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
Carl says
Hi Sara,
I’ve won affordability complaint with bamboo and balance still of 2k with them afterwards. I set up a £50 payment plan but couldn’t pay it last month so paid £20 instead. They have sent me a letter saying I’m hundreds of pounds in arrears due to not making usual contractual payments and if don’t clear it then will send to a debt recovery. Can they do this when it was irresponsible lending and I’m making token payments due to been furloughed.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You could give a big shrug if they sell your debt – most debt collectors are nicer to deal with than guarantor lenders!
What is the rest of your financial situation like at the moment? If you have other problems debts you can’t pay in full, putting them all into a debt management plan including this Bamboo one can be a good option.
Carl says
Thank you. I’m only worried if they sell it then I would receive a default etc. I’d be happy to deal with a debt recovery company.
All other debts are in plans manageable now after winning a lot of cases. Only have Amigo and bamboo who are both threatening me with this action. And I won irresponsible lending with both these company’s.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I strongly suggest getting a DMP then with StepChange. Amigo and Bamboo are both very likely to stop these threats if you do – from that point it is clear they are being treated fairly.
If you do get a default, then you can complain about that.
How large is your total debt?
Carl says
My total debt is 2k with bamboo 4K with amigo and I have 2 payday loans which have about £40 left on them so mainly just those 2 debts left now and normal living a month with usual costs but with furlough I don’t have a lot spare to pay them more at the moment and just doing token payments of £20 or £40. I don’t think there is need for DMP as now I e got rid up f nearly 20 payday lenders I can manage again but with furlough at present I’m not receiving normal Full pay to be able to pay them larger amounts. Plus I have car finance and this would have a big impact for that.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
car finance is a priority debt – that wouldn’t go into a DMP.
It’s your choice, I’m just saying it would stop Amigo and Bamboo complaining.
Carl says
Is it worth just keep paying the token payments to bamboo and Amigo and letting them put them to a debt recovery company. Can they do any harm to my credit file or take me to court when I’ve won affordability complaints with them for all loans taken with them?
I can afford the token payments of £20/30 a month at present for them both but it’s just that they are saying they want the arrears paid with not paying usually contractual original payments which was irresponsible.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
There aren’t any rules written down here. They shouldn’t hamr your credit record or take you to court, but I am still not sure why you don’t see StepChange as a simple answer to your situation.
Carl says
I just thought they were for severe debt problems where you can’t live and need help. As I’ve got rid of all other debts now I thought I should manage these 2 that are left.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A DMP is just a sort of payment arrangement where you make a single monthly payment and the DMP firm divides it between your creditors. When your creditors are being difficult, this can make your life easier as they will normally just accept what StepChange is the correct amount.
Andy says
Morning all.
I’ve just read the information in regards to Amigo seeking refuge.
How do you think this will effect new claims?
I submitted a claim last week.
Total of loan 3250 Inc brokerage fee over a period of 36mths back in 2012.
Payments approx £151per month.
Is there a way of calculating the repayment towards the Principal sum and what the payment for monthly interest would have been
Sara (Debt Camel) says
For anyone who hasn’t seen it, here is my new article: https://debtcamel.co.uk/amigo-seeks-scheme-arrangement-complaints/
For claims in progress, including new ones, it will depend on whether the FCA agrees to let the scheme go ahead. They have turned down similar Schemes in the past. If it’s rejected, back to normal complaint handling.
If the scheme gets the FCA go ahead, then it has to go to a vote of creditors – that means all current and previous customers!
Your loan – so you got £3000 in cash? and made 36 payments of £151? That would be 5436 so you paid £2436 in interest and charges (you would get the broker fee back). Plus very roughly £1200 in extra 8% interest.
Andy says
Yep loan £3000 paid into guarantors bank account.
Exact payment amount was £151.19 according to statements.
8 payday loans, a high interest card and HP payments feature on statements and credit reports. Looking at the reports in the search history there is nothing stated for FLM (name at the time) when the loan was issued – this is both experien and Equifax ( have reports for the month taken and then every mth after upto 2015:))
SP says
Morning Sara,
Thank you for posting the article this morning in regards to Amigo to seeks refuge from complaints. Does that mean there will be a chance Amigo will slow down on the complaint process until a decision has been made? It will be 6 weeks this weekend on my complaint to them.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes there is a chance, but whether that is 90% likely or 50% likely I can’t guess.
Jemma says
Evening Sara,
I received my redress from Amigo on 7/7/20 and it would leave me owning £3,336.03 and still had not removed the guarantor but as they disputed the first two loans I sent it to the fos.
I received a letter this afternoon from the fos explaining a new offer.
“I took out 4 loans with Amigo” (I took out 5)
Amigo refunding the interest that you paid on the loans
Your refund will include interest at the simple rate of 8%
Amigo removing any negative information that has been recorded on your credit file,
Your refund will look like
Total interest paid £11,556.03
Less interest due back to amigo due to top up loans £865.40
Total settlement due £10,690.63
You will receive a refund of £10,690.63
Please note there maybe slight variations in calculations when amigo apply the refund to your LOAN ACCOUNT due to simple interest being owed up to the date of settlement.
So I checked my account
Balance to settle £12, 519.32
Arrears £5,776.15
Now I have been paying since 2016 and I stopped paying last year as I was in a shocking situation financially but I feel I’m missing something.
My debt has gone up due to interest which I was told would be stopped, I’m still left owing Amigo money and they’ve not given the fos the correct amount of loans.
I’ll be ringing tomorrow but what on earth am I supposed to do?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
it would leave me owning £3,336.03 and still had not removed the guarantor
so the current loan was not upheld?
which of loans 1-5 were upheld?
can you tell which one is missing from the 4 they are now talking about?
Jemma Walker says
Thanks for replying,
It was the first two that had not been upheld by Amigo, the last three had been which is why I want to the fos.
No the letter isn’t specific, I do intend to ring tomorrow anyway but I’ve got so many different figures I’m genuinely confused.
Jem
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if the last one has been, I have no idea why your guarantor hasn’t been released!
Laura says
Little update on my complaint with bamboo. After pointing out the inaccuracies in their final respond (and ultimately the reason for rejecting the complaint) they came back still denying any wrong doing but with an increased offer of £1950. I’ve worked out approx £7000 was paid in interest so I have today escalated to the FOS. Looks like I am in it for the long haul, however, none of this would have been possible without Sara and this site so thank you for all your hard work and dedication, please keep fighting the good fight and educating us all.
Tom says
Hi Sara,
Just a question regarding the ajudicators final decision which was sent to amigo last week. They have given Amigo until the 28th to respond to their decision (the adjudicator found that all of my 5 loans were unaffordable and I should be refunded all interest and 8%). I emailed the adjudicator yesterday to ask whether the amigo announcement would affect my claim, but recieved an out of office reply saying they were away until the 4th. So was wondering whether another adjudicator from FOS would respond on or around the 28th since the one handling my case is away. Or would I have to wait until the 4th to hear Amigos response?
I have since read the article you posted and the comments on how its difficult to predict the liklihood of the scheme to go forward.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suspect Amigo may not reply within that timescale. I’m sorry, you just have to wait and see what happens.
John says
Hi Sara, hope you are well. Today I have received my SAR today through another site, I am pretty clueless on what it all actually means, is it worth someone loooking through it for me?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is Amigo? Have you sent in the complaint? How long ago?
John says
Yes Amigo, sorry should have made clearer, I raised a complaint on 12th of December and asked for SAR at the same time.
John says
Hi Sara, is theee anyone that you can recommend to look over my credit files sent from amigo?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
At the moment Amigo seems to have stopped all complaint handling because of their proposed Scheme of Arrangement. There is nothing useful you can do at the moment. Come back when it gets to 8 weeks and see what is happening then.
Jon says
Hi Sara.
I’ve been asked for bank statements for my amigo loans but four of my loans are from more than six years ago and my bank only has six years worth of statements on record. I know this will have an impact on the outcome of the investigation but in your opinion how big an impact could it possibly have and is there anything I can do about it.
Many thanks
Jon
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Asked by FOS?
Jon says
Yes by the fos
Anon says
I had 5 guarantor loans at once with 5 different companies and the same guarantor, 4 upheld so far, 1 left with ombudsman and 2 contacted my guarantor after the complaint was upheld to pay the money to them even though they had not made any payments toward it.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Who are the 2 that went after your guarantor? Has this been resolved?
L says
Hi Sara,
Looking for some advice regarding my Amigo complaint.
I am now over 16 weeks into my complaint with no response, hundreds of calls to Amigo and many excuses for why no final response. I escalated this at 8 weeks to FOS but no update from them as of yet.
I am now worried that I was told yesterday by Amigo complaint department I will now not hear anything till at least March 2021 despite completing questionnaire around 6 weeks ago.
Can you advise how the proposed scheme of arrangement will affect me as I not able to afford over £300 to month to Amigo and my mental health is deteriorating massively, Amigo have doctors reports and my medical history.
I have waited over 16 weeks and I am sick and tired from the misadvice of Amigo staff
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am wondering if your guarantor also has good reason to complain… What was your guarantor’s financial position like when you took this loan out, could they have afforded to pay £300 a month to this loan and still paid all their own bills, debts and living expenses?
L says
Hi Sara,
Thanks for the response.
My relationship with my guarantor no longer exists and Amigo continue to threaten me with default if I do not stick with current payments which are now up to £300 due to arrears. My guarantor current position he is not in a position to pay this amount per month either. I was told yesterday by Amigo I will not be hearing anything now until at least March 21 despite being 16 weeks into my ongoing complaint. This is crippling me and I keep making them aware of this.
chris law says
hi sara
with the recent request by amigo I am wondering if i will be affected. Amigo has upheld my complaint and I am just waiting on the final figure which they say will be around the 1st jan. My complaint was upheld on the 18th Dec so would this then pre date the request they have put in and my final figure would be worked out as normal ? Just thinking I am going to get shafted at some point here.
Thanks and merry christmas
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t know if you will be shafted. The Amigo announcement sets they will pay out on “reviewed and upheld complaints where a Final Response Letter has been issued to the customer, dated before 21 December 2020”. I don’t know whether what you were sent is “a Final Response Letter” or whether that is the later letter with the numbers calculated, which you have not yet received.
Alex says
Hi sara merry Christmas first of all. Just for clarity I’m in a similar position to the above poster. The opening paragraph of my upheld complaint letter ends with “and I am able to provide you with our final response”. I’m still awaiting figures myself between 25th and 5 working days they quote in the letter. The wording of the letter and announcement would suggest that the ones of us in this position will be unaffected. Thanks for all your hard work with this and have a great day xx
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Fingers crossed for you!
christopher law says
fingers, toes and everything else crossed at the minute lol.
Thanks for all your help
chris law says
Hi Alex just wondering if you have had any news about your final figures yet as it was 5 days from the 25th ?
Lewis says
Hi Sara, I have had my complaint upheld but still owe amigo in the region of £5000.00. I am trying to set up a monthly payment with them which I can afford but they keep rejecting my offers and as there is no arrangement in place they keep threatening me with an LBA. Can they do this if my complaint has been upheld by the ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
do you have other problem debts as well? how much are you offering Amigo a month?
Louis says
I have been offering £50.00 a month as that is all I can afford at the moment due to being on furlough and having others debts.
I am currently making minimum payments. I have about 4 credit cards with debt totalling around 12000.00. My job should also be safe when furlough ends, so I could make a bigger repayment when I’m back in work.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you told Amigo that you expect to be able to increase the payments when furlough ends?
Are any of your credit cards Barclaycards? If yes, is your minimum payment going up in January?
17k of debt overall is a lot, cards where you can only make the minimum payment go down VERY slowly. It may be sensible for you to talk to StepChange about a debt management plan and just include the Amigo debt in that.
Christopher w hill says
Hi Sara,
I made a claim several months ago, and it was sent to the FOS, who decided that all of my loans and top ups were unaffordable, so FOS wrote to amigo telling them so. Their 14 day deadline ran out on 23rd October, but I’ve still not heard anything back. Im feeling a bit lost as FOS said we have to wait it out for a bit. What do you think?
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Amigo complaints aren’t likely to be progressing at the moment, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/amigo-seeks-scheme-arrangement-complaints/.
It isn’t definite this Scheme will go through but until that is known I would be surprised if Amigo do anything on your case.
Christopher w hill says
Hi Sara,
Thanks for your response.
What would the likely outcome be for me, seeing as FOS has already instructed them about my loans?
Both if the scheme goes through, or if it doesn’t?
Thanks,
Chris.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This was an adjudicator decision? do you still owe a balance? And if yes, did you have a previous loan before this?
Christopher w hill says
Sorry, I only just saw your reply.
Yes it was an adjudicator decision. I still have just over £5000 outstanding, and I’ve had a few loans and top ups with them, totalling approximately £15000.
Thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK, with a few top ups you are very likely to have your complaint upheld in a Cheme or in Administration. In which case the balance should be cleared if the refund is larger than the balance. If the redress is larger, you would be unlikely to get more than pennies back in the Scheme
Until it’s clear how Amigo will calculate the redress you can’t really guess if you would get more in a Scheme or in administration. In administration the administrators are likely to be pretty straight about the calaulations. In the Scheme, who know if Amigo will try to get away with upholding fewer loans or adding in an “unpaid interest” deduction?
Carly says
Hi all.
I currently have an Amigo guarantor loan (£1500). A friend being guarantor. At the time, this loan was affordable for me. However when the pandemic hit my finances took a massive hit. I took the 6 month payment break and did make small payments during that time. However, interest was only stopped for 3 months. I have only made one full payment to them since March. I had built up some credit thankfully, which covered a couple of payments for me (incl my Dec instalment). However, the balance is just getting bigger & its giving me anxiety. It is sitting at around £1600 at the moment, and in the last 18 months I don’t think it has ever dipped below that. It appears I am going to continue on furlough & I am truly going to struggle making my payments, as I have done since the beginning of Covid. I am not disputing this is my debt, and I am happy to pay it as at the time I could afford it. But right now, and for the foreseeable, I absolutely cannot and haven’t for almost a year now really. I do not want my guarantor involved at all, and I worry should I make any kind of complaint they will tell her or chase her for payment, which naturally I do not want to happen. I want to work with them, without guarantor involvement.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well that is the problem with guarantor loans. Horrible products, you never anticipated being in this position when you took the loan out.
If you have other debts as well (and almost everyone who was so desperate as to take an Amigo loans does) then I suggest you should talk to a debt adviser about your whole situation.
But your options for this Amigo loan are to:
1) struggle on and pay it somehow. I don’t know how realistic that is. Don’t get behind with rent, council tax, utilities in order to pay Amigo!
2) try to get Amigo to accept less and not go after your guarantor. At a guess this is more likely to succeed if you offer 80% of the payment not 20%
3) read the article above and think again about whether the loan was actually affordable. If it wasn’t, send in an affordability complaint. It doesn’t solve your immediate problem of the payments but in the medium term if you win interest will be removed and your guarantor released.
4) think about your guarantor’s situation. If she couldn’t afford to make all the payments and still pay her own debts, bills and everyday expenses, she can complain and ask to be removed as guarantor. That would mean all the pressure is off you and you can offer Amigo whatever monthly payment you can actually afford.
Carly says
Thinking about it, it probably wasn’t affordable. My income/expenditure was based off of what I was paying out when I flat shared (which was minimal) and as mentioned, the money was for moving.
If I make an affordability complaint to Amigo, will my guarantor be notified about this? That is my only worry.
As I said, I am more than happy to accept this debt is mine. And pay it. I just wish when I was paying it the debt was getting lower, as opposed to just covering the interest mostly.
I am not due now to make another payment until the end of Jan.
My guarantor is in a good financial standing. She is a home owner, and has no debt other than mortgage & credit card she pays off monthly. She does however have bad mental health. I suspect she could argue that to them, as she is also autistic. However, again, I’d rather deal with this by myself.
Jon says
This scheme of arrangement that amigo are proposing to do is just another shambolic, shameful and disgusting delaying tactic. I can’t imagine any court in the land, would give the green light for this to happen. When amigo floated on the stock market, it was valued at 1.3 billion pounds(admittedly that has dropped some what in the past couple of years) and paid its shareholders 300 million pounds in bonuses, so I can’t see them going bust anytime soon. As frustrating as these delaying tactics are, we just need to be patient and hold out for the full amount that is owed to you. Hopefully the FCA will pull their finger out and tell amigo, this scheme of arrangement is a no go and to start paying out again.
dave says
They were valued at 1.3bn but now they are less than 40m. That is because they can’t afford complaints and would likely go bust if there is no scheme. In that case, I think we would see next to nothing paid on our complaints.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
See my recent aticle – https://debtcamel.co.uk/amigo-scheme-estimated-numbers-not-good/. In the current Scheme people who do not have a current loan will get next to nothing.
The Board says it has other options – I don’t know what they are.
But it is also possible the Scheme could be made fairer, so the bondholders and the shareholders do much less well and the customers do not get all the pain.
But the FCA may well reject this Scheme because they have to consider the wider market not just this one lender.
Chris says
Sara,
I had a reply of amigo on the 22nd Dec to say they are continuing to investigate my complaint due to ombudsman pushing them for final response as a priority case. However from news about amigo they are pausing all complaints handling?
SP says
Hello Sara,
Just want to say a massive Thank you for setting up such a useful and informative website along with your advise.
Not a bad end to 2020 I have received the final response letter from UK Credit upholding my affordability complaint.
The loan was taken out in June 2019 for £7K with 48 months loan term.
They have offer to credit the account with the interest paid to date along with the 8% statutory interest £3,149.32.
So instead of £5,939.91 outstanding to pay, the balance has reduced down to £2,790.59 and my guarantor will be released from their obligations under the agreement and any negative information will be removed from my credit file.
I really appreciate everything you have done. Thank you so much.
Another one down just CASHasap, Satsuma and Amigo to go now.
Hope you have a wonderful New Year and may 2021 be a great one for everyone!
Lindsey says
Hello, my case is currently with FOS against amigo
Can you work my figures out for me please?
Loan 1, £2000. 4 payments of £123.63
Loan 2, £3500. 10 payments of £170.76
Loan 3, £6000 4 payments of £256.65
Loan 4, £6750. 2 payments of £288.73
Loan 5, £7500. 4 payments of £206.44
Loan 6, £9000 20 payments of £384.98
I have an outstanding balance of over £9000 as I haven’t been able to pay since March so incurring interest. Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
can you say what cash payout you received when you took the top up loans?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
has Amigo been asking your guarantor to pay?
Lindsey mccallum says
I can only find the latest payout which was £1357.68 do you know how I can find my payout for the others?
They actually took a payment out of my guarantors bank which I now have to pay her back. Amigo refuse to put my loan on hold while I have a case with FOS
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Your bank statements? Or the loan accounts if you can see them online.
Lindsey says
I can’t find info on top up 3 sorry
Top up 2 payout £1,570
Top up 4 payout £637
Top up 5 payout £650
Top up 6 payout £1000
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You said before:
“I took out a £2000 loan in 2016 and have topped up six times”
Is that right, in which case the 1357 is the top up 7 amount?
Or did you have 1 loan and then 5 top ups?
Lindsey says
It was one loan and 5 top ups… thank you
Shan says
Hi
Can somebody please help. I currently have a loan with uk credit … I have two years left on it and already been paying for two. It’s a garantour loan abs my garantour was in a very bad place when he agreed (I was unaware of this at the time) he still isn’t 100% better but I have never missed a payment & I am wanting to know if I complained about the loan as it’s still not 100% paid off would they contact him to tell him I’ve complained ? He’s never made a payment to it but the stress of being contacted by loan companies give him anxiety as he has his own money worries now.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They shouldn’t contact him if you carry on making the payments. If they do, you can reassure him you are making the payments and he cannot be affected.
But how much difficulty was he in when the loan was taken out? he may have a good reason to also complain and ask to be removed as guarantor for the loan. This would be a weight off his mind and good for you, as you can then just make a payment arrangement while your complaint goes through the Ombudsman if necessary.
And how much difficulty is he in at the moment? Could you suggest he should take debt advice, whilst reassueing him you are going to carry on making the payments but are trying to get interest removed from the loan?
If he is already stressed and in difficulty, these are postive helping messages for you to give.
Megan says
Hi, just wondering how long after Amigo agreed to uphold your loans with the FOS was it that you received a figure off amigo? They upheld my loans on the 9/12/20
Thanks, Megan.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Amigo seem to have slammed the brakes on all payouts at the moment. I am hoping this is just temporary.
Megan says
Oh no! Thankyou got the reply! X
DM says
Just wondering anybody’s experience in getting the COVID payment break from Amigo, what information is required? Do they inform your guarantor? Still no final response on complaint for my loan and x4 top ups. As they seem to be intent on using delay tactics I would rather take the £375 I am currently paying to clear off some smaller debts for the next 3 months and free up an additional £170 a month (still have 7k balance and have worked out redress on all loans would have been an additional £14k but know I am never going to see any of this or a couple of pence in the pound)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have your finances been affected by Covid?
Are you on good terms with your guarantor?
Because with 4 top ups it is highly likely that your complaint would be upheld for at least the later loans and the balance cleared…
DM says
Thanks Sara, yes my wife is going on part time furlough. Have a good relationship with my guarantor but as have made all the payments apart from £63 in 2013 which Amigo advised was holding up the investigation and despite filling in the questionnaire have not had a final response since Aug 26th. Had held off sending to FOS as kept being assured it was going to be looked at and was at least hoping to get balance written off and intended to escalate any that were not upheld with any withheld intrest. I have been using my redress with other creditors as part of a debt snowball and have 270, 400 and 800 balances I could get them cleared a lot quicker if I add it to the 40,60&130 I am currently paying on these and if Amigo address drags on for at least another 18-24 months whether scheme is approved or they limp into administration would at least have these balances cleared with more disposable income and the accrued intrest would be dealt with when I get a final outcome? One thing I am also concerned with is that when my Guarantor applied for his mortgage a couple of years ago it was picked up by the broker/lender and affected his application and would not want to impact him additionally when he remortgaged in March if looks like I cannot afford the payments due to the balance not decreasing because of payment holiday?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Had held off sending to FOS as kept being assured it was going to be looked at
That was a mistake which could turn out to be big :(
If the Scheme doesn’t go ahead and they limp along for 6-12 months before going under, it will be better if you were earlier in the FOS queue.
As your finances are affected by Coid-19 then you should be given a 3 month furlough by Amigo. Which they should later extend by another 3 months if you still need it. Have you sent them some proof of your wife’s furlough? eg forwarded an email from her employer?
when my Guarantor applied for his mortgage a couple of years ago it was picked up by the broker/lender and affected his application
Does the Amigo loan show on his credit record? That would be very unusual… Perhaps he told the lender about it.
I cannot imagine how a payment holiday by you could possibly show on his credit record. Payment holidays are visible to mortgage lenders who check bank statement/Open Banking, but only for the borrower. The guarantor has only a contingent liability, I don’t think that could ever be picked up.
If Amigo refuse to give you a payment deferral, then you can complain to the Ombudsman. This sort of complaint would not be part of the Scheme (well again I am guessing, but I can’t see the FCA would allow Amigo to sweep all complaints about anything by current borrowers into the Scheme and out of FOS jurisdiction.)
But fundamentally you are facing the problem that if the Scheme goes ahead OR they go bust, then every month from now on you are throwing £375 away as you will get almost nothing of it back. I suggest you talk to your guarantor about this, as it would need you to stop paying and your guarantor to also cancel the DD to Amigo.
Tom says
Hi Sara,
Amigo were due to respond to the adjudicators decision on the 28th and the adjudicator emailed today to say they had not recieved a response from Amigo so he was passing my case onto the ombudsman to make a final decision. I gave the go ahead as they agreed all of my loans were unaffordable.
I was just wondering what the typical timescale is for a case going to the ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t think any past experience is relevant to Amigo cases at the moment.
Neil says
Hello
Quick question, I took out a loan for £5000 in 2014 and paid it off with no guarantor payments. Is there a time limit to make a claim? I read you had to do it within 6 years of taking out the loan on one reputable site but no where else.
I currently have a loan with them for £3000, if I claim will it adversely affect it?
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The time limit for claims is April 2007.
What is this “reputable site” that didn’t know that?
(If you are wondering why, that is when the Unfair Relationship provisions of the Consumer Credit Act came into force. And when the Financial Ombudsman had jurisdiction over consumer credit contracts. When a loan is over 6 years old, the Ombudsman still accepts cases where the customer has only found out within the last three years that they could complain. That is the vast majority of cases. In lender administrations, it’s normal for the administrators to use the April 2007 cut off.)
Not sure what your last question was:
– If the earlier loan is upheld it will reduce the balance owed on the current one.
– making a claim in general has no adverse affects on a current loan, how could it?
Neil says
So I can still make a claim on the loan I took out in 2014? The site was money saving expert.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So they do… I will suggest they should change that, thanks.
Yes, you can definitely make a claim for a 2014 loan. Amigo are more likely to reject it so it may need to go to the Ombudsman. And of course we have no idea how these claims will proceed… but that’s not a reason to delay starting yours now.
claire foster says
Hi Sara,
I follow your page regularly, I have had a complaint in with Amigo that was partially upheld, I accepted their offer and then referred the rest to the FO (this included an extortinate unpaid interest charge).
FO prioritised my case but as yet I have heard nothing. Am I right assume that all cases regardless of where they are at are now on hold?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t think Amigo is doing any work on them.
Whether FOS is doing much, I don’t know. Its website says:
We are aware of the recently announced news that Amigo Holdings PLC has made an application to the FCA for a DISP waiver to suspend complaints handling in anticipation of a proposed scheme of arrangement. In the meantime, we will continue to look at complaints and consumers can continue to bring any new complaints to the ombudsman service.
As you have a priority case, you could phone them up and asl what is happening?
Chris says
Hi Claire,
I am in a similar position. Logged in august with amigo and oct with FOS. Case was made a priority just before Xmas. Amigo emailed on the 22nd Dec to say they are continuing to investigate and after 5 months I finally recieved my SAR file from amigo yesterday. However as I’ve been borrowing from amigo / Flm for the last decade with loams top ups…my SARS request had 100s of files which have blown my mind tbh.
Jo says
I just see a comment someone put on trust pilot with regards to Amigo loans saying they’ve received something that says Amigo are not paying out any redress claims. Amigo agreed with the investigator after I put my claim in back in May 20 and finally on the 14th Dec 20 the adjudicator emailed me and said Amigo will write to me with a refund offer and have accepted they should have never lent to me. Am I right in thinking I’m not going to see this offer now as what this other person on trust pilot has written?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s not clear whether what Amigo said to FOS is a final offer from them.
And of course we don’t know if this scheme will be going ahead.
Sorry, no clear answer for you.
Matt says
I’m in exactly the same position (adjudicator told me Amigo were making an offer on 17th Dec). I emailed Amigo to ask what would happen and they told me they were still going to send a final calculation of my offer out to me, but could not give a time frame for when that would happen. Whether that offer is then subject to their scheme of arrangement is anyone’s guess.
It feels a bit like Amigo have told the adjudicator what they want to hear so that they don’t need to do any more work on the case, but knew that they were always going to delay sending out any offer calculation until their scheme proposal had been reviewed.
Sarah h says
Hi Sara,
My covid break with Amigo has finished and I have to start repayments this month. I was paying £600 a month before the break and was falling behind with priority bills Rent and council tax, my husband has now also been furloughed. I have asked if I can pay half for the time being without them asking my gauerentor for the rest. There is no way my garuentor could afford to do this and then i would have to find the money to pay her back. Can they make me pay the full amount. I have an affordability complaint in with them and just before Christmas the FO said they had received my complaint and it was being allocated.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Can you suggest your guarantor cancels her Direct Debit to Amigo? Better safe than sorry if she can’t afford to make the payments.
Have your guarantor’s finances also been affected by Covid? If yes, she can then ask for a 3 month payment holiday if you stop paying and for another 3 months when that ends. That would mean you could stop paying anything for this time. Allow you to catch up on priority debts.
If her finances haven’t been affected, then if she can’t afford it she should still not pay. This will not affect her credit rating – the Amigo loan doesn’t show on a guarantor’s credit record.
Amigo should not go to court while a complaint is underway at FOS – they may threaten this but so far they haven’t actually done it.
Michelle says
Hi
Similar happened to me I had my payment break for covid went back paying my normal payments but I’m self employed work got quiet again I phoned them went thru my finances they let me off with paying this month and I’ve to pay half next month and they won’t ask my guarantor unless I don’t stick to the arrangement so I would definitely give them a call
Sarah h says
Thank you so much for your reply, I am waiting on them to get back in touch with me. Fingers crossed.
I won’t get a redress off them if my affordability complaint does go through, I will still owe them £1500 so I am thinking if I can make small payments now then hopefully but the time the complaint is sorted I will owe them very little.
Tom says
Hi,
So I raised an affordability complaint with Amigo back in June along with a SAR request. They managed to final address my complaint in mid August, saying they were rejecting the complaint which didn’t come as a surprise. But they completely ignored my SAR request, when I asked them to please comply with my SAR, they said, ‘we will take a look into this and get back ASAP.’ I still have not had a response from them to this day.
I took it straight to the Ombudsman as soon Amigo rejected my complaint, just to reiterate this was back in August when I first spoke to the Ombudsman. Now I checked in with them in October and my case still wasn’t assigned to anyone, and I have checked in again today and it is still sat outstanding.
Of course I’m aware of the current situation with COVID and businesses needing to adapt, to top this off I guess the situation with Amigo will be manic too when you take into account the number of complaints that are being thrown their way lately.
I guess my question is, has anyone else experienced this with the Ombudsman? What would be a usual amount of time you would expect them to turn something like this around? I wasn’t expecting nearly 5 months for my case to not even be assigned to anyone yet. Has anyone else had similar experiences?
Thanks
Tom
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you asked FOS if Amigo have supplied your case file yet? Unless your case is being treated as a priority, FOS won’t assign it to an adjudicator until they have the case file from the lender.
Carl says
I’ve had a case with ombudsman since April and they have the case file since July and my case has still not been assigned to an adjudicator first investigation. Same with another 2 of my case where they have the case files since August but still not been assigned to anyone. Drafty, 118 loans and lendable.
LEE says
I’m in the same position, case file has been received from Amigo but FOS have yet to assign an adjudicator
Tom says
I had this reply from FOS twice now,
‘ At this time, your case is still awaiting allocation to an investigator that specialises in Guarantor Loans. Hopefully it won’t be too much longer now.’
So what would be the best option for me to get the wheels moving on this, contacting amigo and asking them to send this over to FOS?
Or is it simply a waiting game for me?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You don’t know at the moment if the case file is the problem. You could phone FOS up and ask.
But at the moment there may be little you can do to speed this up as Amigo isn’t doing any work on these cases.
Sandra says
I had put my complaint in with amigo in June I rejected there offer in August After 10 weeks of waiting I then went to fos as they didn’t uphold the first two loans then fos I did ring every two weeks for an update to see if it had been assigned or see what was happening eventually it had been assigned to a fos handler to look at end of October and they got in contact with me asking to attach some
Bank statements which I did to show the first two loans were also not affordable which amigo didn’t uphold the last I heard from fos was the 18th of December haven’t heard anything since still waiting and expect to wait a lot longer hope this helps
John says
Hi Amigo have gone to court to set up a new way of looking at claims and have stopped paying out. If you ring this number it explains it all 01202835170
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They haven’t yet gone to court. First the FCA has to approve. And there are no useful details as yet.
NJ says
Hi Sara, in other words is it game over and we are u likely to be able to receive a redress/ get an answer from Amigo and the ombudsman regarding complaints. I submitted mine in June and haven’t even received a response from Amigo. Now they are stating that because I’ve raised it with the ombudsman they will not issue me a response, and that I have to follow up with the ombudsman. This is the email they sent me
‘After investigation into your account I can see that different agents advised you regarding the status of your complaint. I can also confirm to you that the relevant department has sent the information requested by the Financial Ombudsman Service. As you have escalated the complaint with them, please refer to the FOS for further updates‘
Sara (Debt Camel) says
We don’t know.
The FCA has to approve the Scheme.
Amigo has to give enough details about the Scheme to allow people to vote on it.
Amigo are not doing any work on any complaints. The fact it is with FOS is not relevant.
Michelle says
I just want to say a massive thank you for this page I just heard back from the Fos about my complaint and they’ve agreed I shouldn’t of got any of my 4 loans I still have a balance of 8800 they have asked amigo to cease the loan record it as settled and take all negative information on my account off! I just need amigo to agree praying they do! I’m so happy as all amigo wanted to uphold was loan 1 I’m so glad I took it further. I first complained in April last year so it’s been worth the wait thanks again.
Jen says
Hi
How did you start your claim? I also have around about the same amount outstanding with Amigo and also a CCJ. I would be grateful if you could let me know what I need to do.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is the CCJ for the Amigo loan or a different one?
Can I ask if you are the borower or the guarantor. Do you have other problem debts as well?
Jen says
Its the Amigo loan CCJ. There is also an outstanding amount of around 8800 I think. I have all the emails from when this was trying to be sorted out. A few payments had been made to Shoosmith’s but nothing has been paid for may a few years as we really cannot afford it.
I am the guarantor. My husband is the borrower. I have had to get a trust deed due to the debt as I was paying left right and centre off of credit cards to try and compensate other bills, food, debts etc. The account has been frozen. I have just had a look online there. I just don’t know how to go about starting a claim.
Thanks
Jen
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I will ask a Scottish adviser to comment because of the Trust Deed.
Alan McIntosh says
Hi Jen
If you are now in a Protected Trust Deed the Amigo Loan will be covered by that, meaning when you receive a discharge, your liability to repay the Amigo loan will also be discharged.
In relation to any claim you have against them, this is more complicated. If you are still in the Trust Deed and your Trustee is administering your Trust Deed at the point any claim is settled and paid out, your Trustee has a right to claim the compensation and Amigo should pay the compensation over to them.
This is what happened when PPI Mis-selling claims were made.
However, if you are out the Trust Deed and your Trustee has also received a discharge, then the payment should be made to you directly.
Whether its worth making the claim is not really clear and you should actually discuss it with your Trustee, as when you granted the Trust Deed, you signed over the right to make any claims to your Trustee.
Sometimes, however, they may be happy for you to make the Claim, and may agree with you that you can keep a % if your are successful, providing you do all the work and agree to give a certain % over to them.
However, they can choose to just the claim themselves for the benefit of your other creditors.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Michelle,
is this an adjudicator decision from FOS or an Ombudsman decision?
are you still making payments to this?
has your guarantor complained?
I am sorry but I have some bad news for you. Amigo has said it is not paying out on Ombudsman decisions taken after 21 December and that it will not be acceptaing adjudicator decisions. If you can say if this an Ombudsman decision or an adjudicator decion I can suggest what you can do next to try to get this changed.
Michelle says
Hi,
Aw I thought this might be the case they had til the 20th Jan to reply but I got a message last night from the investigator is that an adjudicator? Saying they are still waiting on a response and there is severe delays with amigo that did give me a little hope be so gutted that I won’t get it.
I usually pay 430 a month to them but I’m self employed and work isn’t great at the moment so last month they agreed to put my payments down to 190 a month instead which will be due again next week, my guarantor was going to complain but she never she is still in work and I really wouldn’t want her to have to pay in anything I was so happy that they even suggested clearing the loan now I’ve probably missed it gutted.
april says
i have the adjudicator decision also and Amigo are not responding within the two weeks they should be, i have now emailed FCA and Amigo about our rights as customers and why they are holding off paying people while the scheme is put in place, why do we need to continue to pay when we have a provisional decision waiting on their side
AM says
Hi any idea how long it takes FOS to pick up a case. They acknowledged mine on 25th September but I’ve heard nothing since
Jon says
Mine took just over five months to get picked up by an investigator at the FO, I sent it on June 30th and it got picked up on December 4th. Waiting on their outcome now, not sure how long that will be but after reading on numerous forums with what’s going on with amigo at the moment, I think it’s irrelevant, we are not going to receive nowhere near the true amount that’s is owed to us.
But good luck with your claim.
Jon
Amy says
They picked mine up in March and still waiting
Amy says
Hi,
I complained to amigo loans back in December 2019. In March 2020 they refused my complaint so I took it to the ombudsman in March 2020. I haven’t heard from them since April when they asked me if I was happy to be contacted etc.
I rang the other day to be told it’s not got a case handler yet :-( but hopefully it should be in the next couple of weeks and to ring back at the end of January if Iv not heard anything.
I would’ve chased it up sooner had I realised it didn’t usually take this long.
Please don’t tell me Iv waited all this time for them to shut down and not even have a case?
Can’t the ombudsman uphold it if the complaint was put in before they went into administration or whatever it is.
I feel if I didn’t ring to see where in the pile I was that it would never have even left the pile.
So deflated with it right now.
Thanks
Amy
Sara (Debt Camel) says
We don’t know what is going to happen.
Do you have a current loan from them?
Amy says
Hi Sara,
Not anymore it’s now closed
Bmk says
Hi has anyone had this with amigo and intrum?.. my loans with intrum now and ive had a complaint in with the ombudsman since september . Ive just checked my clear score account and 3 out of 4 loans with amigo had been added and then removed in December ? Thanks in advance x
MD says
Can anyone advise if they have successfully managed to get a payment holiday from Amigo due to reduction in household income from covid (partner affected), what information do they ask for when applying? also do they advise your guarantor?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes people have. As you haven’t had one before, you can get a three month break now and a further 3 months when that ends if you still have problems.
Just ask for it and supply any information you have about why your household finances are affected eg furlough/loss of earnings for you, your partner, anyone else that pays some household bills.
They cannot ask your guarantor to pay during a COVID-19 payment deferral.
C says
I had a payment holiday during the March lockdown. It was all done through their website and email. I don’t recall having to supply any supporting evidence but they did inform my
Guarantor that I was on a 3 month payment break.
Njw says
Hi, TFS loans rejected my complaint, adjudicator upheld and TFS disagreed complaint currently on hold with fos.
My guarantor did a complaint (although she never paid anything to TFS) they have just upheld her complaint and are considering what redress to give her
My question is surely if their affordability process is flawed with her it must be with me. Especially as she had no adverse credit and I had loans coming out of my ear holes?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
has your guarantor made any payments?
njw says
No, she didn’t. Interestingly though their response mentioned calculation appropriate redress as well as any monies owed. So I don’t know if they will then offer her a small inconvenience payment etc
Sara (Debt Camel) says
well it’s normal to just remove her, but it will be interesting if they offer anything else!
AmigoAmigoYeeHa says
Back on the 14th December, I posted how Amigo stated they couldn’t find an account despite me supplying details of loan (last 4 digits) and credit reports.
They said to contact ICO no mention of FOS.
Your advice was to contact FOS.
This morning I’ve had a reply to my complaint logged with the FOS telling me that:
Thanks for getting in touch with us. We’ve contacted Amigo Loans Ltd to tell them about your complaint – so they have a chance to put things right for you first.
And they will send a final complaint in 8 weeks!!
As far.i was concerned Amigo saying to.contact ICO was their final response.
What should I do now?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sit and wait. Amigo aren’t going to do anything at the moment as they are trying to get a Scheme of Arrangement agreed.
I am afraid it is now clear that the bizarre suggestion from Amigo that people should contact the ICO was just designed to put people off complaining to the FOS. Not a responsible way for a lender to behave.
Sandra says
Hi Sara would you explain to me why amigo have taken 1p from my account this morning I know it sounds silly but I stopped paying them while I have my complaint in with the fos just thought it a rather strange amount and why they have done this, thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t know. Did you cancel your direct debit to them? I am wondering how they managed to take this amount.
Sandra says
Hi yes I cancelled the direct debit with my bank a while ago so I don’t understand it at all and they are fully aware my complaint is with fos so it just seems abit strange.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
phone your bank up and ask how this money was taken. If there is a CPA (continuous payment authority) ask when this was set up and tell the bank to cancel it.
Can you let us know what happens?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
just checking, it is definitely a debit, not a credit?
sandra says
It’s a debit card transaction it says on my online banking
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK, see what your bank says. This is important – if they can take 1p they can take a lot more and leave you too short to pay your essential bills!
Plus this is just not legal if you haven’t given consent for a CPA.
Matt says
A £0.01 transaction sounds like a pre-authorisation. If you have given Amigo your card details recently or updated them online, they will “take” £0.01 to make sure the card is working and is linked to the bank account you have said. No money is actually taken and the transaction will disappear in a few days.
Sandra says
Ok thank you they are just card details I put in when taking the loans years ago, was just wondering it does say pending in the transaction just strange
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I still think this is disturbing.
Sandra says
The bank has said cause they have my card details they will try and take money especially if it’s owed Which is strange as I haven’t paid anything since August to them as my complaint is with fos. Maybe if I log into my amigo account could I cancel the card details that way?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did you ask your bank if there is a CPA? Just because you owe someone money, they can’t legally take it from your bank account unless you have authorised the deductions!
Sandra says
They will block Them
which she said takes 48 hours so they can’t take payment if they do try.
Sandra says
She said there wasn’t that they are trying the card now cause I cancelled my bank details with them, and I’ve just tried to go in to my account and they won’t edit my card details how deceiving is that, but she said she will put a block on it
April says
Hi Sara
The financial ombudsmen has upheld my complaint today and have sent to Amigo loan and have said they have two weeks to say whether or not they agree with the decision
The below is what i paid and i wondered if you can tell me how much if i have an money coming back to me and the 8%
16/03/2016 borrowed £3000 – paid £118.57 18 payments = £2,134.26
23/09/2017 top up £8,250 – paid £326.08 / per month x3 payments = £978.24
29/12/2017 top up £9,500 – paid £375/ per month x 20 payments = £7500
14/08/2019 topped up £10,000 – paid £395/ month x 16 payments =£ 6320.00
I think i have the payments right and amounts totalling £16.932.50 + 8% = 18,287.10
Please can you help me confirm the figures so i know what to expect from Amigo
Thank you for this page as this means i can now stop the worrying sleepless nights, please please do not loose hope anyone one here i have waited a year and now on the home stretch
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am sorry but you aren’t yet on the home stretch. Amigo is trying to set up a Scheme of Arrangement and isn’t accepting adjudicator decisions at the moment.
But it is important that you know what the numbers could be… can you say how much you received in cash from each top up?
April says
Hi Sara
Thank you . Does this mean I must keep paying ?
And the figures above include the top up amounts
Thank you for getting back to me
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ah ok, so there was a first loan that was not upheld?
April says
All loans were upheld by the FO. I can see on their website once a complaint has been upheld the redress is split evenly amongst other claimants is that right ?
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Take this loan for an example:
23/09/2017 top up £8,250 – paid £326.08 / per month x3 payments = £978.24
The top up loan was 8250. You will have received some amount in cash, the rerst will have repaid the previous loan. Do you you know what the cash amount it?
I’ll talk about possible implications of the Scheme when the numbers are clear as they are VERY different if Amigo end up owing you cash or if there is still a balance owed to them.
April says
Hi Sara
I think these ate correct figures for what was paid to for each top up in total
Loan 1 £3,000
Loan 2 £5096
Loan 3 £232.57
Loan 4 £ 1406
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so assuming those number are correct (and it can make a huge difference if they aren’t) you have paid the following interest on each loan:
loan 1 £2,278
loan 2 £1,996 [edited – the original number was wrong]
loan 3 £6,594
loan 4 not yet repaid the 10k borrowed, still £3,680 to go.
So as they are all being upheld, the interest from loans 1-3 is used to repay the £3680 still owing on the current run.
The net result is the current loan is cleared and you should get a refund of £7,188 in cash.
We don’t know much about the current Scheme, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/amigo-seeks-scheme-arrangement-complaints/ for the questions I have asked and https://debtcamel.co.uk/amigo-scheme-estimated-numbers-not-good/ for my estimates of possible refunds.
But if it goes ahead (NOT CERTAIN) and if the Scheme upholds your complaint as FOS has (NOT CERTAIN) then the current loan would wiped through the right of set off but them you would only get back a small amount, possibly very small, of that cash refund you should have received.
The biggest risk for you here is that in the Scheme Amigo would not uphold your complaint. There is no indication as yet about how they will assess complaints and as they have done such a very poor job in the past, people are understandably worried.
It seems pretty likely though that you would get the balance wiped, just as you would in administration, which seems like the main alternative to the Scheme. (If Amigo has another rabbit in its hat to produce, I have no idea what it could look like. Except of course that it could be a more generous Scheme giving more money to the customers and less to its bondholders and shareholders.)
From here on, every payment you make is effectively wasted money as you will only get a tiny amount of it back. You could reasonably talk to your guarantor and say you are going to be cancelling your Direct Debit to Amigo, explain why, and suggest they do the same.
April says
Goodness !
That makes me feel physically sick that i will not see even a fraction of that back, alas even being £395 better off a month is better then nothing, i have advised my guarantor to cancel any DD set up (hes never made a payment) i will await the final decision from FOS, as they need to see if Amigo come back with anything, FOS have upheld at present. I’m confused that the FOS has stated Amigo need to refund me all interest and charges, even thought FOS surely would be aware of the scheme Amigo are trying to enter. i guess i will need to wait the next few months
Claire says
Are they accepting ombudsman decisions ? I had a provisional disision just b4 Christmas and amigos have until the 15th to reply. My claim has gone through every hoop that you can imagine!! Over 2 years of trying to sort this out!
jason says
Hi Sara,
I hope that you are well
I have put a complaint in for a guarantor loan, they was due to give an answer on the 14th in line with the 8 weeks but have just asked for a further 2 weeks time to investigate due to covid etc.
In your experience do you think i should allow them this extra time or should i just bring the case forward to the ombudsman instead?
Thanks!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
who is the lender?
Jason says
Hey Sara,
The lender is TFs loans
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Not many people have said much about them recently, so I don’t know what their current track record of making a good response is.
Yiou could reply that you will give them two more weeks byut the case goes to FOS then if they haven’t made a satisfactory offer?
Jason says
Yes I have decided to allow them the extra time to respond until the 25th January, strangely enough since I made my initial complaint I stopped making payments, throughout this whole year with my hours being cut etc it has been a real struggle making the payments. In fairness to TFS they did give me a 4 month holiday break but apparently only 4 could be used in a year so i continued to try and make the payments. As said since the complaint i put in I haven’t paid the last 2 months, surprisingly they haven’t chased me or the guarantor.
Quite concerning that the FOS are taking so long to respond, I can imagine that there is going to be a stressful few months if TFS decline my claim and I have to go to the FOS, no doubt TFS will be hammering me and my guarantor for money that haven’t got!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
have your finances been affected by Coronavirus? If they have TFS has to allow you a total of 6 months in payment deferrals and during this time your guarantor cannot be asked to pay.
Jason says
Yeah it has, i have just double checked and it was 6 months payment break that they gave me. However it is a bit silly considering the pandemic hasn’t gone anywhere.. Both me and my partner are on furlough so surely that 6 months should be extended. I am so surprised that they haven’t chased this past 2 months since I put in the complaint, I thought they would have upped the ante, I am trying to not let that make me optimistic that the complaint will be successful though.
AM says
Hi
I got my response from them at about 9 weeks, however they rejected it. I thought I had a very good case as I had already had my claim from Amigo and UK Credit upheld. Their reasons did not seem fair, they just based it in the fact that I had not had any arrears or late payments so therefore they felt it must be affordable. Nothing else was really considered, not the fact that I only paid to protect my guarantor while falling behind with other priority bills.
Mine was sent to FOS at 8 weeks in September and I’m still waiting for it to be picked up.
I would send it, may as well get in the queue.
Njw says
I got my response from TFS rejecting it in July 2019, in July 2020 adjudicator found in my favour, TFS didn’t respond so went to ombudsman. Ombudsman then put these complaints on hold to review how they deal with them (they had concerns about how TFS was responding to complaints) FOS told me yesterday they are now looking at these complaints again.
Incidentally, my guarantor did a complaint too, and TFS have upheld this, if they are not moving quick enough direct your email to Louisa.sutton@….. (however their email addresses end) she’s the head of compliance
Andrea says
I put my complaint in March with TFS, they replied the next day saying no as it was over the 6 year rule ( by 10 days)
I sent to Ombusman right away, got picked up in August and he agreed I was ok to pursue TFS rejected again, been waiting since October for the Ombusman to look at it now. And this is just for the 6 year rule, not even started on the actual claim.
I’m fairly confident when it comes to unfair lending with TFS I’ve got emails from them stating “ we don’t need to check when you earn it’s your guarantor we check”
Sara (Debt Camel) says
have a good hunt for those emails – they will help your complaint!
Carly says
Hi
In my complaint to Amigo loan do you think it will be worth saying that if they had have looked deeper in to my personal circumstances etc they would have realised that my outgoings were going to significantly increase within a matter of weeks of taking out the loan, and they should also have realised I was on a DMP?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Those sound like good points to make. I can’t tell if Amigo will take any notice of them, but all you can do is send them a complaint which accurately describes what happened to you.
Kyle the tent dude says
Has anyone had any luck with their case of Unpaid interest with amigo? Mine case is being reviewed by a senior financial ombudsman investigator and I just wondered if any of these cases have been challenged and won? My first loan was rejected, the ombudsman said she kinda agrees, but the second loan she thinks should be upheld, but they are taking £1967 roughly in unpaid interest. It is this what I think is taking the most time to solve. Just wondered if anyone els had theirs upheld and with the unpaid interest not taken away? I’m hoping my ombudsman investigator can reach a final decision before the announcement of this scheme that amigo want to put forward 😬 I fear I will end up with nothing. This is so nerve wracking man. The constant checks of my email to see if I have an update.
Clare says
Hi, I am in the same position.
Fo have my complaint, I lost £2500 in unpaid interest and sent it off to the fo in October….
As yet I have had nothing back even tho my case has been prioritised.
Now this has happened with amigo I’m scared I’ll lose it all.
To be fair, to me the unpaid interest charges should be dealt with differently as it was a crazy invention by amigo.
Good luck with yours.
LEE says
Same here, I had over £2k’s worth of unpaid interest plonked on the balance. As it stands and regardless of the FOS outcome, I’ll be free of Amigo in 13 months time as I continue to pay what I now owe. Haven’t heard from FOS either and escalated my complaint in May 2020.
Had another complaint with FOS about MyJar but FOS have emailed to say MyJar went into administration on 22/12/20 so it’ll be down to administrators to review my complaint now (MyJar didn’t uphold my complaint earlier on this year).
Catherine says
Hi,
Has anyone had any dealings with TrustTwo? I have had my loans with Amigo upheld. Just want to get an unaffordable lending complaint in with trust two as well but I haven’t had the best experience with them customer service wise so just a bit worried about putting a complaint in with them.
Thank you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Most guarantor lenders aren’t nice to deal with. My suggestion is to get your complaint in asap – the sooner it is in, the sooner you have a chance of getting this sorted.
Ruth says
Hi
I submitted a complaint to Amigo back in August 2020…unfortunately I think I just missed the cutoff for getting a response before this scheme was applied for. Filled in that stupid questionnaire as soon as it came out….I was just wondering if anyone had had an actual response since (I know redress is not being discussed until this scheme is decided, just wondering about them admitting fault of not). I’ve submitted to FOS in meantime
James p says
I have a ongoing complaint with Gaurantormyloan I made the complaint last jan, they obviously declined it on the last day of the 8 weeks so it’s been with the financial ombudsman since March 2020. I have spoken to them numerous times and they say I am actually on a priority list but it’s soon going to be a year since it went to them so it’s incredibly slow and frustrating as I just want it over with. I took out 4 loans with the company and the last was in2016, £279 a month for 50 months so a £7500 loan would end up being £16.500 with interest. For the last year I have been paying £100 a month instead which they accepted until they hear from ombudsman. Not sure how much I’d be due if I won, I looked at the bank statement I sent them back in 2016 and it showed I was on a dMP and still am, and had gambling transactions, and they still lent to me. James
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you are on a priority list at FOS, you should phone them up and say you want to complain as your case would be with an adjudicator by now.
James p says
Hi Sara
Yeah I had a name of a adjudicator who emailed me and just keeps saying I am on the list and they are working through them as quickly as possible but I think 10 months seems really excessive. I’ll give them another chase I think today. Have you ever had anyone discuss this company, guarantormyloan?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Chase by phone and insist on speaking to a manager.
They are pretty small, only been mentioned a few times. But that makes no difference – it doesn’t make your case weaker or stronger.
Njw says
You can’t complain about delays on priority list, team manager will just apologise and then tell you the next escalation point is the independent assessor, the independent assessor will then tell you they can’t investigate until the complaint is closed. The system doesn’t work, I challenged it through Caroline W’s office to no avail. You’ve just got to wait
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This isn’t right. Phone up and be persistent, explain all the reasons you are on the priority list and say you will make a formal complaint if you don’t get a good answer about when your case will be looked at. You don’t want to make a formal complaint, that puts you into a defined process, instead you just want to talk to someone senior enough to take some action. IF the first call doesn’t work, try again. Offer evidence of your problems.
Kat says
Hi Sara, I had a complaint upheld by Amigi last June and they took off interest leaving me with a balance to pay. I have come to a payment arrangement with them however they continue to send me notices of default and registering arrears and missed payments on my credit file. This is despite their repeated assurances both on the phone and by email that this will not happen.
I am sick of the harassment and worry. Complants have been answered that say they will stop but they don’t. Can I take this to the ombudsman? What else can I do to stop them? Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, I suggest you send your complaint to the ombudsman. This should NOT be affected by the current proposed Scheme.
Kat says
Thank you!
We haven’t had any post for over a week due to covid-19 shortages so I dread to think what will arrive when it does recommence.
Kelly says
Hi Sara
After some advice and apologies this maybe going off track but it is in relation to amigo.
I was fortunate enough to have my complaint upheld on all 4 loans, my guarantor received a hefty lump sum of redress as he settled one of the loans, it was around 4k last August. After my redress I still had a balance of close to 8k which is thankfully interest free.
Amigo has always hounded me if I was in any difficulty and my repayments were placed on hold whilst the complaint was being investigated.
After everything was settled in September I have not heard a single thing from Amigo and each month the statement is updated on the repayment date with 0.00 interest. Now I know I should probably have contacted them but the first month or two I started repaying my other debts that have high interest and some arrears I had and I’ve continued to do so which is having a really positive impact on my overall financial position. But as time is going on it is really on my mind that I should reach out to them and set up some kind of repayment plan. What are your views? Should I reach out to them? Think I’m probably taking advantage here of the zero impact to my credit records and the interest free.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you carry on repaying the other debts that are attracting interest. When Amigo do get around to contacting you, you will then be able to repay them faster without so much other debt.
Lillie says
Hi Sara,
My complaint that I made in October 2019 finally got upheld in October 2020. Mid-December I was told I’d have my redress figure no later than 5 days after 06/01/2021 as they needed to contact my guarantor.
My guarantor told them she doesn’t want the payment she made refunded to her the same day they emailed her so there’s no reason for the delay but I haven’t received any redress figures. So, my first question is, apart from endlessly asking them, is there anything I can actually do or is it just a waiting game?
My second question is, how likely is it that they’ll actually live up to their threats to take me to court over missed payments? I stopped making payments two months ago, after I knew for sure my claim was upheld and I worked it out that I would be due a refund of around £900 after all the interested had been removed from my account. I just am not willing to keep giving them £395.25 a month just to have it refunded when they finally get around to it. However, I’m now receiving emails, texts and letters saying they may take me to court over it.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I have no idea what Amigo is going to do about these case – I think there may be a couple of thousand of them. They have just been delaying for no good reason except to avoid paying out money so far as I can see.
Quite right to not pay them. There is no way they will take you to court – their threats are just unpleasant, aggressive debt collecting tactics, they won’t follow through. If they did start a court case – and no-one has seen them do that in this sort of case – you could simply counter-claim saying actually they owe you money…
Jax says
Hi, I took out a loan with Bamboo in 2019. It wasn’t a guarantor loan but interest was above 50%. I was pre approved through Clearscore. I wasn’t asked for bank statements or confirmation of salary at the point of application. I had taken out a loan with another lender 2 months earlier for a large amount and had a number of other loans that I was repaying along with 3 credit cards that were close to my credit limit. I got to the point that I just couldn’t manage anymore towards the end of 2019. It was painful but eventually Bamboo agreed to a payment arrangement. I got into this situation because of gambling. Stupid I know but I’m not gambling any more. Would there be any point in making a complaint or would I be fighting a losing battle? Thanks in advance.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
definitely complain – lots of complaints against Bamboo are upheld for the guarantor and non-guarantor lending! The template for non-guarantor loans is over on this page: https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-large-high-cost-loans/
Jax says
Thank you Sara!
Jax says
Had a look at some FOS decisions today. Some of the complaints they didn’t uphold from 2017/18 seem a bit inconsistent with later ones they did uphold. I may have misread them but at least it will help me if I have to refer my complaint to them.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would ignore the earlier decisions. Since 2018 FOS has systemised a lot of the decision making. It still depends on the individual case – – but there is now an overall framework and you more often see the same sort of language being used.
It rarely helps for you to mention another case, but read https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/businesses/complaints-deal/consumer-credit/unaffordable-lending which can be musch more useful.
Jax says
Thanks Sara, that is extremely useful. Very much appreciated.
Chris says
Hi has anyone had any reply regarding the unfair interest that’s been deducted from people loans?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A reply from Amigo? The last calculation I saw from Amigo at the end of December still included a deduction for unpaid interest – at least I think it did – it was the only way I could explain the numbers. So they don’t seem to have dropped this. This is major concern if the prosed Scheme goes ahead as they may be proposing to use this as the calculation in the Scheme.
A reply from FOS? So far every FOS decision I have seen has simply upheld the previous loan, so the unpaid interest falls away. There may be a decision I have missed.
Lukasz says
this is response i recived today:
I am writing to you in regards to a complaint that was raised on your behalf on 12th January 2021. I can confirm your complaint has been logged with our complaints team. To ensure we have the most up to date contact details for you, please log in to your Amigo account at http://www.amigoloans.co.uk/login and ensure your personal details are correct. This includes mobile phone numbers, email address(es), address including postcode.
What happens next
On the 21st of December Amigo announced a proposal called a Scheme of Arrangement (“Scheme”) for customers – both borrowers and guarantors. Amigo’s objective with the Scheme is to ensure that all of our customers are treated fairly and no customer receives a benefit that disadvantages another. We have not stopped processing complaints but have stopped paying out redress. This is so that those customers are treated consistently and fairly with all customers under the Scheme.
When we are able to provide you with further updates on the progress of the proposal we will contact you in due course. Should you require additional information in relation to the scheme please read our FAQs on the following link to our website. https://www.amigoloans.co.uk/question/scheme-of-arrangement-faqs
Kyle the tent guy says
My case is with a senior FO investigator. She said she has agreed the second loan was unaffordable and so did Amigo. The reason it’s taking long is because she is looking into this “unpaid interest” and how they reach this conclusion. So I guess maybe when she does reach a decision, or someone els does it will create a precedent. Fingers crossed one gets through and it creates an avalanche of acceptances ay… I have fait in my FO.
James says
Hi Kyle
How long did you have to wait for your complaint to be allocated? I’ve been waiting for 10 months now
Kyle the tent dude says
Hey James,
I put my initial complaint in on the start of March. I called the FO after a while to tell them I was homeless and they put me on priority about end of March. I waited a further 6 months ish I would say, then it was picked up, then dropped again hahah, then picked up and someone was looking into it and then dropped it without telling me, so I complained to their manager. She allocated mine to someone els. All in all it took me around 7-8 months to be with someone properly and I was on priority. It’s still being investigated atm. It’s the unpaid interest that’s stopping them atm I think coz it was a new thing amigo done to get out of paying people. If you’re not on priority I would say you could be looking at somewhere between 1 year and maybe couple months after that maybe.
James p says
Hi Kyle
Thanks for the reply
Yea it’s on priority apparently but it really doesn’t feel like it at all. I have now complained and someone from the ombudsman emailed me yesterday with the usual standard spill asking me what my complaint was for etc, so I said it’s the length of time being 10 months now.
I had 4 loans in total with the company, each one I paid a few months and then topped up each time, the final loan was a loan for £7500 over 5 years at £279 a month, still paying it but paying £100 a month for now, have been for last year. Still owe £3500 ish, which I work out to be all interest. Total loan payback would be £16 odd grand for £7500 ouch.
Anyway When I first complained I asked for my SAr which They sent me. Over 100 pages I reckon. Credit files showed I had outstanding debt total £20k and bank statements showed a debt management plan with pay plan, and gambling transactions, so I really think I have a good case to complain I shouldn’t of been lent to. Maybe Sara can comment on this?
I’m still in a debt management plan with StepChange and owe £9000 so it’s all going down, but I’m not in the best position financially and just wanna put this guarantor loan thing to bed, any payout I just wanna clear my debt
James P
Sara (Debt Camel) says
bank statements showed a debt management plan with pay plan, and gambling transactions
That sounds like a good case to me.
James p says
Thanks Sara for your reply, I’m surprised they just declined my initial complaint to them, Considering they sent me my Copies of my bank statements, no sign of any thing either that showed my guarantor could afford the loan maybe they wouldn’t send me that due to data protection. I think they were just hoping I’d walk away and not take it to me the FOs. I just want the fOS now to allocate my complaint and deal with it, 10 months is such a long time to wait
L says
How odd! My partner made a claim through fos in November & Then got a pay out start of Dec! £3000.
I made a claim middle of December & haven’t herd anything at all.
Jax says
Hi, does providing bank statements help with the complaint investigation please (not at FOS stage, but during the company’s internal investigation)? Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It does with some lenders. I always recommend sending bank statements – it puts you firmly in the right – you have given the lender all the information they need to see the loan was unaffordable.
I suggest doing this even if the bank statements show gambling. Obviously, this is not something you are proud of – but the point is that is what the lender would have seen if they had done a proper assessment of the affordability of the loan.
Jax says
Thank you for the advice Sara. I assume it also helps them to see what the FOS opinion might be if the complaint is escalated.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, that’s right.
Jax says
My complaint has been upheld but I’m confused about this statement. Am I reading this wrong or is what they’re saying contradicting the paragraph they have put in about the FOS guidance?
Please note that this reduction will not show on your online balance immediately, but we can assure you that your account will be noted to reflect our resolution and once the remaining agreed balance has been repaid, a balance adjustment will be applied to your account and your loan will be closed down earlier than scheduled.
This is in line with FOS guidance: https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/businesses/complaints-deal/consumer-credit/unaffordable-lending “Our starting point is that the borrower has had the benefit of the money they borrowed and it’s fair that they should pay it back. So if a borrower has a complaint upheld and there is still an outstanding balance on the credit we will usually tell the lender to remove all the interest and charges applied from the start – so that the new starting balance consisting of only the amount lent is left – and then deduct any payments already made. If this results in the borrower having paid too much, then any overpayments should be refunded, adding 8% simple interest.”
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Your credit record should show the amount you actually owe now, or it is inaccurate. And the amount you actually owe has been reduced in line with the FOS guidance. So your credit record should show that lower amount.
Jax says
Thanks Sara
Dee says
Hi, I currently have a loan with Amigo, which was for £5,000, I have 2 years worth of payments remaining, however my guarantor managed to get off the loan as he provided evidence that Amigo gave this loan out without the proper checks, my guarantor was helping me with the repayments as I am a student and unemployed, my question is, without a guarantor now is my loan invalid as it was given to me on the basis of my guarantors income?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, it is now just a normal non-guarantor loan.
Do you have other debts?
If you can’t make the payments now, you can ask for a payment arrangement, eg £1 a month.
If you think the loan was unaffordable from the start then you to should make an affordability complaint saying you should not have been given the lian, as the article above explains.
Sarah says
Hi Sara
I’d like some advice regarding a guarantor loan I have with Everyday loans and wondering if I can make a claim for them to freeze the interest.
Am I able to contact you directly?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, sorry. Read the article above which explains how to send in an affordability complaint – it’s pretty easy!
Sarah says
Thank you I’ve read it and submitted a complaint, really useful information.
Has anyone successfully submitted a claim through trusttwo (everyday loans)
Interested to hear other stories.
Simon says
I did with George Banco who are part of same group. Very much dependant on your circumstances. They became difficult to deal with but FOS ripped them to pieces in their response.
Long process, stick with it
Sarah says
Thank you. Did you request them to put your payments an account on hold/freeze interest until investigated? Can I do this? Cancel with my bank? I had two loans one top up last amount £6,300 paid £7,933.12 back so far.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes you can do this but you need to explain to your guarantor what is happening.
When you stop paying, Amigo will go after your guarantor, so your guarantor also needs to cancel their direct debit to Amigo.
If your guarantor does this, it will NOT affect their credit record – if they check their credit reports they will see the Amigo loan is not on them.
Amigo may threaten to take you and the guarantor to court. They should not do this when there is a complaint open and in practice they don’t. Their threats are just bluffs.
Sarah says
Thank you. It’s with Trust two submitted my complaint earlier in the week. They acknowledged my complaint yesterday. Requested that my payments and interest be frozen until the claim is investigated and they told me to speak with the collections department. They’ve point blank refused to put my account on hold and freeze any interest even though I’m on a dmp and the loan is listed as outgoings (never missed a payment with them due to family supporting me with this loan) so will have to continue getting support from family until the 8 weeks is up.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Can I ask who your guarantor is?
Sarah says
It’s my mum
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then one option is to talk to your mum and explain what is happening and why you want to stop paying, but if you doo this she also needs to cancel her direct debit to TT to stop them taking the money from her. Not easy, I know.
Have your finances been affected by Covid-19? If they have, you can ask for a 3 month covid-19 payment deferral – and if your finances are still difficult at the end of 3 months ask for another 3 months. the big advanatage of this is that TT cannot ask your gurantor to pay when you have a covid-19 payments break.
Miss Sunshine says
Hi there,
Does anybody have any information on UK Credit, as in How likely are they to agree with adjudicator decision?
Thank you in advance
Alexandra says
Hi, I have done a affordability complaint with UK credit. It didn’t go to FOS though as they uphold my claim. They waved my remaining loan which was £3470 and refunded me £1400. The loan was of £5000 for 5 years. They have been fair in my case, I had the money paid into my account two days later.
JR says
I had a good experience with UK Credit once the adjudicator had given them his decision, and they were quick and helpful to send the redress just a couple of days after.
Alexandra says
Hi Sara, a very quick question, can I cancel a complaint that I sent to the FOS ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Why do you want to do this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The circumstances matter because it changes what you should do. A few situations – yours could be different:
– if the lender has now made you an acceptable offer, you just email that to FOS and ask them to close the case. This isn’t cancelling it.
– if you have realised that you had actually complained about the wong lender and never borrowed from X (this has happened with payday loans, I haven’t heard of it with a guarantor loan – as they are so much larger and more painful people rarely forget who they borrwed from!) you need to explain this to FOS.
– if the lender has threatened you with court/reporting you for fraud unless you withdraw your case, then you need to tell FOS who may prioritise your case. This happened in the early days of payday loan affordbility – in one memorable case the lender told an ombudsman they would prosecute for fraud if the complaint was upheld, the ombudsman said that was their decision and promptly upheld the case for all the loans, there then was no prosecution of course.
Alexandra says
Hi, yes the lender has made an acceptable offer. The complain hasn’t probably reached FOS yet, but when it does, will they contact me first so I can withdraw? I can email them but I am not sure what I can say as I don’t have a case number or anything. As I accepted the offer and confirmed I will not take it any further I am a little worried as I don’t want FOS to open a case against them.
Also if i close the case will the lender know that I complained about them ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you have sent FOS the complaint but don’t yet have the acknowledgement of it? The simple thing is to wait until you do – it normally takes a week or two – and then reply that you have already accepted the lender offer and enclose a copy of that offer so you would like the case closed.
I don’t know at what point FOS let the lender know – it may be the same point as the acknowledgement to you. But this doesn’t really matter to you as it will be clear that you sent in the complaint before their offer and you have now told FOS to close the case.
Njw says
Hi, if a guarantor wins an affordability complaint do they get full refund of their payment or just interest.
If they get full refund and the loan is already settled what happens to the owing amount? As their is no balance for it to be put on?
Situation is my account is settled. Borrowed 7.5k withTFS loans starting balance with interest was £14622.. paid £304. Per month and account was settled in about 25 months with a final payment of 5386.
My affordability complaint is with fos who I think will find in my favour.
TFS found guarantor complaint in her favour, she made the final payment
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A guarantor gets a full refund of all the payments they made. the reason for this is they derived no benefit from the loan so why should they have to repay any of it?
TFS is likely to argue that the payments by the guarantor should be removed from the loan account which will be reopened. If you repaid 25 lots of £304, that is £7600. So you will have paid a small bit more than you borrowed so you should get that back as a refund.
Did you make any payments to your guarantor?
Njw says
I repaid my guarantor. TFS don’t know she paid it yet as she transferred me the money and I settled (so we can prove it with bank statements etc)
In reality then I would be better to see if I win my complaint because then they will refund me somewhere in the region of 5.5k in interest and won’t try and re-open the account as in total I paid back around 12.5k on a 7.5k loan
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If TFS don’t know she paid it, they will ignore her and just refund you.
You would have been a bit better off if they had refunded her as she would get the 8% extra on the principal amount whereas you will only on the interest amount but this is pretty small and in your case you don’t have an option – they took the repayments from you not her and they will not refund her whjatever you say. So I suggest no complicating and delaying things and just pursue your complaint .
Chris says
Can you point me to the rules and regulations used to allow a company to place the balance back? I cant find one and cant fathom out how the regulator allows this. It is nothing more than a made up redress process of which the company expects the borrower to pay them more money.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
All redress practices are to some extent made up – they are not written in regulations. Instead there is a body of FOS decisions that determine what is fair.
In your case are the borrower and the guarantor on good terms? Have you completed the Amigo forms and did you both say the same thing?
Chris says
The relationship between both parties is irrelevant in my opinion. This is a redress practice that puts a borrower at a huge disadvantage. The borrower has no say in the outcome if a guarantor wants a refund. In most instances, why would you make a complaint if you are then expected to pay more money back to the business? It is the business who are at fault and reopening a loan because they choose to redress guarantor is nothing short of scandalous. Why did Amigo stop their process? Because they know full well it is outrageous. Has anybody actually challenged this at a high level?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
There are a lot of FOS cases. My guess is FOS and Amigo will have agreed some test cases which are being determined – I don’t know if any are at FD (Final Decision) stage.
But Amigo stopped in order to reduce payouts in my view. In the large majority of cases there is no dispute between borrower and guarantor – there is simply no reason why Amigo should not have paid these refunds.
M says
Happy update time – I came across this site almost 2 years ago and submitted my first affordability complaint in March 2019. I had borrowed from pretty much every lender (payday and guarantor) on the market and my financial situation was in the worst situation ever. Now just under 2 years later, the last and final complaint has been resolved. I was able to come to an agreement with some lenders directly, some went bust, others went to the FOS and were settled at the adjudicator level. Only one went to the Ombudsman. It is a long struggle but I can assure you it is worth it in the end. A massive thank you to Sara and this site. Without it I would not have known about any of this.
Kyle the tent dude says
Hey humans, I emailed my Senior FO investigator about my case on “unpaid interest”. She said that she is nearly finished her decision on it and should have it done by the end of this month, if not sooner. So hopefully this will be a break through with this unpaid interest stuff they are trying to pull. Fingers crossed for everyone. I will let you guys know what she says.
Clare says
This is really helpful. Thank you for sharing
LEE says
Fab, I will be interested so see the outcome of her decision as they lumped over £2k’s worth on my account after partially upholding my complaint
Clare says
Hi Kyle have you had any update on this?
Chanel Dodd says
Hi Sara,
So I completed a complaint last year with bamboo and they partially honoured it they removed my guarantor and wiped around half of the remaining balance. On my credit score it is still showing what the balance would be without some of the balance been taken off. When I contacted bamboo, they said once I had paid off my outstanding balance (will take 2 years) then there dedication will automatically come off. Surely they should make there deduction now?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes. Your credit report at the moment is inaccurate and that is a breach of the data protection rules. Send them a new complaint about this.
Simon says
I have had the same conversation with them this week. I owe £300 but it says £2300 on my credit file. They told me they are right to do so! These companies make it up as they go along
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well if the £300 will be repaid soon it may not be worth arguing about this. Otherwise send them a new complaint!