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Lending Stream – poor and slow complaints handling

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.

Sign showing a complaints department is a hundred miles away

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.

Comments

  1. Al says

    Anyone else had lending stream claiming to not have received emails? Claimed twice now that they haven’t received ombudsman’s emails.. first requesting information and second one the ombudsman’s decision. Waited the two weeks and now they’re saying they never got the email 2weeks ago. Instructed FOS to call them and find out what’s going on and to send another copy giving them a week. Doesn’t bode well for when they finally acknowledge receipt of the decision that they will pay out! Turning into a right snore fest. X

  2. Kimberley says

    Hi I’ve had the final letter from adjudicator today he states as I only had one loan with lending stream they didn’t have to make affordability checks or check my credit score as it was a new relationship and only borrowed £400 . However my point is this , I had seven pay day loans and borrowed from one to pay another back. I also had few credit cards and one further loan all of this equates to more than half of my monthly salary. Surely they should check to see what other commitments you have ? At this point in time I was in a right mess. Has anyone else had this situation and won ? It’s been going on since May 2019 and I’m worn out to be honest . I’m debating if it’s worth taking it to the ombudsman

  3. Steven says

    Has anyone got an idea of time it’s taking for LS FOS cases being assigned an adjudicator? Mine’s been with them since the beginning of October and no word from them yet. I was expecting a bit of a delay but after time being freed up by those looking after QQ I’d be interested to hear any anyones cases have been picked up in a shorter timeframe. Thanks

    • Nick says

      I sent mine just after new year and it was picked up by the adjudicator about a month later. It then took around 10 days for a decision (in my favour) & a further 2 weeks for LS to respond (they accepted FOS decision). I am now on day 12 of my 28 day wait for my redress payment.

      • Will says

        Hi Nick,

        this sounds really similar to mine, but I originally put my complaint in August 2019, my redress date is 18th March (I’m on day 22 of 28). must of had decisions made on the same date. Mine took ages to be assigned someone I think. Will post on here when I receive anything.

        • Keeley says

          I’m on day 10 of 28 , it would be great to hear when people actually get paid. Don’t think I’ve seen one person say they have received their money

        • Julie M says

          Good day. I am on day 24 of waiting for my redress payment from Lending Stream. They have told me it will be there by day 28 , at the latest. When you had your payment, did LS send you any notification message first? Thank you.

  5. Andrew says

    So some good news I got my final response today and will be getting a £2500 refund which I have accepted.

    I have sent them bank details and I advised it can take up to 28 days.

    I assume it will probably take 28 days ?

    • Nick says

      I have just had mine (£3900). Day 20. They sent an email & it was in my account when I checked.
      No tax deduction certificate was sent though, so I’m going to have to email them to ask for one, in order to claim a refund from HMRC.

      • Keeley says

        Thanks for letting us know, the email did state that it could take upto 45 days for the tax certificate to come. But at least we know payments are being made within the 28 days

  6. Davey Crockett says

    Hi, just wondering if anyone can help.
    Received my final response from LS today – they are not upholding my complaint. They state that their affordability checks basically are asking me for my income and outgoings and then deducting one from the other. They also claim to have checked my credit report to verify my credit specific expenses. They’ve recorded these on a monthly basis as no higher than £525 – I had 2 loans that cost more than this every month. I also had an Amigo loan (£296 pm), credit cards (£325 pm), a catalogue (at least £50 pm) and many other payday loans. They are claiming that income minus expenses left me with over £1000 every month, therefore the loans were affordable. I sent them my bank statements with my complaint but they obviously haven’t looked at them.
    Should I send my complaint to the FOS?
    Thank you x

      • Davey Crockett says

        Good morning, thanks for your response.

        I have complained to Amigo – at the same time as LS thanks to your brilliant website.

        I’ll get my complaint over to the FOS today.

        Thanks again, and good luck to everyone else going through this x

    • Nick says

      Yes – definitely! Lending stream appear to operate a more or less blanket policy of rejection. If you feel you have good grounds for complaint, particularly if you had a large number of loans/repeated borrowing, then it is always worth sending to the FOS. My complaint went at the beginning of January, was upheld by the adjudicator, LS accepted his decision and my redress of £3900 was paid yesterday. Good luck!

  7. Nikki says

    Hi
    I made an affordability complaint to Lending steam on the 28th January, I have received an email (final response) offering £2110. I took out 28 loans (amounts between £50-£190) from 2012-2014.
    This is how they have worked the refund out.

    Our decision
    For loans 1 and 12 to 15, the money that you had available after your expenses were subtracted was more than the amount needed to pay us each month and would still have left you with some money to spend on other things. This means that these loans were affordable.
    For loans 2 to 11 the money that you had available after your expenses were subtracted was less than the amount needed to pay us comfortably each month. This means that these loans were possibly not affordable.
    Although loans 16 to 28 were affordable, we have thought about the number of loans and the time that passed between each loan being opened. We can see that it might not have been a good idea for us to make these loans.
    So, we are partially agreeing to your complaint
    To put things right, we’d like to take the following steps
    • We’ll refund the interest and fees you have paid us for loans 2 to 11 and 16 to 28

    Does this all sound ok?

  8. Ally says

    Hey, nothing concrete to report but I know there’s nothing worse than waiting for a decision/money especially when we are all here because we are useless with it. Lending stream initially told me they had done proper checks but have since agreed with adjudicator’s decision, £5900 coming my way. Been advised it will be in by the 9th april. On day 4. Will post again when I have received funds. Can say the only problems I have had is time and them receiving emails a day later then sent (when suits them) but I guess that can all change if this money doesn’t hit my bank.

  9. James says

    I have today received a final response from Lending Stream upholding my complaint. In fairness to them, they have continued to make contact with me via e-mail since I put my complaint in on 29th Jan 20.

    I originally only complained about 1 loan. I was advised, by them, that they had found older loans and would be including these in their investigation. The amount they have agreed to refund me is £5450 which they say could take up to 28 days to be made. I have accepted this amount and replied to their e-mail as requested. Should I have asked for them to reply as a way of making sure they have received my e-mail accepting their offer? My worry is, that with all that’s going on at the moment, that they fold before I receive the refund.

    I do have to say that they have been clear and transparent throughout, maintaining good contact, updating me where necessary. I cannot complain about them in that respect.

  10. Andrew says

    They replied to me a few days later saying confirming my acceptance and explaining that the refund will be due within 28 days.

    I wouldn’t worry too much about them folding with regards to what’s happening – it’s very specific industries at the moment such as travel and hospitality that are going to suffer the most but I know what you mean – I’ll be happy and relaxed once I see it in my bank

  11. Ally says

    Sara, do you think the current situation around the world will affect refunds being made from lending stream? I’m in the dreaded 28day for refund stage and I’m just wondering if anyone will actually be in to work to make payments etc etc?

      • Ally says

        I have contacted them and they have informed that it will still be paid within he days and they still have the team working. Asked for it to be sped along due to job uncertainty etc. Whether or not that happens we shall see.

  12. Andrew says

    Hello,

    That’s relaxing to hear – I was pretty nervous

    They confirmed with me that it can take up to 28 days. If it arrives early than that then great, but if it does take the 28 days, then it is what is is

    :)

    • Ally says

      I also wouldn’t guarantee things couldn’t change.. I just asked if there would be any changes etc due to the situation in the world, she said she couldn’t say but the refund is in process.

  13. Ally says

    Ladies. Gentleman’s
    Lending stream:

    Here you go…

    Offer accepted on the 12th March.

    Usual 28day chat

    Emailed CEO today (1pm) and complaints team due to concerns about my job security in the current climate. Had the email just now at 17.32 and the funds are in my bank!!!

    Happy. Thank you so much sara.

    • JA says

      Ally what is the email address for the CEO. I’ve been waiting in my refund from the 28th of February and I can’t get anyone to answer my emails.

  15. Vicki says

    Lending stream agreed with adjudicator on the 6th March and I accepted their offer same day. I have wrote to complaints team advising that I am concerned for my job given current issues Yesterday and I’ve had no response. Does anyone have CEO email so I can make contact. Would be much appreciated.

    • JA says

      Vicki
      I emailed chris.deboer@global analytics.com yesterday evening and received my payment this morning. I do not know if the two things are connected but its worth a try. I have been waiting from the 28th of February for payment and did not recieve an email to say the payment had been made, i just happened to check my bank account at lunch time.

  16. Vicki says

    Thank you for replies have emailed CEO and complainer team also but as of yet no response.

  17. Carl Horton says

    I have been waiting since 28/02 and my 28 days is up this Friday. Really frustrating as they are now not even accepting phone calls. I assume this is due to the curfew/lockdown in India but they could have been more proactive with the payments.

    Just hope I get it at some point.

      • Carl says

        No, unfortunately not. I understand that they are having problems with their Indian call centre but this payment should have been sent way before the 28 days. I was on day 24 when they shut the call centre .

        I have sent them an email explaining that I expect payment by 6pm tomorrow and, if not, I will start legal proceedings against them.

        • Lou says

          I’m also waiting on my payment being sent, starting to doubt it will come but panicking as it’s a substantial amount of money! I’m only on day 14 of 28 so still time. But it makes me wonder if they’re still issuing loans….. just not the refunds!

          • Sara (Debt Camel) says

            so far as I know they are still lending – but many lenders will have considerably tightened their acceptance criteria.

        • Sue says

          I hope you get your money!
          I feel that as they are still lending they should still process refunds as it means someone is sat there at the computer?!

          • Carl says

            Absolutely. They can automate the loan but not the refund. I am sure there is something I am missing…….

        • Sue says

          Just to let you know, I recieved my funds at about 10pm last night so they are still operating :)

  18. James says

    So day 26/28 waiting on Lemding Stream, when I spoke to them on the phone last week they said the virus would have no impact on them… they’ve not picked up calls for 2 days

    Has anyone had any contact from lending Stream ?

    • Sarah Perring says

      Hi James my redress was due 26 March and it came in my bank early hours and I have received an e mail
      Let’s hope you will b soon
      Such a relief as I was convinced it would be delayed because of the restrictions

  19. Poppy says

    Does anyone know if refunds will now still be processed? Is it on an automatic system or do they physically have to deposit it themselves?

  20. Carl says

    I think we will get it and their website looks business as usual other than an announcement regarding their contact centre.

    All in all the most important thing is to keep safe and stay indoors. I still believe the money will come through, albeit possibly delayed now (although I am not sure why this wouldn’t be automated if it isn’t).

    Let’s use this time we have sat at home to keep pressuring companies like these to pay what is owed to us as they would most definitely do
    it to us.

    • Carl says

      Well, my money went in bang on 28 days.

      Looks like it is automated and the stars must have aligned if you get it before then.

      Hope you aren’t waiting to long!

  21. Alex says

    I received details of my accepted claim on 13th March and accepted the same day. Still waiting for payment.
    My accepted claim is for £1220, but they were due to pay me £907 due to them using some of the money to settle my account with them.
    However, the final balance was taken automatically from my bank account a few days after accepting. I emailed Lending Stream last week to confirm that I will now receive the full amount including additional interest incurred. So far no response.

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      it’s a shame you didn’t cancel the last payment to LS rather than let them now have a few more weeks to recalculate this.

  22. Sharon says

    Just received my money day 20 emailed Chris and compliance yesterday, so don’t know if that helped!

  24. Alex says

    Looks like the GAIN CREDIT (parent family) website is down, hopefully not a sign of bad things to come. Lots of negative reviews on trustpilot about refunds. I know a few people got paid. Mine is on Day 12. Fingers crossed this comes through and doesn’t do a Wonga or OneStride move.

  25. Hannah says

    I have 8 days left for them to pay my refund can not get hold of them by call or email im starting to think i wont get it

    • Rosie says

      Don’t give up hope. When I was on day 20 I started to panic with what’s going on in the world and starting to think I wouldn’t get my money but I looked on Debt hacker and it said lending stream have put aside 5.9m to payout unaffordable loans hopefully that’s true and that gave me hope. Plus the website still looks like it’s lending so I wouldn’t worry.

    • James says

      On day 20. Could do with it being paid ASAP to be honest with my wife not being paid while not at work. Would cover her wage for at least 3/4 months. I’ve e-mailed pretty much most days. Generic responses from the company itself when they do eventually respond and nothing from the CEO e-mail. Just slightly frustrating.

  26. James says

    Day 21… just been paid. E-mail confirming, checked my account and it’s definitely there. Relief!! I hope nobody else is waiting too much longer. Thank you everybody.

    Stay safe.

  27. Lyndsey says

    On day 22 so I sent emails to the addresses mentioned above. I’ll let you know if I have any success. I’ve had none so far using the web contact form and the reply emails.

    • gemma haran says

      Hiya have you had a payout? I am on day 21 and starting to worry as most are having it on day 20?….. thanks

      • Lyndsey Johnston says

        Hi no I haven’t and I have tried to contact the CEO also with no success. No communication from them at all. I think I am around day 25 now. Not sure what the next step is.

        • gemma haran says

          Ok, I’ve been emailing the ceo for ages with no reply either. I’ll keep you updated if I get anything…. doubt I will though, just really stressful with no communication at all 😕 hope you get yours soon fingers crossed for you

          • James says

            Keep going with the CEO e-mails, mention you know others have been paid before the end of the 28 day period and hit Trustpilot with a few bad reviews. I got mine on Day 21. Not saying it definitely helped. I started getting twitchy on around day 15 so e-mailed most days. Wasn’t due to be paid until next Tues and got it a week early. Good luck guys.

          • Lyndsey Johnston says

            I’ve emailed the CEO again today and also the complaint reply. I’ve advised that if I continue to have no correspondence then I am escalating to the ombudsman and leaving a poor review on trustpilot. I also mentioned people getting their payments earlier and I laid out how many times I have emailed with no response.

  29. Gemma says

    Thanks guys. I’ve emailed Chris again and left a review on trust pilot hopefully I’ll get something soon

    • Lyndsey says

      Hi Gemma have you had any response yet? I’m now on day 28 and still nothing. It’s such a disgrace.

      • Gemma says

        Hi, no nothing as yet 😕 not sure if the bank holiday may delay it but doubt it as you can still get loans from them! I don’t know what to do, I’m not quite on day 28 but it’s not looking promising especially for you on day 28. I really hope you get something today. I think I read on here somewhere that they got paid at 10:30ish pm on day 28….. fingers crossed for you you get it today because you’re doubtful to get any correspondence 😕….

          • Lyndsey Johnston says

            Hi no nothing yet. I’ve emailed again this morning to the CEO, done the online form again and replied again to my refund offer email. If I have nothing by close of day today I am going to contact the Financial ombudsman. I can’t see any other way around it.

  30. B says

    Day 26 and still no refund..emailed numerous time. Just feel lost with having no correspondence other than the email on the 20th of march stating my amount for my refund.

    • Alex says

      Day 24 myself and only can wait and see.
      Hopefully you get it on time even if it means late on Day 28.

  31. B says

    Yes even if it’s day 28..if I goes past that stage I don’t really know what do. I will let you know of anything new.

  32. Gem says

    Guys I’ve just got through to someone on online chat through the website and it has gone straight in x

      • Gem says

        I have waited days for the live chat it just happened to pop up when I went on the website this morning just keep trying it will pop up x

        • Alex says

          Just managed to get through to someone on the chat as well.
          He confirmed that payment will be made before the weekend as my Day 28 is this Saturday.

          Alex

  34. B says

    I have also managed to get I touch through live chat and at first couldn’t not find my details. Panic mode. Then they found me and I was in there a while ans then great news I will receive my money before the 18th of April. So if you are wanting correspondence live chat is the way to go.

  35. Lyndsey Johnston says

    I am having no joy. Live chat never shows up for me. I’ve been refreshing all morning.

  37. Stef says

    Just had final response letter rejecting my claim. I had 14 number of loans between may 2015 to April 2018 basically say they’ve done all their checks. During that time I had multiple payday loans and straddled with debt, is it worth taking to FOS

    Sunny have upheld my complaint to them for 2,5k and these were the same time as LS.

      • Stefan says

        2 2395948 £150.00 July 25, 2015
        3 2419434 £200.00 Aug. 13, 2015
        4 2525305 £470.00 Nov. 2, 2015
        5 2543197 £200.00 Nov. 15, 2015
        6 2585577 £170.00 Dec. 12, 2015
        7 2626137 £100.00 Jan. 9, 2016
        8 2848495 £950.00 June 3, 2016
        9 5145769 £600.00 Dec. 8, 2017
        10 5254661 £100.00 Feb. 13, 2018
        11 5264115 £50.00 Feb. 18, 2018
        12 5292892 £130.00 March 9, 2018
        13 5316353 £200.00 March 23, 2018
        14 5356222 £150.00 April 13, 2018

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      ok so I can’t tell from the list what the “gaps” were between the loans.

        • Sara (Debt Camel) says

          Sorry, what matters for an affordabilty complaint is whether there were any big gaps beteen repying one loan and taking out the next.

          So if loan 8 was a 1 month loan, there was then a big gap until loan 9. If it was a 3 month loan there was aonly a small gap. If it was a 6 month loan then they overlapped.

        • Lyndsey says

          As am I. I’m somewhere around day 31 and have all but given up. Countless emails and web forms sent. Ombudsman now contacted. A few people have managed to get live chat and got their refunds sorted that way but no amount of refreshing brings it up for me. I can’t understand how they are paying refunds to people in under the 28 days but letting some go over. Makes no sense.

  41. Alex says

    Day 27, this week they said they would pay out today and today they did not.
    They say I haven’t confirmed on a specific email from them if I want to get paid into my bank account on file or a new one. I sent an email through their form to confirm to please use the bank account on file, but they ignored it. Now they say it will take up to 28 days from now to receive the refund.
    I have stayed away from negative reviews etc, but this is now going beyond professional behavior and in terms of customer treatment can’t go any lower.

    • Lyndsey says

      How did you manage to get contact with them? I’m on day 32or 33 and can find no means of speaking to anyone. Live chat not showing and no email response. Sorry you are delayed also. It’s ridiculous customer service.

      • Alex says

        Hi Lyndsey,

        I managed to get the live chat going and she was talking to the backend staff who said they won’t pay because of reason mentioned above.

        Looks like chat is gone on weekends. Reply to the email where they were asking you for confirmation on the refund as that is the ticket they will most likely see.

        Difficult to get hold of them is an understatement. Whilst paying out loans in 15 mins.

        Alex

  42. Alex says

    If finally has happened, after being persistent, today on the online chat, I repeated that no mistake was made on my side and that they always had the information about the bank account. A few hours later I have the refund of a few thousand on Day 30.
    They still tried to fob me off at the beginning of the chat, but after sending ticket numbers and explaining, they must have had enough of talking to me every day not accepting their BS answers.

    Definitely not for the faint-hearted to go through this whole process, but it paid off in the end.

    Go to your laptop, login to your account and use the chat window, whenever it says no one available, just ask the same question to the bot again, till someone is available.

    Good luck everyone!

    • Lyndsey says

      Glad you finally got sorted! I don’t have an account login as my loan was back in 2012 or 2013. That must be why the live chat is not appearing for me. It’s driving my mad that I can’t get in touch with them. It’s ridiculous.

    • Gabi says

      Hi Alex, thank you for your suggestion to contact them through live chat as I was also having no luck. I had to wait a long time as the chat bot kept saying they were too busy to find an agent but if you persist, eventually you should be put through to someone. I asked them to check on the status of the refund as it had been over 28 days. They confirmed that they took the acceptance of the offer as being from the time the FOS emailed them my acceptance. However, I had signed the settlement offer and sent it back to the FOS two weeks earlier than this. The FOS were just two weeks late in sending my acceptance over to them. I confirmed this with them and also reminded them that the payment is to be within 28 days anyway, there is no reason why it has to be on the 28th day. To cut a long story short, they are just reiterating that it is not their fault that the FOS took so long and they are taking the acceptance as having been made from when the FOS got back to them. So it looks like I will have to wait 42 days to receive the refund. Just a warning to others but the live chat idea was useful, thanks.

  43. Steve Hooks says

    Hi everyone, hope you’re all keeping well. Does anyone have any experience on LS missing the adjudicators deadline? I received the adjudicators recommendation who set LS a deadline to get back to me by 13th April but nothing from them yet. LS won’t let me log into account and FO not accepting calls and I haven’t had a response from my email to them. Any advice would be welcome. Thanks

    • Tash says

      Im in the same situation, adjudicator gave them a deadline of 17 April and they haven’t responded. I emailed the adjudicator and LS today so hopefully I will get a response soon.

  44. Rachel says

    Hi Sara, i submitted a claim through FOS. They replied and gave me until 26th June to reply which i did. I havent received any automatic response just letting me know they received my emails. Do you know if i should have had this? I spent hours sending all evidence possible so dont want my emails to be missed
    Rach

  45. Michael says

    Hi Sara,

    I had a similar response a few years ago to the above from Lending Stream complaining about their irresponsible lending. They didn’t advise me to go to the ombudsman or answer the full question. They offered to write two Loans off which they appeared to do for only one. The rest they seem to have sold to a DCA including one they were going to cancel. Most of which they can’t find CCA’s for.

    Am I able to respond to the old complaint probing them further? I had multiple defaults at the time and was borrowing to pay the previous loan.

  46. Nina says

    I have received a final response from lending stream saying they do not uphold my complaint. I had 53 loans with them over a 7-8 year period. I went through a claims company who won me 3 other payday loan complaints. So what happens now?? Will the financial ombudsman look into the final response?? Help!

  47. Lindsay says

    Hi Sara,
    I received a payout from LS at Easter this year. They kept back a portion of the money to pay off my outstanding balance. Looks like they did not! CRS Compass are chasing me for it. I have a DMP and once I received my refund I set the balance to zero on my DMP for LS to avoid further payments being made. I emailed CRS Compass the letter stating sbout the loan being settled through this unaffordability claim. Looks like CRS have set up an arrangement with Stepchange without my knowledge or consent! They have accepted a payment from Stepchange! I dont actualky know what to do! Just a bunch of crooks🤯 any advice would be welcome! Thank you

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      Tell StepChange to stop paying CRS. And tell LS if they don’t sort this out you are sending your complaint to the Ombudsman.

  48. Nick says

    Following a nearly 9 months process I’ve informed the adjudicator to accept the offer made by Lending Stream, circa £2500 to be paid within 28 days. With the recent news about Sunny fingers are crossed that LS don’t go the same way!

    I’d just like to extend a huge note of gratitude to Sara for the advice and guidance you share complete free of charge. I know I can speak for the majority of people on here when I say that you and the work you do is massively appreciated!

    • Sarah says

      Have you got your money yet? I only ask as I accepted my offer two days later and still nothing.

  49. Chris says

    I had 42 loans with 3 in default. L/S offerred refund of loan 2 meaning I still owed them £300. Took to ombudsman and adjudicator ruled refund of loans 2 to 42 on 20th April giving them until 4th May to reply. They finally replied on 25th June after delsys to covid-19 agreeing with adjudicator. Refund in account 14th July of £7k. Stick in and don’t give up and thanks Sara

  50. Saz says

    What are people’s experiences of receiving their refund? I have accepted my offer of 2k and it did say 28 days but I just wondered if anyone has had it quicker than this?

  51. mick says

    Hi,

    I have just have an ombusman adjudicator email saying he thinks lending stream should repay loans 5-57 not the first 4. This is great, however he says they can give further info by 7 August, if they appeal an ombudsman can look at it. My questions are are they likely to appeal and what are the chances of the higher rank ombudsman disagreeing? I did not know the Adjudicator had potential for overrule.

    Cheers

        • Sara (Debt Camel) says

          no, it is just the first, more informal stage at FOS. 90% of cases are settled at the adjudicator level.

          • mick says

            Brilliant thank you, I’ve no idea how to calculate what I am due back as I am not that good at the figures, do I just accept the payment when it arrives, assuming it goes through?

  52. mick says

    Hi sara,

    Yes, interest from loan 5 on the subject request adds up to circa 3.5k from Feb 18 to Nov 19, will I get all of that? I cant work out as so many dates but I assume the interest will be not much after tax

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      Your refund will consist of the interest you paid plus an extra 8% simple interest.
      Tax is only charged on the extra 8% interest – not the refunded interest – that is your own money you are getting back so it’s not taxable.
      LS normally get the 8% calculation right, so I wouldn’t worry about trying to check that.

      • mick says

        Cheers, last question I’m aware you have lots of comments to deal with. If the Adjudicator has given them until 7 August, will they generally pay out by 7 September?

        • Sara (Debt Camel) says

          no, they may be very slow at responding to the adjudicator. And they may reject the decision. You should not assume it’s likely you will have any payment by 7 September.

  53. Ally says

    Hi
    I am really struggling with lending stream at the moment. I accepted an offer on 16/7/20 through the financial ombudsman. I’ve had no reply from lending stream since and tried to chase this up on live chat just to get acknowledgement they received all the relevant details, they wont tell me anything and just end the live chat saying sorry we cant help you so we are ending the chat. I only want to know they have my details, they say if I want any further details I need to make a complaint and it may take 56 days. The adjudicator asked me to contact them if Id heard nothing and they are trying to chase them up, is this normal, I know I have to wait 28 days I just cant even get any information they are so obstructive! Do they generally pay out in 28 days and say they cant help if you ask or am I likely to have to keep asking them?

  54. chris says

    My timeline if it helps
    Adjudicator gave decision which I was happy with and gave L/S until 4.5.20 to reply. They finally replied 25.6.20 accepting adjudicator decision. I confirmed bank details etc and was paid on 14.7.20. I did send emails stating was suffering from hardship due to Covid not sure if it made a difference but was paid in less than the 28 days

    • Ally says

      Thanks, Im hoping for the best then. All my paperwork and bank details were confirmed through the adjudicator, I worry as I’ve had no direct contact or acknowledgement from Lending stream and if I ask they just say sorry we cant answer you.

  55. Matt says

    Day 23 of 28 for me now, hadn’t had any response via email to my queries, mainly to confirm they had received my acceptance via the FOS on the day they had said they issued it. Just logged in to my LS account and went on live chat, after a couple of minutes with the chat bot and pressing different selections finally got through to an agent who confirmed day 28 would be the 12th and to contact them again if I don’t receive payment. Fingers crossed I don’t have to chase it, I shall try and remember to update here with how it goes. Thanks for all the advice Sara, you’ve done wonders for me and thousands of others I’m sure.

  56. mick says

    hi sara,

    They replied on the 6th saying they agree full redress with amount. The Adjudicator has sent them my acceptance and he told me they will pay within 28 days, are they now bound to that?

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      well they are supposed to… but nothing dramatic happens at the end of 28 days if they haven’t paid…

    • JP says

      Hi Mike,

      Are you able to share timelines I.e did LS reply to your adjudicator within the 14 days they were given?

      LS have until the 18th to respond to mine..

      Regards,
      JP

  57. Liza says

    On 21st July I was awarded a 2400 payment by The Financial Ombudsmen and LS notified. I’m chasing my payment up today as with lots of other companies they’ve gone into administration and I’ve significantly lost out. LS are saying they have no knowledge of this. I can’t call them as they won’t accept telephone calls.

  59. Claire says

    Hi, wondering if I stand a chance, I had 40 loans with them over 2 years, (multiple at a time borrowing to pay them back etc), would you say I have a good case please?
    Thanks

  60. Sarah says

    I had an e mail on 21st July with an offer which I accepted that day. The following day they e mailed saying they acknowledged my acceptance but to send a bank statement through as I had only given them the account number and sort code and they needed a full statement. I sent this 23rd July. My question is what day am I on today as would they use 21st or 23rd? Or 22nd which is the day they write back.

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