Did your payday loans cost so much when you repaid one you had to keep on borrowing?
You can get a refund of the interest you paid on unaffordable loans.
It’s easy to ask for a payday loan refund using the free template letters here. The letters work if your payday loans were repaid or you still owe money.
The comments below this article have thousands of stories of the refunds people have got using these letters. It is a great place to ask questions!
Contents
What are “unaffordable” loans?
Was a loan affordable just because you repaid it?
No! If paying a loan left you so broke you had to borrow again – from the same lender or a different one – it was unaffordable!
The regulator says:
“the borrower should be able to make the required repayments without undue difficulty, whilst continuing to meet other debt repayment obligations and reasonable regular outgoings.”
That means a payday loan is only affordable if you repaid it on time and you could still manage to pay your other bills and debts.
Payday loans are meant to solve a short-term problem. If you kept repaying one then getting another loan soon after, the lender should have stopped lending to you.
If the loan was small and it was the first loan or second loan from a lender, the lender may not have realised the loan was unaffordable for you. But it was irresponsible lending to just carry on giving you more loans.
Many lenders ignore obvious signs of problems such as your loans increasing in size, or borrowing again soon after repayment.
How much compensation can you get?
You don’t have to calculate this. Just ask for a refund from the lender and see what you are offered. This is simple and it works well.
The Financial Ombudsman has seen tens of thousands of payday loan affordability complaints.
A typical decision by the Ombudsman is that the payday lender should refund all the interest you paid interest after the third, fourth or fifth loan.
But if your first loan was large, or was rolled over several times you could get a refund from just one loan.
Which lenders can you get refunds from?
You can complain to lenders that are still in business, even if they are no longer lending. These include:
Lending Stream, Cash Converters, CashASAP, Drafty, Dot Dot, Fast Loan Uk, Fernovo, Fund Ourselves, Kabayan, LoanPig, Mr Lender, Moneyboat, MyKredit, My Finance Club, QuidMarket, Savvy, The Money Platform, WageMe, Wizzcash,
See this email list for payday lenders for a longer list and all the contact details to use.
If the lender has gone into administration, including CashForUNow, Piggybank, Ferratum, Oakam:
- make a claim to the administrators – there is normally a simple form for you to complete, see the lender’s website for details – but there will be a time limit for doing this.
- you may not get much cash back but this is very easy to do. A balance may be reduced or cleared even if there is no cash to distribute. And if you win the complaint any negative marks on your credit record will be removed.
It is probably too late to make claims to other lenders who gave up years ago, see this list.
For longer-term loans there are better template letters to use on other pages:
- doorstep lenders and guarantor lenders,
- Loans2Go – the worst loans in Britain!
- 118 Money, Everyday lonas, Likely Loans/Finio, Reevo, Bamboo, car finance, bank loans and other long-term loans.
Do this before, before you send in a complaint
Doing these things now will make your life easier later.
Get a copy of your TransUnion statutory credit report and keep it. After complaints are started, sometimes loans are deleted and you may want the full report if you later have to go to the Ombudsman.
If you still owe money to the lender, read Will an affordability claim hurt my credit record, and other questions. These looks at your options for stopping paying, the effect on your credit record etc.
If the rest of your finances are difficult, look into a Debt Management Plan (DMP) where you make one affordable payment a month to StepChange. This gets you into a safe financial position as these affordability complaints can take a long time to go through at the Ombudsman. Winning a complaint then speeds up the DMP.
Unless you can afford to make this month’s payment without borrowing again, cancel the CPA to the lender at your bank. Otherwise the lender may take the money and you will be in a mess.
If your loan was sold to a debt collector you complain to the original lender. But also tell the debt collector that you are disputing the debt. It is a good idea to carry on making payments to the debt collector if they are affordable.
Start your complaint & get loan details
Find the lender’s email address for complaints from this list.
Put “AFFORDABILITY COMPLAINT” as the subject of your email:
You should never have given me these unaffordable loans. Paying you each month left me with too little money so I had to keep borrowing to get through the next month.
You should have realised from the number of times I borrowed that my debt problems were getting worse. It was not responsible to continue to lend to me. [Add more details eg how often you borrowed or rolled loans if you know them, how the amount borrowed generally went up etc]
[Include/change this if your credit record would have shown big problems:] My credit reports would have shown all my other debts and problems including late payments/defaults /CCJs/debt management.]
I am asking you to refund the interest and any charges I paid, plus statutory interest, and to delete any negative information from my credit record.
[delete this sentence if you know what all your loans were.] I know the difficulties your loans have caused me but I no longer have all the loan details. Please send me a list, showing for each loan when it was taken out, how much interest and charges you added, and what I repaid. This will enable me to assess any refund you offer me.
[delete this sentence if none of your loans were sold.]If a loan was later sold to a debt collector, please inform me of the date of sale and the name of the debt collector.
Some ways to improve this
Add any other points that help you describe what happened to you. You don’t need to list the loans – the lenders knows them.
Some examples:
- “I took out another loan with xxxx to pay you.”
- “Sometimes I borrowed to pay the rent and then had to top-up to get money for food.”
- if you weren’t treated fairly while you were borrowing or when you could not make a payment, add a bit about this.
You can attach bank statements if you like, This is a good idea as these show how unaffordable the loans were for you. If you have gambling showing, this helps your complaint, it doesn’t harm it.
I don’t know if many lenders actually read what you send them. I
it’s easy to make these complaints – you don’t need to calculate what refund you should get or quote laws.
Only one loan?
The template refers to multiple loans because that is what normally happens with payday lenders.
When you only had one loan and it was large, read Refunds from large loans and use the template there.
If you only had one loan and it was small, this is going to be a very difficult complaint to win. If you have borrowed once or twice from 5 leaders, that is much more difficult to win an affordability complaint than having 4 or 5 loans from two lenders.
Waiting for a reply from the lender
This email starts your affordability complaint.
They may send the list of loans first and later respond to your complaint. So don’t be surprised if you get sent info on the loans but nothing about your request for a refund.
When you get your loan information, you can send in more details about your complaint if you want. You don’t have to do this, your complaint has already begun and the lender has to reply.
The lender should reply to your complaint within 8 weeks from when you send the email, not when they acknowledge it. Make a note in your diary for 8 weeks time and chase the lender up if you don’t get a reply.
Don’t be surprised if you have to wait until the end of the 8 weeks to get response – this is common.
Send your bank statements or other information?
Some lenders ask you to send them a copy of your credit record, payslips or bank statements.
Credit record – the lender can check your credit record themselves if they want. But you should download a copy of your credit record asap as the Ombudsman will ask for it. Don’t put this off, the sooner you get a report downloaded, the further back it goes which is good.
Don’t send payslips.
It is a good idea to send bank statements. But think twice about the cost of copying and postage if there are a lot. Some lenders seem to ignore them if you do send them.
Again this is a good point to get those bank statements even if you do not want to send them as they will help an Ombudsman claim a lot. You can get them going back at least 6 years even if the account has been closed.
Lender says No or makes a poor offer
If the lender rejects your complaint or offers you a small amount, don’t be depressed. You may still have a very good case!
It is easy and free to send your case to the Financial Ombudsman where many thousands of people have won their payday loan complaints, despite being rejected by the lender.
Give up?
Some lenders try to make your case sound bad when it isn’t. People have had large amounts refunded after a complete rejection!
Just ignore any of the following comments, they do not mean you have a weak case:
- they relied on your loan applications and you didn’t give accurate facts – see Lender says I lied for more about this;
- you repaid some loans early – this doesn’t prove the loans were affordable, just that you were trying to save interest;
- your borrowing didn’t go up every time – irrelevant, what matters is that you kept borrowing;
- you had a good enough credit score or they didn’t legally have to check your credit record – if you only had one or two small loans that is true. But if the loans were large or you kept borrowing, they should have looked more closely;
- some loans are over 6 years old – the Ombudsman will look at these even if the lender says they won’t!
A good enough case to go to the Ombudsman?
If you don’t know what to do, ask in the comments below this article. Accepting an offer settles your whole complaint – you can’t change your mind later.
Don’t worry that you will lose a small offer by going to the Ombudsman – this doesn’t happen.
Some points to think about:
- if you are offered a refund on only a few loans, don’t accept it if you think the lender should have realised a lot of the other loans were unaffordable;
- an offer to write off your current balance may sound convenient … but it may be very poor if you should get a refund as well;
- if getting defaults or late payments removed from your credit record is important to you, are you happy with what the lender is proposing to do? Don’t assume your credit record will be cleared if the lender didn’t mention this.
One or two loan cases are hard to win at the Ombudsman. It’s probably best to give up on one or two loan cases unless:
- the loan was large. Here is one single loan case that was won even though it was an instalment loan and the borrower had a good income. And another single loan case for a loan of £1,000. You can win cases for smaller amounts if the repayment would have been a large amount of your income; or
- you still owe money.
Don’t delay too long – there is a 6-month time limit after a lender rejects your complaint to send the case to the ombudsman. When you aren’t sure, send the complaint to FOS. This is free and easy to do – let FOS make the decision.
How to send a complaint to FOS
Put in a separate complaint about each lender.
Don’t wait until all your lenders have replied before sending the first one to the Ombudsman!
FOS’s “complain online” option is easy and takes you through your complaint step by step.
You can just copy what you said in your complaint to the lender. You can add more details, for example, if you disagree with what the lender replied to you.
If some of your loans were over 6 years ago, tell the Ombudsman when and how you found out about these complaints. For example:
“I knew the loans were causing me difficulty in 2018, but I thought this was my fault for being bad with money. I didn’t find out that the lender should have checked the loans were affordable until June 2024 when my brother told me about these claims/I saw an advert from a claims company on Facebook/I read an article about these claims” – change this so it is right for your case!
Things to attach:
- the reply you have had from the lender.
- bank statements if you have them. Ideally from 3 months before your first loan until the last loan was repaid or you defaulted on it. This strengthens your case, showing how unaffordable the loans were. You can still get bank statements even if your account is closed – if you don’t have them, start the process of getting them now, don’t wait until FOS asks for them.
- a copy of your TransUnion Statutory credit report
- if you dont have the credit agreements, FOS will get them from the lender.
What happens after you have sent a case to FOS
You will normally be contacted within a couple of weeks and asked for a copy of your credit record and your bank statements if you haven’t sent these. If you have sent these on one complaint, then when you complain about a different lender FOS will use the ones they already have.
After this initial contact, your case will wait for the lender to send FOS your case file and then wait to be picked up by an adjudicator who will make a decision on it.
If you are still making payments to the lender, tell the lender you want to reduce these to an affordable amount. This will make waiting for an Ombudsman decision much less stressful for you.
The Financial Ombudsman has a two-stage process. Most cases are settled by the first “adjudicator” stage but about 10% go to the second “Ombudsman” stage.
A few problem cases
Don’t ask for a refund:
- if you are bankrupt now or have been bankrupt in the past – any refund would go to the Official Receiver.
- if you are in an IVA, as refunds will go to your IVA firm not to you. If your IVA has finished the refund may still be sent to your old IVA firm.
- if you are in a DRO now, getting a refund may mean your DRO is cancelled!
More help
You can ask a question in the comments below – you may get a reply from someone who has been in your exact situation.
Don’t use a claims management company. They are expensive and often incompetent. It’s easy to do this yourself and you can ask questions below and get replies from other readers who have done this.
Card & catalogue affordability complaints
Can you get an overdraft refund?
Could a Debt Relief Order help you?
Jo R says
So am happy to say my complaints are finally at an end after starting this process in October 2018.
Lending Stream – Complaint then adjudicator – £1612.72
MyJar – Just a complaint no FOS – £689.83 from remaining balance
Sunny – Adjudicator then Ombudsman (rejected £700 offered – with Ombudsman for 4 months) – £2101.87
I accepted the Ombudsman decision last night and immediately forwarded my acceptance/bank details to the four Sunny email addresses mentioned in these posts. I received confirmation it was paid @ 5pm today, was expecting it to be a lot longer!
Thanks so much for this website Sara, it’s been great. I would have never have thought about claiming this if I hadn’t stumbled upon this great website!
Dan says
Hi Sara
I sent complaints to 4 companies using this format satsuma within 2 days replied saying they have looked into it and I don’t have a case so it’s now with fos, I’m waiting for the other 3 to look into them, I had them all coinciding with each other which was horrendous and robbing me blind. Do you think I have a good case against all of them?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how many loans did you have from Satsuma? how large?
Dan says
Hi Sara
1 loan £600 does that make a difference then?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
it’s hard to win a one loan case unless it’s very large. You may have problems with that one.
Adam R says
Has anyone put a complaint In With ferratum
How long do they take and do they ask for any paper work ect
I’ve had consistent loans with them for a number of years
Mike_p says
I had a reasonable result from them. I didn’t hear anything at all from them for about 10 weeks so I used their online chat to ask what was going on. I had the final respose with an offer about half an hour later and after accepting the money was in my account that afternoon.
Ian says
Hi Adam,
I put in a complaint around the 9th Jan and I got a resolution yesterday. They said that they didn’t agree that they had been irresponsible, but yet somehow still wiped out my debt (£1400) with them and paid a goodwill gesture of £139!!! If i hadn’t needed the money I would’ve probably pushed back to the FOS for this one as I probably could’ve got a few more 100’s and it seemed they knew that too. But, quite happy debt is gone.
Alan says
Lending stream have upheld my complaint and state they will payout within 28 days. Will they take the full 28 days? Is there a legal time length they get to payout?
Dani says
That is the amount of time the FOS give them to pay out I’m on day 23 and still nothing, have emailed them today to chase them up
Dennis says
Thanks for the reply and help! Can I still make a complaint when I owe them money and cancel the CPA
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, that is the only way out of the payday loan trap, you have to stop the borrowing.
Andrei says
Hi,
I’ve made a refund request for PiggyBank and after i gave them my details they sent me an e-mail with a reference number and that they will investigate and answer in 4 to 8 weeks.in the e-mail it shows all my loans that i tooked from them and them it says in like that:
Your account has been placed on hold for this time to help, but if you do not want to be placed on hold, please let us know as soon as possible.
What should i do?
Thank you !!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
There is nothing to be done at this point.
Amy says
What refunds have people had from myjar? They’ve sent me my borrowing summary & i’ve worked out i paid about £1100 in interest any ideas how much i could possibly get back if accepted?
Thanks
Tania says
So grateful to Sara and everyone commenting on this site. I’ve never thought seriously about claiming before, as I felt ashamed of my borrowing, and didn’t feel I ‘deserved’ to claim, but I took confidence from everyone here and this morning got a settlement email of £432 from MyJar on four of the seven loans I had with them. Awaiting Safetynet Credit, Uncle Buck and Swift Sterling, although obviously the latter will be small, if anyting, and take ages. I applied on the 15th to all those. I have still got Lending Stream to do, because it wouldn’t let me do it even though I logged in on my phone, it was as if their complaints facility was disabled…so I will try on my laptop later today.
Like I said, I’m ashamed of my borrowing. As with many people, my marriage broke down, I tried to work full-time with two young children, one of whom developed several chronic illnesses, but the stress was too much and my mental health suffered, which affected my career. I had precarious and often changing employment thereafter. I have larger loans totalling £13k in a DMP with StepChange, which I also should never have taken or been given, but less sure how to deal with those.
I’m just glad I’m out of the constant borrowing cycle, and just want to put this all behind me and clean up my credit record a bit.
Jane says
I recently put in a claim against MYjar. They rejected my complaint today. I thought I had a good case reading other comments on here and looking at recent Ombudsman decisions. I had 4 loans in an 18 month period. 1st 2 were £150 and the last 2 were £450. I reloaned each time a few days after the last one was paid off and already had loans with Sunny, Satsuma and Peachy.
is it worth sending to the Ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s up to you. You may be able to get a refund on the last loan, arguing that they should have looked closely as you had been continuously in debt with them for so long. It may help f your other debts were a lot worse when you took the last loan than when you took the first one.
Liam says
Anyone dealt with Piggybank and Satsuma? They’re the two I have the biggest cases with I think.
I entered into an arrangement to pay back a loan to both, after I failed to meet what I had agreed to and paid back £15 a month for 3 years… and then they both immediately let me reborrow £400 inside a week of completing the ones I had to go into an arrangement for! Madness, from both me (in 2014) and them. Cannot believe someone borrows £250 over 26 weeks, can’t pay it back, finally does in 3 years and is immediately allowed to borrow again, no questions asked.
They all quote 8 weeks but I wondered in reality how quickly people have had cases resolved.
Dani says
Piggybank have gone bust, you will need to contact the administrators
Reem says
Hi Sara
I have got a installment loan from peachy can I put a complain while I am still paying the loan back? After I have paid the installements every month I don’t have any money left in my account so I have to roll with a another pay day loan
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes you can – and ask them for an affordable payment arrangement while the complaint goes through.
Reem says
Peachy complaints department replied to me asking for my bank statements and pay slips
do I need to send them? They have also mentioned they have ceased all recovery activities for 60 days which means they won’t collect the repayment automatically does it mean that my account will go to debt collection in that 60 days ?
Do I need to wait until peachy take decision to go to financial ombudsmen service?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you don’t have to send payslips, I think they ask for those to make it sound difficult
you don’t have to send bank statements, but if they support your case that the loans were unaffordable, why not? if you didn’t have them, this is the time to get them from your bank, you can do this even from closed accounts.
sometimes a lender sends an account to debt collection – big shrug, most debt collectors are nicer to deal with than payday lenders.
you can’t send your case to the Ombudsman until Peachy have sent a decision OR 8 weeks has passed. whichever comes first.
Sophie C says
Hi Everyone! I stumbled across this site after seeing a post on Facebook & am so glad i did! I’ve sent off multiple unaffordable complaints yesterday and today and am confident i have some pretty good cases!
2010 – Amigo Loan – £3000 – Gaurantor Loan (still paying now with debt collection company)
2011 – Hamilton Greig (any type of loan) Gaurantor Loan – £3000 (still paying now with debt management company)
March 2017 – September 2018 – Mr Lender Payday loans – £4420 borrowed in 10 loans – Dread to think how much i paid back!
Jan 2018 – April 2019 – Lending Stream payday loans – £6570 borrowed in 21 loans – Again dread to think how much with i repaid!
Feb 2018 – Buddy Loan – Gaurantor loan – £5000
April & August 2018 – Capital One Credit cards – £200 each
June 2018 – Vanquis credit card – £150
Jan 2019 & Aug 2019 – Perfect Home purchases – Totaling £1518
June 2019 – Money boat payday loan – £500
5 JD Williams accounts opened in 2019 – Granted small amounts around £100 each.
I outlined all of my credit commitments that were available for these lenders to see on my credit file at the time of application and its honestly shocking that i (as a single working mum nether the less!) was able to get myself into such a mess!
Heres to hoping for some money back!
Mike_p says
I think you are bound to get some back for the Mr Lender and Lending Stream ones, rejection is their standard response so you will probably have to go to the FOS.
I had 6 on the go at once with Lending Stream at one point, I don’t know how they could have ever thought that wasn’t irresponsible.
Sophie C says
I hope so! Its honestly shocking – This is the breakdown! Why did no one stop to say no?! Im especially annoyed about the Buddy loan as its totally obvious by this point, my debt has spiraled out of control
17th March 2017 – Mr Lender payday loan – £200
29th March 2017 – Mr Lender payday loan – £200
29th April 2017 – Mr Lender payday loan – £270
9th June 2017 – Mr Lender payday loan – £200
20th Aug 2017 – Mr Lender payday loan – £200
1st Sept 2017 – Mr Lender payday loan – £650
20th Jan 2018 – Lending Stream payday loan – £150
29th Jan 2018 – Lending Stream payday loan – £500
1st Feb 2018 – Fashion World catalouge opened
2nd Feb 2018 – Lending Stream payday loan – £810
8th March 2018 – CCJ filed on my report
10th March 2018 – Lending Stream payday loan – £100
2nd April 2018 – Mr Lender payday loan – £400
19th April 2018 – Lending Stream payday loan – £50
21st April 2018 – Lending Stream payday loan – £100
21st April 2018 – Credit Card opened – Capital One
22nd April 2018 – Lending Stream payday loan – £50
12th May 2018 – Lending Stream payday loan – £230
31st May 2018 – Mr Lender payday loan – £300
11th June 2018 – Lending Stream payday loan – £500
June 2018 – Vanquis Credit Card Opened
June 2018 – Missed Payment to Seven Trent Water
13th June 2018 – Lending Stream loan – £300
28th June 2018 – Mr Lender payday loan – £1500
July 2018 – Missed payment to seven Trent water
4th July 2018 – Lending Stream payday loan – £700
9th Aug 2018 – Lending Stream payday loan – £350
16th Aug 2018 – Lending stream payday loan – £400
21st Aug 2018 – Capital One Credit card opened
31st Aug 2018 – Lending stream payday loan – £400
19th Sept 2018 – Mr Lender payday loan – £500
6th Oct 2018 – Lending stream payday loan – £120
27th Oct 2018 – Lending stream payday loan – £270
15th Dec 2018 – Lending stream payday loan – £150
4th January 2019 – Perfect Home hire purchase – £848.64
10th Jan 2019 – Simply Be catalouge opened
11th Jan 2019 – Grattan catalouge opened
11th Jan 2019 – Ambrose Wilson catalouge opened
2nd Feb 2019 – Lending stream payday loan – £300
6th Feb 2019 – Crazy Clearance catalouge opened
13th Feb 2019 – Lending stream payday loan – £200
28th Feb 2019 – Buddy Loan opened – £5000
1st April 2019 – Lending stream payday loan – £690
May 2019 – Missed payment on Seven Trent water
June 2019 – Moneyboat payday loan – £500
August 2019 – Default added to credit file – Debt Managers – Mail Order
23rd August 2019 – Perfect Home hire purchase – £670.80
Sophie C says
Sorry – The buddy Loan was July 2018! Not Feb 19 – so right in the middle of my debt chaos!
Sophie C says
I was absolutely shocked when i sat and time lined it all out. Crazy credit history that should have screamed alarm bells.
Sophie c says
That’s where I fall down, I don’t have access to my old bank account – it was a think money account so no branch and I closed the account last year. I’m hoping my credit file will do the talking for me. Good luck!
Jack says
Hi, I emailed Sunny just now the template above, how long should I wait to hear their rebuttal? I think I read above they have 8 weeks to reply? Do they generally leave it that long? One thing that worries me is that I lied about where I worked or rather they have an employer on file I haven’t worked for for about 3 out of the 5 years I borrowed from them, I moved companies but did retain the same wage, just never updated my profile on there. Will that hurt my chances? I borrowed roughly £600 a month for 5 years
Em says
Hi, Have tried to register with credit karma but unfortunately I entered the wrong information. It told me to try again in 30 days!! I have emailed them asking for help to register but 48 hours later I haven’t had a reply. Dose anyone have a phone number for them as I can’t find one? I hoped to send off an number of affordability claims soon rather than later.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send off the claims now! And get a TransUnion statutory report instead, see https://www.transunionstatreport.co.uk/
tony says
SARA
I contacted lending stream some weeks ago after getting involved with your website to do with Wonga, I had an email stating they would look into it etc etc
Last night I mailed them again asking for an update
This is the response today , could you advise please
We write in regards to your previous correspondence. We understand that you want to get an update on the complaint.
Please be informed that as per the FCA guidelines we have a tenure of 8 weeks (from 10th January, 2020) to share our final response. Hence, we will be sharing our response accordingly as we are amidst investigating this matter and would get back to you shortly.
We appreciate your patience in this matter.
If you have any further questions or would like additional information, please contact us on 0203 365 0138 (call charges apply) between 7:00am – 10:00pm. Alternatively, you can visit the “Contact Us” section of our website at http://www.lendingstream.co.uk and register your query.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if it hasn’t been 8 weeks, there is no point in asking for updates.
Adam R says
Ok, I have sent an email to ferratum (using the template)
I have been getting loans ranging from 400 -550 continually since 2016 at a very rough estimate the interest alone is over 2100
I would be happy if I got half that back
Charlotte says
Hello. I accepted a claim from sunny back in November, they requested my bank details on 22/01/20. I sent them my details the same day but I have not had any response. Does anyone know if I will receieve another confirmation email with when payment should be made, or will they automatically make a payment within 30 days now that they have my details?
Adam R says
I would expect sunny to take the maximum amount of time allowed
Steffy says
Hi Sara
I had a claim accepted by Piggybank shortly before they went into administration for £900 and unfortunately missed out. However, I have received a letter by post today from HJS and I really don’t understand :( it’s very long so too long to go in the comments and talks about the administration, voting and proof of debt.
Do you have an email so I can send to you for information and understanding on what it means? Please feel free to email me if easier
Mal says
Unfortunately it reads that there is not enough money to pay the secure creditors, so that means nothing for us unsecured creditors
Cazza says
Anyone had success with My Jar? They weren’t a company I had a huge number of loans with; they were mainly with Lending Stream; however, when I took the loans out it would have been clear from my credit file that I was borrowing on compounded debt.
Cazza says
I had three loans, no overlapped; however, my last loan was issued when I had 6 Lending Stream loans and a Sunny Loan active.
Amy says
Anyone had a refund off 118? Ive only had 1 loan off then for £1200 which they then offered to top up to £2200 which i accepted. The apr was 99% i’m paying back nearly £4400 & its never ending!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, lots of people. Use the template letter over here: https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-large-high-cost-loans/
Matt says
Hi Sara
Can you advise what knowledge you have of uncle buck .
The fos found in my favour the argues it and apparently sent further information I was in a DMP at the time and had ccj my credit score was and still awful yet they are arguing the decision.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They can be very difficult, arguing all the way. All you can do is see what happens.
Jack says
Hi Sara
Ive had numerous loads (loads) over around a 5 year period with sunny, satsuma, just to name a couple they allowed me repeatedly to get loan after loan as soon as i paid them back. I instantly got one out, i missed quite a lot of payments with them and had payment plans also with them. But always they would allow me to get one after another, even after all this happened. When i think back now how much interest i mustve paid them after all this time.. my credit rating was terrible, and had problems with other loans, credit cards. Surely over all this time they shouldve taken into account my credit and performed further checks to see if i was in any trouble. I have recently submitted claims with them but have only heard back from sunny who say they are looking into my claim. What do you think the chances are of me having a good outcome of this? Ive also got loans out with them now which i have not paid back due to difficulties, thankyou. X
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It depends on your borrowing with each lender. The more loans from a lender, the better your chance of winning. it sounds as though you have borrowed a lot…
If you can’t repay the current loans without being so short of money you have to borrow again, then this is the point you need to call a halt to 5 years of borrowing. Cancel the CPAs to all of your current lenders. You can either ask them for low affordable payments arrangements or, if there are more than a couple of them, it’s often easier to go to StepChange and ask them to set up a DMP for you: https://www.stepchange.org/how-we-help/debt-management-plan.aspx. Then you can sit back and let the complaints go through and it won’t matter if some take a while and have to go to the ombudsman as your finances will be safe.
Georgina says
Could I have some advice please. I sent in complaints to my 2 doorstep lenders yesterday Naylors and CLC finance. I’ve just had the local agent call at my property asking me to sign a bit of paper to say I will not be perusing them. I asked why would I do that to be told well we only have an account for one loan in 2015 as dont keep records for anything longer so is pointless.
How would I proceed with this. As payments were collected on the doorstep and they never put up to date info on my credit report I can’t trace the other loans I had previously.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Tell them you want a written response to your complaint.
Shelley says
Hi, I’m looking for some advice if anyone can help please. In 2012 I had quite a few payday loans and I’m following advice from this page(Thank you Sara).
I had a loan with Txt Loan which rolled over 33 times and a few of the payments were quite high (this information is from my bank statements.)
My credit file is showing defaults from my jar.
I provided my jar with all details name, address, new address, phone number. I didn’t have my account number but assumed they could find me from all the info I gave. They replied saying they had no record of me and asked for reference numbers from bank statements which I then provided. They came back saying they had no record of me and said I must be getting them mixed up with another loan company and if I wanted to take it further I should provide full bank details showing account number and address.
I replied saying I was very concerned as it sounds like they had lost my personal information as I believed they should have been able to find me based on all the info I gave so was worried why they couldn’t find me.
Had a reply yesterday saying this was my last chance to provide banks statements showing account number and address or the case would be closed and if I wanted to take it further I need to complain to FOS within 6 months.
Should they still have a record of me and be able to locate my account?
Is it safe to provide what they’ve asked for if I’m concerned they’ve lost my info?
Lynn Blaney says
Hi Sara
Just received my redress from LS day 25 /28.
Can’t believe it.. Over 5k paid back to me. A huge thank you for the fantastic Web support you have provided would never have known irresponsible lending was something we could complain about. Good luck to all awaiting payouts.
Glen says
Sara feel free to move this if needed. Ok warts and all, currently I have 3 loans and 7 credit cards , I’m just over 26k in debt and have a gambling problem, that I’m starting to sort out, GA meeting , Gamcare etc so my question is I recently took out 3 loans , all of them let me top up or refinance and I’m convinced didn’t do proper checks, my credit score is pretty low.intrest rates on the loans aren’t great .Here are lenders and approx debts .
118 £237 pm owe around 20 more payments
Bamboo £156 pm owe around 45 more payments
NatWest £473 pm owe around 40 more payments
I owe around £3000 to 7 credit card companies so I won’t list them all.
Sara my question is should I complain to the loan companies ? I manage to pay the loans but it leaves me with around £200 after I pay pension and board money of £750 every month so I’m not destitute but I feel the loan companies didn’t check thoroughly.Have I got a case to freeze or refund the loan interest and make /agree smaller payment to pay back just the money I borrowed? My gambling and loans are all visible on bank statements I’m willing to provide them…..thought?
j says
Hi Glen
I was in a very similar situation to you 4 years ago. I contacted Stepchange for advice who were incredibly supportive and amazing; they helped me work out and agree an affordable payment arrangement with all the creditors (like you loans, credit cards, payday loans etc). That sorted my finances out. I then put in claims against all the lenders as they knew, or should have known / checked on my financial circumstances. It took a fair bit of time to sort it all out, lots of patience too but there is loads of useful info on this site to do that including templates and advice.
It all worked and total I got over £30k+ back, I’m debt-free and now my credit rating is starting to recover too. Best of all the worry has gone, I sleep at nights and the endless stress finally stopped. In the meantime you can get help and support for the gambling addiction. don’t be concerned about being up front about the gambling, there are thousands in your position. You can do this Glen, it’ feels like a huge mountain to climb but once you get started you will feel 100% better and Stepchange are awesome in everything they do to support. Writing your post on here was a big first step now all you have to do is keep going. Good luck Glen, I wish you all the best. j
Sara says
Adjudicator has emailed me yesterday to advise Sunny have offered me £99 when I’m due around £1200 so I have declined. Does this go directly to wait for an ombudsman now or will Sunny possibly make another offer.?
David says
Hi all, I have been following this site since the Wonga debacle and recently submitted complaints in respect of other lenders, most notable lending stream & MyJar.
I have received a settlement offer from MyJar which i consider to be reasonable and one that would make a significant difference to my family. I returned the settlement offer form on 30 January and asked for them to confirm receipt but I have received nothing. Tried to call them but you’re unable to speak to the complaints department.
Please can somebody who has received a settlement from them advise of their procedure?
Alison says
Hi there , I had the same , I sent my acceptance back last friday and received confirmation of receipt 3 days ago and received the monies on Thursday , so you should hear shortly 😊
C says
They left me waiting for my refund. They agreed with the adjudicator from FOS but didn’t pay out for a while. I left them a bad review on Trust Pilot and received the refund in my bank within half an hour.
C.D says
Hi All
Ill share my story, I was a compulsive gambler, I took out ridiculous amounts of loans in the last 7 years, IM TALKING RIDICULOUS, I use to always take the maximum allowed, £800-£1500, 3-4 months ago I decided to complain to all loan companies, after I got an email from wonga last year saying they have gone into administration for irresponsible lending etc. When I took out these loans, sometimes I would have interest of £10+ a day, I always tried to pay them back as quick as possible I sent a complaint to piggybank, swiftsterling, peachy, satsuma, quickquid, fernovo, ferratum, sunny.
Luckily for me, before piggybank and swiftsterling went into administration (THEY OFFERED ME ALTOGETHER £25K-30K) they agreed they lent me to irresponsibly and I received £1600 and £350 respectively.
I owed ferratum £1000 and they said they would wipe of the debt, instead of a refund.
Peachy refunded me around £250.
Before quickquid went into administration, they did not upheld my complaint.
Fernovo agreed to deduct £200 out of the £700 I owe.
Sunny did not upheld my complaint either.
But the worst one was Satsuma, the Financial ombudsman Service and the Financial Conduct Authority have appointed these Loan Companies 8 weeks to respond, each one literally responded on the 8 week mark, however this is after they acknowledge that they have received your email, it took 2 weeks for satsuma to acknowledge after I rang them, and then on the 8 week mark, they said they will need more time, then 3 weeks after I got an email, saying as I paid back early all the time, they would not be able to see, BUT they agreed to UPHELD my complaint, that they were slow.
C.D says
Bottom line is, these companies are falling one by one, in a few years’ time, there won’t be any left, due to the high complaints they receive recently, they have ruined my life, they fed up gambling addiction, so bad, that my life is ruined, and so is my credit score.
If you took out ridiculous amounts of loans consistently, chances are they lent to you irresponsibly, Especially, if they never even asked for proof.
BEFORE THESE LOAN COMPANIES, go into administration, and if you feel you have been lent to irresponsibly, make a complaint immediately, before it is too late.
Turtle says
Had 2 loans with satsuma (£300 and £1000). Adjudicator stated both loans were not lent irresponsibly. I replied highlighting overall debt situation at the time and transactions with various payday lenders in the months running upto the 2nd loan being granted.
Adjudicator said he didn’t have my bank statements which I thought I attached at the time of raising the complaint. He reviewed the case with bank statements then came back to me overturning his original decision and has now said loan 2 was lent irreaposibly.
Hopefully Satsuma agree rather than dragging it out for another year but the point here is make sure you send bank statements and make sure they have them.
I paid the maximum £1k on interest on loan 2 and I nearly lost the battle if I didn’t mention my bank statements to the FOS.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, if you think an adjudicator has missed something, go back and explain. It is not unusual for an adjudicator to change their mind. And indeed this also happens at the Ombudsman level.
glen says
does anyone have an email address for natwest to make a complaint please
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what are you complaining about, a credit card. loan or overdaft? Do you still owe money?
Glen says
Yes sorry, it’s a loan I guess they shouldn’t have let me add to, I had a balance of 7k , they let me add on 5k plus new interest when I was 20k in debt with a gambling problem.
I’ve 2 other loans and 7 credit cards, they weren’t thorough with checks, just wondering if I should complain
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That’s a large loan, yes they should have made reasonable checks. If they had your current account and there was gambling showing on there that is a very good point to make. Use template here https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-large-high-cost-loans/. It says it’s for bad credit loans, but the repayments on a 12k loan must have been big!
Glen says
To be fair Sara my main current account is Santander so they is no real history in my current account with them, I only used it to pay loan money into it, do you still think I should complain? If so I’ve no email address for them if anyone can help?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If the payments on the loan caused you problems then yes, complain. I was just saying to mention I’d NatWest coukd see gambling on a current account (or cardio card?) even without that a NatWest should still have looked at your situation.The template on the other page asks for a copy of all your personal information so that will show what checks they did.
Laura says
Hi I had a lot of lending stream loans I believe I had 5 I owed nearly 2000 been on credit karma and 4loans have disappeared and only showing 361 left to pay. Anyone else had this experience and any advice on why this is
Ali says
Sunny-I accepted a final ombudsman ruling at the start of October and received the refund around the start of November but my credit file still has not been adjusted. I contacted them the start of January and was assured they had done it and to give it another week. Still all there. It’s frustrating! Missed payments are still having a detrimental effect. Satsuma literally updated on noodle within 7 days (report produced every 7 days) so I know it’s possible. I have emailed again and said I am unhappy and that I will be referring it back to the ombudsman as they have had plenty of time to sort it. Just an update for people really so you can also check that they have removed all the negative information like they are suppose to :-)
Fraggles says
Does any one know how ling it should take Satsuma to remove the default from credit file? I won my case in Nov 19 they reported the default on 02 Dec 19. Just checked today and its still there.
Sarah says
Just wandering- should payday loan companies have refused my loan applications in 2015 because I was on a DMP? Should my credit file have shown this? I’m still on the same DMP now!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Being in a DMP isn’t an absolute bar to getting a loan, but a DMP shows on your credit record with the debts being marked as defaulted or in a payment arrangement and thet is something the lender should take into account.
So it will be case by case. For lender A, how many loans did you have, how large and were there gaps between them, or did you take a new one soon after repaying the previous one? Same for lender B….
Rachel says
The same thing happened to me. But i got £100 compensation from sunny for this. So you should ask for it too.
My loans have now been deleted
Jack says
Can anyone help me with this? I emailed Sunny the template and I’m now settling in for the 8 week wait however what’s got me concerned is that I literally just sent them the template, I didn’t clarify my Sunny account number or any further detail, just sent it from the email address I used for them and put my full name at the bottom – do you think I should resend it with more info about me as identifiers? I also sent it to the help@ address which I believe is the correct one for these complaints for them?
Dani says
I took out 96 loans over 5 years, they let me have 3 at a time and quite a few were big ones and others were smaller but I cant remember a time I haven’t been in debt with sunny! They basically shot me down and I’ve forwarded my complaint to the FOS straight away, they are a joke
Akram says
Hi Sara, all,
I can’t seem to find access fast money contact details and their website is no longer in use. Did they go bust?
Thanks!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They seem to have disappeared in 2014 – long gone.
Mike_p says
I noticed that Satsumas Web page had been down for the last day. Has something happened to them?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Seems to be working now. Most website maintenance is done over the weekend.
SS says
Hi all, I am on day 26 of waiting for Lending Stream to pay me my settlement after agreeing with the adjudicator. I had an email today saying:
We would like to inform you that we have carried out the settlement as per the FOS.
As a part of settlement, the refund of 1297.28 GBP has been processed from our end towards bank account ending with “xxxx”. In case of any discrepancy, you may let us know so that the required action can be taken at the earliest.
I have checked my account but no sign of the money. Anyone have an idea of how long it takes from getting that email to actually getting the cash? I appreciate its a Sunday but in the modern banking world it should be pretty instant. It’s been such a long January waiting for them to pay up!
Lynn says
I was on day 25 and my refund was made late Friday night 11.30pm for over 5k. Hold in it will hopefully come through soon. Phoned on Friday morning asking if they didn’t make payment on Friday how was it supposed to be in my account Monday and like magic there is was. Very happy indeed as I was concerned they might have gone the way of so many others. Good luck I hope you get your refund soon
Sarah says
Has anyone been paid out in under 30 days from Sunny ?
M says
Hi Sara. I had my complaint upheld by the Ombudsman and the letter was sent to me on the 24th January…received on the 27th jan. I forwarded my excepted letter with my bank details to Mr Baldry at Elevate on the 28th, it was in my account on the 29th.
A little nudge in the right direction.
Sara says
Question…
I put in a complaint to SafetyNet Credit. I had my safetynet loans over a 12 month period, paying out to them nearly £3,500 in total. This happened at the same time as I was taking out Wonga loans.
I qualified for a claim with Wonga, so I’m just wondering if I should expect the same result from SafetyNet?
Thanks.
Tania says
You would think as SNC had access to view bank accounts, you would have a good case. Some people have had super-fast settlement offers from SNC, I am nearly at three weeks so hoping for a response soon – which sounds impatient but there have been people had offers after three/four days!
Sara says
Yeah, I read on here that someone only had to wait 2 days!
I really hope I get a response soon! This waiting kills you 🙈
Pee says
I’m waiting on a redress payment from
Moneyboat. Had anyone any recent dealings with Moneyboat??? Did you receive redress claim quickly?? Or did they use full 28 days allowed??
Am interested.
HLTCO says
I had a complaint upheld for one of my loans and they paid out within 3 days of me accepting the offer and confirming my bank details.
Sarah says
Hi Sara. I have a £4500 overdraft with Halifax that I am constantly at the edge of. I have had it for years and at the time the fees were affordable. However they have changed the fees to around £6 per day and I am wondering if I can put a claim in for this back? My earnings are £1700 and I have a lot of other debt and payday loans so realistically the overdraft should never have been allowed to go this high?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
See https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-catalogue-credit-card/ for how to complain about increased credit limits. Don’t delay, these complaints may be hard to win if the increase was over 6 years ago.
Marc says
Sara, I’ve had a number of payday loans over the last 10 years, I have no idea about how much from who I borrowed as I was in the spiral. Is there a company you can recommend I get in contact with who can do the work for me as at the time those loans must of been unaffordable and I just dont have the time to do this all myself. Thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
All claims companies need you to tell them the lenders you used.
See https://debtcamel.co.uk/find-out-payday-lenders/ for how you can find this out. You don’t need to know how much you borrowed, if you know their loans caused you difficulty just send the standard template complaint as that asks for your loans.
Pete says
My bank gave me 5 loans over a period of 3 years during massive payday loan borrowing (redress ~£18,000 during this time.) Each time I would apply to pay off that loan and increase the amount essentially because my outgoing we’re so high I couldn’t meet them. Now cycle free and £2500 to pay on one loan but I did have two personal loans a running at the same time of £355 and £230 each a month with the same bank and I’m single so one wage only. I had a wonga loan every month for 4 years paid into this account. Is this anything that’s worth Persuing anyone got any experience like this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So these were consolidation loans? But you carried on taking out payday loans? Was this because the cost of the consolidation loans was too high, or did you have other problems such as gambling?
Nats says
Hey,
Does anyone have any recent experience with Mr Lender complaints? They responded the day after I sent it in saying they would look into it and this can take up to 8 weeks etc
I have heard they send them in the post…presumably another delaying tactic!
It’s been 3 weeks now anyway so they still have plenty of time just wondering if they’re normally quicker or leave it right to the deadline?
Thanks in advance!
A says
i dealt with Mr Lender in 2018.
after i sent them an email in June i git an immediate acknowledgement followed by silence until they sent an email with an offer.
they didn’t argue the toss but they did take every day of the 8 weeks allowed.
Adam says
Hi Sara, Thanks once again for putting together such a great site and giving me the tools to help get my finances back on track. I’m sending this message after sending off my claim to SafetyNet Credit. It wasn’t until I downloaded my full borrowing report that I realised I’d borrowed £20,659 over a 26 month period. Using your templates I’ve just sent off my affordability complaint and hope I have a pretty strong case. Hopefully I will get something back that will allow me to pay off some of my other outstanding debts. I’ll keep you up to date with how I get on.
Thanks
Adam
Mike_p says
Nats,
They asked me by email to confirm my address and said my final response would be sent by post. They claimed they had sent the resposnse prior to the 8 week deadline but I didn’t actually receive it until after the 8 weeks. Make of that what you will!
HLTCO says
Did you ask them to send final response via email instead? The 8 week deadline is tomorrow for my complaint and I don’t want them to post anything as it’ll take a few more days, which is clearly a tactic of theirs to drag the process out as long as possible. Wondering whether I can be forceful and tell them to send the response via email?
Paul says
Hi just had the standard send bank statements and payslips reply from Myjar, Is there a template to replying denying them and explaining where they can obtain this info online? Or just don’t reply?
Tania says
I didn’t get around to replying because I was busy with work at the end of January and they processed my complaint within 16 days anyway and have offered me a reasonable settlement figure.
Nick MB says
Hi,
Hope this information is of help to anyone who has logged a complaint with Satsuma.
They are currently working cases between 80 – 90 days old, so they are working approximately a month behind the 56 day final response deadline.
Cheers.
Mike_p says
I’m on day 87 and haven’t had a final response from them. They had the cheek to thank me for being patient – I’m not being patient I’ve sent it to the FOS.
Helly says
They responded to me after 8 weeks, refusing the claim. I sent to fos who picked up my complaint quickly in November but satsuma still havent sent fos my case file. My adjudicator said they are having “problems” at present meeting deadlines and i need to be patient. Satsuma are a total disgrace
Holly says
Hello my on stride loan has been in default for so long whilst they’ve been looking into my complaint and now of course gone in to administration, can I do anything about this it’s really affecting my credit file
Holly x
Sara (Debt Camel) says
did you have other loans from QQ or PTP or Onstride before this last one?
Holly says
I did yes from quick quid years ago
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you can’t speed up getting a decision from the administrators – its likely to be more than 6 months before you get your claim assessed, but it should be a claim on your QQ and your onstride loan. If you win the claim it’s likely the debt will be edeleted from your credit record.
DM says
Hi Sara, as per previous posts I have accepted sunny claim below due to the value (which I need and also fear of them also going in administration at some point before payout) and not having to go through delays through FOS (there were 51 loans total over 24-36 mths with multiple running at the same time)
· Calculate the interest paid by you from your 20th loan onwards £4819.51;
· Pay interest of 8% (simple) on the above refund amount from the dates of payment to the dates of settlement, which comes to £904.23;
· The total refund will be the sum of the above amounts – Which comes to £5723.74;
· As there is a balance outstanding of £325.78 we agree to write off this amount so you no longer have any liability to us;
· Amend your credit file by removing all loans from your 20th loan onwards
I accepted the offer on the 11th Jan and chased today being advised this will be paid by the 11th Feb. Question is that if they payout later than the 30 days as per the final response are you then able to raise to FOS to review if they have not met the terms they have set out as looking through posts could get an additional settlement from the 6th – 10th loan onwards?
Also they have not stated that they will hold back the 20% tax on the interest amount. Is this something they have do legally or will I need to declare to HMRC?
Mike_p says
Nats,
I asked them what the final response was and they just stuck to their “It’s company policy to send final responses by post line”. They were happy to send it to an address I gave them via email, were happy to resend it if it hadn’t arrived based on sending them an email, and were happy for me to accept their offer via email. It’s hard to see how sending it by post can be anything other than a reason for them to say “we’ve sent it, it must have got delayed”
Sarah says
Has anyone had success with getting a refund from Pounds to Pocket? They have been very slow in coming back to me.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They are in administration. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/quickquid-casheuronet-administration/ for latest news. You aren’t likely to get you complaint decided for at least 6 months and then it will be longer before it is paid. And you may probably only be paid a small proportion. On the plus side it is likely all the loans that are upheld will be deleted from your credit record.
Sarah says
Sorry to ask another question! I have had an offer from Sunny – which I have accepted – and they said will be paid by the end of February. Is there a chance they will go bust or something could happen to stop me getting my refund, or now that it has been agreed is that watertight? Thank you (again)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Until it is paid there is always a chance they will go into administration and you will not get all the money.
JV says
How long did it take before they replied with there answer and offer Sarah?
Sarah says
22 days to reply with the offer. I’ve emailed them since and got a reply the following day. However they’re saying 30 days for repayment and will not commit to anything less than that. I only accepted the offer due to fear of them going under because to be honest I’d probably get a lot more taking it further.