Provident’s Scheme of Arrangement has been approved in court. The court hearing was on 30 July 2021 and the decision has now been given.
The Scheme was proposed because Provident could not afford to carry on paying full refunds to customers winning affordability complaints. The Financial Ombudsman was upholding 75% of complaints against Provident who often did not make proper affordability checks.
The FCA, Provident’s regulator, said it did not approve of the Scheme. But as Provident has stopped providing doorstep loans, the FCA did not object to the Scheme in court.
The Scheme starts officially on 5 August 2021 and customers can now make a claim for a refund.
This article covers what you need to know about making a claim to the Provident Scheme.
Only £50million is available in the Scheme, so you won’t get a full refund. But you may still get hundreds of pounds and your credit record cleaned.
Contents
Background to the Scheme
My previous article Provident proposes a Scheme to cap refunds gave the background to the Scheme – the increasing numbers of affordability complaints, the changing legal and regulatory environment, as well as the pandemic.
See also:
- What is a Scheme of Arrangement and why do lenders want one? for a general view of Schemes of Arrangement.
- Doorstep lending refunds – that template can still be used for other doorstep lenders such as Morses, Mutual and Loans at Home. But all Provident complaints now have to be made through the Scheme instead.
- Provident Scheme – the voting and approval process explained how people could vote on the proposed Provident Scheme and the way it was approved.
Which loans are covered by the Scheme?
More than 4 million people were given a loan by Provident that comes under the Scheme.
These loans were given between 6 April 2007 and 17 December 2020.
The loans came from four different brands:
- Provident – often called “doorstep loans” or “home credit”;
- Satsuma payday loans;
- Greenwood – another doorstep loan brand that hasn’t been used since 2014;
- Glo – a very small guarantor loan brand.
In this article, I talk about “Provident loans” for short – but it also applies to loans from the other brands.
Provident also owns the Vanquis and Moneybarn brands – these are NOT included in the Scheme. If you have an affordability complaint about them, you can still make a normal affordability complaint and get a full refund.
If your loans were “unaffordable” send a claim to the Scheme
The definition of “unaffordable”
A loan is only “affordable” if you could repay it on time and still be able to pay your other debts, bills and living expenses.
You may have paid the loan on time, but it may still have been unaffordable.
If paying Provident left you so short of money you had to borrow more or you got behind with bills then it was “unaffordable”.
If you had several loans without a break between them, then Provident should have realised you were trapped in a cycle of borrowing and that these expensive loans were not affordable. Even a single loan can be unaffordable if it is large.
How to send claim to the Scheme
If you voted on the Scheme, that will have submitted a claim and you don’t need to do anything.
If you didn’t vote, you can now make a claim. There is only a 6 month window to make any claims it ends at the end of February 20200. It’s best not to leave it until the end in case you have problems submitting a claim!
To make a claim, you first have to set up an account in the Scheme Portal.
This needs your Scheme ID number – that is on emails and letters you may have been sent. Your name has to be spelled exactly the way Provident has on their records for you, shown on the emails or letters. If you have got married, or changed your name, or they have the wrong spelling, enter it the way their records show.
For most people this will be very simple. But if weren’t sent a letter or email, or can’t find them, phone Provident on 0800 056 8936.
Also phone that number of you do know your Scheme ID but the page won’t accept it.
Once you have an account set up, you log in and submit the claim.
Did you have two accounts?
If you think you may have 2 accounts with Provident – perhaps you moved, or changed your email, or some other reason – tell Provident about this by emailing soa@provident.co.uk. If you don’t get a helpful reply in a couple of weeks, phone them up and ask.
This is very important. You want a claim submitted for both accounts. And you want both your accounts to be looked at as a single account, not 2 separate ones, as this may mean you get a larger refund.
You may be asked for “evidence”
You don’t need details of your loans to make a claim.
Provident is asking people to supply details of any CCJs or defaults. If these were in the last 6 years, they will show on your current credit reports. See How to get free credit reports for details – the statutory credit reports are often the easiest reports to download so you can send them to Provident.
If they were older than that, you may have something else which shows them – old letters, emails?
But don’t worry if you don’t have these. Provident will still consider your claim without them. If you only had a few loans, extra evidence can be useful. But if you kept taking new loans, that by itself suggests they were not affordable.
Do you have to make a claim if you have already sent in a complaint?
There are a lot of different situations here. It depends on when you made the complaint and what happened to it.
Provident has produced a flowchart that looks at the different cases. Some complaints will be automatically registered with the Scheme and some you have to submit a claim form. If you sent in a complaint after 15 March 2021 you definitely have to submit a claim to the Scheme.
I suggest that it is better to be safe than sorry here. Register an account with the portal and try to submit a claim.
Not sure if you can claim?
If you had one of these loans you can make a claim. It doesn’t matter if you paid the loan on time, if you still have a loan, if you defaulted, or if the loan was sold to a debt collector.
You can still make a new claim if you had complained before. Provident rejected too many complaints and only made low offers on others. You can complain again if your claim was rejected or you accepted a low refund or your case was at FOS.
Provident has set up a page with FAQs about the Scheme. That may answer some questions. If you have others, you can ask them in the comments at the bottom of this page.
How refunds are calculated
Is your complaint upheld?
The first stage in getting a refund is for Provident to decide whether to uphold your complaint. The steps in doing this are
- Provident will decide which loans are “unaffordable”. They will use the details of your loans and other information they have in their records, plus any evidence you have sent in. The more loans you had, the more likely it is that some loans will be unaffordable.
Often Provident will decide that the later loans were unaffordable as they should not have continued to lend to you. So if you had 7 loans, a decision may be that loans 4-7 were unaffordable.
If the first loans were very large, or you had recent CCJs, all the loans may be decided to be unaffordable. - Provident will calculate the interest paid on the unaffordable loans. The interest you paid is the difference between what you borrowed and what you paid, so if you paid £420 on a £250 loan, that is £170 in interest.
- Provident will add 8% simple interest to the total interest on the unaffordable loans to give the total redress. This is 8% per year since the interest was paid. So if your loans were in 2011, you will have about 10 years of 8% interest added. If your loans were in 2019, you will only have 2 years of 8% interest added.
- You will be told which loans were unaffordable and what the total redress is. If you think more loans were unaffordable, you can appeal this. The appeal will go to an independent expert appointed in the Scheme, not the Financial Ombudsman. In other Schemes and Administrations, people have won appeals.
Keep an eye on your claim
When you have made a claim, you may not hear anything for months.
But it is a good idea to check back every month or so though. They may have sent you an email that you missed. You need to know so you can decide if you want to appeal.
You can log into the portal. Or look at the comments on this page and see if other people have heard anything.
How much will you be paid?
The next stage is for Provident to divide up the £50 million in the Scheme between the people who have had their complaints upheld.
You will be paid a percentage of your total redress number, not all of it.
Provident thinks people may get paid 5-10% of the calculated amount. But this will depend on how many people claim and how many loans are refunded.
This percentage calculation will be made after all complaints and appeals have been decided. It will probably be mid 2022 when you will be told how what you will get and the money will be paid.
Credit records will be cleaned
For upheld loans, any defaults or missed payments will be removed from your credit record.
In other schemes and Administrations, some people say getting rid of a default was the most important result for them. Not the cash refund!
Do you still have a loan?
Refunds for current loans
If you still owe a balance, if that loan is decided to be unaffordable the interest will be removed, so you only repay what you borrowed.
- Say you borrowed £1000, have repaid £600 and still owe a balance of £1200. If this loan is unaffordable, the interest will be removed so your balance will drop to £400.
- When you have already paid more than the amount you borrowed, the balance will be wiped and you will get a percentage of the interest you paid back.
If your loan was sold to a debt collector, Provident will try to buy back the loan and settle it within the Scheme. In the recent Money Shop Scheme, this was possible in most cases – there was only one difficult debt collector and I don’t think Provident used them.
Do you have to keep paying a loan?
If you win your claim to the Scheme, your cash refund may only be paid at a small percentage. But ALL the payments you have made to a loan since the Scheme started are refunded in full.
So if you can afford the repayments, carrying on with them is the easy option and you won’t lose money by doing this.
But when paying the loan is causing you difficulty, it may be better to stop paying the loan now. It could take a very long while before a claim is decided.
Don’t borrow more money at an expensive rate or get behind with paying bills in order to keep up the repayments on Provident loans.
Instead tell Provident you don’t want to make any payments until your claim has been decided. This will harm your credit record, but that will all be cleaned up if your claim is upheld.
Talk to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 if you are unsure what to do here – they can help you look at your full financial position.
Provident claims – key points to remember
- Provident didn’t make good affordability checks so a lot of people should get refunds.
- The more loans, the larger they were or the worse your situation, the better your chance of getting a refund.
- You will only get a percentage of the “proper” refund, but this may still be hundreds of pounds. And your credit record will be cleaned.
- You can claim if you still have a loan, including if the loan was sold to a debt collector.
- You only have 6 months to make a claim for Provident or Satsuma loans. Do it now so there is no chance of missing the deadline!
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Sarah H says
Hi Sara,
I had put an affordability claim into provident and then to FOS, these were put on hold due to the court case. Do I need to re send my claim or should it already be in the process with them.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It should already be in the process.
But I suggest you register with the portal and see what that says. If there is no ign that there is a claim from you, I suggest you send one in – better safe than sorry!
Mari Joyce says
I am trying to register on the portal but it is asking for an ID. I do not have one. Can someone please help me.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
phone Provident up and ask for one. Explain you never received a letter or email and make sure they have your correct addresses for both.
Daniel Mcdonald says
If they emailed you it’s in the top right hand corner of the email
sunflower12 says
If you previously registered you should have an email with a scheme id number in your email. If not I would contact provident about it.
Sar says
Hi Sara I took a satsuma loan back in December 2018 long story short I am in a DMP now and have just yesterday made a affordability complaint to satsuma directly Will they look into this or do I need to still make a claim through the portal? I have got a account set up through the claim portal already as I was sent a invitation to vote on the scheme but I think that was just for the provident loans that I took out? How can I get the satsuma loan added to my account
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I can’t tell if you have 1 or 2 accounts with them.
If there is only one account, then having voted on the Provident Scheme should also cover the Satsuma loan.
BUt if there are two, you need to get a claim made to the Scheme about the satsuma loan AND make sure this is considered together with your Provident loans. See the section in the article on “Do you have two accounts?”
Sar says
I don’t know if I have 1 or 2 accounts with them I made a complaint to them back in the beginning of 2018 for the provident loans won this at the FOS received money in 2018 but then I took a satsuma loan of them which I never complained about but I haven’t moved addresses or changed emails or anything
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you need to ask them.
Val says
Hi
Same with me an I asked an had reply that satsumas an provident just one claim on portal covers all
Sarah T says
Hiya.
I took out a Satsuma loan in May 2018 and already had a DMP but they gave me a loan anyway. I made a complaint shortly after as the payments were unaffordable and had it added to my DMP. They refused to do anything including removing the 100% added interest charge. I heard about this scheme and all I want is for the interest to be removed as this will mean I will be debt free a year earlier. They’ve since refused again and advised me to go through the scheme. They are horrible to deal with and I’m really hoping now that the balance is written off as almost all of it is their shocking interest!
Sarah
J Lloyd says
If a complaint was made to Provident in March do I still have to make another claim?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If your complaint was made before 15 March, it should already be in the system – but as I said to Sarah H above, I suggest you set up a portal account and check this.
If your complaint was made on or after 15 March, you need to submit a claim to the Scheme.
Dominik says
:( Not what I have expected
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Not what I hoped for, but after the FCA decided not to appear in court, I am unsurprised.
Chris Clipstone says
Your message is very helpful, clear and easy to understand. Thank you Chris
Tracy says
I have a few loans over them years from provident and loans at home I have moved a few times don’t have the loan letters will they still be able to fund me through records
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes they should. Contact them on the phone number and give your name, date of birth and old addresses.
re Loans At Home – they aren’t in a Scheme so you can send them a normal complaint, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/refund-doorstep-loans/ for a template. Again give all your details so they can identify you.
SatsumaCustomer says
There’s a section on claim form that says “Recorded defaults on customer’s credit file (optional)4
This means that the Customer has failed to pay back a loan given by another lender, and does not mean that the Customer has missed payments on that loan.
Has the Customer ever had a genuine recorded default on their credit file because they failed to pay back a loan taken out from any lender (other than Provident, Glo, Satsuma or Greenwood)?”
Whilst not a loan a credit card went into default whilst I had this loan as I couldn’t afford repayment
Would this count towards this information & if so how do I add proof as it asks once you select yes.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes a default about a credit card is something they should be taking into account. Or on a gas bill or a catalugue or a mortgage … ANY default on your credit record matters.
And late payments matter too!
When you say yes, what does it ask for next?
SatsumaCustomer says
“Please provide details of all of your defaults between 2007 – 2020”
But there is no text box or options to add anything.
Could I seek anything.woth the credit card company if my claim is successful, to remove the default – it was fully paid 3mths after default date.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh! That’s not good :(
the credit card default – who was the lender? how long ago was this? Do you think they increased your credit limit too high?
SatsumaCustomer says
CapOne
Jan last year default added
3mts later I paid off.the satsuma and Capone card
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can only get the Cap One default removed if you have a reason to complain about it. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-catalogue-credit-card/ and the main reason to complain is if a lender increased yopur credit limit too high.
n ballard says
what would happen if your default is older then 6 years how do you prove it mine was in 2010 and you no longer bank with the bank your on a losser there so how can it be fair
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You may have some information about this somewhere?
how many loans did you have from Provident?
n ballard says
i have nothing to back this up had a few over the years
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is still worth making a complaint. If you had enough loans you may well still get arefund. the extra evidence is more important if you only had a few loans.
n ballard says
thanks, made a claim but not getting my hope’s up as it’s over 6 years and no proof they got intouch with me
Jess says
Do i need to do this myself or can i use one of these claims companies do it for me?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Definitely do it yourself.
All you have to do is enter a claim on the Provident page. First set up a portal account here https://scheme.providentpersonalcredit.com/Claims.html
If you get a claims company to do it, they will ask you for all the details then they will type them in. And charge you 30 or 40% of the refund for doing that. They won’t speed things up. They won’t negotiate for you – because there is no negotiation to be done. They are just parasites on this process so don’t use them.
Denise says
Hello there,
I had this article arrive on my phones newsfeed a few moments ago…I hope that you don’t mind me posting it on here?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58089605.amp?fbclid=IwAR3WNjzS9H9UBlzw463eSx269_dCAKXgNoMo1w2OBwz1Qm11KkgIzeMbZnY
It is from the BBC and it is about Provident.
Thank you
Darina Nedeva says
Hi Sara I have a loan with Provident it’s 1000 and I paid 1400 and they still required to pay 590 more basically I’m on 50pound arrangements now cause I can’t afford monthly payments but it harms my credit record so do I still need to pay to Provident? (I’ve already submit my claim) thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Was this your first loan from them?
Are the £50 repayments affordable or causing you difficulty?
Darina says
I’m on universal credit basically it’s not affordable but I had to accept this offer I had no other choice.
It’s my second loan, first was 300
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh £50 is a lot too much probably if you are on UC.
You do have another option – you can stop paying until they have considered your complaint. Or you can insist that the payments are reduced to a more affordable £5 a month. This damages your credit record, but you already have a payment arrangement harming that.
Can I ask if you have other debts you have payment arrangements with? Or are you behind with any bills?
Vansqeestomer says
Cheeky, because Vanquis (owned by Provident) is still happily ripping customers with 39.9% on the card balances. Why only 50mln in the pot, then? More of those usury businesses bust is just a veey good news.
Andy says
Hi
Can you help me as I got confused reading the provident post regarding which template to use and in the past 12 years I have used a lot of morses and shopacheck doorstep loans and provident and satsuma loans. All are now paid but it’s taken a lot of juggling and sorting some weeks I missed and it was never any issues to borrow more to pay Peter to pay Paul scenarios, I do have one Amigo loan left and I am paying this still and I have a claim in place then I am debt free and in a better position and place nowadays and it’s been a huge battle but I have got there.
My question is can I claim even if it small amounts as every bit helps going forward and which template fits which loan type but I don’t have anything in the way of account numbers or even the weekly little books they used to update and sign each weekwill this be an issue?
Like I say I did far to much borrowing whilst I thought I was doing the right thing as I was on my own after a break up and divorce was happening and my head was not in a good place never once did morses or shopacheck ask for any payslips etc etc.
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I completely agree that every little helps in this situation.
Morses/Shopacheck – use template here: https://debtcamel.co.uk/refund-doorstep-loans/
Provident/Satsuma – make a claim to the Scheme as discussed in the above article.
Amigo – they are trying to set up a Scheme but their first go was rejected by the court as unfair to customers. Read https://debtcamel.co.uk/amigo-scheme-timetable-approval-how-work/ about this and think if you should stop paying, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/stop-paying-amigo-pros-and-cons/ which looks at the pros and cons.
Andy Avery says
Thank very much for the links I will start straight away.
As for the the Amigo stop paying thing it makes great reading and a lot of sense to do so and I will be £208 per month better off also that over the term time left will be a lot more than I get back.
I have had a none existing credit score for last 10 years but it’s now back to 550 not the best score but it means the world to me to get it there and in three agencies so I just didn’t want to go way back down the tree or scare my guarantor Daughter into thinking she will be affected or pestered to pay ? Not an easy decision to make either way
Sara (Debt Camel) says
the Amigo decision is difficult. You know the facts.
Andy Avery says
I have done the provident portal and logged a claim to the scheme and there are some opinional drop down box’s to tick yes or no and fill in details of CCJs and loans refused because of credit file but as they where optional will that matter if I left them blank,if the want to dig into my credit file they can ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you know the details, why not give them?
Provident will still consider your complaint in the Scheme if you don’t, but this extra information could be helpful if it isn’t in their records for some reason. If they look at your current credit record it only goes back 6 years.
Darina says
I’m on time with bills I have arrangement for vanquis cc £1.. and aqua cc, capital cc and barclays cc all I’m paying on time.. I cleared my amigo loan just today.. only I have satsuma as loan
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you are paying the full amounts to aqua, Capital one and Barclaycard?
Darina says
I’ve got direct debits as £30 each I can’t pay whole amount.
BTW I complaint to satsuma last year they didn’t accept I sent to FOS they didn’t accept my complaint too cause I was working full time and they didn’t find its unaffordable I used to earn £25k per year I had £750 rent, £100 bills £600 amigo etc according to this situation they said I can afford to pay but I use my 4k overdraft they didn’t care now I fed up to pay them especially satsuma.. amigo already done
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think those payments too sound too high. It’s very easy to agree one repayment which sounds ok but the total of them all is too much. I suggest you talk to StepcChange about a DMP https://www.stepchange.org/how-we-help/debt-management-plan.aspx for all your debts, the cards, the satsuma loans and the overdraft.
You can do this as well as pursue your Satsuma claim – winning that will speed up your MP.
Darina says
Thank you Sara I’ll try that
All the best
Frank says
Hi,
I have 2 paid off provident loans showing on my credit report from 2018 (no defaults or missed payments). I’m more concerned about cleaning up my credit report, would these be deleted if these were proven to be mis-sold?
Thanks!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t know. Normally in this sort of situation if you ask the lender they will just say they will remove negative information. But in practice it is much simpler for the lender to delete the entire record, so this is often what happens.
Mark says
Hi I have a debt with provident I’m just wondering about this payment a refund how do I get one I am in debt with him for about £120
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is this your first loan from Provident/Satsuma? If not, how many did you have before this?
Ann says
We had several loans in these years and still owe money do we need to apply
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Ann,
You have to make a claim if you think the loans were unaffordable and you would like a refund.
An unaffordable loan is one that left you so short of money you had to borrow more – perhaps by getting another loans from provident, perhaps from another lender or bindirectly by you getting behind with bills or going deeper into your overdraft or using catalogues/credit cards more.
Basically if you know the loans were difficult to manage I suggest you make a claim.
Do you have an email or a letter about the Scheme which has your Scheme ID on it?
If you and your partner both took loans, you have to apply seperateley.
Kelly McCandless says
When provident announced this scheme my claim had been at ombudsman for 12 months and I was just about to receive their desision when it came to an abrupt halt. I contacted ombudsman yesterday to see if they would pick up where they left off and they told me know provident would be in touch. I have signed into the portal and they are telling me I have to start a claim. Surely not? I dont think I have any fight left in me to start this whole process again. So frustrated.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The Provident flowchart https://scheme.providentpersonalcredit.com/Complaints%20flow%20chart%20v2.pdf says that a claim where you rejected a provident decision and sent it to FOS will automatically be registered as a Claim.
If the Portal is telling you you have to register a claim, I am guessing that this may change when they add the FOS cases to the system. You could wait a couple of weeks and see if this happens? Or to be on the safe side it might just be easier to start a claim yourself?
Just checking – you banked that large cheque I hope so you are just arguing about extra 5k?
Kelly McCandless says
Ok thanks Sara, I will leave it a week or so and see if it pops up. The frustrating part is if I need to log another, it will be about 2 and a half years wasted. Yes that cheque ( that was a claim I did for my sister) did you in the bank and she was able to reclaim over £700 from the tax man. That was a close one, to think another day or so that cheque might not have been worth the paper it was written on.
Robin says
My name robin iv had 3or 4 loan s from provident from 2007 that were unaffordable I didn’t get a letter with a I’d number I’m behind on my repayment and they handed to Capquest is anything I can do still iv payed over what I borrowed and I still ow 2200
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Robin,
so that last loan was LARGE. Even if you didn’t have other loans just before it, you may win an affordability claim about this.
You need to phone Provident up and ask for your SchemeID. Check they have your correct house address and email address. You may have been sent an email but it disappeared into into your spam/junk folder and you never saw it.
In addition to this, what is the rest of your financial situation like at the moment? Do you have other problem debts? Are you behind with any bills?
Robin says
Robin put in my claim but not sure what to do bout the rest of my loan it s been handed to a debt collection agency I’ can’t really afford pay it should I wait and see what provent day
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you could be waiting 6-9 months for an answer from Provident!
If you can’t afford to pay it, tell them you need a lower payment. Most people on Universal Credit can’t afford more than £5 a month – do you have other problem debts? Are you behind with any bills?
Robin says
No just bout covering my bills IV had to use my full overdraft when I got my loan I was working then after bout year I had to give up work as had get kidney transplant just was wondering if I keep paying this other companie if my loan was. Not affordable can provdent still pay me my interest as it’s not with them
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how much are you paying a month?
Robin says
I’m not working I’m on universal credit and iv had to get two loans of them so money is tight should I pay they still pay the the rest of loan I got 2500 with interest it was just over 5000 iv paid 2800 over the last three years
Andy Avery says
Okay I will try dig out some info for the portal, it was way back nearly ten yrs ago so I might struggle with the ccjs but I know who refused me in the past so I could put that if nought else.
I take it then when Provident look at the portal they look at the previous loans etc and with Satsuma and do their workings out who gets what when they eventually get round to it.
I wish it was as easy as the doorstep template then you can add words coz the portal is just name and address and scheme ID basically
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think the idea is people aren’t put off by having to write anything.
In practice my guess is they will hope to get the large majority of cases decided automatically by computer and only look at a small number by human. I will be encouraging people who have a case rejected, or on;y accepted for a small number of loans, to put in an appeal and you may be able to make extra points then.
Robin says
Robin it should be 220 a month but the deat collection agency drop it to 20 a month so you think I should keep paying it back and ask them to drop it a bit
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if you can afford £20 a month then there is no harm in carrying on. If you can’t, and it is making it harder to afford your bills and living expenses, then ask to reduce it.
It doesn’t matter this is being paid to a debt collector, it will all be taken into account as though you were paying it to Provident.
Robin says
Ok thanks for your help
Andrew says
My brother who has severe mental health problems as well as other conditions had several loans with provident going back many years. His only income was JSA and when I discovered he had loans and couldn’t afford to pay back provident added extra interest charges. I complained to provident possibly in 2015 about giving my brother credit to a very vulnerable person and they dismissed my complaint . I ended up paying off the loan myself in one lump sum to get rid of them.
My brother then got hold of another provident loan months later and told him not to pay a single penny back. They seem to have given up pestering him now for repayments.
Recently provident have been in touch regarding the court case.
My question is … is it worth putting a complaint claim in. And if he won any compensation would provident not keep the award and set it against the last loan that has not been repayed?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If he gets compensation it will be offset against the remaining loan. But the problem is that Provident will likely be selling the outstanding loan book, so although they haven’t been bothering your brother, it’s possible the new debt collector will.
The loan is old but may not yet be statute barred, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/statute-barred-debt/. If you can find out the date of the loan and if your brother ever made any payments to this, you could talk to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 about this.
This isn’t an easy decision to make.
Andrew says
Thank you. Very clear and good advice.
My gut feeling was to ignore the compensation claim form and not to “reset the clock” regarding last loan.
Thanks once again.
Valbell says
Have done the portal an voted the provident loans
Also have satsuma outstanding
Wrote an asked if both included got generic email back told me to vote an do portal
Tried to do another portal for satsuma Wong do that as wants claim number
Wrote again to three email addresses just get generic email back
Tried ringing an I just get make a claim re portal so none the wiser reply
In portal doesn’t say amount of loads total either yet so I can’t tell if both satsuma an provident on one portal
Any ideas ? Has anyone had to lodge separate claims ?
Aaron says
Hi, I have been helping a family member who over the years has paid over £20,000 to provident in unaffordable loans, which included them recommending her to get more loans from them to pay off the previous. The family member still has around £5,000 in active loans. How does the scheme affect these active loans, will the family member still be able to get the interest removed and just pay off what was lent?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They need to submit a complaint as the article above says.
That sounds like a lot of lending over a long period and so it is likely to be a very strong complaint. If the calculated redress for their case is over £5000 (or whatever the remaining balance is) then that will be written off – for large cases the calculated redress can be very large!
If only the active loans are upheld (which sounds to me to be unlikely) then the interest would be removed and they would just have to repay in total what they borrowed.
Can they afford the current repaymentss?
Lucas says
Any news on quick quid refunds??
Joyce says
As I accidentally deleted the email that provident sent me weeks ago I can not set up a portal as I had no ID to insert. I am after rinsing provident to request this ID number and was told that my details were submitted and that there was nothing further needed. This is worrying me Sarah as I won’t be able to see developments and progress without having a portal. Surely she should have told me my ID number. She only asked for name, address, and DOB
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, I think you should ring them up again and say you want to be able to login to the portal, so ask what your ID number is.
Joyce says
Thanks Sarah, portal now successfully set up
Denise Holland says
i would like compensation as i cant afford loans
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Denise,
you need to send a claim to the Scheme. The article above explains how to do this.
Do you have a current loan from them?
Kelly McCandless says
Hi Sara, just an update, I got an email from ombudsman today (see below part of it) haven’t logged in yet to see if it has been logged but as you said at the start, the ombudsman is passing on the information.
Will keep you updated
Thanks
What does this mean for my complaint?
Consumers are now able to make a claim for redress directly through the Scheme. So we won’t consider your complaint further.
We will forward your details to Provident and you will be automatically included in the Scheme process. Provident will inform you if your complaint has been accepted in the Scheme and what compensation you are entitled to.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It means that your complaint has now been replaced by a claim in the Scheme.
Lesley Donoghue says
How do I create an account to apply for refund as its asking for a number and I don’t have one
Sara (Debt Camel) says
See article above – you need to phone them up and ask for the number.
Lesley says
Ty hunni I’ve had numerous loans off provident over the years, I’m payin one off now that I’ve paid the amount I borrowed but owe a grand in interest xx
Sarah Louise Tansley says
Hi Lesley,
I’m almost in the same situation as you. Paid what I actually borrowed so only the interest left. I hope they hurry up and finalise everything because I have a feeling that I’ll be out of pocket somehow if I keep paying as I just want the loan written off, but then I don’t want to not pay as it will affect my credit score which I’ve been working so hard at trying to build up. Fingers crossed 🤞🏻
Mary says
Hi, some weeks ago I received notifications on web from claims 4U in relation to provident refund. I completed the form on pandoc. No update since.
Anyone else done this?
Is my claim legitimately filed?
Don’t have a number to use Portal?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t know, you need to ask Provident.
This was NOT a good idea. If your claim has been filed, the claims firm will take a lit of your refund for doing nothing except complete a simple form that you could have done yourself.
Anyone else should avoid these parasites. The respectable end of the claims management companies is not going after this business.
Paul says
I put in a complaint to the FOS about several loans with Satsuma/Provident that I believe were unaffordable. The FOS has informed me to access the SOA which I have registered for and provided all details.
I’ve worked hard with help from this site to dramatically clean up my credit file. Lots of previous payday loans have gone. From having many over a period of 2011-2019, only 8/9 are left showing on my report.
Will the fact that my credit file is cleaner now than it was when I took out the loans be a stumbling block in this claim please? I don’t know how I will be able to prove it. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you not have an old copy of your credit report?
Paul says
I don’t think so no. Do you think that could be a problem?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
well it makes life easier if you do.
But you can just send Provident your current credit record plus a list of all the loans that that have been deleted.
Ian hodgson says
ScHEME I.D xxxxxxxxxx want to know if I’m due any thing I have other Debt’s
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is NOT the right place to make a claim to the Provident Scheme. read the article above and it tells you how to send a claim in using your Scheme ID 9which i have xxxx’d out)
Do you still owe Provident any money? If you do, how many previous loans did you have from them roughly?
Do you have other problem debts at the moment – can you say something about those?
RICHARD says
Many thanks for your clear concise advice Sara.
I made myself Bankrupt in 2009, and had it discharged in 2010 but it stayed on my Credit File for 6 years (2015).
From 2012 I suffered from extremely poor health both physical and mentally (I have severe depression/anxiety and PTSD. The only people I could borrow from were Wonga, Satsuma and Provident. I had multiple loans with Satsuma and Provident at the same time, it was a nightmare. After repayment I continued getting loans eg. using one to pay off another, I felt unable to seek help due to my poor MH.
I did get back money from Wonga when they went into Administration it was about £600 but better than nothing.
I have opened a Portal account and will be submitting copies of my Bankruptcy & Discharge letters, also a detailed letter of all of my health issues and how they affect me (she does 12 page ones for the DWP for me, it’s like a template she updates every couple of years when the DWP come knocking. Also my new MH Social Worker is writing a letter for me, I sent here a link to here.
Do you think this is good supporting evidence ?
Thanks,
Richard
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think that sort of evidence is exactly what should be considered in the Scheme. But if you borrowed a lot from them then by itself that is also probably a good case!
unfortunately you are not going to get a good % back. Do you still owe Provident or Satsuma any money at the moment?
Richard says
Hi Sara,
I’d be happy with 0.5% back just as an acceptance that they were in the wrong. I have about £250 outstanding over 2 loans which I repay at just under £50 a week so not far to go, I’d rather pay them off than stop and possibly get a negative on my credit file. which would take time to remove, however,
I am a week in arrears but sod them, their rep I spoke to at Head Office said no problems if I am late. Believe it or not I have a good credit rating now..
When I went bankrupt in 2009 the court wrote off about £2,500 in Provident debt. My credit cards and loans were over £55,000 at the time so that was a huge weight lifted off me, but I had to borrow £450 at the time to pay court fees, lol.
Thanks for the clarification over my supporting letters I’ve uploaded the GP one and my bankruptcy certs.
PS. Thank you for editing out my surname.
Richard says
I forgot to add Sara that I also had a Vanquis credit card just after my Bankruptcy with a £1200 limit, which I reached a couple of years later. I repaid about £100 for about 6 months then had a chat with them as I was struggling. They froze the account and card, I haggled a lower interest rate, about 5% – down from almost 40%, but they wouldn’t go lower. I repaid at £50 pcm until it was paid off. Does this count towards this scheme as well please ?
Thanks and stay safe 🙏
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, Vanquis isn’t covered, nor is Moneybarn. It’s just Provident, Greenwood, Glo and Satsuma loans.
Richard says
Thanks Sara.
I guess it would at least go to prove that they were giving me one or two unaffordable loans from Provi plus say 2 from Satsuma on top of the Vanquis debt. They were also offering me more loans or refinancing.
Now the only people I borrow money from in an emergency (eg. Broken washing machine/fridge freezer) is the DWP Social Fund, as I’m in the Support group of ESA & PIP I can get a budgeting loan of up to £348,
usually repayable at around £22 per week.
You can apply online, get a quick decision, reply by text, then the money goes to your account about a week later. You are meant to disclose any debt for affordability check.
https://www.gov.uk/budgeting-help-benefits/how-to-apply
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, for people on benefits those budgeting loans are a great help.
Kerry says
I made a compliant to Provident r.e unaffordable lending. I was lucky enough to have my claim dealt with by the provident manager and he made an offer and I accepted. I received my payment last year. I have since received a letter from them to submit a claim through the portal ? I’m confused can I still do this as I thought this had been settled. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes you can. Often Provident made VERY poor offers – that may not have been the case for you but it was for many.
If you make a claim now, they will calculate a refund amount, then subtract what you were given before. Then you will be paid a small percentage of the extra amount.
Kerry says
Will do – thanks Sara
hugo says
has anyone had any luck communicating with provident? I have tried all day and i cannot get through and i cant even register online as it says it cannot find me…
Richard says
Hugo, I pay my loans by phone, not the automated system, and the women on 2 occasions have checked my “Scheme account, ” and made updates for me with no issues.
0800 218 2803
Best of luck.
Richard says
Hugo,
Here’s their email as well, they seem to respond in about 48 hours.
soa@provident.co.uk
Chris says
Hi Sara
Can you raise a dispute through Experian to remove the loans from your credit search if you have joined the scheme?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No – Experian will just ask Provident who will say that they haven’t yet determined your claim. You need to wait until the Scheme has determined the loans were unaffordable. Even then, they may just remove negative marks… although it is more likely they will delete the records as it’s simpler for them.
Lorraine says
Does anyone know if a Vanquis card comes under the scheme.
Andi says
No.
Only Provident, Greenwood and Satsuma.
For Vanquis do the following:
Apply for SAR (subject access request)
Look through Transaction list they send through.
Record in a excel all ROP (Repayment Option Plan) fees and Charges (Overlimit / Late payment)
Vanquis will try to say you can not claim ROP as the time frame for PPI has passed, however Vanquis are fully aware that ROP was never marketed as PPI
Also obtain copies of your credit reports and compare the amount of Credit companies you were using at the time of opening the Vanquis card as you may be able to also submit a claim for irresponsible lending.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Also read https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-catalogue-credit-card/ which looks at how to make an affordability complaint if Vanquis increased your credit limit to high a level.
Carly says
Hi there i have received a letter regarding the claim scheme but it is in my married name, i had quite a few big loans with provident in my maiden name. How will this work? (ive sent this again without my surname) thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You need to contact Provident and ask if the loans in your maiden name are showing under your married name. If they aren’t then there are two accounts and you want them both assessed together as a single account, not seperately.
Robert says
Hi, I recieved a letter today regarding claiming against loans I’ve recieved in the past from provident/satsuma etc. I think I had a few with satsuma and atleast 1 with provident when about 8-10 years ago when I first turned 18 but I’m a bit anxious about making a claim. I’ve just recently got my credit score clean with various debts from other lenders dropping off my file and was wondering if I made a claim to see if I was entitled to anything would this in anyway harm my credit file again?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No it won’t. the only thing that can harm your credit score is if you do not make the repayments to credit you currently have. These old loans are presumably either already repaid or you have already defaulted on them… here nothing you can do will make your credit record worse.
If you win ca claim, your credit record may improve, as Provident would have to remove any negative marks from loans that were unaffordable.
J Scott says
I had a few loans with provident at the same time, as a result I couldn’t pay them, my electric bills weren’t paid, even water and other bills, eventually provident sent the debt to a collection agency, as it is I cannot locate the provident old paperwork just the debt agency I pay for the balance of over 6k, I haven’t been sent any paperwork to make a claim nor have I been sent any information on this from. Provident. I’m annoyed I’ve been effectively cut off and left out. I pay £5 a week to a debt agency and its just goign to take forever at the rate I’m doing. Any help you can offer is great, I can’t register on the portal as I don’t have a reference and I’ve got no emails or letters with anything on what can I do.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Phone them up and ask for your Scheme id.
angela twist says
Both me and my husband had provident loans for years we couldn’t afford to pay in the end and they went to debt collection agencies. Now the last email i have is from wescot where i offered them £5 a month for my provident debt that was in 2008. I have just phoned provident to ask for a scheme id and she said she cant find anything for me and my husband at all and she refused to give us a scheme id. Apparently she cant find any of our details either by name, dob or postcode on their systems so we are not entitled to claim according to her. What should we do.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Were all your debts before 2008?
Bonnie says
I have submitted my claim into the portal, they have a section asking for details on defaults but all you can do is add a date (year) in and cannot record any additional information.
I am just hoping that they will delete all entries from the credit reports.
Will they only start reviewing this in Feb 2022 after the portal closes?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t know, I hope they will start earlier.
Jack says
Hi Sarah,
I had two loans in short succession with Satsuma in Jan and March of 2019. I had other multiple payday loans going. Eventually, I couldn’t cope and I entered into a DMP a few months later.
The loans with Satsuma were about £600 combined. The repayments for them were about £65 a month combined, but of course I had other loans I was repaying.
What chance do I have to make a claim for unaffordable lending? What sort of evidence might prove helpful?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I can’t guess what the chance is, but it is pretty easy to make a claim, so why not?
The evidence that may help is your credit record at that time, if you don’t have an old report, take one now. Also your bank statements from 3 months before and 3 months after each loan application. Again get these now, don’t wait to be asked for them.
If your claim is rejected, make an appeal and attach the bank statements.
Jack says
Somewhat related…
When I defaulted, the bank sold that debt to a third party. However, I now have two defaults on my credit file. This had happened twice, so it doubled the default number.
Is this normal, and does it affect my credit rating further than had they remained a single default?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is normal, but only one is counted in the credit scoring system.
If you make a claim and the debt that was sold is decided to be unaffordable, this will be bought back from the debt collector and both defaults removed.
Theresa says
Hi I have borrowed from provident for over 20 years and have paid thousands back to them and I’ve made a claim as the agent did not check my situation so I was in dire straights for years and as being a young mum at the time and a single one at that my agents always offered me more. With bro g skint I obviously took them though I struggled for years. I was paying my last loan back at 400 a month and that was tough though I got took into hospital due to covid and the agent never came back. I also never put a complaint in ever so will that affect my claim or will they have all my info? It’s all confusing to me tbh
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Repaying all the loans won’t harm your claim. If you borrowed continuously for a long while that is normally a sign that the loans were unaffordable so this is a good claim.
Provident should have a list of all your loans.
eck loran says
do you think you could apply to provident for a Equitable Set Off
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You have a current loan and you have made a claim to Provident?
eck loran says
yes sara still owe 1200 my claim was delayed 5 times before scheme came into force
Sara (Debt Camel) says
are you making payments at the moment?
eck loran says
stop them 2 months ago but now getting pestered with company capquest fishing for my details so if i could get a Equitable Set Off this could stop this as my claim is for major loans about £20.000 over the years and was delayed for 56 days 5 times as they said they where finalizing the claim but where just delaying till the scheme came into force
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So this Equitable Set Off is mainly important for Amigo customers as it stops the guarantor being asked to pay, which isnt relevant for Provident.
Just tell Capquest that you have made a claim that you think will result in you being owed a cash refund after your balance has been cleared and you won’t be making any payments to wards this until your claim is settled.
Mark says
Hi,
If you already have a default on your credit file, do we have to wait until the outcome of the claims or can we ask provident to temporarily take them off pending outcome?
Thanks
Mark
Sara (Debt Camel) says
they won’t do anything until the claim is resolved.
Faz says
Hi Sara
Satsuma has not recorded one of my loans as defaulted since 2016 despite me not paying anything towards it.
I had submitted a claim to FOS which got sent back as Provident entered the scheme which I have registered for.
I am fully expecting the scheme to remove this loan as unaffordable however may end up still owing some amount. I asked provident if they could accept a settlement now and remove the missed payments since they had not recorded a default yet. They have come back saying wait for the scheme however they have said due to a systematic issue a default was never applied which they can do now if I request. Do you think this will work out better as currently on my credit profile it seems like I am missing payments every month whereas if I take the hit on the default they will have to record an older date for it and hopefully that will make my credit profile look better?? Or can they actually now not record the default as ita been so long and its their own fault for not recording it. Any advice appreciated
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It sounds best if they add a default backing it – which they can do. And you wait for the outcome to your scheme claim before settling it. So what provident has suggested.
If they add a default in 2016, it will drop off your credit record in 2022. And if your claim is upheld, it will be removed at that point.
Adreva says
Same here, loans from 2017 with no default never got told about the systematic issue and provident refuse to back date or apply a default. I’ve complained to the ombudsman onnuust the default issue and I’m waiting to hear back.
David says
Same here missed payments showing for 45 consecutive months now starting from 2017. I’ve applied to dispute the recording of the missed payments via credit reference agencies. Should I contact Provident and ask them to apply a backdated default to 2017 as an old default will have less impact? I’m guessing either way hopefully any entries will be removed next year once the scheme is finished?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Older defaults do have slightly less impact on your score, but I doubt Provident will look at this – their aim is to get claims decided. If your claim is upheld, the default will be deleted.
Janine says
Hi
When will we know if we a eligible for a refund and will we be notified or do we have to chase them
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You should be notified when your claim has been assessed. You will then be able to appeal it if you don’t think the decision is right.
In the recent Money Shop scheme a significant number of people got extra loans included as unaffordable when they appealed. So don’t assume this will be hopeless.
I don’t know if you will be notified by email – no one has yet had their claim assessed and been told so far as I know.
You could log in to your account and see what that says – it might be a good idea to get into the habit of doing this every month. And come back to this page every month and see if there are any reports of people getting decisions.
Darren Mallinson says
I’ve had my claim via the claim portal returned to me, as I indicated I had defaults and CCJs at the time I took out loans. They are wanting evidence of this.
They are asking for dates and amounts of the CCJs and defaults. I can only access these details on my credit record up to 6 years ago, but they are asking for information from 2007 onwards (which is when I originally took out some of these loans).
Firstly, can they reasonably expect me to have records going back this far? I would suggest that it is reasonable for me to have access to records that a credit reference agency has under 6 years, but anything older than that I would consider an unreasonable expectation. I responded a number of weeks ago querying this and suggesting it was an unreasonable request but unsurprisingly they’ve ignored it.
Secondly, I think this is nothing more than an exercise to put barriers up hoping to stall the process and hope customers give up a claim.
Are there any methods whereby I can get details of CCJs and/or defaults extending back to 2007? I did think of possibly sending a DSAR in, but to who – the credit agencies are unlikely to have data this old.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did you borrow continuously for years? How long?
Do you have any evidence of CCJ, – old letters, emails whatever?
Wayne says
Hi. I have tried multiple times to access the link to the Provident claims portal, and each one comes back with the same message that the portal is not working? Is there any other way to log a claim?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you phoned them up? Provident on 0800 056 8936.