Morses Club went into administration in November 2023.
Morses Club was the largest doorstep lender in the UK after Provident stopped lending in 2021. See Morses Club goes under for details about why it failed.
In March 2024, the administrators have sold or written off all outstanding loans.
It is now expected that people who were promised refunds of hundreds or thousands of pounds in the Scheme will now only get a very small amount. the average is expected to be just £9.
The most recent administrators’ progress report in December 2024 still does not have a date when the distribution will be made.
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How many current loans are there?
When Morses went into administration in November it had about 68,000 current loans. Roughly a third were in default.
Morses loans were typically between £300-1.500 and most recent loans were short terms for 3 or 6 months. Some of the current loans will probably have been repaid by now.
On 6 March 2024, the administrators announced that they have:
- sold some loans to Lantern;
- written off all the remaining loans
- closed the Morses Operations Team. It will no longer be able take phone calls or emails from customers or answer any queries.
Loans written off
Good news!
People with loans that have been written off have started receiving the following email from Morses:
We have recently conducted an account review and are pleased to inform you that we have taken the decision to write off your outstanding balance.
This means as of today you will no longer be liable for this amount and your balance has been reduced to zero.
We will notify the credit reference agencies of our decision. Your credit file should shortly be updated to show as partially satisfied with a zero balance.
This is good news as you will no longer be asked to make payments.
The effect on your credit record
Morses are adding a marker on your credit account to show that the loan is “partially satisfied”. This is visible to other lenders you may apply to but it does not affect your credit score. If your Morses debt already shows missed payments or a default, there is no reason to be concerned about this partially satisfied marker.
When there is a default date on the credit record, it will drop off six years after that default date. If there is no default date, just payment arrears showing, then the record will stay for 6 years after it has been written off. So it is in your interest that the default date should be as early as possible as this means the record will drop off sooner. The credit reporting rules say that a default should be recorded when an account is 3-6 months in arrears.
There may be problems with your credit record – perhaps some dates are wrong, your payments have not been accurately recorded, or Morses failed to add a default as soon as it should have.
If you think there is a credit record problem, you can no longer ask Morses Customer Services to correct it. Instead, you can ask the Credit Reference Agencies to correct this. See Correct credit records by “suppressing” them which explains what to do.
Loans sold to Lantern
Lantern is a debt collector. If your loan has been sold (the administrators use the legal phrase “legally assigned”), Lantern will send you an email about this.
You don’t have any right to object to this sale. Lantern now has the same rights to be paid by you as Morses Club had. And Lantern will update your credit record from now on.
If you are still paying Morses, you should stop and instead set up payments to Lantern. If you can’t afford the repayments, talk to a debt adviser.
I asked the administrators about affordability complaints and the loans sold to Lantern. They say :
the administrators proactively applied the Scheme’s Claims Methodology to customers’ loans to determine whether loans were affordable and/or sustainable or not and, where required, adjusted customer’s loan balances under the same criteria that was originally agreed in the Scheme even if no claim had been made. Only outstanding loan balances after this redress was applied was available for sale to Lantern and as such unaffordable lending complaints should have been addressed.
However, customers are still entitled to make a complaint and can do so by contacting complaints@lanternuk.com at Lantern. Lantern is now responsible for dealing with complaints in the first instance where they have acquired a customer’s loan.
So it may be that your balance now owed to Lantern is lower than the previous Morses balance if your loan was considered to be unaffordable.
UPDATE Refunds for affordability complaints – very small and delayed longer
The administrators say there is no money to pay unsecured creditors. This includes the 60,000 customers who had a claim to the Scheme for unaffordable lending upheld.
However, there is about £1,200.000 in a pot known as the Early Termination Fund that Morses put aside in case the Scheme failed. This will distributed to people who had a claim for unaffordable lending upheld.
£1.2million divided between 60,000 customers is a very small amount and the costs of distributing the money have to come from this pot too. The administrators say that the average refund may be only £9.
This is very disappointing for customers who had been told they had an upheld claim in the Scheme. Many people were expecting a refund of thousands of pounds.
Some people are now going to be due extremely tiny amounts – the administrators’ progress report in December 2024 says about 70 customers would get only one penny! The costs of making these payments are not worth it, so it is likely that there will be minimum size set. People who would get less than this minimum will then get nothing. I don’t know what the minimum will be, but it could be say £1 or £5.
The administrators have to go back to court to get their proposals for these refunds agreed. There is no expected date given for the distribution.
Nadine says
I was due 12.000
Miss Kimberley J Maxwell says
I should of got nearly 10,000 back it’s not right what they have done
Richard S says
Same here. Just short of 30000.00.
Chris h says
Hello needing some help please as my settlement has come back to me and have been given a figure through the dispute I will receive,but I’m not heard anything from Morse’s as they was instructed to put my monies straight to my bank and this process should of been completed at the latest September,Any help please as just been left in the dark thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you were given this figure a long time ago? I am sorry to say the Morses Scheme has collapsed and you are now likely to receive a LOT less than you were told. See the article above these comments
Marilyn says
I have not received any compensation which i was told in September 2003 I should been received in compensation of at least more then I owed morose
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you still owed Morses some money, that should have been written off. Has it?
There is only a tiny amount of money for refunds. See the update in the article above. There is no date when this will be paid.
Jan says
So people who still have a loan get it paid off and other waiting a refund get next to nothing, what’s right about that it’s a bloody disgrace
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is how insolvency works when there is little or no money. People with outstanding loans who are owed refunds still get them cleared.
Kuldip Kaur says
We was told we all getting payments in the last quarter of the year 2024 which did not happen then was told early 2025 still nothing they are not been fair now as we are not getting straight answers
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The simple answer you will now only get such a tiny amount there is little point in worrying about when it turns up.
Kuldip Kaur says
Hi how are you saying no point worrying about the amount we getting as to wait until it turns up what kind of answer is that we have been waiting along time as it is with hardly any updates as it is
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The average refund is expected to be less than £10.
There is no chance of people getting the massive amounts some of them were promised.
I can understand why everyone feels upset /mad about this. But worrying about when the tiny payout is made will not bring it forward.
Kuldip Kaur says
Hi should we do a petition was we all have been waiting for along time and tge amount is getting shorter and shorter all the time
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The amount isnt getting smaller. A petition will achieve absolutely nothing.
I am sorry, I think you have all been treated appallingly, but I don’t want to give anyone false hope that there is anything you can do about this. If you are very fed up, write to your MP.
Kerry Davies says
I was due nearly 6,000 I need that money like a lot of people I have a family to support so wrong what they done
Stephanie says
I got a letter 2023 saying that I should get 1700 pound back in the September 2024 and I’ve still not heard anything
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am sorry but you are now likely to get very very little, as the above article says.
Liz says
This is a joke they are just in it for themselves they have probably found a loop hole but I will push further everyone else don’t let this slide keep going maybe the ombudsman need s to get involved
Sara (Debt Camel) says
the Ombudsman legally cant look at a case when the lender is in administration.
Chris McIntosh says
As most if not all of the people here I am also owed money by the scheme which has now collapsed.
Administrators dragging the process out means costs go up and therefore they keep more of the money, In a capitalist country this is to be expected as the administratiors are a business, but the length of time now means people should be setting their expectations on £2-£5 I’d imagine.
Maria Williams says
I am waiting for money to be refunded. 1200. I borrowed it. Now can’t speck to.anyone I contact. Worried sick 😫
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am sorry but you aren’t going to get this money. You will get very little, worrying and waiting isn’t going to do anything except make you ill.
Taz says
I too was owed money from this money robbing scam company!…..
But as always bureaucracy and lawyers stand in the way!……and it’s the Lawyers and Administrators who proffer from us!
Ruth Mitchell says
I haven’t heard anything I even put a claim in to the early termination fund sent copy of last letter off morses back I’m November 24 and I know they recieved the form because I tracked it with the post office
emma dyson says
I was told I was going to get my first part of the scheme which I did for just short of £200 then the main payment of over £1500 the end of last year not received any money yet
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you will not get the rest, you will only get a very tiny amount as the Scheme has collapsed. read the above article
Mrs T Blundell says
I am still waiting to heat anything about a payout
Andrew Derrick says
Absolutely shocking ripped off once promised these refunds at real low rate and now taking the little we were offerd there must be something we can do ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am sorry but they are going into liquidation, there is no money to pay the promised refunds and the ombudsman cannot look at complaints about a firm that has gone bust
Kristina Ridsdale says
I was due a pay out by November which was then changed to Feb an I’ve heard nothing so any one know what’s happening an is it true we won’t be getting anything back ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
it is true that you are likely to get a very tiny amount, much less than people were told
Sonia Morgan says
I had paid back my loan and owed Morses nothing when this all happened. I was due to get back just under £1000 but have heard nothing for months. Now told that we MIGHT get back pennies/or a few quid if we are lucky instead of what we are actually owed but I bet the administrators will get fully paid. It’s bloody shameful that we get virtually nothing or the common decency of them actually updating us as to what is happening in terms of payment. It was sheer luck that I found this .
Paul Thompson says
I was told I could expect about £7000 back , but not heard anything about this in ages
Kuldip Kaur says
Hi I’ve just seen that we are not getting any pay out as they have closed all together his this wright
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I can’t see any recent update from the administrators – where are you reading this?
Cheryl says
Evening,
I have had no update at all since April 2023 giving me log in details for the portal which is no longer valid? How do I find out what’s going on with my claim? Am I due a payout?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Was your claim upheld and you are just waiting for some payout?
Sonia Morgan says
Sorry to jump in here Sara but mine was upheld and was waiting for a payout but haven’t heard from them in months! Can’t access their portal which apparently is no longer valid and it was on here I found out that there’s no date for the supposed ‘payout’ now and what we may get is going to be very little if at all. It’s shocking how we’ve been treated. Can’t find any further updates do you know of anything?