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?
Bob says
What a help this website has been, good to see so many people claim back money paid throughout hard times. For the past 2 years i have been suffering with depression with paying back so many payday loans.
My biggest loans taken out;
quick quid – 8no loans, total £2,150.00
sunny – 15no loans, total £2,850.00
my jar – 7no loans, total £2,250.00
I also have another 6 lenders i have used ranging from 2 to 4no loans taken out with a average total of £1,500.00.
Some loans taken out where taken out once i paid current loans off from same lenders, others where a week or two after however money taken out was used to pay other ongoing loans. I had weekly and big monthly installments ongoing for far too long all at the same time.
I have sent off all my complaints 4 weeks ago to the lenders and received around half final responses so far.
All lenders have stated the same – third party credit checks where carried out, affordability credit checks conducted correctly on each loan etc.
One lender has offered to clear my current balance around £400, however i have paid back over £1,000.00 interest and charges to them over the past year and i cannot justify this.
I have sent off all my complaints to FO, do i stand a strong case against the lenders? When you read there final responses it makes you question if there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Oh their responses are designed to put you off, not to be a fair summary. I suggest you should send any cases to the Ombudsmna where you have a balance outstanding or you had borrowed more than once as a rough rule of thumb.
If you have a lot of current debts, it is worth talking to StepChange – it can be a huge weight off your mind having them set up a debt management plan for you https://www.stepchange.org/Howwecanhelpyou/DMPDebtmanagementplan.aspx
John says
HI All
Any advice will be greatly appreciated, I am trying to get 9 year old statements from a closed account with Barclays.Gone to the local branch and they said because its over 6years ago they will not be able to help me in the branch and was advised to ring customer service. I have just rang customer service and they want my account number and sort code which I no longer have, inorder for them to access the account. Tried giving them my address but they cant locate the account.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is what I suggest:
1) you should send Barclays a Subject Access Request(SAR). This is free but may take a month. You need to provide as much personal information as you can to help them trace your account: name, addresses, email addresses, date of birth, NI number I suggest.
2) you tell the FOS you have done this and ask them to put your case on hold until you get a reply
3) also send a SAR to each of your lenders, even if you already have a list of your loans. It is possible that the info you get back may have your bank sort code and account number!
If the SAR from the bank doesn’t have anything AND the SAR from the lenders proves that you had a Barclays account, then go back to the FOS and show them all this and ask them to consider your case without your bank statements – you said previously that you have your payslips – that will help. This is a MUCH harder route to follow so it’s just the fall back if nothing else works.
John says
Hi Sara, Thanks for your advice. I did as you said and got my statements of 10 years ago from a closed account with Barclays. I was beginning to lose hope and thought was faced with a brick wall because; (a)The branch and phone banking services staff could not locate my closed account on their systems.(b)I had repeatedly been told by the bank staff that it was not possible to get statements that far back because everything is destroyed after 7 years.I had been to about 6 different Barclays Bank branches and been on the phone to customer services but to no avail and as a last resort followed Sara’s advice, put in a Sar request with as much info and to my surprise I received 2 big envelopes through post with all the statements after only 5 days!! all for free. How easy,been going through the old statements and they make for depressing reading!!can’t believe how much I was borrowing from these payday lenders .Anyway it’s a waiting game now with the FOS.
Josh says
Hi all – Update for those with Money Shop complaints pending.
They actually sent me a final response 4 days before 8 week deadline, upholding 8 of my 25 loans, 7 undecided. They are offering £1,462 on the 8 upheld loans.
The 10 they decided were responsible were for much smaller amounts.
They have asked for bank statements to decide the other 7.
My question is, if I decide to accept their response, will they still make a decision on the undecided loans in the meantime? Or do I wait for a decision on all loans before I make my response?
Either way, I wasn’t expecting a response from the Money Shop based on other experiences I’ve read on here.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“My question is, if I decide to accept their response, will they still make a decision on the undecided loans in the meantime?” you need to ask them that – it may be simpler just to wait another couple of weeks to get their final response.
But it sounds as though they have already rejected 10 loans? If these were large ones, then I suggest you don’t bother trying to get Money Shop to improve the offer but send the case to the FOS straight away.
Josh says
It’s difficult because MS were no help in providing any record of the loans I had taken. They were from January 2012 to 2014. Of 25 loans they have rejected that 10 were irresponsible, 7 not decided – they want my bank statements, and the last 8 they agreed.
The last 8 were large amounts – I can see some of them I was paying back £1000 a month roughly. Of the 7 undecided, some of which I had paid back amounts of around £500-£700, I would like them to accept these as I was basically in the same situation from 2013 until 2014 which covers all of these.
The 10 rejected were small compared to the bigger ones. Repayments were between £75 and £150.
The fact that they are asking for bank statements now – surely they were irresponsible for not asking for statements on application, or keeping them on record. I remember only really answering a basic expenses which I lied on through fear of not being approved.
Some of the 10 rejected will now be outside of the 6yrs and I’m not up for a big wait on those smaller loans.
Josh says
By the way the amount MS have offered me is what I was expecting as a good result anyway.. I must’ve been well off working out my rough interest on all of this…
Also maybe Money Shop have caught up with their ‘backlog’ of complaints, or they are trying to make smaller offers as cases going to the ombudsman have been proving more expensive for them? I haven’t read of any case were MS actually met the 8 week deadline? The actual 8 week deadline for me was next Tuesday.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
From May 25 (next week!) you will be able to get a complete list of your loans from MS using a Subject Access request (see https://debtcamel.co.uk/free-access-data-gdpr/). So if this isn’t sorted soon – and fingers crossed it is – then send them a SAR while it is waiting to be picked up by an adjudicator.
Don’t worry about having lied about your expenses, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-lender-says-lied/
Josh says
Thanks Sara, I’ll try that next week.
I’ve referred my complaint to the ombudsman in the meantime, but also sent my statements to MS. I think they will maybe make a decent offer as I think it is likely that ombudsman will disagree on some of the 10 rejected loans. They were smaller amounts but I was also borrowing from Cash Converters and Cheque Centre at the same time, repayments in total were around £900 a month when I was earning only £1,100 a month.
Hopefully the other Money Shop complainers will start to see a positive result.
Have a good weekend!
Katie says
Glad someone has received a response from Money Shop.
Mine is over 10 weeks and nothing.
Maybe they are clearing there backlog!!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send the complaint to the Ombudsman!
Katie says
Yes I did 2 weeks ago!
Sasha paton says
Any news yet on loans over 6 years old with fos?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
nope
Eric says
Good afternoon.
Ferratum have finally got back to me with a Final Response, 4 days after the deadline day.
31 Loans, £8,320 borrowed, in 18 months, borrowing and paying back on the same day. Yet complaint was not upheld saying there was no sign of any financial difficulty. They are willing to waive my £347.80 outstanding balance (which has now defaulted) and offered me £150 as ‘Goodwill’.
The most disgusting thing about this is I’ve borrowed 37% of my salary from them in 18 months. They couldn’t even reply in the 8 week guideline as stated by themselves. The affect this has had on my mental health in the last several months and all they can say is ‘I’ve done nothing wrong here is £150’
Absolutely disgusting, will be sending to the FOS
Eric says
I can’t see how the FOS will not upheld majority of my loans once they see my bank statements but is their final offer still there 5/6/7 months down the line if the FOS do not agree? I.e will they still waive the outstanding amount and good will?
Sorry for double posting, just the default against this really has me worried.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would be very surprised if you don’t get a better offer from the FOS! I can’t remember a case where anyone who was made an offer like that got less by going to the Ombudsman. it just doesn’t happen.
Eric says
Thank you Sara
This website has been a blessing the last few months and have helped massively mentally, even if I’ve only been successful with 2 out of 6 of my complaints.
angela says
I am so pleased I found this site . If it hadn’t have been for the letter that Vanquis sent my husband detailing the Rop and associated interest I would never have know about either that or the fact that I could claim back some of the interest I paid out on payday loans . What started back in 2010 with a loan to pay an unexpected car expense ( we were with step change debt charity at time ) grew and grew into us borrowing more and more always thinking “next month ” it will be better but it never was . When I came across this site I thought I had nothing to lose and sent off complaints to Wonga, Mr Lender, Lending Stream, Sunny and Pounds to Pocket . So far Mr Lender has written off over £600 towards my debt with step change , Wonga are writting off my debt of £351 and refunding me with £531 . PTP say they have done nothing wrong so that’s off to the ombudsdnman . I am delighted to get anything back after all I did spend the money lent to me . Any refund given to me is a total bonus .thank you Sarah for this amazing site . donation will be made as soon as everyone has responded .
Pete says
Hi, sent my cases to the ombudsman at the end of feb. On average how long should I expect to wait to receive a decision? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Cases are normally picked up in the 10-14 week range, but it depends on when the lenders send the case files to the FOS so it seems rather random.
Jen says
Hi can I please ask for advice, Mr Lender offered to wipe the last two payments of my loan however I declined and sent the complaint to FOS. My concern is now if I don’t pay the payment due on the 23rd I could incur charges and negative credit file marks if the FOS doesn’t uphold my complaint but also if I pay it and the FOS do uphold I’ll lose that money?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Two questions – first how many loans did you have from Mr L? Second, can you afford to make these repayments without being so short that you need to borrow again?
Jen says
Thank you Sara I had 3 6 mth loans with mr L for £400, £500 and now £600 (£1100 in interest) although I had around 10 other payday loans with other lenders.
The last loan for 600 I have paid £910 and have two payments left of £148 due Wednesday and £124 due 23/6 So I have £340 left to pay them.
now I’m wondering should I just have accepted their offer as not paying the last two payments would help me pay my other payday loans.
Thanks again
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Wiping off the last two payments wasn’t a great offer as you had already repaid more than the last loan was worth.
Realistically though at the Ombudsman you probably wouldn’t have the first loan refunded. If only the last loan ins considered unaffordable, the last two payments would be wiped and you would get £310 back – although I hate to guess what someone may be awarded as I haven’t seen your credit record or bank statements, I would guess that may be the most likely outcome,.
You asked if the FOS don’t uphold your case, will you have ended up with late payment markers on your credit record. Well possibly in theory but it just doesn’t seem to happen that someone gets LESS by going to the Ombudsman.
You asked if you pay the last two payments if you will get less from the FOS. That shouldn’t happen if the last loan is unaffordable, making a payment then just increases the amount you get back. But that’s why I asked you if you actually can afford to make these payments or not.
Stephen says
Hi Sara, looking for advice again…..firstly thank you so much for this site…..settled with PDUk…..just under £2000……the Money shop just got back to me on Friday upholding 14 loans out of 18…..£3092..back asking for bank statments for the first 4……can I send my acceptane and be refunded without delay….along with the bank statements,
Josh says
I wouldn’t. I re-read my final offer today, and it says to sign in acceptance is to close your complaint. So I have sent my statements and also referred to FOS in case they start stalling again.
Claire says
So my husband was given loans from sunny on 24th April, 28th April and 30th April and he had several others from other companies, multiple ones and had missed payments… I see this as irresponsible lending?! What do you guys think?! I didn’t know about this and am trying to get the mess sorted!! Thank you x
C says
Hi Claire,
What other loans were there, over what time frame.
“Taking 3 loans all at once with others”, did he already have missed payments or late payments with others? How long has it been going on for?
All helps to build picture of irresponsible and unaffordable lending.
Claire says
He also had a from piggy bank £500, 1 from wage day, £500, Ferratum £100, Satsuma £1000, lending steam 3 separate got within 10 days of each other and he was not working at the time. I’m in areal mess as i’m The sole breadwinner trying to pay rent and bills on my part time wage with 2 children under 6! Argh!! I didn’t know this was the case with the loans until he confessed not long ago, he has been diagnosed with clinical depression…
C says
Evening claire.
I’m sure Sara will be on to this quite quickly tomorrow, but from previous posts, it certainly would be irresponsible and unaffordable if he’s not working.
With regards to his depression, he certainly won’t be alone on here, and the lending would have only made it worse due to spiralling nature. I personally loaned over 78k and paid back £128k so I know how it can spiral and how mentally challenging it can be. He was brave to confess.
The good thing is that it’s in the open and he’s got weight off his shoulders.
As for the debt problems from now on, Sara will certainly guide you through the stopping and reclamation of loans.
Read through this wonderful website and follow Sara’s guidance. It’ll be sorted before long.
Look after yourselves Claire????
Zlat says
Hi Sara
I have received a response from Wonga for 3 of my loans. Totalling just over £1300. They have offered me £1367 amounting to total interest am fees for the loans and 8% of £495.
They have thought not even looked at my loans over 6 years claiming the FOS won’t look it staring it’s a rule set by the FCA and that courts won’t look at it. My oldest loan was probably 7 years ago.
Is this right? Or can I still go further with this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The FOS will look at loans over 6 years old, sone lenders have agreed and are already paying out on these loans. Wonga is currently not agreeing that they can and so the FOS has put all over 6 year cases on hold whilst it discusses a couple of test cases with Wonga and its lawyers.
So you can send your whole case to the FOS but this will be slow.
How many loans and how much interest did you pay for the over 6 year loans? How many loans under 6 years are Wonga not refunding, and what is the interest on those loans?
Zlat says
I have just called Wonga as they did not provide me with a statement of account. I have been told I took total 8 loans totalling £2908 and paid back £4653.
They have looked at 3 loans totalling £1300 but have said as the complain relates to unaffordable lending it should have been made clear the loans over 6 years ago were unaffordable by time due to be repaid. They also claim one of my loans went through forebearance programme and taken off credit file and balance written off.
More I think I’m inclined to take offer especially consyhow long FOS will take. But not sure if I am entitled to more
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Were 5 loans over 6 years old so they have fully refunded all the ones under 6 years?
Zlat says
That’s right based on what they told me over the phone. 5 over 6 years and 1 of them they wrote off balance too. The 3 they are looking at any the refund is for loans totalling just over £1300. They have offered me £1364 and 8% interest of £495
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you should ask to see a complete statement of account for all your loans so you can consider their offer. If there are only 3 loans within six years, it doesn’t sound right that they are refunding 3 and one was written off. It’s better to get the facts in writing before you decide.
Claire says
hi apologies i think i’ve asked this before but i can’t find my answer, for those of you that put refund letters into the lenders, what happens to the interest and indeed payments that you are supposed to make whilst they are making their decision. My husband (nor me) can’t afford the payments anyway, but I don’t want him to be harrassed on the phone – which has been a huge problem for him and also for the interest to pile up. ONce you initial complaint has gone in do they ‘freeze’ your loan and interest or does it just keep going up
Thank you so much x
Sara (Debt Camel) says
First these are his debts not yours. You should not pay anything towards them that you cannot easily afford. This may seem hard on him, but he needs your support and a home and food and heatings, not for you to pay his debts.
I suggest you encourage him to contact StepChange – if he makes the call, he can then give permission for you to talk to them about his situation. Once his position is stable, possibly by making token payments of £1 a month to his debts, then that should take a lot of pressure off you both and you can think about helping him with affordability complaints. It’s important that his creditors are told about his mental health problems – this could be done one by one, but it may be easier to tell StepChange and then get them to tell the lenders.
They may stop adding interest immediately, they can’t add interest for more than a few weeks because they will hit the “payday loan cap” where they are not allowed to add any more. This isn’t something to worry about.
Eric says
Good Morning
If you’re not happy with an outcome of a complaint and reject it, can you change your mind and accept it later before the FOS get involved?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Most lenders will be very happy for you to do this and withdraw your FOS complaint.
Eric says
Thank you
As much as I’m not happy with Ferratums offer money wise, the idea of closing one of my outstanding debts and enough cash to close another I decided to accept their offer. Even though it’s about £600 short of what I expected, the amount of stress my debts have been causing me over the last few months it was just nice to have one finally gone and my account closed.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Completely understandable. One done!
Faye Fenton says
Hello
I’ve had just had a settlement offer from WDA for loans 8 and 9 which equates to £800 of a £3220 borrowing. Should I push complaint to the FO or accept this offer?
Thanks,
Faye
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Doesn’t sound good… how long a period was the borrowing over? Were there any big “gaps” between the loans- the time between repaying one loan to taking the next loan out?
Faye Fenton says
It was over 9 months, constant borrowing and repaying each month so no gaps at all. Started with a borrowing of £135 a month and then had to borrow. The only thing they seem to be holding against me is that the loans are over 6 years old. (9 loans from June 2011 to March 2012)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t know what view WDA are taking in practice with the FOS and over 6 year loans. They may give in and agree FOS can look at them. If they don’t, then your case will go on hold whilst some test cases are argued about. But your case sounds a strong one.
C says
This is peculiar, as I settled my case last month on loans from 2011.
I submitted the complaint in feb 2018.
So they are considering they over 6 years.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, and Faye has been offered a refund (as I read it) for 2 loans over 6 years. You might conclude that they would then agree to the FOS looking into older loans, that may be right, but I don’t remember a case.
Philip Hendry says
Has anyone had an issue with Sunny communicating with the FOS, my case has been with FOS for 2 months and they are still waiting to receive a summary of my borrowing from them, it seems they can’t assign an adjudicator to my case until they receive it? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I haven’t heard of this happening – Sunny are not normally difficult about this sort of thing.
Matt says
I know when I sent mine in mid Jan sunny had an extension of time to get their information in, I believe they did this within 4 weeks, I’m still waiting for it to be picked up.
ANON22 says
Hi Sara
I have / had around 9 payday loans running alongside each other, on top of this I had 6 loans concurrently running through lending stream. Does having this many loans running at the same time make each lender irresponsible for lending and is it worth making a claim against each company?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
definitely complain to all 9!
louise says
Hi All,
I am a TSB customer and I have contacted them to be on hold for hours at a time to then hang up – I went into the branch today as I require statements for FOS. They can’t retrieve them not on their system from 2015. I called FOS and explained that I am having ongoing difficulties – I don’t know the way forward. She was really helpful at FOS they have logged it on their system and it is a wait and see what happens game she said they may have to go off my credit file only and if they carried out checks and got statements? I also logged a complaint in relation to TSB she explained that I could do this and would you like me to go ahead – I said yes please as all my information has been lost. Anyone else had this difficulty?
Nick says
Hi Louise, this is from the disaster update! I had no problem getting all my statements back to 2000 when I needed to! I spoke to the guys on Twitter ref not being able to see my history anymore and they said they are trying to sort it and hoping for a fix soon… I wouldn’t hold my breath though as that’s what they said everyday internet banking was down
louise says
Hi Nick, Yes – an absolute dam nightmare! they couldn’t get my history from 2015 bank statements I required its all been wiped and they don’t know what is happening that was today! In the end I went into the branch but nothing was coming up. I was frustrated and told the girl well I need it after being on hold on four occasions for an hour each time then hanging up as still not answered I am exasperated!! My internet banking has been locked out with the system fault so I called FOS and explained and I told her about the statements for these loans that I cant get and logged a complaint via them with TSB directly – she even gave me a reference number. I had already logged a complaint with TSB and I got a response we are too busy at this time with complaints but will get back to you! It is not good enough so now I am in limbo with 118 118 and onstride (loans at the same time) as I cant retrieve my bank statements.
No one else seems to have had this problem or reported on here? If you went for your statements now Nick you would be the same I bet – they have had similar calls to mine quite a few. they said and we need to make a note on the system.
louise says
Guys on Twitter – I don’t use Twitter – are they any good? The branch itself today was so apologetic they said they are sick of complaints but they have no history!
Dan says
I have over major debts as below and was wondering if i have any case on irresponsible lending:
Wonga -£1250 17-20 loans within 5 years
Sunny – £1700 same as above within 4 years
Quickquid- £1350 9 loans 3 years
Barclaycard -£7500 over 6 years credit increased twice
MBNA – £4800 credit increased i was £25k in debt
Amex -£7500 credit increased was £28k in debt
Personal Loan – £5000
Inadditinon bank overdraft of £2500
Would i have a case in any of thesefor irresponsible lending?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Those numbers are the current balances owed? Are you buying or renting? In work? The personal loan and bank overdraft, which creditors? Do you have any other debts? Have you borrowed from other lenders and repaid the debts?
Dan says
Yes current balances owed and borrowed sunny, wonga and QQ last month twice.
I am in work currently paid about £2000 after tax. Have sort of gambled to get in this situation.
The personal loan is Zopa and narwest oveedraft.
I borrowed additional £2000 from drafty last month knowing i had those debts above.
I have paid the the credit cards off in 2014 and reborrowed on them again and 2016 and borrowed on them again. Also Out of 72 months i have credit cards 55 were minimim payments. I have cleared a loan with HSBC in 2016. Also borrowed once from Savvy loans about £2500 and paid it off.
Unable to make payments now, i have also borrowed from friends and family and paying them off.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, well think about the following:
– cancel all CPAs to the lenders from your bank account,
– get yourself a new basic bank account with no overdraft (see https://debtcamel.co.uk/bank-accounts-after-bankruptcy/)
– talk to StepChange about a DMP for all your debts, including the overdraft.
Has your gambling stopped? Because it has to, or any money you get back from affordability complaints is just going to go straight into the bookies profits again.
I suggest affordability complaints to all the payday lenders and Zopa as well. You could try the Barclaycard but that looks unlikely to me.
Are you renting or buying? If renting, unless the affordability complaints go very well you should seriously consider bankruptcy and a clean start.
Dan says
Thanks Sara,
I will update you on the responses, I have made an irresponsible lending complain to Wonga, Sunny, Drafty, QQ and also to the credit card companies along with Zopa.
The original loan i took out in March 2015 was for Zopa was 12,000 and £5000 extra to pay for interst and arrangement fee. At this timw i also had a Tesco loan with Apptoximately £9000 balance and had been rejected by few companies but Zopa accepted.
No more gambling, main priority paying debts.
Thanks again
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Good luck. Do think seriously about StepChange – if you don’t get your debt repayments under control you are likely to either borrow more, gamble again or take early very poor offers from lenders because you are desperate… getting yourself into a safe, sustainable position is essential.
Also you will need to take the Zopa case to the Ombudsman – ignore a reply from them saying they were not obliged to check affordability.
Dan says
Thanks Sara,
I will have to default on this months payments and will arrange a suitable payment plan while i receive responses to my complaints. I am thinking of contacting and arranging repayment plans myslef. Barclaycard has agreed to freeeze interest and charges until i am in a better position but i have also raised separate complaint re to irresponsible lending.
I will not take any low ball offers, my aim is to be debt free in 24 months. With Sunny for example each loan has been for £2000-£2500 and paying back within a month and reborrowing. Sometimes paying and borrowing 2 to 3 times in same month.
In relation to Zopa, what kind of refund or compensation am i eligible for from the ombudsman?
Also would i have to raise each case separately to the ombudsman?
jack says
This is the final response I received from PaydayUK,
Between 31 July 2008 and 14 March 2012 you received a total of sixteenloan deposits from us.
There were periods of lending when I think we did everything we were expected to. The loan repayments
were low value and appeared to be affordable based on the information you declared. There didn’t
appear to be any particular issues with other lenders that concern me and I don’t think you were reliant
on borrowing from us at these times.
There are loans however for which I think we should have asked for more information before approving
the loans. I have been unable to determine the affordability of these loans, and as such have been
unable to review them.
The table below sets out the decisions I have reached on each of the loans I have reviewed.
31/07/2008 –21/08/2008 1 Funds lent responsibly
27/08/2008 –21/12/2009 8 Unable to Determine
07/05/2010 –23/07/2010 2 Funds lent responsibly
26/07/2010 –31/08/2012 5 Unable to Determine
they have requested bank sattements from the different months that they say they are unable to determine.
Mr and Mrs C says
I have had the same kind of thing, I have sent the bank statements off ;ast week and am waiting again.
African Queen says
Hello Jack,
I had the same thing. I sent them my banks statements and I received a good offer today, on the loans that they felt they had lent irresponsibily. It took 6 weeks for them to counter offer. I have just sent back my acceptance form. I will let you know how long it will take them to pay.
Hang in there and good luck xx
Jack says
Update** as some of the loans were dated back in 2009 and I couldn’t get the bank statements ( spoke with Barclays over the phone and in store and both said i can only get last 6 years) payday UK cannot determine if the loans were lent irresponsibly, the loans of which I have had the statements they have admitted liability and gave me an offer. It sure on whether to take the offer or go to FOS
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send Barclays a Subject Access Request asking for a copy of all the personal information they have about you, see Access Fast Money
Liz says
Hi all!
I have taken your advice and complaints are underway with Sunny, Peachy, Piggy Bank and MyJar! However, I have written to MyJar to ensure that they put a hold on my account. As of yet, they have not responded, I instead have had texts telling me my loan is due in 3 days which is driving me a bit up the wall! I have e-mailed them to explain the situation…has anyone else had a hard time receiving simple responses from MyJar?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you want Myjar or any other lender to stop taking money you need to cancel the CPA with your bank – don’t assume a payday lender will do the right thing.
ben says
who do I complain to if Wonga still wont pay my refund despite the Ombudsman’s final decision telling them to do so. 14 days passed last Friday and they keep telling me 24-48 hours. They are blatantly lying as this morning one person said it was processed yesterday, then this afternoon i was told its not been processed yet. what a joke
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If it gets to 28 days, tell your adjudicator.
Kerry says
So after Lending Stream took another 7 days after the 28 day timeframe to pay me my refund I emailed them a separate complaint to say how awful they were at handling my complaint and the stress the numerous delays had caused me and they emailed me the next day saying they are transferring me £200 as a token of apology! I received the £200 within minutes of the email being received. Thank goodness this is all done and dusted and I’m over £5,000 better off. Anyone that is having problems and delays with LS please keep going and don’t give up.
Si Lad says
I too had problems with Lending Stream. I agree they are a joke. No customer service skills at all. Just like antagonising customers. Shouldn’t be allowed.
Mark says
Are there any refunds succcesses agianst Personal Loans.I had £2000 with 118 Money ,repaying £194 per month..At the time they offered me i already had numerous outstanding payday loans which not including the 118 repaymant totalled about £1000 to be repayed the next month considering my wages where £1550.I did plan to use the loan to help pay of the pay day lenders but i gambled it with online bookies for i had a gambling addiction which my bank statements would have shown them the many gambling transactions.
Ive had refunds from lenders via the ombudsman where they include my gambling as a expense and saying checks on my bank account would show lending to me was irresponsible.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes quite a few success against the large, expensive personal loan lenders including 118 Money. Yours doesn’t sound an easy case though, gambling makes it hard to judge a single loan application and presumably the loan would have been affordable if you had paid off the payday lenders. If you had got a top up from 118 money, or a second loan when it had finished, there is much easier case to make that they should never have allowed that further borrowing.
DK says
Okay so QQ, P2P and WhizzCash all rejected my complaint. Still waiting on Wonga but have had an email from Sunny this morning…
In a nutshell, paid a total of £2200 interest however they are only upholding loan 1 as they don’t think that would have been deemed affordable had they made sufficient checks. Offering £660 refund, which includes 8% interest. This would be used to clear current balance of £260 and I’d get £400. I honestly don’t think this is great considering I’ve paid £2200 in interest in total, and they’re upholding loan 1 but no others. One month I borrowed on 3/10, 10/10 and 30/10. Three loans in one month, how can anyone say that’s responsible? Especially considering I was paying Wonga as well as Everyday/TrustTwo at the same time. I was tempted to take it as it would clear current balance AND my washing machine just died :( but I’ve waited this last 8 weeks so might as well go all the way. They froze my current payments but assumption would be I need to start repaying this while I send to FO? Am I daft for not taking their offer? And if FO dont agree with my complaint, will I lose that initial offer to pay outstanding balance and receive the rest?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“Am I daft for not taking their offer? ” not at all, from what you have said it doesn’t sound a good offer. Lenders make low offers knowing that many people will feel desperate for any money and have to accept.
In theory the FO could reject your complaint. In practice this just doesn’t happen – if Sunny think that loan wasn’t affordable what is the chance that the Ombudsman will say it is! Worst case seems to be that the adjudicator says the Sunny offer is fair and you should accept it.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you also complained about TrustTwo? See https://debtcamel.co.uk/how-to-complain-guarantor-loan/
DK says
I actually haven’t. I didn’t know I could until you posted the same link for someone else last week. I remember they asked for 2 months payslips for proof of income, as well as for my guarantor but I don’t think they asked for anything else other than ID. I’ll be finished paying that in February. I actually think I will complain tho. As I borrowed £4000 over 4 years and the interest totals £3366. I used it to pay off some pay day loans but fell right back in to debt again. Am I correct in assuming Sunny won’t be obligated to keep my account frozen while my complaint is with FO? Thanks so much for all your help. Hoping to get these biggies sorted soon. Debt is so draining. I’ve no life whatsoever outside of it.
Diane says
Hi Sara
I’ve just got my credit report to send to the FO, there is no mention of qq pp or mm on three only pduk and pd express will this go in pduk and pd express favour?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
which credit report did you get? Usually Noddle shows more payday loans than Experian or Equifax,
Diane says
It was Experian. I’ve not heard of noodle
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Noddle is a free report of the details from CallCredit, get it here https://www.noddle.co.uk/. More payday lenders report to Call Credit than to Experian, so the noddle report will be more complete. This is what people usually send the FOS.
George says
Hi,
Do you know if it is possible to claim back refunds from mobile phone
companies who gave out multiple lines without checking if i could
repay. This is because at 1 point i have had 5/6 phone contracts out
at the same time (as well as multiple pay day loans), with nearly all
of them with o2 which have now been sold to debt collectors.
Any advise will be great.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The affordability complaints discussed here are for regulated loans falling under the Consumer Credit Act. Most mobile phone contracts are not CCA agreements and in this case there is (so far as I am aware) no obligation for the phone co to check affordability.
However some O2 contracts are CCA regulated, see for example https://www.o2.co.uk/termsandconditions/archive/mobile/o2-refresh-phone-plan-and-term-and-conditions. If you have ever complained to O2 and been told you have the right to take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman, then that contract you were complaining about was a CCA agreement and therefore you could make an affordability complaint.
If you don’t know, then one thing you could do is to send O2 a Subject Access Request on the 25 May – see https://debtcamel.co.uk/free-access-data-gdpr/ which explains what a SAR is and why they are free after the 25th, today it would cost you £10.
Mr and Mrs C says
I have received a reply from Payday Express – from what I can see from their letter I have had 8 loans with them and they have offered £1300 including interest from 2010-2012. I have asked them for SOA before I made the decision to send back the acceptance. They have still said “unable to determine” for 4 of the loans despite the fact that I sent in the statements they asked for.
So… Do I send the full lot to the FOA or am I able to accept the 4 loans they have decided on, and refer the “unable to determine” ones to the FOA.
Advice would be greatly appreciated
Sara (Debt Camel) says
With most lenders you have to send the whole lot to the FOS, but Payday Express may be happy to pay out on the 4 and for you to send the other 4 to the FOS. you need to ask them and be very clear you do not want to accept the offer as a final settlement of your whole complaint.
Kara says
I know the issue of older than 6 yr bank statements comes up a lot on here. I have a QQ complaint with the FOS that involves interest of around £9k on loans from 2007-12. My bank
Smile/Cooperative have told me on around 5 occasions that they can’t provide old statements as they don’t have access to them anymore. Today I went into the branch where a really helpful guy agreed to send them all to me without any fuss or questions. It will involve 150+ sheets and he can only print 12 in each batch so it’s a pain for them but it is do-able.
Within half an hour of leaving the bank, I received a call from The FOS in relation to my packaged bank account complaint with the very same bank. It has been at the jurisdiction stage for a long while as the bank applied the 6+3 yr time bars. However, an ombudsman has now agreed with the adjudicator that they have mis-applied the time bars and my complaint should be able to be assessed (assuming the bank can’t provide any info that changes this).
Anon says
Hi Sara
Are you able to advise if you have had anyone with experiences relating to square today? Do you know if they are the same as the cheque centre?
Thanks
Scott says
Hi I am looking for some advice on the best way to respond to the adjuacotors request below please.
Thanks
I am getting in touch about your payday loan complaint against Payday UK. Payday UK has been in touch to let us know that they object to us looking into the loans you borrowed as these were taken more than six years before you raised your complaint. I am looking into whether Payday UK are right to raise this objection and I need some more information from you.
From what I’ve seen, you borrowed 15 loans in total. These were taken between September 2008 and November 2010. In order for me to be able to give you an answer on whether we can look into his complaint I need you to answer the following questions:
– when did you realise that Payday UK had something wrong with the loans you borrowed? – and what prompted you to realise this?
– When did you realise that Payday UK had a duty to lend responsibly?
Please can you be very specific and provide dates as this will help me with my investigation. Please can you get this information to me by no later than 6 June 2018. Should you have any questions or queries please do not hesitate to get in contact with me.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is a pretty standard request to people with loans over 6 years old. Most people had never heard that a lender had a duty to lend responsibly or to check if a loan was affordable until they recently heard that payday loan refunds were possible and. after hearing about this, they put in a complaint soon after.
If this sounds like what happened to you, then you should reply making the following points and changing the dates and details to reflect your exact situation. There are no “wrong” answers here and no “right” answers that you have to give. Just say what happened:
– I first heard that it may be possible to get payday loan refunds when I
saw an advert on Facebook OR
was told by [whoever it was, friend, relative, colleague, man down the pub, someone in an internet chat group] that people were getting money back OR
came across a web page (name it) when I was looking for different information.
– This was in [February 2018].
– I then did some research on the internet and put in a complaint soon afterwards.
– Until I heard about these refunds I had no idea what a “duty to lend responsibly” meant and I had no idea what an affordability complaint was.
– My Payday UK loans caused me a lot of trouble and stress. But I didn’t realise then that Payday UK had broken the regulator rules by not lending responsibly to me. If I had known, I would have complained then.
Here is another point that it is important to mention if you have been in a DMP:
– I spoke to a [name of a debt advice firm or solicitor] in [20xx] about my debts and a Debt Management Plan was set up in (20xx). They knew I had had payday loans but they never explained that I may have a complaint against Payday UK. If they had told me about irresponsible lending, I would have made a complaint then, but it was never mentioned.
Scott says
Many thanks for your reply and help.
David mallory says
I have just rung 118 to pay my loan off. £2000 when taken out in August. For 24 months I asked for a settlement figure in December 2017 and it was £2400. I have just asked now what the figure is after paying a further £1000 off the debt to with my monthly payments to be told it’s
It’s £2100. I have paid £1600 off this loan so far how on earth is that legal. I may as well not pay it off early. How do they get away with this
Kat Kennedy says
in total with WONGA i paid £2734.56 in interest on 21 consecutive loans between Dec 2011 and November 2013. The have just replied offering £820.78 for the last 3 loans, saying i\m out of time for the others and they think they acted fairly going off the info i gave them at the time. I’m the same as anyone and could do with the £820.78 BUT I don’t think they are being fair to dismiss the others on the 6 years time frame alone. If i go to the ombudsman and they dont change anything, d i LOSE this offer, or would they still have to pay me that amount? ADVICE WELCOME! I have severe clinical anxiety and the worry of having to collect information for the ombudsman is stressing me out and pushing me just to accept the offer, please let me know how past cases of time limitations went!! HELP!!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
hi Kat,
will you lose this offer? No, we haven’t heard of this happening, the “worst case” seems to be if the adjudicator says they think Wonga made you a fair offer and you should accept it.
“please let me know how past cases of time limitations went” I am afraid there are no answers for Wonga cases, they are on hold until some test cases have been settled. In the test cases, so far as I am aware, the adjudicator decision is that the FOS can look at the older loans. this is being disputed by Wonga’s lawyers. until this is resolved the other Wonga cases are on hold.
For similar cases with Payday UK and Payday Express, the Ombudsman is considering the older loans and the lender is paying out. That shows, I think, that the ombudsman wants to consider the older cases.
John says
Into week no 6 has a few reply’s from WDA PDUK and Uncle bucks nothing from others saying they are still investigating the circumstances and Have upto the 14th June to reply with findings ???? times ticking , not counting on anything other than going ombudsman ????
Kaz says
I have finally agreed to my offer from Payday Express through an adjudicator and given them my bank details. Anyone know how long it can take for them to pay out?
Mr and Mrs C says
When I phoned them today they told me ten working days from them receiving the form
Eva says
I sent acceptance form 02/05/18 and they said 28 days. Called them yesterday to be told they have 28 days to process the payment!!
Eva says
I called them yesterday to be told 28 days to process payment ☹
Eva says
Finally Payday Express sorted. Paid out on day 27. Got 4.2k. With FOS since 04/01/18. Picked up by adjudicator 22/02/18 and accepted offer from me 02/05/18. Adjucator not helpfully at all. Gave up at the end.
Lending Stream update
Sent to FOS 04/01/18. Got lost! Resent end of January. Picked up by adjudicator 16/05/18. 9 out 11 loans upheld. Now waiting time if LS agrees.
Quick Quid update. Sent to FOS 04/01/18. Picked up by adjudicator 07/05/18. He called 3 times to talk about the case. Not had his findings yet.
Payday UK and Provident still to be allocated to adjudicator.
African Queen says
Hello Kaz,
I sent my acceptance form in on the 22nd and the money is in my account today. Really quick.
Hope yours is too.
Kaz says
Thanks for the replies! I haven’t received a form from them just an email from my adjudicator. Should I be getting on by email?
I’ll have to chase them up I think!
Eva says
I got email from them the same day I accepted via adjudicator. Just called them again and wont receive my payment till day 28 which is 30/06/18.
Zlat says
I have now received a statement of account as per below:
1st loan taken 19/10/11 and last 10/2/14 and was 8 loans in total.
Total borrowed – £2908
Total repaid -£4653
4 of the 8 loans over 6 years old – worth £704 borrowed and paid back £1,003.
They claim also the final loan in 2014 worth £444 and i Paid back £524 already been through forbearance and balance waived. Full interest on this should have been £246.
They have offered me:
Final settlement £1861 inc 8% and excluding Tax
What do you think?
Zlat says
This is from Wonga, you mentioned I should ask for full statement of account. As initially I was just given the final outcome.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So the over 6 year loans were much smaller and you only paid c£400 of interest on them. If you went to the Ombudsman, the FOS often decides to only refund after the first few loans, so you may not get anything back from these – and it would take a long while as they are over 6 years old.
If the figures from Wonga are right then it sounds as though you are getting a full refund for the loans under 6 years so that’s good! You can claim back up to £200 of the tax deducted in any tax year, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/ppi-payday-refund-get-back-tax/.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Anyone who hasn’t yet been sent a list of their loans, if it has been more than a few weeks I suggest you now send the lender a Subject Access Request as from today that is free!
luka says
What the wait for the ombudsman like at the minute? I have had replies back from the ombudsman regarding PPI and other cases in the last few weeks after a short wait. But the Payday loan ones which were in long before these other ones, I still waiting.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
About 2-4 months. There seems to be a random element, I am not sure why.
Richard says
Iv’e just started a claim against Sunny with the first template iv’e had a total of 53 loans in total with them ranging from £50 to £900 with like 3 to 4 loans on the go at the same time as was getting more to pay the other ones off never mind about borrowing from other company’s to help. Paid all back with a struggle except for one which has been sold to a debt agency called SLL Capital which i currently pay every Friday only £300 left to go. These loans was from 2015 to 2017 Whats the chances of getting anything back i was gonna go to a ppi company as i get confused with it all but after reading all of this decided against it and give it ago myself just hope i don’t get stuck and freeze along the way. Thanks for the help so far wish me luck.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That sounds like a lot of borrowing so I would think you have a good chance of some refund. If you feel stuck, or are offered something and you aren’t sure if it’s good enough, come back here and ask!
Andy says
Hi If i have a current loan that i am paying off can i still try and claim compensation? while i am paying them off? I have had a loan with Wonga multiple times in the last few years and and there were a number of times when i had to defer my loan for a month pay it off after i deferred it. and then a day or 2 later re take a loan out , same with satsuma. would this be classed as irresponsible lending because they could see i deferred my loans a number of times but continued to allow me to borrow after i had paid the loan of the following month. thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Deferring multiple times or repaying then borrowing again the same month should have been warnings signs to the lender – I suggest you put in complaints to both Wonga and Satsuma.
You can complain when you still owe some money, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-refunds-defaulted-loan/.
DK says
Wonga replied choosing 4 random consecutive loans and saying they may not have been affordable. No idea how they can to that conclusion but they’ve offered
Total Interest and Fees
£667.03
8% interest net
£166.13
Total Settlement
£833.16
Tax
8% Interest Gross
£207.67
Basic rate Tax deduction
£41.53
If I’m honest, it’s a bit confusing and doesn’t actually give a final figure. I take from that that £207.67 will come off the £833 as well as £41.53 coming off in basic rate tax. What’s the £207.67?? I’m not accepting anyway. Whatever figure they’ve arrived at hear is nothing compared to £5k in interest over 7 years.
DK says
Scratch that, just realised £207 is gross, £116 is net. Still not a great offer. Will wait a bit longer and send to FO.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They are offering £833, the rest is the workings out. You would be able to claim back the tax deducted (up to 3200 in a tax year) but that doesn’t really change your decision. When were these loans?
DK says
Yeah, that was slightly confusing at first! £1k worth of interest were loans between June 2011 and April 2012 (put my complaint in April 2018). The rest of the interest was from loans younger than 6 years.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok so you have a difficult decision – do you send the whole case to the Ombudsman (5k max) or give up on the over 6 year loans (4k max)?
DK says
Well, a few were quite high with one of the loans paying back £910 in the one month when my wage that month was £1100 so if the chances were that the ombudsman would look at it, I reckon I’d have a strong case but £4K is still quite a lot, I don’t think I’d go to the hassle of taking the over 6 years to the ombudsman to be honest. Yeah, the extra £1k would be helpful but the time it could take, I’m not sure if it’s worth it.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You could put the whole case in and then agree to drop the older loans if there is no news in a few months? But understandable if you want to avoid any delays.
DK says
Yeah, that’s probably my best bet. To be fair, I’m not desperate for the money so don’t mind waiting but if the whole complaint will be put on hold for months and months, it might be easier just to let them go. Because I complained, they all said it wouldn’t be appropriate to lend to me anymore so I think I’m finally out of the loop. Just need to be super careful now.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Top tip – get yourself the Chip app https://debtcamel.co.uk/save-apps-chip-plum/ and let it put away small amounts of money for you. Then each month pay the total into a credit union account savings account. If you ever do need to borrow, CU rates are a lot better than high-cost lenders!
DK says
That is a top tip! I’ve heard of credit unions but wasn’t sure how they worked. Thanks so much. Your website has been such a huge help. Hopefully I don’t need to wait too long and I’ll make a donation to my local CAB!
annie says
hI sara
just wondered if you could give me some advice. I had several loans with payday express, They refused to give me a statement of account and rejected my complaint so it went to FOS.
they upheld my complaint for loans 4-11 and I accepted as it took nearly a year and the adjudicator was being really picky.
I couldn’t pursue loans 1-3 as I didn’t have bank statements to provide to FOS and he would not consider without them. so ï asked him to concentrate on loans 4-11 these have been upheld and I am awaiting the payment of 1600.
it has been over 2 weeks and they have said they will not pay out until the 28 day mark. I assume interest accrues until the date of pay out?
So my question is can ï go back at a later date to complain about loans 1-3 if I can get bank statements ?
thank you for any help
annie
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Interest stops at the point they do the calculation.
You can’t go back at a later date. Well not unless the FOS has agreed to you splitting your complaint which is really unusual.
Kaz says
I am awaiting my payment from Payday Express too. Was told 28 days from 23rd May. Bit frustrating as it has been such a long process and I was originally given an incorrect offer by them. Apparently they will pay out sooner if you can prove you are in financial difficulties.
PAMELA says
My complaint was picked up by a mass claims consultant on the 2nd March I have heard nothing since is this normal?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This sounds normal. The mass claims consultant’s job is to get the case ready for an adjudicator to look at – it needs a credit record and bank statements from you (I assume you have sent those?) and the lender’s case record. Then your case goes into the queue for an adjudicator. It normally takes 10-14 weeks for a case to be picked up by an adjudicator from when you first sent the complaint to the FOS.
nick says
I have had many loans of sunny most in very quick succession I’n all I have borrowed 14600 since Jan 2015 and repaid 17370. Most loans where month to month and some within the same month, I have made a complaint about 6 weeks ago but I am unsure if I have this is a good case? Can anyone help?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That sounds like a lot of borrowing and as though you may have a very good case. If Sunny only make a low offer, come back here and discuss it?
nick says
TBH I only know the figures because I asked for a breakdown and it was a shock to the system (in the best possible way)
Thanks for the quick responseand yes I will keep you updated
Sue says
Lending stream have not responded to the ombudsman request for information.
Whilst awaiting the ombudsman decision can lending stream sell my debt to a debt collector ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How long has your case been with the FOS? What info have Lending Stream not provided?
yes LS can sell your debt. To be honest most people will find it easier to deal with a debt collector then with Lending Stream, so this isn’t a bad thing! Just tell the debt collector that the debt is currently under dispute with the LS at the Ombudsman.
Sue says
I sent my complaint to the ombudsman at the beginning of march. I received an update from the ombudsman saying they’d received all the information I sent them but LS have not responded to their request.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK, it has only been a couple of months.
Do you have a complete list of your loans from LS?
Sue says
Loans and the repayments I’ve made
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK, well at some point the FOS will get fed up and look at the case even if LS haven’t sent their file over. As you have all the loan details, this will be possible. But the FOS sensibly prefers to get the full case file from the lender at the start as that speeds everything up afterwards.
One thing you could do if you are feeling fed up about this is to send the FCA (who regulate Lending Stream) an email to consumer.queries@fca.org.uk saying how badly Lending Stream are handling your complaint. Say that you currently owe them money and their delays are making it difficult for you to cope, causing you stress, anxiety – whatever you feel is an accurate description of your situation.
This won’t help your complaint, the FCA won’t get back to you and ask questions, you will just get an acknowledgement back. But the more people who do this, the better picture the regulator will have of Lending Stream’s dreadful complaints handling.
Sue says
I will do just that some time today
Thank you
Dan says
Hi Sara,
I have just had my adjudicator come back to me on my case with QuidQuid as they have rejected the offer and the case will be going to the Ombudsman. I was hoping you would have an idea on how long it takes a case to be picked up by an Ombudsman at the moment? Do you have an idea on how many complaints are upheld by an Ombudsman as well?
Thanks in advance!
Dan
Lauren says
Hi Dan
I can’t answer the question I’m afraid but I’m in the same situation. Quick Quid rejected my adjudicator decision and I have been advised it has been passed to an Ombudsman decision. This was around 2 weeks ago and I’ve not heard anything since. The person I spoke to at the FOS told me 9 times out of 10 the ombudsman agrees with the adjudicator. Hopefully we don’t have too long to wait as I feel it has taken ages!
Pamela says
How long have you all waited for an adjudicator? I sent my complaint to the financial ombudsman at the end of February and it was picked up by a mass complaints consultant but I have heard nothing since and it will be 13 weeks tomorrow. How long have others waited?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Who is the lender?
Pamela says
One with wonga and one with quickquid and still waiting on both to be picked up
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK, I wouldn’t expect either of those firms to have been difficult about sending over a case file to the FOS. I hope it won’t be long now! You could call the FOS now or wait couple of weeks.
Eva says
Call them. I had 2 cases out of 2 with all the information sitting there. When I called it was then put in the queue. The people there are soon nice. I also had 1 case where it was picked up by the adjudicator without me even knowing.4 weeks later I got finally first email that they have reached decision.
Matt says
I’ve got a case with Sunny, originally submitted 17th Jan this year, no loans over 6 years and I am still awaiting an adjudicator to pick it up. Hopefully it’s quicker for you, good luck!
Pamela says
Thank you matt
lee says
I think QQ just rejecting every claim they receive. QQ didn’t rerspond in the timescale that the FOS set them in Jan (claim found in my favour on all the loans from QQ), so it goes straight to the ombudsman…..my claim is still in the queue. Every month i send the FOS an email for an update but i get an automated response saying the FOS cannot give a timescale due the high level of claims.
Frustrating, but at least the 8% is adding up.
nick says
I have had 3 top up loans with 118118 money since 2015. The original Loan was 1000 and is now valued at 5500, I am paying at 91.3%, can I make a complaint?
Thanks
Paddy says
Hi all.
Having started using payday loans at 18 and now being 25 – I finally decided to start taking charge of my finances by entering a DMP as of this Thursdays payday. I came across this site by accident today and it has given
Me the courage to send my first complaint to Wonga, having taken a total of 55 loans out between 2012 and April of this year – haven’t added up the total interest paid because I value my eyesight!
Thank you all for radiating support for eachother via the comments and I hope to come back with good news
Marty says
I am getting the runaround from uncle buck and the FOS re loans taken in 2007/2008. Apparently FOS did not regulate them back then and UB have basically said to bolt ! See response from FOS below ? Is there anywhere I can go with this Sara?
“Please be advised that the reason your complaint is out of our jurisdiction is because you took the loans before 29 December 2010 – which is the date when Uncle Buck
Finance LLP became regulated by us. As we cannot look into complaints that aren’t regulated by us, we are unable to look into your complaint further”
Thanks in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you go back and say Uncle Buck had was regulated by the OFT, consumer credit license number 640978. And complaints about businesses with a consumer credit license from the OFT could be taken to the FOS after April 2007.
Marty says
Thanks I have emailed them doubt they will respond as last time I emailed they said they would not reply further. I’m unclear why the fos won’t look though
Gary says
Hi
Well a small update on my 247moneybox complaint I sent my complaint to the FOS March time, they came back asking for detail by 3rd May i sent everything and as at today they are still awaiting the file from 247 I was advised that due to the level of complaints going in they have sent people to help with the turnaround of info?? So make of that what you will. Apparently they hope they’ll have everything fairly soon to start?
Marie says
I made an affordability complaint to my jar for 4 loans. They immediately came back with a full list of my interest paid and upheld that the first loan should not have been given and offered a refund of £109.80 that they would offset against an outstanding loan that i still have. If the first loan wasnt supposed to be given can i claim the other 3 shouldn’t either? I have paid them £661.10 in interest so far on 4 loans and even with the refund they say i still owe them nearly £200 on the current loan. This is really confusing. What should i be asking for and is their admittance that the first loan was unaffordable be enough to get a refund on all loans plus 8% from the fos?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well first it doesn’t sound like a good offer! And situations where there is a balance owing on the last loan always seem complicated.
As there are only 4 loans, could you list them all – for the first three say what you borrowed and the interest you paid? For the last loan where you still owe money, day yiu say what you borrowed and how much (if any) you have repaid? And what were the gaps between the loans, the time from repaying loan 1 to taking out loan 2 etc.
Marie says
Hi sara as below:
1st loan 3/7/16 for £200, interest £109.80 date paid back was 6/10/16
2nd loan 18/10/16 for £400, interest paid £100.06 date paid back was 29/11/16
3rd loan 1/12/16 for £600, interest paid £428.18 paid back on 28/9/17
4th loan 28/9/17 for £500, interest paid to now as still outstanding £28.06 (so already paid back £528.06)
Any help would be appreciated
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think their offer sounds a very poor one. You had 4 loans, all with only a few days at most between them. The later loans were much bigger than the first one showing you were getting into more problems.
I would suggest the third loan should be refunded (£428) and the last loan as well (a refund of £28 and the balance written off and negative mark removed from your credit record).
You could go back and suggest that? If they refuse, I suggest off to the Ombudsman.
Marie says
Thanks Sara i did this last night so will wait a response from my jar.
Eva says
Finally Payday Express sorted. Paid out on day 27. Got 4.2k. With FOS since 04/01/18. Picked up by adjudicator 22/02/18 and accepted offer from me 02/05/18. Adjucator not helpfully at all. Gave up at the end.
Lending Stream update
Sent to FOS 04/01/18. Got lost! Resent end of January. Picked up by adjudicator 16/05/18. 9 out 11 loans upheld. Now waiting time if LS agrees.
Quick Quid update. Sent to FOS 04/01/18. Picked up by adjudicator 07/05/18. He called 3 times to talk about the case. Not had his findings yet.
Payday UK and Provident still to be allocated to adjudicator.
Eva says
Update on other complaints. All without goi g to the FOS
Wageday Advanced. Upheld 8 out of 10 loans. Payout £2911 within 8 weeks of complaint made. Very easy to negotiate with. Money in the bank within a week of accepting.all loans removed from credit file.
My Jar / TXT Loan. Upheld 12 out of 15 loans within 8 weeks of complaint made. Pay out of £1250 within 3 days of acceptance. Loans removed from credit file.
JD Williams (Simply Be). All interest refunded. Pay out of £1600. Bit slow with responding. Letter received in week 9. Cheque was then received 5 weeks later.
Mr and Mrs C says
Well done on Simply be – I haven’t even had a acknowledgement from them never mind a response. I haven’t used the other ones you mentioned.
Eva says
It was a very long process. They acknowledged my complaint by post within few days. Then heard nothing. Called them after week 8 to be told they are still looking at it. Then week 9 called again to be told final response and cheque sent week prior. Asked them to email me the letter which they did. Then called every week to be told I could not have had final response in the post as the cheque was waiting to be signed off by the director. This was going on till week 5 (after the initial 9 weeks) when I finally received it in the post. They knew I was calling them quite often then I cannot make payments every 28 days!! So was always late and also them knowing I was struggling they kept increasing my limits. Even though I decreased them few times!.
They are very slow and I don’t think they manage themselves well in the complaints department.
Bob says
Hi Eva I have had a different experience of Wageday Advance and pointed out a number of points on their final response that contradicted each other. May I ask how you negotiated with them and how much this changed their offer from the original final response? Thanks.
Eva says
They first upheld only few loans (the last few). I went back stating that not only had I other 5 payday loans,doorstep lenders etc but also constantly rolled over from the beginning and also had repayment plan through Payplan yet they still kept borrowing me and let me defer on a monthly basis. They also had all my bank statements and credit files which showed all my loans. They than came back with 10 page final resonse upholding all.except the first two. Which I was ok with. They also added 8% inretest. The final response was also very detailed which was very easy to understand how they came to the final decision.
Bob says
Thats really interesting thank you for sharing.
This is the response I got when i questioned several innacuracies stated in their final response.
I am sorry you are unhappy with the final response issued.
As I have already completed my investigations in your complaint, I am unable to review this again.
Might try to get on the phone to them or ask for it to be escalated.
Thanks again.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is an unfriendly response – probably best to send it straight to the Ombudsman.
Mr and Mrs C says
Quick update on my situation:-
Payday express – offered £1350 on 4 loans in my account this morning, offered, accepted and paid before the 8 weeks was up.
Quick quid – sent to FOS as offer too low.
Swift Stirling, Wonga, Cash Genie, Payday UK all acknowledged but no offers as yet.
Littlewoods, Simply Be, Viva La Diva, Very – not even an acknowledgement
Jamie Sands says
Hello, I made a complaint with a pay day lender in 2016, about unaffordable loans. I took out three loans. I had one outstanding loan to which they agreed to remove interest and fees. I have paid all back and all account is settled. I had to in writing via email state I agreed to the offer they made which was to remove the interest from the final loan. However, it has come to my attention that across just the first two loans, the interest etc charged was more than the actual loans themselves. I have made a complaint again to the lender directly who has said they refuse to investigate as case is closed. After investigation into your account, we responded to you on with a final response, answering all of your concerns and offering to reduce your outstanding balance to the capital amount borrowed. you accepted our offer as a resolution to your complaint answering the below three questions and your complaint was closed. In fairness I started making repayments before I confirmed I was happy with the offer, i just wanted to get the debt cleared. They chased me for a yes i accept, which i wrote back almost a year later, although had been making repayments. I feel that I should still be able to make a complaint. Anyone legal able to clarify?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You have accepted their offer in settlement of any complaints about all your loans.
The only chance of getting this reponed is if they told you something that was incorrect in the letter (eg wrong loan details) OR if they failed to tell you that you could take the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman.
Liz says
Hi all,
Update so far
Peachy – Peachy have told me that because I have repaid all my loans on time they will not uphold my complaint. I pointed out that looking at my credit file, it should have been obvious to them that I was getting loans to pay loans and have therefore informed them that I have forwarded their response to the financial ombudsman.
Sunny – Sunny began by telling me they would look into my complaint but are now adding interest on to the loan (even though they told me the account would be frozen during the ongoing complaint). I have informed the financial ombudsman that they are harassing me with phone calls and e-mails requesting that I urgently speak to them to repay my loan. Whenever I try to e-mail them to point out my account should be frozen throughout my complaint, I simply receive an auto-response.
Have not heard from anyone else as of yet. Have a feeling I am not going to get anything back from anyone.
Eva says
Liz, positive pants on. Don’t give up. Sometimes it’s a very painful process but it’s worth it in the end.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I agree with Eva!
If Sunny are adding interest, this has to stop very soon as they will reach the legal 100% interest cap – total interest and charges acan never be more than the amount you borrowed.
Liz says
Keeping all my fingers crossed, should I get a refund it would turn my whole year around.
Jamie Sands says
I wanted to ask about unaffordable loans – not just payday loans. I took out three loans totalling, without interest, c. 7-8k, with Everyday loans in the space of 1 – 1.5 years. I want to lodge a complaint against them and perhaps ask to refund interest / fees. When I took out the first loan I was also taking out pay day loans & my credit score was low. When I took out my last loan, or even the 2nd loan, I was told in person my credit score was ‘wrecked’ in their words, which meant the interest rate had to be hiked right up. After a few months I could not afford the repayments and they started calling me incl. after 8pm, sending me texts saying I would be in real trouble if I did not contact them – I felt really hounded and stressed. I had letters from regional and local office, and loads of calls. I sadly do not have these texts – could of course ask my mobile phone provider to see if they still have them as I know that is harrassment. It went into default and to a DCA – I have now paid off the account and it is closed. I think I should never have been given to me – they knew how bad my credit score was, they could see in 2014 I had defaults against my name as well as tons of pay day loans. I ve requested the original credit agreements to check the interest rate and repayments. I am 99% sure that the interest and fees were lots more than the original loan. Plus the loans were I feel unaffordable. Do I have a case?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It sounds like a good case to me! People have won affordability complaints against Everyday loans and these complaints are always easier when you borrowed more than once.
Let us know how you get on!
Joel says
Hi Sara,
I made a complaint to H&T last year but i didn’t (forgot) follow up the complaint to the Ombudsman, I think i took out 3 installment loans in a row.
Can I still raise this with the Ombudsman?
Thanks
Joe
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If it has been over 6 months since the reply from H&T then sorry, you are too late. Unless you have been in hospital, or H&T didn’t tell you you could go to the FOS, or there is some other unusual reason.
Katie says
I’ve just come across thi amazing site. It’s so easy to understand and navigate. Thank you Sara!
I’m looking into payday loan refunds interest as I got very caught in the cycle of unaffordability. Can I ask if it’s possible to have payday loans removed from my credit report? I note you recommend asking for negative information to be removed but I’ve seen agencies stating it’s possible to have the entry removed. Is this possible? (I’m not interested in using an agency and intend to do this myself.). Any advice would be so gratefully received.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“I’ve seen agencies stating it’s possible to have the entry removed.” Some lenders will always delete the debts being refunded because it’s easier. Other will only delete negative marks. The Financial Ombudsman only asks for negative marks to be deleted. This sounds like a typical example of a claims company saying it can do more than is in its power.
Good luck with your complaints!
Lou7 says
As anyone had any luck with 247 moneybox or payday uk? Neither of them have replied or responded.
Lisa says
Hi Lou7,
I have had a complete nightmare with 24/7 moneybox. They offered to clear my outstanding balance in final settlement a day after the 8 weeks, so I sent it to the FOS and they failed to reply to the adjudicator even when given an additional two weeks so it was sent to ombudsman who upheld my complaint and to date I am 6 1/2 weeks awaiting my refund and I still have not had any calculations or timeframe for payment from them. Ombudsman service say that they have upto 8 weeks. When you phone they just say I will send an email to the worker. Ombudsman service can never get through by phone.
So be prepared for a long wait unfortunately.
Gary says
I went to FOS regarding 247 and spoke with them yesterday and apparently the ombudsman have sent some people to help them with the turn around in info as they are getting so far behind.