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:
- 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, Everyday lonas, Likely Loans/Finio, Reevo, 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.
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;
- some 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 instalment 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 free and 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 2018, 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 2024 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
- if you dont have the credit agreements, 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 FOS 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?
Dan says
Hi Sara
Just a bit of info about complaints against vivus v7 limited
The FOS have informed me that even though they ruled in my favour I won’t be able to receive a refund as vivus have no assets to pay refunds and the debt purchaser lantern in this case is not liable.
Was due about £150 so not a massive amount bit still disappointing.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
thanks for the info :(
Tony says
Sara,
Hugely appreciated as always, when I started these complaints I also started one for QQ and PDEX, the PDEX one was investigated by the FOS and I was awarded redress to the tune of about 2.5k, which was fantastic.
Is it worth me responding with something along the lines of;
” This complaint was raised alongside three others, one of which was investigated and settled – case ref:xxx xxx.
As the timescales, reason for complaint and information provided are the same, with the only differing detail being the lender, can the FOS case file/adjudicator please be used from the settled case as this may save you and me some time/effort?”
Many thanks
Tony
Chris Mitchell says
Hi I have read the information regarding Wonga, I had 39 loans with them from 2012 -2014 – They are now out of the 8 weeks , and I have heard nothing about my complaint.
However, I do owe them about 5000 from a loan I took out in 2017 – They have emailed me about this, I emailed back saying I was surprised they could email about money owed but not my complaint – What is the best thing for me to do – Any advice welcome.
Mark says
Chris,
I’m sure someone more qualified will respond to you, but if I were you I would be writing to tell them that your contracted payment is no longer affordable. As you have a pending complaint which is valid and if successfully upheld will result in a refund, you will not be making any payments as there is a very real chance that you will never receive the full refund due to the company being in administration. As such your account and any recovery proceedings should remain on hold until the full complaints procedure has been exausted/completed. Failure to accept these terms will result in you taking further relevant action.
Don’t think anyone would think that stance is unreasonable.
Robert says
Hello,
I have just received a response from the FOS regarding my My Jar complaint and they have recommended out of the 8 loans i had with My Jar, the interest be refunded on loans 4-8 which is a result i am very happy with. They have given a deadline of 17th October for My Jar to accept their decision.
What are people’s experiences with how long it takes for My Jar to make an offer after this from the FOS?
Thank you for all of the help available on this website, its quite incredible!
Thanks
Robert
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.
Stevie C says
I have just received an offer from Mr Lender. I had 3 sizeable loans back to back with interest paying of £1100, they have come back to me partially upholding my complaint and offering £630 is this an offer I should accept or negotiate?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Mr Lender are prepared to listen to a reasoned argument as why you should get more….
So, could you list details of all three loans. If you repaid the last one , can you say for each of the three loans:
amount borrowed, amount repaid, date borrowed, date repaid.
If you still owe money on the last one, give the above info for loans 1 and 2 and for loan three say how much your borrowed, date borrowed, and how much (if anything) repaid.
Stevie C says
All 3 loans were repaid in full although the last one went into a payment plan. Eventually paid off June this year.
Loan 1 I paid £155 interest
Loan 2 I paid £330 interest
Loan 3 I paid £641 interest
So in essence they are refunding loan 3. All 3 loans were taken days after each other.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So the second loan was probably much bigger than the first? If it was it may be worth suggesting to MrL that you think that second loan should be refunded as well. It would also help you case if your credit record would have showed a lot of other payday loans and/or recent missed payments, defaults at the time you applied for the second loan.
But actually it’s not a bad offer at all and you may not get any more by going to the Ombudsman.
Gerry Devlin says
I do have a few follow up questions though , MyKredit have already replied stating “We have received your e-mails and documents regarding the complaint. Here is our response:
The necessary checks on the credit records were carried out during your application. Your credit files and income were enough to be approved for our short term product and your account stays in good shape. The credit limit has been set up due to this information.
You have been a regular client here for over 2 years who always repaid on time or even earlier and did not inform us about any financial difficulty or you did not show any sign of financial difficulty.”
So they are pretty much closing me down , do i now go to the Obudsman and if i do , is it safe to send them copies of my Bank Statements , wage slips etc , is there a obudsman template to download as i am not sure what to state and outline what evidence i need to present to them.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did MyKredit say this is their decision and you now have the right to take your case to the Ombudsman? How long since you put your complaint in?
Gerry Devlin says
Thanks Mark
Quickquid/pounds to pocket have also replied and they are asking ” 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)
Again is it safe to send the payday lender this level of information or should i decline this invitation and proceed straight to the obudsman ?
Any advice , feedback would be greatly appreciated
Mark says
Gerry,
No need to send payslips. The FOS won’t request these either. Just ensure your bank stats show your income.
I think you’re more likely to get your complaint upheld if u send bank stats. But it’s no guarantee. I refused to send stats to 8 lenders, all had complaints dismissed. Then sent stats to the final 4 and 3 got upheld without the FOS.
However you will need to send them to the FOS, so either way, make sure you have bank stats covering the range 3 months prior to the loan, up to 1 month after (so if the loan was paid out 25/06/2014, u need to send stats from 25/03 – 25/07), for each loan.
Allison says
Well exactly 6 months to the day that Mr Lender rejected my adjudicators findings I have my decision from the ombudsman. He agreed with my adjudicator completely. All loans 2-5 and from the third rollover of the first.
For anyone that is worried that they lied on income and expenditure – my ombudsman decision clearly states that the onus was on them to make checks and not just go on what I said.
That’s all my claims done and dusted. Started in January. Everyone of them went to FOS and I won them all but two and a half loans out of 47! This half a loan, my first from Wonga and my last from QQ. I could have argued the QQ one – they countered the adjudicator but I didn’t want another 6 month wait.
Now just to clean up the credit returns – lending stream say it takes them 45 days minimum and I can close this sorry chapter of my life.
Thank you Sara for all your help and assistance. My local cab have had 20% of my winnings – I’d have paid that to a claims company if it wasn’t for you so I’ve given it instead.
Good luck everyone else. It’s worth it in the end.
Mark says
Allison,
Brilliant news and very helpful info regarding I&E forms.
Well done on the donation and congrats.
Baz says
Adjudicator has asked for my credit file? I cannot get past the security questions on noddle. I have no idea what a mail order account with a credit facility is and this keeps comin up as a security question. Is there another credit file agency i can use?
Claire says
I couldn’t log in to my noodle account so I emailed and was sorted within 24 hours
Jamie says
Hello, ive just had my loan information sent back from MyJar. I took 33 loans from 2013-2016 interest totalling almost £3000. The final loan i paid on a repayment plan because of the financial mess i was in! They have asked for bank statements, payslips etc to which i refused saying its personal information however i would send the FOS anything they require if neccecarry. I had a failed IVA in 2016 (which i no longer hear anything about) so im wondering if my case does go all the way to the FOS will any refund go to my old IVA firm? So should i just take any offer the lender offers me? Thankyou
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Some people have had problems with refunds going to their old IVA firm. Some haven’t. I don’t remember a case where the IVA had failed.
GM says
How good are Myjar with negotiation?
£6.7k borrowed consecutively on 32 loans from 2011 up to 2014, with a few breaks in between, £1.1k in interest paid and they replied that: “Under DISP rule 2.8.2 lenders are generally not required to consider complaints about loans that were repaid more than six years ago, we have therefore not considered loans older than 6 years ago in this investigation.”
So they only partially uphel on a loand from £500, meaning £85 compensatiopn plus £29 interest… ridiculous!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Negotiating is only really worth it if there is an OKish offer you are trying io improve a bit. That one sounds too far away to be worth bothering with.
Mandy says
Hi there,
I have quite a few complaints with the ombudsman at the minute. I have had 3 of them back from the adjudicator (wage day advance, sunny and quick quid) saying that they don’t think the business did anything wrong, mainly because of what I claimed my financial commitments were at the time. They say the fact that it was my first loan it would be fair for them to rely on information I provided. However if they looked at my credit file they would have seen that the information wasn’t correct due to the high number of unsecured debt I had. They say if I would have continued to borrow then it would have made sense for them to do more checks. For some of them I did continue to borrow, in a relatively short space of time which I think should have been a give away. They keep claiming that individually the repayment for the specific loan didn’t represent a huge proportion of my income. Whilst this might be true, everything else that was going on financially (other outstanding loans and regular borrowing repayments) made it impossible to pay everything back and then pay rent, bills, etc.
For quick quid the adjudicator has claimed that they didn’t do enough for my third loan. But because I indicated my monthly income had increased but my expenditure hadn’t (again not true) even if they did the checks they would still have approved it (irresponsibly).
Do I have more of a case here? Is it worth escalating for a final decision or should I just close the cases?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So WDA and Sunny were all cases with just one loan from that lender? Not rolled? Unless it was very large compared to your income, you are unlikely to win these cases.
QQ – how large were each of these loans? And what was the gap between repaying loan 1 and taking loan 2, and between loan 2 and 3?
Mandy N says
Yes WDA was just one loan, Sunny was 2. I went back to Sunny and explained that at the time I applied for the first loan I had almost £20k of unsecured debt, half of which had been taken out in the two months prior and one month after the first loan. They came back and said that Sunny should pay the interest and charges.
For QQ it was £150, £150, then £550 and it was month after month. Similar situation again in that they were taken out around the same time as 3 major loans for £3000, £2000, £2400 and £1000.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
WDA not worth pursuing this one. So the adjudicator has changed their mind on Sunny?
The QQ one looks worth continuing with. So you said your income had increased, but why then would you need a much larger third loan? This should have made QQ look more closely at your situation and then the large amount of other borrowing should have told them to stop.
The large loans, have you looked at complaining about them too? Certainly the ones you took out later, so the lenders would have seen the previous ones? See https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-large-high-cost-loans/
matt says
UPDATE
Adjudicator upheld my complaint 2 weeks ago and gave Uncle Buck until 3/10/18 to respond. They have heard nothing back and now FOS say they will give them another 2 weeks!
Frustrating
Chris says
Hi everyone, so I’ve heard back from Payday UK(Moneyshop) this morning.. this was due to me sending a follow up email last night directly from my email account and not via Resolver. I included all information such as the Resolver reference etc into the email. I did this as it’s 3 days until this is escalated to the FOS (8 weeks) to see if there’s any joy and and behold they replied!
They’ve come back advising they’ll investigate and that it’ll be 8 weeks until a final outcome is made. However I countered this as I made the initial complaint 19th August via Resolver so how can they justify by advising another 8 weeks when they should’ve seen my complaint as they did respond to it a few weeks later on Resolver?!
Hope that makes sense…
I’ve told them all this and stipulated that they are to respond within 3 days (8 weeks on Saturday) otherwise it’ll be escalated to the FOS.
Emma says
Just another of their template reply. Whenever you ask for an update they just reply with an automated template.
Jason says
Hi guys,
For anyone who had a adjudicator at FSO once they started asking you details about your outgoings how long to you hear back from them? Two weeks ago mine got in touch and I replied and heard nothing since? Is it more a case of waiting months? First case TIA
Dab says
Hi mate I had a request of outgoings for my complaint against Quickquid on th 10th August then my next reply was on the 30th August and then they decided in my favour and asked QQ to respond on the 24th September. Each time it was a different adjudicator. I know one of them left the service but I’m not sure about the next time. That’s my timeframe bit obviously it may differ.
Kate says
Hi all, so u have sent my emails to Lending stream, sunny, ferratum and uncle buck today using the template. My lending steam alone has been 40 loans between 2015-2018 totalling 8k so guessing it’s goinf to be about 12 in total with the others. Has anyone had any direct experience with lending stream with timing? I have a note of all the loan dates and amounts. Anything else I can do to speed it up?
Chris says
Hi Kate,
You’ll need to wait 8 weeks before you can take it any further (going to the FOS).
I’ve also got outstanding complaints with Lending Stream – they don’t seem to be acting any quicker than my others. Still, they all have a remaining 3 days before this is all escalated to the Ombudsman . I guess the timing is due to the high volume of complaints. And to be honest whilst it can be frustrating to be waiting heaven and earth for an outcome I’m actually liking the fact we’re all placing these sharks into an uncomfortable place of their own which needless to say is where alot of us were when we were either struggling/misled and so fourth.
Sarah – apologies for jumping on your wagon by replying :)
Anita says
Sarah
Please advice. I have sent a complaint to Cash Genie and got a acknowledgement from Ariste Holding limited. Just trying to find any telephone numbers to them and none that I have found on the Internet seems to be correct. Any suggestions as ⌚ limit has nearly gone I would like to speak to them
Chris says
Hi Anita
Not too sure you’ll get very far. Ariste Holdings are in liquidation – accounts are well overdue which doesn’t look good. Their Cash Genie does advise to send them a complaint though which I assume you have? Telephone 03333660023
Hope this helps.
Anita says
It is me again.
Do you know what name is Safe loans operates under? Just have found they are in my DMP, it is a payday loan I presume but can not find any details on the Internet.
Sorry for being thick
BaHumbug says
Not being thick! The FCA register is useful here, it states that for Safe Loans, you need to email your complaint to mark@sllcapital.co.uk
Adam says
Hi, I am just wondering is it worth sending a complaint to MrLender who I currently have an outstanding loan with but have had no previous loans. Not about getting a refund but in the hope of the debt being written off or should I ask for a payment plan? At the time I took out the loan my credit file would have shown the amount of current loans I had with other companies and that I possibly would not be able to pay it.
Should I send a complaint or just continue to pay it?
Mark says
Adam,
“is it worth sending a complaint to MrLender” – 1 or 2 loan cases are much harder to win, but all cases will be assessed by the FOS (as it will likely end up with them), on their individual merits. So, as long as you are prepared to write a couple of emails and a few months wait, you have nothing else to lose.
“in the hope of the debt being written off or should I ask for a payment plan?” – This sounds as though you are not in a position to afford the weekly/monthly payments? If that is the case, cancel the CPA, so they cannot take money from you without authorisation and write an email advising them that you cannot afford to pay and you wish to set up a reduced payment plan.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
1 loan cases are hard to win. To help your case, in your complaint to Mr Lender I suggest you include a copy of your credit record and point out all the other lending that you had at the time you applied for this loan.
The most you would be likely to get is for interest to be removed from the loan and for a payment arrangement to be set up – not for the balance to be wiped (unless you have already repaid more than you borrowed?) but that would be a good result for you,
Even if you can’t get the interest removed, it is better to get a payment plan agreed so that the repayments are affordable and you don’t have to borrow again. This is the only way to end your reliance on high cost credit.
Unlike Mark I would not encourage you to take a one loan case to the ombudsman unless there is something unusual about it – perhaps it was for a very large amount of your income?
Jason says
Dab, Thanks for replying. Mine is QQ aswell. Did they agree with you adjudicator or was it drawn out even longer? Started all this in Jan just eager to have it sorted out now
Dab says
No problem. The adjudicator emailed me the letter she sent to qq on the 24th September stating that they should refund me. She has given them until the 8th October to reply. So I’m guessing they will leave it until the Last minute as I haven’t heard anything since.
Lou7 says
Hi
As anyone had any luck with avant credit, 118 118 money or onstride financial? I have only had one loan with each of them but they overlapped and had PDL’s at the same time just to stay afloat. Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Tim says
Hi Lou7
I had a loan with 118 and when I complained they said that they didn’t think they had done anything wrong but because they had a technical issue and couldn’t find my file they have removed all interest from my loan and also repaid the interest I had paid to take off the balance- not sure if this is just a ploy they use but I asked them to remove any negative information aswell which they did
Mark says
Lou7,
Yes, I had success with 118118money (1 loan). They upheld my complaint, refunded all interest, which was then deducted from the balance of my outstanding loan and I am now repaying at £10.00 interest free.
They have been BY FAR the best co. to deal with (out of 12), they met all their deadlines and I didn’t need to use the FOS.
If you are going to complain, I recommend in your first complaint letter, instead of just asking for loan/account/statement details, you also request ALL documentation that they used in assessing “creditworthiness and affordability”, as then you SHOULD get your credit check, which was vital in my case.
Good luck!
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
Ben says
Finally had response to my SAR from Moneyshop. Only provided information for Payday UK and not Payday express or Moneyshop loans. They provided this information one day before the 8 week deadline to complain to FOS. Have explained I had other loans and even gave loan numbers and customer account numbers. Have given them one more week before I escalate to FOS. On a positive note received payout from one month loan / sunny. Handled through Elevate credit and paid approx one week after offer!
Ben says
Hi Sara Money Shop have now provided the info this afternoon for all accounts including cheque lending in Moneyshop stores from 2005/2006. Is there any chance of reclaiming any of this money or not as I’m sure you mentioned 2010 as an absolute cut off point?
Thanks Ben
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well you can try, but so far as I know the Ombudsman will not look at loans before April 2007.
Neil says
Hi Sara,
I am looking for a little bit of advice if possible? I have had my adjudicator come back to me about one of the companies i have a compliant against. They ruled in the companies favour. I had 2 loans with them, the second one for more than double the first and only 2 weeks after the first was paid off. I was getting payday loans from 2-3 different companies every month for between £450 and £800 for at least 6 months before the second loan was issued. I’m not too sure the best way to proceed with it, as i think if they had done a credit check they would have seen all the other payday loans and should have refused the loan.
The first loan was £300 over 3 months, and the second one was £700 over 3 months again, and the end of 2015
Thanks in advance Neil
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok that is a big jump. Is this a final decision from the adjudicator or can you go back and make more points?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then I suggest you go back and say that you think the second loan application, for an amount which more than twice as large, should have prompted the lender to look more closely at your situation. If they had checked your credit record they would have seen at the time of the second application you had the following high cost short term credit open: x,y,z. This should have warned them that the second loan would porbably not be affordable and would force you to borrow more elsewhere.
Gerry Devlin says
Hello Sara , sorry for the delay , because i had most of the information on file already i proceeded to stage 2 letters with most of the 8 companies , my Kredit have came back within 3 days with above statement and also the below which i did not paste above , not only are they
complying they are shutting me down “You were fully informed of all the terms and conditions of the limit he used, the lending was affordable so we find no valid ground for an irresponsible lending claim or to make any refunds in your case. You do not have any outstanding loan however now your account has been closed permanently due to your claims.”
So i think i have pretty much burned my bridges with them ,they did however provide the FOB details at the bottom of the email so i think
i should proceed to them with attached bank statements having read the other comments posted , however i would like to know
if anyone has been shutdown like this before
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes some lenders reply very quickly rejecting a complaint.
Tim says
Hi Sara
Please could you explain how the 8% simple interest is calculated when the ombudsman rules in your favour? I have had a complaint upheld at the ombudsman and am due around £650 back from a lender from between 2016 and 2018 but have no idea how to go about working out the interest element of it.. thanks
Mark says
Tim,
Simple interest is calculated at 8% per year.
So, if you are due a refund of £100 from 2015. You would get £8 for 2016 and £8 for 2017. Total £16.
That’s not EXACTLY how it works, but is as close as I can explain in 500 characters. :-)
Hope that makes sense and helps?
Claire says
Hi,
Can any one tell me how reliable myJar are at providing loan info? Sent my first request on the 17/09 but haven’t heard anything back.
this website is fantastic, I’ve contact 8 companies myself, 4 no response so far but 4 have provided information requested and I have gone back requesting interest and charges repaid etc. just a waiting game now! :)
apprehensive about going to Fos about fear of being judged but from what i’ve seen they appear to be lovely!
thanks!
Tim says
Hi Claire
Don’t be apprehensive about going to the FOS, they have probably seen a lot worse. I was in a payday loan cycle for around 6 years due to a gambling problem, I have taken to cases to them and even though my bank statements are hundreds of pages long with thousands of pounds of gambling transactions on there, they have not once judged me or sounded like they were judging me, in fact the opposite, they asked me if I needed any help now and have been so friendly. Don’t let it get in the way of getting back the money you could be owed :)
Good Luck
Claire says
Thank you! not expecting results from everyone ive wrote to but some would be nice towards the house deposit so fingers crossed!
Jane says
Hi Claire,
I sent my complaint and request for SAR to My Jar on 30th August. They replied with loan details on 11 September with a request for additional financial information at the time I took out the loans (3 in total), payslips and bank statements.
I mailed my credit report and several bank statements highlighting debt payment plan arrangements etc. I used this as an opportunity to provide further details to support my case.
I had a follow-up email on 27th September explaining they were still investigating and a full response would be with me before 25th October.
I presently have an outstanding balance and they have not pursued me since I stopped making payments.
Personally, I would rate them as one of the more professional companies I have dealt with. I have 8 complaints on-going!
Claire says
Thanks Jane, i have sent them another email advising I am still waiting. hopefully that will give them a push, although i expect it could be because my loans are over 6 years old but still worth a try!
Tim ber says
Hi Sara
Just wondering if you could help with some info.
I’ve had my claim upheld against moneybox247 for 17 of my 21 loans from them.
The letter was sent to them Thurs and they have to agree to it. I’m going away for 10nights as from wed this week. I’m probably not Gunna be contactable for that period of time. Just wondering if you or anyone for that matter have dealt with moneybox247 and how long they usually take to get a back to the fos?? If its while I’m away I may not get an email or phone call. But if they usually quick about it I may get their answer before wed.
Thanks in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is this an adjudicator decision?
Tim ber says
Yes it is. She sent email with her decision on thursday
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well you may be lucky but Moneybox 247 are not known for their speed. I suggest you tell your adjudicator on Wednesday that you are going to be out of contact for 10 days.
Tim says
Does anyone know how long it takes Uncle Buck to pay out after the adjudicators ruling?
Thanks
K says
It took them a week for me and this was only last week I got
Sue says
Hi Sara
I have a complaint with the FOS regarding Loans2go and it is with the adjudicator who has just sent me this –
I’m still waiting for the information I’ve requested, and they’ve said it could take a couple of weeks to provide it. I’m discussing your case with senior colleagues as to whether we can proceed without that information. It’s unlikely we’ll be able to do issue a decision unless they can provide something.
I’ll come back to you next week with what we’ve decided.
Am really annoyed as Loans2go are just delaying all the time. The Adjudicator told me the other day he wouldn’t give them any more time after yesterday’s date and then this? Surely if all company’s did this and the FOS took this approach no one would get anywhere?
P.s It was made priority due to health reasons, they have copies of credit file, statements and loan details. It was a logbook loan
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Can you say how long it is since you sent the case to FOS? Also were Loans2go aware of your health problems?
Sue says
Yes Loans2Go are aware.
FOS has it for a month but told me they weren’t going to give Loans2Go any extra time as they are dealing with it as priority but then they sent me that response!!! Surely they can decide if the company doesn’t send info otherwise every company would do this
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The problem is that the overall case may be progressed faster by waiting until the FOS has the case file. It’s rare for FOS to give a case priority, they are obviously trying to be helpful. I understand this must feel irritating, but give it another few days and then ask what is happening?
Chris says
Hi
QQ had initially sent me an email regarding my SAR request to which I was required to login on their website.. however I am unable to do this as it intermittently takes me to a blank page. Already discussed this with them and they said they’re working on it and will email me once resolved.. Though, the SAR email they sent me advised that I have 7 days in which to access the Information (now it’s 5) – I expressed this to the lady on the phone.
Fast forward a few hours I received another email – this time from their collection department. Advised me that the account had been passed over to MMK UK (I wasn’t aware of this) – and that I should contact them regarding the account. This to me seems like they’re now not willing to assist with my SAR request?? 1. They’re the lender 2. I’ve had no dealing with MMK UK 3. I’m within my rights to have access to all information held against me by QQ and 4. Why would they now decide to start being awkward?
I’ve advised them that failure to provide me with my SAR request that I’ll report them to the ICO (whether that’s right or not) and see what comes of this.
I’ve also got a complaint against QQ for affordability that has 1 day remaining before it can / will be escalated to the FOS – this is looking very likely as they’ve not responded at all apart from the usual generic email.
Any thoughts?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The SAR thing sounds like some form of system error they are trying to resolve. It’s annoying but I can’t see how delaying this for a few days helps them so it’s probably “just” an error.
MMK – are they in house debt collectors? Do you owe a balance? If they are, they this is probably automated and nothing to do with the SAR or responding to your affordability complaint. If MMK contact you, tell them the debt is under dispute.
The Affordability complaint is what really matters. So wait and see if they reply.
David says
Hi,
I complained en masse to the 11 pay day lenders I had used, back in March 2017. I’ve received 3 ‘final responses’ from Quickquid, Wage Day Advance and Wonga, all in April 2017. To quick quid and Wonga I have no outstanding liability, but to WDA I did, so I complained to the FOS in October 2017 and received a positive outcome in January 2018.
Now, is it worth going to FOS with the final response being over 6 months old? To be quite honest I haven’t had the time as I work 7 days a week and raise 2 small children, and I did not realise that each lender had to have a separate complaint. I figured if they were going through my bank statements to rule unaffordability they’d do it all in one go.
I’ve just sent chasers to those that responded with ‘statements of account’ but no final response, in the hope that I can get those to the FOS ‘on time’
Many thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is it worth going back to WDA and QQ? Not f your complaint to FOS only mentioned Wonga. Even if you did think FOS would look at these cases as well as Wonga, you should have realised by January that this wasn’t happening.
But if your complaint to FOS did mention all three lenders, including saying you had rejections from them, then FOS should have told you you had to make seperate complaints. So it would be worth going back to FOS.
But if a lender just gave you the list of loans and never sent you a final response, telling you you could go to the Ombudsman, then go back to the lender and say this, ask for their response and take the case to FOS immediately
Jojo says
Anyone heard on cash genie pay out date yet ?been waiting since July ? Thanks
John M says
Hi Jojo,
I have been waiting since June as have a few others on here. Last response I got last week was as follows:
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.
Hardly a ringing endorsement that we will get the money anytime soon.
Not sure what the situation is regarding this. Once we have accepted an offer, not sure how quickly they are required to pay and clearly a different situation as it is from liquidators so not sure what the legal requirements are here.
Mark A says
Anyone know what lending stream are like with paying us out..?
I had one loan at a vulnerable time and interest i paid was only £51.. Is it worth even bothering to try and claim?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
one loan cases are hard to win and for that little interest I am not sure it’s worth trying
nikki says
Accepted an offer with Wageday advance this morning through FOS. Does anyone have timescales on how long it takes to receive the money typically?
Kirsty says
Hi Guys,
Can anyone help me? I applied for refunds against my sunny loans dating back to 2015, i must of taken out over 7k in loans over the years.
I wrote to sunny who just laughed in my face, it has now gone to the ombudsman, this was back in july and they still haven’t sent over the details for the ombudsman to allocate it to someone.
With all this i have had to take on a iva as my debt was getting to much, im guessing if i get a refund this will be paid direct to my iva?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You started an IVA after you put in the complaint? how large are the debts in your IVA?
Kirsty says
The iva people are meeting with my creditors on 16th October
They’ve already taken a months instalment from me before it’s begun.
I made my complaint months before I applied for an Iva. My debts were totalling 14k
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you got a good refund from Sunny, would you still need the IVA? Have you looked at whether there is any PPI to reclaim? What was the urgency about the IVA, it would have been best to get any refunds sorted first, now if you get a refund it will go straight to your IVA and it will NOT reduce your IVA payments at all. Was your IVA firm aware you had put a complaint in?
M says
I have had a response from Myjar today.
the 5 loans I had with them each one they checked to see what my income and outgoings where. And because I had put I could afford it and that my income is way higher than my outgoings even though in reality this was not the case and I only did this out of desperation to get accepted. They are rejecting my complaint.
My loan history was only 5 loans ranging from Jan to august 2018 . The total amount of intrest I paid was £1738.12
They said – At the time, you took out your loans with us, we undertook a number of checks which included searching on public databases, completing fraud checks and credit scoring. We also relied upon the information you provided concerning your budget and personal circumstances in the application. We collected your income and expenditure breakdown.
Each time you borrowed, we asked you to confirm or update the information that we held about you and you did this on a number of loans occasions.
At no stage did we allow you to rollover any loans and each loan needed to be repaid in full before a new loan would be offered
My question is do I go to FOS? Or are they right it was my own fault? If I went to Fos what would I get paid?
Paul court says
I have received a full and final offer from piggy bank but they have included this in their email, will this cause me any problems if I am to accept the refund. Thanks
Please be aware that it is your responsibility to ensure that the figures provided on the application are accurate and true, otherwise this could be seen as a deliberate misrepresentation, misstatement or omission of financial data for the purpose of misleading the lender. The T&Cs that you agreed to, mention fraud and a fraudulent application; ‘If you give us false or inaccurate information and we have reasonable grounds to suspect fraud or we identify fraud we may record this and may also pass this information to FPAs and other organisations involved in crime and fraud prevention to prevent fraud and money laundering.’
Should the investigation indicate fraudulent conduct, we will be submitting your details to Fraud Prevention Agencies and other organisations involved in crime and fraud prevention to prevent fraud and money laundering. You must be aware that this may make obtaining credit in the future more difficult.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How many loans did you have from them? How many have they offered to refund?
Paul says
4 loans, interest refunded on all 4 plus stat interest.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Good offer! I think they have just stuck their standard paragraphs on the end. I doubt they would make you a “full refund” offer if they intended to do any more investigations, they are just trying to put people off going to FOS.
Chris Mitchell says
Hi Wondered, if I could pick peoples brains.
I have made lots of claims and it feels a bit messy, but I made a claim to WDA, I had one loan with them, in 2013, for 150.00 – It now stands at 280 with interest. I explained that I had many other loans with other lenders at the time and that in my opinion they should have checked more thoroughly on their credit search.
I received my final response today (It was 2 weeks late), they have said No, they lent responsibly and sent me and I&E form to start paying the debt off.
What would be the best way to approach this?
Thanks – Chris
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well it’s hard to win a one loan case but your options now are:
1) give up and ignore them – your debt will likely be sold to a debt collector who may try to go to court for a CCJ. At that point you could offer them a lower amount in a full & final settlement
2) give up and make an arrangement to pay off £280
3) send the case to FOS and hope you win.
4) go back to WDA and details all the other loans outstanding at the time and say you will be happy to pay the £150 now in final settlement of the debt to prevent the case going to FOS. I can’t say how likely this is to work.
Mark says
M,
It’s a standard template letter. It’s designed to prevent ppl taking their complaints further – i.e. save them money!
Send straight to FOS
Chris says
Hi
At last I have my SAR report from QQ which to be honest was an absolute chore to obtain from them. Threatened action with the ICO guidelines and low and behold I received it all this morning.
Next thing now as seeing as I’ve had no final written response from QQ, LS, Wonga(can understand that one), WDA & PDUK for my affordability complaints (8 weeks) I am now taking all this to the FOS.
Question however.. 1. Is it better to complete online or via post/telephone? 2. On their form it gives you the option (Y/N) if you’ve received a final written response from the lender; I clicked ‘N’ and a popup appeared advising that they would need this. How am I supposed to send if I haven’t received it myself? And 3. Are all complaints to be made separate? QQ, PDUK etc ?
Furthermore, do I enclose bank statements from just the periods I borrowed? And also include a credit report and all information I’ve manage to get from the lenders? I ask this as I’ve no doubt they’ll request it anyway so thought it may speed things up perhaps.. Obviously bearing in mind I know it’s taking quite a while for the FOS due to the large volume they’re currently handling.
Thanks again
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would send them online. All have to be seperate. But in each say you are also submitting complaints about xxx, xxx, and xxx on the same day.
Don’t think of this as a hassle and wondered why you can’t send the lot together, think of this as a great opportunity to tell FOS exactly how irresponsible *this* particular lender was. Read https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-refund-complaint-detail/ and think how you could put a summary in that explains this. Attach a screenshot of the relevant complaint email showing the date, say it is over 8 weeks and you have not yet had an answer to your complaint.
I wouldn’t bother with the Wonga one at the moment, wait a few weeks, I will be surprised if the ombudsman looks at it.
Attach your credit report (Noddle) to the first one you send. Also attach your bank statements for 3 months before the first loan from any lender to the end of the last loan, or the present if you still have balances. These will then be shared across your other complaints.
Don’t supply loads of extra information from the lenders unless you think it will help your case, in which case you need to explain this (“I am attaching a Happy Christmas card from xxx in which they say I am one of their best customers” – of course I just made that up!). Your aim is to present the most important facts to the FOS, not to bury them in paperwork.
Jasper says
“I am attaching a Happy Christmas card from xxx in which they say I am one of their best customers”
Haha! Payday Express actually did used to send out Christmas cards! I totally forgot about that!
Paul says
Ok thanks for your help, using this site I also received full interest refund plus interest from sunny last week over £1500.
Fazza says
Hello Paul can you tell me how long Sunny took to put the money in your account. Thanks to debt camel I have had a success but after getting stun of by Wonga I am very pessimistic about actually receiving a refund from them. I sent over details on Friday.
Paul says
Hi fazza
I received email with offer on a Thursday and replied accepting the same day, I then received an email on the Tuesday after saying money will be in next day, which it was.
Shame about wonga, it seems it may be to late for me I have sent my complaint a few weeks ago but not heard anything back, I had over 70 loans with wonga over 4 years but only recently found this website.
J says
Hi Sara – I have got into a really acrimonious complaint with 118118. I complained re irresponsible lending, affordability and they really took offence. Their final response has been flat refusal, the threat that ‘the information you have provided will now be reviewed in line with our obligation for fraud prevention’ and that the debt collection agency the remaining balance is now with ‘will write within 7-10 days’.
Correspondence has been really unpleasant but each time they have firmly blamed me, stating that I focused on referring to the FO and was uncooperative. I honestly felt like I couldn’t communicate with them, it was really awful. They even demanded Mental Health Assessment form as I said it had had an impact on mental wellbeing; when I declined they really laboured the point. I am considering just forgetting the whole matter, and advising them of that so they leave me alone. I didn’t lie but I feel like they can now do and say whatever they want. This brings back the worst of the debt feelings and wish I had never started this claim. All others have been fine. Can you please advise?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It has to be your decision, but I suggest the best way to react to what sounds like unpleasant bullying is to send the complaint to the Ombudsman immediately and in your FOS complaint in addition to the affordability issue, also describe the poor and aggressive way your complaint has been handled.
J says
Thanks for the fast reply, much appreciated. I think I will call the FO and seek their counsel too; I don’t want to antagonise these people but equally I don’t think their approach is acceptable. However I am not sure that any amount of refund is worth feeling like I do right now.
I’ll post what the FO advise as there may be others that are enduring the same treatment from this company
Thanks again Sara.
Bryan Patrick says
Hi,
Just asking would I have any luck using this method. I have had an extremely high amount of payday loans over the past 2-3 years, throughout this time I have been a student and then working full time. I started taking payday loans when working full time then became a student and was still declaring the same income to payday companies even when not working a full time job, I needed the loans to survive. I have paid off the majority of my loans so I was wondering would it be possible for me to get a refund for some of the loans that have already been paid off. In addition to declaring false income there is also a large amount of gambling that will be seen on my statements throughout the duration of some of the loans.
Thanks for your help.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Both lying about your income and gambling make it harder to win cases against a lender for a small number of loans. But if you kept borrowing from the same lender, then after awhile they should have realised you were in trouble, that this wasn’t short term borrowing but a bigger problem.
BUT have you now stopped gambling? If not, then that needs to be your priority, otherwise any refund will go straight into the bookies coffers…
Bryan patrick says
Hi Sara,
Thanks for the reply. I had been borrowing from Sunny/LS/QQ and a few others consistently for the past 3 years, it is only recently I have managed to break free from them. Should I just go about claiming as normal with template letters or do I need to add/remove anything additionally. Thankfully I have quit gambling after realising it was not a good lifestyle habit.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s up to you if you want to add a sentence about your gambling into the standard template letters. Some people can’t face the thought of telling a payday lender this. Many cases with a lot of gambling do have to go to FOS, so be thick skinned if your case is rejected and just send it on.
“not a good lifestyle habit” what a lovely British understatement!
Mandi says
I’m starting to feel a bit down, I’ve had 4/8 lenders reply refusing my claim. Wonga (who I had 14 loans with) haven’t but I doubt I’ll hear from them.
The rest of these companies came after I’d already had 3 loans with Wonga and in 12 months I had taken out 33 loans across 8 lenders. They’ve been responding to say that I “only had 3/4 loans with them”, that my “disposable income was sufficient” (in some applications (I don’t remember this), I’d stated that I spent £25 on groceries. I’m not even sure that’s possible!), and that their credit checks said that I was doing okay.
I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I won’t get anything from Wonga, so what I’m asking is, has anyone else had any success with the FOS in a similar situation to me?
Mandi says
I’m still struggling to clear a catalogue and a credit card, as well as trying to get the money together to move so that we can rent closer to my baby’s nursery (as well as the fact that 2 adults and a 1 year old in a 1 bed flat is starting to drive me insane!), so as you can imagine, getting this would be a huge boost, both financially and mentally.
I’m also wondering, do I need to “prove” my stress, depression and anxiety to the FOS? I’ve always avoided being psycho-analysed as the thought of the results scares me! But in the last few days, I’ve contacted my employer’s mental health team as I feel like things have just been too overwhelming for too long now.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Some thoughts about your current situation. Which is the catalogue and credit card? Have either of them increased your credit limits to stupidly high levels? You can complain about these (see https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-catalogue-credit-card/) – they aren’t as easy to win as payday loan complaints, but it depends on the details of your case.
Talking to your employer’s mental health team is exactly the right thing to do. It can be very difficult to make that first contact, but this is the best way to get support. Much better than trying to struggle on and having to be signed off by your GP for stress. But you don’t need to prove this to FOS.
Mandi says
I have had a look at this, my catalogue (Very) is currently sat with a limit of about £3k (of which about £2k is used) which I’ve had for about 4 or 5 years and the credit card (Barclaycard Initial) is at £6k, which I’ve probably had for a little bit longer than that.
So far as the catalogue is concerned, I’ve never actually paid any interest (or very minimal amounts) on this as I’ve tended to use it more for bigger purchases, like trying to furnish our house and used the buy now pay later and cleared it within the 12 months. Obviously with payday loan spending going up, I’ve been somewhat reticent to use the catalogue and put more on my plate!
The card is actually on a payment plan, because it was almost at the limit and I asked them to set up a direct debit. I didn’t think to check the first payment (and with the high amounts of money going in and out of my account, didn’t notice), which they didn’t take as they hadn’t actioned the DD, despite sending me the confirmations. So I missed the payment, got the additional fees, went over the limit and got a bill the next month for £600.
Mark says
J,
Couldn’t agree more with Sara, the way to beat a bully, is not let them intimidate you into backing down.
Just remember it isn’t personal J, the staff at 118118 (and all lenders), are paid to try and stop complaints being escalated so they don’t have to pay out. Its a purely commercial decision. They don’t know you from Adam.
In the same way that your complaint isn’t directed at anyone in particular at 118118.
So, as Sara said, send it to the FOS and let them decide! You have nothing to lose.
GOOD LUCK and keep us updated.
J says
Mark
Very appreciate your kind comments. I was feeling pretty low about this yesterday but today both your and Sara’s replies have given me a very welcome confidence boost. I spoke to the FO today and they have advised to include all the details of the contact and copies of the emails in my complaint. Onwards and upwards ……..
Thanks to you both again. Hopefully I will have cheerful news to report in the future on this one
Mark says
Mandi,
Your mental health is obviously the priority and I’m certainly not qualified to help with that.
Regarding your claims. The lenders will (almost) always send their final response letter which in essence blames you and tries to absolve them from their FCA regulatory obligations. They do this as it saves them money. If they put off, or as is usual SCARE just 1 out of 100 people into not taking their complaint to the FOS, it’s worth their while.
Almost everyone that has posted “good news/win” stories on here would have had the initial lenders letter saying “it’s your fault, you lied!”.
Then the FOS goes on to award them hundreds, sometimes thousands of pounds.
Take it one step at a time and I hope everything goes well. Take care.
Mandi says
I don’t know that I’m qualified to deal with my mental health at the moment either!
Thanks fro the reassurances though, Mark. I think I’ve just got a lot on my plate at the moment and this maybe isn’t helping entirely! =)
Louise says
Hi has anybody had any recent success at the fos with The Money Shop.My loans are over 6 years old but they seem to be taking ages.
Miss Jacqui's says
Hi Louise
Yes it is possible to get a refund from the Money Shop I applied for a refund with the Money Shop back in Jan this year some of my loans went back to 2008, they did reject my complaint, but basically said they could not decide on a number of the loans, so I sent to the Ombudsman. My complaint was allocated to an Adjudicator in July and a decision was made in my favor in August I received a refund on all my loans bar the first two the time frame was 2008 to 2013 14 loans in total £2163.43 they paid into my account within a week.
I hope that helps.
Louise says
Hi,the fos has agreed they should refund me and given them two weeks to respond,do they normally wait till last minute or extend it.Hopefully they will agree the fos.Thanks..
Nat says
Good news today the ombudsman upheld my complaint to payday express. I have waited nearly a year for this. Refund one out of 4 loans which was £500 interest :) plus I’m going on holiday tomorrow so happy days :)). Thank you Sara for your help
Kasam_ali2012@hotmail.co.uk says
I complain to my jar this is the outcome do you think it’s a good result or not ?
Following our investigation, it is our view that your complaint should be upheld.
We have also considered the application data further against recent household expenditure statistics and can see that some of the loans may have been unsuitable.
To put things right for you, we propose to refund the interest and charges you paid on the loans highlighted in the above table, totalling £161.08. We will also arrange to show these loan entries on your credit file as settled and closed. We cannot remove the entries fully as we are obliged to maintain accurate records with the Credit Reference Agencies.
We will also include an additional 8% statutory interest calculated on the interest and charges that you paid to us. This amount is subject to 20% tax and this has been deducted, leaving a net interest payment of £4.88 due to you. This brings the total refundable amount to £165.96. A tax certificate regarding this payment is available should you require one.
As you have an outstanding balance on your final loan of £711.17, we propose to offset the balance against the redress calculated. This brings your outstanding balance with MYJAR to £545.21.
Rob says
Hi
Could i ask what your experiences are for how long you are waiting for an offer from a lender after the FOS adjudicator has recommended a refund? They give 2 weeks for a response im just wondering if its a case of the lender always waiting the full 2 weeks?
Thanks
Rob
MATT says
Hi Rob
I have been waiting 3 weeks for a reply from Uncle Buck (a week past the deadline and zero response so far). Some lenders definitely better than others. PD EXPRESS replied quickly as did Ferratum (WITHIN A WEEK).
Rob says
Hi Matt,
Its my first case back from the adjudicator and its been a week now, with it being my first i was wondering if the lenders just purposefully waited the 2 weeks, good to know some of them dont!
Cheers
Rob
mike says
Hi
Sorry I know it’s probably been asked a million times, but what are people’s experience with adjudicator verdicts with Sunny. Do Sunny usually agree or do they often go to the ombudsman.
Thanks
Mike
Alex says
Hi Mike,
Sunny rejected mine and the case has been sent to the FOS today. I have been told 3-6 months and I haven’t had statements to supply them with so I cant complain that it will be a while.
Grounds were that they thought I could afford it but on reading up on other cases this seems to be a staple excuse of theirs and the FOS has a good success rate.
Alex.
Terri says
Have had 67 loans with cash converters over 6 years. 58 of them taken out on same day loan before was paid off. Other 9 were lower then my maximum allowed loans. Paid out £4900 in interest. Pawned items throughout whilst taking out loans, yet they still claim they did not know I was in financial trouble and as I didn’t take out the he full amount (9 out of 67 loans) it’s clear I wasn’t reliant. I’m hoping that’s a good case for me.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
sounds like a strong case to me!
Miss Jacqui's says
Dear Sarah
I am on my last few complaints now, but I am having a bit of a problem with Speedy cash I had four loans with Speedy cash and adjudicator originally fined in the companies favor, after an strongly worded email to the adjudicator it was refereed to the Ombudsman who fined in my favor on two out of the four loans, Speedy cash have just been in touch with me offering me £1407.49 my issue is on the first loan I paid £94.75 and £12.50 late fee on the second loan I paid £1379.96 interest this loan then ended up in debt management I paid off the debt management plan in January 2016, they are now trying to say that they are deducting the principle amount of loan from my reimbursement surely they can’t do this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Can you give more details about each of these loans as the first one looks very small and the second one huge. just say what payments you made, not whether they were for interest or principal or late fees.
Loan 1 – How much did you borrow? What payments did you make to this. Was this repaid by another loan?
Loan 2 – how much did you borrow? What payments did you make to Speedy Cash for it? What payments did you make to the debt collector for it?
matt says
UPDATE
Just had a call ref my Mr Lender complaint. They are upholding ALL of the loans I took out (bar the 5 older than 6 years I agreed to drop). The lady on the phone asked me if I am okay if she mentions the gambling transactions in the letter to Mr Lender, I said no problem. This complaint alone is potentially worth £5k in interest so I am over the moon. I hope Mr Lender settle this quickly as the wait has been painful and I can clear most of my outstanding debt.
I gave up gambling 2 years ago (Saturday just gone) the payday loans enabled me to nearly destroy my life doing so. I was stupid in borrowing but without their loans I would have faced up to reality long before.
Mark says
Matt,
Well done Sir!
For the refund and more importantly the “getting your life straight”. I was a gambler too until June. The only reason I ever took out PDL’s was to chase that big win. Which never comes.
Take care and thanks for giving other (gamblers and non gamblers), hope on here.
matt says
Thanks Mark, good luck to you on your gamble free path.
Does anyone have any recent experience on Mr Lender replying to the adjudicator? Do they usually agree or does it get dragged out longer?
Nat says
Hi,
Anyone dealt with uncle buck on instalment loans, I had 6 loans in a row from them, but on 3 month instalment plans? Would these still come under the same criteria??
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes exactly the affordability rules.
Nat says
Thank you, they have come back to me with an offer on One of payday loans I had and declined all the instalment loans.
Thanks for all your help and advice the website has been a fantastic source of information and help
I have applied for refunds to 7 companies, had 3 successes so far, 4 still fighting now.
I have also left a comment on the swift sterling page as they have also declined all and hinted that the Financial Arbiter may not be able to consider your complaint if a period of more than two (2) years has lapsed between the date of the final transaction and the receipt of your complaint. Is this right??
Thanks again
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK well send the UB case to the Ombudsman then!