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?
Just heading home says
Anyone had any success getting refunds from Drafty ?
I have been in Ombudsman queue for 1.6 years.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
start phoning the Ombudsman every couple of weeks to ask about progress (or lack of it)!
Linds says
Hi,
Can anyone help?
I have put in a complaint against Safety Net Credit, I’m just wondering how I cancel the CPA?
Thank you
Linds
R says
Just contact your bank OR you can change your bank login details. When they try to connect to your account, it will fail.
SIMON127 says
Just send SNC an email saying you wish to cancel the CPA.
I did this when I submitted my complaint which they acknowledged, they usually freeze the interest on the outstanding account.
Expect to wait the full 8 weeks for the full and final response – but they do tend to uphold a lot of complaints – I accepted a recent offer of £1.4k.
Good luck with your complaint.
Linds says
Thank you I will do that.
Has anyone had any luck with SNC or do they normally have to go the Ombudsman?
R says
Mine was a few years ago, but they offered to wipe my balance of £1100+, which equated to the interest I had paid, so I took it. There’s a few success stories on here and the main argument, with SNC, is that they can see your bank account so should be aware when you’re in financial trouble. No other lender has this advantage (which, in a way, is a disadvantage for them).
Linds says
Thanks R
That’s good news, I would be happy with the same result you got, it’s just a circle you can’t seem to get out of, I pay it off then have to borrow again. Fingers crossed!
Linds
Lucy says
Hi Colette,
Thanks for sharing. If you don’t mind me asking when did you send your complaint to the financial ombudsman?
My complaint is currently waiting to be allocated to a second adjudicator. The first adjudicator concluded in July that they would be unable to assess my complaint, due to the first facility which I had with sunny being a draw down similar to what you mentioned.
Now waiting for a second adjudicator who is experienced with such facilities. Hopefully it will be sorted soon.
Terry says
I’ve just received an email from MMP financial, swift sterling, offering a refund on loans 10 to 20 at 2150… In my previous experience the first few loans are not refunded therefore it will prob be an additional 6 loans plus 8% if I go ombudsman. Around 900 I’d imagine. Plus they’ll refund in 3 business days. Any thoughts?
D says
If the 900 isn’t a huge loss to you nowadays then I’d take it. If you’re still struggling I’d go all the way.
Best of luck
Terry says
Thanks. I decided to accept. I also have LS waiting to respond to the adjudicator who ruled ~£2500 in my favour and sunny who they also ruled in my favour with a figure around £3000. So hopefully most of this tied up in the next month, with the exception of Ferratum and MyJar which I’m still waiting on.
D says
When lending stream pay the redress, do they email you or does it just appear in your bank account?
Thanks
J says
Hi D – mine was last month and it just appeared in my bank account on the 15th day of the 28 at around 7.30 pm. The email summary landed shortly after and included the tax deducted details etc. Hope this helps. J
L says
That’s handy to know, I’m on day 14 today 🙄
D says
Thanks J
I’m at day 21. There seems no actual process with them at all so it’s very hard to work out where they’ll go with it and who they pay next.
J says
That’s a long wait for sure. Let’s hope they honour the 28 day commitment; if not the FO can get in contact on your behalf and kick them into action. Good luck, it will be worth it in the end! J
Kyle says
Hi Sarah,
If QQ come back saying that they disagree with adjucdicator decision and I take it further to the ombudsman for final decision,how much longer will this take?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t know. It used to be a long wait, but QQ is now settling several thousand cases by accepting adjudicator decisions it had previously rejected. So the Ombudsman queue just got a lot shorter!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If anyone reading this is in a DMP including an loan from Everyday Loans, I would be interested to know.
GM says
Update from QQ/FOS:
Complaint sent to QQ is SEP ’18 (9 loans of which 5 were consecutive and going back to 2010), rejected by QQ 8 weeks later and sent to FOS in Nov ’18. Sat in FOS’s jurisdiction pile until 22/08/19 when the adjudicator picked up my case and upheld loans 4 to 9 and gave QQ until the 29th for a response.
Adjudicator emailed me today saying that QQ agreed!
Things are definitely moving…
Iain123 says
Well done. Things start moving quickly at this stage, should have your money soon.
C says
Hi Sara,
After waiting 8 weeks SNC have partially upheld my complaint and they have refunded me a tiny bit of redress and agreed to remove all the missed payments off my file which hurt it in 2017. hopefully they don’t take long to pay out!
I just want to say a big thank you for helping us all.
Sarah says
Hi can I ask what percentage you were offered in redress? You say tiny. My 8 weeks is due up on Monday so is be interested to see how much they may offer as others have been offered good amounts I seem to recall
CJ says
hi ,
I have had 83 loans in total over several different lenders – quickquid, my jar, wageday advance, cash on go, sunny, mr lender, piggy bank, lending stream to name the majority.
I have paid every singe one back but on occasion I have had to borrow to pay them back, both borrowing £3,000 from family and borrowing from other lenders to pay back payments.
all the lending companys have rejected my claims through resolver and said they were affordable, I have recently sent off to FO , I have my transunion report and all my bank statements marked with each loan, how many loans and what amount wach loan was for, these are dated from 2016 – 2019.
what is the likelihood of a successful claim?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Each complaint to the Ombudsman is about an individual lender. So it will depend on what loans you had from lender X whether you are likely to have a successful claim against lender X.
But that is a lot of loans and I will be surprised if you don’t win some of the complaints!
Of the lenders you have mentioned, only wageday advance is unusual – they are in administration and FOS will not look at this complaint. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/wageday-advance-wda-administration-sale-morses-club/
Colin Brown says
Hi All,
I am shortly about to make complaints against the following companies:-
Likely Loans
My Jar
Swift Sterling &
Lending Stream
Please can you share your experiences with these companies so I can gain an understanding of what to expect.
Cheers,
Col.
GM says
I complained again MyJar in Sep ’18, hich i had loans from 2012-14. They rejected 8 weeks later and refused to look at loans over 6 years older. They made a paltry offer which I refused. Forwarded to the FOS in November 2018 and it was picked up by an adjudicator in May 2019 who upheld most loans and Myjar agreed.
R says
Hi Colin,
I have experience of 2 of the companies you’ve listed.
MYJAR partially upheld my claim, but for a random 4 loans which were ones of the lowest value (coincidence that?). I tried to compromise with them, to wipe the interest on the final loan, which would’ve meant a modest refund of £130 and the account done and dusted. They rejected this, so I went to the FOS, who upheld loans 5-18 (of 18). The real irony here is that they ended up having to wipe the interest on the final loan anyway (which was my compromise offer they rejected) and refund me 10 times the compromise amount, which was over £1300+. The good thing was that they agreed with the adjudicator decision, so it didn’t need to go to an ombudsman.
LIKELY LOANS, have only just recently rejected my complaint, at the 6 week stage. However, it appears that they’re rejecting a lot of complaints outright (go to refunds from large loans section on here). I have sent it to the FOS, but anticipate a long wait. They fed a lot of spiel about the fact that as a bad credit lender, they basically don’t need to consider defaults, CCJ’s etc. when granting loans.
Hope this helps?
R
Mike_p says
From my experience:
Swift Sterling – Fairly good. They responded to my initial complaint with a good offer, effectively refunding the interest on the second loan out of four. They made the offer on the very last day of the 8 weeks but after I accepted it everything was sorted in a couple of hours. They also responded to my initial complaint the same day I made it accepting my request to freeze the loan while they investigated.
Lending Stream – Horrendous to deal with and do everything they can do delay things. They rejected my initial complaint, the FOS upheld it but Lending Stream didn’t respond for 4 weeks despite the adjudicator giving them 2 weeks. They eventually accepted but I’ve been waiting for close to the 28 days for my refund (other people have reported the same). Both I and the adjudicator emailed them numerous times asking for updates but they completely ignored both of us. I phoned them a few times as well, they were pleasant enough but completely non commital and went straight on to their script when I asked if they could speed anything up.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if you had a small number, possibly one, loan from one of those lenders and it was a large one, use the template on this other page: https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-large-high-cost-loans/
Joseph says
Anyone help??? I’ve had a lot of stuff removed from my credit file, and I’m at an ombudsman now for my Capital One credit card. I can’t seem to prove anything that I was in difficulty because everything around the time of my credit increase has disappeared from my credit file!! I don’t have any old copies! Anyone know what to do??
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh this is why I tell people to take a copy of their credit record at the start of their complaints! Have you never had to send this to the Ombudsman before?
Joseph says
I have one from early as January this year, but QQ, P2P and other lenders have vanished, and if they are still on it, it’s just blank as in where the balances should be each month. Am I screwed? This is the very last complaint I have with the FOS.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you never sent FOS a earlier credit report?
Joseph says
It’s strange – I have one from January before any of the complaints were resolved but they as I said above seem to have vanished? No information there whatsoever, even before they were resolved via the FOS.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
But you had sent a copy to FOS? If so they will still have it.
Shaz says
Hi, I’ve only just come across this. I’m not sure if I can get any money back or if it’s worth doing. Can anybody with more insight into this advise please?
I’ve always paid back the loan within a month or so and made an “early repayment” so that I can cut down the amount of interest they charge. I’ve used the “top up” function to borrow more that I’d originally asked for quite often. When applying for the loans I’ve always entered values for outgoings which are roughly 25% of my total income. I guess this implies that I will be able to make the full payments without any issue so I’m unsure if I can actually claim anything.
Totals borrowed in the last 5 years (approx):
Quickquid – £6000
Pounds to Pocket – £3000
Sunny – £4000
Total = £13000
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That’s a lot of loans. Even if you put your outgoings down as lower than they were, after the first few loans the lenders should have realised something odd was happening, or you wouldn’t need to keep borrowing. I suggest you send complaints to all three lenders.
Shaz says
Thanks, watch this space.
Shaz says
I’ve had a reply from Elevate Credit and Quick Quid, but not Pounds to Pocket. Do Elevate Credit represent Pounds to Pocket as well as Sunny?
Sunny have provided a link I can download my data from and I have replied asking whether I should expect another email or if that is their final response. Quick Quid asked for more information and I sent some context, no bank statements or payslips though. I take it I’m now waiting for an offer and then on to step 3?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Pounds to Pocket are part of QQ, not Sunny.
Emily says
Lending stream were told that 4 of the 5 loans lent to me were unaffordable. I’ve just checked my credit file and they have been marked as ‘partially settled’ and months of ‘arrangement to pay’.
As far as I’m concerned this is negative credit information, as it would been seen that way by any future mortgage/credit lender.
The ombudsman told them they had to remove any negative credit information from my file. Am I right in that i should be fighting to get these markers removed?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, those markers should have been removed.
Kyle says
So, adjucdicator just been in contact, QQ have responded and said they would partially uphold my request for refund.
Adjucdicator told them to refund loans 4-23, all interest, charges and 8%simple interest.
QQ said they will uphold the loan 4 and loans 5-14 which comes to just over £1800.
We could really do with that money but looking at my calculations, they are only offering half of the refund which I am not happy about! I think I will send an email to the adjucdicator saying that I want ombudsman to look at it. But another long wait.. Argh!
Joseph says
Typical, but stick with it.. Been in the same position as you, you will get there!! And have the last laugh :)
Kyle says
Also, how often do QQ seem to come back with another, better offer before the case is picked up for a review by the ombudsman ?
Iain123 says
They never improve their offer. They only way now is through the Ombudsman.
My extra wait was three months, worth it.
Sar says
Hi Sara and everyone
So I have received a letter of a ombudsman this morning saying that they agree with the adjudicator assessment and Uncle Buck need to pay me back interest on loans 4 and 5. I have phoned the FOS this morning to say I accept the decision and emailed the decision letter back to FOS . Just wondering if anyone has any experience with uncle buck at this stage? How long do they take to get back to me with how much they will pay me back? How long do they actually take to send the money to my account? Thanks so much to this site and Sara and everyone who writes there experiences I would never of done this if it wasn’t for stumbling on this site by accident :)
Ps for anyone interested I sent complaint to FOS in December 2018 received a decision 7th June 2019 was sent to ombudsman for final decision on 17th July 2019 as Uncle Buck didn’t agree with decision received final decision today
Sharper says
4 weeks past the adjudicators decision and sunny have come back with an offer to pay back the interest of loans 8-15 and not 5-15 (as ruled by the adjudicator). I’ve declined their offer and asked for it to be passed to the ombudsman. I’ll update when this has been done.
Iain123 says
Good decision. Sunny are doing well, they have plenty of money and unless you need it best to hold out for the full amount.
Linds says
Hi,
I have just received an email from the adjudicator explaining they have my complaint against QQ. Does anyone know how long I would be waiting from now for the outcome?
Thank you
Mike_p says
Mine have been 4-8 weeks until the adjudicator decision.
J says
Hi Linds,
When did you submit your complaint to FOS and how long did you have to wait for an adjudicator to be appointed?
Thanks
Linds says
Hi J,
I submitted my complaint for QQ to FOS on 22/7/19 and adjudicator picked it up on 27/8/19.
Linds
Linds says
Thanks Mike,
I will just keep my fingers crossed!
Linds
C says
Hi does anyone now how long SNC takes to pay out ? Thank you
D says
Took just over a week for me
Paul Wakeman says
Apologies if this has been asked before but with all the refunds etc that everyone is receiving, there is a deduction for tax. Is there anyway of claiming this tax back? I would imagine some of the larger refunds have had quite a big chunk deducted for tax purposes so any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
Iain123 says
Yes, you need form R40 from the HMRC website. You can claim it now but may be better to wait till April in case your circumstances change. It takes about seven weeks from submitting the application.
I believe Sara has a dedicated page on it somewhere on here.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Here it is https://debtcamel.co.uk/ppi-payday-refund-get-back-tax/ !
Paul Wakeman says
That’s great Thank You. Think I’ll wait until February before submitting as still waiting for a few Companies to have decisions made by Adjudicators.
Paul Wakeman says
Actually after reading the post thanks to Sara’s link I’ll wait until May :)
Stew sadler says
Hi all,
So i got a call from the ombudsman today, casheuronet (quickquid, p2p) have accepted that 2 of the loans they sold me were wrong, an are offering 1400 as a refund.
My question is do i hold out for more by refusing it, as there are about 6 others that the ombudsman recommended i get paid for, but obviously that means going to another ombudsman an having more time taken.
Does anyone know what the likelihood is of the ombudsman agreeing with his colleague as opposed to the lender? Dont wanna waste my time if im likely to lose… thanks in advance all!
Iain123 says
I assume you mean the call was from a Financial Ombudsman Service Adjudicator. The next, and final, step is to a FOS Ombudsman.
The Ombudsman usually agrees with the Adjudicator so I’d wait and get more money.
stew sadler says
Yea thats what i meant, didnt want to waste my time chasing more if i can take this now. Long shot but any ideas on a timeframe for the ombudsman to make the decision? Thanks again!
Iain123 says
Three months for me to get that next level decision. It’s not a long shot and I strongly suggest holding out for the extra money. So tell your adjudicator asap
Mike_p says
All the ombudsman decisions are published on this website so you can see how they have ruled in the past. As Iain123 says it’s not a long shot as they usually agree with the adjudicator so you’ll almost certainly get most of the extra loans included. Casheuronet are just hoping that you will take the quick money instead of holding out.
https://www.ombudsman-decisions.org.uk/
Sarah Harrison says
Has anyone had a letter about payday express? I received a from the team dealing with them. Saying that they think im owed money. They are asking people to vote for how they move forward.
Iain123 says
Yes, we all got one. Going into 2020 so we need to be patient.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
See https://debtcamel.co.uk/money-shop-to-close-two-million-customers-will-be-informed/ for details about what is aheppening to Payday Express, Payday UK and Money Shop refunds
GM says
I had no letter and no email, despite me contacting them and say I had no correspondence.
D says
Just out of curiosity how many on here are into the last 7 days for lending stream to refund the money that the ombudsman has awarded them?
I’m now going into 6 days away from the 28, my frustrations with this shower are well documented, all companies who I’ve won redress complaints against have said it could take up to 28 days yet my jar, SNC and Mr lender have all paid out in less than a week. In fact when all are tallied up they took 12 days between them, yet here we are less than 7 from 28 days.
If so many on here weren’t waiting on a redress I’d honestly be delighted to see them go under.
I don’t think they have 1 British employee, so you go to their call centre wherever that may be and the poor buggers there are left facing the wrath of us with absolutely nothing they can do. It really is so so frustrating
Mike_p says
I’m on day 21 too, there doesn’t seem to be any pattern as to how long they delay them for. I phoned them up this morning to see if there was anything they could do to speed it up but it was a waste of time really. The man I spoke to didn’t have any authority and just trotted out the “adjudicator allows us 28 days” script. I asked why they can tranfer loans in 90 seconds but delay refunds for so long and he seemed quite pleased with himself that he could give me the pre-prepared answer – they obviously get asked it a lot.
It really is appalling the way they deliberately delay everything. I had an offer from Ferratum a couple of months ago and I accepted the offer, confirmed bank details, had the outstanding loan closed and the refund in my account all within a couple of hours.
D says
Looks like me and you have the exact same timescale Mike.
I was told by a guy it would be a couple of days. Phoned back on Monday and said that was 6days since being told it would be a couple of days, the woman on the phone said yes a couple of days can be 28 lol.
I’d be as well phoning 999 as I think they’ve as much authority to sanction the redress payment as the people on the phone at lending stream.
Again like you I’ve had redress paid out within a couple of days etc after other companies said it could take 28 days. If they all took this long then you’d say fair doos it’s an industry standard but they don’t and I honestly believe they leave the money in the account to attract enough interest to negate some of the redress. There doesn’t seem to be any other reason, so either that or just to be as awkward as they possibly can be
Mike_p says
They seem to have briefed the people that answer the phones to fob people off and stop them getting anywhere near anyone that has any level of authority. They even ignored my adjudicator twice when she asked them for an update.
Mike_p says
D – I have just checked my account and Lending Stream have just paid my refund! Hopefully yours will be soon.
D says
Fantastic news Mike. I’ll have a look mate.
D says
Nothing at my end Mike. Just keep checking sadly.
Was today day 22 for you?
Mike_p says
Yes, they received my acceptance on the 6th.
I did phone them up yesterday and ask if there was anything they could do to speed it up. They said they would make a note of it but I wasn’t convinced they actually did anything except say that to get me off the line.
Glynis says
Hi. Lending stream paid me on day 19. Hope it won’t be too long for you
D says
Sara thank you so much
It’s over they’ve paid me and what a relief I feel today. I can’t believe it, now only zippa and l2g to go at the ombudsman service and my payday misery is over
To everyone still fighting this don’t give up and keep going and don’t let them win.
I’ll update with regards zippa as I know it may well be a first for the site so anyone else who used them it should give you an idea as to how it goes.
Other than that I’m done. All the best every one
ME says
I’m in the same position as you guys. Day 22 for me now. Called LS yesterday and they said the same thing. The advisor on the other end tried to encourage me to see that I would receive in the next 7 days. I thought to myself, well I already know that, i’m seeing if it could be speeded up! She said she would try but wouldn’t promise anything. I didn’t hold my breath.
My main concern is it reaching Day 28 and it still not hitting my account! Roll on the 3rd….
ME
ME says
Just re-read your responses, Mike_p and D. Glad you have received yours after such a long wait! Fingers crossed mine will be in soon.
ME
Chris says
Today I recieved (on the last day of 8 weeks) a reply from Lending stream.
Of the 12 loans, they agreed that two of the small loans were unaffordable. These loans are still outstanding.
They have said that these two loans are owned by Asset Collections and that Lending Stream will buy the debt back as they are not closed with Asset. Unfortunately, I have looked into it both those loans are part of a CCJ actioned by TM Legal and Asset are not chasing any more debt from Lending Stream
I’m not sure what to do! I Can’t get bank Statements from Barclays to give to the FOS as I am still in default with them from the time I defaulted on these pay day loans (I even set up a DMP at the same time)
Lending Streams reply was so long winded and difficult to read!
Thank you
Mike_p says
You will probably get more by going to the FOS. Lending stream completely rejected my complaint but the FOS adjudicator said they should refund interest on 11 out of 16 loans, which Lending Stream agreed with.
Why does being in default stop you getting bank statements? Surely you can just log in and download them?
Lending Stream are notorious for making things as slow and difficult as they can but don’t let that put you off. The FOS are very helpful and clear.
Nick says
Hi I am with BARCLAYS I went it to a branch and asked for 6 years statement and they agreed to print them for me . I know they refuse internet banking if bankruptcy or in default with them . I would explain why you need them . I am sure you will get them
Holly says
They are on there last day tomorrow of their two week deadline to reply to the adjudicator for me wish me luck (rolls eyes)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The CCJ, was it just for these LS loans or were other loan savings mixed in there as well? Are you repaying the CCJ?
Do you know what interest you have paid on all the LS loans? these two, where did they come in the sequence of loans you had?
Chris says
The CCJ is just for LS loans. I have been paying £20 per month for the last few months, the CCJ was registered two years ago though.
There are 5 loans included in the CCJ – LS are saying that only three of these have gone to CCJ but there are 5 showing on TMs side of things. I worked out everything I have borrowed from them below.
The bottom 5 were not paid off (I paid some money to LS, and the outstanding amounts include interest and charges which were taken by Asset Collections, and then CCJ applied for by TM Legal).
Jul-13 Principle 300 Paid 370.67 Interest 70.67
Nov-13 Principle 250 Paid 327.2 Interest 77.2
Jan-14 Principle 150 Paid 174.7 Interest 24.75
Mar-14 Principle 100 Paid 146.22 Interest 46.22
Mar-14 Principle 100 Paid 146.22 Interest 46.22
May-14 Principle 400 Paid 672 Interest 272
Jun-14 Principle 150 Paid 201 Interest 51
Sep-14 Principle 100 Paid 135.2 Interest 35.2 Outstanding 136.2
Oct-14 Principle 100 Paid 135.2 Interest 35.2 Outstanding 136.2
Nov-14(1) Principle 50 Paid 17 Outstanding 133
Nov-14(2) Principle 50 Paid 44 Outstanding 109.4
Nov-14(3) Principle 50 Paid 44 Outstanding 109.4
Thank You!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
LS said they would buy the 2 small loans back – and wipe them or are they saying you would still owe them any money on this?
If you want a full refund, you may as well send this to FOS now. You absolutely should be able to get bank statements by going into a branck as Nick said,. In the complaint to FOS add to the normal bit saying you want a refund that you would like LS to get the CCJ set aside (legal term for cancelled).
But if the CCJ is your top priority, it may be worth going back to LS and saying you will accept as a settlement them buying the 5 loans back from AS, wiping them out and getting the CCJ set aside.
Chris says
Yeah, LS said they would buy the two small loans back, wipe them and refund me a small amount (around £15).
I have asked them in reply already to set aside the CCJ… if they do this I will be happy.
I will try and get my bank statements anyway, the FOS have already been informed, and LS cc’d the short term lending team at the FOS as part of the investigation.
Thank you for your help!
Steven says
Hi guys.
So after a year from complaining about QQ and needing to go all the way to the Ombudsman after QQ rejecting the adjudicators decision I’ve finally heard back that the decision has been upheld and I’ll be getting a refund on the interest 24 loans, including ones from over 6 years ago. Over the moon with it and couldn’t have done it without this site.
My question is, in the letter from FOS it states that QQ will be in touch to sort the refund but does anyone know how they are likely to contact me? My only contact with them was via email when initially contacting so will it be that email address, the details from my old account, or will the FOS forward the details they have?
I’m only asking as since last taking out a loan my address and phone number have both changed so any QQ might have will be out of date.
Cheers
J says
Hi Steven – congratulations on your result! To confirm your bank details QQ ask you to call Enova customer services and they pass this information to the Resolution team who settle your claim. The Resolution team used to take calls but it appears that this is no longer the case, probably due to the huge workload increase generated by the ‘spreadsheet’ decision. Call 0800 016 3114; they will ask you for your customer ID number and then security questions. Once confirmed they will take your new bank details and email address but expect to be asked to confirm all the old ones too. They will pass the new info to the Resolution team and you will get an email from them (around 2 or 3 days afterwards) to confirm receipt and that the 28 day window has started. Don’t expect the refund immediately as it seems to be around 21 days currently. Any problems call the customer service team, to be fair they seem to be quite helpful. Hope this helps a bit. J
Sasha paton says
Hi I recently got the ombudsman decision agreeing with my adjudicator that quick quid should refund 5 of my loans quickquid have now agreed with the findings and I have been told they are preparing and working out the settlement this is the 3rd week now, does anyone know how long this all usually takes and when I should actually receive the refund I phoned straight away and confirmed bank details etc to try and speed things up.
GM says
hi, what number did you use to confirm back the details?
QQ used to be very quick in paying up when they used to stall all the FOS decisions, but now that they are accepting most of them they’re building up some sort of payment run because the number of payments to be done has increased massively.
I’ve read somewhere that they’re taking 6 weeks to pay
Sasha paton says
I phoned quick quid support and there designated fos team
GM says
Thanks. i just called them and updated all the details. they said that their FOS team would contact me in due course about a payment date.
Diddy says
Hello
I,lodged a complaint with Safeloans (SLL Capital) re irresponsible lending. They totally rejected it and I’ve since sent it to FSO and it’s now been picked up and is with an adjudicator. I have today received an long email from SLL capital saying “However, to try and save time and cost to both parties we wish to make you an ex-gratia without prejudice full and final settlement offer for the sum of £250.”….basically they want me to drop the case.
I’ve had 14 loans between August 2013 – October 2014, borrowing continuously virtually every month or rolling over, not huge amounts £85 to £125…..total loans £1400 interest £457.25 total repaid £1857.25.
Do you think that this offer is worth taking or should I wait to see what the adjudicator says? Not sure what they mean by “costs to both parties” as it won’t be costing me anything……
Any advice or anyone have a claim against them, would be grateful to hear.
Peter says
Hiya Diddy,
I had a very similar offer when I complained to these 2 months ago. I had paid around £500 in interest over 9 or 10 loans in 2014-15.
They offered me a settlement figure of £250 and I took it. The amount of time it will take to put the complaint through the FOS was not worth the extra cash in my opinion. They would probably only ask SLL to refund loans 4-10 which was around £375 interest.
It was either £250 now, or wait 9 months and get £375…. So I took the offer to close it out.
Diddy says
Thanks Peter, will think about it for a day or two and decide. Your advice was very helpful.
Stephen says
Hi there I need a bit of advice. Moneybox 247 have responded to my complaint saying they will investigate. They have also also asked “In addition, what would you see as a full and final settlement to your complaint? By this we mean what would resolve the complaint for you.”
I have an outstanding balance of £280 but I haven’t had many loans with them. Just lent to me while I had several other payday loans and loans etc.
Any help appreciated
Iain123 says
You’ll need to all your ducks in a row, so you don’t rip yourself off.
Linds says
Hi Stephen,
I had an outstanding loan with 247, my balance was £187, they asked me the same question.
I only had that 1 loan with them so I said I would be happy if they could wipe the balance, so I didn’t owe them anything and remove anything from my credit file.
They took about 6 weeks but they agreed.
To me it was one less debt I had to worry about, so I was happy.
Linds
Stephen says
That’s great thank you. I think I’ll ask the same.
River says
Hi Sara
I wonder if you can offer some advice, I have recently started complaining on a number of lenders (embarrassinly 20 lenders!) for loans over the last 5 years! and I am so thanful I came across your site. I have had a few successes so far and a couple have gone to the FOS. I have now received a letter from Mr Lender stating it is their final response but as a gesture of goodwill are happy to write off my final loan which has a remaining amount of £358. The list of loans are below:
Date of Loan End date Loan Amt Interest
22-Sep-14 27-Feb-15 £300 £180
01-May-15 25-Aug-15 £500 £480
28-Aug-15 26-Feb-16 £750 £571
01-Mar-16 11-Apr-16 £1,000 £760.73
09-Jun-16 26-Aug-16 £200 £151.33
03-Sep-16 25-Nov-16 £300 £180.00
Oct-18 ongoing £1,250 £1,253.08 – they have agreed to wipe the remaining interest on this one which is about £358.
Do you think this is worth going to FOS with and what do you think could be a possible outcome?
Many thanks for any advice you can provide.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That last loan – can you check the Loan amount and the Interest figures please – because it looks as though it has broken the payday loan price cap (unless there was a typo)
River says
Hi Sara
The last loan amount is £1,250 and so far I have paid £2,070.55 (sorry this figure was wrong) with a remaining amount of £351.71. The total contracted amount was to pay back £2,422.26, which they are saying is below the 100% cap.
R
River says
Sorry to make it clear! I added the capital! The interest paid to date is £820.55 on top of capital paid.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think that is a pretty poor offer.
Mr lender does some times listen to compromise offers. You could suggest you would be prepared to accept a refund of the interest on loan 4 (£760) and loan 7 (£2070-£1250=£820).
River says
Hi Sara
Thanks for the advice, I have gone back to them with what you’ve said so let’s see what happens!
Thanks to you and your site I’ve already had about £3000 in refunds!
Lu says
Hi, recently got a letter from FOS stating QQ have decided to agree with adjudicator and will refund all loans, does anyone know how long I will be waiting a payout?
Thank you
GM says
i’ve been hearing that it’s taking up to 6 weeks now that they’re agreeing with most straight forward cases.
Iain123 says
Couple of weeks. QQ will contact you asking for bank details and confirmation you’re agreeing to the deal.
Kyle says
Hello, those of you who had to go all the way to the ombudsman for the final decision after your lender (mine is QQ) disagreed with the adjucdicators decision, how long was the wait for this final decision?
Iain123 says
Three months for me.
JA says
Hello all, Does any one know how the statutory interest is worked out?
I have had some loans from 2012 and im confused to how you add it up. Is it 8% x 7 years x the refund amount?
Sorry if this is confusing.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
basically yes. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/interest-payday-loan-refunds/
Linda says
Dear Sara
Thank you for an excellent website. To date I have received around £2k back from Sunny, (who did not contest and I did not take to FO), PDUK (FO made them repay back loan amounts and interest across 4 loans), and Quick Quid.
The FO have upheld 8 out of 12 loans with Lending Stream. It has taken just over a year to get to the stage where LS have made an offer. However, their simple interest calculations look off. I wondered if you would be able to tell me whether either my calculations or Lending Streams calculations are correct? For example I borrowed £130 and according to LS interest paid against the loan was £125.64. Repayment amounts and dates was 31.20 on 24/8/16; 31.20 on 23/09; 25.73 on 24/10; 19.22 on 24/11; 11.89 on 23/12 and 6.40 on 24/1/17.
LS have stated that the 8 % interest refund across all 8 loans is £144.27 in total, yet for just the one loan above I make it £151.91. I think to calculate you take each repayment and calculate the date between payment and todays date and then add 8% for each year. I used a simple interest calculator I googled. TI column LS have calculated what seems to be the correct 8% but for the life if me I cannot work out how they came to £14. across all 8 in total. Or have I misunderstood how to calculate? Please can you help me decipher?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The 8% interest is only added to the amounts being refunded – this is the interest you paid, not the full amount of your payment which also included repaying the loan itself.
So that one loan – the interest was 125.64. Some was about 3 years ago, some 2 and half years ago. So if you assume an average of 2.75 years the 8% simple interest on that loan is £125*0.08*2.75=£27.50
Roly says
My partner and I were discharged early from an IVA in 2008, by paying a lump sum that my partner received as an inheritance. We have made some complaints, and though most of the adjudicators who have picked up our complaint have not mentioned our IVA, two of them have and want us to check whether we need to inform our IVA supervisor. We no longer have any of the paperwork from our IVA, but I did manage to locate the company and have emailed them to query this. I am sure that because we ended the IVA early with a lump sum that any and all further obligations were done – but I can’t remember. If they claim they wish to take any refunds it would be such a kick in the teeth, after all the work I’ve put in to get complaints this far given it was so very long ago that we were discharged. Does anyone know if there is a timeframe on when IVA obligations end?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
were the payday loan you are getting refund for taken AFTER your IVA had ended? If they were, then the refunds are all yours, your IVA is not relevant.
Roly says
Most of then were. I did have some Provident loans that were concurrent with the IVA, I think, but all the others were after it ended.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK, then there is no issue at all for the payday loans, the refunds are all yours. And for the Provident loans, your IVA has no possible claim on refunds relating to the later borrowing from provident after your IVA had ended.
Roly says
Thank you, Sara! I think my quickquid ones may also have a slight overlap of dates, but I will cross that bridge when I come to it – a few of the loans with them may be affected, as with the provident ones, but am glad to know they can’t get their mitts on all my refunds!
JA says
Hello,
From experience does the ombudsman usually agree with the adjudicator? I got a response about my Lending stream case today and the FOS have said to refund loans 6-12 (12 loans in total)
It looks like lending stream usually disagree then it goes to the ombudsman?
Regards
Iain123 says
Yes, the Ombudsman almost always agrees with the Adjudicator.
They’ve been doing this for years now so the Adjudicator’s know their stuff.
Mike_p says
Lending Stream agreed with the adjudicator in my case, and other people are reporting the same thing recently.
JA says
That’s positive news. How long did lending stream take to respond to the adjudicator for you and have you recieved your redress?
Mike_p says
The adjudicator gave then 2 weeks to respond but it took them 4 weeks. I received my redress yesterday which was day 22 of the 28 days they are given. They are a horrible compamy to deal with and make things as difficult as they can, delaying every step of the way, ignoring emails and even ignoring the adjudicator. The good news is that they seem to be agreeing with the adjudicator a lot at the ,oment and people are eventually getting their redress paid.
Adam says
hi does anybody have any idea how long it takes lendingstream to receive acceptance from adjudicator? any ways of speeding up the process?
D says
None mate. They’re a shower of #@*s
Mike_p says
I’m not quite sure what you are asking but it took them four weeks to respond to the adjudicator in my case and they paid out 22 days after the adjudicator sent them my acceptance.
They seem to delight in being difficult and ignore emails and fob you off if you phone them. I think the only thing you can do to speed it up is to send them a message confirming bank details as soon as you have told the adjudicator you accept. They sometimes wait for a a few weeks before confirming bank details and then say that the 28 days starts from then,, so if you actively confirm the details it gives them one less reason to delay your payment.
Terry says
LS replied to the adjudicator at midnight on the last day of the 2 week deadline and agreed with them. I am getting a refund of £2400 and 90% of the loans removed from my credit file. I’ve confirmed bank details today so will be waiting up to 28 days for the refund. LS seem to be terrible from the comments here, but I’ve got lucky it seems as they’ve been pretty responsive. I hope you get the same.
Iain123 says
Hi Sara. The Money Shop have updated their Scheme of Arrangement, can you please summarise?
Linds says
Hi All,
Anyone had any dealings with Wizzcash? My case has just been picked up by the Adjudicator?
Thanks
Linds
Peter Thompson says
Hi I’ve accepted £350 from piggy bank today which seemed quite fair I waited 6 weeks for final response anybody any ideas how long before the money will be in my account? Bearing in mind they are under investigation. Peter
Louise says
Hi Peter,
They took 6 days for me
Louise
Linds says
Hi Peter,
My refund was in my account on 7th day 😀
Linds
Andy says
Hi Peter , how many loans did you take out with them to get that amount back if you don’t mind me asking ? I’m currently waiting for a response.
L says
Hi
Just an update on anyone waiting on LS refund. I’ve just had mine sent through 14 days after accepting offer. Not as long of a wait as I expected.
Mike_p says
I’ve just had mine though on day 22. I don’t know how they decide who to annoy the most.
L says
Crazy isnt it
I’m so glad it’s another one ticked off the list!
Holly says
Hi all I have revived an email from the money shop again with FAQ I’f anyone would like to see it I’m happy to email over x
Linds says
Hi Holly,
I have an outstanding loan with Payday Express which is on my DMP. I have not received any emails though?
Thanks
Linds
Emma says
Hi Holly.
Please could you send it? I had an email from them in July asking to vote which I did but I truly don’t really understand! I had a loan with Payday UK.
Many thanks,
Emma x
Stephen says
Hi
I am currently in a DMP and need to pay another 2000 before all debts are cleared which it will be in July 2020. The question is the money i am paying back now seems to be the interest from all the loans i have. is there a way to see if i could get some of these reduced.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Stephen
Sara (Debt Camel) says
When you take a loan, you agree to the amount of interest added. So when you enter. DMP this is what you are paying off.
The only ways to reduce this are:
– if you can either get the lender to agree a partial settlement, but with so little time to go this is unlikely
– if you can win a complaint that the loan was “unaffordable”. This is most common with payday loans or high cost loans for people with bad credit.
Holly says
They may be sending out the emails in batches xx
Chris says
Hi All,
Just want to thank Sarah, and everyone. I have had my first successful refund off 247mb. They took the full 8 weeks to reply to me, offered to wipe off my debt and refund £200 + interest. It has been 8 days since I confirmed the resolution and the loan has been wiped from my report already and today I recieved £357 (which was a lot more than I expected) the total refund after the principle outstanding was £800.
Can’t thank you enough… now to deal with LS!
Jamie says
Hi Chris,
Did you ever provide 24/7 with a payslip? I have put a complaint in with them and they did see one payslip but never did see a bank statement so wouldn’t of known what state I was in.
Thanks
J
Terry says
Quick update on my Lending Stream complaint.
I seemed to have got very lucky reading the comments on here. I submitted a complaint back in April, they took to the 8th week and final day to decline my complaint. I then went to the FOS, this was picked up within 4 weeks, a few weeks later the adjudicator ruled in my favour, Lending Stream then replied on the last day of the 2 week deadline to accept. So in 5 months the matter is almost resolved, I now have 28 days for my refund of around £2400 to be paid back to me.
I am currently waiting on Sunny to response to the FOS who upheld my complaint and SwiftSterling settled in the 8th week this week. Everything seems to be coming at once after a few months wait. So don’t give up!
Although I read about getting refunds on other sites and used their template letters, this site has been great to read peoples comments and see what being patient might bring.
KellyE says
Hi Terry, can I enquire when did you take loans with swift sterling, when did you submit your complaint and where they forthcoming in resolving? I had read some comments about swift sterling which led me to believe it was pointless contacting them.
Well done for your results, I’ve only just begun the process so I’m a long way from getting resolution from anyone that I loaned from and there were 8 or 9 different lenders in total! I’ve got a long way to go!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think Terry had loans from Swift Sterling after 2016 – this was then from a UK lender who bought the name and the complaints follow the normal UK complaints pattern.
Mike_p says
I had an effective refund from SwiftSterling. On the last day of the 8 weeks they offered to write off my outstanding loan and did so within a few hours of me accepting. I’d just taken it out when I complained and at my request they froze it while they investigated, so out of four £300-£500 loans I was effectively getting a refund on the second loan and a £50 interest charge on the fourth.
M says
To second what Sara has said. I had loans with Swift Sterling in 2017/2018. They have rejected my complaint, however the FOS adjudicator has upheld my complaint in respect of some of my loans and am now waiting to hear back from SwSt with their response.
Terry N says
I have fallen into thus group, where my loans were with swift sterling while they were in malta, when the moved to the UK my application for a loan was turned down, i belive that i can not reclaim as they were not under fos rules outsude the UK
Sara (Debt Camel) says
See https://debtcamel.co.uk/swift-sterling-pounds-till-payday/ for loans from the Malta-based lender.
Chris says
Just heard from FOS, LS have agreed with adjudicator and will refund loans 7-52, redress £10,881!
FOS have now sent acceptance to LS.
I called LS to give bank details but they confirmed they had them on their system and read out correct ones, they did say they hadn’t received acceptance from FOS yet, was only sent this morning.
Has everyone had to provide bank details to LS who have had redress? Just worried this might be another delay technique
SJ says
what a great result Chris
How long did you wait for LS to accept the adjudicators decision? There deadline is the 2nd of September for me
Chris says
SJ
They were due respond by 15/8, so two weeks after (although LS said they replied on 15/8, FOS had a backlog).
I’m hoping payment is made sooner rather than later……
Paul says
Hi Chris I’ve got two claims with LS AND SUNNY that the adjudictor has upheld in my favour they were given a deadline of the 19/8/ and 20/08 haven’t heard a thing yet but loans 4/74 up held and 6/69 so fingers crossed I hear something soon is there a timescale they get on making an offer?
Paul says
Also I no longer owe these company’s a penny is this a good outcome the adjudicator’s decision my loans were from £50-£350 max each month.
Lewis says
Hi Paul,
Just an FYI, Sunny took 5 weeks to respond to the original adjudicators findings. Initially the adjudicator rules in my favour a refund of loans 3-24 (redress approx £2500) however Sunny came back with they’ll pay 19-24 (redress £450) so I’ve escalated to the ombudsman and have prepared myself for a long wait . . .
Paul says
Thanks mate yes I’m prepared to wait myself hopefully just in time for Christmas..good luck lewis
Nigel says
Hi does anyone know how long the ombudsman takes.
I had a response from the Adjudicator who upheld my complaint with SUNNY from loans 6-44 . They have gone back proposing loans 39-44!!
I have rejected this today but wanted to know a timescale forum now please until the ombudsman rules…
Mike says
Hi All,
I am 3 weeks past the date given to Sunny & QQ by my adjudicator in waiting for a response to their findings.
I have emailed both adjudicators, but only one has responded saying QQ are disputing their decision and cannot give a time frame that this will be resolved. The other just didn’t email back.
What are my options here? Is it up to me to tell the adjudicator to pass the cases onto the Ombudsman?
Thanks
Richard E says
Just for everyone that’s dealing with Sunny here’s some info sunny went over by 2 weeks to respond to my adjudicator so there always delaying next thing when I did accept there offer I sent bank details straight away that way that’s when they start the 28 day period not from when they get acceptance from the adjudicator and lastly kick off about having to wait 28 days via email or phone and throw something in there like you shouldn’t have to wait 28 days with them going over the set deadlines and even say your relying on the money to pay some kind of arrears I haven’t got any arrears but it got me my money pretty much straight away as they stated “we will issue the refund by the end of the working week as a gesture of goodwill” only time they have been quick at responding as I’ve just been ignored.
Thanks to this site I am now 2k richer!
Emma says
Hi Sara.
Myjar have asked me for bank statements and pay slips. I am not going to send pay slips (because I am not sure where they are!) Is it a good idea to send bank statements? What is your advice?
They have also not sent me my list of loans. Shall I ask again?
Many thanks,
Emma
JA says
Hello Emma, I got asked this question when I had my complaint with MYJAR . I decided against sending them anything and they then sent a response not upholding my complaint. I then decided to send them my bank statements from the times required and a day later they upheld my complaint.
Regards
Emma says
Thanks so much I’ll dig them out!
James says
For bank statement submissions do FOS accept downloaded ones from Internet banking for example I can download a CSV file which is obviously easier to attach than reams of paper?
Ross says
Hi James,
Yes, you’re able to send electronic copies. I downloaded them as PDF’s, using the print option. Sending these, via email, rather than paper copies is (in my opinion) more secure and less chance of them being lost.
Hope this helps?
James says
Thanks Ross I have managed to download 7 years worth into excel which obviously is much easier as otherwise its almost hundreds of pages maybe that will do if they need it although pdfs would be more work it’s still better than posting a load to them.
PSA says
Hi Sara, the 1st of my affordability complaints was to lending stream, I had 22 loans with them alongside other payday loans and 4 guarantor loans(top ups). I heard back yesterday rejecting my complaint even though I am in a self managed dmp with them for my final 4 loans. They have my disposable income at £750 pm 😂😂😂 on to.the ombudsman
Holly says
Lending stream have till the end of the day today , the adjudicator said they are likely facing a back log and will them them another two weeks
Mike_p says
Just a quick update on my MyJar case as people have been asking about them. They rejected my initial complaint so I took it to the FOS, the FOS upheld my complaint and MyJar agreed and I’m now in receipt of my refund.
Other then lending irresponsibly in the first place MyJar have actually been very good to deal with. I emailed my adjudicator to say I would accept their offer on Tuesday afternoon, MyJar emailed me first thing on Thursday morning to say my outstanding loam had been removed and I would receive the refund by the end of the week, and the refund was in my account on Thursday afternoon. When they can sort things this quickly it just goes to show that the delays with Lending Stream etc are nothing but deliberate obstructions.
Colin says
Congrats! I am currently in the same position you were in whereas I have 1 loan remaining with them. £550 to go finished March 2020. I want to know what happens when you complain to them regards and you still have a loan to repay? Do you keep paying the regular monthly amounts or do they stop it? This is crucial to me as I don’t want negative info on my credit file.
Neve says
Hi Colin,
I can’t find my comment from today but found you on this one!
I’m in a DMP with Stepchange so I paid them
a reduced payment through that.
I remember when I originally called them they offered me reduced payments but was still too much for me at that time.
The loans that the adjudicator upheld will be removed from my credit file I believe.
Hope this helps a wee bit!
Stevo says
Ombudsman adjudicator agreed with me that loans 4to9 with Uncle buck were miss sold and have gave them two week to reply. Anyone any info on how U.B. play things from here, as in do the normally agree with adjudicator and what are they like with refund?
Emma says
Hi Stevo.
They were pretty quick to pay actually. It was the same day after I accepted their offer.
Stevo says
Thanks for the info Emma, I here some horror stories on here about some companies!
Emily says
Hi Sara;
Just an update on this, Smart-Pig have not agreed with my complaint and state the following:
‘authorised by our regulator the FCA to conduct affordability checks based on our customer’s income, the main source of income for the majority of our customers is their student funding.
We are aware that you were a student at the time of using our service. We can also see that you received over £3000 per term from your student funding. You advised us that your monthly expenditure was about £750 or £2250 per term. This would mean that you would have been left with over £750 to repay our loans. The most a customer can ever owe to Smart-Pig is £525.00”
Is it worth me still going to the fos or not?
Tia x
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes! Whether you will win depends on the facts of your case, but that reply says nothing about wether a proper check would have shown the loan was affordable. You can point out to the FCA that the loan was large for you and for most students so SmartPig should have verified your expenses.
Emily says
Hi Sara,
Thank you. Is it worth sending the complaint now whilst I wait for my old bank statements to come? I’ve asked for a years worth with Barclays to cover the total duration of the three loans from 2017-2018 but I closed my account about six months ago. And then send the bank statements as soon as I get them? Tia x
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes send the case to FOS now, it won’t be looked at for a while so you can add the bank statements later.