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?
Ross Lee says
I’ve had a final response from PDUK, they are upholding 2 loans, rejecting 8 and have asked for bank statement and credit report on 5 loans.
I would rather not send them bank statements and have sent them this response:
Thanks for your response.
As I’ve explained in relation to my complaint with PDUK, Until 3 days before I made my original complaint to you I had no knowledge of the issues surrounding irresponsible lending. I was only informed by a close friend of mine who has a similar case to mine and learnt that I was able to make a complaint. Therefore, I had no knowledge I could even make a complaint until 3 days before I originally complained to you.
I would like you to consider the complaint on the basis of what you knew about me at the time I was taking the loans out, as this should have shown they were not affordable.
I don’t see how providing you with my personal bank statements now is relevant, if you required these to determine whether you were lending responsibly then you should have asked for these at the time. If you are going on this logic then it proves you were not lending responsibly.
I would like to resolve this with you directly, however if we cannot come to an agreement then I will have no choice but to take my complaint to the ombudsman.
Do you think this will work??
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No. Either send them the statements or send your case to FOS.
They may not have made proper checks. But you won’t get refund from FOS unless your bank statements also show the loans were actually unaffordable and that’s what they want to check.
tp says
Ross- I was in the same situation as yourself with PDUK, I have 7 loans they upheld 1 and refused the other 6. So I sent it all to the FOS. had a response and they have now found in my favour for 6 of the 7 loans. I refused to send them my bank details, so I would recommend sending to the FOS
Sara (Debt Camel) says
PDUK do pay out on some of the loans they say they will look at if you send the statements. This is worth a try UNLESS they say they will only look at at a few and a refund of those wouldn’t be good enough. So if you had 10 loans, they are offering to refund 1 and will look at another 3, you may decide a maximum refund of 4 out of 10 would not be good so go straight to FOS.
Mark says
(As always) Sara is right. PDUK asked me for bank stats so they could make a decision and within 10 days of getting them they upheld my complaint and all the usual redress terms. I was dubious about sending them, but the FOS will need them, so I risked it and it paid off.
Will says
Just wondering if anyone else is experiencing issues with a payout from moneyshop/PDE/PDUK? It was promised yesterday but received nothing. When I rang this morning they said lots of payments had not been made but they did not know why and were waiting on the reason.
John says
Hi Will, I too am waiting on a payment from the Money Shop and had been told that payment was going to be made by close of business yesterday, but nothing as of yet. Tried calling customer adviser but can’t get through, was dropped whilst on hold for 40 mins.
Will says
53 minutes on hold now and counting….
John says
HI Will, any Joy with the Money Shop?
Thanks
Iain123 says
Hi John/Will
This afternoon I waited 35 minutes to get through. When I got through I kept my cool, stayed professional and was very courteous.
Money in the bank 20 minutes later. Those call handlers may have more power than they’re letting on.
Just ask for an update and say thanks is my advice.
Nats says
Hi Everyone,
Just an update for people waiting with stuff at FOS. I sent my 4 complaints to FOS in July as they were rejected by the lenders and they still haven’t been picked up. I’ve been ringing FOS every couple of weeks to see whats happening and they’re basically saying they are swamped and the 6 month guideline for cases to be picked up is getting pushed to more like 9-12 months. I think everyone just needs to sit tight and the wait will hopefully be worth it!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Things are starting to improve a bit – the number of new cases arriving has fallen from the Q3 peak as some of the worst claim company excesses have been cut back.
Clive Edwards says
Alvin,
I sent another e mail and was told the funds would be with me after 5 working days. Checked my bank account this morning and not arrived so I have sent another e mail this morning saying 5 workings now passed, where is the refund? Watch this space !!
(Quid, which I gather is now part of Sunny.)
alvin johnson says
Hi Clive, am in the same situation, I sent told to expect the money last Friday or latest Monday, no money as at today send numerous emails no reply., till today I go an email saying the money will be paid today, the sad thing is there is no phone number for them. wil update later if paid
Iain123 says
Update.
Called The Money Shop today about settlement delay. They answered after 35 minutes holding. They said money usually goes in people’s accounts at the start of the week. He said all information was sent to ‘treasury’ on Friday and he doesn’t know why customers weren’t refunded yesterday or today (kinda glad it’s not just me).
He was apologetic and helpful.
What can you do except wait?
Iain123 says
Money in bank!!!
Perhaps that polite phone call does work!!!
John says
Hi Iain, checked my account this evening and the morning has gone in. They must have credited in the afternoon had not checked my account.Thanks anyway for your response.
Iain123 says
OLDER BANK STATEMENTS REQUIRED? HERE IS SANTANDER’S RESPONSE.
“Please note we only keep records for 6 years, on occasion earlier years can be found, but they cannot be guaranteed. This means any request for statements older than 6 years is on a best endeavours basis”.
That was via email on the online banking service. No harm in trying. Best to avoid branch staff.
Fingers crossed!
Kristym86 says
I called Santander the other day requesting bank statements from 2011 and 2012 and the guy said he would post them out to me. Fingers crossed they come through 🙏🏼
Mark says
I mentioned to Santander (on the online banking message service), that I needed the statements on request of the FOS. I made it clear that the FOS complaint WASN’T about Santander ;-) 5 days later statements going back 8 years on three accounts were through the door. It CAN be done.
Jamie says
Thanks to this website I was able to secure a refund from payday UK of £617 after going to the ombudsman. Thank you so much for the advice posted on here!
Phusita says
Hi Sara
I have receive the Email from ajudicator
About my complain to Quick Quid that I have send years ago.
The business has been in touch and it hasn’t agreed with my recommendations.
The next stage in our process is for the matter to be referred to an ombudsman so that we can issue our final decision.
If you have any further information you’d like to be considered please send it within 14 days.
So if the business not agree with adjudication and have to referred to an ombudsman will my complain have changed to win ?
Best Regards
Phusita
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Phusita,
in most cases the Ombudsman agrees with what the adjudicator said. In some cases the ombudsman changes the number of loans a bit – so if the adjudicator said “refund everying from loan 5-loan 12” the Ombudsman may change that to “refund everything from loan 4-12” or “loan “7-12”. It is pretty rare for the adjudicator to reach a very different decision unless you only had a small number of loans.
Can you say how many loans you had from QQ? And what the adjudicator decision is? Were you happy with that decision?
Phusita says
Hi Sara
Thank you for reply
I have about 14 loan with Quick quid
From 2014-2018.
Adjudication do not tell me what he decisions is only tell me that Quick quid not agree With he decision
This what he tell me
The business has been in touch and it hasn’t agreed with my recommendations.
The next stage in our process is for the matter to be referred to an ombudsman so that we can issue our final decision.
He have not tell what did he say to QuickQuid or what he what them to do .
Best Regards
Phusita
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you should ask the adjudicator for a copy of his decision. Until you see that you can’t decide whether there is anything more you should say now. It’s probably fine, but it would be nice to be sure.
Phusita says
Hi Sara
I have send Email to adjudication asking about it.
Hopefully he will reply me tomorrow.
Will give you updates
Thank you so much
Phusita
Iain123 says
My experience with The Money Shop.
Heard about being able to claim through a friend and found this website. Used the template and sent it off in September. They responded quickly with my account history and they asked for bank statements and a credit report. After the 8 weeks they emailed and said please wait another 8 weeks as they’re busy. Exactly 8 weeks later they made an offer on some loans and requested more information on the 6+ years loans, why they should be considered. I replied to this and they made an offer on some 6+ years loans which I accepted and they paid out today.
Almost 5 months from start to today. Just followed the suggestions here, sourced bank statements, didn’t bother with a credit report and was honest about my personal difficulties.
Still got a few 6+ year loans outstanding with them so may need to go to the FOS, but I’ll wait for their Final Final Final Response.
Bank statements are vital, an explanation of your personal difficulties helps with the 6+ year loans, keep posting here to help others and good luck.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Good … but have they agreed to you taking the other 6+ year loans to FOS?
Iain123 says
Haven’t mentioned it or contacted FOS about them, yet. No need to bother the FOS if TMS refund the money.
Is this sound? Did you write somewhere TMS disengage if the FOS are involved?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am confused. TMS made an initial offer and then increased it when you supplied more details. They have paid that to you. What more are you still hoping for from TMS? have they agreed to look at more loans?
Iain123 says
Yes, for some reason they’ve split my complaint into smaller sections. Over six years, under, 7 year statements and another I don’t why.
It is confusing and I’m struggling to keep on top of it all, including other payday lenders going back 15 years.
I’m about halfway through with TMS, I believe they are acting reasonably and I’m ok waiting it with them.
I think!
Baz says
Hi Sara. Sorry i posted this on the quickquid article but not sure if it is still being looked at so thought would ask here. I had adjudicators decision on qq early Dec in my favour on loams after 2015 and qq rejected. Adjudicator is saying they are in discussions with qq. Should i be sending this to ombudsman in the mean time? I havnt as of yet and if i remember correctly the adjudicator told me just to wait until the discussions are over.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
QQ are rejecting all adjudicator decisions involving loans over after 2015 at the moment.FOS are trying to get them to reconsider this. If the complaint was “in the Ombudsman queue” then it wouldn’t get picked up until this has been resolved, so there is no point in telling FOS you want to be put in that queue. I know this is frustrating but FOS are doing their best to get a solution to the general problem rather than spending the time to look at what may now be many hundreds of cases individually by an Ombudsman.
John says
So the adjudicator has upheld my complaint against PDUK only 3 loans all before 6 years however rolled over each loan 6 times 🤦♂️ Letter sent yesterday asking PDUK to refund all deferred interest on all loans as well as 8% interest and credit file to be cleared 👌 obviously PdUK can refuse and sent it to ombudsman so let’s see if they drag there heels 🙄
John says
This is what adjudicator has ask PDUK to do
– Refund deferral charges four to six that Mr Moss paid on loan one, and all interest and charges that Mr Moss paid on loans two and three
– Pay interest of 8% simple a year on all refunds from the date of payment to the date of settlement*;
– Remove any entries about deferral charges four to six on loan one, and loans two and three from Mr **** credit file.
Evie says
Hi John ,
Thank you for info. I trust you do get a good payou at the end. Can you please confirm when did you send your case to FOS ? How many months have you had to wait to get your case picked up by adjudicator?
John says
Hi Evie,
first sent to FOS in April, so it’s been a while they picked it up mid JAN 2019 with their decision on Monday morning..
just hope they agree to findings n payout quickly 😬
GM says
WOW 9 months for loans under 6 years? imagine how the ones with more that 6 years (my case) will take!
Good result for you, I hope that PDUK won’t drag their heels now that the decison has been made
Sophie says
Hi again!
I have just received a final response from WDA offering to refund interest plus stat int. on half of the loans I took with them but refusing to consider the others as they were over 6 years ago and I should have complained sooner, as they believe there’s no way I wouldn’t have known I could (I didn’t!). All the points that they agree deem the later loans unaffordable are applicable to the earlier ones, the only difference is the time limit.
I’ve already sent the case to FOS as we are way past the 8 week point. Will the FOS consider the older loans or will they say the same? Is it worth holding out or just accept the offer?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Can you say how many loans you had? How much interest did you pay on the loans that were more than 6 years old? And how much on the loans that they have offered to refund?
Sophie says
I took 29 loans in total. They’ve agreed to refund 15 of them, the interest on which was just over £1800.
The interest on the older ones was around £1600.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Realistically you are not likely to get a “full refund” of all the older loans. Also Wageday Advance are in big financial trouble, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/wageday-advance-scheme-to-cut-refunds/.
It’s a hard call with so much money at stake, but it would be very understandable if you want to take the money offered now. You could say you will accept if they agree to pay you the money within a week as you do not want a long drawn out process.
Sophie says
They have already stated that if I agree the money will be paid out in 5-7 days.
I’d rather not wait if it means I risk losing out but on the other hand, I know I’ve paid them nearly double what they’re offering to refund.
I’m not overly concerned about how long it takes , my only concern would be whether I could lose the offer if I choose to leave it to the FOS. If the company does go under, does that negate the offer I’ve been given?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If the company goes into administration, you would be an unsecured creditor whether you have accepted the offer or gone to FOS, because FOS would probably (going by what happened with Wonga) return any cases to the administrators to settle.
IF WDA are allowed to set up a Scheme of Arrangement then what happens will dpend on the details of the Scheme – there hasn’t been one so far so there isn’t any past history to go on.
It’s a very hard decision, sorry.
cheryl says
update about payday uk:
compaint took almost 15 weeks, very frustrating to deal with, ask for bank statements, replied at their own time and when they wanted but i kept responding and chasing all the while chastising myself for not yet opening a caae with fos.
they came back this week with an offer for almost all the loans. so my advice is that it seems they are genuinely busy amd its worth giving them a chance at an offer
James says
Just had my first success at the FOS. Waited 8months for adjudicator to review my complaint, this was my smallest complaint at 3 loans total. The adjudicator replied to me in January stating that the lender had done nothing wrong, I challenged him and said they should have seen other payday loans on my credit file and today he has recommended to them that they refund interest on all 3 loans.
Nats says
Hi,
Once a case is picked up by an adjudicator how long do they take roughly to investigate? This was 8 loans with quid market in 2014.
Neil says
the ones i have had with adjudicators have only taken 2 weeks or less to investigate
Gemma Hunt says
Advise please.
I have made complaints about irresponsible lending to payday companies. Some successful and some are with the financial ombudsman.
With redress I’ve received I’ve settled loans etc. I currently still have existing payday loans that I am currently on payment plans with as paying the full amount was unaffordable to me. I haven’t yet made a complaint with these companies ( 5 in total, 2 of which sunny and satsuma I have multiple loans with).
Question is, can I still make a claim against them for irresponsible lending while payment plans are in place, will this affect my plan in anyway.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes you can complain with a repayment plan in place. Add a sentence at the end of the standard template letter saying you currently have a repayment arrangement in place and you would like to carry on making thee payments whilst the complaint is resolved.
Danielle says
Advise please. I put in a complaint to The Money Shop in October. I was using their cheques cashing service and had £4000 of cheques over 10 months. Today I received thier final response of:
My analysis of your complaint:
Upon review of our records, we note that you did not obtain any loans from The Money Shop. We are aware, however, that you requested credit from a franchisee. This was a limited company and was not affiliated with Instant Cash Loans. Therefore, it will not be possible for us to complete a review of the lending.
My Decision:
Thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback to The Money Shop, having reviewed your concerns I can confirm that I am unable to uphold your complaint on the basis that The Money Shop has never deposited any funds to you.
I hope you are satisfied with our response, if not you may ask for the decision to be reviewed by us or may also ask for an independent review by the Financial Ombudsman Service.
I am confused as to where I go from here – I apparently tooks loans out in a franchise so they are not responsible – who would be?
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you do two things:
1) send the complaint to FOS
2) email the Money Shop with Subject Access Request as the title ask for a copy of all the personal information they hold about you.
Danielle says
Hi Sara, thank you for your reply. Ireceived my soa from the money shop with a list of all the cheques back in December which shows the information they hold so dont understand how they can now say it was a franchise when The Money Shop have all my details. I will contact them tomorrow and send on to FOS
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Still send that Subject Access Request – your SOA only covered certain information, let’s see everything they have about you.
Loz says
Hi Sara,
I have received a response from piggy bank today for irresponsible lending and they are requesting my bank statements within 14 days, although I and them have all the info on my loans – why are they requesting these? I don’t want to send my statements to them because i would need to contact my bank and pay for these within their timescales ( i don’t have the money until end of month to do this) and I just don’t want to send this info to them. question is: Am i obliged to? could they reject my complaint? I would be very grateful on what advice to respond to them on this please?
Many Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
reply to piggybank that you want them to consider your complaint as it stands and that you will send your bank statements and any other details to the ombudsman if they ask for them.
Loz says
Hi again Sara,
adding on to my previous post, I contacted the bank today and they wanted to charge me £5 per statement! I requested copies of my bank statements from 2014 so this could cost me a fortune!! I’m unable to print most of these on line….is there any other way I can save on this please?
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Who is your bank? Other people may already have solved this problem with this bank.
Loz says
Hi Sara,
Thank you very much for your advice, i will reply back with this info. I’m with Nat west bank…..
i would appreciate any ones help with this because I really cant afford £5 per statement
Thanks again
Claire says
Loz,
I’ve recently requested and received NatWest statements for a closed account from 2012 -2014 with no charge.
I initially used the online chat facility to request them. They said I needed to go to a branch – I did – staff there said I had to go online.
At this point I just used the online complaint facility and then received all the statements within a couple of weeks.
Sarah Reid says
Hi
I have now received responses back from The Money Shop & Payday Express which have both stated the following:-
My Decision:
Having gone through your loan history with us, I have been unable to determine what we should have
done at the time we lent some of your loans to you.
Having looked at our records, I believe we should’ve asked more questions and done more checks at
the time we lent this loan to you. Unfortunately, I have been unable to reach a decision as to what we
should have done with the information I have available to me. However, if you are able to provide the
documentation I require as laid out in the table below, I will be happy to look at your loan again, providing
you with my final response to your complaint.
I no longer have the bank account at the time of the loans and my credit file only goes back to 2013 – please can you advise how I should respond to them?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How many loans did you have from TMS and from PDE? How many loans have they offered to look at if you send bank statements? How old are these loans?
Sarah Reid says
Hi Sara
I do not have the exact amount of loans I had, I know it was a lot. They go back to 2007 which PDE has asked for statements along with TMS for 2010/11. I have asked for copy of my credit history for both payday loans. How should I proceeding un replying back to them.
Many thanks for your help.
Claire says
Hi
I had the same situation, I went into the bank where I had my old account and had to write a letter stating what statements I needed. They then sent it to the right department for me. I hope this helps
J says
Hi all,
Appealing to those who have had success winning complaints against Drafty.
I had a response from the adjudicator saying that they do not uphold my complaint against Drafty. This is despite my report showing borrowing from multiple lenders, recent borrowing on credit cards maxed to their limit in the same month, not enough disposable income available to meet monthly repayments, a payday loan issued three weeks before borrowing from Draft, and defaults on my record. They also say that despite Drafty having not provided them with any details of credit or verification checks in relation to my application, they still do not believe Drafty should have made any further check in relation to my status before deciding to lend to me.
I have a complaint with the ICO as Drafty did not provide me with all the correspondence I asked for as part of my subject access request, so I too have no idea what, if any, checks they did in relation to my application.
I wondered whether anyone else had had theirs rejected at adjudicator level and also had problems with gaining all the relevant info from Drafty? And has anyone pursued taking their case to Ombudsman level with Drafty?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What info haven’t Drafty sent you? Have you phoned them up and asked why not? Have you left them a poor review on Trust Pilot (https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/drafty.co.uk) saying they haven’t sent you this infomration? Did you tell the adjudicator they hadn’t sent you what you asked for?
I think you should ask for the case to go to the Ombudsman – that sounds like a poor decision from the adjudicator. That will take a while so plenty of time to get the info from drafty.
StevieC says
Did you borrow from Drafty continuously after repaying the minimum or did you max out the credit line and not repay? I had my complaint upheld with Drafty as I had continually paid the minimum and borrowed against this when i could. I was repaid all the interest I had paid which cleared out the amount still owed.
Mark says
J,
I had very similar with TMS….the adjudicator said “I believe the lenders checks went far enough”, then in the next paragraph they say that the lender failed to send them ANY of the income/expenditure checks despite the FOSrequesting them.
As far as I can see, as long as the lender says they did certain checks, the FOS seems to ‘take that as red’.
I wonder if I simply told the FOS that I’d repaid all the loans on time, would they take my word for it?
It’s dissapointing.
Colin Nicholson says
Hi sara, i need some more advice, i mentioned before about my complaints to TMS(2008 and PDUK(first in 2008 rest 2012 onwards), both have come back….
PDUk are asking for statements from one month in 2012(that account is closed) other is 2013 which i can get, from what i can see from my loans i had 2 loans both deferred multiple times, do you think just the 2013 statement would be enough for both?
TMS just stating that the rules are that are set out by FOS that should be a complaint within 6 years of the problem and 3 of knowing….just asking me to state why I haven’t complaiy before, no actual decision or asking for statements
should i just send all to FOS, final response for both arrived with in a week of eachther after complaint went in at the end of October?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
PDUK – 2012 isn’t long ago – have you tried to get statements from the closed account? If you go to FOS they will ask for bank statements…
TMS – go back to them and explain how you didn’t realise when you were borrowing that TMS should have cheked the loans were affordable so you had no idea that complaint could be made until [month/year] when you [saw an add in Facebook, got told about a refund by a friend/relative, just say whatever actually happened to you]
Colin Nicholson says
Thanks, i have emailed back PDUk with the 2013 statement and saying if they still want my 2012 i will do my best to get it, giving reasons that i had default all over my credit report, plus some other payday loans.
TMS i have emailed back saying i only found out in august 2018 via social media(again explaining on my credit file defaults for overdrat, credit card and a bank loan) plus i had a bad gambling addiction.
Hopefully this will go smoothly.
After looking back at statements i noticed some other payday loans in whivh maybe i can claim for.
Cheers again for your site and template
Laura says
Hi I have a complaint with WDA, they eventually sent me a reply with a redress on one loan. It took 23 weeks to get this reply and sent the case to the FO at 8 weeks. As I had read about their issues recently I though I might just accept this offer from WDA and then contact the FO to cancel the complaint. WDA say that they won’t pay out until I have contacted the FO and they have sent them confirmation that the complaint is cancelled then they will pay. As my complaint has not been assigned to an adjudicator yet will this take a long time? If so I might aswell hang on and let my full complaint be investigated by the FO. But I am worried about WDA going into administration. Why won’t they pay and I just cancel complaint with the FO. Other lenders have let me do this? Can you advise I’m not sure what to do?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Laura, how many loans did you have from them? Did they say “they won’t pay out until I have contacted the FO and they have sent them confirmation that the complaint is cancelled then they will pay.” this in writing or on the phone?
Laura says
Hi Sara
They said they won’t pay out until the FO send them confirmation that the complaint has been cancelled and FO tell them to pay me. I had 4 loans with them.
Laura says
Unfortunately, once a complaint is referred to the Financial Ombudsman Service we would not be able to pay redress until advised to do so by the FOS as they may be processing their own work on the case and they need to be informed first.
This was the response- I just wanted to accept their offer and cancel complaint with FO.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
humph. Sounds like they are trying to delay things.
You could reply that you feel they are being obstructive and not treating you fairly. You will be very happy to cancel your complaint with FOS as soon as you receive their payment. Add that your case has not yet been picked up by an adjudicator so FOS are not actively working on it.
Laura says
Hi Sara
No luck still won’t pay until they confirmation from FO.
Response below
I am very sorry to hear that you believe this to be the case; however, I can confirm that we are not using any delaying tactics or being obstructive in any way regarding implementing your redress.
Unfortunately as you decided to refer the complaint to the financial ombudsman service (FOS) as was your right, the complaint is now with their service and we are unable to initiate a redress payment for any customer until a confirmation email or letter for the closure/ withdrawal of the complaint with FOS has been received by Wage Day Advance.
If you would still like to accept the offer as detailed in the final response letter; please contact FOS to notify them of your intention to do this and request that they forward us confirmation of the closure of the complaint with their service so that we are able to process the redress as soon as possible for you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, I’ve been thinking about this and I suggest you do phone FOS and say that you have been made this offer and you want to accept it as soon as possible as you are worried about WDA collapsing. I hope in this situation FOS will sort this urgently. Let me know if they don’t?
Nigel says
I have just received a reply from Myjar after pursuing a claim of irresponsible lending, no surprise that they have refused my complaint, quoting that it was clearly affordable as I repaid in full each time. And they carried out “all” necessary checks. They oblivious to the fact I was reborrowing the same day or day after, and they quote that I was not heavily relying on their borrowing, yet through their own evidence I had 16 loans in a 12 month period! And nothing to the fact I was also borrowing from Amigo at the same time…?
There records only go back 5 years yet I have bank statements showing loans from them at 2012…
Is it the FOS now for me?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, good luck.
Richard says
Hi there, I have just started a complaint to SNC. Ive had a credit limit with them for 3/4 years and I was kinda wondering if this type of account is different from pay day loans or the same thing?
Also I’ve had emails from them to say that there conserved about my borrowing but we’ll take no action, then days later when I log into my account I have a credit limit increase which I take because I’m struggling!
I have to say there automated system for taking payments is horrible removing 80% of my wage leaving me with nothing to pay other bills like rent.
I guess im asking if you if it sounds like I have a case and how long does it take for them to respond?
Thx richard
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think that sounds like a very strong complaint.
The template letters on this page are fine for SNC borrowing – technically it isn’t a “payday loan” but just follow the same procedure and send it to the Financial Ombudsman if you don’t get a good offer from them.
SNC are a bit erratic. Some people get very good offers, other SNB just offer to wipe the outstanding balance when someone has paid a LOT more interest than that over the years, and sometimes they reject a strong case. I hope you get a good offer!
Have you cancelled the CPA to SNC with your bank? They have the sneaky habit of saying payments are on hold for 30 days, then taking another payments even though they haven’t reponded to your complaint… get yourself safe by cancelling the CPA>
The emails about being concerned about your borrowing and then upping your credit limit are good evidence that they should have stopped lending you money long ago.
kim says
I stopped my card payments by ringing my bank, I then sent a letter complaining to SNC for irresponsible and unaffordable lending, I received an offer from SNC a few weeks later offering to pay my balance off, I refused and took it to the FOS and last week the FOS decided in my favour. Just waiting for my payment from SNC of £1469 less my balance of £542 =£927.
So go for it its well worth it.
Matt says
In the last 6 months I have successfully
Had refunds from
Moneybox 24/7
Moneyshop ( over 6 yrs )
Mr lender
Ferratum
All before going to the FOS
Brought forward default dates (3-6 month rule )
Santander
NatWest
Sainsbury’s
In progress
Barclaycard ( to add a default )
At the FOS
Myjar
Payday U.K.
Quick quid
Pounds to pocket
I am now starting a claim with tappily & drafty.
I hope this helps and gives people encouragement
Many thanks to the site & especially Sara.
Erica says
I need some advice if possible.
I requested bank statements from Halifax today and although they found my old account, they were unable to get into the statements due to the account going to recoveries – my overdraft of £10,000 was taken off me as I was constantly using it to ‘pay back’ The Money Shop loans.
The account was then sold to Lowell and became statute barred on the 5th July 2018.
Halifax have said that if I was to get bank statements between this time, I would need to contact Lowell and Lowell would need to send the request to the Halifax – does this sound right?
I am just worried that if I contact Lowell about this account, they will start chasing me again for the money. I know they legally cannot do this as the debt is 100% statute barred but we are hoping to buy our first house this time next year and do not want this to hinder or chances of getting a mortgage.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did the Lowell account show on your credit record and if so, has it now disappeared?
Erica says
Hi Sara,
Yes it did but it came off my credit report about a year before it became statute barred.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, the problem is that it can be very hard to tell when an overdraft is statute barred. But having had a default date on your credit record of more than 6 years ago is a good sign.
I don’t see any point in you talking to Lowell – it sounds like a silly suggestion from the Halifax, it would just delay and complicate things. You could either put in a complaint to Halifax about this or send them a Subject Access request asking for a copy of your bank statements between x and y using this form here https://apply.halifax-online.co.uk/personal/a/gforms?formId=F010&prodType=GN . I can’t guess which way is more likely to produce a good result for you.
Erica says
Thank you Sara
I am 100% that this debt is statute barred from July last year as I have recently paid all of my past debts off – several of which were with Lowell.
They were the ones who informed me that the Halifax debt for the overdraft was statute barred.
Thank you, I send both the complaint and Subject Access request and see what happens :)
Karen says
Hi
Can someone tell me what this means please as I don’t understand it As money shop payed out and how much will I get
Interest and charges paid: £75.00
8% interest: £41.01
20% tax deduction: £8.20
Total redress: £107.80
Less outstanding balance of £351.00 (total of loan 2 and 3)
Remaining outstanding balance £243.20
Please note, loans 2 and 3 are still outstanding with PRAC and were sold separately. I have used a total balance for the calculations but I have requested a buy back as follows;
Loan 2) £148.29 sold, partial buy back requested for £107.80, leaving a balance of £40.49
Loan 3) £202.71 sold, balance still remains
If PRAC state the customer has made any further payments, then I will recalculate the redress.
We will also remove these loans from the customers credit file.
Thank You
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is it right you had 3 loans from MS? And that you didn’t repay the last 2?
How much did you borrow for loan 1 and repay to MS for it?
Same for loan 2?
And loan 3?
Have you made any payments to PRAC for loans 2 or 3?
Karen says
Hi
Loan 1 rolled over 7 times payed off loan 2 rolled over 2 times payed off loan 3 rolled over 1 time loan 3 was recorded closed in 2016 I can’t remember if I paid anything to PRAC
The comment I sent you was from the ombusman what the money shop sent to them
Thank You
Sara (Debt Camel) says
– can you say what the Ombudsman’s decision was? This would normally have said which loans should be refunded, sometimes just saying that the first loan was OK but the roll-over should be refunded.
– it looks from what MS said that you did not repay loan 2 – did MS ever send you a list of your loans showing what you paid to each?
Karen says
Hi
The ombusman decision was to pay all refund of interest on all rollovers 5 of 7 and 8% for 1 year
No money shop didn’t send me all loans I had payed
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
in that case “Interest and charges paid: £75.00” sounds low to me. I can’t say it’s wrong, but I think you should query it. As the administrator if they have a list of your loans and what you have paid – also point out you have repaid loan 2 but MS’s reply suggests that you haven’t.
Karen says
In the email I got from the ombudsman it says loan one of £100 was rolled over 7 times payed off a month later loan 2 of £100 was rolled over 2 time payed off a month later loan 3 was cancelled in 2016 its all confusing to me
I rang the FOS up today about the email I got from them the FOS told me I’m not due to get any money back as I still owe on loans 2 and 3 but in the email I got first saying I have payed loan 1 and 2 off I still owe on loan 3
So the money shop took the interest I got £75 plus the 8% and are asking to buy the loans back from PRAC for the amount I still owe so I get nothing for the rollovers
Thank You
Karen says
Hi Sara
The loans from money shop was 6 years old and was on my credit report as default with Lowell’s they have come off now
The email i got from FOS sent to money shop to pay all rollover for loan 1 interstates and charges and 8% for 1 year put the email from FOS says I payed loan 1 off and loan 2 off loan 3 was cancelled in 2016 but the money shop saying I owe on loan 2 and 3 and they takeing the money off me to buy back the loans form Dept collector so I get nothing
Thank You
Emma says
Hi Sara, how long is the average wait now? I put my complaints in last May!! Should I be chasing the Ombudsman or just keep being patient?!
Thanks
Emma
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That’s a long while. Start calling them every couple of weeks to ask!
Emma says
Thanks Sara. One complaint has been with them 6 months and the other two 8 months. Advised to call again in a month!
Rach says
Hi Emma, I made several complaints to Ombudsman between May-June 2018 and I had three reviewed late last year (The Money Shop, H and T and Satsuma) and just recieved an email today saying that two more will be looked at in the next few days. (Payday UK and Payday Express, some of which are over 6 years old)Only ones I’m waiting on now is for Quickquid and Lending Stream! It’s still a long process as the H and T one is to be reviewed by Ombudsman (they rejected adjudicator decision in Dec.) And waiting for a cheque from Satsuma but at least the balls rolling now, hope this helps!
Emma says
Thanks Rach! Just a couple of months to go then! It’s so drawn out! Two of my lenders are Lending Stream and QuickQuid!
Tom says
After nearly 16 weeks I have just had this response from payday express and uk
Please read this part carefully as I will explain how I understand your complaint. This is important in how I have reached my decision:
You claim we lent the funds to you irresponsibly You claim the loans were unaffordable
My Decision:
We handle complaints following rules set out by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
One rule is that a customer must complain within 6 years of the problem. Another rule is that if more than 6 have passed, you must complain within 3 years of knowing you could complain about the problem.
I can see that all of the loans that you are complaining about are more than 6 years old. So for me to consider these loans, I need you to tell me why you didn’t complain about these loans until now.
Iain123 says
That’s a normal response from them. Just reply being honest. Search through the comment history here, you’ll find plenty of examples and experiences.
They’ve settled some of my 6+ year loans. Luckily I had bank statements going back seven years showing my financial chaos.
I
J says
Hi Sara – an update re WageDayAdvance. I registered my complaint with them back in August and received several emails regarding extra time / extensions etc every 8 weeks or so since them. I did refer to the FO after the first 8 weeks and it is in the queue.
However, exactly six months from complaining they have emailed me with an offer – a decent offer of just over £2000 – in full and final settlement, payment within 5-7 days. Half the loans but around 75% of the interest plus statutory interest (the initial loans were small).
I have agreed but I guess I won’t know how good this is until I see the credit on my bank account – will advise when it arrives ….
Wanted to share as I’m aware of lots of people out there having heard nothing from WDA and plenty of concern regarding whether it will fold soon. Maybe they are clearing the backlog of claims?
Lucy says
Hi J
Thanks for the update. Did you have any outstanding loans with WDA? I sent my complaint to them 24 weeks ago and I still haven’t received a final response.
I do have one outstanding loan with them which I am repaying through a DMP, was just wondering whether those who have been getting responses recently have had any outstanding balances.
Lucy says
Hi J
Thanks for the update. Did you have any outstanding loans with WDA? I sent my complaint to them 24 weeks ago and I still haven’t received a final response.
I do have one outstanding loan with them which I am repaying through a DMP, was just wondering whether those who have been getting responses recently have had any outstanding balances.
J says
Hi Lucy – No, I paid off the last one in 2017. Despite waiting so long I have to be fair, it was a very thorough and considered response. Perhaps they are just overwhelmed and want to do a proper job in settling up? If your complaint went in 24 weeks ago then my suggestion is give another 2-3 weeks before you take the next step. My response was almost exactly 6 months to the day and they did make a point of thanking me for my patience and waiting for so long. Hang in there Lucy.
J
Lorraine says
Hi Sara,
I really need your advice.
I have a DMP in place (this finishes in July) I have stupidly taken out a loan with my jar (£300) 2 months ago..i have 4 further payments left to pay. This loan is not on my DMP. I am struggling to repay my jar back now. i have ongoing irresponsible lending complaints to other pay day loans companies but not my jar. No pay day loans are now on my DMP (they have all been paid off) question is: Is it just best to cancel my CPA and contact my jar to arrange a suitable payment with them each month and leave DMP out of it…. or add this on to my DMP? – which to be honest i don’t want to because this is nearly finished – the debt i owe is mainly credit cards default. would My jar freeze the interest for me if i went into a payment plan with them? would they sell the debt straight away to someone? or am i obliged to tell them i have already a DMP in place? i just want the least aggravation/stress free way to do this without them making things harder for me…..
I’m really struggling with whats best to do, your advice or anyone’s would be very much appreciated as a payment is due next week to them.
Many Thanks
Nicki says
Lorraine, I was struggling with MyJar and when I contacted them they were very understanding and set me up an affordable payment plan and I ended up paying less interested they said they would only default etc if I missed the new affordable payment. Speak to them it will make you feel much better
Lorraine says
Thanks for your advice Nicki ;-)
I just don’t know what to do for the best, I will be able to make a reasonable payment each month, just worried if they start to add on more interest and late payment fee charges ect…and this turns into months and months of payments and the amount ends up paying much more….I only owe them about £200 now. I will ring them.
Thanks again
Sara (Debt Camel) says
With payday loans this is rarely a problem at all and it can never turn into a big problem like it used to pre 2015 because the lenders are not allowed to charge more in interest and charges than the amount you borrowed, so if they carry on adding interest they hit this “price cap” very quickly.
Lorraine says
Thanks Sara,
So am i better telephoning them and offering to make a reasonable payment monthly and having no mention of DMP?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Normally I would say include in your DMP. But with that finishing soon it may be simpler to leave it as it is and set up a new payment arrangement.
Mike says
Hi
I raised a complaint with LS in Jan. In Feb a search has shown up on my noddle report showing “account management” is this normal and will it affect my credit report.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No that is an admin search, not a credit check before lending. It won’t be visible to other lenders.
JOJO says
Might be a silly question but here goes….. I have had a complaint partially upheld by Sunny. I also have other complaints in with other lenders which cover similar dates, amounts etc to Sunny but they have not upheld my complaints. How can one lender uphold and not the others? Nothing any different apart from the lender. Is this just down to the company your dealing with I guess?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think it is very much down the individual lender. Who are the others who have rejected your complaints?
JOJO says
Saferynet, drafty, UB, p2p, everyday (I know there not PDL).
I will just keep digging in and FOS …..nothing to lose as I know Sunny a hard one to deal with.
X
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Everyday – are you following the other template over on this page: https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-large-high-cost-loans/.
How good was the Sunny offer?
JOJO says
Partially upheld loans 7 to 12. 7 and 8 paid off. 9 to 12 balance due 1050. Agreed to clear debt and remove from credit file. The interest I paid on 7 and 8 makes the balance owed actually £450. So offer not as good as they make out but my debt would be clear. I would have preferred 4 and 5 to be included as those two had 989 paid in interest and were only weeks prior to the upheld ones. So in theory they wiping £450 and no refund…. but no debt which is my aim to be debt free so not sure what to do.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So 9-12 – how much did you borrow for these (ignore interest added) and how much (if anything) have you paid to any of them?
Also how much did you borrow for each of loans 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and what were the “gaps” between repaying one and taking the next one out?
JOJO says
Hi Sarah these are the details:
1. 2015-08-04 – 200 paid 296 total
2. 2015-11-10 – 200 paid 400 total
3. 2015-11-19 – 250 paid 488 total
4. 2016-01-02 – 250 paid 357 total
Break in this period was when I was using alternative PDL and high interest loans
5. 2018-04-01 – 350 – paid 579 total
6. 2018-05-05 – 250 – paid 404 total
7. 2018-06-23 -450 – paid 546 total
8. 2018-07-08 – 100 – paid 135 total
9. 2018-09-01 – 400 – paid 258 – (149 allocated to interest)
10. 2018-09-11 – 350 – paid 133 ( 120 allocated to interest)
11. 2018-09-22 – 250 – paid 92 (63 allocated to interest)
12. 2018-10-19 – 100 – paid 5 (5 allocated to interest)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That looks a good offer to me. You would be unlikely to get a lot more by going to FOS.
9-12 you borrowed 1100 and have repaid (ignoring whether they say it was interest or not) 488. So you still have to repay £612 before you have repaid what you borrowed. As they are offering to wipe these loans and clear your credit record, that is effectively the refund you are getting.
You paid only £133 interest on loans 7 & 8. So you are also getting what amounts to a refund on 5 & 6 and some of 4.
JOJO says
Great I will agree it then, to be honest, like i said, i am interested first and foremost in getting my debt down, and as it stands, that will be circa £1000 wiped from my debt and no more repayments which are approx £65 per month (reduced payments) a month and 7 loans wiped from my credit report…..so overall i feel i am gaining long term.
Thanks Sarah I will get this accepted tomorrow before my next £65 is due on the 25th :-)
Your a star.
Cheers x
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would cancel the CPA to Sunny with your bank, just so there is no risk of that £65 being taken.
Anita says
Hi everyone, did anyone have any luck with FOS regarding loans older than 6 years?
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
FOS is deciding it can look at the 6+ year loans in almost all cases – it just takes some time to go through.
Petra Zahradnikova says
Im having an ongoing claim with money shop- they acknowledged the claim in november 2018 and even that the 8 weeks passed i havent received the final decission. The case is now with financial ombudsman. Any idea how long it will take? Im loosing my patience a bit as i first submitted my claim in july 2018!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
When did you send it to FOS? Money Shop do seem to be very behind with claims at the moment.
tom says
Petra – I have been waiting since march 2018. I have received the response from adjudicator last week finding in my favour. Bear in mind that we don’t have to pay for the FOS and they are extremely busy. I am still waiting for 3 more case sent in March and April to be picked up
shelly says
submitted two complaints to FOS in July 2018 (Unkle Buck and H&T)
I call regularly for updates but i’m consistently told there is a backlog and they have not been assigned. I appreciate they are busy but its been nearly 8 months with little to no contact.
Has anyone else submitted complaints against these two lenders? Wondering what my chances success are…
Karen says
Hi Shelly
I have one loan in with H&T and it’s been with the FOS since June Last year not been pick up as yet I rang them Friday still waiting to be picked up
Nat says
Hi Shelly, I submitted 2 complaints July last year and have just been picked up! Just hang on in there
Fey says
Hi Sara
First of all, Thank you for all the work and advice that you do on here. Without this website, I would not have had the guts to challenge my payday loans.
After almost 6 months since I originally sent a complaint to the Moneyshop, I received a final response letter. Moneyshop have upheld some of my complaint and said they will refund 9 of my 14 loans, which comes to about £2600 (which includes some 6+ loans being refunded and the 8% interest.)
I know it’s a bit hard to gage, but does this offer sound about right to you or do you think I should reject it and take everything to FOS or accept and settle
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The 5 they aren’t refunding – are these the early loans? or small ones? Do you know how much interest you paid on these 5?
Iain123 says
That’s not how it works. You can’t reject it, they’ve made a final response. Sign the docs, email it back to them today for your 2600. You’ll get that in ten days.
Go to the Ombudsman with the other loans.
B says
Actually Iain, you’re incorrect.
When you accept an offer from a business you are accepting it as full and final settlement to your claim (Unless stated otherwise) and therefore you no longer have the right to take it to the Ombudsman.
In rare cases, you can ask the lender if you can be refunded for the ones they are upholding and take the remainder of the complaint to the Ombudsman, in which case they have to make it crystal clear they are happy for you to do that and are only partially settling.
Fey, based on the wait at the FOS, i would accept the offer! by the time the FOS get around to dealing with the backlog of complaints, it wouldn’t suprise me if half of the lenders went the way of Wonga
James says
Hi, some advice please.
I had 2 loans with Ladder Loans for £600 each in 2014/2015. The adjudicator has recently ruled that they think Ladder Loans did enough checks. They did not complete a credit check but I understand they didn’t have to.
Is there anything else I can add when escalating to an ombudsmen to support my complaint?
I did have 11 loans with Payday UK in the previous 12 months and I believe the companies are linked, is that worth exploring?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What was the term of these loans? What was the gap between repaying the first and taking out the second?
James says
They both had 12 installments, charged double what I borrowed. Two months between one and two.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So about £100 a month repayments? From previous comments you said your income was over £2300 a month? I think this is going to be a hard complaint to win. You could send the Money Shop a request for a copy of all your personal data. That may show if Ladder Loans checked for borrowing from other group members before lending.
James says
Yes, that was my income, there’s no doubt it was unaffordable but i know i need to demonstrate they knew that, my outgoings to creditors were immense.
OK i’ll try that, thanks.
Georgea says
If you accept an offer from a payday lender and they say they accept no further liability but only looked at 1 loan can you go to the FOS to look at the rest or not?
Thanks
Joseph says
No, by you accepting the money from them it’s in full and final settlement of your claim, you can’t go to ombudsman now. Maybe if you’ve not received the money yet you could tell them to cancel the payment as you’ve changed your mind?
Iain123 says
They’ll make that clear in the Final Response. For example: H&T made me an offer stating clearly I would have no more claim against them for the 6+ year, or any, loans. I refused and send this to the FOS. Even if the FOS don’t find in my favour I’ll still get the initial offer.
The Money Shop made an offer, not including all the 6+ year loans. I accepted this, as the 6+ year loans are still pending. (‘unable to determine’ in their language). I’m still trying to get some old bank statements, if I can’t get them I’ll take it to the FOS.
Don’t take a whole complaint to the FOS if you can get money in the bank today. Don’t accept offers if you can get more at the FOS.
READ THE CORRESPONDENCE CAREFULLY. COME HERE AND ASK IF YOU’RE NOT SURE.
Mark says
Iain123,
You might want to double check with the FOS re your H&T offer…….It’s my understanding that a lender can retract an offer prior to your acceptance.
In my case Sunny offered on loans 1-3 not 4-24. I took to the FOS. FOS found in my favour loans 5-25. They did not consider loans 1-3 due to Sunny’s offer and the FOS accepted that offer on loan 1-3 on my behalf, so I expected to receive a refund on all loans apart from #4. However, when Sunny received the FOS conclusion, they withdrew the offer on loans 1-3, which the FOS said they are entitled to do. So now the FOS has to reconsider the case including those loans.
Just thought it might be helpful as if the FOS dismiss your complaint, there’s a chance that the lender won’t honour their initial offer, if the FOS say they did nothing wrong.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is pretty unusual. Normally FOS take a dim view of a lender withdrawing an offer.
Mark says
Sara,
‘Unusual’ is my middle name! :-)
Excerpt from FOS letter 30/01/2019 where they upheld my complaint on loans 5-25:
‘On loan one an offer has been made to refund all interest and charges and simple interest
at 8% to be paid. Any adverse data to be removed from Mr B’s credit file. As this
offer is in line with what would be recommended should the loan in question be upheld, I
am not going to look into this loan during my investigation.’
Then on 21/02/2019 the FOS sent me this email:
‘After sending my opinion letter to yourself and Sunny, Sunny have come back to myself to explain that they have chosen to withdraw their offer that they have made on loan one. They have not commented on my opinion letter, just that they are withdrawing the offer. What this means, is that I will now need to asses this loan. This is something that the business can do as they have the right to withdraw an offer at any time. The decision that I have made on all other loans still remains.’
Allan says
Hi,
I have complaints with the FOS which were passed to them in November 2016. They are with Moneyshop, Payday Express, Payday UK and H&T. Some of the loans are over 6 years old. Is it normal that it should take this long?! I have emailed and they have replied saying it is still in a queue but it seems an incredibly long time. Has anyone else got complaints this old or advice on how to speed things up? thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
i think you should start asking every month. I assume for each lender you have a lot of loans over 6 years? If you had say 5 over 6 years and 15 under 6 years you could consider dropping the older ones.
Nicki says
Hi Sara I am confused by the question from 24/7 about what do I think would be suitable redress. I borrowed 39 times over a 3 and half year period. Yes there was the odd break of a month. But this was usually because I had additional funds due to family support. If my main point is they were lending monthly pretty much immediately following repayment does the clock reset every time you don’t borrow monthly and how many months would it be to expect a lender to acknowledge a pattern of borrowing? Or do I ignore the gaps because the mitigation is borrowing from family? I don’t know where to start with calculating what I think is a suitable redress. And can’t list them all on here as way too many. Do I attempt to calculate an amount or wait and see what they offer if anything? I have an outstanding balance of £174 and have a feeling they will just say they will clear this and my credit file.
Nicki says
Hi Sara
I have recently complained to 24/7 and have received a prompt response saying they will respond fully within the usual 8 weeks, however they have asked what I would consider as full and final settlement! I had 39 loans total with interest £7000 I still owe them £170 as I cancelled my CPA to sort my life out as I had 8 payday loans with various lenders at the time. Do I wait the 8 weeks and see what they offer? Suggest a figure (although I’m not sure how I would calculate) or refer to FOS. My main arguement is it was irresponsible lending as I had the 8 other payday loans which they didn’t check. And I without going into details was spending money on things I shouldn’t have. They lent all but the first loan the day after and sometimes on the day of repayment a clear indication that I was struggling but never asked for statements or anything for that matter. Any help appreciated
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can’t refer this to FOS until you have had a Final response from 24/7.
How long ago did this borrowing start? Do you have your bank statements for this period?
Nicki says
Hi Sara
The loans were October 14 to December 17 so borrowed every month during this period and yes have statements but pages and pages.
Jade says
Hello,
I have just had my request for a refund from Sunny rejected outright, and I wonder if you might be able to offer some advice on whether to go back to Sunny with further info, or whether to go to the Ombudsman?
Over the course of a year, I was late paying Sunny only three times, I believe. I repaid early when I could, only to reborrow later that month.
Between April 2016 and Sept 2017 I borrowed a total of £5,050 from Sunny. I am on a repayment arrangement for the last 3 loans outstanding.
I started borrowing from Sunny after 1 year of borrowing from Wonga – which I started doing after increasing my credit limit on my credit cards and increasing a bank loan. Whilst I borrowed from Sunny, I also borrowed a few more times from Wonga and also Lending Stream.
I would have thought that it would have been clear from a credit check that I was borrowing every month and I was maxed out?
But I’m not sure what my next steps should be. Might you be able to point me in the right direction?
Many thanks,
Jade
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sunny don’t negotiate. I suggest you send your case to the ombudsman.
Have you also put in a complaint to Wonga (even though they are in administration this is still worth doing, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/wonga-has-stopped-issuing-loans/) and Lending Stream?
Jade says
Thank you for clarifying – I will contact the Ombudsman regarding Sunny. I have also put in complaints to Wonga and Lending Stream – am waiting to hear back from them, I expect to hear from Lending Stream soon(ish).
Thanks again for the advice!
Sophie says
Hi Sara!
I decided to forget the older loans with WDA and accept the offer if they pay within a week, as you suggested, as I don’t want to get tied up in any administration issues. I sent this to FOS on Friday. I haven’t heard anything back yet. Should I get in contact with FOS and push them or wait? Just don’t know what to do if don’t hear back within the week.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, I suggest you phone FOS and explain why you would like this dealt with urgently. They have done this for another reader when asked.
Sophie says
Great. Thanks. I’ll keep you updated.
Sophie says
I just called FOS. She sent my acceptance and details through to WDA there and then so, if WDA honour their agreement in their final response it should be in my account in the next 5-7 days. We shall see…..
Josh says
Finally reached an agreement with the Money Shop via the adjudicator decision.
Money Shop final response was to redress approx. £1500, adjudicator decision was that I was owed redress of approx. £3,300.
Original complaint sent in March last year. Final response came in May. Long wait from the FOS, but they came through in the end!
Adjudicator has asked me to contact Money Shop directly to supply bank details. Do they have a specific email address for this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think it is FOScorrespondence@themoneyshop.co.uk. If that doesn’t work, ask your adjudicator.
Steve says
Hi – after a bit of advice…
247Moneybox agreed to pay back interest and remove all loans from my credit file. I got the refund within 24 hours of agreeing, however, it’s now been nearly 130 days since they agreed to remove all loans from my credit files but they’re still showing on there. I’ve complained to 247Moneybox, however they’re just saying they’ve made the request. Is this usual? Should it take this long to have the loans removed?
Am I able to complain to the FOS that they haven’t done as they agreed?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You aren’t the first person to have this problem with 247 Moneybox.
I suggest phone up 247 and say if your credit record has not been corrected by the end of the month you will be sending your complaint to FOS and asking for compensation for the hassle.
Sissy says
My complaint with Lending Stream has been with FOS for seven months, today I noticed a recent Lending Stream search on my credit report, with the reference ‘account management’. Might this be related to my FOS complaint?
Mark says
Yes it’s possible. Lenders sometimes do ‘admin searches’ during the course of their complaint investigations. These don’t effect your credit score and won’t be seen by other lenders/full credit searches.
Sissy says
Thanks Mark.
Anthony says
Hi Sara
I have various PD loans and loans with others caught in a bit of a spiral. I am looking into irresponsible lending. If you are still borrowing from lenders, can you cancel cpa with the bank and then speak to lenders about affordable repayments? I’m not sure which way to go and what impact it has if I do that. Could it be a concern they won’t agree with repayment plans? Wasn’t sure where to post this… thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“If you are still borrowing from lenders, can you cancel cpa with the bank and then speak to lenders about affordable repayments?” Yes you can. If you have more than three or four loans, I do suggest talking to StepChange and getting a DMP set up as it can be stressful trying to agree payments plans with a lot of lenders at the same time.
Also think about affordability complaints to the lenders. Even if you don’t get a refund, you may be able to get the interest removed from the outstanding balances.
Lorraine says
Hi Sara,
Please can you advise me on this:
I received a final decision from piggy bank today they are upholding my complaint and are offering some redress in this matter.
I had 9 loans in total with them. 3 in 2016 & 6 in 2017, all rolled over after I paid off one. I did pay 4 of the loans back early which reduced the interest of these.
They have redress loans 4 -9 total £105.68 plus 2 statutory interest on the loans 4 -8 which equates to £10.51 and one year statutory interest on loan 9 which equates to £3.20. grand total of £119.39. The total amount of interest on all loans that i paid is £189.32. I borrowed in total £1170 off them. 1-3 loans in 2016 they have offered me nothing.
Do you think this offer is low or should i escalate my case to FOS?
Many Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Are you sure the interest figures are correct? They look very low, even if 4 loans were repaid early.
If you think the interest is correct, then this seems like a good offer. You would be very unlikely to get all three of loans 1-3 included if you went to the Ombudsman.
Lorraine says
Hi Sara,
sorry just checked again – my mistake.
Loan 4 i took £250 loan over 3 months – interest £127.04 per month & loan 9 was £180 for 3 months, however i only paid 2 months @ 122.20 because i then had a DMP in place, which then i paid another £136.22 through them which included a £15 late payment fee (they knew i had a DMP in place & still charge me)
so looking at it now on a whole would you say this is unreasonable?
Thanks again
Rob says
Does anyone know if Satsuma (Provident) and Mr Lender (PDL Finance) tend to accept the adjudicators decisions?
I’ve had 2 cases where the adjudicator found in my favour for all but the initial loan (Satsumas I had to challenge as I felt the FOS had not reviewed my case holistically and when they reviewed it they agreed) and have informed the businesses. I’m just waiting to hear they’ve accepted or not.
Anyone got any experience with these 2 companies?
Also have another complaint for Money Shop/PDUK and Payday Express as one giant complaint.
Thanks
Neil says
Satsuma accepted the adjudicators decision for me, they accepted it on the last day i believe.
Mark says
Satsuma just accepted my adjudicators decision (1 loan X £1000). So fingers crossed for you.
Tom says
Just had this come through on email today from payday uk
Having looked at our records, I believe we should’ve asked more questions and done more checks at the time we lent these loans to you. Unfortunately, I have been unable to reach a decision as to what we should have done with the information I have available to me. However, if you are able to provide the documentation I require as laid out in the table below, I will be happy to look at your loan again, providing you with my final response to your complaint.
There asking me for bank statement from 2010 which I’m really struggling to get. Any idea the response I should give please
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You need to get the bank statements if at all possible or a statement from the bank you used then saying they cannot give youthem.
If you can’t, you can go back and say the number of times you borrowed (and deferred if you did) and the increasing size of your loans is evidence that you were finding them unaffordable. But this is not a strong response and it’s unlikely PDUK will not make you an offer so you are likely to have to send the case to FOS. At FOS you will also probably be asked for bank statements but you can show them the statement saying you can’t get them.
Iain123 says
Push harder on the bank statements. I mistakenly believed Santander branch staff knew everything. A polite request to bank head office produced an extra three years statements going back to January 2010.
Keep trying.
Rebecca says
Hi
QuickQuid have just sent a lengthy reply not upholding my complaint. To be honest I can’t make much sense of what they have said but they seem to have missed out at least 12 loans I had with them from the period 23/9/13 to 14/4/14.
I luckily kept Bank Statements as proof. Is it worth me going back to them and challenging it or go straight to the Ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Definitely go back to them. Even if they don’t change their mind, it will mean your complaint is simpler at FOS when there is an agreed list of loans!
karen wilson says
So had some news regardingsafety net wrote to them last week agreed with me and refunding little shy of 3 grand have to deduct my blance i owe them but still get 2200 so happy very quick turnaround even though they thought it was affordable they could see i really shouldnt have lent me in first place so glad this was quickest yet 1 week just waiting on money now! all my others still with fos but looks like 2 have been picked up 9 months on
Casey says
Im wondering if anyone has any experience of Sunny once the adjudicator has ruled in your favour.
On the 18th Jan the adjudicator upheld my complaint for loans 4 to 58.
He gave sunny 2 weeks to reply but sunny have not responded. He says that from his experience they have lengthy delays.
So it’s been 5 weeks and they haven’t reponded .. has anyone else had this ? will they respond and what happens if they don’t ?
He chased them up a week and half ago but he says he can’t make them stick to the time limit set
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Try leaving them a bad review on Trust Pilot https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/sunny.co.uk – say that you have won your case at the Ombudsman but Sunny are ignoring the adjudicator decision. This sometimes works!
Louisa says
Thank you Sarah I will give that a try
Lorraine says
Hi
just a quick question & advice please:
I have cancelled my CPA on my PD loan today, I’m about to apply for irresponsible lending with them – i want to make reduced payments as per your advice, however is it best to just email them my offer with my complaint or telephone them to arranged the payments and then tell them at the same time i will be making a complaint for irresponsible lending?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Definitely email your complaint.
I suggest adding a sentence to the end saying you would like a payment arrangement on your outstanding balance.
Lorraine says
Thanks very much Sara
gillian says
hi today I have received a email from the fos saying sorry for the wait I put the complaint in end of sept 2018 against mr lender 7 loans starting 2014 to 2017 the adjudicator has upheld loans 2 and 3 and 6 and 7 4 and 5 not upheld due to the fact there was a 9 month gap between paying loan 3 then taking loan4(i just borrowed from others during this time) he as given them 2 weeks to reply the refund should be in the range of 1700 plus 8 percent so another good result thanks again sara all my complaints have produced refunds just waiting for welcome finance now I know it will be a while due to some being over the 6 years these were the first payday loans I took out and started me on the debt spiral thankfully I am out of it now good luck everyone
Joseph says
Hi Sara,
Is it normal for the FOS to ask me to fill in an expenditure form for my payday loan irresponsible lending conplaint? He wasn’t very helpful when he rang to introduce himself and can’t remember what I put when I applied with them, feel like I’m trying to be caught out a little bit
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes some people are asked for this. You aren’t being asked what you put on the application form, but what your actual expenditure was. Have you supplied FOS with bank statements?
Joseph says
Hi Sara,
Yes I’ve gave them everything they asked for months ago to avoid any delays – will fill it in and return it but feels a little strange.
C says
Hi Joseph,
I’ve been asked by various adjudicators for the same info, on top of the info already supplied. They’re not trying to catch you out, just put more meat on the bones and put context to stuff. An example of the difference it made to me was a pay as you go phone I missed of, the fuel expenditure for work that was going on a partners credit card and the money shop payments that were cash and not on my statements. I could also show where I was using pawn brokers with cash withdrawals (submitted a statement from cash concerters converters) to back this up.
All this was missed from my original submission but of course supported my claim.
All the best
Sarah Reid says
Hi Sarah
I have now received a final response from TMS and PDU who have both stated that the can longer determine if my loans were irresponsible as I am unable to provide statements or my credit report at the time of my loans 2007 & 2010. I no longer have the bank account and my credit report does not go back that far. They have stated that they have now concluded their investigation on both complaints and there is nothing more they can do without this information. I can see from my loans that they were repeatedly rolled over every month for several months which would indicate that I was struggling financially.
Please can you advise how I should respond.
Thank you for your help.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman. No point in trying to get TMS or PDUK to change their mind.
Iain123 says
‘Unable to determine’ doesn’t mean its over. I wrote to my bank head office politely requesting older bank statements. They came through with this back to 2010, so don’t listen to front line branch staff.
Do what you can whilst sending it to the Ombudsman. You can follow up with more details to the Ombudsman