Did your payday loans cost so much you had to keep on borrowing?
The regulator will say your loans were unaffordable and this was irresponsible lending.
You can get a refund of the interest you paid on unaffordable loans.
It’s easy to ask for a payday loan refund using the free template letters here. The letters work if your payday loans were repaid or if you still owe money.
This article covers everything you need to get started. What “unaffordable” really means, how to complain to the lender, the email addresses to use, and what to do if the lender doesn’t give you a good refund. It’s easy and many people are winning large payouts.
The comments below this article have thousands of stories of the refunds people have got using these letters. It is a great place to ask questions!
Contents
Which lenders can you get refunds from?
Use these letters here to make an affordability complaint to any UK payday lender including:
QuickQuid, Myjar, Lending Stream, Sunny, Peachy, Satsuma, Wageday Advance, Mr Lender, Moneybox 247, Safetynet Credit, Payday Uk, Payday Express, the Money Shop, Pounds to Pocket.
Wonga is the big exception – read Wonga – latest news of refunds which says what to do.
Some payday lenders gave up a few years ago. You can’t get refunds back from them. Check out this list of payday lenders to see which ones you can complain to.
(For other high-cost loans, including Provident, Amigo, 118 Money, Everyday Loans etc, see Refunds for non payday loans where there are different template letters.)
What are “unaffordable” loans?
Was a loan affordable because you managed to repay it? No! If paying a loan left you so broke you had to borrow again – from the same lender or a different one – it was unaffordable!
The regulator says:
“the borrower should be able to make the required repayments without undue difficulty, whilst continuing to meet other debt repayment obligations and reasonable regular outgoings.”
That means a payday loan is only affordable if you repaid it on time and you could pay your other bills and debts.
Payday loans are meant to be used to solve a short term problem. If you kept rolling a loan or repaying one then getting another loan soon after, the lender should have realised you were in difficulty and stopped lending to you.
Many lenders ignored even very obvious signs of problems such as your loans increasing in size, borrowing very soon after repayment, late payments, or lending a very large amount of your income!
How much compensation can you get?
In 2018-19, the Financial Ombudsman will see 50,000 payday loan affordability complaints. So we know what sort of decision is made about what a fair refund is.
A typical decision by the Ombudsman is to say the payday lender should refund all the interest you paid interest after the third/fourth/fifth loan. This is because payday loans are meant for short term problems and the lender should not have carried on giving you loans.
This may be earlier – from the first or second loan sometimes – if your first loans were rolled or topped-up or were very large.
You don’t have calculate what a fair refund is. Just ask for a full refund from the lender and see what you are offered. This is the simplest and best approach.
So how do you claim a refund? There are three main steps. I expect you want to dive in, but first:
Before you send in a complaint
Begin by getting a copy of your Noddle credit report. After complaints are started, sometimes loans are deleted and you may want the full report if you later have to go to the Ombudsman.
If you can log-in to the lender’s website and see your loans, take a copy of them as sometimes they vanish when you complain.
If you still owe money to the lender:
- unless you can afford to make this month’s payment without borrowing again, cancel the CPA to the lender at your bank. Otherwise the lender may take the money and you will be in a mess.
- read the Stop making payments? section in Payday loan refunds when last loan not repaid. If you want to offer a lower affordable amount, add a sentence to your complaint letter saying this.
- if you have a lot of borrowing at the moment, read Escape from the payday loan trap which looks at how a debt management plan can help you.
If your loan was sold to a debt collector you still complain to the original lender but also tell the debt collector that you are disputing the debt. Don’t skip this bit or a debt collector may go to court. It is a good idea to carry on making payments to the debt collector if they are affordable.
Step One – get the facts about your loans
Next ask the lender for your loan details.
If you know enough from your emails, bank statements, credit report, or your history on the lender’s website you can miss this out and go straight to Step Two.
To get details of your loans, email the lender (see this list of email addresses for complaints) and say:
To help me explain the details, I want you to send me a list of my loans, showing for each loan when it was taken out, how much interest and charges you added and what I repaid.
If a loan was later sold to a debt collector, please inform me of the date of sale and the name of the debt collector. [delete this sentence if none of your loans were sold.]
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.
[If some of your loans are more than 6 years old add a paragraph saying why you haven’t complained before. Put this into your own words so it covers what happened to you. The following is an example, don’t just copy it.] [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 November 2018 when I saw a newspaper article in the Sun/an advert on Facebook for payday loan refunds/my sister told me about affordability complaints/a friend said they had made a complaint/whatever.]
You are entitled to be sent a list of your loans within one month. This email starts off the affordability complaint – the clock is now running and the lender has to reply to your complaint (not just send a list of loans) within 8 weeks.
Step Two – full complaint asking for a refund
When you have your loan details, you can send in more details about your complaint. This is easy – you don’t need to calculate what refund you should get or quote laws.
Here is a template for you to change or add to. It needs to tell your story because everyone’s case is different.
if you didn’t send a Step One email begin with: I am making a complaint about irresponsible lending and asking for a refund of interest on the loans you gave me.
if you sent the Step One email begin with: I want to add some more information to the irresponsible lending complaint which I sent you on dd/mm/yy.
I have had x loans from you from [2013 to 2014].
The loan payments to you left me with too little money.
For this period my take home pay was about £x a month.
[Include the following details if you know them, but if they varied a lot miss this out My living expenses were roughly: rent/mortgage £x. Council tax £x. Utilities and bills £x. Transport costs £x. Clothes £x. Food, toiletries, nappies £x. Child expenses £x Other debt repayments £x. Total £x per month.]
I could not afford these loans. When I paid you, I had to borrow again 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. [Add more details eg how often you borrowed or rolled loans if you know them, how the amount borrowed generally went up etc]
[Include/change this if your credit record would have shown big problems: My credit reports would have shown all my other debts and problems including late payments/defaults /CCJs/debt management.]
You should never have given me these unaffordable loans. I am asking you to refund the interest and charges I paid, plus statutory interest, and to delete negative information from my credit record.
Good ways to improve your letter
Add any points that help you describe what happened to you. And delete any bits that don’t matter to you. Some examples:
- “I took out another loan with xxxx to pay you.”
- “Sometimes I borrowed to pay the rent and then had to top-up to get money for food.”
- If you only had one or two payday loans from this lender remove the bits about borrowing more often from the sample letter.
- If you weren’t treated fairly while you were borrowing add a bit about this. See Payday loans: what to expect from your lender if you’re struggling which was written by the regulator. That has lists of what a lender should not have done, for example suggesting you roll a loan or borrow more money. If any of these happened to you, mention them in your complaint.
Don’t worry that the lender will say you should have cut back on your living costs, just put down your normal expenses. You don’t need to include evidence about your expenses.
Send credit record and bank statements?
Some lenders ask you to send them a copy of your credit record, your payslips or bank statements. This is mostly to be difficult – the lender can check your credit record themselves if they want.
Don’t send payslips – they won’t help an affordability complaint and the ombudsman never asks for them.
You can send bank statements if you want, but think twice about the cost of copying and postage if there are a lot. Some lenders do seem to use them when deciding if the loans were unaffordable but others just ignore them.
Some people feel these are personal and they don’t want to send them to a payday lender. If you don’t want to send them, tell the lender you will send the Ombudsman any information that is needed.
Step three – go to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS)
If the lender rejects your complaint or offers you a small amount, don’t be depressed. You may still have a very good case, they are just hoping you will give up!
Instead you can send your case to the Financial Ombudsman. This is easy and free.
Tens of thousands of these cases have been sent to the Financial Ombudsman where there is a higher success rate for these affordability complaints than any other type of complaint!
Give up, negotiate with the lender, or go to the Ombudsman?
Some lenders try to make your case sound bad when it isn’t. People have had thousands of pounds refunded after a complete rejection! Just ignore any of these comments, they do not mean you have a weak case:
- they relied on your loan applications and you didn’t give the full facts – see Lender says I lied for more about this;
- you repaid some loans early – this doesn’t prove the loans were affordable, just that you were trying to save interest;
- your borrowing didn’t go up every time – irrelevant, what matters is that you kept borrowing;
- you had a good enough credit score or they didn’t legally have to check your credit record.
- your loans are over 6 years old – the ombudsman will look at these even if the lender says they won’t!
Will a lender improve an offer?
You may be wondering if you should go back and try to get the lender to give you a better offer. Most lenders won’t do this, but a few may if you make out a good case, for example if they have offered to refund some loans and you would be happy if they included one or two more, you can say why you think lons 3 and 4 should also be refunded. See When and how to negotiate about payday loan refunds for more details.
A good enough case to go to the Ombudsman?
If you don’t know what to do, ask in the comments below this article. Accepting an offer settles your whole complaint – you can’t change your mind later.
Don’t worry that you will lose a small offer from a lender by going to the Ombudsman – this doesn’t happen.
Points to think about include:
- If you are offered a refund on only a few loans, don’t accept if you think you paid a lot more than that in interest. Some lenders offer a few hundred pounds to cases which eventually get ten or twenty times as much from the Ombudsman.
- An offer to write off your current balance may be good or it may be very poor if you should get a refund as well, see Refunds when you have a balance owing for details and ask in the comments below if you aren’t sure.
- If getting defaults or late payments removed from your credit record is important to you, are you happy with what the lender is proposing to do? Don’t assume your credit record will be cleared if the lender didn’t mention this.
One or two loan cases are hard to win at the ombudsman. It’s probably best to give up unless:
- the loan was rolled or topped up several times; or
- the loan was large. Here is a single MyJar loan case that was won even though it was an instalment loan and the borrower had a good income because it was for £3,600. And a single loan Sunny case for a loan of £1,000. You can win cases for smaller amounts if the repayment would have been a large amount of your income; or
- you still owe money.
Don’t delay too long – there is a 6-month time limit after a lender rejects your complaint to send the case to the ombudsman.
How to send a complaint to FOS
Put in a separate complaint about each lender. So you don’t have to wait until all your lenders have replied before sending the first one to the Ombudsman.
One reader said: They couldn’t be any nicer. Caroline Wayman, the Chief Ombudsman, says:
It’s really OK to phone up and say, ‘I don’t think it was fair.” It’s not court; you don’t have to turn up with your ‘heads of claim’, you don’t have to write a fancy letter. Tell us your story and we will do the rest.
Their website explains the different ways to send a complaint to the Ombudsman. I like the “do it online” option which takes you through your complaint step by step and you can attach other information, such as the reply you have had from the lender. You can add more details, for example, if you disagree with what the lender replied to you.
Make sure you include a paragraph about having only just found out you could complain if some of the loans are more than 6 years old.
If you have your bank statements, it is a good idea to attach these to your complaint. Ideally you want statements from 3 months before your first loan until the last loan was repaid or you defaulted on it. This strengthens your case, showing how unaffordable the loans were. You can still get bank statements even if your account is closed – if you don’t have them, start the process of getting them now, don’t wait until they are needed!Also attach a copy of your Noddle credit report.
What happens after you have sent a case
You will normally be contacted within a couple of weeks and asked for a copy of your credit record and your bank statements if you haven’t sent these. If you have sent these on one complaint, then when you complain about a different lender they will use the ones they already have.
After this initial contact your case will wait for the lender to send FOS your case file and then wait to be picked up by an adjudicator who will make a decision on it. That won’t happen until the payday lender has replied – typically it is between 4-6 months at the moment.
The Financial Ombudsman has a two-stage process. Most cases are settled by the adjudicator but about 10% go to the send “Ombudsman” stage, see What happens at the Financial Ombudsman for details.
A few problem cases
- Don’t apply if you are bankrupt now or have been bankrupt in the past – any refund will go to the Official Receiver, not you.
- Don’t bother if you are in an IVA as refunds will go to your IVA firm not to you. If your IVA has finished the refund may still be sent to your old IVA firm or it may be sent to you.
- Don’t apply if you are in a DRO now, getting a refund may mean your DRO is cancelled!
- You can’t go to the Ombudsman with non-UK lenders – the main ones were Swift Sterling and Pounds Till Payday, see that article for your options.
Need some help?
If you need help to complain, go to your local Citizens Advice, they will help for free.
Don’t use a claims management company. They are expensive and may be incompetent. A good claim involves telling your own story, not sending a standard letter!
Check out the Comments below – you could ask a question there. The comments are split into pages – use the “older comments” and “newer comments” buttons at the bottom to read them all.
Problems at Wageday Advance
QuickQuid – how to get payday loan refunds
PDUK, PD Express & Money Shop refunds
Richard says
Hi there, I have just started a complaint to SNC. Ive had a credit limit with them for 3/4 years and I was kinda wondering if this type of account is different from pay day loans or the same thing?
Also I’ve had emails from them to say that there conserved about my borrowing but we’ll take no action, then days later when I log into my account I have a credit limit increase which I take because I’m struggling!
I have to say there automated system for taking payments is horrible removing 80% of my wage leaving me with nothing to pay other bills like rent.
I guess im asking if you if it sounds like I have a case and how long does it take for them to respond?
Thx richard
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think that sounds like a very strong complaint.
The template letters on this page are fine for SNC borrowing – technically it isn’t a “payday loan” but just follow the same procedure and send it to the Financial Ombudsman if you don’t get a good offer from them.
SNC are a bit erratic. Some people get very good offers, other SNB just offer to wipe the outstanding balance when someone has paid a LOT more interest than that over the years, and sometimes they reject a strong case. I hope you get a good offer!
Have you cancelled the CPA to SNC with your bank? They have the sneaky habit of saying payments are on hold for 30 days, then taking another payments even though they haven’t reponded to your complaint… get yourself safe by cancelling the CPA>
The emails about being concerned about your borrowing and then upping your credit limit are good evidence that they should have stopped lending you money long ago.
Matt says
In the last 6 months I have successfully
Had refunds from
Moneybox 24/7
Moneyshop ( over 6 yrs )
Mr lender
Ferratum
All before going to the FOS
Brought forward default dates (3-6 month rule )
Santander
NatWest
Sainsbury’s
In progress
Barclaycard ( to add a default )
At the FOS
Myjar
Payday U.K.
Quick quid
Pounds to pocket
I am now starting a claim with tappily & drafty.
I hope this helps and gives people encouragement
Many thanks to the site & especially Sara.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Tappily – that’s a new one for my list of emails!
Erica says
I need some advice if possible.
I requested bank statements from Halifax today and although they found my old account, they were unable to get into the statements due to the account going to recoveries – my overdraft of £10,000 was taken off me as I was constantly using it to ‘pay back’ The Money Shop loans.
The account was then sold to Lowell and became statute barred on the 5th July 2018.
Halifax have said that if I was to get bank statements between this time, I would need to contact Lowell and Lowell would need to send the request to the Halifax – does this sound right?
I am just worried that if I contact Lowell about this account, they will start chasing me again for the money. I know they legally cannot do this as the debt is 100% statute barred but we are hoping to buy our first house this time next year and do not want this to hinder or chances of getting a mortgage.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did the Lowell account show on your credit record and if so, has it now disappeared?
Erica says
Hi Sara,
Yes it did but it came off my credit report about a year before it became statute barred.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, the problem is that it can be very hard to tell when an overdraft is statute barred. But having had a default date on your credit record of more than 6 years ago is a good sign.
I don’t see any point in you talking to Lowell – it sounds like a silly suggestion from the Halifax, it would just delay and complicate things. You could either put in a complaint to Halifax about this or send them a Subject Access request asking for a copy of your bank statements between x and y using this form here https://apply.halifax-online.co.uk/personal/a/gforms?formId=F010&prodType=GN . I can’t guess which way is more likely to produce a good result for you.
Erica says
Thank you Sara
I am 100% that this debt is statute barred from July last year as I have recently paid all of my past debts off – several of which were with Lowell.
They were the ones who informed me that the Halifax debt for the overdraft was statute barred.
Thank you, I send both the complaint and Subject Access request and see what happens :)
Gillian says
Hi
Does anyone have experience of claiming back cheque advance interest from Abermarle Bond pawnbrokers, or where to get SAR info from? I know that these cheque advances went on for a long time but don’t have dates.
Thanks
Iain123 says
Just email them using the template letter
Karen says
Hi
Can someone tell me what this means please as I don’t understand it As money shop payed out and how much will I get
Interest and charges paid: £75.00
8% interest: £41.01
20% tax deduction: £8.20
Total redress: £107.80
Less outstanding balance of £351.00 (total of loan 2 and 3)
Remaining outstanding balance £243.20
Please note, loans 2 and 3 are still outstanding with PRAC and were sold separately. I have used a total balance for the calculations but I have requested a buy back as follows;
Loan 2) £148.29 sold, partial buy back requested for £107.80, leaving a balance of £40.49
Loan 3) £202.71 sold, balance still remains
If PRAC state the customer has made any further payments, then I will recalculate the redress.
We will also remove these loans from the customers credit file.
Thank You
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is it right you had 3 loans from MS? And that you didn’t repay the last 2?
How much did you borrow for loan 1 and repay to MS for it?
Same for loan 2?
And loan 3?
Have you made any payments to PRAC for loans 2 or 3?
Karen says
Hi
Loan 1 rolled over 7 times payed off loan 2 rolled over 2 times payed off loan 3 rolled over 1 time loan 3 was recorded closed in 2016 I can’t remember if I paid anything to PRAC
The comment I sent you was from the ombusman what the money shop sent to them
Thank You
Sara (Debt Camel) says
– can you say what the Ombudsman’s decision was? This would normally have said which loans should be refunded, sometimes just saying that the first loan was OK but the roll-over should be refunded.
– it looks from what MS said that you did not repay loan 2 – did MS ever send you a list of your loans showing what you paid to each?
Karen says
Hi
The ombusman decision was to pay all refund of interest on all rollovers 5 of 7 and 8% for 1 year
No money shop didn’t send me all loans I had payed
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
in that case “Interest and charges paid: £75.00” sounds low to me. I can’t say it’s wrong, but I think you should query it. As the administrator if they have a list of your loans and what you have paid – also point out you have repaid loan 2 but MS’s reply suggests that you haven’t.
Karen says
In the email I got from the ombudsman it says loan one of £100 was rolled over 7 times payed off a month later loan 2 of £100 was rolled over 2 time payed off a month later loan 3 was cancelled in 2016 its all confusing to me
I rang the FOS up today about the email I got from them the FOS told me I’m not due to get any money back as I still owe on loans 2 and 3 but in the email I got first saying I have payed loan 1 and 2 off I still owe on loan 3
So the money shop took the interest I got £75 plus the 8% and are asking to buy the loans back from PRAC for the amount I still owe so I get nothing for the rollovers
Thank You
Karen says
Hi Sara
The loans from money shop was 6 years old and was on my credit report as default with Lowell’s they have come off now
The email i got from FOS sent to money shop to pay all rollover for loan 1 interstates and charges and 8% for 1 year put the email from FOS says I payed loan 1 off and loan 2 off loan 3 was cancelled in 2016 but the money shop saying I owe on loan 2 and 3 and they takeing the money off me to buy back the loans form Dept collector so I get nothing
Thank You
Emma says
Hi Sara, how long is the average wait now? I put my complaints in last May!! Should I be chasing the Ombudsman or just keep being patient?!
Thanks
Emma
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That’s a long while. Start calling them every couple of weeks to ask!
Emma says
Thanks Sara. One complaint has been with them 6 months and the other two 8 months. Advised to call again in a month!
Tom says
After nearly 16 weeks I have just had this response from payday express and uk
Please read this part carefully as I will explain how I understand your complaint. This is important in how I have reached my decision:
You claim we lent the funds to you irresponsibly You claim the loans were unaffordable
My Decision:
We handle complaints following rules set out by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
One rule is that a customer must complain within 6 years of the problem. Another rule is that if more than 6 have passed, you must complain within 3 years of knowing you could complain about the problem.
I can see that all of the loans that you are complaining about are more than 6 years old. So for me to consider these loans, I need you to tell me why you didn’t complain about these loans until now.
Iain123 says
That’s a normal response from them. Just reply being honest. Search through the comment history here, you’ll find plenty of examples and experiences.
They’ve settled some of my 6+ year loans. Luckily I had bank statements going back seven years showing my financial chaos.
I
J says
Hi Sara – an update re WageDayAdvance. I registered my complaint with them back in August and received several emails regarding extra time / extensions etc every 8 weeks or so since them. I did refer to the FO after the first 8 weeks and it is in the queue.
However, exactly six months from complaining they have emailed me with an offer – a decent offer of just over £2000 – in full and final settlement, payment within 5-7 days. Half the loans but around 75% of the interest plus statutory interest (the initial loans were small).
I have agreed but I guess I won’t know how good this is until I see the credit on my bank account – will advise when it arrives ….
Wanted to share as I’m aware of lots of people out there having heard nothing from WDA and plenty of concern regarding whether it will fold soon. Maybe they are clearing the backlog of claims?
Lucy says
Hi J
Thanks for the update. Did you have any outstanding loans with WDA? I sent my complaint to them 24 weeks ago and I still haven’t received a final response.
I do have one outstanding loan with them which I am repaying through a DMP, was just wondering whether those who have been getting responses recently have had any outstanding balances.
Lucy says
Hi J
Thanks for the update. Did you have any outstanding loans with WDA? I sent my complaint to them 24 weeks ago and I still haven’t received a final response.
I do have one outstanding loan with them which I am repaying through a DMP, was just wondering whether those who have been getting responses recently have had any outstanding balances.
J says
Hi Lucy – No, I paid off the last one in 2017. Despite waiting so long I have to be fair, it was a very thorough and considered response. Perhaps they are just overwhelmed and want to do a proper job in settling up? If your complaint went in 24 weeks ago then my suggestion is give another 2-3 weeks before you take the next step. My response was almost exactly 6 months to the day and they did make a point of thanking me for my patience and waiting for so long. Hang in there Lucy.
J
Lorraine says
Hi Sara,
I really need your advice.
I have a DMP in place (this finishes in July) I have stupidly taken out a loan with my jar (£300) 2 months ago..i have 4 further payments left to pay. This loan is not on my DMP. I am struggling to repay my jar back now. i have ongoing irresponsible lending complaints to other pay day loans companies but not my jar. No pay day loans are now on my DMP (they have all been paid off) question is: Is it just best to cancel my CPA and contact my jar to arrange a suitable payment with them each month and leave DMP out of it…. or add this on to my DMP? – which to be honest i don’t want to because this is nearly finished – the debt i owe is mainly credit cards default. would My jar freeze the interest for me if i went into a payment plan with them? would they sell the debt straight away to someone? or am i obliged to tell them i have already a DMP in place? i just want the least aggravation/stress free way to do this without them making things harder for me…..
I’m really struggling with whats best to do, your advice or anyone’s would be very much appreciated as a payment is due next week to them.
Many Thanks
Nicki says
Lorraine, I was struggling with MyJar and when I contacted them they were very understanding and set me up an affordable payment plan and I ended up paying less interested they said they would only default etc if I missed the new affordable payment. Speak to them it will make you feel much better
Lorraine says
Thanks for your advice Nicki ;-)
I just don’t know what to do for the best, I will be able to make a reasonable payment each month, just worried if they start to add on more interest and late payment fee charges ect…and this turns into months and months of payments and the amount ends up paying much more….I only owe them about £200 now. I will ring them.
Thanks again
Sara (Debt Camel) says
With payday loans this is rarely a problem at all and it can never turn into a big problem like it used to pre 2015 because the lenders are not allowed to charge more in interest and charges than the amount you borrowed, so if they carry on adding interest they hit this “price cap” very quickly.
Lorraine says
Thanks Sara,
So am i better telephoning them and offering to make a reasonable payment monthly and having no mention of DMP?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Normally I would say include in your DMP. But with that finishing soon it may be simpler to leave it as it is and set up a new payment arrangement.
Mike says
Hi
I raised a complaint with LS in Jan. In Feb a search has shown up on my noddle report showing “account management” is this normal and will it affect my credit report.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No that is an admin search, not a credit check before lending. It won’t be visible to other lenders.
JOJO says
Might be a silly question but here goes….. I have had a complaint partially upheld by Sunny. I also have other complaints in with other lenders which cover similar dates, amounts etc to Sunny but they have not upheld my complaints. How can one lender uphold and not the others? Nothing any different apart from the lender. Is this just down to the company your dealing with I guess?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think it is very much down the individual lender. Who are the others who have rejected your complaints?
JOJO says
Saferynet, drafty, UB, p2p, everyday (I know there not PDL).
I will just keep digging in and FOS …..nothing to lose as I know Sunny a hard one to deal with.
X
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Everyday – are you following the other template over on this page: https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-large-high-cost-loans/.
How good was the Sunny offer?
JOJO says
Partially upheld loans 7 to 12. 7 and 8 paid off. 9 to 12 balance due 1050. Agreed to clear debt and remove from credit file. The interest I paid on 7 and 8 makes the balance owed actually £450. So offer not as good as they make out but my debt would be clear. I would have preferred 4 and 5 to be included as those two had 989 paid in interest and were only weeks prior to the upheld ones. So in theory they wiping £450 and no refund…. but no debt which is my aim to be debt free so not sure what to do.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So 9-12 – how much did you borrow for these (ignore interest added) and how much (if anything) have you paid to any of them?
Also how much did you borrow for each of loans 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and what were the “gaps” between repaying one and taking the next one out?
JOJO says
Hi Sarah these are the details:
1. 2015-08-04 – 200 paid 296 total
2. 2015-11-10 – 200 paid 400 total
3. 2015-11-19 – 250 paid 488 total
4. 2016-01-02 – 250 paid 357 total
Break in this period was when I was using alternative PDL and high interest loans
5. 2018-04-01 – 350 – paid 579 total
6. 2018-05-05 – 250 – paid 404 total
7. 2018-06-23 -450 – paid 546 total
8. 2018-07-08 – 100 – paid 135 total
9. 2018-09-01 – 400 – paid 258 – (149 allocated to interest)
10. 2018-09-11 – 350 – paid 133 ( 120 allocated to interest)
11. 2018-09-22 – 250 – paid 92 (63 allocated to interest)
12. 2018-10-19 – 100 – paid 5 (5 allocated to interest)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That looks a good offer to me. You would be unlikely to get a lot more by going to FOS.
9-12 you borrowed 1100 and have repaid (ignoring whether they say it was interest or not) 488. So you still have to repay £612 before you have repaid what you borrowed. As they are offering to wipe these loans and clear your credit record, that is effectively the refund you are getting.
You paid only £133 interest on loans 7 & 8. So you are also getting what amounts to a refund on 5 & 6 and some of 4.
JOJO says
Great I will agree it then, to be honest, like i said, i am interested first and foremost in getting my debt down, and as it stands, that will be circa £1000 wiped from my debt and no more repayments which are approx £65 per month (reduced payments) a month and 7 loans wiped from my credit report…..so overall i feel i am gaining long term.
Thanks Sarah I will get this accepted tomorrow before my next £65 is due on the 25th :-)
Your a star.
Cheers x
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would cancel the CPA to Sunny with your bank, just so there is no risk of that £65 being taken.
Anita says
Hi everyone, did anyone have any luck with FOS regarding loans older than 6 years?
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
FOS is deciding it can look at the 6+ year loans in almost all cases – it just takes some time to go through.
Petra Zahradnikova says
Im having an ongoing claim with money shop- they acknowledged the claim in november 2018 and even that the 8 weeks passed i havent received the final decission. The case is now with financial ombudsman. Any idea how long it will take? Im loosing my patience a bit as i first submitted my claim in july 2018!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
When did you send it to FOS? Money Shop do seem to be very behind with claims at the moment.
tom says
Petra – I have been waiting since march 2018. I have received the response from adjudicator last week finding in my favour. Bear in mind that we don’t have to pay for the FOS and they are extremely busy. I am still waiting for 3 more case sent in March and April to be picked up
shelly says
submitted two complaints to FOS in July 2018 (Unkle Buck and H&T)
I call regularly for updates but i’m consistently told there is a backlog and they have not been assigned. I appreciate they are busy but its been nearly 8 months with little to no contact.
Has anyone else submitted complaints against these two lenders? Wondering what my chances success are…
Karen says
Hi Shelly
I have one loan in with H&T and it’s been with the FOS since June Last year not been pick up as yet I rang them Friday still waiting to be picked up
Nat says
Hi Shelly, I submitted 2 complaints July last year and have just been picked up! Just hang on in there
Fey says
Hi Sara
First of all, Thank you for all the work and advice that you do on here. Without this website, I would not have had the guts to challenge my payday loans.
After almost 6 months since I originally sent a complaint to the Moneyshop, I received a final response letter. Moneyshop have upheld some of my complaint and said they will refund 9 of my 14 loans, which comes to about £2600 (which includes some 6+ loans being refunded and the 8% interest.)
I know it’s a bit hard to gage, but does this offer sound about right to you or do you think I should reject it and take everything to FOS or accept and settle
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The 5 they aren’t refunding – are these the early loans? or small ones? Do you know how much interest you paid on these 5?
Iain123 says
That’s not how it works. You can’t reject it, they’ve made a final response. Sign the docs, email it back to them today for your 2600. You’ll get that in ten days.
Go to the Ombudsman with the other loans.
B says
Actually Iain, you’re incorrect.
When you accept an offer from a business you are accepting it as full and final settlement to your claim (Unless stated otherwise) and therefore you no longer have the right to take it to the Ombudsman.
In rare cases, you can ask the lender if you can be refunded for the ones they are upholding and take the remainder of the complaint to the Ombudsman, in which case they have to make it crystal clear they are happy for you to do that and are only partially settling.
Fey, based on the wait at the FOS, i would accept the offer! by the time the FOS get around to dealing with the backlog of complaints, it wouldn’t suprise me if half of the lenders went the way of Wonga
James says
Hi, some advice please.
I had 2 loans with Ladder Loans for £600 each in 2014/2015. The adjudicator has recently ruled that they think Ladder Loans did enough checks. They did not complete a credit check but I understand they didn’t have to.
Is there anything else I can add when escalating to an ombudsmen to support my complaint?
I did have 11 loans with Payday UK in the previous 12 months and I believe the companies are linked, is that worth exploring?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What was the term of these loans? What was the gap between repaying the first and taking out the second?
James says
They both had 12 installments, charged double what I borrowed. Two months between one and two.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So about £100 a month repayments? From previous comments you said your income was over £2300 a month? I think this is going to be a hard complaint to win. You could send the Money Shop a request for a copy of all your personal data, email them at moneyshopinfo@themoneyshop.com. That may show if Ladder Loans checked for borrowing from other group members before lending.
James says
Yes, that was my income, there’s no doubt it was unaffordable but i know i need to demonstrate they knew that, my outgoings to creditors were immense.
OK i’ll try that, thanks.
Maggie says
Well its now 2 years since my initial complaint to WDA (loans over 6 years) which they dismissed within the original 8 weeks. Its been at the ombudsman since. I keep hoping something will happen and my adjudicator has been in occassional contact so i know they are doing all they can but this is seeming endless now.
Georgea says
If you accept an offer from a payday lender and they say they accept no further liability but only looked at 1 loan can you go to the FOS to look at the rest or not?
Thanks
Joseph says
No, by you accepting the money from them it’s in full and final settlement of your claim, you can’t go to ombudsman now. Maybe if you’ve not received the money yet you could tell them to cancel the payment as you’ve changed your mind?
Iain123 says
They’ll make that clear in the Final Response. For example: H&T made me an offer stating clearly I would have no more claim against them for the 6+ year, or any, loans. I refused and send this to the FOS. Even if the FOS don’t find in my favour I’ll still get the initial offer.
The Money Shop made an offer, not including all the 6+ year loans. I accepted this, as the 6+ year loans are still pending. (‘unable to determine’ in their language). I’m still trying to get some old bank statements, if I can’t get them I’ll take it to the FOS.
Don’t take a whole complaint to the FOS if you can get money in the bank today. Don’t accept offers if you can get more at the FOS.
READ THE CORRESPONDENCE CAREFULLY. COME HERE AND ASK IF YOU’RE NOT SURE.
Allan says
Hi,
I have complaints with the FOS which were passed to them in November 2016. They are with Moneyshop, Payday Express, Payday UK and H&T. Some of the loans are over 6 years old. Is it normal that it should take this long?! I have emailed and they have replied saying it is still in a queue but it seems an incredibly long time. Has anyone else got complaints this old or advice on how to speed things up? thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
i think you should start asking every month. I assume for each lender you have a lot of loans over 6 years? If you had say 5 over 6 years and 15 under 6 years you could consider dropping the older ones.
Nicki says
Hi Sara
I have recently complained to 24/7 and have received a prompt response saying they will respond fully within the usual 8 weeks, however they have asked what I would consider as full and final settlement! I had 39 loans total with interest £7000 I still owe them £170 as I cancelled my CPA to sort my life out as I had 8 payday loans with various lenders at the time. Do I wait the 8 weeks and see what they offer? Suggest a figure (although I’m not sure how I would calculate) or refer to FOS. My main arguement is it was irresponsible lending as I had the 8 other payday loans which they didn’t check. And I without going into details was spending money on things I shouldn’t have. They lent all but the first loan the day after and sometimes on the day of repayment a clear indication that I was struggling but never asked for statements or anything for that matter. Any help appreciated
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can’t refer this to FOS until you have had a Final response from 24/7.
How long ago did this borrowing start? Do you have your bank statements for this period?
Nicki says
Hi Sara
The loans were October 14 to December 17 so borrowed every month during this period and yes have statements but pages and pages.
Jade says
Hello,
I have just had my request for a refund from Sunny rejected outright, and I wonder if you might be able to offer some advice on whether to go back to Sunny with further info, or whether to go to the Ombudsman?
Over the course of a year, I was late paying Sunny only three times, I believe. I repaid early when I could, only to reborrow later that month.
Between April 2016 and Sept 2017 I borrowed a total of £5,050 from Sunny. I am on a repayment arrangement for the last 3 loans outstanding.
I started borrowing from Sunny after 1 year of borrowing from Wonga – which I started doing after increasing my credit limit on my credit cards and increasing a bank loan. Whilst I borrowed from Sunny, I also borrowed a few more times from Wonga and also Lending Stream.
I would have thought that it would have been clear from a credit check that I was borrowing every month and I was maxed out?
But I’m not sure what my next steps should be. Might you be able to point me in the right direction?
Many thanks,
Jade
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sunny don’t negotiate, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/negotiate-payday-lender-refund/. I suggest you send your case to the ombudsman.
Have you also put in a complaint to Wonga (even though they are in administration this is still worth doing, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/wonga-has-stopped-issuing-loans/) and Lending Stream?
Jade says
Thank you for clarifying – I will contact the Ombudsman regarding Sunny. I have also put in complaints to Wonga and Lending Stream – am waiting to hear back from them, I expect to hear from Lending Stream soon(ish).
Thanks again for the advice!
Sophie says
Hi Sara!
I decided to forget the older loans with WDA and accept the offer if they pay within a week, as you suggested, as I don’t want to get tied up in any administration issues. I sent this to FOS on Friday. I haven’t heard anything back yet. Should I get in contact with FOS and push them or wait? Just don’t know what to do if don’t hear back within the week.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, I suggest you phone FOS and explain why you would like this dealt with urgently. They have done this for another reader when asked.
Sophie says
Great. Thanks. I’ll keep you updated.
Sophie says
I just called FOS. She sent my acceptance and details through to WDA there and then so, if WDA honour their agreement in their final response it should be in my account in the next 5-7 days. We shall see…..
Josh says
Finally reached an agreement with the Money Shop via the adjudicator decision.
Money Shop final response was to redress approx. £1500, adjudicator decision was that I was owed redress of approx. £3,300.
Original complaint sent in March last year. Final response came in May. Long wait from the FOS, but they came through in the end!
Adjudicator has asked me to contact Money Shop directly to supply bank details. Do they have a specific email address for this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think it is FOScorrespondence@themoneyshop.co.uk. If that doesn’t work, ask your adjudicator.
Steve says
Hi – after a bit of advice…
247Moneybox agreed to pay back interest and remove all loans from my credit file. I got the refund within 24 hours of agreeing, however, it’s now been nearly 130 days since they agreed to remove all loans from my credit files but they’re still showing on there. I’ve complained to 247Moneybox, however they’re just saying they’ve made the request. Is this usual? Should it take this long to have the loans removed?
Am I able to complain to the FOS that they haven’t done as they agreed?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You aren’t the first person to have this problem with 247 Moneybox.
I suggest phone up 247 and say if your credit record has not been corrected by the end of the month you will be sending your complaint to FOS and asking for compensation for the hassle.
John says
Anyone know what PDUK are like at responding to adjudicators decision they have until Friday ?? or will they drag their heels n not reply so it goes to ombudsman to make decision for them ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They often accept the adjudicator decisions but can be slow about it.
Sissy says
My complaint with Lending Stream has been with FOS for seven months, today I noticed a recent Lending Stream search on my credit report, with the reference ‘account management’. Might this be related to my FOS complaint?