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How to get a payday loan refund

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?
  • How much compensation can you get?
  • Which lenders can you get refunds from?
  • Do this before, before you send in a complaint
  • Start your complaint & get loan details
    • Some ways to improve this
    • Only one loan?
  • Waiting for a reply from the lender
    • Send your bank statements or other information?
  • Lender says No or makes a poor offer
    • Give up?
    • A good enough case to go to the Ombudsman?
    • How to send a complaint to FOS
    • What happens after you have sent a case to FOS
  • A few problem cases
  • More help

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.Payday Loan Refunds in 2019 from all UK payday lenders

How much compensation can you get?

You don’t have to calculate this. Just ask for a refund from the lender and see what you are offered. This is simple and it works well.

The Financial Ombudsman has seen tens of thousands of payday loan affordability complaints.

A typical decision by the Ombudsman is that the payday lender should refund all the interest you paid interest after the third, fourth or fifth loan.

But if your first loan was large, or was rolled over several times you could get a refund from just one loan.

Which lenders can you get refunds from?

You can complain to lenders that are still in business, even if they are no longer lending. These include:

Lending Stream, Cash Converters, CashASAP, Drafty, Dot Dot, Fast Loan Uk, Fernovo, Fund Ourselves, Kabayan, LoanPig, Mr Lender, Moneyboat, MyKredit, My Finance Club, QuidMarket, Savvy, The Money Platform, WageMe, Wizzcash,

See this email list for payday lenders for a longer list and all the contact details to use.

If the lender has gone into administration, including CashForUNow, Piggybank, Ferratum, Oakam:

  • make a claim to the administrators  – there is normally a simple form for you to complete, see the lender’s website for details – but there will be a time limit for doing this.
  • you may not get much cash back but this is very easy to do. A balance may be reduced or cleared even if there is no cash to distribute. And if you win the complaint any negative marks on your credit record will be removed.

It is probably too late to make claims to other lenders who gave up years ago, see this list.

For longer-term loans there are better template letters to use on other pages:

  • doorstep lenders and guarantor lenders,
  • Loans2Go – the worst loans in Britain!
  • 118 Money, Everyday lonas, Likely Loans/Finio, Reevo, Bamboo, car finance, bank loans and other long-term loans.

Do this before, before you send in a complaint

Doing these things now will make your life easier later.

Get a copy of your TransUnion statutory credit report and keep it. After complaints are started, sometimes loans are deleted and you may want the full report if you later have to go to the Ombudsman.

If you still owe money to the lender, read Will an affordability claim hurt my credit record, and other questions. These looks at your options for stopping paying, the effect on your credit record etc.

If the rest of your finances are difficult, look into a Debt Management Plan (DMP) where you make one affordable payment a month to StepChange. This gets you into a safe financial position as these affordability complaints can take a long time to go through at the Ombudsman. Winning a complaint then speeds up the DMP.

Unless you can afford to make this month’s payment without borrowing again, cancel the CPA to the lender at your bank. Otherwise the lender may take the money and you will be in a mess.

If your loan was sold to a debt collector you complain to the original lender. But also tell the debt collector that you are disputing the debt. It is a good idea to carry on making payments to the debt collector if they are affordable.

Start your complaint & get loan details

Find the lender’s email address for complaints from this list.

Put “AFFORDABILITY COMPLAINT” as the subject of your email:

I am making an affordability complaint to you about irresponsible lending.

You should never have given me these unaffordable loans. Paying you each month left me with too little money so I had to keep borrowing to get through the next month.

You should have realised from the number of times I borrowed that my debt problems were getting worse. It was not responsible to continue to lend to me. [Add more details eg how often you borrowed or rolled loans if you know them, how the amount borrowed generally went up etc]

[Include/change this if your credit record would have shown big problems:] My credit reports would have shown all my other debts and problems including late payments/defaults /CCJs/debt management.]

I am asking you to refund the interest and any charges I paid, plus statutory interest, and to delete any negative information from my credit record.

[delete this sentence if you know what all your loans were.] I know the difficulties your loans have caused me but I no longer have all the loan details. Please send me a list, showing for each loan when it was taken out, how much interest and charges you added, and what I repaid. This will enable me to assess any refund you offer me.

[delete this sentence if none of your loans were sold.]If a loan was later sold to a debt collector, please inform me of the date of sale and the name of the debt collector. 

Some ways to improve this

Add any other points that help you describe what happened to you. You don’t need to list the loans – the lenders knows them.

Some examples:

  • “I took out another loan with xxxx to pay you.”
  • “Sometimes I borrowed to pay the rent and then had to top-up to get money for food.”
  • if you weren’t treated fairly while you were borrowing or when you could not make a payment, add a bit about this.

You can attach bank statements if you like, This is a good idea as these show how unaffordable the loans were for you. If you have gambling showing, this helps your complaint, it doesn’t harm it.

I don’t know if many lenders actually read what you send them. I

it’s easy to make these complaints – you don’t need to calculate what refund you should get or quote laws.

Only one loan?

The template refers to multiple loans because that is what normally happens with payday lenders.

When you only had one loan and it was large, read Refunds from large loans and use the template there.

If you only had one loan and it was small, this is going to be a very difficult complaint to win. If you have borrowed once or twice from 5 leaders, that is much more difficult to win an affordability complaint than having 4 or 5 loans from two lenders.

Waiting for a reply from the lender

This email starts your affordability complaint.

They may send the list of loans first and later respond to your complaint. So don’t be surprised if you get sent info on the loans but nothing about your request for a refund.

When you get your loan information, you can send in more details about your complaint if you want. You don’t have to do this, your complaint has already begun and the lender has to reply.

The lender should reply to your complaint within 8 weeks from when you send the email, not when they acknowledge it. Make a note in your diary for 8 weeks time and chase the lender up if you don’t get a reply.

Don’t be surprised if you have to wait until the end of the 8 weeks to get response – this is common.

Send your bank statements or other information?

Some lenders ask you to send them a copy of your credit record, payslips or bank statements.

Credit record – the lender can check your credit record themselves if they want. But you should download a copy of your credit record asap as the Ombudsman will ask for it. Don’t put this off, the sooner you get a report downloaded, the further back it goes which is good.

Don’t send payslips.

It is a good idea to send bank statements. But think twice about the cost of copying and postage if there are a lot. Some lenders seem to ignore them if you do send them.

Again this is a good point to get those bank statements even if you do not want to send them as they will help an Ombudsman claim a lot. You can get them going back at least 6 years even if the account has been closed.

Lender says No or makes a poor offer

If the lender rejects your complaint or offers you a small amount, don’t be depressed. You may still have a very good case!

It is easy and free to send your case to the Financial Ombudsman where many thousands of people have won their payday loan complaints, despite being rejected by the lender.

Give up?

Some lenders try to make your case sound bad when it isn’t. People have had large amounts refunded after a complete rejection!

Just ignore any of the following comments, they do not mean you have a weak case:

  • they relied on your loan applications and you didn’t give accurate facts – see Lender says I lied for more about this;
  • you repaid some loans early  – this doesn’t prove the loans were affordable, just that you were trying to save interest;
  • your borrowing didn’t go up every time – irrelevant, what matters is that you kept borrowing;
  • you had a good enough credit score or they didn’t legally have to check your credit record – if you only had one or two small loans that is true. But if the loans were large or you kept borrowing, they should have looked more closely;
  • some loans are over 6 years old – the Ombudsman will look at these even if the lender says they won’t!

A good enough case to go to the Ombudsman?

If you don’t know what to do, ask in the comments below this article. Accepting an offer settles your whole complaint – you can’t change your mind later.

Don’t worry that you will lose a small offer by going to the Ombudsman – this doesn’t happen.

Some points to think about:

  • if you are offered a refund on only a few loans, don’t accept it if you think the lender should have realised a lot of the other loans were unaffordable;
  • an offer to write off your current balance may sound convenient … but it may be very poor if you should get a refund as well;
  • if getting defaults or late payments removed from your credit record is important to you, are you happy with what the lender is proposing to do? Don’t assume your credit record will be cleared if the lender didn’t mention this.

One or two loan cases are hard to win at the Ombudsman. It’s probably best to give up on one or two loan cases unless:

  • the loan was large. Here is one single loan case that was won even though it was an instalment loan and the borrower had a good income. And another single loan case for a loan of £1,000. You can win cases for smaller amounts if the repayment would have been a large amount of your income; or
  • you still owe money.

Don’t delay too long  – there is a 6-month time limit after a lender rejects your complaint to send the case to the ombudsman. When you aren’t sure, send the complaint to FOS. This is free and easy to do – let FOS make the decision.

How to send a complaint to FOS

Put in a separate complaint about each lender.

Don’t wait until all your lenders have replied before sending the first one to the Ombudsman!

FOS’s “complain online” option is easy and takes you through your complaint step by step.

You can just copy what you said in your complaint to the lender. You can add more details, for example, if you disagree with what the lender replied to you.

If some of your loans were over 6 years ago, tell the Ombudsman when and how you found out about these complaints. For example:

“I knew the loans were causing me difficulty in 2018,  but I thought this was my fault for being bad with money. I didn’t find out that the lender should have checked the loans were affordable until June 2024 when my brother told me about these claims/I saw an advert from a claims company on Facebook/I read an article about these claims” – change this so it is right for your case!

Things to attach:

  1. the reply you have had from the lender.
  2. 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.
  3. a copy of your TransUnion Statutory credit report
  4. if you dont have the credit agreements, FOS will get them from the lender.

What happens after you have sent a case to FOS

You will normally be contacted within a couple of weeks and asked for a copy of your credit record and your bank statements if you haven’t sent these. If you have sent these on one complaint, then when you complain about a different lender FOS will use the ones they already have.

After this initial contact, your case will wait for the lender to send FOS your case file and then wait to be picked up by an adjudicator who will make a decision on it.

If you are still making payments to the lender, tell the lender you want to reduce these to an affordable amount. This will make waiting for an Ombudsman decision much less stressful for you.

The Financial Ombudsman has a two-stage process. Most cases are settled by the first “adjudicator” stage but about 10% go to the second “Ombudsman” stage.

A few problem cases

Don’t ask for a refund:

  • if you are bankrupt now or have been bankrupt in the past  – any refund would go to the Official Receiver.
  • if you are in an IVA, as refunds will go to your IVA firm not to you. If your IVA has finished the refund may still be sent to your old IVA firm.
  • if you are in a DRO now, getting a refund may mean your DRO is cancelled!

More help

You can ask a question in the comments below – you may get a reply from someone who has been in your exact situation.

Don’t use a claims management company. They are expensive and often incompetent. It’s easy to do this yourself and you can ask questions below and get replies from other readers who have done this.


More information:

Card & catalogue affordability complaints

refunds from overdraft charges

Can you get an overdraft refund?

Problem debt look at a DRO

Could a Debt Relief Order help you?

December 12, 2021 Author: Sara Williams Tagged With: Payday loans, Refunds

Comments

  1. Rhiannan says

    December 11, 2022 at 12:37 pm

    Hi Sara,

    I’ve been told I think I have a case here but I’m not sure.
    I borrowed money from Tappily (SafteyNet) August 2021 and have never been able to pay it off. Everytime I’ve paid an amount back I’ve re-borrowed it so I can pay for things like food etc, now they’ve stopped letting me borrow which has left me completely in the lurch. Do you think I have a case?

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      December 11, 2022 at 12:44 pm

      Yes. Send them a complaint and send it to the Finacial Ombudsman if they reject it or don’t reply within 8 weeks.

      Reply
  2. Michael Horn says

    December 11, 2022 at 1:49 pm

    I sent safetynet a complaint email 11/10/22 and they said they had till 06/12/22 to resolve it, however they have said they need more time and I can take it further?

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      December 11, 2022 at 1:56 pm

      Send this straight to the Ombudsman.

      Reply
  3. Mike says

    December 11, 2022 at 4:20 pm

    I’ve had a settlement offer from Moneyboat – when I gave them my bank details it said it would be up to 5 working days before I received it. That was nearly 4 weeks ago and I’m getting no response from them when I ask about when I’ll receive it. Should I be worried and do I have any recourse if they don’t pay it?

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      December 11, 2022 at 6:13 pm

      I suggest you tell them if it isn’t paid by the end of the week, you will be sending the case to the Financial Ombudsman.

      Reply
      • Mike says

        December 11, 2022 at 6:46 pm

        Thanks Sara. Can I do that even though I’ve accepted their full and final offer? Appreciate your advice.

        Reply
        • Sara (Debt Camel) says

          December 11, 2022 at 7:32 pm

          yes if they are haven’t paid you in 28 days (this isn’t actually written down anywhere, but FOS is likely to think its reasonable)

          Reply
  4. Debbie says

    December 13, 2022 at 2:05 pm

    Has anyone heard anything yet from piggy bank

    Reply
    • tony says

      December 18, 2022 at 3:40 pm

      Still waiting, surely there is an update somewhere ?

      Reply
      • Matt says

        December 19, 2022 at 1:34 pm

        The last administrators report from July 2022 is available on Companies House. From my basic understanding they have set aside £600k for unsecured creditors, but charged £460k against this already as costs of reviewing redress claims. They do say they are likely to pay out an amount to unsecured creditors, but can’t imagine it’s going to be very much and quite why it has taken over 3 years to get here is anyone’s guess.

        Reply
  5. Rachael says

    December 13, 2022 at 4:18 pm

    Hi there, I was wondering if anyone might be able to help, if used the great resources on this site to get a refund from quickquid a good few years back, and today I saw an ad about lending stream and it popped into my head that I had started the same process with them. According to my email, after given them additional info, they were looking into my claim and had given me a reference number…. That was the last I’d heard from them it seems, and that was 2018!
    Is it too late to try and get a claim from them?

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      December 13, 2022 at 4:28 pm

      If they replied to your claim, then it is now too late to take this further. If they didn’t reply, then you can send this to the Ombudsman.

      Reply
  6. James Dean says

    December 21, 2022 at 9:43 am

    How does the claim work if the debt is sold on.
    Lending atream have got back to me with loan details of all loans taken byt have said one of the loans the biggest one was sold on so havent provide related account details. They have it down as 870. The new collector has it as 1705 which i paid 408 of to since. How does the process of accepting a claim, removing interest etc apply if they no longer have the loan?

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      December 21, 2022 at 10:01 am

      How many loans did you have from LS? Hove they replied to your complaint or only sent the list of loans so far?

      Reply
      • JD says

        January 14, 2023 at 4:30 am

        Hi Sara,
        5 loans with them.
        4 paid off early as I paid them just so I could take another amount, back to back started of with 1 then 2 then 3 then 4 then paid all for to take the large 5th 1. I couldnt afford the loans so i would pay them just to continue a new loan that way i would have more free funds there and then even if it meant i was snowballed in debt and paying more interest overall. I started with Sunny loans doing this. Couldnt keep up added lending stream and safety net so it was bad enough them accepting me it snowballed me in debt all 3 of them accepting me. During this period i was doing the same with Sunny loans and Safety net all at the same time. By Dec I could no longer manage this as I kept taking more and more until i could no longer meet payments or pay in full to retake another new loan. With Lending stream it was as follows.
        200 14 Sep 2017
        300 on 14 Nov 17
        200 on 9 Dec 17
        90 on 11 Dec 17
        840 on 27 Dec 17.
        When I realised I had 4 separate loans I could not afford I paid them in ful to consolidate them in to 1.
        Total interest I paid to date is about 840 over 4 years. They passed this to ACI who gave me a ccj. I have not recieved a final response from lending strean but ACI have sent me an email saying gains recalled the debt.

        I already requested lending stream set the ccj aside in my initial complaint but wanted to know if this was possible with an accepted complaint. Weird debt this 1. I lended with lending stream. ACi took over said they mastered. TMLS took me to court for ccj. ccj says perch capital. i think gains llc perch and lstream are all the same ppl. ACI saying gains recalled the loan i cant tell if there all the same ppl or not.

        Reply
        • Sara (Debt Camel) says

          January 14, 2023 at 5:19 pm

          I have put the bit about LS that was on a different thread at the bottom of your comment here.
          Gain Credit is the name of the lender – Lending Stream is just a brand name.
          So far as I know there is no connection between Gain Credit and ACI

          Well I would hope they refund the last large loan. If not, send this to the Ombudsman.

          Reply
  7. John says

    December 23, 2022 at 1:12 pm

    hello, quick question, got a response today from an adjudicator from a loan I complained about way back in march, he says this company are offering me a refund but need to keep 20% for tax, is this correct? does it make a difference if I’m currently unemployed and in the 0% income tax bracket? this is what he said below

    • refund the interest you have paid for loans 4 and 5 as well as 50% of the interest of loan 3 which amounts to £71.49.

    • contact the credit reference agencies to erase all your loans from your credit file.

    Quidie Limited has confirmed to me that this offer is still valid and have also said that they are willing to pay an extra 8% simple interest on this amount. 20% of this will have to be withheld for tax, as Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) tell them they must do this.

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      December 23, 2022 at 2:49 pm

      The 20% tax deduction is normal, it’s only on the 8% simple interest nit the refund. You can claim this back from HMRC see https://debtcamel.co.uk/ppi-payday-refund-get-back-tax/

      Is the offer ok?

      Reply
      • John says

        December 23, 2022 at 4:06 pm

        the offer is pretty terrible tbh, over all the loans combined I paid roughly £285 in interest. The adjudicator says the following below so it looks like it would be tough to get him to change his mind or have an ombudsman rule differently

        “To summarise, I feel Quidie Limited’s offer, is fair and reasonable and if I were to uphold this case following an assessment with no offer made, I would not be able to reach a better outcome for you and would not be able to better their offer.”

        Reply
        • John says

          December 23, 2022 at 4:18 pm

          guess ill probs just have to accept it as its better than nothing

          it was 5 loans total, all used for gambling, 4 of which were paid back relatively fast. The amounts of the loans were in the following order £100, £300, £200, £249 and finally £200 so small amounts.

          the 2nd loan was the largest and took me the longest to repay, I ended up paying £195 in interest and fees on that one alone. They’ve offered to refund the interest I paid for loans 4 and 5 as well as 50% of the interest of loan 3 which amounts to £71.49 total.

          The adjudicator says he doesn’t think its fair for loans 1-3 to be refunded which is a pain because the interest for loan 2 was so big

          Reply
        • Sara (Debt Camel) says

          December 23, 2022 at 6:24 pm

          Those are small loans, it’s unlikely an Ombudsman would say to refund loan 2.

          Reply
  8. Rob M says

    December 28, 2022 at 7:24 pm

    Has anyone had a successful claim against safetynet? Just wondering as I recently had a complaint upheld and was offered a redress payment. However the date, and 2 subsequent ones for them to pay me the money have now passed, and was wondering if anyone else had this issue with delayed payment. I have just sent them a final email outlining my position and that if they dont get the money to me this week the next communication will be from my solicitor as I will be lodging a money claim at the County Court as the redress amount isn’t a trivial sum.

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      December 28, 2022 at 9:10 pm

      the complaint was upheld by Safetynet? or via the Ombudsman?

      Reply
      • RobM says

        January 5, 2023 at 5:53 pm

        Ombudsman upheld after safetynet delayed for months coming to a decision.

        Reply
    • Mike_p says

      January 5, 2023 at 11:59 am

      It looks like they are going under:

      https://news.sky.com/story/safetynet-credit-parent-close-to-collapse-after-fca-crackdown-12780400

      Reply
      • RobM says

        January 5, 2023 at 5:56 pm

        Just seen all of this, waiting for a reply from them on it but imagine it will be clear as mud. I’ll not hold my breath.

        Reply
        • Sara (Debt Camel) says

          January 10, 2023 at 6:28 pm

          and they went into administration on 9 January, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/safetynet-credit-administration/. All comments on that new page please.

          Reply
  9. Jonny says

    December 28, 2022 at 10:07 pm

    Has anyone had any dealings with Dot Dot Loans recently? I remember taking a few loans from them and I have repayments from my bank account from November 2017 to January 2020. I was unable to log in to my account and subsequent password requests online still resulted in no emails. I called them and they said they had no accounts under either of my email address’. They’re saying I cannot make a complaint if I’ve had no loans but I have multiple screenshots showing the amounts leaving my account and the narrative on the bank statement is “Dot Dot Loans”. Both representatives I’ve spoke to haven’t been awfully helpful and even one said it would have been under their former brand (Wageday Advance) and that Dot Dot weren’t around until 2019. Their website clearly says 2017 and my bank statements say different. I’m 100% certain I’ve had loans from them and even remember taking them but have no email correspondence. Is this a straight to the FOS and let them work it out with them? I’m aware Shelby Finance, who own Dot Dot, are apparently going to go into Admin soon so I’ll probably see nothing either way and this could be a stalling tactic.. thanks in advance.

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      December 29, 2022 at 8:55 am

      Wageday advance was bought by Morses out of administration in 2019. If your loans said Dot Dot before that, then they were NOT Wageday Advance loans.

      It doesn’t sound as though you have yet made a complaint. It’s worth persevering to get one registered with Morses/Shelby?Dot Dot as if you send it to the Ombudsman now, then will just ask Morses to reply.

      So email customerservices@dotdotloans.co.uk and customerservices@shelbyfinance.com and copy it to ricky.essex@morsesclub.com

      List the loans you can see you had from your bank statements – loan date, amount, repayments. Attach copies of your bank statements.

      Ask for a refund or you will be sending this to the Ombudsman.

      They are not yet near administration so the Ombudsman will take this case.

      Also check your credit reports to see if the old loans show up on there. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/best-way-to-check-credit-score/ which explains how to do this for free.

      Reply
  10. Raul says

    January 3, 2023 at 11:50 am

    Hello, I’ve sent a complaint to Moneyboat for bad lending for giving me a £500 loan shortly after my IVA with a 50% increase after 3 months. Totalling around £750. I completed my IVA early over a year ago and this was the response from moneyboat.

    “As well, you have mentioned an IVA; although you say this has been completed, I need to consider if we require something from the Insolvency Practitioner who dealt with this to say if they have any interest the the case and any potential redress. So, please let me have details of that (ref/start/end dates) and provide a copy of the letter of completion. ”

    Is this something I should worry about?

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      January 3, 2023 at 1:50 pm

      As the article above says If your IVA has finished the refund may still be sent to your old IVA firm

      Reply
      • Raul says

        January 5, 2023 at 3:22 pm

        Would rather it be with the IVA firm rather than them to be honest.

        The loan was taken out after I had completed the IVA. My question being will anything bad be able to be done in regards to gambling after my IVA. Just not interested in getting in trouble for a refund.

        Reply
        • Sara (Debt Camel) says

          January 5, 2023 at 7:47 pm

          You said the loan was taken shortly after your IVA – I asssumed that meant after the IVA started.

          if the loan was after your IVA was completed, then you should get the whole refund.

          Reply
  11. HB says

    January 3, 2023 at 12:58 pm

    Hi all – Is anybody waiting for Gain Credit (Drafty) outcome with FCA? Drafty accepted wrong doing and said they would refund £550 but after working out everything the expected figure came to c£1600. Declined offer and case went to ombudsman who have said they are in contact with Gain Credit (Drafty) about all of the cases with them, not just mine, as they need to thrash out a set outcome for all complaints. Have been waiting ages now and just wondered if anybody was in same position or heard anything.

    Reply
    • L says

      January 10, 2023 at 5:51 pm

      I’ve been waiting for a response from the FOS since 23rd September for a complaint against Drafty too. FOS have confirmed they have a lot of correspondence for my complaint but the FOS haven’t assigned a case handler yet. They were saying upto 4 months but now it’s 5-9 months

      Reply
  12. RobM says

    January 5, 2023 at 5:51 pm

    Having read all the news coming out today about safetynet going bust what do you think are the possibilities of those people who are owed refunds actually getting them. I was awarded redress from them 08/12/22 and they kept delaying the payment, and it would now seem as if this is the reason, I’m guessing they don’t actually have the money to pay out.

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      January 5, 2023 at 7:46 pm

      Sorry it’s too early to say. That Sky story wasn’t clear and we have no idea what will happen. I don’t think they have been lending for a while so they may actually have quite a lot of money in the bank.

      Reply
  13. Carol says

    January 5, 2023 at 8:46 pm

    Has anyone heard about the redress from Piggybank lately?

    Reply
    • Debbie says

      January 12, 2023 at 8:20 am

      They told me they can’t give a date yet but piggy bank administration is coming to an end

      Reply
  14. Chrisy says

    January 8, 2023 at 11:36 pm

    I have had about £700 worth of credit with safety net for the past few years, I can’t seem to get out of it, whenever I pay some off I need to get it out again by the end of the month. I also took out a Drafty to help I am paying that off every month but it feels like it’s hardly going down. I would like to get a mortgage and I’m afraid that these will stop me being able to do that. Has anyone had any luck with safety net or Drafty?

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      January 9, 2023 at 8:02 am

      These are very expensive debts, easy to get into and hard to get out of. What other debt to you have – cards, loans, overdraft?
      If you are hoping for a mortgage do you have savings?

      Safetynet credit was one of the easiest lender to win a complaint against but it has now just gone into administration – see https://debtcamel.co.uk/safetynet-credit-administration/

      Reply
  15. Christina says

    January 9, 2023 at 9:37 am

    I have an overdraft of about £500 and a loan of about £3000 I have never missed a payment on my loan. My partner has the deposit sorted, I’m just really worrying I’m gonna stop us getting a mortgage. If I could get these debts paid off it would help so much.

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      January 9, 2023 at 10:56 am

      is the loan at a reasonable level? Could your partner clear the Safetynet credit and drafty debts?

      You can also make affordabity complaints, I’m not saying don’t. Loads of wins against Safeteynet Credit, however rumour is that they may be going insolvent soon. This is a reason to complain NOW, not to give up.

      Less chat about Drafty as they are a much smaller lender but cases are being won.

      But depending on the timescale you want for the mortgage, it may be better to clear the debts now. This will not stop you making a complaint.

      Reply
  16. Michael Horn says

    January 9, 2023 at 8:32 pm

    Heads up guys and girls safety net is in admin as of today

    Reply
    • RobM says

      January 10, 2023 at 9:28 am

      I’ve just gotten off the phone with them to challange as to why for the last two weeks they’ve made excuse after excuse up as to why I hadn’t been paid money they owe me, when I repeatedly asked if it was to do with impending insolvency and all I got was a load of bumf about how they didn’t know any of this until this morning either… Strange that when the news broke last week. Oh well time will tell now and I look forward to my pence in the pound fraction of what they owe me at some point in 2025 no doubt.

      Reply
    • Jonny says

      January 10, 2023 at 9:35 am

      They’re a disgrace and the FCA should hang their head in shame.

      FCA are allowing them to continue to lend to existing customers without an overdue balance yet the Administrators at the very same time are advising unsecured creditors are likely to get NOTHING. That would insinuate funds are low.

      I understand this will be so that they can attempt to sell healthy parts of the business, if there’s even any, but it’s a slap in the face from the FCA. And no, I’m not owed any money!

      Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      January 10, 2023 at 6:26 pm

      see new article – it’s bad news for refunds https://debtcamel.co.uk/safetynet-credit-administration/
      All comments on that article please, not here.

      Reply
  17. James Dean says

    January 12, 2023 at 10:43 pm

    Hi took multiple loans from Sunny all back to back 5 cleared 3 went into default. Sold on before admin i appreciate too late to redress with sunny (let me know if thats correct?)

    It was sold on to SLL who applied an auto redress removed interest i think even applied simple interest and then sold on reduced amount of circa 900 to Merlign.

    Merlign have offered me partial 300 odd settlement. Just over 4 years old so looking to pay partial and itll be off. My question is can I request Merlign remove the 3 defaults in their name on my Experian on the basis Sunny loan was misold/unaffordable, SLL accepted this and redressed this without me requesting due to Sunny practices and they bought from SLL?

    Also have Lending stream sold to ACI ccj for 1705 on a 850 loan. 5 loans taken back to back. 420 paid since ccj after a varied judgment of 12 per month buy a judge 3 months after ccj as aci on behalf of perch capital did not show up to counter my request so auto accepted at the time.

    Lending stream are looking into my unaffordable lend and have recalled the debt it seems even though i am awaiting a response. the recal amount is 1464 so does not take into account what i paid its the principal loan and interest amount minus courts fees.

    My question is how do i get lending stream to remove the ccj done by perch capital if they bought the loan back to redress?

    please advise esp on lending stream.

    thanks.

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      January 13, 2023 at 9:59 am

      It is way too late to make a complaint against Sunny.
      Who added the defaults, Sunny, SLL or Merligen?

      Lending Stream – when they get back to you, tell them that you asked for your credit record to be cleared and this includes the set aside of the CCJ. (Set aside is the legal term for deletion)

      Reply
      • James Dean says

        January 14, 2023 at 3:49 am

        Hi Sara,

        Thank you for the reply.

        On my experian report it says Merligen. I have resigned to the fact Sunny redress is too late. Luckily SLL who bought the debt automatically redressed the sum due to Sunnys practices and emailed me to this effect. So the interest has been removed already they did this automatically without a complaint ‘supposedly.’ The paid loans prior to last o/s debt with them I aprpreciate is too late.

        SLL then sold the debt to Merligen at a redressed amount. My question I guess is with Merligen appearing on the default and it says Merligen on my Experian file not elevate credit as on the previous settled amounts. Can I get them to remove defaults for unaffordable lending on a debt they did not lend with a defunct company?

        If so how? Million dollar Q and then pay outstanding amount at reduced settlement: I still owe 930 with them you see but theyve offered to settle at 300 or even pay in full if it means remove default. Please advise.

        Regards.

        Reply
        • Sara (Debt Camel) says

          January 14, 2023 at 5:22 pm

          did the debt ever appear under SLL’s name on your credit records, if it did, was it defaulted. Check all three, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/best-way-to-check-credit-score/

          Reply
          • James Dean says

            January 16, 2023 at 6:41 am

            Hi I’ve checked all 3. They all say Merligen. I have the email from SLL however which confirms they purchased and redressed amount due to Sunny unaffordable lending practices. I also have the email from BPO on behalg of Merligen saying Merligen Purchased from SLL. I can’t complain to Sunny. SLL no longer own. Merligen are reported on my file with 3 defaults. Is it possible to complain to them this was unaffordable and redressed by SLL so I will pay to settle ate reduce offer but you need to remove all negative entries?

          • Sara (Debt Camel) says

            January 16, 2023 at 7:45 am

            You can try. And send to the Ombudsman if they refuse.

  18. Rob says

    January 15, 2023 at 3:46 pm

    So just an update. I put complaints in to Moneyboat and 118118 for irresponsible lending (gambling addict).

    Moneyboat, of which I had 11 loans increasing in size with no more than 2 months gap have finally replied. Claimed they don’t agree they leant irresponsibly but as a “gesture of goodwill” they’ll remove the outstanding balance on my current loan. With interest this works out at £1400 and without, about £400 (rough numbers).

    Now I know I could submit this to the ombudsman and likely win but given how things are going and the length it f time it’ll take, I’ve just decided to accept this. I paid back loans early (through winnings) so my actual interest paid is quite low. I’d expect to only receive about £1.5k so just getting the offer I have is worth me time.

    Awaiting 118118 reply and it should be soon given i complained the same day. Both needed to reply by 25th Jan,

    Reply
  19. forhave says

    January 16, 2023 at 12:16 am

    I would like to know how to get a payday loan refund.

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      January 16, 2023 at 7:42 am

      If you have had several small loans from a lender, or one or two big loans, then read the article above and send in a complaint.

      Reply
  20. Rozzer says

    January 16, 2023 at 5:28 pm

    Made a complaint to moneyboat and they replied with this now I’m really worried as if I did give guesstimate on my spending etc

    Should it transpire that information provided by you at the time of application was false or misleading, we may register this attempt to gain redress falsely as a first party fraud with fraud prevention agencies. Any fraud marker may affect your ability to obtain credit with banks and other lenders in the future.

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      January 16, 2023 at 6:32 pm

      Moneyboat say that to everyone. No one who has taken their complaint further to the Ombudsman has had a problem – I think they are just hoping a lot of people will drop their complaints.

      Guessing your spending is normal – people don’t spend a couple of hours working out details for a payday loan application. If you had invented a non-existent job, then obviously that was false. Getting your groceries bill wrong or forgetting about water or clothes – no.

      Reply
    • Rozzer says

      January 16, 2023 at 8:55 pm

      Thanks so much for replying yes income and job were correct would have just been on spending guesses

      Reply
  21. James Dean says

    January 16, 2023 at 8:36 pm

    Hey, Sar!!
    Lending stream have come back to me saying by affordable we checked what you told us and you had the money. So the first 4 decline. Due to proximity of last loans back to back we can see how we may not should have given you the final loan so we partially agree. Theyre being very vague in their wording and not outright admitting to anything. They have however agreed to reduce 1285 with ACI to principal 840. Dedeuct 420 I paid ACI to 420. Then refund interest, 8% simple and hold 20% tax. This reduces my debt to an affordable £136.67. They have said they will apply to CRA’S to remove adverse history and the changes they will ask them to make depend on the reason we may have thought it not right the right thing to do to give you a particular loan. I dont know what this last bit means considering i have a ccj it is very vage. They have not mentioned or addressed outright the setting aside of the ccj which i requested. Can I send you the letter to get your thoughts on a response?
    I dnt think theres any point of taking it to the ombudsman unless they refuse to set aside the ccj. Theyve also said it will still show the loan even though they would request to remove adverse records with CRA that says nothing to setting aside the CCJ which needs to be done with a court not a CRA I believed.
    Please advise. on this.
    Can you check my letter and help with a response?

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      January 17, 2023 at 10:13 am

      so I didn’t expect then to refund the first loans. And it sounds like the are removing all the interest on the last loan so that is a full refund on that?

      I suggest you reply and say that sounds acceptable if they agree to get ACI to set aside the CCJ- yes this is an application to the court not to the CRAs.

      Reply
      • JD says

        January 19, 2023 at 12:55 am

        Hi Sara, thanks, I’ve done that now will let you know what they say. I also have a o/s default with safetynet. I want to get then to remove the default they put on my credit history as it was unaffordable at the time. I’m not concerned with a refund tbh just removing adverse history. With them going into administration how does thay work. Can I still make the complaint to them and request that because I they have gone in to administration I would be happy to settle debt with them removing the default and forego my ability to claim for interest back and 8% simpl3?
        Please advise.
        Also in checking my history I have found an arrears account with Money Platform all was taken at the same time which I could not afford. I though I had paid this or had simply nissed it. It seems they didnt default it I have not got any ketter or emails from then in 4 years so didnt even know I had an open account theyve put me in arrears every month for 4 years now which is crazy. What can I do with this. Again Im not concerned with the refund just removing adverse history as I dnt think its fair my history has been effected so heavily for a loan they provided I could not afford.
        Please advise.

        Reply
        • Sara (Debt Camel) says

          January 19, 2023 at 8:28 am

          “Can I still make the complaint to them and request that because I they have gone in to administration I would be happy to settle debt with them removing the default and forego my ability to claim for interest back”
          Well you can try but it is VERY unlikely to work. You may think it sounds like a good offer from you, but my experience with previous administrations shows:
          – they don’t care about the money, it isn’t their money, they just want a simple very easy process with no manual intervention or thinking what to do about an individual case
          – in SNC’s case there will be no money for refunds anyway
          – your best option now if this default is important to you is to make a claim AND stop paying them by cancelling the CPA and removing their access to your account via open banking. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/safetynet-credit-administration/. They will have to look at claims where there is a balance left as they have the legal right of set off – repay thet balance and they are unlikely to decide your claim as it will cost them time and there is no money to distribute.

          Money Platform – send them an affordability complaint. If you win that the arrears will be removed. If you lose, ask them to add a default back 3 and half years ago. Few firms respond well to bargaining over credit records so its simpler to make the affordability claim which will solve the credit record problem as a side effect.

          Reply
          • JD says

            January 23, 2023 at 6:16 pm

            Hi Sara,

            Lending stream have agreed to remove the ccj. Thanks for the help. I will get onto snc, merligen and tmp in due course very soon.

            You and the page have been a real help. I’ve managed to get my bank to uphold my complaint regarding my OD. They refunded me 9.4k. which cleared my 4.2k od and then some as I’ve been it since 2017 paying high interest fees due to it being unaffordable.

            I’ve got Lending stream to recall my largets loan and reduce it from 1285 to 137 and agree to remove the ccj i was given for this. My credit score has already gone up 200 points to 610 just by the removal of the default with LS and the outstanding balance as well as the removal of banks 2 late payments and outstanding balance. Once the ccj comes off I expect it to jump again.

            If I can get a favourable outcome on the remaining 3 my credit score will be sky high, right back to where I was before all of the unaffordable lending.

            Thank you x

            JD.

          • Sara (Debt Camel) says

            January 23, 2023 at 8:12 pm

            I am glad Lending Stream have done the right thing.

            wow, big bank overdraft refund – which bank was it?

  22. Tony says

    January 17, 2023 at 7:49 am

    Good morning,

    Thank you for your email.

    Unfortunately, we do not have any updates to provide at this stage. I assure you that the administrators are aware of your claim and that you will be owed a distribution once the company’s assets have been sold or realised. Please bear in mind that this is a lengthy process and we will provide updates as soon as possible.

    We appreciate your continued patience.

    This is an email off piggy bank this morning, looking like there’s still a long road ahead, is there any reports of any problems does anyone know?

    Reply
    • Matt says

      January 17, 2023 at 3:28 pm

      If they are in administration they will pay secured claims first, like business loans and employee payments/redundancies claims from customers are unsecured claims so dealt with at the end so means you may not get a payment or pennies on the pound but yeah long process they haven’t stated its unlikely or anything like my claim won agaisnt safey net so hopefully you get something

      Reply
    • Steve says

      January 20, 2023 at 12:23 am

      Here’s a link to the latest admin update (9/1/23) regarding DJS (Piggybank Loans). Gloomy reading I’m afraid with a strong possibility that we’ll receive £0. I was awarded redress of just shy of £4000 which was agreed before they even entered admin back in 2019. Now it looks like I’ll be lucky if I recieve enough for a new tooth brush!
      Shocking state of affairs.
      Here’s the link, just scroll down when the page opens.

      https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/07952979/filing-history

      Reply
      • Carol says

        January 23, 2023 at 9:54 am

        Just read on that link that the notice they gave given for the extension of administration is to 05/12/23. What annoys me the most is yes they pay their secure debtors first, but when you look out how much the administrators are getting paid for this its thousands close to half a million. That should be used to pay at least some to us but hey ho, let’s carry on feeding the big cats.

        Reply
  23. Lee says

    January 18, 2023 at 7:25 pm

    Hi I have had a complaint against commsave with financial ombudsman since February last year, got a reply from adjudicator favouring with me but they disagreed and it’s now gone for final decision. How long does this usually take from your knowledge? Many thanks

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      January 18, 2023 at 9:58 pm

      I am afraid it can be a bit erratic – anywhere from a few weeks to 4 months or more. Let us know what happens, I don’t see many credit union cases.

      Reply
      • Lee says

        January 18, 2023 at 10:09 pm

        Ok thanks for the update, I will let you know how I get on once I receive a reply. Many thanks lee

        Reply
  24. Sandra says

    January 21, 2023 at 6:27 am

    Just had a message from FOS advising me my case with them for safety net will be handed over to the administration team as they are winding down the company

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      January 21, 2023 at 6:39 am

      See https://debtcamel.co.uk/safetynet-credit-administration/

      Reply
  25. Kikidee says

    January 25, 2023 at 3:58 pm

    Hi Sara
    I recieved an email from Ferratum today saying that they basically have no money to hand out but they will send me £61 as a redress. It is non negotiable they said and they want my bank account details to make payment within 14 days. It’s taken a long long time to even get a response from them re my affordability complaint, should I send my details or or forward to the FO. I have won all my other pay day loan complaints I sent to the FO just not sure if Ferratum are in administration or not. Thank you in advance.

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      January 25, 2023 at 5:00 pm

      They are in liquidation.
      How many loans did you have from them and were there any negative marks on your credit record?

      Reply
      • Kikidee says

        January 25, 2023 at 6:03 pm

        Tbh I cannot remember as it was so long ago I cannot access the online account anymore. I have checked my emails and I can see I had a few loans with them in 2017 and then in 2020 I started paying Drs £10 per month as I could no longer afford the high interest charges. I was taking out other payday loans in order to stay afloat. There were some defaults initially but once I set up the £10 per month I kept to the agreement. Thank you.

        Reply
      • Kikidee says

        January 25, 2023 at 6:11 pm

        I have found 4 loan numbers £600, £500, £300 and £300. The first 2 we’re paid off in full then I was issued a default notice for the last 2. I’ve been paying £10 per month for the last 2 years. Should I send to FO. Thank you in advance.

        Reply
        • Sara (Debt Camel) says

          January 25, 2023 at 7:45 pm

          No, FOS are not allowed to take a case where the lender is insolvent.

          Are you paying Ferratum? Or was these sold to a debt collector?

          Reply
          • Kikidee says

            January 25, 2023 at 7:55 pm

            Ok. I haven’t been charged anything for the last 6 months but it was with a debt collector with around £150 outstanding. So I will respond to ferratums email and request all defaults are removed and except there offer.
            Do you think that’s the best thing to do Sara, thank you again for all your advice…..

          • Kikidee says

            January 25, 2023 at 11:28 pm

            This is what they said …
            Since our appointment, we have continued to collect outstanding monies due from customers in respect of loans they have with the Company, whilst we researched the information held by it and our ability to undertake a thorough review of its historical lending practices.

            We have now concluded our investigations and from the information available to us have unfortunately reached the conclusion that it would not be possible both practically and financially to undertake a full review of every customers potential entitlement to redress. This is due to a lack of information to be able to undertake such an exercise for all past and present customers. It is also as a result of the insolvency of the Company and the lack of funds available in the liquidation to be able to cover the costs of such a process and there being no prospect of any dividend being payable whatsoever in respect of any customer claims that may be identified.

            Notwithstanding the above, we note that you have made certain payments towards your loan since our appointment and pursuant to our powers pursuant to Schedule 1, Part 4 of The Insolvency Act 1986, we have decided to refund the amount indicated above to you. Due to the lack of funds within the liquidation, please do not request us to consider your circumstances on an individual basis as we cannot do this due to the circumstances detailed above. The amount of this refund is not negotiable, it is not a contractual entitlement and represents a voluntary refund at the total discretion of the liquidators.

          • Sara (Debt Camel) says

            January 26, 2023 at 10:54 pm

            I suggest you ask if you can stop paying and if the debts are being written off, as they should not be sold while you have a potentially valid claim for set off.

  26. Jonathan Dyer says

    January 26, 2023 at 11:54 am

    Hello Sara, when you make a complaint to a lender and they have gone into admin as the case is here with Ferratum.
    What is the timeline for administrators to provide final response.
    I have just sent one to safety net for the admin to look at but have no clue on their response time limits, is it still 8 weeks? thanks.

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      January 26, 2023 at 2:09 pm

      Unfortunately there is now no time limit. In other administrations this has taken a very long while.

      Reply
  27. James Dean says

    January 26, 2023 at 1:46 pm

    Hi Sara,
    Bank unaffordable lending claim was with Lloyds. Interest charges I paid totalled over 8k and 17-22 and I still had the 4.2 od outstanding.
    They agreed they shoukd not have given it after first declining within 2 days not even checking properly I emplored them to investigate thoroughly as I could not afford it at time of agreement. They upheld it. 8.4k interest returned. 551 8% simple. 80 distress comp. refund totaled 9.4. 4.2 cleared od i was left with 5.2 approx. Quick question 80 distress comp was very low i felt for 5 years prolonged distress that caused me to not be able to pay other debts get ccjs with others when i could have used that to avoid and pay. Do you think I can get more compensation for distress by escalating complaint to FO? They said i can if im not happy and it wont change resolution the offered and given already.
    Secondly regarding alending stream agreeing to set aside ccj. Keep in mind they sold debt to ACI and ACI used TMLegal to obtain ccj in name of aperch Capital. Lending stream slyly passed the buck in their response saying they will request for ACI to set aside as ACI made judgement. When I emailed ACI aci tried to tell me I need to apply to courts to set aside ccj.
    Please advise as I dnt think its me that needs to do this its very time consuming and costs going to court etc.
    Regards
    JD

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      January 26, 2023 at 3:23 pm

      Lloyds – it sounds as though they have offered £80 for their initial failure to handle your complaint properly, not for distress over 5 years. It’s seems adequate for the complaint failure which they rectified.
      I haven’t known anyone get compensation for prolonged distress caused by unaffordable overdraft.

      Lending Stream are not being sly in saying ACI has to request the set aside, that is what has to happen. I suggest you go back to LS and explain ACIs unhelpful reply and say your complaint against LS goes to the Ombudsman if this is not resolved.

      Reply
      • JD says

        January 27, 2023 at 4:53 am

        Hi Sara.
        Thanks have already done so and raised a complaint with ACI too if to see if that would help. Lloyds asked me if this unaffordable lending caused distress to which I confirmed yes. I asked what conpensation they would provide in addition to putting me back in the same position. They then camr back to me a day later and said 80£ is the best they can do. Correct me if I’m wrong but It isn’t the norm I don’t think to have such a high overdraft with high feels all the while having something like 15 pay day loans on and off and arrears regarding priority debts totalling 3-4k. The overdraft was the single biggest outstanding balance I had with the highest interest fees paid, 8.4k interest on a 4.2k OD with 4.2k still outstanding. The distress this caused was real and out of all debts caused the most nore so than the pay day loans as I was stuck in paying it as my bank. The £80 compensation was specifically for distress. They asked upon upholding complaint if the od had caused distress. I confirmed it did and outlined the effects it caused me which I wont go into. Do you think its a waste of time taking that to the FO then? I was under the impression that compensation for distress was a real thing. I’m happy with the res I just feel £80 for the effects it caused me doesnt scratch the surface. the money they gave me was what I paid them tgat I shouldnt have had they lended responsibly so I dont see it as them doing me any favours.

        Reply
        • Sara (Debt Camel) says

          January 27, 2023 at 8:07 am

          I’m not saying it’s impossible to get more, here is the Ombudsman’s page on awards for distress https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/expect/compensation-for-distress-or-inconvenience

          I’m just saying I don’t remember an affordable complaint where someone received much for this.

          Reply
          • JD says

            February 2, 2023 at 1:01 am

            Hi Sara,
            Money Platform we spoke about before have rejected irresponsible lending charge but offered to remove interest from outstanding balance and remove loan from cras, which is all i really wanted so another good result. Thank you.
            Just waiting on Safety net response then I can get onto Merligen regarding the defaults from the Sunny Loan they purchased from SLL. and that’s all my unaffotdable loans addressed. I’ve had a reasonable result I’m happy with on all three complaints made so far even when they reject the idea they lent irresponsibly.
            It seems from the evidence they know this to be true which is why I have had reasonable outcomes even though they never seem to want to categorically admit to doing so.
            JD.

  28. Karl says

    February 2, 2023 at 1:11 pm

    Hi Sara, thank you for all your help on this website. I’ve had just under 30 loans with Fund Ourselves, and based on my calcs, I had paid c.£2.5k in interest. This has now been picked up by FOS, and FO offered to refund interest for the last 20 loans (all have been repaid early), which comes to £3.5k (must be due to 8% interest), so I’ve decided to accept that offer and not drag this out any more. Thanks again!

    Reply
  29. Craig says

    February 3, 2023 at 9:53 am

    So currently I got a case in with ombudsman about lending stream I been waiting since April the adjudicator only just picked it up after six years lending stream decided they owed me and gave me back £2000 never said anything about the ccj that was also put on me a total of 4.5 years that I paid in full ask them about this and get oh it’s in ur £2000 but nothing states that so I went to collector after informing fca gunna pick up lending stream finally helped to get it removed of my credit report 8 months later now I wanna know as obviously that ccj should never happened 1 surely I’m due my moneys I paid for ccj back and 2 some compensation for a ccj I should never of got in first place!

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      February 3, 2023 at 9:58 am

      I agree the CCJ should be removed and the coat of that refunded. I doubt you will get compensation.

      Reply
  30. Michael Horn says

    February 3, 2023 at 4:36 pm

    Still waiting for SNC and the fos to get back to me snc said they still haven’t got a timeline and it expired on the 6th Dec

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      February 3, 2023 at 7:43 pm

      do you still owe them any money?

      Reply
      • Michael Horn says

        February 3, 2023 at 7:50 pm

        No raised an affordability complaint with them

        Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      February 3, 2023 at 7:55 pm

      then read https://debtcamel.co.uk/safetynet-credit-administration/. If they are right that there is no money to distribute, you are not going to get a refund.

      Reply
  31. Eric says

    February 6, 2023 at 2:12 pm

    Dear Sara,

    I just got an offer from my complaint against Quidmarket with the financial ombudsman since September last year. I got a reply from adjudicator this morning saying “I’ve reviewed all the evidence provided by both sides in this case and I’m not upholding your complaint regarding loans one to four” and “Having taken everything into consideration, I think the goodwill offer made by Quidmarket to remove the loan from your credit file and waive £258.30 of interest is a fair and reasonable offer for you to accept.” So it looks like they will be no redress payment for the interest incurred.

    “There wasn’t anything in the information your provided or the information Quidmarket should’ve been aware of, which meant it would’ve been proportionate to start verifying what you told them. Taking the information, you provided to Quidmarket into account at the time of applying for the loans and I think it was fair for them to provide loans one to four to you. ”

    They are saying if I decide that don’t accept what they have said – and want an Ombudsman to make a final decision on my complaint – I must provide any further evidence or representations by 17 February 2023. But I don’t have any additional information to give them. What should I do Sara?

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      February 6, 2023 at 3:05 pm

      so you have 5 loans from Quidmarket? And the offer is to remove £258 of interest from the current loan?
      Can you list how large they were in date order?
      Were there any gaps of more than a month between repaying one loan and taking out the next one?
      And how much you have paid to the last loan so far?

      Reply
      • Eric says

        February 7, 2023 at 12:06 pm

        Sorry Sara for not getting back to you sooner I had to wait for a phone call from my adjudicator this morning. Basically this a single loan with 5 installments payable over 5 months. The last instrument is what I could not pay off. They have said they are willing to remove this loan from my credit file and waiver the interest payments as well. So the adjudicator has told me the cost on my end would be £5.00 payment to Quidmarket to settle this matter. Sara I think I will just pay it and be done with the matter and take the loan being taken of my credit file as a win. Thank you.

        Reply
  32. Dominic says

    February 7, 2023 at 1:19 pm

    Not a question but a bit of a vent.

    Fernovo (I am an ex customer) have sent me a Valentines Day themed email offering a 25% discount on interest if I want to ‘make the day that bit extra special but are a bit short of funds’.

    It really comes across as them exploiting the financial and/or emotional vulnerability of their customers…. Absolutely disgusting and shouldn’t even be legal in my opinion. They note that I ‘have contacted us previously about a loan’ so I assume that is their basis for contact – maybe I ticked a box to consent to such emails.

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      February 7, 2023 at 2:19 pm

      Nothing says romance like a payday loan….

      Reply
  33. L says

    February 13, 2023 at 2:31 pm

    Hello,

    Anyone ever had a successful FOS Compliant against Drafty (Gain credit)

    I’ve got an adjudicator looking at mine and she states In the first email exchange “
    I’m currently reviewing your complaint, and in particular your finances. I think the lender should have done more to check your finances around this time”

    This a promising start?

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      February 13, 2023 at 2:50 pm

      Yes there are usually 2 steps to winning a complaint. Did the lender make checks and if they had made those checks, what would they have seen?

      Reply
      • L says

        February 13, 2023 at 2:58 pm

        Well the FOS have had my bank statements and credit reports for the time around the credit line and that’s what she has had to say at the early stages of the investigation. So I can accept the promising start. I paid a total interest of £1653.35 on the credit line throughout the time of having it. Generally how long does it take for a full investigation and then an outcome?

        Reply
  34. GMR says

    February 13, 2023 at 11:56 pm

    I took out 9 loans over the period of 3 years.
    Loan 1 – 09/06/16 £250 interest £195 settled 30/11/16
    Loan 2 01/12/16 £250 interest £145 settled 31/03/17
    Loan 3 05/04/17. £500 interest £261 settled 31/07/17
    Loan 4 06/08/17 £250 interest £170 settled 30/11/17
    Loan 5 01/12/17 £530 interest £507 settled 31/05/18
    Loan 6. 05/06/18 £700 interest £553 settled 31/01/19
    Loan 7 04/02/19 £300 interest £276 settled 28/06/19
    Loan 8 06/08/19 £350 interest £324 settled 31/12/19
    Loan 9 09/01/20 £300 interest £285 settled 02/07/20

    I have sent my complaint by email 3 weeks ago. Awaiting a reply. I requested a list of my loans which they sent by post, each saying affordability and credit checks were successful. I am pretty sure my credit score was low as I was in a pretty bad place at the time, how can I get evidence of that ? I have looked at my credit report on Experian but it doesn’t go back that far. All repayments were made on time, but some months I chose the interest only option. As you can see there were no gaps between Loans. Awaiting my response. Do you think I have a case even though there were no missed payments ?

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      February 14, 2023 at 8:15 am

      Definitely. That is a long pattern of lending with very short gaps. I suggest you should get a refund for loans 5-9 at least.

      Mr Lender sends replies by letter. If you don Get one within 8 weeks phone up to ask where it is.

      Reply
  35. Jamie says

    February 14, 2023 at 12:12 pm

    Has anyone had a redress from 247Moneybox (Active Securities) and had information on their credit files amended? It was my understanding that these loans should have been removed following the administration process but perhaps my understanding is wrong?

    My redress was minimal however all my loans from Active Securities are still on my credit files. Just wondering who to contact if these should be removed.

    Reply
    • John says

      February 14, 2023 at 5:42 pm

      I received a payment into my bank account today for £73, was wondering what on earth it was, think you just cracked the case for me, must have been the 247 moneybox redress, was it today you received the redress? cheers

      Reply
      • Jamie says

        February 14, 2023 at 7:36 pm

        Hi John, no it was actually last year i received the redress. Mines was £66 in total.

        Are your loans still on your credit file? Mines still have not been removed despite them telling me in April 2021 that they would be. I’ve followed up a couple of times regarding this but to no avail.

        Reply
        • John says

          February 14, 2023 at 9:09 pm

          Ill take a look, now im even more confused where the money has come from 2day, guess ill know for sure when my statement updates tomorrow

          Reply
          • John says

            February 14, 2023 at 9:19 pm

            just had a look at equifax, credit karma and clearscore, cant see any entries in the open or closed sections for active securities

          • Jamie says

            February 15, 2023 at 8:46 am

            Thanks John – glad to hear yours have been removed. The administrators got back to me this morning saying it was not within their remit to do so – understandable. They gave me a couple of email addresses to forward on to so hopefully it’s resolved soon. Just trying to tidy up my files ahead of expected mortgage applications later this year.

  36. L says

    February 14, 2023 at 1:51 pm

    Good afternoon,

    Can someone assist with what the below means please?

     Re-work XXX credit facility balance so that all interest, fees and charges applied to it from 23 December 2019 onwards are removed.
     If the effect of removing all interest, fees and charges results in there no longer being an outstanding balance, then any extra should be treated as overpayments and returned to XXX along with 8% simple interest on the overpayments from the date they were made until the date of settlement. If no outstanding balance remains after all adjustments have been made, then Drafty should remove any adverse information from XXX credit file*

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      February 14, 2023 at 5:53 pm

      It is a full refund of all charges and interest from Dec 2019.

      The 8% standard interest clause looks normal.

      The last sentence is not normal “If no outstanding balance remains after all adjustments have been made, then Drafty should remove any adverse information from XXX credit file” Are there any problems whowing on your credit record for this Drafty account?

      Reply
      • L says

        February 15, 2023 at 8:49 am

        It was standard wording they used, I phoned my adjudicator to speak to them about it. So my claim is being upheld from a certain date. So any payments I made and drawdowns made will be calculated along with interest and then my potential settlement will be generated and Drafty have 13 days to respond but I’ve been advised that they have a lot of ongoing problems with Drafty so I don’t expect anything to be settled just yet

        Reply
        • Sara (Debt Camel) says

          February 15, 2023 at 11:26 am

          Do you have any negative marks on your credit record for this Drafty account?

          Reply
          • L says

            February 15, 2023 at 12:52 pm

            No I don’t.

        • Sara (Debt Camel) says

          February 15, 2023 at 1:25 pm

          In that case you can ignore the last sentence. That you quoted From the FOS decision.

          Reply
  37. JD says

    February 14, 2023 at 10:29 pm

    Hey Sara,
    My Safetynet loan was sold on to Lantern. Are SNC still going to deal with the affordability complaint? Do they disregard sold on complaints with outstanding balances in tge same way you suggested they disregard paid off loans as they neither have to time or funds to redress?
    I only care about removing the adverse history I’m happy to pay the outstanding sum although removing the interest is always helpfull to allow me to clear considering the loan was unaffordable.
    Thanks.

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      February 15, 2023 at 8:30 am

      See my comment here https://debtcamel.co.uk/safetynet-credit-administration/

      Further questions are best asked on that page.

      Reply
  38. Matt says

    February 15, 2023 at 4:23 pm

    So I’ve had a complaint in with lending stream for 6 loans I had with them 2016.. they gave me a final response email today they reviewed it and only agreed to refund interest for 2 and for total of 136 pound but said I owe them 240 pound so they are saying after thier offer I would have to pay them the remaining balance.. do I have to go directly to fos or can I reply directly to reject the order and explain I feel they should refund all the loans and waive any outstanding balance as thier reasoning is simply they took my declared earnings away from my declared outgoings with no other checks seem to be have made I feel very strongly they shouldn’t have loaned to me as I had large amounts of credit at the time and they allowed me to take loans at the same time

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      February 15, 2023 at 5:00 pm

      how large were the loans, can you list the sizee in order eg 300, 400, 250, etc

      Also were there any overlaps when you had more than one loan at a time? or gaps of more than a few weeks between settling a loan and taking the next one out?

      Reply
      • Matt says

        February 15, 2023 at 5:07 pm

        Yes so

        1. 200 30.11.2015
        2. 150 05.02.2016
        3. 100 06.02.2016
        4. 100 12.04.2016
        5. 170 14.04.2016
        6. 100 22.04.2016

        So In thier response they have said they partially agree and feel the last two loans were a bad idea to give me but feel the first 4 were fine they haven’t given any clear reasoning for this, I will send to the FOS as I feel strongly at the time I shouldn’t have been granted the loans as I had a lot of other credits and defaults at the time, I responded to the email to reject their offer and to review again if they can just Wondering was fhat worth doing as the email stated this was thier final decision, do you know roughly how long the fos process takes?

        Thanks

        Reply
        • Sara (Debt Camel) says

          February 15, 2023 at 6:40 pm

          Those are small loans – I would be surprised if FOS decides that any of the first three should be refunded and it may well be that FOS says only the last two should.

          Reply
          • Matt says

            February 15, 2023 at 6:57 pm

            Yeah I appreciate they are small loans.

            As the outstanding balance is over 7 years can they still chase me for the remaining balance? my understanding would be that would have come off my credit file after 6 years or will they now reapply this?

            I will still send to FOS will let you know what happens.

          • Sara (Debt Camel) says

            February 16, 2023 at 7:47 am

            The debt may be statute barred, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/statute-barred-debt/ and as that article says talk to National Debtline.

  39. Mr B says

    February 17, 2023 at 9:07 am

    Hi Sara, finally got confirmation of decision from Ombudsman re. complaint against Draft (Gain Credit).

    “ Re-work Mr B’s credit facility balance so that all interest, fees and charges applied to it from 11 July 2019 onwards are removed.”

    I have made £2,236.22 in repayments since that date – Do I assume I will get this total back +8%. (No remaining balance to clear)

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      February 17, 2023 at 10:01 am

      probably not because some of the payments after that date will have been clearing the principal on the amount lent.

      when was the balance cleared?

      Reply
      • Mr B says

        February 17, 2023 at 10:19 am

        balance was cleared 14/03/2022 with final
        payment of c £375. Credit limit had been £600 since July 2019 and was a case of making minimum repayment and re borrowing it every month. Should I minus the £600 from the £2.3k?

        Reply
        • Sara (Debt Camel) says

          February 17, 2023 at 11:38 am

          “balance was cleared 14/03/2022 with final”
          then you would get about 8% back from that date. Plus a bit more if the refund itself would have taken you back into credit before that date.

          But you need to work out from the payments how much interest and charges you paid after July 19. Some of the repayments would have been clearing the new borrowing.

          Reply
          • Mr B says

            February 17, 2023 at 1:56 pm

            Hi Sara, Would it not be a case of adding up all the repayments i made after June 2029 (c£2200) subtracting any redraws of the facility (c£700) to give me a refund amount of £1500?

        • L says

          February 17, 2023 at 11:51 pm

          This is the process as I’m going through similar with my Drafty complaint…

          At the time of 11th July 2019 is when your refund starts, so from that date you need to work out how many payments you made, add them all together, and then add the balance at the time of the 11th July and any drawdowns you had since that time, then you get 2 figures: payments and balance and drawdowns, you then minus the balance and drawdowns from the payments and what you’re left with will be the refund then an additional 8% on that

          Reply
  40. Gemma says

    February 17, 2023 at 11:55 am

    Hiya Sara, similar to someone else who has commented on here; I’m still paying ferratum through a 3rd company on a payment plan. I also received this email, I’ve emailed back twice asking about the loan being removed and whether or not I’m still supposed to be paying, but there’s been no response. Do you have any advice on what to do? Many thanks

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      February 17, 2023 at 1:36 pm

      you are sure you haven’t been paying a debt collector that has bought this loan from ferratum?

      Reply
      • Gemma says

        February 17, 2023 at 1:50 pm

        I wasn’t able to afford the payments so it was passed onto CRS to set up an affordable payment plan. They have advised that as far as they’re aware the business is still running and the amount still needs to be paid, unless I have an email response from Ferratum directly advising otherwise. The email they sent is the same one as advised in the previous comments, so they provided redress on the back of a complaint and advised payments were still required while they investigated, but there’s so specific wording to say the loan no longer needs to be paid

        Reply
        • Sara (Debt Camel) says

          February 17, 2023 at 2:31 pm

          so see this thread earlier https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/comment-page-225/#comment-501106

          You need to ask the administrators to refund the payments you have amde during administration, ask them to write off the balance and remove the nagative marks on yiour credit record.

          I suggest you should also stop paying CRS – your credit record is already harmed.

          Reply
          • Gemma says

            February 17, 2023 at 2:46 pm

            Great thanks so much Sara. I have previously emailed them and had no response, if I again get no response this time would you recommend I contact the ombudsman for support?

          • Sara (Debt Camel) says

            February 17, 2023 at 2:51 pm

            no, the Ombudsman cannot look at this.
            If you can’t get a reply, email the administrators directly: paulboyle@harrisons.uk.com, davidclements@harrisons.uk.com and tonymurphy@harrisons.uk.com

  41. Jamie says

    February 21, 2023 at 11:11 am

    Fernovo:

    I recently made an affordability complaint to Fernovo and they have come back today saying that my complaint has been partially upheld. They have offered me a partial refund on interest and all loans to be wiped from my credit files. The amount of loans and interest on them is not significant compared to some previous lenders i have challenged and so this time around i will not be taking this any further and will be accepting their offer. Having the loans taken off my credit files is the most important aspect for me here.

    For anyone thinking about challenging Fernovo all i can say is they came back in a very timeously manner and (for me) an acceptable solution. I do think that due it being partially upheld they feel i may have a strong case so to me that suggests they are taking these kind of complaints seriously.

    Reply
  42. Lauren says

    February 24, 2023 at 11:50 am

    Hi Sara, could i have some advice on a 247 Moneybox account. Original loan amount £150 showing on my credit file. Sold on too Lantern, i spoke with the Administrators and they advised me to complain directly too Lantern which i have done. Lantern have come back too me stating all claims with 247 Moneybox closed so won’t take further. I haven’t asked them to write the debt off and i can’t see that there are any ‘negative’ marks on my credit file because of this but it is showing as an open account of £150 on my file. I have asked Lantern to reduce the debt back to the original amount borrowed which was £150 (they have whacked it up to £284) Is this unreasonable too ask for as the loan was irresponsible lending and they have all the evidence to show that it was but because they have closed, neither party are wanting to deal with it. Advice would be great! Thank you

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      February 24, 2023 at 11:50 am

      it is showing as an open account of £150 on my file.
      isnt that what you want?

      Reply
  43. Tim says

    February 28, 2023 at 10:42 pm

    Hi Sara, I had a complaint offer from Fernovo (Quidie) which I accepted in August, I received the refund back in August and part of the offer was to remove all the loans (7 loans) from my credit file, it said in the offer this can take up to 30 days. They still haven’t been removed from my credit file despite after the 30 days passed and every month since I have emailed/called them and all I get is that they are looking into it. I’m not convinced they are doing anything about it as they should have been able to remove them by now. What are my options? I have threatened them with the FOS however I know there is a long wait of many months to get a case seen. My other thought is to dispute the accounts with Transunion stating they should have been removed as it has been agreed by Fernovo (Quidie). What do you think is the best way to resolve this?

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      March 1, 2023 at 10:29 am

      as Fernovo is still going, TrasnUnion probably won’t do anything about this.

      I am afraid I think you should send this to the FOS. And also ask for compensation for the delay in putting this right and the way your requests for them to correct this have effectively been ignored. I suggest asking for £50 a month for every month after September when it should have been done.

      Reply
  44. Dave says

    March 1, 2023 at 9:18 am

    Hello DC, I’ve had a response from Moneyboat suggesting that I mislead the lender by providing false information during my application in 2022. They did not ask for bank statements etc at the time but now I’ve complained they have. Surely its their responsibility to check this at the application stage rather than suggest otherwise down the line??

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      March 1, 2023 at 12:20 pm

      They say this to everybody. Unpleasant firm.
      No-one has ever had a problem if they have simply ignored this and sent their complaint to the ombudsman.

      But you should supply bank statements – they prove how unaffordable the lending was.

      Reply
      • Dave says

        March 1, 2023 at 1:10 pm

        I will do thank you.

        Reply
  45. Kyle says

    March 2, 2023 at 10:40 am

    Hi Sara. I have a question about Cash Converters buy back loans, where by you borrow money and they hold our item for 28 days and you can buy it back for 32.5% more, so a £100 loan costs £132.50 to buy back after 28 days.

    Does this constitute a loan? I have been using these for probably 6 years now and always buy my goods back but immediately need to borrow again pretty much. It’s never affordable, however I guess they would say that they don’t need to check affordability as the item is secured against the item?

    Would love to know your thoughts, if they constituted a loan then any claim regarding unaffordability would be worth thousands.

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      March 2, 2023 at 11:33 am

      this sounds like pawn broking. Unfortunately the affordability rules do not apply to this.
      I suggest you talk to a debt adviser about how to get out of this trap – phone National Debtline on 0808 808 4000.

      Reply
  46. K says

    March 2, 2023 at 6:46 pm

    Hiya. Thanks for all the information on here. It’s helped me alot but I just wondered if you know If payday loan refunds affect benefits. I’ve tried looking online but can’t find anything out about it.
    Thanks 😊

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      March 2, 2023 at 9:47 pm

      Refunds count as extra capital, not income. So, generalising, if you ended up with more than 6k in the bank then means-tested benefits may be reduced.

      Reply
    • Kay says

      March 2, 2023 at 10:09 pm

      If it helps to know, Sara has helped me get back £6k in refunds and I’m on UC and I have let them know I have this savings and they deduct £17.80 a month from my UC payment 👍🏻

      Reply
  47. HB says

    March 3, 2023 at 3:55 pm

    Drafty have been in touch to confirm bank details to issue refund – does anybody have any experience in regards to waiting times from this point?

    Reply
    • L says

      March 6, 2023 at 11:35 am

      I have received an offer from Drafty also, however my adjudicator is requesting more info as to where the offer comes from as it doesn’t comply with my adjudicators findings. I believe it takes 28 days for them to settle and pay out.

      Did yours go to FOS or did they agree to settle without?

      Reply
      • H B says

        March 6, 2023 at 7:46 pm

        Drafty did not agree at first so went to adjudicator. Drafty offered an amount that adjudicator did not agree with so went to ombudsman for final decision who ruled in my favour. ombudsman gave them 4 weeks to settle so just waiting for refund now. ombudsman told me to reach out if final amount is not as expected

        Reply
        • L says

          March 7, 2023 at 8:15 am

          Sounds very similar to my case. How long did it take for the ombudsman to get involved and make the decision after the adjudicator didn’t agree with it if you don’t mind me asking?

          Reply
          • HB says

            March 7, 2023 at 9:48 am

            Adjudicator decision was in July. I then had to escalate to Ombudsman that takes a while but I believe FCA & Gain Credit were having talks regarding the way they settle complaints, as in both of our cases, they did not do correctly, so the talks went on for several months and believe they were concluded early 2023. I then received final decision mid Feb

  48. MJ says

    March 6, 2023 at 8:55 am

    Hi, im hoping for some advise. i had a loan dating back to 2018, i then got a CCJ from this loan in June 2019. i made a complaint recently regarding this loan and they have responded saying they deem this closed as i submitted a complaint in May 2019. given that i have since had a CCJ from this loan am i eligible to resubmit the complaint given part of my complaint is now regarding the removal of the CCJ? i am kicking myself over this as i didnt realise i had submitted a complaint and it was definetely unaffordable. i had 8 active payday loans at the time when they give me this one. im unsure where to go from here so any help is greatly appreciated

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      March 6, 2023 at 2:00 pm

      what do you mean, you didn’t realise you had sumbitted a complaint?

      Reply
  49. K says

    March 8, 2023 at 12:42 pm

    Hi Sara
    I have filled out an R40 form to try to claim back tax paid on a pay day loan refund. HMRC have asked me to send them the tax certificate breakdown from lending stream as they said the way I filled out the R40 form doesn’t make sense to them, so I will send it to them, but I was wondering if I Will qualify to receive that tax back. Does the refund I received from lending stream get classed as income and would that be added to my annual work income ? I am just worried by submitting it I will end up owing HMRC more money than what I am requesting refunded. Hope I’m making sense. Appreciate your help.

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      March 8, 2023 at 2:55 pm

      Does the refund I received from lending stream get classed as income
      It is treated as savings income. Not normal income. You gave a tax free allowance for savings income each year, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/ppi-payday-refund-get-back-tax/

      You can only end up owing more if you are a higher rate tax payer and you have used up the tax free savings allowance.

      Reply
  50. James says

    March 12, 2023 at 8:02 am

    Hi,

    I was wondering if anyone made a claim against fundourselves? They are peer to peer lending and it is 500% apr, my finance are terrible so they are a last resort.

    Had 6/7 loans off them £1500 and you repay £3000 but I like to clear within the 1 month but this month is going to be hard.

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      March 12, 2023 at 8:22 am

      How long a period was this 6/7 loans over?

      And what other debts do you have at the moment?

      Reply
      • James says

        March 12, 2023 at 10:59 am

        So the first 6 loans were within a few months. Then they declined me a few times so the last was July and then finally got another one last month.

        I have 3 loans, car finance and 6 credit cards with around 7k on them. I should never have took the loans but robbing Peter to pay Paul and this month is going to be worse as I can’t afford my credit rating being affected so I don’t want to miss a payment.

        Reply
        • Sara (Debt Camel) says

          March 12, 2023 at 2:14 pm

          Why can’t you afford your credit rating to be affected? It must be pretty bad if you are reduced to this sort of expensive borrowing?

          Have you looked at affordability complaints against the loans and credit cards? How far through the car finance are you?

          Reply
  51. James says

    March 12, 2023 at 2:30 pm

    1 year of 3 years through hire purchase, it is pretty bad but no defaults. Even though my credit is bad I am thinking if I pay it all off and no defaults in a few years I can get a mortgage.

    Withdrawing cash from credit cards might hinder that an extra few years. I was not aware you could make affordability against credit cards, I thought it was only loans? I think that would be a good idea.

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      March 12, 2023 at 3:07 pm

      For large loans see https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-large-high-cost-loans/
      That also covers car finance but you have to have repaid at least the amount you borrowed, without interest, or you may win the complaint and still lose the car.

      For credit cards see https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-catalogue-credit-card/.

      You can make a complaint against fundourselves. 6 loans in a few months means you may get a refund of some of the later ones. But the big gap means the current one may not be included. This is definitely worth a try but it may well have to go to the ombudsman so this is niot a quick solution to your current situation.

      You have to stop borrowing from them. Payday loans within the last 2 years are a major problem for a mortgage application even if you have repaid them on time. And some high street lenders may say three years.

      If you have difficulty with these repayments at the moment, I am sorry but I think you need a debt management plan. Trying to muddle through this and improve your credit score while prices carry on rising… how can you ever clear these debts? And until you do you can’t think of saving a deposit.

      Reply
      • James says

        March 12, 2023 at 4:39 pm

        That makes sense, thank you very much for your help.

        Reply
  52. Dan says

    March 13, 2023 at 5:18 pm

    Hi All, just accepted a lending stream refund from some irresponsible lending they done with me previously, I accepted on Friday with my new bank details & copy of bank statement they required. Can anyone help me and advise how long the refund takes after accepting it?

    Reply
    • Jo says

      March 13, 2023 at 5:43 pm

      Mine went in within n 24 hours no problems at all xx

      Reply
  53. Jonny says

    March 20, 2023 at 10:00 pm

    I have recently logged into my Drafty account as I have been making small token payments of £1 per month (they only allow a payment plan for 2 years and this wasn’t affordable). Anyways, I get a message saying “Your account has been closed and the balance has been written off”. Does this mean they’ve actually written the account off? They’ve not been in touch with me at all and I’ve received no correspondence. Clearly, this is good news, if true.. but I’ve never seen this anywhere happening and I’m thinking they’ve maybe sold the account on but I’ve not received any correspondence yet. I have tried to call them but they’re so difficult to get through too and will continue to persevere. I’ve kept a screenshot, nevertheless, in case it’s disputed at a later stage.

    Any thoughts?

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      March 21, 2023 at 8:57 am

      Have you looked at how the account is marked on your credit record?

      Reply
      • Jonny says

        March 21, 2023 at 9:23 am

        Hi Sara, they haven’t marked anything on my credit file yet. Thankfully, I’ve been able to get in touch with them on live chat on their website. The balance has definitely been written off on 15th March, so last week, and I guess that’s why I cannot see it yet. I can see a comment from last month about Drafty/Lending Stream where someone was told the FCA was speaking to them about their level of complaint. I can only assume this is a similar forced process that happened with Fernovo/Quidie.

        I asked on live chat why it was written off as I think it’s clear this was irresponsible lending. They said they don’t have a reason but someone will be in touch. Clearly, I’m going to be owed more in interest and I want to get the ball rolling now as I don’t think it will end well and administration will soon be on the horizon.

        Interestingly, I had historically made a complaint, in 2018, which at the time I didn’t forward to the FOS as my life was a bit of a mess. Hopefully this will work out well.

        I would encourage others who are in payment plans or token payments to check their accounts too.

        Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      March 21, 2023 at 12:08 pm

      OK so you want the loan to be shown as settled with zero owing. If this is done, they should not try to sell the loan to a debt collector.

      How long had you been borrowing from them before you made the repayment agreement? What is the balance that has been written off?

      Reply
      • Jonny says

        March 21, 2023 at 12:16 pm

        They’ve confirmed in writing (on live chat) and verbally on the phone that it has definitely been written off and cannot/will not be sold to a debt collector. I still find it strange that it has to go to another team to confirm why it was written off. The girl on the phone did say she thought it would be due to irresponsible lending.

        I took out the account back in January 2017 and it had a credit limit of £300. This continuously increased up until late 2019 when it was £2000. I essentially stopped paying in 2019 and the balance was down to £1789 which has now been written off. They had stopped interest in December 2019. I’m no longer able to access my statement of fees (I’m unsure why, perhaps related?) but for a good 18 months I was paying £125 interest per month and then other months £50-£100. I think there’s a fair chance they owe me about £1000+ including the 8%.

        I have been advised to wait 3 days for a response and if no response then to re contact them on Monday. As I said previously, I think there’s a solid chance they’ll go into administration soon.

        Reply
  54. Tim says

    March 26, 2023 at 8:55 pm

    Hi, does anyone have an idea how long the FOS is currently taking to look at payday loan cases? I have one against MoneyBoat that’s approaching 6months and still not been looked at. I had another against 118Money regarding loans through a claims company (original complaint to company went in before I found this website and have done all the others by myself) which was sent to the FOS at the end of November and has been concluded in early March. Is there a reason why that one went through so quick and the MoneyBoat one still hasn’t been looked at?

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      March 26, 2023 at 9:47 pm

      there seems to be a large random element in these things

      Did you win the 118 case?

      Reply
      • Tim says

        March 27, 2023 at 10:41 am

        Hi Sarah,
        Yes 118 had to pay around £1000 refund of which I got around £700 after the claims company fees. I did wonder if it went through quicker as I don’t think 118 loans are classed as payday loans? or my other thought was if it went through quicker due to being through a claims company? Is there anything I can do to get a time frame? Seems odd they don’t have a date order system for these. The MoneyBoat complaint is the most urgent one, I have others with the FOS that I’m not in a rush for however MoneyBoat was the first one I sent in and the one I could do resolving as soon as possible.

        Reply
        • Sara (Debt Camel) says

          March 27, 2023 at 10:59 am

          yes this will be on a separate FOS track as 118 wasn’t a payday lender. Claims company cases don’t do through any faster.

          Do you still owe Moneyboat any money?

          Reply
    • Tim says

      March 27, 2023 at 12:11 pm

      Hi Sara,
      No the MoneyBoat loans are fully paid, there were 3 of them and they are the only ones now marked as payday loans on my credit report. My aim is to get them removed to improve mortgage options, the last one ended June 2021 so nearly at the 2 year mark for applying for mortgages but would rather them be removed if possible to open up more options/lenders etc. Along with the loans being unaffordable I have provided evidence that their website stated ”payday loans can improve your credit score” back in 2020 when I took the first loan and that they have now changed it on their current website to say ”payday loans do not improve your credit score”. I used the advice from your ”Recent payday loans make it hard to get a mortgage” page and used the Way Back When Machine, I’m hoping the FOS will rule in my favour as I feel I have a good case with both the unaffordable claim as well as the misleading information. Any thoughts?

      Reply
      • Sara (Debt Camel) says

        March 27, 2023 at 3:38 pm

        I hope you win!

        Reply
  55. Tom says

    March 27, 2023 at 11:21 am

    Hi Sara,

    Quick question. A while back i made an affordability complaint against lendingstream for 3 loans taken out in 2017. They offered me £25 which i stupidly accepted, the actual refund would be nearer £1k. I assume i can’t go back to the ombudsman?

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      March 27, 2023 at 12:02 pm

      Correct. (Unless they forgot to tell you that you could go to FOS.)

      This is too late and you cannot make a new complaint either.

      Reply
  56. Keven says

    March 29, 2023 at 12:15 pm

    Hi I’ve been to the ombudsman and they favoured with me on my case against capital one and am waiting for a settlement amount from them, its been 3 weeks since I agreed to settle but they’ve not come back to me with a figure should I start contacting them or wait. Its there a set time for them to settle it or are they just waiting as long as possible to give me a figure and will then wait as long as possible again to pay back the money

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      March 29, 2023 at 4:27 pm

      Was this an Ombudsman decision? Or did Capital One accept an adjudicator decision?

      Reply
      • Keven says

        April 13, 2023 at 10:43 pm

        They’ve accepted the ombudsman decision but it’s been 5 weeks not and they were given 4 weeks. They’ve still not contacted me with a figure

        Reply
        • Sara (Debt Camel) says

          April 14, 2023 at 6:14 am

          I would do as Laura says and call the complaints line. If that doesn’t work, tell your adjudicator what is happening.

          Reply
          • Keven says

            April 15, 2023 at 8:25 am

            I tried phone but they don’t understand. They don’t speak great English and as soon as I use the word settlement they tell me my balance and tell me a mimlnimum payment it’s very frustrating. I tried explaining a few times. I’m not great at talking over the phone il just have to sit and wait I think

        • Sara (Debt Camel) says

          April 15, 2023 at 2:53 pm

          Then send them an email.
          And tell your adjudicator what is happening.

          Reply
    • Laura says

      March 29, 2023 at 5:16 pm

      They took four weeks with me, paid one day before the 4 weeks the ombudsman gave them! If you call the complaints line with your reference numbers (capital ones complaints line) I spoke to someone there who was super helpful and told me what the figure was and that a letter had been sent out 2 days before. Sure enough the letter was there the next day and 3 days after that a cheque

      Reply
      • Laura says

        April 15, 2023 at 4:03 pm

        You need to call the complaints line not the general line. Or if you call the general one ask to be put through to a complaints manager. I got nowhere on email with them, in fact 8! Yes 8! Weeks after I’d had the cheque and cashed it I got a response via email 😂. I think just one woman called Emma replies to all the complaints emails so that’s probably why. The person I spoke to spoke perfect English and actually was Scottish. She even told me she was working from home in Glasgow and we had a good old chat! Lovely woman.

        Reply
  57. Gemma says

    March 30, 2023 at 3:54 pm

    Hiya Sara, I’ve been checking through details online and only realised today that Myjar went into administration in 2020. I’m still currently paying my balance from them to a third party, should I still be paying this amount? Thank you!

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      March 30, 2023 at 6:11 pm

      was this sold before they went into administration? did you make a claim to the administrators?

      Reply
  58. Mark says

    April 12, 2023 at 4:28 pm

    Hi. I took 4 loans out with lending stream last year, at the time I have a very bad gambling problem and all my money was going towards that. I made a irresponsible lending complaint to then as they never checked my bank statements and if they did they would have seen all of these transactions and wouldn’t have given me credit. I sent them all of my bank statements to show this but they have come back today and have refused my complaint.

    Should I go to the FOS with this?

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      April 12, 2023 at 4:48 pm

      how large were the loans? were they one after another, or did you have several running at one time?

      Reply
      • Mark Saunders says

        April 13, 2023 at 12:44 am

        March 250
        March 350
        December 300
        January 500

        I also had multiple other payday loans at the time

        Reply
        • Sara (Debt Camel) says

          April 13, 2023 at 6:44 am

          Was Decembers loan still running when you too out January’s?

          Reply
          • Mark Saunders says

            April 13, 2023 at 2:33 pm

            No it was closed. But my bank statements was full of other payday loans and gambling transactions that they never checked.

    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      April 13, 2023 at 3:56 pm

      I think you could try. the loans are small but your fourth loan was the largest one.

      Reply
  59. Karl says

    April 15, 2023 at 12:04 am

    Hi. I need some advice. I made a complaint to payday lender Cashasap back in 2017 regarding what I felt was 5/6 miss sold loans. The remaining balance at the time of the complaint was £122. An agreement was made that the rest of the balance would be cleared and all negative remarks removed from my credit file. I checked my credit file on the 13th April and found an open loan worth £122. From Cashasap. I contacted them to ask why it was still open. The lady informed me that my balance was zero but that she would pass it on the team. I received an email that night to say that my account had been frozen for 6 years and they are now looking the £122 payment. I do not have a copy of the email they sent me about closing the account, however I do the affordability email I sent to them back in 2017. What should I do?

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      April 15, 2023 at 2:55 pm

      Send them a complaint in writing saying that they agreed the loan was unaffordable in 2017 and agreed to write off the debt and clean your credit record.

      Reply
  60. Tim says

    April 18, 2023 at 10:29 pm

    Hi Sara,
    I finally got an adjudicator for the MoneyBoat case (details in my post below) and they have not upheld my complaint. They have basically said the loans were unaffordable but MoneyBoat wouldn’t have known that at the time, also with regards to my complaint about the misleading information they acknowledged that MoneyBoat advertised that payday loans can improve your credit score and have now changed their marketing to say they don’t but stated as I took the loans out for ‘car repairs’ they didn’t think improving my credit score was a primary concern when taking the loans out. I have replied with all the evidence attachments I have and stated it shouldn’t matter what I took the loans out for if I knew they would damage my credit report with regards to mortgage applications I wouldn’t have taken them out. I have also provided evidence that MoneyBoat stated in an email to me if they’d have seen my bank statements at the time they wouldn’t have given me the loans. It seems a lazy and poorly investigated response from the adjudicator. Do many cases get changed when sent to the Ombudsman for review after an adjudicator has given their response? I have asked the adjudicator to review all the evidence in my latest email and if their decision remains the same to forward the case to an ombudsman as I guess that is my last resort. Is there any chance the ombudsman might overturn the decision from the adjudicator?

    Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      April 19, 2023 at 8:31 am

      How large were the three Moneyboat loans?

      When you took the loans, were you just ticking a box for the reason? If so, I doubt that they listed “credit repair” as a on option! Also if you ticked car repairs for the reason for all three loans, they should surely have asked themselves if that was correct.

      Reply
      • Tim says

        April 19, 2023 at 7:09 pm

        Hi Sara,
        The adjudicator has replied again saying he’s not changing his decision so it has been sent to an ombudsman for review. The loans were £400, £1000 & £700. I can’t remember exactly with regards to the tick boxes however I believe that was the case that I just ticked car repairs.

        Reply
    • Sara (Debt Camel) says

      April 19, 2023 at 8:08 pm

      £1000 is a large loan – Moneyboat should have looked closely at you application as that was so large. I suggest you go back and say that, make the point again that you would have found another alternative eg borrowing from family if you had been told that payday loans repaid on time can make it harder to get other sorts of credit. Ask for you comment to be passed to the ombudsman.

      Reply
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