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?
Tina says
Hi Sara,
Firstly all your help has been great and I received £1300 back from Lending Stream.
I was wondering if you had a rough idea about Piggy Bank updates? I accepted the redress and just thinking are we talking months rather than weeks? Also would it be like Moneyshop and just receive a low percentage. I’m not very good with all this!
Thanks again! :)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The administrators haven’t given any likely timescale or indication of the percentage that will be paid out.
Kayley says
Hi Sara,
I am currently going through all of my loans and making affordability complaints.
I still owe Lantern £804. The loan was originally taken out from Motormile Finance (MMF).
If I go ahead and make a complaint then would I send it to Lantern or MMF?
Thanks
Kayley
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Lantern is a rebranding of MMF. They were never a lender, they bought your debt from the lender. You need Go find out who the original lender was.
Lynne says
Someone called United Kash started chasing me for a loan from different money which was taken out in 2014 and no contact since then? They are now sending threatening texts. I presume this company don’t exist anymore so there’s no chance of an unaffordability claim?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
dissolved 2018.
Lynne says
Well it’s got to be stature batred after all that time. I’m ignoring them.
Faye says
I’m not sure Sara will know better but a prove it letter might work
Sara (Debt Camel) says
a prove it letter is not a good idea if you are hoping it might be statute bnarred – but statute bbarring is more complicated than you might expect. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/statute-barred-debt/ and talk to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 about this.
Lynne says
I don’t know what a prove it letter is but they sent me a copy of the original credit agreement if that’s what you mean? That’s how I know when I took the loan out otherwise I’d never heard of these people nor could recall the loan so was surprised at the threats all of a sudden. 6.5 years seems a bit excesssive to start chasing a debt!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I agree but talk to National Debtline
Vicki says
Hi,
I have just put in a complaint to lending stream for irresponsible lending. I took out 4 loans totalling £880 within a week and had loads of other payday loans, debts at the time. I have used the link on their page as I’ve seen their email isn’t working anymore.
I still have just over £1000 owing to them which is currently with a debt management plan. I sent this on Tuesday and I’ve not had any response with acknowledgment that they have received the email. Is this normal?
Vicki says
I also had 10 other loans previous but these are all cleared and were all taken closely to each other. Usually paying off then reborrowing
Kate says
Hi, Vicki,
I found Lending Stream a real pain – they didn’t acknowledge the complaint on their form, so I tried all sorts of email addresses I could find, and in the end, I got an acknowledgement. They rejected my complaint summarily. I had 40 loans. I took it to the FOS, and though it took about 6 months, they upheld everything after fourth loan, and LS did pay out as instructed, so persevere: keep a copy of your complaint, and when it gets to eight weeks after you’ve submitted it to LS, even if they haven’t got back to you, put it in with FOS.
I had 4 loans that were in debt management, and these (the interest and the capital still owing) was deducted from the redress, but at least they are now closed, and LS have agreed to remove them from my credit file also.
Good luck!
Paul says
Hi Sara
I recently successfully reclaimed interest on a high interest instalment loan after the FOS agreeed with my compliant. I had already paid the capital on this loan and all interest paid was refunded to me.
However the loan company have marked this loan on my credit file as partially settled rather that settled in full. Is this correct? I would have thought the partial settlement would impact my credit file in a negative way?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It isn’t a major problem for your credit record, not compared to a default or missed payment, but it isn’t right. Ask them to correct this.
Debbie says
Hi
I would like to make an affordability complaint to Loans2go and Lending stream.
What are their email addresses please?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Loans2Go – see https://debtcamel.co.uk/worst-loan-in-britain/
Lending Stream – don’t accept complaints by email – go through their web page https://www.lendingstream.co.uk/contactus-step2/?sel_val=customer
Debbie says
Thank you. I will email them tomorrow.
David lee says
Good evening I’m currently on a payment plan with satsuma loans, I’ve just literally checked my credit report and it says I’ve missed a payment this month and my credit score has went right down but I haven’t missed a payment at all, I’m confused has this happened to anyone else cheers
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What did the Satsuma record say before?
David lee says
I don’t know what you mean? Im on a payment plan with them at the min at 50.00 per month and have been over a year, same date every month but I’ve paid my installment this month already, but it says I’ve missed a payment, I logged into my account and it says my next payment is next month, never happened before.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You were on a payment plan with Satsuma – how was that reported on your credit record? Did it show ias missed/late payments? A payment arrangement? Or did it look as though you were paying it normally?
David lee says
Oh right sorry, just said up to date every month, I paid my installment this month but says I’ve missed it, don’t understand why it’s said that as it’s been paid and now my credit score has went right down
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is hard to know what to do here as your credit record should be showing that you are in a payment arrangement but there seems to have been an error so it doesn’t.
David lee says
I contacted satsuma and they say I should wait till my credit report updates, and if I want to make a complaint to get back to them, but still don’t know why it said I’ve missed a payment when I haven’t.
Chris says
Hi
You provided the update on the Moneyshop redress payments which came from their Portal saying that they would commence payments on the 24th May and be doing them in batches. Do you not think it a bit strange that I can’t see a single person who has commented that they have received a payment – you would have thought at least one would have confirmed. Are the payments really happening now ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes. You need to be reading the comments on the Money Shop page, not this page.
The first payments were made last week, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/money-shop-to-close-two-million-customers-will-be-informed/comment-page-17/
Brig says
I made a compliant last week and received this response.
Please can anyone help me as to what it actually means?
For your reference, we have attached the following along with this email:
1. List of loans along with the loan status and any outstanding balance
2. Statement of Accounts
3. Loan Agreements
4. Copy of loan applications
5. Transaction Details
6. Any Legal Notices:
a. Notice of Arrears
b. Notice of Variation
c. Account closure letter
d. Termination notice
e. Notice of default sums
f. Notice of sums in Arrears
g. Final notice of sums in arrears
h. Temporary arrangement
Please note loans (4) are sold to a third party hence the corresponding SOA(s) are not included in the document shared by us for this request.
To access the Statement of Accounts, Legal Notices, copy of Loan Application and copy of Loan Agreements, you need to enter your date of birth in DDMMYYYY format.
Please be assured that all the details related to any of our customer’s accounts are stored for record keeping purposes and managed securely.
For further assistance, you may either reply to this email. Alternatively, you can visit the “Contact Us” section of our website at http://www.lendingstream.co.uk and register your query.
Brig says
I used Sara’s template to put a complaint in about unaffordable lending.
I had 14 loans in a period of a year some months I had 2 or 3 in the same month.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if you used my template then this is the answer to the question in that which said “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.”
it is not the response to your complaint, that will come later.
What email address did that come from?
Brig says
Thanks Sara 😊
It came from complaints@lendingstream.co.uk
Brig says
Four of mine got sold to a debt collection agency, they’ve not included them. I had a 75 page doc listing all my loan agreements etc. I too shall update if and when I hear back 😊
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You need to work out how much you have paid to the debt collector. Because if LS makes you an offer of £x you need to know if this is reasonable – if you send the case to the ombudsman then LS will have to resolve all the loans with debt collectors.
Brig says
Thanks ever so much I didn’t realise that. I shall work it out today. Thanks Sara 😊
Al says
I’ve had a similar response.
I’ve replied thanking them for the information but stated they have not answered my affordability complaint.
I reinserted the complaint and requested a reply. In addition, I asked them to explain their complaint escalation process in case I’m unhappy with their reply and have to got to the Ombudsman.
I wouldn’t follow my lead in case I’ve taken the wrong action. But, I will update when/if I hear from them.
p.s they have sent me a 30 page document detailing my loans & in their reply they stated four of the loan information the couldn’t be provide because they were outsourced. Im guessing they mean sold to debt collector.
Anyway, I let you know what they say.
James says
Strange one – I’m with Starling Bank and it shows scheduled payments coming into my account for tomorrow.
One is my redress from the Money Shop (which I’m fully aware of) and then there’s another coming in from Elevate/Sunny.
The latter I have no clue as to why. They haven’t informed me that they are making a payment. I managed to get in before they went under and get a sizeable refund from an affordability complaint, so I’m really unsure as to what this is.
(Chuffed at the extra cash though!)
Hannah says
Ah I have the same with no correspondence? I have emailed but I would imagine will be a while before I get a response not complaining like you but interested to know.
paul says
hi Sara
i am trying to find contact deatils to send to trusted quid and am unable to find any contact information on line
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry, they went into administration a couple of years ago and have now been liquidated.
Cheryl says
Hi Sara, thank you for this website, it’s given me the courage to finally pursue one of the lenders before they go under.
Please forgive me as I’m sure you have answered this time and again, but I have approached Lending Stream, who have today forwarded the list of loans. These are from 2011 to 2013 and there are 5 in total and 2 additional they sold on.
My queries are:
Are they washing their hands of the sold on debt, or if I am due any redress are these included?
I’m pretty sure I had loans prior to 2011, but cannot be certain. Is there a way I can find this out? I have changed banks and the account is long closed.
Many thanks for your help.
Cheryl
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Are they washing their hands of the sold on debt, or if I am due any redress are these included?
The loans sold on are among those that are most likely to be unaffordable.
The proper redress on these will take account of what you have paid to the debt collector. LS are just saying they don’t know what that is at the moment.
The only ways to find out about older loans are your own records – bank statements, emails, anything printed off, old credit reports, details of your debts when you went into a debt management plan, that sort of thing.
Cheryl says
Thank you.
Hannah says
Hello,
This is just re sunny: I have a payment going into my bank tomorrow that I can see for £49 from sunny elevate and I have no idea what this is for (I have made a claim with them) but I didn’t realise it was sorted yet. They’ve not sent me any correspondence so I am a little confused I have emailed but just wondered if anyone was in the same boat :-)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
See this page and the comments below it: https://debtcamel.co.uk/wp-admin/post.php?post=24593&action=edit
Nick says
Hi there
I’ve just had my final decision confirmed from the FOS regarding my loans I had with everyday loans, they have unanimously agreed with my complaints and have now set a deadline for which everyday loans need to respond, has anybody else been through this stage of proceedings with this company and if so how were your dealings? Did they come back with a fair offer? How long did it take for you to receive your compensation?
I had 2 loans that totalled £3000 from 2018, of which I have paid back over £5000 which also includes several late fees, this is what the FOS have asked ELL to repay.
1. You should refund all the interest and charges Mr Harvoutt-Smith has paid to date.
2. If the borrowing is still in place, you should reduce the outstanding capital balance by the
amount calculated at Step 1.
3. If, after Step 2, there remains an outstanding capital balance, you should ensure that it
isn’t subject to any historic or future interest and/or charges. But if Step 2 leads to a
positive balance, the amount in question should be given back to Mr Harvoutt-Smith and
8% simple interest* should be added to the surplus.
Can anybody give me a rough estimate of what I should be looking to receive as a fair offer please.
Thanks for any information in advance.
Nick
Kate says
I think, if the FOS have told them to do this, it’s unlikely they will make a counter-offer – I think their only option is to appeal what FOS have said, with new information that shows the ruling was wrong – and presumably, if they had this, they’d have done this in the first place.
So if you borrowed £3000, this means you’ve paid £2000+ in fees and interest. This is what the FOS has said they must repay. The statutory interest on that is £160. 2018 was 3 years ago, so you should receive 3 x £160 for the interest – £480. They take 20% off that for tax. So you’re due £384, plus the £2000 you paid = £2384
What you actually will receive depends on whether you still owe anything to them: if you have paid off the capital, you will get the full amount. Anything you still owe will be deducted from the payment. If, after it’s all been deducted, you still have a balance, you will still owe them that *but* they can’t put any fees or interest on so it won’t increase.
Hope that makes sense!
DM says
Pleasantly surprised to get my e-mail from Sunny today confirming £120 redress being paid in the next 5 working days as was only expecting around £30. Still waiting on ICL e-mail. Apart from the ongoing saga with Amigo I only have four companies left to have a go at and wondered if anybody could comment on how easy they were to deal with in response to IRL complaint ?:
1) Everyday Loans x1 Loan – (Currently on payment arrangement since middle of 2019 for £50 a month with around 4k outstanding)
2) Drafty – ongoing monthly x2 yrs approx
3) Safetynet Credit – ongoing monthly x2 yrs approx
4) Cash float (only x2 Loans last year six months apart both paid off early)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
1) use template on this page steve_wilcox@shelter.org.uk and include your bank statements with complaint – not that hard to win case at FOS if loan large
2) use the payday loan template on this page. Expect this to have to go to the Ombudsman
3) use payday loan template on this page – often the easiest of all cases to win
4) unless they were large that sounds tricky.
Mike_p says
Safetynet Credit were one of the better ones I’ve dealt with, or should I say one of the least bad as they shouldn’t have lent to me to begin with. They were the only lender to actually admit some sort of fault saying my complaint had merit, and it was resolved in a few weeks rather than the several months that some lenders drag things out over.
Kate says
Safetynet acknowledged that some lending had been unaffordable, but their final settlement was writing off the balance (just over £1000, and an ex gratia payment of £1000). FOS sent out their adjudication yesterday (I’d been maxing my account out on a monthly basis, and reborrowing in full right after paying off, for four years straight) and ruled that they never should have lent to me at all, so are upholding each separate transaction.
Unlike Mike, I’ve actually found them a pain to deal with – they took a long time to get back, then dithered about changing the terms of their final offer, then refused FOS permission to look into the case, since it was more than six months after their first (but not their finally final) offer – I had to appeal that also. Of course, now they have a fortnight to provide further evidence if they think the adjudicator is wrong, so it’s not yet over: but the end is in sight. I hope! Good luck to you with all your cases.
Louise says
Hi Sara,
I raised an affordability complaint with 247 Moneybox to be told that they have already gone into administration. The email I received back said that any redress would have been emailed to me and the deadline has now passed. I did not receive an email from them, the same as I didn’t for QuickQuid but they are also saying it is too late, Does this mean that they didn’t feel I was entitled to anything? Should all customers be aware of the situation? It’s only since coming across this site that I have began contacting payday lenders. I just think it would’ve been nice to be let know by the ones who have now closed/gone into administration. I hope this makes sense. I just feel I’ve been cheated.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The problem is as many people were not expecting the emails they went into spam or junk and were never seen.
Charlene says
Hi
I wonder if someone can advise.
Regarding the money shop. Did they confirm by email the amount you was due before making payment? And if you had a balance did they still write to confirm what your final payment due was?
Many thanks
Lynne says
Hi yes I got my email 3 days ago and the money is there today.
Emilie says
Hi
I received my email on Wednesday telling me what my redress amount worked out to be and outstanding balance was. It explained what redress was left after the outstanding balance, and then the amount I was due to be paid. In the email I received in April I read it in a way that I thought I wouldn’t receive any redress but the email on Wednesday confirmed I would receive a cash payment. The amount went into my bank account this morning. I hope that helps :)
Andrew says
Morning all,
Hope everyone is well and those affected are keeping the faith with the Money Shop! I like others are waiting an email but happy the end is finally near.
Just wanted to check if anyone else had woken up to a random payment from Sunny this morning?! I saw the (new) administrators had said that emails/payments would be issued on 31st May, however I’d heard nothing last week and yet received the grand sum of £10.17p today!
Thanks as ever to Sara for her tireless work on all of our behalf’s.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, see the Sunny page: https://debtcamel.co.uk/500000-sunny-customers-tiny-refunds/
Joanna says
I saw this message and went to check and I’ve received my £38.00 I was due £1200 these companies put so many people in a spiral of debt and get away with a pitiful payout!it’s shameful!sorry for the rant, at least they can never do it again.
Iain123 says
They put £19 in my account today. I thought it was all over last year. I assume they are tidying up loose ends for accounting purposes.
Maria says
Good morning the grand total of £28.60 from Sunny/Elevate – no email beforehand. Not much but it’s something. Just Moneyshop, 247, and Quickquid to go
Cheryl says
Hi does anybody k ow if poundstilpayday still exists and if so if I can make an affordibility complaint
Sara (Debt Camel) says
when did you borrow from them?
Cheryl says
Hi does anybody k ow if poundstilpayday still exists and if so if I can make an affordibility complaint
2008 onwards
Sara (Debt Camel) says
At that point the lender was Malta-based. You can’t take complaints about them to the Financial Ombudsman and so far as I know it is too late to make a claim to the Maltese equivalent.
Jodie says
Good afternoon. Thank you for the website, I used the advice and templates available here and have just received my first response. Cash4uNow have agreed today to remove interest and charges from both the loans I had with them as upholding my complaint. They have sent me the redress figures for a refund but I am unsure if the 8% interest calculation looks correct. I wondered if someone might be kind enough to check it out for me please?
Loan 1: £400 funded 07/06/16 interest and charges £316.82 date settled 04/11/16 – 8%= £116.17 (20%tax £23.23)
Loan 2: £200 funded 15/11/2016 interest and charges £19.60 date settled 30/11/16 – 8%= £7.08 (20% tax £1.42)
Total refund of interest and charges £336.42
8% total £123.25
Settlement total to be refunded £435.02
Sara (Debt Camel) says
good result. The 8% looks about right at a very quick squint.
Matt says
Hi anybody deal with Cash Converters, I don’t know how much I took out from cash converters, but I have paid back cash converters £11500. Over three..
How much will I get if I apply for compensation from them?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No one can guess how much of what you have paid is interest… but you don’t need to know this,, just send a complaint to them.
Al says
Heard back from lending stream. They confirmed the reply was just the data access request. They will deal with the unaffordable complaint within 56 days.
So, it’s a wait and see now
Al says
Had my complaint reply from LS
They say they uphold my complaint. However, tgo on to say their checks meant all my loans were affordable. Yet because the number of loans they agree more checks were needed and will refund interest of the last loan. Offering £30. however they say I still owe them £250 take the £30!off and I owe them the balance. They state this does not include any debt sold on. They threaten the outstanding money will damage my credit report.
I’ve had all my complaints upheld with every company so far. Including likelyloans.
I have looked back at my bank statement 2016/2017 when I took out the lending stream loans. I really really dont know how I managed to get through that time. I was borrowing from all over the place including family and friends just to pay off the loans. My rent, water rates and utilities all defaulted which I still have ccj for. I feel so anxious looking at it and really dont know how I managed to still be here.
Anyway I’ve replied to lending stream to say if this is their final offer I am going to the ombudsman.
I have got all the info ready to make the complaint. At the very least, if they don’t side with me, at least lending stream will have to pay them.
Im getting things sorted now and have learned a hard lesson.
Good luck to anyone out there struggling. My advice to myself back then would be to seek help. So if you are struggling get help.
Thanks Sarah for this site.
Jack says
Can anyone advise on a timescale for Ferratum to respond to an affordability complaint? I had the generic we have your complaint reply and know it can take 8 weeks. Just wondered if anyone had real world experience of how long their actual reply takes.
Del says
I dealt with ferrantum last year. They took just under the 8 week period and gave me a good offer. I possibly could have got a little more had I have gone through the fos route, but all I all they were quite straightforward to deal with and I was happy.
Paul H says
took them just under 4 weeks for me. A few other people I know was similar and around the 4 week mark. Unlike others Ferratum was happy to compromise on their first offer. A few others told me that prior so when they came back to me and said they was only classing from loan 13 of 32 loans unaffordable, I went back to them from loan 5 and we reached an agreement from loan 9 which was an extra £600 more than their original offer. Money was refunded to my bank account the same day also. Good Luck.
Kate says
I found them both quick and reasonable: they didn’t uphold all the loans, but because they got back in touch, and made a good offer, and I was, after all, the one who took the loans, and was glad of them at the time, I felt this was good enough and did not go to FOS. I think they accepted everything after the first 7 loans I took with them – I didn’t negotiate, and I was paid the same day I accepted their offer.
Xubo says
Hi, I put a complaint in with lending stream a few years back but they said they did everything correct, but after finding this site I went back and looked at the loans I had with them and it was astonishing, I sometimes had 3 loans with them at the same time plus my other pay day loans, so I’ve put a complaint in again and see what they say, I’ve said I’ll take it further if need be
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well good luck, but they will probably reject this complaint as you should Have gone to the Ombudsman when you first Complained.
Xubo says
Ah ok, I never really realised I could do that, shame that nothing can be done
Scott says
Hi Xubo,
Did you borrow again from them after you complained to them?
Scott
Pete says
Hi Sara,
I made a claim a couple of years back with Lending Stream through a claims company who made a mess of it and took over 6 months from start to finish thereby negating the claim. I then tried to claim directly myself but was told because of the previous attempt and the delays, Lending Stream would not revisit my claim.
Should I pursue this further. I’ve tried again today submitting your template via their portal but I fear I may be fobbed off as I was initially. Do I still retain any rights?
Many thanks,
Pete
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Possibly against the claims company…
Dylan says
Hi sara, i took out 22 loans from july2015 – august 2016 pretty much every month i calculate my interest iv paid is £1,058.68 with lending stream iv gave them an email last wk what do u think my chances are and if they except all my loans will i get that back and extra thank you sara
Sara (Debt Camel) says
that sounds like a strong complaint. You won’t normally get the first few refunded – if they make you an offer and you aren’t sure it is a good one, come back here and ask?
Dylan Ritchie says
Thank you sara ill get back to u with the offer i get, iv noticed sum people have heard back with an offer from lending stream and they put there claim in after me how does that work?
Pail says
Hi all. Seeing the lending stream posts makes me kick myself a lot. I complained back in 2019, they kept ignoring my emails and eventually I just sent it to the ombudsman saying they were being unresponsive. Ls did reply at this point with a final letter(obviously a rejection) saying I had so long to report to the FOS(which I thought I already had). The FOS replied to my first complaint but I moved in the meantime. I left it ages thinking my complaint was rocking away in the background and thinking the FOS was extremely busy. I chased it up one day but because I never responded to the final letter or the FOS request for more information. After explaining this they looked into it, upheld the claim( and I’m talking a life changing amount of money) but said in the interests of not clogging up the system, they won’t pursue it any further. I gave up but was gutted. Seeing their recent generosity promoted me to have one more poke at the bear. I opened a new complaint, they again rejected, attaching the initial ‘no’ letter, emailed back saying that FOS found them to be wrong and they were using a technicality to wriggle out of it. They have now given me some time to provide more info. Any ideas what to do next?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
they looked into it, upheld the claim( and I’m talking a life changing amount of money) but said in the interests of not clogging up the system, they won’t pursue it any further.
FOS said this?
do you have the email saying this?
They have now given me some time to provide more info.
LS said this? what more info are they asking for?
Paul says
Yes I have the email but they discharged complaint due to time elapsed and to keep the process streamlined(or words to that effect)
A says
Morning Sara, this may not be the best place to ask this. I have made several complaints to the financial ombudsman. I complained about Safety Net Credit, Very and Likely Loans each of these cases took over 12 months – 14 months on average for the financial ombudsman to attach a case handler.
I’m now in the situation whereby I escalated my case regarding Lending Stream to them in April 2020 and the financial ombudsman just do not reply at all to my emails – is there anything you think I could do to move them along? In all I have been waiting years and years for a response and I don’t really think my cases are that complicated – especially as they have reached the same conclusion for 3 other cases in my favour :(. I understand they say the majority of cases are resolved within 90 days, but all of my cases have so far been over 12 months.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is the right place :)
I suggest you phone FOS up and ask why this is taking so long and say you want to make a complaint.
Kevin says
Hi Sara I made a complaint against lending stream many years ago which was denied. I’ve since put in a new complaint following your template. Do you think there’s any point ? Thanks for your help
Sara (Debt Camel) says
probably not. Unless in their rejection they failed to tell you you had the right to take a complaint to the Ombudsman?
Ranger says
Do it – I made a complaint recently and the responded saying we have already gave you a final response after I reminded them of all the problems the loans caused me and told them I was following up all old loans ref legal advice they responded!
Dear #########
We write in reference to your previous correspondence.
We will reassess the complaint and let you know in case the final response can be revised.
We appreciate your understanding in this matter.
If you need to contact us, the best way is by replying to this email directly. You can also send us a message from our ‘contact us’ page in our website.
Regards,
Lending Stream Complaints Department
So digitally worth doing! 😇
GG says
Sara do you know what is happening with piggy bank and what the potential payout will be?
Rachael R says
Hi I’ve sent an affordability claim to loans 2 go just wondering how quick they get back to you, and what success people have had. I took out a loan with them for £250 in jan 19, got into arrears almost straight away, and then they allowed me to top it up and gave me £450 in sept 19. I was constantly in arrears with them but did manage to pay it off. I think I paid something like 2k back on the above loans, desperate at the time but feeling quite stupid thinking about it. What do you think my chances are? I haven’t had much luck with other claims with other companies so far.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think that sounds a strong claim as they should not have allowed you to top up if you were in arrears.
Your other claims – have you sent these to the ombudsman? Who were the lenders?
Rachael R says
Hi Sara
My other claims that were rejected were a few years ago, and I didn’t send them to the ombudsman but after reading all the comments on here I was wishing I had. At the moment I’ve got complaints with fernovo, loans2 go, cash ASAP, lending stream, dot dot Oakam, and my finance club, I heard yesterday from lending stream they are only upholding 2 out of 7 loans but using the redress to pay my balance but it still leaves a small balance so I messaged them asking for them to clear the small balance left as a good will gesture, do u think that’s reasonable? If they don’t then I’m going to send it to the ombudsman as I had 7 loans all in a short space of time. I’m also still waiting for money shop as heard nothing since the Emil stating the portal was closing.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is a shame you did take those complaints to FOS – it isn’t a question of “not having luck” many lenders routinely reject good claims so it’s best to see FOS as the sensible next step.
I don’t know if LS will accept your suggestion – it sounds sensible to me.
Jon says
Hi Rachael,
I have a claim at the moment with lending stream.
Do you mind if I ask when you raised the complaint with Lending stream? Just trying to gauge how long they take before making an offer or final response. thanks in advance.
Jon T says
Hi Rachael,
I have raised a complaint with lending stream also.
Do you mind me asking when you raised the initial complaint with Lending Stream? Just trying to gauge how long the process took from you raising the complaint to them emailing you yesterday with their decision.
Thanks in advance.
Jamie says
I’ve submitted a claim against Mr Lender today and have had a follow up asking a couple of questions and not sure what my reply should be?
Thank you for your email.
To determine whether your complaint falls within the time limits that are outlined within DISP please can you confirm the following:
The date you became aware you had cause for complaint about your loans.
How you became aware you had cause for complaint about your loans.
If you are unable to provide this information, then we will be unable to accept receipt of your complaint.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Actually they have to reply to your complaint even if you don’t reply … perhaps they have lost their copy of the FCA DISP rules which says how they have to handle complaints?
But you may as well reply. It is simpler than arguing about process.
You should reply saying when you found out that lenders were supposed to check that a loan was affordable for you and how you found out. It doesn’t matter what the answer is – you may have heard that a friend got a refund or seen an article on a news site about this or have started doing some research this year in preparation for a mortgage application and found websites talking about payday loan affordability complaint. Whatever…
The rules are you can complain 6 years after a problem or, if the problem was over 6 years ago, you can complain within 3 years of finding out you had a cause for complaint.
James says
I had the same issue with them, but having answered their questioned they tried to make out they had 8 weeks from when they acknowledged the complaint to which I replied they had 8 weeks from when I submitted the claim, not when they acknowledged it. of the three I have complained too, they were the most unhelpful.
Niall says
Hi Sara,
I put ina complaint to lending stream last year and the rejected it in match 2020. There’s were for 14 loans between March 2010 and September 2012.
The final decisions they gave says I had 6 months to take it to the FOS unless in exceptional circumstances. I didn’t take any action because because the whole issue really slipped my mind at the time due to the pandemic and I only remember making the complaint when I was contacted about the money shop redress scheme. Is there any chance of challenging their decisions at this stage?
Thanks
Niall
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, sorry.
Well if you or a close family member had been very ill with Covid-19 you could argue that, but not because you just forgot about it.
Shaun says
Hello all,
I sent Mr Lender a complaint using the template letter from this site via email on 12th April this year. They replied asking security questions and then acknowledged receipt saying “We can confirm that we have received your email and are currently collating the information you requested”.
Fast forward 8 weeks and I have heard nothing. I asked Mr Lender for an update on my complaint and they now tell me they can’t find it. They asked me to resend which I did via email 3 times yet they tell me they still can’t see it and to make another complaint.
I am furious now and wondering if I would should report them to the information commissioner for losing my information or just go straight to the Ombudsman (or both)? Has anyone had a similar experience? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you go straight to the Ombudsman.
Shaun says
Hi Sara,
Thank you for your response. I really appreciate it. I will do just that.
Regards,
Shaun
Thomas says
From money shop funds lent irresponsibly £4758.14 8% compensation interest payable by us
£2488.08 20% deduction from 8%
Compensation interest £497.62
Potential redress £6748.60
Can you tell how much I will get
Thanks Thomas
Sara (Debt Camel) says
About £290
Geoff says
I took out two consecutive loans with Cash Converters in oct 2011 and dec2011. As part of the underwriting process i send them full bank statements. These statement clearly showed over-commitment and financial problems. I have complained and they have responded very quickly and in their final response have said they should never have issued the loans and offered a ‘goodwill’ payment of the interest amounts (£1100). I have no evidence (bank statements) of payments made on the loans. Should I accept this or pass to the FOS to try and get the 8% interest?
Thanks for taking the time to take a look.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You could go back and say you if you went to FOS you would get 8% pa statutory interest included as well, but you would be happy to compromise on an offer of £1500 (or whatever? but you are offering a compromise, so less than the full amount.)
Geoff says
Many thanks Sara, helpful advice as always. I will give it a go and see what they say :)
Emily says
Does anyone have any info about the “queuing “ system with Lending Stream? I am seeing lots of final decisions going out for complaints sent in after mine.
Jon T says
Hi Emily,
Same as me haha, was hoping to hear back by now based on comments i have seen. Now seeing comments from people getting final decisions who’s claim was sent in later than mine. (fair play to those people and best of luck everyone else).
Would be interesting to know how lending stream prioritise/manage the complaints.
Emily says
It’s so frustrating …. and yes I am pleased for others just want a decision, mine is only a small number of loans. Not sure if that makes a difference. Just want it over with. Hope you hear soon!
James says
I’m in the same boat, put claim in on the 26th May, and seems others have already heard back, guess I need to be more patient, waiting on Lending Stream, Safety Net and Mr Lender .Although Mr Lender were the worst to deal with.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is pretty normal to have to wait 8 weeks for a reply.
Jon says
I will update on this thread when I receive any communication from Lending stream. Date of complaint lodged was 26th May.
Eunice says
I had I think 1 other Mr Lender loan paid it off by borrowing elseyand this one since 2015. Swift loan got August 2014. MMF say they will accept £394 offer as full & final settlement.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Are both loans now with Lantern?
You could ask Lantern to produce the CCA agreement for the Swift debt – they may not be able to and if they can’t the loan is unenforceable in court and you can simply not pay.
You can send Mr Lender an affordability complaint using the template above
Cazza says
Just heard back from my Onstride Appeal and they have agreed that the loans were unaffordable. I’ve just got to wait now to see what the next step is as I have an outstanding balance with them. Has anyone else had any experience?
Deborah Hulme says
Hi
I’ve tried and tried to get in touch with uncle buck regarding unaffordable loans with no luck so I emailed Harrison’s who are now the administrators? To be told my complaint won’t be upheld. Since then I’ve now recieved a letter from a debt collector for this debt?
How can they sell a debt if they’re in administration?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s fairly common f0r administrators to sell debts.
Chris says
Hi all, has anyone much luck with Saftey Net Credit and if so how long do they take?
Thanks in advance
Emilie says
Hi Chris. I raised a complaint with safety net credit in April, they contacted me within 4 weeks and said they needed longer but will reply before the 8 weeks were up. They issued their final response 2 days before the 8 weeks and they upheld my complaint. Was very surprised that they deemed all loans with them unaffordable. I think I had around 15 or so loans with them. They offered me £200 more than I expected so again I was very surprised. I had to email them my bank details and my refund was in my bank account 2 days after I received my response!
Ronald says
Hi Chris
Yeah I did. They took two weeks to acknowledge my complaint and then another two weeks before they gave me their assessment. They agreed with my complaint and I thought I would get something between£200 and £250, however to my surprise they offered me £497, which I accepted as I felt it was a pretty decent offer.
I placed my complaint before the pandemic hit, so I think I was quite lucky in their response and decisions times.
Dave R says
Took 5 weeks. Upheld my complaint. Refund in bank account was with me after 7 working days. They were easy to easy with. Refreshingly pleasant experience and didn’t low ball me or try and rip me off with what they offered. Good luck!
CHRIS says
Oh that’s great to hear that they seem to be fair. Because of this site I sent them a compliant to them about 3 weeks ago and they sent me a transaction history showing interest of nearly £3k that I paid. I’ve not heard anything since so i guess it might take another few weeks.
Thanks all for your responses. Fingers crossed for all of us waiting.
James says
Hi Chris,
Do you mind me asking how long you were have been using them, as I am waiting to hear how much interest I have paid, shockingly I have been using them for 5 1/2 years.
Kate says
James, you can see all your statements in the dashboard of your account – and download them from there. I was able to do this even though it was about 18 months since I had defaulted with them. I was using them for nearly 5 years myself: I felt physically sick when I totalled up how much I had paid in interest in that time :-(
siobhan says
Hi Sara,
I have lodged an unaffordability complaint with Drafty, using the email complaints@drafty.co.uk which I got from this site. I haven’t even had an my email acknowledged. When I took out these loans, they were part of Lending Stream, should I be complaining to them instead? If I don’t get a response from Drafty what would you advise my next steps to be/
Thanks in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how long ago was this complaint sent?
Drafty and Lending Stream are brand names of Gain Credit
Siobhan says
Hi Sara, I sent Drafty the complaint email on Monday 7th June
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh that’s very recent – I would ask then after a month confirm that they have your complaint. They have 8 weeks to respond.
Siobhan says
Will do, thanks Sara
Nikki says
Hi
Can I make a claim against any of the below?
Cheque centre, wage day advance, think finance t/a 1 month loan or instant cash loans??
What if the have been bought by a debt collection agency?
Thanks
Nikki
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No luck with any of those.
Cheque Centre and Wageday Advance have been dissolved.
ICL currently has a Scheme running but it is not too late to submit a claim.
Think Finance / 1 month was a brand name of Elevate credit, currently in administration and too late to submit a claim.
Chris says
Anyone got any more info on when 247Moneybox will be in touch? Last I heard it will be before the end of this month, is that still on?
John says
Hello Sara, thank you for help during these times, I find your website invaluable. I went through a bad patch a while back, single bloke, gambling, drinking too much and being a plain idiot. I got stuck in the payday spiral for a bit with far too many loans and found it tough to get out. I am think about putting a claim in, not for affordable as on paper I could afford them but for irresponsible lending. They didn’t really check me properly or ask for any info just kept approving my loans. Do you think based on my loan history I would win ?
23/07/2013 27/09/2013 £400
12/10/2013 24/12/2013 £300
30/12/2013 28/03/2014 £600
29/03/2014 28/07/2014 £600
28/07/2014 27/10/2014 £600
29/10/2014 27/01/2015 £700
29/01/2015 28/04/2015 £700
01/05/2015 28/07/2015 £900
30/07/2015 27/11/2015 £1,000
27/11/2015 26/02/2016 £1,000
09/03/2016 27/05/2016 £500
07/06/2016 26/08/2016 £600
06/10/2016 21/12/2016 £700
22/01/2017 28/04/2017 £200
15/07/2017 20/12/2017 £1,000
18/02/2018 25/05/2018 £250
16/11/2018 28/05/2019 £600
15/06/2019 27/03/2020 £600
Sara (Debt Camel) says
who is the lender? Has the last loan been repaid?
John says
All the loans were re-paid on time with nothing outstanding. just looking at the start and end dates I pretty much had 4 years of continuous loans. At no point did they check any bank statements or question why I was borrowing so much. I was surprised when I say the information they had provided on my account
Sara (Debt Camel) says
and the lender was?
John says
They were with Mr Lender.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so they are still in business – that is definitely worth an affordability complaint.
Paul says
Hi Sara,
sent Mr lender a complaint via email; i received in the mail a letter that if i wanted to pursue the complaint to complete a form with series of questions.
A couple of questions if you may kindly guide me how to answer them.
1) Please could you confirm as to why you believe these loans to be unaffordable
2) What would you deem to be a suitable outcome to your complaint?
3)Can i elaborate on the difficulties that were caused as a result of these loans
Once i send this information back they will conduct a full and thorough investigation.
First not sure why the send this via post rather than email as they would have gotten a quicker response. It feels like they are stalling
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They are being difficult. They have to answer your complaint even if you don’t reply.
Do you have a list of your loans?
They send by post as they are being difficult. Did they enclose a Stamped Addressed envelope?
Paul says
hi Sara
thanks for answering; no self stamp addressed envelope. they included a list of the loans
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So As I have just said to Daniel below this, the FCA says you have to be able to make a complaint for free. They cant use a phone line you get charged for calling – and so they should be requiring you to write to them and use a stamp!
I suggest you reply to them by emails, saying you are answering their letter dated dd/mm/yyyy and you don’t see whay you should have to pay for a atamp as they never sent you a pre-paid envelope.
The best answers to the questions are what happened to you. So for one person it could be (don’t just send this, it has to be right for you)
1) I remember the difficulty I had repaying the loans
2) I would like a refund of the interest paid on the loans plus 8% statutory interest
3) My debts were going up at this time as you would have seen if you had looked at my credit record.
But you can be more sepcific if you want. How many loans did you have? Did they tend to go up in size?
Daniel says
Hi Sara had the same reply off them via a posted letter but no pre- paid envelope so they are obviously being awkward but it’s fine il pay for a stamp
Sara (Debt Camel) says
noooo -the FCA rules say DISP 1.3.1A R These procedures must ensure that a complaint may be made free of charge.)
I suggest you send another email to the address you sent to before (what was it?) and say you are replying to the letter you have been sent as Mr Lender did not enclose a stamped addressed envelope and the FCA’s DISP rules say a customer has to be able to complain free of charge.
Also say you would prefer correspondence by email as your post is not reliable.
Have you been sent a list of your loans? If not, reply that you will be able to answer their questions when you are given the list of loans that you have asked for, but you note that Mr Lender is obliged under the DISP rules to respond to you complaint even if you do not give any further information.
Louise says
Hi all,how long do lending stream take to pay into bank once sent new bank details after agreeing settlement figure..🙂
Jon says
Hi Louise,
May I ask the time frame of you raising the initial complaint with lending stream to the date you got first settlement email please? I have raised a complaint with LS just trying to gauge when they will make contact.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They don’t seem to have a consistent timetable. It isn’t clear why – whether slower cases are more complicated, more likely to be rejected, involve debts that have been sold to a debt collector or if it is just random.
Louise says
Hi they took a couple of days after my initial complaint to send my loan information then about two weeks after to issue my final response,all very quick.
Jon says
Thank you Louise
Kelly says
Mine was in within seconds!
Mike_p says
Mine too 26 days – the 90 second transfer you get when taking out a loan doesn’t seem to work when there isn’r profit in it for them!
Kelly says
Hi Sara,
I emailed My Jar on 17/3 with an affordability complaint, they emailed me back on 18/3 and said they have forwarded to relevant dept. I received another email back and was told to contact Harrison’s. I emailed Harrison’s on 22/3 and 09/04, however I received nothing back from them. I emailed My Jar again on 13/05 for an update on my claim as I needed some sort of confirmation as to where I stand. They emailed me back on 14/05 to tell me there is no update and that the administrators are currently reviewing the claims made in the loan portfolio in accordance with recognised industry guidance to establish the potential sums due to claimants. We will be in contact when this process has been completed and when there is an update to give.
How long shall I give this? Shall I be patient and give it a few months? Is there a chance that I can get all the amount borrowed back or does it mean it will only be a partial amount when the administrators are involved?
Thanks,
Kelly
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The administrators said in February that any payout “was likely to be minimal”.
Martin says
Hi Sara
I similarly put in a complaint to Harrison’s for rolled-over MyJar loans through 2012 &2013
Notwithstanding continuous late payments and the accompanying higher interest and reminder fees incurred the credit limit on the account was increased from £100 to £400 encouraging further unaffordable borrowing which only exacerbated my financial difficulties.
Harrison’s have replied with
‘ Good afternoon Martin,
In view of the GDPR, unfortunately based on the years you’ve had your loan, this account has been deleted in line with MYJAR’s data retention policy. Therefore, the data of this loan is no longer on the customer base’
A short and succinct reply! I have found all the emails confirming transfer of funds and receipt of payment from MyJar with loan details. In your view is it worth sending these on to Harrison’s and chasing the complaint further or in light of the above and in your experience would I just be whistling in the wind?
Many thanks
Martin
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is worth sending these on – ask for your claim to be looked at again with this additional evidence.
Donna says
Would anyone be so kind as to advise how I go about checking if I am eligible for any refund?
I had LS loans back to 2012 – 2013 (possibly into 2014)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can complain about loans going back to April 2007.
If you remember that repaying them was hard, then just send them a complaint. Use the template in the article above – that asks for a list of all your loans. LS will send that first before responding to your complaint.
It sounds like quite a few loans? If you get a rejection or a poor offer, come back and ask here about sending this to the Ombudsman.
Brig says
Hi Sara,
Today I had an email from the debt collector who I am paying monthly payments to and it said that my account has been recalled back to gain credit. I’ve heard nothing from Lending Stream to say why this has happened. I called them today to ask why and no one could tell me. I just assume it’s because they’re going through my complaint?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I hope so!
Brig says
Hi Sara,
Just checked my lending stream account and the 4 loans they’d sold to TM legal services and recalled have been added on (with interest!!) to my total now owed to them. I owed £379 to TM legal services and was paying that off monthly.
Now gain have recalled it and I owe them £579 when I’ve logged into my account.
Patrick T says
Hi there
I made a complaint to Myjar back in October 2018 which at the time they rejected, and I didn’t take it to the ombudsman even though I believe I had grounds to complain given that I took 4 loans month after month.
Is it worth me resubmitting this complaint to the administrators?
Thanks in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t know, but why not try?
Patrick T says
Thanks Sara!
Is it worth trying with Uncle Buck also? The same situation although there is a balance oweing on that.
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, see https://harrisons.uk.com/unclebuck-update/. Again I do not know whether they will take a claim in this situation. It is great pity you did not send your complaints to the Ombudsman when you got rejections!
GAO says
In the exact same position as you, had reached out to Myjar in Nov 18 and was rejeted, I didn’t understand how to go to the FOS so I just left it that. After finding this site I complained again this month, however they said that they already provided a response so won’t look into any further :( I’m now waiting replies from cashfloat, likely loans and drafty – who I haven’t complained to before now.
Brooke Twydell says
I have been following your page with regards to themoneyshop redress and I am still waiting confirmation of when I will receive my payout.
It led me to this page, as i was unaware that Lending Stream can be reported for selling loans to people, without doing a proper affordability check.
I have been using Lending Stream for the past 3 years, and almost always have have had to get a loan from them every month in that period.
Sometimes I had 6 loans with them on the go at one time, and as soon as one was paid off, I would get as much money from them as they would allow me.
I now only have 2 loans with them, and the final 2 payments are in June and July, then I will finally be rid of them.
I have you used your template for an affordability complaint, and sent it to them. I guess I just wait up to 8 weeks for a response now.
Many thanks for your continued advice, this website is amazing…
Mike_p says
I was in the same position with Lending stream with 6 loans at a time sometimes, I don’t see how they could ever argue that that was affordable. They made things as difficult and slow for me as they possibly could, and I had to take the complaint to the FOS in the end, but I eventually got a £2200 refund from them. The adjudicator said that the pattern of lending alone was enough to show they shouldn’t have lent me more.
Brooke Twydell says
I’m glad to hear that you got a good outcome in the end. I never realised that I was entitled to put in a claim until I heard about it here. Any money back from them would be great.
I’ve had 21 loans from them over the space of 3 years, so will hopefully get a decent return from them, as it’s obvious that I was in financial difficulties.
Brooke Twydell says
My Lending Stream Loans:
9/8/18 – £100
30/8/18 – £200
10/11/18 – £200
4/12/18 – £100
8/1/19 – £100
11/1/19 – £100
4/2/19 – £210
7/3/19 – £190
7/6/19 – £450
29/7/19 – £340
27/8/19 – £50
9/9/19 – £100
29/9/19 – £120
28/11/19 – £310
28/12/19 – £70
29/1/20 – £240
12/3/20 – £130
11/6/20 £200
12/7/20 – £200
4/8/20 – £340
10/10/20 – £230
11/12/20 – £320
28/1/21 – £380
I never missed a payment on any loan, and my payments were always taken on the 25th of the month, which is my payday.
As you can see, I would take out another loan pretty soon after my payday and I was always at my maximum overdraft in my bank account.
I hope I have strong case for my complaint?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It looks a good case to me because of the sheer number of loans!
If they make you an offer and you aren’t sure it is good, come back here and ask?
Brooke Twydell says
Wow, 2 weeks after my complaint to Lending Stream, and I have just received an email with a settlement offer of just over £3500. I’m actually stunned tbh, as this is life changing money to me.
Thanks to Sara and this amazing website, without out, I would never have known that I was entitled to this kind of money, and would have carried on struggling through life.
Keep persisting guys, there is light at the end of the tunnel 👍
Lee says
Hi just working through my bank statements. Does anyone know who Evfin Lending AC F payday provider is?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
possibly Moneyboat? (I am guessing here.)
Kate says
Hi, Sara,
Thanks for all your help so far.
I have raised an affordability complaint with Mr Lender. They made me tell them the details – dates and amounts – of my first and final loans before they’d accept the complaint; now they have acknowledged it, but have said they need the date I became aware that I had cause for complaint, and also the circumstances in which I became aware I had cause for complaint – without these, they can’t begin their investigation. They have also said if it’s not in the time limit imposed by DISP (?) for each loan, they won’t investigate.
I found out about this last year, but didn’t pursue it with Mr Lender until now (about 15 months later) as it took a huge amount of time to put together all the information I needed for my first complaint, to Lending Stream, as I have had hundreds of loans across a number of years, with about seventeen different lenders, and once I had done that (that was the biggest) I moved to the next largest and so on. Am I OK to say this? Or does the fact mean that I didn’t complain as soon as I was aware go against me? (I first borrowed from them in 2014)
Thanks for any guidance you might be able to give me – obviously, I won’t lie, but if they won’t consider my complaint as I didn’t complain last year, I don’t want to put myself through this, as I do find it really distressing (another reason why I am going one at a time with them – Mr Lender is the last)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They made me tell them the details – dates and amounts – of my first and final loans before they’d accept the complaint
they are just being difficult. They had to respond to your complaint even if you didn’t know those details.
Just say you found out about this last year when a friend told you they had made a claim? you saw it referred to in a newspaper? just say what actually happened. Say that before that you knew the loans had caused you trouble but you had no idea the lender should have checked to make sure they were affordable for you so you didn’t know you had cause to complain.
Provided you have complained within 3 years of finfing out you could, that is fine.
Kate says
Thank you so much, Sarah – I found out last year when I got an email from a company’s administrators (WDA) and Google led me to you, so I will just say that: I was a bit worried they were going to refuse on the grounds I didn’t complain right then, so thanks for reassuring me on this (I was getting a bit worried, as the details I mentioned were not the first hoop they’d made me jump through in terms of accepting the complaint) I’ll report back: in the meantime, thank you so very much.
Kate says
Just an update: they’ve responded today, essentially saying everything was OK, but if they had requested bank statements then they might not have granted two loans in the middle. They’ve offered redress of £154.
I know it’s not likely that all loans will be upheld (sadly, my first two were particularly hefty in the interest stakes) *but* I paid over £6500 in interest altogether, had multiple other short term loans every time, plus defaults on my credit records – including 7 in the six months before I took my final loan with them.
I will be taking my chances with FOS, I think: £1500 I would have accepted, but £150 is really not, as there’s no sense or logic to their comments.
caroline says
I can’t see any comments about cashasap on here. I put an affordability claim in 7 weeks ago they acknowledged my complaint but not heard anything back yet has anyone had any results with cashasap?
Mike_p says
I had a response from them offering to write off my outstanding balance which I was happy with. They replied the day before the 8 weeks was up, which happened to be at lunchtime on boxing day, so I assume it was written in advance and put on delayed delivery.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Possibly, or the complaints handling may be being done in a country which does not have Boxing Day as a holiday.
Lee says
Just to let you know I raised an Affordability Complaint using the template on this site and submitted it to Lending Stream through their website on 5th June. They responded today and have upheld the complaint on 13 of the 16 loans I had and offered redress of £3404 inc. 8% interest, which I have accepted. I wouldn’t have thought to contact them without this site and all of Sara’s helpful info. I would like to make a donation as a thank you, Sara – how do I do this?
Good luck to everyone else still trying to get some justice.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A small donation to your local Citizens Advice would be lovely.
Lee says
It’s a pleasure – a drop in the ocean for all the great work you do
r says
Does anyone who has had compensation from LS know how likely they are to budge on their initial offer?, Will they negotiate?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how many loans did you have and what was the offer?
r says
Overall I had 12 loans- 11 of which were taken out between 19/01/19 and 13/5/19 (majority were top ups)
They have offered compensation for loan 1 and 6-11.
Their response:
We have worked out a net refund on these loans of £584.14 (£521.03 for Interest paid, £0.0 for Fees paid, £78.83 for 8% annual interest calculated for
upheld loans, minus £15.72 for 20% mandatory tax withholding in line with HMRC regulations.)
My most recent loan I have an outstanding balance, I took out £680 and they have offered to reduce this to £273.51.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have they sent you a list of the loans and the interest you have paid on each of them?
The last loan you have defaulted on? How much have you paid to this loan? Have they agreed to remove the default and missed/late payment markers?
r says
Total amount borrowed was £2040 throughout all loans, total interest charged was £879.69. They have agreed to remove all negative affects for loans 1 and 5-11. I have been late with payments on loan 12 though.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
was there a large gap between paying off loan 11 and taking loan 12?
How large were loans 7.8.9.10.11/
r says
Gap between loan 11 & 12 was 9 months.
Loan 7- £80
8- £150
9- £140
10- £120
11- £60
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you can go back to them and say that they should have looked closely at the last loan, even though there was a large gap, as it was so much larger than all the previous ones.
Say you will be happy if the last loan is also included in the refund?
Or if the balance will be written off?
They never used to negotiate, but they have changed a lot recently – they make a bit better offers and pay much faster – so this may be worth a try.
Jo says
Does anyone know when myjar will be open to claims?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can send them an email saying you want to make an affordability complaint. info@myjar.com