Lending Stream, a mid-sized payday lender in Britain, is noticeably bad at handling payday loan affordability complaints. This article looks at what often happens in a Lending Stream affordability complaint so you are prepared.
By taking your complaint to the Ombudsman you may get a much better award. In the first half of 2018, the Financial Ombudsman was agreeing with the customer in more than six out of ten Lending Stream cases. This shows that Lending Stream are not making reasonable offers even where it should be clear that the loans were unaffordable.
A loan is unaffordable if you can only repay it by borrowing more money, or not paying essential expenses. Here is how to send in an affordability complain and ask for a refund of the interest you have paid: How to ask for a payday loan refund – with template letters.
I think Lending Stream’s complaint handling is so bad that its regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), should investigate it.
Putting in a complaint – you now can’t use email
In late 2018, Lending Stream invented a new way to be difficult. They have switched off the emails for their complaints department, making people submit complaints through their web form. See Lending Stream stops customers complaining by email for more about this.
Getting a list of your loans
You may be able to see all your loans in your online Lending Stream account, your password is often your birthday DDMMYYYY. If you can see the loans there, take a copy immediately as Lending Stream may delete them!
If you can’t access that, LENDING Stream will send you a list of your loans if you ask and they no longer try to charge people £10 for this. This isn’t because they have decided to be nice – it was made illegal in May for firms to charge a customer for a copy of their personal information.
Quoting absurd credit scores
Lending Stream sometimes tell people that their credit score was fine. But if they quote a score, it may bear no resemblance to your actual Experian score. Some examples:
adjudicator found in my favour for loans 4 to 42 over last 6 years. Lending Stream disagreed saying my credit score was 776. I don’t know how as I had three defaults at the time.
They also said my Experian credit report figure was 785. I have replied saying I was on a DMP since 2013.
So what is happening? Are they literally inventing these numbers? Lots of people complaining think they are!
When a case goes to the Ombudsman, if Lending Stream are challenged they usually explain that they don’t actually see the same credit record or score a customer can. That’s true but the Ombudsman is often very unimpressed with this. here are two examples:
LSL said that it was unaware of all of this at the time that it lent to Miss S. Although it was aware that she had eight loans with other lenders. It was also aware that the credit reference agency score indicated a poor credit history, which was no doubt a reflection of the fact that her mortgage was in sustained arrears and that she had defaulted on some accounts. Had LSL applied any meaningful consideration to the information it said was actually available to it, I think it should have prompted it to make further enquires.
Lending Stream says it doesn’t have full access to consumers’ credit files, and may have different subscriptions to the credit reference agencies – so would see less information. What subscription Lending Stream chooses to have is up to it. But if it means its credit checks may not be sufficient to give the proper picture, I need to look at what the proper picture actually was. There’s nothing I’m aware of to stop Lending Stream upgrading its subscription, but in any event, it could ask for further information if it feels it’s unable to glean enough from its credit checks.
So if Lending Stream tells you had a good credit score, just ignore this – it does not mean you have a weak case at all. And when you send the complaint to the Ombudsman, mention the problems on your credit record.
Making very low offers
Lending Stream sometimes makes quick offers, which sounds good. But the offers are often very poor.
There is no explanation of why those loans were picked – they aren’t the last or the largest loans often. They can seem quite random. Lending Stream just says the others were affordable – even if your situation was getting worse as the borrowing continued.
By late 2018 Lending Stream knows that the complaints where there is a history of borrowing every month for a long while will usually get much better awards from the Ombudsman.
The Ombudsman has published Technical Guidance that lenders are supposed to follow when they handle complaints. This makes it clear where there is a long “chain of loans” they should normally all be refunded after the lender has become aware there was a problem, not just have some loans picked at random for a refund.
Making a low and random-looking offer at the same time as quoting a very high “Experian credit score” is misleading people into thinking they have a poor complaint when they may well have an excellent one.
You won’t lose an early offer by going to the ombudsman
Don’t worry you may “lose” the offer if you don’t win the case at the Ombudsman. We have seen many of these complaints and no one has ever got less from the Ombudsman than was offered by Lending Stream! Here is one example:
I had a reply to say that they would refund me for the first five loans (I had 16 in total) I declined the offer and sent to the FO. I have had a response today from the FO who have advised they agree with the first five loans and have also found in my favour for loans 8 to 16.
Making an early rejection but not saying it is a final offer
In summer 2018, this is a very typical rejection letter that is being sent out:
We would like to highlight that Lending Stream conducts rigorous affordability assessments for all its customers on each and every loan application.
Our Findings
Between[dates], you borrowed [number of loans]. All loans were successfully closed. In-fact one or more loans were pre-closed before the original loan term. Below, we highlight the affordability checks conducted on each loan which was offered to you
· Where available, your stated monthly income, expenditure and disposable income were compared with the average monthly payments due on these loans at the time of approval. In some cases, as you took further loans, we also independently verified your income with third party sources
· In some cases, we used national averages for expense categories where data is available as a third party verification of your submission, and we revised upwards your total stated expenses while computing the disposable income
We hope the above addresses your query regarding affordability checks done on your loans
That doesn’t answer your actual complaint ( it wasn’t a query at all) which was about the non-affordabilty of the loans.
It suggests Lending Stream think your loans were affordable, but it doesn’t actually reject your complaint or tell you about your right to go to the Ombudsman… that is very poor complaint handling.
If you have got a reply like this, I suggest you ask Lending Stream if that is their Final Response as you will be sending your complaint to the Ombudsman. You don’t need to worry that your complaint is actually weak, that letter was completely standard, sent to everyone.
Objecting at every step of the way
When a case does go to the Ombudsman, Lending Stream is frequently very slow at responding and often seems to object at every step of the way. Although they do accept some adjudicator level decisions, there are many absolutely clear-cut cases which they insist on taking to the ombudsman stage.
Here is one example:
Sent complaint to LS in Sept 2017, they rejected after a few weeks but didn’t state it was final response.
Sent to FOS in Nov 2017.
Adjudicator found in my favour for loans 3-11 in March 2018 – interest and fees in the region of £1400…of course, LS rejected this and sent to Ombudsman.
Ombudsman agreed with adjudicator at start of July 2018.
Here is a case where even an unfailingly polite Ombudsman got a bit fed up:
Had it looked more closely at Mr F’s circumstances it should have easily realised he couldn’t actually afford all of the loans and it should have declined the applications. I am somewhat surprised that even after my provisional decision Lending Stream still considers it has acted reasonably.
Lending Stream often says the customer’s income was more than enough to cover the loan repayments, that it’s the customer’s fault as they were gambling, the customer should not have given inaccurate information etc.
But by now they have seen hundreds of these cases go through the Financial Ombudsman and they know these are not adequate excuses. Where there is repeat borrowing over a sustained period, the Ombudsman says that they should have looked more closely at whether they should continue to lend. As one Ombudsman summarised it:
Lending Stream knows they have a greater responsibility than the customer in the consumer credit relationship.
Two small bits of good news in 2018
- Lending Stream used to be appalling about dragging out payments, sometimes even beyond the 28 days they are allowed. In summer 2018 they have speeded this up and people are often receiving their refund within 10-14 days.
- Unlike many other lenders, they don’t routinely reject complaints about loans that are over 6 years old.
FCA should review Lending Stream’s complaints handling
The FCA says in DISP 1.3.3 that lenders:
must put in place appropriate management controls and take reasonable steps to ensure that in handling complaints it identifies and remedies any recurring or systemic problems.
I think the FCA needs to investigate Lending Stream’s complaints handling. Lending Stream needs to:
- allow customers to complain by email;
- stop misleading customers with its quoted Experian score, very poor offers and lack of mention of the right to take a case to the Ombudsman in early communications;
- adopt the same approach to answering a customer’s complaint that the Ombudsman would use, not try to settle cases by offering as little as possible;
- settle the clear-cut cases speedily. I’m not suggesting they have to give a refund to anyone that asks, but Lending Stream knows by now what a strong case looks like!
- conduct a trawl through its database to pick up customers who borrowed consistently over a long period and offer them an automatic refund;
- conduct proper root cause analysis from the affordability complaints to make better assessments of affordability before lending in future.
UPDATE – summer 2021
In May and June 2021, Lending Stream seems to be responding to complaints faster and making better offers. These are not always good enough, so some cases will still need to be sent to the Ombudsman.
The main payday loan refund page is now the best place to see how other people are getting on with their LS complaints and to ask any questions.
It also has the template letter for how to complain and details of how to send a complaint to the Ombudsman.
A large number of these complaints against Lending Stream are being won so it is well worth doing!
What if a loan application was wrong
Refunds from large loans & car finance
Stopping gambling – practical steps.
Anon90 says
Hi all. I had 3 loans with lending stream they emailed back saying my credit score was 600 odd which I a load of bull but they agreed to write off my first loan and remove the interest on the other 2 so all I owe now is £249 instead off £500. I agreed and told them I would continue with my payment plan but this was 2 weeks ago and I still haven’t had a reply. My account still shows 3 loans on there
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you send them another email saying that unless they confirm this is OK and correct your account to show it this week, you will be sending the case to the Ombudsman next week.
Anon90 says
Thank you I have emailed them again now. I did this with 247 moneybox and they wrote my balance off straight away
gillian says
hi sara just a update on my lending stream loans adjudicater found in my favour for loans 4 to 42 over last 6 years on the 26th october lending stream disagree and wrote back that my credit report was 776 i dont know how as i had three defaults total of 7500 pound at the time and was lending from quickquid payday uk wageday advance poundsto pocket mr lender and a few more the adjudicater wrote back and give them two weeks to provide more evidence they wrote that my expenses were a lot less than my wage not true as the adjudicater pointed out if they would have asked for bank statements they would have seen that on the day my wage went in over 80 percent was paid out to payday loans leaving not much for other bills and living cost so i was relending they then said i lide on my expenses but adjudicater said they provided no evidence of this and it was not important anyway as i was borrowing month after month for 6 years that this should have alerted them something was up with my finances she as now said they have another week to argue the case again if they come back without a good offer could i tell my adjudicater to send it to ombudsman que or do i have to wait until she wants to as i know there could be a three month or more wait for this and my quickquid one was setteled with full refund while waiting in que she as said she would like to settle this with lending stream but it has een a year now going back and forth and there was no loans over 6 years ty
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well the bright side is that you obviously have a very strong case and your adjudicator knows it! It is very tedious that this is all taking so long but you need to leave this up to the adjudicator – if it is possible to settle the case now that will be better than adding to the Ombudsman queue.
Claire says
Not sure if anyone else is noticing a pattern- all credit scores quoted by lending stream seem to be in the region of 750 – 785 according to comments on here….. interesting! I know mine was in the region of 200 when they lent to me!
JoeEasedale says
I am too out of touch with new procedures these days, but I would have thought that the “Treating Customers Fairly” Legislation of around 2007 might provide a basis for legal action here. A charity in the field to start a class action perhaps?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
In practice, customers are getting very good refunds if they go to the Financial Ombudsman. What is needed is more publicity for this rather than a law suit I would have thought – but it would be interesting to see one tried!
allan furness says
I have just started a case against lending stream, my loans totalled £7450 and so far I am just getting told an investigation is ongoing. Thanks for this article, it will certainly help me going forward. Will be interesting if they quote my credit score as I had just come out of an IVA when I started using them so surely my credit score would have been awful.
Linda says
I have made a complaint against Lending Stream in July this year. Even after going to the FO and the adjudicator finding in my favour they made excuses and made an extremely poor offer in my opinion to drag the process out. They now have another extension for a further 2 weeks which is up early next week but no doubt there will be something else. I can’t understand why they do this as they incur charges from the FO so doesn’t seem to make good business sense especially on the more cut and dried cases.
Cheryl says
Hi Sara
I am in the process of putting complaints in about numerous payday lenders. When I asked Wageday Advance for my loan history they immediately put my account on hold and failed to take one of the 2 last payments which would of cleared the loan. I now find they have put a late payment marker on my credit report. Is this correct? it wasn’t me who failed to make payment but them who failed to take the payment due to putting the Account on hold. I feel I have almost been penalised for raising a.complaint with them. After they failed to take payment I then cancelled the Direct Debit as I was unsure what was happening with payments and didn’t want them to take payment at any time without my knowledge. There are 2 payments remaining amounting to £112 which I have I informed them will be paid. Can they put a late payment on my report when it was actually them who failed to take it. Any advice would be great as I’m now stressing about the late payment marker as it’s the first I have ever had and how it will impact my report. Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Your complaint against WDA is saying that the loans from them are unaffordable. This suggests that you couldn’t afford to make the next two payments without borrowing again. So them not taking the payment is actually the responsible thing to do.
Typically in a complaint the most recent loans are the most likely to be refunded, and a refund should include the removal of any adverse markers on your credit reports, so this late payment marker would then be deleted.
Do you have outstanding loans from other payday lenders? If so, you should consider stopping paying them or offering an amount you can afford without further borrowing. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/help-payday-loan/. It’s really important for your complaints that you get your finances into a safe, stable position now, where you don’t have to borrow any more money. And January is usually the most difficult time for millions of people because of other non payday loan bills.
Cheryl says
Hi Sara
Thanks for your reply. WDA still want the last 2 payments to be made. They have not offered to write them off. After this I have no more outstanding Payday Loans, it has been a terrible struggle for the past year to keep up the repayments but I have and like many other had to turn to other borrowing to do so. In the end I took a consolidation loan from Amigo to pay off a lot of them to which I am now paying Amigo back. All of the Payday loan companies have rejected my complaints. At one time I had loans with WDA, Lending Stream, Sunny, The Money shop and Mr Lender. The main ones where I kept taking out loans were Sunny and Lending Stream where I had between 7-9 loans with each whilst still having outstanding loans with the others. I had 3 loans with WDA is it worth putting in a complaint about WDA even though it was only 3?
My main issue was that they kept lending to me even though I had numerous loans with other Companies. With a lot of them emailing and encouraging further borrowing and telling me I was eligible for £xxx
Again, as I have read on these forums, one even quoted that I had a credit score of nearly 700 at the time. Which is absurd.
I must say most of their responses have made me feel like I wouldn’t have a very good case to take to the Ombudsman and find the process very daunting.
Thank you for any help and advice.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It won’t feel so daunting when you get on with sending the cases to the ombudsman. Start with Sunny and Lending Stream. Also WDA and any others where you still owe balances.
Don’t stress about a late payment marker – if your credit score is a lot below 700 you much have had these before! Winning an affordability complaint is the simplest way to remove this. Yes, it is definitely worth complaining about only 3 loans from WDA. You may not get much of a refund, but you could get the interest removed from the outstanding balance which would be a great help/
“I must say most of their responses have made me feel like I wouldn’t have a very good case to take to the Ombudsman” – that is what they want you to feel! But the Ombudsman is upholding 2/3 of payday loan affordability complaint, so the lenders aren’t getting it right even half the time! You know Lending Stream can’t be telling the truth about your credit score – why would you believe what else they have written?
Charlie H says
Hi All,
I put in a complaint to the FOS against Lending Stream back in September. Originally they asked for more time to present my business files to the FOS which i didn’t think was unusual. This meant that they had until the start of November originally but the FOS told me to allow for another 4 weeks. We are now in January and when i contacted the FOS last week, they told me that they still hadn’t had my business files from Lending Stream. They are now going to chase it.
Has anyone else had this issue as I cant ask the FOS to progress without the files as Lending Stream never sent me my SOA so i have nothing to show the loans, except my credit file which only shows those i defaulted on. Is this a delaying tactic on behalf of Lending Stream? Any comments would be much appreciated
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes it’s a delaying tactic :(
Do you have your bank statements? You can construct a list of your loans from them.
Charlie H says
Hi Sara,
Thanks for the response. I have sent in my statements but they only go back so far. Barclays took so long to get them to me that i lost almost a year. I am going to try and see if they can go back further but Im not holding my breath. I might try and ring Lending Stream and see if i cant “accidentally” get them to send me the SOA as they havent so far. If push comes to shove, I might even pay the £10 for a Subject Access Request. At least I will have them then. Otherwise i guess its just a waiting game then?
Many thanks
Linda says
Lending Stream are a terrible company to deal with. My complaint dates back to July last year and they tried all manner of delaying tactics including a delay in sending over the case file to the FO, my adjucator had to allow them more time like you. They did eventually send it though and the complaint was upheld. Just waiting for my refund now although no doubt that’ll be another waiting game. You’ll get there though. Just to add I had to get historic bank statements for another one of my complaints from Barclays which was for a closed account going back to early 2011. They can do these in branch (although the rather sharp customer services meet and greet staff member said they couldn’t at first) I persisted and rang their customer services number while I was in there who said they could and then complained to someone higher up as I was getting conflicting information. It took nearly an hour of waiting for them to be printed off but they found a way. They didn’t charge either, I think they were just glad to be rid of me in the end. It’s worth the faff though. Good luck with your complaint.
Mr W says
Hi Linda, as I’ve read your comment you’re complaint was eventually upheld and you are waiting for a payout. My question is, what date did the adjudicator state lending Stream had to reply by and when did they actually send you the funds?
Thankyou (in a similar position)
Linda says
Hi my adjudicator gave them 4 weeks to make the refund, deadline date being 8/2/18 (tomorrow). It went into my bank yesterday 6/2/18, two days before the 4 week deadline date.
Jonnym says
Hi I have an old account with Barclays that I need statements for. It was closed in 2009. I have been in branch and called into their offices and been advised they can’t find them. What did you do?
vickie9 says
Lending Stream are a royal pain in the backside. The ombudsman agreed with my adjudicator in November but I didn’t get my refund until yesterday and that was after both my adjudicator and myself phoning them pretty much daily. At one point LS gave themselves 7-10 working days to issue the refund and I had to ring them on day 12 to ask where it was! They are by far the worst company I have dealt with, so I feel your frustration.
Davy says
They really are a pain Lending Stream….its just stalling tactics all the way. I am just at the start of the process and have had 3 emails asking me for the same info that I have supplied them with. They will do anything other than say this is their final decision. If I don’t get a response by 27/02 of to the Ombudsman it goes!
Linda says
Good luck Davvy. It does get sorted in the end they just seem to put so many obstacles in the way.
Linda says
December mine was agreed with the FO. I totally agree they are a pain. I have no idea as to why they’re insisting on a bank statement for my refund. Although they’ve told my adjudicator (who’d never heard of it before) it’s their new “procedure” if it’s a different account. As I say why not just take the word of the FO when she passed the details on to them? Ridiculous I’m really furious about it. Like you we’re going backward and forwards with phone calls. It really stresses you out. Glad you got yours sorted in the end.
Jamie Taylor says
What’s the email address for lending stream as I can’t seem to find the correct one?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
try complaints@lendingstream.co.uk and payments@lendingstream.co.uk. If neither works, you will have to use the contact form on their website.
Jamie Taylor says
Many thanks for this information.
Reading through the QAs on here it’s not clear. Is someone able to say if better dealing with payday loans directly or through a out side company? I have signed a pack from payday loan refund (some sort of no win no fee solicitors) I have dealt with over 15 different payday loans but I can’t remember who with.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Definitely do it directly! Claims companies /solicitors just get in the way. People find that the lenders email them not the claims firm as they get quicker and more accurate replies! And people have lost months when the claims company just hangs around waiting for a lender to reply, not sending the complaint to the ombudsman. A payday loan complaint is not a tick box exercise like PPI – it needs YOU to tell your story, to the lender and then to the Ombudsman. A claims firm can’t do this for you.
And a claims firm can’t find out who you had loans from either. Look at your emails and bank statements is the best suggestion.
If you are still in the period where you can cancel with this claims firm I suggest you do it now!
Conor says
Just a warning for anyone dealing with lending stream. I received my email response from them at 04:16am! Stating that they had lent responsibly. They quoted a credit score number that must have been made up as my experian score is very poor. They are also attempting to say that they don’t have full access to a credit report of an individual.
I borrowed 8 loans in 6 months then 8 loans within another 6 month period. All these loans increased in amount or was the max available to me. The response to this was ‘We would also like to inform you that multiple loans offered in a considerable time frame are not considered as “irresponsible lending”.
They have also not included at the end of their email that this is their final response or the financial ombudsmen contact details.
The worst company i have had to deal with by far. If anyone has any advice or has been through the next step with them please?
Daniel says
I’ve had exactly the same Conor, mine came through at a little after 11pm. This is the 4th time I have had essentially a copy and pasted reply from them much like what you have had. It is so infuriating. Each reply states a different random (and impossible) number for my credit score. They really are awful to deal with, I’ve already contacted the ombudsman but they won’t seem to deal with it until the 8 week mark despite them clearly just messing people around.
Eva says
I had the same. No point at all trying to talk to them. I just replied back requesting that they state its the final letter and once they did straight to Ombudsman.
gillian says
hi conner just wait for the 8 weeks to pass them send it to the ombudsman they did the same with me with the complaint i put in back in dec 2016 they do drag stuff out it took 15 months for my claim they denied all my loans ombudsman upheld 4 to 42 they have to repay me 7200 pound they always say your credit rating was good
John C says
As with the responses above just get it off to the FOS as soon as the 8 weeks are up. I’m not aware of any case where Lending Stream will uphold a case before it’s gone to the FOS, certainly not more than interest removed from the last loan. They don’t ever seem to hit any deadlines given by an adjudicator and tend to offer a poor amount as a counter offer to most cases that are upheld meaning you’ll need to put up to an Ombudsman. They seem to drag out payment too, which I find amazing. Awful company, shouldn’t have a licence in my opinion as they have no complaints procedure as such, the amount of complaints upheld by an Ombudsman is indication of this. Good luck.
Conor says
Thanks for all the responses. It obviously shows how poor lendingstream is in its complaint management handling. I’ve emailed them back to say whether their email is their final response, if I don’t hear anything after the 8 weeks it’s off to the FOS. Good luck everyone.
MATT says
Update
So Lending stream came back. Saying “You borrowed 11 loan accounts form Lending Stream and all the loan accounts (one of the the ref: 1869491) have been closed successfully”. As a part of our loan application process, we captured your self-declared income, expenditure, employment/place of work details, which you were legally required to provide in an accurate manner. It was imperative that details furnished by you were correct, so we could ensure that we satisfy our standard affordability checks to measure if your loan applications met our lending criteria or not. Based on the information you furnished, we see the loans were paid out correctly.
Further to our investigation, we find that in the individual circumstances, the approval of one of the loan (138856) was unaffordable, and we have determined that we will refund the amount of £540.60 you paid as interest and charges towards the aforementioned loan.
Additionally, we offer to remove the adverse information (if any) from the same.
I rejected this and asked for all 11 loans to be refunded. They have since sent me a statement and the loan they said was unaffordable was my first loan!! This dates back to Jan 2011, so I really do not get their logic, if the first loan was deemed unaffordable, why continue to lend!!.
The total interest and charges adds up to over £4k and that is without the statutory interest.
I have asked for a final response and then will send to Ombudsman. I
Matt says
So they do respond! I complained late September to Lending stream and still had nothing. Adjudicator has requested their response 11 weeks ago and still nothing. This 8 week response rule seems to be worthless if there’s no punishment for not meeting it.
Stuart Green says
Just had the below from my Adjudicator at the FOS:
I’m writing to provide you with an update on your complaint.
Lending Stream has now responded to my assessment and made an offer.
Their offer isn’t in line with my recommendation on the complaint. In my assessment, I explained that Lending Stream should refund the interest and charges you paid on loans 1 to 13.
They’ve made an offer to refund the interest and charges alongside 8% simple interest you paid on loans 1 to 10 amount to £882.34. They’ve explained that the 8% will be added to this from the date of payment to the date of settlement.
They’ve also explained that the refund will be used to offset the outstanding balance on loans 11 to 13 and the remainder will be paid to you.
They’ve also explained that they will remove any adverse information from your credit file.
Please let me know whether you are happy to accept their offer as in full and final settlement of the complaint.
If yes, please reply back with your account number and sort code so that I can tell Lending Stream to process the offer for you.
If no, your complaint will continue to wait in line for an ombudsman’s final decision review.
Please let me know your opinion on this by 27 March 2018.
If you have any questions, please let me know.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so loans 11-13 – can you say for each of these: if it is repaid in full, the amount borrowed, the amount repaid, the time from repaying the previous loan to taking this out.
eg “loan 11 – repaid in full, borrowed £300, paid £413, 15 days since loan 10 was repaid”
Stuart Green says
Hi Sara, the remaining loans tally up to £532.98 which I have asked to pay in installments rather than have the amount offset against the refund of interest, I stopped paying when lending stream fed me a bunch of lies on the affordability of the loans.
My reply was as below
Please advise Lending Stream that I will take only what is advised in the letter by yourself – to the letter, if they are unwilling to do what has been recommended I will await a decision from the Ombudsman.
I wish to be able to pay the outstanding balance off at an affordable monthly rate, not be strong-armed by a company who have caused me undue stress and suffering.
Was this the correct way to address this or should I have taken the £405 odd and cut my losses?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“the remaining loans tally up to £532.98” the outstanding balance? Ignore that for the minute, can you answer the questions about each loan.
Stuart Green says
Loan 11 130.00 – Paid 10.24 – 119.76 outstanding
Loan 12 200.00 – paid 15.54 – 184.46 outstanding
Loan 13 450 – paid 221.24 – 228.76 outstanding
I sometimes had 3 at a time and took new loans out within days or repaying
Stuart Green says
Previous loans had been paid off a few weeks prior, Lending stream have removed this information from my portal on their site
Loan 11 9th May 2017,
Loan 12 30th May 2017,
Loan 13 1st June 2017
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well it seems to me that Lending stream are actually giving you a full refund as the adjudicator asked for!
It is absolutely normal to use part of the refund to clear an outstanding balance.
Stuart Green says
I knocked it back due to reading.
“Their offer isn’t in line with my recommendation on the complaint. In my assessment, I explained that Lending Stream should refund the interest and charges you paid on loans 1 to 13.”
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Why don’t you talk to your adjudicator about this? Unless I am misreading it, you are getting all the interest and charges back, but some are being set-off.
Maz says
I had a settlement from lending stream in December 2016 then got that email 28 February 2018 about my referral rights which I knew nothing about. I emailed them 7 times to advise that there offer never mentioned anything about my rights which at the time I was unaware they should. Today I decided to call them and after 30 minutes of explaining and arguing with their standard approach they are reopening my complaint as I just took the first offer which was low on my reckoning will see how this pans out
Andy Lee says
Hello,
1st time posting, but have scouted the site for a long time and it has been most useful for me. Was after some advice regarding Lending Stream.
They made me an offer back in January, I’m sure I could have got more, but in the interests of time I accepted their offer and confirmed my bank details (as requested).
It then went quiet for 34 days, despite me chasing them via email 8 times, requesting an update (no response). On 23rd Feb they finally responded advising again what they were going to pay me (with the interest added this time). They again asked me to respond and confirm acceptance of this offer so they could arrange payment which I again did (34 days wasted). I again sent regular update requests with no response. On Friday the 16th March having now waited nigh on 2 months, I Called them. I was informed that the first offer does not count as the correct one, as they have to go away and calculate the interest (34 days to do that), The 2nd offer on 23rd Feb was the final offer and not to worry as I will receive the refund within 28 days of that date.
31 days passed, no refund, so I called again. This time I was told that there was a ‘technical’ issue with my refund and they would have to re issue it, which could take up to another 28days. When I enquired as to what the technical issue was and why it took me calling them after 31 days to discover this, they couldn’t offer me an answer.
Any advise will be greatly appreciated.
Regards
Andy
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well you could tell them unless they pay in 5 days you are withdrawing your acceptance and will be passing the case to the Financial Ombudsman.
Andy lee says
Hi Sara,
Am I obliged to do this, given I have already accepted their offer?
So frustrating the way they treat people. Once case is closed, I fully intend to forward detailed complaint to relevant watchdogs, with supporting documentation.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, but I can’t think of any other way to stop them messing you around!
James says
Hi Andy,
Have you received your payment from them yet?
I’m having the same issue with them. Was told last Thursday after waiting 29 days for payment that I would recieve it within the next 7-10 days, I asked for email confirmation which they promised would send, but no surprise I’ve not received yet and I’m doubtful I’ll get anything from them.
Andy lee says
Hi James,
No still nothing. I gave them a deadline of Tuesday (tomorrow) to complete the refund or I would be withdrawing my acceptance of their offer and passing on to FO and all I received was a standard scripted response.
Let’s see what tomorrow brings….
James says
Did you receive?
Got an email today saying 24-48 hours. I’m not holding my breath though!
Andy lee says
Nope, no refund and no correspondence from them in anyway.
I called them again today and lost my rag a little bit. They said, they are sorry and will process the refund ASAP. I pressed them to get an understanding to exactly what ASAP means, citing that if I owed them money and told them they would get it ASAP, they wouldn’t accept that as a viable answer, but they still wouldn’t commit to a date.
41 days since accepting and the wait goes on……
Phil Gardner says
Hi Andy
Just wondered if you’d had any further luck with LS yet? Have you received the funds?
Andy lee says
Nope, still nothing and still not being transparent.
Will not commit to any type of timeframe. Now been 50 day since acceptance.
James says
After making complaint to LS direct I got an offer of refund about 7 weeks later. I emailed back to confirm I accept the offer on 27th Feb, did not get an snail back from them, it’s now 30th March and still no funds in my account. Called them several times and keep being told it’s with accounting and they will email confirmation of when it will be paid, but they never do. Any advise as to what to do next? As I really don’t think I’m going to get anything back from these now.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Tell them if you don’t get the money in a week you will be withdrawing your acceptance and sending the case to the Ombudsman.
Craig says
I received the mass email from LS advising I am within my rights to contact the FOS regarding a complaint i settled with them in 2016. At the time I wasnt aware I could have took the complaint to the FOS and accepted a very low (£200) offer from them. I had 23 loans with LS totalling over £2k interest. It’s over a month since complaint went to the FOS so i called them the other day and they have advised that they have received the business file from LS and it would be assigned to an adjudicator this week.
Ross says
Having such a hard time with lending stream ombudsman ruled in my favour and the deadline for them to refund is today however they are telling me it isn’t going to take 24 – 48hrs to process which takes us past the deadline ! Anyone else had this ?
Sally says
I had a provisional offer from the ombudsman and lending stream have agreed and received my acceptance on the 28th but I’ve not had anything from them such as a break down of the interest and charges! Nothing at all they are the worst company to deal with.
Also the ombusdsman have said I need to allow 6-8 weeks for a refund I thought it was 28days! Don’t get it!
Ross says
Yeah they are pretty terrible, got a manager to call me back, he blamed easter weekend etc etc but gave me his word for the 5th of april so looks like I have no choice other to accept it’s just so frustrating!
Kez says
After reading everyone else’s comments these past couple of weeks I am hugely shocked to have received an email from my adjudicator this morning saying Lending Stream have agreed with her assessment and I will be getting a refund of over £4300 plus 8% interest!! I was fully expecting this to go all the way to an ombudsman! Needless to say I will be sending my settlement form back ASAP. Thank you Sara!! Through you and this website I have so far had £2500 written off and over £7000 refunded (incl LS) Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Craig says
brilliant news Kez :-) i’m still waiting on an adjudicator for my LS complaint
I received am email from LS advising I am within my rights to contact the FOS regarding a complaint i settled with them in 2016. At the time I wasn’t aware I could have took the complaint to the FOS and accepted a very low (£200) offer from them. I had 23 loans with LS totalling over £2k interest
Sally says
Brilliant news kez! Mine unfortunately went all the way to the ombusdsman who have largely upheld my complaint! I’ve not received a figure of anything yet but atleast there is hope that LS do eventually get back to you!!! They do however take there time in doing so!
honeyfaith says
how much did you originally borrow kez?
Kez says
Hi, my first loan was back in June 2012 for £300 and I then just got trapped with borrowing from them and other lenders. My last loan was in Aug 2016. I had 37 loans in total.
Marie says
Hi Sara
I’ve taken out two loans with Lending stream, one for £600 which I paid off and another for £880 two months ago which I have defaulted on.
At the time that I took out the LS loan I had several other loans as well and have been struggling with some time with a payday loan cycle.
I have paid £265 towards the loan, but the interest is phenomenal and they’re saying I now owe £1240 altogether to close the loan.
I have sent an email asking for the interest to e taken off and that my husband will pay off £880 (the original amount I took out) but I haven’t heard back.
Could you please advise me on what to do next? Is it likely they would take off some interest? I paid off loans with satsuma and uncle buck who both offered to take interest off for me so I’m hoping Lending Stream could do the same.
Any advice much appreciated
Thanks
Marie
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How long was there between you repaying the first LS loan and taking out the second one?
Marie says
Hi Sara
I think it was pretty much the same day I paid back the first loan.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then that’s a reasonable case, your second loan was soon after the first and was larger. I hope they agree to take off the interest – if they don’t, send it to the Ombudsman.
Marie says
Thanks Sara, I’ll let you know how I get on
Marie says
Hi Sara
Just an update that despite it being around a month ago that I sent Lending Stream my complaint asking to take off the interest, I still haven’t heard anything from them.
Are they usually this slow to respond to complaints?
Thanks
Marie
Zlat says
Hi guys I have received response from Lending stream and not sure what to do next. Have you had similar? They haven’t included details of my loans just mentioned that I had 9 loans and that due to my income being what it was and the Experian score which they say was 744 at the time (I doubt this to be the case think it was lower) they say that it’s customers responsibility to make them aware of any changes impacts to finances. I have mentioned I had numberous other loans but only a custom could see that on my Experian report. A company like lending stream would not see the other lenders I have lent from. They’re resolution is that all the affordability checks were completed. What can I do next? I have not yet send bank statements etc.
Sean says
Hi Zlat, unfortunately lending steam are notoriously bad, however there is light at the end of the tunnel!
LS upheld my complaint on two random loans out of 16 with the same copy and paste guff response that you received so I referred to the FOS in November 2017. I sent copies of my bank statements,credit file and additional info and after 3 months the adjudicator ruled in my favour on loans 3-16 + 8% simple interest giving LS 14 days to reply. On day 15 they replied advising that they agreed with him and he sent across my details for them to process payment 5 days ago.
It’ll be a long drawn out process with them but don’t lose hope and if that is their final response get it to the FOS!
gillian says
hi zlat do not worry about what lending stream say they said the same to me in the end they had to repay me just short of 7000 pound they do drag it out it took over 15 months and that was with no loans over 6 years if it is the final desicion from them just send it to the fos you will need to send bank statements to fos but i found them easy and nice to deal with they are happy to answer any questions you may have just send complaint them it is just a matter of waiting some take time some are quicker but the fos will decide what is fair they have upheld every single complaint i have put in after every firm refused to acknowelege any wrong in lending to me good luck this site is a god send if you have any more questions just post someone is allways ready to help on here sara is great
Zlat says
Thanks so much guys! Much appreciated. I will continue with this. I just wasn’t sure that as I handing provided them bank statements and pay slips the lenders would find it easy to reject. But it seems that it’s normal for them and especially lending stream to do that. Do you think it’s easier if I provide the lenders with Statements and pay slips? Or wait for the outcome as they have all responded now to say they are reviewing my complaint.Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
To be honest I don’t think most lenders look at them – they just ask for them to try put people off complaining. After all why do they want payslips? They can see your pay from your bank statements. The FOS never asks for payslips.
Dave says
I’m waiting on lending stream, 27 loans! Not expecting any joy just wish they would hurry up so can get cracking with FO. Has anyone ever been made any decent offers without going to FO??
Ste says
The FO agreed with my complaint of 40 loans. I would prepare to be patient though as I raised my complaint with LS in October 2017 and it’s taken until now for them to reply and for the FO to accept my complaint. LS have until 20th April to reply with if they agree with the FO or not
Phil Gardner says
Hi Sara
I complained to LS citing 19 loans over a year and half for a total of nearly £6k – stating that gambling addiction was to blame for my situation.
After replying stating a ridiculous Experian credit score of 729 – something I’ve not had for YEARS – I have received the below Final Response from Lending Stream:
To-reiterate, as a part of our loan application process, we captured your self-declared income, expenditure, employment/place of work details, which you were legally required to provide in an accurate manner.
It was imperative that details furnished by you were correct, so we could ensure that we satisfy our standard affordability checks to measure if your loan applications met our lending criteria or not.
Based on the information you furnished, we see the loans were paid out correctly.
In lieu of the overall situation, we believe that Lending Stream has behaved responsibly in approving your loans and has dealt with them fairly.
Hence, we are unable to offer any redress towards your accounts.
We consider this as our final response to this matter.
The email does go on to give me the FOS details, for which I am now looking to escalate my complaint to.
I just wondered if this was a pretty standard response from them or looking at that, does it look like I have a weak cas?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It looks like a standard reply to me – there is nothing in there that refers to your loans, dates, sizes, your applications etc They could have sent that to anybody – and they probably do.
There is no point in talking to them at all – take the case straight to the Ombudsman.
Phil Gardner says
Thanks Sara – will do
Charlie H says
I had that type or response from them and sent it straight to the FOS. The adjudicator found in my favour on 8 of the 11 loans and LS agreed. That was last week so now waiting for LS to cough up. Not holding my breath but at least I have the adjudicator there to apply pressure at the end of the allowed 4 week period. My advise, don’t wait any longer. Send it to the FOS. You can always withdraw the complaint if they refund
Stuart Green says
Hi Sara,
As per my previous reply I accepted the offer made by lending stream to the ombudsman with the promise the refund would be with me within 28 days, that was 22 days ago, I have called LS as no email nor letter confirmation has been sent by lending stream regards the final resolution to myself, they advised me that the me that the confirmation of amount would be with me last Thursday, it was not. They also promised that the monies as part of the settlement (less the offset amount for existing loans) will be in my account on the 19th April at the latest, I am not hopeful of this due to the lack of response on their part, however i will keep you updated.
Many thanks for your sound advice on this
Stuart
Stuart Green says
Just chased them up, AGAIN, now told that i will have confirmation this coming Monday and money by Thursday. no managers to talk to, the team sending the offer are not able to discuss why they have not sent this in the 8 days prior to my call nor on the day it was meant to arrive.
Worst customer service i have ever encountered, it is a miracle this company is still trading
Stuart Green says
I had my full refund the day after the deadline given to them via the FOS.
I am glad the ordeal is now over
Paul says
So after 5 months and initially being offered £200 by Lending Stream, today I have received £6466 into my account after Adjudicator ruled in my favour. It didn’t get to Ombudsman, which was great, but LS were by far the WORST company to deal with.
But, dot give up. Persevere and you’ll eventually get what you’re owed!
Sean says
That’s great news Paul, well done! LS initially offered me £350 however the adjudicator ruled in my favour and told LS to repay all interest on loans 3-16 £5870 + 8%
LS agreed last week and I’m now awaiting payment- how long did it take for them to pay out?
Paul says
That’s great news too, Sean.
They took the full 28 days to pay out. I got an email on the 27th day with the figures etc and then you have to send an email back to say you confirm the amount. They refunded the following day. They love to drag it out. Awful company to deal with.
Sally says
That’s great news Paul and Sean!
My complaint against LS was also upheld loans 3-29 by an ombudsman they have until the 25th of April to pay up! They are definitely are the worst company to deal with I guess I’ll be recievivg a break down a day before!
So frustrating!!!
Sean says
They’re absolutely horrendous, so glad that this is now coming to a close so that I can cut all ties with them
It warms my heart when I read good news stories about successes with them, well done Paul and Sally!!
Mrs C says
Hi,
I found this site at the weekend, and have now put in various complaints with these companies,
Lending Stream being one of them. I had 27 loans over a 6 year period, starting in 2012,
borrowing every month to pay back other PD loans from other lenders.
I have sent them a list of all my account numbers, amounts borrowed and interest paid.
Broken down it works out at £5,200 borrowed and almost £3,400 Interest paid back.
This site has been really useful.
also have complaints in with
Wonga, Pounds to Pocket, QuickQuid, Satsuma, Peachy, The Money Shop.
Will keep you updated!!
Craig says
Has anyone had any joy from Lending Stream AFTER agreeing small refund with them?
Lending Stream emailed me in Feb advising my referral rights were not sent as part of the last correspondence with regards to a complaint I made. I did agree on a £200 refund back in 2016 but wasn’t aware then i could have took this to the FOS.
I sent this complaint to the FOS back in February and it’s still awaiting on an adjudicator but just wondering if anyone has any success? Would they still accept this complaint even though I accepted a small refund at the time.
I have asked the FOS and they said they wouldn’t be able to advise until adjudicator has reviewed my complaint.
I had paid about £1.2k in interest
Cheers, Craig
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Most people in a similar position will have got the email from LS at the same time as you, so they are unlikely to be further forward in the process.
mark says
At last after nearly a year my complaint to LS is coming to a end..They initially offered me a goodwill of £285 went to the FOS adjudicator and then on to the Ombudsman and just recently case has been upheld and im expecting a refund of £6000…Just waiting now …Replied to LS with my bank details as requested.That was two weeks ago , anyone know the expected time i should be waiting before cleared in my bank ?
John C says
I’d expect to see your refund around the 4 week mark, maybe the day before its up. Awful company to deal with. Good to hear results against LS, well done
L says
Hi. Do Lending Stream ever agree with the adjudicator who in my case has agreed all 44 loans were lent irresponsibly (LS didn’t offer anything from my initial complaint). Naturally all we see on the Ombudsman page is those which weren’t agreed at adjudicator stage so I’m just curious about how many we don’t hear about. I’m looking at around £10k including interest. Thanks (Fantastic site Sara, wouldn’t have known about this process without it and I now have hope that I could get my finances on track and start living instead of just existing as I have done for the past 10 years!)
Mark says
I received a email from LS three weeks ago asking for confirmation and stating the bank account i want the refunds they owe me paid into..Still nothing..I sent numerous emails asking for updates but not a reply..Is there a time limit or should i be refferring to the FOS..When confirming with the other lenders i had refunds with.Wonga.mr lender.payd uk.pay day express.They all paid within days.
Michele says
I have had a lot of success with other complaints and received refunds within days. Lending stream were awful and have made an offer which I accepted. The 28 days are up and I have had no response. I sent them an email threatening county court action and referring their conduct to the FCA. If the offer has been accepted as in this case then arguably they are in breach of the settlement by failing to pay.
Does anyone know the registered address for Lending stream as I plan to go on money claims on line this weekend
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Was the offer you accepted through the Financial Ombudsman?
If it was, was it at adjudicator or Ombudsman level?
Michele Peckham says
No, complaint to them directly- I have recovered a lot from the other companies and this was the last one. I rang them and emailed to confirm acceptance and they said 28 days which elapsed today. I have seen all the tactics they have played including messing the FSO around. As this was one of the smaller ones I wanted to lodge proceedings as a matter of principle and see if they paid – if not, I was planning to proceed to enforcing the judgment and sending in the Bailiffs straight away – I have not come across anyone who has sued them after they have failed to pay on their settlement offer – wondered if this route would improve their manners and appalling complaint handling – probably not
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The problem here is that they are probably going to pay you in the next week or two. It’s super-annoying, but if you have started a court case – and paid the fee to do this – you then have to choose between losing the fee or pursuing a court case for what is then a very small amount of money.
At this point I suggest you send your complaint to the Ombudsman and ask for compensation for the delay and hassle that Lending Stream are giving you. And email LS to say you have done this.
Eric says
I have been following these threads as I am going through the same process.
I have got to the stage where lending stream agreed to the adjudicators ruling and agreed to pay out £1400 + 8% on 03/04/2018. They said I would be refunded within 28 days. Unfotunaatley the expiry of that was on 01/05/2018.
I have contacted the ombudsman today to report that LS have not completed on their promise. I have also asked the ombudman to contact them to find out why, and ask for compensation for the hassle caused.
I will update when I here something :)
I have phoned them everyday this week and have been told on each occasion. That I would receive an email of calculations each before the 01/05/2018.
They give several excuse why it has not been done on each day I phoned
mark says
My offer was sent to me from Lending Stream saying due to the Ombudsman decision ,they are to refund me £5500 when i accept and confirm my details..There is no date saying when this will be done by.
J Ame says
Hi I hope I’m in the right place. I had 2 loans with Lending Stream taken out last year and they were running at the same time.
£100 loan – currently paid off £76.80
£600 loan – currently paid off £100.80
Just before Xmas last year I ended up in hospital having an operation on my back. I couldn’t go to work so my wages were a lot lower for a few months which left me struggling to pay the monthly repayments.
I contacted Lending Stream and was honest with them and asked for a payment holiday which they gave me for a month. However the next month they had increased the repayments by 50% each which meant that I couldn’t afford the repayments! They went up from £44.80 and £264 to £63.20 and £423 respectively. ( I had not been aware they would do this )
So I contacted them again and told them I was due a works bonus at the end of March ( I didn’t know how much it would be but knew it would be at least £1000 less tax ) and offered to pay £750 in final payment of both loans. This would have meant that I had borrowed £700 in total and repayed £927.60.
They ignored this and started sending me emails saying my account was in arrears and offering payment plans. I responded to these emails, but each time they came back and said that offer was no longer available and so it would start again!
They have now given my debt to a company called OPOS who are calling, texting and emailing me every day.
What can I now do? I’m at my wits end
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you read https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/ and put in an affordabilty complaint about the two loans. In addition to the affordability bits, add some bit at the end saying how very unhelpful they have been since you told them you were in trouble in December. Put in all the bits you have mentioned here – that they knew you couldn’t work for several months but after just one months holiday took increased payments without telling you. And the way they have ignored your offer. And then keep sending you offers you can’t accept. Ask for the debt to be called back from OPOS and for an affordable repayment plan. if they don’t respond with an offer you think is fair, send it to the Ombudsman.
I hope you have cancelled the CPA to them with your bank?
J Ame says
Hi Sara, I believe they cancelled the CPA as they kept also sending me emails saying ‘We have suspended automatic withdrawals for each loan on your account’.
Is that the same?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No it isn’t – I suggest you contact your bank and cancel the CPA. Never trust a payday lender to do the right thing, you would be in a mess if they suddenly started taking payments again.
David Tanner says
I took out 11 loans with Lending Stream in space of 15 months. Sent complaint to Lending Stream stating that me taking out the loans had left me in financial hardship at the time. They offered me £56 after 8 weeks. I told them I wasn’t willing to accept the offer and would refer my case to the Financial Ombudsman. Received a final offer email of same amount, so I did indeed contact Financial Ombudsman. I have persevered with Lending Stream stringing the progress of my claim out as long as they can, but for £1300 worth of loans over 15 months, I have to receive the same amount in charges and 8% interest for overlapping loans which, the Financial Ombudsman agreed, left me in severe hardship. Has been 2 weeks since the FOS informed the lender I was happy to accept their offer and I am still waiting for refund to be paid into my bank account. They can put any loan amount in your bank inside a few minutes so why do they take so long to pay your refund?
My advice to anyone reading this is to inform Lending Stream you intend to contact the Financial Ombudsman if you don’t receive the response you want and pass your complaint onto the Ombudsman of this is the case.
Good luck.
Mark says
Maybe light at the end of the tunnel on awaiting for my LS refund..Its been 4 weeks and numerous emails without reply but after asking the FOS if their is anything i can do other than wait ,they on my behalf contacted LS who confirmed it should be processed in 2 working days..Can i believe this or is it more false hope.
David Tanner says
Read your email carefully. I thought lending stream were to contact me but the email from the Financial Ombudsman stated I should contact Lending Stream to kick start refund process. Contacted them today (3rd May) and was told they still had to calculate how much in total I am to be awarded and that my refund should be fully processed by 19th May.
Jam Black says
Good afternoon Everyone,
Has anyone received an offer from Lending stream, accepted it and for them to turn around and tell you that they calculated it incorrectly? I was offered £671.84, which I was happy with, then re-calculated to £85.49. This was 2 days before it was due to be paid. I have this in writing via an email. Many Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you asked for the details of how it was calculated? Was this offer directly to you, or via the Ombudsman?
Could you summarise your case (how many loans?) and what the offer was?
Mark says
Ls at last refunded me..literary hours after receiving the latest email ftom the Fos the money was in my bank..No confirmation email though.
Jane says
Hi mark how long did it take from you sent your complaint to the financial Ombudsman?
Nick says
Quick Update on Lending Stream
They requested that I send bank statements, Payslip’s and other additional information, I responded saying happy to do so to FOS but you should have sufficient info to see irresponsible lending, they replied can’t take it any further without information.
Bit of a standstill, so what should I do?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Up to you. You can send the stuff to Lending Stream (they won’t need payslips if you send bank statements) or if you don’t want to do this ask if they have rejected your complaint as you will send it to the FOS.
Frances says
Hi guys, currently struggling to get Lending Stream to address their awful harassment practices.
Any ideas?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well done for making a stand!
Suggestions? Well if this isn’t the first loan you have had from them, how about putting in another complaint about unaffordable lending and asking for a refund of interest… see https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/. Say this is in addition to your complaint about harassment.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I have included a link to your video in my weekly news roundup, so I hope some more people are going to see it.
Kerry says
So I’ve phoned Lending Stream this morning after the 28 days have passed with nothing and they’ve said I’ll have the calculations by end of day and refund in another 5-7 working days! Amazes me how they continue to dismiss deadlines. This business really do think they can get away with whatever they like and I fear they will continue to do so… I’ll be glad when it’s all over!
Liam says
Hi
So my adjudicator has ruled in my favour with lending stream and lending stream agree with adjudicator but I’ve not heard from lending stream about payment! Reading comments on here sounds like I should be calling lending stream to give them a nudge is this correct?
Thanks
Marty says
Lending stream refused to provide me a statement and 5 out 7 loans in my favour and paid me £428 and I thought that must be right, I then got the info they did not give me referral rights so I reopened complaint citing this and lack of statement and now have the statements the offer I took was £450 short on what should have been paid plus interest !! I’ve asked for it be paid correctly anything else you can advise Sara ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if they refuse, send it to the Ombudsman and also ask for extra compensation for the hassle!
Marty says
After a 35 mins call of which 26 of those minutes I was on hold, the person I spoke to agreed there was a shortfall and would pass on to relevant team and redress in a few days we shall see. Thanks for your advice Sara
Marty says
Unbelievablely lending stream have now said they will not pay a penny more despite 2 people saying they would It’s apparently went to the team who deal with it and I’m basically told if not happy to go to FO my arguement is I dealt with them and it’s never been to FO and it’s their fault firstly for failing to provide statements and the imaginary figures so sick of them
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send it to the FOS and also ask for compensation for (a) the way they misled you originally and (b) have refused to put this right now when asked.
Marty says
I finally got the letter for ombudsmen from LS which is unreal they said procedural error on 5 of 7 loans and that they paid some of the interest charges back no mention of my referral rights or anything just a figure plucked from thin air I really hope the ombudsman backs me on this one as I did not have to knowledge saw an offer nothing to base it on and thought must be about right! They have shafted me on the phone since the worst customer service in my life
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, I suggest you send it to the Ombudsman now and also send Lending Stream (customercare@lendingstream.co.uk) a Subject Access request asking for a copy of all personal data they have about you. Put SUBJECT ACCESS REQUEST as the title of the email. Don’t mention your complaint, keep this as separate. Give your name, address, email address, date of birth and any customer reference numbers you have. Do this now, so that by the time the Ombudsman picks it up you actually have some useful info from LS>
Marty says
Unbelievable after sending for a subject access request lending stream have now agreed to pay the rest of the interest so another £400 coming my way in time for my summer hols ! Thanks so much for your help. I know I could get interest but as it’s dragged on for 18 months this is a good result for me
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Oh that worked well!
Ryan says
Hi, just had the FO send me their recommendation for Lending Stream – refund from loan 5-40. Do they/lenders have a history of rejecting the claim, and/or delaying the process after this (e.g. replying, rejecting, eventual refund repayment) for as long as possible, months?
Casey says
Well done on your result with LS Ryan
Michael hastie says
I have had exactly the same offer loans 6 to 40 successful with fos but lending stream haven,t bothered replying to fos within the required time what happens now and how long will it take
Mike
Michele says
Hi
just to update on my last post, they have not refunded the offer they made which is now 46 days, I have lodged a claim on the county court (MCOL), will keep you posted
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Good luck!
In case anyone else is thinking of doing this I need to be clear,
a) I am not suggesting it is a good idea and
b) it is NOT the right procedure if you have had a final decision from an Ombudsman.
Michele says
Hi, as per the advice. Please note, this is action to enforce a settlement reached without going via the FSO. Having read about all the stalling tactics LS use when dealing with the FSO I am seeing if a different enforcement route works. I will be sending a complaint letter separately to the FCA about LS’s conduct.
Please don’t all rush to try this route as it may not work but I will keep you posted on progress.
Marie says
I was also constantly harrassed by lending stream. I had 13 loans with them over a 12 month period, 9 closed but 4 running together at the end and approved within weeks of each other (big loans aswell). Rejected my affordability complaint and now with the ombudsman but lending stream have passed these debts onto crs debt collection who are chasing me now. Quoted silly credit score. Also taking my bank to fos for failing to cancel the cpa’s to 4 payday lenders when i asked them to and getting me into mortgage arrears but adjudicator sided with the bank as just said the phone calls didn’t happen! They have broken fca rules on refusing my cancellation surely and leaving me in this mess. Such a stressful time. I have escalated to the ombudsman but they seem to take forever.
Kerry says
Another deadline passed with no refund from Lending Stream. Coming up to 40 days now since acceptance! They agreed with adjudicator on 28 out of 37 loans and the refund is just under £5,000. Phoned them this morning to find my adjudicator was already on the phone to someone there which was good! Apparently I will definitely have my payment by the end of today. Again still not holding out any hope but if it’s not received today then I I’ll withdraw acceptance and go for a final decision from an ombudsman. Such a frustrating company!!!
Marie says
This has got to be the most stressful company ever to deal with. I still have 4 outstanding loans with them. With fos for irresponsible lending and harassment as they wouldn’t deal with me or answer any questions and fobbed me off with high credit score (really). Been with fos for 4 months now and still nothing done. In the meantime i am constantly harassed by crs debt collection who they sold the loans to and they are ignoring my requests to halt collection while it’s with the fos. Will have a party when this is all over i think as this is the worst company ever and the stress they cause is disgusting.
Michele says
Hi Sara,
Update on my post, the county court route worked, they messed around when I informed them that I would make a separate complaint to the FSO and FCA about their non payment and the fact I had to lodge court proceedings to enforce the settlement. I then got a number of calls requesting I withdraw the court proceedings and give them time to pay!. I declined and pointed out they had no defence, I would apply for judgment and enforcement by sending in the bailiffs and take great delight in posting it on the consumer forums. Eventually a supervisor rang me, offered another £280 on top of the claim which I accepted, payment of £1300 was made today as promised.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well done!
Michele says
Thank you, the assistance on this forum was invaluable. I have one complaint left which I have just started against Quick Quid. I suspect this one will go all the way to the FSO.
Many thanks
Michele
Amber says
Hi Sarah
I out a complaint in with Lending Stream almost two weeks ago. They have replied saying I told them I had a disposable income of £800, and that they checked my credit file, so they won’t refund. However, when I took the loan I had already defaulted in another which was reported in my file, and I had at least 5 other active loans.
Lending stream also said that the later loan I took with them (which went to mm finance debt collectors, as I didn’t make any payments on it – I was in so much debt), should be taken up with the debt collection company. Is this correct? I think I paid something to mm finance, but it’s not in my credit report at all.
Thanks
Amber
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How old are these debts? And did you just have 2 loans from LS? Do you know how much interest you paid on the first one?
Amber says
The first loan is December 2012
And the second larger loan, which went to a debt collector was in April 2013 – by April 2013 I had missed payments and defaulted on at least 4 other loans with other companies.
On the statement they sent me it says that the first loan in Dec 2012 I borrowed £435. The interest was £522, so I paid back £956
The second loan amount that went to mm finance, the debt was £1218. It says on my credit file I was due to pay 6 monthly payments of £131.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The first loan – was that a standard 1 month payday loan?
Did you make any payments to the second loan, to LS or to MMF? Have you checked your credit report with all three credit reference agencies for the MMF debt? See https://debtcamel.co.uk/best-way-to-check-credit-score/ for how to do this.
Amber says
The first loan was also 6 monthly installments.
I have checked all 3 credit agencies and can’t see mmf at all. Noddle, check my file and experian have not reported it (am I missing somewhere I could check?)
On another, but similar note: I also had a loan with QQ (which I have complained about), but that isn’t on any credit report either. It definitely isn’t over 6 years old.
Thanks so much for taking the time to reply Sara.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
sorry I should have said that MMF has changed its name to Lantern – not sure if that is being reflected in credit reports?
Claire says
Hi Sara – I had 2 payday loans with Lending Stream in 2012. I submitted a complaint last year which was upheld and I received the interest back plus the 8% statutory interest. They had applied 2 defaults in Feb 2013 and I paid off the loans in full in March 2013. The defaults are due to expire from my credit record in Feb 2019. As the complaint was upheld, should they have also removed the details from my credit file? Is so, am I able to submit another complaint?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Was the complaint resolved at the Ombudsman, or directly with Lending Stream?
Claire says
Hi Sara it was directly with Lending Stream in April 2017.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
In that case you have a problem – you should have asked them to do this at the time of your first complaint. You can go back now and ask, but they may say you accepted their offer in final settlement of your complaint and refuse to do anything.
Claire says
Thanks Sara – I did request they remove the details in my original complaint but they never have. I’ve tried to chase them up by email but never got a response or acknowledgement unfortunately.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, well put in a new complaint to LS. You are complaining about their failure to reply to your previous emails – list the dates of each of these. Asking for the 2 defaults to be deleted and say that if they aren’t, you will be sending the complaint to the Ombudsman and ask the FOS to award compensation for Lending Stream’s poor complaints handling.
Claire says
Thanks sara I will do that. Is there a time limit for contacting the Ombudsman or does this not apply as it would be a new complaint?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
asap – it should have been done within 6 months of your previous complaint – but you could point out that you had kep trying to get LS to sort this out and they had stopped replying.
Marie says
I put in my complaint of lending stream back in march, got picked up straight away by an adjudicator and all info they needed off me they got a couple of days later. Got a confirmation the fos had sent correspondence to lending stream and were waiting a reply. It’s now 3 months later and the fos are still giving lending stream more time. I am quite shocked at how long the fos are waiting for a reply off Lending stream before they make a decision. Has anyone else had this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh yes, LS are very slow.
Ben says
Lending Stream issues. I accepted an offer from them back in May which they forgot to add the 8 per cent interest too over a month has now passed promising that they will send me the £390 interest shortly. I have chased them 3 times a week and keep getting excuses that its been passed to the accounts / payments team but no ones available to authorise the payment etc. I have spoke to various managers after hours of being on hold and keep getting told crap that it will def be on Monday or Tuesday at the latest I ring back and suprise suprise it will be Friday you ring back on Friday and get told it will be the following Tuesday and that the payment was rejected before as they didnt have a Bank Statement from me every time you ring its a different excuse I think its about time this Company was investigated about how crap their complaints procedure is and how they can lie to you for months. I don’t know what to so now apart from wait or take them to the Financial Ombudsman. This is one company I suggest everyone avoids in future.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send it to the Ombudsman. And ask not just for the interest they have promised you but some compensation for your time wasted.
John says
Hi,
This website is very very very useful, informative and actually offers clear and positive help for people who need advice / guidance on debt. I have been using LS for a while and I have had a large number of loans with them. Sometimes I have had to take out an extra loan the day after payday to cover what I have had to pay off in debt. I have never missed a payment but often have taken out alternative loans to pay for this. I have emailed them using the template this morning and they have responded saying they are looking into it for me.
Any tips / advice for how to go about this? Thanks :)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
One thing is to settle back and accept it will be quite slow!
But if you still owe them money, then it’s important that you cancel the CPA to them with your bank so they can’t take the repayment and again leave you needing to borrow again. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-refunds-defaulted-loan/
Come back and ask if LS make a low offer. lots of these cases have to go to the ombudsman, so don’t be disappointed if yours does.
Mike says
Hello everyone,
I’ve had my complaint against LS upheld by the FOS at adjudicator level.
It’s a decent sum and have accepted via e-mail to FOS (with bank account details as requested), FOS have said that LS will contact me within 4 weeks to arrange what has been agreed. After reading the comments above should I be making contact with LS prior to the 4 week period, so I am proactive rather than wait the 4 weeks then chase them or do I play the waiting game?
Can I also say a big thanks to this website, the letter templates worked a treat and the comment board has make me feel like I’m not alone in the battle with these companies.
Geoff says
Hey! Great news! How long was you with fo? Did you send statements?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you are wondering if you need to send FOS your bank statements, the answer is YES.
Geoff says
Hi Sarah, trouble is it’s about 100 pages
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You still need to send it!
Mike says
Hi Geoff,
I started my claim against LS back in November 2017, after the inevitable no from LS I went to the FOS in Feb this year. FOS were quick in getting back to me (less than a month) but I let things slide from my side for statements and credit report, hoping they wouldn’t require them.
Got a phonecall at the start of June from FOS asking if they could have the statements and credit report (noddle was were I was recommended to go for the credit report – free and instant). Downloaded it an e-mailed it on to FOS.
Went into the bank and requested the statements, they asked for £5 but they never took it weirdly. Statements arrived a week later in the post… 84 envelopes!!! Spent an afternoon sorting them out into order by year (2010 to 2016), £14 to send to FOS but well worth the time and effort.
Now a week into the 4 week time period for getting back to me, so going to wail till week 3 and chase them then.
Side note, I also claimed against Wonga and they were far more helpful, agreed a refund with them, which I thought was agreeable, they paid within a week.
Stuart says
Great news Mike,
I was in the same position as you not too long ago, no matter how many calls you make (or at least from my own personal experience) they will drag it out to the last day, my own refund of interest and charges arrived two days after the deadline, phone calls were met with the same scripted responses and fob offs I had come to expect from the India based call centre, emails remained unanswered and I was just glad when I was able to put the whole thing to bed, I would be suprised if you managed to get this payment earlier than the deadline. The good news is though that they do pay out.
Mike says
Another follow up…
Just checked the online banking and amazingly the payment is in from Lending Stream already, just over a week and a half from FOS advising me of a refund to LS paying the money…surely this must be some sort of record for LS?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Several people have reported getting speedy payments! They do actually seem to have improved in this area.
Now they just need to improve the rest of their dismal complaints handling!
Stuart says
Great news Mike, it may well be a record lol, I shall ask the McWhirters to send an adjudicator lol
Claire Rycraft says
I have had my complaints against Lending Stream/Wonga/Quick Quid/Satsuma
all rejected. Usual responses of credit score being checked, and affordability checks.
I want to take all of these to the ombudsman.
Do i just fill out the online form on the FOS website, for each lender?
Many thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, 1 complaint for each lender. The FOS will work out you have more than 1 complaint but you can make this easy by saying “I am also putting in a complaint about x,y and z today”.
You only need to send your credit record and bank statements once, these can be shared across complaints.
What happened to your peachy and money Shop complaints?
Claire R says
Hi Sara,
I had the Peachy and money shop complaints rejected also.
These were very small loans with low repayments, so am not sure
it is worth taking these to the FOS?
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Those don’t sound worth pursuing. Good luck with the other complaints.
FB says
Hi, quick question, having had the FOS rule in my favour, Lending Stream accept that ruling and accepting the refund amount in writing, Lending Stream have now gone over the 28 days pay out timescale, I have chased them repeatedly for payment prior to this with no joy, aside from empty threats and getting agitated at the call centre staff is there anything I can do to speed them up? I’m keen to get this matter resolved for my sanity. Any help would be appreciated
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Oh dear. LS seemed to have got better a few months ago…
Have you told your adjudicator?
Marie says
Adjudicator ruled in my favour on lending stream and they agreed with adjudicator on Wednesday this week when offer was accepted, my adjudicator has given them until the 5th September to pay up (1 week). My adjudicator is brilliant. My jar payed up within 3 days of acceptance as again she told them to do this as soon as possible. Thankfully now i have a really good adjudicator.
Neil says
Hi there,
great site! I have gone through the FOS process and they came back to say LS had made an offer (of about a thousand pounds). I fired the form off to the FOS saying I accepted the offer and the ombudsman told me he had informed LS that I had accepted their offer. How long do you think it will now take LS to hand over the cash roughly? Ombudsman has given them until 15th October… Appreciate any info, and again, your site is doing real good for people, you deserve recognition for that.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They were very slow, then they improved but recently they are back to slow, so probably 3-4 weeks… could you come back and say what happens to you?
Claire says
Hi
I have 4 loans with lending stream as well as other payday lenders.. I am now in financial difficulties and have set up a DMP with step change. Lending stream have been notified on numerous occasions but continue to send letters and emails stating my account is in arrears. I then received notification they had passed my files over to credit resource solutions (CRS )I received confirmation of this from CRS and contacted Step change to notify them of account change. Lending stream have continued to send frequent arrears emails,each time a response was sent informing them of My DMP reference number and account details also followed this up with a telephone call explaining financial position and that a DMP was in place. I have now received emails for all 4 accounts from them stating my contract has been terminated and recovery action will take place. 18 days grace from what I can work out was added following my last telephone call to them In which they informed me that I should not be receiving the emails and that they would look into this. I have raised a complaint and requested a response within 3 working days but not holding out much hope . I have also added that if they do not respond then I will raise a complaint with the financial ombudsman. Am I within my rights to do this? And can anyone advice if they can actually terminate my contract in this way if I am making effort to repay debt. Any advice would really be much appreciated. Thank you 😊
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How long ago did you start the DMP with StepChange?
Have you put in an affordability complaint to Lending Stream?
Claire says
Hi I have had DMP in place since begining of June and 2 months payments have been made. I went into DMP as I had multiple payday loans which ended up with repayements being more than I earned. I have not put an affordability complaint in I have just requested they look into why they have terminated accounts and continued to chase debt that I am attempting to repay. Should I be raising a separate complaint. I have over the last year taken out in quick concession with them other loans. Stupid I know 😞
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes put in an affordability complaint. It won’t hurt your DMP.
Claire says
Thank you I will be sending this through to them as looking through my accounts it looks like they did provide a loan to me shortly after issuing me a default notice. I borrowed the moneyto pay another debt due to being defaulted on other accounts. Would this have shown on credit check at the time?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So the same lender gave you a loan when they had just issued with a default notice? That’s definitely worth pointing out to the lender – they should have known that from their internal records, without having to look at your credit records.
Claire says
Dear Claire,
We write in regards to your recent correspondence dated 29th September 2018.
Hi I submitted an affordability complaint on the 29/09/18 I have recieved the following reply today. Not sure if the outcome will be positive though?
‘We understand that you are concerned about the affordability of the loans offered. However, currently we are in discussion with Credit Resource Solutions (CRS) regarding the same. Once we hear from them, we will update you accordingly.’
We appreciate your patience in this matter.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Not much you can do apart from wait. Try not to check your emails more than once a day!