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?
ross says
Anyone had any experience with Cheque Centre? Just wondering how long it takes them to get back to you. If full 8 weeks then i’ll need to take a copy of my current credit report in case they ask for further details. Otherwise entries will have been removed by th etime i recive a response.
TIA
Maureen says
Hi Ross, they took almost 8 weeks to send my decision. Not sure why they refused to accept my complaint, they took bank statements every month as well so they should have seen other lenders. The principal and interest was more than my available income after rent and bills and I did respond to their final response stating this but never received anything back so sent to the FOS. That was in March and still had no response from an adjudicator yet despite them having all the info. There are a lot over 6 years though
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Take a copy of your credit report now!
Laura says
Hi all , ive had my final decision from the ombudsman , how long does uncle buck normally take to pay up ? , just wondering how long it will be before payment – I just hope uncle buck don’t dig there heels in and pay out quickly lol its not massive but £400 is £400 – Thank you
Laura says
I just hope uncle buck don’t dig there heels in and pay out quickly lol its not massive but £400 is £400
Paul says
Hi there – I have an ongoing complaint with Cheque Centre that is at adjudicator stage – I borrowed cheque loans continuously from 2 branches of Cash Generator (Manchester and Stockport) from about 2006 – 2010. The problem is that Cheque Centre claim that they have no record of any loans taken by me – I must have had 50 – 100+ cheque loans cashed or rolled over in this time period. As a recent graduate at the time I lived in houseshares, moving every 12 months or 2 years and I have given them all my addresses and postcodes in Manchester to search on. My adjudicator is not sure what to do next, is unsure how I can prove I had the loans. All I have are cheque cashing records on bank statements which is the just the cheque number and that wouldn’t cover them all anyway (some “bought back” using other payday loans) – I have complaints settled or in progress with 10 lenders at the moment. I am very sceptical that they have no record of me – I put a similar claim into H&T Pawnbrokers for cheque loans since 2008 and they settled and paid me out for all interest on all cheque loans (£1300) without me even going to the Ombudsman. I just don’t know what to do next to compel the lender to check records over 6 years as I feel they are deliberately not looking > 6years.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is there a way of telling from your bank statements which cheques were to CC and which to, say, H&T?
Paul says
I don’t think so – the cheque reference number just refers to how many cheques I have had from my cheque book with HSBC my bank, so isn’t a unique identifier – wouldn’t other people have the same cheque numbers in theory e.g. on my statement a transaction in May 2010just shows as:
05 May CHQ 100946 100.00
?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is what I would have got from my bank :(
You could ask the bank if there is any way of getting your cheques back from this time – but I doubt that is possible.
It’s not clear where you can go from here. You could send CC a Subject Access Request but if they can’t locate the information, then they may still not be able to find it. Over 6 years they are not legally obliged to keep the information.
The Hitman says
Hi all,
I’m new to this forum, and it seems everyone is having some great success! Hopefully I can be another soon!
Below are the PDL providers I’ve used over the years. Some I have rolling accounts with up to 12 months in duration.
Current
Piggybank – Current/Outstanding (£1500)
Satsuma – Current/Outstanding (£200)
Sunny – Current/Outstanding (£1350)
Lending Stream – Outstanding in dispute £3500
Over 6 months
Peachy
Pounds Till Payday
Wonga
24-7 Money Box
Ferratum
Payday UK
I’m sure I’m not the only one but I have on occasions under called my outgoings in order to obtain a PDL. It’s clear looking at my credit file and the amount of applications I’m suffering hardship, and basically stuck in a rut with PDL providers.
Has anyone else done this? And would it go against my claim?
Thank you!!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
First the accounts you have open – that is a lot of money outstanding. I strongly suggest you talk to StepChange about a setting up a DMP, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/help-payday-loan/. With any luck some of the refunds you get will pay off a lot of your debts, but you need to get your finances on a stable footing right now, no more borrowing. And you want to be able to wait for many months until you claims are settled, not grab the first poor offer you are given.
Also read https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-refunds-defaulted-loan/ which looks in detail at complaints where you have a balance still owing.
Re underestimating your expenses, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-lender-says-lied/.
The Hitman says
Thanks great.
Do you think I’ll be ok despite under calling my expenditure?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you borrowed repeatedly from the same lender, probably! Where you only took one or two loans, it will make those cases much harder.
TheHitman says
This is my first response from Lending stream: (they attached my loan statements)
We believe in maintaining complete transparency about interest and charges etc. by sharing the agreement containing all such necessary information regarding the loans before entering into the contract.
Please note that the interest has been incurred and paid in accordance to the agreed schedule before entering the agreement. The Statement of Accounts would help you in understanding the total repaid amount and the breakdown of interest and charges.
We have attached the statements for all your loan accounts along with this email (password would be your Date of Birth in
What would you do next?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you make a simple list of all loans. One line for each, you want the date taken out, the date repaid, the amount borrowed, the total interest and fees paid, and a note to say if there were any late payments or if the loan was rolled.
Then with this list you can clearly see how many loans you had, how much interest you paid in total, what the gaps between the loans were (the time from repaying one loan to taking out the next) and whether the loan amount tended to go up. You can then write your step two full complaint.
TheHitman says
Response from Lending stream:
We are writing in reference to your recent correspondence dated 10th July 2017.
We would like to inform you that you borrowed four loans 176***1787****, 178**** and 179**$ from Lending Stream.
Please be informed that the ownership of the loans 179***, 1789***and 1787**** has been transferred to Motormile Finance Ltd (can be contacted on 01138876876) and for the loan 176**** the ownership of the account has been transferred to Assest Collection and Investigation Ltd (can be contacted on 01698907055) Hence, for any further queries we request you to get in touch with them.
We hope the above explanation addresses your concerns.
What would you recommend doing next?
Thank you again
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is it correct that you only had 4 loans from them and defaulted on all of them?
If it is, you should reply that you are making an affordability complaint about these loans – add more details from the step two template letter – and you want them to reply to it as they were the ones that made the irresponsible lending decision.
Also tell MMF and Asset Collection that the debts are in dispute with Lending Stream and ask them to hold off on any enforcement activity. This is important – you don’t want the debt collector starting court action.
TheHitman says
Yes all four was defaulted, and few rolled over before.
Yes I will thank you!
Brad says
Hi Sara, the adjudicator has awarded me £440 from quickquid, she asked for my bank details yesterday and said they have 28 days to issue it, from the reports uve read from your knowledge how long do quickquid usually take to pay into peoples accounts from when they receive your bank details???
Tom c says
Hi brad i got paid the same day i agreed with quickquid
Matt S says
Hi all,
Just looking for some advise on how to proceed with my Nationwide Overdraft complaint.
Adjudicator has ruled against me. Basically saying that although I had 2 mentions of being in debt management on my Experian credit report and that Nationwide would have taken this into account before approving, the amounts were quite low so this wouldn’t have affected my application (surely this cant be right, I wasn’t approved for payday loans of £200 at the time because of DM notices so how can a bank approve me for a £4000 overdraft). Its also annoying that they only used Experian as my Noddle report had plenty defaults from the time.
Also he agrees that from looking at my statements I had a gambling addiction (averaging I’d guess near 100 individual transactions every month) but there was no indication I advised Nationwide of this before originally applying or before further increases and that although Nationwide have a duty of care to customers it is not up to them to police customers accounts. I don’t recall seeing anything on the application form asking if I had a gambling addiction so not sure where or when I should have told them this. (Nationwide also indicated that they took into account how I managed my account so they must have looked at things like this surely).
Don’t know how to progress as I don’t really have any further information and he has said that without further information the Ombudsmans decision would likely be the same.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Just send it to the Ombudsman. That ” without further information the Ombudsmans decision would likely be the same” is said to everyone.
I agree with you that it’s hard to call a £4,000 overdraft “quite low”. Being in debt management means you have little or no spare income so increasing your credit limit isn’t a responsible thing to do.
C says
Just spoke to my aujudicator again about QQ. The second deadline to respond is up today. Just enquired if they had responded this time and he said he has given them another 7 days to respond? This is the 3 rd time now to extend the deadline to respond. Has anyone else had this and then they finally agreed with aujudicator? Im getting bit fed up now of all the extra deadlines they have been given. Do you think i could ring QQ to find out whats going on or will that go against me?
Thanks all…….on a brighter note i had my confirmation email from payday uk today to say that my refund would be in my account within 5 days, 263.00 refund from these but they also cleared my balance (paid 800 odd interest and had o/s balance of 650) and agreed to remove from credit file.
Katie says
Quick Quid finally agreed with adjudicator last Friday that was after 3 weeks !
Nigel says
So the 100pounds saga. On Friday the last day of the enforcement notice I got an email asking for bank details. Today after again nothing for two days they send me a payment of £150.81 and tell me the will pay me £150 a month till its refunded! Total due is £1150.81. This is totally unacceptable and I have told them the FULL amount needs to be refunded today. I have told the FOS enforcement team this as well. This would take 7 more months to refund. The ignored everything for the last two!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Good heavens. Perhaps they could take out a payday loan or something if they are so short of money?
Have you informed the FCA about this?
Nigel says
Sunny Marketing Ltd have explained that their company’s partner and investor died in a car accident and have had to carefully plan their cash flow, since at the moment the costs are significantly higher than the revenue. In the first few months they can only make smaller payments and in a couple of months they’re able to pay all the balance of the remaining claim. Please note that we find this a sufficient reason as to why payments will be made monthly.
That was the response the FOS had. Now I don’t know. They never explained this to me, why has it taken this amount of time. My concern is I have not details of when the next payment will come, what happens if it doesn’t come. I have no guarantee that I will have to go through them chasing again? But in all seriousness There is no way a company like this cant afford to make this payment in one go whatever the reason. I find it really bad play.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think the FCA should be questioning whether an authorised company has enough working capital to support its business if it can’t pay a £1000 award from the Financial Ombudsman.
Nigel says
I have settled on the following pay schedule with them. 11th August 150 11th September 150 11th October 150, 11th November 150 11th December 400. I have told them that failure to pay on these dates will result in them being reported to the FCA. The FOS had advised that court action wont really change anything as they are offering to pay. They wont comment on weather a Payday lender should or should not have assets available to refund in one hit. Lets see how it goes.
Susanne says
I have had the ombusdman uphold my complaints with myjar, lending stream, payday uk and quickquid. Does anyone have any idea how long they these companies take to pay out after the ombusdman ruling?
warren says
Hi has anyone had any dealings with safenet credit? Are they hard to deal with? Thanks in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Safetynet Credit? Yes lots of complaints upheld about them. They have access to your bank account so they should have noticed things like overdraft increasing, fees for unpaid DDs, payments to other payday lenders and basically the fact that their loans are frequently unaffordable!
Stefan says
SNC, the best company I’ve dealt with. I had a balance to them of £540 including interest, and paid already so far only £200 and something. So they realized it was a mistake by lending me and have written off all my balance.
Andy says
Hi Stefan , did you use the template given on this site , as I have a account with them frozen at the moment giving me 30 days to sort finances out, I had defaults with other lenders but still lent me £500, and wop my account of the lot every payday leaving me short and having to borrow again from them
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Andy, you need to cancel the CPA with your bank that lets SNC take money from your account. Lots of people have said after 30 days they just take all the money again. So cancel the CPA and then get going with a complaint.
Also wrk out how much interest you have paid them (may be a lot!) as just wiping your balance may not be a good enough offer, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-refunds-defaulted-loan/ for details.
david says
my complaint is currently with QQ and has been since mid-March 2017. as it stands QQ are refusing to acknowledge the FOS requests for information on my account because they are over 6 years old. so… QuickQuid received a nice email from me yesterday – with the FCA copied into it!
The FCA have already replied asking for further information although they do specify that they will not help the complaint but they do take our comments on board and use comments to help build up a better picture of how the company is being run.
I suggest anyone affected by QQs’ refusal to look into anything over 6 years old sends them a lovely email just as I did. no template required, you don’t even have to put in specifics about your complaint. just generalise your feelings about how you think QQ is running their business and how it is affecting you. I made a point of claiming they are also hindering the services of the FOS with their actions. I mentioned i’d read that QQ had apparently been trying to undercut FOS decisions on other refunds and offered less than the FOS ruling which the FCA were quite interested in.
it will help give the FCA a better idea of QQs unfair mishandling of not only our initial loan applications but also the account maintenance and customer service through to present day too.
if it doesn’t help me, hopefully it will help others further down the line.
you’ve nothing to lose!! :-)
Vickie says
Hi all, just want to say that Wage Day Advance made me an offer which I’ve just accepted. They offered me the full amount of interest on 22 out of the 23 loans I took out with them and have even cancelled the debt I have on the last loan which they transferred onto MMF. Maybe I should have waited until the funds hit my account but I just wanted to say thank you really to everyone who comments on here, without you guys and girls I would never of had the courage to complain. Thanks also to Sara for putting this information together. It really does work! I have another three complaints in with the FO but hopefully I will get a result with them all as well.
C says
Just had a offer from quick quid for £3400, i have rejected this offer as i have paid over 5000 in interest alone without the 8% added to it. I have said i am willing to accept anything over 5500. Im hoping QQ will come back with another offer. Do they normally offer another amount?
Rachel says
Just a quick update, PDUK have done what they said and removed all loans/defaults form my credit file i think it was done within a month.
It was for me a very long process – took 15 months in total but I had loans older than 6 years. But worth it, in the end I got over £10k back. Be prepared to wait and don’t take any low offers if you have a good case good luck
Neil says
Well done Rachel!
I have paid £2100 interest on my loans so hoping for most of that back as they were all month after month in 2014. Thanks fle your advice
Vicki says
After finding this page, I have put several complaints in to several companies;
1. Sunny – They are investigating my complaint. My calculation is I’m owed approx £600
2. Wonga – Did not send me a statement, so have filed an official complaint. Still heard nothing back yet, but told them they have 8 weeks to reply. My calculation is I’m owed approx. £600
3. WDA – They sent me a full statement, and I have since sent an official complaint in. They are investigation. My calculation is they owe me approx. £1k
4. Vivus – I have received an auto reply saying they are no longer trading
5. QQ – They are investigating and my calculation is that they owe me approx. £6k
6. Uncle Buck – I received the following from them: Thank you for your recent email. Unfortunately, I have been unable to locate any funded or repaid loans for yourself. We only hold records of cancelled applications in your name, as such, we would be unable to provide you with a statement of account or investigate your complaint.
7. 1st Stop – They are investigating and I have calculated they owe me approx £1k
8. Springcoin – They have declined my claim. Springcoin was almost £2k borrowed originally and some top ups along the way. Also some late payments.
On the points of Vivus, Uncle Buck & Springcoin, should I send these to the Financial Ombudsman or is it not worth it?
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Springcoin – Definitely take Springcoin to the Ombudsman
Uncle Buck – what evidence do you have that you borrowed from them – emails? bank statements? you need to phone them up because they haven’t declined your complaint, just said they can’t find your loans…
Vivus – no longer lending, but they are still handling complaints. I suggest phoning them too to check they are investigating.
Daniela says
Hi,
This might possibly help with vivus, I had a refund from them this Friday just gone, after asking them for a SOA on the 21st of June. They did however mentioned that they had received my “complaint ” before they ceased to trade, didn’t mentioned the date when that happened…
Home owner :) says
Wow today I have been accepted for a mortgage can not believe it Sara thank you so much for this life changing site. I was at rock bottom loans with
Payday U.K.
Wageday advance
Wonga
Cash converters
Mjar
Payday express
Mr lender
And more ruined my life and chances of ever having my own home.
A year later all my defaults removed and entries and now I will be moving into my new home soon.
It wasn’t about the refunds for me it was more about my credit file so I took the first offers but still ended up a good few thousand better off.
The process is so worth it don’t give up!
Don’t worry about past loans and concentrate on building up with a fair score. I have managed a low interest mortgage with a high street lender
Sara thanks again
Maureen says
That’s fantastic news! I’m at the middle of my journey, awaiting adjudicator decisions but most will probably go to ombudsman as over 6 years. I have the same hope for the near future, to buy my own house. You give us hope and Sara is fantastic. Hope you are very happy in your new home!
Nigel says
I have a dilemma. Moneybox 24/7 has gone to the Ombudsman. But Its not so straight forward. Some of the loans are over the 6 years ruling. They never responded to the original request to look at loans over 6 years, that went too an ombudsman and he decided that the Adjudicator could look into all loans including those over 6 years. But Moneybox 247 have not budged on the original decision with me or anyone. I have been told there is a growing pile of referred Moneybox 247 complaints that include loans over 6 years that the Ombudsman has not started to look at because of the objection raised by Moneybox 247.
So my dilemma is that only three of the loans upheld are before the 6 year date for me (28th June 2016) Original compliant date, yes its been that long! I will have 30 loans instead of 33 out of a total of 36 if I don’t include the ones from the 6 year ruling.
So I ask going ask my adjudicator to not include the three that are over 6 years that were upheld. This would only account for some £130 of Interest. It would still leave me claiming back £4300+ Interest and see what Moneybox say to that, also that way if it is back with the Ombudsman then It will be looked at and settled in a reasonable time frame. Not an uncertain one.
Hope all that makes sense.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
With only 3 out of 36 loans affected, this seems like a sensible way forward for you.
Wazza says
Good Morning
My story so far. I have made 3 complaints, all relating to borrowing within the last six years. All complaints started approximately middle of march this year.
Piggy bank = 8 loans in total, received an offer six weeks after initial complaint refunding interest and removing all loans from Credit file.
Wonga = 52 loans in total, received an offer at 8 weeks to refund on 3 loans which appeared to be chosen at random, rejected offer and forwarded to Ombudsman, adjudicator picked up the case and suggested wonga refund loans 4 to 52. They didn’t reply by deadline which was last Friday, adjudicator has given them an extra week which is up tomorrow.
Sunny = 22 loans in total, received an offer at 8 weeks offering to refund loan one which included several top ups, rejected and sent to ombudsman, adjudicator suggested sunny refund loans 1 and 4 to 22. They have till Saturday to reply.
Still could be a while to go if they reject the adjudicators findings but it gives me optimism moving forward to the ombudsman.
Has anybody had experience of wonga/sunny? And do they generally accept the adjudicators decision?
Thanks
Wazza says
Also Thanks Sara for the site, and thanks to everyone who keep posting their experiences and motivating people to do the same, from reading people’s post it’s clear to see a lot of people’s lives have been changed massively for the better, it’s allowed most to clear debts, and in some cases people’s success has allowed them to get mortgages and buy and house when previously it was all but impossible, which is massive! Sara you should be proud of yourself for taking the time in helping so many people!
Thank you
Kevin says
Hi I’m in a dispute with piggy bank did they refund all loans? They offered me 6/10 in final offer after 4 weeks
Wazza says
Yes they refunded all 8 of the loans I had taken with them, this was approximately 6 weeks after acknowledging my initial complaint. It wasn’t for a massive amount of interest to be fair, as the loans where either relatively small or paid back in short periods, the total was just shy of £260. Maybe that was a factor. If the amounts they are excluding on your offer are substantial I’d seriously consider forwarding it to the ombudsman. For example sunny initially offered me approx £750 as a settlement, about an hour ago they accepted the adjudicators decision and I’ll be getting £2600 refunded and all info removed from my file.
Good luck
Dave says
Wazza – Reading your post was almost like you were describing my situation!! :)
I started my complaints process on 8th May with both Wonga and Sunny.
Wonga – 38 loans over a 3 year period
Sunny – god knows how many loans over 2.5 year period. This was hard to work out as Sunny allowed you to have up to 3 loans at one time and I was constantly paying off and re-loaning to combine loans together so I could get another loan at later dates.
Anyway, Wonga replied after 3 weeks rejecting my claim so that is with the FOS. Check with them yesterday and Wonga had sent them the details of my loans that day so hopefully should be assigned to adjudicator soon.
Sunny… , they responded on the last day of the 8 week period from my complaint partly upholding my complaint. They only upheld on ONE loan and like Wonga with you, this loan seemed to have been picked entirely at random and was 2 years into my borrowing with them.
I have replied to them asking how all loans after that weren’t also deemed unaffordable and reported to FOS too.
To sum up, I can’t comment on whether they accept at adjudicator level but I will be very interested to see what happens in your case!! :)
Fingers crossed for us both!!
Steph says
Sunny accepted my adjudicator decision. They’ve yet to pay me … but it has only been
One week!
Anyone had any experience with how long they take to pay?
Wazza says
Hi Steph,
Congratulations on your claim, Sunny accepted my adjudicators decision on Thursday, I forwarded the acceptance form along with my bank details to the adjudicator the same day who informed she’d then passed all details to sunny, and added sunny would get in touch to sort what had been agreed.
Did you receive any confirmation directly from sunny? Or any kind of timescale?
Thanks W
Kevin says
Help piggy bank final offer after 4 weeks. Has anyone rejected and received a better offer or should I take this offer? They offered to refund the final 6/10 loans. Even though I was also balancing weekly loans with wonga
Non refund 2016
1. 16/9 265 13/10 332.24 (2 deferrals) interest 57.24
2. 13/10 300 20/10 316.80 interest 16.80
3. 20/10 265 27/10 279.84 Interest 14.84
4. 27/10 400 8/12 531.20 (2 deferrals) interest 131.20
TOTAL INTEREST 220.18
Refund offered
5. 8/12 300 12/1 384 (2 deferrals)
6. 12/1 340 9/2 416.16 (2 deferrals)
7. 9/2 300 16/2 316.80
8. 28/2 100 6/4 129.60 (2 deferrals)
9. 6/4 250 31/5 360 ( 2 deferrals)
10. 31/5 500 12/6 548
Total offer 364.56
They have said they are happy to consent to the ombudsman even if within time limits. Basically I signed to say I could pay it back etc and if I couldn’t afford to pay it back the terms advices me to cancel
Kevin says
Below is some of what they said….
You advised us you had a monthly total income of £1100. We then deducted your living costs, bills and any extras such as clothing expenses. You advised us that your total expenditure was £380. However, as your expenditure details were less than what we would expect for your demographic
You sent in regular weekly payslips for your loans, showing weekly net pay between £281.40 to £347.61.
Based on my findings and the information above, I can uphold your complaint regarding irresponsible lending and will be able to offer some redress in this matter. If you accept in full and final settlement of your complaint, I can refund the interest and charges on the highlighted loans. This totals £364.56. Please confirm you bank details so that a refund can be processed for you. I will also have your credit file adjusted accordingly.
Any help grateful appreciated
Would they make an offer after I rejected or will they not budge on final offer. Want more but don’t want to wait months and get no extra
Neil says
Kevin,
I also am waiting for a response from Piggy Bank. Thanks for sharing this inforamtion.
However, I have had a response from Mr Lender similar to what you have received here, They offered me a a fraction of my interest and i went back to them and said that i dont think it was a good enough and pointed out a few other reasons to do with why i didnt think it was. They came back and offered me double what they had offered me in the first time. I then rang them up, and had a conversation saying i would like a little extra of in going to the Financial Ombudsman, we came to an agreement and from my first offer to my final offer i received just under treble the sum.
There’s no harm in asking them for more. Their either going to give you it or say that it is their final offer, but if they do i would definitely give them a ring.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You wrote “They offered to refund the final 6/10 loans.” But they are actually refunding 5-10.
It’s not a poor offer, but it’s not that good.
I think there is a good case for including 4th loan – after the first had been rolled twice and loans 2, 3 and 4 were taken out the same date the previous one was repaid, I think they should have not given the 4th loan, especially as it was larger than any of the previous ones. Including that 4th loan would add another £131.
You could argue that the third should be refunded, but the interest on that was only £14, so probably not worth it! What do you think?
James says
I have had a series of loans with many different lenders. I have already made contact with them requested statements and issued my complaints.
Each one individually are starting to reply to me now saying they weren’t liable for any wrong doing however would like to offer me a “gesture of good will” around £40-£80.
Are they offering me this because they are wrong deep down? or should I just accept what I can?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This depends on how many loans you had from each lender and how much interest you paid. If you only had a couple of loans (and they weren’t rolled) then £40-£80 could be a good offer. But if you paid a lot more interest than that then it isn’t and they are just hoping you will think “oh that’s better nothing, OK for just writing an email”.
If you don’t know how much interest you paid, you should be very suspicious! Reply that you would like to consider their offer but you need your statement of account first.
Robert says
Hi can u help I complained about a loan I had about a year and half ago where I borrowed money 5000 to pay back 11000 over 5 years and I had about 7 other loans at the time and owed friends and family money, I sort of twisted the truth to get the loan and after a year of paying 200 a month I had to get my mum to pay it all off which they pritty much wanted 5000 and didn’t knock anything off it, the ombudsman basically said they didn’t see a fault in what they did as the company just went off what they told me and the ombudsman never asked for anything off me. Saying that because I lied about my circumstances they did nothing wrong is this right?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If this is the first loan you had from the lender, then the starting position is that the lender can assume your application is accurate unless it should have been obvious to them that it wasn’t.
So I don’t know how much you “twisted the truth”. If you put down £50 a month for food, you could reasonably argue the lender should have known that was unlikely.
Why did you say you wanted the loan? If say you had put down “payday loan consolidation” the lender could reasonably ignore a lot of your existing loans.
Gary says
Hi, could you help with lending stream response? I borrowed a total of £11230.00 over the 40 loans and repaid £14735.18.
You borrowed 40 loans, 39 loans have been closed with one outstanding.
Your Experian score ranged between 730 – 812. This was factored into our proprietary underwriting and deemed acceptable.
You were full-time employed, monthly income was £2258.00 – £2580.00.
We were not informed about financial distress with no reason to believe that these loans would impact your circumstances.
Our multiple loans offered in a considerable time frame are not “irresponsible lending” if the disposable income is enough to meet repayments.
When a customer requests a credit report, they acquire specific information including names of lenders’ and their respective reporting, however, when a financial institution does a credit search on a customer’s credit report, they are not privy to that exact information. Hence, our decision to lend money does in part rely on the information received from Experian (credit scores).
Customers should include all obligations while filling expenditure details to ensure fair assessment and ability to make repayments. The data shared in your applications indicated that your monthly income exceeded your expenses and that repayments can be made without financial difficulties.
In lieu of the overall situation, we believe that Lending Stream has behaved responsibly in approving your loans and has dealt with them fairly.
Neil says
I had exactly the same word for word response Gary. Send mine straight to the ombudsman yesterday.
Lyndsay says
Not sure how to reply to an email I have received from 24/7 Moneybox (won’t let me post whole email).
Happy to provide information requested (though do be aware that all of this information was provided upon the advance of any loan as the loan agreement was sent to you via email – do check your junk or spam for this and also check any other email address’ you may have provided us with.)
You have borrowed a total of £770.00 from us. You have repaid a total of £625.06.
This means that you have not even repaid the principal amount lent to you (ie minus any charges). If you ask a third party mediator to look into this, they are likely to ask you to repay what you have borrowed (the principal amount). In this case that would mean they would tell you to repay £144.94 to us.
Where you hear comments about refunds, this often relates to payments of interest and charges over and above the principal amount we have advanced to your account. As you have not paid any, there is nothing to refund.
We are happy as a gesture of goodwill to resolve by accepting £144.94 as final settlement of your balance.
We are aware that there are many forums and templated letters available on the internet to exploit any previous credit commitments under the wholly subjective banner of affordability. To compare our actions with the reported behaviour of other lenders is inappropriate…
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“You have borrowed a total of £770.00 from us. You have repaid a total of £625.06.” is this correct? If you aren’t sure, ask them to send you a statement of your account and try to cross chek it to your bank statements.
Did you know you still owed them money? IS this debt with them or a debt collector?
Lyndsay says
I asked for a statement using your template and this was the response I received. It initially have only every borrowed up to £150 at a time which was rolled over time and time again as it was unaffordable. I lost my job and couldn’t pay the last sum back. I assume they haven’t passed it onto a debt collector as I have never heard anyone.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you should ask for a full statement of account so you can consider their offer.
Debbie says
Hi all an update on my claims thanks to this site. I have complained to payday express, payday uk, wonga, quickquid, pounds2pocket and lending stream.
Payday express – complained April. Email 5 weeks later refusing. Sent to FOS picked up mid june agreeing with all loans except 1st one. They came back with offer of £1288 for loan 3 4 5 which i accepted yesterday. ( the amount offered was what i worked out so happy with this)
Lending stream – complained April. They refused after about 3 weeks. Sent to FOS who agreed with lending stream. Not continued with this one.
Wonga – complained April. 2 days after 8 week mark they emailed to refused. Sent to FOS and received decision today they agree with 8/9 loans were unaffordable. They have til end of july to respond.
Payday UK – complained april – email 5 weeks later offering £180 refused and sent to FOS still awaiting to be allocated.
Quickquid + pounds2pock – complained April – email received at 10 week mark refusing – sent to FOS and awaiting to be assigned.
Good start really. Hoping for good outcomes.
William says
Hello,
My loan history is as follows:
02-09-2009 – 30-09-2009 principal= £250 paid= £300.00
05-10-2009 – 30-10-2009 principal= £250 paid= £306.25
04-11-2009 – 30-11-2009 principal= £300 paid= £360.00
04-12-2009 – 12-04-2010 principal= £700 paid= £1392.75
03-09-2010 – 13-10-2010 principal= £300 paid= £397.37
14-10-2010 – 01-11-2010 principal= £700 paid= £869.50
02-11-2010 – 31-12-2010 principal= £1000 paid= £1450.00
05-01-2011 – 31-03-2011 principal= £600 paid= £1005.00
04-04-2011 – 28-04-2011 principal= £600 paid= £735.00
08-05-2011 – 31-05-2011 principal= £700 paid= £857.50
04-06-2011 – 30-06-2011 principal= £800 paid= £980.00
01-12-2011 – 31-01-2012 principal= £1000 paid= £1462.00
31-01-2012 – 29-02-2012 principal= £1000 paid= £1225.00
23-08-2011 – 23-09-2011 principal= £1000 paid= £1225.00
01-03-2012 – 01-10-2013 principal= £1000 paid= £1194.20
QQ has come back to me and offered around £376. Should I accept this?
Regards
William
Sara (Debt Camel) says
£367 – I wonder how they came up with that number? There is about £1200 of interest within 6 years and about £2300 over 6 years (I haven’t added them up – you should do this to exact figures). If you add the 8% on that the Ombudsman usually does, that would be another £500 within 6 years and £1100 over 6 years (those are VERY rough guesses).
Also could you check the start & end dates as some of the interest paid looks odd for the length of the loan. Did you miss or make payments to any loans or have a payment arrangement?
What was your rough income during this time? What would your credit record have shown?
There is a lot of borrowing but one huge gap. And some smaller ones. And a lot of the loans are over 6 years old.
So this is a big case – over 5k maximum payment. The loan sizes got larger and larger which should have big a big warning to QQ to stop lending. It’s not entirely straightforward (the gaps) but I would still expect a large payout from the Ombudsman. But the older loans mean it is likely to be slow at the Ombudsman.
£376 is a very poor offer.
If you want this sorted quickly you could offer to accept all the interest on the loans within 6 years to be refunded, so £1,200 plus 8% would be c £1,700. Otherwise just send the case to the Ombudsman for them to look at.
William says
Hi Sara,
Missed payments? A few times, I didn’t have enough to pay back fully on time, so I did a “rollover” – so the interest go bigger.
My rough income was around £1,500 and my credit record was not good as I had a default already in place at the time which was recorded by Provident in 2012 or so.
I’ve sent them an email just few minutes ago to reject their initial offer.
Many thanks.
Dan says
Hi Sara,
I’ve currently got 7 loans on the go with pounds to pocket, cash4unow, unclebuck, Satsuma, MyJar, MrLender, TMA Advances. This month I’m due to pay £1710 to these companies, which I cannot afford afford to do. I earn just over £2k per month and also have credit cards, travel, various other expenses to pay. How do you suggest that I tackle this? Feeling pretty desperate at the moment.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
In order:
1) talk to your bank and cancel all the CPAs (or, less likely, DDs) to the payday lenders. You must do this, don’t assume the lenders will do the right thing if you talk to them get yourself safe.
2) tell each lender you are setting up a debt management plan. No need to mention affordability complaints at the moment, your top priority is to get out of this payday loan spiral.
3) contact stepChange about a DMP – this may be temporary if you can get a lot of money back from the payday lenders! But if it isn’t, well you can’t carry on like you are doing at the moment, it just has to stop.
4) then, when all that is done, you can get started on affordability complaints knowing you are going to have to accept the first poor offer you are given because you are desperate.
This is described in more detail here: https://debtcamel.co.uk/help-payday-loan/.
When you do start affordability complaints, use the template letters here and also read https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-refunds-defaulted-loan/ which looks at cases where you still owe a balance.
Dan says
Hi Sara,
Thanks for your response. I’m going to follow your steps.
I was going to speak to each lender to set up a plan with each of them directly rather than go straight to stepChange. Would you definitely recommend me going to stepChange first? Is it likely that the lenders won’t offer me any support/help?
Thanks again,
Dan
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How much do you think you can pay to the payday lenders all together? Leaving you enough for everything else so you don’t have to borrow any more?
Some lenders are better at helping than others. Some may ask you for an income & expenditure sheet showing what you can afford. Some may say they won’t accept a lower offer from you if you are still paying the normal amounts to your credit cards etc.
You certainly can approach them yourself – they don’t bite, not like they used to… but 7 is a lot to try to make individual arrangements. It only takes a couple to be difficult and you will be wishing you had asked StepChange to deal with it.
If you do want to make the arrangement yourself, cancel the CPAs first and start your conversation by saying this. You aren’t “asking” them to accept £15 a month, you are saying that is all you can afford.
Dan says
I could pay them about £700-800 a month and be able to sleep at night. I’d definitely be able to offer them a reasonable payment, just not the extortionate amounts that I initially agree to when I was desperate.
I have a current complaint with pound to pocket/quickquid. I’ve paid them about £4000 in interest since 2009, so I’m hoping that they might write-off my current £1500 loan. If they do then things will become a lot easier.
I’m going to cancel the CPA’s now, then start contacting each of the lenders informing them what I can afford. If the lenders don’t play ball, then I’ll have to go through stepChange.
I really appreciate all of your help Sara, and the amount of support you provide to everyone in a similar situation to me.
Sally says
Hi all
Just an update on my ongoing complaint,
I complained to payday uk on the 6th June with the stage 2 letter by going through all my bank statements they rejected my complaint on the 22nd June so sent off to the FOS straight away, got a letter from them on the 10th July asking for bank statements and credit score, awaiting a reply. I called them for an update and they said they are waiting for some information from the company and then they will assign me an adjudicator.
Complained also to wageday advance and wonga the 8 weeks will be up on the 31st July. Got a letter from both companies stating that it will probably be over 8 weeks and to go to the FOS if I wish too.
My question is if they have sent a letter and my 8 weeks aren’t up can I go to the FOS and will they look into it or do I still have to wait for the 8 weeks to be up?
Thanks in advance.
Lisa says
Evening all
Quick question the ombudsmen made a final decision and upheld my complaint in my favor.. I spoke to the company today who said they dispute the ombudsmen final decision.
What will happen now… I thought the ombudsmen decision is final
Aaron jackson says
Are you sure you don’t mean the adjudicators final desicion?
You can’t dispute an ombudsmans final desicion, there desicion is final!
Once an adjudicator makes a final desicion it can be disputed, then it goes to ombudsman. Then once it’s final, it’s legally binding.
Lisa says
No its the ombudsmens decision..
I was shocked when I was told this as I thought it final …
I received final decision from the ombudsmen which I agreed with…
When I spoke to them today, they stated the dispute the decision and have sent a reply back to the fos… what do you think.will happen
Thank you for your reply
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Who is the lender? Did they say on what grounds they were disputing the decision?
An Ombudsman’s final decision is binding on the firm once the customer has accepted it.
There is a minor exception that an Ombudsman is allowed to correct a “clerical error” in a Final Decision. So (and I am making this example up), if the adjudicator’s decision had been that £100 should be awarded and the ombudsman’s final decision said they were upholding the adjudicator’s decision that £1000 should be awarded, then this may have been a typo.
Lisa says
The lender is george banco. I still have a balance the outcome was the top up was unaffordable and to refund.all interest on top plus 8 % and to remove the top up from credit file….
They disagree with this….
From what I gather I dont think many cases for GB go to the fos
Sara (Debt Camel) says
In that case they may not understand what is happening … the FOS will probably explain to them :)
I suggest you try not to worry about it.
———————————————————-
EDIT – the Ombudsman explained the facts of life to George Banco and they gave in. They have removed the interest from the outstanding debt and agreed a reasonable repayment plan.
Wendy says
Hi
I have just received a reply from Mr Lender stating they sold my loan to MMF. Do I complain to MMF or send the stage 2 letter to Mr Lender?
Thanks
Wendy
clare says
Send the stage 2 letter to Mr Lender, they are the ones responsible for lending to you :)
Dave says
If a call from FOS yesterday. My complaint against Wonga has been assigned to an adjudicator.
So for those who have asked before that’s taken about 6 weeks from me reporting to FOS.
Quite hopeful of the outcome as the adjudicator said there was a lot of loans (around 40 over just under 3 years). Also made the point that for a company who says the loans are for short term, should they not have realised after a while that I was obviously dependent on them!
Now waiting for my sunny case tomorrow get assigned but that will be 3-4 weeks yet as they waited right there to the end of the 8 week period to reply to me.
Brilliant to see all the success stories of everyone on here. Hope I can add to the list!!
Marty says
Paydayuk have offered me £885 but I cant for the life of me work out if it is a good and fair offer. They have refused 3 times now to give me a statement so I can work it out included a request after the offer was made to allow me to fully consider the offer. Whats the general feeling on their fairness with offers are they usually good or should I be escalating to ombudsman?
Ross says
I’d be very wary Marty!
They originally offered me £342 and I, eventually, received ten times that amount. Send it to the FOS!
Gavin says
Hi, I’ve had an adjudication for loans from WDA and Lending Stream. The adjudicator has awarded in my favour. They have until 21st July to reply. What do the lenders generally do? Do they appeal against the adjudicator and go to ombudsman or do they accept the adjudicator’s decision. Also if it does go to ombudsman, how long am I likely to wait? Thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Judging by the recent comments here, there is a better chance of WDA accepting the adjudicator’s decision the Lending Stream. But there is a big random element here, and the specifics of your case may make a difference. Fingers crossed for you!
Mr stressed says
Hi,
I am currently overwhelmed with payday and short term debt that has spiralled over the last 5 years. From 2012 I was taking 1000 from wonga every month for about 24 months, likewise I was taking 1500 a month from quick quid. I would try to get on top but ended up juggling payments and loans from many providers, defaulting on a loan with my bank and basically stressing out every month and getting whatever high cost loans I could to maintain payments. I’m now running out of options and reading success stories here makes me think there may be an opportunity for refunds, which could help me to clear my debts or at least get back to a positive cash flow and clear them over time. I would appreciate any advice on how to approach multiple lenders at once.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It sounds as though you have a lot of current debts as well as having a lot of repaid payday loan debts.
You are right that getting refunds could be a big help in sorting out your current debts. But first you have to get your situation stabilised so you don’t need to borrow any more. It can take many months to sort out your complaints, so you need to first be secure, so you don’t have to accept a poor offer to clear a balance, when actually you should get money back as well that will let you pay off other debts.
So in order:
1) cancel all CPAs and DDs that lenders take money from your bank account.
2) read https://debtcamel.co.uk/help-payday-loan/ which looks at how to set up a debt management plan so you don’t have to borrow any more
3) start putting together complaints. The best complaints are the ones where you have borrowed the most from a lender – Wonga & QQ sound like good ones to start with! The article above has the template letters. Also for the ones where you currently owe money, read https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-refunds-defaulted-loan/
It will take time. Don’t let yourself be fobbed off. Come back with questions!
Mr stressed says
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for your clear and simple advice. I do have a lot of other debt, credit cards, short term loans, safetynet credit, pretty much everything I could get to service them all and keep afloat- thinknive qbout exhausted the options in the market which is why I am now forced to make a change.
I am often accepted as have a good salary – despite a poor credit record- but wish I’d ‘broken the cycle years ago…’ as would get a bonus or raise and manage to stay afloat- with the debt increasing!
It feels like I need to stop all payments and contact all companies with an offer, but am worried that I may get another default (got one about 5 years ago from lloyds for a 50k debt that has since been sold to link). If I attempt to enter into a dmp with my creditors are they likely to serve me with a multitude of defaults? Also my wife has a lot in her name so presumably I/we will need to do this together and preferably now before payday at the end of the month to cut the cycle.
Step one, hit the budget spreadsheet to summarise all debts, honestly I’ve lost track!
Sorry to go on, but this is the first time I e ever been able to get this out…
Appreciate your comments and encouragement.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Are you buying or renting?
Yes your wife also needs to tackle her debts. If you have loads, then I suggest you talk to StepChange about them setting up a DMP. COntacting a few creditors is fine, but a lot is stressful and takes a lot of time. And if only one or two are difficult you will have wished you had handed the whole problem to someone else.
Your top priority is to cancel the CPAs and DDs asap, don’t leave it to close to payday so the next set of debits goes through. Actually talking to the creditors can wait, get yourself safe first.
Getting a complete list of your debts is good, use your credit records to make sure you don’t miss any (you need to check all three CRAs for both of you, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/best-way-to-check-credit-score/ for how to do this for free).
The 50k debt – what sort of debt was that? When did you last make a payment to it?
Yes you are likely to get defaults. If you can’t pay your debts, that is what happens after a few months. But there isn’t another option really. The longer you stay on the merry-go-round of trying to borrow to repay other debts, the harder and more expensive it becomes. And eventually it just stops. the sooner you get off, the better as there is less to sort out.
Mr stressed says
We rent, 50k debt was unsecured loans with lloyds, agreed a token rate of 100 per month with them and paying since then, last few years, and more recently paying the same to link. Spent a few hours his morning updating a record of them all including duration, amount, remaining, term etc – it’s a very big list.
Stepchange sounds like a good idea- I have an idea of what I could afford- though presumably lenders would want proof that I’m living off baked beans and becoming a recluse?
Charlie says
Please find below my current situation;
Wonga (10) , Quick Quid (5), Payday UK (6) – all over 6 years old. All 3 came back and confirmed the loans but won’t consider the complaints as over 6 years old. Quick Quid actually said I didn’t have any loans with them after they sent me statements of account….took complaints to FOS and waiting to hear back from them. Only thing is, I’m no longer with the same bank and when I called them regarding bank statements they said they can’t supply them as the account has been dormant for so long? Not sure how this will affect the complaints with FOS?
Safetynet CREDIT, Mr Lender and Square today. All 3 wrote off the current balance and remove all adverse credit information which I accepted.
I’ve written to NextCredit, Quid Market, MPP, H and T Pawnbrokers, Cash Float and they’ve all turned my complaint down. MPP said in their final response that they were aware of the 8 defaulted accounts amounting to £9000 but said as they were a few years old they assumed I was out of financial difficulty…none of the defaults were satisfied. I have forwarded to FOS. Cash Float also reported to my credit file that I owed them £4,800 and £1,800 even though the loans were only for £350/£300! I sent the FOS an online transcript from an online chat with Cash Float – I asked for an expenditure form they said they don’t do those as they won’t accept a payment plan!!
Awaiting response from SATSUMA, Sunny, Uncle BUCK and 247 Moneybox.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Cash Float sound nice. Not.
All you can do is leave the older loans with the FOS> Were the numbers in brackets the number of loans you had from them? Were any of them rolled? Have you made a formal written request to the bank for old statements – if you can’t get these, it could be a big problem.
Charlie says
CashFloat are horrible! I really hope the FOS uphold that particular complaint.
I’m going to pop into the bank tomorrow to see if there is anything they can do. I really hope they can provide me with the bank statements I need.
Yes the numbers in the brackets we’re the number of loans. Most were rolled over with Quick Quid and Payday U.K. Wonga were paid off and I applied for a larger loan straight away. I was only 21 at the time!
Lisa says
Hello,
Firstly just want to say how helpful your website has been through the process of raising complaints to pay day lenders. I now have all cases (Payday UK, Payday Express, Wonga, Quick Quid, Pounds to Pocket and Sunny) with FOS.
Following my initial complaint with Quick Quid/P2P, they originally offered me £730 when issuing their ‘Final Decision’ which I declined as I had borrowed somewhere in the region of £10,000 perhaps more within the last 6 years and felt this offer was very poor. I then submitted all this information to the FOS about 4 weeks ago. The adjudicator contacted me yesterday to advise me that Quick Quid/P2P had made another offer of £3,091, on Quick Quid loans 12-21 and P2P loan 3, which I was extremely pleased with and was about to accept, until the adjudicator stated he thinks I should be entitled to a refund of all interest on loans 4-21 and all 3 of the P2P loans. (The first 3 loans were outside of the 6 years, so I Scrapped them as it would take too long). The ajudicator wrote to them explaining he upheld my complaint and they should reply by 28th July with an answer.
So my question is, what is the likelihood of Quick Quid/P2P agreeing to this offer by the adjudicator? Or are they another awkward company who will refer the case to Ombudsman level?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sometimes they accept adjudicator decisions, sometimes they don’t. If they don’t they may make you a larger offer when the case is waiting for an Ombudsman. One person had two more offers whilst waiting in the Ombudsman queue for 2 months!
HAve you added up how much interest you have paid on all the debts the adjudicator thinks should be refunded?
Jimmy says
Can you still try and negotiate a deal even when the Ombudsman has made a final decision?
I have been long arguing the toss over a Minicredit account now owned by Kapama. The loan amount was £150 and I repaid £180. The balance outstanding is £751 which all made up of interest and charges. The ombudsman has said that as Minicredit imposed the charges before going into liquidation and selling the account to Kapama that they cannot uphold my complaint. I will reluctantly pay the balance if they agree to remove the entry from my credit file.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
is this a final decision from an Ombudsman?
Jimmy says
Yes it is. They agreed to reduce the payment but £39 as Kapama couldn’t justify where one of the charges came from. But the Ombudsman agreed with them on everything else.
Lee says
Have finally submitted all of my initial 11 payday provider complaints – 7 more this week (As had time as been on a weeks leave from work). 2 of my earlier ones Lending Stream and Payday Express currently with Ombudsman as disputed my claims in full on their final responses. Other 8 still waiting for 8 week deadline to pass as not received final responses yet.
Peachy however complaint submitted last Monday gave final response. Claimed around £834 interest from 5 loans was due back to me plus 8%. Offered to clear my £148 balance in payment plan only. Then emailed back said not good enough asked for a further £200 credit to my account in addition to current loan being written off. Responded back offered £334 being outstanding loan cleared written off plus £186 credited back to me on Monday morning for loans 1&5. Plus all 5 loans removed from credit file. I accepted as down to last £20 to last me till payday so kind of desperate.
Do think may of jumped the gun and been short changed a little but my first success. I will definitely hold out to the bitter end on my other 10 providers and big ones like Wonga that owe me over 3k.
But just shows if thinking of accepting a final offer barter with another counter offer to a final response and give them 5 working days to respond before saying you will then go to FOS this tactic can get more money at early stage.
Put yes was desperate as really skint atm so did jump the gun a bit on this one.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Lee, have you cancelled the CPAs with your bank for all the payday lenders?
Lee says
No Sara – I now have 3 payment plans in place with payday providers. Satsuma wouldn’t freeze the interest at the stage I requested a payment plan in interim of complaint on 2 loans. Now paying £20 on each on 1st of month. Have stated in complaint to satsuma I’m not happy with this. Also said the same to my Mr Lender one, as also setup payment plan another £20 on 1st of each month in interim but stated they are freezing interest, but they are not as runs over 17 months now instead of 6 more to go. The supervisor said you wont be charged anymore interest than if you had stuck to the original 6 months. I wasn’t happy with this as said I’m asking you to freeze it now. This is also forming part of my Lending Stream compliant. I also previously had a first loan with them in 2015 which was for £750 and I arranged a payment plan with them after 1st payments as too high. They lent a further 5 loans to me after this, which also put in complaint.
I know I could of got more from peachy, but literally was on the breadline till payday as had £20 to my name and need petrol / food etc to last month till next payday. Have done a spreadsheet budget going forward for next 12 months with payment plans in and paying off other debts in meantime. Any further money I receive will just be paid off my credit card / loan debts, with wages plan to be debt free of around 18k of credit card / loan and payday debt in next 2 years with still being able to live somewhat so I don’t give up.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If a lender refuses to freeze interest you need to send them an income & expenditure sheet which shows you can’t afford to offer any more. Also to be treating all your debts the same, so you also need to be doing this with credit cards and loans. It sounds as though you have a lot of debts – I really do recommend using StepChange. They will sort things out and most lenders do freeze interest when they are sent the proper I&E.
Michael says
I would advise everybody who struggled with payday loans to follow the steps here… it really works!!
I had loans from Payday UK, Wonga, QuickQuid and MrLender between 2011 and 2013.
A year ago my credit score was rubbish. Even though I’ve had a 12 month Debt Management Plan in 2013 and paid off all my debt, there was still a Default marked by Payday UK.
After following the advice here and going through the Ombudsman for all 4 I have now received refunds from them all to the amount of £6000! Better still, all the negative info on my Credit Reports have been deleted. ( Be sure to ask for this to be done)
I have now used the money refunded towards a deposit for a house and with my clean Credit record have just secured a mortgage as well.
This all took 8 months from the first letters going out to reaching agreement on all settlements. This was actually faster than I anticipated.
MrLender and Quickquid took about 4 months to settle, but Wonga and PaydayUK were a bit more stubborn so had to go through full arbitration with the FOS, which were great to work with.
So don’t be sceptical or afraid of the timeline, stick to it and you will get the results.
Thanks Debt Camel, you were a real lifesaver!
The Hitman says
Response from Peachy, should I accept? Firstly, we would like to bring out that in total you have had 4 loan agreements with us with 1st one being signed on 23/10/2012. Before issuing the loan, we have conducted a full account check and even asked you to send your bank statements. Bank statements you sent showed income of £2,820.39 and £2,358.02 per month (28/08/2012 and 21/09/2012) which was correlating with information you provided on your application and was a lot more than £1600.00 as your complaint states. These documents are still stored on our system and we can present them as evidence from our
Additionally, we can confirm that based on the information you provided us with, you should have had more than enough disposable income (£1520.00) to cover your loans’ repayments. In case the provided information was incorrect, then you would make it impossible for us to evaluate correctly your loans’ affordability.
Unfortunately, based on the above, we are not able to uphold your complaint as we are confident we carried out sufficient checks. However, as a gesture of goodwill, we would be willing to delete any information reported by Peachy Loans on your credit file in order to help you improve it. We also would be willing to refund a partial amount of interests paid to us in the amount of £43.87.
The Hitman says
The reply I’ve posted is condensed, but long & short I fabricated my figures slightly on the application
Laura says
I would still go to the ombudsman , as they know people do this when they are in dire situations finically , its still worth fighting it out
Dan says
Hi,
Need some advice please.
Among the several complaints I have submitted, MyJar have come back to me with an offer which I think is fair – they have said 3 of the 6 loans I had (1 of which was still outstanding) were unaffordable and agreed a refund. The refund, basically, wipes out any debt I have with them and I’m happy with that.
However, I’m pushing for default notices on my credit file to be removed from the outstanding loan but they’re stating that they are unable to do this due to “reciprocal agreements with credit reference agencies” – sounds like tosh to me!
Thoughts please?
I have initially responded stating that I would accept their offer so long as they remove defaults – they came back with the same line of “can’t because of agreements with credit reference agencies, etc, etc”. I was going to push my luck and suggest that it is possible to remove them and, if they don’t, I’ll take it to the FOS for them to deal with.
Is it worth it or am I being over pushy on MyJar?
Thanks!
Dan
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well of course they can, indeed if they accept the loans were unaffordable they probably should.
But… How old are the default dates? What does the rest of your credit record look like – if it’s littered with problems getting rid of a few defaults won’t make a lot of difference.
Dan says
Thanks Sara. Is there anywhere I can point them to to reinforce this point?
Well they certainly have admitted that they were unaffordable so, just on principle, I think they should.
My credit history is poor but I have only 2 defaults which are current showing on my file (both of which are complaints which are either with the company themselves or with the FOS – MyJar being one). The MyJar account goes back to 2014 so it’s a long way from dropping off the report.
You know better than I but, surely, removal of any default has got to be better than having it on there?
Keep up the great work!
Dan
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Myjar must be well aware of the Ombudsman’s standard recommendations here. If they are saying they are paying you as a gesture of goodwill, they could argue that they don’t agree the loans were unaffordable so there is no reason to change the credit record. But if they have agreed the loans were unaffordable then they should remove the defaults.
david says
Would love to know what you guys think of this……I first complained to QQ and PTP on April 30th, asking for my statement of account with both. A few weeks later I received the usual automated response from QQ, nothing ever arrived from PTP – I sent off the step 2 letter in some detail.
But 8 weeks came and went and I wrote off to the FOS ( still waiting to hear from them BTW). I also contacted QQ and PTP to say I was disappointed not to have received any response from them within the 8 weeks, and I notified them I had contacted the FOS. On Saturday I received this from the QQ ( still nothing from PTP)……..
“Thank you for contacting Quick Quid. It is our highest priority to resolve any client issues as soon as possible.
To that end, our records do not indicate a complaint received April 2017. Once we received your complaint an acknowledgement was sent on 01/06/2017. We take these matter seriously and are still conducting a dull investigation into the matter. We take note you are advising of you involvement with the Financial Ombudsman.
We will do our best to review the complaint in whole with the information you did provide and will provide a full response or update as soon as possible.”
What exactly do they mean by dull investigation? anyone else think it’s a slightly insulting term?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suspect it is an unfortunate typo for “full”…
Gary says
Hi sara,
Could you please help? I submitted a complaint letter to Vivus this morning regarding 7 payday loans. This is the response i received below;
What should i do as all my loans are closed and full paid off?
Hi.
Thanks for your message. This email address is no longer in use and isn’t monitored.
V7 Limited trading as Vivus.co.uk assigned (sold) all of its loan accounts with outstanding balances:
– on 9th May 2017 to Merligen Investments Limited, Rosemount House, Rosemount Avenue, West Byfleet, Surrey KT14 6LB, UNITED KINGDOM.
or
– on 30th June 2017 to Motormile Finance UK Limited, Protection House, 83 Bradford Road, Leeds, LS28 6AT. – Note Motormile will be in touch with more information shortly
You will have received a notification from Vivus confirming to which of the two businesses above your outstanding loan account balance has been assigned. Please note that V7 Ltd trading as Vivus.co.uk, from the dates above no longer hold account details for your outstanding loan, and therefore cannot deal with any queries in relation to these loans. Please contact Merligen or Motormile as appropriate.
Thanks
Gary
Vicki says
I got the exact same responce so I’ve have gone straight to the FInancial ombudsman. I only sent it last week so haven’t heard anything back yet. I’ll let you know once I do
Dan says
Hi Sara,
Just got my most important reply from sunny stating that along with the refund they are going to remove all loans off my credit file and all the negative information. That’s over £2500 I’ve claimed back from lenders with 2 rejecting my complaint. I will start those in a couple of months i am in no rush I just wanted the negative information off my credit file. I have also just completed my first of many years gamble free thanks to counselling and GA. my advice to anyone with a gambling problem on here is to sort yourself out first and get the help you need. The money you are refunded will mostly go on gambling. A big thank you to you Sara for your hard work and dedication because if it wasn’t for you, I would be waiting 4 years to even consider getting accepted for a mortgage.
Thanks
Dan
Sam says
How long should I have the money paid to me? I have been offered money and sent the form back with copy of bank details 2 weeks ago. How long should I wait and at where would I go from here if they have agreed a payment?
Also I think I may have agreed too soon with payment as reading through here I think they have offered the interest on 3 loans and I think I may have had more!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Which lender is it?
I am afraid if you have accepted their offer, you can’t then change your mind :(
Sam says
It was wonga.
I am a bit late to the party on this and have just done initial email to quickquid.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Oh Wonga will pay up, just phone them and chase.
Sam says
So wonga are now saying I have not responded and have closed my case.
I have forwarded my original email to them with my acceptance and still not heard back.
Should I now go to the ombudsmen?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes – though I expect you will soon hear back from Wonga, you may as well out in a complaint to the FOS and tell Wonga you have done this.
MH says
Hi Sara
I currently have PDL complaints awaiting being assigned at adjudicator level at the FOS.
while these were still visible on my poor credit rating I applied for a loan with Likely Loans which they approved and paid £3K in Jan 2017. My question is do I have a chance in complaining to get this written off for the remainder of the balance? My argument is there were no thorough checks and request of bank statements would have shown payments to PDL’s and frequent gambling transaction at the time.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A write off is extremely unlikely – the best you could hope for is for the interest to be removed from the outstanding balance. You would have to be able to show that the loan was unaffordable and likely Loans should have known this in January 2017. It may depend on how poor your credit record was – recent defaults or CCJs?
MH says
Thanks Sara, no CCJs but pretty sure I had loan and CC defaults which they should have seen. Am I able to to get a backdated credit report from noodle to January to see what they would have seen?
Thanks!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Your current Noddle report will show problems from that time.
C says
Hi all, i accepted a offer from quick quid friday, how long do they take to pay out? Thanks
Katie says
Hi C. I had refunds via adjudicator for both QQ and Pounds to Pocket ( same company ). They both were in my account 3 working days after they received my settlement form. You should get yours tomorrow. Also I got both of mine at around 8-9pm. Hope that helps. My refunds were in the last 3 weeks.
Ross says
Hi C,
When I had a refund from Pounds 2 Pocket (same company as Quick Quid) they actually called me to confirm my bank details. This was around 1900 at night and it was from a ‘Unknown’ number. I don’t normally answer these, as it’s normally PPI or accident claims calls. However, I’m glad I did. The representative on the end of the line said my funds should be in my account within the hour, and they were.
Kev f says
Hi Sara
I had 28 rolled loans with 10 top ups with wonga in 15 months.
The first 22 loans was weekly loans
The last 6 was 3 month flexi loans so I could get larger amounts. Often paying back early with other company’s early so I could borrow the full amount again vicious circle.
The answer I guess is obvious but wanted to check. I assume I can claim for all 28 loans even though the last 6 ain’t necessarily pay day loans
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes :) with the longer term loans you have to be able to show you couldn’t afford the monthly repayments. If the loans were larger this may be much the same as with single month payday loans.
Neilo says
Hi all,
Just want to give a quick update on some of my claims that i have had. I sent emails to each payday loan company 26/06/2017.
Mr Lender (£298 Interest Paid) – Response after 1 week stating they did nothing wrong however offering goodwill gesture of £108.90, i went back and said that this was not good enough and i will contact the FOS, came back with 2nd offer of £198.40, i rang up and asked them to consider interest on another loan, came back with £248) which i took and very please with.
Ferratum (£267 Interest Paid) – Response after 3 weeks stating they did nothing wrong however offering goodwill gesture of £248, i took this offer and very pleased with it also.
Payday UK (£1232 Interest Paid) – Response after 3 weeks rejecting my claim. Sent to FOS.
Payday Express (£468 Interest Paid) – Response after 3 weeks rejecting my claim. Sent to FOD
Piggy Bank Loans (£1321 Interest Paid) – No Response
Wonga (£760 Interest Paid) – No Response
Tim says
Hi Sara/All,
I stumbled upon your site a couple of days ago and it is an absolute god send. You must have helped thousands of people out of their wretched payday loans. I have recently hit an all time low due to 10 year gambling addiction, which over the last 6 years has been funded by payday loans along with other forms of credit. I have read this article (https://debtcamel.co.uk/gambling-payday-loan-refunds/) which spurred me on to quit my awful habit – 27 days cold turkey thus far!
Starting in January 2011 (when i was a student) and running until July 2014, I used Wonga alone to fund my habbit.
I recently went through my emails to try and add up all credit and interest accrued, to my shock I took out 50 loans amounting to almost £20,000 and interest of £5,000. Hopefully i have a case with this, but i’m at a very early stage. At the time I was also receiving a student loan and extra income from my parents, i hope this will not affect the decision when they come to review my bank statements.
My current situation is worse than it was between 2011 and 2014, having graduated and found a job it has meant my credit line has grown and my gambling addiction deteriorated. I’m ashamed to say I have 12 active payday loans which I can JUST afford to pay each month. Most of the loans are new accounts (haven’t been rolled over) would I have any kind of case with these companies.
Thanks again for all your insightful articles
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is worth complaining to any loans where you have a balance – a lender will often agree to remove the interest which will be a big improvement for you. You may not will all of these cases but even a few could really help.
Well done on the cold turkey. 27 days is 27 successes. Do yourself a favour and register for protective registration “from identity theft” at Cifas – it won’t prevent you ever borrowing again but it makes a it a few days slower, hopefully giving your will power a chance to decide No.
Tim says
Hi Sara,
Thanks so much for your feedback, 37 days and counting now! I also registered on CIFA so hopefully that will help.
I’ve had a number of emails back and forth with Mr Lender over 5 loans taken over a period of 2 years. Many of these were taken on the day the previous loan was settled. I calculated the interest paid to be £2,825. They initially offered me £325 as a gesture of good-will (half interest paid on last loan). I declined and they came back with £650 again as good-will. They deny any wrong doing as outlined in the response below. Should i take this to the ombudsman? Will they retract their offer if I do?
It was 5 loans over 2 years, there was almost no gaps between any of the loans (most taken on the same day or a couple of days after). The amounts remained pretty consistent (the maximum i could borrow!)
Any help would be greatly appreciated
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then I suggest you send the case to the Financial Ombudsman – that is consistent borrowing over a long period and sounds irresponsible to me!
debbie says
Hi Sara,
Please could you help? I had a number loans with Payday UK which I have now sent to the the FOS. My adjudicator has found in my favour for most of them which is good news however I’m trying to work out how the %8 should be calculated for the last loan which has an outstanding balance.
The loan in question was taken on 08/08/2013 for £800 I didn’t make any payment towards the debt and the following was added
13/09/2013 contractual interest £239.60 – 30/09/2013 £15 late payment charge – 30/09/2013 £141.84 interest charge and then from the 01/10/2013 to 22/10/2013 £7.88 per day (so 22 x 7.88 = 173.36)
From march 2013 I have been paying £5 per month towards the debt which was sold to BW legal in December 2016
So from my calculation they added a total of £569.80 to the original debt. This is what they have offered against this loan:
The customer has an outstanding balance of £1,213.42 which was sold to BW legal of which £413.42 (not sure where this figure comes from) was interest applied but not yet paid, we will. Therefore arrange for the remaining interest sum of £413.42 to be waived leaving the principal sum of £800.00 to be paid.
My question is should they not be adding the % 8 to these charges & interest and then taking that from the principal?
Thanks once again for the help
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So the only payment you have made to the last loan is £5 a month? Realistically 8% on those amounts will not add up to anything much – not worth arguing over that.
“The customer has an outstanding balance of £1,213.42 which was sold to BW legal of which £413.42 (not sure where this figure comes from) was interest applied but not yet paid, we will. Therefore arrange for the remaining interest sum of £413.42 to be waived leaving the principal sum of £800.00 to be paid.”
That would be fine if you hadn’t paid anything. But it isn’t taking into account the payments you have made, which should be reducing the principal remaining. This is the important bit to query.
debbie says
The interest sum does not add up, the actual figure is more like £570 but as they are agreeing that the loan was unaffordable should they not add on the 8% for the last 4 years and then deduct it from the outstanding balance?
Laura says
I’ve had final decision from ombudsman and now I have my settlement figure from Uncle buck, I know the email states they have up to 28days to make payment, but has anyone had experiences with them paying up sooner than the 28days, any advice is helpful, Thank you
Steph says
Hi All, my Sunny complaint was agreed at adjudicator level, and the money received in my account within 12 days.
They had 28 days, so relatively swift.
Thanks
Danny says
Hi Sara,
I’ve received a response back for Wonga today saying that they settled my complaint in February 2016 and if I’m unhappy with the settlement to contact the ombudsman. My previous complaint to Wonga was not an irresponsible lending complaint, it was a complaint about Wonga chasing me and calling me 5 times a day for a remaining £14 balance which I was advised over the phone I should not have to pay. We settled that complaint with a £20 for the poor service. Is that likely to affect my irresponsible lending complaint? Back in February 2016 I wasn’t even aware that I could complain about irresponsible lending from payday loan providers. I’ve worked out that I’ve paid Wonga £2400 in interest and charges since 2010, and all of the loans provided were unaffordable in my opinion.
Thanks,
Danny
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No it shouldn’t affect your complaint. I suggest you go back to Wonga and say you are making an entirely different complaint about a lot of loans, the previous settlement for poor service for one loan is irrelevant. If Wonga still refuse to consider it, send it straight to the Financial Ombudsman.
Robert Anderson says
If I’ve told the loan company different figures and that it was to sort debts out but I gambled it have I got no chance?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you borrowed from the same lender repeatedly, then they should have realised that there was something wrong with your figures and enquired more or stopped lending. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-lender-says-lied/ which looks at this in more detail.
I think you may find https://debtcamel.co.uk/gambling-payday-loan-refunds/ interesting as this looks at some examples of payday complaints and gambling.
Darren says
Just off the phone to the adjudicator regarding my Express Finance complaint. Got a good result (was £35 less than what I was expecting)
It was mentioned the option of passing to an Ombudsman but for the sake of £35 I passed on this – got told that it will take about 6 months to see it through if I chose to do this.
Just a heads up on those looking to be assigned an Ombudsman that it will take a while but don’t let this put you off. Everything will work out in the end!!
Amyrue says
For anyone who has pay day loans from Payday UK that are over 6 years old please don’t give up. I complained to Payday UK at the end of January this year and they took the full 8 weeks to respond with a denial of any irresponsible lending on their part. I had pay day loans with them every month from 2007 until 2013 (awful debt spiral I am not proud of ). Having read the helpful advice on this website I proceeded to submit a complaint to the Financial Ombudsmen Service – but I honestly wasn’t expecting to hear anything for a very long time. Surprisingly, I got an email from the adjudicator 2 days ago advising that Payday UK has agreed to pay back all the interest plus 8% from my 2nd loan in 2007 though to the last loan in 2013. This is in line with the guidelines as advised by the adjudicator. I have agreed to this offer and am waiting for Payday UK to send a breakdown of the offer and make the deposit. (Does anyone know how long this usually takes?)
Thank you Sara for the helpful templates and platform to share knowledge and experience in this area.
Sally says
That’s brilliant news, well done. Just a quick question when u sent bank statements did u send every statement from 2007-2013? I got a letter from the FOS asking for bank statements covering the period 3 months before the loans were taken out until one month after the loan was taken out?
Amyrue says
Hi Sally
I only sent screenshots of my bank statements because it was so long ago and the bank statements only went as far as 2009 so I didn’t have the 2007 to 2009 statements. I believe I got that letter but I never actually got round to going to my bank to get the statements in full ( kept putting it off!).
Marie says
Hi,
It’s been a while since I have been on here, have been waiting patiently to hear back from Ombudsman. Today out of the blue I have received an email stating that PDUK would like to make me an offer on my complaint in full and final settlement. They wont look at claims before 2007 but as there were only 2 in that time frame I am not going to argue with that.
They have agreed to offer you a refund of charges and interest on loans 2 – 27 plus 8% interest. They have also said that they will remove any negative information from credit file associated with these loans. They haven’t sent a total, but I am definitely pleased with that.
Stick with it…I had sort of forgotten about this so it’s cheered up my afternoon.
I’ll hopefully hear from the others in due course!
Thanks for all of your help
Andrew says
Anyone had any success with 118 money
Tom c says
Hi andrew i had some success with 118 money they removed all of my interest plus 8% from my loan so that instead of owing 4500 i now only owe 650. Hope that helps.
Dave says
Thats good to know. I have recently made a complaint to 118 over 2 loans I had with them. Just waiting to hear back from them but only been about 3 weeks since my complaint.
I have focused my complaint on the 2nd loan I had which was offered only 6 months after the first loan. This was all because I had made my payments on time. Hoping they will agree with me as like you, it will reduce what I owe to £1k from around £4k!!
And if they find the first loan was miss-sold too…… Happy Days!!
John says
I have received notification from Lending Stream that they are willing to waive all of the interest and charges on the 9 loans I had taken out. This takes over £700 off the total amount owed.
Here is the response:
This is in reference to your recent correspondence.
We have reviewed your accounts and would like to share our findings. You borrowed nine loans from Lending Stream where five loan accounts have been closed successfully and four loan accounts are still outstanding.
*main body removed*
Resolution:
While we confirm that the affordability checks were performed with due consideration on the approval of all your loans, however, considering your circumstances, we are ready to extend our support in clearing the debt and waive the interest and charges incurred. Hence, the remaining principal balance to be paid will be £1214.40 (Amount Borrowed – Amount Paid) in total. To clarify, the total waiver would be £719.36.
We find it worth mentioning that the reduced balance (£1214.40) can be paid in a full one time payment or in an affordable payment arrangement.
I think this is a good start but wonder whether to take it a step further. If admin can advise that would be great
John
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you agree with the numbers quoted for the last four loans – how much did you borrow? have you made any payments? Have any of these loans been marked as defaulted on your credit record?
The first 5 loans – how much interest did you pay on them?
John says
Do you agree with the numbers quoted for the last four loans?
– Yes, they are accurate to what I lent from Lending Stream.
How much did you borrow?
– 9 Loans in the following amounts – 200, 200, 100, 100, 100, 100, 100, 600, 550 = £2,050
Have you made any payments?
– Yes, I have paid a total amount of £966.
Have any of these loans been marked as defaulted on your credit record?
– No they are not defaulted but they do show that the payment terms have changed
The first 5 loans – how much interest did you pay on them?
– By checking my account history I paid £130.40 in interest on the previous 5 loans
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then that is a full refund. They haven’t included the 8% interest on the earlier loans, but as they are offering to refund on all of them and as the 8% interest won’t be much money, it’s not really worth bothering about this. Good result!
peter wilkinson says
hi all, ive had a offer from 247 moneybox to settle my oustanding balance of around £1900 , after only 2 days of sending the complaint email.
what are peoples experience of 247 moneybox?
is this a good offer?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It good be a good offer, it could be pretty poor…
You have one loan outstanding? How much did you borrow on this last loan? Have you made any payments to it? has this loan been marked as defaulted on your credit record?
How many previous loans did you have with them? Do you know how much interest you paid?
C says
Yayyyyyyy……money just hit my account from QQ, thank you all so much xxx
(no loans over 6 years)
I settled for £3455, i know I could have got more if I went to ombudsman but to be honest this will pay my a lot of my debts off. I was very happy with this.
Got 247 moneybox and wageday advance in the ombudsman queue as they didn’t respond to adjudicator, thats about another 2000 to come back x