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?
April says
Has anyone had any luck with Lending Stream and a credit line loan? I have had this open with them for over 2 years, I’m just wondering whether it is worth making a complaint about irresponsible lending, at the time I had several defaults and outstanding loans already.
I still have an outstanding balance with them.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Definitely, lots of people have won these cases. LS are difficult to deal with, rarely make a reasonable offer and will probably reply to you telling you your credit score was fine, even if it was actually rubbish… Just send the case to the ombudsman when you get a final Response from them.
Jampanda says
April, your complaint sounds EXACTLY like mine. I just sent off my complaint to the Ombudsman.
My adjudicator let me know that it may take awhile as they are figuring out how to go about credit line complaints as opposed to payday loan or PPI stuff.
Good luck. And I agree with Sara, don’t bother trying to reason with them. Just get it into the FOS as soon as they’ve replied with final response.
April says
Thanks Jampanda, fingers crossed for you too.
I was holding back sending this complaint because I don’t know how different it would be from the usual payday loans, I guess we will see what happens in the next 8 weeks :)
Bev says
FOS has found in my favour for 4 loans. If QQ don’t respond in time or at all and it goes to Ombudsman, has anyone heard of the ombudsman disagreeing with the Adjudicaters finding meaning he says the co,pant should pay you less?
Gemma says
Hi Bev
Adjudicator found in my favour with Payday Express but Ombudsman said there was. O wrong doing on their part as they wouldn’t have known I had other payday loans. I think that happening is really rare though and I was unlucky
Bev says
Thanks for the reply. Gutted for you. Mine is based on affordability and the fact I would repay then take a new loan within hours. Stick.in the cycle u fortunately. Let’s hope they accept the adjudicator x
Steve says
I had a credit line with lending stream such was switched to drafty. they replied saying they did nothing wrong so I replied saying as a goodwill gesture to them I would give them 7 days to redress my complaint before I hand it over to the ombudsmen. day 6 a reply and refund .
Andy says
I have just had ame email stating done nothing wrong , and have just sent to FOS online , did they reply and a refund for you , after your goodwill gesture
Cheers andy
Marie says
Good afternoon.
Just wanted to say thank you very much for your help on this site, today I received £3797 back from PDUK who were the most difficult ones to deal with initially!
Still holding out hope on two other claims although they’ve been sitting with the Ombudsman for a while now.
is it correct that I can claim some of the amount I was taxed back?
Thanks again.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well done! See https://debtcamel.co.uk/ppi-payday-refund-get-back-tax/ for getting a tax refund. NB it depends on all the refunds you get in a tax year so it’s probably best to wait and see how the other two cases go.
Kathy says
Advice on how to respond to this please?
On and with effect from 14th August 2017 the Lending Stream LLC assigned to Asset Collection & investigation limited all its rights, title, interest and benefits in and to the Assigned Documents and the Debt.
All future correspondence, dealings, deliveries and payments in respect of the Assigned Documents or the Debt should be made to the Assignee whose details are as follows:
Agency: Asset Collections & Investigations Limited
Lee says
Kathy, thought your lending stream compliant was now with the ombudsman like mine. I’ve not had a message like this from Lending Stream?
I have a payment plan on lending stream account in interim of waiting for my adjudicator ruling.
I would just inform the FOS in writing with all the details and quote your lending stream case FOS complaint reference and ask them to advise.
Craig says
Hi, I have been reading through your informative site as I need help getting out of the payday misery.
I was bankrupt 3 years ago, discharged 2 years ago and have been having difficulty last 7 months with loans once my marriage broke down, is it worthwhile sending the companies complaints see if they will write the loans off I’m not so interested in compensation more to get them settled as the end of the month i’m due to pay out 2k on 1.4k wages, each one I have paid more than the original loan amounts total bar lending stream. All were taken out over 18 months after bankruptcy but i did see a note saying don’t bother trying, but is it not irresponsible for them to lend to me as this is stated on my credit report and many of the defaults from the bankruptcy are still on my record making my credit rating very very low at the time of applying?
Thanks in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“i did see a note saying don’t bother trying,” I think that probably referred to not claiming if your unaffordable loans were before your bankruptcy. Afterwards you can complain and any refund comes to you.
The first thing you need to do is to escape from the trap if unaffordable monthly payments. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/help-payday-loan/. Cancel any CPAs or DDs to the lenders, contact StepChange and set up a DMP that you can afford. When that is sorted, then you can think about affordability complaints. Complaining is usually a long process, so you need to get your finances stable first, then start.
Kev f says
I sent my complaint into wonga 5 weeks ago. I understand they still have 3 weeks but I still haven’t received acknowledgement of my complaint. Should I be worried or do they do this from time to time
Phil says
Hi Kev
Wonga replied to me this week after 4 weeks refusing my complaint so it’s now with ombudsman. I had an email the day before there rejection email saying sorry it’s taking longer than usual we aim to reply within 8 weeks
Paul Smith says
Do Lending stream loans get treated differently to other payday loans?
My adjudicator (the same one for all three complaints) decided that payday uk and qq should refund interest and fees for all loans to me as they didn’t do enough checks, but found in favour of Lending stream on that complaint.
The lending stream loans were taken out with ten other pay day loans outstanding.
Lee says
No all treated the same. Result possibly due to the evidence provided or adudicator who picked it up. As all your complaints will typically of been picked up by different adjudicators.
Laura says
I would personally forward it on to an ombudsman , might take a little while but its strange why this one was in favour of the company and the others in your favour when taken out at the same time
Paul Smith says
I spoke to my adjudicator about it, she explained the difference is that lending stream enquired about my expenditure before issuing the loan, where as the other companies did not.
Fair enough I suppose, but I’ve put it in the Ombudsmans queue anyway!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Was it just one loan?
Paul Smith says
Sara, it was two loans taken out within two weeks of each other but running together.
Adjudicator said that had there been more she would have expected more checks and that as I requested £500 for my second loan, but they only gave me £385 it shows some form of diligence on their behalf.
Ro65 says
Hi Sara
Like some others on the site I have a complaint with Cheque centre that’s been with FOS for a year now. I had 40 loans with them most of which were in consecutive months but 27 of them were older than 6 yrs.
I was in a similar position with PDUK and Payday Express who paid out on all loans. Whilst I know that there’s no guarantee my complaint against Cheque centre will be in my favour I’m a bit worried that this has gone on so long and they seem to be closing branches all over the place. Not sure whether it’s best to ask my adjudicator just to look at the loans within 6 yrs and forget the rest in the hope it’s found in my favour and settle for £3.5k ish or wait at the risk they could go out of business? All loans is around £8.5k. I’m not desperate for the cash but I’d be annoyed if I end up with nothing should this happen.
Is there a time limit where FOS look at how long complaints have been with them and just go ahead and make a decision either way?
Sorry if this is a bit garbled, just looking for your take on my situation.
Incidentally Cheque Centre did offer me redress on 3 of the 13 loans last year which was around £900 but I refused.
Thanks
Saffi says
Ok I have had a response from Wonga and would like some advice on if I should accept it. I had a total of 50 loans from them between December 2012 and September 2014. These varied from £50 to £1000, I currently have a loan for £1000 outstanding, my total borrowing from Wonga was £11600. This is what they have offered £954 made up of interest and charges on 4 loans from 2014 and have added on the 8%. They have offered to use this to write off the £1000 I owe them and they will write of the £45.42 left. I just don’t know what to do as it’s only 4 loans they will look at and whilst it would be good to get rid of what I owe I can’t help feeling they should be looking at the others as well?
Laura says
go to the ombudsman , you can get more than just the 4 , Wonga are good at picking random few loans to refund on their final response at adjudicator / ombudsman stage they often up there offer at least
Maureen says
I received the follow email from the FOS adjudicator yesterday, all loans over 6 years. My complaint was submitted in March and that’s the first I’ve heard, anyone else had similar or who have now received some positive news?
“As you might know, Wonga have previously said that we can’t look at any of the loans you took out as they were taken more than six years before you complained.
We’re not yet in a position to give you an answer on whether we’ll be able to look at any of your loans. And it’s still possible we might not be able to or that we may need to contact you about this.
We will be in touch when we are able to give you an answer on this.
sally says
Maureen, I submitted my complaint to F.O back in November 2016. I phone on a monthly basis to be told the same information. Basically, Wonga are not budging on loans over 6 years old. It is a stalemate situation. I’m told if maybe be a matter of weeks before a decision is made, but i’, not that every month. At the moment mine complaint is on the shelf. Once a decision has been made then an adjudicator will investigate.
Sit tight and wait it out! It’s all we can do at present!
Mark says
I’ve not raised any complaints as yet, albeit I did write off to a few to ask for the statements with a wide range of answers but as mine are all over six years, I’m having to write to the bank to request historic bank statements that I can then review and work out who and what I paid out, I know I had up to seven at a time and multiple rollovers etc, also when they collected I know at least one took £10 increments out of my account, getting hundreds back as my bank kept authorising the £10’s having originally declined the same total request, queue massive bank charges and then a reloan with the same payday company the next day!
Anyway, just wondering if people think it really is worth trying, if I’m only just starting now and all are over the 6 year limit?
Also has anyone managed to reclaim from Oakbrook finance? – particularly interested in anyone that has been to the FO in regards Oakbrook?
thanks all
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Older cases are harder and slower, but the refunds can be significant as the “8% extra interest” will add up to a lot. It probably isn’t worth going for the marginal cases where you only had a few loans.
Oakbrook Finance though wasn’t going more than 6 years ago?
Mark says
hi, thanks, no Oakbrook was within the last six years
my credit rating was just over 100 and i had about 50 returned payments on my bank account in the preceding 12 months, plus I had defaults and payday loans showing on my credit file – so I don’t think they should of approved the loan. I defaulted on it and Ideally just want this struck of my record as it’s all paid off now
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then Oakbrook is worth a try! Ask for a refund of interest, not just for the default to be removed. I don’t remember the name being mentioned here before.
MH says
Oakbrook Finance is Likely Loans! I’ve just submitted mine to the FOS today after they rejected my claim. My credit report would have been terrible, had defaults, over limits on CC’s and various PDL’s open!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
lol, their website says “100% of our customers are happy with our service”…
Mark says
thanks Sara – I’ll see what they say – think they operate under different names, such as Likely Loans
Would make such a massive difference to me if they would remove the default but think they will stick firm
They’s already upheld one complaint I made and wrote to me confirming this and that I hoped I would find that reassuring. I.e. they did nothing for me but agreed they had been in the wrong! haha
keith says
Hiya Sara wanting your advice, I’m known to have OCD very organised I keep everything never though anything away I keep files files of all paperwork etc. I put my complaint in to 247 8days ago got email received today –
Please take this email as acknowledgement of your complaint. We will now investigate the issues you have raised within the timescales as set out in our complaints procedure below.
We are happy as a gesture of goodwill to resolve by writing off your current outstanding balance of £1,064.68.
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.
We are confident that the required assessments were carried out prior to the advance of all loans. We are able to substantiate fully the information on which lending decisions were based.
We provided you with all the facts about our product and the charges and costs involved. We treated you as a rational individual able to make a credible decision as to whether to borrow or not. For our part of the relationship we acted on the information available to us at the time and the prevailing regulations and guidance at the time.
I am your personal account manager and would be happy to discuss any of the above with you via email.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is their standard letter. It always baffles me why they think insulting their customers is a good idea, especially when they are offering redress.
But is this a good offer or not? How much interest did you pay on the previous loans that were repaid? And the last loan with a balance, how much did you borrow and have you made any payments to it?
keith says
Thanks Sara yes I thought so, and yes your right there why do they treat customers with insults
I had a total of 8 loans over mar 2012 – Dec 2012 valuing from £80 – £440 total loans £2,039.00 total interest paid so far £789.00
the balance outstanding was from a £440 loan which now stands at balance of that £1,064.68 that’s with interest fees late payments etc never going down.
what you think, should reply ?
your views valued
shem says
Hi Keith
That is a fast response with a first offer though, if you don’t mind saying/sharing I’d be ever so interested to know what level of detail and info you went in to/provided. I have a MB247 complaint to send today and would like to try and copy your approach to prompt a similar response, although I appreciate our specific circumstances and values may differ!
Are you accepting?
Shem
keith says
Hiya Shem, firstly I have OCD never through anything away everyone takes mick out of me why I keep everything but that’s me and proves to help
I made my complaint letter with me have all information and proofs was a quick complaint to look at, and stated I had records of dates times names telephone calls letters emails to back me up also credit reports every year from all over 20 years I think I have a good case,
if I can help you at all give me a shout
Ben says
I had a response from MB247 yesterday after just 4 days of sending my original complaint. Iv had 5 loans over 4 months – only for £125 each. They have written my outstanding loan of £150 off as a gesture of good will – the interest iv paid is less than this so I’m happy. I simply asked them to review my account and deem weather they believe they have acted responsible bearing in mind my current level of debt and credit score. Mr Lender did the same within a week. There are some quick wins out there.
Cmum says
Wonga have responded to my adjudicator (after extending their deadline after no response at first) agreeing to refund fees plus interest on all 11 loans I ever had with them over the 9 months. Thrilled to bits!! Now to send my acceptance form back and hope payment comes pretty quickly.
MH says
Sunny being absolute idiots! Adjudicator found from loans 5 to 7 onwards upto loan 22 unaffordable (around £4675) and to repay with 8% ontop. Adjudicator has sent an email to me where Sunny have a list of 17 loans on where they have calculated refund of 4 on there. (totaling £1449) and asked if I agree with it. Im in the process of trying to speak with Sunny to resolve this, they “put me through to compliance team” and then cut me off on the phone. I am trying to avoid sending this one to an Ombudsman.
The Hitman says
Hi all, has anyone else had issues trying to get statement of accounts from Moneybox247?
I’m 6.5 weeks in from from my first email, to which they replied you could clear a balance of 129, but I’m certain the interest is more than that. The loan is 4years old. 7 or 8 other loans from them
I’ve emailed phoned nothing….
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh then clearing that balance is unlikely to be a good offer. Just send it to the Ombudsman at 8 weeks. Can you get a list of your loans from your bank statements?
The Hitman says
Could do but it’s quite messy with other transactions etc
Another 1.5 to go see what happens
Lee says
Do 24/7 moneybox from bank statements as they only allow 1 month loans at a time will be easy to work out and watch up loan taken out and what you paid. Then the payment gaps between loans etc.
Tom W says
Hi, i lodged an official complaint with Sunny on 27/07. I had stopped paying the loan that was open about a month before. As part of the complaint (as per draft) I asked for recollection efforts to be paused pending resolution. Despite me writing to Sunny on several further occasions and speaking with them on the phone they have now sold my ‘debt’ to a third party. Are they allowed to do this and has anyone else had experience of them doing this? I have written to them again to complain about this and point out that my account should be in review.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Selling a loan is unusual after less than 2 months… but it’s not illegal. I suggest you inform SLL that the loan is currently in dispute with Sunny and ask them to put a hold on any enforcement action.
Baz says
With regards to your comment how did you get on with SLL Capital, I received the same email from sunny today, my account was a month overdue when I complained Asking sunny to stop collections measures and freeze the interest however the sold my debt on just like yours.
ab says
****HELP****
Sunny gave me a final reply today ” I am able to inform you that we conducted creditworthiness checks, we assessed your ability to afford the repayments which would fall due under the proposed agreement and we considered how you were managing other debts at that time. Based upon these checks it was considered responsible to advance credit to you.
Given the information available to me, I am unable to uphold your complaint. We believe that the aforementioned checks were proportionate and responsible. Initial assessment of your application accounted for some of the adverse information held at the credit reference agencies and as a consequence you were offered a small amount of credit relative to your stated income”
They charged me £3008 of interest over 1 years worth of loans – my salary at the time was 17k. Surely this is a good amount of my salary and with loans in access of 5k in total. I totally disagree with there comments.
WILL I HAVE A CASE WITH OMBUDSMAN????
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Affordability depends on your income and expenses, so it’s not possible to say on a 17k income that 3k of interest was unaffordable. But it does sounds like a lot!
how many loans did you have over the year? What were the gaps between repaying one and borrowing again? Did the loan sizes tend to go up?
Tom W says
I just had an email from Peachy, i had 4 loans with them over the last 18 months, and they offered to write off the current one, plus delete the previous ones from credit record. The gaps between the loans were 4 months, 3 months and 3 months. I had paid nearly £500 in interest over the 4 so i went back and asked for £250 (i just want this one to go away as i have bigger fish to fry). they came back with this:
“The results of our credit checks did not suggest you may be experiencing financial difficulties. For example, according to the information received from Callcredit at the time of your last loan, the number of active short term loan accounts was 0, number of short term loan accounts opened in last month was 0, number of short term loan accounts opened in last 3 months was 0, number of short term loan accounts opened in last 6 months 1, number of accounts in default was 0, number of delinquent accounts was 0, number of short term loan searches in the last 12 months was 3 etc. None of this raised any concerns and all of this would be inconsistent with a customer who has several loans from several lenders at the same time.’
now the thing is this was probably the case for the last loan, but i also had two guarantor loans, 2 ‘normal’ loans and 4 credit cards which amounted to over £1200 a month. Is it irresponsible for them to have not checked that, or is that level of lending not in their sphere of ‘duty’?
Lee says
play hardball with Peachy. I did. Counter offer and stress you still making some profit from me or I’ll take this to the FCA aswell as ombudsman.
I got current loan in payment plan clear (inital offer)
Plus further £320 refunded.
I got around £120 less than Li had calculated for all loans with the 8%.
Ask to speak to Amy the supervisor.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
4 loans, not huge, with big gaps – you are going to struggle to do any better than a write off I would have thought.
MH says
Hi Sara
After some advice please. Adjudicator ruled to refund 17 out of 22 loans. Principal amt borrowed £5300 and they claim the interest amount paid is £1140.99. I am sure that this can’t be right with sunnys interest rates? I think it should be way more. The adjudicator seems to agree with the funny looking spreadsheet sunny has provided them with (I have a copy too).
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Can’t you get the information from your bank statements? Use that to cross check the spreadsheet?
MH says
Thanks Sara. The spreadsheet makes no sense. They have a list of 17 loans, columns with ‘capital’ ‘total’ and ‘repaid’ ironically they have totoalled up the last 4 loans of interest that I have not replaced and calculated that interest to be repaid even though the loan is outstanding?!
I’ve just gone through bank statements online and outgoings from my acccount is approx £8K.
Pretty confused right now!
Mark says
Hi,
I sent my Wonga and QQ complaints in last week to which they both replied including sending me my Statement of accounts, in the meantime I went through my bank statements and added up what they had paid in and what I had paid out and took the difference as what I would be owed, is that the right way?
When I added up the fee’s and interest on the SOA they sent me the QQ figure came out slightly in my favour but the Wonga figure is nearly half what I worked it out to be from my bank statement.
I’m going to double check later but could this be Wonga trying to pull a fast one?, it’s made me doubt myself now.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes the difference between what you received and what you repaid is interest plus charges.
Its unlikely they have done this deliberately. But I suppose it’s possible they have som end your loans under a different email address or account number?
Mark says
Thanks Sara
I’ll go back and double check myself just to be sure, should I wait until they respond with an answer to my complaint or should I correct them on their figures straight away?,it’s about a 3K difference between their statement and my bank statement, I’ve obviously got the proof in black and white if they need it.
Thanks
Mark
Dan says
Hi All,
Advice please…..
Sunny complaint upheld by adjudicator and agreed today (a week late) by Sunny.
However, despite them agreeing with the adjudicators decision completely, the number they have sent is £900ish short of my own calculations (based on statements from my online sunny account).
If it was a couple of hundred I’d probably let it slide but 900 quid is a lot of money and means the difference in clearing all my debts and only partially clearing.
Has anyone had experience of Sunny doing this at adjudicator level and hoping people don’t realise or do you think this could be a genuine oversight/mistake?
Any help/advice/experience gladly received!
This is refund #3 for me (3 more in the queue) and I’m looking at a total so far of over £5k back. Advice here truly is life changing so thank you all!
Dan says
Also, is it worth me calling Sunny direct to establish how they came to their numbers or is that not the appropriate thing to do? (ie does all communication need to be through the adjudicator?)
Lee says
That difference not worth trying to counter offer. Send it straight to FOS now and get it in the adjudicator queue asap.
Dan says
I think you misunderstood my post Lee – it’s already been reviewed by the FOS adjudicator, found in my favour and agreed by Sunny.
However, the numbers they have supplied to the adjudicator are £900 different to my own calculations.
I just wondered if this was a common thing with lenders sending amounts that sound kind of right to the adjudicator and hoping that us customers just accept that the numbers are right?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
no it’s not common, but where errors have been spotted they have been corrected
Jampanda says
Hi all
My adjudicator has got back to me regarding my Wonga complaint.
I’d taken out 77 loans between 2012 and late 2016. Some large gaps but always at least 10 loans consecutively back to back.
I worked out a refund of interest combined with 8% would be about 2900 to 3200. Not counting fees.
Unfortunately my adjudicator has only picked 4 of these as unnafordable. I’m a bit gutted as it’s extremely clear I was reliant on these loans and had many other payday loans at the same time as these Wonga loans were being borrowed back to back.
I also rolled over at least 10 of these.
Not sure what to do. Take 600 or so quid or wait to see if Ombudsman see’s a more desperate situation in my borrowing.
Lee says
I would take this one to the ombudsman. Worst case is he will agree with adjudicator. So nothing to loose but potentially a lot to gain.
Miss B says
My adjudicator is asking lots of questions about bank statements such a PayPal, money received from my partner and legal fees I had to pay. Is this normal?
Vickie9 says
I would say so as they need to build up a complete picture of you. Just be honest with them.
Maureen says
Has anyone had this happen? I assumed you either claimed for all loans or only ones within the last 6 years. It seems you can split them and they’ll deal with them separately by this email I received this morning in relation to cheque centre!
Given the time that has passed while we are trying to resolve Cheque Centres objection to us looking into your older loans, we have decided to split your complaint to be able to give you an answer on the loans that were complained about within 6 years.
Ro65 says
I received a mail from my adjudicator this morning saying that as my cheque centre complaint has been with them for a year they are splitting my complaint in to loans older than 6 yrs and loans within 6 yrs.
Takes away the dilemma I had on whether to tell them to forget about my older loans. A bit of good news / progress after waiting a long time.
Ro65 says
Yes Maureen – I got the same mail. Some progress at last!
Maureen says
The majority of mine are over 6 years so I’d have to have held out anyway so yes this seems a positive move if it means we can get done settlement on the recent ones as long as it doesn’t affect the older ones but the FOS will know what they are doing. Let’s wait and see what happens in the next few weeks then!
Baz says
Hi all, quick question I am sending one of my complaints to the ombudsman and the question asked is as follows;
how do you want the business to put things right for you?
what should I write on the form to the ombudsman with regards to the above?
Dan says
Just write exactly what it is that you want them to do.
On all mine I’ve simply put “refund of all interest, charges and add simple interest. Remove all negative information pertaining to these loans from my credit file”. Simple as that really.
Luke says
Does anyone have any advice/dealings with mini credit now with Kapama / OPOS?? I took out a payday loan with them about 5 years ago for £100, needless to say the loan defaulted as I was in financial hardship. They charged £5 per call to chase me and made around 100 calls in the space of 30 days. The loan plus fees and charges totalled around £850 for a £100 loan. This company no longer exists and has been taken over by a third party. I would like some advice on the best way to approach a refund.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well you can complain to them – it’s not easy to succeed. but it sounds as though you were dreadfully treated so give it a go.
Baz says
After sending a complaint to QQ regarding irresponsible lending this is the reply I got;
On 07/08/2017 your account was placed on a 30-day hold. At the culmination of the 30 day period (07/06/2017), an acceptable repayment arrangement must be reached. If we’re unable to reach an amicable repayment arrangement collection activity will proceed. Your account is placed in Hardship. For a maximum of 30 days, collections activities will be halted/frozen. After an extended period of time and your loan is unpaid your account will be eligible for transferral to a third party collection agency. Your repayment offer £¬¬¬¬____/month I’m unsure where to go from here as they are not even investigating my original complaint and expect me to set up a payment plan for my current loan which was taken out (£400) which is now over £900 due to daily interest accord due to missed payments,
I sent the first complaint to QQ on the 21/07/2017.
julia says
Hi Baz
I too have received the very same email from Sunny saying that the account is on a hold for 30 days and that I need to fill in an expenditure form in relation to my struggling with finances. I’m not sure what to do as I asked if I could have a refund on the interest and have always paid up to date with the loan but now my hours have been reduced at work I felt I needed to let them know.
any suggestions would be great as to what to do next
Jules
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Julia,
you have two problems:
– the affordability complaint about your current and previous loans. the email from Sunny doesn’t seem to relate to this.
– what you do about the outstanding balance. If your hours have been cut, you probably can’t repay it in full this month. So complete their form and offer an amount you think you can afford. At the end of this reply, add that you still want them to consider your affordability complaint.
Also cancel the CPA with your bank to Sunny – or they may take the whole lot after 30 days.
The Hitman says
Hi all, my head is mashed so need some help, here is goes:
Principal 250
Paid 95
Arrears including charges 727
Should I calculate 727 minus 95 or 727 minus 250?
This was a Lending stream account that’s been sold on to a 3rd party. The amount of 727 is still outstanding.
Thank you!
Mark says
The Hitman – to work out what exactly? – I think you want to figure out the following:
(assuming you paid it off now)
727+95 = 822
822-250 = 572 (so interest and charges would amount to £572)
or possibly 250-95= 155 (this is the arrears just on the principle amount
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The equivalent of “refunding interest” on this sort of debt where there is a balance outstanding is to take the principal (250) and subtract the amount paid (95). The amount remaining (155) is the amount you still owe after any charges and interest have been removed.
See https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-refunds-defaulted-loan/
Willie says
Hi,
I just received an offer from Wonga to repay back interest and fees, including the 8% net interest on 5 of 22 loans. Basically they have picked 5 loans from 2012 and have said they will not look at the loans from 2011 (over 6 years) and have not included my loans from 2013, although there was only 6 of them. I have asked them if they were to include all loans from 2012 then I would consider accepting there offer, as the interest and fees in 2013 aren’t that high so I am not to fussed about them. Does anyone know what Wonga are like for negotiating or is it likely that I will just have to send this to the FOS?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Normally they don’t negotiate… If they don’t, just send it to the FO, including the older than 6 years cases as there may well be some sort of resolution on these quite soon (OK I am being optimistic here!)
Nav says
Hi. I took out a loan with satsuma in June 2017. I was wondering if I’d still be able to put a complaint forward even though it’s only been a few months now?
Thanks!
Ben says
I took loan with Satsuma out in early 2016 – I missed about 12 payments, I eventually paid it off in April This year. Somehow they have pre approved me for another loan last month – my financial situation is far worse now than when I took the first loan out with multiple missed payments on credit cards not to mention the missed payments on THEIR loan. Joke of a company. I have made my complaint today. GL!
fiona says
I have just received over £8,000 from Payday Express & Payday UK they were so quick & I believe a fair outcome. Quick Quick & Wageday who I was with for much longer & had many loans offered me £750 each!!! so I have forwarded this to the FOS. Thankyou Debt Camel I could never have done this without your help.
Maureen says
Well done! They don’t seem to have any set way of dealing with these complaints. I got rejected by PDUK and sent to FOD whilst Wage Day Advance settled direct with me £5500. Quick quod however, don’t think they settle with anyone unless it’s from the Ombudsman…I’m prepared for a LONG wait!
Terry says
Sorry but I have to disagree with you about QQ. They did take the full 8 weeks with me in fact my offer was made at 8.30pm the night b4 deadline lol so they made it by 3.5hrs. However unlike Wonga they didn’t add the 8% interest to the £4k I was awarded. Wonga took 7 weeks and they offered me £7.2k which I gladly accepted.
vickie9 says
Well done Fiona. It’s always nice to hear when people get refunds.
It’s strange how they all work differently for people though. WDA were very quick in their response to me and refunded all interest on loans without having to take it further. Payday UK & Lending Stream have been a royal pain in the backside and am waiting to hear whether they agree with the adjudicator that they should refund all loans. Wonga first claimed they didn’t lend me any money and then said it was more than 6 years ago so basically not their problem. That’s also with an adjudicator at the FOS.
fiona says
I got No emails straight away but I just kept persuing them & they quickly came to a decision which was really fair. Wish it was easy with the 2 others but I dont mind waiting for a fair outcome, it looks like we all at some time have had financial difficulties & now with the refunds we are getting we can feel a little comfortable for a while, good luck to you. Let me know how you get on with the other you are waiting for.
Donna mckinlay says
Hi,
Has anyone dealt with Mr Lender before?
Tom says
Yep. By far the quickest. I think I had an offer and the money in my account within a week. Very friendly and efficient.
Dan says
Yes, they were my first complaint and, so far, the easiest to deal with.
Quick and reasonable resolution.
Immy says
Me too very quick start small then trebles within week and a half but was fair am so glad of this site wouldn’t have done it without
Vicki says
Just a quick update on my complaints.
I’ve submitted complaints to about 9 company’s. I am still waiting to hear from 2, and others have been sent to the ombudsman.
However, I did get some decent news from 2 of my other complaints.
1. Sunny replied to my complaint the day before the 8 week period. They advised they had done the relevant checks but upon checking they feel the loans were not suitable for me, so upheld my complaint. They will remove any details from my credit filenand have offered me just over £800, which is more than I’d worked out.
2. Quick quid again came back the day before the 8 week deadline. Again, they said they had done checks and since realised some should not have been given. They have offered me just under £3k. This is a little less than I had worked out but I’m happy with it as it will clear some bills for me.
Just waiting for the money to hit my bank now.
Just hope the FOS fine some in my favour now.
A big thanks you sara for all the help and tips on her. It’s worth the wait!
Cmum says
My Wonga timeline – in case it helps anyone.
– Requested statement of account (23rd April)
– Received (13th May)
– Sent second email to get complaint rolling (13th May)
– Final response declining my complaint (23rd May)
– Sent to FOS (23rd May)
– Picked up by adjudicator (6th June)
– Adjudicator upheld my complaint (27th July) and gave Wonga until 10th Aug to respond
– No response from Wonga so adjudicator extended until 21st August *
Reply from Wonga agreeing to adjudicator (18th Aug)
Email from Wonga to say they’re pleased I accepted and the refund is being processed, it may take up to 28 days (22nd Aug.)
Just wondering how long the payment usually clears after receiving this email from Wonga please, if anyone can help at all xx
Lee says
Wonga told me 14 working days for my refund of £2486. Accepted offer 9th August and still waiting.
Apparently should have it by 29th August. But getting really annoyed now.
I would phone them and ask why 28 days when someone you know 2 weeks before has been told 14 days.
And they do faster payments. So don’t understand the huge Wonga delays.
Tamsyn says
Good afternoon,
I have been following your website for some time and would like to thank you for all your helpful advice. I wonder if you can help with a question I have?
I borrowed from numerous companies over a 5 year period, the company with the most loans was with Quickquid and I think I had around 36 loans. Financial Ombudsman have had my complaint since the beginning of January. They have advised that Quick Quid are disputing all payday loans that are not within a 6 year period. Before the 6 year cut off I had around 14 loans. FO have advised they can proceed with my complaint if I agree to not include the first 14 or so loans or can wait until a decision has been made. Over the last few years I have been paying back everything so I don’t actually owe them money I have just requested if the details can be removed from my credit file and if they can refund me the interest charged. Do you think it is worth proceeding without the first 14 loans or should I hold out?
I just wanted to know really what you would recommend or do in this situation?
thank you :-)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you know how much interest you paid on the over 6 year loans? And the under 6 years? If your loan sizes got bigger over time, then most of the interest may have been on the later loans anyway.
I get the impression that there will be some sort of resolution soon, but I may just be being optimistic about that!
Tamsyn says
Thanks so much for your response!!
over 6 year loans interest adds up to around £850- within 6 years £1600- that’s if I’m looking at this correctly.. :-s
I might just hold out a little longer and hopefully I will hear back.
Optimism is good! :-D
thanks again for all of your help and advice.
Dave says
Here’s my update…
Wonga – Paid out on 9 out of 11 loans. £2300
Piggy Bank – Paid out on 2 out of 3 loans. £350
Sunny – Paid out on all loans. £2100
Payday Express – Not upheld by FOS – Only one loan
Payday UK – See below for more details
Ladder Loans – See below for more details
Lending Stream – See below for more details
Pounds to Pocket – See below for more details
Dave says
Payday UK
Not upheld by them, complained to FOS and Adjudicator found in favour on the 3 loans I had and asked them to refund all charges. They’ve agreed BUT… they have excluded two “deferrals” in their calculations (around £600) so that’s been going back and forth between the adjudicator and MEM for the last few weeks, suspect this will end up with an Ombudsman. I have had to do a lot of the hard work on this, as I don’t believe MEM have sent my Adjudicator a full business file, including the deferrals.
Ladder Loans
Not upheld by either them, or the adjudicator. According to the adjudicator he’s not happy they did the right checks, but based on my statements, less than £200 a month disposable income (after their loan) is sufficient, I would be interested to hear your thoughts Sara? I have emailed back, but expect this will end up with an Ombudsman.
Lending Stream
I had over 10 loans in total, I’ve been upheld on all but the first 4 of these at adjudicator level, but suspect Lending Stream will disagree – no offer was made by LS at any point in the complaints process. If LS disagree, this will end up in the Ombudsman queue.
Pounds to Pocket
Upheld by Adjudicator on 1 out of 2 loans, findings sent to Pounds to Pocket to which they’ve responded to the Adjudicator asking how he got my I&E information, I suspect they will disagree and this will end up with an Ombudsman too.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“less than £200 a month disposable income (after their loan) is sufficient”
Not sure what has been taken into account when doing this calculation. Is it after groceries, clothes transport etc? And after other debts have been repaid?
What did your bank statements show you were spending money on during this period?
Dave says
That’s factoring in averages for everything such as food, diesel, insurance etc, but excluding some stuff like quarterly utility bills etc.
Nothing has been factored in for clothes, what else could be factored in?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
an amount should be allowed for quarterly utility bills. Clothes – how much were you spending on average – look at a few months.
Tom says
Quick update on my complaint with Lending stream for everyone:
-Initially complained mid April
-Lending Steam denied any wrong doing but offered me £1,200 which i rejected and sent to the FO.
-This week i heard back from my Adjudicator telling Lending Stream to pay me back all interest plus
8% on loans 3-28 which would be roughly £4’500.
They have until the 30th August to reply, and if they disagree it can go to Ombudsman level but unless they have any new information, it’s unlikely their decision will be different to his.
Hoping that they accept before Ombudsman is required, has anyone else had Lending Stream agree with Adjudicators decision?
Tom
Davee83 says
Hi Sara and all,
I haven’t been on here for a while. I have recently had the decision from my adjudicator that was dealing with all of my complaints against Pay Day U.K, Pay Day ex, Wonga, TMS, Sunny and QQ and thankfully my adjudicator ruled in my favour. The frustrating thing other that Pay day ex challenging the ruling, none of the business have responded within the adjudicators deadline, so all are now being referred to an Ombudsman which could take a further 3-5months.
All very frustrating and a blatant procrastination tactic but I was wondering if that is common and any others have experienced it on here?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is quite common. Some people are lucky and have adjudicator decisions accepted, some aren’t. The ones who haven’t rejected the offer may yet come back and accept. Or they could make a counter offer – have you worked out how much the refund would be in each case? QQ have been known to make several increasing offers at this stage :)
JusticeImp says
Can anyone help please. I’ve had a response off wonga saying they’re not going to pay anything. I was late with payments and had 27 loans over 9 months. What started as a quick loan to tie me over to payday turned into me needing to borrow all the time as I couldn’t afford to pay the loan off and live off my wage. I remember I was originally denied a loan but after tweaking what I was earning etc they gave me one.
** side note: I am doing this on behalf of a friend who had a serious gambling addiction and probably lied on the application just to get the money. Would he still be entitled to anything? Since he banned himself off wonga he’s had counselling for his gambling and has finally got it under control. Wonga were majorly irresponsible throughout it all. They didn’t have proof of the correct address he lived at, that was a lie on all the applications**
Sara (Debt Camel) says
27 loans is a lot – whatever he wrote on the application, Wonga should have realised he was dependent on the loans. I suggest you help your friend take it to the Ombudsman.
Darren says
I think the 247 moneybox saga is a bit of a joke now. Complained away back in March which moved onto the FCA and awaiting an adjudicator to look at it as 247 haven’t responded regarding a business file.
Today I received a text, email and phone call from 247 offering me a new loan. Screenshots were all sent to the 247 email (with FCA email cc’d in) as I had been told previously I was removed from all communications.
Throughout this complaint, I had only received one email from them, goodwill of £100 the day of the 8 weeks was up. Today when I sent the email regarding the text I got an email within 5 mins apologising so just shows you anything to do with a complaint they must be ignoring and dragging it out for the long run!!!
JPMP says
Hi, I have been reading all of the advice on here for a number of weeks and have complaints in since end of July with around 8 pay day loan companies.
I have received a reply from PAYDAY UK today in which they have offered a refund of £100.00 interest paid on loan, 8% interest @ £50.10 minus £10.02 which is a 20% tax deduction from interest paid. Total refund suggested is £140.08.
I am wondering whether you feel this is a reasonable amount? This is only based on 3 small loans but I have not received a breakdown from them. The other lenders are much more.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you ask them to supply a full statement of your account as you need that to consider their offer. It could be good but who knows? If any of the loans were rolled the interest could have been larger than you think.
JPMP says
I have a very small loan being disputed with MYJAR. The problem is, although it was some time ago and small it has been damaging my credit file ever since 2012. MYJAR have offered an amount to settle but say they cannot remove the item from my credit file? They quoted in their last e-mail:-
“We regret to inform you that we are unable to remove the entry from your credit file. Reporting information to the CRA is a mandatory regulatory requirement, as well as a contractual one with the agency themselves. We have reported all information accurately to reflect your borrowing and repayment history with MYJAR. As such, deleting our information regarding you would risk causing other lenders or financial institutions to incorrectly assess your financial circumstances. Once we close the loan it will be marked as satisfied on your credit file”.
Is this correct? Others have had no problem in removing entries? It is a pity they never took so much notice of my credit file when I was borrowing! They would have seen it was clearly unaffordable.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you reply that you understand the Financial Ombudsman recommends that adverse information is removed from credit records where interest is being refunded, so the lender is allowed to amend credit records under these circumstances. Add that if they don’t agree to delete it you will be taking the case to the Ombudsman.
Linda says
I might try that as well as My Jar upheld my complaint refunded the interest etc then when I requested that the adverse credit information be removed from my file they sent me the exact same email as above.
Ash says
I’ve finally emailed all 9 companies I borrowed from and got an acknowledgement from them all.
However if they say they are not to blame what’s my next step I keep seeing adjudicator on this site but I’ve no idea what this means if the Pdl say they are not to blame do I go straight to Ombudsman?
Shannon says
The Financial Ombudsman Service is an impartial organisation who helps resolve complaints between customers and companies that hasn’t been resolved between them directly.
Basically they don’t take sides and look at everything. If you don’t agree with the company you can send the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman (FOS). First stage is an adjudicator who looks into it and make a decision. If you or the company don’t agree with hem you send it to the Ombudsman and their decision is final.
You have to give the company 8 weeks to reply to your complaint but if they don’t or your not happy with what they say then send it to the FOS to be looked at.
Ian says
So I got a response from me lender today stating that I had a credit score of 556-563 at the times of the loans (which I have never had or I would not of needed them). And the interest rate was correct at the time and went down with each monthly payment. Also they have stated that I had to loan for a birthday and pay some other loans of which I stated in my complaint that I was borrowing to pay off loans.
They took it to a debt collector and have offered that the last loan, which is still owed hence debt collector, they will reduce the amount owed but nothing on the other two. One I paid early to reduce interest. Any advice
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Ian,
do you know how much interest you paid on the first two loans?
The last loan – how much did you borrow? Have you made any payments to it?
What have Mr Lender offered to reduce the balance to?
Ian glen says
I took a loan for 300 with interest of 179 paid of in full.
took another loan for 500 with 415 interest paid early to reduce interest.
Took final loan for 430 with 86 . Made one payment of 172. The outstanding balance is 564 and they will reduce to 258.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
sorry some detailed Qs…
how long after repaying loan 1 did you take out loan 2, how long between loans 2 and three?
“took another loan for 500 with 415 interest paid early to reduce interest.” is 415 the interest you paid?
“Took final loan for 430 with 86 .” what is this 86 figure?
“The outstanding balance is 564 and they will reduce to 258.” Is the outstanding balance of £564 with the debt collector correct? Have you made any payments to the debt collector?
They are offering to remove the interest from the last loan – 430-172 paid = 258
Ian glen says
I took first loan for for £300 in Feb 2015 and repaid by June 2015 as soon as that was paid the same day I took a £500 loan with them and paid that back one month early to try and save interest and apply for another loan as I was very short on cash and relying on these payday loans. They originally reject me for a third loan after paying it off early. But 4/7/16 I wa accepted for £430 loan. I made the first payment of £179 but cancelled the cap and direct debit as I was falling behind on rent and still am. I have not made any payment to the debt collection agency but have emailed requesting they stop any proceeding whilst I complain to mr lender about unaffordable lending.
I have also complained to cash converters, wage day advance , wonga and a company called vivus whom I have not had a loan out with and are trying to get a ccj with me. I emailed requesting information on loans I have with them and they responded that they can’t find any details of any account with me. CC are the only company to get back to me also as its been more than two weeks since I requested the info
Sara (Debt Camel) says
re the Mr Lender loan – because of the gap between loans 2 and 3, their offer to remove the interest from loan three isn’t a bad one. You could possibly get more by going to the Ombudsman but it’s not certain.
re Vivus – have you been sent court Claim Form, was this by MMF? If you have, you need advice urgently – phone National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 and explain that you never borrowed from Vivus.
Ian glen says
I had a form filled on line and contested stating I have never had a loan and stated that I have emailed them and they said I have not had one.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you had a claim form? Please do talk to National Debtline. It’s easy with court cases to think you have replied and actually you still have some formal action you need to take.
Jordan says
Hello,
I’ve recently had a reply from Ferratum, regarding my complaint of irresponsible lending…
Total loan payments amounting to £2700 over 7 months… they’ve denied irresponsible lending to me… although they’ve made a ‘goodwill’ gesture of a £300 payment…
I’m quiet surprised by this offer, and am very grateful for this websites help..
But I’m just wondering before I accept, is this a good offer to accept or should I be due more money back? I don’t want to be greedy and miss out on the money being offered, although at the same time I want any money I’m rightly due back..
Thanks for any help
And all the help so far
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That sounds like a lot of borrowing in just 7 months. Say you can’t consider their offer until they give you a full statement of account showing what you borrowed and what you repaid on each loan.
Jordan says
Just asked for the complete statement, and i’ll be back in touch once I’ve found out the total figures.
————————————–
At the time I put on the application that I was earning £2200 p/m. Rather than £1850 I was earning, with this considered shall I still wait for an account statement before accepting the offer? As I’m hoping this won’t affect my claim
————————————–
Just managed to work out the interest charges via my bank statements. They total £506.20
Do you think I should accept the £300 offer?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you still have a balance outstanding?
How many loans did you have, how large and how long… could you list these starting with the earliest loan (So an answer could be £200 for one month, £400 for 3 months, £400 for 3 months, £500 for 4 months etc)
c £500 is quite a low amount of interest for that much borrowing – it’s not impossible, especially if you repaid any loans early but unless you are very sure, it may be worth waiting until you do get a statement.
What was your credit record like at the start? And recent defaults, missed payments? Lots of other borrowing?
Jordan says
No outstanding balance
9 loans over 8month period
1 x £100 (9 days)
5 x £300 loans (26/27 days long each)
2x £400 loans (22 days: 25 days)
1x £200 loan. ( 19 days)
credit score would of been not to bad at the time, although was on a debt management plan and did contact them regarding this and they still lent to me after contact..
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK £506 could well be accurate based on that. £300 isn’t a bad offer – you normally wouldn’t get the full interest back and exaggerating your income means the first few loans would be very likely to be disregarded at the ombudsman.
Baz says
Has anyone ever complained to 118 118 money or AvantCredit?
Andy says
Yea baz, I put a complaint in to 118 5 week ago , had conformation email reviewed complaint but nothing yet, also have advant loan but haven’t made complaint as on top of that loan as still owe to them
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes to both. The affordability rules are the same for all lenders. You have to show that the loan repayments were unaffordable AND that the lender should have known this when they gave you the loan. It’s harder than a payday lending complaint because you don’t have the ‘repeat borrowing’ element but cases can be won.
The loans were long term and often large so the lender should have made thorough checks that it was affordable…
Things that help a case:
– your credit records was appalling (not just bad, no one with a fair credit record uses these horrible expensive loans) and that the problems were recent
– if they asked for your expenses, they didn’t look right. Very implausibly low or missing expenses (£50 a month for food, no transport costs that sort of thing). Or that they didn’t match against what your credit record showed.
You can use the template letters above but edit them properly – remove references to payday loans and repeat borrowing. Add stuff on your credit record. Don’t complain about he interest rate, complain the repayments weren’t affordable.
Stefan says
After sending my acceptance form to FOS I had a reply that wonga will contact me within 4 weeks to process the refund. Anyone know if there will be 4 weeks or should I contact them if they need anything for me?
Now I have more 10 complaints already sent to Financial Ombudsman. They requested more information. Should I tell them to use all the documents that I sent for wonga case?
Thank you so much Sara for your hard work.
Lee says
Stefan these Wonga delays are a joke. See my previous message about this a bit above.
I was told 14 working days on when accepted Wonga offer on 9th August 2017…still waiting apparently will be paid out by 29th August but not holding out much hope.
Terry however above paid Wonga refund out in less than a week.
Sara is there anything we can do regarding these Wonga delays?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry no – honestly chilling out may be the best response – you have won your case and the money is going to arrive.
Lee says
Ok Sara. Lol. I will chill.
Thanks
Hayley says
I got a response from Wonga which only upheld one random very small loan and not the others. It was stated that after the redress that my last loan was wiped so they would not consider that one. I have sent this to Ombudsman few weeks back but received my bank statements yesterday and after going through them carefully I found that I had in fact paid the last loan amount and half of the interest which equates to £170. They are very sneaky do try to go through your statements or pay £5 like I did to my bank to verify Wonga a statements that they send you as they have been deceitful.
Lee says
Hayley,
Phone Wonga and ask them to provide you with statements of accounts for all of your loans you took out with them. A lot easier than bank statements. I did both.
Hayley says
Lee
I did do both Wonga sent me statements stating I hadn’t paid them and it was my bank statements that showed that I did which I have sent to the Ombudsman showing they the information they gave me wasn’t true. So be careful with what they are sending you
Steve says
Does anyone know the current waiting time for an Ombusman decision? I’ve been told they have been recruiting and the time is down?
WDA gone to Ombudsman and no loans over 6 years. Adjudicator found in my favour on 5 loans
Thanks Steve
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Somewhere in 8-16 weeks probably. Some cases seem to get stuck, it’s hard to tell why, but things seem to have speeded up a bit.
Stefan says
My case was on the queue on FOS for only one month. The adjudicator said it might take 3 to 6 month but I was lucky and got the decision in one. It was faster maybe because it stayed at adjudicator level 3-4 month, or it was just luck, I really don’t know.
Bev says
Complained to PDUK and just noticed this credit search on my account
Instant Cash Loans Limited (Cr, Sr, Ct, Sa, Ar)
Instant Cash Loans Dna (Cr Api)
Administration Review 14/08/2017
Why have try done this? Surely it will affect my credit if they can see this in searches?
Ross says
Hi Bev,
Administration searches will not affect your credit score, even though it’s annoying that ICL insist on doing this. People have complained to ICL before, and some have received compensation, but it’s not guaranteed. I complained, but they totally ignored this part of the complaint (the other being the irresponsible lending part).
Bev says
Thanks. I.will add this to my complaint but how can they do this when they dont have permission?
Lee says
Bev in my job I have unlimited Equifax and Experian credit licences to search anyone in the UK pending fraud/ investigation purposes only.
These searches you mentioned are ‘soft admin searches’ they won’t affect your credit score at all. They also disappear within a short timeframe.
They are similar to searches I do in my job which are fraud / compliance related, but my checks wouldnt even show a footprint on an individuals credit file.
Lee says
Bev they can do this. It is normal. You have nothing to worry about. Trust me. You need to just submit your initial compliant without mentioning this.
Bev says
Thanks for the replies. Feel less anxious about it now.
Linda says
Sarah I wondered if you could offer any advice I have an outstanding complaint with Provident. They have acknowledged this and are investigating. There is an outstanding balance of £71 although I have had other loans with them which I have paid. The debt was passed to a debt collectors and payments have continued throughout the complaint. I advised the debt collecting agent being Lowell who are bombarding me with emails asking what the complaint is about, and how they want to look into it etc. I have referred them back to Provident whilst assuring them payments will continue and confirmed the complaint is not about them but still they persist. I’ve had 3 emails so far today and they’re getting quite pushy spouting legalities as to legal ownership of the debt any advice as to how I can get them off my back as getting a bit nervous. I wouldn’t mind but payments to Lowell haven’t even stopped
Lee says
I would phone financial conduct authority for advice.
Linda says
Thanks Lee. I’ve just emailed them again and advised them payments will be continuing and the complaint was made against Provident not themselves and my email was out of courtesy etc etc (which they already knew). But 3 times in one day off the same pushy agent seems a bit much. Will see if I receive a reply and if I continue to receive emails will take you up on the advice.
Anna says
Hi
I have just had an update from FO on my loans and they tell me that they are still deciding if they can consider loans over 6 years for QQ, PDUK and Uncle Buck is this usual ???
Second question The Money Shop the FO are stating they are investigating the loans I started taking these loans in 2008 through to 2012 and money shop offered me £500 which I rejected so presumably they will look at those older than 6 years given TMS made an offer on just loans older than 6 years.????
Sorry last question they have asked for statements for Wonga between April 2011 and October 2011 but I have provided them statements for loans taken from 2009, is this also another company blocking over years and is there anything I can do ???
I do have some personal medical reasons as to why I haven’t claimed until now so I’m happy for them to see me medical records if required.
Lorr says
PDUK were supposed to have responded to my adjudicator by the 21st August, haven’t heard a thing, apparently they’re inundated and are looking at 3/4 weeks before they can get back to the adjudicator. Anyone else in yhe same situation? Or are they just draging things out? It’s so frustrating
Thx Sara again for this great site. Nearly £5000 back to date.
Pear says
Hi lorr
PDUK had until the 3/8 to get back to my adjudicator and I have still heard nothing but am in a queue for ombudsman. Payday express missed their deadline to but agreed with adjudicator a week later (this was only a small amount were PDUK is about 10 times more )
I also had lending stream ignore the adjudicator 13 weeks ago so looks like it will wait for the ombudsman.
mr stressed says
Hi Sara,
thanks for the advice on contacting my creditors. I have cut off my cpa’s and dd’s and changed bank account so salary is now protected. I just have another question – i have created my budget and personal summary of affairs to provide to all creditors – but I have worked out how much I owe them by going back over my credit agreements – so obviously if a creditor agrees to freeze interest then the amount owed to them will be less. Wondering whether before I send a letter with my offer of payment (worked out by taking living costs and priority debts off salary, then dividing each creditors debt by the total debt to get a pro-rata percentage), if I should write to them to say I am in financial difficulty, that I would like them to provide a current statement to me so I can respond with an offer that is affordable? This way I can also ask them to stop any collection activity in the mean time and freeze interest. Hopefully then I can set up payments from payday at the end of september, which would give me this payday to get back on top of things…
also, would you suggest emailing copies of letters also, or just sending hardcopies?
Am guessing that in any case I’ll be getting a barrage of phone calls and ‘urgent’ letters….
as always, appreciate your advice.
Regards
Mr. Stressed
Tom says
Don’t deal with your creditors individually if you have several who you owe money to. Contact StepChange and they can set up a free, affordable, monthly single payment and distribute the funds to your creditors.
They’re really helpful and I’d definitely recommend them. They deal with all correspondence to them too.
anon37 says
Had a reply from cash genie few days ago – complaint upheld and an offer, good news!
“RSM will post a cheque payment. However, as you are aware, Cash Genie was placed into liquidation on 5 January 2016. As you are owed funds from the Company you are classed as an unsecured creditor and the Joint Liquidators will seek to make full payment to you in due course. Dividends (payment runs) will be run approximately every 2 months and RSM will send your payment as soon as they are able to do so. In the meantime, your debt will continue to accrue statutory interest at 8% per annum.”
Now I wonder if i’ll ever see the money? I’ve done some digging and it looks like from their records they have money left, due to a big tax refund £1,000000+ (records filed here..)https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/07005622/filing-history
Anyone had dealings with cash genie since liquidation?
Sara do you think i’ll see my money? we’re talking £2000 inc. interest
Kate says
Hi Anon37 can I ask what information you emailed to them? They replyed to my email stating that I need to explain why I feel I am due to redress but didn’t send any of my account details I asked for.
Anon37 says
I used the standard irresponsible lending arguemdnt but slso included personal aspects of how i was dealt with along the way. I.e setting up a payment plan but they still took extra money from my account, etc. Which is All true.
To be fair after you advise them why you think you are due they dont argue the point and make an offer and its exactly what i calculated.
Kate says
Thanks for your reply, I did the same requesting a statement of accounts but had no further reply than this which was over 5 weeks ago
Thank you for your email.
If you believe you are due redress, you will need to explain why you feel this is the case, so that I can look into it appropriately for you?
In the meantime, I have requested your affordability data (this also contains a statement of account) from the IT specialist who can extract this information from the Cash Genie database. This may take around 3-4 weeks as there is currently a backlog of data requests, but I will look in to this as soon as possible and let you know my findings. I will forward the data to you with my response.
anon37 says
Hi Kate,
Thats the same email I had, be truthful and put as much information as possible don’t rush it. Honestly one of the easist claims i’ve done… my loan was 6+ years ago too as well.
linda says
I claimed from Cash Genie approximately 4 months ago and received a cheque from them after they had gone into liquidation, so as long as there is money left you will get paid. From what I remember they only send cheques once a month I think I received mine at the beginning of April, over £600. fingers crossed you will receive yours shortly, they are very good at keeping you up to date but if you don’t hear anything email them.
Anon37 says
Thanks linda fingers crossed
Kate says
I sent them a chase up email reminding them of the complaints time frame and they replied saying they were still awaiting my details from their “IT specialist” and will reply in detail when they have them, so I will just have to wait I suppose as I can’t remember how much/when I borrowed but have a funny feeling this was the company that cleared my account
Laura Kearns says
Anyone had recent dealings with Sunny? They still have 2 weeks to reply to my complaint has anyone had any recent success with them.
Dan says
My complaint went to the FOS and was agreed by Sunny at adjudicator stage.
I have agreed with their offer and am just waiting for them to pay out now.
Stephen says
Hi Sara,
I’ve been following the comments on the site since the end of June when i first realised i could look to claim the interest back on these ridiculous loans.
Managed to get in to real difficulties between 2009 – 2012 after a seperation, at one point was borrowing my salary from 3 different providers (QQ, WDA and Wonga) paying it all back and then having to re-loan immediately – I couldn’t find away out of this spiral as i couldn’t lend from mainstream lenders because of defaults and CCJ’s.
With your help so far i’ve made complaints to all 3 lenders – QQ have come back very quickly and point blank refused to deal as all their loans are over 6 years. FOS have now picked this up and just waiting for an adjudicator to be appointed. Wonga have provided me with a statement of account which is embarrassing – Nearly £5000 in interest and fees but half are within 6 years and half are over 6 years, just waiting for the response to my initial complaint which has been with them for nearly 5 weeks. WDA haven’t even acknowledged me.
I’m guessing Wonga will either uphold the loans within 6 years and reject the older ones or reject the claim in its entirety so will more than likely be referring this one to the FOS.
Will i need provide the FOS with bank statements as i don’t bank with the same bank anymore – Is it worth doing a subject access request now?
Thanks
Ste
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You don’t normally need to do a SAR to get old bank statements – talk to the bank about this.
Nicki says
Hey everyone, just got an email back from the money shop, who never had my correct spelling of my first or second name and also had my address details (postcode) incorrect for the entirety of my loan. They have said they can’t really see what information was available too them all loans less than 6 years old so instead of looking at irresponsible Lending they have decided to look at if they charged me fairly so have not upheld. I genuinely don’t care if they think the interest charges were fair over £2k, it still is irresponsible so off to the FOS I go
Andy says
Hi all so just received this from wonga at the the 7week 3 days stage of complaint wat next anyone ??
Unfortunately, our investigation is taking longer than expected, and we can’t yet offer you a resolution to your complaint.
We appreciate your patience and apologise for any inconvenience that this delay may cause.
We do our best to resolve complaints in the order that we receive them. We are currently experiencing high volumes of complaints and so if we cannot respond within 8 weeks, we will contact you to explain the delay and outline when you can expect to receive a response. If you are unhappy with the progress of your complaint at that stage, you can refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Tom says
I received mine at the 4 week stage. My complaint is only at the 5 week mark so I haven’t escalated to FOS yet as they are given 8 weeks to respond. If you’re not happy at the 8 week mark just send it to the FOS.
I’ve literally just submitted my first complaint to FoS about SafetyNet Credit. Fingers crossed for you mate.
Andy says
Cheers tom Have u had any response from fob
Tom says
My complaint is only at the 5 week mark so I haven’t escalated to FOS yet as they are given 8 weeks to respond.
I’ve literally just submitted my first complaint to FoS about SafetNet Credit. Fingers crossed for you mate.
Tom says
You can contact Safetynet Credit and tell them you’re in the process of a complaint and ask them to stop all collection activity, they’ll give you a forebearance period.
It’s strange, they said “we could see from your credit file that you had a good history of repayments on loans”. If 5 defaults is a good history of repayments then I’d hate to think what they’d deem as bad! :)
Andy says
Yea they give me 30 days to get my finances in shape , that period is over they now just bombard me with late payment texts and emails when really should be responding to my complaint as my report is dire too , they have just said dealing with it standard email reply ,probly fos with them too