Did your payday loans cost so much when you repaid one you had to keep on borrowing?
You can get a refund of the interest you paid on unaffordable loans.
It’s easy to ask for a payday loan refund using the free template letters here. The letters work if your payday loans were repaid or you still owe money.
The comments below this article have thousands of stories of the refunds people have got using these letters. It is a great place to ask questions!
Contents
What are “unaffordable” loans?
Was a loan affordable just because you repaid it?
No! If paying a loan left you so broke you had to borrow again – from the same lender or a different one – it was unaffordable!
The regulator says:
“the borrower should be able to make the required repayments without undue difficulty, whilst continuing to meet other debt repayment obligations and reasonable regular outgoings.”
That means a payday loan is only affordable if you repaid it on time and you could still manage to pay your other bills and debts.
Payday loans are meant to solve a short-term problem. If you kept repaying one then getting another loan soon after, the lender should have stopped lending to you.
If the loan was small and it was the first loan or second loan from a lender, the lender may not have realised the loan was unaffordable for you. But it was irresponsible lending to just carry on giving you more loans.
Many lenders ignore obvious signs of problems such as your loans increasing in size, or borrowing again soon after repayment.
How much compensation can you get?
You don’t have to calculate this. Just ask for a refund from the lender and see what you are offered. This is simple and it works well.
The Financial Ombudsman has seen tens of thousands of payday loan affordability complaints.
A typical decision by the Ombudsman is that the payday lender should refund all the interest you paid interest after the third, fourth or fifth loan.
But if your first loan was large, or was rolled over several times you could get a refund from just one loan.
Which lenders can you get refunds from?
You can complain to lenders that are still in business, even if they are no longer lending. These include:
Lending Stream, Cash Converters, CashASAP, Drafty, Dot Dot, Fast Loan Uk, Fernovo, Fund Ourselves, Kabayan, LoanPig, Mr Lender, Moneyboat, MyKredit, My Finance Club, QuidMarket, Savvy, The Money Platform, WageMe, Wizzcash,
See this email list for payday lenders for a longer list and all the contact details to use.
If the lender has gone into administration, including CashForUNow, Piggybank, Ferratum, Oakam, Safetynet Credit, Tappily:
- make a claim to the administrators – there is normally a simple form for you to complete, see the lender’s website for details – but there will be a time limit for doing this.
- you may not get much cash back but this is very easy to do. A balance may be reduced or cleared even if there is no cash to distribute. And if you win the complaint any negative marks on your credit record will be removed.
It is probably too late to make claims to other lenders who gave up years ago, see this list.
For longer-term loans there are better template letters to use on other pages:
- doorstep lenders and guarantor lenders,
- Loans2Go – the worst loans in Britain!
- 118 Money, Likely Loans, Bamboo, car finance, bank loans and other long-term loans.
Do this before, before you send in a complaint
Doing these things now will make your life easier later.
Get a copy of your TransUnion statutory credit report and keep it. After complaints are started, sometimes loans are deleted and you may want the full report if you later have to go to the Ombudsman.
If you still owe money to the lender, read Will an affordability claim hurt my credit record, and other questions. These looks at your options for stopping paying, the effect on your credit record etc.
If the rest of your finances are difficult, look into a Debt Management Plan (DMP) where you make one affordable payment a month to StepChange. This gets you into a safe financial position as these affordability complaints can take a long time to go through at the Ombudsman. Winning a complaint then speeds up the DMP.
Unless you can afford to make this month’s payment without borrowing again, cancel the CPA to the lender at your bank. Otherwise the lender may take the money and you will be in a mess.
If your loan was sold to a debt collector you complain to the original lender. But also tell the debt collector that you are disputing the debt. It is a good idea to carry on making payments to the debt collector if they are affordable.
Start your complaint & get loan details
Find the lender’s email address for complaints from this list.
Put “AFFORDABILITY COMPLAINT” as the subject of your email:
You should never have given me these unaffordable loans. Paying you each month left me with too little money so I had to keep borrowing to get through the next month.
You should have realised from the number of times I borrowed that my debt problems were getting worse. It was not responsible to continue to lend to me. [Add more details eg how often you borrowed or rolled loans if you know them, how the amount borrowed generally went up etc]
[Include/change this if your credit record would have shown big problems:] My credit reports would have shown all my other debts and problems including late payments/defaults /CCJs/debt management.]
I am asking you to refund the interest and any charges I paid, plus statutory interest, and to delete any negative information from my credit record.
[delete this sentence if you know what all your loans were.] I know the difficulties your loans have caused me but I no longer have all the loan details. Please send me a list, showing for each loan when it was taken out, how much interest and charges you added, and what I repaid. This will enable me to assess any refund you offer me.
[delete this sentence if none of your loans were sold.]If a loan was later sold to a debt collector, please inform me of the date of sale and the name of the debt collector.
Some ways to improve this
Add any other points that help you describe what happened to you. You don’t need to list the loans – the lenders knows them.
Some examples:
- “I took out another loan with xxxx to pay you.”
- “Sometimes I borrowed to pay the rent and then had to top-up to get money for food.”
- if you weren’t treated fairly while you were borrowing or when you could not make a payment, add a bit about this.
You can attach bank statements if you like, This is a good idea as these show how unaffordable the loans were for you. If you have gambling showing, this helps your complaint, it doesn’t harm it.
I don’t know if many lenders actually read what you send them. I
it’s easy to make these complaints – you don’t need to calculate what refund you should get or quote laws.
Only one loan?
The template refers to multiple loans because that is what normally happens with payday lenders.
When you only had one loan and it was large, read Refunds from large loans and use the template there.
If you only had one loan and it was small, this is going to be a very difficult complaint to win. If you have borrowed once or twice from 5 leaders, that is much more difficult to win an affordability complaint than having 4 or 5 loans from two lenders.
Waiting for a reply from the lender
This email starts your affordability complaint.
They may send the list of loans first and later respond to your complaint. So don’t be surprised if you get sent info on the loans but nothing about your request for a refund.
When you get your loan information, you can send in more details about your complaint if you want. You don’t have to do this, your complaint has already begun and the lender has to reply.
The lender should reply to your complaint within 8 weeks from when you send the email, not when they acknowledge it. Make a note in your diary for 8 weeks time and chase the lender up if you don’t get a reply.
Don’t be surprised if you have to wait until the end of the 8 weeks to get response – this is common.
Send your bank statements or other information?
Some lenders ask you to send them a copy of your credit record, payslips or bank statements.
Credit record – the lender can check your credit record themselves if they want. But you should download a copy of your credit record asap as the Ombudsman will ask for it. Don’t put this off, the sooner you get a report downloaded, the further back it goes which is good.
Don’t send payslips – they won’t help an affordability complaint and the ombudsman never asks for them.
It is a good idea to send bank statements. But think twice about the cost of copying and postage if there are a lot. Some lenders seem to ignore them if you do send them.
Again this is a good point to get those bank statements even if you do not want to send them as they will help an Ombudsman claim a lot. You can get them going back at least 6 years even if the account has been closed.
Lender says No or makes a poor offer
If the lender rejects your complaint or offers you a small amount, don’t be depressed. You may still have a very good case!
It is easy and free to send your case to the Financial Ombudsman where many thousands of people have won their payday loan complaints, despite being rejected by the lender.
Give up?
Some lenders try to make your case sound bad when it isn’t. People have had large amounts refunded after a complete rejection!
Just ignore any of the following comments, they do not mean you have a weak case:
- they relied on your loan applications and you didn’t give accurate facts – see Lender says I lied for more about this;
- you repaid some loans early – this doesn’t prove the loans were affordable, just that you were trying to save interest;
- your borrowing didn’t go up every time – irrelevant, what matters is that you kept borrowing;
- you had a good enough credit score or they didn’t legally have to check your credit record – if you only had one or two small loans that is true. But if the loans were large or you kept borrowing, they should have looked more closely;
- your loans are over 6 years old – the Ombudsman will look at these even if the lender says they won’t!
A good enough case to go to the Ombudsman?
If you don’t know what to do, ask in the comments below this article. Accepting an offer settles your whole complaint – you can’t change your mind later.
Don’t worry that you will lose a small offer by going to the Ombudsman – this doesn’t happen.
Some points to think about:
- if you are offered a refund on only a few loans, don’t accept it if you think the lender should have realised a lot of the other loans were unaffordable;
- an offer to write off your current balance may sound convenient … but it may be very poor if you should get a refund as well;
- if getting defaults or late payments removed from your credit record is important to you, are you happy with what the lender is proposing to do? Don’t assume your credit record will be cleared if the lender didn’t mention this.
One or two loan cases are hard to win at the Ombudsman. It’s probably best to give up on one or two loan cases unless:
- the loan was large. Here is one single loan case that was won even though it was an installment loan and the borrower had a good income. And another single loan case for a loan of £1,000. You can win cases for smaller amounts if the repayment would have been a large amount of your income; or
- you still owe money.
Don’t delay too long – there is a 6-month time limit after a lender rejects your complaint to send the case to the ombudsman. When you aren’t sure, send the complaint to FOS. This is easy to do – let FOS make the decision.
How to send a complaint to FOS
Put in a separate complaint about each lender.
Don’t wait until all your lenders have replied before sending the first one to the Ombudsman!
FOS’s “complain online” option is easy and takes you through your complaint step by step.
You can just copy what you said in your complaint to the lender. You can add more details, for example, if you disagree with what the lender replied to you.
If some of your loans were over 6 years ago, tell the Ombudsman when and how you found out about these complaints. For example:
“I knew the loans were causing me difficulty in 2016, but I thought this was my fault for being bad with money. I didn’t find out that the lender should have checked the loans were affordable until June 2022 when my brother told me about these claims/I saw an advert from a claims company on Facebook/I read an article about these claims” – change this so it is right for your case!
Things to attach:
- the reply you have had from the lender.
- bank statements if you have them. Ideally from 3 months before your first loan until the last loan was repaid or you defaulted on it. This strengthens your case, showing how unaffordable the loans were. You can still get bank statements even if your account is closed – if you don’t have them, start the process of getting them now, don’t wait until FOS asks for them.
- a copy of your TransUnion Statutory credit report
- a copy of the credit agreements for the loans if you have them. If you don’t, don’t worry, FOS will get them from the lender.
What happens after you have sent a case to FOS
You will normally be contacted within a couple of weeks and asked for a copy of your credit record and your bank statements if you haven’t sent these. If you have sent these on one complaint, then when you complain about a different lender they will use the ones they already have.
After this initial contact, your case will wait for the lender to send FOS your case file and then wait to be picked up by an adjudicator who will make a decision on it.
If you are still making payments to the lender, tell the lender you want to reduce these to an affordable amount. This will make waiting for an Ombudsman decision much less stressful for you.
The Financial Ombudsman has a two-stage process. Most cases are settled by the first “adjudicator” stage but about 10% go to the second “Ombudsman” stage.
A few problem cases
Don’t ask for a refund:
- if you are bankrupt now or have been bankrupt in the past – any refund would go to the Official Receiver.
- if you are in an IVA, as refunds will go to your IVA firm not to you. If your IVA has finished the refund may still be sent to your old IVA firm.
- if you are in a DRO now, getting a refund may mean your DRO is cancelled!
More help
You can ask a question in the comments below – you may get a reply from someone who has been in your exact situation.
Don’t use a claims management company. They are expensive and often incompetent. It’s easy to do this yourself and you can ask questions below and get replies from other readers who have done this.
Card & catalogue affordability complaints
Can you get an overdraft refund?
Could a Debt Relief Order help you?
ernestkola says
HI SARA .. PLS just a quick question. l took only for 1 loan cash 4 u now ..in 2018 . I send affordability and redress complaint almost 8 weeks .. l got reply just now offer me £75 and removed the loan from my credit file. They do agree wrong to fund me loan.. because there some evidence of reliance on short term credit .. on my credit file. However my income and expenditure analysis showed my disposable income to manage my required payments.. pls advised me on this .because is only one loan very hard to win .what do you think pls
£500 loan
Total interest paid £82.47
Total charge for credit £380.55
Total interest saved.£298.08
Loan from 23/03/17 to 18 / 08/17
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so you only paid £82 in interest as you settled it early and they are offering you £75? Isn’t that an easy decision to accept?
Andy says
Hi , the adjudicator has got back to me regarding my outcome with satsuma , weirdly he has suggested they refund loans 1 and 3-18 , not sure why 1 has been suggested and not 2 but hopefully get a reply from satsuma . He has given then till the 19th to reply . Also when they sent me files of my loans I had with them it only stated I had 14 loans with them but somehow the adjudicator has said they gave me 18 ?
Nick MB says
I spoke to Satsuma about my case yesterday, as they were due to respond to my Adjudicator by 27/07/20, and they advised it will be several more weeks before they respond.
I also asked if they were going to cease trading, and the man advised that they’re not allowed to comment.
I would set realistic expectations of a month before you hear anything.
Andy says
It’s right , After reading a few people’s comments on here about satsuma I didn’t really have my hopes on them replying on time . Hopefully they do not cease trading as this will be my largest refund By far And would help a lot in current situations . Is there talk of them ceasing trading ? I’ve been quite lucky as I haven’t had any company go bust before I received my redress ( apart from Wonga ) so hopefully that’s continues . Good luck with satsuma
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Satsuma are a brand name of Provident Financial. It’s not impossible that they will go under but they appear to be better capitalised and funded than other bad credit lenders.
Andy says
That’s some good news , I have seen they are not giving out any loans at the moment so hopefully they will work on complaints a bit more well we can hope
Nick MB says
I asked the complaint handler out right, about future intentions to lending/going bust, and he says he’s not allowed to comment, although does expect future lending, but was clear not to reference Satsuma specifically.
Holly D says
Hi to anyone struggling with LS.
Here is a brief timeline of the progress of my affordability claim against LS.
30.01.20 Raised affordability claim against LS
09.03.20 Claim NOT upheld by LS
21.03.20 Claim referred to FOS
16.04.20 FOS ask for file from LS
01.05.20 Case allocated to an FOS adjudicator
09.06.20 FOS still experiencing delays with LS
11.06.20 FOS finally have all the info.they need
24.06.20 FOS find in my favour, loans 4 -15 inclusive should not have been given. Findings notified to LS
06.07.20 E mail from LS asking for my bank details
09.07.20 LS agree with FOS findings
05.08.20 FULL REDRESS IN MY BANK ACCOUNT!!
So, do not give up, it just takes time and steady nerves.
Many thanks to Sara, without this site none of this would have happened.
Now for another long wait with SATSUMA !!!
JP says
Hi Holly,
Really insightful thank you and gives me reassurances!
FOS have sent LS their initial findings on 4th Aug and have given until the 18th Aug for a response. I phoned the FOS yesterday and an adjudicator said they are currently allowing the firms an extra week or so to get an initial response given the times we are currently working in.
Hopefully I’ll also get a response within the 2 weeks like yourself. Seems like from the stage I’m at now, it could be resolved within 6 weeks going off your timeline but not expecting this to be the case.
I’m due a refund on loans 6-34 which is an substantial amount so fingers crossed that LS don’t go bust like a number of other lenders.
Who would have thought Sunny was gonna go and that all happened out of the blue.
Thanks,
JP
TRI says
Hi Holly I’m in a very similar situation to yourself however I’m on the 7th week after complaint and still only received a subject access request. Today i have recieved breach letters for 4 outstanding loans.
Can i ask did you recieve any of the above prior to a final response?
Thanks
Holly D says
Hi,
Your experience sounds similar to mine. I received a subject access request sortly before LS gave me their initial resoinse to my affordability complaint,so, you should receive ther response shortly. If their response is negative, go immediately to FOS, I did, and eventually won my case.
Good luck and DO NOT GIVE UP!!
Holly D
ernestkola says
Not settle early from 23/03/17 to 18 / 08/17 … 6month to pay it all. .. l think total paid £380.55 on top of the loan …
Charge for credit.£380.55
Loan.£500
Sara (Debt Camel) says
well you could ask them what they mean by
“Total interest paid £82.47
Total charge for credit £380.55”
But for one loan you are unlikely to win this at FOS so their goodwill offer may well be the best you can get.
ernestkola says
I will just take the £75 ..thanks so much sara
Shaun says
Anyone know if i can complain to safety net credit i used them for over 2 yesrs from 2016 to 2018, i did have a balance left but could notnafford to pay it but during those 2 years made plenty of payments. If so who do i complain to? Has anyone won against them? Any help much appricated
Sara (Debt Camel) says
LOTS of people have won cases against them. You complain to SNC, not to any debt collector that now owns the debt.
Shaun says
Hi sarah do you have there complaint email? And what should i say?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Read the article above for a template. And their email is in the page of lender’s emails that is linked to.
Shaun says
Hi sara, tried usimg the email above it bounced back. Do you have any other email address for them?
Natty says
Hi Shaun
I complained to saftynet, sent email 27th July and was resolved by 5th August through emails
Very quick and happy with results
Shaun says
How did it go did you get any refund ive just tried to email them but the email bounced back. What email address did you send to?
Si says
Hi Sara,
I have submitted a claim on the Casheuronet portal for an Onstride loan I had of £800. I raised an affordability complaint a few months ago and unsurprisingly haven’t had a response… I am wondering how I can go about getting the interest and charges removed from this loan if the company are in administration… is this something the administrators can do or is it too late now and I will just have to pay back the loan with all of the interest?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
see https://debtcamel.co.uk/quickquid-casheuronet-administration/ for what is happening to QQ in administration
Mandy says
Hi Sara
Not sure if my older post was visible? Is there anyway of getting hold of Lending stream? They’ve partially upheld my unaffordable loan complaint via email and I was told to reply via this email if I wished to accept which I did but have heard nothing since even though I’ve sent them 5 emails asking for confirmation as I’d changed bank details. Their 28 day policy is up on Monday and I’m at a loss as what to do
Joseph says
They drag it out till the final minute on the 28th day. You won’t be the first to have to deal with this and you definitely won’t be the last, it’s just how they play this. Happened to me too, and 99.99% of other people on this site. Don’t worry though, you’ll have the last laugh. Good luck !
Mandy says
So far nothing! It’s the 28th day today and their email said eod? I’m assuming this is end of business and we are past that not sure what to do now as you can’t get hold of them by phone!!
Janes Stevens says
Does anyone know why the PiggyBank loans and 247moneybox administration is taking so long. Been waiting since January to hear something
Sue says
Hi guys I need some help and advice I wrote to morses club with regards to myy shopacheck loans they have replied saying that they can deal with any active loans that they took on from 9th march 2014 any loans that was closed prior to that I had to get in touch with welcome finance, I have emailed the address they passed onto me but that came back that they are in liquidation and that my email has been forwarded to the liquidators. Does this mean I won’t be able to complain about these prior loans?
Thanks
Sue
Sara (Debt Camel) says
it means you can complain to the liquidators but may only get a small amount back.
Sue says
That’s great Sara my email has been forwarded to them so fingers crossed I hear back as something is better than nothing.
Thanks
Sue
TRI says
Hi Sara I sent lending stream an affordability complaint on the 16th June regards 4 outstanding loans and 8 previous loans. A month later I received a subjext access request. Today I have recieved breach letters for all 4 outstanding loans threatening further action if not paid by the 21st of aug (totaling 1500).
Should I be worried about the lack of a final response and receiving these letters instead or go ahead wait the full 8 week the approach the FOS?
On a side note still awaiting final responses from Mrlender/Mymoneypartner/loans2go
Thanks in advance for any help/feedback.
Reply
B says
This will suprise you all, but since the provident team took over looking into Satsumas complaints, I honestly cannot fault them. I had a final response back yesterday, 2.5 weeks after submitting it and it came back partially upheld on some admin issues with my credit file, and not upheld on affordability. I spotted an error in the calculations they used for my earnings / outgoings and telephoned them this morning to ask them to re-review that element of my complaint. the guy i spoke to was helpful, polite and the same person who had responded to my complaint. I was able to give him a more indepth view of my situation and by phoning him, there was some humanity added to a complaint on peice of paper which I hope helps with the review. I havent asked for a refund as i don’t agree that anyone who has ever had a PDL should automatically ask for one just because they’ve had one, but I did ask for my current balance to be cleared as a solution! will keep you updated
Nick MB says
You don’t work for them, do you, B? Hahaha.
Sounds like you’re in the minority tbf
B says
I’ve hounded them daily with emails! To be honest, i think its providents involvement, it seems that complaints are going to them now and not Satsuma
Andy says
What was the email address you used please b
B says
Customer.Responses@provident.co.uk
Sue says
Hi Sara I need advice again please, I have received an email asking for supporting evidence from Oct 2014 to July 2015 I have asked why only these dates as I know I had some prior. They said they only investigate closed accounts 6years from the complaint date? As I have only just found out that I could make a complaint what do I do about the prior loans?.
Thanks
Sue
Sara (Debt Camel) says
who is the lender? do you know how many previous loans you had that are older than 6 years?
Sue says
Hi Sara it’s morses club and no I’m not to sure they have sent me some agreements and statements so I will have a look at them but it’s the same lenders that have passed me on to welcome finance from my previous comment that I needed advice about
Thanks sue
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you had loans from Welcome finance – where you have to go to the liquidators and may get little back.
Thhen some loans from Morses that are over 6 years old and some that are under? You need to know how many before you make a decision what to do. Ask Morses how many loans are over 6 years.
Sue says
Hi Sara very cpmicated I know but all my loans was with shopacheck who are under morses club now since Mar h 2014 and before that they was u der welcome finance. I have now emailed morses lub to ask how many they are investigating
Thanks sue
Zubeir says
Hi, my complaint was with the Ombudsman and I accepted their decision and was told Lending stream/gain credit would refund me and amend my credit file within 28 days after the 28 days passed I was told wait 8 weeks I’ve now waited 10 weeks since acceptance and have heard nothing from the lender and all the ombudsman are saying is give it another week. No response in 10 weeks is a joke.
Sue says
Hi Sara
Sorry I have had an email back from morses and they say their only going to investigate one of the five, because they can only investigate closed accounts within 6years of my complaint.
I have looked at the copies of the agreements and statements they sent me and three was closed Oct 2014 one was closed April 2014 and another one July 2015 so by the sounds of it they will only look at the one that was closed 2015 but if they can only investigate ones that was closed with in 6years of my complaint surely that should include the ones that was closed Oct 2014. What should I do now?.
Thanks
Sue
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you send the complaint to the Ombudsman because Morses are refusing to look at loans over 6 years. The Ombudsman usually looks at the older loans!
Sue says
Thank you so much Sara, do I just write to them and explain that I’m not happy with the fa ct their only prepared to investigate one of the five
Sue
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes , tell them the case is going to FOS.
Sue says
Good morning Sara. Just an update, I emailed morses again expressing that I wasnt happy and why I wasn’t happy, they emailed back saying that they miss informed me and they look at cases on accounts obtained not closed in six years of my complaint. So I have now told them that I am taking my case to the FOS. I just would like some advise please on how and what to put forward to the FOS.
Thank you so much
Sue
Sara (Debt Camel) says
the article above looks at how to send a complaint to FOS. And the Provident page https://debtcamel.co.uk/refund-doorstep-loans/ looks at some specific points that only matter for doorstep lending, so read that too.
JaffaSpaniel says
Hello, i’ve read and re-read all of these articles as I’m looking at whether it would be worth me complaining about some of the loans i’ve had over the years. The help and advice is amazing!! Thankyou :) I just have one question – I can see how the cases where multiple loans have been obtained via one lender are a bit more clear cut when it comes to unaffordable/irresponsible, but i’m just wondering what would constitute a ‘large loan’ for the ones where I have had only one or two with a particular provider? There have been instances where I have had 3 loans ongoing all at once with different lenders for £500 each, there is only one of these where I have lent again from the same lender, i’m just wondering whether it would be worth approaching these?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Unless your income was very low, it is unlikely they would be regarded as “large”.
JaffaSpaniel says
Thankyou so much for replying. My income was around £1200 so I think I will leave them.
frogman says
Hello All,
Please is there anyone with recent dealings with Lending Stream? Adjudicator has just upheld Loan 6 – 8 which means I am due a refund. I am just wondering how long I now need to wait. Lending Stream have til 24/08/2020 to respond. Thanks
1 02/10/2016 28/10/2016 6 £400.00
2 06/12/2016 07/12/2016 6 £1,000.00
3 10/08/2017 11/08/2017 6 £900.00
4 08/01/2018 14/02/2018 6 £1,500.00
5 15/02/2018 17/02/2018 6 £1,500.00
6 06/03/2018 07/03/2018 6 £1,500.00
7 08/03/2018 NA 6 £1,500.00
8 03/05/2018 NA 6 £150.00
Lunn says
Hi frogman,
Fos found in my favour loans 6-23 were unaffordable and gave lending stream till the 3rd of August to reply. I have today just got an email from fos advising lending stream has agreed with the fos findings. So it was 1 week after the date they were given.
Hope this helps.
frogman says
Hi Lunn,
Thanks very much.
I read somewhere here that they could be quite stubborn so 3 weeks after adjudicators decision isn’t as bad.
Andrew Smith says
I used template letter for refunding the interest and 8% from TFS and I got a generic reply saying my loan was over the 6 year period for claiming. I started the loan in 2013 and the final payment was 2018. Had various calls to them during the loan explaining that I had lost my job and couldn’t afford the payments etc and all the threats from them as well and the threats made to my guarantor as well. The stress was unreal but they have said that I wouldnt get anywhere with FOS as its outside the 6 year period from starting the loan is this correct?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Nope – send it straight to FOS who are often looking at older loans.
Mandy says
Hi guys
Today was day 28 of the allowed time Lending Stream had to pay my refund and I’ve not had it! What to do now? Trying to get hold of them is harder than meeting Santa!
Liza says
Hi any update my 28 days is up 18th, after all the other companies that have gone bump on me I’m not holding out much hope. I did contact them via web chat last Monday and they said it will be processed on the 18th. The first chat was they had no record of my complaint the adjudicator sent them a further email, she has been very helpful so far.
Joseph says
Anyone checked their credit score lately? I’ve just logged into my clear score account and I have 48 (!!!!!) updates for next month – All my wonga loans have been (or are going to be) removed as of next month’s update. Anyone else?
Lynn says
Hi Joseph,
My clear score is also getting all the wonga loans removed !!
Oliver says
Hi Sara,
I’ve had final response from cash4unow.
They have agreed to reduce my loan to £40 (there’s only 86 left outstanding) and will remove the loan from my credit file.
This loan has defaulted which is what I really want removed. By them saying they will remove the loan from credit file will this make the default go away?
I’m tempted to take the offer if this is the case rather than going to the FOS as I only had one loan with them that they have deemed as affordable in their final response but have offered this as a gesture of good will. As I said getting the default removed is my primary objective so I can apply for a mortgage in the future
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If the loan is “removed”, the default goes with it.
Mandy says
Hi Sara
Can you advise me? I should have received a refund today from Lending Stream (10/08/2020) this being the 28th day since I accepted their offer but I’ve had nothing! They are not manning their phone line and emails just go back and forth I’m at a loss now as to what to do
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you tried webchat?
Mandy says
This is where my problem is? When I had my loans with them I was living at a different address with a different mobile number so when I try to log in it accepts my change of address but my mobile number on their system is my old one so it won’t recognise me? I’m at my wits end now because still no money and it’s day 29 I’ve tried seeing if the money has been paid into the old bank account but it’s closed and again because Halifax hold different personal details they can’t verify me over the phone
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so have you tried webchat?
Mandy says
Yes but I can’t get into my account and I can’t see how else to access web chat apart from logging in? They’ve not responded to any of my emails either
Dan says
Hi Sara
I just wanted to say thank you for your template letters and great website.I have already agreed with lending stream their offer which was ok i thought and to be honest I took the offer quickly incase they went bust beforehand
Long story short Lending stream offered £800 redress for around 15 loans I had .The last loan I defaulted on which stood at £600 and sold to Asset Collections and Investigations Limited .Part of my settlement was Lending stream would take £600 from their offer for my outstanding debt and £200 for me in cash
My question is would they have sold this debt to the DCA and then purchased the debt back again or is the DCA working on their behalf and not really purchased the debt .
Just to say I been paid out and had confirmation from Asset Collections and Investigations Limited that my ccount is now being passed back to original creditor
I know I could have probably got more but Wonga left a bad taste when I recieved about £80 in compo
cheers Dan
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes you could have got a lot more, but it’s your choice what to accept.
Why do you care about the debt with the debt collector if it gets sorted? If you really want to know UFO’s the debt collector purchased it or was collecting for ZlS look at the letters you were sent, but isn’t thus irrelevant now?
jp says
can somebody direct me to the management contact for Satsuma loans please. thankyou all
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what stage is your complaint at?
David says
Hi Sara,
Wondered if you can help? I just received a reply from SafetyNet Credit following an irresponsible lending claim I submitted. I am a little confused by their breakdown. They have upheld the complaint and will remove marks on my credit file which is great but I would still like to fully understand how they get to the figured offered.
Number of withdrawals: 6 between end of 2017 / start of 2018
Running Balance: £618.15
Principle Outstanding: £480.00
Interest Outstanding: £138.15
Interest Repaid: £96.68
Statutory 8% Interest: £19.97
HMRC 20%: £3.99
New Outstanding Balance: £367.34
Thanks for your help!
James says
Hi Sara,
Sorry about this long email i am copying but i am struggling to understand this. I am happy with this being reduced but i don’t understand how i have paid £1380 to loan 4, i have not paid anything to it. Can you make heads or tails of this’? Not sure if they have upheld it all or worth taking it to FCO?
for some reason it is not letting me post the information they sent me
James says
Our Decision
Taking the above factors into consideration we have made a decision in your favour, therefore MYJAR will be partially upholding your complaint on the basis that lending to you from loan four may not have been appropriate.
You currently have an outstanding balance in relation to loan four.
We will waive all interest and charges applied to this loan, resulting in the remaining balance relating solely to the principle amount you borrowed (£1,475.00). From this we will deduct any payments you have made, totalling £1,380.77, meaning you then have a new outstanding balance of £94.23.
We will also remove any negative information reported regarding this loan and arrange to show this loan entry on your credit file as settled and closed. We cannot remove the entry fully as we are obliged to maintain accurate records with the Credit Reference Agencies.
Please note that as this loan is outstanding, we will ensure no negative information is recorded and once the loan is paid we will show it as settled and closed.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I have deleted a lot of the information as at was way too long. It seems odd, but equally if you went to the Ombudsman you may well have got a refund from loan 3…
It you are happy with their offer – which looks good from what you have said – I suggest you reply saying something along the lines of “I find some of your response difficult to understand but I am happy to accept your offer to reduce my balance to £94.23 and remove negative marks as a speedy resolution to my complaint.”
Steve says
Hi Sara
I am just wondering. I had an Uncle Buck loan a long time back and I did do an affordability complaint back in January 2019. They did not give me a full and final response letter they advised if I had any more info that could help my case they would review it. This dates back to 2015.
I am wondering. Do I mention about the gambling and this is when it all started to kick off or do I just leave that now. I was on a dmp at the time anyway with but the say that does not show on my credit file but don’t know if I should provide the detail me of the past as well?
Thanks
Steve
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how large was the loan?
Steve says
It was for £2000
A total of 3 loans £500 , £500 and £1000
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So the problem now is that they are in administration. You can try to contact the administrators and say you never had a response to your previous complaint.
Dp yopu still owe any money?
Steve says
Yeah on a payment plan with them at the moment through a third party.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
then its worth going back and saying you never had a final response to your complaint.
Steve says
Your a star as always :-)
Michael Kenny says
Hi Sara
I hope you can advise me. Over the past 4 years I have had several loans from my jar approximately 8 loans of which at least 3 or 4 were for in excess of £3000. Foolishly I allowed a claims mgmnt company to chase on my behalf. That was January 2019. I got nothing. Can I try again and use the template letters and the ombudsman. I feel sure I’m due something.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what happened to the claim through the claims company?
Michael says
I was there first ever case it was just as payday loan refund started, the lady (who I know) never got back to me. I’m guessing she just got fobbed off. So I honestly cannot answer your reply. I was just wondering if you only get one crack of the whip or can I reopen the can of worms. I would pay Bach say1700 on a loan then borrow 3500 2 hours later
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry, you only get one chance. Myjar will reject a second complaint and the Ombudsman won’t look at it.
Si says
Hi Sara,
I raised a complaint to Everyday Loans for a £4000 loan taken out last year. At the time I was struggling with a gambling addiction and the plan was to use the loan to consolidate my other debts. The loan was taken out in September 2019 and when I took the loan, EDL asked me for 1 bank statement from the last 3 months so I sent them one from July… which showed minimal gambling transactions (because my statement for August wasn’t available yet) . My August statement however shows that I gambled somewhere in the region of £1600 in August alone. EDL have rejected my complaint, do you think I have a chance at the ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is a very large loan – well worth sending to the Ombudsman. There are no guarantees in this sort of case, they are very individual, but there is a good argument that EL should have asked for more than 1 bank statement to see if your expenses varied.
frogman says
Hi Sara,
Quick question for you please.
I took out 3 x £1000 loans with The Money Platform. I don’t know if anyone here has had dealings with them or you’ve heard of them.
The dates are below
29/01/2018 over 6weeks paid £1276.50 to settle
09/03/2018 over 12weeks paid £1448.00 to settle
04/06/2018 Over 8 weeks Defaulted (Now on DMP)
During the period I took out these loans, I hadn’t defaulted on any previous borrowings but I was using litterally all the payday loans out there, Amigo etc and also maxed out credit card totalling about £7k. I don’t remember them asking for payslip or bank statement. Bank statement would have shown heavy gambling. I want to put in a complaint so wanted to check if anyone has dealt with them. Even if I can get loan 3, that would be a bonus to clean my credit file
Thanks very much
Sara (Debt Camel) says
have you looked at the Payday lender email page for details of them? It doesn’t really matter if anyone reading your comment has complained to them, what matters is if you have a good case!
Dave L says
I have had dealings with the money playftprm and a similar story of five large loans over six months, their first response was to threaten that I had committed a criminal offence of fraud, they never asked for any outgoings other than rent or mortgage, the complaint is now with the ombudsman.
Ross says
I had a response from an adjudicator on Loans 2 Go a little over a year after I submitted my complaint. They fully agreed with me and asked Loans 2 Go to refund all interest on all 10 loans + 8% statutory interest, and remove anything from my credit file. Loans 2 Go have rejected and it’s been sent to the ombudsman. Let’s hope they don’t go bust before I hear.
Does anyone know how long it normally takes to go to the ombudsman and receive a final response?
JA says
I’ve had one complaint need to go to an ombudsman and it took about 4 months before I got the final decision.
Crossed fingers they don’t go bust before you get what you’re deserved, Good Luck
Ross says
Thanks. I hope so as it’s for around £5000. I have a feeling they are just delaying as long as possible and wouldn’t be surprised to see them go down like so many of the others.
stu says
Hi Ross I have been waiting for an ombudsman to be assigned to my Loans 2 Go complaint for just over 6 months. I am hopeful it will be picked up soon!
Pee says
Payday loan refunds been going years. Not since Jan 2019. I would suggest they fobbing you off. Why not send to Ombudsman anyway. You nothing to lose but potentially everything to gain. You do not know for sure if this claims company ever received your complaint. Claims management companies useless.
staci says
has anyone had any luck with morses ? door stop lender
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/refund-doorstep-loans/
Lou7 says
Hi all,
I am in a bit of a pickle. I am stressed and can’t sleep. I had a text yesterday from ferratum loans saying I owe £1,275 from 2017. I told them that I had a complaint with fos and they agreed with me so the refund was taken off the total. The debt was taken on by credit resource solutions and paid off via stepchange. I have told them this and they are still saying I owe them money. Advice would be greatly appreciated.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Were CRS collecting on behalf of ferratum?
Lou7 says
Hi Sara,
Yes they were, through stepchange.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you just go back to Ferratum and explain StepChange has cleared the debt by paying CRS.
Lou7 says
I did tell them that and they sent another message today saying they had some payments but the balance was still £1,275. I will contact stepchange today.
Stephen Price says
Hi Sara..I have a question please
I made a complaint against Uncle Buck early in the year for unaffordable loans with them.The final response was Not Upheld..I sent to FOS straight away.it was in the process of being looked at when Uncle Buck entered administration so FOS said they can no longer deal with the complaint.ok..
My questionsi are..where do I stand with my complaint now (if I have one still) and can uncle buck still chase me for the outstanding balance I owe them as they email me saying there will be a doorstep collector soon.
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Go back to Uncle Back and say you wish to make a Claim and do not intend to make any payment to them until the administrators have determined your claim as you have the right of set off.
Liza says
I’ve just received an email from Peachy from my complaint in February. Although they are in administration they have agreed to write my outstanding loan off of £400 and uphold my complaint the £2600 will be considerably probably 130 if I’m lucky. It’s worth a complaint though they aren’t the quickest to reply.
Simon says
Sara,
I’ve had a response back from Safety Net Credit offering to remove my debt (£1134) and pay me back £1000. I have been lending from them since early 2017 (pretty much every month) and have paid over £4300 in interest. Should I accept the offer or refer to the Ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is a hard decision. A bird in the hand or two birds in the bush… You very probably could get more through the Ombudsman but it would take a long while and SNC may go bust.
What do you think would be a fair offer now?
You could go back and say you don’t think it’s a fair offer but you are prepared to compromise and accept £1500 [or whatever other amount]?
SSS says
I put a complaint into writing with Lending Stream about 15 months ago. They ignored me. The Ombudsman found in my favour and I just had to pay Lending Stream £280.
Since then every time I try to communicate this to Lending Stream. They pretend it hasn’t happened. When I got one guy to admit it. He halted the process of setting up a payment plan and said someone would be in touch.
They never were.
I’ve had notices from one debt collector, but they never seem to take it further. But my latest FNOSIA notice does not account for the Ombudsman’s decision. It’s as if they’ve done their best to pretend the ombudsman doesn’t exist.
Any Suggestions?
They are saying I owe them a grand.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Was this an adjudicator decision or an Ombudsman decision?
SSS says
Adjudicator decision.
They found in my favour partially and said I owed £281. But LS have been really weird to deal with like they won’t aknowledge it
Sara (Debt Camel) says
go back to your adjudicator and say LS have still not sorted this out.
BobbyW says
Hi I have had an offer from Ferratum, initially was for £683. I got back to them and they increased it to £1450 straight away. I paid £2566.98 interest on 15 consecutive loans (some were plus loans payable over 4 months) between 2017 and 2019. I am tempted to accept although I think I will get more if I go to FOS but it will take ages and knowing my luck they will go bust in the meantime. What do you think?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think it’s a hard decision and you are aware of all the facts.
BobbyW says
It is indeed. I have missed out on thousands from Wonga and will do from Sunny and don’t want to risk the same again with this so I have made my decision. This page is great, very informative and helpful and I am now finally pdl free
Frogman says
Take the £1450 and forget the rest. It’s a long wait at FOS and you never know how long before you get a decision. I know it’s hard but as you are getting over half the refund, I personally would cash in. Although there is no indication, the risk is also there that the lender can go burst. I had about 17 loans from Sunny, they came back upholding only the last two meaning my outstanding balance wiped off and credit file amended. This was only a month before they went burst.
Frogman says
Glad I accepted because it’s saved me all the headache because they’ve gone off my credit file now. If I had rejected, I would only have been x 2 better off if FOS upheld but BANG – burst they went
BobbyW says
Yes that is my concern, could be another 6 – 12 months with FoS which leaves plenty of time for them to go bust and I end up with nothing. Definitely worth going back if the initial offer is rubbish as they try it on at first 👍
Turtle says
Does anyone have a ceo email address is similar for lending stream. I’ve had a final decision from the FOS at ombudsman’s level but no contact from LS since so I’m trying to chase them directly. Thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how long ago was it?
turtle says
3 weeks ago. I appreciate that the FOS are allowing 8 weeks currently due to Covid but I just don’t trust that LS will be around for that long and would like my money back!
Carlton says
Hello
I received a redress of £3950 from Amigo Loans following my affordability complaint. They sent me the offer via email on Monday 10th August with a link to follow to provide my bank details and further information. However the link did not work so I called the number they provided as an alternative and they took my bank details and said it would take 20 days to receive. I was going through my accounts and just checked on Friday 14th August and it has been paid in already which I was surprised about, but they have put it in to an old account of mine that I no longer use and it’s not the details I provided them. I called them today to check what details they had and they confirmed it was the details I had initially provided. I have a £2500 overdraft on that old account which is over it’s limit due to all my debt so I only got £1400 out of the refund due to that error. Is there anything I can do as now it has really messed up everything for me that I had put in place from when I was awarded the redress. Especially with the housing arrears I agreed to pay and other debts which have caused me so much stress.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh dear. Can you still use that old account?
Carlton says
Yes I can use the account, I was able to transfer the £1400 that was left over from the £3950 redress however I’ve lost the remainder of that money I would of had due to this error and it was swallowed up by the overdraft. This old account has been at it’s limit for a long time but my bank’s financial difficulty team took the strain off by not adding interest or charges and allowed a £1 month to be paid towards it with the help of Stepchange. That is the only activity on this old account, I do not use it. I never asked for the money to be transferred there and I have other debts that need dealing with more urgently with alot more pressure. Trust me they have really made things alot worse now as I have put things in place that now I can no longer commit to. Is there nothing I can do or that Amigo can do considering they have actually onfirmed the original bank details I gave them as the one the money will be transferred to despite that not being the case. I went through it with them over the phone and asked even just yesterday what bank details they had down as the account the redress would be going to which I gave them on 10th August and it is my current bank account, however it wasnt paid there.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Can you transfer money out of that account? If you can, you can take it out and use it for whatever you planned – clearing rent arrears sounds like top priority to me!
S says
In response to Carlton:-
I had a similar problem to this a few months back. I contacted the bank and informed them of the mistake that had occurred and the problems it was going to cause me (i.e. mortgage / rent arrears, council Tax etc).
The bank are easier to deal with, and to contact than a PDL company, and due to my circumstances were happy to assist (even though it was going to put my overdraft back to its initial state).
Apologies if I’ve missed the thread and you’ve already tried this option, but it would be worth trying again.
Good luck, as I know how stressed out I was at the time, but how relieved I felt when it was sorted.
S
Stevan says
Hi all,
My claim against lending stream was rejected a 4 months ago and I took it to the FOS.
FOS ruled in my favour and LS have since emailed me to confirm bank details via link to which I did received 2600 last week.
Thanks Sara for the help.
That over 8k in claims received which has drastically changed my life.
HLTCO says
Raised a case against Satsuma on 27 November 2019, which was rejected after taking out 2 loans (first one was £100 and second was (£1000).
Sent it to the ombudsman on 16 January 2020 as I was in a bad spot and a proper credit check would have shown I shouldn’t be given the second loan.
Received a reply from FOS upholding my complaint on 15 July 2020. Satsuma had until 29 July to reply but heard nothing from them until I received a cheque for compensation for full redress in the post from Provident Group on 15 August 2020. However, cheque had a spelling mistake on it (completely missed off the first letter of my name) and have had a nightmare trying to get in touch with Satsuma to resolve this. Been told they will get back in touch within 48 hours but don’t trust them on this. Has anyone had this issue before with a cheque having a spelling mistake? And can anyone provide contact details for Satsuma / Provident that I can speak to?
Pete says
Malcolm.lemay@providentfinancial.com.. Email this address it’ll get sorted
HLTCO says
Thanks for this – sent three emails to him (one a day) and finally got a response from customer service saying they have reissued the cheque. Let’s see if it comes in within the next week as it’s about £1,000 of compensation!
Mike_p says
Have you tried paying it in? It might be easier than trying to contact Satsuma as they pay by cheque to make thinga difficult for people.
HLTCO says
I haven’t yet – I thought I should try and get it sorted rather than the bank flag it. Might try this today though.
HLTCO says
Just to update – I tried to pay it in but the bank rejected it as it is an Account Payee Only cheque so name has to align.
Now need Provident to reissue the cheque, which they have said can take up to two weeks. All feels like a big mess around!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They aren’t the best with cheques. There were a whole bunch issues earlier in the year where they printed the date in american style, so the 11 March looked like 3/11/20, which meant the cheque was post-dated so they were all rejected…
Ronron says
Hi i just want to let you all that has a complaint about Drafty know that i am on week 7 since i accept their offer through Financial Ombudsman. I have done everything i could including giving bad reviews on Trustpilot. I went back to the Ombudsman 2 weeks ago and also this week. Their live chat team is there to forward your complaint but not to resolve them. I guess i will have to wait until they decide to give me my refund.
Tony says
I’m in same boat with Drafty. they have cleared the balance owing on account however have not refunded the nearly 800 they owe me. live chat useless and trust pilot doesnt seem to get any result faster. I have gone back to FOS to explain about lack of redress and they have emailed them to ask why it is taking so long.
RonRon says
My balance is still live on their website and I’ve received an email saying that they are sending my account to a debt collector. Just over £1200 they owe me.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sending or selling?
RonRon says
Hi Sara
See email below-21st of July. They even ask you to call a number that doesn’t work.
We’ve tried many times to collect the outstanding balance on your credit line, and to contact you to discuss an alternative, affordable, payment arrangement. In 7 days from the date of this email, we will assign your account to CRS, a debt collection agency.
It’s important that you call us today on 0203 695 8072 to discuss an affordable payment arrangement. We’re open from 7 AM to 10 PM, 7 days a week.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, well “assign” there isn’t very clear. When CRS get in contact, tell them you won’t be paying anything as Drafty made you an offer to xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx via the Finacial Ombudsman on dd/mm/yy.
Tony says
my balance was.live for 3 weeks then zeroed still no redress livechat saying it still with complaintvteam. 28 days up tomorrow but as you say no number to get hold of anyone and livechat just say they will escalate for you. They really are a joke.
Stevo says
I hope you get a resolve soon. I’m inexactly the same position… Even said to FOS they are giving these companies far to much breathing space. I lost a fortune because the FOS gave Uncle Buck for to much time instead of using the powers they have.
RonRon says
FOS should add a daily interest for every day over the 28 days. Some 5000% like they do with us.
Ruth says
I complained to 118118 early last year and in August 2019 they upheld my third loan and offered me £890. My total interest for loan 1 and 2 was £2200. I had over £35,000 of debt when I took these loans which they were aware of as they had my credit checks.
£2000 17/04/2017 – 06/06/2017
£3500 15/08/2017 – 20/03/2018
£3500 18/12/2018 – 06/03/2019
I sent it to FOS and the adjudicator has come back today and not upheld loan 1 or 2. Is it worth pushing it to the ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Why didn’t Adjudicator uphold 1 or 2?
Ruth says
They said that although there was a large amount of debt there was no reason for 118 to question my affordability because there were no CCJs or missed payments and I had told them I could afford it. They also said as I told them the first loan was to consolidate debt, they would have assumed that I would be able to afford better – but by the second loan a couple of months later my debt had increased by £5k so it should have been obvious that I wasn’t getting out of debt but rather stuck in a cycle of robbing peter to pay paul.
Although they ran credit reports I do not believe they actually looked at them.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So had you used the first loan to consolidate debt? Or would your credit record have showed that you hadn’t done this when you applied for the second loan?
Ruth says
Sorry I just checked again and loan 1 was for Every Day Expenses. Loan 2 was debt consolidation.
I had told them my debt was £40 per month – which on £35,000 debt was obviously untrue so they had estimated my debt repayments to be £1,285 and based on the salary I told them and their estimate decided I could afford it.
If they had checked bank statements they would have seen in the month leading to loan 2 I had taken two other pay day loans of £1900 and also gambled over £2,500.
Pee says
118118 money said the exact same with me. If your loan was for debt consolidation then when we gave you the loan you should have been better off.
Well I was worse off as the repayments for 118 loan were higher than the loans I cleared. And I had £3000 interest to pay back on 11& loan plus capital borrowed.
Good luck anyway.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think this is well worth taking to an Ombudsman. Point out that https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/businesses/complaints-deal/consumer-credit/unaffordable-lending says
“So what all of this means is that a less detailed affordability assessment, without the need for verification, is far more likely to be fair, reasonable and proportionate where the amount to be repaid is relatively small, the consumer’s financial situation is stable and they will be indebted for a relatively short period.”
but for you the amounts borrowed were large and your credit record would already have showed a huge amount of debt, which couldn’t be a stable situation. So 118 should have verified your income & expenses and then they would have seen the loans applied for wer not affordable.
Dan says
Safetynet Credit have issued my final response saying they can see the loan was unaffordable.
They have removed all interest and say they will wipe from credit file.
Principle Outstanding: £284.85
Interest Outstanding: £91.15
I still have £280 left to pay though as I only made a payment of £4.85
With them admitting the loan is affordable is there a chance they could reduce the amount outstanding to zero or will they always expect at least the loaned amount back. Provident completely removed my loan as a gesture of goodwill is this likely here if I give them a counter offer?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Assuming this was your only loan from them…
They have made the normal offer, you would not get more by going to FOS. I doubt they would change their mind but I suppose you can try.
Do you have other unaffordable debts?
Westley says
Sent a complaint into moneyboat, had this response.
‘I am writing in response to the complaint you raised. Please accept this email as an acknowledgement of your complaint.
In the event of an affordability/irresponsible lending complaint, could you please provide us with copies of your bank statements applicable at the time of your applications, so that we may carry out a full and comprehensive review of your complaint.
Should it transpire that information provided by you at the time of application was false or misleading, we may register this attempt to gain redress falsely as a first party fraud with CIFAS the fraud prevention agency. To learn more about fraud and understand your rights please visit cifas.org.uk. Any fraud marker may affect your ability to obtain credit with banks and other lenders in the future.’
Is the mention of ‘fraud’ a scare tactic?
Had a few gambling issues during the time. Should I be worried in regards to sending bank statements over etc. My complaint was against them not doing a thorough credit check.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes it is a scare tactic. They send this to everyone, as do a few other lenders. So far I am not aware of anyone who has had a problem if they send their case to the ombudsman.
How many loans did you have from them? how large?
Wes says
I had 2. One I said I was fine with, was for £250. Once I paid this off, 2 or so days later I applied for another of £850. Ended up doubling due to interest, before entering a payment plan. My argument is that, surely red flags should have been noticed needing a loan by that increase, in such a short space of time. No credit checks seemed to have been made.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok , that is a very large 2nd loan so quickly after the first so I think they should have made credit record checks. it’s worth going to the Ombudsman if they don’t offer to remove the interest from that.
Wes says
Should I send over bank statements even if there’s gambling payments on there? Or let them do an internal investigation without them?
With a credit check, they’d have seen multiple pay day loans.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Up to you – bank statements prove unaffordablity but they should have seen from your credit record if you were clearly overcommitted.
Cases with gambling are harder to win with a small number of loans as superficially you income may have looked fine for what you were borrowing, but the fact the second loan was so soon and so much larger should have made them look more closely.
Wes says
I’ll hold off sending them the statements then. And let them do an internal one without. Thank you.
James says
Update: Lending Stream have rejected my complaint and providing a laughable final response referencing how they assessed affordability which contradicts the fact that I was repaying them more from previous loan repayments than their calculated “affordability” figures. I have sent my complaint to the FOS and will update you in due course.
27/05/2020 Complaint sent to Lending Stream
14/07/2020 Complaint rejected
14/07/2020 Complaint sent to FOS
24/07/2020 Email from FOS asking for more information prior to my case being assigned to a handler
Thank you again Sara for hosting this website and providing much needed advice.
Simon says
Hi Sara, I was actually looking for a bit of advice regarding a complaint I want to make against a claims company I asked to handle some unaffordable payday loan complaints on my behalf. I basically contacted the FOS myself today for an update on a couple of complaints I thought had been filed back in April only to be told they have no record of the complaints so it seems the claims company haven’t even bothered to send the complaints into the FOS at all. I’m fuming about it as you can imagine and wish I’d just handled the complaints myself but any idea how I should go about making a complaint or what compensation I should push for? I do have an outstanding invoice with them so could I maybe refuse to pay that or ask for a discount at least? I know its a slightly unusual question but would just appreciate you thoughts really. Thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
are the complaints now out of time to go to FOS?
is the claims company FCA regulated?
Simon says
No the complaints aren’t quite out of time yet, I’ve got 2 months to get them in but they would have been had I not chased them up myself, something I’m paying them to do.
They are FCA regulated but only on a temporary basis apparently.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then I suggest you send the complaint into FOS yourself now and inform the claims company that you have taken over the case as you are horrified at their delay and that if you win it you will not be paying them any fee.
Simon says
Much appreciated, thanks for the advice. I’ll do just that.
Shirley Stant says
I am using a claims company also but have had to contact FOS myself several times. They sent my claim last jul and when I spoke to FOS he asked me to send the initial complaint letter which I asked the claims company for. When I saw the letter I was mad they had said I had loans between 2015_2016 which was a load of rubbish. I started having loans in 1999 without a break and also turned them over half way through right up till 2015. Every time I ring the company they can’t be bothered and last week the person I spoke to was eating his lunch. I email them once a month but they never get back to me. It’s so frustrating. When I spoke to the FOS two weeks ago he was great and has emailed me back so fingers crossed. Moral of the story FO NOT USE A CLAIM COMPANY. Use Sara’s template and do it yourself. Good luck everyone x
Mike_p says
Yes never use a claims company. All they do is slow things down by acting as a go between forwarding emails and then charge you 30% for the privelidge.
Steve says
Hi Sara
I am still dealing with my final complaint from Drafty, they rejected my complaint so I went to the FOS they upheld my case in the middle of April, they gave them the standard two weeks and they did not reply. I asked the FOS to send it straight to the Ombudsman but they gave drafty more time due to the pandemic. So it was not until second week in June that it eventually got sent to the ombudsman which was annoying as I knew they would not respond. It’s one of my smaller cases and my results have been excellent after finding this sight. I wonder if you had any idea on timescales I know it was months before all this occurred when it went to the last stage.
Thanks
Steve
Sara (Debt Camel) says
My guess is several months in the Ombudsman queue. Sorry can’t be more exact than that.
Cazza says
I am furious with Onstride….
Made a complaint on the 26th October 2019, received a letter on the 23rd December requesting more time…I have called and emailed and they have said because of administration things are taking longer.
Today I called as I can’t access the claim portal and surprise surprise they have said I can’t claim.
Because I made a claim for Quick Quid well before I took out the Onstride loan.
I have spoken to the FOS this morning who have said that they are mistaken but it’s so hard to get anywhere with them as it’s American and the lines are poor.
Even more so now I am fuming as knowing I had been provided with unaffordable loans via Quick Quid they should have automatically rejected my loan request.
Liza says
I’ve never spoken to such rude people as onstride I put a complaint in chased it up they then went into administration. I called the online help number to advise of financial difficulty he say I was stupid in the first place taking a loan out I could afford. I was told I could have a payment holiday of one month but no plan to help me and advised to borrow from somewhere else to pay.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is a HUGE mistake to borrow more elsewhere. The interest on payday loans is capped, they may be able to add a bit more but not much. If you borrow elsewhere you will be paying a lot more interest!
Ring them again and ask to speak to a manager. Say that you have been advised to borrow more and that this is against the regulators rule CONC 7.3.10 which says:
A firm must not pressurise a customer:
(1) to pay a debt in one single or very few repayments or in unreasonably large amounts, when to do so would have an adverse impact on the customer’s financial circumstances;
(2) to pay a debt within an unreasonably short period of time; or
(3) to raise funds to repay the debt by selling their property, borrowing money or increasing existing borrowing.
Cazza says
Is it correct though that because the companies are linked and I historically have made a claim that I then can’t claim with Onstride?
Leanne says
Hi Sara,
bit of a long one, i complained to Lending stream in november and received FRL in December(not upheld). Due to one thing and another, submitted FOS complaint along with 6 others on the 25/04/2020.
Chased complaint with FOS on 12/06/2020 and received no response, chased again on 10/08/2020 – got a response to confirm Lending Stream complaint was there. Questioned this 20/08/2020 as still no contact to be advised it’s not there after all.
LS are being really difficult and have not responded to my subsequent complaint of the balance continuing to increase. BUT will FOS not look at the unaffordable complaint as it is now over 6 months old?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
no, you sent it to FOS within the 6 months, this won’t be a problem.
Leanne says
Thank you, I was just concerned that because the FOS are now sayinbg they don;t have a record of my complaint LS may be difficult and not allow them to investigate it.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry i missed that bit in your reply. Go back to FOS and say they told you on 10/08 that they did have your complaint. And point out you had previously asked them in June about this as well.
steve says
Has anyone had any dealings with MR LENDER with complaints ?
Are they good or bad at dealing with them
HLTCO says
They are average – they rejected a complaint I raised (I borrowed thousands from them over a period of 2-3 years but repaid 4 out of 5 loans on time through borrowing from other lenders) but as a goodwill gesture refunded the interest on my last loan and removed negative reporting. I accepted at the time but on reflection should have sent it to FOS
j s says
It has been a month since I sent my bank statements and credit history to FOS regarding Amigo. I have sent an email last week progress chasing, but still haven’t heard. Should I phone them to chase up.
Just want to get things moving along and thought a month would be long enough to make a decision.
j s says
should add. 1 month since the adjudicator confirmed receipt of the docs.
J S says
Hi Sara, the case has been with the adjudicator for a good while now.
Initially, the adjudicator ruled that the thought that Amigo should look at the 2 loans i had with them as Amigo previously said they wouldn’t look at them due to age.
Then amigo came back conceding the time barred issue and offered me a refund on the 1st smaller loan i had, so I rejected this as I thought why would they refund the 1st earlier loan and not the 2nd later loan which caused me more trouble.
Anyway, adjudicator asked me for further information on 20th July and I emailed and he confirmed receipt the same day as he said if I couldn’t give me information then there was a chance he could rule not proven as he thought it possible that amigo might not hold much information about the loans.
It could be he is still waiting on information from amigo, but im getting a little impatient now.😬
Michelle FARLEY says
I hope this is the correct place to post this.
I had 64 loans with Moneyshop 2007 to 2017
I submitted a claim under irresponsible lending which was refused and I stupidly didnt take it to the ombudsman due to family illness. I have just had a letter stating that under the ICL redress scheme my claim has been upheld and the potential redress amount including interest is over £12k. I know I am only likely to receive between £500-£600 and I have the option of accepting or appealing. If they had upheld it originally or it had gone to the ombudsman I would have seen a decent return which could have helped me to reduce other debts, so would appealing be the right thing to do. However, 3 years on if I accept I would be getting something from money I had written off. Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can only appeal if you think the 12k calculation is wrong, eg if they have missed some loans out.
But there is no point in appealing because you are only going to get a small percentage of this – that would just be rejected. Everyone will get the same small percentage. There is no extra money to give out.
Michelle FARLEY says
Thank you I thought as much
Chrisc says
I posted in this thread a few months ago thanking Sara for helping me get the refund of £3800 from lending stream. I have I helped my partner claim and its been horrendous long story short they have missed every deadline they were given and after nearly 12,months we have 2300 from them it seems covid is also a way to string out cases we had payment some 55days after they agreed with the adjudicator it was the crazy no phone line no direct contact with complaints I literally had to chat them at 10am every weekday until they paid. I considering a separate claim for the additional interest what do you think?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well it’s going to be a really small amount, but if you are fed up enough to do it, why not?
Or you might prefer to never have anything more to to do with them at all???
Stephen Westrip says
Hi Chrisc,
Did the adjudicator help at all after deadlines were missed by Lending Stream or was it all up to you? I ask because I am currently in the 28 day window waiting for LS to pay the settlement to me.
Thanks.
Chris c says
Yes she did she was sometimes a bit late replying back but she said at the fos they are currently only working a 3 day week but she emailed them for me as soon as she picked up the message I sent. She also copied me in to what she sent them.