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?
Sally says
Hi Sara ,
Had 2 upheld decisions today from FOS adjucator,
1- I had 6 loans with lending stream , fo upheld last 3 of them .
2- 3 loans with mrlender, fo upheld last one .
Do you know if any/both of these companies accept the adjucator decisions .
2 more to go , 118118money currently with adjucator and carcashpoint with senior ombudsman
Thanks so much for all the valuable inputs on this site , I’m only left to pay last £600 Out of almost £17,000 six months ago .
Lynne says
Are people finding that lenders are taking the full 8 weeks before they hear anything? I had no response at all from Lending stream since I sent in the affordability complaint 5 weeks ago and they just emailed me now to say they’re still looking into it.?
Dave R says
In my experience is varies hugely from lender to lender and the speed that consumers experience varies a lot as well. Lending Stream replied to me to partially uphold my offer within two weeks.
I’d mostly say lenders have taken 5-8 weeks for me with a few – LS, MoneyBoat, Mr Lender – that have been quicker at 1-4 weeks.
Lynne says
Did you find lending steam ok Dave? I think I only had a couple of loans with them of about £700 each. I’m not expecting a positive outcome tbh.
Dave R says
They were one of the first to respond to me and I saw that they partially upheld my complaint for 1 out of 3 loans and the £500 redress and bit their hands off. In hindsight, i should have properly looked through their offer and the details of my case and countered for a better offer. As I think I could have got a slightly better offer. Once i accepted the payment was with me within 24 hours.
Only other issue I had with them was to do with the loan they cleaned up on the credit record. They agreed to remove all negative info for loan 3 from reports. They took of the missed payment marks but the settlement date said June 2020 when original end of loan term was September 2018. So it still looked like a very late settlement or a very long term loan. Argued that this needed to changed over the phone and in MANY back and forth emails and they eventually relented and agreed to change it.
I’d say keep at them and don’t fall for them parroting statements about accurate reporting etc if it’s not fair. They will always reply to your emails but you might have to keep spelling things out in different ways.
Paul H says
Hi Lynne, out of all the lenders I wrote to I was dreading Lending Stream the most due to what I had read on here and due to my loans with them dating back to 2011 and 2012. It turned out that they was one of the better ones and replied to my complaint within 2 weeks with an offer and although they only agreed to refund interest on half of them (6 out of the 13) and after them turning down a compromise on 2 more being added (rather than wait for the FOS for what may have only been an extra £130) I decided to accept the offer and the money was in my bank account within 30 minutes.
Mr Lender took the full 8 weeks, however the majority answered within 4 weeks (Ferratum etc). Still some ongoing that I thought would have been quick to answer and haven’t. Barclaycard sent me a letter to say after a review they shouldn’t have raised my limit so I wrote a complaint into them and besides acknowledging it they are now on week 7. Halifax who gave me a huge overdraft by mistake for which still in a plan with have gone the 8 weeks (do get updates from them blaming Covid for not responding & be in touch by end of April now) and Safety net credit who is now well into week 7, I asked for an update on week 5 but never got any response. Anyway I wish you luck.
Danny says
I sent mine to the ombudsman regarding Lending Stream as many on here have said they’re not the greatest to deal with and that was about 3/4 weeks ago. Anyone have a rough idea when I’ll get a response ?
James says
I just had a final response from ombusman and they are upholding there decision, 3rd loan was unfordable but first 2 were, I don’t understand as Amigo and others have agreed they were unaffordable.
So they are reducing balance and taking off the 2 defaults they gave but what was surprising the ombusman said they do not need to perform credit checks unless it is more than 2 loans.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how large were the first two loans?
James says
First was £500 second was £750, I don’t understand how ombudsman can say they did the right checks and they don’t have to do credit checks on initial loans?
It is what it is I guess.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They only have to make checks if it would be proportionate to do so. 500 would normally be no, unless your income was very low. 750 is more marginal.
You can win one loan cases if the loans are larger.
hugo says
Hi Sara,
I have a few claims in the biggest so far is potentially Pay Day UK. I have a question also, regarding pounds till payday. I know this is a maltese pay day loan company under the name of Northway Financial. I have emailed them, with the base letter, but have recieved no response. Can i take this to the Ombudsman, or as its foreign i guess our rules regarding unfair lending do not apply in Malta? I also have not had a response from Lending Stream, although i only complained End of Feb. Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Pay Day UK – did you put in a claim to the ICL Scheme for this?
You can’t take complaints about the Malta-based lender to FOS. And the deadline for making complaints in Malta passed a couple of years ago.
hugo says
Hi Sara
Yes i have done so with ICL, and my claim is fort £2280!!!! prob get 80 of it. I was right with the maltese.!
Mr PDL says
I’m in a similar situation. Missed out on Payday Express + Payday UK, Uncle Buck, Moneybox and Pounds to Pocket. All very frustrating so in all cases I’ve ticked a box and settle for what I get.
Well apart from Uncle Buck. Any ideas what is happening with them? They were my second biggest claim opportunity after Payday UK :(
Sara (Debt Camel) says
UB likely payout is zero.
Mr PDL says
Thank you Sara, helpful as always. That is my worry with these things that when lenders go into administration everyone loses. Surely something is better than nothing
Anyway, thank you for doing a fantastic job supporting all of us, you are a real credit to society (no pun intended)
nats Daley says
Finally £1082 potential redress not expecting much back but still can go on the gas card
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Who is the lender?
Sean says
As said in the article, the comlaint decisions will be made by Amigo. We all know what that means. Amigo will reject a good majority of it. They wont have the same standards of handling them FOS would have. in the slight changes of your complaint being accepted by Amigo (very slight chance in my opinion), you will get almost nothing in years.
so I have made my mind up; voting against the scheme. I advise everyone to do the same. We sit and and watch them going bust!
helen says
Hi has anyone had any sucess from loans at home or morses as both are dragging there heals
Sara (Debt Camel) says
best asked on the doorstep lending page: https://debtcamel.co.uk/refund-doorstep-loans/
Angela says
Hi Helen yes had refunds back from loans at home were very good did not have to go to ombudsman l just kept ringing them and the settled Moses was a little harder took my complaint to ombudsman and got paid out just keep on at them it’s money they took from us with double interest good luck don’t give up
Lynne says
Just got a letter (in the post!) from Provident about registering for scheme of arrangement in regard to Satsuma loans. Has anyone else had one? It mentions ‘consumers will be able to vote on the scheme in July 2021. We would expect to start making payments in the first half of 2022.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
see https://debtcamel.co.uk/provident-satsuma-scheme/ and all further comments on that page please.
Angela says
Yeah l got letter from provident today and l am voting against the scheme l would rather see them go into liquidation than get away with ripping people off l have already emailed Mel Steel asking for everyone to be heard regarding not paying customers back high interest rates on unaffordability claims vote a gainst the the scheme we are only going to get pennies back if they push it through it will hurt them more if they go bust
Andrew P says
Hi Sarah. Email today ICL to say complaint upheld on all 17 loans. Total redress £7120 ( 4% of ). Last loan defaulted (£1078 total ) then passed to bw legal. Have been in contact with Prac today as account been on hold until this outcome. Spoke to them today and said debt sold on to bw so this outcome irrelevant and I still owe them (bw) the money. It is showing as a default on my credit score which I want rid of. What do you think? I offered 10% but PRAC came back saying bw would accept £270 to mark it partially satisfied. Should I have/expect to pay anything or is it reasonable to ask for this to be written off? This site has been a massive help for me for the last couple of years so sincere thanks for that
Sara (Debt Camel) says
can you sit on this for a few days? I need to do some research to find out the right answer. it’s complicated. I will probably do a short article on it.
Andrew P says
Of course. I’ve not agreed to anything as yet. Thanks again
frogman says
Hello All,
Please I need some help with 247moneybox, I know they are in administration.
I currently owe £530.38 which is showing on my credit file. I want to settle the loan so that they can take it off.
I am due a refund of £430 through the claims portal from previous loans (They said the loan with outstanding balance was not accepted as part of the claim). When I emailed them for a settlement figure, they said they are willing to accept £250 to close the account and report to credit reference agencies. Should they not be deducting the refund from the amount I owe which should leave me with £100.38 to pay them. I really need it off my credit file. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This debt is defaulted?
Frogman says
Yes, it shows default on their website.
It shows ‘No data’ on Creditkarma and ‘Arrangement to pay’ on Equifax.
They went into administration shortly after I started struggling with the repayment and was in the middle of arranging a payment plan with them.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you know this default is not going to be deleted? And your credit score won’t improve if it is paid?
Have you asked the administrators why they are no applying set off?
Frogman says
They said the account will be settled with them if I paid the £250 and they will report to credit agencies that the account is settled. It is currently not in default with any of the agencies, only on their website. No data on Creditkarma and Arrangement to pay on Equifax. It’s not showing at all on Experian.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
well its up to you if you want to pay that or ask the administrators about set off. You will later be able to get any negative marks removed anyway, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/correct-credit-records-lender-administration/
frogman says
Thank you Sara, Below is the message I have just received from them. Is it worth paying the outstanding on Loan 9 at all? How am I able to get loan 9 removed on credit file if it has not been accepted? I am a little confused. Also, how is it possible that the are not able to offset refund? they refund 1% or something and expect me to repay the outstanding in full?
Thanks for your email. The redress payment due to be made to you cannot be used to reduce your outstanding balance.
As previously advised, redress is due to you on loans 4-7. Your most recent loan i.e. loan 9 has not been accepted for redress and therefore has an outstanding balance. To reiterate, the redress payment and the outstanding balance on your account are two separate figures. The redress payment cannot be used to repay your balance.
Kind regards,
Sara (Debt Camel) says
are they actually proposing to pay a refund at all?
why did they not uphold loan 9, did you appeal this decision?
frogman says
Hi Sara,
I got an email back in September saying this:
Online Claims Portal is now live
The Joint Administrators have completed the Online Claims Portal and invite you to login and view the outcome of the redress assessment. If you wish to appeal the Joint Administrators’ decision you can do so from within the portal.
If any payment is due to you, please be aware the payment you receive will be significantly smaller than your accepted claim amount. Payments will be made once all claims have been received and assessed. All claims must be accepted by 31 December 2020.
I have absolutely no idea why they are upholding 4-7 and not 9. I did not even know which ones were accepted and which ones weren’t until the customer service agent mentioned it. Their response is very generic and what I can observe is that they are trying to withhold information. I have not made an appeal because I did not receive any other communication from them apart from then above. All I am trying to achieve is to get them to remove adverse entries on credit file.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is a shame you didn’t appeal it, you will be out of time now.
frogman says
Hi Sara,
Just following up on the above, So I emailed them yesterday proposing £160 as opposed to the £250 they initially asked for. They have accepted this. One concern I have though is that will adverse entries on credit file be removed for loan 9? otherwise, there is no point me paying this sum.
Experian – Nothing Showing
Credit Karma – No Data (since 2018) but showing account is open and outstanding balance of £530.38
Equifax – ARP (arrangent to pay)
I extracted the below in one of our correspondence.
Thanks for your email. All loans that have been accepted as part of your redress claim value will be removed from your credit file. In your case, this will be loans 4-7. This will take place sometime during the 2nd quarter of 2021 i.e. when redress pay-outs are made.
Do note that your most recent loan (loan 9) has not been accepted for redress. There is still an outstanding balance of £530.38 on your account. Please confirm whether you wish to set up a payment plan to repay your outstanding balance. Alternatively I can provide you with a settlement offer if you wish to repay your loan in a one-off payment.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
As they haven’t said they will do this, my guess is they won’t. Although they may take the easy route and delete all the debts.
So you can argue with them about it now.
Or you can sit back and in 6-12 months or so when the administration has progressed and the administrators aren’t talking to the CRAs any more, you can ask the CRA to suppress this record. You can’t do this now, or they will just ask 127 who will reply the entry is correct. You have to wait until the administration has gone quiet.
frogman says
Hi Sara,
Just wanted to quickly give an update on this. so I decided to pay 247moneybox the agreed £160 to close that loan showing on my credit file (they one that is outstanding and they didn’t accept as part of the redress) and asked them to please remove it as a goodwill gesture. I wonder if they would.
I have made a lot of progress with my mortgage broker and this payday entry is likely to cause me problems. Only God know when the administration process is going to end to ask CRA’s to supress entry.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well you can ask. I will be surprised if it is accepted as administrators normally try to do as little as possible to minimise their costs.
Lynne says
Hi can you tell me how they let you know what refund you are due please? They said to me yesterday that I’d accepted the redress amount on my account but 1) I don’t recall accepting it and 2) there’s no figure on there when I go to their website. In fact when I log in and go to ‘my loan history’ there’s just error messages, like you get when there’s some sort of IT blip. I’ve asked them to clarify but I’m just wondering how others heard about theirs.
frogman says
Hi Lynne,
I got an email late last year, I was able to see the redress amount and accept it, but that it was. The figures have since gone away and I can’t access them. I get the same error message as you when I log in
JR1981 says
Hi, I have a question a few years ago, I received a refund from cash converters but without the 8% interest. Back in November I requested they pay the 8% interested however they did give it to me, I’ve tried to claim the tax back in it as it was around £93 however HMRC have never received this. I contacted Cash Convertors again and they said I should of paid it although looking through they have taken it from the payment? Is there anything I can do?
Refund £2125.03
Minus HMRC payment £92.36
Total should receive £2033.67
Minus customer did received £1178.87
Amount left to pay to customer £853.16
From my understanding they have taken the money to pay HMRC? Is that correct?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
thats what it looks like to me…
JR1981 says
That’s what I said, I had the case on resolver so I copied and pasted her response from November. What happens if they haven’t paid it? I was claiming it back as my personal allowance.
Will they be in trouble for not paying it
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did your case go to FOS or was it settled direct with the lender?
JR1981 says
Settled direct with the lender
Sara (Debt Camel) says
then say if they don’t resolve it within the next week you will be sending your original complaint to the ombudsman as they have not given you the settlement they promised.
JR1981 says
Thank you again for your help Sara.
Sorry so if the decide to pay it now can I claim it straight back from HMRC or do I tell them to pay me as it’s my personal allowance?
Kind regards,
Jodie
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If they say they have now paid HMRC, you claim it off HMRC. If they pay you, you have the money and don’t need to claim.
JR1981 says
Thank you Sarah,
They are sending me the payment.
Kind regards
Jodie
Lynne says
I just got a notification from Experian that Cabot financial removed my account from my credit file. While this is good news I noticed that it says the account was open in 2012, so would it have appeared to other lenders anyway as I thought they were only on there for 6 years?
Lynne says
TM legal just got back to me about the Uncle buck decision to uphold my complaint. Here’s what they’ve said!
Thank you for your recent e-mails and for making us aware of your dispute outcome from Uncle Buck. We have raised this with Uncle Buck via our client, ACI, and will await their confirmation, at this stage the account reference does not match the loan we are collecting on.
Our Complaints Team have also asked us to contact you in relation to your current financial situation. We, the Specialist Support Team, have been asked to review your account, where we can consider your circumstances and figure out the best solution for your account going forward which could include balance reduction, an extended hold period or closure of the account. Could you please provide some additional information in terms of your health and financial situation to assist with our decision making process.
My question is If UB have upheld an unaffordability complaint does that not apply to all loans instead of just one? The loan that TML are saying they’re chasing is over 4 years old. The original amount was £500 but they’ve doubled it so they’re now saying the balance is £1000. Im going to get back to them outlining my personal circumstances. My experience so far of these people has been shocking. They started hounding me in October with the subject heading ‘pending county court claim’. I’d never heard of them before!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
your personal circumstances are that you have no spare money? There isnt much harm in telling them that but don’t let them bully you into agreeing a monthly payment.
Scott says
Hi Lynne,
Winning an affordability complaint doesn’t mean that it applies to every loan.
Refunds will be given from say the 4th loan onwards or maybe later if there was long periods between borrowing.
Having read a lot of your posts, I am in agreement with Sara that you should contact Stepchange to try and sort out your finances.
You appear to have a lot of old debt that you haven’t addressed and it seems like it is starting to catch up with you.
Any company that you have contacted for unaffordable lending where 6 years hasn’t passed without contact will have reset the clock for it being statute barred.
Stepchange are best placed to get you into a safe position before the companies try and obtain CCJ’s against you.
Scott
Lynne says
Yes I’ve explained. Here’s their response:
Thanks for taking the time to come back to us.
We would like to inform you that the full, outstanding balance has been written off and your account closed.
I’m so glad that’s the end of the matter. The volume of emails they were sending day on day was deeply distressing. I don’t know why these places think that harassing people will make them pay up. It’s quite the opposite.
Lynne says
Oakham just said they should’ve done more checks before issuing a loan and have refunded the interest, bringing the balance down from £222 to £109.
Adam says
Hi Sara,
Is sunny loans at a stage with administrators that they wouldn’t reply to CRA and loan would be suppressed?
It was a loan I took out but withdrew from straight away but of course still on credit file. The loan started on 30 May 2020 and ended on 1 June 2020 so still quite fresh and would be great to get another payday loan off my credit file completely.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/500000-sunny-customers-tiny-refunds/ which has the quite from the administrators
Tyler N says
Hey all and Sara!
Has anyone had this before?
I disputed a defaulted record on my credit report, (it did default, i still owe them money, I was just unsure who the lender was)..but I received this response back..
“We have received a dispute from Transunion in regards to your default.
Since you have started to repay your loan we are willing to completely delete this account from your credit file (including the default), once it has been repaid.
Please send our complaint department an email once repaid to remind us to delete the account.
I trust that the above clarifies Quidie’s position so please accept this e-mail as our final response to this complaint. If you remain unhappy, you have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, free of charge – but you must do so within six months of the date of this communication. If you do not refer your complaint in time, the Ombudsman will not have our permission to consider your complaint and so will only be able to do so in very limited circumstances. For example, if the Ombudsman believes that the delay was as a result of exceptional circumstances.
However, I hope this will not be necessary given the above clear explanation”
I didnt think this was possible without going through a full affordability complaint and upheld as unaffordable.. Is this new? Or normal encouragement to pay, that i just haven’t seen before?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Oh it’s possible, but it is against the credit reporting rules… lenders aren’t supposed to try to incentivise people to repay a debt by offering to delete a default!
So your question is, do you have a good affordability complaint? How many loans did you have from them before this one? If you had several you could push for a write off and clearing the debt.
But if you don’t think you have a good affordability complaint…
How large is this debt? If its small this is probably a good offer.
But if it is going to be a problem to pay off, you could try to negotiate this dian.
As they have given up on their principles once, they may be prepared to compromise.
Katie says
Hi, I have complained to Lending Stream about affordability. I had about 20+ loans from them between 2016 to 2017. They have rejected my complaint start of last year. I kind of left it coz at the time my mum was end of life care. I presume I have missed my timescale for filling complaint to FOS? Is there anything I could do?
When I was in payday loans spiral I was very much into gambling and have run up thousands of debt. However I have signed up to Gambian and GA and thank god I have been gamble free since June 2018 :)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The Ombudsman may take a late case, but it depends how good your reason is. End of life care and then a funeral at the start of coronavirus may have been really hard to organise and have affected you badly. If you feel that, then send the case to FOS now and be prepared to explain the problems in detail.
Katie says
Thank you very much Sara! I shall get onto the case ASAP and write a long spill to what all happened. Thank you again. Take care and stay safe!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I’m not saying you will succeed but it is worth trying.
Graham says
Hi Sara,
PiggyBank have agreed to remove all 15 credit records and refund. Don’t hold out much hope for the refund but I’m not bothered about, it’s the records that I’m desperately trying to get removed in lieu of mortgage application. I’ve written to Transunion requesting suppression of all PiggyBank records from my file but not had a reply yet.
QuickQuid initially advised they would not look into my claims.. I replied advising I was only requesting removal of credit records. They responded asking for my Credit Report, so it could be reviewed, which I sent them. I got a reply saying they would not look into it as the deadline had passed. I have since replied querying why they requested personal data if they had no intention of reviewing my claim.
I’ve also contacted Transunion requesting suppression of 6 x Wonga loans and 1 x Payday Express loan (as i believed those companies were no longer in existence and therefore I was unable to contact them directly.) I gave them a case reference number that Wonga provided in 2019 in relation to compensation. They have replied advising that they’ve contacted both companies to verify. they say they’ve had a reply from Payday Express refuting the request.
I’m wondering if yourself or anyone reading might have any relevant contact details for both PayDay Express and Wonga, for me to contact them directly? as I cannot find any for either via Google searches.
Thank you in advance for any assistance
Lynne says
Hi Graham not sure if it’ll help (or work), but the email addres from my Wonga compensation claim came from theteam@hq.wonga.com
PF says
Hi Sara,
In Oct 2019 I received an Adjudicators view on my Piggybank complaint – upholding all loans as unaffordable, this was just before Piggybank went into administration I believe. Due to this my complaint went back to Piggybank and in Feb 2020 an agreement was reached whereas they would honour the view of the FOS Adjudicator, removing all interest, leaving just the principle amount of loan 3 to pay to ACI who purchased the debt in 2018. All the loans were removed from my credit files and an affordable plan agreed with ACI.
Yesterday I received the below from ACI:
‘Dear xxxx,
Notice of intention to report to Credit Reference Agencies
We are about to report the default status of your account(s) to the Credit References Agencies (CRA’s) and plan to start this within the next 30 days. The purpose of this communication is to let you know in advance so that you know what this means and to give you time to act.
Can this be prevented?
Yes – if you are in a position to clear the balance on your account(s) within the next 30 days, we will not register your account(s) with the CRA’s.’
Since agreeing a repayment plan with ACI I have not missed a single repayment – are they able to register a default without just cause?
Thanks,
PF
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Not if ACI removed the interest and know you only have to make an affordable payment. Send ACI a complaint.
PF says
Thanks for the quick reply.
I will get a complaint in to ACI.
PF
ABLC says
Some years back I successfully claimed against Myjar for a decent sum and I knew I had more lenders that I had borrowed from but didnt have the capacity to sit and look at everything and Myjar was my focus as it was the biggest.
I’m starting to look back (my gosh i was in a mess!) and i I took loans out with Lending Stream, PoundstilPayday, Wagedayadvance and QuickQuid.
Reading the blogs I know I cant chase WDA or QQ, I can with Lending stream but not sure about PTP? Also, the very few emails I have from either of them contact little detail apart from 1 or 2 agreements and just tell me to log in to accounts so I dont really have alot of information for them.
My question is these were all dated 2009-2011 and I have nothing in terms of what figures i borrowed or how many times but I’m certain it was more than a few times. Unfortunately I can’t get hold of any bank statements from those accounts so far back. Is it worth pursuing after so long with little info to hand too?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
PTP is another QQ brand – it is not too late to submit a claim about those loans.
Lending Stream is worth pursuing if you had several loans.
Lynne says
Oakham have agreed to remove the outstanding loan from my credit file. Although they’ve refunded the interest paid they say ‘Please be aware we will not be able to waive the £119.49 outstanding balance due as this is comprised of the principle sum you were provided and have had the benefit of’. I know of other companies who’ve taken a token payment to close the loan, i.e not the full remaining balance, so I don’t quite understand what they’re saying here.
Whilst this is a bit disappointing I have to say they have responded quickly and professionally. Definitely one of the ‘better’ loan companies out there, if there is such a thing….
Tom says
Lynne,
It’s very good news that they have removed this from your credit file.
As for the outstanding £119.49, this is the amount remaining from your basic loan, with all interest and charges removed. They are stating that because you received the loan, they can’t write this balance off because it legitimately needs to be paid back. Some companies may write this amount off but that would be a goodwill gesture, clearly Oakam are not going to do that.
I echo Sara’s thoughts though, please seek some advice and help from StepChange. They’ll be able to get you into a better position to tackle all of this!
Tom
Dave says
Moneyboat complaint
Hi I have sent an affordability complaint as per above guidance from Sara, I don’t know how many loans I had or how much interest I paid so asked for them to send them to me. Moneyboat have responded in the hour with:
‘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.’
Is this normal and should I submit my bank statements? I also got the line about reporting me for fraud etc
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I do suggest sending bank statements.
Dave says
Thanks Sara have done that. 8 loans in 13 months with them starting at £200 and largest being £1000 which bank statement shows that I used that to pay 3 smaller payday loans off, so hoping for a positive result. Shows my gambling though so hope that doesn’t go against me.
Also emailed cashfloat today and they have acknowledged, impressed with the timely response but I’m sure my next correspondence will take a lot longer
Dave R says
Hi Dave,
When you eventually get a final response from Moneyboat, they will use the fraud threat again. Don’t let it scare you, it’s all a big bluff to try and make you accept whatever offer they give you or to drop the complaint.
They may offer you a refund that seems too good to turn down as a ‘gesture of goodwill’ but make sure to check back here to see if you should accept it – as chances are you could may well get a lot more. They are not a nice company to deal with – all the best with it!
Dave L says
Anyone else had a problem with myjar . Won an affordability complaint last year with them but negative information and the incorrect balance is still showing on my credit file .
It seems to be a case of left hand and right hand , being told they will remove negative information , then that there is no negative information showing , even though the incorrect balance and a payment arrangement are showing on my credit file .
I am at the end of my tether with them and Harrison’s Recovery, apart from going to Equifax, is there anyone else I can complain to ?
Dave R says
I raised disputes with Transunion and Equifax and MyJar approved them both to remove the loans from my credit file. I would file disputes with both TU and Equifax and attach a copy of your successful affordability complaint if you haven’t already?
Dave L says
Weirdly the myjar loan has disappeared from Transunion, but not Equifax. I have raised a dispute today as myjar said and I quote you need to raise a dispute for us to change it . Nothing like helpful customer service is this, , why they couldn’t sort it out for me . I don’t know
jason chapple says
can i still make a claim against mr lender? i cant believe the moneyshop (payday uk) is now done to 4.2p in the £ my £637 redress is now £25 what a joke and delayed till may/june it will be down to 2p by then
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes you can
Dave says
Thanks Dave. Yeah I was a bit worried until I read the comments here. They didn’t send me through a list of my loans and interest paid as I requested but could work it out from bank statements if needed.
Adam says
Back again Sara, what would I do without this site lol.
Ferratum have come back and said they will remove all 10 loans from my credit file (ive made sure to save my old file before these get removed)
MrLender just said they can’t remove it as it’s not a true reflection. It’s only 1 loan and was for £250 and I complained in 2018 but never sent to FOS as 1 small loan. Is there anything I can say in an attempt to get them to remove it?
Contacted Transunion and Experian regarding 1 Sunny Loan trying to get it removed, they’ve sent the usual it’s on for 6 years so I’m just being presistant. Quickquid, will I have to wait until their administration is finished?
Am I also naive in thinking having these removed will help my mortgage chances in near future, surely 5 closed accounts is better than 25 loans or will it not make a difference?
Thanks!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Mr Lender – no.
QuckQuid – it’s probably best to wait until the point in the administration where QQ will no longer respond to the CRAs. That won’t be for a while yet.
5 loans is a lot better. When was the last one repaid?
Adam says
Last one was settled 2 months ago with Satsuma. I’m assuming it’s going to be the hardest and longest one to get removed with this new Scheme?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh yes. No chance of any action on this for the rest of the year at least.
Adam says
Okay, maybe by middle of next year we might have got somewhere!
I know this is slightly off topic, but I have 2 car finances, one has 3,500 left to pay and one has 11,500 left to pay. I was planning on paying the 3,500 one completely off in coming months or would I be safer bringing down the balance of the 11,500 one?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
are they both HP?
what are the interest rates on each?
from the point of view of a mortgage application, I doubt it makes much difference.
Adam says
Both HP,
Not sure on exact figures of interest. Know the 3,500 is very low because it had a guarantor on it and the 11,500 is fairly high interest one from.
I guess it won’t matter too much because either one that is paid will lower my debt to income ratio?
Thanks for all the help!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
well you need to look at the numbers, but paying off the higher interest is normally better as it saves you more.
Nes says
Hi Sara,
Is there a list of PDL who are now far into administration that they won’t reply/challenge a suppression request for loan(s) that are on credit files?
The ones i am particularly keen to find out about are:
Uncle Buck
My Jar
Next Credit
Peachy
Thanks
Nes
Hugo rogers says
All of mine except satsuma and four wage day advance loans are still showing on my file even though wage day advance went into admin and got paid 50 quid on my over a grand pay out. So surly transition should be deleting these after administration of a company apparently not they say. They stay on six years most of them will be time expired this year. Is there anyway I can get trans union to delete them ?
Lynne says
How come the credit scores vary so much on the different files? Mine score has jumped up a lot in the last 6 months as I’ve closed loans, paid them off, had them removed etc, yet on credit karma I’m showing as 440/700 but on ClearScore it’s 175/700!
Lynne says
And Experian is 416/999! This is madness. Depending on whose looking at your report and where could be the difference between getting a job and not.
Dave R says
They’ve all got different scoring metrics and algorithms that work out the scores. Plus, different lenders report to different agencies so some may have more negative information than others. Don’t buy into the scores through, they don’t mean anything. The history is the most important thing. Can’t go wrong with a trusty statutory report…
Weatherman says
Hi Lynne
It is confusing – but there is no single scoring system that the different credit agencies use! Even where two of them give scores out of the same number (e.g. 700), they might give different ‘weightings’ to different parts of your report.
It’s also worth knowing that lenders don’t look at your score – that just gives you a sense of how you’re doing. A lender will look at the information underneath. So it’s important to check on each of your credit reports that the information is right.
There’s more information on credit scores here: https://debtcamel.co.uk/credit-score-change/
Lynne says
Thanks very much that makes a bit more sense! I actually didn’t know that lenders couldnt see your score. My main mission these last few months has been settling lending and getting them removed from my file, as I wish to return to a job in law enforcement and debt (or at least not seeming like you’re tackling it) is something they take a very dim view of.
Adam says
Sara,
Experian just keep coming back that I need to contact Elevate Credit to remove the loan from my credit file. I have came back that I can no longer contact them and that administration is finished and there’s no-one I can contact. They’ve just come back with the same thing again after I asked them to suppress the loan.
What’s my next step?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send Experian a complaint. Send the link to https://www.insolvency-kpmg.co.uk/Viewer/pdfViewer.aspx?sid=zfb3cniajxl4s5frrmph2nke&did=61eaaf6c-f415-41b7-a22c-33601cd9728f amd point out that says:
“We have transferred the control of maintaining any remaining records to the credit rating agencies, as we will not be maintaining these records going forward. Any further queries regarding entries on customers’ credit files in relation to ECIL loans should be raised with the relevant agency directly.”
And ask Experian to suppress the loan as the lender will not reply to you about it.
Denise says
Hi Has anyone had any experience with Cashasap? Put complaint in almost 7 weeks ago and not heard back yet
alan says
im in the same boat, its 2 days short of 8 weeks since I sent them my affordability claim and have heard nothing back, bit of a joke
Amanda says
sara does it impact ur result with an ombudsman if i pay off creditspring loan now in full as its sooner than the agreement, its been picked up today asking for more info but i won a recent claim and was using money to pay it off alongside a credit card that i sent to ombudsman? also if pay day loans where taking out 2019 and paid off early 2020 does that mean mortgages wont look at me for 2 years? is it from the date of the loan or date of final payment?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I haven’t seen anyone complain about Credispeing so there is no history. Generally it’s best to pay things off when you can.
The payday loan / mortgage 2 year rule – this isnt fixed, not written down anywhere.
Amanda says
thanks sara
Scott says
Hi Amanda,
Can you post an update when you get a decision from FOS please?
This looks like an interesting one as the loans are actually interest free and people pay a monthly membership in order to qualify for 2 loans a year.
It would be good for any readers to see how this is viewed by FOS.
Thanks
Scott
Amanda says
yea course will do. the reason i put it in to ombudsman was that my 2nd installment in 1st loan was in arrangement then paid, but they charged constant membership, then they allowed me a 2nd loan with them, even tho i had issues in first loan.
cyrilv says
So… got the following yesterday regarding PayDay Express;
“We are now able to confirm that we will use your redress to reduce your outstanding balance. This is important to you because any reduction in your outstanding balance would be made in full, whereas a cash payment will be reduced. We have used your redress to reduce your outstanding balance as follows:
Redress amount £ 395.87
Current outstanding balance £ 463.14
Outstanding balance after redress applied £ 67.27
Next Steps: As you have an outstanding balance remaining, you will continue to be liable for this debt until the balance is settled in full.”
Fine and dandy that ~£400 has been wiped, but what to do about this £67, I wonder? The loan in question was taken out in 2014, and was struck from my credit records last year. As it is over 6 years since default date, no matter how it’s calculated, I’m assuming this is now statute barred and there’s not a lot they can do. Surely they can’t start chasing again or add any new defaults or CCJs? I’d be willing to offer an F&F to settle. I’ve had some good results along the way, and my credit scores are now looking halfway respectable (Experian 841, Equifax 410, TransUnion 565) Advice please…
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Arguing statute barred may be tricky as it wasn’t statute barred when you put in a complaint. I don’t know what is going to happen to small remnants like this. They won’t be able to add default and wont go to court. Wonga just gave up on collecting them. But if there are quite a few they may be sold to a debt collector and you could then settle with them?
cyrilv says
IIRC with this one it was passed on to some outfit called CRS in Halifax about November 2019; a few emails were sent to them re this administration, and while they tried for a few months, I have heard nothing more from CRS since March 2020. I more or less told them to send it back to Payday Express. I have moved house since then, and prior to that I moved in autumn 2014, so I’ve received no physical mail from them.
Then again, looking at the figures on CRS’s statement, it looks more like they were referring to a separate loan from Payday UK that WAS overturned in full and for which PDUK reimbursed me before they went under. So I’m not sure. Best to sit tight and do nothing for now?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did CRS buy the debt or are they collecting on behalf of ICL?
If you think the figures on CRS statement refer to a different loan thhat was settled, I suggest you should be raising this issue now.
graham says
Hi Cyril,
Sorry to jump into your thread, wondering if you’d mind sharing the email address Payday Express contacted you with?
I’ve been struggling to find contact details regarding a loan I had with them.
Thanks,
Graham
Sara (Debt Camel) says
See https://debtcamel.co.uk/money-shop-to-close-two-million-customers-will-be-informed/
graham says
Thanks very much, Sara. Much appreciated
Paul says
Hi All,
I ve heard from an Adjudicator today that Lending Stream have agreed with them so will be in contact regarding my refund. Does anyone know how long they usually take?
Many Thanks, Paul
Mike_p says
They drag their heels as much as they possibly can. They took a month to acknowldge mine, and then another month to actually pay out. It’s a bit of a joke seeing as they can transfer money instantly when they give you a loan.
Amanda says
this is an email i recieved when i contacted sunny to dispute the info on cras
due to administration sunny passed ownership of the loan data to the CRA’s, meaning they no longer control data &cannot instruct any changes to the loan data, nor will we be consulted by the CRA’s on any queries or disputes that you raise with them as they sent final loan data updates to the CRA’s in October 2020 prior to the change of ownership, however please be aware the individual CRA’s may still be working through these and so any changes you expect to see may not yet be evident. Because of the change of ownership, any query that you may have will need to be raised directly with the CRA’s as we no longer have sight or control of the data and so cannot take any action. Please be aware that we only ever provided loan data to Experian, TransUnion and Equifax, many 3rd party sites such as ClearScore will show your loan data but we did not provide it to them as they will have obtained this independently from the CRA’s. All of the CRA’s are aware of the situation and should be able to advise you as to whether there are any updates pending on your file and it is now their responsibility to answer any queries or disputes you may still have. In the event that the CRA’s provide you with conflicting information, it is likely they are simply following their standard process and so it would be prudent to remind them that we are in administration which is why different rules apply as this will be the quickest way to get a response to your query.”
Adam says
Equifax have come back and said this when trying to get a Sunny loan removed from credit file.
“Elevate entered into administration on 29 June 2020 and ceased all collection activity around October 2020. Equifax’s view is that this data should remain on your credit report as it is historical information which should be taken into consideration during future credit applications.
It’s important that any company you apply for credit with is able to view your complete credit history. This enables them to make a responsible lending decision.”
Is my next step to ask them to suppress the loan? I told them in first place that I can not get into contact as Administration has ended and that I don’t think I should have got the loan as it was unaffordable but can’t challenge this as I have no-one to contact.
Thanks
Amanda says
see my comment above.. response from sunny on what to say to cras
Amanda says
adam i have literally just got this email from a dispute i raised regarding sunny to equifax
Dear Amanda,
Thanks for getting in touch about the information on your credit report.
Elevate entered administration in June 2020 and have now ceased all lending activity. As a result of Elevate going into administration, we have made a decision to delete the account from our database. You should be able to see the updated account information on your next updated report ClearScore Credit Report.
Adam says
I have just sent back a reply on my case with Equifax stating some of the stuff you sent in one of your comments above so I will let you know the outcome hopefully today!
Jack says
I’ve recently had a few payday loans removed from my days at university. They’re no longer visable as loans on any of the credit reports and were removed on the instruction of administrators (of both Wonga and Unclebuck). Will mortgage providers still be able to see the loans or is it as if they never happened now?
I have a few other loans on record, is it likely if I make a complaint to the lenders they’ll remove them from the record if they agree (as opposed to an administrator doing it)? I don’t really care about getting money back I’d just like them off the record.
All the loans are 3+ years old so I don’t know if that makes it harder?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Will mortgage providers still be able to see the loans or is it as if they never happened now?
No, they are not on your credit records.
is it likely if I make a complaint to the lenders they’ll remove them from the record if they agree
Well they shouldn’t. But if you make an affordability complaint https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/ sometimes a lender will delete the loans if they are unaffordable.
If all the loans are over 3 years and they were all repaid on time and there weren’t loads of them, you may be ok anyway with a mortgage application. Talk to a good broker rather than worry about something that may not be an issue.
Jack says
Hi Sara,
They were 3 loans all with Smart Pig which is aimed at students and against student loan payments. Each loan left me needing a new loan for the next payment. My loan payments were around 450/500 to pay on the day student loans came in and my income from SLC was 1,100. So was a high amount of the income I was taking and they had copies the amount i’d receive.
Looking back I feel they probably were unaffordable but I don’t know if they’re classed as payday so i’m not sure I can claim the same way.
Cheers
Sara (Debt Camel) says
These are payday loans, use the template above to make an affordability complaint to Smart Pig.
Sally says
Hi Sara ,
Lending stream has agreed to the adjucator decision and will make the payment within 28days .
3 more complaints left
Carcashpoint – with senior ombudsman
118118 – with adjucator
Mrlender – awaiting reply from them as adjucator decided in my favour
Thanks for all the invaluable information in this site
Alan says
Hi, looking for some help, put in an affordability complaint at cashasap on 5th Feb, they replied saying they would tell me the outcome within 8 weeks, the weeks is up in 2 days time, I also emailed them 3 days ago asking what the latest was regarding this and haven’t received a reply, has anyone here had an contact with cashasap recently? What should I do in a few days when the 8 weeks is up?
Secondly I’m wondering if anyone has heard anything from Harrison’s/myjar recently? I also put in an affordability claim with them early in Feb, they replied within a few days saying they were going to look at my account but have heard nothing since
Mike_p says
They responded to me the day before the eight weeks was up (which was boxing day so I assume it was written in advance and put on delayed delivery)
I’d escalate it to the FOS the minute the 8 weeks is up. You might as well get the ball rolling to minimise the risk of losing out if they go into administration.
James says
Hi Mike did they make you a good offer or reject your complaint?
Nes says
If cashasap fail to reply once the 8 weeks are up. Take it up with the FOS, once you have waited the 8 weeks they are permitted you are well within your rights to escalate this to the FOS.
In relation to your MyJar question, sorry i am don’t have an answer but i am sure someone else will.
J says
Ok so Lending Stream upheld a complaint I had with them about 4 loans I had a few years back. They got back to me saying the first three loans were not upheld but the 4th and last one was upheld. I foolishly agreed (before seeing this site) so they said they’d erase negative history of the 4th loan from CRAs. This loan was part of an arrangement to pay along with the other three.
I’ve went back to them asking if they could remove the negative information from them all considering the 4th loan was the one that pushed me over my affordability and caused the arrangement to pay – they replied We would like to inform you that as per the Final Response we offered to remove the negative information for the upheld loan, i.e. loan 4. Also, we have already raised the amendment request with the credit reference agencies to remove the adverse information for loan 4 only. Please be informed for the remaining loans the adverse information will not be removed as we are supposed to report accurate information to the credit reporting bureaus under FCA guidelines. Hence, we are unable to remove any other negative information for the rest of the loans. Is there nothing further I could do?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
no.
Nesta says
Hi,
Has anyone had any dealings with Response Funding aka Fancy a payday? I think they went into admin but i have loans from them on my equifax file. I am trying to get these removed, are they still responding to CRA?
Thanks
Lynne says
Just checked the Clearscore App. Pleased to say Oakham and a few others have already removed my loans (that was quick – they said it may take 4 weeks). Just wondered will my score increase a little on next month’s report based on these removals?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
were they defaulted or with missed payments? How many entries do you have with defaults or missed payments?
Lynne says
Yes defaults on 3 loans now accounts are totally removed. The issue on my credit report isn’t loans now, it’s the online shopping defaults, hence I’ve been trying to contact jd Williams without success.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ok well if you have other defaults, getting a few removed may not make much difference to your score.
Lynne says
Ok thanks. What about if a CCJ has been satisfied? (I realise it still stays on there for 6 years, although it’s now 3.5 years since it was issued).
Sara (Debt Camel) says
that doesn’t improve your credit score.
Lynne says
Is removing defaults etc entirely up to the individual company? Some have removed them no questions asked but there are two who are saying they can’t remove a late payment as that wouldnt be a true reflection of how the account has been ran.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
have you won an affordability complaint? who are the lenders who are refusing?
Lynne says
No. One is my mobile phone provider (missed payment last September but now caught up) and the other is missed payment on la redoute online shopping.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So what is discussed on this page are affordability complaints. They are one of the few reasons why a creditor should remove a default. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/get-rid-of-a-default/ for the other situations, but they are not common.
Dave L says
Lynne I recently had issues with myjar and Harrison’s as they’re now in administration . Finally got them to remove myjar loan which was unaffordable but for some reason , they were the only ones who were difficult
I’ve found that all mine they I won complaints with have removed it .
Lynne says
Thanks Dave. I’ve had no issues with lenders removing them. The two who won’t are LaRedoute (online shopping account) and my mobile phone provider (missed one payment last September but caught up). They’re saying they can’t remove them as it ‘wouldn’t be a true reflection of how I ran the account’. I guess I’ll have to accept that decision. Happy Easter!
Dave L says
Happy Easter to you, hope your police application going well
Lynne says
Just read the email from peachy. They’re expecting payout to be ‘less than 2%’. That’s about a tenner for me then!!
Dave L says
It’s a disgrace how little the payouts are from all of these administrations. I’m still waiting for the money shop payout but think that’s going to be less than £200 from £5000. Hopefully one day they will get a grip on this
Lynne says
Sara can you make an unaffordability claim against someone whose no longer trading, i.e. different money?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
sometimes, but Different Money were dissolved in 2018 – there is no legal entity to claim against.
Dave says
Had the below response from Fernovo. I accepted as my interest was only £300 for those loans and the first 2 were £150 of that. Most I paid back in a couple of days so only paid £10 interest. I only put the complaint in last week so very quick to respond.
‘This complaint has not been upheld.
However, because you repaid all your loans, and you have decided to file for an affordability complaint, if you withdraw your complaint, as a gesture of goodwill we are happy to refund £75.00 on the interest and erase all your loans from your credit file.
I would suggest, now that you have our written answer, to have a phone discussion with one of our Complaint officers to close this issue in the most appropriate way for both sides. (Between 09:00 and 17:00).
In summary, there is no indication from a fair reasonable, and unbiased perspective that you were unable to afford the sums that Quidie had lent to you when you needed Quidie to help you bridge your momentary cash flow issue till payday. We strongly feel we have done nothing wrong, on the contrary.’
Paul says
Wish you never accepted this Dave. I got the exact same message from them except with an offer of £50. Rejected and told them going to FOS – they immediately doubled it to £100. Long story short they made 3 further offers i demanded the £437 (interest total) and they accepted. Chancers
Dave says
Thanks Paul glad you got what you were owed. Because mine was only around £300 I couldn’t be bothered with the hassle of going to FOS. Moneyboat have offered me the interest for loans 4-7 which I think is fair. I have noticed lenders are responding much quicker and do seem to be offering some compensation now probably in the hope people like me accept lower amounts haha a few years ago the majority seemed to reject all claims.
Hugz15 says
Hi Sara I had the standard responses today from Equifax and Experian that Sunny accounts need to stay on record for 6 years .. I missed the deadline for portal and I quoted that administrator passed over to CRA’s. I have gone back and pressed this further and asked for escalations etc. Should they suppress all Sunny accounts? I can see how this process is stressful but persevering seeing others have had success!
Tom says
Hi Sara
Is there anything to do about claims against payday lenders who lent unaffordably but who are no longer in business?
I appreciate there’s no money left for redress – I’m really asking about the credit report element.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Which lenders? Have the debts been sold?
James says
Morning
I have been offered the amazing about of £5780.69 from Lending Stream after a claim company (I know I should have don’t it myself) escalated to FOS
I have agreed the amount but lending stream are saying they will keep 20% of the 8% interest “as HMRC requires”?
Is this right??
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes it is, but you can claim back up to £200 of this deduction from HMRC if you are a basic rate taxpayer and all of it back if you are a non taxpayer. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/ppi-payday-refund-get-back-tax/
James says
Thanks very much :) Without your site I would have never even thought to try to claim.
They have wiped loans which were part of a DMP and by using the money I am almost debt free and have savings for the first time ever. I can’t thank you enough for what you do.
RD says
Hi Sara. My loan was sold to a debt collection agency before I made a complaint. The complaint was upheld. The collection agency are aware of the complaint and the balance has been amended. They have now sent me an email stating that if I do not settle or make an partial serpent offer within 30days they will report the account as defaulted. Currently unemployed and receiving benefits, which they know. Is there anything I can do?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
who is the lender?
how large is the balance?
do you have other problem debts as well?
RD says
The lender is peachy. The complaint has been upheld and they agreed it should not have been lent. It’s the collection agency threatening me I’m with defaults if I don’t settle up in 39 days. It’s for £560 and yes I have 6 other loas that I’m paying £5 toward from my benefits.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What is the total of these other 6 loans?
RD says
Total is £21,343.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That’s a lot. Have you talked to a debt advice about your options?
realistically it will make very little difference if this peachy loan is defaulted or not, I think you need to look at the bigger picture.
Emilie says
Hi
I have used your letter template this morning and email a number of lenders – thank you so much for the template!!
I have had a reply from Mr Lender already, and I was hoping you could advise me on what to do next.
I took out 2 loans with them in 2016:
Loan 1 – Approved 27.06.2016 – Amount £100.00 – Repaid £131.20 – Interest £31.20
Loan 2 – Approved 05.08.2016 – Amount £200.00 – Repaid £111.46 – Interest £0.00*
*I repaid a further £169.83 to SLL Capital in relation to this loan. Meaning the total repaid on this loan was £281.29, £81.29 in interest.
They have told me that as I only took out 2 loans, they have no evidence that I was experiencing financial difficulties even though I did not repay one of the loans and it ended up being sold to SLL. They have told me they will not give me a refund, but can offer me a goodwill gesture of a £25 voucher instead. They have also said I can go to the Financial Ombudsman if I want to.
I am happy they responded but I am not sure what to do now.
Are you please able to help? Thank you in advance :)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
it’s pretty hard to win a two loan case at the ombudsman when the loans aren’t large. I think you may struggle with that one.
Emilie says
I assumed as much but I didn’t want to reply to them without asking for advice first. Thank you for your reply!
Lynne says
Hi Emilie they did exactly the same to me. I’d taken out 3 loans in total and paid back 2 in full, so I too got the ”£25 goodwill gesture’ email because I hadn’t paid the 3rd loan.
Emilie says
Hi Lynne. Did you accept the voucher? If so, have you ever received it?
Lynne says
Hi yes they paid it straight into my bank within about 2 hours. To be honest I needed every penny as I wasnt working and I couldn’t be bothered to argue so I accepted it. But the main thing for me was that they agreed to remove them from my credit file so a decent result really.
Charlene Francis says
I had exactly the same with Mr Lender. I tried to negotiate more but they stood firm. And said if I wasn’t happy to go to the FOS. I went to the FOS who have come back today to say they are not upholding my complaint due to loan sizes, £250, £750 And £500 the last one is still outstanding. And they find they were outstanding.
I wish I had taken up Mr Lender on the £25 voucher offer now lol.
Hannah says
Hey, I raised a affordability complaint with Uncle Buck after they had gone into administration, they upheld my complaint and said the information would be removed from my credit file. Then i found out that they were referring to a loan I had took out with them and paid back in full, I was referring to a second loan that I had taken out after the first what I never paid back, they then sold this to a debt collecting agency. The worse thing is I never knew they was talking about the first loan but when I took out the second loan I was in an even worse finance position from when I took out the first loan and they agreed this is unaffordable. I feel like they deceived me here and now they have added a default on my account in 2020 when the passers it to a debt collecting agency when the loan is from 2019 , what should I do ? Please help. Should I raise another complaint?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
have the administrators agreed the second loan was unaffordable?
was the second loan sold by the administrators or by UB before adminstration?
Hannah says
Hey, they agreed the first loan was unaffordable but when I raised my complaint I was complaining about the second loan that was still outstanding. I was in an even worse position when I took out the second loan, then they said a refund would be granted if there was enough after the selling of the business in administration and all negative information would be removed from my credit file which I was more than happy with it wasn’t about the money it was more about the negative impact on my file. Then they issued a default on my account in Jan 2021 for the second loan that was then sold to a debt collection company and they issued a default on my account also , which means I have 2 defaults for the same loan. This loan is back from 2019 and 2years later the negative impact has been added, I am totally gutted and feel completely deceived , please help.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
which means I have 2 defaults for the same loan
this actually isnt something to worry about – it always happens when a loan is sold and credit scoring calulations ignore one of the defaults.
But the fact you have a default at all is wrong here. Have you asked the administrators why they have added a default on a loan they have decided to be unaffordable?
Hannah says
Hey Sara, sorry I think I am being confusing , they show situation is a mess.
1st Loan (paid back in full on time) – this was the Loan they deemed unaffordable and removed the negative impact on my file – even though there was none as this was paid back in full hence the reason they gave me a second loan.
2nd Loan (not paid back) – This is the loan I sent a complaint about , so when I received the response to say yes it was unaffordable and they would remove al l negative history of this , I was over the moon. I was in an even worse financial situation when I took this loan.
Then I received a letter to say the 2nd loan had been sold to a debt collecting agency and a default added to my credit file in 2021 even though the loan was in 2019 , the debt collecting agency have added a default for this aswell which means I have 2 default on my file for the same loan. I had no knowledge of this as I thought the issue was resolved, they sold this loan very quickly after I received my response. I feel like they deceived me and now I have this negative impact. It’s really bad and took a complete toll on my depression. I didn’t even care about any money coming back to me , I was fighting for the negative information to be removed and now this has been tarnished.
Also to add , when I raised the complaint I didn’t know the reference number for my loan . They never asked what loan I was referring to and took it upon themselves to assume it was the first loan. Hope this makes sense.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you need to focus on the bits that need to be changed – this will be less confusing. So I suggest forgetting:
– the two defaults issues (it isn’t really a problem at all)
– and the hassle you had getting them to agree both loans were unaffordable (annoying but not relevant from here on).
They have told you the second loan was unaffordable and they would remove the negative history. They haven’t done this. Have you asked why?
Lynne says
Don’t let them get away with this. They said to me the unaffordable loan I was referring to was a different reference number that was on their records. It got sorted eventually but it all just goes to add more stress. Awful company in fact one of the worst.
Hannah says
Hey Lynne, thankyou. Can I ask how you managed to get this sorted? Any advice would be a big help x
Lynne says
Hi Hannah, uncle buck told me a couple of times they didn’t think I had an unaffordability complaint. I didnt give up and on the 3rd or 4th email eventually they upheld my complaint and said I would be due for £84 but because there was no money in the pot I wouldn’t receive anything and it’d be closed and removed from my credit file. I was happy with that decision.
Just as that was sorted someone called TM Legal Services started contacting me (out of nowhere) to say I owed £1,000 to uncle buck! I told them UB had upheld my unaffordability claim and sent them the email as proof but they then said we need to check with UB as this is a different loan ID number. Basically I told them my circumstances (unemployed etc) and they agreed to write off the other loan and remove it from my credit report.
It feels like a game with these people sometimes but honestly don’t give up. You’ve got to fight and it does wear you down sometimes but it’s your well-being that’s important at the end of the day. I feel like such a weight has been lifted now.
Hannah says
Thankyou so much for this. Can I ask, did you go directly through the debt collecting agency or back to UB? Was the process long, this has had a massive impact on my mental health it’s never ending. Q
Lynne says
No problem Hannah. It was Uncke Buck direct who confirmed to me they’d upheld my loan affordability complaint, but then it was the debt collection agency who were pursuing the ‘other’ loan. It was someone called TM Legal services. I emailed them directly and they responded to my email literally within half an hour. The whole thing was resolved almost instantly.
Hannah says
Thankyou Lynne, sorry just one last question. You said below this was resolved through the debt collecting agency, did they remove the negative impact UB had left on your credit file ?
Lynne says
Yes the debt collection said they’d contact the relevant department in order to get it removed. It can take around 4 weeks so I haven’t seen it come off yet but looking forward to next months report when I can see the changes! Best of luck!
Hannah says
I can’t reply to your last comment , just wanted to say thankyou for all your help! I wish you all the best with your current issues and hope they are resolved quickly! Thankyou x
Hannah says
Hey Lynne, sorry do you have the email address you used. I have emailed and had no response at all.
Thankyou
Lynne says
Lending Stream update. Their final response was that they’d acknowledged 1 out of 3 loans was unaffordable. They reduced the balance from £730 to £300. I explained that I still was unable to pay due to being unemployed. They’ve now written off the rest so I have no outstanding loans with them! Also they will remove it from my credit file. I can’t tell you how relieved I am about this.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
that’s good!
Sally says
Hi Sara,
Update on lending stream
FOS adjucator ruled in my favour and lending stream came back and accepted the decision , I accepted the offer today morning and they said it would be around 28 days for the refund to be issued but to my surprise it’s in my bank account already .
3 more cases left
Mrlender – awaiting to hear from them after fos adjucator ruled in my favour
Carcashpoint- with senior ombudsman
118118money with adjucator
Thanks again Sara for this great site
God bless
Marg says
Another Lending Stream success story…
I complained on 18th March, they returned a summary of the 54 loans I had taken out between Apr 14 and Aug 18 on 1st Apr.
I followed up with a little more info per the template above and today they have decided to refund the interest on loans 2 and 6 – 54, saying that although they were affordable that the number and time between the loans means they should have considered whether it was a good idea for them to make those loans.
all in all I am going to get just north of £14,000 back, which is amazing as I have a leaking roof and need new doors on my house … not glamourous, but I am so happy not to have to worry about how to get the money without borrowing more.
Good fortunes to everyone still claiming, I hope you all get speed resolutions
Bob says
Hi, well done on the result, I had to go through the FOS with my complaint, and they have agreed to the recommendation made – have you had your refund paid into your bank yet?
Marg says
Yes thank you, I received the money on Sunday.
I have since paid off 2 loans, 1 defaulted debt, and my water bill; put up money for a contractor to replace my roof, helped my daughter with her debts, and paid down my credit cards a bit.
I can’t remember the last time I was this financially sorted… no more stupid payday loans for me.
I hope your payment comes through quickly :)
Bob says
Thank you, I accepted and confirmed bank details via FOS a couple of weeks ago, this week LS wanted me to reconfirm bank details, and the payment had been made over the weekend. Such a relief it’s come in as at the back of my kind I was worried if they would also enter administration.
Glad you have been sort out your roof
Marg says
Glad you got your payment okay, the rate these firms are falling I am not surprised you were worried
Ashley says
Hi there,
Hoping you can help me understand if I have a claim here or not, and to find out if claiming against SafetyNet Credit is normally successful.
I first took £100 out with them in November 2018. I had several other loans out at the time and had been rejected elsewhere so didn’t think I would get accepted. The last time I ‘borrowed’ from them was March 2019. In that time (4 months) I ‘borrowed’ from them 15 times, not fully realising how bad the borrowing was due to them being linked to my bank account. On some occasions during this they would take large sums from my account and then I would ‘borrow’ the money back the same day or a couple of days later. One example of this was 600.43 was ‘paid back’ which cleared my debt with them however 2 days later I had to ‘borrow’ 520 again to be able to afford to live. This didn’t happen on just 1 occasion during the 4 months. I am now repaying the loan back through a debt collecting company as I unlinked my bank account due to the loan getting larger and larger.
Would this be something I cam claim againt?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes that sounds like good grounds to complain. Although this isn’t a typical payday loan, use the standard template in the article above. They set your credit limit way too high for you to be able to repay without needing to borrow more.
A LOT of people have had success against them.