In October 2020, some customers who had payday loans from Mr Lender are getting emails about a review of their loans.
Mr Lender is carrying out a review of its payday loans over the last 6 years. It says:
Lending practices have evolved over the years. This means that on occasion, a review of previous loans is appropriate to ensure that customers were treated fairly and that we have fulfilled our duty of care as a responsible lender.
We are currently reviewing our historic loan book for all loans taken out between the 1st April 2014 to the 1st March 2020 to ensure the loans were affordable, that we took into account all relevant information at the time, and that our customers received the right outcome. It is therefore important that we have your correct contact details so we can inform you of the results of this review.
So some customers may get offered a refund!
What is “affordable”?
The regulator says that a loan is affordable if you can repay it on time and still pay your other debts, bills and everyday expenses. So if repaying one Mr Lender loan left you so short of money that you had to get another loan from them, or from another lender, or you got into arrears with bills, then the loan was not affordable.
Lenders are supposed to check that a loan is affordable for you before they offer the loan.
The checks only have to be “proportionate” – if it’s your first loan and you only borrowed £150, the lender isn’t expected to look in great detail at your finances.
But if you carry on taking more loans, the lender should have realised you were in trouble. Or if the first loan was very large!
People making affordability complaints can get a refund of the interest they paid on any loans which are decided to be “unaffordable” and negative marks on their credit records deleted. If a lender won’t uphold your complaint, many of them are being won at the Financial Ombudsman.
People asked to confirm their income details
Some people were sent emails explaining about the lending review and saying:
It is therefore important that we have your correct contact details so we can inform you of the results of this review.
Your first instinct may be to be suspicious this is spam and someone is trying to get your contact details.
But it isn’t – this review is real. If you want to confirm this, phone them on 020 8532 1969 – that is the phone number given on Mr Lender’s website.
Now people are asked to confirm income
Some people are now being asked to confirm their income, but often only at the time of a few of their loans.
My guess is these are the loans that Mr Lender is concerned may have been mis-sold because you could not afford them.
I don’t think you have anything to lose by supplying this information. If you don’t get a reasonable offer from the review, you can simply send your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman.
It will be useful if you have your bank statements for the ombudsman. These are easy to get for the last 6 years, even if you have closed an account, so it’s worth asking your bank for these now.
Might you get a second refund?
Some people getting these emails have already made a complaint and had a refund.
It is possible that the review may say that that you should get more…
Mr Lender often used to offer a £25 Tesco or Amazon voucher, or make an offer on only a few loans when FOS would have been likely to uphold more.
I can’t guess how likely this it but it is definitely worth making sure your contact details are correct.
“Should I continue with my complaint?”
Some people who have a complaint open at Mr Lender at the moment have had an email saying:
Please can you confirm if you would like to proceed with your affordability complaint or you if you would like us to review your loans as part of the review of historic loan affordability?
Here I think you definitely want your complaint to continue, for three reasons.
First, if you had loans before April 2014, the “historic review” won’t look at them. But the Financial Ombudsman will very often consider these older loans.
Second, if Mr Lender decided you shouldn’t get a refund, you want to be able to take the case to the Ombudsman. So you need a proper complaint in.
Thirdly, automatic redress programs typically look for a certain pattern of loans to decide when a refund is due. Your case may not fit that simple patter, but when your complaint is considered, it may be clear that you should get a refund. It is hard to imagine a case when a manual complaint would give a lower refund than an automated program.
“Should I start a complaint or wait for the result of the review?”
People are reporting in the comments below this article about what they are being offered. Some of them seem pretty poor offers.
You can then send Mr Lender a complaint (template letter here). But they then have 8 weeks to reply to that…
So if you want to speed this up, you can send Mr Lender a complaint straight away. You don’t have to wait for the result of the review.
“I haven’t had an email about this”
There could be a lot of reasons for this:
- sending someone an email asking them to confirm details doesn’t work well if the email address is wrong!
- it may have been put into spam;
- they may be going out in batches and yours hasn’t been sent yet;
- Mr Lender isn’t contacting all customers.
If you have already had a refund from Mr Lender and you think it should have been more or you had a complaint rejected, I suggest you make sure they have your correct details. You can’t just update your details online as this needs a case reference number from the email, which you don’t have. So phone them on 020 8532 1969 or the emails give the following contact address: complaints@mrlender.co.uk.
If you haven’t yet made a complaint read Payday loan affordability complaints which explains what an affordability complaint is and how to make one. Mr Lender sometimes gave very large loans, so you may be able to get a refund if you only had one or two loans if they were large.
SafetyNet Credit – very expensive debt
Credit card or catalogue limit too high?
Lender takes payments for loans already paid
Andrew says
Hi Sara
I’ve actually had this email. I put in a complaint last year through revolver and after reading this post remembered that they sent a letter out offering a voucher. I didn’t except the voucher and i didn’t escalate to the fos either. What are my options can I resubmit my complaint?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No you can’t resubmit a complaint, it would just be rejected as they had already replied to it. And the 6 month period to take a case to FOS will now have elapsed.
The best you can do now I think is hope the review offers you something.
Paul says
Totally forgot about these guys – i’d 6 loans in this period but several were 1k rolling into each other so will look into it
Are there going to be any payday lenders left in 2021? – so many have folded now that even on certain websites the numbers being compared are down to 6/7 in some places.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then send in a complaint now, don’t wait to be contacted or ask if your loans are being reviewed – you want a normal complaint and send it to the Ombudsman if you aren’t made a good offer.
Payday lenders are facing huge problems at the moment because of Covid-19 – how can they assess who will be able to repay? Even if someone was emplyed last month, will they be in a couple of months?
Chris says
For some reason, Mr Lender keep stating ‘your credit limit is now £500’ when I log in but this doesn’t make any sense at all because whilst I did try a few times in the past to get a loan from them, I was declined on every occasion, so how could I possibly have any revised credit limit?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No idea! Did you ever borrow from them? The idea of a “credit limit” for a payday lender is alarming – they are supposed to check your situation, not allow you to borrow up to a maximum amount without checks.
Chris says
Exactly. I have never had a loan with them. All I did was apply and got declined everytime. I never got anything from them, so it puzzles me too why they would be offering me any credit limit. My guess is that it is a glitch on their website which ought to have been fixed. Shows how not bothered they are. Fortunately, I don’t need or want anything from them now anyway. Thanks Sara.
Mike_p says
When I log in it says my credit limit is £1000 although I recently got interest written off following a complaint so I can’t imagine they’d actually lend me that. I think it’s a limit in the sense of being a limit of what you can apply for rather than being an amount they’ll lend you just like that.
7r says
Same for me about the complaints although I got a limit of £1500 which is surprising considering my credit score at the moment
D says
Would be appreciated if anyone can share news on the email if rcd. Fingers crossed.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what’s your position, D? Have you made a complaint before? did you get a refund or a rejection?
D says
Made complaint 2019 rejected never went to FOS. Didn’t know it was the thing at the time. 6 loans 2014 – 2017 smallest 350, largest 1000. Few months in between. Just checking if any overlap – the closest I can find is a 3 day gap between 1 loan closing and 1 opening for 750.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so it was probably the gaps that caused the complaint to be rejected. FOS may or may not have upheld the larger later loans, it’s very case specific with large loans or gaps.
Have you had the email from M Lender? I have no idea if your sort of case is being included in this review.
D says
No mail rcd however hoping one comes in. They have my email correct, fingers crossed I am on the list.
Andrew M says
Hi,
I have just made a complaint and they asked me to confirm some details e.g account number (not visible from account) / Date of birth / Loan amount and also not visible in communication with them. I first borrowed in 2011 and the rollovers and loans went past 2014… I did pay it all off and the default I was issued with elapsed in Feb 2020 but was paid in full…. I am not sure what position I may be in…
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It sounds as though you borrowed a lot. If Mt Lender don’t make you a reasonable offer, send the case to the Ombudsman who will normally look at loans before 2014.
Andrew M says
I got a call from Mr.Lender who confirmed I had 4 loans with them, and they agreed to look into the complaint. Then 10 minutes later I received the following:
Thank you for taking the time to speak with me today surrounding your complaint.
We can confirm your loans held with Mr Lender were taken over six years ago from the date of your complaint and therefore falls outside the time limit rules of the Financial Ombudsman Service.
In order for us to investigate your complaint please can you advised the following points:
How did you become aware that you had cause to complain
What date did you become aware you had cause to complain
Please respond at your earliest convenience.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
FOS has two rules about time limits. Mt Lender has only told you about one of them…
FOS’s rules are that they can look at a problem if
a) you complain within 6 years – your loans are too old too fall within that.
OR
b) you complain within 3 years of the date you became aware (or ought reasonably to have become aware) that you knew you had a cause to complain.
Hence Mr Lender asking you those questions.
It’s important you say what happened to you. Not what you thing is “right” – there are no “wrong” answers here.
So use your own words, not just copy out something here! But to give you an idea of the wide variety of things which are perfectly good answers:
– “My sister told me someone had got a big refund from Amigo this summer so I wondered about my old payday loans and googled to find out. They caused me a lot of problems at the time but I didn’t know then Mr Lender should have checked on affordability so I didn’t realise I could complain before.”
– “I got a Wonga refund from the administrators in February. That was the first time I realised that loans that I had repaid were really “unaffordable” because I had to take out more loans. Until then I didn’t know that a lender should have made checks on affordability.”
– “My finances are difficult at the moment as I have been on furlough so I have been looking at a lot of websites. I have just seen this article on Debt Camel.”
– “I have been in a debt management plan for years. My debt management company never mentioned making these complaints, I had no idea lenders should have checked on affordability, I thought I was just bad with money. This year I have been looking to see how my credit score could be improved and came across articles on payday loan refunds.”
Andrew M says
Hi,
So a quick update. I received another call and they said they have checked the loans and they concluded that only loan 4 would be eligible for refund of interest. They other loans were small and 2011-2012 and the checks were carried out sufficiently. Loan 4 which was 2013 they noted adverse credit changes and therefore they offered me £600 and removal of adverse credit (They have all now dropped off – as of early 2020). They have just sent an email to confirm this and confirm I am willing to accept.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you know how much interest you paid to this loan 4?
Have they told you (or do you know) how large the previous loans were?
Andrew M says
The interest was £600 and the first loans in 2010-2011 was £100, £150, £300 and then a gap until 2013 for £900 which I defaulted and went into a payment plan.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then £600 interest refund sounds fair, but Mr Lender should be adding on 8% per annum statutory interest to this. You could ask for that to be added.
Darren says
Ive not had any email from them I’ve had 7 loans between 200 and 500 pound everytime I paid one off I took out another I used resolver to put in a complaint to Mr lender and I never even got any response from them whatsoever do I sent it to the ombudsman that was on the 6th may and not heard nothing apart from an email on 27 June from ombudsman saying they have my complaint and that’s it
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You never had any reply from Mr Lender or resolver?
I know Resolver sometimes has problems with its emails getting through… You could phone mr lender up and ask why you didn’t have a reply? Tell them the complaint is already with the ombudsman.
Darren says
Hi I got a reply from resolver but after a few messages sent thought resolver Mr lender never responded at all that’s why I sent it to the ombudsman after the timeframe required for them to reply do you think it’s worth phoning Mr lender then
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, well why not phone them up and ask?
paul says
They’ve now put info on their site re it i think:
– Only contacting people if you’ve had no contact with them in 6 months (for updating info)
– Confirm anything by Dec-20
– Apparently if loans are included in the review, submitting a complaint will not affect the outcome (probably just to stave off the ombudsman for some cases by saying that)
Don’t know how they can say, without it being completed, it will ‘only affect a small number of people’ – obviously don’t plan on issuing many refunds via this method
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I guess they know how many people they will be looking at in detail. That may be a small number.
Julie M says
Hi Paul.
I only had an email from them today. In your post, i note it says confirmation by December. Can you recall where you got that from? Tried to call Mr Lender today to find a bit more info but their line is not receiving calls. Anything received from them would be a welcomed bonus. Thank you.
Jim says
I did get email and a letter. I was unaware of the review. I’ve also never put in an affordability claim in the past to any lender in the belief that the onus was on you as the borrower to prove.
Anyway, result of review is that one loan was deemed to be unaffordable and they’re offering to repay the interest I paid on it.
Over the years, I’ve had several loans with them (6-10 at a guess). I had to search my emails and bank statement long and hard to find which loan it was…they only quote a loan number and amount borrowed, not the date. The amount of the loan was around 600. I have had loans of over 1000. My credit limit shows as 1500. My latest loan was 1150 and repaid a few months ago. This particular unaffordable loan was in 2018. My question is how was this deemed to be unaffordable and not some or all of the others? Is it worth emailing them and asking or do I need to go down the route of an official complaint?
Sounds like I’m being greedy but there’s also an element of curiosity how they just found one that was unaffordable. Thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t know why they picked that loan. You can ask them, but the answer may simply be that’s what the computer algorithm said.
But even if there were gaps between your loans, the larger loans should have been looked closely.
I suggest you ask them for a list of all your loans, what you borrowed, what you repaid, the date borrowed and the date repaid.
Then you have the details to decide whether to make a complaint. Ask yourself if repaying these loans caused your problems, making you take Another loan from them or from another lender, or to get deeper into your overdraft or behind with bills.
William says
Hi many thanks this has been a helpful post and comments. I like other I had made my complaint through resolver but never once received a reply or acknowledgement from Mr Lender and when I contacted them directly after trying multiple times I was advised they had never received any complaint from resolver….seems to be a pattern here!! I too also received the email asking if I wanted my affordability complaint to be teates under their historic consideration or as a standalone complaint and I followed the advice in the post to go with the standalone complaint. Having advised this I have had a further email asking for my current telephone number so that can call me to discuss the complaint. Now I have successfully made a number of affordability complaints for payday lenders but never once had the business requested a call to discuss. I would be grateful for any advice as to what I should say on the call and if anybody has had a similar request?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
do you have a list of your loans? If you do, how many were there, and how large, can you list them in order? And were there any large gaps between repaying one and taking the next.
William says
Hi Sarah many thanks for your prompt reply unhelpfully mr lenders website does not show all borrowing, they did provide a list of the loans that would be covered under the historic process
06/2015
09/2015
02/2016
10/2016
03/2017
Most if these loans would have been between £600-£1000 and if I remember correctly I would have took out a further loan once repaid (in the dreaded cycle)….I also think there were a couple before 2015 too.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So if you speak to them, say you would like a complete list of your borrowing from them – what you borrowed, what you repaid, the date borrowed, the date settled.
They may ask you what you would be prepared to settle for – it’s really hard unless you have the loan details. Say you will call them back when they have sent you the details.
William says
Hi Sarah that’s really helpful thank you. I actually wasn’t expecting they would be making an offer on the call I had thought they would be wanting me to set my affordability claim in more detail? Is a call to discuss a claim normal?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Not many lenders use a call. I don’t know what they are going to say. But whatever it is, the answer is probably that you would like a list of your loans. Without that, how can you give them more details?
William says
Hi Sarah many thank I had the call this morning it was to advise was I aware many loans had I had, the total amount and the interest that I had paid and what outcome I was looking for. I had 5 loans I total from 2015 to 2017 which look when I paid off I took out the next loan. I borrowed £3400 in total and paid £5200 with infest being £1800. I advised that I would hope my affordability complaint would be upheld for all 5 loans and that I would be compensated following the FCA/ombudsman guidance, would this be correct I would have the ability to respond further if not?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So it is correct you only had 5 loans? Not just 5 loans after 2014?
How large were each of the loans, can you list them in order?
William says
Hi Sarah many thanks, according to the person I spoke with I had 5 loans in total from the lender. I gone though my bank account statements online and this looks correct I cannot find anymore before 2015. They are:
6/15 £400
9/15 £500
2/16 £750
10/16 £750
3/17 £1000
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then a refund on the last three would probably be a fair offer. It’s possible but unlikely you would get the first two loans upheld at the Ombudsman. You may only get a refund for the last two loans.
William says
Thanks Sarah that’s helpful should I suggest that if await to see what they offer? Would that be a refund of the the interest and fees associated with those loans or the monies borrows too?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Just the interest and any other charges. You will never get a refund of the amount borrowed.
It’s up to you if you want to suggest it to try to speed things up.
Anonymous says
Hi,
I recently put a complaint into mr lender and I got an email today with this written in “Please can you confirm if you would like to proceed with your affordability complaint or you if you would like us to review your loans as part of the review of historic loan affordability? “… has anyone has the same thing and if so what does it mean?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, see the “Should I continue with my complaint?”
section in the article above these comments.
Mike_p says
I wonder what their motivation is? Are they trying to get existing or potential complaints into this historic review so they can delay it as much as they want and put people off taking it to the FOS which would cost them £550 a time?
Leoni says
I have put in a complaint with Mr Lender and they have replied straight away saying they believe they can resolve my complaint quicker over the phone. Has anybody had this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, here is what happened to one reader: https://debtcamel.co.uk/mr-lender-review-affordability/#comment-392017
Darren says
Hi I posted earlier in the comments I used resolver for my complaint but it seems it never got to them anyway I rang me lender up on the Monday and got a refund from them on the Thursday possibly a little short but I’d say fair otherwise I could of gone to the ombudsman and at the rate there working at would of been another year it’s a shame other lenders can’t get things done that quickly
William says
I’ve had no decision as of yet the call I had they advised the details of the loan I had and what outcome I would like. I did phone up to today seeking an update and was advised no decision has been reached yet. I did then get an email asking me to that they had carried out employment checks for the last loan application and for me to reconfirm my monthly income at that time? However I have changed employer since then and bank account.
Jim says
My issue is as follows: I’ve never previously put in an official complaint – but was contacted as a result of this historic review (as per my post previously) – and was somewhat confused as to how they picked out just the one loan (of a relatively small amount to my other loans with them) that was deemed to be unaffordable. I have since emailed them and asked them for a list of all loans/repayment totals/dates etc. – still waiting.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
somewhat confused as to how they picked out just the one loan (of a relatively small amount to my other loans with them)
That sounds like a good complaint to send to the Ombudsman then. Make it clear to mr Lender that you are now making an affordability complaint and will send it to the Financial Ombudsman if they don’t increase your offer to a reasonable level.
Would you like to list your loans amounts in order eg 300, 200, 350,300,600,600,1000?
Jim says
So, as I stated, I have asked Mr L for a list of all my loans – but from my own records I have had plenty over the years.
Ok, checked my bank statement – it would only let me go back 7 years – as it was, the oldest loan to that bank account was 5 years ago – but I have had other bank accounts (no online records now) – so may have used Mr Lender previously – looking at my saved text messages, my earliest one was June 2015 – so maybe I didn’t use Mr Lender before 2015.
Anyway – here goes – this is a list of the loans paid into my bank account – I could find my total repayments but I haven’t added them all up yet:
Oct 2015: 500
Apr 16: 560
Sept 16: 450
Mar 17: 720
Aug 17: 360
Dec 17: 600
Jul 18: 570
Nov 18: 820
Nov 19: 1140
They found that the Jul 18 loan of 570 was the only one to crop up in their historic review.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you know how long the loan terms were? What is important is the gaps between the loans – the time from repaying one to taking out the next loan. But regardless of the gaps, it looks likely that the last two loans may also be unaffordable.
Jim says
The loan terms varied – most of the early loans would have been a max of six months – but generally would have been between 2-4 months.
The last two loans were both 12 month loans.
On several of the loans (incl the last two) I chose the “interest only option” on one of my repayments – effectively extending the term of the loan by a month (paying off only the interest on the repayment date rather than interest and a proportion of the principal).
This would obviously also be an indicator that they were unaffordable.
Suffice to say – until I get the exact info from Mr L – there would have been very short gaps between many of the loans
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The fact the historical review only pulled out the one loan in that case is a bit disturbing.
Assuming you are correct about very short gaps, getting a refund from Mar 17 could well be the result from going to FOS. You may be happy to compromise with Mr Lender for a speedy settlement and get a refund from the Dec 17 loan.
Jim says
Yes, I did find the result of the historic review quite puzzling.
Mike_p says
Maybe their search tool has a bug that stops it showing the ones that will cost them a lot!
Jim says
That’s quite possible Mike_p. I did know even before I dug out my full list of loans that the loan they picked out was one of the smaller ones – and also one on which I paid the least interest – I checked my bank statement and a few days after taking out the Mr Lender loan, I took out another loan (Everyday Loans) and repaid £300 towards the Mr Lender (in theory the Everyday loans was a lower interest rate).
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Add Everyday loans to your list of people you may win an affordability complaint against! That may have been a large loan and should have been carefully checked even if was your first with them. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-large-high-cost-loans/ for a template for these large bad credit loans.
Jim says
It was my one and only loan with them. They’ve turned me down since – well not exactly turned me down – but were rather insistent on asking for too much info!! I had regular outgoings to a second current account – I told them it was a “bills account” – they insisted on gaining full login access to that account (read only) – even though it was “not mine” – hey ho. Thanks again Sara
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can win a one loan case if it was large. Just saying…
Jim says
In terms of other loans, I’ve been monitoring comments and feedback on here –
The most likely for me to put a complaint in about would be Satsuma – for several months I had multiple loans – they allowed up to three loans at the same time (up to credit limit) – I had a credit limit of £2k – and it was difficult to have repaid any of them early – due to their front loading of interest and then penalty clauses for repaying early – so I would have paid the full whack in terms of interest every time – I guess I better get a complaint in soon before they go under.
Others that still exist?
Cash4UNow? Anyone complained successfully?
I’ve got ongoing credit lines with Tappily and Polar Credit (have in the past had CashAsap loans).
Also had MoneyBoat loans – although they do ask a raft of questions before lending so that could be seen as carrying out their responsible lending requirements.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I have deleted a lot of your other very long comments. The answer to firms going bust and you getting little, is to put in complaints sooner rather than later!
Satsuma sounds clear cut.
Cash4Unow are a small lender, plenty of FOS decisions against them, here is a recent one https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/files/286467/DRN-2117239.pdf
Tappily and Polar Credit – complain like a normal payday loan using the template here: https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/
Moneyboat – it doesn’t matter if they ask a lot of questions, if you have borrowed from them several times they should have been checking the loans really were affordable, not just asking you to confirm they were.
Mark says
I reclaimed from Cash4now and got a full refund within a couple of weeks.
William says
Hi Sarah with regard to my earlier post about being asked to confirm monthly income, any idea why they are also f and how should I respond to this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They may be trying to check how affordable the loans were?
William says
Hi Sara, grateful for down further advice. I still await a decision from Mr lender to my affordability complaint. As I previously said they were asking to confirm my monthly income and I identified they had used my gross rather than my net income. They asked to my to sate what the correct bet figure should be which I did weeks ago and now they have asked me to evidence the correct figure I have however advised before when they initially asked this that I no longer bank with the same bank and have changed employer so no longer have access to online payslips or my bank account statements. They have said if I can’t then they will use the original income figures? Any advice would be gratefully received?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ask your old bank for the bank statements.
sean says
So I also got an email from Mrlender out of the blue really is I hadn’t complained this was on 15/10/20 and agreed to refund me x amount out where I had a loan with them at the moment they paid that of and still due x amount just had to confirm my details which I did and then again by phone because I was sceptical and got told will take 10 working days. Have since checked and logged in to mrlender and the loan I had is gone and also gone from my credit file. However today got a email wanted copy from my bankstatemet 28/10/20 so they can confirm my details which I have now send and now saying it going to be another 5 working days …… so we shall see
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How many other loans did you have from them? A refund on just 1 loan may be a pretty poor offer.
AM says
How are they picking who they review
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They aren’t saying!
Andrew says
Hi,
I had the following loans with Lending Stream do you think i should makea n affordability claim, especially as they kept lending to me and i had multiple loans open with them (up to 6 at one time !)
Loan Start Loan Id Loan Amt Loan completion date
03/02/2020 6427095 £150.00 15/05/2020
23/01/2020 6414488 £500.00 15/07/2020
23/12/2019 6375357 £100.00 24/02/2020
03/12/2019 6347376 £150.00 15/04/2020
19/11/2019 6330202 £500.00 15/05/2020
20/09/2019 6250548 £400.00 13/03/2020
08/09/2019 6229410 £100.00 15/01/2020
29/07/2019 6162026 £300.00 15/01/2020
23/04/2019 6018679 £500.00 23/07/2019
26/10/2017 5078357 £700.00 15/03/2018
23/04/2017 5002681 £400.00 13/10/2017
Thanks,
Andrew
Sara (Debt Camel) says
There is a gap of more than a year between loans 2 and 3. But no gaps in the last 9 and often several at a time. What was going on with the rest of your finances, were your other debts going up? Have you been OK since May or do you have other high cost credit?
Andrew says
Hi,
My debts were going up at the time, however i have managed to get these under control now and just have one loan that completes in May next year.
Thanks,
Andrew
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If your other debts were going up as you continued borrowing this is often a sign the loans were unaffordable. If you know you were taking loans to pay back. Other loans then needed to borrow again from LS as their loans left you too short to manage I suggest you send in a complaint.
Andrew says
Thank you Sara much appreciated. I have sent in a complaint to LS, lets see what happens.
Andrew says
Thanks for the advice on this site, if it wasn’t for it i wouldn’t have claimed. I submitted a complaint to LS on 8th Nov and they had sent me a settlement figure for the last two loans which with hindsight they shouldn’t have given me. A faster turnaround than i was expecting and a nice settlement figure. Thank you once more Sara.
Jason says
Just want to say thanks for this post. I received the email 4 weeks ago and thought could be a scam. But after reading this I thought I would call them directly on the number in this post. Turns out to be legit and a 4 figure redress is coming my way.
Kind Regards x
Shaun says
Sara,
How do you work out the statutory interest on the interest of the loan/s? Do you just add on 8% to the total interest, or 8% for every year from when you paid up until now? It’s a bit confusing.
Many thanks,
Shaun
Sara (Debt Camel) says
8% for every year from the payments you made. Not easy…
Os says
Sara, my pattern of borrowing Mr Lender is as below, they havent contacted me at all, do you think I have an affordability case against them ?
Mr Lender payday 29/11/2014 23/01/2015 600
Mr Lender payday 27/01/2015 25/03/2015 1000
Mr Lender payday 20/03/2015 22/05/2015 800
Mr Lender payday 30/05/2015 24/07/2015 1000
Mr Lender payday 02/08/2015 25/09/2015 600
Mr Lender payday 28/09/2015 23/12/2015 1000
Mr Lender payday 06/01/2016 25/10/2016 1500
Mr Lender payday 29/10/2016 22/12/2016 510
Mr Lender payday 27/12/2016 25/01/2017 500
Mr Lender payday 09/02/2017 10/04/2017 400
Mr Lender payday 10/04/2017 22/06/2017 600
Mr Lender payday 18/07/2017 24/07/2017 250
Mr Lender payday 25/07/2017 26/10/2017 1500
Mr Lender payday 31/10/2017 18/01/2018 980
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, looks like a good case to me! Send them a complaint.
Os says
Sara, they told me these loans are part of of their historic loan book review and should get to me by dec 2020
Do I wait for them to finish this review or shall I submit a formal complaint ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would put in a formal complaint now – you want to be able to send that case to FOS if you don’t get a reasonable offer!
Os says
Thank you , looking at my borrowing pattern do think I’m entitled to all the interest back on these loans .?
I wouldn’t know what a reasonable offer would be.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s not possible to say for certain what you would get at the Ombudsman. But as the second loan is so big, you may get a refund from that loan.
I think its very likely you might get a refund from loan 4.
David R says
Hi all,
I made a complaint with Mr Lender yesterday re affordability of 3 loans they gave me over a 2 year period:
December 2016 – £500
August 2017 – £500
October 2018 – £350
These were all 6 month loans.
They’ve phone me today and rejected my claim but offered me a £25 Amazon voucher and to remove any negative information from my credit file as a ‘gesture of goodwill’. They explained that they feel the affordability checks and credit checks they conducted were sufficient and that the gap between loans 2 and 3 means that the final loan would be classed in a different borrowing chain. They said that the disposable income I had available was high. Issue is, I definitely had other pay day loans already when they gave me each of these loans and they should have been able to see this no?
Should I complain to FOS or is this a bit of a lost cause?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So my guess (and this is a guess, but I have seen quite a few results to base it on) is:
– FOS may well decide that the third loan is part of a different borrowing chain, especially as it was smaller.
– there is some chance you could win a complaint about the first two 2 £500 loans at FOS but it’s not a strong case.
Dave R says
Thanks Sara, appreciate the advice. Might save my energy and time for a case with a clearer chance. Cheers
AM says
Hi
I put a complaint in and they have emailed me 3 times now asking me to provide payslips to confirm my income at the time I took the loans.i have responded saying that I would have thought they had that on file as they should have checked it at the time the loans were taken, it was 4 years ago.
Should I send the information, I can’t find payslips but could send bank statements
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send bank statements – much better than payslips.
James says
No e-mail from them but I am going to complain anywhere. Been using these guys for years always one after the other. I have screenshotted my “Summary of Borrowing from the My Account page on the website.
Will keep people posted.
Pad says
Hi,
Thanks for providing information about this. I received an email and phoned and they confirmed all details and a refund would be issued. They said it would take up to 10 working days to receive the refund. As a bank transfer, that seems an awfully long time. Is that standard practice?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
it’s faster than a lot of lenders do! Weird when they can get money in your account 15 minutes after a loan application…
Pad says
Thanks for the quick reply, Sara. Refund processed today so I’m guessing by the 26/27th it should clear. Would have thought bank transfers would be instant in this day and age but it’s better than nothing. Thanks
Jim says
Frankly, Mr Lender are being somewhat obstructive!!
So I received a letter/email about 4 weeks ago – telling me one of my long list of loans was “unaffordable” and asking me to accept the redress offered (about £200) – and that would effectively be me agreeing that all the other loans were perfectly ok (even though they were larger amounts and more interest) .
I have previous posts on here about the subject.
Anyway – before “putting in a formal complaint” (or simply asking them to explain why their system deemed only one unaffordable – I decided to email them and ask for a full list of loans together with total repayments and all relevant dates and details of any rollovers/interest only payments.
I had no response to that email after nine days, so I called them
They claimed not to have received the email. However, I also copied in another email address (spare) to ensure it was properly sent. I also confirmed on the telephone call that the email address I used for Mr L was correct.
Anyway – had to send again and was then told my request would take up to 14 business days to respond.
I queried whether my “accept the offer within 6 weeks” could be extended due to this delay – and was told no!!!
Hey ho.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Tell them your complaint will be going to FOS if they don’t send you the list of loans and make you an improved offer.
What email did you use that didn’t work?
Jim says
I have had the statement now. Still not happy with them only finding one loan was unaffordable. Will go down the route of full complaint. Thanks for your help Sara
James says
E-mailed via Resolver. Over a two month period I must’ve e-mailed 4 times. Zero response. E-mailed them directly from my personal e-mail, copied the text from my Resolver e-mails and got a response within 24 hours asking me to confirm my income at the time of a loan in 2015. I responded with the info requested and also stated that I wanted confirmation that they were investigating ALL of my borrowing with them and not just one loan. Had a response this morning saying that they received my e-mail with income info and that they were indeed investigating my entire lending history with them and will be in contact via post with their outcome. Let’s see what happens.
Cathy says
Hi,
I received a letter dated 07/10 confirming my loans were part of their review and asking me to confirm my salary at the dates I took out the loans which I did.
Having read the comments on this thread I called up today to see if they had an update. I was told that they found my loans were all affordable and no redress is due.
I had 12 loans between 09/2014 and 03/2019 ranging between £250 and £550 And did have other payday loans too at the time. Do you think it would be worth making an affordability complaint despite them finding no mistake with their review?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Definitely worth a try! And send it to FOS if Mr Lender reject it.
AM says
Hi
I raised a complaint with Mr Lender on 30th October. Today I sent the bank. Statements they requested. I have just received a call from them and they explained that they would not uphold my complaint based on the checked they believe they carried out were appropriate at the time.
Then then offered as a gesture of good will to write off my balance of just over £1000 and remove any adverse reporting on my credit file.
Not sure why they would offer this if they were not upholding my compliant.
I am very tempted to take it but thought I would ask your opinion first.
Tb
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you had a list of loans from them? How many loans and do you know how much you paid in interest?
Paul Carrig says
Hi,
I have recieved email too and they have singled out 5 loans in the email.
Does this mean they are contemplating these for a refund and will come back with an offer. I have not contacted them or made a complaint myself (I have used reclaim services previously but don’t want to pay the huge fees to do this again).
I may just wait it out and see, this would be the final payday company after lending stream sunny and wonga that I would have borrowed from and almost free from the last 15 years of debt hell.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
do you know how many loans you had from them? If not, ask for a complete list and how much interest you paid on each.
It is VERY easy to make a claim yourself, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/ which has a simple template. No need to ever use a claims firm which charge a fortune for sending the same email you can.
Paul says
Thanks for the reply Sara.
I think I’m going to put the complaint in myself, I’ve never done it before myself so will probably be badgering people on here 😅
I’ve had 9 loans with them since 2014 totalling just under £4000 (loaned lots more repayed after interest etc).
I’m going to follow the steps now from website. Do you think I should cc in the pdlreview email address that has emailed me?
Cheers
Paul
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think that will probably just annoy them, that address is meant for the review cases.
But if you don’t get an acknowledgement of a complaint to complaints@mrlender.co.uk in a couple of days, phone them up to confirm they have it.
Paul Carrig says
Thanks very much for the reply.
I emailed the complaints email today and have already had a response that they acknowledge the complaint, they have asked for my salary. I get paid a decent wage and know that will go against me so I imagine I will end up going to the FOS. reviewing my bank account from 2015 is so scary with the amount of PDL companies on there, the constant borrowing etc.
From reading the responses on here I can anticipate what my response will be in 8 weeks and I’d be suprised if it didn’t end up with me having to go to FOS but I’ll do what’s necessary.
Thanks again.
Mary says
Hi Sara
I have had a response from Mr lender re my claim with them. They are partially upholding my complaint and wanting to refund only 3 loans out of 15. Claiming that as I repaid on time, my income was high and did not tell them I had any financial difficulties there was no sign of difficulty. My bank statements were sent with the complaint showing multiple other loans and overdraft usage. The loans were often without any break.
They are offering a redress of just over £1000 where I have paid about £5000 in interest. Should I try to negotiate or send to the Ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Repaid on time, income high & didnt say you had financial difficulties are not good reasons to carry on lending time and again.
You can go back with a compromise offer you would be happy to accept. Have you worked out the interest on the last 8 loans say?
Mary says
Thanks Sara.
A couple of the loans are from 2014 so as I have read they won’t be able to consider them. I have emailed them with a suggestion of a compromise and il see what they say. It’s strange how they can justify a redress on loans with one reason but that same reason doesn’t apply to an identical circumstances with other loans.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if your complaint goes to FOS, they will look at 2014 loans…
But I hope they accept your suggested compromise.
Mary says
Hi Sara they have come back today to award 4 more loans which I think I am happy with as they will also remove them from my file. . The other loans were pre 2015 and small amounts.
Please can you point me in the direction of how to claim back tax?
Mary says
Hi
I have just received this from Mr Lender:
Thank you for your email.
We can confirm we have made no tax deduction on this figure as we have not applied 8% interest.
This is not something that we are obliged to do as a business at this stage.
Should they be applying the 8%? Does this mean I can’t claim back?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
can you go back and ask them why they haven’t added 8% interest?
An says
Hi
Mr Lender contacted me to say they were revising my account. I had previously raised a complaint in 2017 and was given redress of £277. They have reviewed my account and say that I am only sue a further £78 on the last loan but nothing for the previous 5 loans which were roll over loans. Can this be sent to the Ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you know how much interest you paid on all the loans?
An says
Just over £2500
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so which loan did you get redress on previously? did you think of going to the ombudsman then?
when you made the previous complaint, did you ask for a list of your loans and the interest you paid on them?
if you were sent incorrect information before, then you can absolutely take your complaint to FOS now.
An says
Hi Sara
The same loan the last one, their letter says that I paid £312 in interest on the last loan and they would refund that as I previously had a payment of £277 I was due £78. I did think about it but wasn’t sure how successful I would have been, but thought now that they had to review the lending practices that they would have found more that just the last one irresponsible lending as the all rolled over and were taking a chunk of my salary.
I’ve checked my paperwork. I asked for a statement showing the loans in 2017. The original redress letter claims the refund is in respect of my ‘most recent Loan’ and the letter I have been sent today refers to the very same loan however on the statement there’s a loan after that which is my last one. I didn’t request an up to date statement showing the interest but the figures they refer to in their letter match that on the statement albeit it’s not the last loan
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“I asked for a statement showing the loans in 2017.”
Hasve you just asked for this statement of the loans in 2017? or did you ask in 2017 for a statement of all your loans?
Is the figure of £277 or £312 shown on the statement?
An says
Hi Sara
No I got the statement when I made my original complaint in 2017, but on checking the original redress letter from 207 they refer to the redress payment £277 as being half of what I paid in interest which according to the statement is the second last loan and noted on the statement as interest paid of £555. However in their letter recently they refer to the redress as being paid against the last loan of which I paid £312. In their recent letter they say as I have received £277 I’m due a further £78 which matches there recent letter and original statement but they are paying it against then last loan on my statement.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well this seems baffling. Are they adding 8% interest to the refund?
An says
Yes they have added 8% interest
Phusita says
Hi Sara
I have been to step change for over 2 years and my loan will complete in February 2021
But I have a problem with Mr Lender I have take the loan from them 2017 got the complete to them . They offer me £863 for balance that I have to pay back from £1000 loan that I have took.
I agree in 12/2/2018
The result of our investigation:
It is for the reasons given within our investigation,
However, after taking into consideration what you have informed us of through your complaint, we would be willing to reduce your outstanding balance from £1,512.92 to the original capital amount borrowed of £1,000.00.
Further to this, as you have already paid £137.54 towards your final loan we will reduce your capital further to £862.46.
This new balance can continue to be repaid via repayment plan.
my balance
09/11/2020 DMA Interest Pay (27) £73.71 £1091.07
Closing balance for this statement £1091.07
It possible for me to write the complaint to FoS. It the MR Lender take more money from me than what they been offering me years ago.
Or what can I do
Best Regards
Phusita
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They offer me £863 for balance that I have to pay back from £1000 loan that I have took. I agree in 12/2/2018
isn’t that the same offer as the one they have now made:
Further to this, as you have already paid £137.54 towards your final loan we will reduce your capital further to £862.46. ?
It’s not worse, it’s just the same?
Anonymous says
Hi Sarah
I used payday loans a lot with different companies and got into a right mess. I then went into a debt management plan with Payplan. Mr lender are asking for my wages at the time of 12/08/2014 and 1/09/2014 when I took 2 loans from them , I used them repeatedly over 2years. If I was in a Payplan arrangement at the time could this be used as irresponsible lending?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Its an argument in favour of an affordability complaint. Do you have your bank statements from that time? And did you have loans from them before 2014?
Did you have loans from other lenders and are you also looking at making complaints against those?
Anonymous says
Hi
Yes I have statements proofing I was permanently overdrawn and using payday loans. I got paid out a pittance from Wonga and another company who are now not doing business. I have records of the payments going out to Payplan every month for 254 pounds.
Richard says
Is it worth it? They will just do what every other company has done to me so far and plead poverty file bankruptcy and leave us with nothing while the directors drive into the sunset in their maserati’s!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s up to you. It’s pretty easy to make a complaint.
Peter says
I had 6 loans with Mr Lender in quite a short space of time 2 years ago. I made an affordability complaint and they upheld it but only on my final loan. They offered to pay back all the interest on that loan plus 8%. Though I wasn’t happy I accepted £375 refund and they wrote off the £215 outstanding balance. Now they have emailed me saying they are revisiting old loans to check affordability. I rang them to confirm my details and the girl at Mr Lender said I’d get a reply within 8 weeks. So il just sit back and see if there’s an offer of more cash in 8 weeks. She assured me Mr Lender was not about to go bust so let’s see what happens.
Karl says
Hi, so I called Mr Lender today after receiving their email and they updated my details and said i will hear from them in 8 weeks and if not then it means i was unsuccessful. When questioned about should i complain as its likely they just wont contact me they were very offputting and said it wasnt worth it as the result wouldnt differ. Also said the same when asked should i complain to the FOS.
I told them i would call back in a couple of days but do you think i should just put a complaint in now? I basically had £6000 of loans paying back over £8000 in total during a 2 year period from Apr 2014 – Dec 2016 paying off loans and retopping up almost every month etc.
Thanks….
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you do indeed put in a complaint now.
Karl says
Thanks Sara. Would you suggest straight to the FOS?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
no, it has to be sent to the lender for 8 weeks.
Karl says
Thanks for the swift response, I shall use the templates off this site and email a complaint tomorrow and keep you informed. No doubt ill be needing your expert advice a bit more.
Karl says
Hi,
Upon getting up today, after speaking to them yesterday, and yet to put the complaint in, they have asked for my monthly income for 5 loan dates provided. Should I fill the form in they emailed, they’re not asking for proof yet, just me to tell them what I was earning or should I just put a complaint in and ignore this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes I suggest you send the info they are asking for bit also immediately send in a formal complaint and say it goes to the Ombudsman after 8 weeks if you have not had a reasonable offer. See Trevor’s comment below – 12 weeks is not an acceptable timescale.
Karl says
Thanks Sara, I have made the complaint through a form on their site as there’s no email address given other than the pdfreply email attached to the email they sent me. Hopefully that will have gone through. I must expect I didn’t expect a reply from my call yesterday so swiftly so we shall see.
Karl says
Thanks Sara and apologies for spelling your name wrong on the previous reply ha.
Looking into the loans prior there’s possibly 4 or 5 where there was the same sort of pattern of re-lending so soon etc so I may get a bit more back off that but I shall see what they say to my response.
Out of interest, why would I not include the first 3 loans on the list above?
Karl says
Thanks Sarah,
So as I stand I’ve had a list of all my loans sent out, I’ll break it down to date taken and date settled. They’ve only said they’re looking into four of the loans which I find absurd as many have the same sort of gaps between taken out new ones/rolling over so to speak. There just seems no reason as to why they’ve picked out just these ones besides the fact they’re trying to get away with a paltry offer. Anyhow, of the loans from 1st April 2014, when totted up the interest paid plus added interest etc it adds upto 2k, they’re offering me £400. That’s not including loans from before said date which also add upto 2k interest. They’re now asking which loans I think were unaffordable, why I believe they were, what difficulties I had as a result of the loans and what I would deem a reasonable outcome.
The loans below with an asterix are the ones they’ve agreed to look at prior to be replying to their questions above.
09/09/15 – 02/11/15
18/07/15 – 04/09/15
23/05/15 – 15/07/15*
30/04/15 – 21/05/15*
04/04/15 – 24/04/15*
02/03/15 – 25/03/15
03/01/15 – 27/02/15
07/12-14 – 22/12/14
17/11/14 – 28/11/14
20/10/14 – 31/10/14*
08/09/14 – 03/10/14
08/08/14 – 05/09/14
15/07/14 – 08/08/14
30/04/14 – 11/07/14
Do you think I should reply and say all the loans were unaffordable given the short gaps in between retaking a new one out and also how much would you settle for or should I just got to the FOS?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so 14 loans under 18 months. And quite a few loans before that.
I think you should reply that they were all unaffordable because you were taking out one as repaying the previous loan had left you too short of money to get through the next month as the short gaps and repeat relending show. Say if you go to FOS you will probably all these and some of the older pre 2014 loans included as well,. But you are happy to settle for a refund of the loans from 08/09/14 onwards, plus 8% statutory interest to get this speedily resolved without going to FOS.
So that is all except the first 3 listed. It’s up to you what you ask for, but you are suggesting some compromise here.
Karl says
Hi Sara, I basically asked for all from April 2014 and this is what I got back within about 10 mins of me emailing them. Do you think I should just now say I will take it to the FOS?
Thank you for your email.
We are sorry to hear you are not happy with the outcome of our review, unfortunately we wouldn’t look to change our offer.
The review we have undertaken has been thorough and detailed and has taken into consideration a wide variety of factors to enable us to achieve fair outcomes.
If you wish to proceed with your complaint you can contact us on 02085325069 or you can make a complaint using the form on our website at mrlender.com on our “contact us” page.
We will acknowledge your complaint promptly and deal with your complaint in accordance with our complaints policy (which can be found on our website).
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How long ago did you send them a formal complaint?
Karl says
8th December I sent this. They then posted a copy of all my loans to my home and asked me to fill in a form stating why I thought they were unacceptable etc. Before I did this they came back via email with the offer stated above, to which I replied what I posted today.
AFFORDABILITY COMPLAINT I am making an affordability complaint to you about irresponsible lending. Replaying your loans caused me problems and to have to borrow more money. You should never have given me these unaffordable loans. I am asking you to refund the interest and any charges I paid, plus statutory interest, and to delete any negative information from my credit record. I know the difficulties your loans have caused me but I no longer have all the loan details. Please send me a list, showing for each loan when it was taken out, how much interest and charges you added and what I repaid- this will enable me to assess any refund you offer me. I didn’t know that the lender was supposed to check that I could replay the loan without having to borrow more. I only found out when a friend said they had made complaint. Thanks, Karl
Sara (Debt Camel) says
then I suggest you reply that you have already sent them a formal complaint on 8th December which was 5 weeks ago, they should [proceed with that and it will be going to the Ombudsman if you don’t get a satisfactory offer in 3 weeks time.
Karl says
They’ve now come back with this;
Detailed in our letter were the below questions for you to complete if you wished to raise a complaint;
• Which loans do you believe were unaffordable? (please include the loan reference numbers)
• Please could you elaborate on the difficulties that were caused as a result of these loans?
• Please could you confirm the reason as to why you believe these loans to be unaffordable?
• What would you deem to be a suitable outcome to your complaint?
If you do wish to proceed with raising a complaint, please provide your answers to the above questions.
I have already sent them the below though in response to their letter.
“I received a copy of all loans taken out with yourself and believe they all fall under the unaffordable category, including those from prior to April 2014 which the FOS will also look at. I believe they were unaffordable as I kept taking another out after replaying the previous one as it left me short of money to get through the next month as the short gaps and repeat lending show.
I am happy to settle for a refund on all loans, plus statutory 8% interest, from the one taken out on the 30/04/2014 upto the final one on 09/09/2015 to get this speedily resolved without having to go to the FOS who as stated will more than likely look into pre 2014 too as they show the same pattern. That will be 14 loans in total from the dates stated above.”
How should I respond now?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you reply.
“I have already raised a complaint 5 weeks ago. And I have already answered all those questions. The case goes to FOS in 3 weeks unless you make me a reasonable offer – I said I would be prepared to accept a refund on all the loans after April 2014 plus 8% statutory interest.”
Karl says
Ha i replied word for word and have just had this back.
Thank you for your email.
We can confirm, we have not received correspondence from you answering the questions detailed in our previous email.
In order for us to complete a thorough investigation into your complaint, we require you to provide us with your answers to these questions.
Once we have received this information, we will be able to proceed accordingly.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so you have the email you sent to them with the answers? Forward it to them. And again point out that your complaint goes to FOS on [the date that is 8 weeks after you sent it in].
Karl says
Done exactly that and they’ve sent the same thing back to me asking to answer the following again. Talk about making it difficult for you haha. How should I word the answers to questions 2 and 3 so I can answer each question on it’s own merit so it’s easier for them to understand?
• Which loans do you believe were unaffordable? (please include the loan reference numbers)
• Please could you elaborate on the difficulties that were caused as a result of these loans?
• Please could you confirm the reason as to why you believe these loans to be unaffordable?
• What would you deem to be a suitable outcome to your complaint?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh just tell them you have sent them a complaint and it is going to FOS on dd/mm/yy and it’s up to them if they want to read what you have previously told them and make to an acceptable offer before then.
Karl says
Thanks Sara, I actually resent my response again and put it in bold so they couldn’t miss it and now they’ve replied with this (they’re having a laugh 8 weeks aren’t they?)
Please accept this response as acknowledgement of your complaint.
As you have made us aware you are dissatisfied with the service we have provided, we can confirm that we will be conducting a thorough investigation into your concerns. This process can take up to eight weeks depending on the nature of your complaint. Once we have completed our investigation, we will send you our final response letter in the post using the address that we have on file for you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
just ignore this & send your complaint to FOS on the 8 week point.
Karl says
Will do, thanks a lot.
Karl says
So i sent the affordability complaint on 8th December. Im right in saying that will be 8 weeks tomorrow?
Do you have a link to a template of how i go about contacting the FOS please?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
See https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/#How_to_send_a_complaint_to_FOS for how to send a complaint to FOS. It doesn’t need a separate template.
Matt says
I too have contacted Mr Lender! The gave the same info, have to wait 8 weeks! If I do not hear from them then no offer will be made…Just keeping my fingers crossed I am offered something! Payday loans upset a lot of people! Most lenders going bust have paid 3p (ish) in the £1 for unaffordable/appropriate loans! This company is still live and kicking, we might actually get a few quid back out of what was and still is for many a very stressful time!
Matt says
Update! They asked for my income in relation to a loan dated 2014! I’ve had loads of loans with them often one after the other! Does this mean they only looks at the 2014 one?
I sent them my income in 2014 and got the response back to wait 12weeks for outcome!
This does not looks hopeful anymore.. eeekkkk
Sara (Debt Camel) says
were your other loans before 2014?
Matt says
I didn’t even realise I had one in 2014 lol! They all between 2015 and 2018! Probably about 6k-8k in loans! Usually got a £1k loan over 6 months then got another once I paid it! I was always a good payer, maybe that’s why they not considered unaffordable?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
sounds like a good case to take to the Ombudsman if Mr L doesn’t make you a decent offer on the later loans.
Sam says
I received an email today. I made a complaint years ago to say unaffordable. Completely ignored. I paid it all back and never went back there. I had about 12 loans over 2 years. Sometimes more than one I’m sure. I called them to update my info. Should I expect to hear good news? I haven’t complained again. Should I? I probably had about 4 grand in total and would pay all back but borrow straight away as I was robbing Peter to pay Paul… very stressful times.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I hope you will get an offer.
It is great shame you didn’t take your complaint to the Ombudsman years ago, you may not get such a good offer now.
Sam says
Thank you for your reply. Fingers crossed they start checking peoples affordability first!!
Sam says
I had another email today asking for income between a certain short time frame. I had 1650 over a period of 4 months. I called to say I have to wait for bank statements to arrive in the post. Does this look promising?
Lou says
I have an an email today asking for confirmation of earnings on 2 loans from 2017 . I’ve had about 10 loans though ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you send them what they have asked for and also say you would like to receive a complete list of your loans and the interest you paid as you will be sending a complaint to the ombudsman if their offer is not reasonable.
Lou says
Hi they have come back and said they have all the info they need and are now going to start the review . I should find out in 8 weeks . I had about 10 loans in quick succession totalling £3000. They only wanted info on 2 oldest from 2017 . They must just have the info for the rest . I had put in a complaint fir affordability but they didn’t respond . All loans were paid apart from last one ( had payment plan ) . Not sure if they will refund . But they deffo shouldn’t have give me all the loans one after the other and should’ve been able to see I had several other loans
Lou says
I have just chased this up and they have dont the review and advised no further action is needed . So it looks like I won’t be getting anything . They did not provide any further feedback
Not what I was hoping for at all
Trevor says
Recieved the following today from MrLender:
“Thank you for providing your income as requested, we have now updated this.
We will now be able to complete our review of your accounts. Dependent on the outcome reached, we may be in contact with you in due course.
If you have not heard from us within 12 weeks then an outcome of the review has been reached and no further action is required.”
Here comes the administration in February………
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Right. I suggest you immediately send them a complaint and say it goes to the Ombudsman at 8 weeks if you have not had a response.
Trevor says
Thanks Sara, I think 3 months is too long, but as it’s their own internal review, are they not within their rights to take as long as they like?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
they are, but if you send them a complaint, they have to reply within 8 weeks or you can send it to the Ombudsman. Which will cost then £650 so they have an incentive to answer your complaint on time!
Jonathan says
I am one of those they emailed saying that they are doing the historical checks, Ive already done the self complaint letter that you have on here and was offered a redress of £200 and i came back to them with a counter offer of £500 and they agreed and paid. Ive said this in the email but they have still carried it on. I had 6 loans from 2015 to 2018. Loans of £3500 total. all paid off. Thinking of it now £500 is nothing to what i must have paid back. So hope they come back and offer more. Who knows
Nina says
Hi Sara. Just a quick question. I had 4 loans with Mr Lender over 3 years, each time I borrowed more. My last loan which was for £1000 I fell behind with my repayments and was at £644.00. It has now been passed onto a debt company who are willing to accept £241.00. My question is, is it worth making an affordability complaint against them?? I had at least 9 other payday and 1 guarantor loan when they lent to me.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how much have you paid to the last loan, To Mr Lender and to the debt collector so far?
What were the gaps between the loans – the time from repaying one loan to taking out the next one?
Nina says
The Last loan which I took out on 26.10.18 was for £1050. I paid the following
10/2018 – £416.69.
11/2018 – £205.40
12/2018 – £217.40
01/2019 – £205.37
02/2019 – £113.28
03/2019 – 08/2019 – 6 payments of £50
09/2019 – 02/220 – 6 payments of £64.67
These reduced payments were because I contacted them to say I was struggling with the monthly repayments.
The Gaps between each Loan was 8-9 months before I took another one. The debt company have received a payment of £241.37 as this is the figure they offered me as a full and final offer, they quoted the original loan from Mr Lender as £371.34 as the outstanding balance.
Hope this was clear enough.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
with such long gaps when you were not borrowing from them, this will be a hard complaint to win. But as the last loan was £1000, it is worth having a go as that is so large
Paul says
Hi Sarah,
When Mr Lender look at the loans will they purely look at their lending history to you rather than the bigger picture of your finances.
I sporadically took loans from them (mainly to payback other loans) and really crippled myself in debt. Is it likely they would refuse claims if loans had a significant gap and would financial ombudsman look at the bigger picture. Sorry if that seems rambling I’m just expecting to get nowhere with my initial complaint.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t know how Mr Lender is assessing cases.
But if you borrowed a lot from them it is always worth sending a complaint to the Ombudsman even if the lender says No. You are the person who knows if the loans were unaffordable.
Chris says
Hi all, just to let you know, even if you have previously successfully complained about loan affordability, you may still get more refunded, so it is worth following up.
I was contacted a few weeks back, had two loans reviewed, confirmed my income at the time, and yesterday was contacted with an offer of £273 redress (this is on top of previous payment & loan written off when I decided to sort my debts etc out)
Accepted and expecting the payment within 10 working days.
Jonathan says
Without sounding rude but what did you receive off then last time, as I’m someone who had a previous successful complaint
Chris says
Hi Jonathan, I can’t remember the exact details as it amongst a whole bunch of other complaints when I was going through the phase of sorting my bloody life out haha. I do recall they wrote off the remainder of my loan at the time, so to get an extra £270 back on top 2 years later. It’s worth a try!
Lou says
Oh that’s good . I was told 8 weeks so I hope I get contacted soon. Fingers crossed
Chris says
You should hear from them soon, I received my payment on Tuesday. They were very prompt replying to emails etc.
Lou says
Thanks . I chased it up and the said 8 weeks again 😡😡 I have looked on their website and they say only a small proportion of people have received the email to say their account is being reviewed . I hope this is a positive thing . It’s been only been 3 weeks so far and with Christmas I’m not holding out much hope of hearing back anytime soon
Jonathan says
Has anyone else had some joy? they have just asked me to clarify why i was paid by someone else on a month secondment. So hopefully i will get a positive outcome soon.
Matt says
Nope, no response on mine yet! Guess they will drag it out! When they say 12 weeks it probably will be 😞
Kelly says
So I recieved a call this morning from Mr Lender advising about the review being carried out and wanted to check my details were still correct. They have advised that they will now carry out the review and if I haven’t heard from them in 8 weeks then I have been unsuccessful – has anyone else had this? What are peoples thoughts? Thanks 😊
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How many loans did you have from them and were any before 2014?
Kelly says
Hi Sara,
I had a least 8 after 2014 and 5 that I can find prior, however I did make an affordability complaint quite some time ago which was successful however they did not agree with all of the loans (which now I know I should have challenged as I was stupidly repaying and then reapplying on the same day).
Kelly
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, well just wait and see if you are offered more. If you hadn’t complained before, this would be a good point to complain as Mr Lender wont take the pre 2014 loans into consideration.
Kelly says
Hi Sara,
I have just looked at my previous complaint it turns out it was only for one loan which they didn’t uphold and just froze the interest at that time? Do you think that will make any difference?
Thanks for your help 🙂
Kelly
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did you specifically complain about just one loan, not all your loans?
Kelly says
Looking at it, it looks like just the one
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then I suggest you send mr Lender a complaint now about all your other loans. Then if you don’t get a very good offer from the ones they are loking at, you can send the complaint about all of them to FOS.
Kelly says
Thank you 😊
Montrose54 says
I didnt make a complaint to Mr Lender however I received the email below asking me to confirm my income on 7 previous loans dating back to 2015.
These were all paid back with no late payments. Should I provide my income on the dates requested and sign the declaration? What do they need this for ?
This is not a marketing communication. Please read the following information
Please read the following information and complete the action requested
We are writing to you regarding the above loan(s).
Following on from our previous correspondence we wanted to remind you that you have 5 days to confirm the income that you were receiving at the time of your application(s) by completing the below table. Should we not hear from you in the next five days we will rely on the information you provided to us at the time of your application(s) when conducting our review.
It is important that you return this information to us as we need this to allow us to conduct a full review of your loan/loans.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
were there any gaps between repaying one loan and taking the next?
What does the declaration say – anything more than you confirm this was your income?
Montrose54 says
GAps – Not really, it was a tough time. At most maybe a month between loans at the very most.
Just asking me to confirm my salary on the dates I applied for the loans. There is a box with the loan numbers and next to it I enter my salary.
Income Declaration Form
Please complete the below table with the information regarding your monthly income, paid by your employer, at the time your loan(s) with Mr Lender were issued.
This information should be a true and accurate reflection of your situation at the time to ensure a fair outcome is reached on your loan(s).
Please note: We may ask you to provide evidence to confirm the information you provide.
Sam says
Hello,
Merry Christmas to everyone. I have called mr lender and gave them my income details from work. They said they want me to email bank statements now as this is less that what they thought I earned. Does anyone know if they are looking at tax credits income as well and housing benefit or just what you earn? TIA.
Sam
Matt says
I received an offer of £525 following their review! I figure I paid over 3k or 4k in interest over the years but haven’t got the heart to bring up all the bad memories fighting for a higher offer! I accepted the offer and can now forget the heart ache I caused myself!
I will be paid within 10 days…
Imran says
Hi Sara can you please help me on this matter. A few years ago mr lender was the first lender I complained to and was shocked at how quick they settled although not much I considered it a win. I’ve recently had an email and now a follow up email asking me to provide my income for dates for 4 loans what should I do shall I provide my income to them.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Why not? Some people have been offered some refunds when they have.
As you have already had a complaint up held, any extra would be a bonus!
Imran Hussain says
Yeah I was thinking that but just read the email again as first time stupidly I always skim read and it says if you don’t provide this within 30 days we will rely on the the information you provided when you applied for the loan.
So am thinking shall I leave it as that information or give them the information. Cause I am thinking if they are looking at 4 loans then it’s that information they have used in the first place. Just some advice would be grateful thank you so much.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t see any harm in giving them the information they have asked for.
Imran says
Ok thank you will do find it and send it thanks for your help.
Jonathan Phylip-jones says
I had already complained and had a resolution of which I was happy with. I also revived the email of there internal review and I supplied what they asked for. They have comeback with a offer of and extra £150 to what I already had. So it’s worth it! After all you have nothing to lose.
Lou says
Hi hope you don’t mind me asking . How many loans did you have and did you pay them all back ?
I have received nothing from their review . I had 10 loans , taking a new one out as soon as the other was paid off . One loan was taken out before the last payment of the other loan had cleared the bank !!!! I am receiving nothing !!
Jonathan Phylip-jones says
I had 9 loans over 6 years pretty much back to back. And was with loans from other places at the same time, have you sent the complaint to the ombudsman ?
Lou says
Thanks . No not yet . I thought the review would lead to a refund so putting in a complaint
Louise says
I have received the below but they have not sent any further info .
Doesn’t look like I will be getting anything .
We have reviewed all loans issued from 1st April 2014 – 1st March 2020 and multiple points were taken into consideration when determining the outcome of each customer. These points include but are not limited to; all relevant information that was given to us at the time, credit reference agency information, office of national statistical data and each customer’s loan payment history and borrowing frequency.
You are unlikely to receive a more advantageous outcome by submitting a complaint.
If you wish to proceed with your complaint you can contact us on 02085325069 or you can make a complaint using the form on our website at mrlender.com on our “contact us” page.
We will acknowledge your complaint promptly and deal with your complaint in accordance with our complaints policy (which can be found on our
Sara (Debt Camel) says
With 10 loans I think there is a good chance you may get some refund from the Ombudsman so it’s well worth sending them a complaint to and sending it to FOS in 8 weeks time.
Make sure you ask them for a list of all your loans, the date taken, date settled, amount borrowed and the interest paid.
Louise says
Thanks Sarah , I’ve asked them for a breakdown of every loan I have had how they came to the decision that I was not due a refund .
I’ll see what they come back with . With other cases they have given very thorough feedback as to why they won’t uphold . mr lender haven’t ! Even though they contacted me in the first place !!
Louise says
They have come back and asked why I am
Not happy with their service and have not sent the info I have requested twice now . If they have conducted a review surely they would have all this info to hand and should be able to send details of my loans in minutes
Louise says
They have come back and asked why I am
Not happy with their service and have not sent the info I have requested twice now . If they have conducted a review surely they would have all this info to hand and should be able to send details of my loans in minutes
They have now said they would send by post ! Which I feel is just delaying things .
Lou says
Is anyone finding mr lender really awkward . I have asked for my statement of all loans 3 times . They finally said they’d send by post and now asked why I would like it on email ? I would’ve thought the fact email is quicker , cheaper and more efficient ? They are doing all they can to delay . I haven’t put in a formal complaint since I was unsuccessful with a refund after their review as I am waiting for the statement. Do you think their attitude will help my case ? They seem to be trying to do their best to make things more difficult for me
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Awkward is their middle name.
Send in the complaint NOW. They will just make you wait 8 weeks for the answer so start the clock ticking.
Mark says
Hi I made a complain t to Mr lender in November regarding 4 loans I had between 2017-2018. They were for the amount of
£200
£750
£400
£300
Mr lender came back to me last week saying that do not consider my complaint as irresponsible even though I had a default in a loan and numerous other payday loans at the time. I rang them today and spoke to a man who reinforced their decision and wasn’t willing to budge, even though all other loans companies have paid up. Do I take this to the fos?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think a loan of £750 is large. This isn’t the strongest of cases, but it is reasonable to send it to FOS, just don’t get your hopes too high.
Jim says
Ok, so I’ve had the response from my full complaint. More or less eight weeks it took!! I did chase them up by email about ten days ago (I wanted to check they hadn’t sent to incorrect address – even though I haven’t moved recently!) – they did reply to my email after about four days stating my investigation was still ongoing.
Anyway – so response received today in the post – and hey presto – exactly the same outcome as the “automated review” – still offering me address on just the one loan – nothing specific about the checks they made – all seemed very generic:
“assessments were conducted by Mr L in accordance with regulatory requirements and guidance from the FCA”
“all checks were carried out in line with our responsible lending practices…..and guidelines”
“We can confirm you were in full time employment at the time of each loan being issued and the highest repayment of any loan was proportionate to any repayment based on your income and disposable income at the time of lending”
“We issued a contract and you signed it”
“Before signing your loan agreement, you also confirmed you read the adequate explanations document etc.”
(To be continued…….too long for one reply)
Jim says
“We do not consider your loans with Mr Lender to be excessive or a sign of financial difficulty. Mr L have certain buffers in place to assess a customer’s reliance on short term credit, which includes reviewing the number of loans that have been advanced and the period of time they were issued. We can confirm that your sixth loan was approved 121 days after settling your fifth loan. Therefore, this is considered a new chain of lending”
“Responsible lending should also be matched by an element of responsible borrowing. We should be able to trust that the info provided by customer is a true and accurate reflection of their situation at any given time.”
“However, on further review of your lending history we can see that on your ninth loan with Mr L, whilst this loan was assessed in the correct manner to evaluate your suitability, there were trigger points that meant more questions could have been asked around potential financial vulnerability prior to issuing this loan”
“The outcome therefore will be us partially upholding your complaint. We will refund interest on ninth loan. ”
Still a mystery.
So I guess this is off to the Financial Ombudsman – do I need to “expand” on my complaint before sending it off?
Thanks.
Jim
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So how many loans? Could you list the loan size in order they were taken, eg 200, 200 , 350, 300 etc
Jim says
11 loans in total.
I’ll list them as follows:
start date – repaid date – loan amt – interest paid
1. 110615-150915-260-137
2. 061015-211215-500-197
3. 231215-240316-480-247
4. 030416-260816-560-407
5. 080916-151116-450-161
6. 160317-280717-720-479
7. 180817-281117-360-186
8. 061217-280618-600-479
9. 230718-011118-570-226
10. 021118-291019-820-780
11. 041119-280920-1140-926
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then an offer to just refund loan 9 is absurd. Why not the larger loans 10 and 11?
Would you be happy to accept if they refund loans 9-11? If you would be then reply saying you will accept that as a compromise otherwise your complaint goes to the Financial Ombudsman.
Jim says
When I sent the original complaint, I did suggest I was open to “negotiation” for a swift conclusion (fearing them going into administration!) – clearly, that fell on deaf ears.
Are they likely to “listen” if I make the offer you suggested?
I don’t really want to go down another 8 week wait – is it possible to phone them?
Cheers.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The 8 weeks started with your original complaint – when was that?
Jim says
around 20th Nov
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Mr Lender used to listen to offers. I suggest you reply saying you are prepared to accept X, you would like a reply within a week or the complaint goes to FOS as that will be more than 8 weeks after your complaint was made in November.
Jim says
reply by email then? The original complaint was sent by email.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
unless there is a number you can ring?