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?
Stuart says
Hi all
Has anyone had any recent experience with Payday Express? I’m on my 6th week awaiting their response from initial complaint.
Also are Wageday advance refunding on over 6 years?
Lee says
Payday Express are in trouble. They are run by ‘instant cash loans’. I know this as I had a compliant with them I initially lodged in late May they rejected in full – took them full 8 weeks to respond from what I recall. I have only just heard back from the financial adjudicator on this one last week (Submitted to FOS end of July – so they are taking about 3 months to respond). Got ruled in my favour on loans 3 to 12 plus the 8%.
They have till the 2nd November to respond to the adjudicator if they accept their findings or it gets referred to the Ombudsman.
Anyway I have an address for instant cash loans now – as the adjudicator emailed me a copy of the letter sent to them, which shows instant cash loans full address. So if you don’t here anything in 2 weeks I can provide you with it. Although you should go straight to the FOS. However expect a 3 month wait for adjudicator to come back to you.
Lou says
Just a query to see if anyone else has had the same email. I had a very strange email today off cashfloat saying they had replied to my complaint many times already and I should check my junk mail. They said they keep an eye on the comments on debt camel to help them with their service and have noticed I have been on here. Is that normal? The complaint has been sent to the FOS anyway.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you reply and ask them to resend their response as you haven’t had it.
Lou says
Yeah I did and they sent one today. Along with the waffle about other stuff.
Graham says
Hi, love reading all the success stories on this page, just have a couple of questions which I hope someone can help with!
Has anyone complains or had any sort of result with providence? Also been offered a derisory amount from uncle buck, is it worth trying to negotiate it should I send straight to fos!
Thanks in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Lots of success with Provident, https://debtcamel.co.uk/refund-doorstep-loans/
No point in trying to negotiate with Uncle Buck, straight to the Ombudsman!
Lee says
Uncle Buck won’t play ball with me. I submitted my complaint with them back in June, which was rejected in full. Been with the Adjudicator since late August. As my first July complaints have only just been ruled in my favour with various adjudicators. I’m expecting I won’t here about this one for about another 4 or 5 weeks. It seems to be a 3 month wait atm for initial adjudicators rulings.
warren says
Hi everyone i sent my Safteynet credit complaint to FO two months ago and still waiting for it to be picked up by adudicator i had a letter about 6 weeks ago saying they have asked the buisness for my records. But have not heard anything. My other complaints got picked up pretty fast. Are safetynet credit hard work to deal with? Thanks in advance
Linda says
Same with me and my complaint has been with the FO for 3 months now and still hasn’t been picked up by an adjudicator. However Safetynet have now written back now to the FO, still saying they’ve don’t no wrong. Apparently it’s a smaller team investigating Safetynet complaints which is probably the reason for the delay.
Lee says
Linda.
I had 13 different payday providers I started complaining about in May.
7 of them over the summer I settled with & have been refunded over 4K at the moment.
6 with adjudicator since July / August. – Last week had my first 2 back (the earliest ones I submitted from July for Payday Express and Lending Stream) – Both ruled in my favour looking at around another £1,300 back from these 2, once they either accept adjudicators findings or the ombudsman agrees and forces them to pay up.
So Linda bear with it. I was giving up hope then all of a sudden 2 back in the same week. Try calling Financial Ombudsman and asking for any update on all your cases. Just quote your oldest case number and they should be able to tell you about all the others status’s atm.
Linda says
Thanks for your message Lee I know its a case of waiting in line. Will maybe give them a call about Safetynet especially as that’s been a while now. Well done with your refunds :)
Linda says
Thanks I had my first decision today adjudicator found in my favour for one of my complaints so like you say its just playing the waiting game a bit
Janet says
Only one loan with Payday Uk for £200 but the adjudicator has found in my favour and Payday Uk have agreed, I know it won’t be much but every little helps.
Grant says
Hi, sorry if this is a question which has been asked many times. Once you submit your claim to the FOS, and you get a reply asking to provide more details (bank statements, communications etc.), does this mean that an adjudicator has taken the complaint? Also, how long does this part usually take?
Many thanks
Helen says
No, I don’t think so. I sent my first complaint to FOS late August. First letter from FOS was dated 21st September where they asked for bank statements, credit report etc.
On the 23rd October I had contact from an adjudicator with regards to the first claim I sent them.
Lee says
Grant your cases will be taken up by an adjudicator. But if you dont give them bank statements and credit report details the adjudicator is more likely to rule against you. They need the evidence to back up their review into your compliant.
To save time in long run do this –
*Obtain Credit report from noodle it’s free. Print off hard copy.
Ask your back to send you hard copies of all your bank statements from 3 months before your first Payday loan (irrespective of if not the one your complaining about) your bank may charge you a few of up to £10 for doing this. Nationwide it’s £5 regardless of how many years worth you request.
Send both recorded delivery with covering letter to financial ombudsman at Exchange Tower in London with your full name address details on. Any case referenced given at present and mention further cases that you still haven’t reached 8 week mark maybe referred to them in due course. Ask that all bank statements and credit report details are scanned into your file for all cases. Then you don’t have to send duplicates.
Lee says
This will seem a lot . But saves you tons of work if like me you ended up sending 6 different cases to them.
Btw also put your email address on your covering letter and ask them to confirm via email to you once the bank statements and credit report provided are scanned into your file.
Nigel says
Well after what seems to have been an eternity I have at last had the final decision on Active securities, Moneybox 247. It was the same as the provisional decision all but 6 loans out of the 35 and I decided not to peruse the first 5 loans before May 2010 as the were all relatively low. The total with the 8% will come to approx £5,000 so even though its been by far the longest claim some 16 months!!! It has been well worth the wait. Just plating the waiting game now to receive the funds.
This brings an end to my claims for Payday loans and what I will do is list them later with amounts back, how I achieved it. E.G. Me, Adjudicator, Ombudsman. Over 30 claims with only 3 being unsuccessful ue to only having taken 2-3 loans with them.
The total amount I have received back is going to be nearly £50,000, yes that much. I have two claims that are with Liquidators and solicitors Toothfairy and Different money. I have also had success with Littlewoods regarding catalogues and i am just about to start on Lloyd bank with regard to a refinancing loan.
I would never have done any of this without this site. But it was losing my job in September last year that really spurred me into action. Thankfully I was only out of work for a month.
Gary says
Incredible results, well done ?
namechangeincase'they'arereadingDC says
£4,000 repaid in interest in 2009/10 – if simple interest was added, that would be £6,000-£6,500 – does that sound about right?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes if there is a full refund.
Julie says
Hi. I’ve put a complaint in to quick quid and they have said they will refund interest 3 of my 9 loans. Totally £192 ( no 8%i interest added to this ) they say the others were over 6 years and that my earnings and credit score were good.
Should I accept this offering or ask for my case to go to adjudicator?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
were the “over 6 year” cases about the same size as the under 6 year cases? Or were some of the old loans rolled a lot, so there is a lot more interest on them?
Julie says
They were monthly loans of around £300 each month. Paid back and then taken out again within 10 days of paying off. I think only 2 or 3 of the loans were over 6 years but they have just picked out 3 of the 9 Loans which they feel were unaffordable lending.
I have all my emails they sent me from that time and they really chased you to take the money. I was a gold account member having my account upgraded and they sent offers all the time wanting you to take more loans.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If they haven’t refunded all the loans under 6 years, then I suggest you send the case to the ombudsman – you may get a full refund on those cases and the extra 8% per year added.
Dan says
Hi there,
is there any update with the financial ombudsman looking into complaints with quick quid over 6 years old. i am told there is a number of cases they are looking at but the ombudsman hasn’t decided if to look into the complaints or not?
Thanks
Dan
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think a better summary might be that the FOS has decided it can look at them but QQ are disputing this. At the moment they are arguing over a few complaints and the rest are on hold until the argument finishes.
Nick says
Pay day UK have agreed to let the FOS look into all my 20 loans with them. 11 were over the 6 years – they agreed in the grounds that my husband was critically ill during the period I could have complained.
All my loans were around 500 a time and I had 20 of them
Any idea of pay out ? I started with them in 2009 – 2012 before going on a DMP due to being crippled by pay day loans. All my other complaints have been upheld and I have received around 9000 so far.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry, I can’t guess what interest you paid on the loans – have you tried working this out from your bank statements?
Paula says
Hi. I have a wonga. CFO.PDA. PROVIDENT X2.plus 6 or 7 logbook loans plus others. None paid off as I canot afford. Some are 9 years when taken out. Can I do the same with Mobile Money it was a case of loan after loan after loan and they knew I was in extreme difficulty.
I closed (2012) my Natwest account and do not have my account details. How do I go about getting statements.
Thank you so glad I came across this
Paula
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You need to look at each lender separately. If your last loan from them was over 6 years ago and wasn’t paid off, you need to take advice on whether the debt may be statute barred, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/statute-barred-debt/ and talk to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 about each outstanding debt.
If a debt is statute barred, then you have an excellent defence if a debt collector tries to take you to court. There is no point in trying to claim a refund on these loans unless you had had a LOT of loans before from the same lender that were paid off because any refund will be used first to reduce the balance still outstanding.
If the debts aren’t statute barred, then starting an affordability complaint is a good idea. For any complaints where some of the borrowing was over 6 years, you need to expect that the complaints will have to go to the ombudsman and will be very slow. It may be hard to win a claim against MM for loans over 6 years.
If you contact NatWest they will be able to help with getting old bank statements.
jamiejohn says
Hi Sara
Can you help please, just had a final response from THL basically saying at the time my loan was underwritten my bank statements where an important factor, they then said basically lets hope your bank statements you submit to the ombudsman are the same as the ones we have?
This sounds to me like a scare tactic, why would they be different?
Has anybody else had this response as it seems a disgrace to me.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Unpleasant. And pretty unlikely to work, most people will be damned sure they didn’t photoshop their previous bank statements! Send it straight to the Ombudsman…
Josh says
I have had a final response from QQ who have stated several things which was why they rejected my claim. They made a number of points, with which I certainly have a counter response for each. I shall detail their points and my counter below.
“There was never a late fee”….. So what!
“Compared to income, repayments were affordable”…. Lender should have known something wasn’t right, as I borrowed with them on 16 separate occasions. My income dropped from £1000pm to £570pm during this time.
“Loan amounts varied and decreased from previous”…. This is a lie, there are FIVE separate occasions where the borrowing amount increased on the previous loan amount.
“No more than FOUR LOANS were taken within 15 days of repayment”… Another fabrication of the truth, there were infact 9 separate occasions with which a loan was borrowed within 15 days of repayment on a previous loan. 3 of which were within 4 days, and 3 others which were within 5 days.
“For it to have been unaffordable, you would have taken several loans in close proximity to each other”….. You are correct, and this happened for 8 months. Between 22/01 – 07/02 (16 days) I was able to borrow, initially £450, then topped up by £50 10 days later, then £150 4 days after that.
I think I may have a strong case with which to go to the FO with! That’s certainly what I shall be doing after work today.
Martynas says
Just quick question. Ombudsdman agreed with adjudicator decision on 13th of October. How long need to wait for settlement from money shop?
B.smith says
Thanks for it the reply. I have now called Sunny and was told I would get a response by today, even if it’s to say that they are still looking into the complaint. Surely after 8 weeks they are meant to have their decision?
I will also call MYJAR and see what’s happening with the refund payment. Is it true that unaffordable loans don’t have to be deleted from your credit file unless they held adverse information like defaults or late payments?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think Sunny may have mislaid your complaint, they usually answer within 8 weeks – if they say they are still looking at it, send it to the ombudsman.
A payday loan which didn’t have adverse information doesn’t harm your credit score. Unless it was in the last years and you intend to get a mortgage soon it really doesn’t matter.
Lou says
Hi
Does anyone know if WDA will agree with the adjudicator or not? They got till 9th nov to reply. What’s my chances of them accepting the decision?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. I can’t guess at the percentages.
david says
Update on 247 Moneybox: Finally got my refund, although it took me bombarding them with emails and the FOS to get back in touch with them after the 28 day period expired. Still had to ask them for a breakdown of the refund amount, as the loan history disappeared from my account part of their website as soon as the complaint went in.
I have emailed the Financial Conduct Authority to tell them of my experiences with this company (lack of response to complaint, not replying to emails, being unhelpful with Ombudsman service, not processing refund in time, etc), as they must be in breach of regulations in terms of how complaints are dealt with. Maybe nothing will happen of it, but at least it makes it known.
Thanks to Sara for the advice on here, and good luck to others. But be prepared for the long haul and to take it all the way .
Dan says
I’ve definitely read comments on here about 1st stop and clear recoveries but I cannot find the references anywhere… does anyone have any experience with them? I’ve basically waited 9 weeks to receive a rejection letter saying that any loan would of been with Clear Recoveries who have stopped trading – any advice welcome…
thanks
Paul Smith says
Send it straight to the ombudsmen asap. I’ve just won a case against them, although still waiting for payment……
The parent company 1st stop group is still trading and shares the same director. Their website is also still live and accepting applications. They are even still showing as active on companies house (albeit with a petition to strike).
If the company had ceased trading, who was there to send you the rejection letter……..?
Julie Crofts says
Hi could anyone advise wether it would beneficial to try and claim inappropriate lending with a few payday lenders. Since January I have had 18 payday loans from various lenders (piggy bank (2) moneybox27 (3) Ferratum (7) wizzcash (3) uncle buck (1) WDA (2) normally having to take one out to pay another.. Spirally deeper and deeper in to debt.. Can I claim inappropriate lending ? Wizzcash is now clear but all others are in arrears- default.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Definitely! Claims are easier if you have borrowed a lot from a lender, but it is well worth complaining in your situation – the lenders should have seen from your credit record that you were is a big financial mess. If you only had 1 or 2 loans the most common refund is to remove interest from the outstanding loan, but even this can help a lot.
Julie says
Thanks for reply . I have just sent emails off to 5 of them. I haven’t to uncle buck yet as I’ve only had one. Would it be worth emailing them also?
Also doorstep lenders? I have 3 old outstanding loans with provident totalling nearly 3500 , I currently pay 5 a week to keep them off my back. Should I contact them too? Would I use the same email?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s worth a try especially if you have a balance outstanding to UB.
There is a separate article on Provident https://debtcamel.co.uk/refund-doorstep-loans/ – it is the same basic template but there are some special “doorstep lending points that you may want to add if they happened to you.
Matt S says
I’ve now completed most of my claims against the big lenders, just been going through statements to check up on any stragglers and noticed I had a few loans from Access Fast Money, now I remember that they didn’t perform credit checks. Would apply online, received a phone call asking if I had any other loans and then they’d pay out (minus a £25 faster payment fee). Has anyone made a claim against them? It appears they are now closed.
Gemma says
Hi I am after some advice. Ive recently sent a unaffordability complaint to QQ in regards to loans taken out in 2013. I have now received a letter from BW Legal for a loan I had from pduk during the same time as these loans. Would I have any chance of complaining about this one loan, or should I just try and sort a payment plan as it was only the one long I had with them
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s a bit harder to win a one loan complaint, but it’s worth a try – in this situation the “refund” takes the form of removing any interest from the outstanding balance. So put in the complaint to PDUK, if they say you have to talk to BW Legal, reply that PDUK made the poor lending decision so you want them to consider your complaint otherwise you will be sending it to the Ombudsman. Also tell BW Legal in writing (email is fine) that you are disputing the loan with PDUK and ask them to put the case on hold until your complaint is resolved.
Vikki says
So Quickquid didn’t uphold my complaint – details below:
AFFORDABILITY & CREDIT WORTHINESS
The investigation of your complaint considered all relevant information contained in your application. It was noted your monthly income was stated as £1582 per month. I compared your income to your total monthly repayment for each loan you took with us. From this I can see that the income you made during each payday loan with us was always more than enough to cover the amount you had to repay us for each loan and thus I cannot agree with you that your loans were unaffordable.
DEPENDENCY
If there was dependency we would expect to see constantly increasing amounts in order to cover the prior loan interest and principal. However, your loan amounts varied and actually decreased from the previous loan which shows that you were not relying on one loan to repay the previous loan.
There were large gaps in your borrowing history. There was 1407 days between your 4th and 5th loans, further demonstrating that you were not simply taking out one loan to repay the next one.
You are claiming that you were dependent on loans. Yet if you were dependent on taking out one loan to repay the other then you would have taken out numerous loans, for equal or increasing loan amounts, and with very little time between paying off one loan and taking out the other. When I reviewed your loan history I see that you never had more than four consecutive loans with less than 15 days between loans.
HARDSHIP
Finally, our records indicate that at no point did you notify us of any financial detriment or financial hardship. Had you alerted us to your difficult financial situation, we would have put you in “hardship” status, as is our process. We then would have frozen additional fees and interest while we worked with you to find an affordable repayment option.
CONCLUSION: COMPLAINT NO
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is QQ’s weasel wording in their standard template to try to make your case sound as poor as possible. As the ombudsman is upholding 77% of QQ cases at the moment, you can tell that Q are making the wrong decision an awful lot of the time!
How many loans did you have?
Why was there a large gap between loans 4 and 5 – about 4 years?
Vikki says
Hi, lots, only have info on the 2015 – 2017 loans which was 6 plus top ups, there was a gap because I went on a payment plan with them in 2013 – and then started borrowing again once that was paid. i have put a complaint into the FCO so we’ll see what comes back!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So they made the “gap” sound as though it showed the loans were affordable but actually it was because the loans were so unaffordable you were on a payment plan. And they never even mentioned the payment plan in their letter to you rejecting your complaint. That is very poor, even by QuickQuid’s low standards :(
Helen says
Hi I am just looking for a bit of advice I have been following your post about refunds from pay day loan company so I thought i would give it a go myself I have borrowed from wonga monthly since 2013 and they got back to me today to say they would refund my first 6 months worth of loans and that’s it when I asked why only then they said it’s because they changed how they processed the loans after that date does this sound correct or should I take it further thanks x
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It sounds like a lender citing a true fact ( they changed their lending policy ) which is largely irrelevant in the hope that it will sound impressive and you will accept their offer…
It’s irrelevant because what matters is whether the loans were affordable for you. If the first few weren’t then why would the next ones be affordable?
How many loans did you have in all and how many are they offering a refund on?
Helen says
I had I total 82 loans and they are offering refund on 13 .
Sara (Debt Camel) says
:( I think you should send that straight to the Ombudsman!
Helen says
Thank you for your help.
Sorry just out of curiosity how long does the process usually take when you send it off to the ombudsmen.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Usually the FOS gets in contact in a week or do to ask for your bank statements and a copy of your current credit record. This is just getting the case ready, the lender is being asked for their case file. An adjudicator usuLly picks up the case in 6-10 weeks but it does vary! After that it depends on your case and how quick the lender is to reply to any questions. It can be a few days to a few weeks to the adjudicator’s decision. If the lender (or you!) reject the decision it then goes into the Ombudsman queue which at the moment is 2-4 months in most cases.
FWIW your case sounds pretty straightforward, but there is a big variation even in these cases.
luke says
Just sent letter to wonga as I had (unfortunately) 51 loans from august 2011 to October 2014, i have been sent a statement and i have paid in interest £2025.00. am i looking at 8 weeks for a reply? also if they offer a settlement what would be consider ‘fair’ ? Great site by the way :)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You are unlikely to get a decision before the last of the 8 weeks.
It’s really a personal decision what is considered fair. Wonga are VERY unlikely to offer you a refund on the loans that are older than 6 year, but in your case that will only be the first few, so that doesn’t much matter. Wonga will add on 8% simple interest per year to any refund, so the maximum you could get may be around £2400-2700 (I have to make a guess at the 8%s). Why not come back if you get an offer and ask then? It’s easier to think when there is an actual figure on the table. Of course if they refuse, send it straight to the ombudsman – that was a LOT of borrowing!
Lisa says
Good Morning all,
For anyone wondering on QQ’s payout time.
Following me accepting the offer from QQ via the FOS on Friday, the FOS sent this across to QQ on Tuesday morning and the money was showing in my bank last night.
Mrs Cheaplaugh says
I did wonder how long they took. I accepted a revised offer to the FOS who told me they would contact QQ. Having heard nothing, I phoned QQ to see if they had heard from the FOS. They told me they were waiting for my new bank account details. Having provided these they said ‘Up to 28 days’ .
D says
Just had a reply from uncle buck wanting a copy of my credit file? Surely they can get that?
Also peachy have offered to remove the interest from my last loan.
I had 3 with them but they were paid off fairly quick with little interest.
Maureen says
Make sure your credit file isn’t over 10MB as their email addresses won’t accept anything over and it bounces back to you….it’s a nightmare! I told them if they wanted it that I would need to post a hard copy and they haven’t cone back to me. They are over the 8 weeks and emailed to say they would respond now by 19th November. One of my smaller complaints, only 3 loans
Sara (Debt Camel) says
UB can indeed get a copy of your credit record if they want – an administration search by them will not harm your credit score.
From what you have said the peachy offer sounds OK.
Grant says
Hi, I just received an offer from Payday UK, 12 weeks after my initial complaint. They are offering a full refund of interest on 47 out of 58 Loans, dating back to March 2009. I’ve decided to accept the offer as the interest refund, + the 8% interest is way more than I ever expected. Can’t thank this site enough for the help and sharing of information & stories. I’m still waiting on the FOS who are dealing with two other companies, and if I’m even half as successful as I was with Payday UK, I’ll be able to say I’m debt free…. Something I’ve not been able to say in a long time.
Thanks again for the help Sara, and I wish everyone success in their complaints.
Shellbell says
Hi,
Does anyone know how long Uncle Buck tend to pay out after ombudsmen decision?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
at the end of the 28 days they are allowed :(
Darren says
Hi All,
2 of my complaints have been assigned an ombudsman (Poundstopocket & 247 Moneybox) on the 31st October. How long do you think I will need to wait before a decision? The adjudicator agreed with my complaint but both of the lenders disagreed.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It does depend on how complicated your case is. Usually a few weeks.
Michellew says
Hi
After 8 months i have now had an email to say that money shop willing to make an offer from 2008 to 2012 6568.70p. Just waiting to see if qq will give in for over 6 years
Michele says
Good luck. So far I’ve had refunds from Wonga & PaydayUk but Quick Quid are digging their heels in! I’m not giving up though!
Lisa says
Hi All,
Just another FYI that PDE have finally sent my case over to the FOS. It was requested on 12th September, and send on 31st Oct so almost 8 weeks to send the file over. My PDUK was requested on the 22nd September, so all being well, would expect that to reach the FOS by next Friday.
I am please they are still sending the files, I was a little concerned that they had this much delay since the announcement to stop loaning.
Hopefully this puts some minds at rest too :)
Mat says
Hi all,
I have a friend who has what I believe to be an excessive amount of lending with a high street bank. She has banked with them for about 10 years, and gets her wages paid into their current account. She has an income of about £18,000 (£16,000 when lending began approximately 6 years ago). Initially about 6 years ago, she had a credit card with this bank with a limit of about £2,500. This limit increased regularly, and now stands at £6,000. About 3 years ago, she took out a loan for £11,000 to pay for a) paying off her credit card (which was about £4,500 at this stage) and b) some life changes. Due in part to the cost of the loan repayments which she couldn’t comfortably afford, along with a lower than inflation ‘cost of living’ wage rise, she maxed out the credit card again. She then increased the loan to £15,000 to again pay off the credit card, which was again increased to £6,000. Again, she maxed out the credit card on general living expenses to cover the cost of the loan. She now owes £21,000 in unsecured debt, which is more than her annual salary.
I personally feel that the bank lent irresponsibly to her, given that they were fully aware of her financial situation, including income and expenditure as well as other lending, at all times of the process. But I’m unaware of whether the same lending rules apply to banks as apply to payday lenders.
Any advice is welcome! Thanks all for reading :)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The same affordability rules apply to banks for loans and credit cards. This article https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-catalogue-credit-card/ looks at the issue of credit card increases. You don’t say how much other debt she has… or if she is buying or renting. Basically I am not sure she is likely to get enough back from an affordability complaint to the bank to get her into a situation where her debts are affordable… I think she should start by taking some debt advice and then consider affordability complaints.
Mat says
Hi Sara,
Thanks for your reply.
She is renting at the moment. I’m sure she wouldn’t necessarily get enough back to completely alleviate her issues, but a positive response could bring down her loan amount to a manageable payment and give her some leeway with the bank in terms of payment terms, perhaps? Her total debt is £21,000, all with the same bank, £15,000 on a personal loan and £6,000 on a credit card. I believe she has already taken affordability advice, which has led to a temporary reduction in payments but there was not that much more they could do.
Thanks
Emma S says
Hi Sarah,
I just wanted to say a huge thank you for this website and your help. Thanks to your template I have received an offer from Wonga of £7.5k + interest taking it to a £9.8k refund without even having to go to the financial ombudsman. They wouldn’t take into account loans over 6 years, which I know I could probably fight for but given this was almost a 75% refund, before the interest is added, i’m happy to accept that.
I would never have thought of attempting this if it wasn’t for this website as it felt like too much of a daunting task so it’s thanks to you i’m getting a good top up to my savings for a house deposit! I’ve already started my Payday UK/Express complaint and am now ready to tackle the rest.
Thank you!
Emma
Mrs W says
Hi Everyone
Has anyone had Sunny Or Mr Lender agree with adjudicator?? I just wondered how long it takes to receive funds?
Uncle Buck havent responded to the adjudicator so off to the Ombusman with that one.
Dave says
Sunny have agreed with my adjudicator too. Sent acceptance form off last Friday and sent an email today asking them to confirm they got it and if they knew an expected payment date.
From other comments on here they are meant to be pretty good. So hoping by late next week for myself.
Mrs W says
Thanks Dave, I sent my form back on the 13th October to Sunny. Haven’t heard anything so far. I have emailed them, but not had a response.
Dave says
Would probably ring them. I was going to leave it until Middle of next week if I’d had no response.
Dave says
Thought i’d update you with my case. Since you said you hadn’t had any reply to your emails I thought i’d ring them today instead of waiting.
After being put on hold few times whilst the gentleman on the phone went back and forth between Head Office and complaints team, it ended with him saying that Head Office have said that they will be processing the payment today!!!!!
My advice Mrs W, give them a ring as soon as you can. I called the general help number 0800 731 5444 and went for option 3.
Good Luck!
Mrs W says
Yippee mine too! Thank you.
Annie says
Is there a way to donate to this site? I know Sara does it in her own time and I’d like to give back as I got a large refund thanks to her.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It would be great if you could give a donation to your local Citizens Advice!
Matthew says
Hi Everyone
I need some advice. I was in an IVA from 2005 to 2012, successfully completed.
However, during that period I made numerous visits to The Money Shop, writing out ‘cash till payday’ £100 cheques. I would often cash 5 of these each month (as I remember I got about £420 in cash). I was trapped in a vicious spiral which I never got out of until my IVA ended.
Can I claim irresponsible lending?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes you can.
Emma B says
Hi,
I’m new here. I have a few questions but also wanted to give my experience so far.
20th Oct 2017 called Wonga asking for statement.
25th October 2017 received statement and sent required email requesting investigation and refund as per template.
25th October 2017 ‘chat’ online requesting statement from Quick Quid.
2nd November 2017 received full statements in one email (2 attachments) from Quick Quid for both Quick Quid and Pounds 2 Pocket (I didn’t know they were the same company)
2nd November 2017 replied with second template letter to Quick Quid asking them to look into and refund on both companies.
I will now try and be patient. So here’s the thing…
My loans were 2011-2014 Quick Quid, 2011-2014 Wonga and 2014 Pounds 2 Pocket.
Total interest paid:
Wonga (including fees shown on statement) £1324.11
Quick Quid (no fees on statement) £931.39
Pounds 2 Pocket (no fees on statement) £814.86
I have calculated interest (spilt per loan per year since the first on each) at 8% per year and come up with totals including interest, fees (where shown) and 8% as follows:
Wonga £1754.31
Quick Quid £1257.39
Pounds 2 Pocket £1010.43
This totals a whopping £4022.13
My question.. Do you think I’ll be offered this and if not what should I accept minimum offer?
Thank you for your great site and support.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s obviously a lot of borrowing. Some of the loans may be over 6 years old, but hopefully not many?
Not many people get offered a full refund. I would wait until there is an offer before trying to decide what would be good enough. You have all the facts about the interest, so that’s good.
If Wonga make an offer, they will add 8% to it. QQ and P2P won’t – you will have to go to the ombudsman with them if the extra 8% matters to you..
Emma B says
Thank you so much for your reply.
Yes about £400 of total (not Inc 8%) was before the 6 year threshold.
It’s also about £700 in interest if I don’t chase through FOS for the 8%, but tbh it would be great to get the majority.
Thank you so much.
Gary says
Hi can anyone help please. I have a complaint with quickquid currently in with the FOS awaiting an adjudicator. My issue is I have an outstanding loan with QQ, and noticed that my months instalment for the end of October had not been taken from my bank. I called QQ as funds were available, they advised I am in arrears as they are unable to take payments when there is an outstanding complaint with the FOS.
Initially QQ said by law they are not allowed to take payments due to the FOS complaint. I called the FOS who advised this is incorrect and there is no reason why QQ should refuse to take payment and they should not be charging arrears or additional interest if they refuse to take payment. I called QQ again and they will not help. Surely they should not be applying charges and additional interest to a loan they refuse to take payment on? They now admit that this is an internal QQ policy as the complaint needs to be resolved before payment can be made. This may take months and I am extremely worried they will keep adding arrears charges and interest. Has anyone dealt with this issue?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would just let this go for a while as your complaint goes through. If you win your complaint and the last loan is considered unaffordable, then this all gets sorted any way. If you don’t win your complaint, at that point you can ask for a statement of account for the last loan and if they have been adding interest you can ask for that to be removed because, as the FOS says, they shouldn’t do this.
david says
Hi Sara,
after some advice if possible please
I wrote to Mr Lender regarding my loans as follows
14/10/2014 £193
29/12/2014 £400
02/02/2015 £600
13/04/2015 £350
13/10/2015 £150
17/12/2015 £150
01/07/2016 £400
12/12/2016 £200
10/04/2017 £300
31/07/2017 £400
they have responded offering to refund the interest on loans 3&9 (they have excluded 10 as I agreed a settlement on the loan removing the interest)
they are advising due to no consistent increase on amounts, never missing a payment until final loan and long periods between loans only 3 & 9 were deemed unaffordable due to the timescale between final payment on previous loan and taking new one out, I did have numerous loans with other companies when all of these were taken out however (44 in total). Would you consider this a fair offer
I must also add I complained to Mr Lender on the 25th October and got a response from them today 2nd November – they deserve some recognition for a quick reply having read some of the difficulties people are having with other companies getting responses
any help is much appreciated
thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Mr lender are one of the few lenders who actually listen to a reasoned argument from customers. It is unlikely you would get a full refund on such patchy borrowing, but they should have noticed that you were borrowing a lot from other lenders. And at the start the borrowing was more regular.
You could go back to them and argue:
– that loan 2 should have been looked at more closely as it was soon after loan one and for twice as much
– that loan 4 should be included as you had to borrow that money because that months repayment of loan 3 left you too short to manage
– that loan 7 should be included as once again you were suddenly asking to borrow a large amount. It could help here to list the other payday loans you had in early / mid June 2016 as they should have seen these when they did a credit check on your loan 7 application.
Alan says
OK I need a bit of advice if possible. I’ve sent emails off to various companies and am awaiting replies from most.
Peachy were quick at responding and I got a payout even though low ( I took it as needed the money at the time).
Payday express sent a final response (even though their first response) saying “Having gone through your loan history with us, I think we did everything we were expected to.
When you first approached us for credit in January 2013 you asked for a loan of £120.00. I can see that you told us your net monthly income was £1100.00. A credit check was also completed via the Credit Reference Agency Experian.
You continued to utilise Payday Express’ services between August 2015 and November 2016 when you received a further five loan deposits. During this period you confirmed to us that your net monthly income had increased (20p per hour) and you provided details of your monthly outgoings.
Based on the information you declared, your loans appeared to be affordable for you with money left
over. There weren’t any particular issues with other lenders that concern me and finally, I don’t think
you were reliant on borrowing from us”.
Some of my wages were used on gambling and then i realised I was short so used them to top up (Used other lenders too but not all at same time). Also my outgoings stated on applications may not of been 100% accurate either.
Do I go anywhere with this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You borrowed regularly from them so it is definitely worth sending this to the ombudsman. Gambling will show on your bank statements but this is fine, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/gambling-payday-loan-refunds/ for some example of Ombudsman cases where there was gambling.
Many people didn’t supply accurate expenses, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-lender-says-lied/ for some of the reasons. If you only had one loan, then this makes it much harder, but as you kept borrowing, PDE should still have asked themselves why you needed the money.
Lee says
I’ve only just had my Payday Express compliant ruled in my favour from loan 3 onwards by the FOS adjudicator. And I had a massive gambling problem I made the adjudicator aware of. So definitely sent to the FOS.
Helen says
The adjudicator has made a decision on my Provident/Satsuma complaint and ruled that 1 out of 4 loans were unaffordable. I’m happy with this, as it was a big loan of £1000 she ruled in my favour of, the other three were between £100 and £200.
Part of her decision was that Provident should remove any negative information of this loan on my credit file. Who decides what is negative? I think it’s negative that it is on there at all, however it had no late payments or defaults on it. Will it get removed anyway? Or is the information not negative enough?
And I’m sure this has been asked before but I can’t find the answer. How long does Provident normally take to get back to the adjudicator and how long after that do they pay out? Do they normally agree with the adjudicator?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Provident may simply delete the loan. But if there are no arrears or late payments then this loan actually helps your credit record.
The bad news is that Provident are very bad at the moment about responding to adjudicator decisions, so your case may end up waiting for an Ombudsman.
gillian says
hi sara can you help please after adjudicater upheld my complaintes for quickquid 6500 pound and lending stream 6000 pound i have checked my credit report and noticed that for the same period 2012 to jan 2017 i was using payday uk as well to the total of nearly 5000 pound intrest would it be worth me putting in a claim for this as well even though i didnt claim when i claimed for the other two and if so can you print the email address for payday uk please ty
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Definitely! Every claim against a lender is a separate claim. Email addresses here: https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-lender-email-addresses/
Christine Hodges says
Hi, I’m just starting out with this , over the past 6 yrs I hAve used payday loans and credit cards repeatedly robbing Peter to pay Paul – thankfully that has now stopped but I still owe loads and have small monthly repayments with everyone .I sent off the first email ref making a complaint and wanting my information – some have come back with wanting bank statements ect which I’ve seen previous comments about but some have replied saying they are looking into my complaint even though I haven’t given them any details ? Do I need to contact them again for info or do I leave them to it and see what they say first ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s good to have a list of your loans and know how much interest you paid to each lender.
This is especially important if you still owe a lender money. Otherwise if one comes back and offers to write off your current balance, you can’t tell if this is a good offer or if you should actually be getting a refund as well… clearing your balance may be your top priority but getting a refund would let you reduce/clear other debts as well. See “What is a full refund for a case involving an unpaid loan?” in here https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-refunds-defaulted-loan/
N says
2 weeks ago 247 moneybox offered to write off my balance. I sent many emails to them accepting their offer but this morning I have had an email saying if I don’t pay they will default my account in 28 days. What do I do now as they haven’t replied to my emails!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you tried phoning them? If no luck with that, send the case to the Ombudsman and explain how useless 247 moneybox are being… Ask for some compensation for their poor complaint handling.
Don’t worry about the default – the ombudsman will put a stop to that!
N says
Okay thought I’d update that moneybox have finally written off my balance. This is the one company that has worried me the most with all these payday loans. I can’t believe after 2 years of borrowing I finally have my own money. Thank you so much for this site I am still waiting on other lenders but so happy I might of cried a little lol
Lee says
I have had this same problem N. Put in a complaint to 247 moneybox back in July, even agreed to a reduced payment plan in interim of complaint being investigated. They responded offering to just clear the remaining balance to nil. I refused and offered a counter offer. They never responded, tried calling them numerous times, sending more emails. Never could speak to anyone with authority. Then got an email 8th September saying they were going record a default against my name. Despite them not taking my reduced payment plan we had agreed in the interim of the compliant being handled and them not communicating with me since, despite saying they were going to reduce the remaining balance to nil.
They are awful to deal with. I paid a lot more in interest than the current outstanding balance. Take it to the FOS like me and complain to the Financial Conduct Authority about their lack of communication in response to your compliant. You can’t even talk to anyone with authority to get compliants resolved.
Gary says
Update – Lending Stream complaint resolved and paid out just over 3 weeks – £1000 back so happy. Just got the other 12 to go ??
Shannon says
Acceptance form sent from FOS to QQ yesterday. Connected QQ today and they advised up to 28 days for the refund. Have most had to wait the full 28 days for the refund?
Lisa says
I waited about 36 hours from when the FOS sent it to QQ. Maybe worth giving the FOS a quick call and asking them to send over if you haven’t had email confirmation.
Samantha says
I’ve received an email today and it’s reads
Quick Quid have made an offer in relation to some of the loans you took with them, which as of 19 September 2017 amounted to £546.66.
I haven’t carried out a full review of your complaint and am merely making you aware of their offer.
What are people’s views do you think I should accept? Worried it will go down even though after adding it I’ve gave £2200 in interest over all the loans
Thanksc
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is just the first offer from QQ… if you say No, they often make you better ones… It doesn’t sound a very good offer. As you already have an adjudicator assigned, it’s probably best to hand on for a few more weeks and see what the ey say. This offer from QQ is now the minimum you can get -the worst the adjudicator will say is that they think QQ’s offer is fair and you should accept it. But you could potentially get a LOT more from hanging on.
Mrs W says
Has anyone had a payout from Safetynet via Adjudicator? Just looking for any information if they tend to agree and pay out? Thanks
Linda says
Hi mines still waiting to be assigned an adjudicator it’s been a fair while now (couple of months) but I’ll let you know when things progress. Good luck to you too
Mrs W says
Thanks Linda. Good luck to you too.
I submitted the complaint to the FOS in August and got a response around a week ago ruling in my favour. SNC have until the 16th to respond so I will keep you updated.
Brian says
Hi,
Quick question, I am going to send a complaint to wonga regarding loans from 2015-2017. The questions I have are below:
When stating the amount of loans I have received do I include each top up as a loan also? On wonga I normally took a loan and then topped this up 2 or 3 time in the month – would this be one loan or 3 loans?
Secondly how accurate does the email need to be on my monthly income and expenses. Does it need to match what I said when taking out the loan? As your aware most people tell white lies in order to get a loan?
Much appreciated!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest something like “I had 8 loans from you and 13 top ups to these loans”.
The email needsto be reasonably correct – obviously your expenses change over a period of 2 years and your income may have as well. Just write something you think someone else would think is a fair summary – if this goes to the ombudsman they will want to see your bank statements. There may have been many reasons why your actual expenses weren’t what you may have told Wonga, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-lender-says-lied/
Brian says
Thanks!
I’ve checked wonga online account and it has first loan from Nov 16 and I’ve checked my bank statement and can see loans from Aug 2015 onwards! Is this usual and does requesting the loan information hinder the refund in anyway? Would I be better gathering the information myself from bank statements?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Definitely get the info from your bank statements bcuase that is just quicker! Then be specific in you complaint. “I first borrowed from you in August 2015, the early loans are are not showing on my online Wonga account.”
Brian says
Thanks Sara! I was finding it difficult to get all info from bank statements so I have sent the first email to wonga requesting loan info, does this email count as the start of the 8 weeks complaint process or does that start from the 2nd email?
Also if you have 4 payments left on a sunny loan should you wait until paid off to complain or can you complain now?
Thanks again for your assistance!
Brian
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The first email starts the 8 week clock running.
I suggest you complain now about sunny.
Dan says
Question for you Sara.
Ombudsman upheld my complaint against Lending Stream and they now “owe” me a refund of around £5k.
Part of the redress was the standard “use refund to clear outstanding balance”, etc, etc.
I already cancelled the CPA with them and pay them monthly by debit card – payment is due to them (outstanding balance is, after removing interest, a couple of hundred pounds) in a few days. Is it reasonable that I don’t make any further payments to them due to them now owing me? I have already sent them an email reminding them that they now owe me and I have no intention of making further payments but, as usual, no response from them – I don’t want any defaults, late payments, etc but at the same time I don’t want to pay them any more if I don’t have to.
Thanks!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Assuming this is an Ombudsman level decision? If it is then you can absolutely stop paying. And any adverse marks on your credit records for any loans included in the refund should be deleted.
Dan says
Yes, it’s an ombudsman level, final ruling on the complaint.
I thought I could stop but didn’t want any negatives to come from LS from doing so.
Thanks Sara
Gary says
After referring my complaint to the Ombudsman the ajudicator upheld my complaint about Provident and received a refund app £4k.
I have received refunds from 5 other Payday Lenders after to the FO, however my last complaint about Morses has not been upheld.
I cannot understand why this one should be any different to the others and it was dealt with by a different adjudicator whose responses were not as detailed or thorough as previous ones.
I have therefore not accepted his decision and referred to Ombudsman.
Anybody else had similar experience? if so what was the outcome or chances of the decision being in my favour.
G
Mike says
Sorry to hear the bad news with regards to your Morses complaint, I am just at the start with my complaint with them and waiting for a response for my request for a statement of my accounts.
I have had a total of £43k from them over the last 6 years and was hopeful I would have a good chance . What was your situation with them and why did they not uphold your complaint before you had to pass onto FOS ? I hope you don’t mind me asking ? I am intrigued and hope you get a turn around with the ombersman.
Mike
Wiggles says
Just had my Final Decision letter from the FoS for my Quick Quid case.
After having my initial complaint sent in October 2016 flat refused by QQ it was sent off to the FoS and was accepted as a case around mid jan 2017 and there it sat in a jurisdiction pile as QQ were flat out saying the FoS had no right to look at them as it was over 6 years and all that jazz. In August 2017 I decided to forgo the complaint for first 10 loans the FoS said they had no clue when or if they would ever be able to legally look at the first loans.
A couple of weeks later I had a phone call from an Adjudicator who had been assigned to the case, QQ had made an offer of 4 of the loans and not the Flex Credit account which I said was not acceptable, I then got a decision which was all loans after the 6 year cutoff including the flex credit loan, I was happy QQ said no so back in the queue it went for an Ombudsman. QQ had made another offer, all loans minus the flex credit account, I refused that, yesterday I got a final response letter saying that he has totally upheld my complaint, with the usual 8% and removal from credit file, I worked this out to be about £5.1k ish. To say im happy is an understatement, this coupled my other cases Wonga, Lending Stream, Sunny and Vanquis, has made 2017 a great year for me.
Ro65 says
Anyone know the maximum time allowed to complain to the FOS after being given a final decision from a lender following a complaint ? Is it 6 months or 12 months?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
6 months (unless there are very good reasons why you should be allowed longer)
GMA says
I just checked my updated credit score and it says I have closed or settled my Indigo Michael Account, this is safety Net Credit and the account has not been used for a number of years infact i thought it was long closed. Its been with an adjudicator for quite a while, do you think this means they might have been in touch with them and agreed a resolution?
gillian says
on checking my noddle report there is a short term loan with quickquid balance 443 pound start date 2014 i do not have any loans with quick quid have not used them since 2015 and then i never missed a payment or was late i have also due to this site received a refund of 6500 pound off them it is showing as no missed payments or rollovers or anything but i am wondering why it still shows as balance 443 pound how can i sort this out please Sara ty again
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Put in a complaint to QQ and ask them to mark the loan as settled or delete it.
Tim says
Hi Sara,
Over the past 8yrs I have taken out numerous loans, credit cards and payday loans due to a gambling addiction. I am now in recovery and looking back at the mistakes I have made. The number of payday loans I took out is ridiculous and I would like to see if I can claim back some of the interest, but I am wondering if I should mention my addiction or not? Do you have any knowledge of other people who have been in a similar situation?
thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Tim,
This is very common – payday loans and gambling formed a vicious circle for too many people. Had to borrow because you had lost so much – try to win it back as only way out – lose more – borrow more.
You can tell the lender in your complaint if you like, but the idea that they may then be criticised by a payday lender makes some people feel very anxious and they prefer to keep their complaint simple and just point out all the repeat borrowing.
Many of these cases will have to go to the finanical ombudsman whether you tell the lender or not about your gambling. This isn’t something to worry about – you can be open with the ombudsman about your gambling. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/gambling-payday-loan-refunds/ which has lots of examples of ombudsman decisions where there was gambling.
Jacob says
Hi all,
Had a response from the adjudicator upholding my complaint against PDUK and they have given them 2 weeks to respond to their decision. It was mid August when I sent it in. The adjudicator was very professional keeping me updated throughout. Was wondering if PDUK normally respond within 2 weeks or if it’s likely to get passed to the ombudsmen. Thanks
John says
Ive got more payday loans than is absolutely neccessary. Just drowning in repayments. Found this site a few months ago and followed the instructions. So far had the interest and charges removed from 2 of my loans and looking on getting the same done to the rest (worth around £700). 3 are currently sitting with the same ombudsman adjudicator and waiting on replies from 5 more. Ive also requested all of the payments be frozen until the complaint has been dealt with which has given me a bit of a breathing space. Just a message to anyone struggling with the same, get this done asap. Follow your complaints up with a ‘Ive been advised by the ombudsman to request the loans be frozen until they have been dealt with’ and use this time to plan a pathway out of debt. Really appreciate the site, Hope it is just as helpful to everyone else.
MH says
Hi Sara,
Well what can I say; i am nearly at the end of my refund journey (started April 2017) after Wonga agreed with adjudicator findings (refund on every loan 1-24) just awaiting the payment
My Refunds
Uncle Buck £215.00 (single loan)
Peachy £50.00 (single loan)
Wonga £3,534.66 (24 loans)
Sunny £1,449.00 (22 loans)
This site has been unbelievable and has helped me clear 2 credit cards. Even if you single loans get complaining, i didnt expect to get anything from UB and Peachy and there’ nearly £300.00 back.
I’d just like to say HUGE thank you for this site and it has made an unbelievable difference. Keep up the great work and thanks again for the advice you’ve given over the past 6-7 months on here!!!
MH
Linda says
Completely confused and wondered if someone could give me a bit of advice. I have a complaint with the FO with Wageday advance, this is for multiple loans all of which were for a month contract except one which was for 17 months for some reason. I have had very little communication from the adjudicator and so today I called and was told because the one loan was for 17 months they cannot investigate at this stage even though all the rest were rolling month loans. I didn’t even think Wageday Advance did 17 month loans (that will teach me to read the contract). Has anyone else come across this problem as its holding up my entire complaint I now apparently have to go back to stage one whilst they devise a process of investigating then its assigned a new adjudicator which doesn’t seem fair as I say there are multiple other loans with a month renewal date on them. I’ve never heard of this with Wageday Advance has anyone else encountered the problem?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
When you say you didn’t realise WDA did 17 month loans, do you mean that you paid it in full after a month like all the rest of them?
Linda says
Hi Sarah, no I just looked at my statement of account and it actually ran for 12 months (start date April 2014 and the last payment was made on 1/5/15 with monthly payments of £27.70) and I immediately took out another loan on the same day for a higher amount which was paid off in full on 28/5/15 less than a month. All other loans were for 30 days or less dependent on my payday. Which goes against the contract information, im also a bit miffed this one loan has held up my complaint as all the others as I say were regular monthly ones
Lisa says
I would drop WDA an email or give them a call and ask for an account statement. That sounds to me like you took a normal loan but ended up in a payment plan? They should be able to confirm if that was the case.
Linda says
Hi Sarah I have my statement of account and all the contracts and have had a look into this it shows loan one as payable over 17 months (even though checking back the loan was cleared in 12 months not 17 as the contract said, I paid no extra to clear the loan quicke so not sure what happened there)? I then received an email from Wageday Advance in December 2014 telling me the way they operated was changing. After that all my subsequent loans (and there was 5 more) were paid back in around 30 days or earlier dependant on my payday so following a normal Short Term Lending Model. Because the first loan was different to the other 5 the adjudicator has told me my entire complaint must be looked at in a different way which I can’t understand really and I’m at a loss as to what to do next as he said they are working on a way to investigate? I would thought a simple split between loan 1 and loan 2-5 would have been easier. Just a bit confused as I would like some further feeddback from the FO on this but my adjudicator seemed reluctant to discuss it further
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is worth emphasising to the FOS that the loan documentation for the first loan appears to be wrong – 17 months would be a very odd length and the 12 months you actually paid seems much more likely. But this may not change the FOS’s view that the complaint has to go through a different process. Your adjudicator probably doesn’t want to speculate on the idea of looking at the complaint in two bits because he doesn’t know if that is what will be done. there isn’t much you can do to speed this up, it’s an oddity.