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. Provident is much the largest, but everything in this article also applies to the other lenders.
Contents
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 loans on time, they could still have been unaffordable. Especially if you had several Provident loans at the same time or often had to refinance/top-up a loan.
Often the first few loans may have been just about affordable, but Provident should have realised their loans were making your life more difficult when you kept getting more loans. If you were struggling, your agent should have suggested that you could repay the current one a lot more slowly with no extra interest being added, not offered another larger loan. That was irresponsible lending and you should get a refund back of the interest you paid.
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 ask for a refund from Provident or other doorstep lender
For the last few years, 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!
The template letter here for doorstep loans is very similar to the payday loans, but it has some extra points that may be important for your provident claim.
Template letter to ask Provident for a refund
As I do not have all the details of my loans, I want you to send me a list of them, showing for each loan when it was taken out, how much interest and charges you added and what I repaid – this will enable me to assess any refund you offer me. [delete this if you already know all the details for all of your loans.]
You should never have given me these unaffordable loans. I am asking you to refund the interest and any charges I paid, plus statutory interest, and to delete any negative information from my credit record.
[If any of the following happened to you, add a couple of sentences describing this. If the problems didn’t happen for all of your loans, add the words OFTEN or SOMETIMES. Delete any that didn’t happen to you.]
- I have borrowed from you continuously for [say how many years]. Every time I repaid a few payments my collector encouraged me to take a top up and refinance it. My collector never explained I would have paid less interest if I just took a new loan and carried on repaying the old one.
- I missed several payments and the collector knew I was in difficulty as I had lost my job/had my hours cut/benefits reduced but I was just offered a new loan. I was never told that I could have a repayment plan for my existing loan instead.
- When I asked my collector if I could pay over a longer period, he/she said I couldn’t unless I took a new loan.
- 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.
- 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 didn’t know that the lender was supposed to check that I could repay the loan without having to borrow more. I only found out in March 2019 when I saw a newspaper article in the Sun/an advert on Facebook for payday loan refunds/my sister/friend told me about these complaints/whatever. [Only put this in some of your loans are more than 6 years old. Put this into your own words so it covers what happened to you, don’t just copy those words.]
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.
Contact details for doorstep lenders
- Provident & Greenwoods Use their online form: complaints to Provident and copy your complaints letter into the “message you want to send us” box.
- Morses Club & Shopacheck You have to write to them, see complaints to Morses.
- 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.
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.
How strong is your complaint?
The more loans you had, the better your case. Borrowing for long 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 can’t get a refund for loans before April 2007.
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.
You should get a response in 8 weeks
This letter or email starts off the affordability complaint. The clock is now running and the lender has to reply to your complaint within 8 weeks from when you send the email, not when they acknowledge it.
Provident is being very slow about replying to complaints and they often don’t make a good offer. They may ask for two more weeks several times… I suggest you send the case to the Ombudsman straight away after 8 weeks.
If the lender says the loans are more than 6 years old so you can’t complain about them, ignore this and send your case to the Ombudsman who is looking at older loans (but not loans before April 2007).
Sending a complaint to the Ombudsman
The easiest way to send a complaint is to use their online application form because that asks all the questions they need to know the answer to (most of these are easy, such as would like to be contacted by letter, email or phone?)
You probably won’t get a refund back of all the interest you paid – most refunds are for 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 anything or ask for an specific amount.
What should you say?
You can just copy the complaint you sent to the lender. But here are some more things you may want to add:
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.
It can help 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.
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 than you would have if you had just been given an extra loan because of the way the “early settlement calculation” was 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.
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.
A lender such as Provident should only have offered you a loan if you had asked them in writing for it. The collector 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.
Send your bank statements and credit report
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. Here is one case Ombudsman decision about a Provident case involving gambling which shows that FOS just accepts you have a gambling problem, you can still win these complaints.
Also get a copy of your free Credit Karma report and send it to the Ombudsman with your complaint. Don’t worry you can’t get an old credit report – the Ombudsman knows this isn’t possible.
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 will 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?
Borrowers are getting refunds from Amigo
jimmy smith says
I feel it’s worth pointing out a balanced view to this article as I work in home credit and would like to point out the following.
1. All customers now have to sign a form to say they are requesting further credit to prove that the agent has not asked them to take out further loans, putting the responsibility for your own financial situation on the customer (if you cant afford, don’t ask, get HELP!)
2.All lending is voice recorded to prove their is no manipulation of affordability assessment
3.electronic signature after terms and conditions have been read out – so customer cant say they didn’t have time or understand the loan they were taking out.
4. All income has to be proven for every loan application and recorded as to capture a change in customers financial circumstances.
5. There are many happy home credit customers that rely on their loan and receive a great service from their agent
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes the FCA has made them clean up their act. Good! But:
1) most of the complaints here are about the long history of unaffordable lending in the past
2) “putting the responsibility for your own financial situation on the customer” the FCA and FOS will usually say that the greater responsibility is on the lender to ensure the loan is affordable. Some people don’t think very clearly about their expenses. Others are so desperate they deliberately understate them to get a loan. The lender is aware this may happen and should verify where necessary.
Chris says
Agents manipulate the recording element of the visit. Before the recording starts, they will make clear what the customer should say. With Provident, I received repeated emails telling me that I could apply for further funds. In addition, no enquiries were made by my agent about other indebtedness. Whenever I raised it, the answer was ‘No problem – it’s already in the system’.
Ann says
Shocking behaviour in the past from agents, and I’m hoping provident are made to pay out to my poor mum. Sitting in a cold house with her coat on trying to save on heating to afford her alcohol and feed her addiction (gladly sober now for a number of years) and the provident agent holding hundreds of pounds in cash in a fan in front of her saying ‘this could be yours, in your hands right now, all I need is your signiature and your payments won’t even go up, all your loans will be cleared and this will be yours to spend’
She was paying £59 A week in loans off £67 A week benefits money. I honestly don’t know how the agents slept at night knowing they were leaving people in that sort of situation. Yes she chose to sign the form… but why on earth was she allowed to? And the disgusting behaviour of the agents… this is just one example and one agent but I have many similar stories involving different agents so I know it’s not an isolated case.
I’m glad provident are being made to clean up their act, and I hope many many people get paid back a lot of money that will make a difference to their situation now
Weslie Ogilvie says
Home credit loans with extortionate interest are a legalised form of loan sharking. People often turn to home credit due to poor credit history. This is then took full advantage of with extortionate interest rates. No amount of form signing, paperwork or telephone calls can disguise the fact that it essentially preying on the financially vulnerable
Sarah says
Repeatedly lending to people you know are relying on home credit loans is quite an irresponsible way to be doing it! Anyone relying on a loan of a relatively small amount again and again is in no position to be lending in the first place really. At that point the loan is being treated almost as if it’s a source of regular income.
Why wouldn’t they be happy with the service from their agents when it’s the only place they’re able to get any service?
Why don’t home credit lenders incrementally lower the rates for those who pay off previous loans in full and on time? They’ll happily increase the amount they’re willing to lend the next time but not at a lower rate, despite advertising that keeping up with repayments can help to improve your credit score/rating.
Joy says
Wasn’t their a deadine for claiming back PPI and interest on loans.
I’ve had 3 0r 4 loans from Provident, if it’s not too late which i think it is, put in to be compensated. I totally agree with the previous comment, provident will always encourage you to top up your loan.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
there was a deadline for PPI claims only. Refunds of interest for unaffordable lending are not affected by that, so if you were given loans which were unaffordable, make a complaint now.
Joy Williams says
Ok, thanks for letting me know. I will address this matter as quick as possible
James Carrol says
Hi, I had lots of loans from Provident over the years, I complained to them in the first instance, about unaffordable/ irresponsible lending, they acknowledged my complaint, then totally ignored all other chase up emails I sent. I then sent my complaint to the FOS, this was around March 2018, I received a letter from the adjudicator on 30th August 2019, saying that he has agreed with my complaint, and upheld it, out of 23 loans, he says that loans 6 to 23 were unsustainable, and he recommends that Provident repay all interest and charges plus 8% on these loans, they have until 12th September to reply, but I am not holding out much hope for that. They are slow in responding, judging by the other comments here, I will keep you posted of any developments, thanks, James.
Joy Williams says
I’ve just written my letter to them so i’ll wait and see. I think you’ll get a nice payout James. 23 loans definitely 👍
Weslie Ogilvie says
Im in a similar situation. Complained to provident april last year about irresponsible lending. They werent interested and kept saying theyd get back to me but never did. So went to FOS who after a year upheld my complaint and like you wanted all the interest paid plus 8% interest per year. Provident had until the 13th sept to respond but havent. You just have to keep chasing them but I’m positive I’ll get some money back. Debt camel was really helpful
Sharon says
I spoke to foc on Friday and they are giving provident about 5 weeks to reply befor they send it to ombudsman, I’ve had 2 dates now 30/8 and 11/9 but he said they will prob give them till end of September as they have a backlog then if no reply it goes on waiting list to ombudsman so still quite await as don’t think provident will agree with adjudicater
Lynette says
I put my complaint in to fos in August 2018 still not been allocated an adjudicator, have messaged again this week to see about timescales I’ve sent in pay slips and credit reports etc. Its a bit frustrating waiting but nothing ventured nothing gained.
Wayne says
Hi There. My claim was upheld by my adjudicator and advised I be refunded interest on 12 of the 14 loans I took with provident. They had until 22th of August to reply. I was told that I’ve now been put in the waiting list for an ombusman. Does anyone know the waiting list time length?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s going to be several months at least. I think there must be a lot of provident decisions stacking up… does your case involve loans over 6 years old?
Wayne says
7 months! That’s a disgrace. My 14 loans were taken out between 2010 and 2017. So the 12 that have been upheld are within 6 years of when I first complained. (Which was April 2018).
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I said “several” not “seven”…
Angela says
My complaint sent to FOS in Sept 17 . Put in queue for ombudsman as Provident didnt respond to adjudicator discussion by beginning July. Looks like people are haven’t much longer to wait as Provident arnt agreeing with adjudicator 😟
Muchelle says
So my case is waiting to be seen by ombudsman after adjudicator upheld decision provident should payout on loans 6-21. I emailed for an update and was told – Please note that all Provident ‘home credit’ cases that are upheld on repeat lending are on hold. This includes priority cases. So god knows how long for !! Why are they on hold I wonder??
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That’s interesting… does your case include some loans that are more than 6 years old?
Michelle says
Earliest is 2012
ste says
in reply to Muchelle…
“Please note that all Provident ‘home credit’ cases that are upheld on repeat lending are on hold. This includes priority cases.”
Crikey! ive been on “hold” for the last 2 years waiting for my complaint to be resolved :( Ive just been debating with myself, and can only think of 2 reasons why they are on hold
1) they are appealing the fca/fos rules and recommendations on repeat lending via the high court or something.
or
2) provident have had a telling off for their blanket rejections of late on adjudicators recommendations to issue refunds and management are reviewing their decisions.
Lets hope its number 2.
Dave says
Hi all,
Have received a final response from loans at home loans rejecting upto 33 loans. They range from 2007 to 2017.
They are claiming that loans from 2007-13 are time barred is this correct?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you send the case to the Ombudsman unless the refund they have offered for the 2013-17 loans is large enough that you feel it is a fair settlement of the whole complaint.
It’s the Ombudsman’s decision whether a complaint is within their time limits, not a lender’s. They are routinely looking at older loans for payday loans and Provident. I would hope they take the same approach for loans art home too.
dave says
they rejected the complaints regarding the loans from 2013 onwards too. from 2007 it shows clearly refinancing off loans over the 10 years
alison says
Please note that all Provident ‘home credit’ cases that are upheld on repeat lending are on hold. This includes priority cases.”
I have asked my adjudicator about this and his reply was……….I am not personally aware of this. All I can say at the moment is ive upheld your complaint and Provident have rejected it as they do not agree with our approach to repeat lending- but it is waiting to be allocated to an Ombudsman to make a final decision on………………..
ste says
the longer this is going on the more frustrating complaints like ours are getting :(
it makes you wonder who decides what the rules are, as clearly provident dont care what the FOS or FCA recommends.
Julie Clarke says
My thoughts exactly . I thought when an ombudsman or someone working for them said pay , provident had to do it . Still not replied to the adjudicators decision two months past the deadline and it’s gone up to ombudsman’s now. It’s clear provident think they are above the fos and fca and make their own rules . What is the point if they don’t do as they are told . I feel provident is laughing at them, because they don’t seem pressured at all .
Connor says
I feel your pain, like many others I’m waiting on providents response to my adjudicators decision, a month past the deadline, it’s like they’re laughing at the FOS and us.
As for an Adjudicators decision, surely this should have more weight behind it and be taken more seriously.
Nearly 2 years and if provident havnt got any thing to back up their case, nothing is going to materialise now….
They are a total joke.
alison says
It does seem that way Ste. If I got it for Christmas I would be happy. :) Even though I have no idea how much it is…..
Michelle says
Has anyone actually had the ombudsman agree with adjudicator and provi have had to pay up ???? And actually received a cheque from them ?
Debbie says
Hi I have had ombudsman agree with adjudicator but provident still not complying
Jolo says
How long did it take from adjudicator to ombudsman if you don’t mind me asking?
Debbie says
Hi jojo
It took 3 weeks then provident had 28 days to pay but have not heard anything from them as yet
Connor says
Hi Debbie,
Sorry to jump in, my adjudicator got back to me and said it’s now going to the ombudsman for a decision as provident haven’t replied to their decision.
So about 3 weeks? I thought it took months after being sent across, well that’s a bit better.
Hope you get what’s owed soon, well done
Nicky says
Hi Debbie
Mine is similiar, was in queue for Ombudsman and then provident came back with an offer, which i accepted. Have been told by fos that i should receive refund by Monday 23rd Sept. Telephoned provident ystdy for update and all they could say was i was to receive a letter by the 23rd and that no refund has been issued! Defo think something is going on.
Jolo says
Thanks.
I’m currently waiting for them to get back to adjudicator. Was ment to reply by 27th August but fos says there’s a delay of about 4/6wks so have said end of nxt wk they will send to ombudsman.
James says
I am worried that with all the delaying tactics employed by Provident, that even though the adjudicator has upheld my complaint, they will not pay, if the ombudsman tells them to pay out on a claim, by law, do they have to abide by the ombudsman’s decision ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, an Ombudsman’s decision is legally binding.
James says
Thank you Sara 👍
Sar says
Hi can anyone tell me when you work out the 8% interest from is it from the date you finished paying the loan ? Or from when you started paying for the loans?
alison says
I do think there is something going on with the rejection of all these adjudicator decisions. Provident have definitely got the upper hand at the mo. Its very frustrating but there is not a lot we can do :(:(:(
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I doubt Provident think they have the upper hand. They are probably feeling pretty worried by the number of decisions against them and the fact some of the refunds are very large.
emma says
hi if you go through a claims company against provident would it get sorted quicker
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No! If anything it goes slower as there is then an intermediary in the way and you can’t talk to the adjudicator at the Ombudsman directly. Plus the claims companies know nothing about your case, they just send the same email for everyone.
emma says
oh ok so i just wait and see what provident say. i put my claim in around 8 weeks ago but when i email them they never answer me. how long do they have to get back to you about your complaint
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Provident should give you a Final Response within 8 weeks. If they don’t, you can send the complaint to the Ombudsman at 8 weeks.
And you should do this. Provident are very slow and often don’t make a good offer anyway so your case has to go to the Ombudsman anyway, so get it there as fast as possible.
Julie Clarke says
Just got the blanket reply from fos. Just wait . Been waiting for years. No end in sight . 😞
Dear Mrs J Clarke
Thank you for your email.
At the moment this case is waiting to be reviewed by an ombudsman, who’ll issue a decision.
I’m unable to say how long it’ll take for the ombudsman to review your case, but we’ll make sure that as soon as there’s an update we let you know.
In the meantime, if you’ve got any further questions, please let us know.
Yours sincerely
Lisa Patrick says
Loans at Home for You are refusing on the grounds that my loans were in 2012 and too old!
Further, they even got my details (address and name wrong).
I am now going to the Ombudsman and ICC.
emma says
hi do i put complaint into ombudsman please
Crissy says
I put a compliant into Morses lending just had a reply they want me to send copy of my credit file ? I thought they could see that anyway every time they give a fresh loan ?
Has anybody ever won their case against Morses ?
Carrie says
Hi
I’ve recently won a complaint against morses club. It had to go to the fos though. It took around four months to be completed.
Crissy says
Forgot to ask what information did you send to Morses ? Thanks
Carrie says
Hi
I had to send some bank statements well quite a lot of bank statements actually and that was it.
Crissy says
Thanks I will do that glad to hear you won against them
James says
I emailed provident to get info for all loans I had since 2007, they said their records only go back to 2008, but my upheld complaint through the FOS adjudicator goes back to claims from 2007 ??
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you ask FOS for a complete list of your loans and explain what Provident said to you.
Char says
SHOPACHECK
Hi, I have a query relating to loans with Shopacheck, who entered a scheme of arrangement and was bought by Morses. I had many loans with Shopacheck, and have an ongoing complaint with Morses who I took a lot of loans with also.
Morses are saying they cannot find any details of loans with Shopacheck pre March 2011, as the data was not sent (they say this is because the loans were paid off by myself). They gave me the contact details for Cattles (Shopacheck) who told me that Morses should have the details and they are have no data, and because of the scheme of arrangements, Morses should have the data.
I have been two and throw with them both, to no avail, and don’t know where to go next and which one should have my loan data.
Could you help?
Carrie says
Hi I am in the same position, provident has just emailed the FOS and offered me £9800 as a good will gesture, I am looking at 45 historic loans. I have till Friday to make a decision. I feel like I’m gambling £10000 or hope for up to £65000, has anyone else been in this position, what did you do?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
have you added up how much interest you paid on all the loans? how old were they?
Carrie says
The £65000 is the interest on the loans, they were dated from 2007 to 2016, the adjudicator has upheld my complain but provident has rejected it, so now have until Friday to say whether I want to take the offer off provident or upscale to ombudsman.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Wow. I asked because I thought the 65k may have been the amount you paid Provident in total, including the capital repayments. And it would be a shame for you to be disappointed if the interest turned out to “only” be 30k…
So you may be worried about several things.
First Provident cases are very similar to payday loan affordability complaints. The regulatory requirements are the same for the lenders to check on affordability. Both can have prolonged periods of relending, extending over many years in large cases. Both can have customers feeling they are trapped with no way to get through the next month except a new loan or a refinance of an existing loan.
There have been a lot more payday loan complaints at FOS – tens of thousands – than Provident complaints and they started earlier, back in late 2015. So over the years FOS has developed a systematic approach to payday loan affordability complaints and it has published several key decisions as guidance for how it treats large complaints involving (a) what FOS calls “long chain loans”, a very long period of continuous borrowing and (b) explaining why it can consider loans over 6 years old.
I can’t think of any reason why the approach’s in those key decisions should not also apply to Provident loans in general. For your case both the long chain decisions and the over 6 year decisions are important.
Will the Ombudsman make the same decision as the adjudicator?
Across all FOS cases the Ombudsman makes the same decision in about 90% of cases. Payday loan affordability complaints are slightly different because decisions are couched in terms of the exact loans to be refunded, so it is more common for there to be a slight change in the number of loans refunded. So an Ombudsman may change “refund loans 5-16” to start from loan 3 (a larger refund) or loan 8 (a smaller refund). It is rare (from what I have seen) for the Ombudsman to reach a very different conclusion unless there are only a few loans. It is the cases where there are less then half a dozen loans where the Ombudsman could reject the complaint completely if the adjudicator had upheld a refund on loans 4 and 5, or order a refund on loans 3-5 if the adjudicator had rejected the complaint. In the very large loan cases, It is very, very rare for the Ombudsman to reach a very different conclusion (from what I have seen).
Also I don’t think your adjudicator just came into the office one morning, picked your case off the pile, wrote their decision and sent it to you. It is a good bet that because of the size of the case it will have been looked at by their manager or informally by an Ombudsman already.
So I think it is very likely you will get a very similar decision from an Ombudsman..
How long will it take?
This is trickier because what has happened before may not have any relevance. I think – and this is me guessing – that FOS will want to avoid Provident rejecting (or making much lower offers, as in your case) many adjudicator decisions and the cases piling up waiting for an Ombudsman decision.
That happened with Wonga and QuickQuid where there were prolonged disputes with FOS and the lenders’ lawyers about over 6 year loans. This time it’s not clear that there is anything for the lawyers to discuss – FOS is literally applying the same principles and approach that it has done in payday loan complaint where the regulatory background is the same.
I would hope that FOS will decide to get some big Provident cases through the Ombudsman level pretty quickly – by that I mean a few months, not a few weeks. Obviously I don’t know if your will be one of them.
After that Provident has to either give in and start accepting most adjudicator decisions or decide to take FOS to court for judicial review . The big payday lenders thought about this in 2017 and decided not to – probably their lawyers told them they would likely lose! Now Provident would not be challenging some new FOS decision, but well thought through approaches FOS has been implementing systematically for two years. So you would think Provident now would have even less chance of winning.
What if Provident goes bust like Wonga?
Provident is a much larger company, listed on the Stock Exchange. These affordability complaints may sound large but they are tiny for a company this size. The recent set of accounts merely mentioned “a modest increase” in complaints through Claims Companies.
emma says
hi provident have emailed saying they will not be upholding my complaint and only looked at 3 loans i had between 2015 to 2017 but i have had loads of loans starting from the 1990s what do i do now
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Were all your older loans before 2007?
emma says
hi i have been having them from the 1990s up until 2017 on an off around 30 or more loans i have had from them
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, well you won’t be able to claim for any before 2007 but that sounds like there will be a lot of them, so send the case to the Ombudsman.
emma says
hi how do i send it to ombudsman please
ste says
easiest way to lodge a complaint is via online form on the financial ombudsman service website..
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/contact-us/complain-online
Julie Clarke says
Still waiting for ombudsman decision now on week 4. My question is if ruled in my favour does provident have to remove the adverse credit info on my credit file as of course I ceased paying them in 2017 when I started my claim and this is wrecking my credit score as showing as in arrears for thousands . The longer this goes on , it’s not over two years the more negative affect it has on my credit score . I can’t ebeb get a contract phone at the moment and provident is the only thing showing as in arrears . It’s so frustrating and unfair,
Sara (Debt Camel) says
In the vast majority (99% ?) of cases the Ombudsman says to remove negative marks for loans that decided to be unaffordable.
Jolo says
On my adjudicator decision it states that any info regarding these loans should be removed from my credit file so I’m guessing that if it goes to ombudsman and they agreed then they add hould be removed. Have you got your adjudicator decision leter/email. It should say it in there
Kay Thurstan says
My parents had these loans but sadly both have passed away. I am the executor of my mums will so can I claim for them?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes you can.
Char says
SHOPACHECK
Hi, I have a query relating to loans with Shopacheck, who entered a scheme of arrangement and was bought by Morses. I had many loans with Shopacheck, and have an ongoing complaint with Morses who I took a lot of loans with also.
Morses are saying they cannot find any details of loans with Shopacheck pre March 2011, as the data was not sent (they say this is because the loans were paid off by myself). They gave me the contact details for Cattles (Shopacheck) who told me that Morses should have the details and they are have no data, and because of the scheme of arrangements, Morses should have the data.
I have been two and throw with them both, to no avail, and don’t know where to go next and which one should have my loan data.
Could you help?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
do any of the loans show on your bank statements?