! I felt like I was drowning in debt and with no way out. I had 2 substantial guarantor loans; one with George Banco and one with Amigo which I had topped up both over 4 times. I sent both complaints on 08/02/2020, no final response so I sent straight to FOS on 04/04/2020. I have still not been allocated an adjudicator for either complaint due to the current pandemic; however due to the amazing advice from Sara I received a final response from GB on 21/05/2020 stating that they have upheld my complaint for each loan, which means I now owe them nothing and will receive a refund on £6.500 odd!!! I cried reading the letter!
I now just hope Amigo uphold my complaint and I will be finally debt free which I never thought could happen!
Good luck to everyone who has a current complaint on-going, I hope you all get the decision you deserve!
Many thanks,
Steph
VH says
Sara could you explain.
Amigo have replied to my constant telephone conversation today.They say they have responded to the FOS and they state they waiting to hear back to what they feel is fair in this case’
Do you know what that means please
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No sorry, you can either wait and see what happens or ask your adjudicator?
Andrew says
Just wanted to say thank you Sara for all your help on my case with Amigo.
I have sent my complaint to Amigo in December 2019. No response after 8 weeks sent to FOS. After 14 weeks Amigo rejected my complain. But today I have received an email from Amigo and they have now revisited my complaint and decided that, in the circumstances, they will now uphold my complaint as a matter of goodwill. £6000 will be refined to my bank acc.
Thanks again. And good luck for these who’s still waiting.
ilias says
Hello, again,
Something weirdly nice happened. While initially Amigo refused my complain I made on October with a final decision on the 26/02/2020.
I complained on Financial Ombudsman last week meanwhile . Yesterday 02/06/2020 Amigo sent me again that even though they refused my complain their decision didn’t meet their high standards so they reconsidered and decided to refund me the interest charges and 8% so around 13450 GBP minus the 9100 outstanding so in total I will receive back 4571.83GBP. That was amazing as I was feeling that I would win but through FOB and after 6months-1 year. And is crucial that it happened now as my salary reduced because of this crisis so I wouldn’t be able to afford it anyway.
So thank you Sara as I used your template and I wrote with simple English and it worked!
Good luck to anyone!!
Shelby says
Hey , does this mean there looking into it ? Or
? Thank you
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’ll send your final response, or an update on when you can expect to receive this, within 8 weeks of the date we received your complaint.
In the meantime if you need to contact us or have any further concerns please do not hesitate to email us at complaints@amigoloans.co.uk and we would be happy to help.
Georgina says
I logged my irresponsible lending complaint with Amigo on the 30th March so still early days for me, it was escalated to FOS at 8 weeks as I want this resolved as soon as possible, rang Amigo for an update this morning and spoke to a guy called Chris who is apparently my account manager, he advised my complaint hadn’t been dealt with yet (surprise surprise) but that the DSAR request was showing as being completed on the 22nd April so he though maybe they were waiting to send both at the same time, he also advised that my payment holiday for Covid 19 issues can be extended for another month and I would receive a message when the hold is due to expire giving me the option to extend.
Within 5 minutes of putting the phone down I received a text to advise that my DSAR would be sent in the next couple of days to me on disc format.
Hopefully it’ll give them a nudge to deal with the complaint although I think that’s a case of wishful thinking
Hang in there everyone it’ll be worth it in the end hopefully
Vicki D says
How long did you have on your COVID payment holiday? I was under the impression we could have 3 months but when I logged mine I was given 2 and now my account is saying next payment due 25/06/2020, so wondering if its likely I can get another month :-) Anything to avoid giving them any more money whilst complaints are being progressed these days it seems a little more rapidly! Fingers crossed on a good result for you. I am reading this page daily like im playing Bingo waiting for my number to be called
Georgina says
I thought I’d got a 3 month payment holiday but it must have only been 2 months, he said mine expires in 22 days and I would automatically get a message offering an extension of one more month just before it expires.
Me too, it’s so good reading all the updates from people who have been successful with their claims, it would be fantastic if my complaint could be resolved before I have to try to pay them again but I’m not holding out much hope. I did hope that they would deal with the DSAR request along side the complaint but it seems like they are dealt with by different departments :(
Laura says
Just want to say a massive thank you to you Sara and this site. My Husbands complaint had been rejected back in February. Today we have received an email saying they have looked back at the complaint and it did not meet with their high standards. As a gesture of goodwill they are removing all interest and charges, refunding any over-payments. and any adverse information from his credit file.
The loan is now paid off and we are even getting a refund of £93. 18. Its not much but a saving of £365 a month.
Thank you so much.
Michelle says
Hi I’m trying to get a interest refund with amigo at the moment I need to send my bank statements in I’ve just looked back at them over 2 years and there is so much gambling on them will that be ok to send in? I’m still paying my loan it’s 430 a month I should never of got myself up to that knowing I couldn’t afford it but I have but I’m scared sending them in how bad it looks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Definitely send those statements. It may sound odd but they help your argument that if the lender had done proper checks they would not have given you the loan.
Are you getting any help to stop gambling?
Michelle says
Yes I haven’t gambled for a while I think I just got myself in a viscous circle with money but until I looked back at the statements I really didn’t realise how bad it was but I was put off sending them when I seen it but I will now thanks so much for your help