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
Alex Sheath says
Has anyone from the 29th had there refund paid in yet?
Dan says
My complaint was upheld 29th but no payment yet, hopefully tomorrow!
Kelly says
Hi Dan, my loan has been settled over night! Woo hoo! Hopefully have my payment my tonight! Good luck with yours and than you so much Sara x
Lou says
I accepted redress 21/07/2020, money has just gone into my account!
Good luck everyone!
AJ says
I accepted 20/07/2020, account changed 21/07/2020 and money has just gone in also. Hope everyone else isn’t waiting too long. Good luck!
Sue says
I’ve just been paid. Accepted on the 29th
Kelly says
Great news for you sue! If what they tell me is right I should get mine tomorrow! When did your account show as settled?
Sue says
Hi Kelly, my Loan was paid in March.
Laura says
Good evening I put in a claim through [a claims company] on the 12th April 2020. My guarantor was offered £1000 refund on 9th July he accepted same day.
Waiting for my redress should be by 28th July it was £5000 Loan in 2017 paying £243.95 per month. Does anyone have a rough idea on how much I will get I owe £1800 on it any help I would be much appreciated
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how much have you paid to the loan? Was this the only loan you had from Amigo?
Laura says
£7000.00 up to now
only loan looks like all Interest has been paid when I log on no Interest on last statement
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then you have paid £2000 in interest (7000 paid – 5000 borrowed) which should be refunded to you and the balance will have been cleared.
Laura says
Thank you very much I’ve just seen that my guarantor payments will be added to balance so will have to pay that as well. Something at least
Harriet says
Hi,
I had a loan of 2,000 and repayment was 2,968. I’ve got about 200 left to pay now. I was pay £123.63 back a month. My guarantor has been offered a refund of 1,500.
What is likely my redress will say?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How much have you (not your guarantor) paid to this loan?
Harriet says
£1219.36 :)
Also will my redress be sent by email or post? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am assuming this was your only loan from Amigo.
You borrowed 2000 and have repaid 1219. So your balanace should be adjusted to 781.
Your guarantor will be released and you will be able to make an affordable payment arrangement to repay the 781.
Leann says
I accepted redress on 9th June. Still to receive funds. Will update when… or if I receive. Happy for those receiving within 2-3 days but I’m on day 42 so frustrating.
Jen says
I would call them again everyday that it isn’t in, this is a long time.
Liam says
After all the weeks of torture and worrying… my payment and my guarantor payment both went into our accounts tonight! Good luck to all those waiting and hang in there. I have to say amigos timeline has been exactly what they have said and quicker.
Good luck to you all
Ross Sinclair says
Just thought I’d update on how my case is going to give people some information on my experience.
I lodged an affordability complaint on the 28.02.20. I received my SAR and sent the appropriate documentation required to outline my reason for complaint. I had one loan and two top ups.
My complaint was upheld on all 3 loans on the 22.6.20, my guarantor got an offer that day of redress but never accepted. I received my redress offer on the 11.7.20 and accepted on the 14.7.20.
Its now the 24.7.20 and as many have reported my account balance now shows as -£9700 so I think my redress is going to be in my bank very soon!!!
Leann says
I’m new to this site so after reading your comment I’ve just logged in and although my loan is fully paid it shows the current balance as -5999…. is this a good sign then!? Fingers crossed
Ross Sinclair says
If others experiences with this is anything to go by yes it is!!! Was 5999 the redress you accepted? Usually peoples balances change in the morning and they get there redress in the evening with I’ve seen good luck!!
Leann says
Oh this has cheered me right up! The redress accepted was a bit less than that but I accepted 9th june so they did tell me it would be a bit more… I was really giving up hope …. fingers crossed
Ross Sinclair says
Yeah mines is slightly more too so I’d expect payout soon or they’ll have to recalculate agian, great end to the week!! All going well ha ha hope it goes well for you!
Leann says
I’ll just add… the actual statement is showing 2 credit payments yesterday that total the redress amount. So hopefully the end us near!
Christopher says
Hi guys,
Did you receive your payment same day as I’ve just checked my amigo account and its showing minus. So just want to know how long it takes from there.
Thanks
Terry says
Reading many comments about guarantors getting offers and accepting redress etc? On my complaint I have stated I do not want my guarantor contacted, why would people want the gaurantor to get their money? Unless you couldn’t pay and the guarantor had to pick up your payments?
Ross Sinclair says
The guarantor will only get contacted with an offer if they’ve made payments towards your loan. Hope this helps
james says
just had my generic reply from amigo giving them 8 weeks to reply to my claim.
guess now all I can do it wait!
Jason says
Hi Sara please help.
Im at the stage where they have offered my guarantor 800. No figures for me.
Now all the money is due back to me anyway…
Ive just been told if my guarantor accepts the 800. That will be applied to my account bas a debt? And then the 8% interest would be less..
I have just got my guarantor to now decline this offer. So that the acvount stays the same
Did i do the right thing here?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
see my comment to someone else below this one!
Jaz says
What happens If you have paid your guarantor all the money back on the payments their made towards your loan, and then after you made a complaint, even though the guarantor made some payments towards the loan but you paid them back all the money their had made towards the loan, why then would their still pay the guarantor if you already have paid them the money back what you owned them. I just want to know what happens then will Amigo settle the payment on a successful claim to me. My guaranto is also aware im making a claim, and knows iv paid them back all the money their had paid towards the loan, and are ready to confirm this with Amigo, what happens in a case like this. Thanks Sara and to everyone on this site who have shared their advice, it’s been so helpful.
Jase says
Exact same situation as me. Read my comment above since if they accept the redress you could end up getting less!
L says
They don’t care if you’ve paid the guarantor back, even if your guarantor says it. If the guarantor accepts, they get the payments they made paid back to them. If they don’t accept, it goes to you. All they want is an accept/reject from both parties.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you are on good terms with the guarantor then this isn’t a problem. You can either ask your guarantor to say No to the refund and it will all come to you or you can ask them to say Yes, but then pass you the refund amount.
In theory Amigo has to pay out a bit more if the guarantor says Yes (because they have to pay the guarantor more 8% interest than they do the borrower) but it’s not a lot of difference usually and it seems rather confusing what is happening in practice as Amigo seems to be making so many unexplained calculations. So you may think it’s just simpler if they say No.
Andy says
Amigo have to offer the redress to the guarantor if they are the one that made the payment to them. The guarantor can decline the offer in which case the money would either be left on the account, or they accept the offer the refund would be deducted from the payments made on your account meaning the balance would increase.
If you are still on speaking terms with the guarantor you can either ask them to decline the offer or give you the payment when they receive it. If you are not then unless you can evidence you have paid them for the dedt you could possibly take them to a small claims court.
Michelle says
Hi I just received an offer from amigo to uphold my first loan I had 4 but there only upholding the 1st one the claim company I have went with said it’s a poor offer it’s 823 balance reduction, I pay 430 a month just now but I’ve had a few top ups so the amount has went up over time. What I’m afraid of is rejecting the offer and getting nothing they have said they can send it to the fos do you think that would be the right thing to do?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It sounds like a poor offer unless the first one was large and later three small – that isn’t what normally happens!
They aren’t actually offering you any cash, nor to remove your guarantor for the current loan, so I don’t think you have anything to lose by sending this to FOS.
What is your current financial situation? Have your household finances been affected by Coronavirus?
What was your guarantor’s financial position at the time you took the last top-up?
Michelle says
My first loan was for 3000 but the amount kept on going up the top ups were up to 10,000 so I’m surprised as well, I’m self employed so I’m on a payment break at the moment I also had a lot of gambling on my accounts so I’m surprised they only took into consideration the first one i thought it would be the other way around, my guarantor had a good steady income but she’s never paid any of it for me i struggled to pay it but I always did. I’m going to reject the offer I just was scared I would end up with nothing. Thanks again for all your help
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK, that sounds a good move.
You can now get a second 3 month payment break from Amigo if your finances are still difficult.
£430 a month is a lot. Are you sure your guarantor could manage to pay that out of her income every month and still pay all her own bills, debts and expenses? If not, you could suggest she too puts ina complaint, see a template letter for a guarantor here: https://debtcamel.co.uk/amigo-complaints-by-guarantor/.
The advantage for you of her doing this is it is possible she might get her complaint upheld by amogo quicker than you get a FOS decision on your case.
Michelle says
Yeah that’s a good idea I will tell her I never thought of it like that I wouldn’t imagine she would have that amount spare a month as her partner has just lost his job with all that’s happening just now so she definitely couldn’t pay this for me, thanks I’ll go tell her and give that a try.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK, but for her to win an affordability complaint what matters is what her finances were like at the time the last top up loan was taken, not what they are like now.
PM says
I had 3 loans upheld and my guarantor settled one on my behalf. In short, they were offered £6k redress (plus £2k interest) and I was due a £4K redress. As a result of them accepting, their £6k is added to my debt meaning I was due nothing and I now owe Amigo £2k. We’re on good terms so we accepted and will settle this out of the money she gets. Overall, we’re £6k better off. It all depends on your circumstance with your guarantor. Those with a bad relationship will find this process tough to accept. Good luck all.
Ryan says
Hi Sara,
My complaint from Amigo was upheld. However my guarantor made some payments. I informed them that she passed away. Now they want to know who the executor is for her. I don’t know who it is. What should I do? Ignore it? What can happen. I am freaking out now. Will this delay things for months?
Further to my previous email. Please can you confirm if you are aware of your guarantors executor and provide us with their contact details if so?
Kind Regards,
Customer Relations Team
Amigo Loans
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you reply honestly that you don’t know who the executor is.
ryan crombie says
Will Amigo pursue an executor and delay the process or just say we cant contact her?
What do you think can happen next Sara? ive told them that I dont know who the executor is.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I really can’t guess. I expect you are wishing you had never told them she had died!
Htrj says
I got this in a email the other day
“ We write further to our recent correspondence to let you know that we are continuing with our investigation into your concerns.
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.”
Need some advice as I’m not sure what I’m really doing and just referring back to this site;
Do I wait this out or follow up with the ombudsman service now ?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Normally I say people can send the case to FOS or they can wait another couple of weeks and hope Amigo respond.
But I am disappointed amigo have not already picked up your case and replied – because of your mental health problems they should have been giving you priority.
So I suggest you send this to FOS right away – the article above explains how to do this. Include details of your mental health problems, rent arrears etc in your FOS complaint. And after a few days phone FOS and ask for your case to be picked up as a priority.
Barbara says
Hiya does anyone have direct number for complaints still waiting for redress figures and the email they have sent me seems to have conviently forgotten this little gem! Can only seem to get hold of collections and they say they haven’t got a direct number !!! Many thanks
Kelly says
01202835170 this is the number I’ve been using, takes a while to get through but hang in there they do eventually answer
Phil Huntley says
Hiya
I logged into my account earlier and it was showing that my guarantor had been paid so i called up to get some sort of clarification as to what the figures meant and why i still hadn’t received my figures. They said they couldn’t understand why i hadn’t had any figures and that she would call me back today.
Still not heard back from them so tried to log back in to try and work out the figures but my account is now closed. I am on hold to them now but the lady i spoke to said I can’t access the account coz it’s showing as settled. Surely this can’t be right, any ideas?
rob says
hi there, had the same thing happen to me, its now been 3 weeks since my account changed to closed and settled but still no redress offer for me, my guarantor has had his redress and payment,
Absolutely nothing for me so far and they keep telling me that they have no timescale to provide me with, just that it will be dealt with in the coming weeks,
have you had any luck as yet?
Laura says
Hi
Ive had 4 loans with Amigo as follows:
27/05/15 £3000 monthly payment £118.57
29/03/16 £5000 monthly payments £197.62
19/08/16 £7500 monthly repayments £296.44
10/08/17 £8500monthly repayments £335.96
They have replied today saying the 2nd and 3rd loans have been upheld but not the 1st and 4th, the 4th loan being the one I have paid the most interest on. They have offered a redress of £2719.19 which they have taken off my outstanding balance of £5803.42 leaving the new outstanding balance of £3084.23. I don’t think this is fair as I worked out I’ve payed nearly £8000 in interest on the last loan. They have stated that my guarantor didn’t have to step in and I never missed a payment. I don’t know where to go from here? I’m currently on a payment break for “breathing space” due to being furloughed which ends 1st September. If I take the offer to reduce my balance does that mean I can’t take it to the financial ombudsman? Or do I reject the offer and ask them to review the final loan again which has caused me finincial hardship as I unexpectedly fell pregnant and still made the monthly payments but had to borrow money from family to keep my head afloat? Please help!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That sounds like a very poor offer. Unless your income went up a lot, how that last loan with its bigger monthly payments be affordable for you when the 3rd one wasn’t?
If all the loans had been upheld you would have the last loan wiped and have several thousand pounds in cash refunded to you. Amigo are very unlikely to change their mind though.
I think you should take it to the Ombudsman. The article above explains how to do this,
As they aren’t offering you any cash or even to release your guarantor, I don’t think you have anything to lose by doing this.
“I’m currently on a payment break for “breathing space” due to being furloughed which ends 1st September.”
Does the break end in September? Or your furlough? Or both? Are you expecting to get back to normal work?
Leann says
Ross…. my money has gone in! Fingers crossed yours does too
I accepted 9th June but seems mines taken a lot longer than most it seems
Laura says
Thanks for the reply. I’ve had 2 months payment break, they emailed me to say if I wanted to restart payments to reply and if not they would extend it by 1 month meaning my next installment would be due 1st September. I’ll be returning to work 4th August so theoretically my wages would return to normal. I put a complaint in to the ombudsmen when amigo didn’t respond within 8 weeks but have just resubmitted with the updated offer. Do I just reply to the email from Amigo stating I decline their offer and am taking it to the ombarsmen. This is all really stressing me and affecting my mental health, I really don’t want to restart the payments again as we were really struggling as a family, the payments are about a 3rd of my wages since Im now part time since returning from Maternity leave after having a baby in 2018 (unexpected).
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do I just reply to the email from Amigo stating I decline their offer and am taking it to the ombudsmen.
Yes.
What was your guarantor’s financial position when you took the last top up?
Do you have other debts as well?
Laura says
The guarantor was my mum, she was working 4 days a week. She was 63 when I took the last loan out so close to retirement age. Yes, I have an overdraft which I’m in an agreement with to reduce it monthly and a number of active credit cards as well as some which have been closed and passed to debt collectors as they are in default. I’d also taken out numerous payday loans out previously.
I emailed them to decline the offer and told them I’m taking it to the ombardaman. Just a waiting game now I guess? I’m so stressed out by it all. Thanks for your help so far Sara
Rob says
Just been paid, my complaint started 29/01/20, got figures 07/07/20., accepted that day , online account showed refund this morning , paid into acc just now , good luck guys , hope you get your money soon
Terry says
Sorry but how has it taken 6 months? Regardless of Covid your wait seems to be quite extreme. Did you sent it to FOS I take it? My complaint is now 6 weeks old, I have just recently sent in bank statements for during the time of all 3 loans plus 1 top up loan, i will not be waiting longer than the 8 weeks b4 sending it to the Ombudsman if needed! All my payday loans complains from a couple years ago were upheld within the 8 week time frame so I am hoping for the same response here. I spoke with Amigo a couple of days ago and they have said they are track to get a final response to me within the 8 weeks, they have been hiring lots of staff recently to deal with the demand.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
All my payday loans complains from a couple years ago were upheld within the 8 week time frame so I am hoping for the same response here.
you were lucky. There were plenty of people that waited years for a payday loan complaint to be paid out!
With Amigo there have been two problems. First they basically rejected all complaint from about December to May. Secondly the claims management companies have started sending them thousands of complaints this year.
So a huge backlog has developed and Amigo have told the FCA it will now be cleared.
Good luck with yours!
Andrea says
Please don’t believe anything they tell you, it’s all just to get you off the phone, I’m week 20 today and not had an outcome yet.
My figures where apparently being worked out 2 weeks ago and still nothing.
Yes on 8 weeks it went to the FOS but nothing from them.
I’ve also submitted my TFS to FOS 20 weeks ago Monday and not heard.
Please be prepared to wait. If you get it sooner great!
Terry says
So after 8 weeks did Amigo get back to you, and presumably declined your complaint? Does that mean you have had your complaint with the FOS for a further 12 weeks, if so what correspondence have you had from them? I never had to send anything to the Ombudsman as my refunds with Wonga, Quickquid, Mr Lender, Wageday Advance, Lending Stream and Next Credit were all settled no later than the end of the 8th week and my offers were all for over 80% of total interest paid.
Andrea says
No no decision yet from Amigo, nothing happens, at 8 weeks you get an email saying sorry we are behind, please refer to the Ombudsman if you want too. Then you just wait, and wait and 12 weeks later I’m
Still waiting.
Tfs after a wrote rejecting saying it was over 6 years old ( by one week) so that’s been with the ombudsman for 20 weeks and still nothing.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The article above explains how to send a case to the Ombudsman. You can do this at 8 weeks or decide to give Amigo a couple of extra weeks as they are clearing a large backlog at the moment ,it’s up to you.
The timescales for. other people’s FOS Amigo cases are now irrelevant as so much if the backlog is being resolved.
Hollie says
Hello Sarah please could you explain this to me? Does this mean that they are getting rid of my loan? I have £7500 left and have paid £296.44 interest for 2 years
Having looked at your observations and carefully considered the information available on our systems, we have concluded that Amigo cannot be completely confident that the loan agreements were affordable for you.
Accordingly, Amigo is prepared to offer you redress in respect of the loan agreements shown in the appendix. The redress provided will consist of:
The removal of all interest charges under the loan agreements;
A refund of any payments you may have made in excess of the capital amount of the loan agreements, along with 8% simple interest; and
The removal of any adverse information from your credit file in respect of the loan agreements.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Was that your only loan from them? If you had more than one, are they upholding them all?
Hollie says
This is what they sent me.
No. Loan Reference Date of Payout Loan Amount Term (Months) Monthly Payment
1 30634588 11 Jul 2016 £2,000.00 36 £97.58
2 32165431 16 Dec 2016 £3,000.00 36 £146.37
3 35413042 16 Feb 2017 £7,500.00 60 £296.44
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you think they are upholding all three loans? Then you should be getting a refund but unless you can work out how much you have paid to each of three loans (in cash, nor what Amigo say the interest was) and how much you received in cash from the top ups, I can’t work out the numbers.
SKelly says
Accepted my redress on 28th June was told 14 days for refund , numerous fone calls and emails asking where my refund is , sick of being fobbed off now , all my loans were repaid 2 years ago !!
Anyone else waiting for there refund because I really don’t think I’ll see it !!
Dan says
Still no payment today:( accepted my redress on the 29th. Looks like another week of phone calls and angry emails…
Dan says
Me too, Hang in there. One day we will get our money
Skelly says
Hi Dan let me know if you get your refund , I’ll post when I eventually receive mine 🤞
Skelly says
Hi Dan. I’ve just got off the fone from Amigo asking why my refund is , they still not very helpful saying they will email the dept who sorts the refunds , I asked can I have there number , they replied there isn’t one ? Don’t get it , they just said well email me when they get a response , apsoulutly useless !!
Dan says
use this number to call amigo if you haven’t got it already. It think it goes straight through to the right department. 01202835170
That’s exactly what they said to me… must just be what they have been told to say just to fob people off! They also said give it until Friday and then call back
Michael says
I’m still waiting for my redress accepted on the 9th of June it’s ridiculous had a email off them on Friday that the mo ey would be in by today at the latest
Skelly says
Hi Dan , just received an email from Amigo , they said my refund will be in my account today between 4&8pm , I’ll let you know if it happens not getting too excited tho 😃
Dan says
Still no payment! Seriously considering camping outside their HQ in Bournemouth 🤬
Skelly says
Well still not payment from amigo after I was told it would be in my account yesterday between 4 &8, these people are getting on my last nerve 😡
Christopher Orourke says
Hi SKelly
Has your account balance change to minus. Mine is still saying £0. But have seen on here that it changes before they payout. I’m hoping for mine to been paid soon.
Cheers
Skelly says
Hi Christopher my loans were settled so I have no balance , I’m supposed to be recieving my refund today between 4& 8 pm
Christopher Orourke says
Hi SKelly. Yeah mine was closed and settled back in 2015. When I log on it says balance £0. Some ppl have said that changes to minus the day before you get paid out. Did you recieve your refund bud or have amigo lied again.
Skelly says
Hi Christopher, amigo told me my refund would be in my account yesterday between 4&8 pm , just checked and surprise surprise… NOTHING, seriously these people are getting on my last nerve , so I’ll be spending another day ringing them !!
Dol says
Hello Sara
I have had my redress figures from amigo this evening and as my guarantor has accepted there refund as they made numerous payments for me, I now owe amigo more than my balance was previous with them, so even with myself getting interest refund from them the cash amount is 0 and I now have a larger balance with them then I did before, however this loan was included in my Iva (which is now completed as was able to do a full and final settlement early thanks to a family friend)
Amigo have said in my redress letter they will be in contact to arrange re payment off this debt, can amigo chase me for this debt as it was included in my Iva?
I had 3 loans with them 2 paid off then 1 with them that was included in my Iva they have upheld loan 2 (which was paid off) & 3 which had the outstanding balance (but included in my Iva ) loan one they did not Upheld but like loan 2 this was fully paid off, can they chase me for the new balance? Or does it come under the rules off my completed Iva (even thou it has the added extra etc)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you actually owed them nothing before your complaint, right?
Assuming that is correct…
can amigo chase me for this debt as it was included in my Iva?
No they can’t. I suggest you phone them up and say the debt was included in your IVA which has now been completed so you do not owe them anything even if they had to refund your guarantor.
loan one they did not Upheld but like loan 2 this was fully paid off, can they chase me for the new balance?
so have they made a deduction for “unpaid interest” for this first loan?
If they have you need to go back to them and say you will not be paying this and unless they agree to write it off you will be taking the case to the ombudsman on the grounds that:
a) they had no right to unpick the settlement of the first loan which you had settled with part of tour 2nds loan
b) it is unfair for you to be left in a worse position after they have upheld your complaint that you were given unaffordable loans.
I hope you think your guarantor getting his money refunded is a good result as there seems no way you would ever get a refund from this.
Dol says
Hi Sara
Thankyou for information, I had a balance with them for my last loan that was included in my Iva but they could not chase me for it as it was included in the Iva but they never wiped it off my account as such even though I sent them my completion certificate off the Iva, they have not added interest from 1st loan just added my guarantee’s refund to my balance then taken my interest refund amount off etc so due to guarantees refund my balance is now higher than before I made the complaint etc so should I inform amigo when they chase me for the debt they can’t as it was included in my Iva and if they disagree send to ombudsman as obviously I am in a worse position then when I first complained if this that makes sense.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If there is no deduction for unpaid interest, then loan 1 should be irrelevant.
If they say you now owe more for loan 3 because of your guarator’s refund, first object to Amigo that this loan was included in your IVA and then go to the Ombudsman if they persist.
WJ says
Hello everyone! Just got this from Amigo (after a 5 month investigation)
1. The removal of all interest charges under the loan agreements;
2. A refund of any payments you may have made in excess of the capital amount of the loan agreements, along with 8% simple interest; and
3. The removal of any adverse information from your credit file in respect of the loan agreements.
My guarantor was released and they were refunded £7,500 (to be paid in 14 days).
Thanks Sara for the hard-work and invaluable information on this site.
Angela says
Hi, I’m just wondering of ive made a mistake. I made an affordability complaint on 1st April. Received an email today advising complaint upheld on 5 loans and that I would receive a redress offer no later than 12th August. My guarantor also received an email with an offer of £5700. My guarantor is my sister so no issue as she will give me the money (any money she paid to the loans has been paid back to her by me). She’s accepted the offer but is this a mistake? Could I end up owing amigo money? I dont have any outstanding balance with them and haven’t had since 2018. The email to me also states they’ll advise of redress figures to me in due course. Confused 😕
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Either you will receive a much lower refund or you will be left owing a balance to Amigo.
But if your sister is giving you the 5700 you will be no worse off than if she had said No. As you can use some of this to repay any balance Amigo say you owe them.
PM says
Hi Angela, I’m in the same position. My guarantor accepted £6k refund. My figures arrived 3 weeks later and showed that I was due a £4K refund, but as the guarantors refund is offset against mine, I have to pay Amigo £2k. I’ve agreed to repay Amigo in full out of my guarantors redress but we’re yet to receive any payment (they said 20 working days).
Amy says
Good morning Sara , I can’t thank you enough for this site and everything you have given to us all , you have literally changed peoples lives :) I have finally had my figures come through this morning and I am lost for words.
Here are my figures Interest paid to be refunded to you : £22,612.26
8% statutory interest awarded : £8,408.55
20% tax already deducted from 8% : £2,102.14
Refund of fees/charges : £60.00
Total interest refund due : £31,080.81
They have then taken off the remaining balance which is £5391.44
Does this all look ok , I’m so incredibly happy just having the loan gone from my life after a long and hard 12 years. You are an amazing person, I wish I could do something in return for all your goodness :)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
wow, just over £25,000 in cash and your loan wiped! I think that is the highest Amigo refund I have seen.
But let’s look at the details. You posted in June about what you might get back and I made the interest and charges you had paid at that time £20,653. Since then you will probably have made 1 more payment of £266.
Amigo’s figure of £22,612.26 is not calculated on the same basis as mine, because I assume that the last loan is wiped and they are refunding you the interest that is included in your current balance and then deducting that balance. The calculations should come to the same number in the end, but the intervening steps are different.
I am slightly surprised the Amigo calculation isn’t a bit higher. But it can’t be far out, a thousand at the most.
And it may be correct as I felt some of the interest figures in the calculations I made came out surprisingly high (as I said to you at the time), so there may have been some problem with of those numbers.
I didn’t try to work out the 8% but a back of a fag packet calculation doesn’t suggest Amigo’s is wrong.
In your position, I would probably say yes and not bother to ask for a detailed breakdown!
Amy says
I am in shock Sara, when you told me what you worked out I never believed that could have been true , I can’t thank you enough for this and coming across your site by accident.
I wanted to keep you updated and see what your thoughts were as I’m not 100% sure on how tax etc works . I am totally happy so leaving it be as I can now move on with a stress free life and Amigo gone forever. Thank you a thousand times Sara :) xx
Andrea says
Any that’s truly epic! I can’t say how much I needed to read this!
Mines over 10 years I’ve been telling myself I’ve not heard as it’s pretty big! Not as big as yours but it’s wonderful and after having them for years I know exactly how you must been feeling to finically have that dead weight over with!
When did you submit?
Well done 👍 so a happy ending
Amy says
I honestly didn’t think this would happen , been waiting for so long , I put my complaint in in November 2019 , amigo messaged In February not upholding then in June came back and said yes to all , been a long and awful wait but totally worth it , I really didn’t think it would ever go through , so there is hope for everyone , it will happen :) it is such a relief , I never thought amigo would have been out of my life , good luck with yours I wish you all the best :) x
Sara (Debt Camel) says
PS a SMALL donation to your local Citizens Advice would be great.
Amy says
I would love to do that :) thank you again Sara xxx
Angela says
my guarantor has been offered a refund too but I’m now panicking that I’ll end up owing amigo money even though I’ve been clear of them for almost 2 years. Can I ask if this is the position you’re in given your guarantor has been offered a refund? I got the exact same email as the one you’ve noted above.
Thanks
Angela
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Angela, I am not sure why you are panicking about this as your guarantor has said she will give you the money?
Angela says
I borrowed a total of 24k over a 5 year period Sara and every penny paid back so I suppose I’m just thinking it would have been good to get a refund on the interest and not be left owing them money. They give it back with one hand and take it back with another. Anyway ill see what they say when they contact me with their figures and how they’ve worked it out
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well you may not! But a large refund to your guarantor means your refund will be reduced.
If you can give me the numbers, I can look at it. I need to know for each loan separately:
– how much you borrowed
– how much you received in cash if the laon was a top up
– how much you (not your guarantor) paid to the loan in monthly payments
– any settlement amount you paid (not your guarantor)
Angela says
Hi Sara, ill need to go through bank statements to get that info, will post info when I’ve compiled it. I’m probably just getting worked up over nothing. I’m happy not to receive any refund directly aslong as they don’t want any money off me lol. We’ll soon see!
Lisa b says
Hi, anyone who had an account with TrustTwo settled did you receive a confirmation email/letter proving this?
I rang everyday for a week for confirmation that the account was closed, they always said it was on the phone but when I requested it in writing I got a poxy little email saying “confirming the account is closed” no formal letter or anything.
As I don’t talk to my guarantor anymore I wanted a letter sent proving it was closed but instead they just cc’d him into the same email 🙄
Just seems a bit unfinished to me.
Any thoughts? Their website is stupid aswell as I can’t see any of my payments or anything.
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
An email is fine. Print it off and keep it.
Andrea says
Just reading on Amigos web site and this was just updated. Glad to see that they are learning from this and go forward others won’t be in the same situations we have been left in. At least some good will come from this!
What’s changed?
There are a couple of things we’ve changed to our top up criteria. Firstly, you’ll need to have made 12 months of payments on time and had no changes in your financial circumstances to be able to apply for a top up. Secondly, we have put a limit on the number of top up loans a customer can have – which now means you won’t be eligible to apply for another top up if you’ve already had two or more top up loans in the past.
It’s important our customers can comfortably afford their loan repayments along with their other financial commitments and priority bills. These updates to our criteria help us to make sure a top up loan is right for you and wouldn’t cause you any financial difficulty.
DL says
Unfortunately the long waits are also due to many people putting in complaints regardless of whether they had affordability or not. As Sara has already said once the claim management companies get involved they will put every case through to be looked at which takes time. I dread to think how many actual cases Amigo are currently dealing with and whilst a high % will have a genuine case to investigate many will not and will be more hoping than anything else. Ultimately you would only use Amigo if your credit score wasn’t great but that doesn’t mean that every loan was miss sold. I am in no way standing up for Amigo but explaining why there are such delays as all cases must be looked into regardless of merit.
Good luck to everyone. My case was raised in Jan, paid end of June so 6 months like quite a few have said.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am sure some Amigo loans were not mis-sold! But I see many people who sound as though they have good complaints being very worried that they don’t have a good case, probably unneccessarily…
So my message is simple, if you know your Amigo loan caused you problems, so you had to top it up, get behind with bills or borrow more from other lenders or your family, send in a complaint and, if it is rejected, ask the ombudsman to look at your situation in detail.
I don’t think any previous timescales are of any help in knowing what will happen. All we know is that Amigo has undertaken to resolve the backlog, including new cases arising, so that by the end of October it is replying to complaints within 8 weeks.
A lot of recent complaints seem to be being settled in under 12 weeks at the moment, often with good offers.
Andrea says
Has anyone else noticed them pulling a credit check whilst addressing your claim? Noticed earlier they did a soft search on Friday! Am hoping this is finally it.
Feel like I’m turning in to a crazy lady lol 😂 I ll never want to check my emails again after this! 20 weeks I’m sick of checking!
S says
Afternoon all,
Finally received my redress calculations today. I have been charged £100 fees/charges for something. I never defaulted etc. Has anyone else had this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Are you sure you are being charged for this? The emails can be difficult to understand, but if you add up the numbers, you may find the £100 is increasing your redress, not reducing it.
S says
Evening all,
Upon deciphering the email it appears you are correct Sara, upon asking it would seem that this a brokers fee upon taking out the loan.
Mine has been a long going saga. Complaint raised Apr 19, they couldn’t find my loan due to time periods. That said, they had sufficient detail about the loan! Escalated to FOS in Jun 19. Complaint rejected by Amigo in Nov 19, the. Picked up by an investigator in Dec 19.
Complaint upheld my FOS in March 20 and redress figures received 26 Jul. Tried to accept via the number given and (surprise) they couldn’t find my account. To be fair, the guy at Amigo was fantastic and polite. Gave my details to the guy that sent the figures and he was really helpful. Told me to expect funds within 15 working days.
Hopefully all done soon.
John says
Hi everyone I was hoping someone could help me with my redress appendice I have received.
I have had 2 loans with amigo they have agreed to redress my second loans as they agreed it was unaffordable, it was a top up to £10,000 and I’ve paid from September 2017 at £396pm
Here is what they sent me.
Total interest £10,354
8% simple interest (after tax deduction) £0.00
Unpaid interest from non-upheld loan £4683
Fees/charges £0.00
Total redress payable £5670
Previous loan amount £8777
Sum of guarantor refund £0.00
New Balance less redress £3106
Cash refund £0.00
Plese can do one inform me why I still owe money when I have paid over £10,000 in interest on a £10,000 loan. Any help would be appreciated, I will feel a huge weight off my shoulders once this is over and done with.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They are saying you still owe money because of this line:
Unpaid interest from non-upheld loan £4683
Because they are refunding the second loan, they are saying the first loan was never settled so they are piling on this “unpaid interest” for that.
This seems completely unfair. They have only started doing this in the last 3 or 4 weeks. They have never done it before. The Ombudsman has never suggested this should be done. No other lender has ever done this.
I suggest you send your case to the Financial Ombudsman straight away and ask them to
1) see if the first loan also should be upheld (in which case you will get money back for that AND the unpaid interest will vanish) and
2) if it is fair to charge the “unpaid interest”.
Amigo will probably release your guarantor now, so while the case goes through at FOS you can pay a lower more affordable amount until it is settled.
Tom says
Hi Sara,
First of all thank you so much for all of the help you’ve provided us with via this website. I first came across it years ago and it really helped me understand what my rights are and that i can complain.
I sent a complaint to Amigo aeound s year ago and their final response was that i wasn’t entitled to anything. I then began the process of contacting FO but when they got back to me a couple of months later id lost the info I needed for the account. Its now been months since they replied to me, so I’m guessing I need to contact Amigo again to send over account info, but would I be able to reply to my existing thread with FO, or would I need to submit a new claim?
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Talk to FOS, you have to try to pick up the existing claim. A new one will be rejected by Amigo and FOS.
Kyle says
I sent in my complaint on 4th January 2020, I’m still waiting for a final response. I sent it off to the ombudsmen because I’m homeless, so they put me on priority. It’s been 7 ish weeks or so, so I called them up, then the guy said they put me on priority and then told me the name of the case worker. He said he would get her to contact me within the next 2 days for an update. It’s been about 2 weeks, still no reply. I just emailed amigo to ask if there had been an update yet, and also the ombudsmen. My mental health condition makes me worry they have just chucked my case out. Congratulations on everyone who have had redress already :)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you are Better off trying to talk to the Ombudsman. I doubt talking to Amigo will speed anything up.
LEE says
It’s interesting, when I asked to pay a lower amount once they’d upheld my top ups as unaffordable, they said that I’m contractually obliged to keep paying the same amount as I was before (£365.92) which was calculated as part of the original lending. I’ve gone through and income and outgoings with them and shaved £40 off the DD taking it down to £320 per month. I suppose it means it’ll get cleared quicker (12 months).
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well that is just wrong. The current loan is unaffordable so you can agree a lower repayment. Are you happy you can afford 320 a month? And pay all your other debts and bills and expenses? If not, talk to a debt adviser who will help you come up with an income and expenditure to show to Amigo.
Of course it would be good to get rid of the debt and never have to talk to them again… but not if you get into problems with other debts you are paying interest in or priority bills or you have to borrow more…
Shelby says
Hi Sara ,
the loan was £6500 so they said I’ve paid £10,072 intreast but they’ve minus £6935 from the £10,072 ? I thought they give you all the interest back ? All loans were upheld
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You just had the one loan on 6500, and your guarantor didn’t make any payments, right?
How much have you paid in total to this loan so far, ignore if Amigo say it’s interest or not, just what payments have you made eg 28 payments of £281.
Shelby says
I had a loan out on – 14th July 2016 of .. £4,250
14 Jul 2016
£4,250.00 it won’t let me see this top up and it went in my uncles account so I didn’t see the money ,
Top up …
24 Oct 2016
£5,750.00 – settlement of this was £5938
Top up
07 Mar 2017
£6,500.00
Received £561 for this .
It won’t let me see my full statement now ,
I’ve paid £10, 427 Interest
And they took £6936 from that to clear the balance
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I’m sorry but I need to know how many payments you made to each of the loans. And either what the cash payout was or what the settlement amount was for the top ups.
From what you have said i can’t tell if Amigo have calculated this fairly or not.
Alex says
I accepted my redress on the 29th June and it’s just gone into my bank today! Thanks for this website Sara & all the best to everyone else!
mark says
Sorry for posting again, is there anyone that had their complaint with TFS not upheld but had a decision from the FOS? Mine is currently with them
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think there are about ten people posting here who have TFS cases with FOS at the moment. Sam had his settled in the last month or so after it went to the ombudsman level. TFS don’t seem to accept many at the adjudicator level.
I don’t remember anyone losing a TFS case at FOS.
Amanda says
Mine is currently with the FOS as well and it’s taking ages! I won my claim with amigo so I’m really hoping. The same with TFS but it’s taken ages. I’ve now had to send bank statements to FOS regarding my claim with TFS
Andrea says
Hi Amanda & Mark how long have you waited for them to look at it?
Amanda says
Hi,
This has been going on for months with my TFS complaint, so I sent it to the FOS as I wasn’t happy with the TFS response and it’s now been with the FOS for about 2 months and they have now asked for bank statements. TFS rejected my complaint first of all and it’s been a battle for the last year and half. I just was just interested to see if anyone had there’s accepted with FOS and has had a payout ?
Andrea says
Thanks Amanda, just curios as mines been with them for 5 months, and not heard anything.
I sent an email last week so hopefully might nudge it along. Good luck
mark says
Mine got rejected by TFS 8 months ago and I referred it straight to FOS taken them 7 months, I supplied bank statements straight away. Its currently being looked at and they have everything they need.
Nicola says
I would like some advice been provided offer of redress from UK Credit I still owe money but not much. They have agreed this was missold but stating that they are still going to take money from my guarantor until I agree and make arrangements and that my guarantor is still liable if I do not. Can someone let me know if this is correct
Matthew says
Hi Nicola
Just wondering did this go to an adjudicator also what time scale are you at with this outcome? I’m still waiting almost 5 months for adjudicator to pick mine up good luck with your outcome
Victoria says
I’ve had my email!!!
Sara this is what was said….
Total interest £8068.76
8% simple interest ( before deduction ) £ 2264.70
20% tax reduction £566.18
Fees and charges £300
Total redress payable £10633.64
Current loan balance £5898.44
Balance less redress £0
Cash refund £4735.23
So happy!!!!! On phone to them now to accept!
Is it right that we can claim the tax back? I’m nkt worried about the charges as I don’t want to further delay anything.
Thanks for all your help.
Complaint put in 2nd of March!
Thanks
Don says
Hi, just after a bit of advice. Amigo have upheld all my loans, the first one dates back to 2010, my guarantor made 2 payments totalling £302.38 which I gave her the money back. We’re on good terms so there’s no issues there. Should I tell her to accept the refund for the payments she made? If she doesn’t accept will the payments be made to me? Thank you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
In theory Amigo have to pay out a bit more if they pay your guarantor and not you. But the amounts will be TINY if you guarantor has only paid that much. And some people seem to get their refund stalled after their guarantor has been paid… So it may be simpler if she just says No and it all comes to you.
Victoria says
Hi, does anyone know how to claim the 20% tax back please?
Thank you
maria says
Hi all,
Yes l’d like to know as well please how we claim back the 20%
Sara (Debt Camel) says
See https://debtcamel.co.uk/ppi-payday-refund-get-back-tax/
victoria says
I’ve read it numerous times, trying to do it online but I don’t understand. I’ve read the notes. Is is the dividend. ? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
the 8% numbers (gross, tax deducted, net of tax) go in as UK interest and dividends – is that what you were asking?
Victoria says
Net interest paid by banks, building societies etc, purchased life annuities and PPI payments
After tax taken off
Tax taken off the gross interest paid by banks, building societies and purchased life annuities
Gross interest paid by banks, building societies and purchased life annuities
Before tax taken off
Do you receive interest that has not been taxed at all?
My 8% figures were
8% Simple Interest (After Tax Deduction
£2264.70
20% Basic Rate Tax Deduction on 8% Simple Interest
£566.18
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Most interest in the UK is now paid gross with no tax taken off. But I can’t advise on whether yours has been. If you are self emplyed or normally complete a tax return you should be asking for a refund through your tax return.
If the online form looks different to the copy of the paper one given as an example, would it be simpler to completed the paper one?
victoria says
I’m not sure, I am a basic tax payer and pay tax each month.
Thanks
Jack says
Hi, any one had issues with Buddy Loans? Sent my complaint on the 6th July and had this response this morning. What is the best way to proceed ?
Further to our email dated 7th July, I am currently investigating your complaint. In order to fully assess your concerns, I have been listening to the telephone conversations we had with you prior to the loan being approved and paid out. During these calls, we verbally discussed your income and expenditure with you and this information was used when assessing the affordability to service the loan agreement. This is in additional to discussions about your financial stability. I have attached the relevant call recordings and ask that you listen to them and confirm if the information you provided at the time was accurate.
If you agree that your recorded statements were a true and honest representation of your financial status at the time of the loan, then we would recommend that the complaint be closed with no further action. Using your recorded verbal confirmation in addition to the credit searches from TransUnion, income electronic verification checks and affordability assessments is sufficient for any responsible lender to meet the regulatory expectations of the Financial Conduct Authority.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This sounds like what they do with everyone. See this recent example and what I said there: https://debtcamel.co.uk/how-to-complain-guarantor-loan/comment-page-48/#comment-377326
Jason says
Hello Everyone !
I found this page mainly because I logged into my amigo loan app, just to check my payments and it said I “You cannot borrow more money from Amigo” I thought how strange because I haven’t missed a payment part from back in 2017. So I thought I would google it to find out all this information about amigo.
Back in 11 July 2017 I borrowed £2,250 at this I was a student.
Then again on the 05 June 2017 I borrow £1,500 still a student
Then in 26 April 2019 I borrowed 1,250
Then in 10th may I borrowed £2,000
Then in jan 2020 I borrow £2,500
Thats a total of £9,500
Looking at my credit file during this time I had only missed one payment back in July, but I kept reborrowing to either pay debts or to reduce my monthly payments with amigo loans and found my stuck In this loop hole!
I just wanted to know if someone could advised if I have a claim here, mainly first I was a student at the time, I had debts from other companies that I was paying off and they kept allowing me to borrow more funds.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
There isn’t a rule that says Amigo can’t lend to a student. But they have to make sure the loans are affordable and that sounds like a lot of borrowing for a student to be able to afford… if the loan repayments caused you problems and to have to borrow more, I suggest you send in a complaint.
Jason says
Thanks for getting back to me so quick!
I have emailed them, using the template shown above, I do know that when taking out the loans and repayments. I was in debt with other creditor’s and also used that to help me pay off some of it. Is there any more advise you can maybe share?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You have kicked off the process. Don’t expect anything to happen quickly! It is unlikely you will get a response in under 8 weeks.
Richard says
Hi,
Does anyone know where I stand with my complaint. I’m at week 23 now and passed it onto fons. When I rang amigo they told me last week that an offer had been sent to fons. I then phoned fons and they know nothing of this. I’ve left it a week and rang them today regarding this and the lady at amigo very rudely said that nothing had been sent and I just need to wait. I’ve emailed all I can at amigo but still no 1 has got back to me.
Thanks.
Jase says
Why is my simple interest so much less than everyone elses?
Total interest £14,508.13
8% simple interest ( before deduction ) £ 63.08
20% tax reduction £15.77
Fees and charges £0
Unpaid interest £2,091.79
Total redress payable £12,479.42
Current loan balance £4686.86
Balance less redress £0
Cash refund £7,792.56
Sara (Debt Camel) says
As I said before, it looks wrong to me. And they shouldn’t be deducting £2091 for “unpaid interest”.
Have you complained to Amigo? they seem to be saying to other people, accept the offer and send the complaint to FOS.
Jase says
Yeh thats what they said to me but why am i only getting £65 8% over a 6 year period?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They are making some mistakes! The “unpaid interest” is deliberate, happening to a lot of people. But the 8% interest looks unusually low and I can’t guess why.
Ad says
Hi,
They have written to my guarantor releasing her from any responsibility for the loan and have written to me stating they are currently calculating the offer of redress.
Could you help me understand what an acceptable offer of redress would be please?
loan 1 – £5000 – 7 payments @ £244
loan 2 – top up – £6000 received £1550 – 2 payments @ £292 – paid in full
loan 3 – £500 – 4 payments @ 51
loan 4 – top up – £3500 received £3080 – 4 payments @£138
loan 5 – top up (still active) – 9000 received £5530 – 13 payments @355
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
hi Ad,
are they refunding all the loans and top ups?
the loan 2 top up – did you settle this early, if so how much did you pay?
did your guarantor make any payments?
Ad says
Hi Sara, yes they are refunding all loans ad top ups, I settled loan 2 early which i think i paid £5868
my guarantor(s) didn’t make any payments
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So on those numbers i make the interest paid roughly:
loan 1 1158
loan 2 452
loan 3 84
loan 4 522
loan 5 still 4385 to pay before you are repaid what you borrowed.
When the interest from loans 1-4 is used to reduce the balance on loan 5, you will be left owing a balance of £2169. You can then make an arrangement to repay that a more affordable rate.
Dotty says
Hi ,
Amigo still haven’t sent the final response from.my.complaint via ombudsman it’s been with them since February this year the ombudsman did give them till last Tuesday but then extended it again further 7 days which is up tommorw anyone elses took this long my grandsons (borrower) had his complaint upheld on irresponsible lending but I had paid towards the loan of nearly £3K still waiting for a response it’s a joke
ASk says
Finally received after 12 weeks. How long is redress taking to be paid? Thanks to this site for all the help and advice.
Shaun says
I agreed redress on the 6th July. The 15 working days are up today, but no funds deposited yet.
Gemma says
Same. Accepted on the 6th, and nothing. Can’t tell me anything. Should have been paid latest Monday just gone and get nowhere when call up.
PM says
My guarantor accepted on 3rd July and hasn’t received anything yet. Amigo are now telling people it will be “up to” 20 working days for payment to be received.
Becqui says
I have just had a response amigo have accepted loan 3 but said no to 1+2 but loan 3 is 10500 being paid to my guarantor what happens if my guarantor refuses?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you want the money to go to your guarantor? That is the first question. Are you on good terms with your guarantor? Have you repaid them some or all of this?
Next question, were loans 1 & 2 really affordable?
Becqui says
No I was in a worse situation for loan 1+2 my guarantor paid off 9553 off loan 3 which is why they are offering him 10000 back. But I am paying him back already for what he paid he will quite happily give me some but I’m worried it might effect his benefits as he is a pensioner now
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you have paid him back quite a bit it might be easier if he says No to the refund and it comes to you, then you can repay him the rest?
Did he have to borrow money to settle the loan?
Becqui says
It was his back pay from his pension i have only paid him 1500 back but I was only paying him 6000 back anyway not the full 9 I’m just worried that it will affect his benefits but if its paid to me I don’t think it will im happy for him to receive it and pay me some.
What happens with loan 1+2 that was refused
Would they include his payment in my redress if he said no?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
My problem is I can’t be sure exactly what Amigo will do and this is a very large amount of money. The calculations seem a bit erratic at the moment.
You could ask them to explain in detail, but they may say he just has to decide whether to accept or not. You may think the safest thing is for him to take the money, which will leave you owing Amigo some and can then pay you the 1500 you have already given him back. Or pay you more as you are likely to be left owing Amigo money here as Amigo haven’t refunded the first two loans. It’s between you two what you think is a good solution.
If he is over state pension age he can have up to 10,000 in savings before pension credit or housing benefit is affected.
T says
Hi There, I took my amigo loan out over 60 months in March 2016 and began repayments in April as per my loan agreement however, I checked my amigo account online and it states that my loan will be settled on June 29th 2021 taking this loan agreement to 63 months despite never missing a payment or my guarantor paying on my behalf, although I have since contacted them by email and by phone (they have recognised there is some form of error as nothing adds up) has anyone else had this, I am yet to go through the motions of any other things I could complain about and can’t find the original contract
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This sometimes happens when someone moves their payment date right at the start. People can end up paying thousands more just by moving a date by a couple of weeks.
I don’t think the Ombudsman would think this is fair, especially if it wasn’t explained to you at the start.
I think few cases have gone to the ombudsman but in all of them FOS has decided the whole loan was unaffordable so all interest had been removed, so the complaint about the extra interest and longer payments becomes irrelevant…
So do you think the repayments are affordable? Has making these payments caused you to have to borrow more elsewhere or has it been straightforward?
T says
I have made all payments on time so my account is up to date and I have never changed a payment date which puzzled me, when I took the loan I was in less debt the amount borrowed wasn’t enough to consolidate all of my debts which are now higher so affordability in the first place may have not looked at.
Also my guarantor is now in not great health, my payments are going out still but things are tight for me personally especially since Covid etc although I just want to get it paid off and any refund due would be amazing.
It’s only when I looked at my account earlier I noticed the extra payments I have contacted them and the person I spoke to said they were “off tomorrow but would call me back on Wednesday” when my next payment is collected ironically
But since taking the loan in 2016 I have borrowed elsewhere too
Cassie says
Hi has anyone had any success with bamboo?
Stacey says
They didnt uphold i went to fos. Bamboo came back to me once fos asked for all files and said they shouldve looked a bit closer.
PM says
They rejected my claim on the 8th week. I sent to FOS on 3rd May and still waiting for this to be picked up by an adjudicator. FOS told me there is a 6 month wait. That said, there was someone on this site who logged their complaint, had it upheld and received payment within 6 weeks from Bamboo. Good luck!
Cassie says
Thank you, when looking back ( also still paying it back) you think what the hell was I thinking…….. shocking rates. (Was battling depression at the time so trying not to be too hard on myslef).
Andy says
Hi Sara
I submitted my claim to Amigo in May and last Tuesday they upheld my claim for the 2 top ups but not the original as well as releasing my guarantor, I accepted as I don’t want to delay matters in case they go into administration. Based on their quoted time frames I should get my redress figures by the 11th Aug.
The question I wanted to ask is if I accept the redress can I then challenge the first loan and potentially any additional unpaid interest they may charge or do I have to decline the offer and forward to the FO.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Are they adding unpaid interest? If they are, ask them why , they will probably tell you to accept the offer and send the complaint to the Ombudsman.
At this point you can query anything – they haven’t even sent you the figures!
James says
Hi guys,
How long should we be giving Amigo before sending to FOC, they have came to me and said they are still looking at the claim. Should i hold of to hear from them before going to the FOC. Should they still be replying within 8 weeks or have they been given further time?
Thanks
L says
You can’t forward your complaint to FOS until 8 weeks have passed from the date your complaint was acknowledged. Highly unlikely you will get a response from amigo before the 8 weeks, they have a very big backlog. They have until September I believe to clear the backlog.
James says
Hi L,
Thanks for the reply, it has already passed the 8 week mark, i was just giving them extra time to deal with the complaint and was just wondering how long they actually get with Covid and extra claims to deal with it? so is it until September now?
If my loans are not upheld is there a timeframe from the start of the claim to pass it to the FOC?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you have to send a complaint to FOS within 6 months of getting a final response from the lender. My strong advice is not to delay – every week someone says how they have missed the deadline because they thought they would do it a bit later and forgot…
If you send the case to FOS now, they won’t look at it until Amigo have responded, but the reason for sending it now is it gets you into the queue earlier at FOS in case Amigo reject or give you a poor offer.
James says
Hi Sara,
I was just worried this would put me back to the end of the queue, giving amigo more time to push it back?
Maybe i am sceptical
Sara (Debt Camel) says
here is what I said yesterday about this https://debtcamel.co.uk/how-to-complain-guarantor-loan/comment-page-51/#comment-379189
James says
Hi Sara,
Thanks for your help, i emailed them back to say about giving them a bit of extra time.
They came back to say thanks and they are working as quickly as possible to deal with my complaint.
I think i will give them another month then report it to FOC.
Karen says
Hi Sara
I accepted my claim on 6 July 2020!
I don’t have a cash refund as money still owing on my account- told me 10 days to update my account and that my guarantor was contacted on the 8th July confirming she had been removed- she has heard nothing from them! Said they will contact her again- My balance is still not updated- but after sending 30+ emails someone finally had the decency to get back to me- to say that my account would be updated 28 July! 27 July my guarantor still hasn’t heard anything from them- and now I can not even access my account – tried logging in online and it’s says no matching account? Have emailed amigo again but nothing from them/ I can not phone as talking about debts etc on the phone causes my anxiety to go through the roof causing me to have panic attacks! I have never dealt with a company with such appalling customer service! No one ever seems to want to help- I have filled out the same questionnaire twice for them about my mental health- and still they ignore me! I have filed about 5 complaints now as sick of being ignored constantly! Has anyone else had the issue with logging in and it saying no matching account??
Karen says
Well no account updated- so balance still showing as it was- no one had emailed me today- guarantor Still not informed- and now on top of all of that they then have the nerve to text me to say my loan repayment will be extended by another month and as of the 31 of this month interest will continue to be added!! Has anyone else had any of these issues?? As I’m now starting to feel like it’s they are ignoring me on purpose??
Tina says
Hi Sara,
I have finally had a response. They have upheld the 2 top ups but not the original loan. The redress figures did not add up and they have advised they will recalculate and send out new figures. Whilst I am waiting for this, could you have a look and advise what you think they should be.
Loan 1 £5000 – not upheld March 2014
26 x £197.00
Loan 2 -5000 – upheld -June 2014
Cash payout – £1264.58
32 x £197.00
Loan 3 -£5000 -upheld – March 2019
Cash payout – £1434.00
13 x 197.00
current balance is showing as £4855.04 and no payments have been made by the guarantor
Thank you x
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I assume the date of loan 2 was wrong and it should have been in 2016.
I make the interest paid ofn each loan as follows:
loan 1 3858
loan 2 4870
loan 3 no interest paid so far, still £2439 to go until you have paid 5000 to it.
So if loans 2 & 3 are refunded, what should happen is the refund from loan 2 will clear the updated balance on loan 3 and you shopuld get a refund of c £2431, plus less than a hundred in 8% interest.
Look out for them deducting money for “unpaid interest” – if they do this it is wrong.
Also the question is do you think the first loan was affordable?
Tina says
Sorry my mistake, yes it should have read June 2016. Thank you, the figures I received was showing I still owed £2498 after redress and had an amount for unpaid interest of £2356 added too.
No the first loan was not affordable, I wasn’t even working at the time but told them I was earning 1300, naughty I know but I was desperate to clear a council tax debt and rent. Unfortunately I don’t have bank statements for the time period but I did send them rent and council tax letters showing court proceedings but when I spoke to them yesterday they said everything was third party verified through a system that works on national averages.
To be honest I just want this whole nightmare over with so in 2 minds on whether to just accept the offer and put it down as a huge mistake that I have definitely learnt from.
If I was to accept their decision on loan 2 &3 could I then dispute the decision on loan 1 with the Fos or would I need to either accept or decline their offer as a whole? If I did decide to take it to the Fos would I still need to carry on the payments whilst I wait for a decision from the Fos. Thank you for your help.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so there seem to be three problems here.
1) the numbers seem to be wrong. If you assume the first loan not refunded is correct and the unpaid interest is correct, you should get 2431 less the inpaid interest which would be a cash refund of about 100. But if they are saying you still owe thousands that is wrong. There is absolutely no reason to accept this as it still leaves you having to pay…
2) the unpaid interest. At the moment Amigo seem to be telling people they can accept an offer and thencomplain to FOS about this.
3) no refund on first loan. This is a bit more problematic if you accept, but FOS will typically review a whole case if it has it, so if you send it to FOS for the unpaid interest and the first loan, my guess is they will look at the first loan. FOS are usually deciding Amigo can’t rely on this verification of your income, they should have looked at payslips or bank statements.
So at the moment you don’t really seem to have a decision to make. Why would you accept the wrong numbers which leave you owing a lot? If they rework the numbers, well look at the situation then.
Amigo will, I think, be releasing your guarantor anyway. So from that point you can either offer a lower payment to the alleged balance or not pay them anything while your dispute goes through FOS.
Tina says
Hi Sara,
I have just got off the phone to amigo and they have said my figures were correct from my first email.
Total interest £4889.54
Unpaid interest on non upheld loan £2356.49
Total redress payable -£2533.05
Current loan £4855.04
Balance after redress £2498.55
Cash refund £0.00
They have mentioned my guarantor will be released and all negative impact on my credit file will be removed.
I told them the figures are incorrect but they just told me to go to the FOS if I’m not happy.
What’s happened to the money I have paid towards the loan since my last top up as I assume this hasn’t been included in the total interest mentioned in the email.
If I decline the offer and take it to the FOS will my guarantor still be released and would I still need to make payments to them?
Thanks x
Sara (Debt Camel) says
There is no reason to accept this as they aren’t offering you any cash. I suggest you send it to FOS and say you have three issues with their refund, as I detailed above.
Yes your guarantor should still be released.
You can then reduce your payments to a more affordable level or indeed refuse to pay them anything until the FOS decision is made.
Tina says
Sorry the balance less redress is £2321.99
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I have moved your reply to a new thread https://debtcamel.co.uk/how-to-complain-guarantor-loan/comment-page-62/#comment-397272
Sophie says
Not sure if this helps anyone but this is the most recent email I have had from Amigo (I accepted their offer 6 weeks ago, but have yet to have any figures to be able to move onto the next stage) …. I understand that you have been in touch with us regarding your redress following your complaint with the Financial Ombudsman Service. I would like to apologise for the delay and thank you for your on-going patience.
Your account was previously sold to a third party, Intrum. Therefore, before we are able to proceed with your refund, we first need to correspond with Intrum regarding your account. Therefore, there may be a delay in receiving your refund, due to the complications regarding this. We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused by the delay.
I’ve contacted Intrum, who emailed Amigo 6 weeks ago when I first accepted to find out whats going on as they are still waiting for a response from them.
As soon as we have an update, we will be in touch.
Claire H says
Hey all I was just wondering all the people who have had their complaints upheld by Amigo how many weeks were you waiting please, I’m at 26 weeks today and still havent had my complaint look at, I’m just waiting to speak to someone this is unacceptable
Angela says
Hi
I submitted my complaint on 31st March and received a decision on 24th July just under 4 months. 26 weeks does seem a bit excessive although there seems to be quite a few posting on this page who have waited quite a long time. Hope you get an update today when you call them.
Tina says
Hi Claire, I submitted my complaint on the 9th Jan and received a response yesterday. It’s been a very painful wait and it’s still not resolved. Hopefully you hear something very soon.
Andrea says
Hi Claire, I’m week 20 and heard nothing, although they have a pulled a credit search on me on Friday so hoping that’s a good sign is they are looking in to my credit history.
here’s hoping we all hear soon