Did your payday loans cost so much when you repaid one you had to keep on borrowing?
You can get a refund of the interest you paid on unaffordable loans.
It’s easy to ask for a payday loan refund using the free template letters here. The letters work if your payday loans were repaid or you still owe money.
The comments below this article have thousands of stories of the refunds people have got using these letters. It is a great place to ask questions!
Contents
What are “unaffordable” loans?
Was a loan affordable just because you repaid it?
No! If paying a loan left you so broke you had to borrow again – from the same lender or a different one – it was unaffordable!
The regulator says:
“the borrower should be able to make the required repayments without undue difficulty, whilst continuing to meet other debt repayment obligations and reasonable regular outgoings.”
That means a payday loan is only affordable if you repaid it on time and you could still manage to pay your other bills and debts.
Payday loans are meant to solve a short-term problem. If you kept repaying one then getting another loan soon after, the lender should have stopped lending to you.
If the loan was small and it was the first loan or second loan from a lender, the lender may not have realised the loan was unaffordable for you. But it was irresponsible lending to just carry on giving you more loans.
Many lenders ignore obvious signs of problems such as your loans increasing in size, or borrowing again soon after repayment.
How much compensation can you get?
You don’t have to calculate this. Just ask for a refund from the lender and see what you are offered. This is simple and it works well.
The Financial Ombudsman has seen tens of thousands of payday loan affordability complaints.
A typical decision by the Ombudsman is that the payday lender should refund all the interest you paid interest after the third, fourth or fifth loan.
But if your first loan was large, or was rolled over several times you could get a refund from just one loan.
Which lenders can you get refunds from?
You can complain to lenders that are still in business, even if they are no longer lending. These include:
Lending Stream, Cash Converters, CashASAP, Drafty, Dot Dot, Fast Loan Uk, Fernovo, Fund Ourselves, Kabayan, LoanPig, Mr Lender, Moneyboat, MyKredit, My Finance Club, QuidMarket, Savvy, The Money Platform, WageMe, Wizzcash,
See this email list for payday lenders for a longer list and all the contact details to use.
If the lender has gone into administration, including CashForUNow, Piggybank, Ferratum, Oakam, Safetynet Credit, Tappily:
- make a claim to the administrators – there is normally a simple form for you to complete, see the lender’s website for details – but there will be a time limit for doing this.
- you may not get much cash back but this is very easy to do. A balance may be reduced or cleared even if there is no cash to distribute. And if you win the complaint any negative marks on your credit record will be removed.
It is probably too late to make claims to other lenders who gave up years ago, see this list.
For longer-term loans there are better template letters to use on other pages:
- doorstep lenders and guarantor lenders,
- Loans2Go – the worst loans in Britain!
- 118 Money, Likely Loans, Bamboo, car finance, bank loans and other long-term loans.
Do this before, before you send in a complaint
Doing these things now will make your life easier later.
Get a copy of your TransUnion statutory credit report and keep it. After complaints are started, sometimes loans are deleted and you may want the full report if you later have to go to the Ombudsman.
If you still owe money to the lender, read Will an affordability claim hurt my credit record, and other questions. These looks at your options for stopping paying, the effect on your credit record etc.
If the rest of your finances are difficult, look into a Debt Management Plan (DMP) where you make one affordable payment a month to StepChange. This gets you into a safe financial position as these affordability complaints can take a long time to go through at the Ombudsman. Winning a complaint then speeds up the DMP.
Unless you can afford to make this month’s payment without borrowing again, cancel the CPA to the lender at your bank. Otherwise the lender may take the money and you will be in a mess.
If your loan was sold to a debt collector you complain to the original lender. But also tell the debt collector that you are disputing the debt. It is a good idea to carry on making payments to the debt collector if they are affordable.
Start your complaint & get loan details
Find the lender’s email address for complaints from this list.
Put “AFFORDABILITY COMPLAINT” as the subject of your email:
You should never have given me these unaffordable loans. Paying you each month left me with too little money so I had to keep borrowing to get through the next month.
You should have realised from the number of times I borrowed that my debt problems were getting worse. It was not responsible to continue to lend to me. [Add more details eg how often you borrowed or rolled loans if you know them, how the amount borrowed generally went up etc]
[Include/change this if your credit record would have shown big problems:] My credit reports would have shown all my other debts and problems including late payments/defaults /CCJs/debt management.]
I am asking you to refund the interest and any charges I paid, plus statutory interest, and to delete any negative information from my credit record.
[delete this sentence if you know what all your loans were.] I know the difficulties your loans have caused me but I no longer have all the loan details. Please send me a list, showing for each loan when it was taken out, how much interest and charges you added, and what I repaid. This will enable me to assess any refund you offer me.
[delete this sentence if none of your loans were sold.]If a loan was later sold to a debt collector, please inform me of the date of sale and the name of the debt collector.
Some ways to improve this
Add any other points that help you describe what happened to you. You don’t need to list the loans – the lenders knows them.
Some examples:
- “I took out another loan with xxxx to pay you.”
- “Sometimes I borrowed to pay the rent and then had to top-up to get money for food.”
- if you weren’t treated fairly while you were borrowing or when you could not make a payment, add a bit about this.
You can attach bank statements if you like, This is a good idea as these show how unaffordable the loans were for you. If you have gambling showing, this helps your complaint, it doesn’t harm it.
I don’t know if many lenders actually read what you send them. I
it’s easy to make these complaints – you don’t need to calculate what refund you should get or quote laws.
Only one loan?
The template refers to multiple loans because that is what normally happens with payday lenders.
When you only had one loan and it was large, read Refunds from large loans and use the template there.
If you only had one loan and it was small, this is going to be a very difficult complaint to win. If you have borrowed once or twice from 5 leaders, that is much more difficult to win an affordability complaint than having 4 or 5 loans from two lenders.
Waiting for a reply from the lender
This email starts your affordability complaint.
They may send the list of loans first and later respond to your complaint. So don’t be surprised if you get sent info on the loans but nothing about your request for a refund.
When you get your loan information, you can send in more details about your complaint if you want. You don’t have to do this, your complaint has already begun and the lender has to reply.
The lender should reply to your complaint within 8 weeks from when you send the email, not when they acknowledge it. Make a note in your diary for 8 weeks time and chase the lender up if you don’t get a reply.
Don’t be surprised if you have to wait until the end of the 8 weeks to get response – this is common.
Send your bank statements or other information?
Some lenders ask you to send them a copy of your credit record, payslips or bank statements.
Credit record – the lender can check your credit record themselves if they want. But you should download a copy of your credit record asap as the Ombudsman will ask for it. Don’t put this off, the sooner you get a report downloaded, the further back it goes which is good.
Don’t send payslips – they won’t help an affordability complaint and the ombudsman never asks for them.
It is a good idea to send bank statements. But think twice about the cost of copying and postage if there are a lot. Some lenders seem to ignore them if you do send them.
Again this is a good point to get those bank statements even if you do not want to send them as they will help an Ombudsman claim a lot. You can get them going back at least 6 years even if the account has been closed.
Lender says No or makes a poor offer
If the lender rejects your complaint or offers you a small amount, don’t be depressed. You may still have a very good case!
It is easy and free to send your case to the Financial Ombudsman where many thousands of people have won their payday loan complaints, despite being rejected by the lender.
Give up?
Some lenders try to make your case sound bad when it isn’t. People have had large amounts refunded after a complete rejection!
Just ignore any of the following comments, they do not mean you have a weak case:
- they relied on your loan applications and you didn’t give accurate facts – see Lender says I lied for more about this;
- you repaid some loans early – this doesn’t prove the loans were affordable, just that you were trying to save interest;
- your borrowing didn’t go up every time – irrelevant, what matters is that you kept borrowing;
- you had a good enough credit score or they didn’t legally have to check your credit record – if you only had one or two small loans that is true. But if the loans were large or you kept borrowing, they should have looked more closely;
- your loans are over 6 years old – the Ombudsman will look at these even if the lender says they won’t!
A good enough case to go to the Ombudsman?
If you don’t know what to do, ask in the comments below this article. Accepting an offer settles your whole complaint – you can’t change your mind later.
Don’t worry that you will lose a small offer by going to the Ombudsman – this doesn’t happen.
Some points to think about:
- if you are offered a refund on only a few loans, don’t accept it if you think the lender should have realised a lot of the other loans were unaffordable;
- an offer to write off your current balance may sound convenient … but it may be very poor if you should get a refund as well;
- if getting defaults or late payments removed from your credit record is important to you, are you happy with what the lender is proposing to do? Don’t assume your credit record will be cleared if the lender didn’t mention this.
One or two loan cases are hard to win at the Ombudsman. It’s probably best to give up on one or two loan cases unless:
- the loan was large. Here is one single loan case that was won even though it was an installment loan and the borrower had a good income. And another single loan case for a loan of £1,000. You can win cases for smaller amounts if the repayment would have been a large amount of your income; or
- you still owe money.
Don’t delay too long – there is a 6-month time limit after a lender rejects your complaint to send the case to the ombudsman. When you aren’t sure, send the complaint to FOS. This is easy to do – let FOS make the decision.
How to send a complaint to FOS
Put in a separate complaint about each lender.
Don’t wait until all your lenders have replied before sending the first one to the Ombudsman!
FOS’s “complain online” option is easy and takes you through your complaint step by step.
You can just copy what you said in your complaint to the lender. You can add more details, for example, if you disagree with what the lender replied to you.
If some of your loans were over 6 years ago, tell the Ombudsman when and how you found out about these complaints. For example:
“I knew the loans were causing me difficulty in 2016, but I thought this was my fault for being bad with money. I didn’t find out that the lender should have checked the loans were affordable until June 2022 when my brother told me about these claims/I saw an advert from a claims company on Facebook/I read an article about these claims” – change this so it is right for your case!
Things to attach:
- the reply you have had from the lender.
- bank statements if you have them. Ideally from 3 months before your first loan until the last loan was repaid or you defaulted on it. This strengthens your case, showing how unaffordable the loans were. You can still get bank statements even if your account is closed – if you don’t have them, start the process of getting them now, don’t wait until FOS asks for them.
- a copy of your TransUnion Statutory credit report
- a copy of the credit agreements for the loans if you have them. If you don’t, don’t worry, FOS will get them from the lender.
What happens after you have sent a case to FOS
You will normally be contacted within a couple of weeks and asked for a copy of your credit record and your bank statements if you haven’t sent these. If you have sent these on one complaint, then when you complain about a different lender they will use the ones they already have.
After this initial contact, your case will wait for the lender to send FOS your case file and then wait to be picked up by an adjudicator who will make a decision on it.
If you are still making payments to the lender, tell the lender you want to reduce these to an affordable amount. This will make waiting for an Ombudsman decision much less stressful for you.
The Financial Ombudsman has a two-stage process. Most cases are settled by the first “adjudicator” stage but about 10% go to the second “Ombudsman” stage.
A few problem cases
Don’t ask for a refund:
- if you are bankrupt now or have been bankrupt in the past – any refund would go to the Official Receiver.
- if you are in an IVA, as refunds will go to your IVA firm not to you. If your IVA has finished the refund may still be sent to your old IVA firm.
- if you are in a DRO now, getting a refund may mean your DRO is cancelled!
More help
You can ask a question in the comments below – you may get a reply from someone who has been in your exact situation.
Don’t use a claims management company. They are expensive and often incompetent. It’s easy to do this yourself and you can ask questions below and get replies from other readers who have done this.
Card & catalogue affordability complaints
Can you get an overdraft refund?
Could a Debt Relief Order help you?
Simon says
I recently got a statement of account from MyJar (for my TxtLoan account). This showed i had taken out 42 loans from them within 12 months, starting at £100 and evetually ending with £400 loans. Nearly everyone one of those loans were taken out the same day or day after I had paid the previous loans so i was basically rolling over the same loan every two weeks for a year with the loan amount gradually increasing.
I am struggling to see my credit report as I know i had other loans around the same time and was using these to pay back this loan knowing i could just reapply and get the money back although in hindsight this wasnt helping me as I paid £1800 in a year. I am also struggling to find my finacial information ie. income and expenditure….what should i do? should i still email Myjar with a letter basically explaining my compaint or will they want all the income and expenditure information which i will struggle to get hold of or remember?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Simon, I suggest you email MyJar with a version of the template letter in the article above. remove / simplify bits where you don’t know the details – just having 42 loans in a year which mostly went up in size shows that you were dependent on the loans, counldn’t afford to repay without borrowing again and that it was irresponsible of MyJar to continue to lend to you.
If they reject your complaint definitely go to the Ombudsman. The ombudsman may want to see your bank account statements from that time, but the Ombudsman can get them direct from your bank if you don’t have them. You don’t need these before you put in a complaint to MyJar.
Mike says
Hi Sara,
Wonga have replied to me with the following:
Unfortunately, our investigation is taking longer than expected, and we can’t yet offer you a resolution to your complaint.
We appreciate your patience and apologise for any inconvenience that this delay may cause.
We try to resolve complaints as soon as possible and we will issue you with a final response no later than 8 weeks after you first contacted us. If we cannot respond in this time, we will contact you to explain the delay and outline when you can expect to receive a response. If you are unhappy with the progress of your complaint at that stage, you can refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
is this good or bad news?
thanks,
Mike
Ross says
Hi Mike,
I had the same email and then a further response, a few days later, upholding my complaint. The key here is that Wonga appear to be investigating complaints correctly, although I can’t admit the correct outcome comes for every complaint. I would prefer a lender to take longer to investigate than just rush through a decision at possible detriment to the complainant (us), but that’s just my opinion.
Rich says
Hi I had the same email on Monday this week. I emailed back today asking what the status of it was and that next Monday would be the 8th week since the original complaint. To my surprise within 2 hours I had a response; kept reading down about credit checks were made etc… at the end it said with this in mind we feel we didn’t do all we should have done and offered just short of 3k in refunds for interest plus the 8%. So it would be worth giving them a little push depending on how long ago you sent in your complaint.
Dan says
These lenders are like buses, wait for weeks for nothing then all of a sudden 2 responses in 1 day.
P2P as expected did not uphold my complaint. Had a loan with them, when I had 2 payments left refinanced and got a new amount which went into a DMP to be paid off, although there response only refers to the loan which was paid off on time and not the second loan which was paid off in the DMP, its one of those situations where I’m not hopeful but have nothing to lose by sending to the fos.
Ladder loans responded saying they did not uphold my complaint but notice they added £900 of interest after being placed into DMP so would like to offer that back (not admitting any liability obviously). I paid £1400 in interest so I’m happy to accept this, I feel that by them offering this I could get more with fos but I feel it’s a pretty decent offer considering.
Thanks to Sara and all the posters on this site, your information and advice has been invaluable.
MMLA says
Can someone point me in the right direction with regards to the following questions from an FO? I’m pretty sure they have been answered on here before. It I with regards to loans over 6 years old. I started his process in Jan this year so been a long wait so far. Thanks.
when did you realise that you had a reason to complain to QQ about the loans you took out?
when did you realise something had gone wrong and QQ were responsible?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you reply simply explaining when and how you heard about the possibility of payday loan refunds. Did you see a link to this site on Facebook or MoneySavingExpert, did a friend send it to you, or did a friend say they had heard of refunds and you found out by googling, or did you get a small refund out of the blue from Wonga and you googled to find out more?
Most people realised whilst they were still borrowing from a lender that their finances were in a mess but didn’t understand that a loan was unaffordable and that the lender should have been looking into more detail when they were borrowing so often. People often thought it was their own fault for borrowing, not that the lender had been irresponsible lending.
There are no wrong answers here – just say what happened in January that made you start the complaint.
Neil says
Does anyone know how long it takes for lending stream to pay your refund if you accept there settlement offer?
Thanks in advance
Neil
Ross says
Don’t hold your breath on this one Neil. I’m about to reopen my complaint with the FOS after agreeing a compromise deal with LS. I accepted on 12/11/16 and, despite numerous calls and emails, nothing received at all and their contempt knows no boundaries. My adjudicator is appalled and I think they can now have the FOS investigate fully and I will be seeking an additional payment for their incompetence during the whole process.
Matt says
Hi Ross – has your adjudicator given any indication of what they can actually do? I accepted a final ombudsman decision on 23rd October and, even after CFO Lending calculated the payment due incorrectly, I am still waiting. The FOS have just said they will chase it up and to allow until 5th December as they have a backlog. I’m not really sure whether the delay is deliberate on CFO’s part or simply down to incompetence but either way it has wasted a lot of everyone’s time!
Ross says
Hi Matt,
When I originally complained to LS, they just sent back an email saying that they did not agree with my complaint blah, blah, blah and, even though it didn’t specifically state ‘final response’ I felt it wouldn’t go any further with them. A lot of people have had the same issue with LS, so I decided to send it to the FOS anyway and they could explain if it was a ‘final response’ or not. Then, out of the blue, they emailed me again, making an offer. LS wasn’t one of my biggest claims and the offer was fair, so I accepted. They were quick enough to tell my adjudicator that I’d accepted, as she emailed me the following day to say that the business had advised I have accepted their offer and could she close the case. Foolishly, I said ‘yes’ assuming that the refund would be forthcoming. I have called and emailed LS. The phone call was escalated and was assured that it would be sorted. All complete cobblers. Emails go unanswered. I contacted the original adjudicator, on Monday, and she said that she can reopen the case if needed. She said they allow a business 28 days to refund, but how come LS can promise cash in your account in 15 minutes, when applying for one of their loans, yet you have to wait up to 4 weeks for a refund? I have given them one final opportunity to apply the refund, by this Friday, or the complaint will be reopened and scrutinised fully. The adjudicator is hopeful this will spur them on, but I don’t share her confidence for some bizarre reason (and, yes, that’s sarcasm).
Dan says
Another day another rejection, although hats off to QQ rejecting in under 6 weeks (offering good will of £100). What I don’t understand is their model credit scores, considering I had a P2P loan and they stated one credit model score and QQ are quoting a completely different score from the same time.
Also this morning after receiving p2p rejection yesterday have received an email from them thanking me for opening an account and offering me a discount on my first loan repayment. Bunch of jokers
Ross says
Just thought I would share this one with you all, as I believe it could be a great help. After speaking to an adjudicator at the FOS, she has advised that if people are going to submit multiple complaints to them, then it would be beneficial to note on the complaint that you already have existing complaints lodged with the FOS. The reason being, they can use the credit report, bank statements etc… already sent/received for existing complaints without the need to request them again and slow down the process. I submitted a complaint about WDA and, the following day, was advised that they had all of the information needed to push ahead with investigating it. I’m expecting to send a few more to the FOS, so this will save a great deal of time. Hope this helps?
Michelle says
Good advice Ross, I think I nearly killed the FOS e mail system as had one case with them but after comments from Nim I raised all my complaints with them, they have written to all companies to remind them to respond within 8 weeks which gives them that little nudge that you will not go away.
When I e mailed them bank stats etc for my peachy complaint I sent bank statements covering all complaints plus additional statement of accounts etc and asked them to apply to relevant case numbers ( think I sent 50 attachments)
All I need is decent offer from these companies now or a rejection letter and then FOS are ready to go on all ?
Craig says
Word of useful advice with anyone dealing with QQ & P2P via Adjudicator/FOS; if given a figure agreed upon between FOS and Company, don’t wait the 28 days – make a nuisance of yourself to CashEuroNetUK (emails calls etc) and they’ll pay out what you’re owed within 24 hours.
After all, they’ve likely taken up months of your waiting time so why allow them any further leeway.
Thanks again to this website and all the comments here, been eternally useful with my claims. Successful with Mr Lender, Wonga, QQ & P2P, last two through the FOS. Initial complaints sent early August.
Michelle says
Hi Craig. How long did mr lender and Wonga take to respond to you with offers as I have large complaints with both of these lenders
Craig says
Mr Lender made an offer within 24 hours, but I didn’t use them very frequently.
Wonga took 8 weeks but made big offer at the end which avoided any need to involve the FOS.
Ross says
Just had great news from Sunny. A full refund of all interest & charges, with 8% interest, totalling £1700. They quibbled a little in the email saying that they couldn’t uphold all of the complaint but as a gesture of ‘goodwill’ they would still refund as I requested. It’s taken 7 weeks, but the correct outcome came in the end, so it was worth the wait. Happy man here :)
Matt S says
Really disappointed, in fact that’s maybe an understatement!!
Had 2 loans with Payday Express back in 2012/2013. First loan was rolled over 3 times, second rolled over, topped up, rolled over again before entering debt management. Have since paid the majority of this back including default charges.
Adjudicator originally found in my favour back in August on 2nd loan based on information I had provided as Payday Express had not responded, would have been around £150-200 return which at the time I was happy enough with. Payday Express still didn’t respond so it went to the Ombudsman. Again Payday Express didn’t provide any information so Ombudsman made provisional decision based on my bank statements and credit report that should get a refund on interest and charges on both loans. Was over the moon as this would mean the refund would be nearer £700. However as it was only a provisional decision they had to give Payday Express time to respond. They responded with further information mid October, which needed clarification and which was received by the Ombudsman 11th November. Got another provisional decision through today and it is back to what the adjudicator originally recommended back in August, based on the fact that Payday Express have now provided details of a credit check they did before first loan was issued. And now both myself and the company have until 30th December to provide any further information before a final decision is issued. Now this is fair enough, but its now likely to be well into the New Year (even if I accept now, Payday Express haven’t even accepted that the second loan was irresponsible so can see them dragging this out as long as possible) before I get what the adjudicator originally suggested I get back in August.
Its a joke!! Why couldn’t Payday Express just have provided this information in the first place instead of letting it drag on and on and on. Apparently my credit check showed that I had a delinquent account, and had a number of previous payday loans. However as these were all being paid on time (due to taking out other loans) this shouldn’t have been a reason for them not to lend to me.
Its all so frustrating, cant believe this has been ongoing since February, I actually hate Payday Express!!!!!!
Meryl says
I have accepted an offer off Quick Quid that was with the FOS. What is the time scale for payment?
Craig says
They have 28 days but make an absolute nuisance of yourself and they’ll pay out within a day or 2.
Ring their customer service number and the final resolution one, which i believe is 0800 016 3143.
Send multiple emails to Resolution@quickquid.co.uk… and Complaint@quickquid.co.uk, one every few hours if possible.
Danny says
First time poster here
I tried with wda for refund and was told 2 days later that they hadnt done anything wrong. So off to the ombusman i went got the bank statements to them with ingoings and outgoings. Got a phone call yesterday 29/11/2016 from the ombudman and they are upholdimg my complaint and believe that wda should pay me back £1500 roughly including the 8%. Result cant wait to hear from wda and how long till i get it.
Claire says
Does anybody have experience with piggy bank? I’ve had two loans with them – first one in July for £200 and repaid £337 and second one in October for £250 and nothing repaid as yet (currently owe £290 with interest).
They agreed liability and should never have loaned to me. They’ve offered to refund interest and put it towards what I currently owe which would leave outstanding balance of around £95 which they will cancel and will also remove trace from my credit file.
Is this a good outcome or should I go to the ombudsman for compensation?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That sounds like a good offer to me. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-lender-write-off/
Andy says
How did you approach your complaint to get them to admit liability for just two loans. I’ve
Only bothered complaining about Sunny because I’ve had 18 loans with them, so the affordability thing becomes more obvious.
I struggle to see how you could prove loans were unaffordable when you only had two off that company. What would make them admit this?
Michelle says
Hi Andy, it could be that piggybank are quicker in dealing with their complaints although I have seen a few people say on here sunny settled but just took close to the 8 weeks. It may also be that in this case the total interest charges are £177 across the two loans and given the FOS are upholding a large amount of complaints if Claire had gone to the FOS then piggybank would have to pay £500/£550 immediately just for the complaint been raised so they may have decided that £177 was cheap compared to that plus they get their money back.
I am 4 weeks into my complaint with sunny and still waiting to hear back on outcome but they have been good in terms of responding when I have chased a few times to see if they have an update yet
Ricky says
Hi everyone
I just got my long awaited assessment back from my adjudicator and it wasn’t what I was expecting if I’m honest.
My adjudicator has said she feels that quick quid did enough in order to lend to me, if I’m honest I don’t think this adjudicator did enough because the case was with a previous adjudicator before who dealt with my PAYDAY UK case and that case is now closed and I got £200 back from PAYDAY UK. In my assessment for he quick quid case she only referenced 4 loan amounts and dates which I took out, however I actually had around 13 loans from quick quid which I kept increasing and taking out , these weren’t not mentioned in the assessment. I paid back like double in interest and charges of what I borrowed so I’m really baffled. I took out more from quick quid than I did Pay Day uk and they paid me something back so I’m really annoyed now and confused. I’ve got till 7 Dec 2016 to reply and if I want to take it further. She also mentioned she couldn’t do much else because I didn’t provide my bank statements but my bank account at the time is now closed and has been for over 4 years.
HELP !!
What do I do in this case? Has anyone else had something similar?
I would appreciate any help of advice
Aga says
Hi Ricky , please appeal against that decision, ask the adjudicator to request bank statements from the bank as every adjudicator does , my account was closed long time ago , I requested myself and adjudicator did as well, try to prove that you had no disposable income etc ASK questions ” why have you considered or investigated only 4 loans ..” sth like that , it may help … good luck
Ricky says
Thanks Aga
I have replied to the Adjudicator and I’m waiting to see what she has to say, I feel it wasn’t looked into properly like my pay day uk case which I got more of an assessment done and they looked at all the loans. I am certainly appealing against it.
Will update on here with what’s going on.
Thanks for the advise ;)
Michelle says
Has anyone had an offer from 247 moneybox and then payment after offer. They have offered me a refund but now won’t speak to me
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They offered you a payment before you complained to the adjudicator? How long ago?
Michelle says
Hi Sara
They offered me a payment on 24/11/16 as a gesture of goodwill. I asked them few questions as payment offered was slightly less to interest amount I had paid and I asked would they offer statutory 8% as well. They havent responded to me since.
It could be that as FOS have written to them to advise they need to respond and interest is under the charge they will pay if it goes to FOS they are better off so I am surprised they havent responded to me since.
Worse case only another few weeks until I can go to FOS so I will go down that route if they dont respond and we settle prior.
Chris says
Hi, Has anyone got any news on Cash Genie my complaint was upheld in September but i am still awaiting my cheque of 600 pound.
nattalie says
Hello
I came across this website around three weeks ago.
After trawling the internet to look for advice on payday loans. I started with Wonga Dec 2011 and have been in the trap ever since. To my shock and embarrassment after dredging up all pf my records It appears between dec 2011 and Aug 2014 Wonga loaned me £14,160 BEFORE interest.
They then stopped lending me money and I have used other since including Sunny, MyJar and Drafty. Sunny lent me £4150 in 12 months and Myjar £2350 again before interest in 6 months. I have recently started a complaint with all four of the companies to suggest they should never have let me borrow it.
My income a month is around £1400 and most months I was owing over £650 to payday loans, some as high as £1050! I have never been able to get on top of it and the amount I was borrowing from one to pay another every month was frightening, however I had no choice as had to pay them off, Wonga and Sunny particularly could see that most months I had two or more loans with them each month. I have no idea what will come of it if anything but I am desperate to break the cycle.
I have had responses from all except Drafty. MyJar pretty much said no immediately however I have replied to them with more information, If they reject again I will send that one to the ombudsman.
Sunny and Myjar both have current loans outstanding which I have explained I am unable to pay. Am hoping that if at the very least they agree to write off the balances so I can start to get back on track and stop this nightmare I have been living for the past 5 years. If anyone has any advice it would be greatly appreciated. It horrible to finally see on paper the mess I have been in. It has affected my health and as a result I am on long term sick from work which is not helping financially. The amounts that were being lent were almost 3/4 of my annual salary all together. I feel sick to think how much interest I actually paid.
anyway i will keep you updated with my progress.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Apart from Sunny and Myjar, do you have other debts as well?
nattalie says
Hi Sara
I am afraid to say I do.
I have two credit cards both at there limits. And £1000 currently owing to Drafty which is Lending stream, They are the only ones who have yet to reply with anything other than automated.
Sunny and Myjar have frozen my current balances whilst they look at my complaint. My jar pretty much sent me a rejection email three days after sending it, saying how they think that they have lent me responsibly and that they had no cause for concern and they won’t be refunding me, I have replied to them but as soon as they reply with what I expect will be another rejection I will send off to the ombudsman.
I can’t see any light at the end of the tunnel currently. I am just hoping that this whole process will go quickly.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you don’t think your current financial situation is stable, I would encourage you to go to StepChange and set up a Debt Management Plan, see https://www.stepchange.org/Howwecanhelpyou/DMPDebtmanagementplan.aspx. That should take the pressure off you and allow you to carry on with your complaints properly. Otherwise you may feel you have to accept an offer to wipe out a balance, when actually if you could wait longer you may get that plus a refund from the Ombudsman.
Michelle says
Hi Nattalie
Whilst you have to do what is right for you try to see this process through and not accept a lower offer from these companies if made. I have loans still with sunny and a few others and they have placed all accounts on hold whilst they and the FOS investigate the complaint. When you look at other peoples updates they have rejected first offer and in some cases been awarded all of interest back which I am sure would not only clear your payday debt but then give you a little extra to maybe pay other things off.
Dont worry about the embarrassment of this as we are all in the same boat and I know how horrible this is when you start to document every loan down plus how much interest you have paid. I have had over 170 loans since 2011 and and have paid just over £29k in interest charges so I get the sickening part.
Debt Camel is great and the advice is very good on here plus seeing how many people are in same situation and hearing success stories when they come through is reassuring so like everyone on here I wish you the best of luck and try to keep smiling as this is a great step in hopefully clearing some debt.
nattalie says
Hi Michelle
thanks for your kind reply.
It really is slightly comforting knowing I am not the only person in this situation.
I have been so unhappy for such a long time because this is hanging over my head.
Have you been successful in making a complaint?
Nattalie
Michelle says
Hi Nattalie
Only success so far is cash genie but they are in liquidation and awaiting funds so myself and many others are waiting to see if we get a payment.
Peachy offered to write off my current loan but I feel they owe me clearance of current loan plus another £500/£600 so taken to the FOS. Account is on hold so feel it’s a win win as FOS will agree with offer already been made of clearing that account or I will get some extra money.
Wageday advance politely told me to go away so with FOS
Sunny, Wonga, mr lender, payday U.K., uncle buck, 247 moneybox, different money, satsuma, moneyboat, ferratum , next credit, piggy bank all still with the lenders awaiting decisions as within the 8 weeks.
See what an awful list I have collected in the last 5 years.
Could also make a Xmas song out of my lenders so I will finish with a partridge in a pear tree
Joanne says
Hi Nattalie, don’t be disheartened. We’re all in the same boat. I was living off a small wage then I got entangled in 9 pd loans which I used to pay off each one and to live. It went on for 6 years. I then decided to sort out my finances and make myself credit worthy again, I was in a dmp and my credit score is now increasing ever so slowly. The main thing I had to do was change my thinking and watch where my money goes.
I now have one credit card and I only use it to improve my credit by buying something which I know that I can pay back straightaway.
Best wishes
Craig says
Payday express have just offered a “goodwill” gesture of £300 in response to my adjudicators asking for a full refund in interest. This is a 1/3 of the interest I paid in all my loans and not even including the statutory 8%. Of course I rejected and they have a week to respond.
Andy says
Hi Lin,
You’re very very similar to me.
Similar amount of loans over a similar period with Sunny, some repaid early , some taken out within days of eachother.
I got a reply rejecting my complaint after about 6 weeks, so I have just started the process with the ombudsman.
You can see all the info on the sunny website. Might come up differently on a PC, but I looked through it on my phone. There is a scroll list of all the loans you had, then when you click on a loan you can then see all your statements for that loan, which tells you interest payments etc. Will take an hour or so but you do have all the info you need there to work out what you paid.
I also had a gambling problem, but I’ve stressed in my letter to the ombudsman that the gambling was a result of the loan situation, not the other way round.
Andy
Lin says
Hey Andy
Thanks for replying, I am dissapointed to hear they rejected your complaint, its just completely irresponsible lending, after getting help for the gambling and looking back it just beggers beleif that they can lend like this . Can I ask what their explanation is for rejecting? I really dont see how they can!! I am going to try again and see how much I paid back but even if I only paid a little interest its the principle as well as the money, these lenders need to be stopped but its great to see a site like this helping people claim regardless of the reason we took loans out. Good luck with your claim Andy
Lin
Andy says
my response from Sunny….
I write further to our email dated 21st October 2016, thank you for your patience whilst I have been investigating your complaint.
My understanding of your complaint is that you feel that we did not carry out appropriate checks to ensure you could afford your Sunny loan and that we are guilty of lending irresponsibly. Please let me know if I have missed any points or misunderstood anything.
To investigate your complaint I have reviewed the account opening procedures in place at the time. Having done so, I am able to inform you that we conducted creditworthiness checks, we assessed your ability to afford the repayments which would fall due under the proposed agreement and we considered how you were managing other debts at that time. Based upon these checks it was considered responsible to advance credit to you.
Given the information available to me, I am unable to uphold your complaint. We believe that the aforementioned checks were proportionate and responsible. Initial assessment of your application accounted for some of the adverse information held at the credit reference agencies and as a consequence you were offered a small amount of credit relative to your stated income.
I appreciate my response may come as a disappointment to you, however I hope you understand the reasoning behind my decision. Should you remain unhappy, you have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, free of charge – but you must do so within six months of the date of this letter. Please find below a hyperlink to their consumer leaflet for your reference
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Andy and Lin – that is a standard template reply from Sunny. Nobody sat down and looked at your loans in detail and considered what your financial situation may have been. Especially where there is gambling involved, your income may at first sight have appeared high enough for the size loan you were being given so a lender will often reject these complaints. It was the right decision to take this to the Financial Ombudsman!
Ross says
Sunny sent me a final response this week, based on 2 different accounts. I had an account with quid.co.uk, which I believe Sunny took over at some point, and they then transferred me on to their Sunny product. They said they couldn’t uphold the quid complaint but, as a gesture of goodwill, refunded all interest & charges paid, which was just over £1077. They upheld the Sunny complaint, as they said they felt the product wasn’t suitable for me. They refunded all interest and charges, along with 8% interest, totalling £780.00. I accepted yesterday and they’ve just credited my bank account with £1857. I am unsure why they would offer to refund selected people with goodwill gestures, even if they reject the complaint, but then offer others nothing. It’s very inconsistent and I can appreciate why people feel frustrated at this lack of consistency. I know every complaint is different but it really does feel like ‘luck of the draw’ sometimes?
Craig says
Hi Andy/Lin
Sounds like I’m in a very similar situation to you both. Scary how much I’ve lent over the years.
My main complaint is going to be with Wonga. Had 75 loans with them between 2011 and 2016. Totalling 27,000 and nearly 7,000 in interest. Again very similar to yourselves I paid some of these early so don’t know exact amounts until they reply to me, and that’s due to me winning the money and being able to pay it back quicker.
Also had 15 loans with sunny, 2 of which are still active and that’s over just 11 months. I’ve raised my complaint with them, as I have got all the information of their website in the history.
Very similar to what you said Andy around the loans causing the gambling addiction. I gambled more and more because I knew the loans were easily accessible, I could lose a couple of hundred and apply for a loan with Wonga have more money within 15 minutes. The same would be repeated several times a day in some cases.
Be good to keep in contact around these, feel it would help us all talking and airing them. I’ve not had a bet for 49 days now and finding this website has given me more confidence that once my complaints are raised, and passed to the FCO if needed I will be able to get some closure and some freedom from it all.
Nigel says
Bit of an Update for you on my latest complaints that have come to a near end. Payday Express finally gave in. I have two Payday Express complaints, on pre Feb 2015 and one after when the changed ownership. They have agreed to refund just short of£ 4,000 before it was picked up by an Ombudsman.
My adjudicator upheld the third out of three loans with Different Money, so waiting to see if they will agree to this.
Monkey dosh have disputed my adjudicators decision and this will go to Ombudsman.
So running total of claimed refunds has now gone over the £20,000 mark with plenty more to come yet. QQ and Toothfairy are with Ombudsman now. Moneybox 24/7 is now a case being looked at with the 6+3 rule.
Mike says
Hi all,
I’d just like to post my appreciation for Sara, and this page.
What a help! I went through some difficult financial times a few years ago due to my ex-partner but managed to get myself back on the straight and narrow, but only by stumbling across this page did I realise I might be entitled to a refund. this page has 100% given me the confidence to have a go at the PayDay lenders and hopefully reclaim some of the money they took off me when I was really struggling.
Sara – I will make a small donation to my local CAB if I’m successful with any of my complaints.
Have a great day everyone and keep fighting!
Michelle says
Good evening to all
One of my complaints is with 247 moneybox and whilst they made me an offer and then went quiet I have now had 2 phone calls from them in the last two weeks telling me I’m a great customer and I can borrow money from them. Has anyone had this from them ?
I have told them to go away and reply to my FOS complaint but I feel they are trying to be sneaky and get me to borrow so they can try and throw out my complaint. Thoughts please
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest Hanlon’s Razor applies – never ascribe to malice what can adequately be explained by incompetence.
kenny says
WDA Update
just had word that they have agreed with the adjudicator, £1178 back. so pretty pleased with that, i have decided to donate 10% of all my refunds to my local citizens advice center. that’s my last claim so £385 on the way to them. hopefully the money will help others in the same situation.
they were the most difficult of all my claims but i got there in the end, despite there usual antics. Anyone out there with a WDA complaint, stick at it, the FOS will fully investigate and make sure you get whats yours.
makes you wonder how much longer these firms can carry on for. all the compensation and FOS fees must be hammering them.
Ross says
Hi Kenny,
Pleased to read this. WDA took a long time to investigate and then came back with the most condescending response, rejecting my complaint. The list of excuses they gave for the rejection was endless. WE didn’t need to do credit checks, WE didn’t need to see your bank statements, WE didn’t….. it went on and on. OK then, explain it to the FOS. Currently being investigated. It’s not even about the money anymore, but the principal. These firms seem to think they’re a law unto themselves?!?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Ross, technically WDA are correct here. There was no legal requirement for them to do these things a few years ago. However if you continued to borrow, they should either have stopped lending as you were clearly becoming dependent on the loans, or looked into your affordability situation in more detail.
kenny says
hi Ross
i had the same, however in the decision from the fos, they stated that they should have checked my bank statements and income as i was rolling over and reloading the same day. so if your in the same position, don’t worry.
Andy says
Just a quick one, especially those who are still struggling to repay current loans.
Until I read that someone else had done it yesterday I didn’t think to try and get my current loans frozen while the complaint is investigated. I’m guessing A DMP would have a negative impact on my credit report, so it’s a better option for me to get the loans frozen until the complaint is sorted.
I emailed Sunny last night and they’ve already replied to say they’ve frozen my 3 current loans until the complaint is settled. That’s a third of next months monthly wage that I won’t have to pay out and will make things much easier for me.
Just a thought.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Andy,
the lenders may still mark your credit record as late payment / defaulted if you ask for the payments to be frozen whilst the complaint goes through. It is exactly the same as setting up a DMP.
But if you win the complaint, it doesn’t matter what has happened on the credit record for the outstanding balance because it is going to be deleted!
What matters here is that you get yourself into a stable current financial position. If you can’t afford the repayments, you need to ask for them to be reduced or pay nothing until the complaint is decided. If you have other debts as well as the payday loans you are complaining about, a DMP through StepChange is often a good temporary option.
Matt S says
Does anyone have any experience on how Safety Net are likely to respond to an adjudicators decision? When I originally complained they offered to write off my outstanding balance, however adjudicator has ruled that I should get a refund on all interest from them as they should never have issued me with a rolling credit account In the first place. They have until 16th December to respond. To be honest I think its an open and shut case. However just wondered if anyone else has had an adjudicators decision against Safety Net and whether they are likely to accept it or dispute it? And if they do accept how quickly do they usually pay out?
laura says
they agreed with mines and i got over 3,000 within a week of the decision
Michelle says
Good Afternoon
I have a complaint with different money who have now closed and sold the debt to unitedkash. United kash sent me a request for the final balance owed and I have e mailed them all communication from different money which states my final decision to my complaint would be in the next 14 days.
I called united kash and e mailed the ombudsman as I felt different money had potentially delayed my complaint knowing that they were selling the debt on and wouldn’t have to deal with this. I e mailed them before they closed asking them how this would work and didn’t get a satisfactory response.
United kash told me they didn’t know if they or different money would handle the complaint and then said what outcome do you want. I explained I was looking for a refund of interest which the response was you won’t get that it’s your own fault you took these loans.
I questioned the guy on how could he say that when he wasn’t dealing with my complaint and hadn’t reviewed the file. He carried on that its my fault the FOS will agree with them and go to different money.
I’m pleased I remained calm with him and just stated I was only trying to find out who would be dealing with my case and whilst he was entitled to his opinion it was potentially not best suited as he wasn’t aware of the facts and the FOS are and my conversation has been different with them around other loans. Just got abused again after that so ended the call.
Different money e mails now though direct you to unitedkash and their phone number is cut off so not sure how this will end up but heads up if you are trying to deal with different money you may have a bunmpy ride aheD with united kash
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Thanks for the heads up, Michelle. It sounds as though you handled the conversation well and they didn’t.
Nim says
HI Sara,
re payday express – as I have a current loan put on hold as I have made a complaint – they are happy to accept a £1 token payment, or should I wait for a final response?
any advice would be great!
Thanks
Nim
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think making token payments is a good idea. It shows the lender you are co-operating but broke!
Nim says
Thanks Sara.
LS credit score are very high in comparison to my credit history as they use Experian. However, I recently joined moneysaving expert – and they have introduced a new ‘Creditclub’ – I recommend people on here to sign up as it’s free -with lots of information and they are updating soon too with credit reports etc – and surprisingly – my credit score turns out to be 220 / 900? so not sure where LS has got their figure from which is totally inaccurate and these loans should have never been given to me. However they are disputing as they say my score were high enough to be given the payday loan.
Case now with Adjudicator – they request further information – bank statements / credit report – so guys best to keep these on hand.
Hope this helps.
Best
Nim
Jordon says
HI there,
I’m after some advice please, if anyone could help i’d appreciate it. At my worst point i got into a trap with payday loans, ending up with 9 in total and was contstntly rolling them over. Eventually i went to a free debt conselling service, payplan, who negotited with them all i then spent the next 3 and half years paying them off, lesson learned for me and i wont touch one ever again. However given this fact of my case and how i resolved them this way, would there be any worth in my persuing them for compensation ? Any advice appreciated, thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Definitely worth a try! It doesn’t matter that you ended in a DMP, in fact that demonstrates how unaffordable the loans were for you. If you had a lot of different lenders, I suggest starting with the ones you used most often.
Jordon says
Hi Sara !
Thanks for replying so quick ! I thought I’d use the template you have on here but I don’t have all the info regarding my loans just the basic details, should that be a problem ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can go the two-step route by first asking for a complete list of your loans and what you repaid. Or you may feel you have enough to put in a complaint straight away? You don’t much details for the complaint itself, but it is useful to know how much interest you paid, then if a lender offers you a settlement of £250 say you can tell how good or bad that is.
Jordon says
Great thanks for your help, I have just sent an email to wonga, they where my main one where i had a oan for month affter month, ending up at £1700 when i went into my DMP, i know they wrote the last little amount off as it was when they went through a phase of writing amounts off due to press pressure, but still i paid them thousands in interest so figured this one is the first to try, will see what result i get an let you know, to be honest im happy to accept anything as its just by pure accident i discovered this !
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well don’t accept an offer of £700 if you think you have paid them thousands in interest! Well worth taking what may be a low offer to the Ombudsman.
Jordon says
So I have had one success already since starting on saturday, Mr Lender have agreed to refund me the interest paid, Lending stream say i still have a loan outstanding but that was sold to makenzie hall and formed part of my DMP with payplan and was setted so their offer to write off the loan has been rejected and i asked them to check with MH and review my complaint again, 247 moneybox replied with statement as did WDA, complaint emails gone in to those 2, waiting for responses from Wonga and Payday express , will keep you posted !
Michelle says
Jordon
Can I ask how much mr lender owed you. I’ve had a complaint open with them for 5 weeks and not sorted yet. Just shows these lenders seem to have no order in sorting complaints ?
Well done on getting yours sorted though
Jordon says
HI Michelle, I only had one loan with them which i rolled over twice so £60 in interest and just shy of £46 of fees form the period going into my DMP, they agreed to refund me the £106 plus interest, which i have accpeted and just had my confirmation of payment back to me in 2-5 working days by BACS, one down, a few to go……..
Nattalie says
Hello all
Just a query on the FOS process.
Bizarrely Myjar gave me a very fast no to my complaint so I went to the FOS. Used the website etc. all I got at the end of it was a reference number but had no emails from them etc. I only did it on weds but I was wondering do I receive an email or some correspondence from FOS.
I don’t mean an answer just simply a record or my complaint and basically some reference that I can keep track of it?
Thanks guys
Nattalie
Ross says
Hi Natalie,
The FOS will send you written confirmation through the post. They will also ask for supporting information, such as bank stayetmrbyd and your credit report. You should then receive a decision by the adjudicator via email. Whether the business accepts a decision, especially if it’s in your favour, is another story. If they disagree with the adjudicator, then it will go on to the ombudsman for a final decision which, legally, they have to accept and act on. Hope this helps?
dw says
Hi all
Just a word of thanks for all concerned with this website, after discovering it only 2 or 3 months ago I have followed the advice and got: 50% of my final loan interest from Mr Lender (£318), a reduced balance off Lending Stream, £85 refund from Piggy Bank, £200 from Pixie Loans, and a waived balance and £127 Ferratum refund.
My biggest lenders were Sunny (who Im waiting to here from) and Quick Quid whom I borrowed from 2010 till last year – over £7000 in total loans, and they’ve rejected my complaint but offered me £200 as a ‘Goodwill gesture’. So this one I’ve taken to the Ombudsman service today and will see what happens…it’s my first complaint I’ve gone to them with, but £200 seems ridiculously small for the amount of loans I’ve had with them.
Anyway, thanks again and if anyone is reading this and having their own problems and wondering whether to make that complaint – go on, do it! And good luck. :)
L Gorman says
It is now ten weeks since my adjudicator referred my complaint against The Money shop (Instant cash loans) to the the Ombudsman (Adjudicator upheld but tMS challenged).
Has anyone else been waiting ten weeks ?
Aga says
HI, THIS IS THE ANSWER FR0M MY ADJUDICATOR :
“Unfortunately, The Money Shop is experiencing a backlog of cases which has caused delays for them”
. my case was referred to FOS on the 8th of May 2016 and just last week I have received the money on my account ( incorrect though so case had to get back to adjudicator) , this company is the worse ever.
I didn’t have statements , I requested but TMS has never sent it to me , so I had no idea how much I paid , just recently I asked adjudicator to forward this to me as TMS sent it to the Adjudicator.
They refunded £3311 total including 8% and unpaid cheques ; this is from extending cheques , I was paying £15,99 then £16.99 then £17.99 per each cheque extended. I started in September 2010 5 cheques x100 and in October 2010 extended each cheque of 15.99 and then every month the same until April 2011 then repaid and took new loan. The adjudicator decided that it was fair to refund interest as from April 2011
Matt says
Hi Aga
Hope you might help me
Just started the process with the fos against the tms , I have got hold of my statements luckily , I was wondering did you only have cheques with them or did you have a loan and what did the fos say about the cheques did they class them as payday loans . And how come they only refund from April 11 ,when you had loans from October 10 .
Thank you
Matt
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Cheque-style lending is exactly the same as payday lending. The only complication is that as you are usually given the loan in cash, it doesn’t show on your bank account. Hence it is more important to get a list of your loans.
I don’t remember the details of aga’s case, but it’s quite a common decision that a lender should have declined a new loan application if the first had been rolled / extended a lot. If the first one carried on being extended of course there would have been a point at which the extensions should be declined.
laura says
“”capital”” of the outstanding loan , does that mean the total loan I was paid ? , or the outstanding balance of my loan including any interest accrued ? , In my final response it says they will take the refund off my capitol to reduce what I owe them , the loan was taken out for £600 , and nothing was paid off to them , but also no missed payments , would this mean it would be the £600 plus the few days interest until the account was frozen ? #confused!! lol
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It means the amount you borrowed, no added interest.
Nitheya says
Hi Sara.
Hope you can help.
My complaints for mr lender is with the adjudicator. One of my 4 loans was for £300 interest of £90. Adjudicator has said this was unaffordable i didnt havr funds to pay £390 which was what was initially owed. However. I rolled over the loan and total amount payable was £597. He has completely ignored this and says he only considers what the compsny offered at point of sale. Is this correct. Surely i was unable to pay the capital anount and couldnt afford the interests when rolled over.
Thanks
Nitheya
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This doesn’t sound right – all the interest on an unaffordable loan should be refunded, which includes the interest that was added when it was rolled. Could you ask your adjudicator in writing to have a look at this again?
Nitheya says
Hi Sara. Thanks for your response. I have emailed him but no response. Below is what i responded after his email.
I rolled over the loans because i was unable to pay for them. The fact i had rolled over the loans several times on each loan should have highlighted to the company i was in financial difficulty. each time i was unable to pay the initial amount they added interest to the loan. I was charged unnecessary interests. how possibly was i able to pay interest charges if i couldnt afford the capital amount.
I thought that if the loan was judged on affordability it should also consider the charges and interests the company also tried to enforce upon me.
One loan amounted to £594 which clearly was unaffordable to me. can you please check. i understand point of sale but should the company not be judged on the overall amount they subsequently were charging me even though it was evident it was unaffordable.
Your complaint about PDL Finance Limited (trading as “Mr Lender”)
Thank you for your email below.
I’ve had a look at the details that you provided in the statements that you sent to me, I’ve also had a look at the details I have on file.
I can see that the original loan was for £300.00 and the interest charged initially was £90.00. The loan was rolled over twice afterwards meaning £90.00 of interest was added each time. This meant that the loan wasn’t repaid on the scheduled repayment date and additional interest was charged. Mr Lender also appear to have included £24.00 in admin fees.
This meant that the total repayable amount for loan three was £594.00 with the additional rollovers and admin fee applied. When considering whether or not the loan was affordable at the time, I looked at the initial amounts charged for the loan and interest as this is what the business would have needed to consider in terms of affordability. So when assessing the complaint, I looked at whether you could afford the total of £390.00 charged when loan three was taken. I wouldn’t consider the rollover amounts as well as these occurred after the point of sale for the loan.
I hope this explains why I considered the loan to be £390.00 instead of the overall cost that you eventually paid.
Nitheya says
Hi sara. When the adjudicator reviewed all 5 loans with mr lender one of the loans after all outgoings etc i was left with under £200 to spare for living costs. He said this was fine. Hes not even looking at the fact i had rolled over loan2 and then rolled over loan 3. He thinks loans 1 to 3 were affordable and the other 2 werent.
Im not sure if hes right. Im going to wait for his response and may ask to go to the Ombudsman. How can a payday lender offer further loans when the 1st one was rolled over.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is correct that the adjudicator should look at what the loan originally was when considering if it was unaffordable.
Does he think this loan is unaffordable? If he does, all the interest, including the rollovers should be refunded.
Nitheya says
Loan 2 he thought it was affordable as i had just over £150 available but he never considered the extra charges to that loan account. Thr others which he thought werent unaffordable he hasnt included all the extra charges.
Also. Just wanted to ask about others experience with pounds2pocket amd quickquid. Adjudicator has today come back to me saying qq informed them i had a monthly income of over £6000 per month. Bloody hilarious!
Also. Pounds2pocket said i had a income of just over £2000?! Both sister companies have overally exagerated their information. On those grounds adjudicator rejected my complaint for pounds2pocket.
Ive asked her to reconsider again with my bank statements
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Loan 2 – the adjudicator is right to only look at the decision when you took the loan UNLESS you “topped up” the loan OR it was rolled over a lot. But any other loans where the adjudicator has determined they were unaffordable, the refund should be for all interest and fees charged, including the rollovers.
You are right to ask for the QQ and PTP loans to be looked at again in the light if your bank statements.
Nigel says
Just had the final decision from ombudsman on my QQ complaints and as expected they have all been upheld including Flexicredit 10 months and 10 withdrawals on that alone. All loans back to June 2010. This may end up being a five figure refund as my lending limit was £1200 and the were always extended over the 3 months, just paying the interest, plus all the 8% to be added. I will let you know the actual figure when I have it. Its been amazing journey since June on this one.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Great news! Thanks for posting, it will encourage others who have a flexi loan complaint to persevere.
Aga says
Hi Nigel,
congratulations, fantastic news for you , just out of curiosity – may I just ask on what grounds they upheld your all loans? I had many upheld however always from second or third loan or after 10th extension, etc, and I had v bad credit history including CCJ`s etc – still the adjudicators and Ombudsmen upheld from second ort third loan ..
Nigel says
I did not include the first ones from 2008 till May 2010. (12) So even though they spoke about these it was just on my loans from June 2010 till Feb 2016. But a Considerable amount if you think the Flexi Loan over 10 Months is classed as one loan. All other loans had the maximum extensions so as you know QQ called them another loan. Actually and probably from Loan (3) they would have all been upheld. So a starting point of (12) meant they were all upheld. Put it another way I had 479 entries on a spread sheet from QQ. Total loans were 87 but 36 in the new way of reporting it if you see what I mean.
Now I was asked if I wanted to take the complaint off the Que for the Ombudsman as it had waited for 5 weeks after rejection from Adjudicators original decision. But I did not want another further long delay. So as there were no time scales and no promises then I decided to just go with the 6 year loans.
Ross says
Satsuma loans have until tomorrow to say whether they agree with what my adjudicator has said. He has said the last loan shouldn’t have been issued (the largest one) and that all interest should be removed from it and refund any excess, which will be about £300 back to me. Not a kings ransom, I agree, but £300 is £300. It’s not looking hopeful, at the moment though. I’ve just logged in to the My Satsuma account and all is still the same. I’m expected to make an agreed monthly payment, this coming Friday. The adjudicator advised Satsuma that he’s very doubtful that an Ombudsman would disagree with his decision but I suppose that Satsuma will do the inevitable and string it out for as long as possible. Has anybody else had any dealings with Satsuma Loans?
Dan says
Hi,
I took out around 7 loans with quickquid in the past year. Before my last loan, I had spoke to someone about repaying a previous loan I could not afford the payments for – and that I was relying on payday loans to live. After this conversation and paying that loan off, they let me borrow again (silly me, I know.). I have just heard back from my adjudicator saying Quickquid have offered to refund the interest and charges just on this previous loan.
Do you think it’s worth me taking this offer? Or let the adjudicator investigate and see what they come back with?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Silly you – but silly them too!
I suggest you ask the adjudicator to look at all 7 loans. And a lender should have been wondering after the first few whether you were in difficulties.
Stephanie says
I have made a request to a couple of companies (payday UK and quid.co.uk) for statements, and Payday UK have come back and said as I dont owe them any money they have no obligation to send me statements!
I have now gone back with a SAR, asking for information on dates of loans taken out, amount borrowed, and amount paid back.
Unfortunately I took out these loans with a bank account now closed, unlike the Wonga ones which were with my current bank, so I have checked over my statements for amounts.
Looks like Payday UK are going to be difficult, any suggestions.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
payday UK are indeed difficult – but they will respond to a SAR. Just keep persevering and take the case to the Financial Ombudsman if / when they don’t make a reasonable offer. The Ombudsman will be able to get copies of your bank statements from closed accounts, so that won’t be a problem.
Noel says
Just on Payday UK, like Stephanie I was not provided a statement, but they were the one company whom I found always put the PD loan info in my Experian credit report – and I was able to pull together my own statement very quickly based on that.
Jenny says
Hi,
I went through a claims process last year with wda and my comppaint was upheld and I was awarded an interest refund on my unaffordable loans.
Regrettably I ended up borrowing again from wda (surprised they still allowed me to do so) after all they knew about my affordability issues. Am I entitled to claim back the interest on the new loans so to speak -I seem to have ended back to square one. Why they didn’t cancel my account or allow me to lend again I don’t know. I was desperate though. Can anyone advise.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well the affordability rules still apply to them so I suppose you can try…
Kelly says
Hello all,
I’ve had my 1st mini victory with Payday Express.. my complaint was upheld by the FOS. I only had 6 loans but the last 2 loans were bigger than the rest. I still have a balance to repay so the interest refund will reduce the balance to aprox £60. I’m extremely happy with that! Another debt (almost) cleared!!
I’ve got a number of complaints waiting to be assessed by the adjudicator. Hopefully they all havew a similar outcome .
MK says
Hi Sara (and everyone),
My adjudicator has found in my favour on several complaints. I took out hundreds of payday loans in the years up to 2014 and had a severe gambling problem. Wonga made me an offer of £400 after my initial complaint. I rejected this and the adjudicator found in my favour. Wonga then made a counter offer of £4000. I refused asking them to pay out on all the loans the adjudicator upheld (£7000). They have responded with a further offer of £6000.
Do you have any sense of how many time the Ombudsman disagrees with the adjudicator and the individual submitting the complaint is offered a lower amount than the last offer?
For others thinking of complaining to the FOS but worried about their gambling PDUK and Mr Lender agreed with my adjudicator and paid out. Also had complaints upheld with QQ, P2P, Lending Stream, 1ML and Toothfairy where the business hasn’t agreed or hasn’t responded which are now with the Ombusdman.
MK says
Hi Sara,
Do you have any experience with this particular query that might prove helpful? I asked Wonga if they would be prepared to pay £6800 at which point I would be happy to settle. They have refused and said if I don’t accept the £6000 then they will go to the Ombudsman. Need to make a decision as to what to do!
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How did they calculate £6000 and how have you calculated £6800?
MK says
Where the adjudicator said that Wonga should refund the interest and charges on the loans (all but the first 4 loans I had with them) they are refusing to pay out where the overall payment represented less than 40% of my income. This shortfall between what they are willing to pay and what the adjudicator believes I should be paid is roughly £1000.
There was no precise method to my calculation. I just brought it under the £1000 mark in the hope that I could save the time with the Ombudsman.
In total I paid Wonga £5500 in interest and charges. So their offer (7k including 8% interest) is more than that sum but obviously the interest is substantial due the amount and time.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well it’s up to you. The 6k from Wonga is now effectively the lowest amount you will get. If you do refuse it it sounds as though Wonga are rejecting the adjudicator’s offer so it will go to the Ombudsman. It’s pretty random how long this takes, but your case should be on the quicker side as there is a complete list of your loans, they are all under 6 years old and Wonga do actually talk to the FOS, not ignore them.
There is also a small chance that the Ombudsman could increase the adjudicator’s offer, by telling Wonga to refund from an earlier loan. But ignoring that, I suggest you think if you would prefer to take 6k now or a 90% chance of 7k and 10% chance of 6k in 2-3 months time.
David says
Hi all
Just an update on my experience so far dealing with wonga and quickquid
I started the process at step one requesting a statement of my account from both so when I made my formal complaint it was full of accurate facts and figures presented by themselves that was 7 weeks ago yesterday! After weekly emails sent every Monday chasing them for an update still polite just pointing out that it had been an extra week and still no correspondence asking again for my statement and giving them my name and email today I have finally got the statement back from wonga After a 7 week and one day wait! Still waiting on quickquid though
So with wonga I will now move onto step two and present my formal complaint will have it sent off by tomorrow looking forward to the next 7 week wait before they reply again
Hang in there people eventually they do respond!
I’ll update when I get a response no one hold your breath it being any time before February though lol
Louise says
I requested my SOA from quick quid using their online chat after weeks of waiting for them to respond to my email and they were sent instantly. Worth a try.
Craig says
Hi All
I have received my first positive response from Sunny who have said they are now looking into my complaint and have 8 weeks from today before I can go to the ombudsman if required.
I still have 2 active loans with them, and they have frozen interest and my payments until this is resolved. Does anybody have any experience of this and then not being successful with a complaint, just wondering what would happen to my payments going forward after that. I don’t really want to ask sunny as it looks like I’m not confident in my complaint, however it’s something I want to know.
Also how good are sunny at normally coming back with a decision before the 8 weeks?
I’ve had 13 loans with them plus 2 active ones in an 11 month period.
Many Thanks
Ross says
Hi Craig,
My complaint with Sunny took 7 weeks to complete, before they gave a final response. I had an account with quid.co.uk, which was taken over by Sunny, and I was then transferred to their Sunny product. Both accounts have been closed for a while, so I couldn’t advise on what happens with interest & charges if the complaint is unsuccessful, but I think you are not going to harm your case by asking them, as it’s a simple and valid question. In my complaint, they didn’t uphold the quid.co.uk element of the complaint, but they did refund all of the interest I paid on all of the loans as a gesture of ‘goodwill’. They didn’t include the statutory 8% interest, as it wasn’t an uphold, but I was pleased to be offered £1100, even though they didn’t really have to. They upheld the Sunny product complaint, as they said they didn’t feel it was ‘appropriate’ for me and refunded another £800 for this. So, in total, I received a refund of just under £1900. They took their time, but they were thorough in the their investigation and, based on this, I didn’t mind the wait, rather than having an instant rejection or a rushed decision. Good luck!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I wouldn’t worry too much about what will happen if they don’t uphold your complaint. You have had quite a few loans so it would be surprising if there is a total rejection – cross that bridge if and when you one to it,
Craig says
Thank you both.
I’m quietly confident I will at least get something with them. The interest I have paid is just over a £1000 on everything bar the first loan which from reading posts that usually gets classed as affordable, I currrently owe £480 if current loans are paid in full now, so I’m hoping that will be wiped plus some additional which will be a good start.
Lending Stream replied to me after my original complaint basically disregarding it, I have replied saying I don’t agree and if that is there final response as I will be going to the FOS if it’s the case but heard nothing back yet.
Wonga I have zero response for. Initially I asked for statements, however managed to find the majority of statements from emails so have raised my complaint 10 days ago but received no correspondence.
Thanks again
Michelle says
Good Evening
Just wanted to say to everyone it is worth checking all your old e mails when you receive a lenders response. I have had one from Mr Lender who have offered to partially uphold my complaint and refund part of my loan.
They state my credit score was similar to other customers (Dont see the relevance here it was still very poor)
I didnt use all of my credit limit with them – Interesting one as what they quote in their letter to me I have just provided old e mails as evidence that suggest my credit limit was lower than their investigation results.
There was no CCj’s on my credit file – Unluckily they lent me money when a CCJ was on my file – It was later set aside but I still have court evidence to show this and a email dated day before they lent to me from courts talking about my CCJ.
They only refer to defaults on short term loans so highlighted defaults on my file to them
Will be interesting to see their new response now as I am happy to push this to FOS next as I have already opened case with FOS who have written to lender to remind them of the 8 week rule. Bank statements, statement of account and credit file already submitted to FOS so they are ready to go if needed the minute I get a rejection or unsatisfactory decision from a lender. It is a lengthy process but decided its easier now to get ahead with FOS during the 8 week wait then have to delay further down the line gathering information.
Other cases are Cash genie – Fairly quick response offered me refund but have to wait until they have money
247 moneybox – So close on this one but waiting for another response from them as slightly short on offer they made me
Peachy – Made me an offer but approx £700 short on interest so with FOS adjudicator
Wageday – Just got a go away letter so with FOS
Different money – God knows they responded to me and now have sold all loans on so I have no idea who is dealing with my complaint
Wonga – just about 5 weeks in and they have finally provided me statements. I got bored ages ago so trawled 6 years of bank stats and gave them all this info as part of my complaint
Opos – Was minicredit no response at all
Satsuma – Have received my complaint but no updates – They seem really slow
Sunny – Asked for updates e ach week and in all fairness they do respond but just with we will let you know within 8 weeks. Statements on line for these guy but quite a long process to extract all the data
Moneyboat – Have my complaint but no response as yet – Friendly easy to deal with, provided SOA quickly and do e mail me back when I chase for an update
Unclebuck – Provided info required and then asked for my bank statements. FOS told me dont need to give them now as they should have asked when lending me the money so they are investigating
Piggybank – Waiting to hear but again provided me SOA promptly
Payday UK – Gave me SOA quickly and waived the £1 charge (Hugely generous) Waiting to hear
Next credit – Waiting to hear from them – SOA are not great how they provide info
Think this covers all of them (What a mess I know )
Good luck as always to all – Keep smiling, try to stick to e mails with lenders as great for evidence later. Worth raising with FOS even if under 8 weeks as you have case numbers then so you can get ahead plus they write to lenders which may or may not help but at least they know you wont just go away with a fob off letter.
If speaking to these companies as I experienced sadly the other day withUnited Kash just stay calm as there are some very rude agressive people out there who will try to intimidate you. Its actually more funny when you just talk about FOS and stay calm as they get more angry. Calls they say are recorded so could be good to bring up later if they will provide as evidence
Further updates as I receive them :) and finally thank you Sara (Debt camel) this is a great website and going through this awful experience of realising how much of an issue I had with these lenders has been great therapy
Wiggles says
Hey all, Just wanted to say thanks for the site and to share a story about Sunny/Elevate Credit
I got all the info as usual from sunny and sent it through via email and got the stock response we are looking at it and low and behold a week before the 8 week limit they offered me a full refund of all interest paid +8% on top, also to write off (using some of the interest repayment) outstanding loans and to wipe the records from my credit file.
Keep on doing the good work and remember to keep on at the money grabbing peeps,
Wiggles says
Quick update on the above, A day later I have the money paid and the accounts at the Sunny end are zeroed, and my credit report should update in due course
Ally says
Hi all
Just a quick update I have had a little success, I have made 13 PDL complaints and one to Vanquis.
H and T offered £850 I had estimated this was £1,100 plus 8% stat so I took the offer the money was in my bank within an hour! This was interesting as this included from 2008 to 2014.
Mr Lender offered £761 which I rejected and took to FOS they came back with a counter offer of £241, my adjudicator said this had never happened to her before and has gone back to them to ask what their reasoning is on this.
I’ve had 7 “we’ve done nothing wrong” not had a thing off Wonga apart from offering me more money. And Uncle Buck say they have never heard of me!
I have asked the adjudicator to put Payday UK, The Money Shop and Payday Express into a combined claim as in May 2012 between them they lent me £2,300 my wage was only £1,200 all 3 reported to my credit file.
FOS have asked for all info have emailed them bank statements from Jan 2011 to July 2015 and credit file makes for sorry reading.
Claire C says
Hi Ally
Could I ask for more info on the basis of your Vanquis complaint? Have you had a response from them?
I too had a Vanquis card, around the same time as all of the PDLs. They increased my credit limit to £3.5k if I remember rightly (was 4 years ago), resulting in a CCJ for £4.4k! I haven’t as yet made a complaint to Vanquis, never realised I could given that the minimum payments would be much lower than a big PDL.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The FOS is unlikely to consider a complaint about a debt which has ended up with a CCJ, because the courts have already looked at the situation and given a verdict. The reasoning being (I think) that if you disagreed with the debt you should have defended the court case.
Ally says
Hi Claire,
My complaint is 2 fold firstly they allowed me to go over my limit 28 times and charged me £25 a time for doing it and never once stopped the card. Then when they did stop the card they also stopped me being able to pay online therefore making it difficult for me to pay and ended up getting late fees. I have also said about affordability but don’t know if that will come to anything.
Claire C says
Thank you Ally.
I actually cannot remember what / how many charges were added – a bad time within the debt spiral! But I should imagine there were a LOT of charges to increase the balance to £1k over the credit limit!!
Mike says
hi,
I had a final offer from QQ offering me £200 which I didn’t respond to and went to the Ombudsman – QQ then wrote to the Ombudsman stating that they should have offered me more and my final settlement was £942.50 – Result! This was without the Ombudsman even investigating my case. I decided to accept as I didn’t want to drag the process out any longer. Does anyone know how long it will take to get the funds?
Lesley says
So ombudsman found in my favour against payday express on 10th November they emailed me today after adjudicator chased them up to ask for bank details so I replied back with them, but does anyone know how long I’ll need to wait till they refund me?, I also have no idea what the refund will be because they haven’t sent me the details yet
Andrew says
Quick question again guys.
Had an offer from Wonga and accepted of £550.
Had email stating the funds have ‘been sent for processing’. This was nearly a week ago now, still nothing anybody else have a time frame?
Have rang up a few times and all they tell me is they have been sent, but not in my bank very frustrating this!!
Thanks in advance for any kind advice.
Lindsay says
Hi
I was hoping someone may be able to help me, I had approximately 54 payday loans through Wonga spanning over a 4 year period and I am keen to try and claim back some of the £5k interest that I paid during this time. My loans were quite clearly unaffordable and I am confident that I can show this if required (through bank statements and a copy of my credit file which I have recently obtained). However, I do not want Wonga to perform a search on my credit file in response to my claim for compensation. Is anyone able to confirm whether Wonga would perform a credit search?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Wonga may carry out an admin search – this isn’t visible to other lenders.
They should not carry out a credit check prior to lending – other lenders can see this. If they do, ask for it to be removed and ask for compensation. I can’t remember this problem happening with Wonga.
Matt S says
Slightly off topic as not related to affordability complaints but does anyone have any advise on what can be done when a payday loan company persists on calling on a work number in relation to an outstanding debt when they have been advised on numerous occasions that I do not want to be contacted at work? They should be contacting my Debt Management Company and they have all the information they require for this, and I have also advised them that if they do need to contact me to either email or contact my mobile, however they are persistently calling on my work number. I have 2 emails from them advising me they have removed my work number from my account when this is obviously not the case. They are also spoof calling from what looks like a local number when they are not local to me at all (in fact they are in Leeds and I am in Scotland). They now don’t seem to be replying to my emails when I ask them again to remove my work number. Any advise???
Kg says
You could raise a complaint for harrassment, email fca and if they dont do what you ask them to take to ombudsman. Depends how many times.
Ross says
Just a quick update for you. Satsuma Loans had until yesterday to accept, or reject, my adjudicator’s findings/decision. Another adjudicator has emailed me today to advise they have contacted Satsuma, today, asking why they haven’t responded and Satsuma have promised a response by close of business today. I await with baited breath (although I won’t be holding it).
On a happier note, a final resolution with Safety Net Credit. I had an account with them from November 2015 – October 2016. Starting credit limit was £150 and, by the time I got to October 2015, it had been increased to a whopping £1,000. Over this period, I paid interest of just over £1,000. Ever since the complaint went in, in October, SNC have kept putting interest on the balance. At the moment, the balance stands at £1,337.40. They have sent me a final response, rejecting my complaint, but have offered to write off the existing balance in its entirety as a ‘gesture of goodwill’. I’m over the moon with this as, even if the FOS upheld my complaint with the 8% interest on interest paid, I calculate that I’d still have a balance to pay. I must say that I am over the moon with this result, as I thought SNC would be an awkward one to deal with.
Will let you know what happens with Satsuma, as and when it happens.
Matthew says
Just a quick update from me:
Having received repayment of interest/charges from Quidmarket within 8 weeks
I also received refund from ferratum + the writing off of my current balance from ferratum within 4 weeks.
247MB & Quid wrote off my balance and removed adverse credit information.
Lending Stream wrote off balance. (The latter 3 were only borrowed from a few times and I considered this to be reasonable).
CFO have after 8 weeks now decided to refund on all but the first two loans (still waiting for refund to be actioned).
PDUK and Payday express rejected my complaint and didn’t respond to the adjudicator so it’s going to ombudsman.
Wonga and Quickquid were not only the biggest household names but my biggest claims. Both rejected my complaint so they have gone to adjudicator.
Wonga adjudicator found in my favour, so 2 weeks to wait to see where it goes.
The QQ is silent FOS wise…
C says
Hi All
Had fantastic news today…Wonga had agreed with my adudicator that out of 10 loans they will pay 7. 1 and 2 loans didn’t get upheld and the 10th loan was already fully paid by them in the redress scheme for about 750 pounds….500 was what they gave me so I’m pleased. Thanks to this site and sara it encouraged me to use a template and complain myself.
I complained july waited 8 weeks gave more time ? waited another 8 weeks to be told it wont be upheld BUT offered a goodwill gesture of £75.00…Cause they didn’t pick up on a error with my earnings which they say was incorrectly stated.
Anyway took it took fos in August..and they didn’t reply to the adudicator decision by the deadline 27th November….so she prepared it all for the ombudsmen then today 7th December they upheld 7 totalling early £800.
I can’t tell you how quick I was to accepting ? its been 5 months and It was easy going….Its worth sticking with…Just give he what they ask….But live by the 8 week rule and dont wait 16 week like i did or it just takes forever.
So I would advise anyone dont give up and thankyou sara this site helped me most days…I will donate to my CAB.
oh and btw I’m now waiting to be paid ? but she has to tell them I accepted 1st .
Joseph says
Good evening,
QQ have rejected the decision of the adjudicator to uphold my complaint regarding all loans and rollovers etc so it’s gone to the ombudsman. Does anyone have any idea of the timescales I’m looking at in terms of getting a ruling from the ombudsman? My other complaints (which are the big ones) are with the adjudicator but they are struggling to get any response from Money Shop and the adjudicator has written to Cheque Centre saying they can look into loans from April 2007 so awaiting feedback from them Cheque Centre on this.
Thanks for this wonderful site Sara.
Rob says
Hi Joseph
Ref Cheque centre – how long did u have to wait for a decision from adjudicator on looking at loans greater than 6 years and have u had an indication of how long they’re giving Cheque centre to respond to their ruling?
Joseph says
Hi Rob.
The adjudicator wrote to them saying he thought he was able to look at loans over 6 years as he felt I’d only recently become aware I had cause to complain. He gave them 2 weeks to come back on this and that was last Friday but as far as I know they haven’t responded yet.
Simon says
Hi. I thought I’d share my experiences. I had two loans with Mr Lender. Emailed them only 2 weeks ago to complain. They offered £180. I rejected. They came back with £270. I rejected. They then offered £570. This was the 3 rollovers from my first loan (I am finding that 1st loans are largely classed as ‘affordable’) and all the interest back from 2nd loan. I have replied, stating that I am satisfied with their decision but feel the 8% simple interest should be added. I hope to hear back this week. I must say, Mr Lender have been brilliant and stated throughout that they wished to get the complaint dealt with in a timely manner. Wonga, PDUK, PDEx & WDA seem less willing! Thanks Sara and team – great site! Keep on trucking!
Lesley says
So received my email from payday express to say my refund will be processed and fund will be in bank within 5 days, do they take the whole 5 days or will it be sooner, any help would be appreciated
craig says
hi lesley did your complaint with PDEX go to the ombudsman?
i have a complaint ongoing since april with them
my adjudicator upheld my complaint in october requesting refund of interest and charges on all loans
PDEX replied beginning of december with a goodwill offer of £300 (1/3 of what FOS requested back)
adjudicator responded with a detailed explaination to why i should be getting a full refund of interest and charges and they have now till the 19th december!
so just wondering how long the process took for you?
Lesley says
Hi Craig, I was assigned an adjudicator in July so I started my claim 8 weeks prior to that, the adjudicator said to just refund my last loan so sent it to ombudsman in September ombudsman came to decision on 10th November, payday express just replied yesterday asking for my bank details them mailed me today to say the refund would be in next 5 days. Hope that helps
Sasha says
Hello. I am trying to claim a refund for my loans. I requested a statement of my account with Wonga. Took them 4 weeks to come back with all the information. Turns out I have had 74 loans from December 2012 up to October 2016 – have 1 active loan with them.
I then used the template stating all the loans, that they were unaffordable, I was not working and that I was constantly rolling over. I would pay the loan and then immediately apply for a new loan and be accepted.
2 days later they sent me an email back saying that they were unable to process my application to set up a repayment plan.
I emailed back saying I do not want to set up a repayment plan and for them to read the email as it clearly shows that I am after a refund for the interest on the loans. I added it up and it came to £3012 including the 8%. I added this figure on the email so they know.
Just wanted to know how the process works, is this what will happen, just going back and forth with them? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Are you able to afford to repay your current loan without borrowing again, from them or from someone else?
If NO, you do want to ask Wonga for a repayment plan for this debt. You can either contact them and explain your situation or, if you have a lot of other debts that aren’t manageable it’s a good idea to try to stabilise your whole situation by contacting StepChange and asking for a debt management plan. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/help-payday-loan/.
This isn’t instead of making an affordability complaint, it’s in addition to it. If you don’t do this, then if Wonga make you a poor offer such as writing off your current debt plus a refund of £250, you may feel you have to accept it as you are under pressure from a lot of creditors. With a DMP being set up, you have a breathing space to take the case to the Ombudsman and potentially be offered a lot more money – which can then be used to repay other debts.
Nim says
Hi Sara (debt camel),
just a quick update re credit report and Wonga..
this was their response for the 2 loans out of 12 offered as redress:
we will also request for the redressed loans to be removed from your credit record. This may take up to 30 working days to be updated fully on your credit file.
However, the offer was rejected and now with Ajd @ FOS.
I also received my Experian credit report today and Oddly – there are NO entries for any of the 12 loans from Wonga? looks like they have removed all loans but I have not heard back from Adj to see if they have now considered all 12 loans? anyone else had this on their file?
Also I added a comment on credit reports – whether it was necessary to send 3 different ones to FOS or just the one, as all seem to carry different information, esp noddle as it only goes back 24 months. any advice?
Thanks Nim
Neil says
Hi there
I had my “full” credit report from Equifax (free trial) and my Noddle report. My situation matches yours – not ALL entries for ALL loans were on one report. Something else to watch our for is entries from “QuickBridge” who are / were Wonga back in 2012 / 2013 I think.
For what it’s worth, I sent both credit reports to the FOS along with all my bank statements. I figure that the clearer financial picture they have of you, and the more evidence they have, the easier and quicker it is for them to come to a fair decision.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
There are three main CRAs in the UK and it is up to the lenders which ones they choose to report to – that is why they don’t all show the same information. Some lenders didn’t report to any CRAs a few years ago but now they have to.
Noddle report is free so it is most people’s first choice. If you feel your Noddle report doesn’t adequately reflect your situation, you can also get reports from Experian and Equifax. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/best-way-to-check-credit-score/.
The credit scores are not shown on the statutory reports but this doesn’t matter – the FOS isn’t interested in what your credit score is now, they just want to know the data that would have been visible on your reports when you were borrowing.
Kg says
Hi,
My loans disappeared 7months ago, long before any affordability complaint was made. When i asked experian they advised me that wonga dont report to them anymore. They didnt say why.
Hope this helps
Ross says
More success. My adjudicator has just called to say that Satsuma loans has accepted his decision. They are refunding all interest on my final (and largest) loan, which will wipe it out (was due to be repaid by April, so it’s welcome to have another debt cleared early) and a refund of £300. Interestingly, they have told the adjudicator that they will issue the refund by cheque? I have questioned this as why would they want to issue a refund by cheque when they issue their regular payments by faster payments? Is this a final stalling tactic to drag it out? I know they will pay up, as I have the email to confirm this. The adjudicator has said that if I make it plain on the acceptance form that I want it paid by faster payments, then she will push Satsuma to do this.
Claire says
I have had my case settled by Satsuma (owed a refund of just over £900). M adjudicator has said the same, refund within 4 weeks by cheque. I saw your posting so I’ve asked my adjudicator to request that Satsuma pay me sooner than four weeks and by the direct deposit to my bank. The adjudicator has suggested that I contact Satsuma myself to do this. Any advice on what I should say as to the reason why I need it before end of January? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Make sure you leave a review saying what you think of their unaffordable loans and the poor way they handle complaints:
https://www.reviews.co.uk/company-reviews/store/satsuma-loans
https://ww2.feefo.com/en-US/reviews/satsuma-loans?displayFeedbackType=SERVICE&timeFrame=ALL
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.satsuma.co.uk
Simon says
I took out a loan with Lending Stream back in August 2011. The loan was settled in full in January 2012. I made payments each month, on time until the loan was settled.
I have complained to Lending Stream that although I repaid the loan, incurring only a £12 default charge (and an £84 extra pre-payment – which I’m not sure what it was for). LS replied saying that my Credit Score of 748 was suitable, I completed all the relevant fields for affordability and they deemed this suitable – as a result the have rejected my request for a refund. I would have been extremely surprised if my credit score was that high!
I am aware that this is a ‘first loan’ so may not meet ‘affordability’ criteria, particularly as all payments were made on time but I could only make the payments by taking out a loan with another lender (however I cannot confirm this until I have SOAs from those lenders).
do you think it is worth carrying on with this complaint based on all the info above or should I leave it and put it down to experience? Do LS have a reputation for dismissing complaints from the outset?
Thanks again
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Simon, how large were the monthly payments in relation to your income?
Simon says
Sara, the interest repayments were £126 each month. The reason for me getting the loan (and other subsequent loans from other lenders) was due to my gambling addiction. But without checking my old bank statements (account is now closed) I can’t see the full details of money in/out at each month. Am I still able to obtain bank statements? Does the ombudsman do this? I get the impression LS dismiss most complaints before they are referred to FOS?
Many thanks again.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
One loan cases are hard to win with any lender. Unless the monthly repayments were very high in relation to your income, or the lender did a credit check which showed very large problems (e.g. CCJs or Insolvency) which they ignored, there isn’t a way the lender could have been expected to have known the loan was unaffordable.
Simon says
I did think that to be honest. I had a good result from Mr Lender today anyway (without needing FOS) so not too disheartened.
Onwards and upwards.
Thanks again Sara.
Jess says
Hi Guys,
I’ve put in a complaint to Lending Stream regarding the 26 loans I’ve taken out in the past year and detailed my financial difficulty and the fact that I constantly have to take out more and more to keep up with them each time I pay them off. I got a very speedy response basically disregarding my complaint and telling me they won’t make me pay interest on my current 2 outstanding but are asking for the amount I borrowed, they’ve completely disregarded the other 24! I immediately forwarded this to the ombudsman as I find they haven’t even read my email and it’s just a standard response and didn’t help at all. I know it can take a long time for the ombudsman process to complete, how should I go about replying to Lending Stream in the meantime as my payments are due in a couple of weeks?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Tell them you have passed your case to the Ombudsman as they have rejected your complaint and ask to set up an affordable payment arrangement for the remaining outstanding payments.
Dan says
Lending Stream never seem to acknowledge any wrong doing unless you have an outstanding balance and will just offer to wipe this disregarding any previous lending.
I had 18 loans with them and they denied any wrong doing, told them I was taking this to fos and after a month at fos out of the blue they made an offer direct (although only 20% of interest I paid) so declined and they replied saying they would look into it further. Would advise to take to Ombudsman straight away and wait for adjudicator decision unless what they offer is near what you are expecting, but lending Stream like to test the water for sure
Neil says
Must be a day for success stories :) I had a surprise when I got home in the form of a letter from my Adjudicator, advising of the decision.
Basically, my complaint against Wonga has been upheld in full. Not only would this mean the removal of over 21 loans from my credit record, it would also be a life-changing award of over £2000 in interest, charges and the 8% simple interest.
I have no doubt that this will be escalated by Wonga to the Ombudsman, but I’m enjoying this small win and the very real possibility that there is a light at the end of what has been a pretty miserable, debt-ridden tunnel. I can’t say in words how grateful I am for this site, for Sara’s advice and for the advice and encouragement for people who were in the same boat as me.
Everyone on this process – please stick with it. I thought there were several compelling reasons for my case to be thrown out, but seeing the Adjudicator’s calculations has made me think otherwise. Once this is all officially settled (one way or another!) I will be happy to share more information, as I feel some details I’ve deliberately not written about on a public forum may encourage others who may be put off from making a complaint.
Adam says
Congratulations on your win, fingers crossed all goes well, anychance you could share how long it took from you contacting the ombudsman untill you received a adjudicstors decison?
I also have a complaint in against wonga,
Thanks
Neil says
Hi Adam – it was just over a month from formal submission of my complaint (I did this online) to receiving a letter through the post, which was actually a copy of a letter sent to Wonga advising them of the decision.
Initially, I supplied copies of my credit files (Noddle and the full version of Equifax, as I was at the end of my free trial), copies of the e-mail communication between Wonga and I, and notes of my previous account numbers and sort codes. After a few days, I was asked for current bank statements which I supplied. There was a hold-up due to the Adjudicator requesting copies of statements for an account I held in 2014; I tried to put in a call to the bank to get these but they wouldn’t budge and insisted I made a Subject Access Request (Sara had already primed me that this may be the case). The Adjudicator advised that they were able to make a decision without these statements as my financial situation was clear from my other statements and credit reports, but strongly suggested that I continue to obtain the previous statements as the Ombudsman would need these.
Basically, send a much information as you can up-front, because it seems to cut down the time taken. I did not believe my case was straightforward at all, and once this is all over I will happily come back and share the reasons why I felt this.