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?
Faye says
14 weeks after sending quite an extensive complaint to FOS (80 loans in the last 7 years – I choose to forget about the ones older than 6 years, as there wasn’t many, to speed the process up) they contacted me to say they were upholding my complaint for every loan in the last six years and would be contacting wonga with their findings to see if they agree. Despite having 2 weeks to respond, the FOS contacted me only one week later saying wonga have agreed the terms and have offered a settlement of £4350 on top of my outstanding balance being written off. I have sent my email agreeing the settlement and they now have 4 weeks to pay it into my account. Three things though:
1. I came across this site by chance – thank you so much for the step by step instructions. I really can’t thank you enough ????
2. To anyone thinking of doing this – absolutely do it – and if your lender outright says no – escalate it to the FOS
3. Although wonga have been told by FOS they have 4 weeks, what are the chances of it actually taking the full 4 weeks?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is a great refund! It will probably take most of the 4 weeks to arrive.
mark says
I got a refund from wonga last july..They paid in a couple of days after me agreeing with them,although it was not not through the FOS.I assume they pay out ASAP so they can close the case before FOS get involved.
tom price says
Hi Faye, I like you agreed to a settlement with Wonga,- however be prepared for a long wait on the payout, for me it took 37 days. after the 28 days was up I called them and they said they had a backlog and it would be an additional 14 days. they did not want to be rushed and were a pain in the ass tbh
Daz says
getting there very slowly.
So 6 of the 12 companies have come back to me with the information requested and sadly its very poor viewing and really opening my eyes up.
5 have replied saying they will get back to me in 8 weeks with there decision but not provided the details requested or asked for copies of bank statements.
with the 6 that have replied I have borrowed £12012.37 and paid an extra £4798.24 interest.
this doesn’t even include my biggest ones Wonga who haven’t replied at all and lending stream who haven’t given me the info but have said they are investigating and will get back to me in 8 weeks.
I dread to think what the total amount borrowed is.
allan says
sounds daft Daz but add it up, it will shake you up and that’s what I needed to start the process.
Kerry says
After finally resolving my complaint with LS with FOS last month with a refund and accounts cleared and closed I am unbelievably shocked to have received a email from a debt collection agency called Lantern this morning saying my Lending Stream “debt” has been sold to them and that I need to pay it!! Lending Stream really are an awful awful company!!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send Lantern an email attaching a copy of the FOS agreement and say you do not owe anything on the debt. Send LS a complaint,telling them you want a letter from them and from Lantern confirming that you no longer owe any money. you could also ask for compensation for the hassle … £100?
PS if you think LS were bad, try dealing with Lantern…
Eric says
Good afternoon
I’ve had a final response from Trustedquid who state I only had two loans with these when in fact I had 3, they are missing one between my first and second. Should I respond to them or just take it straight to the FOS?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Go back and tell them. It is always worth pointing out a fact that a lender has got wrong. This could be a good point to say what you would agree to settle for – what were the gaps between the loans? How much did you borrow for each of them? How much interest did you pay? And is the last loan fully repaid?
Eric says
A month between the 1st and 2nd loan, 3 days before the 2nd and 3rd loan.
£250.00 each time paying back over 3 months each time.
Last loan outstanding, paid £94.06/£250.00, yet on their final response they state no payment has been made.
I’ve replied outlining their errors, hoping this changes their mind as I’ve had over 100 loans in the last two years.
Thanks Sara
nick says
Just got this off Sunny,
Given the information available to me, I am unable to uphold your complaint. We believe that the aforementioned checks were proportionate and responsible. Initial assessment of your application accounted for some of the adverse information held at the credit reference agencies and as a consequence you were offered a small amount of credit relative to your stated income. In light of your declared financial hardship, I don’t feel it would be appropriate for us to extend any further credit to you, as such, we will not approve any further applications.
As I borrowed and payed back over 17k in 3 years on a month to month basis this is worth sending to the ombudsman?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
17k? definitely send that to the FOS!
nick says
Sorry my mistake, 14600 borrowed 17400 paid back
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Still a great complaint!
kayley says
Hi all,
Im in week 6 of the first stage and haven’t had much luck at all. Im reading all these really positive stories about big refunds and great success stories. Just out of curiosity I was wondering how long ago these loans were…. mine are from 2016 to present anyone else in the same boat as me or are they all older loans?
Thanks in advance,
kayley
Marie says
Yeah same as you, my loans 2016 to present and all with fos for over 3 months and nothing yet..guess it depends on the adjudicator but an occasional reply to my chase up emails would be nice just so we know where we stand or if anything is happening at least. Losing my faith in the fos a bit now.
Allison says
I complained to five lenders on 16th Jan.. I only had one respond with a low offer after 6 weeks, the others took all 8 and refused or didn’t reply at all (Lending Stream).
Don’t give up.
All went up to FOS. So far I’ve had the adjudicator side with me on four Of the five. One refused and I’m waiting for ombudsman, one agreed within 24 hours and I’m waiting for payment and one (QQ and pounds to pocket got combined at FOS) and are still considering. So six months in and I’ve still not received a penny back. Mine are all 2015 onwards.
I was lucky I’ve had the same adjuciator for all those and he’s only said one of the 18 loans he considered was affordable. The very first loan I took out with Wonga. So don’t panic. It’s a long haul but even if I loose at ombudsman level, him siding with me has made me feel so much better.
Just waiting for him to decide LS without their file on Monday as that’s their deadline … their fourth.
As long as you go into it thinking it will take as long as it takes and just keep pushing it to the next stage eventually it will get there.
Good luck.
gillian says
just keep waiting keyley you have nothing to lose altogether it took over 16 months for all six of my claims to be refunded some took the 8 weeks the lending stream one took the 16 months no loans were over six year old but in the end I received 20000 pound back that I did not have or even know I could reclaim so worth the wait I found the fos easy to deal with I used to ring about every 6 weeks if I had not heard anything and they were always helpful they just busy but they do a good job and thanks to sara on here lots of people are now out of debt and looking forward to a better and stress free life
Steve Le Tran says
Hi there,
I need some advice please. If you send a complaint email to a loan company (Step 1 template) and you don’t get any response all all within 8 weeks, what do I do next? Do I go straight to the FOS?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, you can. Which lender is it, do you have a list of your loans with them – or are you just worried it might happen?
Lee Sharratt says
Just wanted to tell the world. Got on going claims. Got my bank statements over 3 years. How awful, must have spent 10 k on gambling and payday loans. I’m truly shocked. Thankfully because of irresponsibile lenders, I can see I light , 5 years later. Sorry to shout about it. And no gambling at the moment
Mark says
Hi,
My name is Mark and I have had a gambling problem since 2012. That is the first time I’ve said that “out loud”.
I found this website due to an advert on LBC for a company that will try and claim back payday lending charges.
So, at 2:00am I decided to get out of bed and take back control of my life!
I’ve got up and written 15+ “Stage 1” emails to all the companies I have taken loans out with. I found that doing the free credit scoring companies (I used Clear Score), really helped as that had a full list of all the loans I have taken out in the past 6 years (about 50 in total).
I have also been in a DMP with Step Change since 2011 (yes, a year BEFORE I started taking out these payday loans).
I take full responsibility for my actions, it was me who got addicted to gambling, it was me who took out these loans. So, if/when I get any refunds, I will be donating ALL money to Gamblers Anonymous, who I am about to contact and go to the next meeting possible.
All this thanks to your time, effort and website walking me through each step.
I will keep you posted, but THANK YOU for giving me the tools and kick up the a** to put my life back together.
Best wishes,
Mark
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Great decision.
Not sure if you have read these articles, but they may help: https://debtcamel.co.uk/gambling-payday-loan-refunds/ and https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-refunds-defaulted-loan/.
Get a copy of your Noddle credit record – that usually has more payday loans showing than ClearScore. Also get your bank statements now – some of your cases will be going to the ombudsman probably so get yourself all ready.
ALso read https://debtcamel.co.uk/gambling/ and look for ways to make it just that bit harder to gamble. Evey little thing that makes it more difficult (Cifas registration? Gamblock on your PC?) can help strengthen your willpower.
great to donate to Gamblers Anonymous but most of your refunds should be used to clear your DMP debts. Getting free of the millstone of debt will remove one of the siren attractions of gambling, the idea that a big win could solve your problems. Also after this long you can probably use a refund of £1000 to make a full and final settlement offers on £3000 of DMP debt
Mark says
Sara,
Ty, yes I’ve read every word on your wonderful website before starting to draft the letters.
I will sort noodle report out tomorrow, great advice again ty!
Nope, I’ve made my last ever bet. I’m sure of it. I appreciate what you say about paying the DMP off, however I look at it slightly differently. I owe those creditors on my DMP every penny (none of them are payday loans), so part of me taking responsibility is ensuring they will get every penny from me and the remaining 18mths of DMP payments will be a constant reminder of how gambling is not the answer. Ever.
I’m taking back control. I can’t thank you enough *clap *clap *clap. If I hadn’t have found your site last night and all the info to get me started……well, let’s just say both my family and I probably owe you my life.
I’ll keep you all posted and if you hear of anyone that needs help or support through something similar, by all means contact me.
Mark
(Ps First GA meeting is tomorrow night ;-))
Mark says
Sara,
Great advice again re getting the Noddle report. There were another 12 loans on there that weren’t on Clear Score! All the Clear Score loans were also on Noddle, so you were right, Noddle is the report to use.
You also mention that you will need to send bank statements to the lenders (i’m assuming you do this at the same time as letter #2?). I have ordered the statements so I am prepared when all the lenders send me the loan information, but what statements should I send to the lenders? My assumption would be to send 3 months prior to each loan date, thereby proving that if the lenders had been responsible and checked my income/outgoings/other loan etc etc, via these bank statements, they would have easily come to the conclusion that they shouldn’t lend me the money. Is that correct?
Thanks again.
Mark
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Some lenders will ask for bank statements, they will normally say which they want. But i was saying get them all now as you will need them for cases going to the Ombudsman.
Zoe says
Hi, I am seeking some advice for my son. He is caught up in a cycle of pay day loan after pay day loan, his credit file is 32pages long with multiple loans from sunny, uncle buck, myjar, lending stream etc plus 2 larger loans from satsuma and amigo. He has missed payments on the majority of them now. Should I first write and explain he cannot afford to pay them and then start the process of trying to claim he was lent money irresponsibly?
I think I’m going to have difficulty tracking down all the information as he doesn’t even know what half of them are and has just buried his head in the sand.
I am shocked that lenders like sunny have continually lent him money some of them were 2 loans taken out on the same day by the same company when it’s obvious looking at his credit report there was an issue.
All of these were taken out to fund a drug habit which he is now getting help for and although I’m daunted by the prospect of trying to reclaim anything I don’t feel companies like this should be able to get away with it. Any support or advice gratefully received!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How to find out the details of his loans – the template letters above start by asking for a list of the loans. His credit records are a reasonable source but not necessarily always accurate. His bank statements are often simpler to understand. With several lenders it is VERY likely at least one of the cases may go to the Ombudsman and this will need bank statements so I suggest you get those now. This is normally pretty easy and it should be free, if his bank tries to charge, come back and say.
What to do first: see below for the Amigo loan , for the rest I suggest he should:
-cancel all CPAs and DDs to all lenders with his bank. If he has already defaulted this probably doesn’t matter but it’s good to make sure it has been done so the lenders can’t help themselves to the money in his account
– send a complaint to each lender using the template letters. As part of this if he still owes money (which should say on his credit record) he should either say he can’t afford any payments (is he in work? If he isn’t, then he can’t afford more than a token £1 a month) or offer an affordable amount.
– Don’t let a lender say they can only accept £30 a month or something – affordable is affordable for him, not satisfactory for the lender. If he puts everything into this budget tool https://tools.nationaldebtline.org/yourbudget/ it will come up with affordable offers.
– if one of his debts has been sold to a debt collector, the affordable offer should be made to the debt collector but the affordability complaint and the request for a refund goes to the original lender. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-refunds-defaulted-loan/
– does he also have unaffordable credit card and “normal” loan debts? If he does, then talking to StepChange is probably a good idea. As the number of creditors increases, getting StepChange to set up a DMP becomes very useful. He can still pursue the refund complaints when in a DMP.
– it’s good to tell the lenders about his previous drug habit and that he is currently getting treatment. Some medical evidence (clinic appointments? Prescriptions?) can help.
The Amigo loan – is he still paying this? Who is the guarantor?
The most important thing here is his recovery, not his finances. He shouldn’t be trying to live on beans on toast and never going out in order to repay his debts. Encourage a sensible budget, not a very frugal one.
If you can persuade him to sign up to Cifas protective registration (see https://www.cifas.org.uk/services/identity-protection/protective-registration) then that makes it a bit slower for him to borrow money, just a couple of days as there has to be a second check that he really did apply for it. It’s meant for people who are concerned about identity theft, but it works well for anyone that just wants to make it harder to borrow such as people with mental health problems or trying to stop gambling.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
PS the more you can get him involved the better. Making these claims is actually very empowering. People move from hating themselves for getting into the mess to seeing clearly that the lender took advantage of them and milked them for huge amounts of money.
Zoe says
Thanks for the reply, the Amigo loan is guaranteed by my husband and the payments are up to date but scraped together every month and always late. I am in the middle of going through a divorce and having to sell my house and buy another one. Obviously I am concerned that all this might have an adverse effect on my credit rating so am keen not to do anything that will jeopardise my house purchase.
I dare say this situation with my son has played a huge part in my husband walking out and washing his hands of the whole situation.
Everyone’s mental health is taking a battering at the moment but I am keen to try and seek some sort of redress from these awful companies.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If he has already stopped paying the Amigo loan, then he can put in an affordability complaint about that as well, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/how-to-complain-guarantor-loan/. IF he wins the likely redress is that interest is removed from the loan so it should be a lot quicker for your ex to pay back. Making this complaint can’t harm you or your ex as he is already paying the loan.
Zoe Luke says
Sorry I should have made that a bit clearer, although my husband is guarantor he is not paying the amigo loan my son is still making the payments albeit they are late every month.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, well in that case he can still put in a complaint but he needs to carry on making the payments whilst it is going through or Amigo will go after your husband. That probably means he cant afford to pay anything to his other debts.
tom price says
Hi Zoe,
I had issues with Amigo – they are the worst company to do with in terms of if you are in financial difficulty. I rang them numerous times to state that I was struggling and my guarantor was also in financial difficulty and they could not of cared less. They basically implied that it was tough and that’s the way it was.
They would if payment was late – keep calling- emailing- sending letters. harassing myself and guarantor until payment was made and would make you feel like shite if you did not.
I suggest getting them paid asap and never deal with them again
BUNCH OF CROOKS!!
AC says
Hi Zoe
Keep going with Amigo, I have just had the adjudicator agree that 4 of 6 loans were unaffordable and just waiting for a response from Amigo.
I had a gambling habit and this as well as other payday loans were feeding this habit which the adjudicator understood. They said after the second loan they should’ve realised there was a problem, they also listened to phone calls where Amigo even said that they shouldn’t be lending to me but my guarantor will be ok to pay which the adjudicator said if I can’t afford then it doesn’t matter who the guarantor is.
Good luck and it’s well worth sending complaints to all these companies.
Kelly says
I sent an email to my lenders and i used the template in step 1 , one of my lenders has asked what it is the detail of my complaint and what i am claiming , not sure how to answer , every time i repaid the loan i would have to take another one out
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Who is the lender and do you have a list of your loans?
If you do, then I suggest you use the template in step 2 to send the lender a more detailed description.
If you don’t, I suggest you reply to the lender that when they have sent you the loan details you will send them more details about your complaint.
Heather says
I put in a complaint with the ombudsman regarding sunny 4 weeks ago. How long does it take for them to come up with a decision?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The Ombudsman waits until they have bank statements and your credit record from you and the case file from Sunny. Then it goes into a queue for an adjudicator, Typically 10-14 weeks from when you send the case in, a few are quicker, a few are slower for no clear reason.
Loz Cus says
I have just put in a claim to Western Circle t/a cash float for irresponsible lending. I had been in the payday loan cycle on and off for 10 years. I have successfully claimed back around 5k from lenders and this is my final claim. Over a period of 30 months I borrowed 19 loans (some payable over 2 months) varying from £200-£600. Paging a total amount of £2347 in interest and charges. Some loans were repaid early followed immediately by new loans to release more money. On a least two occasions I felt into difficulties repaying and had payment plans and on both occasions after applying again within a month I was once again accepted. What do you think thabout chances are of a successful claim? Claim put direct to lender 2 weeks ago
Thanks in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That sounds like a good complaint. Allowing you another loan soon after being in a payment plan suggests they weren’t looking carefully at you situation. Good luck!
Loz Cus says
Thank you ????
Hopefully I get somewhere with it. Will keep you updated.
If anyone has any experience dealing with this lender I’d appreciate hearing how they dealt with you. I don’t seem to see many complaints about them
Daz says
I don’t have a comment on this provider but I had a similar problem with mr lender, I took out 4 loans then had to go on a payment plan took a year to pay back then, 4 months after paying it back they let me take out a further 12 loans totally 1000 interest. just sent back my full expernation so hopefully they uphold my complete because there is no way they have acted correctly.
Sarah says
I submitted a complaint to QuickQuid and they only offered my £12 back for a late fee charge. How does this work? After reading your articles i thought they had to pay back all interest and charges plus 8% interest?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If they decide a loan is unaffordable, they should repay the interest you paid. The Ombudsman makes all lenders add 8% interest but some lenders, including QQ, don’t often do this if they are giving you a refund directly.
But it sounds as though QQ has rejected your affordability complaint but they think there was a minor problem with just the late fee so they are only offering to refund that.
How many loans did you have from them? Do you know how much interest you paid? How long ago was this? Do you still owe any money?
John M says
More good news from me:
Cash Genie replied and said I am due all my interest back which wasn’t massive with them (£510.28) but I will also get the 8% statutory interest calculated when they issue the cheque. I calculate the final amount to be about £800 which will be very nice.
Does anyone know when last cheque run was and usually how long between each one please?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They used to be monthly but I don’t remember hearing about one for a while.
Andy says
Hi all , just had adjudicatior agree that my advant credit loan was irresponsible and unaffordable, they are waiting fir a response from advant , does anyone know if they agree or if going to the FOS with advant disagreeing
Thanks andy
Louise says
Hi All,
Does anyone know how long it takes an adjudicator to make a decision – I have not even had any correspondence from her whatsoever however, it was when I had to contact them about something else they told me it was assigned to the adjudicator 2nd June 2018 and gave me her name. I did write on my bank statements income and expenditure items that may be queried in pen so it was easier. It is 3 weeks this week she has been dealing with it and still no communication to introduce herself – is this the norm?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest emailing her and asking if there is any more information you can help with.
Louise says
Thank you Sara – I have emailed the loan 1 etc interest, loan 2 etc interest, loan 3 etc interest up to loan 5.I have also spoken to someone in the office and he gave me the name and said I will tell her to email you – I am still awaiting. I didn’t know if this is normal or not as my 1st one at this stage all my others are still awaiting allocation apart from Money Shop which she is dealing with and that is those ones post 2007.
Do I wait another week or so? I find it strange. The one with Avant he was on the ball and emailed me immediately.
Marie says
I’ve been assigned adjudicators for months and they are never available on the phone and never reply to my emails. It’s very frustrating not getting any feedback at all.
Louise says
Months Marie – oh no. I don’t have the adjudicators email either – no acknowledgement or courtesy call – I just didn’t know if that was correct as some are called and are asked questions in relation to their statements I have heard nothing from her.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Months? that is VERY unusual.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Oh if she is dealing with old Money Shop loans, she is probably waiting for something from them. I suggest you phone up, say she hasn’t been in touch and ask for her email.
Marie says
I have asked and got all my adjudicators personal emails but they still don’t respond to them. Maybe lending stream are not the slowest after all! My other complaints are my jar, 118 money, satsuma and sunny (all assigned adjudicators) but still nothing.
Louise says
She has two of mine Sara – Payday UK and Money Shop but these are old loans from money shop and she has gone back to ask for information as they told me on the phone. Payday UK she has everything and has had for nearly three weeks – I only know this from the office as I called them on Thursday and also today. That is when I found out her name as the adjudicator and she was dealing with both cases. I have called a few times and they have sent her an email but nothing as of yet again. I think it is very bad service.
Nigel Walker says
Do you mind me asking how long it took to be assigned to an adjudicator?
Louise says
I think it depends as only two have been assigned to the same person all sent at the same time – I sent all to FOS March 22nd and were allocated these two beginning of June? So about 11 weeks. Hope this helps – It is payday uk and money shop for the ones that are assigned.
Dixon says
Help!!!
I have until tomorrow to accept of reject this offer and I am really worried I will loose it if I reject….
I had 4 loans with qq and pounds to pocket which continually withdrew against and they were running alongside other payday providers…. they rejected my initial complaint so I forwarded to the ombudsman… although the case hasn’t been picked up yet by then I was contacted 2 weeks ago to say qq would like to make me an offer to refund one of the loans would I like to accept – this was £1548…. if I reject this will I loose out on this or will the ombudsman look at them getting more? Overall I paid back around 6.k interest…. help please.. I have spoken to them on the phone this afternoon and confused myself even more
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Obviously I can’t guarantee that you will get more by rejecting this… but this sounds like another one of QQ’s attempts to settle a good Claim very cheaply.
We have never seen a case where someone has been awarded less than an offer such as this. The worst case is usually that the adjudicator says that is a fair offer and you should take it. But with QQ typically you would get a larger offer, possibly a much larger offer. Don’t forget that 8% interest per year is added on to Ombudsman refund awards.
Dixon says
Thank you, I though they might be trying to do that but I’m worried I might end up coming out of it with nothing??
Holly Jane says
1676
Hi all, I’m hoping someone can help as I’ve only just found out about this!
I had loans with 6 payday lenders from 4/5 years ago, all borrowing to pay others off.
I have only sent my bank statements to quick quid so far as they are the first to get back to me. The interest I paid was £1,676 in total. What would be the amount they might offer that i should accept rather than send to the ombudsmen? Ive no idea about this!
Thank you!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s easier to wait until they actually reply – that gives you something to focus on – what is right or wrong with their offer. At the moment it’s just too vague – so sit back and wait!
Stephen Doyle says
I have my complaint with adjudicator who have had an offer from QQ which I have accepted, how long does it take for QQ to pay out? Its been nearly 3 weeks now
Lee says
Hi,
I’ve sent the email to quickquid asking for the details of the loans, they’ve responded and ask for my bank details, payslips etc.
I don’t really want to send them this information, but as I havnt actually sent the letter explain why I feel I was misold, can I go to the ombudsman now?
Thanks
L
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, you have to wait until they have rejected your complaint OR it has passed the 8 weeks.
Claire says
I did the same thing about 4 weeks ago and I got a reply asking for payslips etc. I then forgot all about it, plus like you I didn’t want to send them that information. Today I received an email from them saying they had investigated my complaint and they made me an offer.
John says
Hi Sara is there away of claiming back the income tax you have to pay on final settlements once a complaint has been upheld ??
Sara (Debt Camel) says
see https://debtcamel.co.uk/ppi-payday-refund-get-back-tax/
Tclark says
Got 3 cases with the Fos awaiting adjuctor. Spoke to them and they said they would assign all 3 to the Same adjudicator. Just awaiting the file to be sent by lending stream. They have missed the 1st deadline. Any idea how long the Fos will give them? Already had one claim found in my favour by Fos for wonga so hopeful!
Nick says
Hi, I’ve just had this reply and just want a bit of advice whether i should take the offer or not?
I remind you that upon confirming your monthly income and expenditure within the loan application, you specifically agreed to the following disclaimer: “I agree that the financial information provided is accurate and I have considered potential and future income and outgoings in determining my ability to repay the loan requested”.
We understand our responsibility as a lender is to ensure each loan we approve is affordable and I am of the opinion that the checks performed in respect of your applications were both adequate and appropriate. We only approved your loans once we had checked and were satisfied you could afford to repay them.Although I am satisfied that your applications underwent sufficient credit and affordability checks, I can see you deferred the first loan on four occasions. Whilst this was permissible at the time, the current regulations stipulate a loan cannot be deferred more than twice. As a resolution, I am proposing to refund the interest and charges, plus 8% statutory interest per annum for the final two rollovers of loan one. This would result in a refund to you of £82.44.
This is with Uncle Buck.
I had 2 loans from them. The first to pay off another lender which i then rolled over every month for 4 months. i eventually paid that one off and re-loaned 12 days later
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK, then you could go back to them and say that you are happy with that refund on loan one but you also want a refund of the interest you paid on loan two as they should not have given you that loan, only 12 days after the first loan had been repaid when the first loan had been rolled four time.
Nick says
Thanks Sara
i’ll keep you updated as to how i get on.
Chantel says
Thank you so much for this site, 8 week deadline yesterday, have had 3 debts written off completely and received interest back of nearly £300 (total of £2,000) had to take a few more to the ombudsman for failure to reply and for not upholding one that is clearly irresponsible lending, lending each time again the day I repaid on 12 occasions in 13 months. Thank you I feel like a weight has been lifted x
Mike says
Hi, I got rejected by QQ so went to the Obmundsmen who sent me a letter in the post asking me to provide certain details (despite me providing them in the initial claim). I sent these to the email address given 3 weeks ago now but haven’t seen a recognition email or letter, is that normal?
How long would I likely be waiting for the first response from the Obmundsmen now?
Many Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
At thei point the ombudsman will be waiting for QQ to provide their case file, this can take a few weeks. Then it will be in the queue to be picked up by an adjudicator. this is normally between 10 and 14 weeks, but it does depend on how slow QQ is in supplying their information.
Mike says
Thanks Sara
That’s good to know that it’s normal to not receive acknowledgment. I’ll prepare myself for the worst which looks like it would be 3 months from making the complaint to the ombudsmen.
Allison says
If it helps. I sent mine to FOS on 24th March ..I got a complete refusal from QQ at first. They made a derisory offer in the queue whilst delaying sending their file, which I rejected. It was £2 over clearing my outstanding last loan and it’s interest from one random P2P loan picked as being unaffordable – I’m sure because the figures matched. On Friday last week adjudicator ruled in my favour for every loan. So 13 weeks… obv QQ haven’t replied yet but that was my timescale so far.
Mike says
Thanks for that. If the adjudicator ruled in your favour, can you accept that offer and then it’s just awaiting QQ to pay up?
Allison says
Yes Mike. I’ve said yes (obviously) but QQ have to accept too, otherwise It goes to an ombudsman.
I’ve had Mr Lender refuse adjudicator decision so not holding my breath and that’s now been waiting for an ombudsman for 3 months.
Stephen Green says
Hi, can I apply for payday loan refunds even if i’m currently in a debt management plan?
Some of the lenders I borrowed from in the past are not on my DMP.
Thanks in advance.
Stephen.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes you can. Where a lender is in your DMP, a refund will first be used to clear the balance you owe. Where a lender isn’t in your DMP then you should get a cash refund and you can use that to pay off some of the other DMP debts.
Daniel says
Hello all,
I have been reading this page and it got me thinking about my payday fiasco. I was borrowing from PDL for a number of years, so I had a look at my bank statements and was amazed at what I had borrowed in the past on the frequency of this, I was in a cycle of lending that I couldn’t get out of. Thankfully i am now on the right path and debt free.
[sorry but I have deleted the very long list of loans! Sara}
just some of my 90 loans detailed above, do i have a case should i lodge the complaint ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry but I have deleted the very long list of loans! Lots of people are reading this on their mobiles and such long comments make it difficult
You should definitely put complaints in and if don’t get a good offer, send them to the finanical ombudsman to decide!
It would be good if you can use your bank statements to work out how much interest you paid to Wonga and Sunny. Then if they make you an offer and you aren’t sure how good it is, come back here and ask?
Daniel says
Thanks Sara
Apologies for the list of loans
The interest I have paid is about 5,500 pounds I worked out from my bank statements
I have put the initial request for all the details of my loans in now
I will come back and ask if and when I get an offer
Thanks
James says
Hello
First of all, thank you for an amazing website that has given me the confidence to make complaints to the numerous lenders I took out loans with.
I have had mixed responses from lenders, some have helpful and some not. The worst being lending stream who rejected my complaint of 19 loans and is now waiting allocation to an adjudicator. I have also referred quick quid to the ombudsman after a derisory offer.
I have however received an offer from PDUK after they upheld my complaint. It seems a good offer, although it may be that I could receive more if I went to the ombudsman. Any advice would be appreciated.
Out of the 18 loans taken out they have accepted irresponsible lending on loans 4-7 and on loan 18, they have offered to return all interest plus 8% which equals around £1500. However, them not refunding on loans 8-17 makes little sense. When I queried this, suggesting their decision seemed arbitrary, they stated ‘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.’
Although I am tempted to accept the offer, I think I will refer to the FOS, as if they are accepting irresponsible lending on loans 4-7, surely they should on 8-17 too? This would lead to an offer more than twice as much.
Thank you again Debt Camel, the advice on your website is changing my life.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It does sound odd to not refund the later loans – unless your income had increased or your other debts/expenses had fallen of course. But if that didn’t happen, well you may be able to get a lot more from the ombudsman!
Nigel Walker says
Does anybody have any experience with Sunny agreeing with the adjudicator? Just had an email from adjudicator agreeing that 25 out of 32 loans should be refunded. Do Sunny usually agree with them and if so how long am I looking at before this could be settled (sent original complaint last November!) Thank you
Soph says
Hi Nigel, my experience was that Sunny originally offered refunds on loans 1-5 and 20-24. Adjudicators decision was they should honour those loans in addition to 6-19 (so all loans upheld). Adjudicator sent their decision to Sunny in May and on day 14 Sunny responded to the adjudicator agreeing this. I sent my bank details to the adjudicator on the same day and the money was in my account 7 days later. Hope that helps.
Nigel Walker says
That’s a great help thanks. Just wondered if was going to be months or weeks! Thanks again
Holly Jane says
I just received a reply from p2p asking for bank statements but they havent given me a statement of my account. Should I wait until they send that or send my bank statements now?
Also, do I need to send a credit report or will the bank statements be enough?
Thank you!
Holly Jane says
Sorry, can I just ask, the number of bank statements needed is about 25! Is this ok? Also, I have a noddle account for my credit report but it says it has to be experian or callcredit, although it says only to send this if it is a credit reporting complaint.
Sorry to ask so many questions but I’m scared of doing something wrong.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Noddle is a Callcredit report, so that one is easy to send.
You don’t have to send P2P your bank statements. To be honest I don’t think they tend to look at them, they just ask to make the process seem difficult so some people give up. But if you have them to hand, why not? If you are going to send them, send them now, no point in delaying.
Holly Jane says
Thanks Sarah.
Maria k says
Hi all,
I wrote to WDA and sunny 8 weeks ago asking for a breakdown of all my loans – I didn’t officially make a complaint (I did step one of Sara’s advice) and on the last day both wrote to me stating that they would refund me £2100 and £2700 respectively. I have of course accepted as that is pretty much all the interest on the loans. That was two days ago and I’ve just checked my account and WDA has already deposited the money into my account with Sunny stating it will be in within 3-5 days. Thank you all especially Sara for this great website as I would not have known I was able to get anything back! X
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That’s great ????
The step one template letter kicks Off the official complaint even though it is so short!
John says
Hi I am just wondering can I claim interest back from 11811money, image had a number of loans from them over the last couple of years and would be a great help if I could claim back any paid interest from them. This website helped me claim money back from multiple pay day loans in the past. Keep up the good work here
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes quite a few people have had refunds from 118 Money, especially if they had more than one loan or topped one up. Will probably have to go to the Ombudsman.
rich says
I have just won a case against quickquid via the ombudsman, they agreed to pay me an amount back which i accepted.
then yesterday I received an email from them saying that they wont be paying me anything but that I still owe them money, I have gone back to the ombudsman regarding this but can they change an offer after it has been accepted?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Was this offer agreed at the adjudicator level or the second Ombudsman stage?
Have they agreed on which loans should be refunded but they are now saying that the refund isn’t enough to clear your balance? Or are they saying they have now changed their mind?
rich says
this was agreed at adjudicator level
there was no mention of clearing any outstanding amounts as they had sold it on, they have now quoted totally different figures to what they gave the ombudsman – stating that a certain amount was been discarded from fees and charges but that I was left with another amount to pay.
I have gone back to the adjudicator for further information and another copy of the paperwork they sent me as the email will no longer open.
rich says
I have a reply back from quickquid and they are saying the adjudicator has got it wrong and they have sent me a screen shot of what they stated to the adjudicator and that is they are writing off some of the debt but i would still owe them some.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Was this an offer that QQ just made? Has the adjudicator actually reached a decision on your case?
Ben says
I’ve just received a decision from the Adjudicator for one of complaints at the FO.
They have agreed with me that all my loans were unaffordable, this was for 5 loans, lots of deferrals and was given a flat out refusal from Payday Express. I must say that the Adjudicator I had was brilliant, he listened to everything I said and I went in to great detail so he fully understood what had occurred.
The debt was with PRAC so the Adjudicator has requested they buy the debt back as well and remove any negative information. If this goes through and I’m hoping Payday Express agree, I have managed to remove 6 defaults (some not in relation to payday loans) in the last 6 months and I have 1 remaining. Which was Payday UK for 2 loans on exactly the same days I drew 2 of the Payday Express loans. I’m hoping they take the same view.
Do you generally have the same Adjudicator for each of your cases?
Whilst I haven’t had any monies refunded the removal of the defaults is worth 10xs anything they can give. My biggest is Wonga and that will be some time yet as a lot were over 6 years ago. I’m hoping for 5k so I’m sitting tight with that one.
It all takes time and can feel laborious/frustrating but it is worth it.
Scott says
Hi Sara,
I have received an email response from quickquid after sending step 1, asking that as my email is regarding a complaint I will need to send bank statements and payslips from when I took the loans. This is from a number of years ago and I no longer have access to that bank account and no longer work in the same business. I was going to respond with my previous addresses, email and DOB like you previously suggested, would that suffice?
Again thanks very much for your help so far:)
Scott
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you do set about getting your old bank statements – if QQ offers one of their poor refunds you will need these to take the complaint to the ombudsman. It is usually straightforward to get bank statements from a closed account.
If you have the bank statements there is no need to have payslips.
” I was going to respond with my previous addresses, email and DOB like you previously suggested, would that suffice?” that would confirm your identity, but they aren’t asking about that, they want to look at whether the loans are affordable.
You don’t have to give bank statements to QQ – if you do it may help your complaint but and often they don’t seem to pay any attention to them.
Josh says
Hi,
Like Scott I’ve also sent step 1 and began the process for a refund.
They replied within hours asking for bank statements and credit files,
Should I reply with my bank statements even though they show gambling use? If not how should I word it telling them I’m not willing to send my bank statements?
It seems from the email they’re waiting for me to confirm I’m asking for a subject accesss request, should I wait 8 weeks or reply immediately with all details?
Thanks again
Josh
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You could say you will supply any further information to the ombudsman but you would like them to consider your complaint as it stands. Add that they haven’t yet sent the statement of account which you have asked for.
peter ludlam says
Hello just had a reply from Wonga for information request and complaint. Sent me the loan information but have done nothing about complaint. What would be my next move and does this consist of irresponsible lending.
30/08/11 loan 23/03/12 loan 12/07/12 loan
16/12/11 loan 30/04/12 loan 15/09/12 loan
08/01/12 loan 18/05/12 loan 05/10/12 loan
24/02/12 loan 15/06/12 loan
any advice would be great thanks
peter
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is a lot of borrowing – from Dec 2011 to October 2012, there was only one month when you didn’t borrow.
If you used my template step one letter then that has already started your affordability complaint. You could now use the info on the loans to send them a more detailed step 2 complaint.
This complaint will almost certainly have to go to the Ombudsman and it will be very slow there as many of your loans are over 6 years old. But complain now and just sit back and wait.
Mark says
I started my claims against 7 companies in December 17. Below is an update of where I am now for those wondering on timescales.
Ferratum: Agreed to write off outstanding balance of £498 without going to FOS.
Lending Stream: FOS found in my favour and I received a refund of £2874 this month.
Payday express: FOS found in my favour and I received a refund of £912 this month.
Wageday Advance, Wonga, Pounds2pocket, Quick quid claims are still with the FOS awaiting decisions.
It is a long drawn out process but well worth it.
Also for those wondering, don’t worry about gambling showing up on your bank statements, I was a compulsive gambler which got me in the mess in the first place. My bank statements showed hundreds of pounds per month on internet gambling.
Start the process now, you have nothing to lose!
Russell says
Hi
I just wanted to check that I have sent the correct 1st email to complain to payday loans companies, as a little confused as I think I may have mixed up stage 1 & stage 2 & got ahead of myself.
This is what I wrote slightly editing Sara’s template.
Should if just asked for the info 1st before mentioning a complaint?
Dear Sir/Madam
I am making a complaint to you about irresponsible lending.
To help me explain the details, I am making a Subject Access Request, asking for a list of my loans, showing for each loan when it was taken out, how much interest and charges you added and what I repaid.
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.
Under GDPR you are not allowed to charge me for this information.
You should never have given me these unaffordable loans. 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
I look forward to your response
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That looks fine. In fact it looks like the step one template letter! But there is no problem if you want to change the wording.
Russell says
Thanks Sara
U have had a few replies.
Quickquid said they wanted payslips etc.
Others have just said they will Investigate my complaint, so will just sit tight.
Lloyd Waller says
I have a personal loan with very high interest from everyday loans that has forced me to borrow elsewhere for everyday bills. Am I entitled to claim back anything ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The affordabilty rules for payday loans also apply to other lending eg your loan from Everyday Loans.
You need to be able to show that the monthly repayments are unaffordable for you and that EL should have realised if they had checked your application properly. It can be easier if you topped up a loan from them or took out a second one, but people have won single large loan cases against the bad credit lenders.
Take the payday loan template letter above and change it so it is clear that you just had one loan, or a loan and a top up. Expect the complaint to be rejected and to have to send this to the FOS.
With a loan you still owe money on, if you win the complaint the award is to reduce the amount outstanding so that in total you only pay back what you borrowed. If you can’t afford the current repayments without borrowing more each month, that needs to stop, so ask EK for an affordable repayment plan for the loan and don’t agree to repay more than you can actually afford. This doesn’t harm your case, it shows the loan is unaffordable! If you have a lot of other debts it is often simpler to set up a debt management plan with StepChange.
Derek says
Just a message to say thank you so much Sara. I’m so glad I stumbled across your website. Got my final response from Wage day advance yesterday, and have agreed to a final settlement of £2401.85 and £1100 of outstanding debt written off, all from simply following your two step approach. I did the same with Quick Quid and Payday Uk but there final response not so positive, as they said I should have realised about irresponsible lending when I entered a DMP back in 2013. Off to the Ombudsman they go!!! Thanks again Sara.
brizzle says
After taking into consideration what you have stated through your complaint, we have been in contact with SLL who have confirmed you have an outstanding balance with them of £1,265.98.
However, we would be willing to recall your account from SLL and reduce your outstanding balance to the original capital amount borrowed of £1,000.00.
Further to this, as you have already paid £469.02 to Mr Lender and £15.00 to SLL, we will reduce your balance to the remaining capital amount of £515.98. This new balance can be repaid via an affordable repayment plan.
Furthermore, once the balance has been settled, we are able to remove any adverse information from your credit file.
Upon acceptance of our offer, it will mean you have not paid any interest towards your final loan with Mr Lender.
That’s off 5 loans which I paid over £3000+ interest would I be best going FOS?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That would be a good offer if it was your only loan from Mr Lender. Your previous 4 loans that were repaid completely – can you say for each of them the amount you borrowed and the interest you paid? Also what were the “gaps”, the time between repaying one loan and taking out the next – between loan 1/2,2/3,3/4,4/5 ?
brizzle says
1st loan was £300 borrowed £825 interest paid settled 25/1/13 taken out 3/3/12
2nd £600 Borrowed £360 interest settled 29/8/14 taken out 25/6/14
3rd £830 borrowed £686.14 interest settled 26/6/15 taken out 31/12/14
4th £760 borrowed £642.46 interest settled 29/1/16 taken out 30/7/15
5th £1000 borrowed £489.03 interest sold to DCA capital paid £333.32 taken out 11/4/16
What are your thoughts?
Every month I rolled over, my credit score would be poor, as I had other payday loans during that time.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well it’s not an easy case to guess what the ombudsman would decide. You rolled the first loan 8 times – not good! but then there was an 18 month gap before your next loan. And you never took out another loan in less than a month. It will depend a lot on what your credit record and bank statements look like, but unless your credit record is very bad the borrowing from this lender is so patchy it’s possible you may not do better than their current offer.
you could go back and ask for your current loan to be writen off? See what they say?
Steve says
Hi Sara,
I need some advice please. It’s 2 questions that are bothering me. It it still worth pursuing a refund when quite a few of my payday loans are older than 6 years? Also, if I was already on a debt management plan from the start, which contained bank credit cards and store cards only, and then I took out payday loans which went out of control (11 payday lenders), would this support my case? As it does show the loans should not have been given to me in the first instance.
Just to let you know I did not add any of the payday loans to the debt management plan, I just held tight and paid them all off.
Let me know Sara
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes it’s worth claiming if the debts are older than 6 years. Some lenders are paying out, others are still arguing with the Ombudsman and the case will in that case be slow. But give it a go!
Obviously if for a lender there are 7 loans and 2 are over 6 years it makes sense at the Ombudsmanto agree to dropping the earlier two, but just start off by asking for a refund for the lot.
Being in a DMP usually means your credit record was very poor, so the lenders should have taken that into account. It may not mean they shouldn’t have lent at all but if you continued to borrow it is another piece of eveidence they should have taken into account and decided that the loans were not affordable for you.
Steve says
Thank you Sara, I appreciate your advice.
I was borrowing, then deferring it or paid it off in full and borrowed again. It was a nightmare. I must have been paying around £400 a month in interest every month for about 6 years.
The only think I’m worried about is if the lenders want bank statements from over 7 years ago which I cannot give as statements only go back 7 years? Some of my loans were 8/9 years ago.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you could try sending the bank a Subject Access Request that sometimes magically produces older statements. Do this now as it can take a month or so to get them.
Alan says
Hi,
I’m wondering if anyone can help, I made a complaint to Lending Stream on irresponsible lending, they agreed that 4 were irresponsible and offered a refund of £461 which I haven’t done anything with. As there are 8 other loans over a 4/5 years I decided to complain to FoS, these loans started in 2010 and were taken out between 2010 – 2012. The FoS have written back and said that it doesn’t look like something they can look into ‘because according to the date of when the policy was sold the business you’ve complained about isn’t covered by the FoS. Has anyone come across this for Lending Stream/Gain Credit LLC before? I’m planning to call tomorrow but any info advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes this crops up from time to time, for LS and for some other lenders, for no good reason as far as I can see. Go back to the FOS and say lending Stream had a Consumer Credit License 0620194 from the OFT and so complaints from that period can be considered by the FOS.
Alan says
Thanks Sara, appreciate your advice and all the help you’ve provided everyone!! So far I’ve already claimed £2k back against two of my lenders and this website has been invaluable!! Thanks again!
Victoria says
Hi!
So far found this website really helpful.
I had payday loans from around 2010-2014 with Wage Day Advance, 247 Moneybox, Wonga, Lending Stream, Payday UK and Payday Express, many over lapping and were taken out month on month for about 18 months. All but one of these has been paid off (Wonga)
Iv sent the template emails, but at the moment feel im shooting into the dark as I dont know all the information. Hoping I will feel beter once I get a statement of loans from the above companies.
The fact I had multiple lenders, all at the one time and that they continued to lend to me month on month, does this look like it might be a positive outcome for me?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That sounds like a lot of borrowing. Of those lenders, Wage Day Advance, 247 Moneybox, Payday UK and Payday Express have been paying out on loans that are over 6 years old – Wonga and Lending Stream are still arguing with the Ombudsman about this.
With so many lenders it is a fair bet that some of the cases will need to go to the Ombudsman, so this would be a good time to get your old bank statements ready. These can also come in handy to check what a lender tells you about the loans, sometimes a loan is missed off the lenders list!
Victoria says
Great, hopefully I can resolve with all but Wonga & Lending Stream without involving Ombudsman.
I am waiting until I receive a list of the loans with dates before getting bank statements as I am not sure of exact dates and how man loans I actually had with ecach lender.
If i need any other help ill be sure to ask here, and hopefully someone can point me in the right direction :)
Sam says
After sending off my initial complaints to Quickquid and Sunny and account statements I have received these two replies back, should I consider sending them anything else or shall I leave it for now?
Quick quid reply
“Dear Sam
Customer ID:
I acknowledge receipt of your correspondence and/or complaint. We take complaints seriously and confirm that we will be conducting a thorough investigation into your concerns and will properly respond to any inquires or requests for information. Please carefully review the below and if necessary, respond to us
3. Complaint – to help us reach a fair complaint outcome in a timely manner (and where appropriate provide an offer of redress), please provide us with the following information as soon as possible:
· Bank statements (at the point/s you took out your loan/s with us)
· Payslips (at the point/s you took out your loan/s with us)
· Any additional information relating to your financial circumstances (at the point you took out your loan/s with us)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you have your bank statements? If so, you could send them off – it’s not clear if this makes much difference to QQ’s decision. there is no need to bother with payslips if you have the bank statements.
Sam says
And my sunny reply –
Thank you for contacting us regarding your Sunny account. I am sorry you were unhappy with the service you have received, but I am grateful you have contacted us to tell us why. To make you aware of how we deal with complaints, I have enclosed a copy of our leaflet entitled ‘Internal Complaints Procedure’ for your records.
We will investigate your complaint, and will contact you following this to provide you with our final response. This will be within the eight week period afforded to us by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Financial Ombudsman Service. Should you wish to contact me in the interim, you can write to me at Elevate (UK) Ltd, Blenheim House, Newmarket Road, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk IP33 3SB, email me at customerrelations@elevatecredit.co.uk and I will be happy to help.
Yours sincerely,
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sunny aren’t asking for anything. Do you have a list of your loans from them?
Victoria says
Received a quick reply back with a list of my loans from Quid Market.
It looks to me that across 10 loans and 2 roll overs I have paid £898.93 in interest of loans totalling £2330.
In everyones experience will they A – Make an offer? and B – What is an acceptable offer for them to make do you think?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They are quite a small lender so not many people reading this will have complained to them. I find it’s easier to think about whether an offer is reasonable when it is sitting on the table. Often it is very obvious that is a good offer or it’s very bad, if you aren’t sure, come back and ask when you get it?
Stu says
Hi Sara
I have had my complaint in against Wonga from December 2017.
The adjudicator said he would be looking into my complaint at the end of January so I had to get all the information across by that date.
I still have not heard back from the adjudicator and have tried to contact him once via email.
Is this a normal timescale?
There were around 20 loans since November 2015.
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So it has been nearly 5 months. I suggest you phone the Ombudsman up and ask if there is any further information you can supply – a sort of polite nudge.
Sam says
Hi I accepted an offer of compensation from myjar 8 weeks ago. I made the complaint through a company as I wasn’t aware you could do it yourself and there fee is over £750. However I’ve been chasing them for weeks for updates and asking them to chase up myjar but still have heard nothing. Does it always take this long? It seems a very long time to process a refund. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Myjar aren’t normally difficult about this, sorry but it may be your claims company being useless.
Kathryn Teese says
What is my next step? I have had an email from Mr Lender informing me that my debt was sold to SSL and there address. I have already cleared the debt with SSL does this make any difference to the claim?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, well first they are trying to fob you off. It is Mr lender that shouldn’t have given you the unaffordable loan so they are the one that should reply to your complaint. I suggest you replay telling them that. Also ask if you had any other loans before that one.
If you are in touch with SLL, tell them that you are making an affordability complaint to Mr Lender and ask them not to take any court action until it is resolved.
did you repay the balance in full to SLL or was there a partial settlement?
KATHY says
I really can’t remember, would they tell me if I contacted them, I do have the account no.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you probably would remember if you had had an offer from them to settle the account for less? Yes, you can ask SLL, having the account number will help.
But also go back to mr Lender and say that your debt with SLL has been cleared and you are making an affordabilty complaint about irresponsible lending by Mr Lender and you want them to refund you the interest you have paid on this and any previous loans from them.
David says
Good evening.
Has anyone on here had any luck with amigo or 118?
Had a lon with amigo £3000. Topped up to £6000 and then again to £10000 at there invites.
Pod it all off as borrowed some money and have no done the same hinging again stupidly.
Borrowed £4000 and now topped up to £10000. Guarantor is my 69 year old Mum and I only warn £18000 now. Was unemployed for the first loans.
Would this be a case ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
118 – yes lots of success. Use the standard payday loan template but change to remove the word Payday and make it clear you only had one loan or a loan and a top up, so remove the ‘trapped in a spiral of debt’ bit. Don’t be disappointed if 118 reject the complaint, send it it to the ombudsman.
Amigo – the first few complaints are just starting to go through. Borrowing and then topping up will make your complaint stronger. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/how-to-complain-guarantor-loan/. You need to read that page carefully as some of the points are rather different. Questions are best asked over there.
Also note that your mum may be able to complain too if she can’t afford the repayments from her income, not by selling her house – see https://debtcamel.co.uk/amigo-complaints-by-guarantor/.
Eric says
Hi David
My 8 week deadline with 118118 was yesterday and I finally had a final response! They agreed to removing all interest from my outstanding loan and to pay back just the original amount I borrowed.
KATHY says
Hi Sara, I contacted SLL and they informed me that my debt with Mr Lender was £700 and I settled it with a partial payment of £440 am I still entitled to claim from Mr Lender.
Also I received an email from Wonga with details of two loans I had with them is it time for 2nd stage letter to them?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The partial settlement will reduce any refund, as you have paid less interest to be refunded. Can you ask Mr Lender how much you borrowed and whether you made any payments to them before the loan was sold to SLL. Also if you had any previous loans from them.
Wonga, yes you can now use this info to write the 2nd stage comapint letter. In it point out of the second loan was larger than the first and if the time between the loans was short.
Emma says
Looks like I’m sending another one to FOS ????
247 Moneybox 11 Loans in 11 months. 24 hour gap between them but they have rejected my complaint on the day the deadline ended! ????
The measures we used to ensure we lent responsibly included:
– Comprehensive credit, ID and employment checks to assess affordability
– Affordable and variable loan amounts based on disposable income
– Charging you interest on a daily basis, as opposed to monthly, so that if you do repay early you can save money
– Ensure you have all the information you require to make an informed and sensible borrowing decision. If at any time you require extra information please do not hesitate to contact us via the website, email or phone.
John M says
Hi Emma,
This is there standard response. Send it to FOS and tell 247 Moneybox you are doing so. In my case they started negotiating with me after I told them I had sent to the FOS because they want to get it resolved and avoid the FOS if they can. Do NOT accept their first offer. Keep pushing with them. I started at £500 then got to a full refund of £1230 so worth putting a bit of effort in I would say.
Wish you well with them
Emma says
I have replied saying I am not happy with this decision and have forwarded it onto FOS.
I have another complaint with the FOS that has been going on since Feb. Was hoping this one could have got resolved faster.
Hopefully they do come back with something. May-April and no gaps so I’m hoping I have a strong case.
Well done on your case! I have everything crossed.
Emma says
Hi John M
Just thought I’d update you and say they replied today and said exactly what you said they would so fingers crossed! ???? thanks for your advise.
John M says
Hi Emma,
I’m really glad they have done the same thing. Do push them it will be worth your while. Do let me know how you get on
zoe says
So I first sent my complaint to Lending stream in Oct and I had a reply in dec to say that they would refund me for the first five loans (I had 16 in total) I declined the offer and sent to the FO in jan I have had a response today from the FO and have advised they agree with the first five loans and have found in my favour the loans 8 to 16, ls have till early next month to respond, will keep you updated as LS are a nightmare to deal with.
Matt says
Hi
I just got an offer of just over £600 from the moneyshop regarding payday loans from 2008.
They are not upholding a previous 13 loans as they are requesting bank statements, which I don’t have.
I’m thinking I should take the offer?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you have the details of the loans they are upholding, does the £800 included added 8% interest? Have you tried to get the previous bank statements?
Matt says
I have the loan statements
Yes 8% added
Tried with NatWest and said only 7 years back they go
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So how much interest did you pay on the previous loans – and how much on those they are refunding? Are you still with NatWest?
Matt says
There’s 13 more loans with about £400 interest.
Not with NatWest anymore.
So if I can’t get the statements the ombudsman will probably reject it?
Feel like pursuing but I could do with £600 tbh
Sara (Debt Camel) says
In theory the Ombudsman will look at a case if there are no statements. But it may not be easy. this could take a long while. Tough call… if you decide to go to the ombudsman do send NatWest a Subject Access request to see if you get lucky.
Matt says
Many thanks for this site and your time. Without this I never would have know I could claim this back!
Darren says
Hey all just had a final response from peachy declining my complaint on grounds I only used them 3 times and I was living at home with parents. The 3rd loan I had to go on a management plan. Is it worth me taking to ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did your loans get larger? What were the gaps between repaying one and taking the next out? What would your credit record have showed – lots of other borrowing? Problems?
Andrew Russell says
Received an offer from Wonga on the final day of the 8 week time limit, I know the offer is a lot less than it should be as they are only paying out on 9 loans out of 62. Is there any point in challenging the offer with Wonga without going to the FO as I really don’t want to wait another few months as I could really use the money right now?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Unless there is a factual error (eg they have said you have 40 loans not 60), then there is no point in asking Wonga to look at it again.
You may need the money now, but you could get a huge amount extra by going to the Ombudsman. It may only be a few months – unless some of your loans are over 6 years old? How much interest have you paid on the 9 loans they are refunding? how much interest on the ones they aren’t refunding?
Andrew says
I have an offer of £2125.40 on the 9 loans, there are 63 loans in total but they have said 37 of the loans fall outside of the parameters i.e older than 6 years. This is what they have offered!
Based on the above, there may have been more that we could have done to assist you and so we have decided to uphold your complaint.
Additionally, we will also request for the redressed loans to be removed from your credit record. This may take up to 30 working days to be updated fully on your credit file.
We would like to offer £1,591.11 which is an amount equal to the interest and fees on the following loans: [deleted]
Interest of 8% simple per year has been added to the total redress for each loan from the date the loan was taken out until the date of calculation. Please see the outline below.
Total Interest and Fees £1,591.11
8% interest net £534.61
Total Settlement £2,125.72
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So they are saying 37 are over 6 years – if you take these to the Ombudsman you may well win a huge amount of money but it could take a long while.
Under 6 years they are refunding 9 out of 26 – that is honestly not a very good offer unless they have picked all the largest loans in which case it may be OK, but not good – quite often Wonga seems to pick loans completely at random.
So your choices are to accept, to send the loans under 6 years to the Ombudsman when you may well get more than twice as much in a few months, or send the whole lot to the Ombudsman which could be 10k as the 8% interest really adds up on older loans. Not an easy decision.
Andrew says
Yeah what ever i decide thank you for your advice its a fantastic website.
Kevin Sloane says
I have revived a final response from Wonga
——————————
Our understanding of your complaint
· You have stated that you attempted to discuss your personal circumstances with us; however you found that we were unhelpful.
….
Assisting customers when they fall into difficulty is important to us. However, our records do not show that you advised us of your circumstances. Had you done so we would have taken any necessary action to assist you.
….
Outcome
Having looked in detail at your complaint and the information we had access to when we made our lending decisions, we have not found any indication that your loans were unaffordable. On that basis, we are unable to uphold your complaint.
You have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, free of charge. The Ombudsman might not be able to consider your complaint if:
· what you’re complaining about happened more than six years ago, and
· you’re complaining more than three years after you realised (or should have realised) that there was a problem.
We think that your complaint was made outside of these time limits but this is a matter for the Ombudsman to decide. If the Ombudsman agrees with us, they will not have our permission to consider your complaint and so will only be able to do so in very limited circumstances.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That was almost all standard stuff they send everyone so I have deleted it, leaving the bits that matter for you.
They have rejected your complaint and say the Ombudsman will not have their permission to look at it. this is not a decision that Wonga can make, it is a decision for the Ombudsman.
At the moment Wonga is arguing with the Ombudsman over whether loans over 6 years old can be considered. The Ombudsman thinks they can where you have only found out in the last 3 years that you can complain. Some other payday lenders have given in and are now refunding these older loans.
So I suggest you send your complaint to the Ombudsman, explain when and how you found out about these complaints (did you see a link to this on a different website? an advert on Facebook? did a friend tell you about them? There are no “wrong” answers, just say what happened in your case and how long ago), and settle back expecting this to take a long while. You may eventually get a very nice suprise!
Kevin Sloane says
You have indicated in your complaint that you experienced difficulty repaying one or more of your loans. You did not, however, contact us at the time to let us know about your financial difficulty. Had you done so, we would have been aware of your circumstances and could have put in place a suitable repayment plan or other arrangement.
If you are struggling financially, you can contact one of the UK`s free debt advice services, such as:
Kevin Sloane says
Outcome
Having looked in detail at your complaint and the information we had access to when we made our lending decisions, we have not found any indication that your loans were unaffordable. On that basis, we are unable to uphold your complaint.
You have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, free of charge. The Ombudsman might not be able to consider your complaint if:
· what you’re complaining about happened more than six years ago, and
· you’re complaining more than three years after you realised (or should have realised) that there was a problem.
We think that your complaint was made outside of these time limits but this is a matter for the Ombudsman to decide. If the Ombudsman agrees with us, they will not have our permission to consider your complaint and so will only be able to do so in very limited circumstances.
Matty says
Hello!
Dear Sara
Thank you in advance for any help with this.
I currently have a £950 loan with Sunny. I have repeated this loan almost monthly for the last 3/4 years. I will need to repay this for approximately £1174.80 each month. I want to escape from this cycle and I believe that I have a case to do so in that I’ve been constantly borrowing the same amount again and again. I probably have had 100 or more loans so imagine I could be due a lot of interest?
Do I wait until I (somehow) have repaid the loan in full before making a complaint or do I do it straight away?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Complain now and ask for an affordable repayment plan for the current loan – something you can repay each month without borrowing any more from Sunny or from anyone else.
If you don’t complain now, but try to repay this one, then if you are struggling you will just borrow more money from someone else and so the cycle continues.