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
Matt S says
Hi Gareth,
At least yours has been assigned so that’s a little more promising. Mines went in first week in October and hasn’t been assigned yet. I was told earlier in the year that ‘In fairness to all our customers, complaints are progressed in order according to the date they arrive with the Admin team.’ which I completely agree with and is how it should be.
I then questioned them when someone on here mentioned that they had lodged their complaint late October and it had been assigned to an adjudicator, how this would have happened if the above was true about being progressed in order according to date as my complaint was before this… and eventually received the response ‘I have noted your comments and added your correspondence to the case file for consideration upon allocation to one of our investigators.’. No answer to my question!! This was back in early February and still no further forward.
My more recent question was just asking for confirmation that I would receive correspondence by email as I had originally requested (as they had sent some correspondence to my home address rather than emailing and I work away from home a lot) and again after about 5 weeks and chasing it up was told the same ‘I have noted your comments and added your correspondence to the case file’… but no answer to the actual question.
Frustrating!!
Peter says
Hi All,
After complaining to the FOS recently due of their lack of communication regarding my Amigo case, I have a little more information but not great news for those in the same situation and looking for a speedy response. The response below is after being days away from a decision in early Jan. My adjudicator was just to review some voice files. I have pasted below:
“I have some more information about your complaint now. We’ve had to ask Amigo for some extra information in order to be able to provide you with an answer on your complaint. Unfortunately there are a number of cases where we’d like some more information to assess them, so it’s taking us longer than we’d like to get you an answer on your case.
As we need to ask for this information from the business, I’ve arranged for your case to be passed to someone for this to be done. It’s likely that it’s going to be a few more months before we have all the information we need to give you an answer on your case, but once we do we’ll be in touch with you. And, I’d like to assure you we’re doing everything we can to get you an answer on your case as soon as possible.
If you’ve got any information you’ve not sent us already about your finances at the time of your loan(s) – particularly in the early stages of your borrowing – please send this to us. It will help us build an accurate picture of your circumstances to help us decide what the lender should have thought about before lending”
Peter says
Oh I believe this is being dealt with by a ‘High cost credit team’. Not sure if this is a newly constructed team as a result of their recent investigations?? Does anyone else have any further insight into this team?
HO says
Hello,
I’ve submitted a data request to Amigo loans today.
I don’t have any of my old paperwork from them and the loan is older than 6 years. I provided my full name, date of birth and address that the loan was taken under and have had a response saying they can’t find my details and can I provide my agreement number which I don’t have.
Surely they should have a record of me from the details I’ve provided, anyone else had this problem?
Thanks
HO
Sara (Debt Camel) says
As the article above says, you are unliketo be able to get a refund for a loan taken out more than 6 years ago that has been repaid.
Not only do Amigo probably not have records but it’s unlikely that the Ombudsman will consider the case, even if you have a lot of details.
R.91 says
Got approved of being a guarantor when I was a full time university student ,was not in employment at the time,did not get asked for bank statements /wage slips .Wasnt thinking right at the time due to a bereavement,the loan was taken out in 2017.2/3 of the loan is now paid with only the interest left to pay.loan is 3 years .my friend the borrower stopped paying nearly a year ago due to lose of job and has gone to step change so his says but don’t think he has.What chance do I have getting this loan taken of my credit file and passed on to him and potentially getting money back which I paid .i was also going through a bad time when the loan was taken out due to a family member passing away so wasn’t thinking straight and docs notes from months before stating I was depressed etc.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you should complain, say you should never have been approved as guarantor, that they were aware you were a student, ask to be removed as guarantor and for a refund of the amounts you have paid.
Dean says
Haven’t explained my case on here however I have Finally been assigned to an investigator having complained to the ombudsman in July 2018 with regards to Amigo.
Some light at the end of he tunnel after all
Will update on the progress in due course
Dean
David says
Great news dean. Have they given you any of dear of time scale.
Can I ask what your case is ?
Dean says
Hello David.
No idea on timescale just basically told that the ball is now rolling. I was starting to lose faith a little with regards to anything happening.
My case is in regards to two loans I had both unaffordable, harassment and threats over the phone for both me and my guarantor during a difficult repayment period.
I have paid nearly 15000 back on a 7500 loan yet the balance is still greater than the original loan. I could go on really…
Sooner things get sorted with these crooks the better
Dean
David says
Maybe amigo should change their call holding music from the lyrics which are “let’s make it happen. Let’s get this started now. “
Followed by I’m on top of the world !!!!!!!
Chris says
Good evening guys so I put my complaint in in nov 18 for 5 loans with amigo, started at 1k and needed up at 10k with in 8 months (4 top ups)
I’m currently on holiday and though I would check my Emil as I haven’t checked it for a while and there is an email from the fos….
I have reviewed your loans with amigo and I’m my opinion not one of them should of been issued and I’m recommending that to remove all loans from the credit report refund the interest on all loans and instead of paying interest clear the final balance as it will be a similar amount.
Now I can really enjoy my holiday, thanks to this site and good luck everyone who is going through this.
I’m back in a few days SO ANY QUESTIONS WILL HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL THEN.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
excellent! Finger crossed Amigo agree.
David says
Great news Chris. So happy for you. Did they say why they agreed with you ? We’re you employed did you send false information ?
Chris says
I was employed I had five loans and th decisiOn is about 15 pages long, I will try to summarise,
Failure to check expenses
Failure to cross reference committents to credit report
Failure to check income
Treated me as a paydua loan customer with constant rollovers and each loans should of been more scrutinised.
One repayment before rolling over loan doesn’t count as good payment history
Debt was spiralling and increasing win each loan, they should of noticed this.
High number of payday loans and credit cards should of highlighted further lending was harmful.
Hopefully they agree as the adjudicator has been very thorough and backed everything up,
Massive thanks to this site, I’ve had back 20k of interest removed from my accounts from trust two and amigo, now just a few payday loans to take on and one catalogue company. And then I am pretty much debt free and able to live life again with out the stress and worry of debt problems
Gareth Patrick Gough says
Brilliant news Chris! Did they say where Amigo had gone wrong?
Jane says
Fantastic to read some positive news this morning with regards Amigo…so pleased for you Chris! Fantastic news and well deserved.
I do hope this is the start of many positive updates.
I’m still waiting to be assigned but, had an update from the FOS to say they have received all the information from Amigo with regards my complaint, so hopefully the process shouldn’t take too long.
I submitted mine to the FOS in October 2018 and although they do assign in chronological order each case is naturally individual. I am certain,” just taking somebody’s word for it,” by telephone with regards their income and expenditure for a very expensive loan without provision of the correct checks warrants a definite change in how these loans are provided….
Fingers crossed for everyone!
David says
Hi Chris. What’s happened with this then have amigo agreed or
Contested it ?
Chris says
Hi David they had till yesterday to reply, I emailed the investigator today, she said she will hopefully get back to me tomorrow,
Will post here as soon as I know anything.
Ash Alexander says
I have kicked off my complaint re Amigo to the FOS after getting nowhere with my complaint to them about affordability and my mental health and my gurantor who is my grandad cannot afford to pay when I get it into difficulties and I have to borrow off a friend to make the repayments and I’m being pushed further into debt . So case has been logged just got to wait for them to get back to me .
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Ash,
if you grandad cannot afford to pay (at a guess he may be on a pension?) then he too could put in an affordability complaint – if he won, then he would be removed as a guarantor which would be a weight off your mind.
It might be difficult for you to have this conversation with him, but better in the long run?
the template for a guarantor to complian is over here: https://debtcamel.co.uk/amigo-complaints-by-guarantor/
David D says
Could I ask a bit of advice please?
My complaint is currently awaiting an adjudicator at the FOS after Amigo rejected my complaint. The grounds I complained on were that they did not complete a sufficient affordability check, because they factored into the income and expenditure check £535 of priority bills; council tax, utilities, food etc that my partner paid. it literally says on the SAR documents they sent to me “Partner Pays” and Zero in the amounts. Had that £535 worth of bills been added to the income and expenditure, i’d have been about £300 over in comparison to my income and i’d assume then they’d have deemed it unaffordable.
that’s a big amount to “disregard” from an application if you ask me and my question is, when considering affordability on a single loan, should they consider household income?
had a response from Amigo, saying that the total expenses they added as “Partner Pays”, according to the Office of National Statistics was only £179.50p per month. yet when I checked on the ONS site for Year Ending 2017 (my application was in 2016) their figures say the spend would be more like £750!
I just hope that is sufficient reason or complaint as Amigo seem to be pushing back at everything I throw at them.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Stop pushing at Amigo and send your complaint to FOS!
David D says
Ha ha, indeed.
Is this a valid enough reason though, as Amigo claim they are permitted to factor a partners income into the affordability assessment?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“the total expenses they added as “Partner Pays”, according to the Office of National Statistics was only £179.50p per month. yet when I checked on the ONS site for Year Ending 2017 (my application was in 2016) their figures say the spend would be more like £750!” what exactly are the expenses you are referring to here?
The FCA’s rules on checking affordability include bits which say:
“The firm must consider the customer’s ability to make repayments under the agreement…
out of, or using, one or more of the following:
(a) the customer’s income;
(b) income from savings or assets jointly held by the customer with another person, income received by the customer jointly with another person or income received by another person in so far as it is reasonable to expect such income to be available to the customer to make repayments under the agreement”
and
“Where the firm has … taken into account income received by the customer jointly with another person or income received by a person other than the customer it should also take into account non-discretionary expenditure relating to that other person.”
If Amigo intended to use your partner’s income in assessing if you could repay, I would have expected them to have discussed this with you in the phone call (was there one? have you listened to the call recording?) and to have also discussed what your partner’s expenses were, including their debts. Did they?
David D says
Hi Sara, thank you for the information.
Yes I have the recording and I do recall the conversation; Amigo took me through my expenses and when it came to bills etc, I would confirm to them that my partner paid that particular item. This was the truth. I did not know at the time that this would obviously impact the affordability check further down the line.
But they did not go on to mention anything about needing to discuss my partners circumstances further nor did they ask about any other non priority bills she would be committed to such as her personal commitments; credit cards / debts etc. In fact my partner wasn’t even present during the application / phone call.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
There is a difference here between splitting the household bills and her agreeing to pay some of your debts. Were you splitting the bills 50/50 – your paid the council tax, she paid the electricity & geas, that sort of thing? If she was paying a LOT of the bills because you had so much debt, then that should have been queried.
BUT “the total expenses they added as “Partner Pays”, according to the Office of National Statistics was only £179.50p per month. yet when I checked on the ONS site for Year Ending 2017 (my application was in 2016) their figures say the spend would be more like £750!” what exactly are the expenses you are referring to here?
David D says
Ok I see.
The items flagged as Partner Pays were Council Tax, Childcare, Gas and Electricity, Water and TV Licence. We also only put £100 for food down too. Doesn’t seem to have been queried (family of 4).
Sara (Debt Camel) says
£100 a month for a family of 4 is not possible. Even twice that should have been queried.
Sally says
Sorry if this is a bit of a silly question but how does Amigo calculate the refund. Is it straight forward taking the interest off the actual amount or is it worked out differently.
David says
Have you had a result against them then ?
Sally says
No, no result yet, it’s with an adjudicator. I’ve sent all the information but my adjudicator is on holiday until the 21st May. I was just trying to work out how much I could possibly be looking at if the complaint goes in my favour but have no idea how to calculate it.
David says
I wouldn’t start calculating anything as you may be very disappointed and be using that refund before you get it.
Just hope you get a result and go from there
David says
Amigo have agreed a lower payment for me for 3 months.
I sent them my incomings and outgoings. I had £110 left.
They have taken all this. I accepted that as I had to have my payments reduced. Should they have taken all my available money left so I have nothing of an emergency crops up??
They also rang my mother the guarantor and basically told her she should be adding to this payment even they told me she had no obligation what so ever to pay any money when a payment plan has been set up.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Of course ethically you should have some money left – but Amigo don’t have to accept a payment arrangement from you at all. Sorry but you aren’t in a very strong position to argue.
Can your mother afford the repayments? If not, has she also put in a complaint?
Reece says
Hi Eveyrone
So I put my complaint. In Oct 18, had 6 loans in space of 10 months, I owe around 10k and paid roughly 9.5k in interest,
Just had an email from fos upholding my complaint and for amigo to refund the interest and pay the standard compensation.
The decision came from an investigator and not an adjudicator, does anyone know if there’s is a difference, or the same power at the fos?
If amigo reject it, will it go to an adjucotor then again to the ombudsman?
Thanks for this site it’s a blessing
David says
Another great result.
So they are refunding you the interest on all 6 loans ?
What was your situation when you took these loans.
Do you know how long it took to get a decision from the moment they picked your complaint up.
Natalie says
Hi, the role at fos use to be split between consumer consultants and adjudicators. However the new role is an investigator. This means they pick up you complaint from the start and follow it through to the end. That’s the only difference.
It’s nice to see some good results against amigo. I will be interested to see if the decision remains the same at ombudsman level – if amigo reject the investigator’s decision.
As it’s the ombudsman’s decision that will really count. However investigators are trained to investigate complaint with a consistent approach so it is more likely than not that and ombudsman will agree with the decision made.
Natalie says
I have drafted my complaint to Amigo, but was holding back on submitting it until I could see the stance the ombudsman are taking.
I’m hoping that once I submit my complaint amigo will uphold it without the need for fos intervention.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“I’m hoping that once I submit my complaint amigo will uphold it without the need for fos intervention.” sorry, it is likely to take dozens, maybe hundreds, of Ombudsman decisions before Amigo get to that point. Some payday lenders are still not reflecting Ombudsman decisions after losing more than 60% of cases at FOS for three years. Get your complaint in asap is my advice!
Debbie says
Sara,
My amigo loan has now been sold to a company called Intrum. As the debt is no longer with Amigo can they still go after my Husband who is the guarantor for the loan?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
When you asked this before, I suggested both you and your husband put in Subject Access Requests to Amigo – did you do that? There may be some information in there about whether the contract your husband has with Amigo as a guarantor has also been sold to intrum.
debbie says
Sorry Sara couldn’t find the other post so didn’t know you had replied. We have both now requested SAR’s from Amigo so waiting to see what they send. However Intrum have also sent him notification that the debt has been sold to them.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Guarantees are legally complicated things – if Intrum ever start court proceedings against your husband I will explain how to get some specialist advice on whether Intrum can enforce the guarantee after the sale – that will also check the documentation is correct.
But in the meantime, the aim is to avoid a court case!
You started a complaint in 2017. Was your complaint an affordability complaint – you were saying they should not have given you the loan because you could not afford it? If Yes, then luckily Amigo will still let you take this complaint to the Financial Ombudsman. Dig out their reply to your complaint and their reply should say that.
If No – you were complaining they wouldn’t allow you to have a payment plan or something else – then you need to put in an affordability complaint to Amigo now. Use the template on this page. And send that straight to FOS when it is rejected – Amigo seem to reject them all.
Your husband should also put in an affordability complaint and ask to be removed as guarantor. Those complaints are a bit different from yours as a borrower. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/amigo-complaints-by-guarantor/ for a template. In his case he needs to say that Amogo did not consider if he would be able to repay the loan if you could not – because your finances are linked, the fact you could not repay the loan means that it was very likely that he couldn’t either. So they should not have accepted him as a guarantor.
These complaints go to Amigo. But you both need to inform Intrum that you are disputing the debt with Amigo and ask Intrum to hold any enforcement action until your complaint is resolved. And when a complaint goes to the Ombudsman, tell Intrum this and ask them to continue to hold any enforcement action.
If you keep Intrum informed they should NOT start any court action.
Tasha says
Hello, wondering if anyone can help.
I submitted a complaint back in August last year. They came back & of course denied any wrong lending etc. I have today sent it again. I have worked out that since taking the loan out in May 2017, I have paid £10,000. That is the loan amount yet the loan remains over £10,000. My repayments are nearly £400 a month & crippling! They can see I’m struggling to pay & it’s late every month. So I stand a chance as it was months ago they got back to me & said no & I didn’t do anything about it as wasn’t sure on next steps.
I’ve literally sent the same email again today but put in there that I’ve paid £10,000 now & no movement. This was a top up. It was originally £7,500 in Feb 2013 then topped up to £10,00 in May 2017.
Any guidance on what to do or where to go would be greatly appreciated
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is this Amigo?
who is your guarantor and could they afford to pay (I am not suggesting that they should – just whether the lender proporly checked the guarantor’s situation)?
Gareth Gough says
If it’s Amigo you’ll need to send on to the FOS!
James says
Really pleased that people are starting to see results however a little frustrated that FOS keep telling me they are working on cases in date order. I submitted mine to FOS on 13th Sep 2018 and I have no investigator assigned yet, the two people above with results submitted in Oct & Nov 18.
I had 3 loans and 2 top ups over 3 years, still paying one off now. I had 28 credit cards/loan/guarantor loans on my file already and took out over 250 payday loans in that 3 year period. I had £49000 of unsecured & high cost debt and it rose throughout that time.
Although Amigo completed the expense calls with me before each payout i am certain they had enough information to raise alarm bells, every time I applied i had taken out another 30-40 payday loans.
Hopefully will be assigned an investigator soon
Jane says
Hi James,
I totally understand you will be frustrated…I’m an October FOS submission and though mine was picked up in January, it was then redirected to the new team which is totally fair as I am certain there were plenty of cases ahead of me.
Hang in there….have faith. Apologies if I’m giving incorrect advice (Sara is the top chick here!) but, from what I understand the FOS do work in strict chronological order but, are often waiting to hear from the business (i.e. Amigo in this case) with regards certain information in order to clarify their investigations. Consequently I believe some cases will naturally take longer than others.
Keep positive and don’t give up….patience is really needed but, hey it could really be worth it!
Best wishes,
Jane
Sarah says
I started my complaint with amigo nearly 12 months ago got an email from ombudsman today saying that they have sent an email to amigo for irresponsible lending I should get back the interest plus 8% for each year. I lent 5 thousand and paid paid just under 12 thousand. The email says they are giving amigo 2 weeks to respond. Fingers crossed.
David says
Great news Sarah.
How many loans was that? How long ago did you take them out ?
Sarah says
It was just one loan which nearly crippled me paying it back on my rubbish wages. I finished it this year January was my last payment got it December 2013.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
My fingers are crossed too!
Sarah says
I got an email to say amigo had asked for more time?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, someone else has had this as well. In the last month there have been 8 people reporting here that their adjduidicator has upheld their borrower complaint – 7 of those Amigo.
It’s normal for FOS to allow a lender more time – it’s better than forcing all the decisions into the delay of going to an ombudsman for a Final Decision.
David D says
Hi Sara,
I’ve been wondering if there is a cap on the maximum amount of interest that lenders such as Amigo can apply across the life of a guarantor loan and if there is one, when did the enforcement come into effect? had a quick look online but could only find information on payday lenders.
thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Unfortunately there isn’t :(
David D says
ok thanks, thought I’d ask. looking through this thread there are many people who have paid more than double what they borrowed! Crackers.
Matt S says
I ended up paying over £13000 on a £5000 loan despite clearing it a year early. Crazy!!
Tim says
Hi Sara,
Have seen on a few of your comments that it is hard to win 1 loan cases. Is this only the case for payday loans or is it the same with guarantor loans? I took a 5k loan with amigo when I was in a massive payday loan cycle and my bank statements riddled with gambling transactions. My brother is my guarantor and was on quite good money at the time but I don’t think it was affordable for me. Any advice?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is aimed at payday loan complaints where the loan values are small and the main reason for arguing the lender should have known the loans were unaffordable is the repeat nature of the borrowing.
It doesn’t apply to large bad credit loans such as those from 118 Money, Avant and Everyday loans. There lots of people have won one loans case. The approach with these loans is to ask for a copy of all personal details and argue from what you get to FOS that the lender could see *this* problem debt and ignored it, should have noticed that your expenses on the application don’t match with your credit record, should have realised that *these* expenses were missing or too low etc.
Lenders have to make “proportionate” checks on loans. So they have to do a lot less for a £400 payday loan than a loan of several thousand lasting years.
And that is also the approach I am suggesting with guarantor loans.
A few comments ago there is one from Sarah (not me!) saying that an adjudicator had just upheld her 1 loan case. That hasn’t yet been accepted by Amigo so it may need to go to an Ombudsman for a final decision.
James says
My complaint has been with FOS since Sep 18, i had 5 loans with Amgio, most recent was £4k & 3k top up and i’ve paid £17,500 back for that loan and top up. I would recommend getting all your documents from Amigo through a DSAR request, i’ve just trawled through all mine and found so many inconsistencies which I’ve highlight to the FOS.
For example, for my £4k loan i had £33,000 on my credit file and in 6 months that increased to £48,500, (all unsecured) when i took out the top up, surely that should have raised alarm bells to Amigo but it wasn’t challenged.
Another is that i always claimed debt consolidation as my reason for the loan and across 4 of the 5 loans I stated I was clearing the same 2 mail order accounts every single time but the balances just kept increasing, Amigo never challenged why i hadn’t cleared them as agreed.
Another is that for my final top up my stated expenses massively reduced and they didn’t challenge it, e.g. my travel cost more than halved but i had the same job.
Hopefully I’ve built a strong case.
B smith says
Hi everyone. I want to submit a complain regarding amigo loans and affordability. What I wondered though is that I have topped up 3 or 4 times with them now up to the maximum 10k mark. When each loan was topped up they pay the previous loan off then give you the difference and start a new loan. I am just wondering say I won my case In the end would amigo just take away the interest on the current loan, or would they have to refund interest already paid on the previous loans before tipping up as well?
Natalie says
They would refund interest paid on all loans that are deemed to be unaffordable.
B smith says
Thank you for the reply. So say the ombudsman agreed the loans and my current loan was unaffordable, would they just remove the interest from my current loan? Or would they have to refund the interest from the loans before I topped up to this amount. I got my initial loan for £3500 and topped up 4 times over 2 years up to the maximum £10,000.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The current outstanding loan would have all interest removed from it. Any interest paid on previous loans would have 8% statutory interest added and would then be used to repay the balance owed.
It will depend on the details of the loans, but at a guess you will still owe some money at the end of this.
When you are making an affordability complaint about a series of loans, one point it is worth emphasising is if Amigo should have been able to see from your credit record that your financial position was getting worse. Also if any of the early loans were intended to be used for consolidation but your credi record showed that they weren’t.
Don’t worry too much about exactly what you could get back, this sounds like a strong complaint but it would be a good result if only the last loan was refunded! Also if you don’t think the guarantor could afford the repayments, talk to them about also making a complaint?
B smith says
Thank you so much Sara as always. I understand now. I worked out even if all loans were deemed unaffordable I would still owe 5k but could clear that in 15 months rather than 5 years! But even if I only got interest removed from my current loan I would be over the moon. I have already received payday refunds all because of your help. Doing everything in my power to turn my financial situation around and am in a current debt management plan. I have written my complaint and emailed amigo this afternoon. In for a long road I know, but ready for the fight. Thank you
Lee says
I complained at the same time [July 2018] and the adjudicator today sent me my reply. She has upheld my complaint and said that Amigo must payback all interest plus 8% interest on five loans starting in 2015. My latest one was £6500. I’m obviously delighted with this. It’s taken probably a year to get to this point but well worth the wait in the end.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Lee,
I’m sorry i missed your good news before – you had commented on someone’s old comment and I didn’t spot it.
Fingers crossed that Amigo accepts your adjudicator decision.
Miss W says
I just want to give you all an update on my provisional decision from the FOS at the start of May 2019.
The FOS Ombudsman originally upheld my complaint however made it a provisional decision so amigo had a chance to have a further say. Today i recieved an update from the FOS to say that my complaint had been upheld. I am no longer a guarantor and have been awarded compensation.
Sara says it should be published on the Ombudsman Decisions website within 1-8 weeks. Feel free to have a read. I will be known as MIss W for confidentiality reasons.
Keep positive people.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is a very good result for Miss W. And the ombudsman’s decision will make very interesting reading for everyone here!
I will be looking out for it and will put a link to it on this page.
Bill says
Hi, finally have an adjudicator on my Amigo complaint, but looks like am stuffed! Amigo come out with the usual ( don’t hold records after 3 years) my adjudicator has put the onus on me asking if I have any evidence re: telephone recordings, all I have is the bank statement of evidence me paying of £4075 the loan as my so called friend ran of without paying a penny! Also at the time of being the guarantor I wasn’t working!
Bill
Sara (Debt Camel) says
There may be other evidence apart from telephone recordings. Bank statements and credit records for example.
Looking back through your comments, this is a complaint on behalf of your wife? The loan was taken out in 2011 and you sent the complaint to FOS in 2018?
In this case FOS may say the complaint is time barred. But it doesn’t sound as though they have suggested that?
Does your wife have her bank statements for that time? Has she got any credit record reports dated before 2017 – that’s obviously a long shot/
Bill says
Hi Sarah, thanks for being so astute as usual, yes we have bank statements, also payment to settle the loan, it’s just that the ombudsman appears to be clutching at straws, although time barred as you said not Even mentioned
Bill
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK , so you know how much she borrowed and what the monthly repayments were. You can argue from her bank statements that this was clearly unaffordable. If she wasn’t working, what income did she have – was it just from benefits?
She should say what she remembers of the phone call from Amigo – was it brief? did they mainly seem interested in her being a hoem owner and asking if she wanted to be a guarantor?
It is going to be impossible to prove that she didn’t get any paperwork, so that probably won’t help her.
If there is any evidence that she was in financail difficulty around that time it would help a lot.
I will be surprised if FOS do decide they can look at this,
Bill says
Hi Sarah, just an update on this Amigo fiasco, received another email from adjudicator informing me he is still in touch with Amigo asking them for information on the loan re 2012, paid back in full 2016 as borrower fled the country, we have traced the statement paying the £4,500 balance and sent it to the adjudicator, also statements proving my wife was on tax credits! But can’t see anyway in success with this case as Amigo continuing to use the ( don’t keep any records after 3 years) surely this excuse they use will have the same effect on other people who took out loans on loans over 3 years ago, I would would like to know do other lenders use the same excuse of not keeping details of loans after 3 years?, also if the loan had not been paid in full would they still use the same 3 year rule?
Bill
Gareth Patrick Gough says
Hi Bill,
I am fairly sure financial records need to kept for 6 years
Sara (Debt Camel) says
As I have said, I am surprised that FOS are looking at this complaint at all.
Have you provided your wife’s bank statements for the 3 months before the loan was taken out? If you have, ask the adjudicator to make a decision based on the balance of probabilities. It sounds as though you have a lot of evidence that the loan would clearly have been unaffordable for her if they had done proper checks. You could point out that it doesn’t matter what the missing file would have said, your wife was clearly unable to afford the loan, so either they simply didn’t check that she could, or their checks must have been defective.
Other lender’s policies won’t help you win this case.
“also if the loan had not been paid in full would they still use the same 3 year rule?” I have no idea.
Amigo victim says
I complained to amigo and they told me I knew I had to pay when my sister didn’t and I said she could. My sister lied to me about how many loans she had already and lied that she could pay. I didn’t think I would pay but amigo tell me I have to now. I don’t have money to pay. I wasn’t going to omb because I heard bad things. I think I will now.
Sarah says
Hi all I’m in desperate need of help. In November 2015 I took out an amigo loan of 5k I was working full time but had lots of debts due to ex leaving me and children there was mortgage arrears etc. My mum is the guarantor. 2 years ago I had a baby circumstances changed sold house to pay off mortgage arrears I’m now living in rented accommodation with 3 children and I’m on benefits. I’ve suffered from mental health problems since I was pregnant due to being in a anusivr relationship which I am now free from. My repayments are £200 per month and killing me Amigo won’t reduce them and just threaten to chase my mum for the payments which she can’t afford. On paper she can but reality she can’t. I’ve missed a payment for May because my car broke but they aren’t interested. Will they take me to court for being 1 month in arrears? I’m so so scared and I don’t want it to affect my mum been to the CAB and they haven’t a clue what they are doing.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
First thing to do is to put in a complaint to Amigo. use the template letter on this page. Add to the template that they should have seen from your mortgage arrears that you could not afford their loan.
Amigo cannot take you to court while you have a complaint with them or the Ombudsman. so as soon as Amigo reject it send it straight to the Ombudsman.
Also mention your mental health problems – this probably won’t help you win this complaint but it does mean they have to not pressure you too much while a complaint is going through!
Can you talk to your mum about her putting in a complaint as well? See https://debtcamel.co.uk/amigo-complaints-by-guarantor/. There are lots of reasons there why she may be able to complain. If she can be removed as a guarantor, then you can just set up a payment arrangement with Amigo, massively less stress.
So if you both put in complaints, then you have two ways to win this, you don’t know which one is more likely to work or which will be fastes, so doing them both at the same time is the best plan.
Sarah says
Thanks so much I will do this for sure x
Jane says
Hi all,
Just a quick update with regards my Amigo case with the FOS (submitted October 2018).
They have explained due to huge amount of consumer credit claims it will likely be a few more months before my case is picked up…I was getting rather hopeful when I could see positive results filtering through! Hopefully my patience will be rewarded…if only it was that simple!
They’ve asked me to provide any further information pertaining to the time of lending…I’ve already sent huge amounts of information even down to a telephone exchange between myself and their sister company FLM Quick where I was behind on payments. Given that they had this information I would hope that would be a good reason not to have approved the top-up loan.
I was also wrapping up a limited company and there were no questions asked about debts I was maintaining for the business, including a huge commercial loan! I have sent the FOS all of this documentation also.
I remain positive!Good luck everyone!
Matt S says
Hi Jane,
I think I received exactly the same email yesterday, however I had also received an introduction email last Thursday from the investigator that is reviewing my case. I queried the email I received yesterday as it stated that it would be a few months before my case would be reviewed and that contradicted what I was told on Thursday. I was then sent another email saying to ignore the email about the 2 month wait as my case was currently being reviewed, I have since had further communication from my investigator so things seem to be progressing.
Get the feeling the email sent yesterday was just a copy and paste sent to everyone.
David says
Yep, I have had a email directed to me personally stating they hope to start looking at my case this week, while I then received a letter in the post dated the same day as the email saying it would be a few months before its looked into…
I’m hoping its just communication crossing and that the personal email is the actual indicator of where I’m at.
Lou7 says
Hi all,
I have been looking through my Sar info sent from amigo. On half of the info for my credit report they have spelt my name wrong and the end of my postcode is wrong. Can this be another point to use for when I have it investigated?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Only if they seem to have the credit record of someone else. If it’s yours, it’s just some admin error that doesn’t really make a difference.
Natalie says
Every time you topped up it’s classed as a new loan. So each time they should have assessed your affordability. if each top up is unaffordable they may say amigo souls refund interest on each loan. However for your current loan you have to repay the capital that you borrowed regardless of it was affordable. So that would as refund interest onto the balance of your current loan and maybe reschedule the remainder for affordable payments…. it’s all depends all circumstances are different …
chris says
hi Sara & Chris
just had an email from the investigator, amigo have not replied to them, but have replied to the FOS to ask for more time to consider it with other cases.
is that good or bad news? im not sure as its good they haven’t rejected the decision,
would love to know your thoughts.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
At the moment it isn’t good or bad – although obviously it would have been nicer if they had accepted it immediately!
In May three people reported here that they had an adjudicator uphold their complaint, you, Reece and Sarah. And now Matt today.
It may be that Amigo have received more of these decisions as well and have decided that need to stop and think about them.
Up to now I have had the impression that Amigo would rather accept an adjudicator decision against them because they don’t want success stories to be published. But if there are going to be a lot of these, then they may decide they need to look and see if they have grounds to dispute any or all of them.
Matt S says
Well after receiving the email from the investigator last Thursday introducing themselves and asking me to send through bank statements and any other information I had, and then receiving the email yesterday that others have been receiving about the wait of a few months….. I have now received an email from the investigator with their decision… UPHOLDING my complaint :)
Amigo have until the 18th June to accept or not the decision. I had paid over £8k interest on the loan and the first payments were almost 6 years ago so the 8% statutory should be quite a large amount.
Will let you know how it all unfolds from here.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
fingers crossed!
Gareth Patrick Gough says
That’s great that a few cases are coming though! My case got picked up 5th April and still waiting – just rang them and have been told that they are waiting for Amigo to send information (have been for some time) and if its not in soon will proceed without it – bit cryptic so will just carry on waiting!
David says
Wow that’s quick. Mine was picked up nearly a month ago and when I have asked how it’s going I have just been told we will let you know when we have news so how yours has been dealt with so quick stumps me and annoys me a bit lol.
Congratulations
Sara (Debt Camel) says
These cases are all very individual. You had 5 loans – there may simply be a lot more work involved than in Matt’s one loan case.
Matt S says
Hi David, as Sara points out I think the reason mines progressed so quickly was that I was only complaining about 1 loan. I had an original loan and then a top up but it was only the top up I was complaining about. There was 18 months between the original and top up and my financial situation had deteriorated in this time due to gambling and getting caught in the payday loan spiral. I was told they could still look into the first loan but it would take a lot longer as Amigo no longer had any information on this. So I said just to proceed with looking at the one loan, as the complaint was originally lodged in October they obviously already had time to get most of the information they needed on this one from myself and Amigo so once I’d supplied bank statements from the time plus proof of entering into a DMP it didn’t take long to get the decision.
Nic says
That’s great. My investigator introduced themselves around a month ago… I have one older loan the won’t look at at 2 loans, one current . They have all my stmts and files so I’m.hoping it won’t be too long before a decision is made. Mine has been with them almost a year
Jane says
Fantastic news today….So pleased for you Matt S, so pleased for you!Great to hear others have movement also….I am praying on a daily basis for us all!
I was a little concerned to be honest. I’ve sent the FOS sooo much information to support my claim. Like Matt my main concern was with the top up, rather than the original loan. I was told on May 10th I was waiting to be assigned to a case owner then received the letter at the weekend that it will be some months until I hear further.
Very happy to patiently wait…the FOS is free after all!I shall remain realistically optimistic!!
Soph says
Hi it has been sometime since I posted on here having settled all my payday loan claims and only having my guarantor loan outstanding but I still always follow the thread. Sara I don’t know how good your memory is but I was one of the ones having trouble with UK Credit last year and the fact that they performed another credit search on me after my complaint to them. Anyway just to update and give you all some more hope I wanted to share what’s happened. My complaint against UK Credit was rejected and I referred it to the FOS around June 18. The adjudicator picked it up around Sept 18 and didn’t uphold my complaint either and so Nov 18 I asked for it to be referred to an Ombudsman. In April I was advised that another team (high cost lending) would be reviewing my complaint again. On the 23rd May an adjudicator called to say she was looking at my complaint, asked for some additional bank statements and confirmed she had asked the business for some additional info and gave them to the 30 May to respond. To my delight today I received an email from her advising that she had UPHELD my 1 loan complaint with them! They now have 2 weeks to respond and I have everything crossed that they agree so I don’t have to go back in the queue for an Ombudsman final decision. The loan was for £6k and I repaid £10,500. It would have been a lot more but I was able to repay it earlier with the refunds I received from payday loans. Good luck to everyone else and feel free to ask any questions.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Great – I am a bit mystified by the fact you have had two adjudicator decisions – but well done for rejecting the first one!
I hope UK Credit will accept this decision and not make it have to go to an Ombudsman.
Soph says
Hi Sara, me too. I emailed the FOS for an update in April with regards to waiting for an Ombudsman final decision and I got this response:
Further to my previous email, I’ve now had the opportunity to review your comments.
I’ve contacted the team who are currently looking after complaints about high cost credit to get some additional information from them. They’ve explained that before you receive a decision it is likely your complaint will be reviewed again by another investigator in their team. However, they are currently unable to provide a timeframe for this due to the large amount of complaints they are looking at.
They have also provided me with the following email address which you can use to request updates from them directly.
highcostcredit@financial-ombudsman.org.uk
I appreciate you’ve been waiting a long time to receive a final answer but we are doing everything we can to progress your complaint for you as quickly as we can.
C says
Hi Sara,
I originally took out a loan with amigo back in March 2018 for £3000 which was affordable payments of 133. I then was offered a top up 2 months later which it was then topped up to £7000 and an unaffordable amount of £276. During taking out the 2 loans with amigo they have never been in contact with me to see if the loans was affordable which they’re meant to do during the application process.
I have paid £3320 so far and the balance still stands at £7000, I’ve had to push my payment dates back further several times just to make sure I’ve had enough money. Do I have a case here or not?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That was a very large top-up only 2 months after the loan had started. I think you should put in an affordability complaint, saying Amigo did not properly check you could afford the repayments.
Do you think your guarantor could afford £276 a month without a problem? If not, you could suggest that they too could complain – see https://debtcamel.co.uk/amigo-complaints-by-guarantor/.
Kris Corssen says
Hi Sara,
I have a couple of queries regarding both Bamboo Loans, and UK Credit (both Guarantor loans)
Bamboo:
I took out a loan on 07/12/2016 for £2300 over 48 months.
Issue 1: The amount I repay is £4711 inc interest, which by my calculation is in breach of the 100% cost cap which was enforced on the 2/1/2015 – so are they in breach of the agreement here? If so, how do I proceed?
issue 2: I took out the loan as I had a maxed out very.co.uk account, where the monthly payment became unmanageable, so the Bamboo loan allowed me to pay off very in full. However, at the time of taking out the loan, I had a £7500 bank loan and had around 20 pay day loans on my credit file, having borrowed over £1500 from numerous companies. Should they have acknowledged this and declined the loan? After receiving the loan, I quickly found myself borrowing more and more from payday loan companies (literally a week later i borrowed £400 from Lending Stream).
I have 18 x £98 payments remaining (totalling £1963), Ideally I would like them to clear the balance, and given that I believe they are in breach of regulations, and the fact you could say they shouldn’t have given me the loan, I think this is a reasonable request. What would you advise?
Thanks,
Kris
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The 100% cost cap doesn’t apply to these loans as they are more than a year long. Sorry, this argument won’t help you.
It sounds to me as though the large number of payday loans should have warned bamboo to look at your loan application very carefully. Were you asked about all your other debts? Did they ask to see bank statements?
The monthly repayments aren’t huge, but they could still have been more than you could afford given the rest of your finances. I think this is worth making a complaint about – use the template letter above. If Bamboo reject it, take it to the Ombudsman.
It sounds as though you have already paid Bamboo 2748 – more than you borrowed. If that is correct and the case goes to FOS and you win it, you would get the balance wiped and a refund of about 448.
You may want to say this to Bamboo and say in the interest of getting the complaint settled quickly, you are happy to settle for them just wiping the rest of your balance.
Kris Corssen says
Hi Sara,
Thanks for your quick response!
They did ask about my other finances but not in much detail, they didn’t request any bank statements, only proof of address.
I will use the template and send it over. Thank you for your advice, I recently received a redress payment from Sunny having consulted you and your forum. I really appreciate what you are doing here.
Thanks,
Kris
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, would your guarantor be able to afford the repayment from their income? If not, you could encourage them to submit an affordability complaint too … see https://debtcamel.co.uk/amigo-complaints-by-guarantor/ as guarantor complaints are a bit different.
Marty says
I got an email today from adjudicator upholding my complaint for 1 loan and for amigo to pay back interest plus statutory 8% I hope that amigo accept this without the need of an ombudsman. They have been given 2 weeks to respond. Fingers crossed. Just to thank Sara for her work on here, not all hereos wear capes. If payment made there is enough to clear all my debts and i will be debt free which is amazing to think
Matt S says
That’s fantastic Marty, I had the same yesterday. It seems the Ombudsman are starting to come down hard on these kind of companies and their lending criterias.
As Sara mentioned earlier, the impression is that Amigo may have accepted adjudicators decisions so that they don’t appear on the Ombudsmans website, but I guess the worry now is that if they start getting hit with a lot of decisions going against them at adjudicator level they may change their policy and start getting an Ombudsman to look at it which could push back any settlement.
I think there was someone had a complaint upheld recently which must be close to 2 weeks now, so hopefully they will be able to provide information soon on how that has progressed and whether Amigo accepted the decision or not.
Marty says
Yes good news for all on here long long process with light at end of tunnel. Hope the person has some good news to share.
Matt S says
Not wanting to get ahead of myself, and I don’t think anyone has had a positive outcome previously so don’t know if anyone will be able to answer this…. but does anyone know how Amigo will calculate interest payments if they accept the adjudicators decision. Reason I ask is that I tool the loan out on 6th December 2013 for £5000 and by 31st December 2014 the balance on my statement was still over £5000. Would this mean that all payments made during the first year were interest only and would have to be refunded? Obviously this would be a bonus with the 8% statutory as the more interest paid longer ago will increase the amount they would have to pay out.
Gareth Patrick Gough says
On your account you can find an entry for interest added for each month – so I think add those together basically!
Matt S says
I did think that but then on the statement on some months the interest accrued is actually higher than my monthly payment so I don’t know if this would work out.
Jane says
Hi Matt,
I actually called Amigo and asked them to update me on how much interest I had paid on the two loans. They couldn’t tell me over the phone!!
Had to email me the details….which seems a bit old school!
One of my complaints to the FOS was that it was difficult to ascertain how much interest you’ve actually paid as on the on-line account it isn’t totaled you just have to add it up….crackers!!
Great news for you Marty if you’re reading and best of luck to the queue of others waiting for decisions….Sorry Amigo it’s going to be a long Summer!!!
Marty says
My letter from adjudicator said value of loan and total paid back. So it’s shows total cost of credit plus 8% per annum. I suppose most people will have different circumstances so will be case by case if they agree to pay out. I don’t want to get my hopes up though this has been ongoing for 15 months for me
David says
Ok today would be full of great results.
I have been told all my loads 1-5 were irresponsible and unaffordable from amigo.
I have paid 7k interest. (I believe I have paid more) nearer 10k I owe £10099 on remaining loan but the investigator wants this whole loan written off and be an end off the loans with amigo. And all removed from file.
118. 1 loan 2k paid back £3400 so far. All interest to be refunded with the standard 8%
And removed from file.
Both have 14 days to reply.
I am sure I have paid more than £7k in interest on these loans tho. But to clear off the current loan and say goodbye to debt I am not arguing it.
Thank you so much for all your help on here.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well let’s see if Amigo accept the decision. If they don’t and it has to go to an Ombudsman, definitely challenge the amount as well!
Gareth Patrick Gough says
How long was the period from loan 1 to 5 (were they top ups) what did the FOS say Amigo had done wrong?
Thanks,
Gareth
David says
Loan 1 to 3 4K original loan Top up to 7k then top up to 10k. Paid it all off with money borrowed. Feb 2016 to November 2017
Loans 4 and 5 new loan 4K topped up to 10k. Been paying it for over a year Bt still owe 10k but that’s to be written off. Feb 2018 to present.
Kevin says
I took out an Amigo Loan in 2013; can you still send a complaint now – its over 6 years since the original agreement – the loan was settled in 2015.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can try – I am not sure if FOS will consider complaints about loans over 6 years old. You will need all your bank statements from several months before the loan. And other evidence about your financial problems at the time of the application – which won’t show on your current credit record any more.
Dean says
From our conversation on here back in March. An adjudicator rejected my complaint with Amigo. I requested an ombudsman look at my case thanks to your suggestion. Still waiting for it to be allocated, however I’m feeling a little bit more upbeat having read the recent success of some people. Thanks again
Sarah says
How long extra time will they have usually have to make their decision?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s case by case. It’s normally best to give a lender a chance to think and respond, rather than force all decisions through to the Ombudsman if the lender doesn’t reply.
Dean B says
Morning folks
Just a quick update:
I submitted various complaints to the FOS in October 2018 using templates from this site.
I received a call yesterday from the FOS to let me know somebody had been assigned to investigate my case with Amigo.
Will update with any further info when I have it.
Soph says
Hi everyone, quick update. Adjudicator upheld my 1 loan complaint against UK credit on Tuesday. I’ve just had an email from her today to say that unfortunately they haven’t agreed with her recommendation so I’m now back in the queue for an Ombudsman to give a final decision :( my complaint has been going on for over a year now so I was hoping this was going to be the end. I will let you know when I receive the Ombudsman decision but I’m guessing I’m in for another long wait.
David says
Not good news.
Is there a time scale with the ombudsman surly it can’t be the same as before as can’t have as many cases.
Soph says
I did ask my adjudicator if she could give me a time frame of when I might expect a decision and this is the response I got:
We usually work cases in date order not in order of when they were added to the queue. I’m sorry I can’t give an exact timeframe but we’ll keep you updated.
I was initially referred to an Ombudsman back in November 18 after disputing an adjudicators decision. I had been waiting 6 months for an Ombudsman when it was reviewed again by an adjudicator in the high cost lending team who upheld my complaint. As it’s now back in the Ombudsman queue I’m just hoping it’s not going to be another 6+ months wait for an Ombudsman.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t think it should be that long!
Sally says
Hi,
Just to let you all know and give you all some hope, I have just had the decision from the Adjudicator about my Amigo loan and they have agreed that the loans were unaffordable to me. I had 1 loan and 5 top ups, they have said that Amigo need to refund me the interest and any charges on all loans. I just hope now I’m not waiting too long for Amigo’s decision. Its the worst thing I ever done was have a loan with Amigo.
Peter says
Great news Sally, well done!!! I’m just waiting for a decision on 6 loans. If half the outcomes are positive I would be happy! Allocated to an adjudicator in the High cost credit team about a week ago so a bit of a wait but fingers crossed.
Sally says
I first put my complaint in to the Financial Ombudsmen at the end of July 18, it was picked up by an Adjudicator at the beginning of April this year, the adjudicator had 2 weeks holiday in this time and I had her initial decision yesterday so it is a bit of a wait but it’s well worth the wait
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Here is my updated list for all borrower decisions since start of May.
Sally 6th June – Amigo considering whether to accept
David 5th June – Amigo considering whether to accept
Marty 5th June – Amigo considering whether to accept, have been given 2 weeks more time
Soph 4th June – rejected by UK Credit, will go to an ombudsman
Matt S 4th June – Amigo considering whether to accept
Lee 30th May – Amigo considering whether to accept
Sarah 21st May – Amigo considering whether to accept, have asked for more time
Reese 18th May – Amigo considering whether to accept
Chris 15th May – Amigo considering whether to accept, have asked for more time
Miss W says
I have recieved my compensation from amigos today and all liability from guarantor loan removed!!! now just one other to tackle from 4 years ago but thats a different story.
Thank you for this site!!
Jane says
That’s great news I’m so pleased for you!
My Mum was my guarantor and is waiting for her case to be looked at…it’s more to do with the principal to be fair. FOS have written to her to say it shouldn’t be long now.
Enjoy your weekend!
Peter says
Just to add to the list Sara. I had rejections on UK credit and TFS by an adjudicator in Jan 2019, before the High cost team were created. I am awaiting for the FOS to advise me whether this can either be escalated to an Obudsman or considered again, but this time by the High cost credit team.
Matt S says
Its fantastic that so many people are starting to get positive adjudicators decisions regarding Amigo. Its been a long wait but finally looks like things are moving in the right direction. I do get a vibe that as there are so many decisions going against them Amigo may not just roll over and accept so we could all still have quite a long wait, hope I’m wrong though.
marty says
Do we know if amigo have accepted any adjudicator decisions ? Is everyone a guarantor or the person who was lent the money ?
Jane says
Hi Marty,
The majority of us positing here borrowed money from Amigo, though we have a couple of people who were also guarantors (Miss.W recently successful as guarantors).
To date Amigo seem to accept the majority of adjudicator decisions, as if they lose at the next stage with the ombudsman the information is available in the public domain…and these guys are trying to maintain their,friendly,”Amigo-like,” image!!! You can monitor the details on the FOS website. They publish the figures every six months or so.
However, with so many new complaints flooding in it will be interesting to see if they Amigo challenge many of the decisions….like I’ve said they probably won’t go down without a fight!
Keep the faith…
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No one has reported that Amigo has accepted any adjudicator decisions since the start of May.
marty says
This is worrying they have been given 2 weeks to respond to mines !!! No doubt drag on longer and longer
David D says
Just a query regarding this… Don’t Adjudicator responses state that if they don’t reply within the two weeks that they can continue / escalate / pass on to an Ombudsman without their response?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes. But in a situation where a lender is considering several decisions, it’s just more efficient to let the lender have a couple of extra weeks to reach a good decision then to force all the cases through to the Ombudsman level as that involves a longer delay.
Jane says
Thanks Sara…love the updates!
Fingers crossed the momentum continues and we begin to see some results. I remain positive but, realistically those lovely people at Amigo won’t go down without a fight!!
Bill says
Hi Gareth, I did think records would have to kept for six years, but Amigo Informed me so patronisingly via email and phone calls they don’t hold any information on loans after 3 years, I do think this will cause lots of problems for other complantees in similar situation
Bill
Steven Sweeney says
Hello, I was told the same and my loans are from 2014. I am currently going through all my old correspondence now to get all the information I require for a claim and to make sure it is rock solid. As surely they will have difficulty defending it if they have no information?
Bill says
Hi Steve, as Sarah stated she would be very surprised if I won! to be honest I’ve given up on the case, although provided bank statements showing ammount paid to Amigo to pay the loan as the borrower who did the dirty and ran away!! As I’ve mentioned before I cannot believe Amigo don’t keep any records of loans after 3 years, love to know if the inland revenue wanted to check their books would they come out with the same crap? Also does it mean if you don’t pay Amigo loan after 3 years do they disregard after 3 years?
Bill
david d says
when I made a SAR request last year I got a huge dump of info dating back to my 2012 loan and including my more recent 2016 loan.
not sure why I would have received it, yet they are now saying to others that they don’t keep info over 3 years… just thought this info may help.
Peter says
Hi all,
Just wondering whether anyone has had Amigo freeze interest or put a hold on the loan whilst they investigate a complaint? I haven’t but has anyone else?
Kirstie says
Hi,
I have just come across this site and was hoping you may be able to offer some advice. I am in a lot of debt and in 2016 entered into an IVA – within a few months I broke the IVA and have not made any payments toards it or any of the creditors on it. I suffer from very poor mental health and have had episodes in hospital. Last year I was accepted for a £5000 amigo loan, and then a £2000 bamboo loan. Even though I have a failed IVA and multiple CCJS. Since those guarantor loans were taken out I have topped up both of them.
I am currently trying to get my life back on track after being diagnosed with a couple of mental health conditions. I am making the payments for these guarantor loans however they are becoming more and more unmanageable and to top that off all of the other debts i have been ignoring are starting to catch up with me and demand payment. Do I have a case to make an affordability/ irresponsible lending claim without affecting my guarantor?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you need to put in an affordability complaint to Bamboo & Amigo. use the template letter in the article above
You need to do this ASAP. It does not mean you can pay less unfortunately while the complaint goes through, but the sooner the complaint goes in the sooner you can take the case to the Ombudsman. Read the comments here for how people are getting on – some good provisional results recently but they aren’t yet final.
Do you think your guarantor could afford the repayments? I’m not suggesting that you should stop paying so they have to, but if you say No, then perhaps the guarantor should also make an affordability complaint asking to be removed as guarantor.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
In your affordability complaint yiu should specifically say that the failed IVA should have been very obvious to the lenders and should have made them look very closely at whether the loans were affordable.
Dean B says
Hi Sarah.
Having been assigned an adjudicator to my amigo complaint, I have been asked for a testimony of what happened including a timeline of events.
What should this include? How comprehensive/specific does it need to be?
Regards
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did you just have one loan from Amigo? Has it been repaid?
Dean b says
2 loans then 3 tops ups. Still 3k left on he balance sheet.
Also; Just had an adjudicator rule in favour regarding lending stream loans 6-18 and asked for bank statements around the time of loans 1-5 to investigate further. Initially rejected by LS
Dean B says
Sorry, to be clear…
2013 loan paid off
2015 loan topped up 3 times
3k balance at £177 per month
Lending stream – initial complaint sent to FOS last autumn which LS rejected. FOS has ruled in my favour
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK so you took 1 loan, paid it off, then took another loan and topped that one up 3 times?
In that case the timeline should give the essential details for each loan.
Something like (figures invented and don’t necessarily make sense!):
Loan 1 02/04/2014 Borrowed £2,000, term 2 years. Monthly payments £180. Final payment 12/04/2016. Interest paid £1,700.
Loan 2 20/09/2016 Borrowed £2,500, term 3 years. Monthly payments £220.
Loan 2A 10/12/2016 Topped up, receiving an extra £700. New Refinanced loan term 3 years. Monthly payments £240.
etc
Then for each loan or top up, write a paragraph or two about your finances at the time you took the loan. If your credit record would have showed that your finances had got worse since the previous loan/ top-up, say this, pointing out you owed more, had more short term payday loans, had recent defaults and missed payments etc. If the previous loan or top up was for debt consolidation but your credit record showed you didn’t do thus, point that out. If something significant had changed – lower income? new baby? more expenses? mention this.
Sally says
Just wondering if there has been any updates regarding Amigo and the FOS. Has any actually had their refund from Amigo yet.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Several people were told, Amigo has asked for some more time to consider their decision. I suspect they want to look at all the recent ones as a group. I don’t think anyone has come back yet with a decision.
Sally says
Thanks Sara, would you have any idea how much extra time the FOS would give Amigo.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I have seen a couple of weeks mentioned for different sorts of cases. from FOS’s point of view, they would rather wait for a proper considered response from Amigo then have to have the extra delay of taking all these cases to the Ombudsman because Amigo has failed to meet the deadline. I am aware of 8 cases – there must be a lot more that haven’t been reported here.
marty says
Thing with these loans I guess what the findings are from the adjudicator, at time I was given loan I had 3 defaults and 2 payday loans they also listened to pay out call and it was clear I did not know how much i got paid and also if asked for my bank statements they would have seen worrying transactions. They clearly just lent on my guarantor being able to make payments
Nic says
Good afternoon
I have just had a letter from my investigator to say he upholds all 3 loans I have had with amigo.. 2010, 2011 and 2017. They are to refund all interest and charges and have until 26/6 to respond. Fingers crossed..
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That’s interesting – a couple of loans over 6 years old!
Gareth Patrick Gough says
Good news! Did they say what the reasoning for finding in your favour was?
Nic says
Insufficient checks were made and that I clearly courld not afford the cost sue to existing debt.i think I borrowed between 3-5000 each time. I paid the 2010 and 11 one off after borrowing from family as the payments were crippling me .. fingers crossed they respond positively..
E says
Hi guys
My complaint has recently been upheld and Amigo have been given a deadline of only a few days to respond. Having complained nearly a year ago my case was picked up a couple of weeks ago with everything going in my favour. I don’t wish to go into to much detail and risk jeopardising the case as it wouldn’t suprise me if amigo monitored these sort of forums to their benefit. Id urge people to do the same an to remain patient.
Amigos time is coming.
The amounts owed should Amigo comply are life changing to myself and it will be a huge relief to put it all behind and start a fresh. The payments alone at the minute are crippling.
I will update as soon as i have more information
Cheers
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Thanks – you are now the 11th person reporting they have had a borrower case upheld since the start of May – 10 against Amigo, 1 against UK credit. I hope you hear good news soon!
Matt S says
That great news, congratulations. Wonder why in your case they’ve only been given a few days to respond but in most other cases they’ve been given 2 weeks. Hopefully you get some positive news in the next few days.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
He said he had the news recently. It may be that they were given a deadline which is a few days from now, not from the date of the decision.
Bill says
Hi, just out of intrest but quite an important question: I wonder how many complaints against Amigo have progressed that are over 3 years old, as they stipulate they don’t hold any details of loans after 3 years?
Bill
Natalie says
I did a DSAR on a loan I took out in 2015 and they were able to provide me with a full DSAR for the loan. Maybe it’s that they do hold details however they are saying as the loan completed more than 6 years ago it’s had been more than 3 year since you should have been aware of your cause to complain. Ie more than 3 years since the loan redeemed?
David says
That’s false info in my opinion. I’ve mentioned this above too.
Not long back I put in a SAR for amigo and I got info dating back to my 2012 loan. However it could just be that I got in just in time before they decided to make this stance.
Sarah says
Amigo have agreed to pay me 👍 should have the interest plus 8% back within the next 4 weeks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yay, well done. You are the first of the recent adjudicator decisions to be accepted.
Has the loan been repaid? I think you said you had paid a lot of interest.
Sarah says
My loan had been completed in jan 2019 of this year. I got 5000 over 5 years and paid back just under 12 000.
Jane says
Sarah, fantastic news I am so pleased to hear this!
Do hope the well deserved refund arrives very soon…
Best wishes,Jane
Marty says
Congrats on your victory great news for you
Matt S says
Congratulations Sarah, hopefully more positive results start filtering through now 😀
C says
Hi Sara,
I just wanted to know if you win a case with amigo but still owe them money is the interest refunded back onto the remaining balance or paid directly?
Thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is used to reduce the balance owed.
If you just had 1 loan, not topped up, say you borrowed 2000 and have paid 1200. Then the balance of the loan is reduced to 2000-1200=800 so you only have to repay the amount you borrowed. If for the same loan you had repaid 2500, the balance would be wiped and you would get 500 back.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Panorama BBC1 on at the moment – high cost credit including guarantor loans
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Here is my article looking at the Panorama program – I thought it was very good: https://debtcamel.co.uk/panorama-easy-money-tough-debt/
David says
just to touch on this, I currently am awaiting a decision from an adjudicator from a loan of £4k. I’ve already paid £6.8k, so presume IF my case was upheld and Amigo accepted that I’d have the loan wiped and also get the £2.8k refunded plus interest?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
that sounds right.
Sarah says
I have some really good news I had phone call from amigo asking for my bank details at 3pm went on my on line banking to pay a bill and the money was in there 😆👍
Marty says
Wow that is awesome Sarah, what was that a day after they agreed. Fair play to them for that. Congrats again great news
Sarah says
Yes email yesterday from financial Ombudsman Service then paid tonight 😀
Marty says
Brilliant enjoy the win. Hoping for news myself soon. As said fair play to them for paying out so quickly
Sarah says
Good luck I’m sure the offers will starting rolling in over the next couple of weeks 👍
Matt S says
Just to continue the positive vibes after Sarah’s great result… after an adjudicator finding in my favour, Amigo were given 2 weeks to respond and the 2 weeks were up yesterday. I sent an email to my adjudicator asking if she had received any response (fully expecting to be told that they’d asked for more time). Just checked my emails and have been told by the adjudicator that Amigo have replied to her this morning and have ACCEPTED her findings. She has asked me for my bank details so she can pass them on to Amigo. Like Sarah I have been told that payment should be within 4 weeks however I am now hopeful this could be fully resolved and paid out in the next few days which would be incredible as I’m on holiday next week. Expecting it to be over £10’000 including the 8%. Absolutely life changing. Don’t think i’ll be able to remove the smile from my face today.
David says
More great news. So happy.
marty says
Delighted for you great news. d day for me today
Jane says
Amazing news everyone, so pleased for you all!
I think there are only a few of us here waiting to be assigned an investigator…so hopefully more happy posts on Debt Camel!I don’t like to get my personal hopes up too much but, I remain positive!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
My guess is FOS must have a couple of hundred Amigo complaints. Not everyone who puts one in reads this page and some people only read, they don’t like to leave comments.
Gareth says
Great news!! I had an adjudicator assigned in April…still waiting for their verdict! Fingers crossed be soon!
Sarah says
Fantastic 😀
I got just over 9k xx
James says
Well done everyone, i sent mine to FOS in sep 2018, still not allocated an investigator yet, hopefully shouldn’t be long!
onak says
This is exactly what I was wondering, if anyone had been waiting on the Ombudman for Amigo since last Sept / Oct! They have acknowledged me in the queue. I am also nearing the 6 year limit!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
the 6 year question- the clock stops at that point you sent the complaint to FOS, after that it doesn’t matter how long it takes to get resolved.