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
Ms s says
Hi Sara,
I have recv an email from Mr. Lender today..
quote
To determine whether your complaint falls within the time limits that are outlined within DISP please can you confirm the following:
The date you became aware you had cause for complaint about your loans.
How you became aware you had cause for complaint about your loans.
If you are unable to provide this information, then we will be unable to accept receipt of your complaint.
unquote
Not sure what DISP stands for. I became aware in May this year and I sent them my complaint after reading details on your website.
I had loans with them from 2012 – 2014.
Pls advise by return.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi if you look above at the answer I sent Mark yesterday, that gives an example of the sort of thing you could reply.
Ms S says
Thank you Sara
Jimbo says
So, FOS ruled on that they should refund 6 out of 12 loans. Fully expected Mr L to reject it and it go to Ombudsman. They actually offered to refund my last 3 loans (3 of the biggest) and write off any outstanding debt. Quite shocked. Have accepted the offer (4 figure refund) today because I couldn’t be bothered to quibble over the other 3 loans as they weren’t a huge amount. Hopefully get this sorted quickly from here. To be fair to Mr L they have always responded quickly and kept me up to date. How quickly have others received their refunds?
Jimbo says
So Mr L are now saying “as outlined” by the FOS a refund can take up to 4 weeks? Really baffles me that despite all my details being with their accounts department it takes that long to settle things. When it comes to transferring cash to you whereby they stand to make a substantial amount of money, they can transfer funds within an hour. A refund? No, that takes 4 weeks. How!?!?
Mike_p says
They are just being awkward and doing what suits them as they have the power to be able to. It’s annoying but they are within their rights so you just have to be patient.
Mark says
Hi sara, so mr lender said they had until the 4th of august to give me a final response on my complaint but they havent give me the final response as of yet. Shall i follow up? Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes. Phone them.
Mark says
They have just sent me this? What hsppens if they ask questions i dont know the answer to? What shall i reply? Thanks…
Dear Mark,
We hope this email finds you well.
We have attempted to contact you in regard to your complaint with the telephone number we hold on file for yourself, however, have been unsuccessful.
In order for us to discuss this further, please can you kindly confirm your telephone number and a convenient time and date that you wish to be contacted.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is for the old loans Mr Lender said they had no record of?
Have they actually found anything? Or do you have any details?
Mark says
Yes this is for the loans that are 10 years old. I dont have any details of them no so im not sure.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
it isn’t clear this case is going anywhere. I think you may as well phone them up and see if you can get some goodwill offer.
John says
Hi Sarah just wondering if you no timescale mr lender taking to pay refund after acceptance thanks john
Sp says
Hi Mark,
I received the same email. I contacted them and they wanted to know if there was anything else to add to my complaint to strengthen my case. also, what sort of result was I expecting.
Mark says
Oh ok. So what did you say? Have they offered you something now? Thanks
Sp says
Hi Mark, It depends on the individual case. I told them where I believe they let me down, as a customer and what I would like the outcome to be. I am still waiting , this was just over a week ago, their time scale is 8 weeks. So early days.
Rebecca says
I got this email today also I’m about 6 weeks into my complaint. I responded saying I’d prefer to use email due to work and asked what the phone call relates to. I’d be interested to hear of anyone else that got a result after this email. Bit of a strange one really
Mark says
I said to them what is your final response and They got back to me with the letter they had already sent to me even though they also tried to call me after the letter was sent. But they have offered me 1450. I gladly accepted it. Thank you so much sara. I hope you get yours soon.
Jimbo says
Got my refund today! Over £2000. Finally, can put this lot behind me and move on. Best of luck to anyone else who’s going through similar with them. In fairness, their Customer Service Team have actually been really helpful.
Sp says
Hi Mark, So happy for you. Treat yourself to something nice. Well done…… Tks.
Rebecca says
Hi Sp
Did you ever receive a final response?
Thanks 👍🏼
Sp says
Yes I did Rebecca. I received a telephone call from them and made me a lovely offer. Good luck with your claim.
Rebecca says
Thanks so much ill give them a call and see what they say
Adam says
Does anybody have any experience of winning their case with the FOS against Mr Lender, and the time frames they take to accept or reject the decision? Also if Mr lender were to go into administration now would i still get my full redress suggested by the FOS?
Lou v says
My case is now with ombudsman . The adjudicator ruled in my favour but MR Lender disagreed. I know have till 17th Aug to wait
To get final
Decision . It’s very frustrating as they only need to redress 4 of the smallest loans which probably doesn’t even come to £1000. My case doesn’t sound any different to those who had their redress no problems . I guess I’m just an unlucky one .
GAO says
I am feeling really annoyed with myself as I fear I may have let a good offer slip me by!
Contacted Mr Lender on 11 June to complain generally (I had not actually found this particular review post but clearly they never contacted me about it anyway!). I demanded contact by email and phone but they still sent my SAR and follow up questions via mail. Or claimed to as I never received it for 3 weeks and they had to send it out again.
Anyway, they advised me of 9 loans taken between 2015-2019 as follows:
Date Loan taken: Date settled: Loan Amount: Interest Paid:
22/02/19. 08/11/19 1200 1004.01
20/09/19 07/01/19 1100 495.41
28/02/18 17/09/18 600 535.80
13/02/17 20/01/18 1150 1068.66
19/11/16 09/01/17 300 112.48
18/08/16 20/10/16 300 131.82
26/02/16 30/06/16 550 341
02/01/15 26/02/16 200 74.98
02/09/15 02/11/15 500 164
GAO says
They called for further info etc and asked for statements that I couldn’t access online and would take 10 working days to come. I said I couldn’t send these as they weren’t available and repeated all the info I put in my initial very detailed complaint.
An agent called me on 06/08 to offer partial uphold of loans 7, 8 and 9, so I would be refunded the interest + 8% totalling £2300+ and would also remove the loans from my credit record. I counter-offered to ask that all the loans be removed from my record and the interest on loan 6 also be repaid. HOWEVER the agent went from wanting to request payment details for the partial uphold settlement they proposed (claiming they could pay me that day) to literally refusing to email the details of the proposal at all. The agent said she would talk to management about my request for another loan to be included and then call me back. Today she called me back to say the final decision is in the post but refused to confirm details over the phone.
Is it now just a case of the waiting game? I had a CCJ that dropped off my credit report AFTER loan 6 was given so it is clear they didn’t do credit checks at the time but they claim they did. I had received a 2nd CCJ later in 2017. I fear FOS will take so long I will continue to rack up interest on credit cards now that might not be worth the extra amount I could get later after months of reviewing this :(
Thanks!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is very irritating they insist on doing everything by letter. I suggest you ask for those statements now and tell Mr Lender you have done thus. And wait until the letter arrives. It doesn’t seem likely they will withdraw their offer, they don’t want this to go to FOS either or they have to pay an extra £650 in FOS fees.
Mike_p says
It’s a blatant delaying tactic – my final response letter was dated just within the 8 week timeframe but didn’t land on my doorstep until 2 weeks later. They probably had technical problems that delayed letters being put in the mail sack. Strangely email was perfectly ok when it came to lending to me!
GAO says
Yes, it’s awful isn’t it. I find it shocking that I have technically had emails back and forth with the same agent that would call and always had quick answers – just refusing to include all the necessary information. They are choosing to spend money on postage and correspondence supplies when emails will do. Outrageous.
GAO says
Thank you Sara, I appreciate it. I have requested the statements from my bank and emailed MrL to confirm. I will see what happens when the mail comes.
adam says
Hi, So in short…adjudicator decided i should be refunded 3 of 6 loans, Mr lender agreed to refund 2 of 3. however their numbers do not add up or am i just mis calculating?
date repaid 04/16 – amount borrowed = £1000 – amount repaid = £2392
date repaid 10/16 – amount borrowed = £450 – amount repaid = £750
offer from ML
Interest & Fees repaid: £874.60
8% calculation: £353.33 (Please note there is a 20% tax deductible which we will submit to HMRC which is £70.67)
8% compensation received: £282.66
Total refund: £1,157.26
i calculate it should be approx. £2270
Sara (Debt Camel) says
go back and say the interest & fees amount looks wrong and give the amounts borrowed & amounts repaid for each of the loans.
Sarah says
Hi everyone, its good to see people actually getting some compensation. I have made a claim against me lender. I sent them the template email and personalised it for unaffordable lending. I sent them the enail on 1st July 2021 and received an acknowledgement of this complaint the same day. However, there is only one more day to go before the 8 week timescale is up and they have yet to give me a response… i contacted them a few days ago and they just said they were dealing with my complaint. Why is taking so long?
Sarah says
Just a little more info to my previous comment i had 7 loans with mr lender. Each was increased everytine. This was in 2016. My last loan was for 1000. Everytime i paid off a loan they would send me an email offering me a special rate of interest if i took out another loan. They will call me as soon as i had paid it off and it was horrendous finding the payments every month.
If Mr lender doesnt respind to me tomorrow do i contact them? Or just go straight to the FOS?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Phone them up when it is past the 8 week point.
Sarah says
Sara can you advise on a quick question? When you ask a lender for a refund. Is the refund just the interest and charges paid on the loan or does it included the loan itself?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is just the interest and charges, not the amount you borrowed. But added to the refund is 8% interest per year which can add up if the loans were a few years ago.
Adam says
Hi what is the timescale that Mr lender has to pay the redress as agreed with the FOS? is it 4 weeks? cheers
Paulius says
Hello, I have made a claim against me lender. I sent them the template email and personalised it for unaffordable lending.
They acknowledged same day. Asking for why I feel that proper checks were not carried out.
I replied I was gambling at the time and they was able to see it on my bank statements if they checked it.
They replay ”
If you have any supporting documentation (e.g credit reports, bank statements ect:) please provide this to support your complaint ensuring the documentation you provide covers the period of time of when you held loans with Mr Lender.”.
I can send a bank statements, but how about credit report, whats specifically should be on it? Should I send something else as well? Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Bank statements and a credit report is good. Bank statements is more important for your case, but if your credit records showed an increasing amount oif debt they also support your complaint.
Robert James says
Hi,
I have sent a formal affordability complaint to Mr Lender requesting a refund of interest by email and requested a breakdown on my loan history. This was two weeks ago.
They have sent me my loan breakdown and replied next day by email that they will investigate. I sent my bank statements the following week to by way of reply to their email, but have not received an acknowledgement. I have subsequently requested an acknowledgement.
Is this normal, and I will only hear by post the results of their investigation? I think it’s a bit rude and they should at least acknowledge receipt of the supporting documentation. I am thinking, hoping, they are taking it very seriously and I may receive a good offer?
Sam says
Hey,
I sent an affordability complaint on the 12th of April – received my loan history through the post and received an email asking for bank statements which I instantly sent. I haven’t heard anything since but I’m hopeful I will get something back as I had 8 quite large loans with them one after another. Hopefully it won’t take much longer for a response for the both of us.
Robert James says
Hi, thanks for reply at least I am not the only one.
Seems whilst the investigation is in progress they cease communication until they’ve reached a conclusion.
Hopefully, we will get something, I have a ballpark figure which I will accept. If it’s too low or a rejection I’ll probably threaten the ombudsman.
But then that’ll take some time, probably a year, and they could end up in administration by then which will only net 5% after another year.
Sam says
We shall see. I’ll post back here when I’ve heard back
Robert James says
Hi,
Thanks for reply, I put mind complaint in on Friday 6th May and with an eight week response deadline given by Mr Lender I should hear by Friday 1st July.
I gather you may have put your complaint earlier than mine, so you’ll probably hear from them earlier. Interesting to see what they say. Knowing these companies, they’ll probably try and wriggle out of it, so it’ll be the ombudsman next if so. Though replying to a disappointing decision with the threat of an ombudsman might facilitate a better response from them.
Dale says
Did you get your final response?
Sam says
Hi Dale,
Not as yet. Tomorrow will be 8 weeks so they’ve certainly dragged it out. I’ll ring them tomorrow if I’ve heard nothing by then. Annoyingly they respond by post so who knows when that’ll turn up. I’ll reply here once I’ve heard back
Robert James says
I am not sure if there is a disruption to postal services due to the strike action in certain sectors.
I am in my fifth week of my complaint against Mr Lender, I won’t hear till 1st t July .
I know it’s annoying that they didn’t acknowledge receipt of my bank statements and experian credit record that I emailed to them. I felt a bit awkward parting with sensitive data to a ‘legalised’ loan shark.
Sam says
8 weeks today – postman has just been and nothing from Mr Lender. Shall I leave it a couple days before contacting them?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes – but only a couple.
Sam says
Hi Sarah. Have just received an email from them saying they will be calling me this afternoon. Any idea what this could be for? Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
no idea! if they make you an offer on the phone and you aren’t sure, say you would like it in writing so you can consider it.
Dale says
You will after let us know the process and what they say Sam. Thankyou for the updates I’m a week until the deadline.
Jack says
Hi Sara
Can I get your advice on Mr lender loans
I had total of two loans with between 2018 -2020 always late etc I put in a complaint in Oct 2020 they emailed back saying there was no upheld bit give me £25 Tesco voucher they never said could take to FOS so ended taking it. Is there anything I can do to relook at? As I think FOS would of upheld it.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Just two loans? How large were they?
Jack says
Yes. £300 first then £500 loan as soon as paid first. Would I be able to re submit a complaint?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What payment problems had there been with the first £300 loan?
Jack says
I was late couple times paying and at times just the interest payment. Then once paid off got second loan, same again late / just interest payment. Then got a 28day extension to.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so two smallish loans is a not a strong complaint – but as you had payment issues with the first, you can argue that the second, larger, loan should not have been given,
Are you sure that Mr Lender didn’t tell you you had the right to go to the ombudsman when they offered you £25 to go away?
Jack says
Thank you Sara would I need to do the complainant as new or as complaint as I felt let down and didn’t cover what should have and bad offer and not let me know about FOS. And I’ve looked at emails no mention of FOS.
The final outcome was just not upheld and as good will said would give £25 Tesco card
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would go back to Mr lender and ask them to look again at this – point out they never told you you had the right to take the case to the ombudsman. You could offer to settle for a refund on the second loan – but that decision is up to you.
Jack says
Thanks Sara yes I will
Thanks
Sam says
Hi Sara,
I spoke with Mr Lender yesterday evening and they sent me their offer in writing to my email. If OK I’m going to list my loans below so you can get an idea of my situation – if you could please give me some advice.
1 – Loan taken: 03/05/2018 for £200 Repaid 07/06/2018
2 – Loan taken: 08/06/2018 for £230 Repaid 28/09/2018
3 – Loan taken: 28/09/2018 for £350 Repaid 22/02/2019
4 – Loan taken: 27/02/2019 for £490 Repaid 30/08/2019 (was also in a payment plan)
5 – Loan taken: 30/08/2019 for £400 Repaid 29/11/2019
6 – Loan taken: 19/02/2020 for £310 Repaid 28/04/2020
7 – Loan taken: 11/09/2020 for £200 Repaid 24/12/2020
8 – Loan taken: 15/01/2021 for £410 Still paying – have paid £450 and still owe £344.65
(Will write another comment as too long)
Sam says
Their response:
“After investigation we believe that further assessments may have been carried out prior to loans 4,5 & 6 being approved. For this reason we will be upholding this part of your complaint, we have calculated the interest you have repaid £479.80 in interest. We will apply additional 8% interest to this which totals C.£84.12, the exact figure for this will be calculated upon acceptance. You currently have an outstanding balance on your final loan of £344.65 on your repayment plan which you are currently making payments to of £30. we will offset the total redress of £563.92 against the outstanding balance. This will mean your outstanding balance will be wiped and your account with us closed. You will then received a refund of the excess redress of £219.27. Please note all figure are subject to slight change as the 8% calculation will change daily. Further to this we will be removing each loan entirely from your credit file subject to acceptance. This is our final response to your complaint. If you wished to accept this offer and for us to carry out the action which is outlined above please contact us to let us know. Alternatively you can escalate your complaint if you are not happy with the outcome, please let us know if this is your decision so we can mark your account accordingly.”
Sam says
They said because there was a gap between loans 4 and 5, the last 2 loans won’t be upheld. I’m not sure if this is a good offer. I really believe at least that loan 6 shouldn’t have been lent to me – I was in so much debt at the time. Do you think this is worth fighting or shall I just take what I can get and run? Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
As you are in a payment plan for the last loan, it’s pretty important that this loan is determined to be unaffordable as that will remove the problem from your credit record.
I suggest you reply that after you had been borrowing continuously from them for 2 years, including one loan where there had to be a repayment plan, you don’t think the gap of four and a half months between loans 6 and 7 is a significant break. You think if you go to the Ombudsman that loans 4-8 would be found to be unaffordable, but in the interest of a quick settlement you would be prepared to accept a refund on loans 4-6 and 8.
Sam says
Hi Sara,
This morning I sent them what you suggested and I’ve just had an email back to say someone will be looking into my comments and contacting me within 14 days. Not sure why it would take them so long but guess I’ll have to wait.
Thanks for your help.
Sam says
Just to let you know, they emailed me back earlier today and have said they still wont uphold loan 8 however in order to resolve the complaint they will wipe the balance of loan 8 and remove all 8 loans from my credit file completely. Getting these removed from my file was the main goal but will now also have a refund of just over £500. Thank you so much for your help.
Good luck to the others above waiting for a final response. Keep us updated
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If there is any chance you may make other affordability complaints about other alerts of credit, make sure you download and keep a copy of your credit record now, including these loans that are about to be deleted.
Robert James says
Hi,
Nice result. I have one partially outstanding loan too, hopefully get that written plus a refund on the loans that were taken consecutively, £1000 & £1500 over year each plus another £1000 and a couple of smaller ones. The interest equals the loan.
Michelle says
I have received a call with an offer which I have accepted, they followed up with an email asking for me to confirm that I am happy with the final response which I have replied to, anyone got any idea how long it took to process payment after that please?
Sam says
Hey, I accepted yesterday and just received an email saying the refund will be processed this afternoon.
Sam says
FYI I didn’t receive it yesterday. Just spoke with them and they’re apparently still calculating the refund amount
Sam says
Mr Lender said to me on Friday they’re currently working out the refund amount and that it changes daily due to the 8% interest. I have today received the refund figure but they’ve also said their accounts team will be processing it within 14 days. Surely they’ll need to keep recalculating if it’s not paid today? I don’t understand why they can’t just pay it instantly. I’m not in a rush for the money but it’s just doing my head in!
Michelle have you had any luck?
Robert James says
Oh well, it’ll be in the bank eventually.
Just a note, they seem to be able get money straight into an account when it’s being borrowed!?
I am due my response in just over two weeks from now, so add another 16 days faffing about with any refund it’ll mid-July for me.
Michelle says
No luck yet, they said they have sent a request through to the debt collection company to find out how much I have paid as they are clearing that and paying the interest on anything I have paid to them. Just going to have to be patient I guess! Thanks for the replies though everyone 😊
Serena says
Hi Michelle, just wondered if you’d received payment yet and if so how long it took for them to process it? Thanks
Robert James says
Don’t take my reply reply as gospel, but from previous direct payouts from payday lenders to others on this forum, it should be within a week. The payment would be instant if they use fast transfer, or 3 days if BACS.
Dale says
Hi Sara im 8 weeks today nothing fron them only acknowledgement like everbody else is it a good idea to email them something like this below…..
Today it will go by the 8 weeks stated in my acknowledgement of complaint email recieved by your on the 19.04.2022, Is there any update on the matter please?
Thankyou.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you phone them up and ask.
V says
I’ve sent them the same thing as mine is 8 weeks. They just don’t reply I don’t know if it’s upheld or not.
Serena says
I put in a complaint to Mr Lender about the unaffordability of loans and received a reply just after the 8 week deadline by post.
I called the same day as I received the letter to accept the redress offered.
I’ve then had to chase pretty much every day by phone to get the final redress amount which I finally received by email last week Jun 29th. I was told this was with the accounts department and would be dealt with within 3-5 working days. Today is the 5th day and I still haven’t received anything. Has anyone else had any better luck with getting their refund?
Lucy says
hi Sara
I was wondering if I could get some advice
I had 5 loans with MrLender since March 2021
01.03.2021 200£ repaid 11.06.2021 (347.54£)
12.06.2021 500£ repaid 15.12.2021 (900.82£)
15.12.2021 900£ repaid 29.06.2022 (1537.90£)
09.07.2022 500£ repaid 28.07.2022 (576£)
28.08.2022 390£ still active
I did have late repayments on the second and third loan, multiple time
I was heavily gambling addicted and had multiple loans which could be seen on my bank statements and also was always in overdraft.
Is it worth it to do a claim?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Definitely. If you had made all the repayments on time, you may only get the current or the last two loans refunded. But with missed payments on the second loan and the third loan being so much larger and taken immediately the 2nd loan was repaid, I suggest that you ask for a refund for loans 3,4 and 5. And send it to the Ombudsman if Mr Lender does agree.
PS in your overdraft always? Every day, so you didn’t get back in the black even when paid? If this went on for years, not just a few months, then look at an overdraft refund as well, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/get-refund-overdraft/ for more about this.
Lucy says
Hi Sarah
Thank you for your reply
I have submitted my claim and MrLender came back and asked for more information (bank statements)
Is it wise to give them all my bank statements for the time of my loans ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes. Your statements prove the loans were unaffordable for you.
Margi says
How do you go about getting putting in a claim against mr lender due to gambling addiction? Do you contact them directly and how do you word it?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how many loans did you have from them? were they continuous, with only short breaks between them? were they large? did they tend to get larger?
Lukas says
Hi Sarah,
Do you think I have chance to claim money from Mr.Lender
I took 4 loans from them started back in 2019 ,
First 200, 500, 600 last one 1000 that all is paid off last week. I could never afford paying off them huge interests and alway was overdraft and they knew that. Let me know please your view and should I take firm or go private with direct complaint.
Many thanks as always for your support
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Were there any large gaps between repaying one loan and taking the next out?
Lukas says
I just took this dates from credit report:
7/10/19-10/2/20 £200
10/2/20-27/7/20 £600 – I paid this loan in full before due date to avoid more interest but took loan or overdraft to pay it
12/8/20-20/2/21 -I paid this loan in full before due date to avoid more interest but took loan or overdraft to pay it
24/3/22-24/1/23 – never missed any payment to all above loans but my back was always max to maximum overdraft, plus clearly you can see on the statement that money normally cash was using for a gambling.
Please let me know if I have any chances?
Lukas says
I am making an affordability complaint to you about irresponsible lending.You should never have given me these unaffordable loans. Paying you each month left me with no money at all, so I had to keep borrowing to get through the next month.You should have realised from the number of times I borrowed that my debt problems were getting worse. It was not responsible to continue to lend to me. I took 4 loans from 2019.7/10/19 10/2/20 £200 10/2/20-27/7/20 £600 12/8/20-20/2/21 £500 24/3/22- until present £1000
Even if I couldn’t afford repayments you were topping me up with always higher amounts. Credit check wasn’t done properly as I was overdraft in all my accounts to max plus all my credit card was maxed up.As you requested my bank statements it was clear that all my accounts are maxed up, and money was also going to gambling.
My credit reports would have shown all my other debts and problems including defaults /CCJs/and total debts that was 90-95% ratio, maxed all possible accounts.I am asking you to refund the interest and any charges I paid, plus statutory interest, and to delete all information from my credit record.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 repay the loan without having to borrow more.
I only found out in 1/2/23 when I saw an advert on Facebook for payday loan refunds.
I would like hearing from you as soon as possible, as I will be taking my complaint to financial authorities if we can’t resolve this issue.
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I put above letter that I want send to them, do you think I can send like that?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
that looks fine. I would change “taking my complaint to financial authorities” to say “to the Financial Ombudsman.
So there was a large gap before the last loan. But it was much bigger so I think they should still have made detailed checks on it. Send this to the Ombudsman if they wont refund the last loan.
Lukas says
Hi Sara,
Quick update – Mr.Lender refused to pay interest so I took this case to Financial Obustman.
They sent me email that they don’t think Mr.Lender should pay as I provide below details:
***I can see before granting each loan, you were asked to declare your monthly income and expenses. For loan one, you gave a monthly income of £1,270.00, £1,945.00 for loan two and £1,359 for loan three. Your monthly expenditure was given as £610 for loan one, £1,128.00 for loan two and £735.00 for loan three. This meant you had a monthly disposable income of between £624 and £1,210 after meeting your monthly loan repayments. Your repayments for loan one was £112.40, 119.16 for loan two and £124.91 loan three. So, from the information you gave to Mr Lender, it appeared that the loan repayments were affordable to you.***
Can I appeal as figures that I was providing were lies as I was gambling addicted?- and Mr. Lender had my bank statement that can be easily seen, what else should I put as they said that I had 4 different chain of borrowing with them.. Also what about CCj, me lender said on the final letter that I never had one – and of course I did.. Please let me know what you think
Lukas says
I can’t see that you experienced any difficulties repaying loan one, before loan two was granted, and there was a period of around five months between loan two and three. As such, I haven’t seen anything in the information provided which suggests Mr Lender would’ve known that you wouldn’t have been able to sustainably make the repayments you needed to for your loans.
As mentioned previously, there was a gap in lending between loans three and four, so loan four is being treated as a different chain of lending. I can see before loan four was you gave a monthly income of £1,700 and your monthly expenditure was given as £995. This meant you had a monthly disposable income of around £705 after meeting your monthly loan repayments of £240.83. So, from the information you gave to Mr Lender, it appeared that the loan repayments were affordable to you.
I’m sorry to hear that you were struggling financially and that repaying these loans may have been difficult. But given your loan amounts, what was apparent about your circumstances at the time and your history with the lender, I don’t think it would’ve been proportionate to ask you for the amount of information needed to show the lending was unsustainable.
Lukas says
I’ve thought about all of these issues in the individual circumstances of your case, and I don’t think Mr Lender irresponsibly provided your loans to you. I’ll now explain why.
Your borrowing with Mr Lender falls into two separate periods of lending, loans one to three, then loan four. This is because there was a gap of over 12 months between loan three and loan four being granted.
Due to the time when you didn’t hold any loans with Mr Lender – the gaps in your lending history – this shows you did not constantly borrow from them or take out a new loan
as soon as an existing loan had been repaid. So, I feel when Mr Lender granted loan four this should be seen as a separate chain of lending and a separate period of lending. I think after there had been a gap in your lending history, Mr Lender had to re-establish a lending history with you and treat each new instance of lending as if you were a new customer.
A financial business can make commercial decisions about whom to lend to and how much. Regulatory guidance doesn’t give a list of what checks a business had to do. As such, there’s no legal requirement for businesses to look at bank statements or credit files before approving loans. But what is clear is that the business needed to take reasonable steps to ensure you could sustainably repay the loans. So, before agreeing to lend to you, Mr Lender should’ve checked that you could sustainably meet the loan repayments. And from what I have seen, they did this.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
When did Mr Lender see your bank statements?
Lukas says
Mr.Lender asked me to sent statements via email.
I definitely can find evidence that I sent – and what I sent
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Was this before the lending? Or during your complaint?
Lukas says
Definitely was durning my complaint to them – I attached credit reports , and bank statements.
I wouldn’t complain if I was sure that this company destroy my finance – as I have to borrow to pay to them.
Sara – how lender should check if I’m saying true regarding affordability checks ? I did not say true during this process and they accepted what I’ve said – there must be different process to check ? Then my word
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ok, that wouldn’t help you. If you were saying that they saw your bank statements at the time they were lending, that would.
But can I double check that? Because you write in your draft in early February “ As you requested my bank statements it was clear that all my accounts are maxed up, and money was also going to gambling.” When did Mr Lender ask for those statements?
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You can go back and argue to the adjudicator that although the 4th loan was separated by a long break, it was still much larger, and that should have prompted Mr Lender to make more detailed investigation. Ask for this to go to an Ombudsman if the adjudicator doesn’t change their mind.
GMR says
I took out 9 loans over the period of 3 years.
Loan 1 – 09/06/16 £250 interest £195 settled 30/11/16
Loan 2 01/12/16 £250 interest £145 settled 31/03/17
Loan 3 05/04/17. £500 interest £261 settled 31/07/17
Loan 4 06/08/17 £250 interest £170 settled 30/11/17
Loan 5 01/12/17 £530 interest £507 settled 31/05/18
Loan 6. 05/06/18 £700 interest £553 settled 31/01/19
Loan 7 04/02/19 £300 interest £276 settled 28/06/19
Loan 8 06/08/19 £350 interest £324 settled 31/12/19
Loan 9 09/01/20 £300 interest £285 settled 02/07/20
I have sent my complaint by email 3 weeks ago. Awaiting a reply. I requested a list of my loans which they sent by post, each saying affordability and credit checks were successful. I am pretty sure my credit score was low as I was in a pretty bad place at the time, how can I get evidence of that ? I have looked at my credit report on Experian but it doesn’t go back that far. All repayments were made on time, but some months I chose the interest only option. As you can see there were no gaps between Loans. Awaiting my response. Do you think I have a case even though there were no missed payments ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Definitely. That is a long pattern of lending with very short gaps. I suggest you should get a refund for loans 5-9 at least.
Mr Lender sends replies by letter. If you don Get one within 8 weeks phone up to ask where it is.
GMR says
Thank you so much ! I eagerly await the postie now over the next few weeks ! I will update if/when I get a response !
GMR says
It’s my 7th week now & as yet no response. Should I give them a quick ring ? Or leave it the full 8 weeks ?& Many thanks for all your help on this matter & Amigo information. I look on this site daily & appreciate all your updates !
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you had any acknowledgment? They usually reply by post just to be difficult.
GMR says
I had an email to acknowledge my initial complaint 23/01/23 but nothing since.
Waiting game ! Should I ring them this week if I don’t hear ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ring them when it gets to 8 weeks.
GMR says
I had an offer for Loans 4-9 by email this afternoon ! £2117 plus the interest of 8% to be added & also clear my credit file ! I am so happy ! I have accepted just awaiting now the final figure ! Thank you again for your assistance!
GMR says
£2117 – the interest calculated at £707
But 20% tax @ £141 deducted so final figure £2683 . I am sure I read this can be claimed from HMRC ?
Thank you !
Sara (Debt Camel) says
see https://debtcamel.co.uk/ppi-payday-refund-get-back-tax/ for how to claim back the £141
GMR says
Mr lender paid into my account today !
Lukas says
Hi GMR,
Can I ask if you send them all bank statements, credit file during period that you had loans ?
Please let me know , as I want attached 3 years bank statements showing them that I was always on minus …
GMR says
Hi I didn’t send anything. Just my complaint. Very straight forward. They didn’t ask me for anything at all. Just responded to my complaint a few days before the 8 weeks with an offer. Good luck ! Let me know how you get on ! Found Mr lender to be efficient & quick to respond to my emails once the offer was made ! I managed to pay all my credit card off so I am now debt free ! What an amazing feeling !
GMR says
Hi ! I only sent them a complaint. No statements or anything & they didn’t ask ….
Amy says
Hi
I have accepted my offer from mr lender , I was just wondering how long it take to get the money
Lisa says
Hi,
I had loans from 2013 – 2015. 6 loans all back to back. Started at 250 then 500, 500, 600, 1000, 250. Total of £2300 interest paid across them. Plus there was 6 rollovers across 3 loans. They were unaffordable and even my wages sometimes were lower than the actual loan i was given.
I sent a complaint, with all the emails of rollovers etc that I still have. They took the full 8 weeks then came back to me saying they don’t have record because they are too long ago. But if I have statements and details of the loan and dates, they will review it again and come back to me. I have now sent all my statments , and all the emails with the loan and dates. Do you think I now have a strong case? Also, how much time do they have to get back to me a second time as they already took 8 weeks! And never asked for anything!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
6 back to back loans sounds like a good case to me. I suggest you tell the, the case goes to the Ombudsman in 2 weeks if they haven’t made an acceptable offer.
Lisa says
Thanks so much. That’s exactly what I thought. I have actually emailed back to say to get back to me within 1 week before I send to ombudsman, With them already having 8, and now they have all the evidence they can’t really deny it. I’m shocked I had all emails and statements that far back!
Lisa says
I can not believe how much I have been messed about since last Friday. Had an email saying we will send you a new response by this Tuesday. Chased on phone as nothing. He said the lady is sick that was dealing with my complaint. Then similar thing again Wednesday. Then I called and spoke to someone else, who confirmed they have everything they need and will send me a response by this Friday. I have now just recieved an email saying they need longer till next Friday. I’m disgusted and don’t get it. I’ve now emailed saying I’m going the ombudsman. It’s just a joke how they can do that. I have a very valid complaint
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Tedious time wasting. Send it to FOS then.
Cocacola says
Do you think i could ask for a redress for loan from 2020-2024 say they gave me 15+ loans in total
Sara (Debt Camel) says
15 loans in those years?
Arlene P says
Hi Sara,
I had sent an affordability complaints to Mr Lender and they keep saying they do not have any records at all that I have a loan with them. They are asking me for more details even if I had sent all the copies of the agreement of the 6 loans I had with them. Mr Lender emailed me back in February 2021 asking for verification of income because they were checking affordability on thise who had loans with them. After sending them my bank statements in 2021, I have not heard from them. I had inquired on what was the outcome of the investigation but they were saying they have not got any records that they contacted me. Even if I had sent them the copy of the email and the letter that they sent through the post in February 2021. They are refusing to acknowledge my complaints. Saying they are unable to locate my loan data in their system. My loans were during the period of 2016-2018 and I got two loans each year. What can you advice I need to do?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Are you saying you have sent copies of the loan agreements?
Arlene P says
Hi Sara, sorry I think I did not make myself clear. They asked for proof and details that I got a loan with them. I originally gave them all my loan reference numbers and still they cannot locate it. Then I sent all the copies of the loan agreements I received when my loans where approved.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
have you made a formal complaint to them? when was that and when did they reject it?
Arlene P says
I made a complaint to them two weeks ago. Their reply was the email address I was contacting them does not match their records and had asked for a more detailed info. Its the same email address that I am using and I provided them with all the info that they were asking me for, such as name date of birth details about the loans and its reference number and when i repaid them. In my original letter, it is already detailed in there all the info that they were asking for. Their reply was they do not have any records in their system that I got a loan with them. So I sent them the copies of the original loan agreements because I am getting really frustrated that I am sending them proof that I did had a loan with them and copies of emails I received from them when I missed payment and when I repaid all my 6 loans. The reply was now they do not have it in their records. They are not able to investigate. In 2023 i emailed them to ask what was the outcome of their investigation regarding affordability but they keep saying they do not have records of a loan. Could it be because it is now with Lantern who deals with the payment because I missed out on a few payment and went to debt collector? It is just so frustrating. I only learned about all his affordability because of Amigo loans so I know its been awhile since I last acted on it
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So has Mr Lender ever told you before that they are rejecting any claim and telling you you have the right to go to the Financial Ombudsman?
When did you last take a loan from them?
Arlene P says
Last loan 2018 payable in 12 mos but defaulted on it and got sold to SLL limited. They said they cannot log in my complaints because they do not have data that I got loan with them eventhough I sent all the info to them and they even contacted me in 2021 regarding affordability. No mention of Financial ombudsman in their email. Is it worth asking Ombudsman? Is it beyond the time limits? Thanks Sara
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes send this to the Ombudsman now. Give all the details. Say Mr Lender has never informed you that you have the right to go to the Ombudsman.