If you had doorstep loans from lender such as Provident, you may be able to get a refund of the interest you paid if the lender should have realised the loan was unaffordable for you.
Doorstep lending – also called home credit – is where a collector comes to your house to collect the repayments. Doorstep loans are used by over 1.3 million people in Britain. The four largest lenders are Provident (includes Greenwoods), Morses Club (includes Shopacheck), Mutual and Loans At Home.
What is an “unaffordable” doorstep loan?
The regulator says that a loan is unaffordable if you couldn’t make the repayments without borrowing again. This could be borrowing from the same lender, from someone else, getting deeper into your overdraft or by not paying a bill such as a utility bill.
So even if you always paid your Provident loan on time, it could still have been unaffordable.
If the lender should have realised the loan was unaffordable they shouldn’t have given it to you – that was irresponsible lending and you should get a refund back of the interest you paid.
With doorstep lending complaints you don’t usually get a refund of all your interest, the common award is a refund on interest on the last few loans.
You are very unlikely to get a refund for only one loan. But if you borrowed several times and especially if you took out a new loan when you were having problems paying an existing one, then complain.
How to complain about doorstep loans
For the last 18 months, lots of people have been getting large refunds from payday loans, see How to ask for a payday loan refund. The good news is the process is exactly the same for doorstep loans – the regulator’s definition of affordability is the same for all sorts of lending.
And now people are having success with complaints about doorstep loans – see the comments at the bottom of this article!
That article has template letters for complaining and it describes what you need to do and when to take your case to the Financial Ombudsman. You can use the payday loan refunds template letters – just delete the word “payday”! But also read the following Special Points…
Special points for Provident and other doorstep lenders
Here are some points that often crop up with doorstep lending.
If any of these happened to you, add a similar sentence to the standard payday loan refund letter:
- “My collector said I needed to change some things on my application otherwise it wouldn’t be approved”;
- “My collector filled out the application and gave it to me to sign, I didn’t have time to read it”;
- “I told the collector I had lost my job and she offered me a new loan to tide me over”;
- “When I asked my collector if I could pay over a longer period, he said I couldn’t unless I took a new loan”;
- “I have borrowed from you continuously for four years. Every time I cleared some debt, I was offered top ups”;
- “I missed several payments but you kept lending me more”;
- “For the first loan my collector looked at my payslip but after that he never checked and never asked if I was getting the same money – I wasn’t.”
Contact details for doorstep lenders
Include your customer reference number if you had one. Explain if you have moved address or changed your email so they can locate your account. Keep a copy of online complaints or letter sent – if you email it to yourself it’s easy to pass on to the Ombudsman if needed.
- Provident Use their online form: complaints to Provident and copy your complaints letter into the “message you want to send us” box. (Same for Greenwoods).
- Morses Club You have to write to them, see complaints to Morses. (Same for Shopacheck).
- Loans at home email with COMPLAINT in the title to customerservice@sd-taylor.co.uk.
- Mutual email to complaints@mutual.uk.com.
- Short Term Finance (Birmingham) Use their online form and copy your complaints letter into there: complaints to Short-Term Finance.
- Naylors Finance email with COMPLAINT in the title to admin@jrnaylors.com.
How good is your complaint?
The more loans you had, the better your case. Borrowing for prolonged periods by taking out new loans or refinancing existing ones shows you were dependent on the loans.
The larger the loans became, the better your complaint is. The first few loans may have been affordable but if they kept going up, that is a sign of increasing trouble.
Some people have had Provident loans for a very long while. You will not be able to have a complaint about loans before 2007 considered.
If you think you have a good case, don’t be put off if the lender rejects it. People are winning these cases at the Financial Ombudsman. The payday loan refund link above describes how to send your complaint to the Ombudsman, what details to include etc.
If you are offered a small amount, don’t worry you will lose this offer if you go to the Ombudsman. We have never seen this happen.
What will the Ombudsman say?
Read What happens at the Financial Ombudsman for an overview.
You can take cases with doorstep loans more than 6 years old to the Ombudsman. The lenders may say they haven’t kept the records of the credit checks for these older loans … but they don’t seem to be very good at producing the records for the more recent loans either!
You probably won’t get a refund back of all the interest you paid – most refunds given are for your more recent loans. But ask for it all and let the Ombudsman make the decision about where your loans became unaffordable. You don’t have to calculate and ask for an amount.
Some things worth saying to the Ombudsman:
You had a poor credit record
It’s worth emphasising if you had a poor credit record, especially if it got worse as you carried on borrowing from the doorstep lender. Get a copy of your free Noddle report – this will show defaults and missed payments going back 6 years. Send that to the Ombudsman with your complaint. Don’t wait to be asked for this, send it straight away.
Did you “refinance” loans?
It is also worth emphasising if you repaid some loans early because you borrowed more that month from the same doorstep lender. This is sometimes called “refinancing” your loan.
In this case you may have paid more in interest that you would have if you had just been given an extra loan because of the way the “early settlement calculation” were done. If this wasn’t explained to you by your agent (and I bet it wasn’t!) then you paid more interest than you should have.
Who suggested you borrow more?
It is also worth pointing out to the Ombudsman if it was always your agent suggesting you borrow more, perhaps because it was getting near to Christmas, or in August when you might need more money for new school uniforms, or because you had paid off a lot of a previous loan.
The FCA (the lenders’ regulator) said in a report (it’s long – look at page 32) in May 2018:
“Section 49 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (CCA) prohibits the canvassing and soliciting of cash loans off trade premises where this is not done in response to a signed written request made on a previous occasion.”
That means a lender such as Provident should only have offered you a loan if you had asked them in writing for it, they shouldn’t have sat in your home and offered new loans. So if this happened to you, mention it in your complaint to the Ombudsman.
Describe what happened with the loans
It’s important to try to show the links between your loans if there were a lot of them. Something like this can explain your case:
I took loan 2 out as soon as I repaid loan 1 and it was for a larger amount. I then took out loan 3 whilst loan 2 was still going. After a few months I couldn’t afford the payments so my collector suggested I took out a loan to repay off the loans 2 and 3 and spread the repayments over longer. So loans 2 and 3 were repaid early only because I borrowed more. etc etc.
Send your bank statements
Send your bank statements with your complaint. If you haven’t got them all, send ones you do have and set about asking your bank for the rest, then send those. You are more likely to win a complaint if you send them. Don’t wait to be asked!
Don’t be worried because your bank statements show a lot of gambling. Read Gambling and payday loans complaints for examples of how the Financial Ombudsman handles this sort of case -it is hardly ever a problem.
What about your current loan?
If you are still repaying a doorstep loan, you can still complain. If you tell the doorstep lender you want a payment arrangement, they should allow you to pay less each week over a longer period without adding any more interest.
But if you have other problem debts as well, talk to StepChange and they can see if a debt management plan would help. You can still complain if you are in debt management.
Need some help?
Your local Citizens Advice can help with writing these complaints, that will be free.
You don’t need a lawyer or a claims company. They take a LOT of your refund and you can make a better claim on your own than they can. A good claim involves telling your own story, you know it and a claims company doesn’t!
Comments or questions?
Hundreds of readers have posted comments below about how their Provident complaints are going and the successes they have had. If you have a question, ask it here!
Payday loan refund template letters
Too high a credit card or catalogue limit?
Asking BrightHouse for a refund
Ian R says
Hi Sara just received the standard 4 week letter from provident saying they need more time to investigate my complaint-I expect to go to FOS in another 4 weeks-the same reluctance to pay up seems the normal culture at provident/vanquis-I wonder why its surely better to resolve cases quicker because they must know most will go to FOS afterwards❓❓
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They may simply be woefully understaffed in the complaints department.
Caroline Robertson says
Emailed my adjudicator today regarding my Provident complaint after hearing nothing since the 17th December. Got this back from him…
At the moment I’m waiting on a senior colleague to look through the complaint with me to ensure we’re being as fair as possible. So this means it could be a while longer before I’m able to get an answer to you.
I didnt think it would take this long once and adjudicator had been assigned but mine has loans over 6 years and the DMHEF form plus loads of evidence so i guess im close to an answer and a bit more patience is needed. Just a long haul if you want loans over 6 years considered and a bit frustrating but hopefully worth it in the end
Veronica Moss says
My husband’s has been with a senior colleague since March because he has loans over 6 years. It went to ombudsmen in June 17
James says
Finally! I have been fighting my mum’s case, as she was lent to on 45 occasions since 2007 (over 150 since 1998) by the same provident advisor.
The tips held within this on forming and articulating my complaint have been invaluable, and no doubt have driven an uphold decision by the adjudicator.
Provident have 10 days left to accept or reject the decision, but I don’t believe they have a leg to stand on so I am considering this a sure win.
I sure hope they learn from this and start to change their lending strategy.
I know of 2 more people in a similar situation to my mum’s, so I’ll be using this website to help them seek justice too!
James Cochrane says
So the deadline has passed for Provident to accept the adjudicator’s decision. They’ve given reason as ‘they are attempting to gather information from another business area’….anyone else faced this?
Lauren says
Hi, just wondered if anyone has any idea on timescale for the financial ombudsman? I recieved a letter from them on the 20/11/2018 saying within 12 weeks an adjudicator will be assigned to me. How long is the process after that? Im dropping loans over 6 years old… and have already sent them bank statements and my credit report.
Any advice or estimates would be greatly appreciated.
Louie says
I decided to make a complaint to Provident, having come across this very helpful site. I’ve had six loans with a value of £5,170, and £5,317 worth of interest, since 2015, but last year I borrowed £2,500 (as two loans) with £3,480 interest, however I returned the money and cancelled the agreement from a family intervention. Despite the intervention I took out a smaller loan, from being in a really bad place and having been bombarded without pause by text, email and post (You sure you want to cancel? / Can give you that money? / You can have a loan). Anyway, having received my data from Provident, included in the opening letter was them saying how I have two customer account numbers; I was given a completely and very different customer number for that huge loan, that I then returned, and this is news to me. It probably isn’t anything, but I don’t understand, can anyone suggest why that is? With my still outstanding loan, it is on the customer account number I originally had, and thought I only had. So, a new customer number was generated for a big loan, split in two, and only for that loan, and I wasn’t aware of it, let alone why.
Any ideas would be appreciated.
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you stop worrying about the two different account numbers (why does this matter?) and think whether the loans you have been given were “affordable” – could you replay them on time without having to borrow more money? If the answer is No, then send Provident an affordability complaint for both of your account numbers.
JOJO says
At my wits end!
I will try keep it brief.
Complaint upheld 29.11.18 and £2242 was to be waived. I informed them thanks but I had paid £1250 off this amount and there was £982 outstanding. The debt was with DCA who I paid the amounts to. Eventually agreed the £982 would be sent back to creditor and wiped but the £1250 I would get back from the DCA.
DCA telling me I have to make an indemnity claim via bank to get this money!! This surely.only relates to single DD unauthorised or paid by bank in error not to get a refund following a complaint?
So original creditor passing me to DCA, DCA passing me to indemnity claim. Any advice welcomed.please.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you sent this to FOS? Complain about Provident – it is their job to resolve this. You don’t have to put another complaint in and start the 8 weeks again, provident have not complied with what they said they would do to settle your original complaint. ASsk for compensation in addition to the refund being sorted properly.
Lowell’s suggestion is absurd. As you say the DD was not collected in error. And if you did claim on the DD guarantee and got the money back, the bank would then get it back from Lowell, so there is no point at all in their obstructive suggestion.
JOJO says
Thank you Sarah.
FOS not yet but I will do that today definitely. I guess I was giving them leeway to resolve.
Thanks again
Caroline Robertson says
Just heard from Ombudsman. Looks like i have won but not sure how much. Doing simple interest on each of the loans i got it to £23000+
– Waive the interest for loans 23, 24 and 25;
– Refund all interest and charges that Mrs X paid on loans 7 to 25 (21 April 2007
to 2 August 2014);
– Pay interest of 8% simple a year on all refunds from the date of payment to the date
of settlement*;
– Use the refund to reduce the outstanding capital balance on loans 23, 24 and 25;
– Pay any additional refund directly to Mrs X;
– Remove any entries about loans 7 to 25 from Mrs X credit file.
Provident have til the 15th to respond. Its been a long haul but if Provident agree then its been well worth the wait
James Cochrane says
Well done!!
How did you calculate the interest? Its very hard to reach a figure where loans refinance other loans. This is something I am struggling with at the monent.
What was the total amount they lent to you that is being upheld and over what period? Itll give me an idea on what my mum is due on the case we just won.
Caroline Robertson says
Ombudsman had sent me the details of all the loans they were going to look at which showed the interest on each of the loans. I took the interest and used a simple interest calculator online on each individual loan to get the amount which has given me a rough guide as to what to expect.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The 8% simple interest is just on the interest you are being refunded, not the loans themselves… just checking…
James says
Indeed,
Sara do you know if there is any sort of calculator/excel available where you can input loans that refinances each other? So many variables!
Caroline Robertson says
Yes i only used the interest when calculating. Total amount of interest less what was outstanding on the last 3 loans to get my final totaI. Interest in total from 2007 to 2014 was £13800 but i calculated each one individually
Kezza says
Well done, when did you first send complaint to ombudsman?
My loans and over 6 years ones have been with the ombudsman since December 2017
Caroline Robertson says
Mine went in February 2018 but i have mental health issues and a load of info was supplied with my complaint. It was originally at adjudicator within a matter of weeks but because i wanted older loans looked at it took a lot longer
ADAM says
Hi Sara,
Question, on behalf of my Nan if i may ,
she has been using provident loans continually from the mid 80s, up until 2017, is there anything in the way of the unaffordable loans she can claim back?
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Most of these cases do have to go to the Ombudsman – don’t be depressed when provident reject her case, it doesn’t mean it’s weak.
She won’t be able to go to the Ombudsman about any loans before April 2007. so in practice you may as well only complain about loans after that date.
Ian R says
Well Sara just had cheque from provident- much to my surprise they agreed several of my loans were unaffordable-its took them six weeks to decide-least its done now-thought be long drawn out job-Thanks for your advice Regards Ian R
steven says
did they send all your interest back ?
Lauren says
My partner had his provident rep round the other day (case is with ombudsman) but we are still making repayments until a decision has been made. Turns out provident have changed their policy you now have to ASK for a renewal/top up. No more letters or them offering it to you. If you dont ask you wont get told. Guess theyre fed up of paying out complaints due to it constantly being thrown in peoples faces etc!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
With Provident if you ask them you can repay at a lower rate if you are struggling. It may affect your credit record (but any negative marks would be deleted if you win the affordability complaint) but they won’t add any more interest.
Angela says
What’s the first step to claim. I had no idea until I found this post today. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The first thing is to read the payday loan refund page https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/ – that describes the steps you go through and has a template letter as a starting point.
Then come back and read this article again because there are some “doorstep loan special points” that you may be able to add to the standard payday loan template letter to make your complaint stronger.
Good luck – is this Provident? how many years have you been borrowing from them and do you currently owe money?
Paul Wright says
Hello. I first came to your site back in July 2018, and I set about writing my complaint t letter to Provident, they replied on 14/09/2018 with my customer enquiry report which I requested, never heard anything else off them, then last week I sent them an email asking if they had made a decision, and told them I was now in the process off taking my complaint up, with the F.O.S.
Last week I received an email off them, saying that they sent me their decision on 28/09/2018, and that they had decided I had no case for any refunds!!
I have never had any thing off Provident telling me of their outcome, and in their letter, they told me that because they sent out an email, they didn’t bother sending me a paper copy by post!
I am still within 6months of their decision, is this still worth sending to the F.O.S.?? Many thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes you are within time to go to FOS. How long had you borrowed from them?
Paul wright says
Been borrowing since 2006
Thank you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh definitely go to FOS then!
Angela says
I have had a email from an adjudicator at ombudsman re my Provident complaint which has been with them since Dec 17. Loans are over 6 years old and providant saying i should have complained earlier as i had a debt management plan in 2012. Adjudicator wanted my side as to why I didn’t complain then. I simply didnt know i could complain or know about irresponsible lending then. As soon as i did i complained to Provident in July 2017. Anyone else had this response?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes this is a standard FOS question when a lender says that older loans shouldn’t be considered. Points to make when you reply if they apply to you:
– say a bit about what it was like when you were borrowing. eg You didn’t know you could ask to repay a loan more slowly, your agent knew you were in difficulty, but never suggested a payment arrangement, only offering new loans. or You didn’t realise that the lender should have checked you could afford the repayments, the agent never asked for proof of income or expenses or other debts so you didn’t know the lender was supposed to consider affordability. or that the agent always presented the loans as helping you out or doing you a favour, and you thought it was your own fault for getting into a financial mess.
– give some details about how and when you found out about these complaints. You don’t have to be able to “prove” this, just say what happened – did you see an advert for payday loan refunds in October and wonder if the same applied to Provident? Did a friend or relative tell you in September about refunds? did you see Wonga mentioned on the news and you google for refunds?
– you could add that if you had known you could have complained earlier, you would have!
steven says
hi can any1 help me I have sent the doorstep loan irresponsible lending interest letter to morses club and I have had a call from there complaints department to call them back but im not sure what to say as I don’t want to anything to stop my claim any advise please thankyou in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest calling them to find out what they want. If you aren’t clear what they are saying or they want you to agree to something, just ask them to put it in an email as you want time to consider it.
steven says
I have just spoke to them he was realy helpful he just asked if I wanted to send any bank statements or credit file in to help my claim he is sending me a list of my loans and all the interest I have payed on them I said I don’t mind emailing my credit file across is this something I should do ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That’s good. Sending a copy of your credit record – get a Noddle report – is a good thing to do.
gillian says
hi steven the same with me last year with morse club I put in complaint and within a week someone phoned me and asked if I could supply bank statements and credit file to speed them looking at the complaint I did and I must say they were by far the easiest to deal with within 2 weeks came back with full refund of all loans that were with them and even forward my complaint to welcome finance because they were responsible for the first 12 loans taken before morse club took over money was paid within 7 days hope they are as fair with you
steven says
well done gillian that’s a great result yeah I hope there are as fair with me I have not sent any details in as someone advised me not to so not sure if its the right thing to do or not he mentioned welcome finance to me to and said my fist 2 loans were with welcome finance so he was looking into 8 loans instead of 10 did you get a nice amount back or do they not send everything ?
gillian says
morse club refunded me all intrest on loans 12 to sixteen it was about 3000 pound altogether welcome finance refused on all loans so I have sent this to fos still waiting as loans 1 to 9 are just over the 6 year time I spoke to the fos yesterday and they said they are still in talks with welcome finance about loans over 6 years so will be a wait but I am prepared for that as I have only two claims left with the fos and over the last eighteen months thanks to sara and her site I have had over 20000 pound refunded from payday companies and vanquish credit card all my claims that were refused by the companies were upheld in full when I sent them to the fos so do not be put off if you have to go to the fos they are very helpful good luck thanks again sara you have changed my life for the better I have not used payday companies for 18 months now when I was using them every singe month for over 6 years before I found your site you deserve a medal
Karen says
Hi
I put in unafordbality loans in June of last year with FOS for money shop they came back with 5 out of 7 loans with interest and 8% paying back my diedline was the 8th February 2018 I email the FOS and
I got another email from FOS yesterday saying my deadline was up on the 8th February 2018 and they will chase money shop up for a response if they don’t get one it will go to the ombusman for final descion as money shop as got a delay in answering there email’s will this drag on
Thank You
CarrieN says
Hi Gillian
Just reading your post. I’ve had a few loans over the years with Morses club. Do you call them to complain or send a letter via post? I’m currently in arrears with them at the moment. Many thanks
CarrieN
gillian says
hi carrieN I had to write to them because I could not find a email for them I found a list of all my loans with shop a check on my credit fill and just put the dates I had borrowed in the letter they replied that any before 2014 belonged to welcome finance but they were willing to look into the ones after this date and like I said they refunded all intest I had paid plus 8percent they were very easy to deal with in my case so good luck
CarrieN says
Thanks for the reply Gillian
They’ve asked me to send over all of my bank statements since 2013…… is this correct or do they just need the ones from when I took out the loans? They’ve not been very clear and with other companies I’ve only had to send them a couple from when I took out the loans. Thanks in advance. CarrieN
gillian says
I just sent the ones that covered about 3 months before the loans I took out with them till the month after the last loan I banked with tsb at the time and they were helpful with providing 6 years worth of statements for all my claims and only charged me 15 pound but if you not clear ring up morse club and ask they were very easy and helpful for me
CarrieN says
Hi Gillian
Thanks for that I will send them what I can
CarrieN
Jay says
Hi guys,
I had a response back covering 54 loans with provident. 46 of these were upheld. I wanted to share the story with you all as the redress was just over £20,000. Its important to get your claims in as this sort of money could really turn things around for you.
Thank you debt camel for the resources you provide
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Great news! A totally life-changing amount of money.
Steven says
Omg well done Jay have fun spending lol
CarrieN says
Wow well done!
Caroline Robertson says
Well done Jay. Just had word of mine, 19 loans refunded. I thought it was around the £23000 mark but its came in at just over £19500. Just scanned and sent my acceptance back so looking forward to the cheque coming. Thank you to everyone on this site, i would never have done this without reading your sound advise. A long haul at 1 year and almost 3 months but well worth it
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Another huge result!
I don’t normally pay much attention to the big refunds – everyone reading this will have know months when the idea of getting £500 paid in your bank account would have seemed like a dream. But in this case it is very good to see Provident be made to pay adequate redress for the amount of money thay have taken from their victims over the years.
Jay says
That’s just it, those involved are victims. The sad state of affairs is that vulnerable people are punished financially simply because of their situation.
I’m more interested in seeing lenders change their ways. I dread to think how many people are unaware that they’re being financially abused by lenders and that there are resources to help them.
Anyone on this thread should help their friends complain if there is a need to do so. The more these lenders bleed cash from complaints, the quicker they’ll change their approach!
CarrieN says
Hi Jay
Did your case go to the ombudsman? Mines currently waiting allocation to an adjudicator, only two months in mind.
Jay says
Hiya CarrieN,
It was refuted, 3 times, by Provident initially. I raised it to the Ombudsman in September I believe, meaning it was a 5 month wait all in all.
Hold on in there, there is a backlog. I’m also of the understand they have a grading process in which they allocate cases and vulnerability is a situation in which they deal with it quicker.
If you are currently in debt and struggling then let your lender know and they’ll have to take steps to ease the pressure.
In the meantime, just put the complaint to the back of your mind. Each day that passes is more 8% interest you’ll be awarded if you win, so the wait isn’t all bad :)
CarrieN says
Hi Jay
Thanks for replying. That timescale doesn’t sound bad at all. Hopefully mine will be similar.
Well done and good luck :)
Caroline Robertson says
Mine went to an adjudicator in November CarrieN so around the 3 months once adjudicator was appointed. Didnt have to go to Ombudsman decided at adjudicator
Jen says
Well done to you both were ur loans both over 6 yrs mines are currently waiting because of the 6 yr marker been at FOS for over a year now
Caroline Robertson says
Mines were Jen
Jen says
Thanks amazing result enjoy your debt free future it must be a weight off your mind this site is brill Sara has been so much help I’ve been on here since may 17 still waiting on 4 lenders till it’s all done with
CarrieN says
Thanks Caroline
Fingers crossed my outcome is good too. Well done by the way :)
Steven says
Hi I keep seeing this 8% interest what is this ?
caroline Robertson says
8% pa is simple interest calculated onto any refund you may get. There are simple interest calculators online that are easy to use
Annie says
Well mine still with ombudsman after adjudicator saying they hadn’t done anything wrong continuously re financing etc.Just waiting on their decision although not holding out much hope…time will tell but I’m not a lucky person….proof all there as well with loans all in black and white .
Andi says
Hi
Recently found out my grandmother had multiple loans from Provident for well over 20years.
Unfortunately she passed away a year ago yesterday, and my mother only recently been able to go through paperwork. Last repayment of loan was 2yrs ago.
Is there any option to enquire on behalf of my grandmother now that she has passed?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
In theory whoever is the executor of her estate can put in a complaint. It works for PPI but I haven’t seen anyone do this with an affordability complaint. Did she leave a Will?
Andi says
Nope didn’t leave a will.
My mom is executor – though she has nothing official.
Going through this paperwork, it’s loan after loan and sometimes 3 at the same time.
There’s statements of accounts, the little blue books – so far we are back to 2010
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can only complain going back to 2007. If this goes to the Ombudsman – and it probably will – you will need to get her bank statements for the period.
Andi says
She never held a bank account
She had a Post Office card where her money was paid into, it was drawn and she just had the cash in the house.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ok, then I hope in her paperwork there is sone evidence of what her benefits/pension income was over the years.
Andi says
She never held a bank account.
Provident loans were always paid in cash (noted on some of the agreements).
Only thing she had I. Last 5yrs was a post office account that she had benefit/pension paid into
Jay says
Hey Andi,
Even if her bank statements don’t show the loans, provident will have records of what it lent back to around 2004 so get the info from them.
What her post office statements will show is her pension/benefits being paid in. If she was withdrawing it all right it shows an immediate need for the funds with will help build your case. They hold statements for at least 12 years.
020 7272 1764 is the number to contact them on or email them info@postoffice.moneycard.co.uk
Georgea says
Hi everyone have you all found provident to obstructive? I have had 10 loans since 2013. I have let any older than 6 years go. I had £3204 worth of loans and the interest for these was 575% or whatever they charge ridiculous. I had alot of the loans refinanced but the most recent loan which was in 2017 was £455 I actually borrowed from my jar to pay this off and I had 2 loans from provident at this time I made a payment of £500 to pay the £455 loan off in full as I’d only had it 3 weeks and they said the payment had to be split equally between the 2 loans they wouldn’t let me just pay the 1 loan off and so they charged me the full term of interest on both of those loans obviously to get more money out of me. In addition to borrowing from myjar to repay these loans I also had 2 credit cards an overdraft defaults on water and 4 accounts with Lowell and I even had to get my landlady to reduce my rent or I wouldn’t have been able to afford my house! The agents were very nice but they advised me to re finance my loans rather than them asking me in writing they also coached me on what to put on the affordability forms. I have entered my complaint today and given them 8 weeks to respond. Does anyone have any experiences of provident paying out without going to the FOS? Am I likley to get anything back for these loans? Any advice appreciated
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Provident at the moment are slow and not good at making good offers. You may be lucky but some people with very strong cases just get rejected, so send your case to FOS at 8 weeks.
Jay says
Provident tend to let it go past the 8 week deadline and also reject in full, on the basis that you signed for the loans.
I supplied the FOS with bank statements (annotated), medical records, credit reports and used some of the wording provided on this site.
The FOS were really good and upheld the complaint, so I’d recommend taking it to them with every piece of evidence you can your hands on. There is no fee for getting your data from companies now so take advantage of that!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you want a copy of the data Provident has about you as Jay suggests, email them at informationrequests@provident.co.uk and ask for a copy of all your personal data. There will be a lot!
Georgea says
Thanks for the info I have requested them to send me the info and told them to do so within 14 days and I have set a reminder to go to FOS in 8 weeks. How likley is it that will look at all of my 10 loans within the 6 year period? Am I likley to get redress for all of them or just for a few? The ones from before 2012 I was a student and on benefits but I kmow it will be harder to look into these ones. What is the current waiting time like for responses from the FOS? I can get all of my bank statements from this time as I’m still with the same bank so I can get to work on sorting this out in the meantime.
Thank you everyone for your advise. I had a small success with my jar I am in process with 118 money and also provident so I will update as and when I get info. Sara you are amazing!
Jay says
Response times from the FOS vary, if you look through the thread here you’ll see two factors that seem to speed things up:
1. People waiving any right to have loans over 6 years to be looked at. If you want over 6 years (as far back as 2007) to be looked at, it goes into a seperate pot which has a backlog for the FOS to decide whether they legally can. I had all from April 2007 looked at and it was worthwhile for my circumstances, but that is a decision for you to make.
2. Vulnerability- my case and others on here were prioritised due to the borrowers being in vulnerable circumstances.
The FOS will ofcourse look at anything under 6 years old, as should provident if you ask them to.
Some people have been waiting quite a long time. If you have current debts I would do some research to find a method that best suits your circumstances to get on top of those :) If you don’t have debts any more, then jist focus on making your complaint as strong as possible and accept the wait. It can range from about 6 months to over a year with the FOS
steven says
can any1 tell me how to calculate the interest 8%pa I have tried the online calcs but cant work them out
these are the interest on each loan I took out on the paper work they have sent me:
450
337.0
375
225
450
337.50
all were from 2014/15 thankyou
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So that’s a total £2174. Working out the 8% requires the exact date of each payment, but if they were in 2014-2015 then on average they are about 4 years ago. So a very rough guess is about £700. Somewhere in the £600-800 range.
Steven says
That’s great thankyou just have to wait see what they say now lol