UPDATES:
Do not use the template on this page for Amigo, Buddy, George Banco, Trust Two, Glo. It is now too late to complain about them.
For TFS see TFS Loans goes into administration.
Guarantor loans are very expensive. Often the lender didn’t check properly that you could manage the loan repayments without having to borrow more. It doesn’t matter how well off your guarantor was, you had to also be able to afford the repayments yourself.
If proper checks would have shown that you couldn’t afford the repayments, complain! This article includes a template letter 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). In 2019, FOS issued a major decision upholding a borrower’s complaint against a guarantor lender. After that, FOS started upholding the very large majority of guarantor loan complaints it was sent, sometimes over 80%.
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, Buddy, George Banco, Trust Two, TFS, Consollo, Glo. It is now too late to complain about them or you have to go to the administrators – see the update at the top of this page.
For all other guarantor lenders, including ones that have stopped lending, send your complaint by email – here is a list of lender email addresses:
Guarantormyloan – customerservice@guarantormyloan.co.uk
Hero Loans (Hamilton Greig) – collections@heroloans.co.uk (put COMPLAINT as the title)
Juo Loans – customerservices@shelbyfinance.com
LendFair – in liquidation. Contact angus.gilles@mhllp.co.uk.
Suco – hello@suco.co.uk (ignore any suggestions to contact ODR – you want a reply to your complaint from Suco and send the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman if it is rejected.)
UKCredit – no longer lending but you can still complain to welcome@ukcredit.co.uk (put COMPLAINT as the title)
1 plus 1 complaints@1plus1loans.co.uk.
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.
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 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 or are thinking of one of these options
- 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
Bee says
It was the 8 week deadline for Amigo to respond to my complaint today and I’ve heard nothing! I have sent the complaint off to the FOS just now. I logged onto my online amigo to get my loan reference and it says I cannot access my online account anymore, and to call them if I need any information. Why would they do this? I don’t understand.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you phone them up in the morning and ask why they haven’t replied.
Emma says
Hi all
Thankyou to Sara for your advice on here and everyone’s comments.
Today we have heard back from Amigo. They have removed the guarantor.
Paying the guarantor the money back he has paid.
And will be adding that to the balance but taking off all other interest already paid. So a step in the right direction.
Thankyou
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Was a lot of money paid back to the guarantor? But taking the interest off the outstanding loan means you are still a lot better off I hope!
Bee says
So I have just received my response from Amigo Literally this second! They are refunding me all interest plus the 8% statutory interest paid. They are refunding my husband 2 payments he made towards the loan when I couldn’t, and removing him as a guarantor. My 10k loan is now 3k! Even thoughI paid my husband back the 2 payments he made for me when we get this refund we will use the money to book a weekend away with the kids! I can’t believe I didn’t even have to take it to the FOS! Thank you Sara so much for this site I am ecstatic!
Emma says
Hi Sara
The guarantor is getting £3600 and they are taking similar off the loan. But the adding the £3600 back on its around the same but interest free. So not much better off but at least the guarantor is sorted.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you may want to consider taking the complaint to FOS, saying that it is unfair. At the moment we don’t know what FOS will say about these cases where a large amount of money has been added back to the loan. If it was £600 and you were having £3600 interest removed that that would be clear that you were better off after winning your complaint – but as it is, that isn’t clear. There is an argument that says that the lender would have to write off the amounts it incorrectly took from the guarantor – I’m not saying that FOS will take that line, but this is a very large amount of money for you and it seems worth a try.
Robinson says
Amigo update
Oct 18 – referred to FOS
June 5th – adjudicator assigned
July 22nd – decision to refund all interest
July 24th – amigo account cleared
July 30th – remaining refund in my account
Thank you Sara and everybody else 👍🏻
Rachel says
I put a complaint directly to Amigo regarding affordability and they would not take responsibility – I took my complaint to the FOS in January 2019 and got a response just last week (26/07/19).
My complaint has been upheld and interest/charges are to be refunded plus 8% interest. My loans date back to 2012/2013 so it’s worth trying to get a refund if it’s over 6 years.
I’m hoping to get a few thousand refunded and await Amigo to contact me within 4 weeks.
I understand they deduct anything refunded from your outstanding balance however I was fortunate to pay off my loan in full early with help from my partner so I’ll be treating us to a holiday with the money!!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Great! So this was an adjudicator decision in your favour? the good news is that Amigo seems to be accepting all of these – fingers crossed they accept yours.
Or did Amigo change their mind and make you an offer?
Rachel says
So the FOS Adjudicator upheld my complaint with a final response issued on the 26th July.
Amigo loans contacted me the following Tuesday to arrange a refund and this was received on 2nd August.
sid ahmed says
Hi,
I v got a problem to repay my loan with amigoloans and i noticed that i did a repayment of 240 pounds every month during 3 years and still the outstanding balance is 5000 pounds, the same amount that i borrowed please could you explain me this fact.Thanks
best regards
sid
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That doesn’t sound right. Phone Amigo up and ask them to check the numbers.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is it going to cause hardship to make the Aug 1st payment? It’s going to be the least stressful option if you can.
Linz says
Hello,
I have received my final response from Amigo saying they are not upholding my complete and they are going to contact my guarantor to let them know they are giving me breathing space. I will still make my payments, I didn’t think they would contact my guarantor?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send your complaint straight to the Financial Ombudsman. Do you want to carry on making the loan repayments while this goes through the Ombudsman?
andy says
hi , I have just used to template to complain to buddy loans , I am only month 3 into the loan and have been making payments I am hoping to get the interest removed.
do you think my points in my email are good enough or am I likely to have to go further .
i have a CCJ on my file showing i have never been able to look after my finances properly , missed payments to priority bills gas and electricity and a number of late payments to most if not all other creditors
you should of saw that every time i paid off my payday loans i took them out again straight away for the maximum amount .
You did not ask me for proof of my income or expenses. i didn’t upload any bank statements
allowing me to have this loan has added even more stress to my life than i had before , i should never of been allowed it even with a guarantor , the loan should of been given to me in principle not on the back of when i fail its ok it will be covered . why did my guarantor have to upload documents and i did not.
I am asking you to remove the interest from the remaining balance so I only have to repay what I borrowed and to allow me to reduce my monthly payments to an affordable amount.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think that looks fine to start the complaint with. You also want to ask them for a copy of all your personal information. And it may be a good idea to attach your bank statements from 3 months before your application.
If your guarantor couldnt afford the repayments, tell them to complain too
Stuart says
Hi Sara
I have initiated an irresponsible lending complaint thanks to your information.
I done all the standard things I.e sent them bank statements etc showing a gambling problem I had at the time and payday loans etc. I took out the loan for 7500 over 36 months paying 365.92 back per month which was a struggle. Tomorrow is what should have been my final payment and whilst logging onto my account it showed I would still owe 498.85!
I called them today and they said because the loan was paid out on 16th of the month and the 1st payment was paid at the end of the following month more interest was added. They added 414.00 interest the day after the loan was taken out! I have added this today to my complaint as I was never informed interest added would accrue interest on top of interest. I remember at the time they said there would be a little more interest for the 2 week delay but I cannot believe that has amounted to nearly 500.00.
They have until 22nd August to let me know if my complaint has been upheld.
Have you heard this before?
Many thanks
Stuart
Isa says
I have had phone Amigo and made a complaint last May 27 of this year had a final response July 26 and complaint upheld with a 13k plus refund including 8% interest. I accepted this and send them email that i am happy with the result they answered back that funds will be on my account in 3 to 5 working days. Currrently over the moon about the result…i havent wrote a letter to them only phone call.
PSA says
hi sara,
I’ve just recently been advised to check out debt camel regarding refunds as I’ve taken out numerous payday loans and also have a guarantor loan which has rolled over 4 times since november 2016. i have put in complaints regarding the payday loans and about to start the process with the guarantor loans which are with buddy loans. I’ve had massive gambling problems in the past and numerous defaults and cci’s on my credit file. what are other peoples experiences like dealing with buddy?
thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You are only the second person to mention them and the first was in the last few days. They are a pretty small lender. Just use the normal template and don’t be surprised if they reject your complaint, send it straight to the Ombudsman.
david says
Amigo have just called me confirming the refund is now being calculated and will be with me today and that I do not need to make my next scheduled payment tomorrow (advised to cancel Direct Debit). This was without any further contact from the FOS after I confirmed acceptance of their findings only yesterday, so fair play to Amigo on this, they seem to be really on the ball fixing these issues which is one thing we should commend them on despite our original grievances. Shame the same cannot be said about other companies!
Ultimately the desired outcome on my part and it would not have even been possible without the help of various users on here and of course the delightful Sara!
Next problem: trying to arrange repayments of my various debts with the refund! (should I offer reduced settlements or pay full balances?)
Lou7 says
A quick question. Can you ask amigo to remove the guarantor or not? It’s just the waiting is stressful and my mum is my guarantor, but I know lots of people are in the same boat.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if you win your case, the guarantor should be removed.
Lisa says
Has anyone checked whilst they are waiting to hear or for those that have had their final response if they are / were still having interest added? I’m 5 weeks in and noticed no interest since around 12th July Ish? I called them and they advised that complaints department have put a hold on this,I’m confused as a friend of mine has also complained and his interest is still being added and we are both 5 weeks in?
David says
Either way if the interest I stopped you are paying less now, or if it’s not stopped and you win then you’d get it refunded with 8% extra annually. Win win either way really.
David says
Hi Sara.
So in total from receiving FOS decision, less than a 3 day turnaround and the refund is in my bank, the account is clear and I’m happy as a pig in you know what.
Thank you again so much for the advice along the way.
May I point out again, fair play to Amigo, fast action and true to their word in the end.
Debbie says
So have received this from Amigo today:
Thank you for your patience while I have reviewed these statements. Having done so, I can confirm that we will provide a refund of interest on these loans.
I had two loans one for £1900 taken in 2011 and a top up for £5000 taken 2013. I tried unsuccessfully to complain about unaffordable lending but Amigo rejected my claim and because I was so scared about them chasing my husband who was the guarantor I didn’t send it to the FO. Since Dec 2015 I had been paying a reduced amount while they kept adding on the interest up to the original amount that was on the agreement 6K until May 2017 when I had repaid the loan amount and was just repaying the interest. The debt was sold in March to Intrum and it at this time my husband made a complaint and asked to be removed as guarantor.
I truly didn’t expect to get anywhere, but they reviewed to complaint and upheld it, removing my husband. They also requested my bank statements for the periods before each of the loans and said that they would conduct a review. Then today I get the response above. If they are true to their word I will get back over £4k plus interest.
I should know by Monday so as you can imagine I’m keeping my fingers crossed. To everyone who is thinking of putting in a claim against Amigo “do it”, I wish I had pursued mine earlier.
Danielle says
Hi guys Iv recieved an email today amigos have squashed my loan and are paying me interest back which I am over the moon with does anybody know how long it takes to receive the money
Jane says
Hi Danielle,
It was 3 days for me but, some have been faster and some will be slower!
I found them very pleasant (for a change!!) on the phone. Worth calling Customer Relations on 01202 835170 to chase up any concerns.
L says
Update!!
Amigo refunded all interest plus 8% simple interest.
Seemed to have added interest back on however so I queried this, they were adamant they were right and it’s just the way the statement shows it.
I wasn’t convinced so replied querying it again, low and behold yes they were wrong and had added interest on.
It’s now been removed so just under £7k refunded, no more interest going foward and £1902 left to pay, should be clear by end of year.
If you get refunds please check your statement and calculations.
Thanks
L
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Good news! You should be able to add the Amigo debt into your DMP if you want.
Debbie says
Update:
Had this email yesterday
Further to my email last Thursday I’m writing to update you on the progress of your refund.
As your account was sold to Intrum, we firstly need to arrange for the debt to be passed back to us. Once this has been completed we can calculate and process your refund.
We are in contact with Intrum and this process is already underway. While I cannot provide an exact timeframe at this stage, I would anticipate that this process will be complete by the end of August.
——————————-
This was on a loan that was 8 yrs old and a top loan over 6 yrs old, a rejected complaint for unaffordability and the debt being sold. The last option was for my husband to put in a complaint and ask to be removed as the guarantor. Amigo removed him and then investigated if the loans should have been given and this is the result.
Don’t give up until you have tried all possible routes.
Jane says
Sara,
So sorry it’s me again! I noticed earlier in the thread a few people commenting on Amigo’s 8% simple interest calculations and how confusing it is!I have queried my redress and am still totally confused despite their explanation…
First response from Amigo:
We calculated the 8% simple interest from the date you made a payment towards the interest on either loan, to the date of settlement (the date of the settlement calculation.) The total simple interest for each of your loans is £141.34 and £1535.74.
Emailed again as my calculations differ especially on the 2nd amount and Amigo say:
I apologise if my previous explanation of how we calculate the 8% simple interest wasn’t clear. As you know, we calculate interest on our loans daily, and apply it monthly. Each month when you’ve made a payment, part of this has gone towards the interest that has accrued and the remainder has been deducted from the balance. This means that, over the course of your loan, you have made payments towards the interest each month. Therefore, when calculating the 8% simple interest, we have considered when you’ve made payments towards the interest, rather than just using the first date that you made a payment towards the interest.
Clear as mud to me!! Any advice welcome….Many thanks!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Jane,
can you give some details about the loans and I can say if the 8% looks very wrong…
For loan 1 – how much did you borrow and on what date? How much did you pay in monthly payments? Did the guarantor make any payments? Then this was settled from loan2 I assume – what date? how much of loan 2 was used to settle this loan?
For loan 2, how much did you borrow? How much did you pay in monthly payments? Did the guarantor make any payments?
PF says
Hi Guys, Just received my Amigo response and they have told me I am over the six-year timescale so won’t investigate – off to the FOS then
AJ says
Hi Sarah
Just received a response from Amigo loans. Firstly I would like to say thank you for your help. Amigo agreed to partially upheld my complaint. They are going to refund me the interest I had paid on my loan plus 8% simple interest. Also refund payments to my guarntor that she made. I am so happy.
Thank you for your help. I hope everyone sees this and gets there Claim’s with amigo ASAP.
Shahid says
Hi AJ and Sara
I have just received an email too from Amigo.
They are doing the same. Removed interest, guarantor and adverse credit ratings.
Can they add interest in future?
Thank you so much!! This site is amazing
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No they can’t start adding interest again!
Well done, great results for both of you. If there is staill a balance owing, this is the time to get Amigo to agree to a repayment plan for it at a rate you can afford. If you are in a DMP< the debt can now be included like any other normal debt.
PF says
Hi Sara, Please can you help me understand the below response from Amigo:
‘You have had one Loan with us to date. The agreement number was xxxxxx, the loan was for £xxxxx, it was paid out on the 15th of July 2010 and the account was settled on the 7th of October 2014. The Financial Ombudsman state that there are time limits for a customer to raise a complaint. They state that these times limits are “six years from the event the consumer is complaining about(or -if later- three years from when the consumer knew, or could reasonably have known, they had cause to complain)”.
Given the above the decision has been made not to investigate your concerns is in line with information provided by the Financial Ombudsman.
My original complaint was sent to Amigo on the 10th June 2019 – surely they should at least investigate my complaint as it is within the timescales???
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You won’t win an argument with a bad credit lender about this sort of thing – send it to the Financial Ombudsman asap. It’s up to FOS to interpret how to apply its rules to your case, not the lender.
vk says
i am in a similar situation.I initially took a loan of 5k and after 8 months topped up to 10k.When i topped up my loan i am already behind on payments with various lenders and my income and expenditure showed its unmanageable.I said my wife will support me but now she is on unpaid maternity leave and hence i am entering into DMP.The worry is they never asked about my wife income and expenditure or proof and they paid the loan so irresponsibilly just based on guaronteer affordability.
I raised a complaint today with Amigo.Do we know how long does it take to be resolved and do i have chances for the interest to be paid back.
i am really stressed with the amount of interest and below are the calculations
loan taken-10k
outstanding balance after 12 months-9850
interest paid-4200
after 1 year of my monthly emis i managed to clear just 150 pounds from principle amount which is shocking
Many thanks
Vk
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi vk, anyone who has topped up an Amigo loan has a very good case for interest to be removed from the current loan. And very possibly with the original loan as well.
I can’t estimate chances but send to the Ombudsman if Amigo don’t uphold
Jane says
Hi Sara,
Thank you so much for your help.
Loan 1: £1500 taken out on 2nd July 2013. First payment/interest accrued on 29.07.13 Payments were £73.18. No guarantor payments.
Topped up to £4,000 on 7th January 2014. Paid £1366.91 to settle old loan and received £2633.09 to bring new loan to £4,000.
Loan 2: £4,000 and first payment/interest on 01 Feb 2014 paying £158.10. No guarantor payments. Loan finished January 2019.
Settlement calculation date was 29th July 2019. All interest refunded (£305.99 and £5276.97) and simple interest at 8% £141.34 and £1535.74. Total received £7260.04.
Math is not may strong point unfortunately…thanks so much!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Loan 1 – the interest refunded 305 looks right. The 8% calculation looks about right – not noticeably low.
Loan 2 – you made 60 payments of £158.10 ? Can you double-check that? If it’s right, it adds up to £9486. Less £4k borrowed gives interest you paid to be refunded of £5486. Not £5276.97 …
So that is £210 more which will then mean the 8% calculation should also be higher.
the 8% seem to have been calculated using an average of 3.6 years – on a loan started 5.5 years ago and finished .5 years ago that looks a bit low. Normally the interest payments are more weighted to the start of the loan. CAn you ask Amigo for a payment schedule for loan 2 showing how much of each months payments was interest?
DONNA says
Hello, Ive topped up about 4 times now, does all this apply to me? My interest are bigger than my payments so I am getting nowhere fast, can anyone please advise? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you have topped up 4 times, I think you should complain and say all your loans were unaffordable. Very often it’s the repayments on the first loan that made someone’s life so difficult that they borrowed more and hence got the top ups. The first loan was unaffordable.
So put in a complaint using the template letter above. If you don’t want the lender (is it Amigo?) to go after your guarantor you will have to keep making the payments while the complaint goes through.
Michelle says
Hi,
Just wanted to share my success story with Amigo loans. I took about a loan of £3,500 in 2015 and topped up in 2016. I had a huge amount of payday loans and credit card debt and there was no way I could afford the repayments. I used the loan to pay off debt but it wasn’t enough. I never missed a repayment with amigo but I did struggle every month (usually with nothing left). I sent in my complaint last August and they of course rejected it. Took it to the ombudsman (in December) and got a call 2 weeks ago saying that Amigo have made an offer to wipe the loan (my balance was £3718) and pay me back the interest + 8%.
A few days later a received £1450 from them :)
It seems that they made the offer before the ombudsman made a decision
It’s taken a year but I’m so happy! I was currently paying £217 per month, and now I can put that in savings!
Thank you Sarah for your awesome template!
Sophie says
Hi,
I have written to my complaint letter Amigo today and they have replied and included within it wrote “Based on what you have said, I’ve turned off your Direct Debit and automated card payments.”
Anybody else received this and do they mean until they send me a response?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you used my template here that said
I want to carry on making the normal monthly payments because I do not want my guarantor to be affected in any way by my complaint.
As Amigo have replied they are stopping collecting your DD, I think it’s worth checking with them that they will NOT be telling your guarantor that you have made a complaint and they will NOT be telling your guarantor that they have missed payments.
i would be interested to know what they reply!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
For anyone reading this and thinking it sounds worrying,
Sophie got a full refund on her loans and an extra £50 from Amigo who agreed they should not have switched off her direct debit!
Gary says
Hi sara,
I’ve taken out a affordability claim with amigo on 5 loans,they are happy with the service gor the first 3,claiming that they were affordable, which to be honest probably were.
They have upheld my claim on my 2 recent loans £1500 and £10,000 saying that more in-depth scrutiny should’ve been applied on their credit check.
So,they have asked for bank statements from June 2017 to December 2017.
My bank statements that I’ve sent will show that i was paying 6 or 7 hundreds to 4 or 5 payday lenders on a monthly basis.
Do you think that amigo are admitting fault at thos point?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Amigo are saying they didn’t check properly.
So they now want to know what they would have seen if they had checked properly… that’s why they want to see the bank statements. If they show the loans were unaffordable, they will refund the interest on loan 4 and remove the interest from loan 5.
Gary says
Thanks for the reply sara.
The 4th loan was actually for £3,000,my mistake.
I got that on September 2017 with several payday lenders ,but they then offered me a £10,000 top up which i took.
Is 3 month sufficient time to be offering top ups?
I made 5 £487 instalments before the debt was crippling me and agreed a payment plan for £400 which i have paid 11 times.
On the bank statements i sent,i had wonga,amigo,safety net credit, lending stream, quickquid,tesco credit card,and BOS loan payments.
I also had a £90 payment for using an unauthorised overdraft after i went over my £1600 authorized overdraft.
I was also in the middle of my gambling addiction,which in November 2017(a month before top up) i spent £680 Ladbrokes and william hill and it shows on my statements.
Do you think that i should see a happy result.
Alyss says
Ho Sara amigo finally paid out putting my loan balance from 14,000 to a easy 3500. They tried to only credit me short in the first place with 2072 missing so I emailed and within a day this was credited to my amigo account with their apologises for the mistake I’ve then had to go back to them saying I’m still owed 1400 from the charges of intrest and I’m waiting to see what their reply is but thank God that massive 10,000 off head so it can now be much easier to pay plus no more intrest to be added so my balance will go down monthy and now should be paid off in the next year but I warn everyone to check sums as they dont seem to want to pay out the in full what they owe I think to try and save money from all these pay outs
Luke says
Hi,
I have been advised by the adjudicator that Amigo have offered to refund all interest and charges on my two loans, plus 8% simple interest. Amigo being the cowboys that they are, wrote to me Friday saying they’ve refunded one loan. After writing back to them explaining I had two loans they apologised and added this on too.
I asked for a breakdown of the refunds and they haven’t refunded the debit interest in the month’s that my guarantor paid them, they also haven’t refunded the commission at the start of the loan. Could you advise if this is normal? I was under the impression that all interest paid on the loan, plus charges/commission should be refunded?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They should have refunded the interest your guarantor paid to the guarantor, are you in contact with the guarantor?
I haven’t come across “commission” at the start of the loan, but I would have thought that would be classified as a “charge” so it too should be refunded.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
two people today have said Amigo calculated the refund wrongly. It’s worth double checking these, it may be a lot of money!
Luke says
Has everyone that has been refunded had the broker commission refunded? Amigo have not refunded the broker commission on either of my loans.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Interested to see people’s replies to this. Have you asked Amigo to refund the commission?
Luke says
I asked last week and keep getting told they will reply by the end of the day. Yet to receive a response so I have passed it back to the ombudsman to investigate.
Sarah Reid says
Hi Sara
I too have raised a complaint with Amigo early Feb 2019 and still awaiting my complaint to be assigned to an investigator. I spoke with FOS last week about fast tracking my complaint but there is only two types of criteria they will consider to do this:-
1) is there court action pending in respect of your mortgage or rental agreement? Do you have a date for repossession or a final court hearing? (Notices of default and demands for payment, whilst strongly worded, do not constitute the kind of legal action that we could fast track a complaint for)
2) Is there a medical condition which is (i) severe, and/or (ii) life‐threatening /terminal, and/or (iii) makes time “of the essence”?
If the answer is yes to one or both of the two questions; and, you will need provide evidence to this service verifying this, then a fast-track could be considered.
I do not fit this criteria and will have to wait my turn.
I also asked what position I am in the queue? They stated that in the pool of complaints that I am allocated to, there 1,943 cases and my position is 1,810 – not looking like any soon then.
Hope this helps!
Nelson says
Hi Sara
I have two questions and wondered if you can advise please:
1. I have asked this before, but still can’t get my thick head around it, so please accept my apologies! I have submitted a complaint to Amigo and waiting for a response. 7 loans over 6 years (inc. top-ups). The current loan is still outstanding and the balance is c. £8.5k of a £9k loan. I have worked out from all payments for all loans (all monthly payments + settlement of old loans) that I have paid a total of £10.8k to-date. I have also worked out a rough 8% statutory interest on those payments of £1.2k. Therefore, IF I was to have my affordability complaint upheld in full then, based on the numbers above, would I get £12k back as a redress and is the expectation that I would use this to pay the current balance of £8.5k to clear the loan?
2. I haven’t yet provided my bank statements to Amigo as I haven’t had their final response. I am very certain that they won’t uphold my complaint so it will have to go to the FOS, however, my case is based on the fact I had several payday loans, other unsecured lending and gambling transactions during the time I had these loans with Amigo, therefore, am I wise to send these to Amigo before the 8-week response date finishes on the basis that if they had this information they may decide to uphold my complaint?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
1. I can’t work out anything from those figures.
I am just going to say what I said before. You have to work out each loan seperately to have any chance of getting close to the right numbers. this may seem long but there is no shortcut
So say for loan 1 you borrowed £1,000 and made 4 payments of £150 = £600. Then you topped up with a new loan for £2500, where £1,100 of which was repaying the first loan and £1,400 came as a new loan to you. For the first loan you paid 600 + 1100 = 1700 – so you paid 700 in interest.
Then do the same for each of the remaining loans that you repaid.
For the last loan it is going to depend on how much you have paid to it. If this is less than what you borrowed, there is a balance to be repaid, which be done from the refunds on the earlier loans. If you have repaid more then you borrowed then the difference in the interest you paid.
2. I would send your bank statements now. what have you got to lose?
Don says
Hi, just wondering if people had a quick acknowledgement response from Amigo after submitting their complaints.
I emailed them on 1st August really a subject access request and complaint and have heard nothing back.
Just wondering if they do tend to send an email of acknowledgement and if so how soon after people received them?
I don’t currently have an active loan with them so don’t know if that would make a difference to their response times.
Thanks
S says
Hi, I received a response the next working by email.
Marty says
I am now wondering in my redress is correct
Loan 2250 total paid 3710.16
Commenced 3.9.2010 for 36 months
Total interest paid 1460.16
Redress given 2284.87 does this seem about right? amigo say it’s correct
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The interest figure is right. The 8% extra figure looks right sort of ball park.
Jemma says
Hi,
Does anyone know how long between sending bank statements to Amigo and getting a decision on whether your complaint is upheld? I received an email from Amigo on Monday 12th informing me they’ve partially upheld my complaint subject to bank statements which I send straightaway. Thanks in advance.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you follow up after a week and say if you haven’t had a decision by two weeks, you will send the case to the ombudsman.
Lr says
I believe what they are saying is your broker commission was added as interest to your loan. They have refunded all interest which includes the commission charge and 8% simple interest on top.
D says
Hi All,
I have received my response from Amigo on the last day of the 8 weeks. the initial loans I took out with them – Loan 1 2008, Loan 2 with 2 top ups – 2009 – 2013, they have refused to investigate as saying over 6 years ago – is there any cases or guidance from the FOS I can respond to them to relook at these earlier loans?
Loan 5 – 7/2017 – not upheld; topped up loan 6 12/2017 partially upheld, loan 7 and 8 top ups also partially upholding as further questions should have been asked. – He asked to see 6 months of bank statements from 10/2017 to 5/2018.
Should I provide them with these statements? they say the reason they want them is to answer the questions that should have been asked before the respective loans were paid out – surely they should have had all the information prior to lending – not after I make a complaint – any guidance please?
thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, these complaints are too new for there to be much of a track record on older loans. A couple of people have had them refunded via FOS but those loans were more recent than 2008 or 2010. Do you have your bank statements for this period of borrowing? if you don’t, I think you may find it hard to win a complaint.
For the more recent loans, they have accepted they did not do adequate checks. But for you to get a refund the Ombudsman would look at what better checks would have shown… that is what Amigo are now trying to do.
Would you be happy with a refund on just loan 6 & 7? If you would, send Amigo the statements and say you are sending the case to FOS in 2 weeks if they haven’t come back to you with a refund.
If you would only be happy with a refund of loan 5 as well, then I suggest you send the statements for 04/17 to 05/18 and ask them to look again at loan 5.
But if you want the earlier loans considered, then you may as well send the case to FOS straight away.
Brenda says
I have emailed amigo to ask for my interest back and said the loans were unaffordable I gave them 30 days to respond they did response but said they are allowed 8 weeks to come to a decision is this right
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Breda,
I guess you didn’t use the template letter on this page. The regulator’s DISP rules say:
the respondent must, by the end of eight weeks after its receipt of the complaint, send the complainant:
(1) a ‘final response’, being a written response from the respondent which:
(a) accepts the complaint and, where appropriate, offers redress or remedial action; or
(b) offers redress or remedial action without accepting the complaint; or
(c) rejects the complaint and gives reasons for doing so;
I suggest you also read the article above and look at that template letter in detail. There may be some points in there that you think you should add to whatever you sent Amigo.
ruby2sday says
Hi lsent amigo my affordability complaint in Feb they have not responded on my complaint even after 3 more emails can l now go straight to the ombudsman ?
Cee says
ruby,
That’s strange, did you get an acknowledgment after sending your complaint ?
ruby2sday says
Yes but only a couple of weeks later saying they hope my finances have improved so l sent another email l have now got acknowledge d but all them months wasted
Nelson says
Hi Debbie
Great news on the outcome of your complaint! That must be a massive relief!
I am also waiting on the response from Amigo, which should be early next week and i’d welcome your advise on a couple of questions I have please?
Did Amigo ask to see your bank statements when they replied at the end of the 8-week period or before then? If they requested these at the end of the 8-week period, how long did it take from that point to inform you that they upheld your complaint, once you had sent them the bank statements?
many thanks
Debbie says
Hi Nelson, When I complained Amigo didn’t ask me for anything they just rejected my complaint. I didn’t follow up with the FO as I was so worried that they would chase my husband and because he couldn’t pay put a charge on our home. It was only after he raised a complaint that I was asked to sent copies of my bank statements. Once Amigo had these I had a response in a couple of weeks.
gemma says
update:
today on the final day of my 8 weeks wait, i received an email from Amigo telling me they agree they didn’t to their checks properly and are refunding me 9339.00. i am in so much shock, was not expecting it to be that easy at all.
Stick with it everyone, really looks like they are taking the refund process more seriously. i didn’t even have to take this the FOS.
Good luck everyone!!
Adam says
Hi guys
I put in a SAR with 1plus1 loans in may. They responded after 7 weeks to tell me they were exempt from dealing with the request due to me wanting to use the information for a complaint. The truth is I called them last year when I was I’m financial difficulty and now they “can’t find” those calls. Even though I have provided phone records of the call and the duration. They sent me a final response letter stating had I have ever called them to explain I was in difficulty they would have offered to help me. I did ask for help and the call ended with the lady ending the call as it was 6:04 and they close at 6. They are now threatening me saying I have wasted their time and they will refer this matter onto their legal and fraud team. I responded a week ago saying give me your fraud teams contact details because your company is breaking the law not me. I have not heard back from them since. Any help or advice? I have all emails going back to may.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is the first report about 1plus1.
Your request for a SAR, was this on its own, or did you use my template that also kicked off an affordability complaint?
Can you say something about your loan from them, do you still owe money?
Michelle says
Hi Sara,
Just wanted to double check this is correct? Amigo on refunded interest on my 1st loan and not the top up (see below).
The spreadsheet provided to you is for your first loan, as we refunded all interest you had paid on this account. The dates on the left of the spreadsheet relate to dates on your loan. The 25th July is the date we calculated these figures for you.
Your current loan was written off, so your outstanding balance of £3805.57 was wiped in full. Due to this we wouldn’t have any workings to show you, or any other amount that would be due.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The current loan. How much did you borrow? How much did you pay to it?
Michelle says
I initially borrowed £4500 in November 2015 and then topped up to £5500 in July 2016.
I was paying £217 per month (5 year loan). So i’ve paid roughly about £7,812 back.
my balance was £3805 in July.
They’ve not sent me a full breakdown of what I borrowed and paid back, should I ask for this?
Just want to make sure i’ve been refunded the correct amount (shouldn’t they have written off the current loan and refund me the remaining interest+fees?)
This was the offer I got from the ombusdman:
Amigo refunding all of the interest and charges (if any) that you’ve paid on all the loans you’ve had with them;
– If you’re still repaying your loan, Amigo will reduce the amount you owe on your loan by the refund amount. If you would still have an amount left to payback, Amigo will also reduce that amount to nil, so you won’t owe anything and you don’t have to make any further payment towards the loan; or
– If you’re still repaying your loan, Amigo will reduce the amount you owe on your loan by the refund amount. And if the total you’ve paid in interest and charges is more than the amount you still owe, you’ll get the amount leftover once your loan is cleared;
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry I missed seeing your reply.
“I was paying £217 per month (5 year loan). So i’ve paid roughly about £7,812 back.” is this to the second loan? or to both of them?
Do you have the loan documentaion for the second loan – it should say how much was being used to settle the first loan?
afaq tariq says
Hi sara after writing the first email to amigo according to the first template you have they have sent me a Cd with all calls and docs via signed mail. So they have replied to the request of data but didnt respond anything about the affordability complaint. They did say 8weeks for in the first email. It has been 4 weeks only shall i continue to wait or remind them?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you don’t need to remind them.
The rules about SARs say they have to be sent within 30 days. the rules about complaints say the lender has 8 weeks.
Lou7 says
I sent an email to amigo to ask them if they were looking at my complaint again after hearing people getting results before the complaint went to ombudsman, but they said they are working with the FOS on my complaint. So it looks like it’s gonna be a bit of a wait as I contacted the ombudsman and they said it’s still in the queue.
Adam says
Hi sara
It was using the template so it was the complaint and the SAR request in one email. The strange thing is I used the exact same letter for safetynet credit and my complaint with them has been upheld and they have agreed to refund me the interest in the loans and also remove any negative markers from my credit report. If anything my complaint to 1plus1 was more serious because I actually called them ask for some help and they were really rude and unhelpful.
I do not owe them any money, I have just paid them the last installment. They have all the calls from before the loan was taken out but they cannot locate the ones after it was taken out and when I was in financial difficulty. They have said in the final response that as a responsible financial lender they would have offered me help, which in reality is the opposite of what they did. There was 2 calls, the first one where the lady hung up on me. The second call was the following week when I called back to make the payment. They cannot locate them, or if im honest they don’t want them found because it would show that I called and they did not offer any help at all.
Adam
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You should send this complaint straight to the Financial Ombudsman. You are mainly complaining that the loan was unaffordable and they didn’t make proper checks before giving you it. That is what could get you a refund of the interest you have paid.
the poor way they handled your request for help, and the fact they deny having a record of this, is worth mentioning, but this would only get you some compensation if it is upheld by the ombudsman, not all your interest back. So although it is very poor and you should complain about it, make sure you concentrate on the affordability and no proper checks aspect.
It’s good you don’t owe them any money as it makes waiting for the complaint to go through the Ombudsman much less stressful.
Cheryl says
Hi everyone I received this email from Amigo after requesting my SAR and informing them of an affordability complaint, is this the standard response others have got?
Thank you for your email.
“I am sorry to hear that you are unhappy with our payout process.
Please take this as formal acknowledgment that your complaint has been received. We will be issuing a written response to your complaint,following our investigation. Our guidelines allow us 8 weeks in which to respond to you, and we are working to reply as soon as possible.
I can confirm that I have requested your Subject Access Request. This will be sent to you in the post within 30 days.
I have attached our complaints procedure, for your reference.
Kind regards,
Hannah Ferry
Customer Relations
Amigo Loans”
Thanks everyone.
Neil says
Hi guys
Just wondered if someone could please help! I’ve read through on the comments on this brilliant site and have similar issues.
I’ve literally just got off the phone to amigo this morning and stumbled across this website, I’m currently paying them £395 a month over 60 months and at present have completed 24 months of the term my outstanding balance is still showing around £9400 it’s killing me. I’ve copied the template complaints letter and will get this off to them today, however I did have another loan with them around 6 years ago which my dad cleared off as he was the guarantor and I consistently missed the repayments as couldn’t afford them could I possibly claim for this one too or would it be worth just concentrating on the existing outstanding one and then go back for the other???
Any help or advice greatly appreciated
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can ask for a refund of the older loan too. It may be rejected, but if you don’t ask, you won’t get it!
It is a point worth making for your current loan that Amigo knew you had a lot of problems with your previous loan, so they should have investigated a new application VERY carefully. After so many years it wouldn’t be right to automatically reject you for a new loan, but they should have taken extra care with it. Especially as it is such a large loan!
Of course if they refuse to refund the first one but offer to remove the interest from the current one, that will very nearly clear it so you may decide to accept and not take the case to the Ombudsman to try to get the older loan included.
Do you have your bank statements going back to the time you applied for the first loan? Another thing you could do later if the current loan is refunded but not the first one is to encourage your dad to complaint about the first one, on the grounds that the loan was unaffordable for you… and you could help him with that with evidence from your bank statements…
But at the moment I suggest just getting your complaint underway and not spending too much time thinking about what you will do later in various scenarios.
Cdub says
Hey folks,
Having followed this thread for a wee while now I thought I would try my hand and stick in a complaint to Amigo.
Fingers crossed and hoping for a good result! This has crippled me since 2013 and 2 top-up loans later, I am now wiser about my credit making decisions! The entirety of my loan payments has been paid by my partner so I think I’ve got a good case about unaffordability. The loan isn’t due to finish till 2020 but after reading all the recent comments I thought it was about time to give it a go.
I used Sara’s fantastic template to put my complaint in. I’m hoping for a good result as Amigo is the last of my bad debt and I’ll be jumping for joy once it’s gone.
Fingers crossed and good luck everyone!
Nelson says
HI Cheryl
This is the standard response as I received too from Amigo. I also got my SAR on the 30th day so expect to have to wait the full period for this.
I’m still waiting for my response to my complaint but others have said they wait the full 8-weeks for that too.
Good luck and hope it works out for you :-)
Louise says
Does the 8 weeks start the day you make the original complaint or the day after?
I sent my Amigo complaint 8 weeks ago today and had nothing so far
S says
I think it starts 8 weeks from when they acknowledge the complaint.
Natalie says
8 weeks from receipt of complaint. So if you send a complaint by e-mail then they acknowledge it 2 days later the 8 weeks started when they received it.