Did your payday loans cost so much when you repaid one you had to keep on borrowing?
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 you still owe money.
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
What are “unaffordable” loans?
Was a loan affordable just because you repaid 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 still manage to pay your other bills and debts.
Payday loans are meant to solve a short-term problem. If you kept repaying one then getting another loan soon after, the lender should have stopped lending to you.
If the loan was small and it was the first loan or second loan from a lender, the lender may not have realised the loan was unaffordable for you. But it was irresponsible lending to just carry on giving you more loans.
Many lenders ignore obvious signs of problems such as your loans increasing in size, or borrowing again soon after repayment.
How much compensation can you get?
You don’t have to calculate this. Just ask for a refund from the lender and see what you are offered. This is simple and it works well.
The Financial Ombudsman has seen tens of thousands of payday loan affordability complaints.
A typical decision by the Ombudsman is that the payday lender should refund all the interest you paid interest after the third, fourth or fifth loan.
But if your first loan was large, or was rolled over several times you could get a refund from just one loan.
Which lenders can you get refunds from?
You can complain to lenders that are still in business, even if they are no longer lending. These include:
Lending Stream, Cash Converters, CashASAP, Drafty, Dot Dot, Fast Loan Uk, Fernovo, Fund Ourselves, Kabayan, LoanPig, Mr Lender, Moneyboat, MyKredit, My Finance Club, QuidMarket, Savvy, The Money Platform, WageMe, Wizzcash,
See this email list for payday lenders for a longer list and all the contact details to use.
If the lender has gone into administration, including CashForUNow, Piggybank, Ferratum, Oakam, Safetynet Credit, Tappily:
- make a claim to the administrators – there is normally a simple form for you to complete, see the lender’s website for details – but there will be a time limit for doing this.
- you may not get much cash back but this is very easy to do. A balance may be reduced or cleared even if there is no cash to distribute. And if you win the complaint any negative marks on your credit record will be removed.
It is probably too late to make claims to other lenders who gave up years ago, see this list.
For longer-term loans there are better template letters to use on other pages:
- doorstep lenders and guarantor lenders,
- Loans2Go – the worst loans in Britain!
- 118 Money, Likely Loans, Bamboo, car finance, bank loans and other long-term loans.
Do this before, before you send in a complaint
Doing these things now will make your life easier later.
Get a copy of your TransUnion statutory credit report and keep it. 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 still owe money to the lender, read Will an affordability claim hurt my credit record, and other questions. These looks at your options for stopping paying, the effect on your credit record etc.
If the rest of your finances are difficult, look into a Debt Management Plan (DMP) where you make one affordable payment a month to StepChange. This gets you into a safe financial position as these affordability complaints can take a long time to go through at the Ombudsman. Winning a complaint then speeds up the DMP.
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.
If your loan was sold to a debt collector you complain to the original lender. But also tell the debt collector that you are disputing the debt. It is a good idea to carry on making payments to the debt collector if they are affordable.
Start your complaint & get loan details
Find the lender’s email address for complaints from this list.
Put “AFFORDABILITY COMPLAINT” as the subject of your email:
You should never have given me these unaffordable loans. Paying you each month left me with too little money 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. [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.]
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.
[delete this sentence if you know what all your loans were.] I know the difficulties your loans have caused me but I no longer have all the loan details. Please send me a list, showing for each loan when it was taken out, how much interest and charges you added, and what I repaid. This will enable me to assess any refund you offer me.
[delete this sentence if none of your loans were sold.]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.
Some ways to improve this
Add any other points that help you describe what happened to you. You don’t need to list the loans – the lenders knows them.
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 weren’t treated fairly while you were borrowing or when you could not make a payment, add a bit about this.
You can attach bank statements if you like, This is a good idea as these show how unaffordable the loans were for you. If you have gambling showing, this helps your complaint, it doesn’t harm it.
I don’t know if many lenders actually read what you send them. I
it’s easy to make these complaints – you don’t need to calculate what refund you should get or quote laws.
Only one loan?
The template refers to multiple loans because that is what normally happens with payday lenders.
When you only had one loan and it was large, read Refunds from large loans and use the template there.
If you only had one loan and it was small, this is going to be a very difficult complaint to win. If you have borrowed once or twice from 5 leaders, that is much more difficult to win an affordability complaint than having 4 or 5 loans from two lenders.
Waiting for a reply from the lender
This email starts your affordability complaint.
They may send the list of loans first and later respond to your complaint. So don’t be surprised if you get sent info on the loans but nothing about your request for a refund.
When you get your loan information, you can send in more details about your complaint if you want. You don’t have to do this, your complaint has already begun and the lender has to reply.
The lender should reply to your complaint within 8 weeks from when you send the email, not when they acknowledge it. Make a note in your diary for 8 weeks time and chase the lender up if you don’t get a reply.
Don’t be surprised if you have to wait until the end of the 8 weeks to get response – this is common.
Send your bank statements or other information?
Some lenders ask you to send them a copy of your credit record, payslips or bank statements.
Credit record – the lender can check your credit record themselves if they want. But you should download a copy of your credit record asap as the Ombudsman will ask for it. Don’t put this off, the sooner you get a report downloaded, the further back it goes which is good.
Don’t send payslips – they won’t help an affordability complaint and the ombudsman never asks for them.
It is a good idea to send bank statements. But think twice about the cost of copying and postage if there are a lot. Some lenders seem to ignore them if you do send them.
Again this is a good point to get those bank statements even if you do not want to send them as they will help an Ombudsman claim a lot. You can get them going back at least 6 years even if the account has been closed.
Lender says No or makes a poor offer
If the lender rejects your complaint or offers you a small amount, don’t be depressed. You may still have a very good case!
It is easy and free to send your case to the Financial Ombudsman where many thousands of people have won their payday loan complaints, despite being rejected by the lender.
Give up?
Some lenders try to make your case sound bad when it isn’t. People have had large amounts refunded after a complete rejection!
Just ignore any of the following comments, they do not mean you have a weak case:
- they relied on your loan applications and you didn’t give accurate 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 – if you only had one or two small loans that is true. But if the loans were large or you kept borrowing, they should have looked more closely;
- your loans are over 6 years old – the Ombudsman will look at these even if the lender says they won’t!
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 by going to the Ombudsman – this doesn’t happen.
Some points to think about:
- if you are offered a refund on only a few loans, don’t accept it if you think the lender should have realised a lot of the other loans were unaffordable;
- an offer to write off your current balance may sound convenient … but it may be very poor if you should get a refund as well;
- 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 on one or two loan cases unless:
- the loan was large. Here is one single loan case that was won even though it was an installment loan and the borrower had a good income. And another single loan 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. When you aren’t sure, send the complaint to FOS. This is easy to do – let FOS make the decision.
How to send a complaint to FOS
Put in a separate complaint about each lender.
Don’t wait until all your lenders have replied before sending the first one to the Ombudsman!
FOS’s “complain online” option is easy and takes you through your complaint step by step.
You can just copy what you said in your complaint to the lender. You can add more details, for example, if you disagree with what the lender replied to you.
If some of your loans were over 6 years ago, tell the Ombudsman when and how you found out about these complaints. For example:
“I knew the loans were causing me difficulty in 2016, but I thought this was my fault for being bad with money. I didn’t find out that the lender should have checked the loans were affordable until June 2022 when my brother told me about these claims/I saw an advert from a claims company on Facebook/I read an article about these claims” – change this so it is right for your case!
Things to attach:
- the reply you have had from the lender.
- bank statements if you have them. Ideally 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 FOS asks for them.
- a copy of your TransUnion Statutory credit report
- a copy of the credit agreements for the loans if you have them. If you don’t, don’t worry, FOS will get them from the lender.
What happens after you have sent a case to FOS
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.
If you are still making payments to the lender, tell the lender you want to reduce these to an affordable amount. This will make waiting for an Ombudsman decision much less stressful for you.
The Financial Ombudsman has a two-stage process. Most cases are settled by the first “adjudicator” stage but about 10% go to the second “Ombudsman” stage.
A few problem cases
Don’t ask for a refund:
- if you are bankrupt now or have been bankrupt in the past – any refund would go to the Official Receiver.
- 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.
- if you are in a DRO now, getting a refund may mean your DRO is cancelled!
More help
You can ask a question in the comments below – you may get a reply from someone who has been in your exact situation.
Don’t use a claims management company. They are expensive and often incompetent. It’s easy to do this yourself and you can ask questions below and get replies from other readers who have done this.
Card & catalogue affordability complaints
Can you get an overdraft refund?
Could a Debt Relief Order help you?
Jen says
Hi has anyone agreed a settlement at adjudicator level with sunny loans, question how long after sending acceptance back did they receive payment. Thanks
Duncan says
Good Afternoon
I stumbled across your website and think it’s an amazing way to try and reclaim some of the money given to greedy lenders
I fell into the payday loan trap and have sent template letters off and await to hear back from some of these companies:
I received a reply from Wonga who basically said as it’s more than 6 years old and I didn’t complain within 3 years it’s pretty much dead in the water? It that true? It is worth persevering on this with the financial Ombudsman?
I had a similar response from a claim I submitted about a packaged bank account as well maybe I left it too late?
Any advice would be a massive help
Many thanks
Duncan
Ben says
The FOS believe the loans over 6 years should be looked into, Wonga don’t. They are in the process of determining who is right, this has been going on for sometime.
Half of my loans are over 6 years and are with the FOS awaiting the decision. I would get them in and see what happens, you’ve nothing to lose.
Paul says
Hi everyone
Just wanted to give everyone and FYI on timescales
My complaints with Sunny/ Quick Quid / Wonga and Lending stream were sent to the Ombudsman at the end of April after rejections from QQ and unsatisfactory offers from Wonga and Sunny. I provided them with everything they needed, bank statements, credit file, previous corresponde with the lenders etc
It’s now been three months and the complaints have still to be allocated to an adjudicator. I phoned them up and they advised they have a large number of complaints to get through so anyone raising a complaint with them you are probably taking at least 4 months before it will be looked at, they are still to looking at complaints raised in March.
Thought it would be worthwhile sharing to give some expectations of when realistically your FOS complaint will be looked at.
Louise says
Thanks Paul – I did the same today called them mine were raised beginning of April with FOS – Satsuma. MMP (swift sterling), 118 118 money and Onstride financial all awaiting adjudicator. MMP is with the team that deal with this so he said matter of days – the rest are still waiting.
Avant awaiting Ombudsman level since June 2018.
Jen says
Hi Paul & Louise, I sent my sunny complaint in the end of jan, including all info bank statements etc, didn’t get contact saying it had been allocated to adjudicator as they had all the info I think, got response from her on 2/7/18 with her decision, asked her if she could pick up my lending stream 1 also as she already knew my financial info,10 days later got response with her decision, allcorrespondence via e.mail, it’s a long wait but worth it, gd luck
Laura says
My first one has been with them for 4 1/2 months and still not been adjudicated..sent in 1st March. The others are all in March as well..same..prepare for the long haul..I think they are incredibly busy…
Carl says
I sent FO 3 complaints mid April. Two picked up by an adjudicator last week. The other is still waiting for info from provident.
Paul says
My complaints with 4 lenders has finally been allocated to an adjudicator – she’s looking at all of my complaints which is great news as I know have one point of contact
My complaints were raised at the end of April and the only reason they have been allocated is because I called up and requested they were escalated as i have balances owing with all 4 lenders, two of which have passed to debt collection agencies. Credit to the FOS, they allocated my complaints the next day someone
The girls from FOS has been great so far, and is Hoping go to have reviewed all 4 complaints by the end of the week
What happens next?
Does she then contact the lenders and to advise they need to refund?
How long do the lenders have to respond?
David says
Hi there.
Sent my complaint to Ferratum, and at the end of it I said I couldn’t afford the repayment and wanted to be put into a repayment plan.
Received the normal response but at the end the basically said to keep up my payments and no acknowledgement of my request for a payment plan.
Any advice please
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Reply suggesting an amount you can afford without needing to borrow again and cancel your CPA to them with your bank.
David says
I have other lenders i owe as well. When trying to negotiate should I explain that I can’t really make a decision until I hear back from everyone? Maybe offer a token payment?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A token payment to everyone sounds good. Or you could set up a DMP with StepChange.
Sue says
Hi does anyone have the e-mail address for different money please? Looking online and it looks like they now call themselves All The Lenders? Thanks for any help
orla lynch says
Hi all,
Has anyone had sucess with provident?
Ive emailed through their portal but not heard yet.
They were cash based and not in the bank so wondering how it can go?
TIA
Sara (Debt Camel) says
See https://debtcamel.co.uk/refund-doorstep-loans/ because there are lots of special points you may want to make about provident and other doorstep lender.
Jen says
Hi has anyone heard anything from frpadvisory regarding cheque centre, initially contacted in nov 17 not heard anything for months from them, think the liquidators are taking a very long time ????
Ben says
I spoke to them yesterday with regards to SARs request. Have you received a claim form or any contact. They respond fairly promptly to anything I’ve sent them.
Jen says
Yes sent it all back in jan, I e.mailed last night and they responded today to say 5% of the claim will be paid towards the end of the year no date tho, just a bit gutted I didn’t find this site sooner as I paid them £3880 in interest ????
Anna says
I made a claim to PDUK 7 weeks ago and received an offer letter for £2849. I have also been asked for statements for some others so they can review. I will be sending the statements this week as my offer was based on 4 loans and there is 12 loans for the period they have requested statements for. Thank you to this site for the information all those out there make a claim you may be surprised.
Alie says
Hi Anna,
Great news about your offer! I’m waiting on PDUK coming back to me; 8 weeks is up next Friday but can I ask if any of your loans were over the 6 years old? All of mine are; but I didn’t realise I could claim until 8 weeks ago!
Pamela says
Wonga have agreed to refund me on all 37 loans. I sent the acceptance letter back, how long does it take for the money to go into the bank from here?
J says
Hi Pamela,
They tend to take the full 14 days to refund – they did with mine and I know that’s been a lot of other people’s experiences on here too.
matt says
Hi Pamela
Did you have to go through the FOS to get this offer?
tom price says
they took 28 days to refund me….. due to the volume of complaints they have been getting
Nina says
Hi Sara,
i have received my first response from QQ requesting further information –
• Bank statements (at the point/s you took out your loan/s with us)
• Payslips (at the point/s you took out your loan/s with us)
• Any additional information relating to your financial circumstances (at the point you took out your loan/s with us)
I took these loans out in 2012/2013 so i don’t have the payslips for then, but my bank statements shows my wage? and all outgoings with other money from lenders, Would that be ok?
Also, additional information – What sort of thing would you advise, so i’m prepared to do the same for my other lenders when they respond?
Should I explain about the loans being un-affordable that I resulted in taking out loans with other lenders also?
Thank you!
Nina says
Also – I’ve gone through my statement for QQ and have worked out i can claim £982.00 back in interest is that correct? Do i add 8% aswell so I know what sort of figure I should be after.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I can’t really tell much from those figures. If you add up all the payments to them and taken away what you borrowed, the difference is interest plus any charges. I wouldn’t bother calculating the 8%, it’s a hassle, just go on the interest until you have an actual offer from QQ to consider. In 8 times out of 10 it’s obvious it is a good or a very bad offer immediately. If you aren’t sure, come back and ask!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You dont need payslips, just bank statements. I think they only ask for payslips to make this sound difficult as almost nobody keeps them.
For the further information, I suggest you take the step two template letter and adapt that. yes point out that your bank statements will show all the borrowing from other lenders.
Nina says
HI Sara, the figures seemed to have jumbled up when I posted on here…
This is the break down for QQ showing from my statement –
£100 – Paid back in 2 instalments £144.50
£400 – Paid back in 5 instalments £547.00
£600 – Paid back in 2 instalments £875.00
£400 – Paid back in 2 instalments £235.00
Then i must have been able to take out another loan whilst still owing as i then loaned:
£600 – Paid back in 7 instalments £1280.69
Loaned £2100 repaid 3082.19 = Interest £982.19
BUT when i worked out Wonga from going through all my statements
I loaned £8026 and repaid 7639.85 – So bizarre, nothing on my statement for the following year either.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Wonga, did you have a balance owing in 2014?
Danny says
Great article, thanks for the help.
Having read this, I have a feeling I may be due significant refunds.
I have borrowed a lot from payday lenders in the past, but not for some time now. In fact, one or two of my previous stints are probably >6 years old so it is good to know I can still claim on these.
Funnily enough, I received a letter a couple of years ago now from Wonga, offering me somewhere in the region of £200 to settle “overpaid interest” – and this was on top of them simultaneously writing off an old outstanding loan. I was living out of the country at the time and had a fair amount of scepticism so did nothing about it (felt too good to be true). Having now read your articles, it does confirm that Wonga’s offer was genuine and leaves me feeling that i should refrain from taking the offer up and submit a complaint… I wouldn’t be surprised if I am due much more than just 200…
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I wouldn’t be surprised either! good luck!
Danny says
Thanks
…just as an idea I was at one point borrowing from 5 different lenders (Wonga, payday uk ,wda, lending stream, quickquid) with lots of repeat borrowing, topping up, extending, and using one loan to repay another. I had a gambling addiction which i can happily say is no longer an issue and hasn’t been for a few years.
The issue I have now is that all my UK bank accounts associated with these loans have long since been closed down – either by the bank or by myself – and I have no copies of my statements. I guess they might still have record of my accounts – hoping so anyway. I have just moved back to UK from abroad as well so cannot currently access my credit report due to not being on the electoral roll. Also reluctant to ask the lenders for a history – i know with some it will be extensive and i wouldn’t be surprised to see lenders “accidentally” lose my records if i asked to see them….
This will probably be an uphill struggle to get all the documentation i need…any advice offered will be gladly taken :)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
My advice is to get going on all the documentation as soon as possible. And do ask the lenders for a list of your borrowing.
C says
Really puzzled by the FOS today. I called them about one of my complaints that was received by them on 1st March and it hasn’t been allocated to an adjudicator yet. Being the oldest, it was the only one I checked on.
Then bizarrely 8 minutes later I get an email from an adjudicator about a complaint they received on the 24th March with an offer.
It doesn’t seem like it’s done in time order, as I’ve seen peoples comments with ones they’ve submitted in April already being picked up.
Is it down to certain lenders being allocated to certain adjudicators??
Just pleased one has been picked really, but still puzzled.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If a lender sends in an offer, that will take the case out of the normal queue.
One large random element seems to be how long the lender takes to send in their case record – but that doesn’t account for all the variation.
C says
Thanks Sara.
I was told the target was to issue to an adjudicator in 90 days upon return of the file from the lender.
The first is now 105 days since the details were returned, hence calling today.
The one I was emailed today is 70 days. But as you pointed out, they had made an offer so that’s why it bumped the queue then.
I’ll keep you posted.
Laura says
When I rang once I was told that they have different adjudicator for different lenders.
C says
Interesting, thanks Laura.
Kind of makes sense, having one or two dealing with the same company keeps it consistent, especially if the lender tries to be difficult with one but not another.
Cheers
Sara (Debt Camel) says
On the other hand lots of people have had several complaints picked up by the same adjudicator…
Tina says
Hi Sara, you asked me to keep you posted in relation to timescales for my Lending Stream refund. My complaint was upheld my FOS on 4 July 2018, LS advised payment will reach my account within 28 days. I recieved the money in my bank account today so that took exactly 3 weeks. Many thanks again for this website, I honestly couldn’t have done it without it. Refund of £1040 recieved includes 8% interest. I’m really chuffed.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
good, they really do seem to have improved a bit!
Anita says
Hi all
Hope you don’t find me stupid if I ask is there a time scale for the complaint to pay day loans?
I had a few around 2011.
Also now I am in overdraft (Halifax) £1300 for over 2 years and my monthly wages never clear that overdraft so I am constantly in debt. Any suggestion highly appreciated.
Anita
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Which payday lenders did you use? For loans that are more than 6 years old, some lenders are much faster than others.
Julian says
Hi Sara can I ask pounds to pocket are saying my complaint is out of the complaints timeframe which is six years but I have only made a SARs request using you template. Should I have escalate to FOS.
Anita, I had a huge overdraft with the Halifax but they let me make an arrangement to pay this off and froze the interest each month. Ring them and see what they say. You have nothing to lose.
Julian
Eva says
I had the same with them. Overdraft of £2500 for 5 years. Only paid the fees as could not afford more. Since they changed to daily fees I would have paid fortune but wouldn’t clear anything. I called them and complained. Didn’t get too far but managed an agreement that if I pay it off over 12 months in monthly payments they will freeze all charges and interest. Only 3 more payments left and it feels great. Call them and speak to them. They will still log it as a complaint. The phone Call took 30 minutes and quite a few tears but best decision I made. Once paid off I’m debt free. Good luck
Anita says
Hi. I used several
Qq, Mr lender, pounds till payday, lending stream, my jar, wage day advance. I sent a complaint letter to each of them (thank you for all your help and advice I found here)
and wondering what they say. I had rollovers, taking them for a long time until I was not able to pay them anymore. I have joined pay plan and now I make a small payment to them.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Of those, QQ and PTP will be VERY slow. the others are more unpredictable for over 6 year loans. You need to expect that these cases will have to go to the ombudsman and so get your old bank statements now.
Your payplan DMP – why wasn’t your overdraft included in this?
Anita says
Sarah,
Thank you for your quick reply.
I have changed bank twice since then. How to obtain bank statements from closed accounts. Is it possible?
I was not aware I can include my overdraft to DM. I joined DM before I fall into overdraft debt.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, it is possible to get statements from closed accounts but it can be slow, so start this process right away.
I suggest you phone Payplan and ask if your overdraft can be added to your DMP. You will need to get a new basic bank account, no overdraft, you can’t be refused for one because of your poor credit record, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/bank-accounts-after-bankruptcy/.
Darren says
Hi All,
Just to update you all..
so july 8th I wrote to 10 different payday loan companies with my complaint. in the last week 4 got back to me saying they don’t agree with me I then sent to FOS but was starting to think it was all a waste of time and I wasn’t going to win.
with my head hanging low all of a sudden payday uk wrote to me with there decision saying they needed more info for my second loan as they think they didn’t do enough when I applied but my first loan they believe they lent correcty. I there sent off what they required which was a statement and credit report and within 2 days they got back to me saying they agree with me they did not lend to me correctly and should never have give me the 2nd loan in 2011 there they are refunding me all interest paid and 8% interest plus removing negative feedback on my file.
the interest was 595 plus I got 330 interest :-) I am super happy, roll on hopefilly winning some more.
thanks again for all help
Dab says
Update out of the 7 complaints I sent at the beginning of June I have received 5 rejections that are now all with the fos still waiting on wonga but have received an offer from myjar- I had a total of 13 loans in the past couple of years paying around £800 in interest they emailed me today offering me £680 which also wipes an outstanding balance I currently have with them so I’m left with almost £200. I could probably push for a little more but I don’t think it’s worth the long wait. They said my complaint has been partially upheld as they could have done more. Just wanted to say thanks as I wouldnt have got this without seeing this website. Hopefully there’s more to come. Thanks again
Casey says
the adjudicator ruled for only loan 5 despite the other Peachy loans being consecutive and I had asked for amounts and dates
15/4/16 £250
05/05/16 £250
27/06/16 £60
13/07/16 £180
29/08/16 £50
All were paid early by taking out loans from other providers in the month of July I had over £1000 taken out in payday loans but adjudicator said they wouldn’t of expected loan company to look at other payday loan commitments etc until after 4th loan. Do I just accept adjudicator decision? I have several other complaints in includinrg partially upheld complaints by companies with the FOS so I don’t want to be a pain? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What else would your credit record have showed? Any late payments or defaults? I don’t agree with the general statement “they wouldn’t of expected loan company to look at other payday loan commitments etc until after 4th loan” but in your case the big problem is that the 3rd loan was so small, so that made it look as though your situation was improving.
Casey says
Hi Sara thanks for getting back to me. Late payment defaults started at that point on credit cards. I see what you mean. I think I will just accept the adjudicator decision on this one and see how I get on with the rest. No doubt I will be back again for more advice on those ones. Thanks again. Great site! X
Martin says
Hi Sarah, I am wondering if you could advise on the best course of action in my following case. I sent a complaint to Mr Lender regarding the loans they gave me (4 multi month loans over about 1.5 years), the last three were taken out a few days after the previous one was paid off early. MrLender said they were not liable and had behaved correctly but offered a goodwill gesture to wipe off the interest on my current loan with them of £1000, the interest would of been about £400, which was back in April. I didnt agree with their response and sent this to the FOS. In the meantime I repaid the outstanding loan in full. Today I heard back from the FOS who have agreed with MrLender on all the loans they provided and said no refund was due. I contacted MrLender to ask them if I could accept their goodwill gesture but they responded to say that the offer was no longer valid as I had repaid the loan in question and that as the complaint was with the FOS they would wait for their outcome. I guess this means I should of accepted the original offer from MrLender ? Would you have any suggestions on how to proceed ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did you have to borrow elsewhere to pay off this last loan or were you able to just make the normal repayments?
Martin says
Thank you for replying Sara. I used part of my salary to repay the last loan. I did have another smaller open loan with Sunny at the time but didn’t repay this until the following month. The adjudicator made the point that as the monthly repayments on the final loan with MrLender (12 month loan) of around £180 per month was only a small part of my salary that it should of been deemed affordable given my outgoings, etc. I wanted to repay this loan as soon as possible to avoid incurring further interest while I waited for the FOS to pick up my complaint.
tom price says
sound to me Martin – the perfect case of should of accepted and not thought you were going to get more through the FOS
Sara (Debt Camel) says
perhaps, but that is jumping to conclusions a bit I think.
Martin says
The loans I had with MrLender went from £450 (loan 1) – taken out on 22nd Feb 2017 then repaid on 4th April 2017, £250 (loan 2) – taken out 10th June 2017 and repaid on 7th July 2017, £1000 (loan 3) taken out on 14th July and repaid on 30th December 2017, Finally another £1000 (loan 4) borrowed on 5th Jan 2018 and repaid early on 31st May 2018. It seemed therefore to me that given the fact I took out the loans pretty much right after one another, the amounts increased to the maximum the lender would lend and in conjunction with the fact I had a number of other loans at the time of these that the offer from MrLender was very low. Perhaps a mistake on my part.
stuart says
Hi all,
What a great site. I started my complaints with various lenders in oct 2017 I had settled with QQ/piggybank/1monthloan/myjar and PDUK all without going to the FOS. However unclebuck did not uphold my complaint, ive had 15 loans with them since 2014 and currently have an outstanding loan with them at the moment. I sent my complaint to the FOS around the middle of feb 2018 and got a decision back from my adjudicator on 18/07/18. He has agreed that loans 3-15 were unaffordable and has asked the lender to refund all interest plus 8% paid on these loans. He has given them until 01/08 to accept or decline the decision. Has anyone had any dealings with unclebuck at this stage? Are they likely to accept or disagree? Thanks for any help
Mark says
Sara,
As promised here is an update on the FSAR with Call Credit we discussed a few weeks ago.
Received a VERY thick document from C/C with EVERY piece of info they held on me, just as I requested. They were a dream to deal with, so fair play to them.
However, is I predicted I would receive a lot of info (most of which may as well be written in Latin, as I’d understand as much! :-)), at the same time as doing an FSAR with them I also did it with all the PDL’s, as I realised they would likely all end up at the FOS and I would have to prove that the PDL were irresponsible.
Today I received my first secure file (from 118118 money). This is pure gold evidence! It’s very simple to read/understand and has ALL my other PDL accounts/defaults etc etc listed clear as day!
I can not recommend highly enough that ppl request the FSAR in their 1st complaint letter. It can only help ppl when they inevitably end up at the FOS as it proves that not only did the PDL had all the info to suggest I was in a spiral of PDL debt and defaults, they chose to ignore and lend anyway.
118118 Money FSAR will be going straight to the FOS once I get my final response.
Regards, Mark
Neil says
Hi Mark,
What did you ask the companies for? I only asked for a list of all my loans, which i have got from a couple of places. But you have all the information they have on you including the credit checks they did?
Thanks Neil
Mark says
Hi Neil,
“What did you ask the companies for?” – I’ll post the letter under a separate reply, as it’s too long to post within this reply. I had already sent the template 1 letters too, so don’t think that you can’t send until they respond/resolve the initial complaint letter and request for account/loan info. I just knew that the FOS would need copies of credit checks if it got that far, so what better way of proving liability by using the Pay Day Lenders very own credit check(s) taken at the time of the application(s).
“But you have all the information they have on you including the credit checks they did?” – Yes. EVERYTHING! It’s 111 pages, but all very easy to understand. Just hope that the FOS agree that with all the other loans/debts/arrears/defaults etc etc on 118118 Money’s own credit check proves they were irresponsible. I’ll keep you posted.
Hope this helps.
Mark
Mark says
Dear Sir/Madam,
Please take this letter as a formal Subject Access Request (SAR).
I require copies of all personal information your company have on me. That is every piece of information from my very first application to you, up until the date you actually process this request.
Under GDPR rules I understand you have 4 weeks to send me this information free of charge. By all means email this information to me at XXXXXXX.com if that makes it easier/quicker/cheaper for you.
In order to help you with this request and locate all my loans/accounts here are my full personal details:
Name:
D.O.B:
NI Number:
Mobile Number:
Email Address:
Current Address:
Previous Address:
2nd Previous Address:
Thank you in advance for your time and I look forward to receiving all the requested information by XX/XX/XX (4 weeks). Failure to deliver all information, will result in further action being taken by me. This may involve informing the FCA, IC and FOS.
Neil says
Thanks Mark,
I got an email back from Sunny after asking what you said there, and it looks like they only sent details of when they sent emails and text messages. Also when they did a few NPS Survey’s?? but not their findings on these, and loan details only. I thought there would have been more information
Neil
Anita says
Sarah,
Qq asked me to provide bank statements. I have manage to log in to my previous bank but struggling to find out which transaction relates to them. I recognise the amounts but in reference there is just numbers. Help
Anita says
Omg. Really do not know what to do. How to find out which number belongs to lenders. Anyone has the same experience please.
Thank you
Mark says
Anita,
“QQ have asked me to provide bank statements” – If you want to send them these (I have chosen not too send them to the PDL’s, but it appears that they are more likely to pay up straight away if you do), you should send them statements covering 3 months PRIOR to the first loan being paid to you up until one month AFTER the last loan final payment was paid back to them. As they want to see your income/outgoings while you had the loan(s). If you don’t know what those dates are, you should get all loan details from them first, as in letter template one on here. If this goes to the FOS they will also request this info so if you have loans with other lenders, you should get this info ASAP in readiness. Hope that helps.
Anita says
Thank you. That makes sense. Thanks
Chris says
Hello. I am so grateful that I have come across this site. After suffering money problems due to payday loans I can now say for the first time in 10 years I am practically debt free, and not only debt free but getting money returned back to me from these lenders, so far out of 8 complaints I have had two rejections which I have referred to the FOS and two fair offers. The other 4 have until 1st august to send their final response. However I would like to have one question answered. I am currently dealing with a sunny complaint, I asked for a list of my loans, I got the statutory acknowledgement email but since then I have had nothing back, does this mean if they send me my statements by the 8 week deadline they then have another 8 weeks on top of that?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you used the first template letter from here, that states you are making an affordability complaint – so the 8 week clock started ticking at that point.
Siobhan says
Hi, I have just come across this website and was wondering if I could get some advice.
My husband has 11 pay day loans taken out over the course of a year totalling £34k including interest due to gambling debts. All have defaulted and are with debt collectors and he has entered a DMP.
As he has taken out 1 single loan with each company and so I don’t know if this will hamper his chances of obtaining a refund for interest charged however his credit file should have started to show a high proportion of outstanding credit as he had already defaulted on several credit cards.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So he had defaulted on the first few payday lenders when he borrowed from the next few?
One loan cases are harder to win, but are well worth trying if he has already defaulted and is in a DMP. The later loans should be easier to win than the earlier ones but I suggest trying for them all!
For each complaint you need to make a carefully argued case. Take the standard step two template letter (you know when the loan was so you don’t need to bother with step one) and adapt it so that it is clear he only had 1 loan from that lender, say when it was taken out and exactly what his credit record would have showed at the point he applied – recent missed payments to payday lenders X & Y, recent default on credit cards P & Q etc.
Can I ask if he has stopped gambling? Also are you renting or buying?
PQ says
Hi Sara,
It’s been a few weeks now since I submitted my complaints to all my lenders. All of them have either personally acknowledged or automatically, but either way, the clock has started. I have though had a response from one lender, satsuma, who have point blank said no, and I had a legal obligation to disclose my outgoings correctly by law. I’ve still submitted to the ombudsman. But that’s my question. I submitted to the ombudsman a couple weeks ago, I had a reference number, but nothing has happened. I’ve had no acknowledgement from them or contact saying they are looking into it.
What can I do next?
PQ
John says
Hi, if you submitted your complaint online, you might want to phone up the FOS just to confirm that they have received all the details you sent through. Normally they will acknowledge receipt of complaint within 2 weeks and will ask you to send further info such as Bank statements etc if you haven’t already supplied and then your complaint will then be assessed by a mass claims consultant ready for adjudicator.
Marie says
I have just had an offer from 118 money on the last day of the 8 weeks. They have just offered to knock off the interest (this was my 3rd loan with them) on my current loan which is £1147 and just to repay the balance of £890.00. Is this a good offer do you think. My apr on 1st loan was 35.9% then jumping to 99.9% on the next 2 loans while i had several other payday lenders on the go and 2 guarantor loans. They have admitted they did not do a credit check on the last loan i took (the top up loan) and this is the one they have offered to take the interest off. It’s actually quite a rude email and basically says i may have committed fraud if i lied about my income (which i didn’t). Any advice please.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The three loans – can you give some more info on them:
1) date borrowed, amount borrowed, amount repaid, date repaid
2) date borrowed, amount borrowed, amount repaid, date repaid
3) date borrowed, amount borrowed, amount paid to date to this loan
Marie says
Hi sara,
10/6/14 for £1000, interest £338.96 for 24 months and says early settled but no date at £1144.66. 2nd one 29/4/16 for £1000, interest £901.76 and total paid £1743.28 as topped up with 3rd loan of £1297.62 on 4/3/18 with interest of £1147.26 which is still active and have paid £407.48 to date so will have an outstanding balance of £890.14 if they wipe off the £1147.26 interest as above. Thanks
Aile says
Hi Sara,
Just a quick update; I got rejection final response letters from Wonga and Payday UK, both citing the timeframe being over 6 years, payday uk actually blamed the debt management company for not telling me I could claim! I have submitted these to the FOS this week so now just start the waiting game. Am I right in thinking this is about a 4/5 month timeframe for FOS currently? I still outstanding complaints with wageday advance and FLM Quick (payday loan not guarantor) that 8 weeks are due next Friday so will see what those bring in. Has anyone made a successful claim against FLM quick at all?
Thanks again! Aile
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The Wonga claim will be incredibly slow as they are currently arguing with the FO about whether loans over 6 years can be considered.
“payday uk actually blamed the debt management company for not telling me I could claim!” that’s a new one! But the question is whether you knew you could complain, not whether someone should have told you… How long this will take will depend on how hard PDUK want to argue about this – in general they are paying out on older loans.
Aile says
Thanks Sara.
I highlighted that in the FOS compliant that I only found out in June this year I could claim so hopefully they will understand that.
Thanks again!
Faye says
Hi looking for some advice . I have w final response from My jar offering to pay all interest on all 13 loans and interest . They have said they will mark all as satisfied however they are all settled anyway in the last two years but not remove he defaults . The defaults still have 4 years until they would be removed . Would the ombudsman believe these should be removed also ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Refunding all your loans? That’s quite unusual… would I be right to guess you had a lot of other problem debts on your credit record that MyJar ignored?
Mark says
Sara,
3 questions……
1) If a lender hasn’t given me their final response (only responses have been “we are dealing with your complaint, please be patient etc. etc.), within 8 weeks, who do I report them too, the FCA?
2) If a lender hasn’t provided loan(s) info and/or FSAR within 4 weeks, who do I report them too, the FCA and IC?
3) If a lender has given me their final response but has failed to provide me with loan(s) info and a FSAR, should I still process an FOS complaint, or should I wait until I get at least some basic loan info?
Thanks as always for your help and tireless effort on behalf of EVERYONE on here getting support. Mark
Sara (Debt Camel) says
1) no, the FCA will not look into individual complaint, just send your complaint to the FOS. But this actually very rare – almost everyone does get a reply by the end of 8 weeks.
2) not the FCA. The ICO.
3) FOS straight away, get yourself in the queue, and point out you haven’t been given a list of your loans yet.
David says
Hi all
Lodged my complaint with cashasap on the 19th July. Their website states the complaint will be acknowledged within 3 business days but have still to receive any acknowledgement and today is the due date of my loan. Can I complain that they haven’t acknowledged it within the timescale stated on their website?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Definitely! What about the loan repayment, can you afford it? have you cancelled the CPA with your bank?
David says
Can’t afford it but have cancelled the CPA. I take it by being acknowledged it means by a person replying and not just an automated response? Will this be a separate complaint?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, an automated “We are dreadfully sorry that you have complained and someone will have a look at it at some point” is an acknowledgement.
Lorraine says
Hi Sara,
Just come across this site! and i’m amazed – never even knew you could claim from these lenders, – Thank you for all your advice, however my story is too long to report on here. I have borrowed every month from these lenders – L/stream, QQ, wonga, uncle buck, my jar, satsuma, Piggy bank, sunny, since 2016, think its called robbing peter to pay paul. I’m now with DMP stepchange and have been since may 2017 – paying some of these lenders back! its been a absolute nightmare… will this make a difference if i put in a claim now? my DMP finishes in feb 19… or should i wait until thrn? and while i have been with a DMP, i have had a couple of further loans taken from some other lenders out earlier this year, reading your advice and knowing my credit check is diabolical, am i right in thinking they haven’t done a CC on me and should? please can you advise what i can do? anybody’s help would be very much appreciated. I have been really struggling last few years and in a bit of a mess because of these pay days loans. Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The older loans – definitely complain now – the sooner you do, the sooner there is a chance of getting a refund and finishing your DMP sooner.
Complaints won’t affect your DMP and you don’t need to tell StepChange
But ask StepChange if you can add your current loans to your DMP! And complain about those too.
Liz Oxborrow says
Hi
Can you claim back if you had a loan from these companies but replayed over 6 months or longer?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, the rules about affordability lending are the same for almost all lenders (the exception being mortgages, secured loans and pawnbroking). You have to show that you couldn’t afford the monthly repayments. People have won a lot of cases against lenders such as 118 Money, Avant Credit and Everyday loans for loaning large amounts over a long period.
David says
My refund has been reject by the adjudicator. I need to send my credit history. How do I do this. It went from 400 to 200 whilst I was getting kind by can’t see how I send this report. Is email to them.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You need to sign up to Noddle and download that report. This usually means using a desktop, not a mobile.
David says
Thank you. My banks statements shows up to 5k borrowed and bet from family members each month. Yes I won and withdrew but always bet it back. Does this mean I have no chance as I did have the money at points to pay back even tho I kept borrowing more and more.
I have also taken out loans with amigo and 118 and I’ve fallen behind with 118 and being harassed by them now.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It will depend on how often you borrowed from that particular lender.
You asked previously if you could complain to 118 Money and I said, yes, lots of people have had refunds.
Also have you looked at whether you mother could complain and get herself removed as a guarantor – see https://debtcamel.co.uk/amigo-complaints-by-guarantor/
Mark says
Hi everyone,
It’s almost 3am and I’ve just finished my FINAL complaint/FSAR letters!
I did all the PDL last month (approx 10 different lenders and 30+ loans), tonight I’m going after the guarantor loans (£8k with UK credit and £7k with Amigo – interest totalling almost £4K).
About half the PDL complaints are already with the FOS and the other half will be there imminently. No settlements yet, but they’re getting closer.
God it feels good going to bed having control of your life back and not gambling every penny you have. A month “clean” tomorrow. Thanks DC ;-)
Mark
C says
Well done Mark and good job for kicking the gambling. I was in a similar boat to you. It’s hard at first and then becomes a new sense of freedom doesn’t it. That control is so empowering. Good on you mate and keep us posted.
????
Nicola says
Does anyone have any experience of how quickly MyJar payout once they have made an offer which you have accepted?
Lee says
Myjar in my opinion the best at settling…..QQ/Wonga an absolute joke.
Jasmine says
Hi Sara I got decision from adjudication
I’m not very happy at all
your complaint about Gain Credit LLC (trading as Lending Stream)
I’m getting in touch to let you know that we have everything we need to look into your complaint – and I now have an answer for you.
From what I’ve seen, I don’t think Lending Stream was wrong to lend to you. So I’m not going to ask it to do anything – and I’d like to explain why in a little more detail.
From what I’ve seen, you took out the following loans with Lending Stream:
loan one £165 taken out on 6 July 2013 for a term of 5 months. This loan was repaid on 8 November 2013.
loan two £50 taken out on 29 July 2013. This loan was repaid on August 2013.
loan three £250 taken out on 2 July 2014 for a term of 6 months. This loan was
repaid on 28 February 2015
what did the business have to do
A financial business can make commercial decisions about whom to lend to and how much. But before agreeing to lend, the business has to check each time that the borrower could afford to make the repayments(s). And the checks it does must be proportionate.
When considering a complaint, our Service looks at whether the business did the checks, which are proportionate to things like – but not limited to – the size of the loan, the repayments, what it knows about the consumer, and the things the consumer told it about their circumstances.
Jen says
I’ve had my response from adjudicator also with lending stream they have said my first 4 loans were ok to lend and L.S to refund the interest on loans 5-18 I did have a lot of lending from them, from on here I think the majority say the first few loans 1-4 average were ok 2 lend but repeatedly borrowing should not be allowed
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Jen, well refunds on loans 5-18 is a good result,is it not?
Jen says
I’m happy with that assuming l.s agree they have until today to respond, I did have a really bad credit report & still do on adjudicator letter it says I had a good report I’ve sent in evidence of my report being poor & mentioned that during that time I was working 60-70hrs every wk to try to get out of the cycle I was in, I’m away from pdls now but it’s taken over a year to get here, I’d still be in it if I hadn’t found this site. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ok so go back to the adjudicator and spell out using your credit report what LS would have seen if they had checked properly. Do this for each loan separately: when you applied for loan 1, your credit r cord would have showed the following monthly credit card and loan payments, and also the following missed/late payments and defaults in the previous 12 months. Then do the same for loan 2 etc,
If the adjudicator won’t change their mind, ask for these details to be passed on to an Ombudsman.
Marie says
I can never understand if the lender admits the first loan wasnt affordable how they get away with all the other loans then being affordable with no change in circumstances and increasing amounts. Can only think the fos are getting soft or people are not escalating to the 2nd stage and taking a quick refund. I have also had interest knocked off by 118 as they admitted not doing a credit check on my last loan top up but do you take their word for it that they credit checked you on the others….I’m not sure if to accept this as a final response.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You have 6 months to take the complaint to the Finanical Ombudsman, so you can always send 118 Money a subject access request – email them at dpo@118118money.com with Subject Access request as the subject line and say you want a copy of all your personal information from them, including but not limited to details of all credit checks they have made on you and copies of all correspondence (emails, letters) about your account.
Marie says
Thanks sara i will do that. They have already wiped the interest off this final loan when i logged into my account at the weekend before i have accepted anything. In their final response they said that although they have removed the interest on this loan it does not take away their rights to escalate the account for further action in the future should we feel it appropriate to do so. Not sure what this means?
darren says
follow up:
following payday uk refund I have now got one from payday express and piggy bank without having to go to FOS. I have sent lending stream, mr lender, unclebunk, pounds to pocket and quickquid to FOS.
awaiting Wonga and wagedayadavance.
Victoria says
Hi guys!
Received a reply from Quid Market.
All in I had 11 loans in total with 2 rollovers.
Overall interest and fees are £834.34 without the 8%.
They have offered £224. Saying that my applications indicated to them that they were affordable and don’t believe my parents would have taken as much rent from me as I stated on my applications.
Is there a case for the FCA? Or should I take the money?
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you put a larger amount of rent on your application and they decided it should be less so the loans were affordable?
Would your bank statements show you paying this much much rent to your parents, either via a transfer or taking out the cash?
Victoria says
They said “they find it hard to believe my parents would take that amount in rent” When actually it was just my mother, who at the time being a single mother did take £350 off me. It does show on bank statements me transferring out to her monthly if that would help? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
And you put this on your loan application?
That will definitely help your case with the Ombudsman!
David says
Is a late payment on the day of the repayment a good bargaining tool when complaining?
For example, 6 loans due on payday. When your pay goes in you only have enough to cover 5 payments. So PiggyBank are the ones who didn’t get their money. Received reminders from them, including one saying your account could be made HIGH RISK if you don’t get payment today. So borrow again from a lender you have relayed to pay PiggyBank manually. Then the day after they accepted a new application for the same amount as before.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s worth mentioning,
Lee Sharratt says
Morning, the fo instructed wage day to contact me with regard to my refund, when do you normal think they get in touch ? If anyone knows ?
Shannon says
They contacted me about 5 days after I returned the acceptance form back to adjudicator for my bank details. It was one week later when I got the funds into my account. Roughly 2 weeks in total.
Jen says
Hi Sara,
I took out a loan with 118 118 money. I feel like a complete idiot. I pay it every month and have never missed a repayment. However, the interest is crazy (103.51%) I borrowed £1000 to cover bills, I was just discharged from a bankruptcy 2 years before and was in a serious hole financially. I am back on my feet and under control, I just don’t know how I can go on paying this every month, its crippling me. I have so far paid back £788.88 and I have another £1577.76 to go. Paying it every month for the next year and a half is sounding like a never ending cycle. I was in a deep depression when I took it out and thought it was a quick fix at the time, of course I was wrong. Is there any way I could ask for the interest to be wiped? I don’t want to majorly effect my credit rating again but if I don’t get help with this I will. Any advice or template I could send to them would be great.
Jen
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A lot of people have had refunds from 118 money. Where you have a large amount still owing, a refund takes the form of removing the interest so you would only repay what you borrowed, which would be a good result for you.
Use the Step two template letter in the article above and change it so that it clearly refers to the single loan you had from them, delete the words “payday” and the bits referring to repeated loans, trapped in a cycle of borrowing etc.
Also ask for an affordable payment arrangement to be set up – this will hurt your credit score but honestly that is going to be rubbish for another 3 years anyway – the problem, if you don’t do this, is that you will get so desperate that you borrow more just to survive and that way you never get out of this hell. If your case goes to the ombudsman (and 11 8 Money cases often have to) then any negative marks will be removed from your credit record if you win the case.
Jen says
Thank you Sara,
I will start that now and let you know how I get on. Fingers crossed. Paying back what I owed would be like the world off my shoulders.
alana says
I have received a reply from Sunny who has upheld my complaint and is refunding all interest and payment charges to Sunny.
In total I borrowed £690.80 and repaid £1075.78 to sunny. they are giving me the 384.98 +8% back.
I paid a further 67.50 to BW legal as it went to a debt agency so I actually repaid 1143.28.
Is it right they are not calculating the interest/total that also went to BW Legal? It would of been another £90 if they included this (interest & 8%) but just so i understand why they haven’t? I know its not alot of money and wouldnt be worth going to fo for that but i have other loans and bigger totals went into debt management, do we not get refunded for them?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Assuming Sunny are agreeing that they are refunding the last loan that was defaulted on, then yes, they should include the amount you paid to BW Legal in their refund. If you till owe BW Legal any money, this should be taken into account too.
Just ask Sunny to look at this again because of the BW Legal payment – they are normally quite straightforward to deal with and I would expect them to get this resolved.
Mark says
Sara,
Have you seen the FCA’s “Chapter 5 – Responsible Lending” rule clarification July 2018????
They have now clarified the “affordability checking” rule (amongst many others) and stated on rule 5.3.1 4 (b):
“it is not generally sufficient for a firm to rely solely for its assessment of the customer’s income and expenditure, on a statement of those matters made by the customer”
Surely that completely nullifies all the PDL’s that defend themselves with the if you were wrong/lied about your I&E, that’s not our fault”, as that’s the ONLY way they “verify” an applicants income at present.
This FCA regulations 16 page clarification pretty much destroys ALL the PDL’s excuses one by one.
Please tell me that the FOS got this FCA memo!?!? ;-)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, I have seen it. And I am sure the FOS has as well :)
This doesn’t however change retrospectively what payday lenders should have done in the past. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-lender-says-lied/ for reasonable arguments you can make in this situation.
JD says
Hi thanks I will forward to the FOS now.
Can I ask a question though?
What is considered appropriate checks from a lender?
As Cash Converters have said they don’t perform any credit checks as it’s not reported to any agency either, is requesting a bank statement and a rough expenditure list adequate?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Asking for a bank statement is a good check if done properly – you can probably show from your statements that one look and they should have rejected your loan application!
darren says
Hi All,
So today I came home to 2 envelopes from ombudsman asking for more information for my complaint with lending stream and mr lender. They are from two different people does this now mean my complaint is being looked into?
borrowed £2220 Repaid £4611.72 meaning I paid £2392.22 interest with lending stream surely that’s not good paying back more than I borrowed.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The loans from Lending stream – were they before 2015?
Darren says
Yes they were before 2015.the letters I got from lending FPS does that mean those 2 cases have been picked up now from ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The FCA brought in new rules in 2015 which stopped people being charged more in interest and charges than they borrowed – but if your lending stream loans were earlier than this, this new rule doesn’t apply.
It is clear that you must have borrowed a lot though, so you probably have a good affordability complaint!
If the letters from the FOS are just asking for your bank statements and credit record, this is just getting your complaint ready to be picked up by an adjudicator. the lenders are also being asked to send the FOS their case files.
darren says
Thank you sara.
They gave me a deadline of 8th august and 10th August would the lending company been given the same deadline? does that imply anything? like it might get picked up by then?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you need longer to supply information, you can ask for this. The lender can too. This is very early stage for you, the best thing is to try to not worry about how long it is taking. Are you currently in big financial trouble?
darren says
No I’m just a very impatient person haha
and very nosey.
thanks for all help.
Jen says
Sara does the 2015 rule also apply to provident thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Unfortunately not :(
J says
Has anyone had any experience of submitting an unaffordable lending complaint to Drafty? I know they’re a Lending Stream sister company and I’ve seen some people really struggle on here with the way they’ve handled the process. I’m at the beginning of mine with them, so just wondered if any other had experiences to share.
For anyone trying to chase a Speedloan (Albemarle and Bond) complaint, I had no acknowledgement of my complaint and no list of borrowing sent through within the 8 weeks despite several emails/phone calls (no one ever picked up), so I referred to the FOS. It seems they are ignoring the FOS too, but I am calling every two weeks to make sure they are chasing the business file up.
LJC says
I have also been in contact with albemarle & bond / speed loans and they have ignored my emails so I’ve just sent it to the f.o
J says
Thanks LJC – annoying that we’ve both been ignored, but it’s nice to know that at least I’m not the only one! I’ll keep you updated with how mine goes. When did you submit to the FOS?
LJC says
Yes I agree , when I saw your post ; I too thought thank goodness I’m not the only one ! I only sent to FOS last Friday , so I’ll just sit and wait and update when I hear anything
JA says
Hi! Firstly, these pages have been super helpful – thank you!
I’ve recently complained to Opos Ltd regarding a loan Mini Credit gave me in 2013. During this time I was deep in a payday loan spiral and didn’t pay it back. The debt was sold to Opos at £1,600 from an original loan of £510. I still owe £165 of that loan having nearly completed a DMP. They say I passed credit checks and that it was reasonable to assume affordability based on my recent repayment of £310 in November 2012.
Considering that Mini Credit is now out of business is it reasonable to accept their offer to wipe the final £165? At the time in question I was balancing (or trying to!) payday loans from 7 or 8 companies and I don’t have records of my other borrowing from Mini Credit – they haven’t actually provided me with them, they’ve just made an offer.
Any advice would be sincerely appreciated. It’s scary to think that I paid back over £1,000 in fees. If only I’d known then what I know now.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well £165 is better than nothing… you could phone up the Finanical ombudsman and talk about this situation and see what they say.
John moss says
So I’ve sent my PDUK off to FOS with the details they have asked for.. I’ve emailed them asking for an update as they said they were waiting for PDUK to respond ??? 5 weeks so far and I’ve chased it up with the FOS who said they are still waiting for their details from PDUK to be sent to them however they will chase it up now ????.. surely this will all help with my case with PDUK dragging their heels ?? Is it worth me contacting them again to see if all details been forwarded ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is, I am afraid, pretty standard. The FOS does wait for the case file from the lender. It may seem that this delay is unreasonable, but it makes for a faster decision-making process if the FOS starts with all the information. At some point the FOS will get fed up and tell PDUK that they will proceed on the basis of the information from you… but this won’t be for a while.
I don’t think you contacting PDUK is likely to speed this up.
Kara says
An adjudicator is currently looking at my PDUK complaint which was sent in early March. As of about a month ago PDUK still hadn’t sent the business file. I’ll post on here once I know the outcome and will let you know if they ever provided their files.
Katie says
Anyone had any success with Bamboo and Avant Credit ?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, not many complaints to them but some wins!
LH says
Yes upheld complaints from both of these
John says
This website was so helpful I have complained about 4 loan companies two of which have paid out but my jar have offered me a settlement figure and I agreed to which the settlement has been signed can anyone tell me how fast they pay out ?
tom price says
myjar paid out for me within 3 days
John says
It is now coming up on 4 weeks since the final decision was made by the ombudsman and they then gave the company 4 weeks to refund me and I have still not received it. Should I wait until the 4 week period is over then complain again ?
Emily says
Hi all, just a quick update. Sent my complaint to Sunny on 18/06/2018 received a reply today
I borrowed £8000 over 4 years with them (40 loans in total) and repaid over £13000. I had multiple loans out with other lenders at the time but they have told me only 1 of my loans was unaffordable. They’ve offered me £1243.92 + ‘simple’ interest at 8%. They’ve said that they will use the refund to pay off my outstanding loan with them (£938.57 – most of which is interest) and have asked for my bank details (like they haven’t been depositing money in there since 2014) to send the remaining £703.40
I have sent this to the FOS now, I understand that I am unlikely to get everything back but I really feel like £1600 was way too low.
Does it bode well that they have at least admitted 1 wrong doing?
Thanks
Emily
Sarah says
I have also received a response advising one will be refunded. Haven’t explained why they have only chosen this one though….?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Sarah,
I think lenders should have to explain exactly why they are refunding *this* loans and not other very similar loans immediately before or afterwards. But too often lenders seem to hope that wiping out a balance and giving you a few hundred will sound good to you, even though it isn’t.
Can you say more about how many loans you had? And what the “gaps” between the loans were – the time from repaying one to taking the next one out.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Emily,
“I understand that I am unlikely to get everything back but I really feel like £1600 was way too low.”
That is exactly the right attitude. It sounds like a promising case to me! And Sunny would not have offered anything if they thought that is what the Ombudsman would say.
Lewis says
Hi over a month ago I was told that finally (yippee) my case was on the desk of an Ombudsmen……it’s a QQ case that they fully rejected then the adjudicator found in my favour and they didn’t even respond to him ! Do you know if this stage will take much longer by any chance…….thanks so much in anticipation of your help…
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Normally this last stage is quite quick. But if the ombudsman wants to change the adjudicator’s decision (just agreeing with it is much the most common outcome) it takes a bit longer and you and the lender again get a chance to comment on the ombudsman’s provisional decision. Good luck!
Nathan says
Just a quick hello to let you you know where I’ve got too.
So I’ve now had 11k back from PDE and PDUK with the latter still looking into 10 of my earlier loans. They automatically included loans up to 8 years old, and the ones they are still looking at are up to 10 years old.
WDA, Wonga, MyJar, and LS have all rejected my complaint, so off to the FOS.
One question… I have a default still showing on my Credit file from LS that is about to drop off for being over 6 years. The loans were all taken over 6 years ago (just took them 6 months to register the default) and there is still an outstanding balance unpaid with no contact in well over 5 years… is it worth poking the hornets nest when it’s about to be gone? Are they likely to pay out anyway?
Other than that, all good. Ironically, that which got me in horrendous debt for nearly a decade has now made me debt free for the first time since I was 18. Lol.
I could kiss you sara :D
Ella says
Update on my claim to Wonga:-
They have found in my favour for loans 11 to 13 and 18 to 30 and asked them to refund all interest, charges and 8% simple interest. Pay tax with a proof of payment supplied to us. They have fourteen days to reply. I am happy with it, it is now just seeing whether Wonga agree and pay up.
Original claim amount was 6646.83 for all interest, charges and 8% with tax removed.
Adjudicators decision is around 3983.00 minus about 180.00 tax.
Timeline was as follows:-
9th December 2017 – initial claim made
5th February 2018 – Wonga refused claim
5th February 2018 – Sent case to FOS
9th March 2018 – All information sent back to FOS from Wonga
25th July 2018 – Adjudicator started looking at case
2nd August 2018 – Adjudicators decision sent by email
Not sure about what will happen next, as, of course, Wonga has to agree to this.
Thanks for all your help Sara :)
Vicky says
Hi just wondering if anyone can help, I made a complaint to wonga in April 2017 they didn’t agree so I contacted the ombudsman service January this year they agreed to refund interest on 3 loads out of 28 I told the adjudicator I didn’t agree with this decision and it would be passed to the ombudsman does anyone know what the waiting time is? My loans aren’t older than 6 years or is wonga just a long process
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You complained to Wonga in April 2017 but only sent the complaint to the Ombudsmna in January 2018? Was this within 6 months of getting the final response from Wonga?
When did you get the decision from the adjudicator? why did they only think 3 loans were unaffordable? that sounds surprisingly low?
Vicky says
Sorry I probably haven’t made sense , I sent my complaint to wonga in April 2017 they didn’t agree so I sent it to the fos, the adjudicator got in touch with me in January 2018 saying wonga said they would refund interest on 3/28 loans I didn’t agree so it was sent to the ombudsman but I still haven’t heard anything I did contact them in April & they said they were currently waiting on an ombudsman to review the case it just seems a long time since I sent my complaint over a year ago
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ah good. I was wondering if you were running into a jurisdictional dispute about delaying too long before going to the FOS, but no :)
Some complaints with large numbers of loans do seem to have got help up for no clear reason, but last month some of them seemed to be becoming unjammed. I suggest you start phoning the ombudsman every month to ask.
Darren says
Hi All,
so I started the process on 14th June 2018 and as of today I managed to get refunds direct from 4 companies
Payday UK = 859.67
Payday Express = 598.39
Piggybank = 817.16
Wagedayadvance = 434.16
I have sent a total of 7 to the financial ombudsman.
Wonga, lending stream, Mr lender, pounds to pocket, quickquid, unclebuck and 247 moneybox.
Greg says
Hi Sarah
Just got my assessment email back from
My adjudictor that she is sending Wonga today
She has upheld complaints 9 to 50
It’s almost almost £6,000 in refunds of charges and interest which is terrific – am I right in saying that the 8% interest is yearly so for example if I’m being refunded £1500 for loans during 2013, it’s
8% of £1500 ( £120) x 5 years = £600?
I’m also awaiting assessment emails from
The same adjudicator on my complaints with Quick quid / Lending stream and Sunny
Thanks for all you help on here. It’s really appreciated
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes that is how the 8% is worked. let’s hope Wonga accepts the adjudicator’s decision!
Gillian says
Hi all
I have started the reclaim process with 11 companies. It’s dredging up a lot of awful memories tbh. Anyway, a few questions –
Re. bank statements – I used a bank account that is now closed, which I think I can still get statements for? But the account doesn’t show total income and outgoings as it was a personal account that I was shielding from my husband. Really bad form I know, I’m not proud of myself. Would the lack of information on account statements matter?
Re. wageslips, I don’t have these as they were all online from my previous employer and I don’t have access to them anymore
My credit score was very poor as I was on a debt arrangement scheme (Scotland), but not sure how to access old reports from 2013
Have PDLs paid out without evidence of income/expenditure?
I’ve dragged myself out of it all now, and only now facing up to how bad it all was. Shudder to think how much I paid in interest and charges over those years
Thanks everyone and especially to Sara who is doing a heroic job
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“Would the lack of information on account statements matter?” You don’t have to show bank statements to a lander, often they do pay out without seeing them. But the Ombudsman always asks for them. You may well be asked to produce the bank statements for your other account as well.
Wageslips don’t matter, they are just a fall back if there are no bank statements, the ombudsman never asks for them.
Just send a current credit report, you can’t access old ones.