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?
allan furness says
Have had basic fob off letters from payday uk and lending stream. Is it time to go straight to the FOS or try one last time with the lenders?
Shannon says
If it’s the final response take it to the Ombudsman.
Joanna Kent says
Hi,
I posted a comment on here the other day, can I post again.
I have complained to all PD loan companies I have used and I have received the same response from all of them – your loans were affordable, they carried out the appropriate checks – most of them have asked for bank statements from the time – my question is what is the best response to give them? I am reluctant to let this go.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You definitely should NOT accept a lender’s decision that your loans were affordable – the Ombudsman is awarding a refund in more than two-thirds of these complaints, so the lenders are getting it wrong more times than they are getting it right!
You will need to get your old bank statements for the ombudsman. but this can be done, even if you have closed the accounts, so don’t let that stop you.
Maureen says
Well….I just needed to share some positive news in regards to cheque centres as I’m rather surprised! . Adjudicator found in my favour on loans over 6 years, they accepted, I signed the paperwork 3 days ago and returned it. The adjudicator said she’d forward to the administrators, she couldn’t guarantee that I’d get anything, so I actually didn’t expect to receive any money….being an unsecured creditor! Today (3 days later)….nearly 4K has arrived in my bank….hopefully this gives hope to others at or near this stage…don’t give up! I never thought I’d see this money. I’m not anywhere near finished my journey as a few still with FOS but after Xmas I will be giving a large donation to CItizens Advice Service….you are a legend Sara, without you none of this would have been possible. Have a great Xmas!
Gail says
That’s fantastic news !!!! I have a claim with cheque centre but they told me that they would not be investigating it and have told me to claim as an unsecured creditor through the administrators
They in turn have told me I have a claim of over £11k of interest and I will have to wait till next year to see if there are any funds left over
Anyone else been told this ?
Maureen says
That’s a shame Gail….is yours with the FOS or within the 8 week period with cheque centre? When I spoke with the adjudicator when they said they had found in my favour, I did ask if they knew if this would definitely pay out. They said they had been told to still continue to review the complaints for cheque centre that they had on file but couldn’t guarantee whether I would be paid out. It would depend on funds!. It did seem bizarre that, whilst in administration, cheque centre allowed loans over 6 years to be looked at!
Gail says
Hi there. I think because it’s with the administrators the FOS that it was referred to after CC said they wouldn’t look at it just before 8 weeks and it was now up to the administrators to look at the claim. I am really confused ????♀️
Maureen says
Maybe they had a date where the FOS weren’t looking at any more cases against cheque centre….mine had been lodged with them since April 17 so they were clearing the backlog as it were.
Natalie says
I am in the same position as you have been told to claim as an unsecured creditor. I have emailed the ombudsman for assistance but no response as yet. Cheque centre have told me the amount of interest paid is just over £4K that is without the 8% per annum interest from 2008 to 2012. Is there any other developments with this?
Craig Clements says
Hi
thanks to this site i have made lots of claims against alot of different payday loan companies for irrisposible lending, two of which i have passed on to the financial ombudsman as their final response was not in my eyes satisfactory, and i am awaiting the response from the FO.
I ended up on a debt management plan with step change due to being in around £12,500 of debt just on payday loans.
One claim was for Peachy Loans and i have had a possitive response Peachy Loans this was there final settlement offer.
“I have investigated your complaint further and in order to put matters to a close, I offer to refund the interest and charges you have paid on your last 14 loans in the amount of £1,393.70. However, since your last loan still remains outstanding, I propose to reduce its balance to the remaining principal sum you borrowed, £660. The refundable amount will be credited towards closing the outstanding balance, thus bringing the total refundable amount to £733.70. In addition, I propose to entirely remove the default registered against you.” I accepted the offer.
I strongly advise anyone who has has payday loans and have struggled to pay them off and subsequently taken more out and got yourself into financial difficulty to make these claims. you have nothing to lose.
Thanks Craig
Craig Clements says
Hi
i know i thought the above offer was good, but i have just checked all my loans i had with them and worked out the interest to have been £3956.85 thats alot more than they stated. should i have sent them to the financial ombudsman to see if i could have got the full amount of interest and get my debt wavered? i am at present looking into my other loans interest i have made a complaint about and calculating these up, if they offer less interest should i just pass over to FO or if the offer sounds good like the top one did should i just accept? please help.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you think their reply to you was misleading, contact them and say this. If they don’t improve the offer, send the complaint to the Ombudsman saying you would not have accepted their offer if you had been given the correct information.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
For other lenders, it depends how good/bad the offer is. So if you have paid £2000 in interest, you may be very happy to accept £1,800, not at all happy with £400 and want to think about £1,200. When deciding what to accept, think about:
– did you borrow every month for a long period?
– were there a few gaps but you still borrowed many times and the amounts you borrowed often went up?
– how bad was your credit record?
If you aren’t sure, come back here and give a summary of your borrowing – it can help to see what other people think even though the decision is yours!
Kate says
I’ve just received offers for nearly £3K through an adjudicator, with their recommendation for another company at roughly same amount going to the ombudsman, and £1500 direct from another company. Should see that towards the end of December, £3K by mid-Jan and the rest to come later in the year. Plus two more still within the initial 8 weeks. Looking like a brilliant start to the New Year! Thanks so much for this site, I wouldn’t have had the confidence to persue these companies as I had no idea it was even possible before.
Merry Christmas one and all!
mathew says
Seeing if anyone could tell me how long WadgeDay Advance takes to pay out I accepted there offer through my adjudicator on the 15th of December. My adjudicator told me he has told WDA that and they would be in contact about the settlement. Its been nearly two weeks and I have not been had an email or phone call from WDA asking for my account details or anything. Just rang WDA and the guy on the phone had no clue and was telling me the complaint had been turned down. bit of a piss take i was hoping this one would be easy after it took me a month and a half to get my money from Wonga after i had taken the settlement.
Charlie H says
Hi All,
Had some good news today from Cash Genie (Trading name of Ariste Holding Ltd in liquidation) who have upheld my complaint and have offered £1279. I have to say the lady dealing with my complain was great. There is one part of the FF Offer letter that i could do with some advise on and its this part – “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.” Does that mean i will get a refund or not as the company is in liquidation and if it does, how long have people normally waited?
Your input would be great. Thank you
Kerry says
Hi, I accepted an offer from Cash genie on 30/11 and was then included in a cheque run on 12/12 receiving my cheque on the 15th. They do payment runs every two months so the next run should be around 12th February. Fingers crossed you’ll be included in that run!
Charlie H says
That’s great info. Thanks Kerry :)
Linda says
Really surprised after waiting over 3 months in a queue I was notified that my complaint against safety net credit wasn’t upheld for unaffordable lending (my complaint was for irresponsible lending also which I made clear but that wasn’t mentioned in the response) on application and when I was granted the credit line with this company I had multiple court orders and defaults and shortly after went on a DMP. I had a rather simplistic email from the adjudicator just before Christmas. After I went on my DMP safetynet increased my credit limit from £400-£1000 without application (there was just an accept button on log in) other payday loans were showing throughout the lending period on my bank statements as were the DMP payments which they could see. Reading through the email it’s like they haven’t really referenced any of my evidence including the bank statements, credit increase, credit file etc. I am going to appeal before referring to Ombudsman but at a loss as to how to do this can I email and ask the adjudicator if he’s looked at evidence I’ve already sent? All my other complaints have been upheld and to be honest this was the one I thought I wouldn’t have problems with. Any help would be appreciated
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is this a final decision from the adjudicator? If not, you just send an email saying why you think the decision is wrong.
You are the one that knows your case, so go into detail about what the adjudicator said that was wrong and the reasons why SafetyNet Credit should have known their loans were unaffordable.
eg [but make sure these are correct for your case, these are just some rough ideas:
“At the time SafteyNet Credit started lending me money in [date] I already had CCJs and defaults on my credit record. My bank statement at this time would have shown lots of payday loans. I think SafetyNet Credit think that the money I was borrowing from payday lenders was part of my income, whereas actually it showed that I was reliant on short term high cost lending to repay other debts.”
“In [March 2016] I entered a Debt Management Plan, paying [name of DMP firm] a monthly payment of [£x] which showed every month on my bank statements after this date which SafetyNet Credit could see. This showed I was in big financial difficulty and that I had no spare income, but Safteynet Credit increased my credit limit from £400 to £1000. This was obviously unaffordable.”
Linda says
Hi Sara it doesn’t state it’s a final decision and asks me if there is any ‘additional’ information he would like me to consider. The thing is I have already sent in all my evidence (and there’s a lot as I am very organised when evidencing a complaint) but the evidence was sent across via several different emails. I think maybe if I send it through again in one concise email referencing specifics from bank statements etc. The thing that niggled me most was the fact that the decision read as though he hadn’t actually taken into consideration my poor credit file or DMP or any of my evidence merely how much I earnt. With other decisions I had a decision as an attachment and all factors had been taken into account and consideration. This came through in the body of an email the last working day before Christmas and was very rushed. I’ll be a bit more precise and email again if not I’ll ask for it to be referred I think. Is it worth mentioning other complaints have been upheld by the FO when my finances were exactly the same?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ok, then this isn’t a final decision, it’s just the adjudicator’s first thoughts. Do a thorough job of replying to this. Dozens of people have panicked at this stage, thinking it will have to go to the Ombudsman or their case is poor, but then got the adjudicator to change their mind.
You could include a sentence saying other claims have been upheld but it’s not a very strong point. The most important bit in a SNC complaint is what they could see on your bank statement plus the repeat nature of the borrowing. Your credit record and the fact they increase your limit by such a huge amount when it should have been obvious you were in difficulty are also important.
Include a sentence asking the adjudicator if there is in any more information that would be helpful?
AK says
I had a similar response regarding my Trusted Quid complaint. Basically adjudicator said that I had very high income and loans were only £400. It seems he didn’t even look at my statements, if he would he would see that in the month when I took for example the second loan I paid 6 payday loan installments on my payday and in a week after it and left with £100 for the whole month to pay rent, food etc. My rent was c. £800 at that time, how could I pay it without new borrowing? I sent him an email explaining the situation but didn’t hear from him yet due to Christmas break. if he still reject my complaint it will go to an ombudsman.
Linda says
Same here and I worked really hard outlining lots of evidence, it was the day they broke up I had my response. I’ll try again though as Sarah has suggested. Hope everything works out for you.
Linda says
Just another quick update after my complaint against Moneybox 247 was upheld by the my adjudicator in November then looked at a second time (same outcome complaint upheld) they completely ignored the adjuducators timescale for response. Thing is after ignoring the FO 247 customer services department sent me a statement of account on Christmas Day (I kid you not) via email reminding me how much I owed them! Just what you need on Christmas Day!
Ash says
Hi,
I’ve recently found this site – Im quite embarrassed by the borrowing I have done via Payday providers. I have probably used 14/15 suppliers since 2012.
The worse one by far was SNC, I’ve calculated that I’ve “borrowed” 30k since 2015 and paid 5k in interest from SNC alone, during this time I also had many other PPD loans including sizeable loads from Trusted Quid, Satsuma, Mr Lender, CASH Asap and Cash Float.
At several points in time over the last year, I’ve had a total amount of over 7k due and rolled over or set up a plan, I’ve at times been a little limited with the truth on my expenses dec due to my dependency on the monies to pay off the loans/not leave me in a negative position days after being paid.
What do you believe would be the likelihood that SNC would uphold my complaint? Also, how have people fared with Mr Lender, CASH ASAP, Cash Float and Satsuma?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That’s a LOT of borrowing. First if you still have loans outstanding you need to get yourself in a safe position so you don’t have to borrow again – see https://debtcamel.co.uk/help-payday-loan/. For SNC in particular you HAVE to cancel the CPA with your bank – some people had problems with SNC putting a balance “on hold” for 30 days and then taking money again, before complaint is resolved. You can’t risk this – or trust any payday lender :(
Then put in complaints against them all.
It’s interesting to read other people’s stories, but often it doesn’t mean much for your complaints as there is a big random element in what a lender does. SNC in particular, sometimes give a good settlement in under 8 weeks, sometimes turn down an equally good case, sometimes just write off a a balance which after prolonged borrowing is NOT usually a good offer. Mr Lender may well be the nicest of the bunch to deal with, Satsuma are very slow. But don’t be put off if the lender doesn’t give you a good offer, just send the complaint to the Ombudsman.
Oh and read https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-lender-says-lied/.
Ash says
Just a quick update – Sent off all the emails a using your template.
Mr Lender has come back to me offering £196 as a goodwill gesture, I’ve paid them £1,775 to date.
I’ve countered with a offer of between£1k – £1.25k being acceptable not to go to FOS where I am confident that the loans would have proved to be irresponsible lending.
We await their response.
Madeline Clelland-Harris says
I just did a search on an old email account and found that I borrowed one off payday loans from numerous companies basically to pay one off. The reason I did it was that I thought previous companies wouldn’t lend again because when I took the loan out my credit score would have been rubbish so my rationale was go to a different company who won’t know I have other payday loans. I have seen comments on here that basically say trying to claim for one loan is pointless?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Single loan claims are harder, but not pointless. Worth a try?
James says
Hi Sara,
I currently have 5 claims open with Payday lenders and have just received emails back from all but 1 saying they are investigating the matter.
One of the companies have asked for bank statements during the period I borrowed however looking back at this statement I can see it was during a period I was heavily gambling. The statement is swamped with betting companies. Is it best just to forget this claim with the company as it’s pretty obvious they’re just going to say if you didn’t gamble that much you could have easily afforded the repayments…. or do I just send the statements anyway? I was gambling before the loan and probably took the loan out to fund this, as well as other payday loan companies at the time so is this still irresponsible? my credit rating is also pretty shocking so I’m surprised so many lent me money.
what do you think?
Thanks
James
Jimmy says
Read this – https://debtcamel.co.uk/gambling-payday-loan-refunds/
Personally I wouldn’t give the PDL bank statements; it’s not going to help you with them. You can give detail and explain the gambling situation if you need to go to the Ombudsman.
Shannon says
Adjudicator works for the Financial Ombudsmen Service and they are the first stage of complaining to the FOS. You log the complaint with the FOS and they then request the case file from the company. Once that has been received the complaint is placed in a que for the adjudicator to pick up and investigate.
Adjudicator will look at all information provided by you and the company and make a decision. Either you or the company can disagree with the findings at this stage and it will then be referred to the Ombudsman to investigate. The Ombudsman decision is final and the company must comply with their decision.
M M says
Well I have just sent off my first ever claim to FOS. Let’s see how long QuickQuid take. I have uploaded everything I possibly can. All bank statements covering the period I am claiming for, all the statement of loans from QuickQuid, my secret weapon of a credit report from 2014 showing I had defaults and bad arrears when the loans were given to me, and the final response that QQ made to me with the “offer” of £30.
I have dropped off any loans from before 2010 as they amount to about 300 but I am still claiming for just over £2000 for the rest. Fingers crossed! Anyone know how long QQ are taking at the moment with cases with the FOS?
Jen says
Hi my QQ claim went to FOS in July allocated to adjudicator in November, fingers crossed its worth the wait, no decisions yet
M M says
Blimey in it for the long haul then. We’re all yours within 6 years?
Jen says
Yes they were all over 6 yrs, I had 7 different companies over 6 yrs and another 5 under 6 including provident, hopefully get refunds from some nxt year and be debt free for the 1st time in 20 yrs, fingers crossed they rule in my favour
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is an unusually long time – you seem to have done well with all your other complaints so let’s hope this QQ one goes well too.
Jen says
Thanks saw it 1st on Hotukdeals in May they pointed me toward this site otherwise I would never have known about this
Thanks Sara
Steve says
PDE are refunding interest and charges on one of three loans & have told me they’ll take it off the outstanding balance, but the account is currently held by BW Legal, am I able to ask them to send me the refund directly rather than take it off the balance? I’d rather set up a monthly payment plan with BW Legal for the whole amount and use the refund now to help me through January, but I get the feeling it’s not do-able.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, they don’t have to agree to that. Are you sure that is a good enough refund? How much interest did you pay on the first two loans?
Scott says
I have had peachy finance say they will Write off my loan and mark it as repaid. Would it be better to ask for the loan to be marked as repaid in full? Or ask them to remove it from my credit file? Or ask them to remove defaults and then mark it as paid in full? Can anyone help?
I had 3 loans altogether at the time I had 7 other with different companies. I used the debt camel template (which I’m so thankful for), this is the first company to give a final decision.
The main thing I was hoping for is to repair my credit rating. So this is great outcome, the outstanding is £199.
I just don’t know what best to ask them to do with the credit file, even if I can?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The best thing is to ask them to remove the default and any late payments markers. Next best is to ask them to delete the whole record.
Katie says
So thankful to this site. Last year I successfully claimed back thousands using the templates and advice from Sara – thank you.
Now I’m wondering whether to put in unaffordablity claims to high interest loans and credit cards. Any one successfully claimed against Bamboo – £5000 loan ( £15000 paid back ) Avant Credit £5000 ( £12000 paid back ). My argument for those is that I was on a DMP and had multiple pay day loans at the time. In the case of Avant they had access to my bank account at the time and would see all of those things ?!
Also thinking about complaining to Vanquis, Capital One and Aqua. All account opened about 5 years ago. Quickly reached credit limits and credit limits were increased and have been paying the minimum on all. Do you think it’s worth me complaining. I have kept up on payments on all ( a couple of late payments etc ) but had to take out pay day loans. Any advice would be gratefully received. Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
People have won affordability complaints against Avant. Bamboo hasn’t been mentioned much – but the principle is just the same for all lenders – if you can’t afford the repayments without borrowing each month AND the lender should have known that before they gave you the loan, it was unaffordable.
re credit cards, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-catalogue-credit-card/ and also check if you have been paying Vanquis’s ROP: https://debtcamel.co.uk/vanquis-rop-refund/
Greg says
I’m looking for some advice regarding the 6-year period please…
Thanks to this marvellous site I put in a complaint to Wonga in early Nov…they have replied today upholding on 14/19 loans from Nov 2011 which I am happy with as the other 5 were very small. However they are refusing to discuss a further 9 loans from earlier in 2011 but all still within 2011. I believe these show where my problems started and they are worth around £2k in interest.
Does anybody know if it would be worth going to the FO with this in order to get the earlier 2011 ones looked at? Thanks in advance.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well i think it’s worth it, but there could be a long wait as Wonga aren’t yet paying out on the older loans.
Greg says
OK thank you…they included the following paragraph:
You have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, free of charge. The Ombudsman might not be able to consider your complaint if:
· what you’re complaining about happened more than six years ago, and
· you’re complaining more than three years after you realised (or should have realised) that there was a problem.
We think that your complaint was made outside of these time limits but this is a matter for the Ombudsman to decide. If the Ombudsman agrees with us, they will not have our permission to consider your complaint and so will only be able to do so in very limited circumstances.
Has anybody seen this one before?
Simon says
My Complaint went in to the FOS in September about Wonga, I had one phone call a few weeks later to say will be looked at but heard nothing back since, I think its just a waiting game with Wonga.
Jax says
Had my final response from 247. They say they have done nothing wrong but as a gesture of goodwill they will remove all reporting to the credit reference agencies. There’s nothing to remove. It dropped off last week! And if they had done nothing wrong why would they offer this as resolution to my complaint anyway?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Because they are hoping you will give up and go away. Send the case to the Ombudsman asap.
Madeline Clelland-Harris says
I finally had a response from Wonga for my single loan with them (thought it was more). I defaulted on the loan. At first I was reading wonga’s email and it was the standard stuff…credit score, information given on application, signed the agreement etc then they put this at the end…
Your loan agreement xxx has already been assessed under our affordability forbearance programme. As a result your balance was written off and all records of the loan were removed from your credit file.
The fact that they have assessed the loan for affordability and written the balance off is them admitting it was an unaffordable loan in the first place? I paid a lot of interest just for one loan so thinking due to their affordability statement it’s worth sending to the Ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you know how much they wrote off? How much was the loan for?
Madeline Clelland-Harris says
The loan was for £250, interest was £310. From the statement they have sent it says zero paid but I am not sure that’s correct. They haven’t said how much was written off
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you ask them how much you paid to the loan and how much was written off.
Paul says
Hi all, has anyone recently had a decision from the ombudsman? My complaint against payday uk and loans over 6 years old went into the queue at the beginning of November and rather than bothering the staff at the FOS I thought I’d see how long people here have been waiting before getting their decision through.
PS great work Sarah I’ve had some good success with mr lender, myjar, cash genie, payday express (one loan which went via the FOS at adjudicator level) I’ve still a few with the FOS but these are over six years old and awaiting test cases to go through.
Nick says
My older than ,6 yr payday uk(20) have been upheld in Dec by adjudicator they have til 2/1 to respond.. fingers crossed..I had 20.loans and who knows how many rollovers.. she agreed that they should not have lent any of the loans to me .
Paul says
Many thanks, an adjudicator looked at mine in early October and agreed all but the first loan was unaffordable but payday uk asked for an extra two weeks to respond and then didn’t agreed with the adjudicator as they said I approached a debt management company back in 2012 and therefore I should have been aware they loans were unaffordable and that I should have made a complaint to the FOS at that point and I am now out of the three year period….. madness, if I’d have known I had grounds to complain or that irresponsible lending even existed I would have put the complaint in there and then to assist with my financial position at the time. I was always under the impression that I was solely responsible for getting myself into the payday loan trap, I’m guessing I have been unlucky as many people have had there complaints agreed by paydayuk outside of the 6 year period. Therefore anyone who is starting a complaint and has approached a debt management company in the past, it maybe worth stating that at no point were you informed by the dmc company that you may have grounds to complain and if you had of been your complaint would have been made at that point. Guess I’ll jyst have to sit it out but I’m hoping that it will be looked at by the ombudsman within three months.
Maureen says
My payday uk with loans over 6 years was being looked at by the adjudicator finally at the beginning of December. I submitted it in March to the FOS. She said to expect a decision from her before Xmas but I didn’t get it, I’m expecting it will come in the next few weeks. I had loans every month from 2008 to 2012, not sure how much exactly as PDUK never sent me a statement when I asked them but I’d expect it to be around 4-5k in interest
Maureen says
I’m also still awaiting Wonga and quickquid. Both with the majority of loans over 6 years so just sitting those ones out.
Brian says
Hi, can anybody help. Sunny and peachy have paid out approx 50% of interest paid which I was happy to accept. Wonga and quickquid have declined. They have given the usual reasons but mainly because my last loan from them was over 3 years ago and I should have claimed before now! Wonga and QQ were the main causes of my woes and led me to default hence why I haven’t used them for 3 years since. Is the 3 year rule valid of should I go to the ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This three year rule is absolutely NOT valid. It only applies when the loans are over 6 years old! Send both cases to the Ombudsman right away!
Lauren says
Hi, I’ve recently put in a complaint to several pay day loan companies but still have upcoming payments due on some. Should I request they stop payment or reduce my payments to a suitable repayment amount for me whilst they’re dealing with my claims? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you need to tell your bank to cancel the CPAs or DDs to the lenders. Then offer them an affordable payment each month, so that you don’t need to borrow anymore. If you have several lenders most people find it easier to ask StepChnange to help them with this.
LS007 says
If anyone has had the misfortune of having to deal with Lending Stream you have my sympathy. Over 6 weeks now since Ombudsman upheld decision. Still no settlement. Either they are genuinely busy or incompetent. Probably a combination of both. Oh well, the 8% daily interest is accumulating while I wait!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They are dreadful at every stage of the complaints process, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/lending-stream-complaints/.
Have you told your adjudicator that they haven’t yet paid you?
You might want to tell their regulator, the FCA, what you think of Lending Stream when this is all settled.
LS007 says
Yes I have informed the FOS and they are also aware that Lending Stream are not the quickest. I will consider the FCA idea, thanks.
Vickie9 says
Exactly the same. They have a been an utter nightmare to deal with. My adjudicator has been looking into it again and I have forwarded her the latest email from them. Seems they have managed to purchase the lowest loan I owed from MMF which was £40 and consequently refunded the interest on that one adding the 8% but have yet to purchase the other two which of course were larger. They’ve decided to knock that amount off my refund which equates to £359. Seems they think I will just ignore any interest I paid off and the 8% owed on the remaining two. I’ve waited this long so an extra couple of weeks whilst they faff around is all extra interest for me.
Caroline says
I’ve just put in a complaint to the FOS about Lending Stream. They were quick to respond to my initial complaint, they got back to me within 2 weeks rejecting my claim. I have submitted all documents now to FOS so I await their response! The interest on the loans was around £2,500 – if I am able to reclaim even half that I will be very pleased! I was in a DMP when I took out the loans, and some were rolled over each month, or I borrowed to pay them back and it just escalated. I’m desperately trying to clear the final amount I owe them. This month my DMP finally comes to an end too :)
Linda says
Exactly the same with me, my complaint was upheld by my adjudicator 10 weeks ago they made one poor offer after 3 weeks (totally going against what the adjudicator recommended) I declined through the FO and they haven’t replied since. Im now in a queue for an Ombudsman as they’re simply ignoring my adjudicator same for 247 Moneybox. Good luck to both of us and as you say at least the 8% is totting up. Sarah you mention the FCA is there a process or some info I can read about this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
There isn’t a “process” to complain to the FCA. They don’t look at individual customer complaints at all! But if people send the FCA an email saying how obstructive and slow LS were in their case it will get passed to the people that regulate that firm. So some hard questions may be asked at the next regulatory visit. This may sound a bit feeble, but it is what LS would hate the most …
April says
Has anyone had any success with a complaint against Safety Net Credit?
I have had an account with them since 2015, and monthly I was borrowing the full amount of my credit line. I became dependent on them after they withdrew what I owed from my account, I’d then borrow the whole amount back.
I have no idea how to work out how much interest I have paid over the past 2 years to them. I have started writing an email to send off to them, regarding irresponsible lending. I’m just worried I won’t get anywhere because it’s not a traditional payday loan.
My credit limit was also increased over the years from £500 to over £800.
Linda says
No success for me with Safetynet, my case was very similar to yours 6 credit increases in 8 months up to £1000 and I was using all the money each month with other commitments. After a 4 month wait the adjudicators initial decision was not to uphold my complaint but I’ve sent in additional evidence so fingers crossed. My initial complaint wasn’t the best. The thing I’ve learnt is to evidence your complaint really well go into as much relevant detail as possible. Dates of increases, other financial commitments, the fact they can actually see your bank statements etc. I think the waiting times with the FO are a bit longer as its a smaller team, at least that’s what I was told. Good luck.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes lots of complaints against them have been won. It may seem difficult as they are so non-standard, but they could see your bank account all the time so they have no excuse at all for not knowing you were in difficulty!
Don’t worry about how much interest you paid, you don’t have to quote a figure, just say you want a refund of it all.
Also you MUST cancel the CPA to them with your bank. Otherwise they have the sneaky habiting of telling you your account is on hold for 30 days because of your complaint then helping themselves to your money after 30 days, even though they haven’t yet responded to your complaint. So get your self safe by blocking their access to your account.
Lou says
Hi April
I, just like you paid it back only to borrow it again. My credit increased to £850 and I was getting into more trouble. It’s worth complaining. They had access to your bank so they should have known you were depending on that line of credit. Only today I had a reply from adjudicator saying that SNC agree and are going to pay me the interest back. Go for it, what you got to lose?
April says
Thanks Lou, you’re right, they should be able to see me paying other debts and needing to borrow more from them monthly just to get by.
I’ve sent off a formal complaint to them, I’ve had the automatic response saying they’ll get back to me in 4 weeks, possibly 8.
Fingers crossed when I hear back it’s something positive
Ash says
First agreement today – Emailed all the PD providers on the 24/12/17, Peachy came back today with a Final offer of around £200, I countered that with a higher offer off £500 but agreed on £400 with the last loan being removed from my file
Total Interest paid was £650 so happy to agree the first one to get the wheels in motion, hopefully others will prove as helpful.
Lee says
Anyone know how long Payday Express take to payout once an adjudicator has successfully managed to get them accept their findings and notified them that I also accept their decision?
Marty says
Between 3 to 4 weeks. They take the full time but will pay out without you needing to contact them. There is also no way to speed them up so you may just see out the time and be patient.
Paul says
I was made to wait a couple of days short of the full 28 days they are given. It’s worth calling to see how it’s progressing as I was told they didn’t have my bank details when I called after two weeks of waiting.
Lee says
Paul, do you still know the telephone number for Payday Express?
As they currently not accepting new loans. Their website is now pretty much a holding page.
Paul says
Lee the number I used was 0800 280 2548 I think this is the same for payday express and payday uk, you do have to wait a while before they answer sometimes but I expect this is just how busy they must be.
Lee says
Many thanks Paul. Had more good news today Uncle Buck have now accepted adjudicator findings, so sent acceptance form back on that one.
So awaiting payouts on both Payday Express and Uncle Buck now and finally Lending Stream, following Ombudsman final decision, which was ruled in my favour on 21st December. All acceptance forms have now been sent off by the financial ombudsman service to the relevant providers with my bank payment details. Looking like a good start to the year and big payouts.
Many thanks to Sara once again.
Acee says
Payday Epxress paid me out twice the first was within 48 hours in October then when they looked at the other loans they couldn’t decide on they paid out again but took 5 days
warren says
Hi everyone just recieved obudsmans response as it got passed on by adjudictor to them they disagree with the adjudicators findings which was orignally 2 loans to be refunded out of 3 but obudsman says only one prevision descison. The one they picked for a refund is the middle one but i wanted it to be the last one which i defaulted on and still owe a balance to as i wanted the default taken off my credit report its not about the money i would rather the default got taken off to be honest. The complaint is against QQ. Is there any thing i can do to change this??? Thanks in advance please help
Jacob says
Good evening everyone, Hope all is well! Think I’ve had the quickest reply from payday loan company’s : lending stream. Basically sent a complaint off to them using the letter from above on this site. However their reply was simple and said I wasn’t entitled to any refund due to myself making all payments on time and completing all loans from them.
Any advice please on what I should do now? Awaiting the standard 8 week case result from QQ and also replies from ferratum, wageday advance and my jar.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is more nonsense from Lending Stream. I suggest you reply:
“Is that your final response to my complaint? If it is, I shall be sending the case to the Financial Ombudsman. I shall also inform the FCA of your poor complaint handling because you are well aware that just because a customer has managed to repay loans on time does NOT mean that they were affordable.”
Lee says
My lending stream compliant started in June. They told me my credit score was really good and offered just £98 to pay off the remaining balance on file at the time. Despite having 28 loans with them in total. I declined offer.
July 2017 – I referred my compliant to the financial ombudsman service once 8 weeks up.
October 2017 – I finally heard back from the adjudicator. They ruled in my favour on loans 6-28 with 8% simple interest also applied. Plus loans 6-28 to be removed from my credit file. Lending Stream didn’t accept the decision. Tried to counter offer and said they would give me a refund on 6 random smaller loans worth £379 – not the 22 loans the adjudicator said. They also offered to remove 6 other loans from my credit file, but not refund me on these. I declined and told adjudicator I agreed with their ruling and to therefore to note this on my complaint file and refer to the ombudsman for final decision.
December 2017 – The Ombudsman gave their final decision on my compliant and agreed with the adjudicators findings. Therefore as I accepted the final decision this is now legally binding and Lending Stream have to refund me for 22 loans going back to January 2015, plus the 8%. This is worth thousands not £98. So don’t trust lending stream. Take it to the end.
Madeline Clelland-Harris says
I emailed swift sterling on 8th November 2017 after I received my statement of account to put in an irresponsible lending complaint and heard nothing. I borrowed from them in the days where you had to pay back on the next pay day and therefore kept borrowing, I defaulted on the last loan which I then paid off to MMF over a few yrs. I then took out another two loans with then in 2017. Should I include the 2017 ones in my complaint to the Ombudsman or keep them separate
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Keep them separate because in 2017 the lender was a different – a UK authorised company.
Madeline Clelland-Harris says
Ah OK. Interestingly when I try to access my 2017 account they now say ‘our services are not available to you’
gillian says
hi sara payday uk have just sent me a email saying sorry for the delay in responding to your complaint we advise you that we are not yet in a position to respond to your complaint as our investigation is not yet complete the eight weeks is now up and it does say i have the right to forward to the ombudsman but when i forward my complaints for lending stream and quick quid the ombudsman asked for the email both companies sent me that stated it was there final response to my complaint payday uk have not excepted or denied my claim could you advise me what i should do about this one i dont want to jam up ombudsman que more if i dont have to by waiting for payday uk a few more weeks but they dont offer a date of when they might be ready to finally reply ty
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can send this to the Ombudsman now – sending that email from PDUK saying the 8 weeks is up is good enough for the FOS.
Presumably you have already got all your bank statements, so sending this complaint to the FOA will be quite easy?
It’s up to you how you want to play this. If you aren’t desperate to get this all settled, then if you give them extra time and it still has to go to the ombudsman then you will be getting a bit more 8% interest added in the end. But the fastest way is to get yourself in the queue now, and then just delete your complaint if PDUK come back with a good enough offer.
Lisa says
Morning all and a happy new year!
I have just had news that all of the companies Ihave been dealing with have now agreed to remove all defaults (7 of them) from my credit files.
I haven’t received full refunds (far from it) but still a healthy £2100 so far and at least £900 still to come.
Whilst the money is lovely, I am now far more confident in getting a mortgage this year at a rate that will save me thousands in the long run due to an improved credit score, so this site will benefit me for about 20 more years!
Thank you Sara and all for your help and support. Its transformed my finances, credit file and my home as ive been doing improvements with the money :)
Still waiting to hear on PDE, PDUK and CapFin, all of which are at adjudicator stage, and Ferratum and Wonga who are waiting for an ombudsmen.
Fingers crossed and good luck all in the new year.
allan furness says
OK I’m off to the FOS then with several complaints about various payday loan companies and there irresponsible lending. Yes it was my fault in the first place for using a payday loan company but I kept rolling the loans over and ended up in a mess which thankfully I am now out of.
My credit score will have been shocking when I started using payday loan companies as I was in an IVA from 2005 to 2011 which we came through but no banks would touch us after that and after a few emergencies had no choice but to use quickquid, lending stream etc
Having never used the FOS before does anybody have any tips before I do? Much appreciate any responses.
Allan
vickie9 says
You can do everything online and just be honest with them. You don’t need any fancy words just tell them how it was and why you think you shouldn’t have been lent the money. Once you are assigned an adjudicator they will ask you for bank statements a month or two before and after the time you had your loans so be prepared! Good luck.
scott says
Hi all
For your info I have just looked at the Ombudsman Decisions website for the last 3 decisions made in regard to SNC (Indigo Michael) complaints. It looks as if the FOS are using templates in regards to this type of complaint. Particularly they seem to be looking if the amount of credit given for this open ended agreement when the account was opened could have been repaid in a ‘reasonable period’ of time (and because the credit limit starts off low -then yes) and saying that SNC isn’t a payday loan (which we know) and the borrower isn’t obliged to repay all in one go! My thoughts are yes we know SNC isn’t a PDL but as their system is set up to take payment from bank accounts when it sees a credit then the borrower is not in a position to stop full repayment – thus loosing control over where to budget..
Thoughts? …
Gareth says
Hi scott I had a complaint rejected by FO at adjudicator and ombudsman stage. What SNC has hidden from FO is that while there appears to be a minimum payment option for borrowers they will take the full outstanding balance if there is sufficient funds in the account so what they were doing with mine is going in for full payment the minute my pay had cleared before any of my bills had gone out real sneaky way of obtaining payment but it also forced me into reborrowing the same day most times as 30% of my fortnightly pay would be taken. Sneaky firm avoid them.
Scott says
I have only just referred my complaint to the FOS. Although SNC technically aren’t a payday loan company (which they play heavily on) as you said in someways they are worse. As you said Gareth when they take repayment (even when it’s not your payday) just because they see a credit this puts the borrower at a disadvantage. The interest is capped at 40days but When you then borrow again because they have used the ‘credit’ to repay them and you are reliant on borrowing to pay bills etc this starts the interest clock again..
Also the FOS decisions have stated the credit should be repayable in reasonable period for open ended credit agreements (as per oft guidelines 2011).Surely if you can evidence that repayments are made and then borrowed again in a few days then the credit isn’t sustainable?!
Acee says
Scott I had the exact same response from Safetynet but the Ombudsman told them to refund me from the very first loan I had so just ignore that.
Linda says
Hi Sarah my complaint against SNC turned has been turned down by my adjudicator despite providing what I thought was extremely good additional evidence as to why my complaint should be upheld and this is a final response. I was a disappointed with the result for several reasons, I felt the responses from the adjudicator as to why my complaint had not been upheld were very vague compared to other complaint responses from adjudicators I’d had, all of which have been upheld at the first stage. Its ironic as of all my complaints this seemed to be cut and dried as I felt the evidence was stronger so i was disheartened when I had my final response. I am going to refer this complaint to an Ombudsman but it does say on the letter that it is doubtful they will disagree with his decision. Do Ombudsman sometimes disagree with adjudicators?
Lou says
Does anybody know how long it takes for SNC to pay out? They have agreed with the adjudicator.
Scott says
Hi Lou
As you can see from my above post I have a complaint against SNC just submitted to FOS. Can I please ask a couple of questions re your success in getting a refund..
o Did SNC reject your complaint in their final response letter or offer a partial settlement before you submitted to FOS and
o When you provided evidence to the FOS ,other than Bank Statements and Credit report, did you submit other documents to support your complaint?
Scott
Lou says
Hi Scott,
No the final response from SNC was they had done nothing wrong. When I sent the complaint to the FOS I only sent in bank statements and my credit file.
Acee says
Lou they refunded me within 5 working days they said they only make payments on Fridays so check your account tomorrow
Bakey says
Hi,
I finally got a response and offer partially upholding my complaint with The Money Shop for 2 out of 3 years borrowing. They failed to furnish me with details of my loans but I found some myself from my credit file and have asked them for full details before I make a decision on their offer.
However, I owe some money to a debt collection agency for TMS but am not sure if that is for money on the actual loan, interest or fees, or a combination of those. The offer letter did not mention this ‘debt’ despite me requesting they tell the DCA to hold off collection activity and if my complaint was upheld, the negative information removed as part of my initial complaint to them.
My question is, how do I find out what the DCA amount actually is.
Thanks!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you have asked the Money Shop for details of all your loans then this should include how much you borrowed on the last defaulted loan and how much you paid to TMS. Have you been paying any money to the DCA?
Bakey says
Ah OK, yes that makes sense.
And no, paid nothing but had negotiated a partial settlement with them but not yet paid. I wonder why TMS never mentioned this in their response though.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
TMS probably don’t know what has happened at the DCA.
This is what should happen with that last loan – obviously I am making these figures up to illustrate this:
– Say you borrowed £200. Passed to the DCA as £350.
– the interest should be removed from this so it goes back to £200.
– then if you are getting a refund of say £800 on the previous loans, £200 of this will be used to repay the last loan.
– the default on the last loan and any late payment markers should be removed by both TMS and the DCA. The DCA will usually just delete the loan.
Bakey says
I have no issue with that, that is only fair of course. Just surprised TMS didn’t mention this debt in any way in their response. Removal of the default is more important to me than any refund so I have no problem flagging up their over-sight and will do so once I can get the figures from them.
Thanks for your assistance, Sara!
Kevin says
I’m in a DMP which includes loans from Quick Quid and Sunny. Do I have to tell StepChange that I am asking for a refund? What wil happen to my DMP if I get one? My DMP has been a life saver and I don’t want to do anything that will be a problem for it.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No you don’t have to tell StepChange because there is nothing they need to do. It’s best for your DMP payments to carry on as normal – making these payments to QQ and Sunny now will mean that any refund from them is bigger in the end. Getting a refund will only be good for your DMP and StepChange will be happy. I’ll write a longer article on this in the next week or so, so look out for it!
Vicky says
Hi Sara I put a complaint into the fos in April the adjudicator ruled in my favour and gave the business until the 2nd January 2018 to respond on the 3rd January 2018 I received an email from sunny saying I still have an outstanding balance and my loan has been legally assigned too sll capital limited what do I do from here do I contact sunny and say or do I contact sll capital and tell them the situation thankyou
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you email Sunny and point out that the loan they have just sold is included in the redress that the adjudicator has proposed and would they please respond to the adjudicator so this can be resolved speedily.
Also email SLL and inform them that the loan they have bought is currently in dispute with the Sunny and the case is with the Finanical Ombudsman.
gillian says
hi sara my adjudicater ruled in my favour for lending stream at the beginning of october she as twice now wrote to them once in november and then again on the 8th dec giving them till the 15th of dec to reply i emailed her yesterday asking for a update and she said they have not responed to latest letter at all she wants to give them two more weeks to reply i do not think they have any intention of agreeing can i ask her to put it in ombudsman que now as it as been 3 months since she decided to upheld my complaint and 13 months since i first contacted lending stream no loans over 6 years they have just been utterly impossable to deal with thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is ridiculous, yes, ask her to put in into the ombudsman queue. And why not email the FCA now and say how lending Stream are just not responding to communications from the ombudsman? See https://debtcamel.co.uk/lending-stream-complaints/. NB this won’t help your complaint but it’s easy to do and LS won’t like it …
Sara (Debt Camel) says
when were these “Express Finance” loans? If they are recent, then Express finance is a broker, not a lender.
Or were they from Express Fiance Bromley – which was indeed Payday Express?
Jon says
Just spoke to them and the loans were apparently on an old system under a different account number and thats why there weren’t looked at, they have now retracted their final response and will now review my complaint with all loans included. It might be something to add to the Payday Express page for people to be aware when complaining about Express Finance loans. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I have done that!
Michael Chadwick says
Has anybody heard of wonga raising a “time bar objection” to a claim? It is waiting for an adjudicator to pick up but this is slowing it down apparantly?
Paul says
Hi Michael, I’m in the same position this happens when some or all of the loans are over six years old. Some lenders such as payday uk have agreed with the FOS to accept decisions on loans which are over six years old. Wonga, quickquid and many others are refusing to look at loans over six years old, the FOS are taking a minimal number of complaints forward as test cases. It’s not expected to be resolved anytime soon so if you only have a small number of loans outside of the six year period you can ask the FOS to disregard these and just look at the newer loans. Mine are all outside of the six year period so I’m going to have to wait it out.
Michael Chadwick says
Ok many thanks ill look into the dates
Ben says
Does anyone know how quickly Sunny refund? As I had an email from my adjucater today saying that they agreed with the adjucater’s findings and will refund £247. So I agreed with this and just awaiting the funds.
And thats just Sunny, my complaint against Wonga is for a lot more and I had a provisional decision from the Ombudsman saying they are waiting for further wonga and myself to respond before the 22/01/18 for the final decision, I’m hoping they will reply quickly so it can be settled.
Makes me regret taking QuickQuid’s initial offer of £350 when I complained to them in the summer, as they had the most interested paid to them but I never took it further as I really needed the funds at the time.
Ash says
Another update – Accepted an offer from Mr Lender, total paid in interest was 1.7k (18 months between my 3rd and 4th loans), total value for my last three loans in 2017 was £700, I agreed to settled on £506.10 plus, the last three loans being removed from my credit file (This is the most important part to me).
With 17 Complaints made, I’m happy to have settled 2 very quickly to keep to momentum going.
SNC (5k), Wonga, Cash ASAP and Cash Float are the four I will defo go to Oms unless at lest 75% is offered plus removal of all loans from my credit file.
Thank you for this site Sara, its proven very helpful so far.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“it does say on the letter that it is doubtful they will disagree with his decision.”
That is a standard sentence at the end of all adjudicator decisions.
“ Do Ombudsman sometimes disagree with adjudicators?”
Yes! In most cases they don’t , but that is because the adjudicator has usually done a good job. The Ombudsman looks again at the case from scratch, it’s not a quick check exercise.
It will help if you can write an email listing anything you think is wrong in what the adjudicator wrote and anything that was overlooked. So you could quote the bits that seem to you to be too vague and say that they are ignoring the following points…
This may include for example the fact that SNC treated your borrowing from other payday lenders as “income” allowing it to say you could afford the SNC repayments, whereas actually it shows you couldn’t afford them!
Also highlight the fact that SNC took the full amount as a repayment each month, whatever the legal contract said so you just had to borrow again from them.
Send this to the adjudicator and ask for it to be passed to the Ombudsman.
Linda says
Thanks Sarah I did include on the second set of evidence I sent about taking the whole amount amongst other things but will give it another go. Can I ask please does the Ombudsman contact you when the case is brought up and ask for your thoughts, just wondered if I would know who my new point of contact would be to send of any additional information.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
All contact still goes through your adjudicator.
Steve says
Ive had a reply from MyJar, they have given me a huge reply with the outcome.
After reviewing the circumstances regarding the granting of loans to you, we believe that your complaint should not be upheld.
Although we understand your concerns, we believe that based upon the information we held at the time the loans were made, they would have been suitable for you. The monthly payments were never more than £120.00 and having taken account of general living costs at the time in addition to the other expenditure that you told us about, we believe that the loans were affordable. Therefore, we respectfully decline your request for a refund.
They say I only took out 3x£100 loans which were affordable but it was in a time where I had PDL with numerous companies, however I believe there is more, I am awaiting my bank statements to verify this.
Any ideas of how to handle my reply? As they are quoting, they were affordable based on info I provided at the time? Hmmm any help would be great.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you think you had more loans from them, checking your bank statements is a good move. Or the loans may show on your credit records? How long ago were these loans?
I suggest not replying to them at all until you find out if there are other loans as it will change the nature of what you are saying.
Were the loans one after another with no or short gaps? You are the one who really knows if they were affordable, the fact they sent you a long essay on when you took the loans, what you ticked on their website isn’t really relevant, they are just hoping it looks impressive.
Steve says
Thanks Sara
I will wait for my statements to come and if there is more then go further with it. If not i will not bother pursuing as they were for not a lot, think about £80 in interest in total. They were one after another.
I am waiting for the outcomes on wonga, payday uk, payday express, pounds to pockets, who have all replied stating they are looking into the complaint.
However, QQ have not replied at all no acknowledgement, its been 4 weeks now and ive sent approx 3 emails, no joy. Once i get my bank statements i will know roughly what im looking.
Thanks for your help
S says
Hi Sara
I had only 6 loans from Pixie Loans but decided to send off an complaint regardless – they were all at a time where I had too many loans from different lenders.
They replied yesterday and did not uphold my complaint. I emailed them this morning to advise that I would pursue with the FOS and got the following as a reply:
THANK YOU FOR YOUR EMAIL
UNFORTUNATELY WE WILL NO LONGER RESPOND TO ANY EMAILS AS THIS ISLE OF MAN COMPANY HAS CEASED TRADING.
KIND REGARDS,
Doesn’t look good for anyone pursuing them.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
According to the FCA register they ceased to be authorised on 22 December. But according the Isle of Man companies register the company is not in liquidation: https://services.gov.im/ded/services/companiesregistry/viewcompany.iom?Id=338529 so there may be money to pay refunds.
I suggest you send your complaint to the Ombudsman and also phone the Ombudsman up to discuss it.
Link says
According to my adjudicator – Wonga are experiencing delays in getting back to them due to delays in them working through their post due to high volumes of complaints and the Christmas period.
Just an FYI in case anyone is wondering why there may be a delay in their decision or Wonga responding to the adjudicator’s decision.
Bob says
Hi
Recently had an offer from wageday. I had 24 loans over 3 years 2013 to 2016 totalling £3500 paid back in interest. They have offered a settlement on 4 loans with 8% interest of just over £500 stating all others were affordable. Seems a bit random. However they have given their rationale. However the ones chosen arent even of the highest interest paid back etc comparative to outgoings placed at the time.
I just wonder whether it is just a tactic used to settle on a select few and worth refering to fos.
Any advice appreciated. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It sounds like a not very good offer, perhaps they are just hoping to settle the case cheaply? Many people might really need £500 now and feel so desperate they accept.
I suggest you send your complaint to the ombudsman to look at.
Sam says
Has anyone had a loan from Wageme. I had multiple loans from 26 loans from June 2013- May 2015. At the time I was struggling financially, hence the resaon for taking out so many loans. They have semt me a statement and said they would look into my complaint but also said they are confident they did all nessacery checks prior to giving me a loan. Do I have a case for a refund?? Any comments gratefully received.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
26 loans in that time period sounds like a good case – if they don’t offer a good refund, I suggest you send the case to the Ombudsman.
– good luck!
Julz says
Hi first comment.
7 weeks ago I emailed payday uk. I paid a total of £2160 in intrest.
They emailed a final offer today.
They couldn’t determine 5 loans and found 5 to be affordable.
They offered to pay up for 4 loans. Intrest 900 odd and 400 odd. After tax I would receive £1275.
They said I could provide bank statement for the other 5 loans. I don’t have these and wouldn’t be comfortable sending them. I rolled over every month I could. If I had to repay I took the loan straight away again.
I have countered an offer for £2000 including the 8% intrest.
Has anyone had any luck with payday uk taking up counter offers??
davy says
Hi Julz
A very similar response to my claim – although I sent them direct the statements they requested and to be fair to them they paid up within 3 days on the loans they ‘couldn’t determine’. My advise would be send the statements
Acee says
Hi Julz
I had payouts of over £1000 each with PDUK & Payday Express and said they would look at other loans they couldn’t decide onif I sent bank statements. PDUK rejected my complaint after seeing my banks statements but I have since had them upheld by ombudsman. Payday Express paid out on the loans they couldn’t decide on after seeing my bank statements so I’d say you have nothing to lose by sending them your bank statement.
Lauren says
Hello,
Thanks to this site and Sara’s great advice I’ve so far received over £2500 back from 2 lenders with having to involve the FO.
Currently just waiting on SNC – they are on week 6 of 8 to reply to my complaint. Has anyone had much luck with them? I have requested a full refund of £1955 worth of interest plus 8% on borrowing of £14688. Do they tend to be fair with their first settlement offers? I am quietly confident that it will be a successful claim as both the other lenders have offered 90%+ with no arguments (Wonga and Sunny).
Thanks!
Acee says
They rejected my complaint but the Ombudsman agreed with me and made them refund me from loan 1, seems to be a mixed bag with SNC if they don’t give you a good offer send to the Ombudsman straight away.
Julz says
Can I ask if anyone had any luck with the cheque centre. They owed me £3500 in intrest but emailed and told me they are now in liquidation and I couldn’t claim anything back.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send your complaint to the ombudsman right away – it’s not clear if you will get anything back but worth trying?
Gail says
As an unsecured creditor I have been advised by the administrators that my claim is fine ( £11,300 ) however the quantum will be less than 5% so I reckon I will get back around £500 if that and it will be much later in the year when payments are made
Keith says
Hi Everyone
I don’t normally post stuff in “forums” or “comments” but wanted to share my success so far in the hope that it will give some people the urge to complain and get their money back. Don’t think that it wont wokrk for you – it really will!
118 118 Loans – Borrowed £3500 / paid £1799 interest. Wrote to them advising they shouldn’t have borrowed me money due to level of debt etc. They were a week away from the deadline of 8 weeks without a reply, so I sent an e-mail to give them a nudge – 2 days later they have agreed to repay all interest and 8% on top.
Wonga – Wrote asking for a refund of interest on all loans (19). 4 weeks later they offered a full refund of £1900 plus £420 statutory interest.
Payday UK – Suprisingly a mixed bag with this one. I wrote to them asking for a refund on 7 loans between 2013-2016. I had also taken loans out between 2008-2010 but with the general consensus that you can’t really win the affordibility argument on loans over 6 years, I didn’t mention it. MISTAKE. They have offered to repay ALL interest on loans between 2008-2010 plus 8% but rejected the more recent – even though I demonstrated I was worse off at this time. In addition, I supplied bank statements for the more recent loans but couldn’t supply them for the older ones – yet the still offered to pay up!? It’s now gone to the FOS.
Get complaining!
Keith says
One last one….
Oakwood Homeloans – Slightly off topic but thought I’d include anyway. They charged my a late fee of £50 per month – total of about £2000 – for every month I either missed a payment or didn’t pay the full amount. Yeah, I really was in trouble at the time but miraculously kept my flat. They offered to repay £1100 but no interest. Wrote to FOS and they said they they agreed with Oakwood and advised to take the offer and run basically. So, a disapointing response from FOS but I still got £1100 nonetheless! Never thought I was in with a chance of £1 as they are ruthless!!
So for the sake of a few well thought out complaints, I so far have approx £7000 back with many more to go. Get complaining!!!!!
Linda says
Hi Sarah/all wonder if anyone could offer some advice. Two of my complaints have been placed on the list for an Ombudsman simply because the companies being 247 Moneybox and Lending Stream didn’t reply back to the adjudicator within the given timescales which is disappointing as they were both upheld by my adjudicator in my favour. I have a couple of questions, now there is FO involvement am I allowed to call these companies myself to see why they haven’t replied or should I just wait until an Ombudsman picks it’s up? My second question is is there an average wait time for an Ombudsman to pick up a complaint? I know there isn’t a precise date just wondered if there was an approximation
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can talk to the lenders if you want but with those two it is highly unlikely you will get anywhere :(
About 2-3 months is a rough waiting time, but some cases seem to get delayed for no clear reason at all. let us know how your two go!
Linda says
Ok will do both have been nightmarish in different ways. 247 simply ignored the adjudicator then last minute set through my case file after an initial decision had been reached in my favour, this delayed things another 2 weeks but after looking through the information they sent the complaint was upheld a second time. Now theyre simply ignoring the FO again. Lending stream ignored the adjudicators decision then came up with a very poor last minute offer, when this was turned down again they ignored the adjudicators deadline. So unprofessional, will let you know as and when things progress.
Marty says
Wonga have done this to me also. Adjudicator found in my favour at start of December but Wonga have not responded to them. Is this normal and has anyone any experience of it and what is likely to happen next?
Linda says
Well its happened to me with these two companies and my adjudicator even extended the response time for them with no luck. If they dont respond it goes in a queue for an Ombudsman to look at from what I’ve been told my by adjudicator. Im going to try calling them myself tomorrow but she has said she has already tried to call 247 and they done pick up.
Scott says
Hi, lending stream have replied to my claim saying they did lend responsibly etc etc, but the 20+ loans tells a different story, where do I go from here?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
To the ombudsman… see step 3 in the article above. Best of luck!
Dawn says
Hi. I’m starting a claim but my husband knows nothing of the mess I got in so if needed can I use a care of address, I’m hoping to do most of it thru email. Also I ended up on a debt management plan will that help my case. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Dawn,
I don’t see why you can’t use a “care of” address – you will need to make it very clear in your complaint that you want all communications to be by emails, that your actual address when you were borrowing was xxxxxxxxxxx but you now want any letters that are necessary to be sent to yyyyyyyyyyyyyy.
Ending up in debt management does show that you got into a big finanical mess.
Clairey says
I was in the same situation I did everything via email, nothing came to the house. I am just waiting for money to arrive in my bank account at the moment.. not really sure how I will explain that one.. but it’s easier than explaining my past
Eva says
Hello all,
just wondering how the FOS works. I’ve now submitted 4 payday lenders to them online giving them possibly everything they might need (bank statements, 2 different credit reports, excel spreadsheet with all lenders and loans listed, repayment plan offer letters I sent to lenders, final response letters). Does anyone know how long is the waiting time till someone contacts me?
Thank you
Kate says
Hi Eva, I believe it can be 2-3 months at worst as they are getting a lot more requests (as the word spreads!) but could be anytime.
Shannon says
You will be contacted by them in next couple of weeks and be given a case reference number for each complaint. Normally by post. Will say they have contacted the company for their case file and give a date to send it in by. Will also request documents from you but seems like you have already provided these.
Once all information has been received goes into the que to be picked up by an adjudicator to investigate. Probably looking at 2-3 months for an adjudicator to pick it up. Each case will be picked up separately. They will contact you directly to introduce themselves as your adjudicator. Depending on how complex the case is will determin how long it takes for the adjudicator to give you their findings.
Shannon says
That is the first stage. If either you or the company disagree with the adjudicator findings, or the company doesnt respond to the adjudicator in time, then it will be placed in the que for an Ombudsman to review. The Ombudsmans findings are final and company has to abide by them by law.
Hope that helps.
James Cole says
After some advise on what to do next
Contacted all payday loan companies. One has responded and are point blank digging their heels in
Saying I was “legally required” to declare my financial situation and based on that loan decision where made etc despite borrowing every single month rolling loans etc (lending stream is the one in question)
How do I argue back or because they have point blank made their decision do I now move on to the Finaical ombudsman? If it’s the FO I need to now move on to how do I go about wording it correct so I don’t get the same old but you said you could afford it thrown at me
I borrowed to pay loans back and the vicious circle started you all know what I mean so I don’t need great detail
Would love some pointers
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No point in arguing with lending Stream – they don’t listen. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/lending-stream-complaints/.
But you don’t need to worry about their reply – the Ombudsman isn’t likely to take that seriously. You can just send on the complaint you made to the LS< but read https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-refund-complaint-detail/ and see if that gives you any pointers for extra things to say.
James says
Hi Sara,
I read up on the Lending stream complaints page and alot of it is very true. However ive only had 5 loans with them and pretty much all of them are this year so i don’t think i have a great case. After contacting them they have offered to close 3 of these loans amounting to around £450 and leaving me with a balance to pay off of around £100~ which is with all interest removed.
They will also remove the defaults i had from them last month since the complaint was made.
Do you think it would be best to accept this offer?
However my only problem is the amount remaining they are stating i should advise them how much i want to pay each month towards it, by which payment method and which day. They also say “Your decision to schedule the payment arrangement will reflect in your Credit Report” and “We are required to report the status of your loans to credit bureaus on a regular basis” Does this mean if i accept this and ask for them to setup a plan to pay the remainder this will affect my credit file pretty badly?
Thank You
James
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you have 4 loans currently open and they are proposing to close 3 and set the remaining one to £100?
James says
No i have 5 loans, they will close 3 amounting to around £450 and remove any defaults.
The further two loans they will set it as pay back what is borrowed type and just pay back the cash without interest which amounts to around £100 for both of these loans combined
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well for a start you have a strong case – they have let you have 5 loans open at one time! However what they are proposing is not unreasonable, but you can ask for there to be no negative markers on your credit record for any of the loans, even if you agree a repayment plan for the last two.
Jamie says
I have seen on this website 118 118 money. I have a large loan out with them as well as loans with about 5-6 payday loan lenders and it certainly isnt affordable but how would i go about complaining about that one as it isnt technically a payday loan is it. would i use the same template letter and just remove certain parts?
Thanks
Brad says
They wrote off my interest which was about £3,300.