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?
GH says
Hi I made a complaint about irresponsible lending to cashfloat. I had 4 loans (£400 , £500, £500 and £400) in a 12 month period. I sent a email and their response was they aren’t upholding it. They have offerd me £50 as a goodwill gesture. The total interest i paid was £539.
Question should I accept the £50 or go to the ombudsman knowing it will take a long time and taking the risk that a lot of payday lenders are going into administration?
TIA
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did you clear the loans early so there were gaps between them? because that looks like a low amount of interest on 4 loans.
What were the gaps between the loans – the time from repying the first loan to taking the second, from repaying the second to taking the third, and from repaying the third to taking the 4th.
GH says
I would clear them early. These sums were from my borrowing summary. Do you think I should accept the £50 as isn’t a huge amount and obviously wouldn’t get the full interest, as from previous experience 1st loan isn’t always paid anyway.
1st 06/06/19 – 27/06/19
2nd 30/06/19 – 30/09/19
3rd 30/09/19 – 02/12/19
4th 12/01/20 – 06/03/20
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh so there weren’t any gaps, you actually took 4 loans in a 7 month period. That is a much stronger case.
If you went to the Ombudsman my guess is that the most likely result would be you would get loan 4 refunded. Do you know what interst you paid on that loan?
It is possible you could get loans 3 & 4 refunded. Also possible but less likely are to get loans 2,3 and 4 refunded, or to not get anything.
You could go back to Cashfloat and say as a compromise and in the interest of getting this settled quickly you would be prepared to get loan 4 refunded, which would be £108 (or whatever).
GH says
So I emailed Cashfloat saying I feel like I have a vaild claim and to get the matter resolved quickly I would accept £100 ( total interest was £539 over 4 loans, wouldn’t have got all that anyway) . They have agreed to to my request .
Paul says
Hi Sara
I received this email today from SNC with regards to my irresponsible lending claim I submitted just under 4 weeks ago. I am inclined to reject this offer as I know I have paid out almost £6000 in interest on loans from SNC over 3 years but I am concerned that rejecting this offer could risk me getting nothing back from them. What do you suggest I do in this case?
Thanks
Paul
This email is in relation to your complaint.
We have now investigated this matter, however before we issue you with a formal final response we wanted to put our offer to you directly.
Our offer is to close down your account and refund you ?2000.00, this amount is payable directly to you. In addition to this we will delete all entries in relation to SafetyNet from your credit file.
Our offer to settle your complaint has been based on the following:
Where we find some of our decisions may not have been in our customer?s best interests and may have caused a degree of detriment, we partially uphold the complaint and provide an offer to fully settle the complaint. This is what has been in done in your case.
Please confirm whether you accept the offer proposed above and we will send you out a final response letter.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s a tough one because they are offering a sizeable amount of money. If it was £300 you would probably tell them where they could put their offer… If it was £4500 you would probably think it was fair.
I have no particular reason to think SNC is in trouble. They are settling a lot of cases here but I am not even sure they are on the many Claims Companies target lists, although that could change.
It’s hard to say anything about wiat times at FOS at the moment. Coronavirus may be resulting in more complaints but several lenders have gone under since Xmas (Peachy, BrightHouse) and at least one big lender appears to be settling hundreds of FOS complaint this month (Provident) which all frees up FOS resources for other lenders.
Here is a recent report of a FOS SNC case https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/comment-page-188/#comment-359264.
You could go back and offer to settle for say £3000 if that would make enough of a difference for you? Not many reports of people trying to negotiate with them.
Ts says
Hi Paul,
I had the same issue. They offered me £3800 and I believe that they should have been closer to £6500. I rejected and waited about 12 months with the FOS. I chased and chased, in the end, the FOS said that they only have a very limited number of people who can look into this complaint and SNC isn’t a standard pay day loan, its more complex.
FOS basically told me that there are people in the queue that have been waiting for 20 months, as other companies are folding, I decided that £3800 meant enough to me to go back to SNC and accept it. You have to do what is right for you.
Thanks
Ciara says
Hi Sara
I have received an email from provident the last 2 weeks saying they haven’t finalised the response to my claim yet (its now 9 weeks since I put my complaint in) should I wait or just go directly to FOS!?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
unless they said it would be done in the next week or two, I suggest sending it to FOS now.
Andy says
Hi Sara. I got a reply from my adjudicator at FOS today regarding my complaint about Sunny. They have offered to repay interest from loans 39-64 to the sum of £1300 but FOS had recommended they repay from loans 2-64. Part of me wants to accept purely to avoid another 4p in the pound pay out if these guys go into administration. Is there any indication of that happening?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is a dreadful offer.
I listened to Sunny’s US parent’s investor earnings call a couple of weeks ago. There wasn’t a lot said about Sunny, just the same grumble that Sunny needs to get affordability complaints sorted out with the FCA that they have been saying for well over a year. And a remark about how profitable the UK business is as there is little competition from other lenders. So no indication they are just about to throw in the towel, but of course it can’t be ruled out.
carole says
Hi Sara,
Having read these comments about safety net I have realised my safety money they returned for interest is hundreds out. I think i was just so happy to get rid of them, i was too quick to not check. Can i contact them about this once i get the exact figures from my bank statements or not now?
Also can i ask what happens if Amigo or payday loans agree to refund me say 2 out of my 4 loans interest. Can i accept that and then forward others to FOS or is it all or nothing? Accept or decline?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you mean Safetynet credit offered a refund of £x, not being specific about which loans, and you now realise you could have got a lot more?
Or that they offered a refund on loans 10-18 (or whatever) and you now think there was more interest paid on their loans than their calculations?
Amigo – I suggest you wait and see what they say. You can waste a lot of time and energy working out what offers would be acceptable, it’s not worth the effort until you have an offer.
carole says
yes safetynet sent an amount of £500 and something due back to me on a revolving credit limit i had which included the 8% from the start of opening account until now. I stupidly did not work this out and just said yes and close account without checking. I have now realised i paid so much more money in interest.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then go back to them and say you were happy with their offer to refund all the interest, but looking at your bank statements you think they have calculated it incorrectly.
Ash says
Hi guys, I got an response from the financial ombudsman today, and he’s agreed to upheld my complaint from loan 6-33 against sunny.
This was while waiting for the ombudsman, Sunny didn’t accept what the adjudicators decision was, so went to ombudsman. Believe they have a massive backlog and running on a force smaller than normal, But it took ages!
Thanks
Summer says
Just in update guys had a loan with satsuma for £800 in July 2019 struggled to pay it but I think I paid off around £400 over the last 10 months because of the high interest there was still £1100 outstanding. I sent a complaint using Sara’s template for affordability back in April. I have just received an email from them and they have written off the outstanding balance as a gesture of goodwill. So guys there is hope and thanks so much Sara you are literally a life saver X
Sara says
Just had a claim upheld by an ombudsman in regards to Lending Stream. Completed the slip stating I agree with his findings. Now what happens? Do I wait until Lending Stream contact me with the refund or do I have to get in touch with them. Im really pleased as the 1st adjudicator knocked me back last October so I asked for another to look at this and one did in April,changed the decision from the 1st adjudicator.Lending Stream ignored them (2 week date expired 7th May) and an Ombudsman has picked it already and agreed in my favour. What a good result
shaun says
Hi Sara,
I am in same situation but I got a email off LS saying my complaint is with adjudicator I emailed him and said offer is fine I accept. Just off people’s stories/advice on here I then got back on to lending stream to confirm they had mine and adjudicators acceptance confirmation an they did an said il be paid out by 11th June. This was through there live chat. Hope this helps and good luck 👍
Rosie says
Just had a complaint upheld by Ombudsman with regards to Quidmarket. Had 5 instalment loans, and Ombudsman upheld for loans 4 & 5. They’ve asked Quidmarket to contact me directly to resolve things in the way the ombudsman has set out. They also advise “Normally we would expect the business to contact you within four to eight weeks of the date of this email. However due to the current circumstances – Covid-19 this may take longer. We appreciate your patience with this. But if the business has not made contact within eight weeks, you can let us know.”
Has anyone had any dealings with Quidmarket ? Are they likely to string this out the whole 8 weeks or more ?
James says
I sent my complaint about MyJar to the FOS and they’ve agreed in my favour. I had one loan with them for £2225 over 12 months. They froze interest about 6 months into it when I said I was going into a DMP, around the £1200 mark.
The adjudicator has requested they pay back all interest + 8% interest. I have £280 outstanding with them on my DMP, so that will also be wiped.
MyJar have 2 weeks to respond. Anyone had any experiences with MyJar and their response to an adjudicator?
Also FYI the turnaround for me from submitting the claim to FOS to the adjudicator decision was 2 weeks!! Chuffed with that.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They often accept adjudicator decisions – but not always.
Tom says
Hi Sara, any thoughts on this?
I had 4 loans with Myjar:
– £575 borrowed on 29 November 2017, repaid 5 February 2018 (total repaid £819.67)
– £1,300 borrowed on 5 September 2018, repaid 27 September 2018 (total repaid £1,485.90)
– £1,300 borrowed on 10 October 2018, repaid 15 Jan 2019 (total repaid £1,993.79 – original amount to repay was £2,226.93)
– £475 borrowed on 13 Feb 2019, repaid 8 August 2019 (total repaid £829.23 – original amount to repay was £760.82)
I submitted a complaint and it took them less than a fortnight to come back and deny any wrongdoing saying that they had conducted all the necessary checks and that there was no pattern in the chain of borrowing that suggested it was unsustainable.
What’s your view on the strength of my case? I had several (10+) other current loans when taking these out and I’d say that the size of the loans and taking out 3 loans in 5 months would suggest unsustainable borrowing… I’d taken out three further loans in between loans 3 and 4.
I think of all my complaints, this is one of the stronger. Any thoughts, please?
I will obviously now send to the Ombudsman but it feels like they haven’t really engaged with my complaint and just dismissed it. Assuming you think my complaint has merit, would you suggest going back to them and asking them to reconsider, or just straight to the ombudsman?
Many thanks in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think Myjar should have looked closely at your situation for the £1300 loans because they are so large. I suggest you send this to the ombudsman.
Karen says
I have received a response from safety net advising my complaint has good merit that i could not afford to pay for loans issued They have offered to refund interest only and amend data on credit file however they havent advised what loans the refund applies to ? There is a balance of 48 pounds owing in the account that they say i still owe which i thought they would have deducted from the settlement so im unsure what they are offering if anything can i reject this offer of nothing and request that a full refund if all payments made to loans ? Im very confused by their offer
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you ask them to clarify their offer – ask which loans they are refunding, or is it all of them? And for details of the interest you have paid.
Shaun says
Hi,
My claim went to the FOS and was awarded in my favor. I was told Lending Stream had 28 days from 26th March to make the payment to me. It’s been 54 days and I am still waiting.
I believe that FOS are giving lenders room to take the micky due to COVID-19. I actually work in the financial services for a mutual organization and the only impact on our customers is physical post. Take seconds to process a payment, 3-5 working days, here I am 54 days later still waiting.
Thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
this is an Ombudsman level decision?
Have you told your FOS adjudicator?
The FCA has said it expects firms to prioritise “paying promptly complainants who have been offered redress and accepted that offer”.
Victory says
Hi Sara
I have recently received an offer from Sunny through the adjudicators (they had rejected my complaint and it’s gone to FOS). I had a total of 19 drawdowns from 2014 to early 2016, the adjudicator had ruled that Sunny should refund from draw downs 8 to 19 as there was a pattern of lending that showed my reliance on payday loans. Sunny have offered from draw down 15 to 19, which I think is quite poor but I would love your input. Should I go to the Ombudsman now?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I agree that is very poor. I replied to a couple of other people about this same question yesterday.
Laura says
Just had an email from my adjudicator to say that Mr Lender had agreed with his findings. I had 3 loans with Mr Lender, the first 2 were for £150 each and the 3rd was for £350. He said they should not have leant me loan 3.
A redress amount of £530 will be coming my way. I am thrilled as Mr Lender were quite intimidating telling me no one would take on my complaint as the loans are over 6 years old.. I only nipped to make myself a cup of tea and came back to find his email. I have replied straight away to say I would like to accept the offer.
Has anyone had any dealings with Mr Lender? How long do they normally take to pay out?
Thank you!
vicki says
Hey Sara ,
May be a bit of a long shot here ! But in the past I had tons and tons of payday loans to the point I havnt got a clue who with ! Is here a way I could maybe find out who I had loans with ?
Thanks Vicki ! x
Jess says
Hi Sara,
Do you know if cashfloat will go back and review there decision? They’ve come back and disagreed I have only had 3 instalments loans with them and currently got 2 payments left of this loan. First was £300 I paid that off and got another day after off £200 then this final one was a few months later off £400. Got two payments of £196 left. I did have 3 loans with satsuma, 4 loans with sunny, 1 loan with moneyboat, 1 with uncle Buck I know at the time of the 3rd loan. Is it worth going back to re-review?
GH says
I put an irresponsible lending complaint in with them. The thread can be seen here dated 16th May.
I had 4 loans with them total interest £539. They disagreed with my complaint but offered £50 goodwill. I emailed back a few times with reasons why I disagreed. I then went back asking for £100 as a compromise and to settle the complaint quickly. The £100 was agreed and is in my bank today.
Laura says
Has anyone any experience with moneyboat? I submitted my complaint. I received the acknowledgement email sending me all my loan info and they also asked for my bank statements. I decided that I did not want to send them my bank statements and they said I was well within my rights to do so. I am now just playing the waiting game. I have an outstanding loan with them that has 2 payments left.
Jess says
I had the same with Moneyboat. They asked me for bank statements I didn’t provide. They come back and rejected my claim and advised that after checks I had enough income to pay the loans. I haven’t taken it any further as I only had 2 loans with them one I’m still paying off.
Pee says
Yo Laura. I have had successful claim with Moneyboat. They used the full 8 weeks allowed and agreed with me and paid me redress. Had 5 loans. Redress on loans 3-5.
I sent no bank statements or anything.
Good paid 2 weeks or so after agreeing their offer.
If you have a complaint in against them. Your account should be frozen as you have the right for redress owed to pay off any remaining balance.
Cancel your CPA. So they can’t take it each month.
Good luck. Moneyboat I wouldn’t say are great to deal with but with me they at least stick to the deadlines. Only just. But did stick to them.
Jonathan Suleman says
If I have been rejected for an irresponsible lending complaint and missed the FOS deadline, can i try an affordability complaint with the same companies or is it the same thing?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If your “irresponsible lending complaint” was saying you should not have been given the loan as you could not afford the repayments then ye, that is the same thing. Shame you missed the FOS deadline :(
Ross says
Good evening everyone.
I have received a decision from the ombudsman regarding my complaint to sunny. Basically they have upheld Sunny’s decision on about half of the loans but have disagreed and said that they missold the second half of loans that I had taken out. I have a couple of questions regarding this decision, firstly I get that they have recommended that the interest, fees and charges are repaid plus simple interest of 8% from the date taken out until the date that the complaint is settled. This is over 5 years so how is this calculated? Secondly, one of my loans is still outstanding/unpaid as I’ve been fighting this one tooth and nail. Do I still have to pay back the original amount sans interest or is the balance wiped on this?
Regards
Ennio Fara says
Dear ,
We are writing in response to your complaint received 12 May 2020.The basis of your complaint is that we should not have lent to you as you could not afford to repay.
Having investigated your claim fully it is our view that your complaint has merit.
In circumstances where the Financial Ombudsman Service finds in favour of the complainant they normally propose that a full redress of interest plus an 8% statutory interest repayment is made to the customer, with the principal outstanding balance being deducted from this amount.
Therefore, we propose that we redress all the interest that you have paid (£743.31), plus statutory 8% interest (£190.92). In line with HMRC guidelines we will deduct 20% (£38.18) from your statutory interest and pay this to HMRC, meaning that you will not have to declare this redress in your tax returns.
We will then write off any interest on your outstanding balance (£157.59) and deduct your principal outstanding balance (£493.54) from all the interest you have paid. This will allow us to close your account, discharging your liability with SafetyNet, and leaving an amount of £402.50 payable directly to you. Any adverse markers in relation to this SafetyNet Account will also be removed from your credit file.
If this solution is agreeable, please reply to complaints@safetynetmail.co.uk
Hi Sarah do you think the following is a good offer ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Unless you think their figures aren’t right (did you pay a lot more interest than that?) then it’s a good offer.
Nigel says
If you compalin about a payday loan you still paying back and take it to the obdsuman.
Can the payday loan company, just cancel the refund and demand the full amount back and put a default on your file?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No. They cant ask you to repay it all immediately and if you make the normal monthly payments they can’t default your credit record
Lisa says
Hi Sara
I submitted a complaint to Peachy (Cash on go) back in January, they rejected my complaint so I forwarded it to the FOS, I recently received an email from the ombudsman saying they cannot take my complaint any further due to peachy going into administration, I have contacted peachy again for advice, I didn’t complain just explained my situation and the fact I am being furloughed and if there is any way they can reconsider my repayments and the interest. They sternly dismissed my email saying my complaint is a duplicate and they are ‘not willing to offer any redress’. I have previously experienced similar with Wonga, my complaint was successful but due to the administration process instead of receiving what I estimate would have been hundreds, I received £1.76! Not too fussed because at least they went bust and unable to lend to vulnerable people again, however I am concerned that if I repay large amounts to peachy and my complaint is upheld then my money will be shared amongst all creditors and my refund (if any) would be minimal. Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for this webpage!!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
are they currently asking you to repay what you owe?
Have you told the administrators you want to put in a claim?
Lisa says
I have had 2 previous loans with Peachy, May 2019, June 2019 and Nov 2019, No gaps. the total amount borrowed is £1700, when you add the interest it probably amounts to around £3000
First was £600, I paid it early as i borrowed from a family member, loan 2 £600 also, used it to consolidate another debt, cleared that and the final one which is £900, I got the maths wrong its actually £2100 in total, interest on the first 2 was £258 each, with added late fees of £344.73? Can’t see how that is possible when I paid these off early? I have paid £444.74 towards the £900 loan but the balance is showing I owe £1355.26
Sara (Debt Camel) says
the “late fees” looks odd, do you have emails from that time about them?
But apart from that, my guess at the most likely result if the case had gone through FOS is that the third loan would have been decided to be unaffordable so you would still have to repay c £550 so you have repaid the loan once interest is removed. It is possible the second loan would have been included. But it is possible you would have lost the case.
I can’t guess what the most likely result is from the administrators assessing the claim.
One option would be for you to offer to settle the outstanding loan at the amount you borrowed and say at what rate you could afford to repay that.
They can’t carry on adding interest as it will soon hit the payday loan price cap.
Holly says
Got the report through from cash euro net hopefully this will be over with and off my report soon.
It’s been on there for ages and it’s quite a lengthy report
Sonya says
Hi – quick question. With Quick Quid going through administration, should I continue to py them?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Quick Quid question best asked on the QQ page: https://debtcamel.co.uk/quickquid-casheuronet-administration/
George says
Hi Sara
Just a quick question, I Was due to pay cash4unow 10 days ago Which I missed I did ask them for the 1 month holiday on the same day on email because their Phone line was not in action( I held for 45m on the day)
Now they got back to me on Monday and acknowledged My sent email however they have Now kept on calling and harassing Me saying they will take further action.
My question is can I still put in a affordability complaint now would this work since I have missed a payment? Can they take legal action?
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
were you asking for a payment break because your finances had been affected by Coronavirus?
how many loans had you had from them before this one?
George says
Yes that’s correct. 3 loans before.
400 is the last one still about 150 to pay!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes you can put in an affordability complaint now. If you win this for the last loan, interest will be removed so you would get a refund if you have paid more then £400 so far.
you can also complain and say they should remove the interest they have added since you asked for the break because of Cornovirus and remove the missed payment from your credit record.
Of course if you win the affordability complaint for the last loan all the interest and negative marks go anyway.
Ts says
Satsuma is the final company from a long list over the last couple of years, it has taken an age with them already. FOS has ruled in my favour but Satsuma hasn’t responded to their 2 week deadline, its been almost 5 weeks now. Anyone have experience with them?
Nick says
Hi,
Wanted to some advice if possible. I’ve got a few outstanding claims but they’re taking while
Satsuma – Rejected claim, sent to FOS 25/10 – They’ve asked for the final response letter which i sent them straight away
Mr Lender – Rejected my claim, sent to FOS who upheld my complaint but Mr Lender rejected that so has gone to the ombusdman 26/02
Zippa – Rejected my claim, sent to FOS 18/09 but heard nothing back
I understand these aren’t payday loans but also have: GuarantorMyLoan & Everyday Loan complaints with FOS since September last year
Is everyone having similair delay periods?
Sarah says
Hi has had the email from cashuronet? I’m confused as to what it all means 43 pages. I won my case with the finical ombudsman back in November and they were meant to pay out however they went into administration the next day so I never got my redress. Anyway I’m not sure what it means. Has anyone got any ideas thank you in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The very short version for you is that you will eventually receive a percentage of the amount they should have paid, it won’t be paid until next year and it may be a very small percentage.
Laura says
I know this has probably been asked before and in fact I think I have asked it. But is it 8 weeks from the date I sent the complaint or 8 weeks from when they acknowledged it?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
from when you sent it. But if there is only a day or so difference, it’s not really worth arguing about!
Ross says
I’ve just had an email, with reference to my Wageday Advance payment. They’ve advised that, after an initial redress amount of £653, I’ll be getting £37 and that it’s been processed. It’s a bit laughable, really, but it’ll buy a few bottles of wine at least 😂
John mumbles says
I’m getting £1.40 back from wageday advance I’ve actually requested if I can have it in a cheque as I want to frame it on my wall and just to be awkward with them
Maria says
Hi all
£52.43 from wage day advance received the confirmation email today.
Timbouk says
Is it being paid by BACS? Does that mean it should be in the bank on Friday ?
Ross says
If you mean Wageday Advance redress then, yes it is being paid by BACS. Mine is pending, on my bank account, to clear tomorrow.
Alex says
Sarah, I wanted to thank you for running this website. I was trapped on so many payday loans but managed to pay them all. However, I’ve suffered so much, sleepless nights, tears and kept borrowing from 2 to 3 payday lenders monthly to keep the payments going. I’ve then decide to follow your instructions and I’ve received: 2,300£ from MyJar ( had to go to the FOS as they did not upheld my complaint), 1,700£ from MoneyShop, approx 600£ from Uncle Bucks (also had to go to the FOS), 3,345£ from AvantCredit( also had to go to the FOS and took 8 months to resolve) and finally 750£ from Swiftsterling. The lenders try to push back but the FOS always do the right thing. Thank you Sarah for publishing tremendous steps and guidance on how to complaint if one think things were not done in the right way. My finances are finally on track after being trapped for 8 years on payday loans and my credit score just gets better every month! Now I am saving to buy a little one bed flat!
Andy says
Do complaints to the main banks ever get upheld , ie Hsbc NatWest etc
Joseph says
Hi Sarah,
Just a quick question. I have taken well over £7000 worth of payday loans over the latest 3 years. I would like to think I entitled to quite a large sum of money.
However one negative is because of these payday loans I had to go bankrupt. Now I can see you said ‘don’t’ claim if you are or have been, however I am currently paying an IPA for 3 years out of my salary. Do you think if I claim and get a large sum of money, this money will repay my IPA?
Thanks!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you get any refunds they will go direct to the OR. And they will have no effect on your IPA payment which will carry on.
Andrew says
I want to put a complaint in to marbles only address is via post is there any email for them to accept complaints just think in current climate they would say we never received in post etc
Linda says
Looks like my Wageday Advance refund is pending for tomorrow £37 from £652, it’s better than nothing, and paid before the 31/5 by administrators.
Michael says
morning Everyone, hope your safe and well during this awful time.
Just want to thank everyone on this page a few years ago I read comments and didn’t know what to think about approaching these nasty pay day loan companies and raising a complaint.
I decided to process a complaint against Wonga wage day advance satsuma loans safety net credit and quick quid.
I have been successful with all the complaints and had them removed from my credit score also.
I received well over £5,000 In refunds and I’ve turned my life around for the better.
Many thanks guys and stay safe.
Andy says
Does anyone win complaints against high street banks ie NatWest Hsbc
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The page for affordability complaints refunds about large loans is here: https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-large-high-cost-loans/.
The rules about affordability are the same no matter who the lender is or the interest rate. Although bank interest rates are lower, some of their loans can be very large so unaffordable
frogman says
Help please Sara,
Mr Lender is confusing me, they have responded to my complaint saying that they do not uphold but as goodwill, are wiping off my outstanding balance on Loan 4 (£1120.68 – I took out £1000 and have paid £777.27 to date) and amending credit file. I had actually offered to pay £222.73 in my complaint email to cover the rest of the capital. Is this normal? I had complained about loan 4 only. the only thing I can think of is that they have looked at the entire borrowing and just do not want to admit fault. Essentially, they have done what I wanted.
Below is a summary of my borrowings
Loan 1 – 350 Can’t remember how much I seeled with
Loan 2 – 750 Settled with total of £989.95
Loan 3 – 1000 Settled with total of £1067.5
Loan 4 – 1000 Paid £777.27 till date
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sounds like a good result then.
Lynn says
Hi Sara,
I have taken out 3 loans with satsuma loans, first loan for £100 over 3 months when this one was paid off I took a further loan for £1100 over 12 months still currently paying this off at £182.60 per month which I’m 5 payments in they allowed me to take out another loan of £100 for 4 months which I’m currently paying back £40.30 per month.
Other pay day lenders I’m paying just now include money boat £114 per month (this was taken after the satsuma loan and the only loan I have had with them, sunny £150 per month these were taken before and after satsuma loans as I have 3 now outstanding I have an affordability complaint in at the moment with sunny as I have had 30 loans one after the other) £108 to my jar per month (taken after the satsuma loan for £725 over 12 months, I have put an affordability complaint in with my jar which has been partially upheld with a payment of £579 and the remaining balance of £299 -this I have accepted and just waiting in payment).
Do you think I should put a complaint in regarding satsuma? I have only had 3 loans with them one being pretty large, I’m struggling to make the payments of just over £220 per month.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s usually hard to get a refund with only 3 loans but the second loan was LARGE. So if the repayments have caused you problems eg you have had to take out other payday loans, then definitely send them a complaint.
BUT I think you should also talk to StepChange about putting all your debts into a debt management plan. Including things like your overdraft which are expensive and hard to get out of. Affordability complaint can help you pay off the debts faster, but a DMP puts you back in control and means you don’t have to keep borrowing. See https://www.stepchange.org/how-we-help/debt-management-plan.aspx
Paul Duszynski says
Great news! SNC have offered to repay me £4100 which is more than double their first offer!
paul says
I wanted to say thank you to people involved in running this site, i had no clue that i could get a payday loan refund until i discovered this site, and now i have settled with SNC for £1300 and have another complaint with sunny with interest for over £4500, hopefully something will come of that although the process is taking a lot longer…. SNC had reviewed my complaint and paid out within two weeks. Has anyone had any luck with sunny?
George says
Hi Sara
I’ve had an on going Investigation for my ppi been looked by [a claims company] (Capital one)
I have been waiting for a while I think my be 2 years now.
I’ve been told I have a compensation In place but it seems tho it just doesn’t get resolved and now it’s become very frustrating wait!!
Is this normal! Will i get more compensation if it takes longer?
What’s the best way forward if any I’m just confused With the way that [the claims company] is handling this?
I thank you in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
sorry you need to ask on a PPI forum such as https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/reclaim-ppi-other-insurance
John says
Here’s an odd one. Received the money I was promised from Wageday advance and then a second payment of a little more than the first.
Anyone else? Should I notify them?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It could be a refund in full of some payments made
during the administration
Danielle says
Hi there,
I got a reply through my adjudicator today from sunny to say they didn’t agree with his findings which was loans 5 to 97 shouldn’t of been given, but they will refund 22 to 97. I have now accepted this offer as the refund was a good one, and would rather accept and have more chance of getting my refund, rather than leaving it for ombusman and having a greater risk of them going into administration.
I am very happy, although realise they can go into administration at any time, fingers crossed I will get my full refund!
How long does it take for them to refund people after we accept the offer?
Many thanks
Rebecca says
Hello
I agreed a compromise with them too and they paid me £3k within 10 days. I chased them up after 7.
Andy says
Hi , I’ve accepted my offer for ombudsman with sunny , do I email sunny or do you wait for them to contact me ? Tia x
Mary says
Hi, I put in a few complaints about existing loans and asked for the interest to be taken off due to irresponsible lending. I received a reply yesterday from one company telling me that they have upheld my complaint and are writing off the interest from my loan and top up, which has meant I have nothing left to pay on the loan.
The other companies have not replied yet, do you think I should make them aware of this decision, or will it not effect their investigation of my complaint. All the loans were taken out at around the same time. I was just wondering if knowing that my complaint had been upheld from one company would influence the others decision.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It will have no effect on the others so don’t bother.
Emma says
Hi, I am wondering what to do with my SafetyNet Credit claim. I’ve received two responses from them. The first was an initial response saying that before they make their final offer, they are offering £1k to settle. They believe the original decision to lend to me was correct but they are offering to partially settle based on other factors (spending habits etc).
The total I’ve paid in interest to them is £3580.75 and I wrote back to them letting them know that I believed £1000 was not appropriate based on these figures.
Their final response has offered £2k. They said, “The figures which are referred to in your previous email would be relevant if we were fully upholding your complaint. Unfortunately, this is not the case as we are confident that are initial decision to lend to you was justified and we could only detect sporadic periods during your lifetime of being a customer of ours whereby allowing you access to our product may not have been in your best interests.”
I could send to FOS and wait but it looks like from the comments here that SNC claims are taking a very long time so I’m wondering whether to just accept the £2k offer. Not sure what to do…
Leanne says
Hi Sara,
So I took my sunny complaint to the ombudsman found in my favour that my loans were unaffordable from 7 to 20…. sunny missed the deadline to respond, and have responded this week offering loan 11 to 20 – reducing my redress from appx 105 plus 8% to 45 including 8%
I don’t believe this accurately reflects what they should be upholding, and I plan to go back with a counteroffer to redress from loan 9 (the middle ground) which would give me appx £62 plus 8%
Thoughts please on if this is the best thing to do?
C says
I’ve got 7 complaints currently with the FOS one of which dates back to July 2019. None of these have been assigned to an adjudicator. Is anybody else in a similar position? From what I read on here people seem to be only waiting a couple of weeks for complaints to be picked up by an adjudicator?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
who are the lenders? do any involve loans more than 6 years old?
C says
Lending Stream – over 6 years old
UK Credit – over 6 years old
TFS loans – over 6 years old
THL Direct – over 6 years old
Amigo – 1 loan over 6 years old around 6 top ups. Still 1 active loan
Guarantor My Loan – not over 6 years old
Julie M says
Hi there. I am awaiting my redress payments from Sunny and Lending Stream. Both of which assisted by FOS. LS agreed with adjudicator. Sunny did not and the ombudsman’s decision ruled in my favour. On day 23 of waiting with LS. 8 days waiting with Sunny. Will these lenders send me confirmation as they are about to pay or do i just keep checking my bank account each day. I have contacted LS via their live chat and was advised that they will pay by 27/05/20, which is at the end of the 28 day period they are typically served to pay out. Thank you.
Mike_p says
When I got my Lending Stream refund it just appeared in my bank account and I got an email about 10 minutes later to say they had paid it.
Julie M says
Thank you for your response. Reading the details of their proposal to pay, Lending Stream have written they will pay in 28 days, not within, so i am expecting payment at some point on 27/05/2020. I have contacted LS on a number of occasions to clarify that they will pay within the 28 days, and they made reference to the refund tracker for payment on that date. I just hope i will not be disappointed. My next mission is to follow up with Sunny. The ombudsman agreed in my favour but 10 days have since passed and i would have expected some contact from Sunny regarding redress amount and bank account details.
Julie M says
Lending Stream paid on day 27 @ 23:55. No email received to confirm.
Jo says
Hi Sarah, I had a complaint upheld in March by an FOS adjudicator. This is relative to Drafty (LS) the response date was 29th March, they didnt response, extended to 9th April didnt respond and as at todays date they still have not responded. I have emailed them, left a not so nice review and still nothing so overall they have known the adjudicators outcome 2 months and nothing. Now I have had a complaint upheld against the main company Lending Stream also, and again nothing from them either (even though this was more recent) I get the COVID19 situation but 8 weeks to totally ignore the FOS is terrible. I am working from home still and managing to deal with my clients with minimal disruption to their service………….why cant these companies do the same.
Graeme says
I have just sent my e-mail away to amigo.
I took a £4,500 loan In 2015 worst mistake of my life!
Will keep you guys updated on outcome.
GH says
I made a complaint with regards to irresponsible lending to cashasap 28/4/19 and have yet had any correspondence. I know guidelines state complaints should be resolved ideally within 8 weeks but thought id at least have had acknowledgment of complaint email. Has anyone else dealt with cashasp and able to advise on your own dealings with them
Mike_p says
I had an acknolwedgment the day after sending my complaint, and they sent the final respose on the very last day of the 8 weeks. They sent the final response on boxing day so I assume they wrote it beforehand and put it on delayed delivery..
Luucy says
I’ve done the same Graeme , I’ve repaid what I borrowed but still got 2 years to go as far as they’re concerned!
Good Luck
Neil says
Elevate have written to me telling me my compliant is being considered and I will hear within the 8 weeks afforded them. I replied to point out that they sent the same message 28 days ago… is this second email just part of their procedure?