The Financial Ombudsman (FOS) complaint statistics for Oct-Dec 2019 have just been published, see Product Complaints Data.
For guarantor loans, FOS decided in favour of the consumer in 90% of cases:
- this is even higher than the 83% that were won in April-Jun 2019.
- these figures are a dramatic increase from the uphold rate of only 32% for the 2018 financial year.
This includes complaints by both borrowers and guarantors.
So almost all affordability complaints about guarantor loans are being won at the moment.
Here I look in detail at two recently published Ombudsman decisions:
- Amigo did not check properly that a borrower could afford the loan; and
- Amigo – why the Ombudsman released a guarantor from a loan.
And this article Amigo loans – more refunds being paid! looks at extracts from unpublished adjudicator decisions.
Most complaints and decisions are about Amigo as they have about 85% of the guarantor loan market. But there have also been decisions against smaller guarantor lenders, for example:
Here are my template letters to help people complaint about guarantor loans:
Other FOS statistics on high-cost credit
The FOS uphold rate for payday loan refunds has risen to 73% in the last quarter of 2019. FOS has commented on the the large number of loans some people have:
It’s really rare for us to see a complaint that involves just one loan – it’s common for consumers to have 10-15 loans in a complaint and we’ve even seen instances that involve over 100 payday loans.
And 75% of instalment loans cases – complaints against payday lenders offering slightly longer-term loans such as Lending Stream, Peachy, Myjar and Satsuma – have been upheld. There are also a lot more of these cases, as the Guardian reports:
The latest FOS data covering the period 1 October to 31 December 2019 shows that the ombudsman dealt with 4,535 new cases about instalment loans during the three months. That compares with 1,295 new cases during the same quarter in 2018 – a 250% increase.
And a very high 86% of cases against Provident and other doorstep lenders are being won.
To ask questions or say how your guarantor loan complaint went, please use the comments below the relevant page:
Jan says
This is fantastic for wronged consumers and very welcome for me. I have a complaint with the FOS about Kensington Mortgage Company.
For many years Kensington Mortgage Company failed to respond to my concerns about unfair treatment, excessive and unfair charges which KMC attempted to hide by refusing to provide statements. Even when I wrote to CEO Mark Arnold and various KMC executives, my complaints were ignored.
KMC is an example of a firm ignoring FCA DISP Rules, I will keep you updated on the findings of the FOS. Also a TV programme highlighting KMC’s numerous failings is due to be on air later this year. It will be one to watch.