The Financial Ombudsman (FOS)’s latest quarterly statistics, published on 25 August 2020, highlighted a rise in the number of complaints received about some types of high cost credit. In the period April-June 2020, new complaints about home credit rose by 77% to 1,166.
UPDATE in the second half of 2020, FOS was sent over 10,000 new Provident complaints!
Provident is the major lender in the home credit market, also known as doorstep lending. When Provident published its results for the six months ending 30 June 2020, it reported an increase in complaints during 2020 but did not give numbers.
In this article, I look at how Provident is handling affordability complaints.
If you have borrowed a lot from Provident, read A template letter to ask for a refund from Provident and think if you have a case to make a claim. There are thousands of comments below that article, so you can see how other people are getting on with their complaints.
Contents
Background – affordability complaints
The regulator’s rules say a lender has to make appropriate checks that a loan is affordable for the borrower. A loan is only affordable if the customer can repay the loan without having to borrow more money or get behind with their other bills and debts.
The current regulator is the FCA, but this duty to check affordability also applied before 2014 when the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) was the regulator.
If a lender rejects a complaint, the customer can send it to FOS for a decision.
If a loan is small, FOS would not expect a lender to make detailed checks. But one of the things it looks for is “re-lending”, where a lender keeps giving loans to a customer, as this can be a sign that the loans may be making a customer’s position worse, not helping them.
From 2015 increasing numbers of affordability complaints have been made first about payday lenders and now about other sorts of high-cost credit. Doorstep loans often involve prolonged re-lending. The FCA found that in 2015-17:
74% of home-collected credit consumers spent up to 12 months in continuous debt and around 10% had 12 or more loans.
and the recent PWC report said:
its use becomes habitual with customers relying on it as a source of income.
The standard affordability rules apply to Provident
Provident sometimes seems to suggest it is a special case, that the affordability rules are different, or matter less, for doorstep lending. It isn’t clear why.
When the FCA rejected calls for a limit on refinancing for home-collected credit, it noted that its rules already say that lenders must assess affordability before agreeing a new loan and must not encourage unsustainable refinancing. So the FCA was saying that the normal affordability checking rules apply to Provident.
The FCA’s recent review on re-lending was addressed to all high-cost credit lenders, including home-collected credit. It said:
We remind firms of our Dear CEO letter from October 2018, sent to all [payday lenders] (but which equally applies to other firms in the high-cost lenders portfolio). In that, we highlighted the risks in relation to repeat borrowing given that it could indicate a pattern of dependency on credit that is harmful to the borrower. Rigorous affordability assessments are key to avoiding harm in this area, and firms should ensure they are making proportionate and responsible assessments of the sustainability of borrowing.
Provident also points out its customers don’t need to take new loans if they are struggling as they could ask to repay more slowly, with no added interest. Provident said recently in a response to a customer’s affordability complaint:
I would like to highlight that had your Agent been aware of your financial difficulties then this would have been considered prior to issuing any further loans as it is not beneficial for you or Provident to issue loans knowing repayments cannot be maintained.
If you were unable to maintain your repayments your Agent would have been happy to make arrangements to suit your circumstances. Provident do not add additional charges or interest to loans when payments are missed, so a payment arrangement would not have increased how much you would have to pay back to us – this flexibility would also mean you could meet other priority expenses knowing you were not being financially penalised by us in doing so.
Debt advisers know it is usually simple to get Provident to accept a lower repayment offer. The problem is that many customers have no idea about this… Instead a customer who needed more money might be offered refinancing or an additional loan by their agent.
But in any case, a friendly approach to forbearance is simply not relevant to whether a lender made a proper lending decision for a loan. That would be like arguing that it is OK to break a speed limit because your car has very good brakes.
Provident’s complaint handling
FOS decisions
FOS describes how it looks at affordability complaints in general in its page on Unaffordable lending.
In August 2020, the Kerrigan v Elevate judgment decided that if a lender breached CONC rules on affordability assessments, this was likely to constitute an unfair relationship under the Consumer Credit Act and redress could be a refund of interest paid on loans, which is what FOS typically orders if it upholds an affordability complaint. Although the lender in the case was Sunny, a payday lender, the arguments in the case seem to apply equally to other types of loans.
FOS has given hundreds of adjudicator decisions on Provident cases. And in March 2020 it published a Key Decision for a Provident case, setting out the legal and regulatory background in detail.
These Provident decisions largely follow the pattern of payday loan relending cases, with the first few loans being not refunded as the lender did not have to make detailed affordability assessments, but after a certain point the lender should have looked more closely. If detailed checks on the customer’s income and expenditure would have shown the loan was unaffordable, then the customer should be refunded the interest paid. If loans carried on without any significant break, then after some point all later loans may be assumed to be unaffordable.
Provident falls into line with the FOS approach in 2019
The FCA’s DISP rules explain that lenders should learn from FOS decisions:
DISP 1.3.2A These procedures should, taking into account the nature, scale and complexity of the respondent’s business, ensure that lessons learned as a result of determinations by the Ombudsman are effectively applied in future complaint handling.
But in 2018 and 2019 Provident was dismissing or making very poor offers to most complaints. These were not in line with FOS decisions, as is shown by the fact that customers have been winning about 85% of Provident cases. And in 2019 Provident rejected many FOS adjudicator decisions, leading to a backlog of cases building up.
Then in late 2019/early 2020, Provident settled all its outstanding FOS cases in line with typical adjudicator decisions. Here is one customer’s settlement:
But in 2020 Provident’s complaint handling is back to being poor
After clearing the FOS backlog, I had hoped that Provident would continue to settle new customer complaints using the same approach that FOS would. And Provident’s latest results said:
an increasing proportion of complaints are being managed internally, reducing referrals to the FOS.
Which sounds good.
But unfortunately, some people with strong-sounding cases are reporting being given rejections or poor offers. Here are a couple of recent comments:
- In total I had 15 loans totalling £14,200, the interest charges were £14,063. They have offered £3670.03 (inc 8% interest). I think this amount is far too low as they have only upheld 5 loans (2,3,7,8,9) which were all of relatively low balances.
- I had 45 loans in total with interest amount of 16,173.98. I think their offer of £5,125 is low and random. They have upheld my complaint for 11 of the 45 loans. I can’t work out how they come to decide that loans 5,6,7,12,13,17,18,29,34,43 and 44 were unaffordable but the rest were affordable.
Those are not the sort of decisions you would expect FOS to make. In one case, in the middle of a string of loans Provident upheld a £1000 loan but decided the next loan for £2500 was affordable.
The FCA’s DISP rules say a firm should:
explain to the complainant promptly and, in a way that is fair, clear and not misleading, its assessment of the complaint, its decision on it, and any offer of remedial action or redress
but in the recent decisions, Provident is not setting out why it has selected some loans for a refund but rejected others as being affordable.
When Provident sends a response to a complaint, it usually also send a cheque for the calculated refund. If the customer cashes the cheque, this is accepting the settlement offer so they can’t take their case to FOS.
Update – in 2022, Provident agreed to pay customers who had old uncashed cheques that were too old to bank.
A fair way to handle complaints?
From readers’ comments, it seems that some Provident offers are poor and the letters, although lengthy and full of figures, don’t explain why some loans have been excluded. People may think their case has been assessed properly so there is no point in taking it to FOS.
And many Provident customers are in a vulnerable situation, on a low income and finding money hard to manage. The temptation to cash the cheque may be impossible to resist.
I think the FCA should look into Provident’s complaint handling. If it decides Provident’s offers have been systematically too low, it should tell Provident to re-assess the previous offers and pay a higher amount.
Comments on this page are now closed.
Harry says
I have been waiting since june and still they say there looking into it
jay says
Ive been waiting 12 month, good luck
Richard Andrews says
I’ve been awarded £1200 for two upheld loans from 2016 but they have just taken it from what I owe on exsisting loans is this right thought I’d get a cheque as I’ve paid the upheld loans off
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How many loans did you have overall?
Richard Andrews says
I still have two loans had 5 in total they upheld to earlier loans but strangely haven’t upheld 3 later loans
I owe them £2700 in total which I pay weekly they are taking £1200 award from that is this standard I haven’t accepted anything yet
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What was the gap between the settlement date of earlier loans being refunded and the date you took the first of the current loans?
Richard Andrews says
About 5months
Richard Andrews says
Update. Not 5 months
1100133845 20/04/2015 £400.00 £240.00 £20.00
1109376007 11/09/2015 £650.00 £533.00 £22.75
1119991737 04/07/2016 £800.00 £712.00 £24.00
1126686888 16/12/2016 £1,800.00 £2,318.40 £39.60
1127443347 13/01/2017 £1,100.00 £1,416.80 £24.20
They up held £800 loan and £650 so date between days
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh that isn’t long at all. I suggest you send the complaint straight to the Financial Ombudsman.
Provident will still reduce your balance even if you do this, so don’t worry if you see that happens. It doesn’t mean you have accepted their poor offer.
Richard Andrews says
Thanks for advice have sent to ombudsman
Chris Bone says
Very interesting. Would be interested to know, and very relevant I feel, whether the “agents” who call at the house(s) are incentivised to issue new loans and/or on basis of weekly collections made. A lot of historic “pop in for a cup of tea” and we’ll get a “Provvy loan for Christmas” with ongoing rapport between borrower and provider which I’m not knocking, but aside from the historical correction required, and as alluded to in the article, the whole model needs to be stripped down including of the course the assessment process over the said cup of tea…easier said than done I suspect.
Debbie says
Its horses for courses!and we’re not popping in for a cuppa as we’re working from home.get your facts right.
Paul says
I used to be a Customer Experience Manager for Provident and we were always pressured into selling new and renewing loans for existing and new customers and our lives were made terribly difficult to a point were we had no choice but to leave. I am glad to see the back of that company
Jen says
I was a Provident agent for about 10 years. We didn’t get paid per loan but we got paid commission on money collected. So if somebody wanted to take out a larger loan & pay off balance on an outstanding smaller one, that classed as collection. Most customers preferred that way as it kept their repayments down. I,personally, would not issue that way unless the balance was very low. A lot used to give out a new £2,000 loan& get them to settle a £900 balance from it.
It was hard-if you are being asked by somebody desperate to get car repaired or buy new washing machine, but you know the options aren’t great. I talked a few people out of loans or suggested better (for them) alternatives
Jayne says
I’ve had 30 loans from provident. I put in a claim in June within 6 weeks they ad written to me twice , the third letter was to tell me they were awarding me £2643. BUT I didn’t get this they awarded me what I owed them and told me in the letter that they had closed my account , as I I was unable to take it further, in my opinion I should of got about £7000 back.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then I think you can send your complaint to the ombudsman. You are within the 6 months period.
Dawn says
Hi please could I ask some advice please ?
Les says
Hi Sara
Over 6 years I had paid provident £57.000 in interest alone it was loan after loan , juggling money constantly, they have agreed to uphold, some of the loans and have offered me £9600 , I have contacted the ombudsman and I am now going to take my complaint to them
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Can I check that £57,000 was the interest you paid? Not the total amount you repaid?
Have they sent you a cheque for £9600? If they have, ask them if you can cash it and continue with the Ombudsman case.
Les says
Yes that was just the interest £57.000, I have contacted the ombudsman and was advised not to cash the cheque yet
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes but go back and ask Provident if you can cash the cheque. If they say No, come back here. This may take a long while to go through the Ombudsman.
Les says
Provident said I can cash it but ombudsman says to wait I don’t know what to do
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Go back and tell FOS that Provident say you can cash it…
Les says
Hi Sara ombudsman said don’t just cash it in a provident customer service person say so
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes I undestand that. But as Provident have said you can cash it and carry on with your FOS complaint, I think you should go back and tell FOS this.
That is a LOT of money. I would rather it was in your account not Provident’s!
Lou says
I’ve just had a cheque from provident and my complaint is with ombudsman and I contacted ombudsman and was told I could cash it and carry on with complaint so I’d check again
Richard says
Is there a cut of date of how far back your claim can be for? And also if you have no history of the loans but the company is provident the loans was with do they have to provide the information about your loan history if you ask for it?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can’t go back further than April 2007. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/refund-doorstep-loans/ which looks at these complaints in detail. It has a template letter which starts off by asking the lender for a list of your loans.
Joe Crabtree says
I worked as a manager for the provident and my agents were always rigorous at making sure people could afford to pay,(that is why I had no arrears customers)the only people who were on reduced payments were the ones who had a bereavement,unexpectedly off work sick,or something had unexpectedly happened,no extra interest was added (like the banks did)every customer was checked and looked after,in my area!!! 1 had 32agents working for me,l worked 7am till 11pm making sure everything went well,it nearly killed me but my ceo was john van kuffler,and the running of the company is for the customers priority,and will always be. The company was founded by Joshua Waddeylove in Bradford in the 1800s and has been going ever since for people who could not have bank accounts for whatever reason has needed this service. The Provident stands for the people of this country and will always be known for the best home collected credit company.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Respect.
I have never said every or even most Provident loans were mis-sold.
But not all agents were careful about checking affordability. And too many customers did get caught in a cycle of never-ending loans. eg they needed a loan for school uniform, but the reason they didn’t have the money was they had been paying the high interest on the previous loan.
Jack says
Warning: We had a long struggle with Provident. Initially, they conveniently offered enough to clear the outstanding loans (£4K). Fortunately, we were in a position to pursue the claim. We ultimately won a full payout for £30K+. Over £25K more than their first offer. Partially upholding complaints is a tactic to limit Provident’s loss; they rely on complainants having to take their first offer. Exercise caution when speaking with Provident on the phone; however nice they seem, it is an opportunity to persuade and influence you to accept the initial decision, which may be loaded in favour of Provident. Don’t agree to any offer over the phone and ALWAYS ask them for their full decision in writing to understand and consider fully. Do not bank any cheque until you have reviewed the offer. If your complaint has been rejected, either in full or part, PLEASE take it to the Ombudsman. It’s a FREE service. The latest figures show that FOS found in the complainants favour in the vast majority of cases.
Remember: Provident are a business and are likely to put their interests before yours. Treat everything they say with caution, as this forum shows they are prepared to interpret regulations and legislation in a way that suits their own needs. Please, please persevere with FOS.
Andy Kane says
Hi there was wondering if you could give me some advice. I have received a offer for £7550 from provident however my total in interest is £32,800 and they are saying that most were affordable even tho I wasn’t able to work due to a car accident. Was wondering how long this took to receive a payment after taking it to the FCA as with the current situation with covid 19 my business isn’t working at all and could do with the money but don’t want to be done out of a good amount either. Thank you for any response…. andy
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Such a difficult situation. Has Provident sent you the cheque yet?
Janine says
I have had an email from my adjudicator today upholding loans 5 to 24, loans 1 to 4 were pre 2007. I sent my case to the FOS in April 2020 and it was picked up in June. Provident stalled in sending my case file over but this was chased by the adjudicator. I had turned down an offer from provident on 4 random small loans for just over £1000. My refund should be about £13000. I just want to say don’t give up on winning against provident.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
well done.
Provident may delay but they do normally payout on adjudicator decisions at the moment, so fingers crossed they accept yours quickly.
Mrs Sylvia Holmes says
I have had numerous ammounts of loans of provident.i have been with them for about 30yrs snd when I put in for ppi they said i had passed the deadline so couldnt put in for it .but i didn’t hear about it till late it wasnt advertised very well
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t think Provident normally charged PPI?
But if you had a lot of loans from Provident then you may be able to make an affordabilty complaint. That is very different from PPI and there is no deadline on making this type of complaint. If you win this sort of complaint you get back a refund of the interest you paid. You can win even if you paid all the loans on time.
Read https://debtcamel.co.uk/refund-doorstep-loans/. This explains what an affordabilty complaint is and has a template letter you can use if you think Provident gave you unaffordable loans.
Karen says
I had a provident loan about 10 yrs ago I’ve put in a claim just kept getting emails bk saying ‘”thanks we’ve got ure email ” and that was it for a while then I said if not sorted out I’m going to financial ombudsman. Soon got them moving but they keep asking for my agent’s name which I can’t remember…feels like they are stooling
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you only had 1 loan 10 years ago you are pretty unlikely to win this.
But if you had more, send the case to the Ombudsman if this is over 8 weeks. As you can see from the article above, provident are often making very low offers so the Ombudsman has to look at it anyway – so the sooner you get your case there the better.
Elaine says
Just had an email from FSO advising Provident to repay interest plus interest to my Mother on 44 loans, by the dates she 5 loans at the same time, they have until 21st September to respond, interest alone is about 30k.
Sheree says
27/07/2014 700.00 charges 574.00
20/12/2013 500.00 charges410.00
11/11/2011 200.00 charges 150.00
08/08/2011 400.00 charges300.00
29/10/2010 300.00 charges225.00
14/09/2009 300.00 charges225.00
24/07/2008 200.00 charges136.00
Hi what’s the chance of winning this been 8 weeks still no update just saying they’re investigating. I couldn’t afford it and a missed payments quite a few times or would pay 2 pound a week especially on the last one for weeks on end. Paid all them off some paid regularly but still struggled, only the last one I only paid about 160 on then it got sold on. Any advice please
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What were the “gaps” between the loan – the time from raping one loan to taking out the next. Sometimes it may have been the same day.
What has happened to the last loan, have you paid it off with the debt collector?
Sheree says
15/09/2009 24pound balance left took out another loan same day
15/09/2009 £300.00 loan
02/11/2010 46pound left took out a loan same day
02/11/2010 300.00 loan
09/08/2011 it says 211.11 collection then On the column underneath 8.89 esr
09/08/2011 400.00 loan
23/12/2013 17.00 left took o it a loan same day
23/12/2013 500.00 loan
28/07/2014 387.22 left took out loan same day but then The next column below says 29/07/2014 72.78 esr?
29/07/2014 700 pound loan
I didn’t pay all the last loan off I only paid 169 of it before it was sold on. On all of my loans from the first one I missed payments regularly and a quite a lot on most of them I paid 2.00 or 5.00 a week if I didn’t miss it. And took out the new loans to pay off the other ones even if a small but left and gwhy were stretched o it far longer then they should’ve been because I wasn’t paying them or paying a tiny amount
Thankyou
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so that was continous borrowing? At FOS you may well get the last 4 loans refunded.
Have you paid off the last loan with the debt collector?
Sheree says
Hi yes I had no gaps between any of the loans. And no I haven’t paid the last loan off it’s with Lowell now. But from day 1 of using Provi I was skipping payments or paying a tiny amount especially after my first two
Sheree says
What would be a reasonable offer?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
as I said, you may well get the last 4 loans refunded if you go to FOS. But it could be more or less. It’s quite a personal opinion what you think a “reasonable” offer would be from provident. I suggest waiting and seeing what they say.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, so I suggest you tell Provident the complaint will go to FOS in two weeks if they haven’t made you an acceptable offer.
laura says
sara wondering if you can help me i have asked provident for a list of my loans theyve said they can only go back to 2012 but i have been taking them from 2008 is there any othet way to get my information so when list came threw it was only from 2012
Laura says
They did same with me. Gave me loan details from 2016-2019 and nothing about the ones from 2006. I don’t know how to get details of them.
Akram says
Hi Sara,
I didn’t pay satsuma any money back but on my credit report they have been stating I’ve been paying back £300 per month since Aug 2014
Sara (Debt Camel) says
surely they must be saying that that you cleared the debt a long while ago then?
Akram says
When they accepted my unaffordablity complaint they said they would remove any negative markers from my credit report without saying what exactly. I have asked for either the whole entry to be removed or at least the information corrected to say I wasn’t paying £300 month and it hasn’t been active for all these years. But I think all they will do is mark it as satisfied which will mean having to wait before I can apply for a mortgage. Could I take satsuma to the FOS to remove this from my credit report?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did you actually repay this debt, if so when?
If no, how large was the loan and did you have any other loans from satsuma before this?
Akram abu-oun says
No I didn’t and when i won my unaffordablity complaint they wiped out at the amount owed. It was for £300 and this was the only loan I had with satsuma. I took it out in July 2014
Sara (Debt Camel) says
when did you win the affordability complaint?
Akram says
About 2 weeks ago
Colleen says
Hi Sara. I complained beginning of june, i had to keep emailing, and finally got my final response couple of days ago, they said all loans were affordable. I had 23 from 2010 to 2017. I’ve (briefly) added up interest and is around £8000. I emailed Neil straight away and have asked him to look at my borrowing history, and said that it is clear i had become reliant on these loans. I have asked him to re consider the decision. He replied saying that he will look. Is this a good sign? Shall I wait for him to reply and if he says were affordable then refer to fos? Thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Having emailed him you may as well wait a week or two.
But unless he makes a good offer that looks like an easy decision to go to FOS. With d extra 8% interest you may well get £7-10,000 by going to FOS.
Colleen says
Thanks Sara, so grateful i found this site. I will wait for his reply and keep you posted.
susan says
Does anyone have an address for Shopacheck please? have mailed Provident and asked them to look at my Greenwoods account to but cant find a contact for Shopacheck
Stacy says
Hello.
I’ve sent off the template complaint form and filled in the few bits that I can remember. I had Provident loans for about 4-5 years from around 2011 – 2016 ( my memory isn’t fab! )
The agent used to take into account my ex partners wage at the time – I was a SAHM claiming tax credits etc and he had a full time job. Surely that’s not legal? We never had a joint loan or anything. I used to take out loan after loan, paying back, getting deeper into the mud . It got to the point I would physically shake, vomit and cry and points when she would be knocking on the door.
Me and my ex split, moved out and I haven’t paid back 2 of the loans. Does this hinder me? Its embarrassing to speak about debt – I’m deeply ashamed but, I’m to start again and be debt free.
Any pointers or advice?
Thank you. Good Luck!
Elaine says
Can anyone help with working out the 8% interest on £15950 since loans begins in 2007 please, Thank you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
when did the loans stop? did they tend to get bigger or much the same size?
Elaine says
Could I email you the loan history from Provident Sarah please.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
no sorry. A rough feel for the dates?
Elaine says
Ok, 2007 interest on loans was £17.50, £30, £390, £150, £658.
sheree olive says
PROVIDENT final response below is that right if i paid off loan before last and last one was 700.00 they say its 1092 and count what they would refund to cover 1092 surely it should be 700? sorry i dont understand it and already with ombudsman help please thanks
Agreement Issued Value Interest Weekly Rate Paid Up
1076715380 20/12/2013 £500.00 £410.00 £17.50 29/07/2014
1092461283 27/07/2014 £700.00 £574.00 £24.50
Interest you have paid towards your account: £337.22
8% interest added on the interest you have paid: £181.92
20% HMRC deduction: £36.38
Refund due after 20% HMRC deduction: £482.76
Your account calculations
Upheld outstanding capital (the original amount you borrowed) balance: £518.00
Upheld interest remaining (that we will write off): £574.00
Not upheld outstanding capital (the original amount you borrowed) balance: £0.00
Not upheld interest remaining: £0.00
Total balance outstanding: £1,092.00
Refund breakdown
Refund Due: £482.76
Total outstanding balance minus upheld interest (Refund to be deducted from
this): £518.00
Gesture of Goodwill write off: £35.24
New payable balance outstanding on your account: £0.00
sheree olive says
Agreement Issued Value Interest Weekly Rate Paid Up
889761407 24/07/2008 £200.00 £136.00 £6.00 15/09/2009
243900695 14/09/2009 £300.00 £225.00 £10.50 02/11/2010
705211442 29/10/2010 £300.00 £225.00 £10.50 09/08/2011
727002862 08/08/2011 £400.00 £300.00 £14.00 24/12/2013
782394988 11/11/2011 £200.00 £150.00 £7.00 24/12/2013
1076715380 20/12/2013 £500.00 £410.00 £17.50 29/07/2014
1092461283 27/07/2014 £700.00 £574.00 £24.50
anne says
Hi Sara,
I have put in an affordability complaint to Provident 7 weeks ago and since then they keep stalling by saying that they are still looking into my complaint, I was wondering if you would be able to give an approximate redress amount, if I was to be successful, given the following figures.
I have had loans since before 2007 but I only have my book which starts from 2012, so here are the amounts and interest charged for each loan from 2012:
2012 – £1000 loan – £750 interest
2012 – £1000 loan – £820 interest
2013 – £1000 loan – £820 interest
2014 – £1000 loan – £820 interest
2015 – £1000 loan – £820 interest
2016 – £1000 loan – £820 interest
2016 – £1000 loan – £1028 interest
2018 – £2500 loan – £3480 interest
The last loan of £2500, I have been unable to pay off and is currently in the hands of a debt collector but all the rest have been paid off in full, including the ones that currently I have no record of.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry it can’t be done from those numbers. Those are the interest amounts at the start of each loan. My guess is you paid off some of the loans early by taking out another loan, so the actual amounts paid may have been less? You need to find out what you actually paid to each loan.
anne hartley says
hi i took advice from debtcamel and on 24/07/2020 i emailed provident using your template letter, i had a reply by post dated 31/7/2020 saying they are looking into my claim, then another letter arrived dated 21/8/2020 saying they were sorry they have been unable to resolve my complaint at this time but aim to have completed our investigations within 28 days, which was up on 18/9/2020, should i wait a bit longer, ring provident or escalate to the FOS? thank you for giving the great advice
Anne
Matthew says
I went to the FSO as I was sick of the waiting with provident. I think they are using Covid to Hide away. Anyway in between me sending to the Fso and them reviewing my complaint, Provident emailed me to say no basically. Then the Fso emailed me out of the blue to say I shouldn’t of been given loans 7 to 12 and provident should refund all interest plus 8% per year. provident accepted this and this coming week is the 6th and final week. I would say to escalate your situation to the Fso as i did. it has been a long 9 months since the first email to provident but worth it if you can win. Hope this helps and good luck.
Stacy says
Hello. I’ve had my loan breakdowns, I have 18 loans from 2010-2015.
It says Charges in one section, definitely had concurrent loans and took them out to pay them off.
How do I breakdown the spreadsheet? Any advice. Thank you
Jo says
Hi can someone explain the 8% interest for me please. I thought it was that they would pay 8% of the interest you had paid plus the interest on any loans they uphold. But from some posts and figures I’ve seen that doesn’t work out right. So the interest I have paid is roughly 10,000. Let’s say they uphold them all how much would I be likely to get including the 8%. Thank you. Ps fos have ruled in my favour just waiting on Prov to agree.
Janine says
Received an email from my adjudicator this morning saying provident have agreed with the decision and have offered £14,000 which I have accepted. I am over the moon this is now nearly over. You have a fantastic site here and it has helped me so much with information. Thankyou Sara.
ajay says
Dear Sarah
I hope you can help me please, i complained to provident inn jan 2019 and their final response was that as the loans were taken in 2011/2012 they cannot investigate due to the length of time has passed and that they would not have any records of conversation between myself and the collector. Also two loans were sold sold to a debt collection company and two ccj recorded in 2015.
A month ago i asked for information about my loans and they sent me all my loans with how much i paid etc.
can i complain again?
thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did you ask them for the list of loans when you first complained?
abdul hussain says
hi sarah
i did ask but they said as they were taken out in 2011/2012 they don’t have to provide me the information. then last month they sent me the breakdown with 4 loans, when i asked to look at the complain again they sent me the same letter when i complained the first time.
this is what they originally replied in their letter (see below)
Having investigated your complaint I have located four agreements you have held with us. These agreements were issued between 24 August 2011 and 9 January 2012. The last two agreements issued to you were sold to Cabot on 22 August 2014.
Since the sale of your accounts we have held no legal right to the debt and I am therefore unaware of its current status. Should you wish to query this, please contact Cabot on 0800 328 0708.
When considering complaints we follow the rules set out by our regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority that gives all customers a limited period of time to refer complaints to the Ombudsman after making a complaint to the financial business.
As your complaint is in respect of agreements that were issued from 24 August 2011 to 9 January 2012, this is outside the above period so we are not required to consider them as a complaint. Also given the passage of time it is not possible to assess the circumstances of these loans or speak to the Agent to verify the conversations you allege took place.
any advice please
Sara (Debt Camel) says
send it to the Financial Ombudsman.
Peter Keppie says
HI, does anyone have the email address for the CEO of Provident
Lee Martin says
Malcolm.lemay@providentfinancial.com
Annie James says
Hello,
Following the advice from this website, I complained to Provident at the start of this year and they did not uphold my complaint, but after months of waiting for the FOS to investigate, they did uphold my complaint and set out the refund that they believed I should receive. Provident have agreed this and the FOS have said that I have to wait another 6 weeks for Provident to refund me, and if they didn’t, to get in touch with Provident to chase it up, then the FOS again if that doesn’t work. Do Provident tend to pay up within this six week timeframe? I’ve now been waiting for four weeks and losing faith that I will ever see my refund.
Would appreciate hearing others experiences of this and any advice.
Many thanks.
Katy says
Hi, I am in exactly the same position as you, although started my complaint well over a year ago now. FOS upheld my complaint after Provident rejected it. Provident have now agreed with the FOS but have been given 6 weeks to contact me – which seems totally ludicrous – I am into week 4 also of waiting to hear from them, I won’t hold my breath as they seem to use every delaying and stalling tactic going.
Fingers crossed for you that you get something – keep me updated and I will do likewise.
Annie James says
Thanks Katy, I’ll let you know if/when I hear anything.
Jack says
Provident said CCD customer numbers had fallen to 379,000 from 531,000 a year earlier, as it tightened credit conditions and the furlough scheme bailed many households out. But demand for loans looks set to pick up as unemployment rises. “Our market will grow due to the pandemic, but at present it appears the supply of credit into the market is decreasing, which cannot be a good outcome for customers, nor a public policy one for the UK,” CEO Malcolm Le May said.
I so wish that every single one of the millions of PFG customers that have been duped into taking out doorstep loans could be reached and given ‘FREE’ financial advice that they would do well to lodge a formal complaint about every single loan they have taken between since 2007 to date. Oh well one can dream.
Jason says
I was rejected for all my loans back in July.
Not sure on totals as it was during me being off work with cancer.yet kept giving me loans.
I’ve sent it to an adjudicator who has picked it up in August and he said I have a strong case.
But due to the back log could be up to 3 months.
But now my illnesses has come back should I call them I have my agents name and my reference.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Very sorry to hear that. Have you told your adjudicator? FOS should give you priority.
Jason says
No I was waiting for a response has not been picked up long.
Was going to call him today but I understand how busy they are with whats going on .
I was going to allow the 3 months which is December.
But as being off work yet again having treatment it might catch me falling behind with bills all though im on a dmp this seems to be taking a bit of pressure off me for now.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if you haven’t told FOS you should do this now.
Also it’s a good idea to talk to your DMP firm now to reduce the DMP payments, much better than getting behind with bills.
Barbara says
I had loans from provident but that was over 30 0dd yrs ago and they said they have nothing on record so I cant claim nothing.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can’t claim for anything before 2007 even if you had records.
Jake Williams says
Hi
I turned down £1700 from provident in May, the fos contacted provident for my business file beginning of July and are yet to hear from them, does anyone know how long provident get to send ombudsman my business file
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have FOS just told you they haven’t had the file? If so, I suggest you email the FCA and tell them about this:
I suggest you email the FCA at consumer.queries@fca.org.uk and copy this to joe.sweeney@provident.co.uk and Neil.Iveson@provident.co.uk
Subject: Provident (700144) hasn’t sent the Ombudsman my case file After nearly 4 months
Put in some details about your complaint – how many loans you had, the number of loans Provident offered to refund.
Say you have sent your case to the ombudsman and FOS asked Provident for your case file in early July but they haven’t yet sent it after nearly 4 months.
Say you know the FCA will not look at your individual case but you thought the FCA should know how slow their complaint handling is as you don’t think a firm should be allowed to carry on lending to people if it can’t manage to respond to the ombudsman in a reasonable time.
Jake Williams says
Thanks for the reply, I emailed ombudsman couple weeks ago, she said she had asked them few times with for business file and how long they will take but no reply, and said it’s probably because there behind with there complaints, wondering doesn’t ombudsman just make up own mind if they don’t send files
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, well ask FOS again and if still no case file, send that email to the FCA.
FOS can start work without the case record, but this normally just makes things much harder so the case takes longer.
Karen says
Good luck with Provident I sent a claim in 2017 but was told they sent me a response in February 2018 I never got it so I took it to the Ombudsman but they took Provident word that they sent the response to me as the Ombudsman looked at the postal system and it said sent….Provident said they sent the response on the 9th February 2018 but the response letter states the initial response was sent 2nd February 2018 but it couldn’t off as i had a email from Provident on the 1st February 2018 and the 5th February 2018 though resolver saying they are still looking at my complaint……So Provident couldn’t of posted the initial response to me on…..im still fighting this 3 years on so good luck with Provident they will tell you they have sent a response even they not sent you nothing just to get away in paying out be careful all
Thanks
Jack says
The extent of PFG’s mis-handling of mis-sold complaints and their repeated practice of settling unfairly, and their ignoring complaints mis-sold in 2007, 2008, 2009, and their not actively adding the 8% interest charges on to mis sold loans they have upheld, may be something Martin Lewis and the Money Saving Expert platform would be interested in pursuing.! What are your thoughts?
Annie James says
Hi Sara,
I commented a couple of weeks ago upthread about Provident agreeing with the FOS about a refund for some loans I had and the FSA then contacting me to say that Provident should be in touch within 6 weeks. Tomorrow marks six weeks and I don’t expect that I shall hear from them in the next couple of days. Do you know who I could contact via email at Provident to get this looked at please? I don’t fancy calling them and being passed around different people who won’t know what needs to be done.
Many thanks, Annie.
Elaine says
I am the same situation to you Annie, I contacted Provident was given the runaround, I got back to the FSO and they have told me to give Provident until the 24th November as they have a back log with settling complaints.
Elaine says
Letter from Provident arrived today, 2 days before the 6 week deadline was up.
They have offered to refund my Mother just over £21K, just as FOS have advised, so be patient to all who are waiting…Good Luck.
Annie James says
Hi Elaine,
Thanks for letting me know about your situation, I’ve been in contact with the ombudsman again so hopefully they will chase it up and get back to me in the next couple of days. Glad your mum got her refund!
Annie
margaret says
Hi
I have had my statements through, whilst i was getting loans from 1991 to 2015 i have been given statements to 2006. I was getting small loans every 1 to 4 months, having 4 or 5 on the go at one time. What are my chances of a settlement.
Deanna says
I complained to Provident in September this year, I have received the ‘we are investigating your case’ letters and their 8 weeks were up this week. After going through my SAR I was surprised to find that over a period of 11 years Provident issued me with 36 loans totalling just over £25,000! Many of those loans were repeated, no sooner had I paid it off I was issued with another. I was working 6.5 hours a week at the time earning about £40/week and the rest of my income came from benefits. My question is, does this sound like a good case to send to the FOS if Provident reject my claim?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That sounds like a good case and could lead to pretty large refund!
You can send your claim to FOS now. Too often Provident are making low offers even to good cases :(
Have you worked out how much interest you paid? That is a more useful number to focus on than the total amount you borrowed.
Deanna says
Hi Sara thank you for getting back to me so promptly. I repaid in total £43826! I was absolute gobsmacked when I totalled it up. You say I can start proceedings with the FOS now? How do I go about that?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So that would be £18826 that you paid in interest.
if you felt you were broke most of the time that is probably why!
What date were these loans?
Here is FOS’s online claim form which is the simplest way to send them your complaint https://help.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/help. Say when you complained to Provident and that they have sent you a list of your loans but not a response to your complaint.
Deanna says
The loans were between May 2006 and June 2017. When I sat down and calculated the amount last night I was in total shock.
Thanks for the info on the FOS I’ll get on that tonight
Sara (Debt Camel) says
FOS can only give a refund from April 2007, but that is almost all your loans!
Deanna Reeves says
Hi Sara,
I heard nothing from Provident and so I lodged a complaint with the FOS following your advice. It was picked up earlier this week by an adjudicator. Then today I have received an offer of £1225.90 from Provident to refund 1 loan issued in 2014. That would be full and final settlement and a cheque will be sent under separate cover. Do I return the cheque whilst waiting for the FOS decision?
Thanks
Dea
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No you can keep hold of the cheque.
Are you in real financial need of that money at the moment?
Deanna Reeves says
Sorry Sara, it’s not giving me the option to reply to your latest question. Thanks for getting back to me. It would be handy but no I’m not in desperate need of it in honesty. Does that change things?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
NO, but if you were it would be a reason for Provident to let you cash it now and continue with the FOS complaint.
K says
Hi I had a number of loans from 2008 to 2011. My husband and I both had loans with provident and greenwoods. We were both unemployed. I also had a daughter who had a disability. My applications were always adjusted to make it look like I could afford these. My expenditure was always made less for living needs to make it look like I had more left over. We both had loans running at the same time with provident and greenwoods even though they were the same company. I would pay huge amounts every week and would be left with barely anything to live on. Often borrowing from family to live. Somehow when I have put my complaint in and asked for my data sent regarding these loans. They can only find mine from provident. Have no information of my husbands even though details the same and have nothing on greenwoods. Further to this I got a reply within weeks saying no refund and that I had £140 extra a week after living and bills etc which was untrue. Any advice?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send your complaint and your husband’s to the Ombudsman!
Do you have any evidence yourself about these loans?
Jake Williams says
Hi
Just thought I’d say provident sent my business file at last and fos have agreed that loans shouldn’t have been given except 1st one, roughly interest £5000, they have 2 weeks to to agree or disagree, wondering how long they get to pay back interest after the two weeks
Many thanks for the help
Mark says
Hi
I have received email with all loan details today and they have stated that the complaint is being dealt with separately? Its been 3 weeks from first complaint. Is this normal procedure for Provident? Also asked for more details on top of my initial complaint (used the template letter) Am still paying off my last loan which they put on a debt waiver because I finally couldn’t afford to even take a top up or another loan. Do you think this will be a benefit or hindrance to my case?
K says
Hi Sara thanks for the reply. I managed to find a debt plan that clearly showed my husband and I both had loans through provident. My husband has mental health problems so I have authority to speak for him. Suddenly they have found his loans from greenwoods and provident. So I now have data from provident for myself and provident and greenwoods for my husband. Now they say they can’t find my greenwoods. I had exact same time as my husband but my loans were even bigger. I find it strange how that can’t be found. Provident had said on my letter that if there was anymore evidence they would look at it again otherwise satisfied I could afford them. My husband and I were on joint income. I have historic bank statements coming to show I did not have the amount said after bills and living. Should I send it on or ask to be looked at again? And how long will i give? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you sent the complaint to FOS?
Kelly says
Hi Sarah, I sent the template and got asked for more evidence which I have little of but sent anyway, I chased up by phonecall and got told they very busy and have 56 days to resolve, I haven’t had my loans breakdown yet and today I received the following email:
We are sorry that we have been unable to resolve your complaint at this time.
We can assure you that investigations are still ongoing and this matter is receiving our urgent attention.
We aim to have completed our investigations within the next 28 days.
In the meantime, should you need to contact us, please feel free to do so on the number below.
Yours sincerely
Is this a good sign or…. unknown and when should I send to FOS if needed.
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
it’s not good news or bad news – probably no-one has looked at your complaint yet.
I suggest you send the complaint to the ombudsman at the 8 week point, as provident are often making very poor offers so there is little point in waiting for them.
Pauline Wilson says
We have been offered 1700 had over 20 loans. Letter from provident states that we was earning £650 a week. Never was we asked wat our incoming and outgoings were. The agent offered us new loans to pay old loans off all the time. She put £3.00 in if we missed a payment so she wud get her commission. We never had the books. I’m owed far more than 1700 and they are disputing some of the loans saying they were affordable. Should I take it the ombudsman
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you know how much interest you paid on all the loans? How many years were you borrowing and when did this start?
Dawid says
Hi Sara,
I’ve sent a complain to Provident through a claims management company, today I received an offer from provident. Out of 9 loans taken between 2008-2014 where I paid £7903 in interest they only upheld the final two that were both taken in 2014, they are offering a refund of £2845 for the interest + the 8% which brings the total to just over £4000. In the letter they say that they believe the other 7 loans were affordable and we never bought it to the agents attention that we were having trouble repaying them as if we did they would have apparently helped me. Is it worth going to the FOS? I do not have any bank statements from 6-12 years ago that I could obtain and I am worried that if the FOS do not rule in my favour I will get nothing.
If they upheld all of my loans I would be looking at a double figure of a refund as opposed to the £4k they are offering so I would like advise whether you think its a good idea to go to FOS and what chances I have of getting more?
Thank you in Advance.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This sounds like another of Provident’s poor offers. Remember that the older loans will have even more 8% interest added if they are upheld.
I am worried that if the FOS do not rule in my favour I will get nothing.
I have seen a lot of these cases and I have never seem one where FOS says fewer loans are unaffordable. it just doesn’t happen.
If they were offering you say 75% of what you could get from FOS, you might be happy to compromise and take that. But this seems like a very low offer to me.
Habidah says
I have been trying to contact albemarle and bond and no response l was wondering if h & t are dealing with their irresponsible lending.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
when did you send in a complaint?
Habidah says
Three weeks ago. I have not got any response.
Thank you
Habidah
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you can phone 0800 838 973 and ask them to confirm they have the complaint.
Habidah says
Hi Sara
The number that u gave me l called and was told by h * t that they don’t deal with pay day loans from Albemarle and bond. I am at a loss this company are difficult to get hold of.
Thank you
Habidah Fazilahmed
Sara (Debt Camel) says
try annie.williams@speedloanfinance.com
Stacey says
Reading up on other peoples comment i have just been given a random figure of refunds with random loans and sayinf then the redress would still be low as current loans running it would be deducted from. I passed it onto fos anyways as original complaint went in in january. They say they have taking
My income and expenditure and checke but not provided these imaginary checks which i know will show defaults missed payments etc as for 10+ years now i have always been in a whirl wind of debt. Has anyone went to ombudsman and been succesful lately? It makes you wonder if their honest with the loans you have had with them as i had tons
Jason says
Hi Stacey.
Obviously I’m not as knowledgeable as sara.
But I put a complaint about June just to provident and was only disputing 2 loans out of 16 as I thought it was fair id done the borrowing and only fell behind on the last 2 I actually only asked for them to remove intrest .got the generic email at 4 weeks still looking at your case.then at 8 weeks flat refused and said no I have to pay everything back plus intrest. I was not happy with the response so forward on to the obusman I went.again waited for obusman to pick my case up.
Got picked up end of October.
After another 7 weeks obusman gave me a letter saying provident should not have gave me any loans. Last week provident agreed and are going to refund me all 16 loans remove adverse credit and refund me all owed.
Now if provident would have done the right thing when I put my claim in. Id still be owing them and a be happy at that .but because they dug there heels in im in for a very big payout.
So be strong hang in there and hopefully you get the same outcome.
They count on us just giving up and accepting there descion as final..its not.
All the best
Stacey says
Thank ffor your reply well luckily i passed it over after the 8 weeks so im just gathering info together incase asked did u have to provide bank statements or anything to ombudsman or did they just try your case without? I know all were unaffordable anyways even going back to first loan they only took off me my income and asked what i paid out i dont believe any credit checks were carried out as would of showing numerous loans and credit missed payments and defaults as well as dmp and still my income was less than outgoings so going to fight it thanks
Jason says
Morning.
Yes obusman asked for bank statements which I got off my banking app.
It also shown my income coming in and what was spare and also me taking other pay day loans on the statements to cover other bills..they only asked for certain month’s. Even though my loans went back over13 years they asked for 12 statements in total across this period so was not many. It was to show credit checks were not done properly and there continues lending to me
Sara (Debt Camel) says
In practice with lending over a prolonged period FOS will understand if bank statements cannot be produced for the earlier loans. But it is easier and quicker to win complaints when you can produce the bank statements.
Craig Elliott says
I think another key problem with provident loans is that they front load the interest to the loan. So if the loan was £1000 and say the interest was £700 totalling £1700 and you wanted to settle early after paying off say £200 you have to pay £1500 and then have the interest refunded for the time you have saved paying early. So where someone could have £830 to settle (rough calculations of balance after £200 paid minus interest) they are far less likely to have £1500 to settle even though they will still get the extra interest refunded. This is how people become trapped in a loan cycle from companies that front load the Interest to a loan.
Also I think its great that the FOS are picking these cases up so quickly from the comments I’ve read as I currently have 2 outstanding complaints with them about other companies that have been on going for nearly 2 years. They have had 4 different people dealing with them due to labour turnover and still no resolution. Another complaint with them took so long that the company went into administration and what should have been £1500 refund became £60 all due to excessive time frames in dealing with my complaint.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think another key problem with provident loans is that they front load the interest to the loan. So if the loan was £1000 and say the interest was £700 totalling £1700 and you wanted to settle early after paying off say £200 you have to pay £1500 and then have the interest refunded for the time you have saved paying early. So where someone could have £830 to settle (rough calculations of balance after £200 paid minus interest) they are far less likely to have £1500 to settle even though they will still get the extra interest refunded
I don’t think this is how it works.
But there are enough problems with provident’s failure to adequately assess affordability and for their re-lending over an extensive period of time to not need extra points about early settlement to win at FOS.
Craig says
Stupidly I have had doorstep loans from Provident and Morses who both operate the same way. I had planned to borrow a small amount and repay in full the next month but then couldn’t afford to repay including the whole of the interest and then wait to get the surplus interest refunded. So I ended up trapped by the way they do it. Also when they come to refund your interest its another opportunity to sign you up for another loan. Had it been made clear to me at the time of signing for the loan that I would have to pay all and wait for the extra to be refunded I wouldn’t have taken the loan. When I asked about early repayment they just said it was fine and there were no charges. The whole business model of these companies is to trap and tempt. You start with smaller loans which get bigger and bigger one loan settling the balance of another which by the time you get past a certain financial tipping point the repayment amount to settle early is too great for most so the cycle continues. I personally do not think finance companies should be allowed to front load interest for this reason.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Interesting… how long ago was this?
Craig says
I have 2 loans outstanding with morses at the moment and one with provident all taken in the last 18 months. I am about to complain to morses I feel they misled me as my original intention was to repay in full after 1 month but then couldnt afford the extra interest. I have just re read my finance agreement (for morses) and it doesn’t mention it on there it just says that I would be entitled to a rebate of interest if I pay early which given that every other finance company only charges accrued interest on their settlement figures I feel it fair to assume that this is what rebate of interest means? When I asked the person at the time of signing they simply said that early repayment was no problem and there were no extra charges for early repayment.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The rules for early settlement are set out in legislation, see https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2004/1483/made. I would be very surprised if Provident and Morses are not using the same rules as every other lender.
Craig says
My feeling is that at the time of me taking the last loan with Morses (no longer than 12 months ago) this was still how they operated. I think they may have been bending the wording of the guidelines by then returning the extra interest so that the person taking the loan ‘technically’ wasn’t being charged extra interest. This hinders people making early repayment and trapps them for longer meaning there will be less people able to settle early meaning they make more money. So with this in mind if they are/we’re proven to be operating outside of the guidelines I feel there may be a lot more people with very good cause for complaint.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well why don’t you ask Morses for an early settlement figure now?
Craig says
I ended up financially down due to covid and put a repayment plan in place for the loans so they have gone longer than the original term. My point is that had I known when I took the loans about the interest I wouldn’t have taken them and I only have them now as I wasn’t able to pay just accrued interest as a settlement and wait for extra interest paid to be refunded.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
did you ask for an early settlement figure?
Craig says
About a month after I took the loans as my plan was to repay early. Problem was that I didn’t have the extra to pay for all of the interest and then get the extra rebated. Had it only been the borrowed amount plus 1 months interest it would have been paid. So then I kept paying monthly for a few months and then finances were massively hit with the first lockdown so put a repayment plan in place. The settlement figure now would be inclusive of all interest as its now longer than the original term.
Charles says
Hello,
Provident have not made an offer. When I phoned them last week, I was told they have already sent my file to FOS. I called FOS and they confirmed they have got the file and now waiting to allocate an investigator and it takes upto four months to allocate one.
Is it a good thing that provident did not make me an offer and neither did I get a rejection by provident?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s not good or bad. It won’t make a difference to what the Ombudsman decides.
MrsSBP says
The FOS have just ruled in my favour for loans 4-14. Meaning 1-3 were ok. They date back to 2011 and it’s over £10,000 paid in interest. Provident have agreed to pay inline with the FOS decision. They got back to them within a couple of days to agree. I wonder how long it will take them to pay out but thinking as each day passes that’s more added to the 8% isn’t it?
Deanna Reeves says
If you don’t mind me asking what evidence did you have to provide to the FOS please ?
MrsSBP says
Initially I asked provident for full history of loans and interest so I had all the info or the loans. Once provident sent me their outcome (saying they wasn’t going to uphold) I emailed that over to FOS and they didn’t ask for anything else to be honest. They had the dates, loan amount, interest, weekly payment etc and made their decisions based on that
Deanna Reeves says
Thank you, I have the loan history from Provident already. Complained to them at the beginning of September but have not received an outcome so am about to start proceedings with FOS
MrsSBP says
It did take a while for mine to be looked into. I think my initial complaint to the FOS was in July. And I received my outcome last week. I did send a few follow up emails just to make sure it wasn’t lost somewhere but it took a while to be allocated to someone. Once I had the FOS decision it took provident 2 days to agree. I complained to Provident in February so could be almost a year before I get my cheque but hang in there. You’ll hear something soon
Julie-ann says
Hello
How likely is it for provident to agree with the adjudicator?
Many Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They normally do but can be very slow about it.
Alastair says
Hi
Does anyone have any success in receiving a refund from provident. They said they would sent me a cheque in November and again in late December for unfair lending and compensation for damaging my credit fie. Neither have arrived and they are sending me another one, they appear to have an awful issue with the post, I just wondered if anyone has received a cheque from them and how long it took?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
out of curiosity, how much are they refunding you? and do you know how much interest they paid? As they have been making really bad offers recently.
Louise says
Hi just wanted to check if I’d be able to make a claim.
12th November 2018 – £300 @ £561
9th Jan 2019 – £300 @ £561
20t feb 2019 – £900 @ £1684
27th June 2019 – £900 @ £2294
Paid a total of £2700 in interest, on the last loan I only paid once on time then went on a payment arrangement which I’m still paying now towards 2 of them now. The last loan was done by a different rep at the time, an even my normal lady says she wouldn’t have given me it.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes you can claim when the last loan is in a payment arrangement.
Even if you only get the interest removed from the last loan, that would be a big help, wouldn’t it?
Pat clark says
Hi i was wondering if anyone had waited longer than the 28 days provident have to settle the claim as my 28 have passed will be phoning FOS tomorrow but just wondering if anyone else has had this.
MrsSBP says
I’m on my 28th day today. I sent an email yesterday to chase up but giving it one more day then will speak with the ombudsman. They responded to them in one day initially
Tracie Holness says
I’m on my 28th day today.. and plan to give them another week due to Christmas and New Years.
They agreed with FOS on the 18th Dec that I was due back 4-11 loans on the 18th Dec with FOS advising me and them that payment was to be made within 28days and to provide me with a breakdown of the repayment including the 8% simple interest on the individual payments to the date the complaint is settled.
I’m not sure how this is worked out and what to expect??
Does anyone know how to roughly work out what I should expect as all loan have been paid
1 269101586 23/03/2010 14/09/2010 £500.00 £17.50
2 608323925 10/09/2010 16/08/2011 £2,000.00 £40.00
3 717028894 17/12/2010 19/04/2011 £300.00 £15.00
4 638094983 15/04/2011 16/08/2011 £500.00 £17.50
5 726480517 15/08/2011 19/03/2013 £4,000.00 £80.00
6 793695823 16/12/2011 20/11/2012 £300.00 £9.00
7 1016264132 30/04/2012 20/11/2013 £885.00 £8.85
8 1051904262 13/11/2012 20/11/2013 £500.00 £15.00
9 1036686093 08/12/2012 20/11/2013 £368.75 £12.90
10 1053707258 14/03/2013 16/01/2014 £1,500.00 £30.00
11 1053707234 14/03/2013 16/01/2014 £2,000.00 £48.00
12 1056486110 12/07/2013 16/01/2014 £600.00 £21.00
13 1059439140 14/11/2013 16/01/2014 £700.00 £21.00
14 1059439575 21/11/2013 16/01/2014 £600.00 £18.00
Tracie Holness says
Update.. I have just heard from Provident by email and they have advised that my redress cheque should be received within 14 days
£13.662.69.
1036686093, 1053707258 and 1053707234 were upheld previously which I agree with as payment was made and therefore are not included in their calculations,
Finally after nearly a year
Once again Sara thank you you have been a god send to us all :-)
MrsSBP says
That’s great news
Laurie W says
I received a letter of offer from Provident yesterday (having already escalated my case to the FOS due to them being over the required 56 days and at that stage hadn’t even passed my case to a handler. The FOS made contact with them yesterday and lo and behold I got a letter via Resolver from Provident advising that they were upholding my complaint, I thought “happy days” then when I went through the “long list” of loans, they put at the bottom that the weren’t refunding me as at no stage had I told my agent that I couldn’t afford my repayments – except that I was the agent and the loans I took out were forced on me by my manager to keep the sales figures up, everytime there was a sales push they asked me to refinance and as someone going through a divorce I was financially crippled and my credit record reflects this. Here’s hoping the FOS can get me some success.
Staci says
That sounds wrong cos if u were like me u could have been borrowing one to pay another and maybes u thought u could control it i did till i couldnt get any more credit to pay anymore
Laurie says
Exactly; I had to make the payments from my commission without fail and often I had to make the decision between food or heat on any given week as I was robbing Peter to pay Paul.
Sharon M says
Hi all
I recently submitted a claim via one of the claims agencies regarding my Provident loans just 1 week before Christmas, I received an email from this agency today with a list of my loan history and an offer explaining a cheque will be sent to me, in total I had 18 loans from Provident since 2007, they randomly have upheld 4 of these loans 8-9 11 & 17? All loans were continual ie, no gaps in borrowing, the list of loan repayments doesn’t quite match what I was paying, if I had a loan of £800, I was paying back £3 per £100 weekly, on the list it says I was repaying £15?? Not £24, I like many others got caught up in the cycle of borrowing, having an emergency, needing another loan, offered a larger loan than I need being told I would need to pay of previous loan 1st, I was never offered re financing as they suggest in their email offer response, thry have offered me after the agency take their 30% fee around £2000, I’m looking for a little advice, what is the best thing to do, should I pursue the other loans and if I do how can I do this without doing it through the agency who will take the 30% of whatever I am awarded, sorry for the lengthy post, I hope you can help as they are waiting for a response from me.
Julie says
Hello everyone.
Provident have finally agreed with the adjudicator. How long do they normally take to send the cheque.
Many Thanks
Staci says
Hi
Just out of curioisity morses have asked me to
Provide bank statements, credit files etc email below . How on earth do they expect u to pull that out from over 10 -15 years ago——— shouldnt this be something they should be providing to me as THEY are the ones should of ensuring it was affordable- any suggestion on what to do with this? And has anyone else had to do this
Hi Stacey to support your complaint please provide any documents such as bank statements, arrears letters or credit file to complaints.no-reply@morsesclub.com
Claire says
I have just recieved a reply from the ombudsmen about my complaint with Satsuma loans. They have upheld two of my loans but I do think they should of agreed with all three. The two loans they have agreed to uphold are now with a debt agency and are nearly paid off.
Will I still be able to get a refund from this situation?
Satsuma has not replied to the ombudsmen yet.
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Satsuma should calculate the refund taking into account the payments you made to the debt collector.
How large were the loans? which loan was not upheld?
Was this an adjudicator decision or an Ombudsman decision?
Claire says
Hello Sara, so the two loans were one for £1000 with £1900 to be paid back over the term. I still have £700 outstanding with a debt collector.
Second loan was for £200 with £350 payable over the term, not sure how much I owe on this at it’s in a payment plan.
This was a ombudsmen decision and they are waiting for a reply from Satsuma. I do think they should of upheld my 1st loan too but the ombudsmen say otherwise. This was also for £1000 over a year with £1900 payable. This one is now paid in full.
Not a clue how much I should expect back.