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
Sophie says
With the guarantor refunds. If mine doesn’t want a refund and is happy me for me to have it, is that going to make a difference with them being on hold? I’m starting to tear my hair out, I’m 18 months in to my complaint and it seems to be one thing after another! Are they likely to stop refunding anyone who had a guarantor make payments? That would be totally unfair and just my luck.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I have suggested that some people try asking their guarantor to say they do not want a refund. I don’t know if this is likely to work.
This is just a temporary pause until a decision is reached. There is no sign that these refunds are just going to stop.
Cathy says
Hi Sara
As you know my sons nightmare into this particular debacle ended last week when he received his redress. I can now read these post from a different less stressed perspective. Although it continues to make my blood boil how shabbily Amigo treat people. What I cannot understand is why the guarantor refunds have been paused. The issue is not with these payments. The complaint has been won and the guarantors are entitled to their money back. Had Amigo acted responsibly in the first place the guarantor would not have been put in this position, many of which were coerced and threatened. The issue, unless I have totally misunderstood the problem, is that Amigo have been refunding the guarantor and then dumping any payments the guarantor made back onto the borrower. I get that Amigo are probably panicking, after all if they have to foot the bill instead of passing it onto the borrower they may go under (oh what a pity). My point is, the allocation of the redress payments should be parked until a decision is made where it sits either with Amigo or the borrower. The guarantor’s refund should not be paused whilst Amigo and FCA thrash it out.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
My point is, the allocation of the redress payments should be parked until a decision is made where it sits either with Amigo or the borrower.
but what when the borrower can prove that he has repaid the guarantor in full? Should the guarantor still be refunded then by Amigo?
Cathy says
Not in my opinion and everybody is entitled to their own. If the guarantor has been repaid and the borrower can prove it, then they should not be compensated a second time. The majority of guarantor complaints (that have been documented on this forum) are from vulnerable people who should never have been accepted and have been bombarded and bullied by Amigo to make payment. This is usually under the threat of court action if they fail to fulfil a contract they did not fully understand and in many cases were coerced into signing.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well quite. But what if the borrower says they paid and the guarantor denies it? I am not saying this is common but it is just one example of the strange situations these horrible loans give rise to.
Simon says
They absolutely should be on hold. It has taken some of us alot of time to get the FOS and FCA to stand up and listen to what is happening. My guarantor received one of largest redress that Amigo will ever pay out but that then falls back onto me as the borrower. This is not how an upheld complaint should be resolved. There is no ruling to say they should do that. They as a business accepted they were loaning me money irresponsibly. Unfortunately they should take the hit and not put the guarantor repayment onto the borrowers balance. How can you have a balance £10,000 higher through winning an affordability complaint?
Becki says
Hi Sara
Me again! So we have finally received both guarantor and borrower final final offers from Amigo.
My guarantor accepted hers and is due a cash refund. I have accepted mine and consequently owe an outstanding balance to which my guarantor will cover with the refund.
Do you know of anyone who has any experience with regards to complaint about the balance?
It seems silly that they’re then willing to put the borrower back in the ‘worse position’ also I’m sure other borrowers don’t have a good relationship with their guarantor like I do.
Thanks,
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think there are quite a few complaints at the ombudsman about just this – where a borrower is left in a worse position than before they complained.
It’s up to you if you want to get FOS to look at your case. Or just settle things up between the two of you if you are on good terms.
John says
Hello Sara
Similar to Becki I have also heard back from Amigo this morning with an offer for my guarantor and myself. Btw, this is for a closed account, ended two years ago.
They have told me that if my guarantor accepts then their payments will be reduced off from my loan and they will reopen a new loan with affordable payment plan to close the new loan with no interest but just to repay the capital being refunded to my guarantor. This is because the majority of the payments were made by my guarantor so I wouldn’t get anything back in interest.
I asked what would happen if my guarantor rejected their offer then they said I would only get back the interest on the payments I had made but the guarantor would receive nothing.
I haven’t accepted anything as of yet but it does look like they are now looking to resume more guarantor payment cases. Has something been agreed between them and the FCA?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I hadn’t heard that a resolution had been reached beteen Amigo/FCA/FOS on these cases.
This sounds like what Amigo were doing before that so many borrowers objected to.
What is your own position? Have you repaid the guarantor? Are you on good terms, Can the guarantor afford to help you out of your new debt or do they need the money to clear their own debts taken out to repay Amigo?
Scott says
Hi I have recently had the adjudicator rule in my favour for my complaint with tfs loans but they have rejected this and is now going to the ombudsman to look at. Has anybody any idea how long it takes for the ombudsman to pick this up after the adjudicator?
Andrea says
Exactly the same as me yesterday too.
It’s taken since March and still not even looked at it yet. Mines gone to the Ombudsman over the 6 year rule, I dread to think how long this queue is.
Jacs says
After having my affordability complaint upheld, guarantor released and interest refunded (leaving me with £2,700 still to pay), I have tried to set up an affordable repayment plan but they are trying to force me into making payment amounts that aren’t affordable.
They ran through a budget with me and after deducting all of my regular monthly expenses from my monthly income – I have £129 left.
Amigo Loans are saying that I would need to pay them £109 each month as they allow a “buffer” of £20 a month for disposable income (I was paying £148 a month under the original loan agreement).
I explained that this budget doesn’t include unexpected expenses and other irregular costs such as car repairs, MOT & servicing, emergency expenses, child activities, school trips, etc. To which they said they would need to see bank statements to prove that I put money away each month to cover these!! They said £109 is the minimum they could accept.
Surely this can’t be right considering they upheld an affordability complaint on the basis that the loan and repayments were (and still are) unaffordable for me?!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think that is unreasonable.
(Although you could say that that is an excellent idea and it will help your budgeting so you have just opened a second bank account and will be transferring £30 for car costs, £20 a month for child activities, and £20 a month for emergencies into there by standing order from now on. So you can may then £40 a month – would that feel manageable? It would still take5 years to clear the balance)
I suggest you talk to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 and explain you want to draw up a budget to show to Amigo that includes all your irregular costs.
Jacs says
Hi Sara,
Thank you for your reply – glad it’s not just me who thinks this!
I was thinking £40 would be affordable for now and then look to increase it once my financial situation has improved, which it will as I pay off other debts – catalogues, credit cards (which I shredded last year!), car finance, etc.
I will draw up a spreadsheet showing my income and expenses and also allowing for these other costs.
(Irony of ironies – I’ve actually spent the last 20 years working in finance and currently studying part time, my current course being Personal Finance!!)
Mark says
Took a loan out through UK Credit in 2016 for 6000, at the time I had a lot of payday loans and a bad gambling habit. I sent an affordability complaint in November 2019.
After months of waiting my adjudicator finally get back to me they didn’t uphold my complaint so I asked for it to be referred to an ombudsman who then upheld my complaint. The ombudsman then gave both parties until the 9th October to send anymore evidence in, UKCredit have now disagreed with this decision and have requested my bank statements from the ombudsman which they do not give so I am now just waiting again to see how my case is going to proceed from here.
To say I’m frustrated is an understatement.
Andrew says
Hi,
My Uk Credit Complaint was rejected by them. I’ve ant to FOs where the investigator agreed to my complaint. Then Uk disagreed for it was sent to the Fos second review. They seem to be playing around
Mark says
Yeah it seems as though they are yes, so frustrating.
Hopefully it all gets sorted soon.
Lisa says
Hi I have had 3 loans with amigo all paid off guarantor had made a few payments.
My loans were from September 2010till June 2013 is it still worth trying to make a claim
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If the guarantor made payments, that suggests you found it hard to pay them – so they may well have been “unaffordable”. In that case a lot of people are winning these complaints!
Lisa says
Thank you I struggled nearly
Had home repossessed at the time
It now also bright house and provident
Sara (Debt Camel) says
then definitely make a complaint!
So BH is in administration so you are unlikely to get much back from a complaint against them But a lot of people are winning complaints against provident!
Hayley says
Hi amigo upheld my complaint these are my figures
£8747.06 interest and £829.33 8% Interest.
They informed me on the 30th September the funds were transferred and will take 10 working days. Still haven’t received called to chase up and no one can seem to tell me anything. Has anyone else had this issue?
Gemma Smith says
What’s the least amount they will accept on a repayment of £11120, baring in mind the initial loan amount t was only £10000 and my guarantor paid that, but Thats what they saying I owe
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What is the rest of your financial situation like at the moment?
Do you have other problem debts you can’t pay in full? Any priority debts? (rent arrears, utility arrears, council tax etc)
So you had three loans from Amigo and they were all upheld?
I think it’s worth double checking the amount Amigo say you owe. And doing this now, before anything else.
I asked before but you weren’t sure about the numbers. Can you now say for each loan:
– How much you borrowed?
– How much you – not your guarantor – paid to it?
– If it was a top-up loan, how much you received in cash?
Matt says
Hi Sara,
Thank you for the taking time to let me kno whats the happening with the claiming wheres the guarentors not maked any paymenys. I get my money offer tiday. Im £10000 rich man and very happy.
DM says
Getting a little nervous now as the eight weeks is up on Wed and not heard anything, my previous post with figures has been archived and I did send some revised statements through for one of the top ups a couple of weeks ago that I missed as advised. First loan was in 2011 for 3k and four to ups last in 2018 for 9.5k. No guarantor payments were made (used payday loans / family & friends loans so not to default). Have not seen many posts on success over the last couple of weeks without having to escalate to FOS. Sara are you able to find my previous post to work out what I might be due? Can remember I had taken 12.5k in total including top ups, have paid back 26k and still 7.3k outstanding?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
here is your previous post https://debtcamel.co.uk/how-to-complain-guarantor-loan/comment-page-57/#comment-387209
kris says
hi sarah im in a bit of pickle my guarantor paid all my payments but i paid her every month ,they gave her an offer which she agreed to and also said she would give me money as soon as she recieved it,she is due payment on 20th oct but after reading comments i dont think she will recieve it,what should i do.my guarontor did it this way so she knew the loan was getting paid off,amigo also knew this was accuring.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
amigo also knew this was occurring.
How did Amigo know this?
Presumably your guarantor would be happy to give the money back to you?
kris says
amigo know this because we set the direct debit up to my guatontors debit card when i got the loan.
i made the complaint then they phoned my guarantor with offer then said i owe them money,the loan is fully paid off without a missed payment,u think i should call them up and put this to them cos my guarontor never had to make one payment out her own pocket.they havnt been in contact as yet to say the money wont go in on the 20th or claim has been
My guarantor would pay me back the money.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then see the reply I have just made to Jack: https://debtcamel.co.uk/how-to-complain-guarantor-loan/comment-page-59/#comment-391123
jordan says
Good morning All.
Sara i hope you don’t mind this being posted.
My name is Jordan and we are working (nearly completed) research into Guarantor loan harm for gambling addicts and affected others (guarantors)
We are still looking for people willing to share their story and fill out of questionnaires to help with this research
We have discussed our work with the All Party Parliamentary group for gambling related harm and are producing this evidence shortly in front of them after a very fruitful first meeting with them.
All contact can be annonomys if you are more comfortable that way.
kind regards, and keep up the faith with your complaints
Once again, Thank you Sara for all you do.
Jordan Lea
hello@dealmeout.org
Jack says
Hi Sara
My guarantor has received a email today saying
We will still send you an offer with regards to the payments that come out of your account even tho he sent an email stating I had paid him all back.
They have said it’s he’s choice to accept or reject.
Isit best to reject he’s and then me just get mine or accept both?
Yes I paid him back every penny , so isit worth for him to accept and then him give it to me? Would I also be offered a refund?
I just don’t want them to open up the account so I have to pay the loan back again to him
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is what they used to do and, despite the pause, it sounds as though they have just gone back to doing what they did before… but I can’t be sure until I see quite a few so this may not be right.
Assume your gaurantor accepts the offer.
Amigo will refund his all the amounts he paid. Plus 8% per annum on all of the payments.
Amigo will reopen the old loan account (or perhaps open a new loan account with the same balance as what the old one would have had – not sure it really makes difference for your decision) which is currently sitting at closed, and remove the guarantor payments as though they hadn’t been made – so you then owe money. They also remove the interest amounts.
Depending on how much the guarantor was paid and the interest you paid, this may leave you owing them money or them owing you money. If the guarantor paid a lot, then you will probably end up owing Amigo money.
If Amigo ends up owing you money, you will get a small amount of 8% interest. but this will be a LOT less than the 8% interest the guarantor was paid.
So (these are completely made up figures) suppose you would have got a refund of £3000 with £400 added for 8% if the guarantor is ignored.
If your guarantor gets the refund, they may get a refund of £7000 with £1800 added for 8%, but your refund turns into you owing a balance of £4000 with no 8% interest.
Your guarantor could then give you £7400 and you can use £4000 to clear the “new debt” and keep the rest as your refund – what you would have got. And your guarantor is left with £1400 extra – because he got a lot more 8% interest that you would.
Jack says
That’s makes sense but will we both receive and offer he only made 3 payments I had made all the other payments surely we will both get offered something?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ok, if he only made three payments, if he is refunded for them you should get a smaller refund. But in this case the “extra 8%” if he gets a refund will be pretty small. You may decide it’s just simpler for him to say No and for your to get your full refund.
Jack says
So if he rejects it which he is going to I will get a full refund on mine? That’s all I was worried about really.
Thanks for your answers
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, based on what happened before, you should.
Joanne says
Hi All
I have submitted a guarantor loan complaint against UK Credit to the FOS now over a year ago it is currently waiting to be looked at by an ombudsman- any ideas how much longer I will need to wait? Thanks
Jack says
Hi Joanne,
Seems weird I submitted my claim to uk credit and they had resolved my case within 7 weeks and got 5k back redress. Have you changed them?
Joanne says
Hi Jack
UK credit rejected my complaint so I sent to the ombudsman – The ombudsman then asked UK credit to consider a previous loan which they rejected as it was over the 6 year timescale so sent it back to them so it has been with the ombudsman to look at since last year now! I appreciate that they are busy and that lockdown has added a further delay, but the waiting is getting a bit annoying now! Apparently in July this year it was finally put in the queue for an ombudsman to look at for an outcome! Thanks for your reply 😊
Bob Wilson says
If I don’t accept the offer which is detailed below, and if I refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman what would be the possible response?
Our Decision
Having looked at your observations and carefully considered the information available on our systems, we have concluded that Amigo cannot be completely confident that the loan agreement was affordable for you.
The removal of all interest charges under the loan agreement;
A refund of any payments you may have made in excess of the capital amount of the loan agreement, along with 8% simple interest; and
The removal of any adverse information from your credit file in respect of the loan agreement.
The appendix at the end of this letter sets out how the redress has been calculated. Please note, if you have made payment towards the loan within the last 28 days, this has likely not been accounted for within our calculation. Your redress will be re-calculated at the point you accept this offer.
In addition, we have now removed your guarantor’s liability
This means the refund due to you at the date of calculation (including 8% interest) is expected to come to a total of £1,390.80
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did you just have the one loan from them?
It sounds like a full refund to me. So you wouldn’t get any more from going to FOS.
Unless you think The numbers are wrong?
It’s pretty easy to work them out for a one loan case – how much did you borrow? How much have you paid them so far, ignore amigos statements and whether this was interest or principal, just how much money have you paid them?
Gabron says
Hi Sarah,
I want to say it was a blessing to stumble across your website. I have managed to win a few affordability complaints and put myself in a better position. In August I have own my affordability complaint against 2 amigo loans taken in early 2019. They have refunded the interest paid and payments made by my guarantor and now I am left with a balance of around £1800 that I still owe. I have been on a payment deferral as well and now I am getting emails that I have to start paying my £150 monthly payment. I guess I want to know what are my rights now?
1 – Should the loan be removed from my credit file? I have a couple of missed payments reported on CRA
2 – I am aware that I have to repaid the balance that I owe them, but can I make reduced payments ? Or do I have to carry on paying £150.
Because they have removed my guarantor, is it normal to get email saying they will chase my guarantor if I don’t resume payments?
I want to get on the phone with them and agree a payment plan for the remaining balance, I just don’t want to fall for their tactics because I am not aware of what are my rights now.
Thank you so much
Sara (Debt Camel) says
did they agree both of your loans were unaffordable?
is it normal to get email saying they will chase my guarantor if I don’t resume payments?
not normal at all! Could you copy out what they have said?
Gabron says
1st loan was £1500 and I took a top up of £3500 3 months later (2nd loan) which repaid the 1st loan balance. They have agreed the loans were not affordable and refund of £1600 was applied to my balance (paid interest) and £300 returned to the guarantor ( payments made by him). They have removed my guarantor and he has got a confirmation of this. I haven’t been in contact with them since they’re decision. This is the text I have received last week ( I thought it was an email ):
HI Xxx,
Tried to call you today as your COVID space is due to expire. When this expires we are looking to resume your contractual payments with you, to prevent any risk of this falling into a unpaid position and leaving “guarantor name” at risk of becoming liable.
Please call us today so we can discuss setting your payments back up with you. We are open until 6pm on 01202 629161
Many thanks – Xxxx @ Amigo
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, I think this is just an automated email going to everyone with a Covid-19 payment break.
It should NOT have said that you guarantor will be at risk. Your guarantor has been released.
Should the loan be removed from my credit file? I have a couple of missed payments reported on CRA
the loan should not be removed but the missed payments should and the balance should be changed to the new balance.
but can I make reduced payments ?
yes but Amigo can be difficult to negotiate with. What is the rest of your financial position like at the moment? PAyments breaks are ending. Do you have other problem debts?
Gabron says
My financial position is not great at the moment. I have 6 arrangements with creditors and debt collections agencies and I definitely cannot pay £150 per month for amigo – that’s the reason of my initial complaint. I will probably be able to afford £5 – £10. If they agree that the loan was not affordable, surely they can’t expect me to make the £150 per month or pursue the debt if I don’t pay that amount ? I will give them a call and offer to pay £5 per month and ask for my credit file to be corrected. Should I take this further if they don’t agree with my offer ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Can you say what the total amount of your debts is?
the easier route may be to talk to StepChange about a debt management plan and put all your debts into that. including this Amigo balance.
Gabron says
Total debts including Amigo, is just over £7000 at the moment. I have been with StepChange previously and ended up breaking my arrangement with them because of the payments for Amigo. It was a hard time when I had to borrow more money.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then I suggest this is a good time to go back to StepChange. they will be understanding and pleased the Amigo loan has turned back into a “normal” loan.
Roy says
Hello Sara
I phoned up Amigo and they said to me that they will be sending me and my guarantor redress offers, this was on Friday. I still haven’t heard anything yet so I will chase. Surprisingly as I only sent my complaint in 6 weeks ago!
But can you advise roughly what it might be?
I borrowed £5000 in Sept 2014, paid a total of £8900 and closed the loan in December 2016. However my guarantor paid £2000 towards the loan and I paid the remainder £6900. Total interest therefore being £3900.
What should we be expecting based on your experience here?
Thanks in advance
Claire says
Good Luck with that Roy my guarantor got a refund and accepted I on the other hand have been told his refund will go on my balance. So I have went to the financial obmusden
Roy says
Hi Claire, but I presume that’s because your guarantor paid more than what the interest was worth?
I hope mine isn’t like that as he only paid £2000 and total interest is £3900… So either way should we be getting back £3900. Guarantor gets £2k back and his 8% and I should get back £1900 plus my 8% with no new balance?
Or what would happen if my guarantor rejected his offer?
Claire says
No I paid more than he had,no idea how they work it do guess work won’t help I’m afraid
Sara (Debt Camel) says
These are VERY rough guesses.
Your guarantor should be offered £2000. You should be offered £1900. And you should each be offered about £650 in 8% interest – less 20% tax deducted on the 8% part.
Roy says
Thanks Sara, we’re still waiting on Amigo. I spoke to my guarantor and he said he would reject it. If he does reject it as I have paid him back, would Amigo give me the whole £3900 in interest plus 8% interest or only the £1900 I paid and Amigo would keep the £2000?
George Charlton says
Im currently on month 4 – going on to month 5 as Amigo sold my loan to third party. Have been battling it out and the FOS have said they have never seen accompany respond like this before in regards to sorting a refund. Just my luck typically but hoping to be done with it all soon.
Zac says
Hi, I have had 2 x 3 months deferrals (6 months total) from Amigo on a guarantor loan. I am unable to resume a payment to them please can you kindly advise what options are available to me. I am unemployed currently and not eligible for benefits. I am currently living with a friend who is providing a roof over my head and food. Amigo have stated they can only offer a maximum of 6 months. Further FCA guidance is awaited, surely many are facing uncertainty like I am currently with their finances. I know my guarantor is also in difficulities financially. Equally, I ma not in a fit mental state to be having a telephone discussion with Amigo as to my income & expenditure as my circumstances are severe and challenging currently. I’m happy to email them for now. My payment was due to resume on the 18th October and I find myself in desperate circumstances and worse if it were not for my friend with whom I’m staying with. Thank you and apologies for the long message.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am very sorry to hear that.
Can you say some more about this loan. Was it your first from Amigo? Have the payments always been a struggle, even before Covid-19? Many people are winning affordability complaints about these loans. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/how-to-complain-guarantor-loan/ and think if the loan was unaffordable for you when you took it out – if so make a claim. If you win a claim, interest is removed but also your guarantor is released from any liability.
What was your guarantor’s position when you took the loan – could they really have managed to make all the payments and still paid their own debts, bills and normal living expenses? Because they too can complain if the loan was unaffordable for them/
Zac says
Thank you for your response Sara. I originally took a loan of 10k with Amigo in 2017 and then 15k in 2019, around 2 years later. It has always been a major struggle for me to pay.
I think my guarantor’s position has always been reasonable financially. That said, he had to pay only once (in the entirety of the loans since 2017) back in March of this year as the pandemic unfolded, prior to that, by hook or by crook, I always managed to pay the monthly payments.
I am happy to make an affordability complaint but given my resumption of payments after 6 months freeze was due on the 18th October, I would like to seek some forebearance from Amigo.
My concern is that some payments need to be continued whilst any complaint plays out. I wonder what they would accept as it is currently impossible to pay the £592 monthly payment.
I really want to prevent my guarantor having to pay but need to be quick to agree something with Amigo beofre they debit his account. An affordable forebearance payment arrangement whilst initiating an affordability complaint without the guarantor being bothered would be the best option. How long would I need to keep paying whilst a complaint plays out? I’m just not in the frame of mind to discuss my finances with somebody at Amigo on the telephone currently. Thinking perhaps to email them with a proposal. So sorry for the long message and I am very grateful to you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Unfortunately you do need to carry on making the payments while a complaint goes through. That is not a reason to delay complaining though. If you think the loans were always unaffordable for you now, there is no downside to complaining today. It may not get you out of the current hole but there is nothing that will do that, so kick this off now, even if it takes months to sort out. Every week delayed delays the possible solution.
Amigo have to consider forbearance for you if you ask but many people find they are not sympathetic unless you can offer a large proportion of your normal payments. Much less and they would be very likely to ask your guarantor to pay.
What other debts do you have? Are you making payments to them? do you have priority debts – rent arrears, council tax, electricity/gas?
And it will be a difficult conversation to have, but it may be a good idea to talk to your guarantor about whether the loan is really affordable for them. Can they make all the payments out of their income and still pay their own debts, bills and everyday living expenses?
Zac says
You are so kind Sara and I deeply appreciate your advice. My current financial circumstances are exceptionally poor, nothing coming in and really unable to pay. During the pandemic I have incurred a CCJ and defaulted on several credit card accounts. I do agree with all that you suggest about submitting a complaint. What please, from your understanding typically would Amigo expect as an acceptable forebearance paymen? My monthly payment is £592. I could raise some funds whilst the complaint plays out to maintain a monthly payment to them. Do you think they would accept 50% of the payment or are people getting refused for that generally? So sorry to be asking you, you are a lifeline for me in terms of advice. Thank you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
There is no recent experience. Before the pandemic I don’t think they would have agreed to half but you could try.
Have you applied for benefits? What are you living on, do you have rent arrears?
I really think you need to talk to your guarantor.
NeverAgain!! says
Could you please post the link to claim back the tax. Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
https://debtcamel.co.uk/ppi-payday-refund-get-back-tax/
Lisa b says
Have amigo sorted out what happens when guarantor had made a few payments yet or are we still waiting
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A few people have now had responses – from what they have said, it sounds as though Amigo has gone back to their normal calculation method with no change.
Lisa b says
Thank you
Just spoke to amigo and they have told me where payments had been mad by guarantor it’s still on hold but hope to have it sorted soon
Thanks
LEE says
Has anyone who’s had their complaint partially:m/ fully upheld and who still owes money successfully had the remaining debt added to their DMP I.e. Amigo have accepted whatever was offered to them in terms of a payment?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What ever Amigo say, you can add the remaining debt into a DMP.
What are they going to do?
That aren’t allowed to add interest.
They would look like idiots taking you to court and you producing the response from them that agreed the loan was unaffordable and saying how you are making them an affordable offer through StepChange.
The BIG advantage of putting this loan into a StapChange DMP is Amigo may Huf and puff but they can’t reasonably argue that you not making a fair, affordable offer to them.
LEE says
Thanks Sara, they’ve caused a fair bit of anxiety but I will ask that Amigo are added to the DMP and just have that one monthly payment going out. Added to that is the complaint is still with Ombudsman anyway, that could go on for months yet and probably will.
Siobhan says
I have finally had my complaint upheld by my adjudicator. It’s been going on since April 2019.
I have a couple of questions.
My loan is old (2008) it was just the one loan for £2000 with interest of £1628.44. What would the refund be?
My mum was guarantor and made some payments. I have no idea how many. From what I have read, if my mum rejects the offer I will get just my interest refunded. Is this correct?
If my mum accepts an offer, she will get a refund of the interest or a refund of all payments she made? If she accepts and I end up owing, can I add this to my DMP?
The loan was settled in 2011.
I paid the majority of payments, my mum made maybe 5 or 6 when I was made redundant and Amigo refused to help.
It’s an old loan and from when Amigo was FLM, they don’t have any info on the loan except for the loan amount and payments, I’m hoping they don’t hold info on payments made so none of the above applies.
So grateful for this website, will make a donation when everything is finally sorted.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
In that case it sounds unlikely you could be left owing any money from this.
The 8% interest could be another £1200 or so. But that is a VERY rough guess.
Niall says
Hi Sara,
I took out a £6000 (£292/m) loan with Amigo in January 2017 and topped up to £10000 (£395/m) in March 2017.
In January 2018 I was allowed to top up back to £10,000 and in April 2019 I topped up again to 10,000.
2 years ago I had to take out DMP with Stepchange as I had other Payday Loans, credit cards, and overdrafts. Amigo Refused to be part of this so my other creditors agreed it could be separate.
So I’ve paid Amigo £400/m and StepChange £485/m for the past 2 years.
In total, I’ve paid Amigo around £17,000 and my balance is still £9,500.
I’ve been struggling for years and just want a way out. What could I claim from Amigo? I’ve made all my payments and never had to involve my guarantor.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Read the article above thee comments – it explains what an affordability complaint is and has a template letter you can use. If you were already in a difficult situation before the first loan, it may well have been unaffordable – £292 a month is a lot. And if your finances had got worse in the year before your top up, Amigo should have stopped and thought that giving you a larger loan was probably a bad idea.
Sophie says
OMG – Its my turn!! I have the figures! Complaint put in on Jaunuary 28th 2020, Upheld on June 16th 2020, 18 weeks later, i have the figures! £4750! Fingers crossed for a speedy payout :)
me says
well done! i am awaiting mine and put mine in around the same time – went to ombudsman – did you just wait for them or have to hassle them?
S says
I’m not joking, I’ve emailed every other day, called, pretty much begged! It made no difference what so ever. Mine was upheld by Amigo before FOS ruled on it. Also, mine was bit of a strange case because it was sold to a third party (Intrum) so had to be brought back. Now just the wait for the actual payment… its to my guarantor, she made 23 payments,,, so made sense for her to take the refund as the interest would be much higher for her as it dates to 2010 :) It will open up a new account for me i think, but I will be disputing this. Fingers crossed you hear soon!
Ian says
Hi Sara ..I first took out a £1100 loan with amigo and topped up several times , my payments are below with what cash I was given on each top up in brackets , current balance is £3700 and all payment made by myself although it has been a constant struggle Keepin up , what sort of payback would you say I may get
First loan 21/6/12 £1100 ..9 payments £68
Top up. 29/3/ 14 loan £1750 (cash £890) 8 payments £85
Top up 21/10/13 loan £2500(cash£903) 10 Payment £101
Top up 27/8/14 loan £3500(cash£1003) 10x £138
Top up 11/4/16 loan £3750(cash £576) 16 x £160
Top up 11/9/17 loan £4250 (cash £1128) 28 x £181
Top up 20/12/19 loan £4000 (cash £1271) 9x £195
Sara (Debt Camel) says
On those numbers you have paid the following interest on each loan:
loan 1 £372
loan 2 £527
loan 3 £1,007
loan 4 £1,054
loan 5 £1,932
loan 6 £3,547
current loan – still not repaid the 4000 borrowed – still 2,245 short
If all the loans are upheld, the interest from the first 6 would be used to clear the reduced balance on the current loan so it would be cleared and you would get a cash refund of £6,194. Plus possibly a couple of hundred in 8% interest added.
Becqui Lewis says
Spoken to amigo who informed me that my case is currently on pause along with many others as FCA are investigating to make sure that they are not leaving people in further financial difficulty. Thought people might want to know this information.
kris says
numerous people have rang fca up and they say they know nothing about this so what is amigo playing at.
Becqui Lewis says
Really oh gosh I really believed her
Sara (Debt Camel) says
My guess is that some people at the FCA are taking an interest in how FOS will resolve the problem of a fair way to handle cases where the guarantor has made payments.
That’s not really the same as saying that the FCA is investigating this.
But anyone you get hold of at the FCA almost certainly knows nothing about this.
Simon says
The latest update I had yesterday from FOS is they are still in talks with the business around my complaint. As there are no rules around redress this will run an run and get uglier I imagine. If you have a complaint upheld you should not be made to pay money that the business chose to refund to guarantor. Amigo know this will cost them more money if they have to go back and recalculate. If a business was lending irresponsibly then they should be footing the bill.
Andrew says
Hi Sara can you do some maths for me please as redress should hopefully be coming soon and want to know it’s right off amigo.
1st loan £3000
9 x £146.37p
Top up £6000
Actually received £3,431.23p
34 x £256.65p paid.
Outstanding balance £3,289.09p
Also I’ve cancelled my direct debit and they said it could go into arrears if this does happen how then do they calculate redress. Would they take arrears off redress so for arguments sake I don’t make November’s payment so I’m £256 behind will they take that off the redress amount so in essence they are stitching is for another payment.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So assuming both loans were upheld and that Amigo aren’t making any payments to your guarantor…
Then on those numbers you have paid the following interest on each loan:
loan 1 £883
loan 2 £2,704
total £3,587 plus a very small amount of 8% interest.
They can’t stitch you for another payment. You have repaid a lot more than what you borrowed on the currebnt loan so any payments from here are all interest and just increase your refund £ for £.
They are just being difficult.
Andrew says
Hi Sara is the £3,587 the amount I should receive in cash or does the outstanding balance then come off that so I would be looking at a redress of £300 after they take off outstanding amount that I still owe on loan.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
In cash :)
And the balance would be wiped.
Andrew says
Happy days,
Is there somewhere I can make a small donation once this has all been sorted as without your help i would be pulling me hair out.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A small donation to your local Citizens Advice would be great.
Emma says
Hi Sara, I have just spoken to Amigo who have advised they sent the FOS an offer on the 22nd September, apparently FOS responded to say it wasn’t clear what the offer was and there hasn’t been any communication since!
I haven’t heard from the FOS and Amigo have just said that the team haven’t responded to them either. I am at a loss as to what to do? When they say offer I’m guessing they haven’t agreed with all of my complaint? It’s just stuck in limbo now 🤷🏼♀️
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Can you tell FOS the problem and ask what the unclear offer said?
Emma says
I’ve spoken to them they said my complaint is on hold as they are investigating a wider issue of Offers where guarantors are involved. My guarantor did make a few payments on my behalf but was never asked by Amigo to pay them. She paid and I repaid her on my pay date to avoid me missing a payment.
I am confused. I have said to FOS that if my guarantor is refunded then she would return the funds to me anyway.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok so these cases are on hold and this is the cause of the problem, not some failure of communications. If your guarantor is happy to write and say that you have already repaid her and she doesn’t require a refund this *may* speed things up. But it may not.
Emma says
Thank you, should she write to Amigo or the FOS?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest she emails Amigo and ccs it to you.
This may not work but worth a try.
Anna says
Hi,
I have made a complaint to amigo using this site and just waiting now to hear back, I have received my SAR via email with password which has all my credit checks etc on it, my ratio was 101% which that alone makes me believe I was missold, I first took out a loan for 3000 in around March 2018 paying £146.37 a month, then topped up to 4,500 in June 2018 paying £181.80 and then to 7500 in august 2018 paying £306.32, (on 60 month term) my balance is STILL £7500 after paying all this time? Can you please help on what I would be looking at if my complaints were upheld and if I have a good chance, thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think topping up twice in 6 months suggests that you may well have been struggling and Amigo should have looked very carefully at your situation.
If you would like me to look at the numbers, I also need to know:
– how many payments you made to each of the loans
– for the top up loans, how much you received in cash.
Anna says
Hey,
3 payments to loan 1
Then got 1250 payout
2 payments to loan 2 then got a 3,335.51 payout then so far made 23 payments of loan 3 at the 306 a month
Sara (Debt Camel) says
On those numbers you have paid the following interest on each loan:
loan 1 £688
loan 2 £27
current loan – stilll not repaid the 7500 borrowed, so if interest is removed you would still owe £462
If all three loans are upheld, the balance on the last loan would be wiped and you would receive a refund of £253
As you are still paying the current loan, your refund will go up with every payments you make from now on.
Look out for Amigo upholding the last loan but not the others, then adding a line for “unpaid interest”. this would mean you sill owe them a lot… and it isn’t fair, so come back if it happens to you.
Paul says
Hi there, I recently wrote to Amigo thanks to the help of this site. I took out an Amigo loan for £4000 in Feb 2018 paying £412.23 per month for 12 months and upon paying it off I took another loan in the same month for £10,000 in February 19, was paying £618.16 per month. I borrowed money to clear all these high interest debts and paid it off in full for £6236.09 in March 2020.
May I please ask if they’ll refund me if I’m able to show that I had a gambling problem during the taking of the first loan and also that I had pay day loans previously on my credit file as well as bankruptcy for pay day loans back in 2014.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you went bankrupt 4 years before, I think Amigo should have looked very closely at your application. If your bank statements would have showed a gambling problem, then I think they should have declined it.
can you say how many payments you made to each loan. And confirm the second loan was a brand new loan, not a top up?
Paul says
Many thanks for this, I made all 12 payments to the £4000 loan and 13 of the 24 payments to the £10k loan before clearing it with a full and final payment.
also, the 2nd loan was brand new I’m sure. There are two separate loan agreements.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
On those numbers you paid the following interest on each loan:
loan 1 £944
loan 2 £11,068
so if both are upheld you would get a total refund of £12,012 plus at a very rough guess about £700 in 8% interest.
As the second loan is so much larger and as it wasn’t a top up, you may be very happy if they Amigo just uphold the second loan and not the first one.
kris says
hi sarah im beginging to think knowone is getting any money i got offered 7k 6 weeks ago and still nothing,do u think anyone will get it eventually because im really starting to have my doubts about this .
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Lots of people are getting paid but not many where their guarantors have made payments, they went on hold a while ago.
kris says
will we still get it,i never missexd a payment and my guarontor told amigo that i owed her nothing and still on hold
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would hope yours is a simple case that will get sorted. I just can’t guess how long.
Ruth says
Hello,
just wondering if anyone has had any responses from Amigo recently? I have an outstanding loan where the complaint was made 17th August 2020 but I still haven’t even had the SAR. They have acknowledged it is late but cannot tell me when I will get a response (I’ve sent to FOS in meantime). My guarantor made 3 payments but we have both contacted Amigo to confirm that those I repaid back to my guarantor in full – Amigo have acknowledged this. I’ve been bugging them with emails but if anyone has a number to get through t the right department that would be brilliant. Thanks in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suspect this is held up because of the guarantor issue. I was hoping they would put the easy cases like yours through if the guarantor confirmed they did not want a refund.
Becki says
Hi, I have been told that the refund (due 29th Oct) is now on pause and with a review team. Had to speak with 3 people to find this out.
My guarentor paid off the load and made payments.
Has anyone had any experience with this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, cases where the guarantor made payments do seem to be on hold.
Have you repaid your guarantor?
Becki says
Hi no I haven’t
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So would you want the refund to go to your guarantor? Or if it came to you would you repay your guarantor?
DM says
Surprise Surprise, no communication from Amigo other than a generic e-mail saying that I can forward to FOS until response (complaint dates back to 2011 3k with 5 top ups up to 9.5k in 2018). Should I send now or wait a couple of days for an offer? Guarantor has never made a payment so if these are on hold would have thought they had more time to deal with the complaints where people have made payments. In short borrowed 12.5k including top ups over 9 yrs £26k paid total so far to date and £7.3k outstanding. Are they delaying redress where there are higher sums involved? I Have set my expectation on wiping the £7.3k with a min £3.5k redress if they don’t approve all loans.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Are they delaying redress where there are higher sums involved?
Not that I am aware.
I suggest you phone them up and say if you don’t have a response by the end of Monday, you will be sending it to FOS.
Do you know how many payments you have made to each loan? And how much you received from the top ups in cash? If you do, I am happy to look at the numbers for you.
Matt says
Hi Sarah,
Could you look at my numbers and give an idea of what my offer may be if they accept irresponsible lending. My details are:
Loan 1 – £2000, made 18 payments of £97
Loan 2 – top up to £2250, cash received of £545, made 5 payments of £85
Loan 3 – top up to £2750, cash received of £538, made 4 payments of £134
Loan 4 – top up to £3500, cash received of £828, made 26 payments to date of £149 with a balance remaining of £2346
Sara (Debt Camel) says
On those numbers you have paid the following interest on each loan:
loan 1 £1,451
loan 2 £387
loan 3 £458
current loan £374
If they are all upheld, the balance on the last loan will be wiped and you should get a cash refund of £2,670
njw says
Hi,
I got a refund on loan 4 back in mid 2019 before this became such a big thing (Amigo) At the time I didn’t challenge any of the other loans as I was in dire financial difficulty. Based on the way things are going now I think I probably should have had loans 2 and 3 back aswell. I’m guessing Amigo wouldnt look at them again even if I claimed I only accepted it due to financial pressure etc
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s very unlikely BUT do check their offer to you. It should have told you that you had the right to take your claim to FOS – did it?
Njw says
It probably did, but amigo were also aware that they had to explain the response on the phone as well as put it in writing as I have issues with information processing so often need a verbal explanation And they didn’t tell me about it
Stacey Robinson says
Hi, I’m just wondering what’s people’s average wait time with amigo accepting FOS findings and possibly paying out. I’ve recieved an email today from FOS saying that amigo need to upheld my complaint and they have untill 5th November to respond. So was just curious how this planned out for others and at what timescales? Thank you.
Simon says
Unfortunately the wait will cont6as they go through their process of you accepting and the guarantor accepting or turning down their offer. After that its anybody’s guess how long it will take. I would email and phone them to ask them what they are doing about the FOS decision. Good Luck
Justin says
I’ve just noticed something very strange on my Amigo account. I’ve made a complaint in which they upheld the third loan of four, I sent this on to the FOS and it is still there. The strange thing is on my online Amigo account they’ve stopped charging me interest on the loan. I took a payment break during furlough, but it doesn’t seem like they’ve turned the interest back on, my loan is reducing nicely however lol
Simon says
If you have been paying this back over a long perioid then the interest eventually reduces to nothing and your full monthly payment then comes off.
Justin says
Hi Simon
I’m half way through 36 months, so I doubt I’ve reached the amount of interest they’d take for the full loan.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Strange I agree. It may be some error in the way the account was set up for the payment break.
It will not matter at all if you win your FOS case of course.
Justin says
Well I’ve just been looking further into my statement, after my two month payment break they took interest on the next full payment and then stopped for the last three months, someone’s done something wrong somewhere, but doesn’t surprise me with this lot, however I’m not bringing it to their attention and I’ve taken screen shots for when they try to adjust it later.
Jaz says
Hi Sara
I had my complaint upheld with my adjudicator to my favour, their stated Amigo should’ve not given me the loan, as I had ccj at the time when the loan was given to me, and that all interest should be payed back to me plus 8% statutory to be paid on top, my guarantor did make some payments towards the loan, but I payed them back, and their ready to confirm this with Amigo. Amigo has disagreed with my adjudicator decision, so it went back to my adjudicator since June and their said it can take them a few months to reply back to Amigo, The adjudicator said it can take them a few months to respond back to Amigo. My guarantor is ready to phone and confirm to Amigo that I have paid them all the money back, does that mean all the interest will be paid to me. It’s been 4 months now and iv heard nothing back from my adjudicator, im not sure if I should phone my adjudicator or wait for their response, Im a bit concerned that i have seen in similar cases that Amigo has accepted with the adjudicator decision, and payed out, but this is the first iv seen them disagree with the adjudicator/FCA decision. Thanks again Sara i hope you can advise me on these few issues I have.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So is your case waiting to be picked up by an Ombudsman at FOS?
Jaz says
Hi Sara
Thanks for getting back to me, Its not gone to Ombudsman at the moment, my Adjudicator said it’s still with them, and that their are still looking at it, and have to reply back to Amigo as their have sent them a lengthy reply why their disagree.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Phone up and ask that this is either speeded up or put in a queue for an Ombudsman.
Njw says
Just had a response on a service complaint to FOS who stated the following
“The particular intricacies of this product area have needed to be reviewed in a lot of detail, for us to be confident that the decisions our ombudsmen reach are correct, fair and reasonable to both our consumers and businesses. This in turn has meant our ombudsman aren’t able to issue decisions on cases such as yours until these considerations are fully looked into and resolved. These are currently under review at a higher level and as soon as these things are sorted the ombudsman will be able to start issuing their decisions.”
This is about guarantor loans, does this mean they’re all on hold?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Not all guarantor loan cases are on hold so far as I know. Two types of cases are on hold while a decision is reached, those where a guarantor has made some payments and the ones involving a deduction for “unpaid interest”.
Njw says
Oh thanks, what’s the unpaid interest about? I settled my guarantor loan with TFS early (through further borrowing) is that what you mean or something else? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No this is a weird Amigo invention where a top up loan is upheld But the previous loan isn’t.
Mike says
Hello Sara,
Firstly thanks for all you do with site, I’ll certainly be making a donation to my local CAB if my claim is successful.
Today was day 1 and I just sent the initial email as per the advice on this site.
Just looking for some clarity on what I would be owed if successful. As per a lot of people here the loan was entirely unaffordable and I have attached the 3 months of bank statements (that In my case showed extreme levels of gambling)
I know there isn’t a simple answer but how likely is it that my case would be upheld?
Details –
£10,000 loan taken out July 2018
19 x £427.75 (payments all made my myself without involving the guarantor)
Total – £8127.25
March 2020
Remaining balance paid in full £8282.07
Many thanks,
Mike
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This was your first loan from them?
How did you pay off the balance?
Mike says
Yes it was my first loan from them.
I borrowed the full amount from a friend to help get me out of this debt.
Mike says
Yes it was my first loan from them.
I borrowed the full amount from a friend to help get me out of this debt.
Does paying the balance off in full hurt my case?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, but it gets much more complicated if your guarantor paid it off for you.
You paid £16409 in interest, that should refunded plus very roughly £4-450 in 8% interest.
Mike says
Amazing, thank you for these figures.
I called amigo, they said they expect to deal with these cases in 8 weeks or less.
The gentleman I spoke to said that they’re currently taking 9-10 weeks for new cases right now due to the spike in new complaints. I hope this doesn’t cause the company to go bust and not result in a payment. :/
My guarantor didn’t pay it off for me, he made no payments and was nothing to do with the settlement loan.
I borrowed the whole settlement amount from a friend of whom I am still in debt with.
Would I need to prove this to Amigo?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, unless the money was sent to Amigo by the guarantor, they will assume it did not come from the guarantor.
Lyndsay says
How do I check/apply to see if I’m entitled to any money back please? Anyone have a link? X
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You are already on the best page! Read the article above, it explains what an affordability complaint is and what refund you can get if your complaint is upheld. It has a simple template letter to email to Amigo to start your complaint if you think your loans were unaffordable.
85% of these sorts of complaints have been upheld at the Ombudsman so far.
But although that is very good news, it isn’t really the same as you being “entitled” to money back. You will only get a refund if the Ombudsman decides that (a) Amigo didn’t do proper checks AND (b) the loan was unaffordable for you so you had to borrow more or get behind with bills to keep on paying it.
Don’t believe any claims company that has a simple “eligibility checker” – they are just lying to get you to sign up with them. They then send the same email you can get for free here.
Jacqueline Best says
Hi I approached amigo about a loan for £3000 + £300 set up fee I repaid the loan myself over 4 years I took out in 2010 to 2014 and amigo said they had no record of my loan as they destroy customer records over 6 years. I could not find a copy of my loan agreement. I sent them bank statements showing the loans and my repayments and they still rejected my appeal. How did you prove to them that you took out the loan. Did you have a copy of your loan agreement. Hopefully you receive the refund which you fully deserve
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you give up on Amigo and send your complaint straight to the Ombudsman. With the bank statements that show the loan, the repayments and the rest of your financial position.
karen says
that is not true, they have lied to you there. i have not started my complaint yet but i emailed amigo asking for details of all four of my loans and they forwarded statements for each account back to me that day 2 were older than 6 years old, they went back to 2012.
Andrew says
Hi Sara
Had a email with my redress figures today and 2 payments were made by guarantor. My guarantor emailed amigo stating she didn’t wish for a refund as I’ve already paid her. In the email amigo state as your guarantor doesn’t wish for a refund we have proceeded with your claim. So it’s important that people know this so they can do the same what I did.
Roy says
Hi Andrew… My guarantor has done the same and I haven’t heard back from Amigo. When did your guarantor send the email?
I would also want to know is how much total was paid on the agreement as interest and i.e. 5k capital 4k interest so total 9k paid by you and a guarantor.
Did you get back all the interest on top of the agreement or did Amigo deduct the guarantor payments and pocket their payments for themselves? I.e. they kept more than the capital?
Andrew says
My guarantor only made two payments of £256 I don’t really know if they’ve deducted this off and kept for themselves, but my redress is £3,287.99p while writing off £3,289.65p so over 6k in interest paid. If I’m honest without doing numbers I think they have kept them payments.
Emma says
Hi there, this is what I have done with FOS and they have allowed mine to go through also. Can I ask what email address did your guarantor use to send to Amigo? I’m going to ask mine to email Amigo also just so there are no delays. Thank you!
Andrew says
My guarantor just replied to the email she received that released her from any liability. But she did state can you forward this email to the relevant department which I gather they did. It’s important to know that since 1st October I’ve been on phone every day sometimes twice a day asking for updates and as I have a current balance and I’m not making anymore payments and that if my account goes into arrears and you inform credit reference agencies I’ll issue a new complaint and seek compensation. I’ve been a complete pain in the rear while also being polite when speaking to the complaints team.
Ruth says
Hi Andrew,
Great you have a result! When did you submit your complaint if you don’t mind me asking?
I’ve been waiting since mid August and rang the other day but was just told to give them another couple of weeks.. Thanks!
Andrew says
Hi Ruth,
First complained in October 2019 they rejected roughly 12 weeks later then sent off to ombudsman asap, ombudsman only picked up case last month then amigo decided to settle before ombudsman could investigate. It’s been a long time coming. But stick to ya guns
Bryan says
Hi Sara
I have made an affordability complaint (22nd sept) for 7 of my loans with amigo dating back to 2015. Recieved email yesterday notifying me my claim is still being looked at, however today my credit report at clearscore told me an unsecured loan would be removed from my next report on 25th October. When I checked it, the loan is the same account as my current loan with amigo. Do you think they have already settled the account on their end and haven’t written to me with an outcome? Do you have any ideas. Thanks :)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suppose it’s possible, but I am always reluctant to read much into odd changes at CRAs
Andrew says
Hi Sara
I’ve had my redress figures off amigo and I need to supply bank details on Monday but is there legislation or just guidelines on how long they have to pay my redress, or is there nothing at all to say they have a certain timeframe to pay amount owed. Would like to know before I ring them so I can have all the information at hand in case they try and fob is off.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No legislation
Andrew says
Thanks for the info.
Guess I’m in for another long wait then :(
M says
Hi, just general info for some people RE Amigo loans based on my experience so far…
I raised a complaint 8 weeks ago, the deadline passed today. I spoke with someone regarding the complaints. I had three loans in total over the course of 7 years, the last loan my guarantor made payments towards.
She said they are in talk with the regulators which have been ongoing for 5 weeks or so and they’ve asked for a couple more weeks before they start processing the complaints. (although I feel like it will get extended again!)
She also said that she doesn’t understand why some people have been told to ask their guarantors to write / call in to confirm they have had their money back as this still keeps the case on hold and they won’t look at it until the discussions with the regulators have ended.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I still think it’s a good idea to get your guarantor to write in if they are happy for all the refund to go to you. Even if this doesn’t speed up the case now, it may make your case quicker to settle when a way forward has been agreed.
Andrew says
Well redress excepted 9am today been told up to 10 working days to process so let’s see how long it takes. Get a strong feeling I’ll be ringing up on day 10 asking where my money is.
Tanya says
I put my complaint in with amigo on 1st October, I still haven’t received an email from them to say they have received it, when the 8 weeks are up do I just send it to the FOS or ring amigo to see if they received it
thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would phone them up now to check they have it. People usually get some confirmation.
Clare says
Hi Sara,
My case was handled by Amigo very quickly, in haste I accepted their offer. However they only upheld the last loan of three and took over 2k in unpaid interest. I have complained to the FO, but because I did accept the offer have I blown it?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Amigo are normally letting people accept an offer and take the complaint about the unpaid interest to FOS. Many people like you may not have noticed the unpaid interest line or may have thought it was normal – which it isn’t.
Greg says
Has anyone had issues with Amigo buying accounts back from Intrum and waiting for redress?
My complaint went through FOS, Amigo made an offer, 4 weeks have now passed, no closer to confirming redress figure as they are buying accounts back from Intrum, in bulk. just wanted to know if anyone has had the same issue
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes these always seem slow to sort out.
Ruth says
Just spoke to Amigo and been told that my complaint is still on hold with the guarantor having made payments and still in talks with FCA…they’ve said it will be another couple of weeks even though their website says end of October. My guarantor has emailed in to say I repaid him back in full. Anyone else heard differently?
M says
Hi I have heard the same too, they also told me even though 8 weeks have lapsed they haven’t provided these cases with outcomes so as it stands they said they have a huge backlog due to the regulators and it would be a few more weeks before they tackle the backlog once the regulators give them the green light. Even if your guarantor made a payment and they don’t uphold your case, you won’t know until they are allowed to start looking at the cases.
Kyle says
I’m an online gambling addict (13 months free). I
suffered from depression most of my life, had countless credit cards, payday loans and maxed overdraft limits, have used debt management companies twice and even topped up my amigo to the highest amount whilst under a DMP. I have previously been successful for more than 7 payday loan claims so today used resolver to claim against amigo. I’ve had 3 loans with them and 6 top ups, The largest amount being 8.5k. Just the interest alone on my most recent loan with them totals 4.5k before the 8% interest so I’ll be debt free and then some if my complaint is upheld. I’m hoping they can do the right thing and put my financial situation back to how it should have been if they hadn’t lent to someone with such clear problems. My bank statements were riddled with casino transacations, payday loans etc… they clearly should not have lent to me. I do not have access to my money so don’t worry, if they do payout then I will not be able to gamble again :)
T says
How long are people waiting for ombudsman after adjudicator?
Joanne says
I’ve been waiting since July for ombudsman to look at it been told will take a good few months….. :(
Lucy says
I’ve been waiting since the start of June so almost on month 6! Such a long wait :(
laura says
hiya just wondering if anyone can help been waiting 8 weeks on amigo sending files over to fos a just keep getting amigo are reviewing account and will send files over in due course how long roughly have people been waiting and what does reviewing account actually mean surely its just a case of sending files over that they have whats to review
Kyle says
My one is on priority with FO and it took for them to request it 3 times and they got ignored so I complained and then someone higher up in FO must have sent a message coz they received it after that. They tend to take a fair while delivering that information. I’m currently waiting for FO to review my information and come to a decision, they have said they are looking into it now. It’s been roughly 5 weeks. Fingers crossed it’s soon and positive. I’m not sure how long it takes to reach a decision, so who knows :) hahah :)
laura says
I feel like am constantly on the phone and emails to get the same answer everytime that there liaising with them but there clearly not mines has been requested twice by the fos looks like I am going to have to keep pestering them
Becki says
What I don’t understand with amigo is that they constantly say the guarantor will definitely receive the money but they’re currently on pause.
Why not pay the guarantor out and continue to review whether the borrower should have a new loan instated.
They have continously refused to speak to either me or my guarantor about each other due to data protection as the cases are “differnt” but now the payments paused to allow them to reassess the borrowers?
I couldn’t make up the policies and ways around things amigo have if I tried
Simon says
Because they have paid some guarantors over £30,000 and that balance has then been placed onto the borrowers despite them winning their complaint. The Implications of paying guarantor that amount had a huge impact on borrower. Some people have been in this process well over a year.
matt says
Hi Sara & everyone,
I found this very helpful website at the end of August this year, which helped me submit an affordability complaint to Amigo Loans in September & pleased to say I have now had a response from them. I was just looking for some further advice as to what you all think of their Redress offer.
I have had 5 x Amigo Loans since March 2017, with the final loan issued in November 2018 which was £10,000.
The remaining balance now is £6,500 approx. Amigo Loans have upheld the Affordability Complaint on the 2 final loans & defended the first 3.
This means their offer is approximately £5,500 leaving an outstanding balance of £1000 to pay, approx, with the Guarantor removed etc.
Prior to taking out any loan with Amigo I had virtually no other Debt, and that as of today 28.10.20 I now have in Credit Card an approximate debt of £9,500, which I partly accumulated because the payments of the amigo loans were so high (£353) , I turned to other Creditors to help afford ‘normal’ monthly expenses.
I therefore included in my complaint a request to be compensated for this, which they have rejected.
Does anyone have any advice for taking this further with the FOS, or do you think I should accept their initial offer. I’m not sure what to do, as to be honest, it’s a huge relief to have had pretty much the whole £6500 wiped out which would have taken me years to pay off.
Regards,
Matt
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have they deducted an amount for “unpaid interest” – if so, how much?
The first three loans – how large were they? How many payments did you make to each of them?
Would you say your financial position got worse with loans 2 and 3?
matt says
Hi Sara,
Thanks for the reply. Appreciated.
Yes, for Unpaid Interest the have deducted £254.35p
First three loan amount were, Loan #1 £750, Loan #2 £1,500, Loan #3 £1,750.
My financial position got worse between Loans 2 & 3 – I can say that with unequivocal certainty unfortunately.
Where/ how can I find out how many payments I made on each Loan?
Do you know how long I have to accept their offer?
There is so much in their email – it’s massive. Took me at least 30 minutes or so to read through it all
Matt
matt says
Hi Sara,
Trawled through the SAR Excel workbook with sheet called ‘Full Statement’
Here are the figures I believe you were asking for. Hope this helps. Thanks so much.
Loan #1
2017-03-07 – Payout of 750 with 1 x payment of 759
Loan #2
2017-07-03 – Payout of 1500 (balance now 1,500) with 4 x payments of 154.59 (balance at 1,083.40)
Loan #3
2017-11-17 – Payout of 666.60 (balance now 1,750) with 3 x payments of 180.35 (balance at 1,549.15)
Loan #4
2018-02-08 – Payout of 2450.85 (balance now 4,000) with 3 x payments of 247.26 (balance at 3,814.05)
Loan #5
2018-06-13 – Payout of 3435.95 (balance now 7,250) with 13 x payments of 353.72 + 2 x payments of 200 and 1 x payment of 100 + 1 x payment of 81.37
Loans #2-5 were all taken out/ topped up within one 12 month period – would this help my case with the FOS to support the claim the loan were unsustainable/ affordable?
the last payment was on 01-04-20 and I have not made a payment since then due to payment holiday & breathing space applied which has now expired so they want to resume full payments
Regards,
Matt
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So on those numbers you have paid the following interest on each loan:
loan 1 £9
loan 2 £200
loan 3 £340
loan 4 £556
loan 5 – still not repaid the 7250 borrowed – £2,661 to go.
If loans 2-5 are all upheld (obviously loan 1 doesnt matter at all) then the interest on loans 2-4 would be used to clear some of the balance on loan 5, leaving a balance of £1565for you pay.
Your guarantor would be released and you would be able to set up a lower payment arrangement for that balance.
What is the rest of your financial situation like at the moment?
What was your guarantor’s financial position at the time you took the loat top up loan out? Could they really have afforded to make all the payments to that loan and still paid their own debts, bills and living expenses?
Matt says
Hi Sara,
So ref Financial situation i currently have 4 credit cards totalling £10K which were all taken out since the first Amigo Loan. All cards are on repayment plans and one credit has cancelled the card on that. The largest is £5K with Marbles.
My partner’s situation is about the same so £10K in credit cards.
She would not have been able to make the repayments either especially as 18 months ago she had 9 months maternity leave.
Partner is my Guarantor, and made no payments towards any of the loans
Matt
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok so your options now are:
– accept their offer and make a lower affordable payment arrangement with Amigo. Amigo can be pretty difficult about this and you need to insist. The simplest way is usually to set up a debt management with StepChange. As you have credit card debt that too can be included and so can any ovedrafts. that way Amigo have to accept whatever StepChange work out is a fair offer from what you can afford . See https://www.stepchange.org/how-we-help/debt-management-plan.aspx
– send the case to FOS and ask then to look at loans 2 and 3 being included and the “unpaid interest” being removed. It’s hard for me to say how much this would actually benefit you because i don’t understand where Amigo have reached the “balance owing of about £1000”. On the figures you giave me it should be about £2000.
What is clear is that you and your partner have a lot of debt. Are you renting? Privately or Social?
staci says
i rejected when they only accepted one of mine and sent it to ombudsman and they accepted it with ombudsman for all them even before they investigated
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes this is the stupid thing about the unpaid interest. Many people may be happy with the offer to not uphold all, but not the deduction – so then they complain and get all the loans upheld! In your case without Amigo even trying to justify their partial uphold to the Ombudsman.
staci says
hi so the ombudsman received offer they are going to accept ALL LOANS are unaffordable , how long if anyone has had this does it take fr them to calculate the redress figures, its only been a week so far but my complaint went in in JANUARY 2020
Andrew says
Hi staci
Amigo told the fos it wanted to settle on the 29th September I excepted offer 30th, had my redress figures 24th of October (Saturday) then excepted 26th amigo said it would be paid out in 10 days. Have a feeling it won’t be though.
staci says
thanks andrew- probably be the whole year before its sorted then lol.
Bob t says
Hello
After nine months rhe ombudsman have forced amigo to settle
They have gone straight to guarantor and agreed a figure with him
He was not aware of stat interest and accepted
Amigo say that stat interest only applies to overpayments well surely interest that shouldnt have been taken is a overpayment
What is the position with extra payments outside of interest repayments what are we entitled to
Is their compo for mental damage done /stat interest
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Are you saying the guarantor is not being paid statutory interest?