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?
Tom C says
Quick update – had my first success yesterday relating to my 9 complaints, all with loans that are over 6 years old.
247 Moneybox offered to refund all interest paid on previous loans that are older than 6 years (£534), really happy with this as only put the complaint in three weeks ago and still waiting for any type of response from a number of lenders still.
They originally made an offer to wipe all the loans from my credit file as a way of settling the account, due to the info and advice on this website I replied with all loans are already off credit report and im seeking full refund of interest paid or will escalate to FO – was surprised/happy to get their offer yesterday.
Only 8more to go…….
Carl says
Afternoon Tom,
Good work!
247 Moneybox offered to just wipe the loans for me too, I have rejected that and just waiting to hear back now.
Tom says
Hi guys, need a little advice
Had a reply from 247moneybox who said they can’t offer any refund but they are happy to close my account and amend my credit file.
This was their response:
Thanks for your email. The figures provided show this: Borrowed: £1,291.00 — Repaid: £1,210.05.
The amount you have borrowed is more than the amount you repaid. To explain this, you have of course made repayments previously to repay your loans, but you then re-applied and we have funded you.
Across all loans, we have funded you more money than you have repaid. Redress is calculated from interest paid over this, you have not paid over this.
What could I do now?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you currently owe a balance and they are offering to wipe that and remove any negative marks from your credit record.
If their figures are correct (“Borrowed: £1,291.00 — Repaid: £1,210.05”) then this is a very good result for you and you won’t do any better by going to the Ombudsman.
Neil says
Hi All,
If you have had success against one lender for loans which you had during same time period as loans with another lender does that strengthten your case against the other lender?
Mark says
Neil,
I though this might be the case….so, when PDUK upheld my complaint and refunded/removed loans from credit search, I forwarded the FOS their resolution letter, as I thought it may assist my case with them regarding The Money Shop, as they are the same company. FOS wrote back within a couple of weeks to state, as they are separate entities, the complaints must be treated separately. So, I think the answer is no, they review on case by case basis.
Trev says
Hi,
Apologies in advance for the stupid question! How do I get a retrospective credit record?
I am registered with Noodle but only since August.
Do I request this direct from them?
Thanks
Trev
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can’t. All you can do is supply you recent one, that is all the Ombudsman will expect.
Mark says
Trev,
Honestly you SHOULD be able to get this by making an FSAR with your lender(s), however I have done this 12 times and received TWO credit checks! All the others were either not done, or more likely, omitted from my FSAR as it hurts the lenders case with the FOS. So, once the irresponsible lending complaints are finalised, I will be making a new set of DPA/GDPR complaints with the ICO!
Michael says
Hi Sara,
I’m a bit concerned about the FOS asking me for bank statements. I appreciate it is mandatory but I did have really bad gambling problems at the time (which I am ashamed to say). Will this be taken into consideration?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I know it feels worrying but read https://debtcamel.co.uk/gambling-payday-loan-refunds/ which should reassure you.
John M says
Hi Michael,
I sent my bank statements to FOS and it was very clear I had gambling issues but it wasn’t even mentioned by the adjudicator in his assessment. They asked if they could mention it and I said yes but he found in my favour for the majority of the loans without even mentioning it.
Do send them in, it will really help your case.
Secondly do try and go to Gamblers Anonymous if you don’t already. It has changed my life
K says
I recently had 3 decisions all in my favour despite my excessive gambling to which yes the adjudicator did mention in their investigation, if you would of done more through checks you would of seen there was activity of over 100k in and out in one month on gambling websites this should of prompted you to do further checks. And yet the adjudicator still found in my favour! I was embarrassed, still am but it honestly doesn’t make a difference.
Mark says
Michael,
I was in the same situation. I made the gambling issue the main part of my complaint to the lenders and FOS. Just be honest.
Jojo says
Anyone know when the next cash genie run is ? awaiting a payment thanks .
John M says
Hi Jojo, I have been waiting since June so I have emailed them asking for an update and have told them ‘I can’t give an update’ will not suffice any more as it has been 14 weeks now.
I will let you know if any update.
Jen says
Hi Sara and everyone just an update on loans over 6 yrs with pd express/express finance brom, I’ve just had an e.mail from adjudicator asking to provide more details including dates of when I became aware to complaint, 1st complained in may 17 so fingers crossed 🤞🏻, keep with it, it is a waiting game, I’d just put this 1 down to the 6 yr and hopefully they would get there, think they are starting to now
David askew says
Just wanted a bit of advice, I sent the initial template email for previous PDEX and PDUK loans approx. 3 weeks ago but have not received anything back, not even a confirmation that they had received my email.
Carl says
Morning David,
I sent the same initial email on 04/09 and yet to hear back. I will chase them once 4 weeks is up.
Thanks
K says
I think they’re struggling to keep up with the number of complaints.
I sent my initial complaint for PDUK in July and it took about 5 weeks to receive the details of my loans with them. Last week (at the 8 week deadline) I received an email saying they were still investigating my complaint so I replied to let them know that I would be happy to give them another couple of weeks.
Hoping for some good news soon.
Lo1 says
I did exactly the same, and at 10weeks they replied upholding the complaint and the money was deposited the following day
It’s worth persevering
Lisa G says
Can I ask, was this for loans older than 6 years or more recent than 6 years?
K says
Lo1, Did they ask you for bank statements or payslips etc?
As mentioned they sent the email on the 8 week deadline to say that they were still investigating but I haven’t yet been asked by them to provide any of these.
Mine are a mix of loans under and over 6 years.
yvie says
Hiya – does anyone know a rough time that it takes FOS to respond? I referred mine on 9th May.
Thanks
Mark says
Yvie,
The 8-12 cases I have referred to FOS, I have received an acknowledgement letter (with FOS ref No.), within 2-3 weeks every time.
Laura says
I received this from the adjudicator today regarding Sunny loans. It has been with the FOS for over 6 months and with adjudicator for 3 weeks. Does anyone know how long it takes from this and what this means? Any advice would be appreciated, thanks…
I’m sorry for how long it has taken for us to get back to you.
I’m writing to let you know that I’ve had a look through your complaint and can see that you had a number of loans with Sunny – and that the loans were consecutively taken out.
We are currently looking into our approach with cases like these – once we’ve worked through our approach we’ll be in touch to let you know what this means for your complaint.
Razza says
Hi. I accepted an offer of nearly £800 from Myjar a week ago. It says on the email to allow 10-15 business days for payment but after replying saying I accept there has been no more correspondence. Have people been paid within that timeframe or earlier? Or will I have to chase them up? Thanks
Steve says
Finally got my response from Lending Stream today. Suffice to say they’re not upholding my complaint:
“To reiterate, you were full time employed with the monthly income ranging between XXX GBP to XXX GBP. We could observe a sufficient disposable income to make the repayments without any financial difficulties. Also, you were approved only for the amount you were eligible for. Although we received additional applications, they were declined as they did not meet our lending criteria.
Also, when a customer requests for a credit report from a Credit Reference Agency, he or she may acquire specific information including names of different lenders’ and their respective reporting, however, when a financial institution does a credit search on a customer’s credit report, they are not privy to that exact information. Hence, our decision to lend money does in part rely on the information received from Experian (credit scores).
Also, upon reviewing your accounts, we found that we were informed about your financial hardship and the required assistance was offered at the earliest to help you with your repayments.
Having said the above, we believe that Lending Stream has behaved responsibly in approving your loans and has dealt with them fairly.”
Steve says
The bits that intrigue me are them saying they declined further applications, but I took out another loan with them; and also what they say about not being privy to information on the credit report? What do they normally get to see?
It’s already with the FOS, so I’ve sent off their response so will see what happens!
Carl says
Wage Day Advance have got back to me with my loan details but they haven’t sent me the password for the attachment.
Have tried DDMMYY & DDMMYYYY.
Any ideas people?
J says
Hi Carl – you have to ring their main customer services number on 0333 006 2000.. They will ID you and then give you the password which is a letters / numbers combination. Bit annoying but at least it is secure I guess – even more annoying that they don’t tell you this when they send the file ………… Good luck mate
Jasper says
They did this to me too. I replied to the email asking for the password and they sent it the next day
Anna says
Hey there
After getting a positive reply from PayDay UK (and receiving the money within 4 days of sending the acceptance back), I sent of my complaint to quickquid. They have acknowledged the complaint this morning asking for me to send bank statements and wage slips for the time of the loans. Have any of you been asked to do this and have you sent the stuff?
Thank you
Anna
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is normal for QQ. No point in sending payslips. You can send bank statements if you want but I am not convinced it makes much difference to QQs decision as they seem to have fixed guidelines, which are not those used by the Ombudsman.
Steve says
I’m a bit confused by a response I’ve had from Satsuma…
“Please be aware, it is the responsibility of the applicant to provide true and accurate information on their application for credit. Any omissions could result in applications being treated as fraudulent.
We perform checks with the credit reference agencies. If the costs we check return a higher expenditure than declared, we will process the application with the higher figure obtained. When your application was made, extra safeguards and buffers were applied to expenses where necessary to reflect the electronic information gathered from the Credit Bureau and based on our internal models.”
Loan 1: Declared disposable income: £725, safeguards £23.27, Disposable income after additional safeguards: £701.73
Loan 2: Declared disposable income: £851, safeguards £357.19, Disposable income after additional safeguards: £493.81
Loan 3: Declared disposable income: £800, safeguards £563.51, Disposable income after additional safeguards: £236.49
“Please be aware that submitting an accurate reflection of your outgoings is a legal requirement of any loan application.”
With Loan 3, if they add up the loan repayments (£343.80) that’s more than the disposable income after additional safeguards, so how is that affordable?
Are they using scare tactics with the fraudulent comments and accurate outgoings being a legal requirement? If my disposable incoming was £700+ I doubt I’d be requiring their services!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes they are using scare tactics. My guess is that they have included the repayments for loans in the extra safeguard amounts? But anyway, it’s a 3 loan complaint and they aren’t small so send the complaint to the Ombudsman.
StevieC says
I received a very similar reply. I forwarded it to the FOS
Mark says
Steve,
I had the same from most lenders……
Request a Full Subject Access Request (FSAR), immediately! Request ALL information they have on you, specifically all information regarding “creditworthiness and affordability” checks. They have 4 weeks to send you this information.
This will then force them to send you the income/expenditure form(s) they completed, which SHOULD have been done with every loan application.
In my experience the figures PDL use are clearly wrong/made up and this will help you if/when it goes to the FOS.
Sarah says
Hi, j wondered if you could help. We decided to accept a refund from quick quid and pounds to pocket for loans taken over 6 wars ago. It’s not a massive refund but decided to take it rather than wait. It was done through the fos. Cash euro net responses asking for bank details etc. however after a bit of of communication – I got an email today saying that the refund had been taken off the existing balance of the Linda to pocket loan and telling me how much I owed them!!! I couldn’t believe it as this had never been mentioned and as they asked for my bank details it was implied that it would be sent to me directly . This is off a balance that I was disputing should even exist!!! Can you offer me any thoughts? I I tent to ohone the fos first thing and then back to them to complain but I’ve never had to sign anything and I have all the emails – none of which say anything about paying existing balance OR anything about the balance at all!!
Thanks in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That doesn’t sound fair! How did they word the offer? Were all the loans, included the defaulted one, over 6 years old? Have you had a list of your loans and the amounts you paid to each?
Sarah says
Yes I went through the process as explained on here and had the ‘no we lent responsibly’ stuff from them so I sent to FOS. I only found out about the refund offer over the phone with the fos. I told them I wanted to accept and they told QQ. So it’s been though them really. I had to send an email to them saying I accepted t as full and final etc which I did but never once was existing balances mentioned!! I’m furious but also stressed as been counting on the money (thought it was coming for a good while. Thanks for your help x
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So had they sent you a list of loans showing the one with outstanding balance? And were you told all loans were being refunded or how was the offer described to you?
Sarah says
It was slightly different to other refunds I’ve had to be honest as it was with the fos. The fos just told me that they had made this offer of £…. and did I want to accept it. I. Said yes but there were no terms and conditions . They sent me an email but it didn’t have the figures outlined as other refunds have had and I haven’t had to sign anything. It’s all been done via the phone or emails.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ok then go back to FOS and say you were under the impression you were being offered a cash refund of £x. It wasn’t explained that this would be set off against a balance. Add (if this is correct) that you were not aware you still owed a balance. Say the impression you were given this was a cash offer was reinforced by the fact they asked for your bank details. Say you have not been given any explanation of what has been done and you feel your were misled into accepting it. Ask for a full explanation as you probably want to reopen the case and reject the offer, but you are still not clear what has happened.
Richard says
Hi I just want to say I settled with the The Money Shop today for £4200 with the money shop today and the ombudsman for my complaint, I had a gambling problem throughout my twenties and the loans with the moneyshop go back nine years and were used to fund my gambling habit, I also settled with six other payday lenders and have two claims left to make with Ferratum and piggyback.
Patrick says
Hi Richard,
I too had a gambling problem (sports) which forced me into taking many payday loans sometimes multiple loans at once.
Out of interest, did you mention the gambling problem as part of your claim (with evidence?) or did you just use the standard templates?
Any help is much appreciated.
Many thanks,
Patrick
Mark says
Richard,
WELL DONE BROTHER! I was in the exact same situation as you. Hope you have kicked the habit too.
Patrick,
I mentioned used my gambling habit as the main reason form my complaint. A) Because it was……B) I knew it would be evident when I sent my bank statements in. I have won 2 cases now (PDUK – 3 loans, 118118 Money – 1 loan). My advice is be honest, it helped me take back control and I haven’t placed a bet since I wrote my first complaint letter (19/06/18). The lenders will try and say that you had disposable income, that how you bet, but it that won’t wash with the FOS. Good luck and keep us posted.
Richard says
Hi yes my adjudicator asked my permission to use the fact I had a gambling promblem which was obvious from my statements anyway, I agreed and it actually works in your favour in my opinion
Andrew says
Did you explain in your original letters to Loan company that they shouldn’t have given you the money because you had a gambling problem or did you only tell the FO about the problem.
I have struggled with a Gambling problem for the past 4 years and was trapped in the payday loan cycle. Managed to escape and pay everything back except one outstanding loan with MyJar. I Havnt had a bet in nearly a year and now I’m beginning my complaint. seeing your post hase given me some hope. Well done on your achievement. Would appreciate any help you could offer, Cheers
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s up to you, some people don’t like to tell a payday lender about gambling, others are happy to.
Mark says
Andrew,
I told the complete truth to the lenders, as I knew they would find out, if/when it got to the FOS anyway.
I haven’t won any cases via the FOS yet (8 waiting an adjudicator), however the wins I have had have been direct from the lender.
It’s not the lenders fault you (and by that I mean me too!), had a gambling problem, however it is their fault that had they done “reasonable” checks, it would have been clear the loan(s) were unaffordable.
If I were you, I’d be completely honest too, it’s worked for me so far and also I found it “empowering” writing down the issue I had and I haven’t had a bet since.
Mark A says
I had a gambling problem which was the main reason I got the loans…. so this goes for you rather than against you??
Neil says
Hi Guys,
Just an update on my complaints and time frames for the FOS
So i have 4 complaints that i sent in to the FOS at slightly different times…..
First was Wonga, sent in to the FOS last week in March, picked up by the adjudicator on 22 august, so 5 months to be picked up. Have been told that even though they were halfway through the investigation they have halted looking into it for now until clarification from the administrators.
Next sent in were both Sunny and Satsuma, both sent in first week in April. Satsuma hasn’t been picked up yet, but Sunny was picked up yesterday, so almost 6 months to be picked up for that one.
And last one is with Uncle Buck, which i sent in to the FOS in the second week in May, and has been picked up yesterday.
Not heard from an adjudicator regarding the two picked up yesterday, i only found out they have been picked up by ringing and asking for an update.
Neil
Laura says
Result today from FOS. QQ complaint. Sent in 1st March, been with adjudicator for 6 weeks. Had 3 loans and 1 flexi loan. Found in my favour for all loans. So relieved QQ agreed and it didn’t have to go to ombudsman. Thought I would only get approx £1350 but have an offer of £1621 after tax..one over 😁
Gareth Moore says
How old were these loans with QQ?
Laura says
Hi Gareth,
They were all 2013. Got flexi loan in November 2013, fell into arrears January 2014. He said all loans as only took my income and no regard for expenditure, which I think changed in 2014/2015…
Tom says
Hi all!
I sent my first letter to customercare@ecashwindow.com with regards to my EPDL loans.
I received the following reply from Capfin UK:
Please be advised that Capfin Limited ceased to accept new business on 30 June 2018.
Complaints which have been received up until midnight on 31 August 2018 will be investigated and responded to accordingly.
After 31 August 2018, no new complaints will be investigated.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) are aware of this decision and Capfin Limited is no longer authorised and regulated by the FCA.
The Financial Ombudsman (FOS) has been notified of the decision and Capfin Limited will continue to work with the FOS upon receiving new queries or requests for information in relation to complaints received up to midnight on 31 August 2018.
If you submitted a complaint prior to 1st. September, 2018 then Capfin Limited will respond to you within the required timeframe.
Well, looks like I am too late to complain to them.
Shell I contact FO?
Please advice.
Many thanks, Tom
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, please let us know what FOS say.
ted says
Hi Sara,
I am working on an affordability complaint. The actual initial application was with 1st Stop (who added about £500 to the loan in an initial set up fee), however the credit agreement is with Conister. Can you help point me in the right direction; should I complain to 1st stop personal loans or Conister. I couldn’t see conister on your list of email addresses and it’s not an available drop down on Resolver site.
On conisters website it’s covered by the FCA in the UK.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks T
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you live in the Isle of Man?
Ted says
Good day Sara,
Thanks for response. I live in UK
T
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok… Conister is an Isle of Man bank, which is why I asked.
I wasn’t aware of any tie-up between 1st Stop (who went bust) and Conister, but googling suggests there was some relationship. If your CCA agreement says Conister, then I suggest you send them your complaint, to compliance@mfg.im
and copy it to douglas.grant@mfg.im. Attach a copy of the CCA agreement to your complaint.
Ted says
Thanks Sara,
It seems like a strange set up. 1st stop personal loans sent the email which confirmed the loan. In the contract it states consister bank as the lending company. At the time 1st stop have an address in Blackpool, I am still receiving emails as recent as this week from 1st stop stating as an existing / previous customer I may be able to borrow again. The address on the recent emails continues to have an address in Blackpool as their head office?
Note: it wasn’t a payday loan it was a £7k long term loan.
Regards, T
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ok, then the best page for you to be reading is https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-large-high-cost-loans/. With just one or two large loan (and possibly top ups) the lender should have made more detailed checks at the start and you need to find out what they did know and base your complaint on that.
Clare Barrett says
Has anyone not received a response to step 1? 2 out of 5 payday loan companies I am complaining about have not sent me a list of my old loans and it has been 5 weeks now. Please can someone advise what I need to do? Should I just move onto step 2? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can write the step 2 letter now if you think you know enough details. But don’t worry too much, your complaints have already been started and you will get the list of your loans eventually!
Mark says
How long can complaints take?..I sent a case off to the FOS about Safeloans in May .I recently asked them want stage it’s at and they said they have yet receive a case file from them.
neil says
That seems like a long wait for them to get the case file from safeloans, my cases have been with the FOS since March/April and have only started to be picked up by adjudicators.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is ridiculous.
I suggest you send an email to their regulator, the FCA, at consumer.queries@fca.org.uk. Copy this to their compliance officer, Mark Brand, at mark@sllcapital.co.uk
Say you are complaining that SLL Capital Ltd (673450) is being very slow in handling your complaint about irresponsible lending by Safeloans, a previous brand name of SLL Capital and that you thought the FCA as their regulator should be aware of their slow and obstructive approach to complaints. Explain the dates, that it was sent to the FOS on dd/mm/yy, give your FOS reference number and say the Ombudsman says SLL have still not provided their case file to let the Ombudsman start investigating.
The FCA will not investigate your complaint, so don’t go into details about your borrowing or why it was unaffordable. You are just reporting their slow complaints handling. SLL won’t like this and it may kick them into action¬
Mark says
what is the best way to get your credit file to the financial ombudsman as I don’t really understand the point in seeing my credit file now when my complaint is for loans from 2014-2016….. what is it they need to see? what is the best site to use and best way to send it… thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send a copy of your Noddle report. This shows what has happened on your credit file for the past 6 years, so it will show what a lender should have seen in 2014,15,16 when they gave you loans. It isn’t the credit score that matters, that is useless, it’s the history of your previous borrowing and any missed payments and defaults.
Mark A says
thanks, would that be screenshotting the past loans and history pages??
Mark says
I would download the whole report and send it if you’re using Noddle. As they have that facility. Then the FOS can use whatever bits they need.
Mark A says
sorted thank you and sent to the FOS
Mark says
Sara,
I have received my final response from a PDL and all the FSAR documents. As usual, the credit search and I&E forms add further weight to my argument that they lent irresponsibly.
I am today starting this complaint with the FOS and intended to send further letter detailing all the other issues these FSAR doc’s show.
My question is, should I address this letter to just the FOS, or do I also send this to the lender? My concern is, that if I send it directly to the lender, am I “tipping them off” to all the other issues and therefore giving them more time for to investigate and come up with explanations (AKA excuses!)????
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I wouldn’t bother to send it to the lender. not because I think it will tip them off, but because I doubt they would bother to read it. from here on you deal with the FOS.
Anon says
Hi, I had made a irresponsible lending claim against satsuma but this was not upheld so I had taken the claim to the ombudsman. A couple of weeks ago I received a letter from the ombudsman asking for all details, bank statements, ect whilst they were waiting to hear back from satsuma. Yesterday I received a missed call from satsuma but quickly sent an email asking for all correspondence to be dealt with in this matter as I like to have records. I haven’t heard anything back but I have just logged into my satsuma account in which I still held balances for loans and have found it empty, no loans are now showing. I’m not sure what to make of it. Is it possible they have wiped them or would I have received correspondence prior to inform me if a decision had been made? The last time I looked my balances we’re there with a note saying that my account was currently on hold whilst they were investigating. That is not their either. It is probably wishful thinking on my part.
Mark says
if you win your claim then they remove your loans from your credit file but I would imagine you would have to accept an offer first so it does seem odd. if they have wiped them and you have proof of having them I would say that they are hiding something and you should win your claim.
Anon says
Thank you, I have a screenshot of the loan. The last time I checked the remaining balance was in red stating I was overdue with payments but now nothing is there at all only stating I’m not eligible for a loan at this time. I will keep checking back to see if it changes
Steve says
Interestingly, I’ve just logged into MySatsuma and getting a “We’re sorry, something has gone wrong.” error message and to call? This wasn’t the case a few days ago…is there website down or have they wiped my account??
Stuart says
I also complained about irresponsible lending that was not upheld. I sent the complaint to FOS but not been picked up yet, however the loan is no longer visible in Mysatsuma.
Anon says
Perhaps the site is down then. When I checked the Borrowing summer is says
“You don’t currently have any borrowing summary statements to view.”.
Stuart says
That is strange as when I look at the borrowing summary on mine it shows previous loan.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well it’s obviously not bad news, but it could just be some cock up. I wouldn’t get too optimistic.
Laura says
Hello All,
After a disheartening result with wonga (like many of you) having refused a 4K first offer and then going into administration while I was at the adjudication stage, I’m now at the adjudication stage with my pounds to pocket complaint. I had sent my bank statement in (300 pages) and highlighted them all the income debt repayments etc and now the adjudicator has asked me for detailed living costs. That’s now done but what’s everyone experience with the time scales from here on in? Is it months again to wait? First FOS complaint so unsure! Thanks for any experience
Adam says
Hi everyone,
I had made a complaint with Satsuma and some other loan comoanies, so far Satsuma are the only ones who have straight up rejected my complaint, the rest I am waiting on further replies?
I’m just wondering should I stop making any future payments to these loans or what should I do? I have outstanding balances to most of them.
Thanks in advance.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you can’t repay the balances without borrowing more (and that’s what an unaffordable lending complaint suggests!) then you should tell your bank to cancel the CPAs to the lenders. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-refunds-defaulted-loan/.
Satsuma, how many loans did you have from them?
Zizi says
I had similar experience with Satsuma! They got back tow me within 3 days and rejected it. I have had many loans with them but this year I took one in March 18 and then second on June 18 whiles the first was not paid off. I had 3 more payday loans at the time.
They rejected my complaint based on my income and expenditures.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
send that complaint straight to the Ombudsman!
Adam says
I have 2 active loans with satsuma and one settled. One of the ones settled was settled early and was for a large amount of £800 and the one I have open now is for £800 and another for £210, and the 2 £800 were taken out within a month of each other. They also rejected my claim based on income and expenditures and that I had also made payments on the current loans. I have sent my case straight to financial ombudsman after they rejected.
Sophie says
Hi Sara,
Just wanted to say thank you for this website, I have managed to deal with all of my lenders and for the majority have just got a good result.
I now just have one loan which has been agreed by the FOS and the loans equalled to £1800, how do I work out what refund I will get?
Thank you again
Sophie
Mark says
Sophie,
To calculate the interest/fees you’ve paid (and therefore should get refunded), you need to calculate the total you paid back to pay the loan, then deduct the actual loan amount. The difference is the interest/fees that the lender has added. My list looks like this:
Loan 1 Loan amount £150.00 Paid back £210.00 Interest/Fees £60.00
Loan 2 Loan amount £250.00 Paid back £405.00 Interest/Fees £155.00
TOTAL REFUND DUE = £215.00
Hope that helps?
david askew says
Hi Sara,
I have had several responses to my initial email asking me to send copies of my bank statements and payslips from the time.
I don’t really want to send either and notice on your site that you don’t have to and that you can offer to send these to the Ombudsman?
I am going to write the follow up second email to these companies, giving them more information as to why I couldn’t afford the loans they gave me. How would you recommend that I word the fact I am not going to send them my bank statements?
Thanks,
Mark says
David,
I understand your concern and I took EXACTLY the same view on the first 8 complaints…….they all got rejected and are with the FOS now.
Then I read some comments and success stories that ppl had on here by sending this info and the next 4 complaints I sent bank stat’s with the stage 2 letters. 3 of those 4 had the complaints upheld and I received full refund/removal of loans.
Not guaranteed but I’ve had a 0% success rate not sending bank stats and 75% sending them.
You will need to get statements ready anyway in prep for the FOS (they require stats covering 3 months prior to 1 month post each loan). You don’t need to send any payslips as long as your wages show on the stat’s.
david askew says
Hi Mark,
the trouble is it was such a mess. I had 3 different bank accounts back then. like most people I was juggling so much around at the time. I had 3 different accounts and would apply for different loans with different bank accounts. I would also switch which account my wages went in to depending on how much was going to be immediately swallowed up on each account!
Mark says
David,
I had the same think mate, don’t worry, you are taking steps to put things right now, so keep focused on that.
I was self employed, so I had 1 account which my clients paid my invoices into, one which I used for day to day expenses/bills etc and a 3rd that I used for my extreme and disgusting gambling habit.
That’s the point of this process, every case is VERY different and must be judged on the individuals’ circumstances and that’s exactly what the FOS does.
Just take some time and put together a list of all the loans and the start dates. Then a list of the bank accounts you had at the time. Then print off the relevant statements (that you have access too) and request the other by email to the relevant banks.
I bet (poor choice of word I know!), at the end when you see the full picture of the mess you were in, you will feel like you are taking back control and a huge weight will lift.
If you ever get any doubt/impatience as it’s a LONG process normally, come back on here and get some encouragement.
GOOD LUCK AND DON’T GIVE UP!!!
Tara says
Hi all.
I’ve just been looking at searches on my credit record and noticed that My Jar done a check credit application, quotation check x2 and administration review x2 in October last year. I already had a open loan outstanding with them at the time and hadn’t defaulted as of that time. Why would they have done a credit check on me when I hadn’t applied for a loan on that date? and they done it twice on that date too. Has anyone else this happen?
If I have to go to FOS, should I tell them they credit checked me at times they shouldn’t have?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can mention this but it is a fairly minor point. And as it is so long ago it won’t affect you from now on, so there is no need to try to get the incorrect application searches removed.
Have you now made an affordability complaint to MyJar?
Tara says
Yes I have. They are currently looking into it and have till 23rd Oct to give a final response.
Just seemed strange them doing that. Also noticed the year before that they done exactly the same thing on the same date I paid off a big loan 3 days before I applied again, then on the day I applied they only done a account management check whatever that is?
Mark says
Tara,
I have found a similar thing with UK Credit Ltd. They did a credit check on me a week after the FOS contacted them about my complaint, in order to investigate.
As Sara has said, I would concentrate on the main issue, the affordability complaint.
ziz says
Hi Sarah,
I’m so pleased to found this page and have now started to get my finances back on track. I wanted to ask if anyone had any success with Oakam? I had numerous loans with them over the years and currently have £3000 loan ( took out Nov 2017)with them and they gave me other loan of £400 few months ago. I also have Provident 3 loans in place and 2 CC’J and numerous late payments! They never actually done expenditure list with me when giving me last loan.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes some people have had success against Oakam – they only operate in a few areas so they aren’t much mentioned. Also have you complained about Provident?
Sean says
Hi,
I have completed the Step One and received a history of loans and payments made from various lenders.
Just going to complete Step Two but I have one worry. At time of applications for various loans, I had ticked the “No”box regarding having any other loans with other companies. Will this go against my claims as they could accuse me of fraud?. All loans have since been paid off. Should I bother proceeding if it could cause me more trouble?
And if I do go to Ombudsman, will they just come to same conclusion? Just a bit worried…
Mark says
Sean,
Read the article on here called “lender says I lied”.
The chances are the lender(s) will dismiss your claim and try the usual scare/delay tactic of stating that you lied on your application and that wasn’t their fault etc etc. This is an attempt to put you off complaining. If only 1 out of 100 don’t proceed, then they are better off and it’s a worthwhile tactic.
Just ignore and proceed.
Mark says
…….furthermore this could actually HELP your case Sean!
Your complaint resolves around the lender not checking your affordability correctly, or checking and ignoring the “red flags”.
If you stated you had no other loans on your application, yet there were loans showing on the credit searches either in arrears or not, yet they didn’t take into consideration the contractual monthly payments, how can the lender possibly defend your accusation? They WILL try. :-)
Sean says
Thanks Mark,
I may not have been totally truthful when they asked me for details of my outgoings such as monthly expenditure on the loan applications too.
Is that something I should be worried about?
Mark says
Sean,
You really shouldn’t be worried AT ALL.
The first line from my compliant letter to all 12 of my lenders is:
“I know I lied on my application to you. I understated my outgoings and I over stated my income. This was due to being in the midst of a spiralling crisis of gambling, high interest loans and lying to my family so they would feel guilty and assist me financially, so I could fund my chronic gambling habit which I used every penny I could get my hands on!”
The problem that the lenders have is they have to try and prove to the FOS (when it inevitably gets that far), that there was NO WAY they could have known you could not afford your existing commitments PLUS any loan they approved.
They can’t just say “the figures on your application forms said you could pay for the loan!”. Think about it, if that were true, I could just apply to every lender right now and say I want £100,000 loan please, but don’t worry I have no outgoings and I earn £3m p/m!
The lenders MUST perform checks and verifications (I would advise you read the FCA handbook regarding creditworthiness and affordability” – It’s an eye opener!) and it’s these that they wilfully neglected and why the industry is now paying for it. Rant over. :-)
Sean says
Thanks Mark. That is reassuring and makes sense!
Just have one other query. QQ declined my complaint before I got a chance to send through the Step 2 letter.
It was my fault procrastinating over whether to proceed given my fears of having given them inaccurate information in the applications.
My question is should I still send them Step 2 letter or just go straight to Ombudsman or can I do both?
Thanks!!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
straight to the Ombudsman! But make sure you tell the FOS the details that would have been in your step 2 letter.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Read https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-lender-says-lied/ which looks at various aspects of this situation. Basically it makes it harder to win cases with low numbers of loans (unless the loans were very big, when the lender should have checked more) but if you borrowed a lot from the same lender the lender should have realised something was wrong, no matter what your application said.
Sean says
Thanks Sara. Well let the process begin! I will keep you updated.
Shem says
Hi Sara
I’ve just been reviewing my credit file and noticed a number of loans are listed as ‘instant cash loans’ further inspection has shown that this is the parent company of, The Money Shop, Payday UK, Payday express and Ladder loans. I had 2 loans with money shop, 2 with PDUK and 3 with ladder loans between 2012 and 2016 as instalment loans with various durations from 1 – 12 months in the height of my payday spiral. I rarely missed payments and even settled early with my robbing peter to pay paul and borrow more off paul system but my credit file reflects over 91 payday loans taken during this time along with a few missed payments and 2 defaults. I previously didn’t raise complaints as didn’t realise they were the same company and figured there was no pattern for them to detect, however now I know this is effectively 7 loans with the same company and they had even more reason to notice I was utilising and repeat lending using multiple sub prime credit products, I am wondering if you think it may be worthwhile to raise a complaint? and if so can I raise it with Instant cash loans rather than each of the sub companies separately?
Note, I don’t have existing loans with these companies or owe them any money.
Many thanks
Shem
Mark says
Shem,
I raised separate complaints as I didn’t realise that PDUK and TMS are the same company.
It would be easier if you raise just one complaint.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Payday UK and Payday Express are often handled as one claim at the lender level. TMS and Ladder Loans are usually handled seperately.
Ben says
Received a WDA email stating the 8 weeks are up and they need more time which I think has been sent to lots of people. Will be escalating to the FOS. Has anybody had a response after this before the FOS have got involved? And was this was loaned over or under 6 years? Thanks
Chris Mitchell says
Thank-You..
Also has anyone had issues with refunds and Lending stream – I had a lot of loans with them and they just flatly turned down my Affordability claim.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They are slow and difficult, often rejecting excellent cases. Send it straight to the Ombudsman,
Steve says
They rejected my claim by saying they declined further loans with me, to which I then went back to them and asked in which case why do I have a current loan with them…
They’re very slow in responding!
Gareth moore says
Worth negotiating? They’ll need up paying £550 When you take it to te FOS…
Also, how old are the loans?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Are you replying to Adam? If so, not it’s not worth trying to negotiate with QQ – they don’t. Straight to the ombudsman and don’t waste time trying.
Gareth Moore says
Yes, I was replying to Adam.
In that case, I’ll send it straight to the FOS if it happens to me.
Btw, isn’t the FOS going to have a definite decision about the loans over 6 years old, which QQ is fiercely resisting to payout?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I hope the FOS is soon going to go public with more information about loans over 6 years.
EDIT – and they have now done this, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/fos-time-limits-payday-loan-refunds/
Adam says
i have rejected to refund and filled in the online forum for the FOS. Although i have’t had a auto message from the FOS which i thought i might of done. Hopfully i will get somewhere.
I have had two emails today from Myjar and PayDayUk both telling me they are sorry that they haven’t be able to acknowledge and resolve my complaint within 4 weeks, I have only sent the first stage email about getting my loan information,which i still haven’t got, seems strange that they are saying they need 8 weeks to do
Chris Mitchell says
Hi, Has anyone got any experience of Myjar paying out. I have accepted their offer, given my Bank details and heard nothing since. I replied by email, had no reply, and the number they gave me just goes through to an auto mated voicemail. Just wondered what others experiences were?
Thanks
Chris
Rachel says
Hi Chris,
I am in exactly the same situation I have given my bank details and haven’t heard anything, this was a week ago.
Rachel
Chris Mitchell says
Hi Rachael, Maybe this is the norm then – Mine was 20/9 that I accepted their offer.
Rachel says
Seems like we should wait a bit then :) I will give it till the end of next week then start chasing!
Dab says
Hi I accepted an offer from myjar on the 26th of July and they paid me out on the 8th of August I didn’t hear anything back from them after I gave them my bank details until I received the pay out.
tom price says
they paid me out within 3 days
Michael Nelson says
Hi there,
As of yesterday I have begun the process myself, contacting Ferratum, Lending Stream, Mr Lender, Satsuma, Wage Day Advance, Wonga (although I appreciate it may be futile), 247 Moneybox, Uncle Buck, and I have Safetynet Credit still to do.
I currently have the well documented issue with Safetynet which means I have to check my account on payday to ensure they do not take all owed plus interest, they did recently take over £700 in one hit (money was borrowed to pay for my dads funeral!). I am unsure how to approach them as I am at my £600 limit?Of all the lenders mentioned above WDA and 247 are the only ones whom have been paid, the rest I have contacted to set up payment plans.
Oh and to really hammer it home that organisations can just dip into my accounts and take what they want when they want, even my own bank Halifax decided to take a offset arrears £37.62 minimum credit card payment from my saving account which had my last £50, as my current account was empty, and have informed that they have no obligation to let me know prior to doing so, no obligation to ascertain whether the amount was affordable and have just refereed me to T&Cs which state they can take what they want from/when they want to offset any credit card payments in arrears??
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Safetynet credit – cancel their CPA with your bank immediately! And put in a complaint to them as well. they are just another payday lender except they could see your bank account so they had even less excuse for continuing to lend to you.
Also cancel CPAs to all the lenders you have complained about,
If you have a loan outstanding with Wonga and you feel you have a good complaint against (how many previous loans?) do not agree anything other than a very low token payment agreement, as they are in administration, getting the balance wiped may well be most of what you can get back, so you don’t want to pay off more than you have to.
Do you have a lot of other borrowing eg credit cards? If you do, I strongly suggest setting up a DMP through StepChange to make arrangements with all your lenders.
Michael Nelson says
Hi Sara,
Thank you so much for your reply, and I am sure I speak all in thanking you for providing a light to a sometimes very dark tunnel.
Will my bank be able to cancel all the CPAs if there are any active? I still owe Safety Credit, once cancelled and the complaint sent how should i proceed with paying the owed balance? Do i continue with all the payment plans as I agreed last week, I agreed high payments generally so as to try and get rid of them!!
I do not have excessive borrowing other than the Payday loans mentioned, which as you know generates a continued cycle of ever increasing debt, which has effected my credit card payments.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes your bank can cancel the CPAs. Make sure you get the name of the person you speak to at your bank and follow this up with a confirmation in writing that you want the CPAs cancelled. If the person says they can’t, ask to speak to their manager.
You need to revise any payment arrangements which are too high for you to be able to manage without borrowing again. It is the only way to end the cycle of robbing Peter to pay Paul.
Michael Nelson says
Hi Sara,
Just a brief update, I have received a response from Satsuma which basically summarizes the two loans I currently have 2 Nr £100 taken in June/August 2018. Information includes their apparent breakdown of the affordability carried out at the time, and mentions that they referred to various credit reference agencies. All information was contained within their emailed response finishing with that they are unable to uphold my complaint.
I have responded to them with the 2nd Template, reiterating my adverse credit position and rating at the time. I have as yet received no response, but do I assume I wait till I do so before progressing?
Michael Nelson says
In addition to Satsuma I have also received a very brief response from Mr Lender which included a PDF breakdown of the one currently active loan for £200, broken down briefly as Funds Transfer date 8/618, Capital Paid £66, Interest Paid £138.17, Balance Outstanding £154.54, Credit/Affordability Checks Carried Out – Yes to both.
I am I right to assume I proceed with stage two?
Thanks again
Gerry Devlin says
Hi Mark , you seem to be very switched on with this and i have been through a period of time
where i used these heavily to the point i was borrowing off one to pay another and then borrowing again to keep going till my next paydat , my bank statements will literally show this, however i was hessitant to try this as i did sign the proof of income section.
So i did try a payday refund company a few days ago , but having read all of the above i now think this is something i can do myself
the company have a 14 days cooling off period which i have just invoked so i have the right to cancel as i am well within that time frame , they have just emailed me back stating “We have already started the claims process and you are only allowed to complain once to the lenders.” , now having read all of the above/below it looks like some people have to make several complaints to get anywhere
so i am now in bed with these people or is this a scare tactic to make me stay with them , i understand i can only claim once on this , but complaint ?
Any idea’s
Thanks
G
Gerry Devlin says
Can i also add , i always paid on time , never defaulted , i just need to know if i can now pursue this myself or do i need to stick with
the company that i signed up with (i can still cancel as per their terms & conditions)
Mark says
“i was hessitant to try this as i did sign the proof of income section” – Don’t be, signing the income and expenditure parts of an application does not absolve the lender from carrying out relevant checks, as per FCA reg’s.
“so i am now in bed with these people or is this a scare tactic to make me stay with them , i understand i can only claim once on this , but complaint ?” – If you have it in writing that you have a 14 day cooling off period and you’re happy to do it yourself, then cancel it via email (so you have evidence if needed at a later date), immediately. In the email I would also advise the company that all permissions are withdrawn as of todays email date. Therefore if ANY attempt is made by them to retrieve personal data/information or initiate/progress any complaint with any lenders you had loans with, that you will treat this as a DPA/GDPR breech and will inform the ICO immediately.
When you send your complaints to the lenders, ensure to mention that a third party company (name them) was dealing with this matter, however you have changed your mind and cancelled as per their T&C’s within the 14 day cooling off period. As such the lenders do not have your permission to discuss/disclose this matter with them or any third party.
Hope that helps. Good luck and keep us posted.
Chris Mitchell says
Hi. I have made a complaint to Peachy (Yesterday), and they have asked me to provide Bank statements, Wage slips, and I&E from 2013, is this something I have to do?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Good heavens, some lenders want to make this seem really difficult, don’t they… You don’t have to provide anything, they will still have to consider your complaint.
There is certainly no need to provide payslips or an I&E – the Ombudsman doesn’t ask for these. If you have your bank statements to hand then you could send these by email, but I see n reason to pay to post them. If you don’t have your bank statements, this would be a good time to get them so you are prepared to go to the Ombudsman at 8 weeks.
If you do send the statements I don’t know if Peachy will actually look at them. But it does show you are well organised and can easily send your complaint to the Ombudsman.
Jenn says
Hi,
Does anyone know if Money shop tend to pay out on loans over 6 years old please? I had my final response and they have said that loans were unaffordable but only upheld 9 as the other 45 are over 6 years old. They said in the email for them to consider these loans I have to explain why I didn’t complain sooner? Any help much appreciated
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes they will pay out on older loans but these cases often have to go through the Ombudsman. In reply to their question, just tell them when and how you heard that asking for a refund was possible, whether this was seeing a Facebook ad from a claims company or a friend or relative told you about them, there are no wrong answers here, just say what happened. point out that although you knew you had problems with their loans you had never heard of irresponsible lending so you had no idea you could complain.
Jenn says
Thanks Sara, I am hoping to get it sorted without going to the ombudsman so wanted to make sure I got the reply right. The offer was nice but obviously there are 45 other loans I may get a refund for as well. Fingers crossed!
Darren says
Hi – Sent your template letter off with a few adustments to Piggy Bank, and after 7 weeks via email got £274 back. so cant complain as this was mostly the interest. Thanks again
Elaine Taylor Waite says
Hi Sarah
Has anyone had any joy from wage day advance.
Also is it about 56 days for final response
Thanks
Elaine TW
Elaine says
Hi Sarah
I have sent request for refund of interest to payday UK and Wonga too
I am not expecting anything from Wonga.
Will payday UK be the 8 weeks I did state I had made a copy of my credit report .
Thanks in advance
Elaine
Mark says
Elaine,
Yes lenders have 4 weeks to respond to Subject Access Request’s (SAR’s) and 8 weeks for complaints/final responses.
Usually the lenders push/cross these limits, especially now due to the vast amounts of complaints they are now having to deal with.
Once the 8 weeks is up, you can go straight to the FOS. My advice would be to give them a “2 week warning” email at 6 weeks, so you can go to the FOS knowing you did everything “reasonable” to resolve the matter without involving them.
Good luck.
Erlens says
First of all I want to say thanks to Sara for this great information source as I found it accidentally by seeing an add from company who deals with these claims while I was going to sort an IVA out. So I started to look for more information about irresponsible lending and found this great place and decided to go with my claims myself.
But now to my question about what should I do.
My current debt to all lenders is around £6000 including interest and I can’t afford to pay them anymore. But after reading information available here I do believe that I’m available for a refund and they should take the interest off from the current loans. I have taken 30 loans since April 2016 between 4 different lenders. Some of the loans are overlapping so I could afford to make my payments and between some of the loans there are short intervals for next loan from the same lender and up to now I had only around 110 days debt free in seven different periods up to now.
So should I still go with IVA to sort my debts out or should I do something else? If I win my cases my debt would be manageable and I wouldn’t need IVA anymore but again if my cases goes to an ombudsman then it my take even half year till the result as I understand.
So what would be the best option with my current debt? Any advice would be helpful. Thanks in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
An IVA for only £6000 is often a mistake – it is a form of insolvency like going bankrupt and is usually best avoided unless you have no practical alternative. In your case it sounds as though simply removing interest from your outstanding balances and setting up a monthly repayment plan at an affordable rate would be a much better option.
I suggest you contact StepChange and ask them to set up a debt management plan for your payday loans and any other debts you have (credit card? overdraft?). See https://www.stepchange.org/how-we-help/debt-management-plan.aspx. Also cancel the CPAs to all your lenders with your bank so they can’t help themselves to any money forcing you to have to borrow again.
You can then start making your complaints, knowing that it doesn’t matter if they take many months to get sorted as your finances are in a safe state.
Adam says
When cancelling my CPAs do I need to contact all the lenders of the CPA I am cancelling as I have already sent them complaint emails. If I do have to email them about cancelling CPA what should I say to them and should I ask to be put into a payment plan with these lenders or stop paying altogether?
Mark says
Adam, (I’M NO EXPERT IN THIS SITUATION – So someone here might have better advise……)
If I were you I would write each lender a further letter advising them that you have cancelled the CPA’s as you cannot afford the payments.
I would also state that as you also have an on going complaint which you believe is valid and grounds for a refund, that you are willing to make token payments of £1, £5, £10 p/m, I wouldn’t go any higher than that, but make sure it’s no more than you can comfortably afford, until the matter is resolved.
Advise them that once the matter is resolved, you will contact them again to set up a long term payment plan that is affordable, IF there is still monies owing to them.
I would ask them to provide bank details/account details, so you can set up a standing order on XXX date of the month starting XXX, as this throws the ball back to them and confirms again that you are no longer willing to pay them by CPA.
I think all of the above is “reasonable”. Lets hope the lenders reciprocate as they should do under FCA reg’s.
Mark says
…….Only exception to the above would be if you have outstanding complaints to Wonga. If you do, I would not agree to pay them a penny until the complaint is resolved, as if you are due a refund, you are VERY unlikely to get all of the money owed to you.
Adam says
Thank you for the helpful reply Mark, I will email all of the ones I have complaints against to set up a standing order. I have no complaints against Wonga as I never had a loan with them (surprisingly about the only company that rejected me).
I appreciate your help!
Mark says
Adam,
You’re welcome, good luck and if you need any more help/advice/encouragement, you know where to come.
Chris says
1/2 – Hi, very new to all this lark….
Wanted to clarify something.
I had used quite a large number of payday loan firms between 2010-2015. I have since put forward complaints to these lenders via Resolver and it’s coming up to the ”8 week” period to which they should respond by.
That said I have not received barely any responses other than the usual generic emails advising they’re being ”dealt’ with.. With this in mind – I have no confidence they actually are being looked at so it’s looking likely the FoS will be the final step.
My question is – QQ who had been the main lender I used equated to approx £4.5k borrowed and £6k approx paid back (incl interest) – some of these loans were over 6 years ago. Now I’ve been advised by someone via Twitter that these are being placed on hold by the FoS until a decision is being made. Therefore, am I right to assume that these will be rejected? I am pretty worried at this as most of the loans by QQ were over 6 years ago so I’m minded that none of these will be looked at. Anyone have a similar situation with this and can they provide any information?
Chris says
2/2
Also – regarding Wonga – again quite a large number of loans taken out with this lot – as they’re in administration – I am guessing the complaint I put forward 19/08/2018 will not be looked even though I’ve also been sent the generic email about being a ‘creditor’??
Lending Stream, Wageday Advance, PDUK, P2P(QQ), I’ve also place complaints to however none of these have even bothered to acknowledge my words to them. Can anyone provide any updates regarding these lenders? Your experience etc when complaining.
Thanks very much.
John M says
Hi Chris,
QQ – How many loans are over 6 years old? If it is the majority then you can pass to FOS once rejected by QQ but you will have a long wait (mine has been in the queue since February and I am not the earliest). If only a few you may wish to consider telling FOS to only make sure they take them in to account when making their decision but not include them in your claim.
Wonga – I think we will all be playing the waiitng game but don’t expect a lot and if you get something it’s a bonus. That’s how I feel.
LS – I never used so can’t comment
WDA – Didn’t reply for 6 weeks then asked me one question then agreed to pay out so don’t panic yet.
PDUK – Same as WDA, nothing for weeks then I got a question and then they sent their offer.
P2P – This is likely to be similar to QQ but again depends when you took these loans out.
I hope that helps.
Wishing you success. I have had some good amounts of money back but you have to be patient.
Ziz says
Hi Sara,
I just checked my noddle report and noticed that Instant Cash Loans Limited (Cr, Sr, Ct, Sa, Ar)
Instant Cash Loans Dna (Cr Api)
PURPOSEAdministration Review
DATE25/09/201
Has completed search on me? I believe this is paydayuk from google search! I made a complaint to then over a week ago. Is this something they can do?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is an admin search – it isn’t visible to other lenders and so it doesn’t do you any harm.
Z says
Thank you for getting back to me.
Josephine Little says
Hi Sara,
I took out 15 loans with Quick Quid in 2012, some of which are now more than 6 years old. I had numerous loans with other companies too
due to medication side effects causing a gambling problem which I think I mentioned in an earlier e-mail. Quick Quick replied with what they describe as a reasonable offer of £16.40, which I refused.
my question is – before contacting the Ombudsman I know I need bank statements and a credit report for that period. Is there a particular company I should contact? I’ve seen a Noddle report mentioned – is that a credit report agency.
Thank you
Josephine
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes Noddle is the best one to get, see https://www.noddle.co.uk/. You want to download your report, this seems to require being on a desktop PC rather than your phone :(
In your case it won’t be of much use as little info from 2012 will remain, but FOS always asks for this.
As you have some loans already over 6 years, send your complaint to FOS immediately. Don’t wait until you have the Noddle report and your bank statements, Yiu can add those later. But you do not want any more loans to drift over the 6 year point, it’s the date you send the Ombudsman your complaint that matters.
paula cameron says
hi i cant see any thing on my credit rep from QQ over the past 6 years but i had 7 loans in that space
Laurence says
Hi Sara,
Read a few posts lately and in quite a few you have said go straight to the ombudsman.
I’m asking as from my side I sent stage 1 letters to all 5 of the lenders I used. So far 3 have replied to my SAR giving me a list of loans.
I have sent the template letter back for these (Stage 2) and now waiting for the 8 weeks….
It has been 5 weeks since I sent a SAR to QQ and Uncle Buck but they still continue to ignore my request.
What would you propose I do next? I’ve threatened them with the IOC but this seems to have had little impact.
Many thanks as always
Laurence
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You could send a formal complaint to the ICO if you want, but it’s more likely that the lenders are just snowed under, not being obstructive. I know it’s frustrating when you want to be moving your cases forward, but just sit back and wait for the 8 week point when either Yiu will have a rejection, an offer to decide on or you can send the case to FOS because they haven’t replied.
Pre GDPR in May, it could be very difficult to get a list of loans, now it isn’t and at some point you will get one.
Laurence says
Great thanks Sara,
Final point, roughly half of my loans are over the ‘6 year period’ should I be sending these on to the FOS and not waiting?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No you HAVE to wait for 8 weeks.
Craig says
Finally got a response out of Wage Day Advance, a month past the eight week deadline and a day after I referred to the FOS! They agreed to refund loans 4-7, but rejected the complaint for loans 1-3 due to their age (2012). Offered £541, which includes interest. I accepted it, and looking forward to it hitting my bank account in 5-7 days!
Still waiting on the FOS to pick up my QQ complaint, but sent them a chaser email yesterday to see what the status of it is. Got a letter back in August to say they received the complaint online etc but have heard nothing else since.
Sue Edwards says
Hi
Thanks to this website I have already had two refunds issued to me, one without going to the FOS and one through the FOS awaiting decision on another 3 with FOS.
My question is regarding Cash Genie – I made an irresponsible lending complaint and asked for redress to be given. I was told it would be 6 weeks before they would have any response. It has now been 10 weeks and despite regular e-mails they are still telling me no update yet but will e-mail as soon as they do!!! Can I send this to the FOS or are they not looking into any regarding Cash Genie as administrators sorting these redress claims out?
Thanks once again for all the help and advice
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Please talk to the Ombudsman about Cash Genie – I haven’t seen any recent comments on them.
Mr and Mrs C says
We are the same, have been offered a payout but no news on when we will receive it.
Lauren says
Hi, i’m in week 7 and have just had an offer from sunny. Stating they will refund me £1873.72 as well as £512 interest. Along with removal from credit file. Does anyone know how long they take to actually refund this? Replied instantly with my bank details etc, but still yet to hear anything back. Thank you in advance
tom says
they paid me out within 7 days
Lauren says
Did they email you back after their offer to say they had recieved your bank details etc? As i sent them mine and asked to confirm processing date. And still havent heard anything
Laura says
I was the same about 7 days. No they didn’t email a reply I just sent the details and money was in week later.
Mr and Mrs C says
Had anyone had a payout from the liquidators of cash genie? We were offered £722 in July but are now in the queue for the payout. When we ask about a time frame we are just told they are unable to tell us. Has anyone managed to get a payment from them and how long did it take?
Thanks
John M says
I have been waiting since June. I chased this week and said not able to tell me is not a suitable answer and was told the following:
The Liquidators are reviewing when they are able to pay a dividend.
As soon as I have further news for you, I will email and let you know.
Not great.
Mr and Mrs C says
We have had the same standard reply, – as you said – not good
Mia says
Hi
Thanks again for this site I currebtly have 8 complaints with fos
Spoke to them today and although they’ve requested twice, 247 haven’t submitted the business file. I’ve also contacted 247 to try and negotiate a settlement but they haven’t responded.
Should I call them to chase? Is this strange that they haven’t submitted the business case after 3 months?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
3 months is very poor.
I suggest you send an email to their regulator, the FCA, at consumer.queries@fca.org.uk. Copy this to mark@activesecurities.com.
Say you are complaining that Active Securities Ltd (673915) is being very slow in handling your complaint about irresponsible lending by 247 Moneybox and that you thought the FCA as their regulator should be aware of their slow and obstructive approach to complaints. Explain the dates, that it was sent to the FOS on dd/mm/yy, give your FOS reference number and say the Ombudsman says Moneybox 247 have still not provided their case file to let the Ombudsman start investigating.
The FCA will not investigate your complaint, so don’t go into details about your borrowing or why it was unaffordable. You are just reporting their slow complaints handling. Hopefully Moneybox 247 won’t like this and it may kick them into action
Neil says
Hi all,
Ok so I had around thirty plus consecutive loans with Ferratum all for around £500 each month. I have recently repaid this , with the help of a family member, and promptly put in a complaint to them.
As a test I have just applied for a small amount of £50 and they have rejected my complaint on the basis of credit checks they have performed ( or so they say , I reckon the real reason is because I have a complaint lodged with them) .
My point is , what has the credit check shown to be different to the thirty other times I have applied and been accepted. Especially as my credit rating should have improved since paying off their loan.
Does anyone think it is worth mentioning to them in support of my complaint .” What is so different re my credit rating from the other thirty or so accepted applications and that their checks are clearly flawed and not robust enough”?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“Does anyone think it is worth mentioning to them in support of my complaint” I would say it was minor. You were very probably rejected because you had put in a complaint, as you say.
30+ large loans sounds like a strong complaint on its own, without needing to find any extra bits to add on.
hh says
So after some time of waiting my conplaint went through the adjudicator and to the ombudsmen who agreee with the adjudicator and has instructed QQ pay back several of the loans. Then on monday i gwt an email from QQ confirming bank details and it says “we have received correspondence that you have accepted our settlement offer.” Of course i did not! I accepted the FO ruling. Their settlement offer came months ago and was rejected.
This could be an oversight on their part but it has me suspicious – could the email QQ sent me be legally binding and could they have refunded me their initial settlement offer amount had i not clarified the situation?
Mark says
hh,
I understand your scepticism, I’ve lost count of the times Sara has “talked me off the ledge” on here when a lender say’s/does something that make me (insert Hulk voice:) ANGRY!
It’s unlikely. What’s more likely is that they use one standard template letter when paying out refunds, due to the vast numbers of complaints!
IF your suspicions are right and they do pay you the incorrect amount, it would take one letter to the FOS explaining what’s happened and they would be able to resolve for you.
Steve says
Pounds to Pocket update: I’ve had an adjudicator assigned from the FOS yesterday, which I was quite surpised about seeing as I only submitted the complaint to FOS on 11th September!
Loan with P2P was for £1150, but £940 interest so total of £2090 paid, but the loan defaulted as I couldn’t afford the repayments.
Fingers crossed! Bit worried as it was only a one loan, but hopefully I can plead my case, as I ended up taking other loans with other lenders to help pay this one!
Claire says
Hi, I have my affordability complaints against Wonga, Lending stream and Quick Quid/Pounds to pocket, currently with the FOS, but not heard anything other than initially asking for copies of bank statements and final response letters from the lenders.
I have since put in Affordability complaints directly with 118, Bamboo Loans, Avant Credit, Myjar and Uncle Buck. requesting SAR information.
I have cancelled the CPA with my bank for these loans, so no payments have been taken out this month. I has some SAR documents sent to me via email for only the Myjar account so far, but did notice that one of the documents that they sent through, entitled “memo” had a couple of lines in it stating – “Unresloved dispute, Loan placed on hold for 3 months for the duration of the complaint investigation”
The memo was listed by dates and action they were taking, i.e Complaint logged/DSAR sent etc.
I am just a bit surprised that I wasn’t sent any other info relating to the account being put on hold. Just a line within a memo document.
So just a note to others to check the contents of the documents sent from Myjar.
Also, If I have affordability complaints with these various companies, can they ask to take any repayments whilst they investigate?
Thanks.
Mark says
Claire,
If I were you I would treat the complaint and the repayment plan as two separate issues.
Read the help on here regarding what to do if you have outstanding balances as that would be better advice than anything I could say, however if you’re still not sure, read Adams comment from yesterday at 6:25pm and my reply. I believe the same applies to you.
Mark A says
So quickquid have asked for my bank statements from 2013/2014. I have had them printed and I have lots of gambling transactions on them. Is this going to go against me as it shows I have been irresponsible?
John M says
I had a large number of gambling transactions on mine but companies haven’t tended to count it against me