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?
Ryan says
I recently had an adjudicator rule in my favour on one of my loans with Nova loans (Cash4UNow). Does anyone know what these guys are like in terms of appealing or paying out quickly? it’s already been 9 months just to get to this point!
James says
I have a quick question that I was hoping someone could answer.
I have been in a protected trust deed for the past 5 years (there was a years break due to unemployment) but i borrowed month on month from payday lenders to initially subsidise my income due to sickness but very quickly to roll over the loans as i couldn’t afford to pay them.
I never declared this in my applications but during this time I wasn’t of sound mind due to ongoing illness. Will the companies fight me back as I never declared I was in the trust deed (my credit file clearly shows all the defaults to my creditors) or have they failed in responsible checks?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi James, I will ask a Scottish debt expert to answer this question.
Scottish Adviser says
Hi James
I think Sara is going to answer the questions regarding affordability.
Regarding the Protected Trust Deed, you are allowed to borrow in a PTD, but there are rules about borrowing, which changed in April 2015, so I am assuming you will be covered by the earlier rules. These were you cannot borrow more than £500 without telling those you are borrowing from that you were in a PTD; or if you already owed more than a £1,000 in PTD borrowing, any amount without telling them you were in a PTD. Obviously, I don’t know how much you borrowed, so I don’t know if you breached those rules.
If you did, the creditors may have grounds for feeling aggrieved. However, they were still bound to do proper affordability checks before lending to you and you breaching the rules governing your PTD don’t excuse them from that.
If you are able to get a refund, ideally the firm will offset that against what you borrowed, so you don’t owe anything, because if they just pay you compensation, then this could be treated like PPI claim and just paid directly to your trustee as it would be considered to be a post PTD asset that they have a right to.
If the lender realises you are in a PTD, they may just pay it directly to your Trustee.
The problem with this is your PTD will not deal with any debts you accrued after you signed your PTD, so it would be better if any compensation was offset against the loans it’s paid for.
Anita says
Sarah,
I need your advice please. I would like to claim the tax taken of from the refunds between Dec 2018 – Feb 2019. I wonder whether I should add the the amount of refund which is due to be paid by pd UK soon. It will be in new tax year so presumably can not be added. Please advise. Thank you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A form can only cover your refunds in one tax year. Send the one in for 2018-19 now. Then the PDUK one send in for 19-20 when you get it.
Anita says
Thank you Sarah. Do I have to wait until the end of the tax year 2019-20? Sorry for being thick.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, but if you do it early in the year you have to give estimates of what your income will be in the rest of the year.
If yah expect any more refunds it may be better to wait.
Mee says
My adjudicator rules in my favour regarding my PDUK loans he has written to the business but they are dragging their feet responding. Has anyone had an experience like this. If so how long did they take to get bk to the adjudicator and how long did it take to finally get a pay out
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you look at the other comments here you will see they often do this :(
Mark says
Hi Sarah,
Hoping for some small advice please. I’ve been using four different payday/short term lenders since June 18 (Moneyboat, Satsuma, Lending Stream, Quick Quid). I still currently have two loans outstanding with these. I have always paid on time or early for all loans. Two of these lenders I only ever had two loans with, the other two I have had five and seven loans with. All of the loans were to fund an ever worsening gambling habit that I am now tackling. Whilst I could initially afford to repay the loans, I got to a point recently where I was gambling JUST to repay them and get by each month (and I earn an ok wage so wouldn’t struggle if it wasn’t for the gambling) . A glance at my bank statement would have quickly evidenced the problem, and shown just how many loans I was taking out in a short space of time. In total I have paid over £1400 in interest. Is it worth highlighting the frequency of loans and the gambling problem in my complaint letters to each lender? I’m starting at step two as I have the full details of all loans.
Thank you in advance.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The two outstanding loans, are they from the lenders you borrowed from a lot?
Mark says
Sorry just noticed it’s Sara, not Sarah… oops
The two outstanding – one is my 7th from that particular lender, the other is my 2nd.
Thanks for replying.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So it’s easier to win cases with a large number of loans – the lenders you had borrowed 5 and 7;times from. But he lender with only two loans where one is outstanding is also well worth a complaint as they may remove the interest from the balance, which would help you, also their lending was “later on” so they should have seen all the other payday loans you had on your credit record.
Mark says
Thank you Sara. I’ve submitted letters of complaint to all four lenders.
Trev says
Hi Sara,
I thought that I would just share an experience with on payday loan company regarding refunds.
Sunny offered me a redress of interest and quite kindly “wrote off the remaining debt” which I had already paid to a debt collection agency some years previously. Rather than dispute and look for this money back too I just accepted the offer.
Then I went direct to the Debt Collection agency and asked for a refund on the basis of Sunny’s decision to write it off.
I genuinely didn’t think I would get anything but was surprised 6 weeks later for the refund request to be accepted!
Not sure if this was a fluke but just thought I would share!
Thanks
Trev
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well done, but I think other people would be well advised to think that this was a fluke…
Matt S says
Hi Sara, wondered if you could offer advise on the below :
I entered debt management in June 2013 due to payday loan debt, had a number of defaults added to my credit report around this time which will thankfully be removed late this year. One of the loans that went on my DMP was for Minicredit… there was no missed payments from the DMP and Kapama took over the loan in April 2015. They registered a default against me in October 2015 relating to this account. Can this be challenged, as doesn’t seem fair that they could put a default on my account over 2 years after entering into debt management?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
See https://debtcamel.co.uk/debt-default-date/
Andrew white says
I have received a warning from cashfloat threatening me with a nsd1 form which is court claim . I have read your advice and I have had multiple loans from most of the big lenders . I am going to put a claim in myself as you have advised . Shall I ignore there letter and send them my intent to claim
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is this just a letter talking about possible court action? Or is it a Letter Before Action/Claim, which has attachements in a specific format, including a Reply Form, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/letter-before-claim-ccj/?
Andrew says
We wish to give you one last opportunity to come to an agreement to settle this matter before court proceedings, and avoid any potential adverse effect on you credit file.
We recently sent you an email to advise that we are looking to issue a N1SDT to recover your debt with us through the County Courts.
Your file has been passed to our department now for further review on your loan.
Your balance owing before County Court Fees is as of today £ 200.00
We are a short term lender and this loan should now be cleared.
We are sorry it has come to this, however you have left us with no alternative but to take action to recover the monies owed to our company.
Please be aware we will not accept any arrangement without an upfront payment towards the debt to show genuine intention.
We would advise you to please call 020 3757 1933 and Press Option 4.
Kind Regards,
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, that is just threats, it is NOT a Letter before Action. If you get a Letter befor Action you should NOT ignore it.
It is also a pretty inappropriate way to deal with customers – you should only offer what you can afford and you may not be able to make “an upfront payments to show good intention.” Out of curiosity, have they signposted you to debt advice?
But with that letter , I suggest you send them your affordability complaint and ask them to hold any enforcement action until your complaint is reolved. Which is what the FCA says they should do,
Andrew says
I M going to pursue a claim Against them as I
Am with the other lenders I have used . That should make them
Back off should it mott
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry do you mean make an affordability complaint like the one described in the article above? Or take them to court?
Andywhitworth says
Lol I didn’t mean take them to court just redress . Thanks for your help and support it’s invaluable I have over 50 loans to claim against
Cheers
Andy
Chris says
Hi, received reply from 247 Moneybox, they accept 3 loans were irresponsible and have offered £344 plus 8% interest redress. Loans totalled £1500 and I repaid £1844 in total.
I have accepted this settlement, how long do 247 usually take to pay out?
Robert says
I had a complaint in with 247 moneybox, after accepting their offer to write off my outstanding balance they left me on blank for a week and put my account into arrears. I sent them an email asking why the loan hadn’t been removed and they took care of it with in the next half hour. They might need a gentle nudge after accepting.
James R says
Hi all,
Just looking to build some cases. At the moment I have a number of SAR requests to gather information but have been able to get the ball rolling on a few complaints using my bank statements and credit files. One problem I have run into is that some companies seemed to use transaction refs that don’t relate to their name and then used different names to collect the debit (wizzcash using emergency cash and ‘1004664’ for example). With this in mind can anyone shed light on the below transaction references i have?
Active Sec Ltd September 2016
EVFIN Lending September 2016
Thanks
Lisa G says
Active Sec is definitely 247 MoneyboxIain123 says
I have dealings with eight payday lender going back to 2002. Had to build detailed files to stop any confusion.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
EVFIN may be Moneyboat
Rob says
Hey everyone,
After waiting just under a year ive finally received a response from the FOS regarding my complaint against Satsuma. They’ve ruled all interest be paid back on loans 2-4 which is a great result for me. Im just wondering what other people’s experiences of Satsuma are. Do they usually agree? or will it be dragged out like other lenders recently (Sunny finally paid up 4 months after the adjudicator’s decision!)
Cheers
Rob
Rob D says
They initially agreed with FOS abut I disagreed. FOS reviewed it based on my arguments and changed their mind. Satsuma then disagreed and it was only when I left a negative review on trustpilot did they do something about it. Following that they spoke to FOS and they eventually agreed. I basically didn’t get my first loan but I was happy with that because they’d tried to only pay for my last 2 loans. I had 8 in total.
Jessie Jones says
Hi
I am due a refund today from The Money Shop. Has anyone had any delays on payments ? I don’t trust them until the money is in my bank account.
Katie says
I was due to have a final response on Tuesday 2nd April from them for a complaint against pduk. They had a Further two weeks for them to go over 13 loans they were unable to determine, until me giving them bank statements and my credit report! Emailed them again but heard nothing so going to try ring them this afternoon! I think they’re trying to string everything out as long as possible!
Jessie Jones says
Been told now could take up to nexr Friday to get the money!!
Katie says
Did they say why? Do you have the number you managed to call them on?
Iain123 says
01903768769.
They only pay Mondays or Tuesdays.
Jessie Jones says
I had my refund Friday afternoon 😃 … call the money shop, pay day UK or payday express on 0800 2802548 or 0800 3161414
Katie says
Oh that’s good!! How long did that take from accepting their offer in total then? I’ve just had my final response letter a week late but have agreed all loans were lent irresponsibly and I have been offered redress of around £3500 which I am going to accept! 😃
Brian says
Thought I’d provide some information on my open cases, those resolved and time frames:
Ferratum: Loans: 19, months: 30. Interest Paid: £3,563. Weeks to respond: 4. Offer: £500. Result: Sent to FOS
247 Moneybox: Loans 23, months: 23. Interest Paid: £2,772. Weeks to respond: 3.5. Offer: £2,626. Result: Accepted (Paid in 5 days)
Safteynet Credit: Loans (1), months: 8. Interest Paid: £180 (outstanding balance of £843). Weeks to respond: 5. Offer: Write off balance of £843 & redress of £198.87. Result: Accepted (7 day payment time-frame quoted)
Piggybank: Loans (1), months: 2. Interest Paid: £191.26. Weeks to respond: 5. Offer £187.61. Result Accepted (no details on payment time-frame)
MyJar: Loans (1), months 12. Interest Paid: £632.43 (outstanding balance of £658.21). Weeks to respond: 5+ (awaiting response)
UncleBuck: Loans 2, months 8. Interest Paid: £561.13. Weeks to respond: 5+ (awaiting response)
Lending Stream: Loans 4, months 8. Interest Paid: £1,348.33. Weeks to respond: 5+ (awaiting response)
Moneyboat: Loans 2, months 6. Interest Paid: £462. Weeks to respond: 5+ (awaiting response)
So far, of the £10,524.65 I’ve paid in interest, I’ve claimed back £3,013.27 with £843 written off. I’m confident with the Ferratum one that I’ll win that at FOS for another £4,000 approximately. The £3,013.27 represents 28.6% of the total interest paid.
Jo says
I’ve just had a reply from MS asking why I didn’t claim befor as it is over 6years! Not really sure what to write as didn’t realise I could claim till February.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Replying saying when (February) and how (friend told you, saw a Facebook ad from a Claims Company, whatever) you found out. There are no wrong answers, just say what happened to you.
John says
anyone have a link to claim back my tax after a redress ??
Sara (Debt Camel) says
See https://debtcamel.co.uk/ppi-payday-refund-get-back-tax/
Nick says
Hi thanks for the information detailed here it’s really helped!
So I was with SafetyNet Credit, constantly borrowing each month 300-600£ and then paying this off at the end of each month when I got paid, from 2017-2019.
They have got back to me and offered to pay me £860 as “you have a valid complaint” – £860 covers all interest paid and satuartory interest (8%).
My question is would you say this is reasonable? In the grand scheme of things they have kept me in a terrible position for the last two years and still paying for it now.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you checked how much interest you paid? Is there an outstanding balance?
Nick says
Hi Sara,
My outstanding balance is £200. They are going to offer full interest back (I worked it out correctly) and minus the £200 from what they are going to pay back.
Would you say this is reasonable? I called the FO and they can’t offer any advice as to what to do….
Sara (Debt Camel) says
For a “full” refund they should remove any interest that is included in the £200. If there is any.
If there isn’t, then this is a great offer, the best you could get.
Even if there is some interest in the £200 balance, it’s sounds like a pretty good offer.
Alex says
After sending off my old bank statements (for loans over 6 years) on Monday, it seems the money shop may be looking in to it.
I had a phone call from them asking why am I only just making a complaint. I just explained that I didn’t realise that I could complain until January of this year and it was only when I was researching mortgages for adverse credit that I found out I could complain.
Hopefully this is promising.
Jane says
Hi Alex,
I did the same after an initial rejection in December. I was planning to go to the FOS….all my loans were 2009/2010. I contacted PDUK again wit bank statements/further evidence and they upheld my complaint in full. All happened in one month…just waiting for payment.
Good luck and stay positive!
L says
Hi Sara
Just to share with everyone, I’ve had a good response from safetynet credit 4 weeks after my first email was sent.
I had increasing credit from them over a 2 year period up to an eventual maximum of £1000 which i was having to take back out every month after paying the interest.
I worked out from the info they sent that over the 2 years the interest totalled around £4,500 approx.
My final response from them was that originally with the smaller loaned amounts this was deemed affordable however they agreed that from the second year the significant credit limit increase was unaffordable. I was offered redress of £3,159.84 plus 8% statuatory interest leaving me with £2,329.04 once my current balance owed I’d deducted.
I’m very happy with this result and have accepted the offer. I have many more complaints in so fingers crossed for more good results.
Thanks very much Sara this site is brilliant.
Dave says
I’ll be monitoring this very closely as I’ve now raised a complaint with safety net regarding the same thing.
What I don’t get regards safety net compared to all other short term lenders is that they pride themselves on software which can monitor your bank account etc. If you’re like I was then There would have been countless pay day loans and credit card payments etc all leaving and going into my bank account so.surely that would flag up?
How did you find them to deal with in terms of your complaint?
Best of luck and keep us updated please.
L says
Hi Dave
They were very easy to deal with and as I said rheybreplied with a final response just 4 weeks after my first email.
My second email didn’t contain extra information it was the template letter from this site and they didn’t ask for payslips/bank statements etc.
I accepted the offer last Thursday and was told the money would be in my account a week on the Friday however it was in my bank a day early and they also separately refunded a monthly payment I had made whilst the complaint was on going.
When I log in my account is closed, I just need to make sure my credit report reflects this change.
Good luck.
Dave says
That’s excellent.
This site is an absolute godsend. I stumbled across it by mistake and never knew that the mess I had got myself into was due to irresponsible lending.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They often make good or OK offers but sometimes not, for no reason I can see.
I think they know because they could see your bank statements they are in a weak position to fight a case at the Ombudsman.
Dave says
That’s the route I went down with my complaint. So here’s hoping they’re forthcoming with an offer for me
Angela says
Adjudicator ruled in my favour against PDUK. They had until 29th March to reply.
But I haven’t heard anything. Anyone else been in same boat and how long does it usually take to get a response.thanks
Laurence says
I’m in the same boat. PDUK haven’t replied to my adjudicator in the time frame set out (agreed initially but now gone back with additional loans to refund). Speak to your adjudicator and ask them to chase up. You could also try some pressure on PDUK yourself saying why haven’t you responded. Your adjudicator should be helpful in chasing etc (mine certainly is)
It seems no one is more busy than PDUK at the mo (aside from maybe the administrators dealing with Wageday)
Stuart says
Hi I spoke with someone at the named company and he said they r running behind with responses to adjudicator and that usually is about 2 weeks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
See Only Me’s comment below for the timetable in his case
Claire says
Hi
Just looking for a bit of advice, I finally had a case picked up by an adjudicator at FOS service 8 weeks ago. I emailed him on 26th March for an update and he said he’d have a conclusion for me 2 weeks ago but apologised for the delay as they are really busy which I appreciate. I’ve sent him an email today to ask for an update which I thought he would get tomorrow but I’ve received an automatic reply saying he no longer works for the FOS. Do you think it will be passed onto someone else or put back in the queue.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you need to phone FOS tomorrow and ask.
Al says
I also got this response a while ago and it has now been around 8 months since I made two complaints to the ombudsman. I keep chasing them up by email once every 6 weeks or so but just keep being told that they’re waiting to assess it. It seems like a long time to me – has anyone else been waiting such a long time for a decision from the ombudsman?
Claire says
I spoke to the FOS this morning and my case has been passed to another adjudicator. They said I should have a conclusion by the end of this week but I’m not hopeful. My cases have been waiting for 6 months and one was picked up on Feb the one above and another one been picked up middle March but not heard back yet
Ellie says
Hi, I used a claims company to make a complaint regarding Clearaccount. I didn’t have full details of the number of loans but I embarrassed to say it was pretty much constant from around 2014 to 2018 probably over a 100 loans. My complaint didn’t list the loans as I didn’t have the information to hand. The initial account was under safety net and then moved to clearaccount and then onto Tappily as they said I was a good customer. I had several over payday loans and was in a spiral. I have just received a letter from the company on Tappily headed paper admitting they were wrong to lend to me. They offered to refund all interest payments and 8% interest and mark mark credit record accordingly. However they are only offering £1111.57 plus 8%. I have requested details of all payments made but a rough figure would probably be around £ 8-9k as I was borrowing roughly £1000 every month, paying it back and then borrowing. It looks to me as though they are only paying back interest on the Tappilyloans as I this was at the end of my time borrowing from them. Do I have to lodge a complaint for each portion (loans with safety net, loans with clearaccount and Tappily)individually as I really confused and they are not responding to my email. Any advice would be appreciated. Ellie
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You really need to ask the Claims Company where they sent the complaint to and if they think this offer is in final settlement of loans from all three companies, or if you can accept this and still carry on with complaints against the other two. Getting the full list of your loans back should help clarify things.
Baz says
Update on Myjar. I had 3 loans. 1200, 1600, 1200. Complained start september 2018. No reply from myjar at 8 weeks so sent to FO. Received final response from myjar at 22 weeks rejecting claim. 21/03/2019 picked up by adjudicator who ruled in my favor on loan 3. Myjar had until yday to respond. I emailed adjudicator yday afternoon for an update. He stated myjar had accepted his decision and he is waiting for them to come back clarifying some of the redress.
Anyone any idea how long it usually takes between were i am now until i see money in my account?
Paul says
Hi Sara,
Just stumbled onto this site today and thank god I have, after hearing all the adverts for reclaiming payday loans I was looking for a company to process my claimI accepted they would take a % from me. Now hopefully no need to pay anyone if I do get something back. Hopefully you can give me a little advice and if you think I have a case for a claim.
Sunny – 15 loans in 16 months total loans value £3600. Between March 2015 and June 2016.
Lending Stream – 17 loans in 12 months total loans value £2860. Between May 2015 and May 2016.
Quick Quid – 10 loans in 21 months total loans value £2250. Between August 2014 and April 2016.
Piggy Bank – 5 loans in 6 months total loans value £1135. Between August 2016 and February 2017.
Mr lender – 3 loans in 6 months total loans value £700. Between May 2016 and November 2016.
I also had loans from Wage Day Advance but have had an email today to say I was owed redress (that’s what got me looking into applying for these claims).
Do you think with the amount of loans issued to me I have a chance of having a redress claim? Each time I borrowed I never adjusted outgoings or incomings so surely as a responsible lender they should have done more checks and asked why I am borrowing again.
Thanks
Paul
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Those all sound like lenders to send complaints to. When you kept borrowing, the lenders should have looked more closely. And seen not just their loans but that your credit record was showing so many payday loans. Good luck!
Only Me says
Just checked my bank and my Payday UK refund was paid in on Friday 5/4/19, here are a few dates for others waiting for theirs if you want to compare.
November 2018 – complaint raised with Fos
11/2/19 – Adjucitator makes decision, PDUK have 2 weeks to respond
25/2/19 – PDUK fail to respond, adjucitator chases
11/3/19 – PDUK respond to adjudicator, accepting finding and provide details of settlement and changes to credit file.
I chase PDUK weekly after 2 weeks of waiting, involve adjudicator to chase also
29/3/19 – email from PDUK conforming paymebt will be made within 10 working days
5/4/19 – deposit made into bank at some point during the day -wasn’t there first thing in the morning (great timing as on last day of tax year so I can reclaim some of the 8% interest deduction :-))
Thanks to Sara and all commenters for their advice
Dan says
You done well less than three months wait with fos .Ive been waiting 9months on 6complaints then get 6letters telling me another two or three month wait. Blame my parents surname zafoski Always last in queues can’t think why.
GM says
That’s a good result. I suppose your loans were under 6 years? mine has been with the FOS since November and it hasn’t moved since.
Laurence says
That is a good result and gives us all hope with PDUK.
PDUK had until last Friday to respond back to my adjudicator. 10 of my 15 loans already agreed by PDUK (8 of the 10 over 6 years) to be refunded.
Additional info sent and 2 more added to be refunded. Hoping for some good news this week but if they are 2 weeks behind could be later this month.
Will keep updated
Dan says
Hi,
Advice needed please. After becoming trapped in the payday/short term lending cycle for years, I’m now 6 months/half way through a DMP. After finding this page, I’m now considering making affordability complaints to:
Sunny: 32 loans, Dec 14 to Sept 18, £7.7k
Lending stream: 50 loans, Jun 15 to Sept 18, £9.4k
Myjar: 3 loans, May 17 to Jun 18, £2k
Piggybank: 1 loan, Feb 18, £400
Poundstopocket: 3 loans plus 1 top-up, Nov 13 to Nov 17, £3.5k
Bamboo: 1 loan, May 18 £1.5k
Satsuma: 2 loans, Apr 18 to Jul 18 £1.3k
Should I mention in my letters that before these loans, I was reliant on Wonga loans, and since Sept 14 I’ve had a balance owing with them of £800. I received an email from Wonga in Oct 14 saying they shouldn’t have given the £800 loan to me (I was picking up £1200 p/m at the time) they never pursued me but it is still on my credit record as overdue.
Also, should I attach my credit report and bank statements to each complaint initially or only if they ask?
Advice gladly received :)
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
For Sunny, Lending Stream, Pounds to pocket use the template letters on this page.
For Myjar, Piggybank (that is your weakest case), Bamboo, Satsuma use the different approach on this page https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-large-high-cost-loans/. That works better for small numbers of large loans.
For anyone you started borrowing from in 2014/2015, mention your previous Wonga loans and the fact you had a defaulted Wonga loan showing on your credit record. If you only started borrowing from a lender in 2017 its ancient history so don’t bother.
re the Wonga default. the balance on this account should be set to zero and the default should be removed… I don’t know why Wonga didn’t do this in 2014. You can now ask the Administrators to do it – email customercomplaints@wonga.com and put CREDIT RECORD ERROR as the email subject as you do not want this to be put in a pile as yet another affordability complaint, because it isn’t. If you do not get a reply in a few days, ring them on 0207 138 8330.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest attaching a copy of your credit record to all complaints. Pounds To Pocket will ask for bank statements, so attach them if you have a digital copy – don’t pay for copying or post originals! Most of the rest won’t so don’t bother.
Dan says
Thank you Sara, I will go ahead with your advice. Also thanks for the heads up re Wonga I’ll try and get that sorted out.
Will inform of progress.
Gordon says
Hi all,
I hope you could help. I raised a complaint to Lending Stream back in July 2018 and by September 2018 I had a final response and referred this to the FOS. I’m now sitting nearly a lengthy period of time since I made a complaint to the FOS and they are being very awkward and distant about my complaint. I had asked for an update in Jan 2019 and was more or less told in a polite way not to contact them until they contact me. I believe after my calculations I paid over £3000 in interest to LS and expect that roughly that I’d get a portion of that back, I would be surprised if I got the full amount.
In regards to how long it’s taking for my complaint to be looked at and the fact I’ve not had any contact from an investigator or adjudicator I’m wonder if anyone has went through a similar scenario?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The wait time for an adjudicator has been 5-6 months often recently. You are now just over that. I suggest you phone FOS once a month to ask if there is any progress.
Nicki says
They are really busy at the minute. My complaints have been nearly 9 months and there is nothing delaying it except the sheer volume of complaints FOS are dealing with. I agree with Sara I ring them once a month and they are very nice, professional and even apologetic when I speak to them. It’s just a waiting game when it’s assigned to an adjudicator they will get in touch with you too
Gordon says
So I’ve called and spoken to the FOS this afternoon and again been given inaccurate & inconsistent information which has caused me to feel further let down by the organisation. They state again that they cannot provide me with an update and that they are now trialling a new process which they are trying to get used to. I spoken to an adjudicator this afternoon who states it still hasn’t been assigned and he has no idea when it will be. It has resulted in me having to raise a complaint with the FOS for their lack of updating and failure to be consistent. Everything I’ve experienced is absolutely not what they offer from info on their website. I don’t think my complaint against LS will be escalated up the queue any further than where it is. I guess I just have to wait and see but I guess I will contact once a month going forward.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am sorry you haven’t been given clear information.
“I don’t think my complaint against LS will be escalated up the queue any further than where it is.” to be honest you haven’t given any reason why your case should be escalated. You have not been waiting an unusually long length of time.
ClaireR says
Gordon.
Mine initial complaint was sent to LS in April 2018. Rejected at the end of May 2018,
picked up by the FOS in early August 2018, and still awaiting decision.
As Sara says it is not unusual to wait this long.
Fingers crossed for us all.
Laura says
Everyone on here shares their experience so I’m not sure why you expected any different. What inaccurate and false information were you given?It’s a free service and the staff are always really helpful, it’s frustrating but your case comes round eventually. I’ve just had a decision and I waS 14 months from submission, adjudicator and then ombudsman.
Nick says
Hello,
I have two questions. One relates to a claim I have open with Mr Lender. I took 3 loans out with them in 2013, and then not long after I took out a debt management arrangement with churchwood as I was struggling (I also had debt with Wonga). When I discussed this with them, they initially said they have got in contact with Lantern (who now have my plan, even though I finished paying this off years ago) and were informed I still owe 180 pounds. They said they would write that off for me as a gesture of goodwill. Upon me informing them that this is untrue, they said they recontacted lantern and found that yes I had paid it all off. Now they are offering me a payment of the exact amount they were offering to write off. This seems peculiar to me, as I don’t know where this number came from or why they thought I owed money in the first place. Should I accept this offer? Or refer to ombudsman? I feel like they know that I have a case and that’s why they are trying to offer me money?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How large were each of the loans from Mr Lender – what you borrowed, ignore what interest you paid? what were the gaps between the loans – the time from repaying loan 1 to taking loan 2? and from repaying loan 2 to taking out loan 3?
Nick says
Secondly, I have an open complaint with Lending Stream. I had something around 16 loans with them from end of March 2014 to October 2016. They finally responded to my complaint and offered refund on interest for two loans, totaling 330 pounds. These two loans were the 2nd and 3rd I had taken out with them. The 2nd loan was a week after I had taken the first one out, and the 3rd another two weeks later. When looking through my loan history I had several that were taken out just one month apart, and for a higher principal than the two they have agreed were unaffordable PUT TOGETHER. My question is, do I have a good case to take to the ombudsman? I have typed out a letter, and I was also using other payday lenders in this time. I have mentioned in the letter that my loan with Wonga defaulted and I was in a DMP.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It doesn’t sound like a good offer. I suggest you send this to the Ombudsman to look at.
PAYDAY HELL says
I have recently complained to a PAYDAY company following an initial complaint back in 2015. At the time they agreed to remove all negative data from my credit file which i agreed to as I was desperate to get a mortgage. I complained again in 17/18 and went to the FOS after the company told me i could. This complaint started as a result of all of the posts i have seen on this website. I had over 4 years worth of continuous loans with this company & recently complained again following a SAR & the threat of me taking them to court. They have responded offering me only 12 months worth of interest refunds, being the last 12 months of loans I took (13-14) on the basis that they say they should have realised after 3 years worth of continuous loans that I was relying on the loans too much. I believe I am due circa £7-8,000 in interest payments, they have offered me around £2k which I am not happy with. Given I have complained to the FOS on the 2nd complaint and they refused to uphold the complaint on the basis that i missed the deadline to complain following the PAYDAY company removing the negative data from my credit file on the 1st complaint in 2015 should i consider going to the FOS again, given that the company have made me an offer or are FOS likely to say this has already been complained about and therefore we cannot look at it? The PAYDAY company have also asked for a reason as to why i have not complained sooner and that some of the loans go back over 6 years.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
which lender is this?
PAYDAY HELL says
PDUK
Do I take the money and run?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
honestly yes. You accepted an offer in 2015. FOS wouldn’t let you reopen it 2 years later. Why would FOS now agree to this?
PAYDAY HELL says
What do you think to me going back and asking to consider the loans older than 6 years?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I have no idea. I am surprised they have offered you anything. I don’t know if they realise what has happened before.
Robert Bateman says
Hi Sara,
I’ve used your template letter and had a response back from Sunny after only a week, stating basically that they took all of my details into consideration, so if I have any concerns blah blah blah…
Am I correct in saying I should go straight ahead with the second template?
Also, what is the success rate with Sunny claims?
Thanks
Rob
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have Sunny sent you a final decision, telling you that you have the right to go to FOS now?
Robert Bateman says
Not yet. I just sent them the first template and that was the response, that there is nothing wrong with their lending practices.
Regards
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, second letter then. That can then form the basis of a FOS complaint if that is needed- Sunny seems to still be rejecting a or making poor offers on a lot of good cases.
John M says
Update on QuickQuid:
I took out my loans with Quickquid from Jan 2009 – December 2011. As you will all know anything over 6 years ago quickquid rejects. I passed it to the FOS and have waited 13 months but adjudicator has finally told Quickquid they should refund loans 4-10 which I think is reasonable as you can clearly see on loan 3 when I started to struggle.
I have calculated they need to refund £2000 in interest and 8% simple interest on top of this so I hope Quickquid accept adjudicator’s findings.
Any idea how long Quickquid take to respond to FOS?
I would only have Cash Genie and Wonga with administrators left if this goes through.
Thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“Any idea how long Quickquid take to respond to FOS?” sorry no – FOS has now pushed dozens – very possibly hundreds – of decisions to this point. QQ have to decide whether to accept all, accept most but challenge a few, or reject all so they have to go to the ombudsman. But this is a unique situation – what QQ “usually do” isn’t relevant any more.
M M says
Hey John. I am in pretty much identical situation to you. I got email today on 2010/11 loans and notification that adjudicator has given QQ until 22nd April to respond. It has also taken me 13 months to get to this stage. I expect them to bat it back. You say you calculated the interest. Doesnt the amounts in the letter that FOS are sending to quickquid already include the interest? Going by the amount in my letter that FOS are sending, I massively under miscalculated.
RY07 says
Similar here, adjudicator ruled in my favour on 8 of 11 loans, they gave QQ 14 days to respond, that deadline passed on Monday and I’ve still not heard anything from them or the ombudsman. I fully expect them to challenge it and it to go to ombudsman, I’ve already been waiting well over 2 years, what’s another 9 months…!
Just called for an update, QQ have requested an extra 3 weeks to consider my case…
Jonnym says
I am in the same boat and my adjudicatior said QQ are going over their deadlines due to the amount of claims they are having to deal with.
RY07 says
They asked for a 3 week extension to reply to mine, so should hopefully hear something by the 29th…
Chris says
Update, I sent my complaint to the FOS about Cashfloat on 5/3. It has today been picked up by an adjudicator who called me to discuss.
He hopes to have a decision within the next week or so
M M says
Hey John. I am in pretty much identical situation to you. I got email today on 2010/11 loans and notification that adjudicator has given QQ until 22nd April to respond. It has also taken me 13 months to get to this stage. I expect them to bat it back. You say you calculated the interest. Doesnt the amounts in the letter that FOS are sending to quickquid already include the interest? Going by the amount in my letter that FOS are sending, I massively under miscalculated.
Iain123 says
Slow down. I recently had an Adjudicator find in my favour against QQ and gave them 14 days to respond.
QQ got back quickly and rejected the Adjudicator’s decision, requesting an Ombudsman look at it. Another 6-9 months now.
My case was rock solid. QQ are stalling Adjudicator decisions.
Let us know what happens next.
D says
Any idea how long 247 moneybox take to pay out refunds?
Complaint response and offer received Thursday, sent acceptance same day. Received email from them requesting bank details on Friday but nothing since
Peter says
I’ve waited 2 weeks from accepting their offer and they just say it is being processed. They ignore emails and it’s not easy contacting them by phone.
D says
I called them this morning but the handler was useless. If I have replied to their email with my bank details it will get picked up and actioned. Couldn’t give timescales or anything just told me to wait…..
Laura says
Hello,
I’ve had the documents through from FOS support about my final decision regarding Casheuronet . The ombudsman wrote a big part about their post 2015 argument which says there argument only related to borrowing deferred loans from quick quid which wasn’t what I had and ripped them and their processes apart in general. I’ve signed the document saying I agree and sent it back. What is the next steps now timewise anyone as I haven’t had a FOS case so far. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So this is a Final Decision from an Ombudsman, not an adjudicator?
Laura says
From a ombudsman as they rejected the adjudicator decision but the ombudsman says in the final decision they are sending a generic response that’s unacceptable because it doesn’t apply to the cases and then spells out to them a code of conduct. Who knows if they listen. But really wonder what happens next?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What happens next is QQ pay you. 👍
No-one has not been paid by QQ at this point. The Ombudsman’s decision is legally binding, you could send the bailiffs round if they don’t comply.
And the good news is QQ are usually pretty quick to calculate the refund and pay it.
Baz says
This is the first post 2015 decision i have seen come through from ombudsman after seeing quite a few 6 year plus ones. That is good news!! I have been waiting since december to be picked up by ombudsman and undsrstand i could easily be waiting another 5-6 months, but that does seem like positive news going forward. Well done.
When was your case sent to ombudsman by adjudicator Laura?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The post-2015 cases are starting to accumulate. I posted links to several in early January on this page: https://debtcamel.co.uk/quickquid-payday-loan-refunds/
Laura says
Thanks Sara,
My decision was 3 1/2 weeks ago. I sent the documents signed back to FOS support on the day but haven’t heard a thing since. Wasn’t sure if I contact them
Back or casheuronet direct as this is my first case at FOS
Baz says
Further update on myjar. Adjudicator ruled in my favor on one loan. Gave myjar until 5th april to respond. Myjar accepted and today adjudicator sent through settlement details. I replied immediately accepting. Can anyone confirm how long Myjar tend to take to contact me and make payment?
Sharper says
Myjar rules in my favour of 2 out of 6 loans. There is a question mark on loan 4. They have said they are refunding the interest on two of the loans and have said I can take loan 4 to the ombudsman. I accepted this last Thursday and still waiting for it to appear in my bank (the email said it takes 10-15 days).
Joseph says
Hi everyone, just a heads up about my lending stream one. Adjudicator decision on 18-03-19, they agreed with him on 29-03-19 and I’ve woken up today with £306.88 in my bank account and £1059.32 wiped from my outstanding loan. So all in all 11 days for Lending Stream to pay out (just in case anyone was wondering if you guys are waiting too).
Samantha Barker says
Hi,
New to all this so since 2016 I’ve spiralled with payday debt and pay £690 a month on loans and payday loans.
Currently on maternity leave and earn £601 so I’ve put in complaints to the following-
Sunny – 18 loans since 2016 – all closed
Peachy – 2 loans – one active one closed
Satsuma – 3 loans – all open
Do you think I have a case?
Also I’ve got
Drafty but unsure how to go about it.
118 Money but again unsure if I have a case
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You have to stop the cycle of borrowing to repay other debts, whatever the cost to your credit record, this has to end or you will be trapped in this nightmare forever. Even when your maternity leave ends, you will start to have extra childcare costs so that is unlikely to solve your problem.
Affordability complaints may get you some money refunded – especially from Sunny – and get existing balances reduced which will be a big help. But these complaints can take very money months to go through, so you have to get yourself into a “safe space” financially where you are only paying what you can afford while the complaints proceed.
So I suggest you contact StepChange https://www.stepchange.org/how-we-help/debt-management-plan.aspx and ask them to set up a DMP. This may be temporary if your complaints go well!
Then cancel the CPAs/DDs to all the lenders and pout in complaints.
Use the letters on this page for Sunny, Drafty (not quite payday loans but this approach will work fine for them), Peachy and Satsuma.
Use the letter on this other page https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-large-high-cost-loans/ for 118 Money.
Good luck, take it steadily and you will end up in a much better place.
Paul says
Update from me:
I referred 4 cases to the FOS back in October 2018 (MYJAR, Sunny, Lending Stream & PaydayUK). 2 cases were picked up by an adjudicator 2 weeks ago (MYJAR &
Sunny).
Adjudicator has ruled in my favour on all 4 loans with MYJAR with MYJAR apparently strangely going back to the adjudicator before he’d even made a decision offering to refund on loans 2-4. The adjudicator then made his decision and went back to MYJAR telling them they need to refund all 4, that was a week ago, just waiting on their acceptance.
Sunny – I had 15 loans with them, Adjudicator has ruled in my favour on loans 5-15 last week. Just waiting to hear if Sunny accept that decision.
Hopefully the Lending stream and PaydayUK cases are picked up soon but I’m very happy so far! How often do the payday loan companies reject the decision?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If Myjar or Sunny don’t respond to the adjudicator within the time given, you can give them a nudge by leaving a bad review on Trust Pilor saying they are ignoring an adjudicator at the Financial Ombudsman.
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/sunny.co.uk and https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/myjar.com
Don’t do this now, keep this in reserve for if they don’t reply.
Baz says
When adjudicator says myjar have 4 weeks to contact you and arrange payment should you wait for this or call or email them immediately to confirm payment details etc??
Paul says
The adjudicator emailed me yesterday to let me know that MyJar have agreed with his decision. He said that MyJar have been told to contact me to arrange the redress.
Still waiting on Sunny but I’ll leave the negative review if they don’t reply to the adjudicator; thanks for that Sara.
Jen says
Hi Sara after 1st complaint to QQ in may 17 finally got adjudicator decision nearly 2 yrs later, also received update today frm frp advisory details of every creditor, I’m on the list still don’t know what % of what they have left we will get hopefully not 2 much longer
Louise says
Hi I received the same letter re Wonga administration with my name and amount on it,do you know what happens next or how much percent we would be getting.Thankyou..
Sara (Debt Camel) says
For Wonga administration see https://debtcamel.co.uk/wonga-has-stopped-issuing-loans/
Natasha says
Hello
Would really appreciate some advice. I made a complaint to Sunny 8 weeks ago. I had 7 loans with them, all taken
between November 2015 and November 2016. There is still an outstanding balance on the final loan as I entered into a DMP early 2017 due to payday loan debt.
The total amount borrowed from all 7 loans was £2650 and the total amount repaid was £3910.98.
Sunny have partially upheld my complaint and have stated this in their email
‘To put things right, we propose to do the following:
· As you did not repay more than you borrowed, there is no refund due;
· Amend your credit file by removing the facility/specific loans to reflect the above.’
I’m a bit confused by the first point as with interest I did repay more than I borrowed. Would I be more successful if I went to FOS?
Any advice would be really appreciated.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did Sunny say that they thought the 7th loan should not have been given? the 6th? or what?
What are the numbers for the 7ths loan – how much did you borrow – ignore interest? And how much have your repaid? Has the loan been sold to a debt collector?
Natasha says
No they haven’t mentioned any of the loans. Their email states
‘At the point at which your usage extended beyond 12 months, that is, from when you had been charged interest on your loans for 12 months onwards, it is possible that you may have started to become reliant on the credit. As a result, from this point in time the lending to you may not have been sustainable.’
And then they state they will make right by doing what I said above.
The final loan was taken in November 2016 for £800. It was sold to a debt collector in March 2017 with a balance of £1270. So far I have paid £580 off it.
Also, I have just noted this at the very bottom of the email
Important: If the total amount you have repaid is not greater than the total capital outstanding under the loan(s), and you ask the FOS to review our decision and they require us to overturn our decision, you will not be entitled to a refund of any monies paid. However if you have made payments in respect of any loan(s) you had with us, to a third party debt purchaser please provide evidence of this.
Sorry to be dim but what does that mean?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think they are just talking about the last loan, which is why I asked for the numbers on that loan – you haven’t yet repaid what you borrowed.
I think this case is well worth sending to FOS. The last loan was a large one.
Dean says
Hi Sara,
Been waiting for a the fos to look at my case which is for Sunny and is 8 months now. Is this the norm? It was for over 30 loans and borrowrd over £30k but they still are not reviewing it.
Is there anything I can do to speed things up?
Also my QQ case was held in my favour in Oct but still not heard back as they rejected adjudicators finding. None over 6 years old
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did Sunny make you any form of offer?
Dean says
No offer say they did nothing wrong :s
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok I have just looked at your previous posts. As I said 6 months ago, bankruptcy could be a much better option for you. But you wanted to wait in a DMP for a couple of years while you see what refunds you may be able to get. So you are in a DMP now? And you have stopped gambling? If Yes and Yes, you are actually in a safe situation. Just sit back and try not to check your emails more than once a day!
Dean says
Haha thanks
African Queen says
Helo All,
I just wanted to provide an update on Ferratum – in case anyone is waiting. The FOS ruled in my favour on Monday. I submitted my complaint at the end of January. I returned the acknowledgement form today. I then emailed Ferratum to ask when the refund would be processed.
They promptly responded to say that I should send them my bank details and the money will be with me in 24hrs. Much to my delight, the money is in my account already. Just under £2K. It has taken less than a day.
Let’s hope anyone waiting on Ferratum have a similar experience.
Good Luck x
Dan says
Ferratum are by far the easiiest company to deal with.Its apparent by your minimal wait at fos they(fos) know it too..Whilst I am very pleased for you and your result its yet more evidence of a very uneven process that appears to be taking place at fos .Certain companies complaints are allowed to just sit there .I would without having to look be 99 per cent certain that Ferratum settled all complaints at adjudicator level.
John says
Agree with you .Going for low hanging fruit.I’ve been waiting 9months on 6complaints. Ferratum paid me in full within 6weeks of complaining .Can’t really blame fos for going on easy cases .Bit like when you get a big shop and let the person with a pint of milk go first .Mind you there are limits even to that.
Siobhan says
Have to agree with you on that. My Ferratum complaint has been picked up in less than 3 weeks by an adjudicator, yet my Money shop and PDUK ones have been with them since November and have heard nothing! They are definitely sifting out the easy ones!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
it’s certainly not 99% as an inspection of the Ombudsman Decisions site (https://www.ombudsman-decisions.org.uk/) will show. But compared to some larger lenders, Ferratum is obviously behaving rather better.
James says
Hi,
I received an email saying Sunny were looking in to it for me then 2 days later got an email about a data request which had all my loans in it.
Do I just proceed with the second email now or wait for them to respond first?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh send them the second email now. They may not read it, but that will then form the basis for your Ombudsman complaint, as I am sorry to say Sunny don’t have a great track record of making good offers at the moment.
Susan Busuttil says
I sent a complaint email to Uncle Buck on Friday. Today they have responded asking me to call them to discuss or provide my new phone number and they will call me.
I do not want to do this as have no idea what to say. How should I respond please?
I had a few loans with them and defaulted owing £146 for which they want to take me to court for £305 But their solicitors have put this on hold.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You don’t have to talk to them if you don’t want. Just reply that you find it difficult to use the phone as it makes you anxious but you are happy to discuss your complaint by email.
Can you say what the exact situation is with the debt collector’s solicitors:
Have you received a Claim Form from the court – a court case has been started.
Or just a Letter Before Action/Claim – this is a letter with several attachments described here, https://debtcamel.co.uk/letter-before-claim-ccj/ – a court case is imminent.
If neither, then this is early stage and no court case is coming up.
Susan Busuttil says
Hi Sara,
I may have received a claim form but can’t be sure. I have had some quite serious health issues this last 2 months. I have received an email from their solicitors and have advised them of my health issues and they have now put my account with another team though not sure what that means.
I have replied asking that all communication is in writing.
Would you recommend sending the letter before claim?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you can’t send the letter before claim – the solicitor has to. Can you copy out what the email from the solicitor says?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you need to to talk to National Debtline urgently about your situation and whether a court case has already started. Phone them on 0808 808 4000 they are open Saturday morning.
Nats says
Hi, could someone post the link of how to claim back tax on refunds received? thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
https://debtcamel.co.uk/ppi-payday-refund-get-back-tax/
Alex says
I have checked my noddle report and there is a loan from pounds to pocket that I took out in 2012 showing £132 still owing.
They keep updating my noddle account saying that I have missed 6 payments.
If I get this paid off, when will this be removed from my credit report.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
6 years after you pay it …
But P2P should have added a default date in 2012 or 2013 – you can ask them to do that now, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/debt-default-date/. If this is done the debt disappears 6 years after the default date.
But if you had previous loans from P2P, a better option may be to make an affordabilty complaint. – that could get you refund for previous loans, wipe this debt and clean your credit record.
Alex says
Thanks Sara
Have emailed them a complaint saying they should have defaulted me 3-6 months after the last payment which was March 2013.
I have settled it and asked them as a gesture of goodwill, for not actually registering the default in the first place, to just completely remove my account with them from my credit report (not just close it)
Phil says
Have now had final responses from:
Quick Quid/ Cash Euronet = Rejected
Piggy Bank = Rejected
Satsuma (Provident) = Rejected
Safteynet credit = Upheld
Amigo = Rejected
Waiting on =
Sunny
Mr Lender
Lending Stream
My Jar
Swift Sterling
Pay Day Express
Uncle Buck
247
WDA – understand in administration
Wonga – understand in administration
Had hoped I was going to be more successful with the complaints. Thought I’d covered every base and had done everything I could to be successful from initial complaint.
D says
Phil, have you received your refund from 247?
I have been waiting a week now since accepting and providing account details.
No reply to emails and when I call they just say it will be processed in due course
Peter says
Same as yourself, I’ve been waiting 2 and a half weeks now I chased them this morning but the same nonsense as we are still processing and you need to wait.
Phil says
Ha My mistake, still waiting on 247 Moneybox.
Complaint was upheld from SafetyNet Credit
Steve says
Does anyone happen to know which company uses Wescot Credit Services for debt collection? I’ve never heard of them, but they’ve set up a Direct Debit with my bank and I have NO idea how much for, who they’re collecting for etc.
I’ve cancelled the DD and emailed them for further info, but just wondered if anyone else has heard from them?
GM says
Many do. i had them looking after Lloyds and phone companies
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It could be anyone.
Steve says
Thanks Sara – long shot I know haha.
What concerns me though is that they set up a direct debit without even contacting me in the first place? Is that usual?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
no… you should have had to consent to it being set up…
Cristina says
Hi!
I’ve raised complaints for irresponsible lending against all my lenders because my situation is very bad, I am rolling in a cycle of debts because of them. One of them, My finance club, has responding me saying that at the time when they gave me the loan my credit report was showing nothing to worry about and they thought I can afford the loan ( £400 for 1 month). Which is not true, I have overdraft, credit cards and maybe 10 payday loans. So, they said that I need to pay the loan when is due date otherwise I will have to pay charges of 0,8/day.
I forgot to say that this is the first time I took a loan with this lender, what should I do? Replying them with some additional documents ( which I don’t think will help) or go straight to Ombudsman?
Thank you,
Cristina
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send them a copy of your Noddle credit report and point out they should have seen you had 10 other short term high cost loans at the time you applied. Ask them to remove the interest so you only repay what you borrowed or you will be sending it to the Financial Ombudsman.
Their threat to carry on adding interest will soon end as they are not allowed to add more in interest and charges than the amount you borrowed, so it can’t escalate to enormous numbers.
Don’t forget to cancel the CPA to them (and anyone else you still owe money to).
Link says
A put in a complaint to Avant. To my knowledge they never replied to me but I then forgot about it. I contacted them to reopen the complaint last week and they informed me they replied back when I made the original complaint. I have checked and double checked and triple checked my inbox and I have never had a reply to my complaint from Avant. They are adamant it was sent to the correct email address. Because this was over 6 months ago I may have problems referring to the FOS. However they said they may open the case under an extraordinary circumstance. Has anyone had a similar situation happen to them?
Also, is the web complaint form still available or do you have to download the form and email it off now?
Thanks folks!
Jenn says
Hi Link,
I had the exact same thing with. When I referred to Fos, avant told the adjudicator that they had emailed months ago with a reply but I had never got it. Maybe try contacting Avant again and asking them to resend the email and give them your email again and spell it letter for letter as for some reason they have difficulty sending to correct addresses. Hopefully that way you can get it sorted out quicker.
Link says
Hi Jenn,
I did that and they sent through an attachment of their final response. Not sure where I stand from here.
Liam says
Hi,
I sent QQ a request using your template email asking for all my loan details. They actually sent a pile of data later on that day, but it never seemed to be an actual reply to the complaint email, or included payments. It seemed to just be the contracts etc.. Shall I proceed to sending the second email asking for the interest back?
I am currently waiting for my bank (RBS) to send out the last 10 years of statements via post.
My plan was to go through all the loan details from QQ and crosscheck all the payments in my bank and then send it with the second email. The noddle credit report doesn’t really show much info to be honest.
It appears I used QQ from 2009 to about 2015. Mostly with loans rolling over. I was also using Wageday Advance around the same time. The only reason I managed to get out this cycle was eventually getting a better paid job and sorting my finances out. Up until then, even though I was working, I was still heavily reliant on both QQ and WDA to make it through the month.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you know enough to write the second email now. If they refuse they look at loans over 6 years old, send it straight on to the Ombudsman.
Liam says
Thanks,
I will wait till I get the bank statements and go through it all before sending it to the with precise figures.
I think I will have paid upwards of £7000 in interest over the whole period.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
QQ do know how much interest you have paid… but it’s up to you when you feel ready to write the full complaint
Liam says
Hi again,
I received a spreadsheet today from QQ. It has genuinely astonished me.
I started using QQ in September 2009 and finally stopped using them in October 2016, I was pretty much using it every month. Or with the flexi loan, taking one out straight away once it was paid off.
From a calculation of the interest paid on the spreadsheet, I paid a total of £16719.65 in interest over the course of 7 years.
Astounding stuff. I’m gobsmacked at how much I paid them.
Kamila says
Dear Sara
I sent an email to Moneybox 247 in 2017 asking them to provide me with details of my loans with them, they never replied and I never chased them up because I was dealing with other pending complaints and the FO. I decided to email them on Monday to reopen my case and today I have received an email form 247 Moneybox with a list of all my loans and they are asking me “what would you see as a full and final settlement to your complaint? By this we mean what would resolve the complaint for you.”
So, between June 2014 and May 2011 I had 31 loans paying them £1,809 interest.
How much, do you think I should ask for? I have rejected the offer from the WDA before and 2 years later they went into administration after the FO ruled in my favour… I really don’t want to go through the FO again. Maybe someone here had any dealings with Moneybox 247 and can give me any advice.
Chris says
Hi Kamila,
I had 8 loans from 247 over 12mths. They sent the same email to me. I replied stating that I felt at least 4 were unaffordable. They replied with a settlement offer of £345 plus 8% interest refunding 3 loans which were the largest. I felt this was fair.
However, one week since accepting their offer and providing bank details, still no sign of payment despite chasing them!
Mel says
Dear Sara,
Thank you for all your hard work and for creating this brilliant page, which I came across last year. I successfully received refunds from Wageday Advance (£3800) and Lending Stream (£600) last year. My claim with Cash Genie was upheld too, however they went into administration. I do expect a very small refund later this month, though.
In April Iast year I forwarded my complaints regarding Payday UK and Quick Quid to the FOS. FOS has upheld my claims with Payday UK and Quick Quid. I am now waiting for their responses (and transfers). Fingers crossed!
This has been a long process, however absolutely worth it. Thank you for this brilliant site, Sara!
Thanks
T says
Hello,
Does anyone have any experience of complaints with cashfloat. Spoke to an adjudicator yesterday who has written to the business and upheld 3/6 of the loans. Does anyone know how long it takes cashfloat to respond?
I also queried an update on my complaint against lendingstream which is in the queue for an adjudicator. He said that Gain (Lending stream) had provided information on their application process and all cases were on hold until this information had been worked through and could be applied consistently. Not sure what that means exactly but I’m assuming a much longer wait period.
Dan says
You only have to look at how few lending stream complaints are going through the ombudsmen for decisions to know they are being allowed to procrastinate at every opportunity.there are thousands of lending stream cases in the system yet only 3/4 cases a week being dealt with its a disgrace as is quick quid .Question is how long will the fos allow themselves to be treated with such disdain ??
Paul says
Hi,
I have had a response from Sunny saying they will Uphold part of my claim. I had 45 loans but they are only refunding from the 31st loan as they say they started offering my more loan.
They have said they will refund £730.99 this includes 8% interest. Should I accept or go to the Ombudsman. Please advise.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Over what period were these 45 loans? That looks like a low amount for a refund from 14 loans… were many of the loans small or very short term? Normally at FOS you would get a refund far sooner than the 31st loan.
” they are only refunding from the 31st loan as they say they started offering my more loan.” not sure what that means, could you copy out the part of their reply which says this?
John says
Hi
I submitted a claim to Ferratun. They have come back to me today and offered £130 to bring the complaint to a speedy ending.
As a responsible lender all applications are credit checked and subject to our own lending criteria. On the details available at the time we were happy to lend.
In order to bring this matter to a speedy conclusion, we have reviewed the complaint and in full and final settlement we would like to offer a refund of £130.00. If you provide bank details and sort code this will sent via faster payment.
I do not know how many loans or interest I paid.
Has anyone had this before if so would it be worth renegotiating their offer ?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You need to ask for a list of your loans and what interest you paid, say you cannot consider their offer until they send this. £130 could be great or it could be terrible! You can’t negotiate without knowing the facts.
John says
Hi Sarah
Loan 1 – 300 – interest paid 28
Loan 2 – 250 – interest paid 60
Loan 3 – 300 – interest paid 55
Above loans i paid all early
The following loans i struggled with
Loan 4 – 300 – interest paid 184
Loan 5 – 600 – interest paid 484
I do want a quick settlement to be honest.
Do you think its worth giving them a call and see if they would be willing to reconsider their offer? Has anyone here ever had any success ?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what were the gaps between the loans – the time from repaying loan 1 to taking loan 2, loan 2 to 3 etc?
The last loan was so much larger that Ferratum should have looked at it more closely. Unless any of the gaps were of several months, I think you have a good case for asking for refund of £484 for the last loan. You could say you would be happy to accept that as an offer without any extra 8% interest in the the interest of getting a speedy resolution to your complaint.
Liam says
How does the 8% interest repayment work on the redress?
Is it 8% of the total per year, 8% of the total amount of interest paid, or 8% of the interest you paid in that year – then 8% added for each year on top?
Also, is it only during the period of the loans, or is it up to the date of the final settlement. Say the loans were from 2009, would that be 8% added from 2009 till 2019?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It looks at when you paid interest that is being refunded. If you paid the interest in 2009, you would then get 8% per year added until the final settlement date. this 8% is not compounded so you would get roughly 80% more.
Liam says
Thanks for the reply. I’m just trying to work out my figures in case I’m offered a settlement.
So to make it easier for me to try and work these out.
Say the interest on a loan in 2009 was £100, to keep it nice and clean. Would that be :
£100 + 8% = £108 + 8% = £116.64 + 8% = £125.97 and so on for the 10 years?
Liam says
Also, if there was interest on a second year, again say £100 to keep it clean.
£100 + 8% = £108 for the first year, then adding the second year interest of £100 making it £208, then adding 8% for that year… and so on?
Even a quick look at my own figures, if I was to get redress from QQ, I think the total amount could be above £25K.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, that is compounding – giving you interest on interest. The 8% added is “simple” interest. So you get
£100 + 8% for each year = £100 + £80 + £80 + £80 … = £180.
Liam says
Gotcha. Thanks for explaining.
Alex says
The Money Shop have not upheld my complaint for 1 loan in 2015 after sending them bank statements showing my usual bill payments were just about covered by my wage and that I often went into my unauthorised overdraft.
I have emailed them back to say that although I am disappointed, I have asked them to consider removing the default from my credit report in exchange for not referring my complaint to the FOS.
If they come back and say no, I will raise my complaint to the FOS.
Joseph says
I tried doing exactly the same with Money Boat. They rejected flat out so bad to send to FOS. I would say you have no chance of getting it removed. Best thing you can do is send to FOS and give them as many reasons as you can for them to upheld. Worked for me I won a case against money boat over only 1 loan.
Alex says
Thank you
I have decided to submit to the FOS, there is no point in holding it up.
How long was your complaint with the FOS?
Dan says
Hi, does anyone know what happened to My Mate loans? I received my bank statements from 2014 onwards and notice I’ve made payments to them.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They changed their name to Different Money and then they went into administration. Talk to the Financial Ombudsman to see if it is worth making a complaint about them.
Dave says
I’m struggling with both myjar and piggy bank.
Both have rejected my claims and now.looks like I will have to go to.the ombudsmen with regards to them both.
Piggy bank claimed that if I did try and go to the ombudsmen then There was the chance that I could be done with fraud as they say if my claim was true that I would have obtained the loans fraudulently.
I’ve an ombudsmen case pending at the moment for a total of 4! Loans over two years with landing stream however it’s been around 5 months since that was opened and I’ve now got a live claim.sitting with safetynetcredit regarding a total of 86 withdrawals in 9 months with them.
I’m.glad I’ve turned my life round but i was totally in the grip of these things due to a gambling problem.that spiralled from debts started with these loans.
I can’t believe I stumbled on this site by mistake and it’s at least giving me a fighting chance.
I wish everyone on here the best of luck with their claims
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is a standard reply from Piggybank. So far as I know, no lender has ever done anything after making a threat such as this about fraud. I can’t guarantee you won’t be the first, but let’s say it looks very unlikely… If you repaid the loans from them it is very hard to see how you could have intended to defraud them!