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
Crissy says
Hi I posted last night about my complaint with amigo being in since October, and they still advising I could top up ? However just logged on to amigo and it now says I can’t borrow any more money? I really hope this means it’s finally getting sorted ? Will keep you updated!
Lisa says
So I just checked also. I complained to Amigo direct for irresponsible lending due to my gambling and they have requested statements, this was only around 3 weeks ago, but mine also states I cannot burrow anymore money 🤞🏻 This is for all the right reasons. I have seen that when it’s due to gambling/irresponsibility they have dealt with it direct and not had to go to the FOS.
Luke says
So yesterday I called the FOS following my complaint submitted last year to them. They stated that it was still waiting to be allocated despite getting the ‘you can not top up you loan’ even though for months they offered me to top up to £10,000.
The guy I spoke to said they are taking up to 9 months to get to an adjudicator and the number of complaints being received are steadily rising.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
For what it’s worth, I am expecting guarantor complaints to start moving more quickly now at FOS.
EDIT Luke’s complaint was settled by Amigo on 24 July :)
John says
Hi, any advise greatly appreciated. I had a loan with FLM loans which then became Amigo loans. Is it too late to complain as it’s says on FLM website closed and has a link to Amigo site.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
FLM loans is Amigo – they rebranded in 2012 so complain to Amigo. As the loan sounds old, you may have to produce evidence about what you borrowed and repaid from your bank statements.
david says
My 2011 loan was via FLM Quick (also had a 2016 Amigo loan) and the FOS recently determined that they could look into it as I qualified via the 6 + 3 year ruling… Amigo have since agreed too, so the complaint is now being considered by FOS High Cost Credit team.
Get your complaint in!
Ruth says
Amigo have partially upheld my complaint so I have sent it the ombudsman, how long is a reply please?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The delays have been quite long but I am hoping the backlog of cases is now going to be sorted. Some cases should be given priority, eg if there is a court case in progress.
Can you say something about your case, how partial was the upheld Amigo offered?
Ruth says
Hi Sarah, they agreed that the last 2 loans were not properly checked to see if they were affordable and wanted bank statements from me for that period, they advised my complaint was partially upheld but gave no action on it so I have sent it to the ombudsman. The first one was deemed affordable, the next 2 were 2 months apart and that’s the ones they partially upheld. They did not offer any recompense though.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Can you say for each of the 3 loans how large the loan was (the full loan borrowed, not just the top-up amount you got) and the monthly repayment? When was the first loan? And the second?
Do you think the first loan was actually affordable?
Jane says
Hi David,
This is good news.
I wonder if Sara could kindly help with this please….
I had a payday loan of 500 from FLM Quick from 2012-2014. It crippled me. I took my first Amigo Loan in 2013 so I was very suprised to get accepted given the struggle I was having with FLM.
In 2018 I made a SAR to Amigo and complained about unaffordable lending on the FLM Quick loan. They would not entertain it despite the company address being exactly the same as Amigo.
When I received my SAR from Amigo it even had phone calls and details pertaining to FLM mixed in but, still they would take no responsibility for FLM Quick.I paid back over a thousand in interest!
Might it be worth another try? Any help is very appreciated.
Many thanks, Jane
david says
If your original complaint was in 2018 that’s obviously more than 6 months ago now. I’m not sure if the FOS would accept this now unless you can prove why you didn’t complaint sooner to them.
But yes, one for Sara.
Jon T says
Just got my response from amigo.
I had 2 loans one of 3250 which was settled when i increased the amount to 6500.
Going off statements ive paid over 7400 in interest to them just on the 6500 loan.
They said :
“having investigated both loans, i cant determine as a matter of fact whether amigo acted irresponsibly in lending to you*
“i can see that certain questions should of been asked and further evidence should have been requested prior to the loans being paid out.”
“As a result i am partially up holding your complaint pending the receipt of bank statements”
I was surprised by this i was expecting them to say no. Ive got to go bank so i can get statements for closed accounts, then will see what the response is and whether i need to take it to ombudsman but thanks guys this has been really helpful, will keep you posted on the outcome
Fiona says
Hi Jon, small question, how long did you wait before getting a final response about your complaint. I’m almost at the eight week mark and wondering if I should send straight to FOS if no response by the deadline.
Thanks
Jon T says
Hi Fiona
They responded initially within 5 days acknowledging the complaint, exactly 4 weeks later they emailed me telling me they posted my subject access request which arrived next day and they responded with the FR 1 day before 8 weeks was up from acknowledging the complaint. They cut it pretty close to the time frame given.
Fiona says
Thank you for replying. Fingers crossed I have the same experience with the timeframe.
Ruth says
I was also asked for bank statement s but have forwarded to the ombudsman instead. Have I done the wrong thing?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think it’s well worth sending bank statements to amigo at the moment as they seem to be upholding some complaints directly, which will be faster than going through FOS if it works. I suggest you send them your statements now and say you are happy to withdraw your FOS complaint if they make a satisfactory offer.
Jane says
Hi David,
They wouldn’t even look at the complaint unfortunately! They just emailed back several times saying that FLM Quick was nothing to do with Amigo…Ironically they are both part of the same group.
Might be too late of course, I didn’t realise I could escalate this to the FOS as I wasn’t sure if I was complaining to the correct company…it’s a strange one. I may just email them to see what comes back!
Jane says
Hi all,
Just received the following from Amigo with regards FLM Quick:
Thank you for your email.
I can see that you are looking to complain about an FLM quick loan.
While FLM Loans became Amigo Loans in 2012, FLM Quick remained a separate company and has never been a part of Amigo. As such, we would not hold any records regarding your loan with FLM Quick and would not be able to raise a complaint on your behalf.
FLM Quick has since ceased trading. However, you can contact them at the address below for them to provide you the letter you require:
FLM Quick
Walton House
56-58 Richmond Hill
Bournemouth
BH2 6EX
Kind Regards,
Sam Dacombe
Customer Relations
David May ask did you complain to Amigo about FLM Quick via email or letter?
Many thanks…any advice very welcome!
David says
I got the same response originally. But when you make a SAR they should give you all the info they hold.
Like I said they ate saying they don’t keep records over 3 years BUT my SAR info contained detail about my 2011 loan. I may have just got lucky… I don’t know.
Make a SAR request to Amigo and in the meantime cover yourself by writing to that FLM address Amigo have provided.
Lou7 says
Hi David,
I had SAR information from FLM too, which was in the envelope with all the amigo stuff, not sure of the date but it was a fair while ago.
Jane says
Hi David,
Thanks kindly will keep you posted!
PF says
Hi David – I originally requested my SAR from Amigo 4 weeks ago and have now received the CD (still trying to work out how to get the info off it), when I was looking through bank statements I found I had taken out a loan with FLM Quick but didn’t realise I could put in a claim for only 1 loan but will now. Who did you make the complaint to? If the company is no longer trading what are the chances of getting anything back? Thanks
David says
It’s a little painstaking listening through the CD but get some quiet, sit down with a pen and pad and listen to it a few times and note down anything you think will help your complaint. I obviously am not sure what your exact reasons and circumstances are, so that part is all on you.
Look out for things that stand out like not asking for certain things or skipping over expenses etc. Assuming you have the SAR info, or when you do get it, compare what they say on the CD in comparison to the SAR documents. In a way you are almost looking to try and catch them out basically.
For example, you gave them detail of two credit card repayments at 20 quid a month during your application but your credit report actually shows 3 credit cards and also 2 other loans which they didn’t question.
All the best of luck.
Kelly says
Hi Sara,
I am looking for some advice, I complained to amigo and received the response they are upholding my complaint and need to send bank statements.
On my bank statements, it is all circle payments and this is due to gambling do I tell them this is what it is? I also have alot of tombola payments going out.
I have seen comments above about the gambling but unsure if I actually have to put this is what they are?
Appreciate your help!
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes it’s a good idea to explain anything important they may not recognise. I haven’t heard of “circle”, what are these payments?
Kelly says
Circle is a payment provider its been closed now. It is used mostly for people doing raffles like on facebook a lot of raffle groups out there.
What do you think if they are upholding the complaint is this a positive?
Is there anything you recommend I should be stated in my reply to them that you think is important?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If they have said they are upholding your complaint pending seeing your bank statements, it probably means that they are going accept your complaint and give you a refund/remove interest from your balance but they want to check the loan really was unaffordable from your bank statements.
Kelly says
I have had to request bank statements as my old bank is closed so these should be here next week.
I will then email back explaining the circle payments and mention the gambling?
Hopefully ill get a positive outcome!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, be upfront about your problems. Amigo should have checked then they would have seen them before they gave the loan.
Sara
C says
Hi Sara, I have my complaint drafted up but I just wanted to ask if I should mention how my situation has gotten worst? With 6 high cost payday lenders showing on my report?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you had a loan and a top up? The points to make depend on when your situation got worse.
If your financial position had been getting worse before the first loan, this is worth mentioning. It wouldn’t stop Amigo giving you the loan – people in a good situation don’t need guarantor loans! – but it means Amigo should have looked closely at it.
If your situation got worse before the top up loan, this is a very strong point to show the top up should never have been given as it suggests the first Amigo loan was unaffordable,
If your situation got worse after the top-up, this may support your case that the top up was unaffordable. But it could just mean that you had a reduced income or extra expenses after the top-up, in which case it’s not really relevant to whether Amigo should have given you the loans or not.
C says
Hi,
So I submitted my complaint to amigo last night, I had a follow up email this morning and I’ve now logged into my account and see I’m no longer eligible for a top up loan. So I’m hoping the outcome will be positive.
C says
Hi Sara,
Yes my situation was worst before the loan but has since gotten worst since taking out the top up. Before the loan and up until the top up I’ve had several gambling transactions all showing on my bank statements and other frequent transactions afterwards. I had said the top up loan was for debt consolidation but the amount given was way more than the actual debt which they can see during the application. Would this be any use adding or not ?
Michel says
Hello Sara
First of all thanks for all your documentation on this site, I have followed the post notes etc.
I have raised a complaint to Amigo loans and waited the 8 weeks. I had 3 loans with them 2000 for the 1st then I topped up to 4250 and last 6250. I have paid all my installment (not without difficulties to be honest) till date. I had their reply and they have partially upheld my complaint mentioning they could have asked more questions, now I have sent my bank statement as they requested me, but my worry is that on the statements it shows several transactions for my gambling addiction and that I have taken payday loans as well before the payout of at least the 1 loan
I should get a reply within the week as confirmed by Amigo rep, but still worry that they wont admit the irresponsible lending
My question is: can the transactions of my gambling stop them to admit their irresponsible lending?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You are asking me to comment of what Amigo may be thinking – that’s pretty hard to do as this is a new procedure on their part, saying they partially uphold a complaint pending seeing your bank statements.
But I understand why you are worrying, so I will have ago…
My guess (and it is only a guess) that Amigo have looked at your case and discovered they didn’t really do enough checks. BUT by itself that isn’t a reason to refund you… you will only get a refund if the checks will show that the loans would be unaffordable. hence they have asked for your bank statements.
This is a reasonable approach by them. If your bank statements show that you could afford the loan and you only later got into unforseen difficulty when you were made redundant say, then the Ombudsman would say sorry you are in difficulty but Amigo was OK to have given the loan.
So what about gambling – I think if Amigo had seen a lot of gambling on your statements they would not have offered the loan. So I hope this means they will uphold your complaint.
PS are you still gambling?
Michel says
Hello Sara Thanks for the quick reply
Yes unfortunately my gambling has continue after the loans but has now reduce considerably as I got in too deep difficult situation with more than 8K of debt mostly due to the Amigo loan
Thanks
afaq tariq says
Just received this reply by amigo
Dear Tariq,
Thank you for your email.
I am sorry to hear that you are unhappy with our decision to accept your application.
Please take this as formal acknowledgement that your complaint has been received. We will be issuing a written response to your complaint, following our investigation. Our guidelines allow us 8 weeks in which to respond to you, and we are working to reply as soon as possible.
I have also passed your subject access request to the relevant team, who will send you the information by post within 30 days.
Jane says
Afaq,
So pleased you have logged your complaint.
If you need any further help there are lots of good people on here to assist.
Do hope you get a good result.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi everyone,
FOS has just published an Ombudsman-level decision about a borrower, Miss G, who had 2 Amigo loans, the last one being topped up three times. It ordered a full refund on all 5 loans: https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/files/238841/DRN2108651.pdf
It’s 30 pages long so I will do a summary in the next few days, pulling out what I see as the important points.
Nelson says
Hi Sara
Thanks for sharing this. I’ve actually been checking the FOS Decision website to view this.
Firstly, well done to Miss G for pursuing this with the Ombudsman after the Adjudicator had not found in her favour – great determination!
Secondly, it really helps give insight into the FOS mindset with Amigo and this type of lending.
I’ve submitted my complaint to Amigo and awaiting their SAR response and the final response. I’m well aware I will have to go to the FOS, but this publication will help set out my complaint to the FOS, to some degree.
thanks
Fiona says
Just received a final response from Everyday Loans (Trust two). They are upholding my complaint about unaffordable lending. I now only have to repay the amount I borrowed (no interest) and I’m already half way there so I’m happy with that result.
Still waiting on final responses from Amigo and Bamboo. One week till the eight week deadline…fingers crossed
Fiona says
Just received a final response from Everyday Loans (Trust two). They are upholding my complaint about unaffordable lending. I now only have to repay the amount I borrowed (no interest) and I’m already half way there so I’m happy with that result.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have they agreed to an affordable payment arrangement? And agreed to release your guarantor?
Fiona says
Hi Sara,
They have said that if I am struggling to repay the agreed amount that I should call them. No mention of releasing my guarantor. Should I ask about that or is it too late?
Sarah Reid says
Hi Fiona
I too have a complaint with Everyday Loans for irresponsible lending…if you don’t mind me asking how long did your complaint process take to uphold?
Many thanks for your help:-)
Sarah
Fiona says
Hi Sarah,
I found the letter template and made a complaint along with a SAR request on the 28th May 2019. They sent the SAR information within 30 days. I used this to get specifics to compare with my bank statements to check my outgoings, after which I sent a letter to support my complaint. Plus, bank statements attached to it.
I received the final response today, the eight week deadline would have been in a week. It seems they used the bank statements to calculate that I wasn’t able to afford the loan.
Ash Alexander says
I am in arrears every month with amigo due to my work and financial situation and having to borrow money to pay my repayments and I have had payment plans but couldn’t keep to them because how my financial situation is and today they rang me and my grandad because my payment plan failed on Sunday and were going to go after my grandad for the payment or if he couldn’t pay they will issue a default notice I’ve had a few of them now . When I rang them to ask for another 14 days as I started a new job and I get paid in 14 days I can pay the arrears but after explaining my situation to 3 of their incompetent advisors they said they were not willing to put a payment plan in place and I would have to get written confirmation from the company I’m working for of when and how much I will be getting paid and send proof to amigo so they can put a payment plan in place I was already frustrated by them and told him to forget it and il get the money which my brother lent me this what they reduced me to . I have put in a complaint to the FOS regarding affordability and my grandad as gurantor. I just want to ask can amigo demand you send them payroll details from your work as proof you are getting paid the amount you tell them on a particular date .
I could swear right now I lost it with them on the phone and said how much I hate amigo and I wouldnt ever point anyone in their direction or take a loan out with them . I hope the government comes down hard on them rather sooner than later .
amanda says
hi Sara,
i sent my complaint to Amigo and that want to offer me an 8 percent refund of interest on all my loans. I don’t know if i should still take this to the financial ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry quite a few questions to be clear about your case and what Amigo have offered…
You’ve obviously had a horrendous time with the current loan and it sounds as though there were previous loans or this one is a top-up – correct?
Have Amigo offered you a refund of interest you paid on the previous loans plus 8% statutory interest?
And to remove the interest from your current loan?
Is the refund then enough to wipe out the balance or will you still owe some money?
Lastly a “process” question, from your previous comment, have you already sent this case to the Ombudsman but the ombudsman hasn’t yet started to look at it? I have been expecting Amigo to start reviewing the current cases waiting at FOS.
amanda says
i have now been advised of my refund of £18000 from amigo which includes interest on all four of my loans I’ve had plus 8 percent statutory. My Loan balance has been closed and the remainder will be paid to myself. It shows if you stand your case, there is a high chance to win. They advised that they hadn’t asked enough or the correct questions when i was applying for my loans. So i just want to say thank you for all your help Sara it just shows you how bad these companies are and makes me feel sick how much interest I paid,
lisa says
Hi Amanda, that’s great news, I am 4 weeks in and have sent statements so just waiting for a response.
can I ask, did they take the full 8 weeks to reply to you? also can I ask how big your loans were? I had an initial loan of £3500 and then a top up of £5500. I’m hoping to get an outcome like yours.
amanda says
my loan balance was £10,00 at the end and that included two top ups i think.
I have had issues with Amigo for the last two months, so its taken from then until now to get this outcome
lisa says
Thanks for the reply, well enjoy being debt free from Amigo and maybe a nice holiday lol.
Fiona says
Hi Amanda, can I ask another question? Had you missed any of your contractual monthly repayments them? As someone else has said that their complaint was rejected with the response being based on the fact that they were making the monthly repayments on time.
My final response from Amigo is due tomorrow so I’m just trying to brace myself incase its not the outcome I’m hoping for.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Fiona, Amigo normally reject complaints. They have approved a few recently, but it is probably safer to assume that yours will have to go to the Ombudsman than pin your hope on a speedy, easy settlement.
Of course fingers crossed that they do accept!
Fiona says
Well with 9 loans (eight top ups) to the max amount available, several other Payday loans and gambling issues all on the highlighted bank statements I sent along with my complaint, I’m hopeful. But you’re right, I know that they may not uphold it and I’ll have to go through the FOS. I’m prepared for that- I have the completed form ready to post if no final/appropriate response today.
Thanks Sara for your advice and support!
Lisa says
Hi Fiona, just wondered if you had heard anything from Amigo, know it’s D day! Just curious how accurate they are to their time scale of replying.
Fiona says
They sent a final response earlier this evening and upheld my complaint partially. They have already cleared my outstanding balance of £9172 on my Amigo account (I checked).
I am just clarifying how the interest has been calculated but will expect the leftover interest refund will be in my account within 3-5 days. Happy days!
amanda says
so the £!8000 refund includes the interest i have paid to date plus 8 percent statutory. I’m so over the moon as Amigo having been crippling me for years. I plan to pay my credit card off with the refund and think positive going forward
Fiona says
Sorry Amanda, 2as this from them directly or after involving the FOS?
amanda says
Directly, but i advised if this wast sorted I would be taking to the FOS.
The only thing that angers myself, they have advised £18,000 refund of the interest but that’s been used to clear the loan balance. I think they should close the loan and still issue people a refund, as we have been paying this interest out of our own back pockets
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So they used some of the 18k refund to pay off the last loan and you have been refunded the remainder?
Are you worried they haven’t got the figures right? That’s possible as these cases are complicated but it’s not something that Amigo would be trying to do deliberately.
Or do you think they should have given you the whole refund and wiped out the balance as well? It is normal to use a refund to repay a balance. It is unusual for FOS to recommend anything else.
Crissy says
Still waiting for a reply from the FOS to my complaint against Amigo sent in October ? Rang them today just same old thing that I’m in queue ? Can’t give any time scale ? Really stressing me out ?
James says
Sent mine 1st week of September, still not heard anything. What I don’t understand is why nobody on here is reporting getting an adjudicator assigned in the last few weeks, its like they’ve put them on hold again.
Robinson says
I had an adjudicator assigned on the 6th of June, they asked for some more info which I sent in straight away but heard nothing since although they have been on annual leave which will have added to the time. Not sure if the longer wait is a negative or a positive, I suppose it must mean it’s a little more complicated
Sara (Debt Camel) says
My guess is that the Ombudsman may have asked Amigo if it wants to review its rejections in the light of recent decisions.
afaq tariq says
Would this method work for my personal loan with Natwest as well or not. I had a pre-approved offer from i applied and the next day i got the loan. They didnt do no affordability check no gambling transactions etc
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can try a similar approach, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-large-high-cost-loans/ for the appropriate letter. When you say it was pre-approved, was this because NatWest were your own bank and wrote to you? Or did you get this from a credit report such as ClearScore?
Craigos85 says
Hi, today I have received an email response from amigo exactly 8 weeks since making my compliant.
I had originally taken out a small loan which was extended on 3 occasions up to £10k.
Amigo have stated in their response that they do not uphold my complaint for the first loan taken but partially do for the top up loans, as long as I provide 9 requested bank statements to them to answer some unanswered questions. Not sure what these are as they have not explained.
The main thing is I felt the first loan was more unaffordable as at the time I had a CCJ (due to a court fine, motor vehicle related) and I was working through a DMP.
After reading the above I am unsure whether to send these bank statements to them, is this standard practice with amigo, or should I be referring this straight to the ombudsman to review?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Several people in the last couple of weeks have said Amigo has asked for these. I think it’s worth sending, but also send three statements before the first loan and say you would like them to reconsider that one two.
Craigos85 says
Thanks, I have done this and had a response to say that they will take this in to account and will be a further 2 weeks on reaching their final response to myself
DD says
I’ve had the below back from an adjudicator regarding my Amigo case. I submitted my complaint to the FOS at the end of January this year.
“Regarding your Amigo complaint, we received the case file from back from them and have had enough information to assess it for 4 months, however due to the number of complaints we have we haven’t been able to assess in this time so we expect it to be at least six months and above before one of our adjudicators will be able to assess it. I know this isn’t great for you, but we’re trying our best to get an answer to you as quickly as possible.”
This suggests the waiting time and amount of complaints is still very high so maybe no need for me for Amigo for a while…
Shahid says
Whilst your complaint is with the FOS, do you still have to continue paying Amigo instalments?
I have made a complaint regarding irresponsible lending as I was a severe gambler at the time and did not provide accurate income and expense information. I wasn’t asked!
I have now sent the statements through – I have read earlier that someone who was a gambler got a positive response from Amigo as they upheld the complaint. Is this a rule that if someone was a gambler they are not supposed to be given a loan?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes you do after continue paying or Amigo will go after the guarantor.
There isn’t a specific rule from the regulator that says some who is a gambler should never have access to credit. But the lender would have to consider if your bank statements show you would be able to consistently make the loan repayments over the term of the loan…
Gareth Patrick Gough says
Hi All,
I have just heard back from the adjudicator. Submitted to the FOS back in Sep and allocated an adjudicator in April. They have found that Amigo should repay all interest, plus 8 per cent. I had one loan and 4 top ups over 2017/18. Very happy! Hopefully Amigo will accept!
Thanks Sara for this site :)
Crissy says
Well done so pleased for you
Jane says
Great news Gareth, so pleased for you!
Sally says
Is this why Amigo are agreeing more?
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/files/238841/DRN2108651.pdf
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes!
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/files/239434/DRN3847539.pdf
And i think Amigo were sent a pile (30-50?) of adjudicator decisions in may all upholding borrower complaints.
Gareth Patrick Gough says
In terms of working how much Amigo should pay back/write off if the FOS say all interest refunded plus 8 per cent then that effectively makes the loan interest free (with 8 per cent simple interest per year on top) so you would just take off all the payments you made and then work out how much interest you paid and add 8 per cent of that per year?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do each loan separately. So loan 1, you borrowed 2000, paid 1150 , settled the loan with 1780 from the first top up, so interest paid on the loan was 1150 + 1780 – 2000 = 930. Add on 8% times the number of years since the settlement to get refund for loan 1.
Repeat for top ups 1,2,3. (For the top-ups, be careful to get the amount the loan was for, not the amount you received or the total cost of the credit including interest.)
For the last loan take the amount borrowed less the payments made – this removes interest from the last loan. Use as much of the refunds from previous loans as is necessary to repay the balance left.
This is an approximation for the 8%s but it shouldn’t be far out.
Natalie says
Ok so I raised my irresponsible lending complaint with amigo and today they have provided their FRL. Out come – partially upheld.
Here is the summary of their decision…
-refund all interest plus 8%
-remove guarantor from loan
-refund all payments gurantor has made back to their bank account (6k)
I have checked my account and they have applied all of the above without my acceptance.
firstly my complaint was solely in relation to IR towards me and unfair treatment when I fell pregnant and entered into a DMP.
There decision has effectively worsened my position. Where me and my guarantor have been making payments to reduce the balance NONE of my guarantors payments will now count! They are basically saying I have now got to repay the full 8k borrowed (6k now interest has been removed and taking into account payments I already made).
What I don’t understand is why they have refunded my guarantors payments?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So Amigo has tried to do the Right Thing.
Once it got your complaint, it will have looked at your application for the loan as well as how you were treated. It has decided that the look was not affordable for you and the loan should not have been given, so it should have removed the interest from the loan balance. It sounds as though it has done that.
But legally because it should not have given you the loan, it should not have accepted your guarantor either, so it should not have taken any money from them, so it has refunded that money. Your guarantor may have been surprised to get this money back!
I suspect that Amigo has not told the guarantor about your complaint – indeed under data protection rules it probably should not have told the guarantor.
Are you on good terms with the guarantor? If you are, would the guarantor be prepared to use some of the money they have had back to pay off your remaining balance?
What is the rest of your financial situation like? Now there is no guarantor on this loan, it can just be part of your DMP.
Natalie says
That’s exactly what has happened. Happy for my guarantor as this loan strained our relationship greatly. They are not aware of the complaint and it will be a surprise to them once they check their account.
This has always been apart of my DMP. just at the time amigo said they won’t accept my payments as it would extend the term beyond a reasonable amount of time and it wouldn’t be fair to my guarantor. However now it’s no longer a guarantor loan they are Prepared to accept it!?
Whilst they were trying to do the right thing I don’t feel this is a fair outcome and I’m not happy.
I have never heard of them doing this before?
Natalie says
Also my concern is that the CMI will still fall due each month. Whilst interest is frozen … the arrears will increase as I cannot make full payments. I will still be tormented with notice of arrears statements and all the other correspondence they are required to send to an account in arrears.
Did amigo consider the emotional impact this would have on my well being?
There is absolutely nothing legally stopping amigo from perusing the debt if in arrears!
Is the agreement still enforceable ? Shouldn’t they capitalise the loan to prevent the occurrence if arrears.
I feel as though I’m going to have to complain again! As I cannot see how the implications of this decision is fair I am disadvantaged from the outset.
If the loan was repaid would they have written to me to say i now owe a debt ? No. Same principle applies !
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They may not have done this before as until the last few weeks they have been rejecting all complaints.
“There is absolutely nothing legally stopping amigo from perusing the debt if in arrears!
Is the agreement still enforceable ? Shouldn’t they capitalise the loan to prevent the occurrence if arrears.”
I see why this has come as a big shock, but let’s talk it though and see what your options are.
From this point, I think you can assume that Amigo would accept any DMP payments and not take you to court. You may want to get them to confirm this in writing.
“Capitalising” is not really a relevant concept here – there is no interest and no more is going to be added.
You can stick any NoSIA (Notice of Sums In Arrears) letters in the bin.
If your guarantor was prepared to give you say half the money, then you could offer this as a full & final settlement to Amigo? I have no idea whether they would be likely to accept that but it may be an angle that is worth exploring?
Alternatively you could now look at insolvency options as Amigo can no longer go after the guarantor?
Natalie says
Exactly 8 weeks and they replied. I’m sorry I’m not happy with the outcome. The implications of this are great considering the loan was almost repaid … now I’m back at square one. Plus I have arrangements with my guarantor outside of this… if only you knew the full extent!
I am 99% sure that fos would disagree with the decision made. I have suffered long enough. Watch this space!
Lisa says
Hi Nathalie, I think all of us are stressed with our situation and although I don’t know your full story I sympathise with you. If your refund of interest was £5000 and you still owe £3000 you get the difference refunded direct to you, plus the 8% interest. Not sure how far into the loan you are so will unsure on your figures.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Lisa, I think Natalie is in the very unusual situation where the majority of payments have been made by the guarantor and have been refunded to the guarantor. So she now owes more, even after the removal of interest, than she did before she complained.
Natalie says
This is exactly it … if they kept my guarantors payments on the loan as well as refunding interest the capital would technically be repaid we would go our separate ways end off….
Or they could have refunded my guarantor and thought about the implications on me and said they will write off the remaining balance which would have been about 4K
Sara …. I think my situation is unique and from what I can see I don’t think amigo have done this before … I spoke with the complaint handler and voiced my concerns and the implication in terms of impact of them deciding this way going forward. She had little to say but I’m so sorry 🙄
As for insolvency options it’s not an option for me as I work in financial services.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you should give Amigo a week to think about this before going to FOS. This is very probably the first case they have come across like this. It looks as though they have tried to do the right thing – and they may think that legally they are obliged to do this – but they haven’t thought through the fact that it has left you in a worse position which is not Treating Customers Fairly.
Natalie says
Today amigo who’ve written to me accepting my DMP payments. They state it may take you longer to repay the loan but we have frozen interest. They also say whilst you are on an ATP your account will fall into arrears and we will report this to CRA and they have also said my they will not reissue another default notice if one has already been issued.
I really don’t think amigo have thought about the implications of there decision. I’m going to draft a response to their FRL this week giving them one more opportunity to reconsider. Although I’m pretty sure they will say their decision is final.
Gareth says
Hello Natalie,
Amigo has done this with my guarantor’s complaint – they have added the guarantor refund to my balance. I am awaiting Amigo to agree with the FOS regarding my own complaint ( FOS has said Amigo should refund all interest etc) but at the moment my loan total is slightly more than what I borrowed!! Any updates on your situation?
Natalie says
Hi Gareth,
I have referred my complaint to fos so I guess now the waiting game starts…. I think the difference here is that my guarantor did not make a complaint. It was solely me in relation the IR of my loan. Amigo upheld my complaint they agree it was IR and agreed to refund interest. But then also said we have also decided to refund guarantor payments. And credit the amount to your balance?
By doing this amigo have unfairly increased my indebtedness and the duration of my loan term.
Two years ago I entered into a DMP and made reduced offer to amigo – which they declined saying it would be unfair and irresponsible to entendres loan term beyond a reasonable amount of time.
Amigo are now saying they are happy to accept this same arrangement- even if it takes me a further 20years to repay debt? What changed is only that I’m now solely liable.
Robinson says
Update
I phoned the FOS today as I emailed my investigator last week but had not received a reply. I was querying my amigo account was no longer eligible for a top up (not that I wanted one)
The investigator was in a meeting but another member of the team told me Amigo had made contact on Wednesday with some kind of offer although he did not know any details.
I’ll wait for the investigator to get in touch and keep you all posted. Still not quite sure what it all means.
Assigned an investigator on the 5th June
Lou7 says
Hi Robinson,
I popped on to my account a couple of weeks ago and it said exactly the same. It said ‘you cannot borrow more money from amigo’. I was hoping that meant things are moving forward for me but I have not had an adjudicator assigned to me yet. I am keeping my fingers crossed for everyone though.
Neve says
Hi Sara,
I’ve put in a complaint to Amigo with the FO as Amigo rejected it back in Feb. I’ve got an email this week to let me know that the FO has assigned an investigator to the complaint and have asked Amigo for their case file. Do you know how long it will be before I can expect a decision from the investigator?
I had loans with Amigo since 2017 starting with a 2k loan which I topped up to 6k then 10k. I had numerous payday loans at the time and was gambling. I then paid this loan off with a loan from a family member and then applied again 4 months later with a similar borrowing pattern of top ups until 10k. Amigo said on the phone that I had a CCJ on file and an outstanding balance on payday loans but I just said I had paid them off and this was accepted?
I was in a complete spiral and was robbing Peter to pay Paul every month juggling payday loans. Thankfully I admitted the truth to my family and again , someone loaned me the money to pay Amigo off which I’m now paying them and on a DMP with StepChange. I’m so much happier now and would recommend to anyone going through the same situation to just tell someone and seek help instead of burying their head in the sand as it only gets worse that way.
I’m also just wondering if you think I’ve got a strong case against them?
Hope to hear from you soon.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“Do you know how long it will be before I can expect a decision from the investigator?” sorry this can vary from a couple of weeks to a few months. I am glad you no longer have the Amigo loan so at least the wait is less stressful.t depends on how complicated the case is.
” starting with a 2k loan which I topped up to 6k then 10k. I had numerous payday loans at the time and was gambling.” that sounds like a strong case to me! Amigo should have wondered why you kept having to borrow more.
Have you also looked at getting payday loan refunds?
Neve says
Thanks for your reply! Yes, I’ve already submitted all my payday loan complaints and just awaiting responses from FO.
My QuickQuid one was ruled in my favor by adjudicator from FO but they rejected it so awaiting ombudsman decision.
My sunny one was found in my favor from adjudicator but deadline was the 18th of July and the FO have said sunny have been going over their deadlines by about a week so to await decision next week.
My myjar one is with an adjudicator and awaiting adjudicator for lending stream. I have one with an adjudicator for Payday UK but not expecting anything now as they hadn’t reported their decision yet.
I’ll update you when I hear about amigo as would like to give other people hope as they are truly the worst company I’ve dealt with in trying to arrange payment plans etc. I’m going to keep my fingers crossed!
Luke says
I’m not quite sure this is necessarily the case. When I put my complaint in last year I was sent emails and letters asking for more information etc.
This however is not being assigned an adjudicator. I wonder if the person who put the comment in has merely heard back asking for more info but it won’t actually go to an adjudicator for some time. I believe the FOS have a pre team who ensure all complaints have all info needed.
Debora Colman says
I received my decision from Amigo loans they are not going to accept my application . They say I pay every month so it’s ok . I have now forwarded this on to the FOS wish me luck . They are complete sharks Amigo worst thing I ever done ✅
Fiona says
Good luck and sorry they didn’t uphold your complaint! Was that the only explanation they gave for rejecting?
I’m super worried now that I will suffer the same fate after reading so many positive outcomes for people with their Amigo complaints. My final response deadline is tomorrow…wish me luck too!!
Debora Colman says
Yes they basically said they did all the correct checks etc. And if I had not paid each month on time it would have been better for my case. I will not let them win no chance watch this space !
Good luck and don’t give up 👍
alyss says
Hi All,
i won my FOS complaint on Friday about amigo due to they didn’t do sufficient checks when approving my 5 loans in total as they were top ups.
they have been advised to pay me back the interest paid on all loans plus 8% interest on top, however due to a massive outstanding loan im not sure what gets written off and what still needs to be paid and i was wondering how do does it take for hear about how much i have left outstanding after the refund has been applied?
this was the table that the adjudicator sent me. total interest is last figure
5 30/08/17 60 £9750 £385.37 Ongoing £13372.20
07/03/17 60 £8500 £335.96 30/08/17 Loan paid £11657.60
07/02/17 60 £5500 £217.39 07/03/17 Loan Paid £7543
10/01/17 36 £4000 £195.16 07/02/17 Loan Paid £3025.76
02/11/16 13 £1250 £128.82 10/01/17 Loan Paid £295.84
Decision
Refund all interest and charges that Miss Penn paid all loans
– Pay interest of 8% simple a year on all refunds from the date of payment to the date of settlement*;
– Remove any negative information about all loans from Miss Penn’s credit file.
so i just want to know the total figure i now have left to pay? as loan balance is still at £13880.00
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That’s good news. re timescales, Amigo first have to accept the adjudicator’s decision – if they reject this has to go to an ombudsman to be looked at again.
After it is accepted, Amigo are usually very fast to calculate and settle things with you.
If you want to have a go your self, see this https://debtcamel.co.uk/how-to-complain-guarantor-loan/comment-page-6/#comment-308423 where I answered a similar reply
Alyss says
I’m still waiting for amigo to agree I bet I wont hear till Friday 😫😫😫😫
Lucylu says
Hi Guys ,
Recently found this site and thought I’d share my situation as I’d be interested in whether others will agree with my take on my current situation with Amigo .
I recently challenged Amigo for irresponsible lending in regards to 4 loans (initial £5000 plus three top ups to £10000) I have had with them since 2014 , they responded within 4 weeks with an offer to repay interest (+8%) from my current loan and reduce my balance to reflect this as they fully upheld my complaint for this loan.
…… loans 1,2,3 were partially upheld as they agreed they did not carry out adequate checks before awarding any of these loans and have asked for my bank statements to verify my financial situation at the time prior to agreeing them . ……… this is what is now confusing me as they are agreeing that they should not of given me the loans without completing further checks , so in effect they have accepted that lent to me irresponsibly….. so what have my bank statements got to do with anything ….. I agree that at the time they would of been extremely important and had they had them I wouldn’t of been given the loans ….. but they didn’t have them…. whether I give them now and they show I had thousands of pounds available to me is surely irrelevant …. my complaint is that they were irresponsible in lending to me …. they agree they didn’t complete adequate checks … so lent to me irresponsibly …. so what am I waiting for and why do I need to send statements!!!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You win an affordabilty case with the Finacial Ombudsman when:
a) the lender did not do adequate checks AND
b) adequate checks would have shown that you were not likely to be able to repay the loan consistently over the term of the loan.
(a) is checked by seeing what the lender did – or did not do. Amigo have accepted they did not make adequate checks.
But to check (b) they need to see what those checks would have shown if they had made them. So they are asking for your bank statements to look at this.
It is a reasonable way to handle a complaint, but you aren’t the first person to find the language Amigo has used is confusing.
I suggest you send the bank statements.
Lucylu says
Thanks for clarifying Sara , I’ve had mixed advice that’s really helped ,will get the statements to them.
Jamie says
Hi,
I took out a complaint against amigo regarding a number of loans and top up loans.
Loans 4 and 5 they agreed were leant irresponsibly. The guarantor (my mum) made most payments on these loans and as such will be refunding all payments she made and add on 8% interest. This will payed direct to my mum and not taken off the balance. That’s fine as I have an agreement that she will then pay the balance using this refund.
In the result it states “ we will have to refund the money to her as payments have been made via her account. I appreciate that may look like the balance has increased, however you will still be paying back the same amount you borrowed and it will have no effect on your monthly repayment amounts”
I have tried to clarify this with amigo however it appears that any money refunded will be added to my balance I am liable for that as they state I had made good use of the money and benefited from the loan.
So it would appear that say my mum wasn’t giving me the money to use against the principle amount I would now owe in excess of 15k? Is this correct?
I was of the opinion that the principle amount should not change and the money refunded to my mum would be separate and I would then be able to use this money to clear the total amount.
Can someone clarify if this is correct? Hope this makes sense.
J
Sara (Debt Camel) says
First what has happened to loans 1-3?
Second, have Amigo told you what the new balance will be on the current loan? they should have removed the interest from loans 2 and 5, have they?
If you aren’t sure, let’s have some numbers. loan 4, how much did you borrow (if this was a top up, that is structured as a new loan, so I don’t mean how much money did you get, I mean what was the loan 4 amount before they added any interest)? Did you (not your mum) make any payments to this, how much do they add up to?
Then for loan 5 – how much did you borrow? How much of this was used to settle loan 4? how much have you paid to this in total?
There may be a good case for you to not accept this offer from Amigo but to send the case to FOS. For them to give you a 5th loan if your mum had made a significant number of payments to loan 4 is, frankly, outrageous.
Jamie says
Hi thanks for getting back to me…
Loan 1 was for 3000 however was settled over 10 years ago so are saying that it falls outside their data retention policy so will not investigate it and not uphold the complaint.
Loan 2 was for 5000 in Feb 2014 which was settled after taking about loan 3 as a top up loan in may 2016. They have stated they have partially upheld the complaint as I need to provide bank statements for a number of dates. That is fine as I have those statements.
Loan 4 was for 7500 in August 2016. My mum definitely made payments to this. I’m not sure exactly how many but it was clear that I was missing payments and my mum has to make these up. I think by the end it was coming straight from my mums account and I would pay her when I could afford it.
Loan 5 was for 10000 in March 2017. This again was a top up loan and I received £2700. Again nearly all payments we’re being made by mum.
Post 1 of 2
Jamie says
Post 2 of 2
They have said they will refund all payments made by my mum on loan 4 and 5 which equates to £10500. I have asked if this will be added to my balance which they have said is usually the case minus the 8% interest however have not gave me an exact figure of what the balance will end up I am waiting to here back from them.
My outstanding balance is £7900 and they have said my mum is no longer a guarantor on the account and no longer liable for the balance. If they add the 10500 to the balance (minus the interest) I could end up with a balance of over 17k.
It’s all very confusing when they have admitted they shouldn’t have loaned me loans 4 and 5. Even if they checked one months bank statement they could see I was in financial difficulty.
J
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK, well loan 1 is very old. Loan 2 you are sending bank statements – if that is included in the refund it should make a significant difference to the balance that is left at the end.
It sounds as though they are:
– refunding the interest you paid on loan three to you – will reduce the outstanding balance on the current loan. Can you work out what this was?
– loan four – removing interest from the loan and refunding the payments your mum made. If these payments your mum made were large (can you add them up?) then that may mean the fourth loan has not been fully repaid and would be added to the balance outstanding
– loan five – removing interest from the loan, refunding payments your mum has made.
(I’m not saying these are the “right” things to do, just trying to work out what Amigo may be doing.)
At the moment you want to see how they have calculated a new balance and for them to make a decision about loan 2.
At that point you can decide if you are happy with that has been done or if you want to take your case to the Ombudsman.
As I said, if your mum had made a significant number of payments to loan 4, then I think Amigo should NOT have given loan 5 and that this is so obvious that it is possible you could get a lot more back that the standard “refund the interest” decision from FOS. Overall I do not think a customer should be left in a worse position after winning a complaint than they were beforehand…
Ian Bland says
Hello,
has anyone had any joy from UK Credit yet? The majority on here are aimed at Amigo. Im one of the lucky ones that have had the Amigo refund via the adjudicator about 6 weeks ago. However I now have my UK Credit loan for an affordability case. Id like to think this should go the same way, but you never know. Any info about people complaining with these would be great
Many Thanks
Ian
Soph says
Hi Ian I’m waiting on a UK credit complaint. Quick background: UKC rejected my complaint around May 18. I sent it to the FOS who also didn’t uphold my complaint, that was around Nov 18. I asked for it to be reviewed by an Ombudsman however in May 19 it was picked up by someone in the High Cost Lending team. They upheld my complaint and sent the decision to UKC who came back within about 48 hours to say they didn’t agree so it’s now back in the queue for an Ombudsman. It was for 1 loan only for £6k.
Soph
Ian Bland says
So has it been to two separate adjudicators?
I understood that the process was adjudicator – Ombudsman – Decision?
Looks like you have had two separate adjudicators on the case which have also come to two different decisions which doesn’t sound great
Thanks
Ian
Jane says
Hi Ian,
Do hope this is helpful..I was also assigned an adjudicator (apols for Amigo not UK Credit) in January(initially sent to FOs in October 2018). Supplied tonnes of information/ evidence and was then assigned to a new high cost investigation team in February and I am still awaiting investigation.
From what I understand a significant review has taken place with regards high cost lending such as UK Credit, Amigo etc and the FOS are applying a different criteria when reviewing cases, which hopefully will help streamline the process for future complaints.
The latter was sent to me in an email from the FOS, so hopefully this info is correct!
Keep the faith!
Soph says
Hi Jane, yes I got the same advice. I recall emailing the FOS asking whether there was an update on an Ombudsman reviewing my complaint after the adjudicator didn’t originally uphold it back in November 18 and that’s when I was told that a significant review has taken place with regards to high cost lending such as UK Credit, Amigo etc and that in view of this my complaint would be reviewed again by a member of that team first. That’s when they upheld my complaint but as UKC didn’t agree it’s now back in the queue for an Ombudsman.
Thanks
Ian Bland says
Thanks for the advice. I also was one of the ones that had the Amigo complaint delayed. I had cleared the loan off so didn’t owe them anything. They originally didn’t uphold the complaint however once the adjudicator got it (Which took some time), they upheld the complaint in my favour and after some deliberation with Amigo they paid out. I must say they were very quick at paying out. I’m currently awaiting the adjudicator with the UK Credit loan. lets see what happens there. Looking at the Ombudsman’s decisions it doesn’t look like there have been a lot of complaints published by them as it stands so there isn’t really a lot to base any of the results on as of yet. But they really are worth complaining to. Ive had some real luck with these companies and some great support from this page.
B.smith says
Hi Sara,
Amigo have until 29th July to reply regarding my compliant with a final outcome. My complaint was regarding 5 loans and the fact no bank statement etc were checked where I have had a gambling issue. I emailed them today and asked if they needed bank statements to put towards my compliant. They emailed me back and said that they may ask for bank statements after I receive my final response. Surely the final response should be the outcome of the whole complaint? Why would I wait 8 weeks for them to then ask for bank statements? Is this normal protocol I don’t quite understand?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send them bank statements if you have them now – it’s good to short circuit this process.
Fiona says
So, after bracing myself for the worst (taking Sara’s advice), it was a nice surprise to get my final response on the deadline date directly from Amigo upholding my complaint partially (8 ought of 9 loans). I have checked my Amigo account online and it has been cleared. Though I expected more back, I am just happy that this huge portion of my salary is no more! Thank you Sara again
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you think the calculations are right? Was the not refunded loan the first one?
Fiona says
I don’t fully understand it all to be honest. There was one loan and then eight top ups. I don’t know how they calculated the interest for each one.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Right, here is how to get a rough figure: you have to look at each loan seperately – and all the top ups will have been treated as a seperate loan.
Ignore the first loan as Amigo haven’t said they will refund it.
For loan 2, find the amount you borrowed. This isn’t the amount of the top up, as you were also borrowing to settle loan 1. So you may have borrowed 2000. You made some payments to the loan, say 1150, then you tool loan 3. From loan 3 1780 was used to settle loan 2, so interest paid the loan 2 was 1150 + 1780 – 2000 = 930. Add on 8% times the number of years since the settlement to get refund for loan 1. So if it was 3 years ago, add on 24% more. That gives the total refund on loan 2.
Repeat for loans 3-8, getting a refund for each loan.
For the last loan, loan 9, take the amount borrowed less the payments made – this removes interest from the last loan. Use as much of the refunds from previous loans as is necessary to repay the balance left.
This is an approximation for the 8%s but will only be a long way out if your guarantor had made a lot of payments – had they?
Fiona says
They sent a final response earlier this evening and upheld my complaint partially. They have already cleared my outstanding balance of £9172 on my Amigo account (I checked).
I am just clarifying how the interest has been calculated but will expect the leftover interest refund will be in my account within 3-5 days. Happy days!
Lisa says
Wow that’s great news, another positive move from Amigo!
Mo Shariff says
Hi All
Hoping you can share some wisdom on my case.
I’ve had several loans from amigos, each loan has been paid fully.
My first loan goes back to 2012/2013 which was for £5,000/ then another a few years later for the same amount but then topped up to roughly £7.5k
I made a complaint in September 2018 to them citing my mental health conditions of depression and anxiety and making them aware I had been invited to undertake a CBT course at the National Problem Gambling Clinic. Whilst I had sent all these letters to them there response as below:
Having reviewed these letters, whilst the letter from Dr M states that you make poor financial decisions, it does not state that you are incapable of making these kinds of decisions. A per the Mental Capacity Act 2005, “A person is not to be treated as unable to make a decision merely because he makes an unwise decision.”
Before the loan was paid out, we made sure you could comfortably afford the repayments, and that you fully understood and accepted your responsibilities towards the loan
As such, you were fully aware of what was expected of you to maintain the loan. How the funds were used has no bearing on your liability.
As the letters do not state that you couldn’t make a financial decision, we would be unable to consider removing your liability on this loan.
Thanks
Mo
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Mo,
you complained last year, have you sent the case to the Financial Ombudsman? Did you complaint include saying that the loan was unaffordable for you?
Mo says
Hi Sara
I haven’t yet complained to the Ombudsman.
I didn’t use the word affordable but I did make clear that this was putting me under hardship, financial strain and difficulty in managing my finances.
The loans were supposed to consolidate and pay my other debts off yet this didn’t happen. I feel if they checked my bank statements they would’ve seen I was severe risk and wouldn’t have lent.
I feel their response didn’t provide options and the door slammed shut.
What would you suggest ?
Thanks
Mo
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It can be hard to win a complaint on mental capacity grounds, but it sounds as though you have a good case for an affordabilty complaint even if the mental capacity reasons are not considered, so the question is how to pursue this.
Many firms impose a 6 month time limit on being able to take the complaint to the Ombudsman, but Amigo usually allows people to send complaints to FOS after that point. Do you have your reply from them? What does it say about going to the Ombudsman?
Mo says
Nothing about the ombudsman in their reply, it just provided a contact number and said if there was anything further they could do then contact them.
Do you think I should make a claim on affordability as this was an issue with them first and make that the purpose of my complaint opposed to mental capacity or?
Thanks for your help :)
Mo
Sara (Debt Camel) says
do you have your bank statements for the time of these loans?
Mo says
I will do yes, if not I will try to find otherwise is there an alternative?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What I suggest is you reply to Amigo’s response last year, saying you don’t think they properly looked into whether the loans were affordable for you. Ask if they would like to look again at this or shall you send it now the the Ombudsman?
If you have the bank statements, you could attach them to your email. If you have the ones for the mor recent loans, send them.
If you don’t have all bank statements, now would be a good time to start getting them, but I wouldn’t delay your complaint until you have them.
Mo says
Thanks Sara – will keep you posted. Appreciate the speedy response!
Mo says
Hi Sara
Just wanted to share that Amigo have sent me all documents for all loans I’ve received. The very first being in 2013.
Even from that first statement questions marks should’ve been asked around affordability. My first 3 – 5 payments bounced and monthly payments were made from my family’s account not mine.
Coupled with statements I’ll gather I’ll highlight this to them.
Do you think this is a good starting point? They have acknowledged my complaint around affordability and will be looking into it over the next 8 weeks, however, keen to make this point as it led to top ups and further loans.
Thanks
Mo
Luke says
Just to inform you – the Ombudsman just rang and Amigo have agreed to their finding and will refund the interest paid on all 4 loans plus 8%.
This will wipe out what I owe them.
So happy, hopefully you all have success!!
Robinson says
I had an email on Monday from FOS stating Amigo had agreed to refund on 5 loans since 2013. Just waiting for Amigo to get in touch now. Original complaint made in October and assigned an investigator in early June
Anybody know how long this part of the process takes?
Thank you to everybody on this site 👍🏻
Michael says
Hi Sara
I complained to Amigo in April about a loan I took out in August 2015. I still haven’t received any messages back. Should I send them another email or ring them
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is unusual. I suggest you phone them up.
Mike says
Afternoon All,
I’ve just had a phone call today from the FOS that Amigo have now upheld my complaint and agreed to refund all interest + 8% on the 3 loans I had with Amigo. This totals around £4050 in basic interest. My complaint was submitted to the FOS in November 2018.
What was a little strange is that I rang yesterday for an update and was told that it was waiting for allocation to an investigator. Then today I got a call that Amigo have agreed to uphold the complaint. Either it’s a very very quick process now or I wasn’t told the correct information yesterday but great news all the same 👍
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think that Amigo may be reviewing some complaints and making offers before an adjudicator reaches a conclusion.
Ian Bland says
Hi everyone. I won my case with Amigo and once it was upheld and Amigo agreed, I rang Amigo the same day to give them bank details and the money was in my account within about 3 hrs. So don’t wait for Amigo to contact you, ring them ASAP and they will get it sorted. As a word of caution here, don’t be surprised if Amigo go into similar schemes like The Money Shop, Wonga etc because of the large amounts of payouts that they could have. My advice, get in now and get speaking to Amigo
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Amigo’s accounts are very healthy. Complaint volumes are tiny. I don’t think anyone should worry about this…
But anyone who things there were given an unaffordable loan, or any guarantor who could not afford to make the repayments should certainly be putting in a complaint now!
Iianne says
Hi Sara
Wanted to say a big thank you!!
I had a loan of £10k from Amigo with my mum as a guarantor. Took it out in Jan 2018, to date balance is still £8990ish.
I made an affordability complaint to Amigo, they rejected it so I sent it to the Fos this was October 2018.
So today received a call from Fos, Amigo have made an offer to refund all interest, remove any negative marks and stop all interest going forward.
The interest should be Between £6k-£7k which should clear most the balance.
I am so happy!!!! I thought Amigo would play hardball.
Everyone keep going and persevere!!!
Thanks L x
James says
Just had an email from an investigator, my complaint submitted to FOS in Sep 2018. They have said they’ve been talking to Amigo about complaints like mine and Amigo have now agreed that they didn’t do enough checks and have offered a refund. Around £12k!!
Looks like you were right Sara, FOS have asked Amigo to review older cases again.
Jane says
Amazing news on here this afternoon! So pleased for you all.
So very happy to see such great results…I sincerely hope there is more to come….I’m crossing everything for those waiting for news!
B.smith says
I am so happy people are getting what they deserve with so many great outcomes. I will get my final response from Amigo on Monday, but I am all ready to go to the FOS as I don’t believe they will uphold my complaint. I hope I will have good news in the future too
Soph says
Hi Sara, I’m still waiting on my UKC complaint to be picked up by an Ombudsman. I wanted to ask about my Amigo complaint. This was rejected by Amigo and also by an adjudicator (this was prior to the High Cost Lending team being created) Stupidly I did not ask my Amigo complaint to go to an Ombudsman for a final decision like I did with UKC. Can I ask the Ombudsman to look at it again? The adjudicator didn’t uphold my complaint for reasons that the high cost lending team don’t agree with e.g I told them I lived in my overdraft therefore I would have been repaying credit with credit, they used our household income to approve the loan but didn’t take details of my partners outgoing, about 8 payday loans outstanding, credit cards, catalogue debt, no real expenses taken for my child, guessed and low expenses for food and clothing etc etc. I also didn’t request my DSAR from Amigo which I now know from this site I should have done first. If I ask Amigo for my DSAR and can present a reasonable argument about what Amigo new at the time and what the adjudicator didn’t take into account, do you think they will consider my complaint again or am I just wasting time and energy? As always your opinion would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I’m sorry i don’t know if there is anything you can do. Are you still repaying this loan?
Soph says
No, I took the UKC loan to repay the Amigo loan and to repay the other payday loans I had to take out to pay the Amigo loan (I was in such a mess just trying to keep my head above water and then the loans I needed to take were getting larger as the monthly repayments got larger and then I couldn’t afford the UKC repayments so I was back to square 1 taking loans out again to pay UKC) I also felt like the adjudicator just shut me down on any valid point I made where as now the High Cost Lending team agree that these are things that Amigo should have checked. His attitude was basically you told them you could afford it so they didn’t need to carry out any further checks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I asked because if yiu still did owe a lot, then you could ask your guarantor to complain that the loan should not have been given because you could not afford it… but that won’t work as the loan has been repaid.
You could ask FOS if they can look again at this but I suspect they are likely to say No. starting again with Amigo and a SAR won’t work as they will say your complaint has been dealt with.
Crissy says
Just had a phone call from the FOS amigo are refunding all interest paid to them with 8 % interest each year! I feel so happy !
Jane says
Fantastic news Crissy….I am so pleased for you!
Crissy says
Thanks I hope everybody gets good news shortly !
Jane says
Good afternoon!
So pleased to say I get to join the Amigo Hall of Fame! Lovely investigator called from the FOS to explain my two loans were thoroughly unaffordable and Amigo will:
1.Refund all interest on both loans. This is approx £5.5k.
2.Award 8% simple interest from the time the loan ended on 5th January 2019 (date the final loan was repaid) until the settlement date, July 2019.
My guarantor, my lovely Mum heard from the FOS before I did as she had a complaint in with regards her very poor experience of Amigo. They offered to refund all of my loan interest as compensation so, it’s been a little confusing especially as I really wanted to win my own case!!
After a very helpful chat and lots of very positive talk about the amazing work Sara does on this site (the FOS have great respect for what you do) I had the news I’d been successful in my complaint.
I had misunderstood and thought I was receiving 8% interest as compensation per year on the interest paid but, apparently not in my case.
I’ve asked if the FOS can clarify this as I do not wish to complicate this for others….
Hang in the everyone this lender has been significantly scrutinized and for very good reason….it’s a very happy day for me after nearly one year….Huge thanks to the amazing Sara for all of her hard work. If it hadn’t been for Debt Camel I wouldn’t have fought so hard!
Enjoy the sunshine wherever you are.
Best wishes from Newcastle upon Tyne!
Soph says
So so pleased for you Jane. I was really hoping you were going to post some good news for yourself and soon x
jane says
Bless you Soph thanks so much and fingers crossed for you for UKC! x
Lou7 says
Well done Jane. A bit of good news for you at last. I am so happy for you. Fingers crossed now for the rest of us 🤞🏻
Jane says
Hang in there Lou7 i have everything crossed for you and those waiting!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“the FOS have great respect for what you do” gosh!
ClaireR says
Quite rightly so Sara,
You really do change peoples lives.
Thank you.
Jane says
Absolutely true Sara and totally deserved…I would have been lost without all of the great information available on this site. A huge thank you!
I talked to the investigator yesterday for quite a while and she explained they’ve also had to deal at top level with Amigo to understand how their lending processes work. It does appear it’s been a complicated exercise but, hopefully it will really benefit future lending.
She also mentioned how distressing it can be for families when a guarantor is a parent or close relative and they have to pick up the payments, which can naturally cause serious emotional pressure-they’re taking this very seriously, which is great.
Ian Bland says
Do you think this will pave the way for other Guarantor loan companies to look at their process and potentially follow suit alongside Amigo?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think FOS will be applying the same approach to decision making to all the guarantor lenders. Amigo just features heavily here as they are 88% of the market.
Amigo has accepted all recent adjudicator decisions (so far as I know). UK Credit has rejected ay least one – waiting for an ombudsman decision.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would be interested to know the reasoning behind the 8% decison.
Was your mum offered any compensation?
Jane says
Hi Sara,
Amigo were in touch this morning, which is rather efficient to say the lest! They’re just doing the calculations and I have asked them to clarify the 8% interest as the FOS were adamant in my case it will be paid on the date the loan finished until now…will keep you informed!
Mum didn’t receive any compensation(but, she will from me!!). They asked if my refund would be enough in terms of recompense.
Crissy says
Great news Jane !
Jane says
Thanks so much Crissy!
Gareth says
Hi All,
I am just waiting for Amigo to agree with the findings of the FOS which would found that my original loan and 4 tops should not have been given to me – so I am getting back the interest. I made around 24 payments and my Mum, as guarantor, made about 5 payments. My Mum also put a complaint in and Amigo have upheld her complaint and refunded about 1400 to my Mum ( I am happy for her) but Amigo have added this onto my total – so I more or less I am back on the stage with the loan I was a year and a bit ago. Obviously, Amigo is likely to agree with the FOS and take off all the interest but my Mum winning her case will likely mean I will still owe about 1500 – whereas I had thought I would have cleared the loan. Obviously its all in a much better situation and guess it’s all fair enough but just checking have others had similar?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you are now the third person that has this issue.
I don’t actually know what FOS will day about this. But I think you ought to raise this with your adjdudicator.
Had you mum made any payments to previous loans, or just this last one?
Gareth says
Hi, yes good idea – will let my adjudicator know. I think she made 3 or 4 on this one and 1 or 2 on the previous ones. Amigo upheld her complaint directly and she heard a few days after the adjudicator got back to me with their findings.
Thanks Sara.
Gareth
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So one possible argument is that if the guarantor had made some payments on one loan, Amigo should never have considered an additional loan, so they should refund the guarantor AND write the money off from the loan.
Gareth says
I guess that argument could be made. I have let the adjudicator know that Amigo has added the guarantor back onto my balance – taking the amount back to overall amount it was at the start almost! If this has happened to others be interested to hear what the FOS make of it?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So two other people here have had the same issue in the last week – Natalie & Jamie. Both were with offers directly from Amigo – I think Natalie has sent her case to FOS, unsure about Jamie.
Lianne says
Hey
So got the great news on the 24th July that Amigo are refunding all interest and applying that to the balance I already owe.
Checked my Amigo Account today 25th July and the interest refund has already been applied, £5.7k – There is also another payment of £363 so total is over £6k refunded, although slightly confused because it seems £224 interest has been added back on so need to call and check this tomorrow as no interest going forward should be applied against the remaining balance.
Overall very happy £2.5k left to pay then I’m done with Amigo.
Thanks
LJ
Sara (Debt Camel) says
With a balance to pay, this is a good point to get Amigo to agree on an affordable monthly payment. Even though they aren’t adding interest, you will be pleased when the last of it is gone!
rachel says
Hi Sara & everyone. lovely to hear about your success with Amigo! I complained recently to them regarding affordability and they have written back to me not upholding my complaint. I am currently looking at submitting the claim to ombudsman.
I have had one loan + 3 top ups since 2017 each one because I was falling into the usual debt trap :( I now owe over 6k to Amigo and the repayments are crippling me!
reading all your success stories has spurred me on, I have looked at my file Amigo sent over on CD and combed through it all, just before all of my top up loans I defaulted on payments, in one instance I defaulted on 26th December, and 3 days later received texts saying I could top up to 10k on my loan (along with an email of the same) by the 18th January I had my top up, very little questions asked. in fact there is no record of me speaking to an advisor at all for any of the top ups, no bank statements ever checked etc.. Back then I was so thankful I could FINALLY get out of the debt trap… 2 years later worse than ever! Needless to say the top ups just made things worse. Do you guys think I have a case with the ombudsman? I hope I do!
Also Sara your advice is fantastic, been looking on this site for a while and has really helped with considering my financial options
thank you !
:)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you should ask FOS to look at that.
rachel says
I am filling in the form as we speak :)
Soph says
Hi all, so it’s been 15 months since I started my complaint against UK Credit and today I finally got a letter from the Ombudsman upholding my complaint! To put things right they need to:
Refund the interest and charges;
Add interest at 8% per year simple on any interest and charges from the date they were paid to the date of settlement;
Remove any adverse information from my credit file;
As this is an Ombudsman decision I believe it will be published in the next few weeks.
I just want to say a massive thank you to Sara and to everyone who has posted on here for their advice and stories. If I hadn’t stumbled across this site in October 2017 I hate to think what position I would be in now. Good luck to everyone still waiting, I’m sure after the recent review by the FOS there will be so many more positive outcomes for you all x
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Brilliant news. It usually takes 6-8 weeks for Ombudsman decisions to be published, so I will look out for it!
Ann says
Hi have an amigo lone and I am really struggling with the payment I’m up to date with my payment but could really need to reduce them without it affecting my guarantor is there anything I can do
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Ann,
unfortunately you can’t get a reduced payment agreed without it affecting your guarantor.
BUT it is well worth trying making an affordability complaint as the article above explains. Amigo may not have checked properly that you wopuld be able to afford the loan, not just for a month or so but for the whole term.
If you win an affordabilty complaint, Amigo have to remove the interest so you only repay what you borrowed. And you can then get a payment arrangement o repay the balance at a lower, more affordable rate without it harming your guarantor.
Jane says
Fantastic Soph, so pleased for you!
Amanda says
Hi,
Has anyone ever had a loan with TFS and issued a complaint?
Thanks
Amanda
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, Peter has had one upheld by an adjudicator at the Financial Ombudsmanman, waiting to see if TFS accept or it has to go to the second ombudsman level for a final decision
Nic and Sara Have complaints waiting for an adjudicator
Afaq has one that is still with the lender I think.
As you will see from the other recent comments here, people are having success against Amigo and now UK Credit. I would expect TFS to be the same, so this is a good time to make a complaint!
Lisa says
Hi all. I have received my SAR from Amigo and it confirms nothing was checked, ie no bank statements asked for, no payslips etc, I want to ask on the credit check which is the 2nd page of the budget form they send in the SAR is this the information we put in on the application or is this there check? It states who I owe and how much I pay? What I’m confused is all my payments are just 1% of the total of each debt which is not something I would have put, for example a loan I owed balance £957 payment £9.57? Hopefully you guys understand what I’m asking if you’ve had your SARs yourself. also during the initial call they only thing they questioned was 1 of my 4 CCjs as they thought I was in a debt management plan and advised it’s not a problem if I am ??? Surely that’s not right! Hopefully that could strengthen my case
Sara (Debt Camel) says
that sounds like very poor and inadequate checking by Amigo.
Gareth Patrick Gough says
Hi Lisa,
That was the case with mine and the adjudicator mentioned that as a weak point in Amigos procedures!
Thanks,
Gareth
Lisa says
Thanks Gareth., I also had lots of gambling transactions on my statement, and a big loan just 7 days before taking an Amigo loan out. I’m hoping I get a positive response, do you know if the budget/credit check 2nd page is what we filled in or what they have taken from credit check?
Annie says
Can I ask all you folks that have recently had a refund from amigo when you submitted your claim to the FOS. I am just trying to get an idea of the current timeline, mine was sent at the beginning of December 2018 and I know they have now been looking and paying out on some of the complaints that they originally rejected. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you had an adjudicator decision? When?
Annie says
No I haven’t had an adjudicator yet, just curious as I know many people have won their claims as apparently amigo have reviewed their decision of claims already at the FOS without an adjudicator or ombudsman decision yet being made. I think these cases have been sitting with the high cost lending team who have been in discussion with amigo.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh, sorry, I thought you were referring to claims the adjduicator had rejected.
yes, it’s great to see Amigo have been reviewing some decisions. We don’t know how those have been chosen at all, it may not be by date.
Lucylu says
Hi Sara
Following on from my previous post, Amigo have removed interest from my account but are stating that unless I continue with the full monthly instalments my account will fall into arrears and this will be reflected on my credit file , I don’t know if I was being naive or not but I assumed that the loan term would remain in place for the balance and that I would be able to make the lower payments until I had the outcome of my complaint for loans 1,2 and 3 for which I have now sent requested bank statements and if I win my complaint the interest refunded would clear my debt . Amigo are saying that my loan term was based on my monthly payments and not on the amount borrowed… which doesn’t make sense , surely if you borrow £10000 over 5 years the loan term is 5 years ? I’m not sure whether I should just say I’m going to take it further or if I’m expecting too much
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That isn’t on. You have complained that the repayments are unaffordable – they can’t expect to uphold the complaint and then insist that you make the unaffordable payments. Have you offered an amount that you can afford?
Lucylu says
Hi Sara
No I haven’t yet as I am meeting with CAB next week to work out my expenditure so they have given me to the 12th , the big issue for me at the moment is my partner has just been made redundant , which I have explained , they have also refunded my guarantor payments she had made and added that to my balance even though I said I could evidence that I had paid her back ! The simple interest also seems wrong to me but they just start waffling on about how complex it all is and that they appreciate it hard to understand. My partners last pay is this month so I’m desperate for this to all be resolved as quickly as possible but I feel like they are aware of that and are just putting pressure on me to accept everything they are saying as gospel!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“they have also refunded my guarantor payments she had made and added that to my balance even though I said I could evidence that I had paid her back !” in that case I think you should plan on taking your case to the Finacial Ombudsman, because you are effectively having to pay double the amount on those repayments which isn’t fair.
“The simple interest also seems wrong to me but they just start waffling on about how complex it all is and that they appreciate it hard to understand.” have they supplied an explanation? because I would like to see it.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
At the moment they are not in a good position to apply pressure to you, this is just bluff. They have to look at your bank statements. And you are going to talk to CAB about your financial situation.
There isn’t a guarantor any more. They have accepted that they did not make proper checks on the last loan and if they had been made it was unaffordable. They would be mad to try to take you to court for this. And if they put a negative mark on your credit record you can just put in another complaint and take it to the ombudsman if they refuse to remove it.
Kelly says
Hi,
Just want to say thank you so much!
I got my answer from amigo after sending bank statements and they agreed to refund me all the interest paid plus 8%
I have some money left to pay so hopefully that will be covered with some money to refund.
Just waiting on figures now
Thank you!!
Bee says
So I am due my final decision from Amigo today. I never held out any hope with them upholding my loans and have always been prepared to go to the FOS but wow they real leave things until the last minute! They have 2 hours left to respond before they close!
Has anyone else no had a response within the time frame or do they usually send it last min?