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?
Natalie Paterson says
hi
got a response back from quid, they said they done credit checks, assessed my ability to afford repayments, and they considered how i was managing other debts at the time, upon these checks it was considered responsible to advance you credit, they go on to say it does however appear the product was not suitible for your needs namely long term borrowing, bearing in mind the above, i am unable to uphold your complaint as we believe the checks were proportionate and responsible but as a goodwill gesture i will write of the remaining balance of £585.
i dont know what to do, having the balance wiped is great but if they are doing that then i think i must have a strong case or they wouldnt offer anything.
any advice would be greatly appreciated
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how many loans did you have from them? The last loan, how much did you borrow and have you repaid anything?
Natalie Paterson says
hi sara
i had 9 loans in 3 months, the last loan was for £300 that balance is still outstanding.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you know how much interest you paid on the first 8? The last loan, you haven’t made any payments to it, just checking.
Natalie Paterson says
hi
interest paid on first 8 loans was £300, ive made no payment to last £300 loan, as im writing this their offer of wiping the balance of £585 is actually a good deal, what do you think?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So the first 8 loans were either much smaller or shorter… yes on those figures the offer to wipe the balance on the last loan is good.
sally says
ally says
March 3, 2018 at 7:49 pm
Hi, me again sorry this may sound like a stupid question but is irresponsible lending the same as unaffordable lending. I have sent my adjudicator a reply today about my complaint going in SNC’s favour. When I first stared the facility with SNC I had 7 payday loans open surely if they had checked my credit record they should never have allowed me to have an account with them in the first place
Sara (Debt Camel) says
For most purposes there is no difference.
sally says
Ok thank you Sara
Andy says
Hi Sara, can I just ask with regards to my 5 loans I had with Mobile Money, I have just discovered that the 1st loan I had with them off £925.00 wasn’t paid off in the 6 month term of account, having missed every monthly repayment by a few days and incurred a monthly late payment fee of £12. They called me back in after 6 months to sign a new agreement which rolled the balance of £832.50 into a second loan, i wasn’t given any further cash on loan 2 but they added £500.00 interest & £80.00 admin fee, so effectively started the original loan all over again. I had already paid £787.50 to them in interest & fees on loan 1. Is this legal practice to roll an outstanding debt into a new 6 month agreement and add set-up/admin fees of £80.00 and apply further interest at 120% per annum (£499.50). Thanks.
Bev says
Is there any update on the 6+ cases yet please,
Sara (Debt Camel) says
nope :(
LS007 says
Onwards and upwards to my next complaint – the delightful Safeloans (Now SLL Capital) After successful awards against several other companies Ive left this complaint till the last. Googling for info about Safeloans reveals some eyebrow raising behaviour concerning other complaints so my full attention is required for this lot it seems.
Louise says
Can anyone help – Payday UK have not sent me statement as requested as yet. I have identified from my credit file the amounts that I paid per month? 2012-2014 inclusive. I have sent my complaint off however, I do not know the interest amount? Should I have waited as I don’t want to keep waiting until they send me this information? What is the usual interest for these loans?
Many thanks,
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No it’s good to complain as soon as you know enough about god loans to write something sensible. The interest depends I am afraid on how long you had the loans open for and can’t easily be guessed. PDUK will send the info in the end,
Louise says
Thanks Sara – I have done (I just went off my credit file per month for the total loans) shocking really.
Will see what there letter says?
L
And.H says
Hi all,
I had loans with several different companies from around July 2011 – June 2013. These were with PaydayUK, Payday Express, Wonga, MiniCredit/MicroCredit, MyJar/txtloan, 1MonthLoan. Upon looking through bank statements I see different names of companies such as Express Finance, Month End Money and Fortress Group. Is Express Finance and MEM part of PDUK group? I have sent emails to all of these. PaydayUK rejected so I sent to Ombudsman. Received an offer from PaydayExpress but not sure if I should accept or not. The final response letter states I received 6 loans from 11 Jan 2012 – 27 June 2012 and these were lent responsibly and they had no concerns about my lending from other companies at this point, even though there are at least other 20 loans in this period, some three days in a row. Then it goes on to say that from 24 May 2012 – 9 May 2013 I had 12 loans that were lent irresponsibly, these dates overlap so I’m a little confused. It says the interest paid for these is £253.35 and interest at 8% of £112.48, tax deducted of £22.43 leaves £343.40 to be refunded if I accept. From what I can see, the total I borrowed was £790 with £1566 paid back. Is this a good offer, should I accept? Also, is the 8% interest just added once or is it for each year?
Any help much appreciated :)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“ is Express Finance and MEM part of PDUK group? “ yes EF is Payday Express, MEM is payday Uk
So you think you paid c 800 in interest and PDE are offering to refund 253 – not dreadful but certainly not at all good.
The 8% is per year.
And.H says
Many thanks Sara
Bob says
What does it mean when a loan company says “information on your Callcredit Tac report indicating a monthly gross income of £3,775.”
Do wages show on a credit report?
It was no where near this.
Louise says
Hi Bob,
Perhaps that was from the information that they gathered re a payslip maybe or in the agreement? Your wages don’t appear on your credit file.
Louise says
Sara – Are PD UK and money shop two different companies? Or would it be under PD UK for loans taken out at Money shop? Does that make sense?
IE Payday UK are they the lenders to money shop?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They are both brands of the same company, Dollar.
Louise says
Thank you Sara. that is great. Will keep you posted.
Louise says
Hi All,
Has anyone had any dealings with WDA – Wage day advance?
Kind regards.
Louise.
Shannon says
Yeah. I logged a complaint with them which went to FOS. I have had adjudicator findings issued and just waiting on WDA to reply.
Eva says
Yes complaint via email. Statement of Account sent within few days then heard nothing. Then 2 days before the 8 weeks got email asking me why I’m complaining now so many years after paying of and where did I hear I can claim. Replied back with answers and also said again why I think loans were unaffordable and the following day had final response upholding all loans except the first 2. Also had 8% interest added on top and loans removed from credit file within a week. All without going to the Ombudsman. But I did send them all my bank statements and credit reports etc without them asking
Jo says
Hi Louise,
I sent my complaint to them.. 8 weeks will end next week… nothing heard so far.
Jo
AK says
Hi Louise, WDA is quite difficult. They rejected my initial complaint, sent it to FOS, my adjudicator upheld in full, WDA rejected their decision, the adjudicator tried to persuade WDA again, sent them a letter, gave them another two weeks, and they rejected again. Now the complaint is with the ombudsman. And we are not talking big money, all this fuss is for less than £300.
Becky says
Hi Louise.
I asked them for a statement last week but haven’t heard anything yet.
Louise says
I haven’t either too but I called them and said I required my statement they confirmed they were from 2011 and 2012. I’ve out in the complaint rather than delay.
Adam says
Hi Sara
I put a complaint in against MyJar in January 2018, at which point I owed them £170 from an original loan of £550 having made some installments. I never asked for them to put the loan on hold as I had every intention to pay still, but they did. When I log in to my account is says’ repayment plan’ and my credit report says ‘arrangement to pay’ even though MyJar assured me it would not have a negative impact on my credit report. They have since stopped replying to me emails and the 8 weeks was up on 3 March 2018. I have received a text today saying the next payment will be taken tomorrow but I still have no idea what is happening with the complaint. I have called them but apparently the complaints dept are not contactable via phone. Do you have any advice?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You have two different issues here. First that they haven’t replied to your complaint within the 8 weeks. I suggest you email them saying if you haven’t had an acceptable offer by Wednesday you will be sending the complaint to the Ombudsman.
Second that a repayment is due. Can you afford this without having to borrow again this month? If you can, fine, it can go ahead tomorrow. But most people making an affordability complaint can’t! If you can’t, tell your bank today to cancel the CPA to Myjar and tell Myjar what you have done. Don’t ask, Myjar – tell them, because they don’t seem to be very good at communicating with you and you need to make sure they don’t take the money and leave you short.
Paul says
Good morning, I was just wondering what timescales people have been experiencing in waiting for an ombudsman to look at their case? I went into the ombudsman queue back on the 7th nov 2017 so four months ago, I’ve contacted the FOS today and have been told it is still waiting to be picked up.
Alan Thorpe says
Hi
I have asked Safety Net Credit to cancel the CPA set up on my account as I am making a complaint and also in financial difficulties which means they will likely be added on to my DMP, they have replied with the below, how should I proceed?
We are able to cancel the Continuous Payment Authority upon your request. However, we would like to make you aware that, following the outstanding balance being paid, your SafetyNet Credit account will be closed. This is because we require Continuous Payment Authority for our repayments system to function correctly.
Could you please confirm in your response how you wish to proceed with your account?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Tell them Yes cancel and close – you weren’t hoping to borrow more from then again, were you?!? Also cancel the CPA with your bank – never trust a payday lender to be helpful or competent is a good approach.
Andy says
Just wondering what it means when people are saying they are at the 2nd ombudsman stage or with an adjudicator as my complaint has been with FOS since November but their emails always say they are from the FOS Investigator, Thanks
Shannon says
Adjudicator is the first stage of investigation by the FOS. They will look at all information sent by both sides and issue their findings regarding the complaint. If you or the lender don’t agree with their findings then the case will go to a final review by an Ombudsman. Will also go to Ombudsman if the company don’t respond to the Adjudicators findings in the time frame they provide.
Ombudsman outcome is by law so the company have to oblige with it. FOS investigator will be getting all the required information together so it can go to an Adjudicator. Time to be picked up depends on how busy they are and how long it takes both parties to send in the information required.
Marty says
Can someone please help me with uncle buck? Seem to break escaping as ombudsman did not regulate them until 29 December 2010. Thanks they are so smug
Sara (Debt Camel) says
When were your loans? Do you know the name of the legal entity lending the money? Or what their website was pre 2010?
Marty says
Hi Sara the company was Uncle Buck Finance LLP , ombudsman said can’t look due to dates they still exist loans were 2007 – 2008. They just said not looking at them go to FO knowing fine well they could not help really don’t know where to go with this ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
UB have to tell people to go to the Ombudsman, it’s the Ombudsman’s decision whether a complaint can be handled by them, not UBs.
I suggest you go back to the Ombudsman and ask why the complaint can’t be considered as UB were authorised by the OFT when those loans were taken out.
BUT expect this case to be very slow as the loans are over 6 years old.
Marty says
Thanks Sara I’ve went back to the FO appreciate your advice
PNH says
Hi Sara,
I have just received a statement of loan histiry from QQ. When I have opened the attachments there are statements from QQ, P2P and Lending Stream all in one email.
Are LS part of the same group as AS and P2P?
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Gosh. No they are not related so far as I know. I wonder if they have both outsourced complaint handling to the same company? Why don’t you ask them? And do check that the loans look correct, so you haven’t been sent someone else’s details.
Paul says
Hi everyone
Got the ball rolling 4 weeks ago against Wonga, QQ, lending stream and sunny. This included summary of account for each lender, total amount borrows. Interest paid, +’dates of loans taken out v paid off
106 loans since 2013 – £69,000 borrowed – £76,000 paid back (£17,000 of interest paid)
Had acknowledgement from all – with Complaint ticket numbers for each one
I had outstanding loans amounts with all 4
Wonga, Sunny and QQ have agreed to cease collections and have put my account on hold until the complaint is resolved
No luck with Lending stream in that dept, instead I’ve set up an affordable monthly payment plan with them
– sunny definitely the best to deal with – no surprise that lending stream are the worst.
Would suggest to anyone in the same position to do the same about requesting a hold out on the account if you have an outstanding balances
Just a case now of waiting for a final response from each lender – and if now off to the FO I go, armed to the teeth with account sunmaries, dates I feel certainly help call out the irrespobsible part as quite a significant number of my lands were taken out days after paying the last one
Good luck everyone and thanks for this site Sara
Lisa says
I have written to PaydayUk regarding numerous loans I have taken out with them over the years. They have written back requesting a copy of a 2011 bank statement…my bank has said they may not be able to give me this as Data Protection Act only requires data to be held for 6 years. There may also be a charge. They have also requested a copy of credit report.
Do I need to give them this? They stated in email that they may not be able to finish investigation without it.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You don’t have to give this to Payday UK, tell them to consider your case as it stands.
If it goes to the Ombudsman you will need your bank statements for the whole period of lending, so it’s best that ask for these now. So far your bank has just said they may not have them and there may be a charge – it doesn’t sound as though anyone has looked! People have got good results going into their branch and saying they want them for a complaint against a payday lender, often not being charged anything.
Chris says
Hi Lisa.
RBS have gone back to january 2011 quite easily for me and are now searching back to 2009 on a different system apparently. This was after a visit in to a branch again last week.
I didn’t say what it was for but they were more than happy to help and didn’t charge either.
Certainly worth asking for as you’ll need as much info as possible.
I’ve supplied my info to PDUK, so will
Let you know how I get on.
All the best
Patrick says
Hello,
I understand to raise complaints to the FO you need to send them individually by loan company, do the cross reference them?
I had loans with 11 companies totalling £23K in interest alone.
Do you they review all as I used some loans to pay off others etc… so have only have a few with some of these companies.
Thank you
Shannon says
Each case is reviewed individually but they will be able to see from your bank statements that you were borrowing from numerous lenders.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send the first complaint in – do them as they come, not waiting for replies from all lenders – then on the next FOS complaint say at the bottom that you have previously complained on dd/mm/yy about X. And on the third complaint mention your previous 2 etc.
You only need to send your credit record and bank statements in once – then can then be used for all your complaints.
If you only had a few with some companies, those cases probably aren’t as strong, but the Ombudsman will consider what the lender knew when you made your application.
Carly says
I sent my complaint to Wonga and they rejected it saying it was affordable in there eyes, i just left it because i didn’t think i had a chance with getting anything back from them.
Then i had an issue with my car meant i had to borrow again (baring in mind i had 7 other outstanding loans with other companies at the time) Wonga borrowed me again and i defaulted with the original payment plan so i set up a new payment plan which i could not afford to keep up. Unfortunately i am in the middle of setting up a DMP and have all loans on hold until this is is set up.
Once that is set up i am going to complain to all of my outstanding loans on the basis of them not being affordable, would there be any point in complaining to Wonga again?
Regards,
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you can reasonably complain to Wonga about the loan they gave you after your previous complaint.
Carly says
Thanks for that Sara, do you know much about Debt Management Plans? just looking for a bit of advice, i have already went through my income and expenditure with them and been sent out a pack etc, i have noticed i have missed a few things off, can i call them up to amend my income and expenditure?
Thanks in advance :)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
DMPs – yes, you may find this page helpful to bookmark: https://debtcamel.co.uk/debt-options/guide-to-dmps/
Which firm are you talking to? You definitely want to get yourcI&E right at the beginning, call them up and say you need to change some figures.
Rachel says
After some advice. I had 17 loans with Wonga in 18 months and almost about the same with PDUK. About two years ago PDUK wrote to me out of the blue and offered to to pay me £2100 as they had reviewed my loans and determined that they were unaffordable. I had not made a complaint to them, they just paid me the money. I wrote to Wonga on 16th Jan to complain, using the templates on this site. It was clear from my borrowing with them that I was re-borrowing within days of settling a loan. Today almost exactly 8 weeks after my complaint Wonga wrote to me saying they rejected my claim, and specifically stating that they could find “no evidence of frequent repeat borrowing” – which clearly indicates to me that they didn’t even look at my complaint, because the list of loans (that they sent me!) shows re-lending on each occasion, apart from the last loan that took me three months to pay off.
I have referred the matter to the FO, by the online service because I clearly was borrowing every month after I had paid off the initial loan. At the same time I have replied to Wonga’s email saying I do not believe they have even considered my case, because they could not make the “no evidence of frequent re-borrowing” claim if they had even bothered to glance at the list. Did I mess up? Should I have just sent to the Ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It doesn’t matter. If Wonga change their mind, you can withdraw the FOS case.
Rachel says
Thanks Sara,
It is so annoying, I paid every penny of every loan back to Wonga and PDUK, because I was too scared not to. I was earning decent money at the time but had really high living costs and a few other issues. Started borrowing in 2012 and finished in 2014 (mainly because when I tried to re-borrow from Wonga they rejected my application – because they were “a responsible lender” !! Genuinely only just got out of the issues that it caused about a year ago – I think my case is very clear and PDUK paying strengthens my case, but I think because I paid they are just chancing their arm that I will just go away. Thank you for this site and all the support you give people, you do amazing work!
Louise says
Don’t give up Rachel – I wont be doing. I agree this site is fantastic with the support. Well done Sara.
Louise says
I bet they come back to you Rachel -let us know!
Louise says
Thank- you all for the info re WDA – They have my complaint however, not issued statements as yet (I have advised that I need these) but I will not delay things moving forward. These loans for 2011 and 2012 I called them (they will know I mean business) they said It takes time as they are in archives.
I have received others – requested for same period.
I will keep plodding on – very time consuming but worth it!
James says
Hi all, another update on how claims are going.
Sunny – Cleared over £500 outstanding balance on loans and £1100 refund issued.
Lending Stream – Cleared over £600 balance outstanding on 4 loans, closed 3 loans just £85 outstanding to them.
Piggy Bank – Refunded me £120, only had 3 loans which i paid back pretty quick so was surprised i got anything from these.
118 Money – Got a reply today, they cleared all Interest – £4500 Debt down to just £1800. (Very happy with this one)
MyJar – Did not uphold my complaint, forwarded to the FOS
Wonga – Offered me £111 refund on a total of 42 loans, Forwarded to the FOS for review
Satsuma – Did not uphold complaint, forwarded to the FOS for review
Thanks again for your help Sara, My debt has now dropped from over 10k to under 5k and hopefully even lower yet!
Chris says
Evening all.
Has anyone had a successful claim or dealings with THL.
I complained back in December about a late payment being marked on my credit file back in 2015, they said it was a mistake and would remove it. I have this all on emails.
3 month on and nothing has come back about this.
Incidentally this is what lead me to this site and I have subsequently put a claim in with 3 weeks to go until 8 weeks is up and it goes to the ombudsman.
I didn’t know if anyone else had experience of them?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think a couple of people have but I can’t recall a recent one.
Re your late payment issue, I suggest you send them a complaint email, saying if this is not sorted you will be taking the case to the Ombudsman. You could also ask for compensation for the inconvenience, eg £100.
Chris says
Thanks Sara.
I’ll get on to that now and will keep everyone updated.
Thanks again
Carl says
Hi Chris thanks for the reply. I am going to try and get a firm to look at it for me. My head starts to thump as soon as I think about it. Can I claim from 10 years ago. That’s when it all started and for the past 4 years haven’t even been able to get a payday loan. So not much is showing up on my noddle account.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is a seriously bad idea. You still have to say which lenders you borrowed from (Claims firm can’t tell), get your old bank statements (Claims firm can’t do that), explain what defaults there were over 6 years ago and find some proof of them as they won’t be on your credit record (claims firm has no way of knowing what happened to you) and answer the Ombudsman’s questions (how could any claims firm explain your situation accurately?). All a claims firm does is forward emails from you and charge you a fortune.
Why not just pick one or two lenders you used the most and start off those complaints? See how they go?
You can claim from 10 years ago but claims over 6 years are much slower.
Chris says
And from what I’ve seen in the short space of time Carl, is that those who use claim firms have much more hassle and dont get the right outcome than if they sent the simple emails that Sara has kindly put together.
Most then try to get out from the companies as some have become quite confrontational as well.
Follow the advice in this site and that Sara has given.
I started with one and have now complained to 10 just by following the site.
After two or three, it’s simple.
Trust me, you’re not alone with your emotions and feelings, many of us have been there already or are going through the same.
The emails are on the site and ready to be copied and pasted, the banks can supply statements when requested.
You’re over the worst now and of course you’ll feel anxious about it all. But you’ve recognised you need to do something and that’s great!
If it’s anything like my feelings, you may get empowerment from this journey and some money back at the same time :-)
We’re only four weeks apart in doing this so will happily go along with you with our progress if you like.
Cheers, Chris
Carl says
Thanks for your support Chris very nice of you . I’ll have ago at it soon cheers
Louise says
I agree – don’t use a claims firm they charge 30% plus VAT on your pay out and do nothing for you? It is a way of them making money on you!
MHDJ says
I have just sent off complaint emails to Wonga, Payday UK and QuickQuid for loans taken out during 2011-2012 after experiencing redundancy, marriage breakdown and being a single mother of a 6 month old. Having an income of £1100 and a nursery bill alone of £800-900 a month at the time – as you can imagine it only got worse and I ended up defaulting, on these loans after taking one out each month to pay the last one off before turning to a debt management plan for help.
I’ll be happy with just the defaults removed from my account if i’m honest, a refund would be an absolute bonus but not expecting much in the way of response.
Has anyone else had defaults removed on request for these loans?
Thanks :)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you defaulted on loans taken out in 2011 and 2012, these defaults should be disappearing from your credit record in the next year anyway…
Ask for a refund and for the defaults to be removed.
Scott H says
Help please, I have just come off the phone with Cash4Unow, a very threatening call from them in receipt of my complaint saying it does not bode well for me taking this further. At the time of taking out loans with them…2014/2015 I was in a DMP with Step change but i said to C4UN that i wasn’t, i was desperate, i was in a hole and i was trying to borrow from anywhere i could to finance debts. They are now saying the FOS would not entertain any claim as i was falsifying information and i could be done for fraud. Is this just scare tactics from them or are they correct? I am worried to be honest. I have had over 200 payday loans in the last 7 years from 32 lenders and yes, on some applications i did not mention i was in a DMP, surely this was for them to find out by properly looking at my credit report? Or does this exclude me from claiming against any of them?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is just scare tactics – and a good reason why it’s often best to refuse to talk on the phone about a complaint – it is much easier to be bullied on the phone.
See https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-lender-says-lied/. As that says “The Regulator’s rules say that a firm shouldn’t give a loan if they know or should suspect that the customer hasn’t been truthful when applying for the loan.”
I suggest you send the complaint to the Ombudsman if it has been rejected. You could also say you felt the lender was very aggressive to you.
Scott H says
Thank you Sara, thought as much but did put the frighteners on me a little as the last thing I wanted to end up with is a cifas marker. I’ll plough on and keep all updated. Thank you.
RF says
Wanted to share with the forum the progress of my complaints:
WageDay Advance – Offered refunds on all within 6 years (after 8 weeks). I accepted as others prior were small. Value £1k. Paid via BACSwithin 3 working days of acceptance.
247 MoneyBox – Only had 1 loans. Was rejected. Replied advising I was going to ombudsman. The replied offering refund of interest. Value – £75. Paid via BACS day after acceptance.
Oakam – Found in my favour. Value £1.5k refund. Paid via BACS day after acceptance. Very good to deal with.
QQ/P2P, Lending Stream, Wonga all rejected (standard rejection responses as per advise on the site). All now with FOS.
PDUK – No reply after 8 weeks. Send to FOS (and emailed them to advise them). Got response today (9 weeks) saying my original complaint had been misplaced. Complaint now being expedited and backdated.
Thank you for this site. Getting marries this year so all refunds going toward paying for this!
Becky says
This is a great update, thank you for sharing and good on you for results so far. Congrats on the upcoming wedding!
Debbie Sturgess says
How long did oakam take to get back to u with a final response ?
RF says
Provided acknowledgement and SOA within days. Replied with response after 7 weeks accepting all within 6 years.
Ryan says
Hi,
Has anyone had any success with 118-118 money?
Ive just had my final response and declined my complaint for unaffordable lending. I only had one loan but paid over 3k in interest. At the time of taking the loan I had mulitiply payday loans. And was taking new loans every payday.
Is it worth sending to FOS?
Thanks
Ryan says
Hi,
My credit rating is appalling, why is this?
I’ve had hundreds of payday loans, but virtually all of them I’ve paid back on time/early, so what is it that makes the rating bad? The searches? Applications? Simply having a payday loan?
Cashasap (whom I had 11 loans with) said there was no negative information to be wiped from my credit file. But if I asked them to remove all loan history with them from the file, would that improve my rating?
The improvement of my credit rating is more important to me than the refunds, as I am applying for mortgages.
Thanks
Steve says
It will be a mixture of all of those things, as well as the reasons for having to take out all of the payday loans in the first place. In so far as getting a mortgage, unfortunately, it is not an easy fix. If there are that many payday loans on your recent credit report, lenders are unlikely to want to take the risk with you, which is reflected in your poor credit score. Hopefully, getting refunds and any negative information removed will help you get debt free, then it’s just a case of waiting until you’re further away from all of your payday loans and you’ll be a more desirable proposition for mortgage lenders.
Ryan says
Thanks for the reply Steve. So if the payday lenders removed all the loans from my credit file, wouldn’t that significantly improve it? Also, how long does it take for things like that to be wiped off your credit file, so lenders can’t see it?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You need to look at your credit records in detail if you are thinking about a mortgage. Check them with all 3 credit reference agencies, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/best-way-to-check-credit-score/ for how.
You say “virtually all” you repaid on time – so how many were there that you didn’t? And what about non payday loans, any missed payments or defaults there.
Payday loans that are repaid on time will not harm your credit score. But if you have any in the last 12 months that is very bad news for getting a mortgage.
Michael says
Just received an offer from PayDay Express of £571 to go with my offer of £2322 from PayDayUk! Had a very low offer from Lending Stream which I rejected, and still waiting for final responses from Wonga & WageDay Advance.
Carl says
Hi . I have had over 200 loans over the last 10 years with payday loans . I no who they all are , but have not details off the loans . Have I any hope . I get so stressed even thinking about it
Chris says
Hi there Carl.
I only came across this site in January after finally paying mine of in 2017, alerted by a spurious late payment by one of them on my credit file.
I have had over 240 loans by ten different lenders amounting to 79k loaned.
Within four weeks I’ve had an offer by one company for £7800 and to remove from credit file.
Although all won’t be that simple, I know.
For you my friend, it sounds as you were caught in the same trap many of us have been.
Follow this sites instructions, get your bank statements together and your credit report and go through the steps and advice Sara has kindly put together.
You have nothing to lose now, just lots to hopefully gain back.
All the best.
Andrea Evans says
I didn’t have details of my loans but I knew the names of them all, just give your name and address with them. On here there are email addresses that you can send a letter of complaint too. Just put in the search bar, payday contact addresses. Ive had replies from most of mine saying they are looking into my complaint. Couple have said they are rejecting but im going to send to FOS.
God Luck
Richard says
I’ve finally decided to go ahead with complaining about my existing loans and cancelling the CPAs.
Couple of questions, should my loans be frozen pending investigation and how does it affect your credit file if you cancel the CPA while having an active complaint? Is there anything else I need to look out for, like being chased for payment?
Louise says
Hi,anybody heard anything off Cash Genie yet??
Jen says
Nothing was expecting an e.mail at least but not heard a thing
Louise says
Hi Jen,would we get the cheque before the 13th do you think or after cos the payment run is this Tuesday.Any thoughts?.Thankyou.
Jen says
I’ve still no e.mail from them yet
Jen says
Hi Louise just got an e.mail saying cheque will be posted on 13th 2moz and it should arrive shortly after, should be wed or thurs hopefully, we have waited long enough
Louise says
Hi Jen was just going to let u know I got the same email.Thanks for keeping me updated,it’s been a long wait.
Lorraine says
Today (after 8 weeks) I have received the following
Thank you for your recent correspondence regarding your complaint.
I note in your correspondence you have advised you have only recently become aware you could complain regarding the loans provided by WDA.
In order for us to conduct a full and thorough investigation into your concerns could I request you confirm how you were made aware of this?
If I could respectfully request you reply to this email by 09/03/218 so that we may respond promptly.
Is there any reason why they would want this information.
Also I have been asked to provide my credit report – should I send them this information – it has my personal details on this info.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“Is there any reason why they would want this information.” curiosity? It won’t make any difference to your complaint, you can name this website or ignore this, whatever you want.
They can search your credit record themselves if they want to, they don’t need you to send them anything to do that.
Gavin says
Hi ,, seeking more advice , I have had 22 loans with saftey net and have put in a complaint as they obviously knew it was iressponsible lending due to have access to my bank account and sending more than 20 emails telling me my circumstance had changed ( due to job loss) but they were willing to carry on lending ,,
But my question is
My credit file is absolute rubbish ,,, that doesn’t bother me atm to be fair
But I have had loans with 6 other companies, only one loan with each ,,, and I have agreed lower payment plans with these companies,,,, but can I still complain even thou it’s only one loan ? As if they had done a proper search on my file it would have shown that I could not really afford these loans ,,, if I can ? What’s my chances ?
Cheers
Gavin
Any help appreciated
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sounds a good complaint against SNC. I hope you have cancelled the CPA with your bank to them.
One loan complaints are harder, but it’s well worth doing for recent ones and if you still owe money.
Gavin says
Hi Sara . Thanks for quick reply yes I did cancel cpa with snc… Also have it confirmed by email that they will not take any payments while my claim is being investigated ??
As for the others yes I do still owe them including 118…. Money shop …. Wda …. Piggy bank and satsuma all on very low monthly payment plans plus vivus and ferratum have got MMF and CRS on my back …
The last two I have complained to and asked the debt collectors to stop harassing me while my claims are being looked into…
Would settle for a payment bk from snc and if I could just the others written off or balances greatly reduced ?
Thing is like I said my credit rating is as low as it can get …. So should they have really lent money to me only to put in a worse situation than I was already in ??
Cheers
Gavin
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is a lot of borrowing. I suggest you consider talking to StepChange about a DMP, and when your affordability complaints are resolved take a hard look at how long it’s going to take you to clear what is left owing. https://www.stepchange.org/Howwecanhelpyou/DMPDebtmanagementplan.aspx
Gavin says
Thanks again Sara …. Yes your correct it is a lot of borrowing and to be honest I am not comfortable with it .
But the actuall amounts all together are very little compared to what I have read on this site ,
So my question is … Would it be worthwhile going into a dmp ? Or just leaving the payment plans in place I have with the loan companies ?
ghanks in advance
Gavin
Sara (Debt Camel) says
” very little compared to what I have read on this site ” that’s the problem with comparisons… it is never the total amount borrowed that matters, what is important is the amount you borrowed in relation to your income and other expenses. So don’t think you have a weak complaint because you didn’t borrow £15,000! Also everyone posting here knows how much £50 or £100 makes to your life.
Do you have other debts as well? And are your payment plans too much for you to manage? Yes to either of those suggests that a DMP may be good and may make your life easier.
Hopeful2018 says
Hi Sara, the adjudicator upheld my complaint against 118118money. They provided the adjudicator with further information to support their decision to lend but the adjudicator wrote back to them that the new information didn’t change her view.
Do you know what the likely outcome will be – will it go to an Ombudsman or does 118 usually accept the adjudicator’s decision?
TC2018 says
Hi guys.
Just a post about my progress.
Sunny – Partially upheld my complaint and offered £2,500 refund of interest and fee on 7 out of 14 loans, which I accepted.
Wonga – 44 loans over 4 years and they only deemed 3 unaffordable. Escalated to FoS
Lending Stream – No response on 5 loans over 6 months. Passed the 8 weeks so will be escalating to FoS.
OuickQuid – Final response on 6 loans over a year. Not upheld as deemed affordable. Escalated to FoS.
How long does it take the FoS to look at a complaint and respond, roughly? This is my first time of doing so.
Thanks,
Tom
Sarah says
If I have only had one loan with the likes of Provident, Loans2Go, Loans at Home, PiggyBank & 118 money but had them all running at the same time along with at least 4 other payday lenders & applied for within weeks, maximum a month of each other… Could this be classed as irresponsible lending as my credit history is shocking & surely if the correct searches took place I would not have been approved for any of these loans… Some I have recently defaulted on also due to not being able to pay… Not necessarily looking for a refund but would like to just pay back what was borrowed… What do you think my chances are??
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Were these all fairly recent? I have to ask, do you have a gambling problem?
Sarah says
Yes & yes which I am trying to get under control
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, well my suggestion here is to set up a DMP so you are only paying an affordable amount each month (contact StepChange, see https://www.stepchange.org/Howwecanhelpyou/DMPDebtmanagementplan.aspx ) and carry on tackling the gambling (see https://debtcamel.co.uk/gambling/). Only when you have been “clean” for several months tackle affordability complaints.
Matt says
I put my complaint into WDA, who have rejected my complaint. I still owe them £150 which is on a payment plan. Since been rejected, they keep calling me saying I need to pay the balance asap. Asking for my work number etc. Told them they are harassing me but they said it’s not harassment cos’ I owe them money.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you sent the case to the Ombudsman?
Matt says
Yes I have. Told them this but they just said they will keep calling until paid
Jon says
Hi
Just an update.
Sunny have got back to me. I had three loans. They’ve said two are unaffordable. But the letter is confusingly written. It makes reference to figures I don’t recognise.
The amount I borrowed was £950.00. They’ve said that they are writing off about £1600.00 but I’ve no idea what the figures are.
I don’t know if this is a clerical error or a mistake. So I’ve asked if I can call them. If it’s them being obtuse, I’m going to the FO.
Jon says
Update:
Having reread the letter. They’ve written the £950 I owe off. It’s.just they’ve not updated my account yet. Also, the letter was written in riddles. I’m pleased.
Should hear from Wonga and 118 next week, fingers crossed.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I’ve lost count of the number of people who had a great offer from a lender which they were going to refuse because they had no idea what it meant :)
But people also accept offers and only later realise they weren’t good. If you aren’t sure, double check now, with Sunny or by posting on here.
Louise says
Sara – apologies but what are your thoughts, I went through my statement myself and identified the loans with PDUK and offered an offer with what I thought was reasonable. Well I have had my statement today and interest is a lot more than I thought. I have messed up. Should I go back to them and explain. I read a comment about offering counter offers so I thought I would do the same. The statements are hard to understand from them and it was interest default, interest repayment, principal default, principal deposit. I called and they are helpful to be honest and the guy explains it was as you rolled the loan over and deferred to the next month – they add additional interest? is this correct?
Thanks in advance. This site is really helpful.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you defer /roll a loan, you basically pay the interest one month, then the next month you pay the same interest again and repay the loan. So you turn a 1 month loan into 2 and pay two lots of interest. Defer/roll it again and you pay another months interest.
“I went through my statement myself and identified the loans with PDUK and offered an offer with what I thought was reasonable.” are you saying you told PDUK what you would accept? But you now think it should be more?
Louise says
Yes – a lot more. I got the idea from a comment on here and a good idea but then I didn’t have my statement. Now I have it I am ” oh no I have messed up” I was trying to be reasonable. This is what I did. It was deferred and then rolled so I have added up the interest deferred as well as the interest repayments as I looked at the totals. I originally went through my bank statements and credit file so I knew what the amount I paid was and then I worked out the rough APR on the account and made an offer? does that make sense? This is going back to 2011 – 2014. Should I just wait and see?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Itvis a VERY bad idea to make an offer at the start – just ask for a refund of everything is the best policy.
But it doesn’t sound as though PDUK have accepted your offer… so I suggest you just write and say you made a mistake in your complaint dated dd/mm/yy. You now realise that you paid a lot more interest and you want to ask for a full refund, plus 8% statutory interest. Do this NOW, don’t wait until PDUK comes back and accepts your low offer!
Louise says
Thank you Sara.
I wont be doing this offer again! I have done it with PDUK and Swift sterling! no others. However, Swift Sterling was decent.
I have now just written the email and explained that I have just been sent my statement today and following on from my earlier complaint I have to add some more details and I explained the interest calculation with the 8% along with the way they were deferred month after month and then principle deposits after deferral also which was irresponsible and unaffordability lending .
No they have not accepted the offer as yet – you are talking another £2000 without the 8%.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you made it very clear that you have withdrawn your offer I hope?
Louise says
Yes I have I said now I have the information I made an error as the interest is a lot higher so I withdraw the offer. I sent it to the complaint dept email which they have given me with the reference of my case.
Thankyou for your help – it is now a waiting game.
Louise says
I have had an email from them today explaining if my complaint is uphold they will pay back what I am due plus the 8% interest as they don’t do these offers. They seem to be responding quickly.
Thanks Sara.
hannah says
I have received my statements from Everyday Loans and below is the figures of what I have paid
For loan agreement XXXX the total repayable was £2450.00 , your loan was for £1366.53
For loan agreement XXXX the total repayable was £2650.30, your loan was for £1373.15
Is this worth sending a complaint about to them? If so shall I use the standard template on here?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What matters is if the loan repayments each month were affordable – if they weren’t, then put in an affordability complaint.
hannah says
I was taking out other Payday Loans and subs from work to cover this so no they weren’t.
Helen says
Does anyone know how long LendingStream take to pay out once they’ve requested your details?
Adjudicator ruled in my favour in December, LendingStream countered offered a lower amount (£650 out of £1000) late January which I accepted via adjudicator.
This Monday I had an email from LendingStream asking for my bank details for payout. From this point how long do they usually take to pay out?
John C says
Lending Stream should pay you within 28 days of your acceptance, if that was late January then they should have already paid you. I would go back to the adjudicator if I was you.
I accepted an Ombudsmans decision on the 23rd February and have spoken to LS as my heating went off last week. 10 inches of snow last week and no heating or hot water at the moment, means my house is bordering living outside. I asked if it was possible to escalate my refund and have repeatedly been told “don’t worry it will be with you soon” but also told they have 28 days to refund. I’ve explained my unusual circumstances and the fact I would like to use the money I am owed to pay for someone to fix the boiler but think they are going to be really awkward and wait the full 28 days. I keep being told they need to work out the calculations. Its a 5 min job which I’ve already done for them. With LS its just a load of excuses and lots of words like “soon” that don’t really mean anything. Definitely the worst of all the businesses I’ve dealt with
AK says
I was lucky, I received the payment in just 10 days after sending to FOS the settlement form. But I phoned them and asked to prioritise the payment without telling the reasons. They told me that they allowed to pay in 28 days but promised to look into my case. Then out of blue I received an email that they might forget to tell me that I can refer to FoS. I send them an email telling than rather to tell me about referral rights for the settled case I would prefer the payment. And next morning they paid into my bank account. It might be a coincidence but I’ve got the money very quick. I would definitely go to FOS as your payment is overdue.
John M says
Bit of a random one. Both WDA and Pay Day Express are advising I had outstanding balances on my account but I am 99% sure I paid everything off and it was 2013 when I had my last pay day loan and I have not been chased for 4 years.
It is only because I have asked them to review following some information from a friend and looking at this website that these amounts have come to light. Is that normal? I have managed to get a mortgage and other such things in this time and have looked at my credit report while getting a mortgage and nothing on these so why would these two companies claim I have an outstanding balance on my account?
Any advice appreciated.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You need to get your bank statements and see if you did pay :(
WDA didn’t report at credit reference agencies back in 2013. I’m not sure about PDE. I suggest you check your credit reports from all 2 CRAs (see https://debtcamel.co.uk/best-way-to-check-credit-score/) and see if settled loans from them show up.
Mac says
Hi, I’ve had a reply from Cashasap, contains usual stuff of ‘checked your credit score/affordability, etc followed by this:
‘Although cannot uphold your complaint we would like to close this case in a way that is acceptable to you and recognises the fact that we appreciate you being our customer. Your current balance is £635.57. We can agree to write off all the interest you incurred on this loan and reduce your balance further by all the interest and charges that you paid for your previous 20 loans (I’d taken 30) from us as a full and final settlement of your complaint. The interest write off and the refund total £899.55 which clears your outstanding balance of £635.57 and we will refund the remaining £263.98 to you.
Please let us know if you accept our proposed balance write off of £635.57 and a further refund of £263.98 as a full and final settlement of your complaint and confirm your bank account details so we can transfer the funds on the same day. We remain at your disposal if you wish to discuss your account further’
Now this email was in response to the first template letter, they acknowledged they were investigating and then sent this, they didn’t send me a copy of my loan info.
Though the offer is ok the interest amounts they are offering off the back of 20 loans seems low?
I’m wondering if they are miss-representing it to get me to settle?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Interest does sound pretty low. I suggest you reply that you need a statement of your account showing all the loans so that you can consider their offer.
Ross says
Just heard back from Sunny loans! They are taking partial fault in lending to me. The 1st 4 loans they gave me (2015 to early 2016) they are going to refund. The other 13 after they feel were acceptable to give me. As an offer of good will they are going to give me a refund of interest across those 4 loans and top it up to pay my outstanding balance of £708.20. is this a good deal?? I’m happy to clear my loan but surely if they feel my first 4 loans shouldn’t of been given to me the other 13 after them shouldn’t either. Thank you!!
Nigel says
They did this with me! I had 32 loans and they only agreed the first one was unaffordable! Makes no sense so it’s now with the ombudsman
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It sounds not good, but let’s have some facts….
Were the first 4 loans a lot larger? Do you know how much interest you paid on them?
Do you know how much interest you paid on the later loans that have been repaid?
The balance owing, how much did you borrow on the insettled loan(s) and how much if anything have you paid to them?
Ross says
Ok this’ll be a long post. Starting from 2015 to 2017 ive had a total of 17 loans from sunny. £4650 borrowed with £1544.42 interest paid, £6194.42 total. My first 4 loans (which they say were at fault on) come to a total of £1000 and £465.45 interest. My current outstanding balance is £708.20 so they offered to give back my interest on those 1st loans, plus a 8% interest against it and a good will payment to pay my outstanding balance. Loans I had later down the line were erratic on their amounts but they go as high as £950. Many of these loans were taken at the same time due to them allowing upto 3 loans at a time. I don’t understand how they feel my first 4 loans were given out poorly but the other 13 equating to £3650 was acceptable. My credit report got worse and worse over that time, I don’t understand it. All I want is my loan paid off but at the same time I don’t want to be fleeced out of money I’m due! Payments against my current loans have been stopped but that total of £708.20 isn’t correct. My 2 current loans are £400 and £50 so they are still getting interest and fees on that!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So there are 11 loans that have completed that they aren’t refunding, how much interest (not amount borrowed) on these?
And have you made any payments to the last two loans?
Ross says
From the other loans 13 loans I paid £3650 interest. My current 2 open loans aren’t included in the above total posted,which makes it to 19 loans total. 17 loans completed and 2 outstanding. I have made payments against these 2 open loans and have 4 payments left between them. These 2 open loans equal £450 and I’ve paid £443.66 interest against them so far.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, so
first 4 loans “being refunded” total interest £465
next 17, not being refunded, total interest £3650
last two loans you have repaid all the amount you borrowed except for £17.
On those figures I would describe their offer to wipe the last two loans as dreadful.
(But there is something wrong with the figures for the last two loans. There can’t be a balance owing of £708 if you have repaid that much.)
Ross says
I think I already replied but I couldn’t see it so i’ll try again. 17 loans are complete and 2 are outstanding which actually brings my total too 19 loans. Take away my first 4 loans I’ve paid £3650 interest on the remaining 13 completed loans. The 2 outstanding come to £450 and have made payments to them. I have 4 payments left combined against them and have paid £443.65 in interest against them already.
jemma says
Hi
I recently made a complaint to quick quid and they have replied today saying can i send all wage slips and bank statements.
Do i need to do this as the loans were took over a 2 year period so this is a lot of bank statements and wage slips?
Plus my wage slip will say the same thing for the 2 years.
If i dont send them all will they not look into my complain?
Thanks in advance
J says
Hi Jemma,
I had the same response from QQ/P2P – there is no need to do this. If you have the details of all your loans and you have talked about these in your complaint, this should be enough for them to assess it on. Read the rest of the info on this website about what you do/don’t need to provide. Asking for this is often just a stalling tactic.
You will need bank statements if you have to refer the case to the FOS, but payslips aren’t necessary.
Sarah says
Sara, I have had an offer from payday express for 8/22 loans lent irresponsibly for 2610. They have also said there there are 12 that they cannot determine. They have asked for information to make a decision on those also. I am happy to send that information, but I wondered, 1) is it possible to get the refund for the initial 8 while they still investigate the other 12 (they have sent acceptance form on final response) 2) do they have to do this investigation within the original 8 week period? My initial complaint was at the end of January so they don’t have that much time left. Hope that makes sense.
Thanks Sara – this is the second refund figure we have received from a payday lender. It is changing our life! We are so grateful!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
1) yes, check with them but other people have done this.
2) well you can send the case to the Ombudsman at 8 weeks, but it would be sensible to allow them a couple of weeks after you send then the stuff to reach a conclusion.
Lauren says
Hi
After Quick Quid rejected my complaint I sent it to the FOS, this was back in December. I then received a request from the FOS to send my bank statements and credit file which I done around the start of January. I called the FOS for an update last week and they advised it was in the que.
It has now been picked up by an adjudicator who called me today. He called and queried a few transactions from my bank statements which was no problem and advised he will now look at my complaint. My question is how long does the adjudicator take to reach a decision?
thanks
Shannon says
All depends on how complex the case is and if the lender respond quickly to any further questions the adjudicator has for them. For mine it was approximately 2-4 weeks from the case being picked up to having the findings issues.
Lauren says
Thanks for the reply!
Warren says
Hi everyone I had a complaint against lendingsteam that went to the ombudsman which they have made a final decision which says I’m due a refund on some of my loans and they have been given four weeks to refund me the four weeks runs out Monday I have tried emailing them asking when they will pay me what they owe me I have heard nothing at all from them any one else had this problem???
John C says
Have you spoken to them on the phone and asked to speak to someone in the complaints team? I don’t understand LendingStreams way of working at all. The longer they leave it the more the 8% added interest must be costing them. I originally offered to accept interest on half the loans, around £1k, I had with them, they rejected my complaint outright. Then when the adjudicator upheld for loans 4-14 (around £2k), they offered £189, which I rejected. the Ombudsman then upheld the adjudicator decision. So its cost LS double what I was originally willing to settle for, and that’s without the 8% statutory interest. I find their whole attitude much like a sulky child and more than a little vindictive when it comes to communication once a complaint has been raised. Personally I don’t think they are fit to have a licence to trade in finance as their complaints system is none existent
Emma says
Do fos always require bank statements? The reason I ask is HSBC statements can be printed online up to 2013 but they have told me I need to go into branch for older ones from 2009, I’ve just had a baby and my nearest branch is 25 miles away so it’s really out of my way.
Chris says
Hi Emma
If you give them a call and explain, they’ll send them.
I had difficulty getting in to a branch and RBS sent mine to me arriving within 5 days.
Cheers
Chris
Natalie Paterson says
just had my final response from wonga, they are not considering loans older than 6 years it said, only just over 6 years, aug 2011, they have however picked out 1 loan at random and refunded the interest plus charges, it reads having however i reviewed your complaint we accept that the loan xxxx may not have been affordable given your circumstances. based on the above there may have been more we could have done to assit you and so we have decided to uphold your complaint. it also says that the redressed lloan will be removed from my file, but nothing shows on there anyway. the have refunded 1 loan at random i had 33 in total they were lending me the same amount as my monthly wage, no way of paying it back without other lenders.
shall i email back and say im not accepting the offer and im sending the case it to the ombusman, ive worked out the interest without 8% is around £1000 so not great offer of £128 any advice would be appreciated. thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
” the have refunded 1 loan at random i had 33 in total they were lending me the same amount as my monthly wage, no way of paying it back without other lenders.”
then 1 loan sounds like a very poor offer – send it to the Ombudsman to look at!
Natalie Paterson says
hi sara
thanks for the response, shall i email them to tell them im sending it to ombudsman or just send it?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You don’t have to tell them, but I think it’s polite.
Jeff says
I have had the same response, they have chosen a random loan from 2012 offered this plus statutory interest as an offer. This loan was rolled over several times, so I am not sure how they deem this loan unaffordable, but the ones that were for greater capital and more interest in the coming months affordable?!?
Is this there way of saying that they think all the loans were affordable but they would like to avoid going to the Ombudsman so this is a goodwill gesture? Think I read somewhere it costs them £550 every time a case goes to the FOS.
Has anyone had any success negotiating with Wonga following their initial offer?
Marie says
Hi,
I lodged 3 complaints – one with PDUK which was settled, one with Wonga which was denied and another with WDA. The WDA has been with the FCA for over a year now. Is there any time limit that they have to sort this? I have contacted them a few times just to be told that they are still looking into it.
Any advice would be much appreciated.,
Many thanks
Louise says
Hi Marie – Over a year that is crazy? doesn’t give me much hope with WDA I find them not very co-operative so far.
In relation to PDUK how long till they got back to you with an offer and was it fair? They seem to be one of the best at the moment in getting back to you. I don’t have Wonga but did they pay out also and did you go to the FCA with them? Can you complain about this Sara taking a year? I don’t know.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
are the loans over 6 years old?
marie says
Yes some of them are over 6 years. Im worried that the longer this takes the older they are obviously all getting. Even though some are older than 6 years, is there any time frame on these? Thanks ladies
Matt says
Hi
If I have no bank statements ( as NatWest won’t supply over 5 years ) do I still have a chance to make a claim. I have credit reports though?
Many thanks
Chris says
They should go back to 7 years by law I believe Matt
RBS have gone back 9 years for me, so I would ask again.
Cheers
Matt says
Ok thanks Chris
I’ll look into more now
Elaine mork says
I have the last seven years online from Natwest.
shaun says
Evening All
Can i ask once you have logged a complaint with the ombudsman how do you track them i.e can you check online how a complaint is progressing or is it all done by phone/email??
Shannon says
You can’t track it online. You can call the FOS for an update but until it has been picked up by an adjudicator (roughly 2-3 months from logging it with FOS) they will just tell you that it is in the que. You will get a reference for your complaint once they have all information needed from you and the lender and it is put into the que for the adjudicator.
Tina says
I took out payday loans with Lending Stream 6 years ago and also over 6 years ago.
Can I only make a complaint in relation to the ones I took out within the last 6 years and none prior to 6 years?
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No you can complain about them all, but if there are loans over 6 years, the case will be very slow at the Ombudsman.
J says
Hi,
I have had an offer from Wonga but am thinking about forwarding same to the Ombudsman as I don’t think it appears to be a fair offer. They have advised that they do not think it is appropriate to investigate the loans that are older than 6 years and said that the Ombudsman will not investigate these either. Is this the case?
Thanks
Shannon says
There is a massive wait with cases that have loans over 6 years with the FOS. They have been looking at a few cases with lenders to see if they will look at loans over 6 years. As far as I’m aware there is still long wait with Wonga cases as well as some other lenders. I think you can ask for the complaint to be split into loans over 6 years and loans under 6 years but your best to call the FOS and they can advise you fully.
Jon says
the info I got from the FOS ref Wonga and 6 yr loans is that you cannot split it, if they look at the recent ones first they won’t be able to reopen the ones over 6 yrs
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The Ombudsman will look at cases over 6 years but Wonga hasn’t yet accepted this decision, so all cases with loans over 6 years are on hold pending agreement on test cases. How many of your loans were over 6 years and how many under?
J says
Hi
Thanks for the replies. 15 loans are older than 6 years and 35 after. I think I will forward it to the Ombudsman as Wonga have only upheld 3 of 50 loans.
Thanks again.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
3 out of 50 makes that an easy decision!
Conor says
Hi Sara,
I would like to echo what a lot of people have said on previous comments and thank you for the advice on this site it has been very helpful.
I’m just asking for a bit of advice. I sent a letter complaining about 6 loans, 3 in 2016 and 3 in 2017, that I had from Mr Lender and was very surprised to receive a response in 2 days. They have stated that the loans were lent responsibly, however as a ‘goodwill gesture’ they would remove the interest off my current open loan from 2060 to 960 the remaining capital on my loan.
All the loans were taken out when I was in financial difficulty and had many other loans, that must have been noticeable on my credit file, with the repayments on these maxing out my monthly wage. They say that the info i provided on my expenses said i could afford the repayments and it was my responsibility to inform them of the correct info. I did understate my expenses and I was Just wondering whether due to this it would be worth trying to get a better deal or whether I should take the goodwill gesture offer?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How much interest have you paid on the 5 loans that have completed, ignoring the last loan?
What were the “gaps” between the loans – the time from finishing loan 1 to taking loan 2, from finishing loan 2 to taking loan 3 etc?
The last loan – you borrowed £2060? Have you made any payments?
Conor says
The 3 loans in 2016:
350 10/6-21/7=102 interest 18 days apply
750 08/08-23/8=84 interest 15 days apply
750 06/09-09/09=18 interest
I originally didn’t claim for these loans but they brought them up on their response, although after checking at the time I had multiple payday loans and my repayments and expenses did exceed my income, I was gambling quite heavily too.
9 month break were i didn’t loan
1000 13/06/3017-31/10/17=544 6 days later
1400 06/11/17-14/12=232 14 days
1250 28/12- current loan 1 repayment but have lost my job since so i am now on a repayment plan.
I believe the 2060 will be the total left i would pay if the the interest on the current loan is not taken off.
These last 3 loans I was heavily in debt exceeding 6000 with other payday companies with high monthly payments that meant my wage was swallowed up. They argue because I paid back early (I had a habit of doing this by taking new loans and then clearing older loans, which only put me in more debt so I reapplied again with the companies I’d paid off) and that my credit score stayed stable (very poor score throughout) and that my expenses stated that I had disposable income, the loans were lent responsibly.
I apologise for the length of my response just trying to give a full picture.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Working backwards:
– They have agreed “a full refund” on the last loan, 6, by offering to remove the interest.
– On loan 5 you have a good case for a refund because it is so much the larger than the previous one and applied for within a week.
– Loan 4 is harder because of the very large gap. If you want to make out a case for this one – and it is much the largest – then you need to look at what was showing on your credit record in the previous few months (any missed payments? defaults) and also list the total outstanding loans at the point you applied – Mr Lender should have taken those into account.
I doubt it’s worth arguing over the first three loans.
So I think you should definitely ask Mr Lender to refund loan 5 and write out in detail the case for loan 4 and decide whether to ask for that as well.
Conor says
Thanks for the advice Sara, it is much appreciated. I’ve sent off to Mr Lender and asked for the 4th and 5th loan interest to be removed with evidence of my finacial situation at the time of the loans. I’ll keep you updated of their response, as it may help anyone who negotiates with me lender in the future.
Conor says
Just a quick update and question. After back and forth negotiation, Mr Lender has offered to remove the 5th loans interest as well as the 6th. However, they have said they are willing to remove half of the 4th loans interest and this is their final offer. My question is, is it usual to only remove half a loans interest? Why would they not remove the full interest and should I go back and insist that it should?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s not usual but they are offering it as a compromise. As I said, you have a very strong case for loan 5 and a rather weaker one for loan 4. You can’t “insist” they should refund all loan 4, if you are not happy take the case to the Ombudsman.
Conor says
Thanks for your reply Sara. I think insist was the wrong word to use on my part. I just thought it would be all or nothing in regards to removing a loans interest. I don’t know whether if I went to the FOS I would get the 4th loan so it may be worth taking the offer. Thanks for your help.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t know either. And I think MrL don’t. These things aren’t always clear-cut. At least you have a good improvement on their first offer :)