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. Many people have been borrowing from the same lender for years.
Provident is much the largest lender, but everything in this article also applies to the other lenders including Morses Club, Mutual and Loans At Home.
Contents
What is an “unaffordable” 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 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. But too often people were just 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 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 home credit lenders
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 a claim about doorstep loans.
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 have your loan details.]
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 [say when and how you heard about these refunds – article in the Sun? Facebook advert? friend told you?]
Also include your customer reference number if you had one. And 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.
- Skyline Direct complaints@skylinedirect.com
- Swift ivan@swiftdl.co.uk
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?
It can be hard to win a complaint for just a couple of small loans.
Two useful guidelines are:
- 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.
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 rejects your complaint or makes a poor offer
If you think you have a good case, don’t be put off if the lender rejects it. People are winning A LOT of these cases at the Financial Ombudsman.
It’s normal to not get the first few loans refunded. If Provident has offered you a refund of loans 5-12 that is probably a good offer. But if they have offered a refund on just loans 10-12 it probably isn’t – you may be able to get a lot more by going to FOS.
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.
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. you can’t get a refund on them).
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 you like to be contacted by letter, email or phone?)
You probably won’t get a refund back of all the interest you paid but ask for a refund on all loans and let the Ombudsman make the decision about where your loans became unaffordable.
You don’t have to calculate anything or ask for a specific amount.
What should you say to FOS?
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, especially if you only had a few loans.
If you have borrowed for many years and the pile of statements would be HUGE, it’s still a good idea to get them all now, but you could then wait and see that the ombudsman asks for.
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 TransUnion Statutory Credit 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 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 what happened 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
Christine Andrews says
Thank you David
It’s a pity we all got caught in the provident trap in the first place!, I’m prepared for the long journey, the thought of a payout would be great but I hate the fact they ripped us all off!… it certainly left us in financial difficulty as I know it did others, . .
David says
With me it was the trap of never ending loans and sometimes 2 running side by side. 14 years of non stop worry. Tbh honest I’m £1900 left to pay which is the interest off the initial loan. I phoned them and said I can’t afford the weekly rate. I then started payments online of £15 a week. No one has phoned to discuss underpayments which I did off my own back.
Christine says
Completely agree 👍 it was like a constant catch up ( but never being able to catch up) of course the agent always had a hood way of dealing with that dread… another loan!! Didn’t matter if the first one was paid off the new loan would consolidate the old one!!.. no surprise so many ppl ended up not being able to cope financially, they should hold their heads in shame 😡
Pam says
Hi All,
Posted here before. Provident had until the 2nd of July to respond to the FOS who upheld my complaint. 8 loans plus 8% . Of course I haven’t heard a peep. I phoned Provident today and all they would say was that they were waiting for something back and would then contact me. Have no idea what they waiting for but seems like delay tactics. What does everyone think?
James says
Hi Pam, I think it is definitely delaying tactics for whatever reasons. I am in the same situation as yourself, my claim went into provident April 2019. Although claiming to take my complaint seriously they have used every trick in the book to delay compensation. Adjudicator ordered them to pay 8 loans to me plus 8%. They are now blaming COVID-19 and staff shortages and of course I have to accept that without comment.
E.R says
Got nice surprise this morning by getting a cheque from provident this morning for just over £10,000. Thanks to Sara for information on this site. First started complaint in December 2018 and thought about giving up lots of times but stuck with it and got my payback today. Thank you Sara for all information you give..
adrian says
Hi just sent cplajnt to the fos for provident yesterday as they only upheld 2 of 15 loans..any idea how long it normally takes to get a response from fos
Shirley says
Good luck I have not heard anything and my complaint went to FOS last Sept. i am going through a claims company because I didn’t see this website till I had signed up but they never tell me anything I have started messaging them every month but still don’t hear anything. Some people here have had earlier results its mad its so random so you never know fingers crossed for you.
adrian cobb says
Sounds like it’s going to be along wait..thanks hope you get a result soon.
Shirley says
I have just contacted Provident by phone who state that I have never put a claim in at all. I know this is not true I have used a claim company a year ago and in March this year as I never heard contacted the FOS myself who state they had tole them that but I sent my credit file across and FOS sent it over to Provident at the time. My claim went in beginning of July last year. I rang the claims company to tell the, what Provident said and they said they get this a lot and they are just being difficult but the claim definitely went in. Is there anything else that can be done or is it a longer slog whole year god knows. The claim company did say they provident will get fined for all the delays so hey ho.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well this is one of the problems with using a claims firm – not only do they charge a lot but you aren’t in control of your claim. If your claim company has already sent the claim to FOS then it is underway.
Shirley says
Thanks for making me reassured. I’ve ring them today to tell them what Provident said and they said they will contact FOS about this so hey ho. I know they charge a lot I’ve paid thousands in interest over the years started in 1998 until 2015. I know they don’t look before 2007 and I wouldn’t have known about it until the claims company contacted me. Good news I had a refund of 1600 from Morse’s which I did myself but they didn’t go back before 2012 but I had the claim put in and paid out in 9 weeks. Thanks for all your help and advice I will make a donation to our local food bank.x
Mike D says
Good on you Shirley. Don’t let the companies concerned or how long they take get you down. Just grind it out and you will hopefully get what you deserve. This will all be a thing of the past soon and with abit of luck, you will have a healthier bank balance to show for it. Good luck.
Shirley says
Thanks hope we all get sorted.
Christine Andrews says
Absolutely love the support coming from ppl who have travelled this road and got the Justine they deserve 👍 it really gives ppl at the start of this journey hope that they may receive similar justice.. I hope you guys enjoy every penny of your compensation, you’ve definitely fought hard for it 😊👏👍
Amy says
Hi all,
Love the advice this website gives! Just started the complaints process on behalf of my mum. Sent the complaint off last month, just received the DSAR through from Provident… she’s had 12 loans in total from provident, ranging from 200-2500. Was pretty shocked to see they gave her 4x £600 loans on the same day! Apparently, the agent told my mum she couldn’t have a £2000 loan like she asked for, but instead could have multiple loans instead. Pretty shocking really as her income was very low at the time.
Anyway, good luck to everyone – we are waiting and hoping for a good result.
siobhan says
How far back are you able to claim? My loans were in the 90s – are they too old?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry but you can’t go back before 2007.
danny says
hi every one had a phone call from provident today day and they have agreed a amount and I have accepted it and they are sending it in the post next week on the next check run so hang in there guys it’s worth the wate just over 4k it’s been a very long wate loads of stress but glad it’s over . thankyou Sara for this site and all the info on it. its helped me though all of this good luck everyone and stay safe xxx
Chan says
That’s great news Danny how long did it take from start to finish I’ve just received another email of them today saying they need another 28 days think that’s just another way of them dragging there heals well done on your claim
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Chan if your complaint is over 8 weeks old, send it straight to the Ombudsman. Provident aren’t making many good offers directly to customers at the moment so best get yourself in the FOS queue as soon as possible.
Chan says
Ok thankyou very much how do I do that is just the same through an email an say the same as I’ve emailed provident do you no the best contact to do this , an thankyou once again for the info
danny says
hi chan
I started my claim in January so took about 7 months just hang in there and don’t give up I kept ringing them and sending them emails and finally I got my reward good luck with your case and hope it gets sorted soon stay safe
Chan says
Thankyou Danny you to an enjoy your reward this company like to drag there heels but fingers crossed an I will keep on at them many thanks
Christine Andrews says
Can I ask how long it took the majority of the group to get a response from provident after their first request of details of their accounts and the complaint against their mis sale?… wondering how long I give them before following up my complaint with another, I didn’t use the template letter in my first enquiry so wondering if it’s worth sending another email using that with more detail? Any advice would be welcome, I’m only a couple of weeks in!
James Barrett says
Hi Christine, my complaint went in April 2019, through resolver website, no response after 3 months. Contacted office in Bradford, they could not find my complaint. Made the complaint again through resolver, waited 8 weeks, no response from them. They then replied saying they take complaints seriously and will be in touch soon. Didn’t happen. Ombudsman contacted me March 2020, and asked for some details, bank statements etc. Received final response from provident upholding 2 loans and a cheque for just over £700.00. If I banked cheque then that was full and final settlement. I have not banked cheque, and ombudsman has now upheld 8 loans and given them 2 weeks to respond. They have not responded after 1 month. Called them yesterday, was told complaint ‘ in the pipeline’ , and they are short staffed due to coronavirus. They could still disagree with adjudicator, and further delay. So after 15 months since first complaint I am still waiting on compensation. I hope they treat you better than me, but just thought I would let you know how they have treated some customers.
James
Christine Andrews says
Thanks for the response James!
Sounds like it’s going to be a long drawn out process, I am determined (no matter how long it takes) to challenge the company as it’s become a moral as well as financial issue now too. It’s truly disgusting we were ripped off so badly but very inspiring to watch people challenge what was clearly so wrong!, hope you are dealt with swiftly and you secure the correct redress, well done for sticking with this and not being deterred by all the hold ups!!
Enjoy every penny when it finally comes through 😊👍
Christine
James says
Hi Christine, I hope I have not made you very despondent about your claim. I think many people have received redress a lot quicker than me. Even heard if people being settled in a matter of weeks. However I just wanted people to know that it is possible your claim could receive the same treatment as me and take 15 – 18 months. Let’s hope they settle with you soon. Thanks.
Christine Andrews says
Not at all James, totally see where your coming from!.. hope ours is sorted quickly but it will be what it will be!.. so glad people are challenging this and happy for everyone who gains some redress
Christine
sam says
Hi Christine, my complaint was 7 months before I had any response from provident other than the standard emails after 8 weeks. I took it to FOS and then last week received 2 letters from provident 1 with my loan history and details and the other containing a cheque for £163 they only upheld 1 loan from 9 (although I’m sure there are loans missing) so not cashing the cheque and contacted FOS to say I refuse providents offer, this seems to be the tactics from them, no contact then just sending out a cheque hoping were are skint enough to cash it. So I’ll wait a bit longer, hope you have a quick response with yours x
Sam says
Hi Sarah
My compliant started Oct 19, went to fos nov19, allocated to adjudicator Feb 20, had to resend complaint agreement to them 5 times email and post finally he said it was there and asking for business file April 20, have not heard anything since and now his email has been closed,how long due they take to make any decision on my case as it’s been with him since Feb and I don’t seem to get any closer to a decision
Kat says
Hi Sam, try giving FOS a call to find out what’s going on 0800 023 4 567. Good luck
Sam says
Thankyou I will just felt bit strange got his email for things and now it’s non existent so can’t contact him at all x
Sarah says
Hi Sara,
I would be really grateful for your help on my situation with Provident. I have now heard back from them on both mine and my husbands claim. Our loans were running concurrently and we were unable to fully repay the last loans due to job loss which we made our agent aware of.
My husbands claim has been rejected as they believe they were all loaned responsibly. He had 16 loans from 2009-2010 and the last 5 were when we had issues and made our agent aware, but he talked us into refinancing our loans into more. Do you think it’s worth referring to the FOS? Total of the loans was £2850 and interest is £1944.
My claim has been partially upheld, loans were taken between 2008-2010 and loans 1-3 and 6-13 have not been upheld with loans 4-5 and 14-28 being upheld and a cheque is being sent as full and final settlement. I don’t know whether it’s worth referring my case to FOS as I’m not sure why loans 4 and 5 were irresponsibly lent but 6 to 13 were ok when my financial situation was getting worse. I have no access to bank statements to prove this though as I’m not with the same bank now. Total loans were £4900 with interest £3201.
Any help would be much appreciated :)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how much is the cheque for?
Sarah says
It’s for as below:
Interest paid – £1018.96
8% interest – £849.31
20% HMRC deduction – 169.86
Total Refund – £1698.41
It was for £1698.41 in total
jay says
I would 100% go FOS. My nans was 3k at provident and 24k at FOS level
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So assuming your figure of £1944. paid in interest is right, then they are giving you 1018 of this – so a bit over half of the maximum amount you could get.
Realistically you don’t normally get all your loans refunded at first. The first few may not be. And if there are any large gaps – say of 6 months when you didn’t owe any money at all to provident, then you may niot get the first few loans after that gap refunded.
Sarah says
Sorry the £1944 figure was for my husbands of which they have upheld none. The interest on mine was £3201 approx, so about a third they have offered me.
I’m just scared to refuse the offer in case I end up with nothing, but I assume that won’t happen?
I’ve emailed and asked them to relook at my husbands as nothing to lose, and have referred to FOS also.
The loans were all running concurrently and were increasing in value each time, there was no point from start to finish that we didn’t owe them money.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, that makes the offer a lot worse. before i thought it was a bit marginal – yes you would gte more by going to FOS but not a dramatic amount more. Now it looks as though you would get more than twice what they have offered you.
“I’m just scared to refuse the offer in case I end up with nothing, but I assume that won’t happen?”
Good question to ask…
I have never seen anyone get LESS from an ombudsman’s offer in this situation. And I have seen a lot of cases.
BUT if Provident goes bust then you could end up with less. I have no reason to think this is about to happen. Provident is a large company – they own the Vanquis credit card as well. They appear to have a lot better financing than any payday lender did. And in their last set of accounts they didn’t mention complaints as being a big problem at all. So it feels like this isn’t a problem for them at the moment, I am just mentioning it because it could be at some point in future.
Sarah says
Thanks Sara :)
I have sent my email declining the offer and copied in Neil and Joe also.
I have sent all the details to the FOS too, so fingers crossed they can pick it up.
Again thank you so much for your advice Sara, it really is much appreciated as without you I’d have had no idea I could even claim anything!
Sarah says
My cheque arrived this morning which was quick as I only got the email on Tuesday last week. Made me feel a bit odd as being on furlough it’s extremely welcome, but have filed it away and await hearing from hopefully either Neil or the FOS.
Feel slightly impatient now, but sitting on my hands to stop checking my emails 24/7!
Thanks again Sara, hoping for a good result for myself and my hubby :)
Sarah says
Sara, just had a response from Provident of the below. Didn’t come from Neil but from the a Nicholas who sent my initial email:
Thank you for your email. We look at each loan on an individual basis and review many aspects such as your credit file at the time of issue, your disposable income at the time and your payment history with Provident. I stand by my findings and we will not re-investigate this complaint.
As you have taken this to the FOS service, we shall await further instruction from them.
Is this a normal response as I see people getting calls and emails from Neil, but I’ve got this? Do I just now need to hold my nerve as not heard from the FOS since I first complained to them back in April?
James says
Hi Sarah, don’t think you need bank statements as adjudicator can see lending patterns. Definitely go to Ombudsman for decision. Provident upheld 2 of my loans and sent cheque for over £700.00 which I have not banked. Ombudsman upheld 8 loans and I guess this could be around £5000.00
Karen says
Hi I have received a final response letter from Provident today stating they are upholding some of my loans. It states £1309.18 is the total however I have a remaining balance of £2673 so no money will be issued back to me and as a “gesture of goodwill “ they are writing off the remaining monies owed. I have already escalated my complaint to the ombudsman so what are the chances of me getting anything back now? Feeling a bit deflated as my total loans with Provident were £15k. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Ian says
Hi Karen,
We had a similar response from them. Both me and my wife had about 26 loans each with provident they upheld 2 of my wife’s and 1 of my loans and cheques just arrived in the post without prior notice totalling just under 1k (provident new tactic seemingly). This was mid June.
We both replied to them by email rejecting the offers and asked them to look at our cases again, informing them that the complaint was with FOS, but we also copied in Neil Iveson and Joe Sweeney from Provident.
Within 2 days we had a reply from FOS. complaints@provident saying they were looking at the complaint.
About 2 weeks later I got an email and phone call from Neil Iveson hoping to sort complaint out, he’s a very nice helpful man not what you’d expect from Provident anyway we came to an agreement and they paid out on 22 out of 26 loans each and we received cheques today totalling just over 16k without the cases being picked up by an adjudicator.
I’m no expert but I think you could get more either through direct discussion with Neil Iveson or FOS with just a polite email asking them to reconsider.
Hope this helps. Good luck everyone don’t give up.
Finally thank you again Sara for all your help and information on your site.
Karen says
Thank you. Myself and my hubby had loans running side by side over a 4 year period, totalling £28k so I’m not giving up. I will forward this letter the ombudsman as they advised me to send any correspondence and will let them deal with it. It’s just annoying as my agent would bend over backwards to make sure my loans were approved and she took my hubby’s wages into account as I don’t work. We will see. Thank you for your reply.
David says
Hi Christine I know it’s a long wait but as time goes by your read the success of many people. Then it be your time and the wait will be a feeling of so much stress disappearing. Provident play games but in the end there be brought to justice. They offered me £200 redress on £40,000 I have payed. Such a kind offer. FOS will finally bring this company to heel. Talking to FOS constant loans and most of them top ups is a thing that should be red flagged by Provident. But all that means to Provident is another loan
Pam says
Hi Ian,
Can you give the email address of Neil Iveson and Joe Sweeney please.
Thank you
Ian says
Hi Pam,
Joe.Sweeney@provident.co.uk and Neil.Iveson@provident.co.uk there was one other person but I can’t remember them previous posts on the site list the email, good luck.
Pam says
Thank you very much Ian. Much appreciated!!
Pam says
Hi Ian,
Sent an email to Neil Iverson who responded within 20 minutes of me sending it. Couldn’t believe it. He said although he wasn’t familiar with my complaint I would have a response by next week.
The FOS had upheld my complaint to say 8 loans were unaffordable and interest plus 8% had to be refund. I am hoping they settle. How long did it take you.
Thx Pam
Ian says
Hi Pam that’s good news, in my case I first spoke to Neil last Thursday got cheque today.
Karen says
Do you think I should email Neil and see what he says about my case or leave it to the ombudsman? Seems everyone is getting good results from him.
Ian says
Hi Karen, that would have to be your decision.
Personally I found Neil to be very reasonable, including the tax paid I got over 90% of what I would have got if FOS upheld all my loans.
Its always worth an email if it speeds things along but don’t accept a poor offer. He did express to me that it saves them a lot of time and resources to get things sorted if a mutual agreement can be made.
Christine Andrews says
Can I ask who Neil Iveson and Joe Sweeney are please? What are their roles and at what stage you have contacted them, with what outcome
Thanks
Ian says
Not sure exactly but I think Neil is head of the complaints dept and Joe sweeney is higher up in the whole organisation.
I contacted them after they sent a cheque out of the blue upholding 1 loan out of 26.
Complaint had been in since January and sent to FOS in March.
adrian says
Hi received a cheque this morning for £2,555 but I wont be accepting.. I took out over £33,000 of loans over the years and from the list they sent me they owe me£19,000 in interest.. submitted complaint to FOS.
Ashley says
Hi I received a final response letter yesterday from Provident where they are upholding 4 out of 12 loans. I’m not actually receiving any money as they are writing of my outstanding balance and clearing the shortfall. I’m not happy with this decision as it’s around £3k and in total I borrowed nearly £30k. I have already escalated to the ombudsman however I’m going to try emailing Neil @ Provident to see if I get anywhere. Can anyone advise on how I should word the email and what points I should make. Any help is greatly appreciated.
James says
Hi Ashley, I am not great with words, but I would e-mail them and thank them for their response, and say that you are not really happy with the offer, and could they re-consider, taking into account all of the loans that you have had. As they know, it is already with the Ombudsman and you would like to bring the complaint to an end without using the Ombudsman.
They have sent me an offer which I have declined. The Ombudsman upheld 8 loans and the provident offer was for 2, and these happened to be the most recent and smallest loans. It has taken me 15 months to get this far, so depending on your circumstances you could try and get a revised offer, or just go ahead with Ombudsman.
Julie says
Hi regarding Morses,
I complained in Feb they upheld 1 of 27 loans , I sent to ombundsman and they are looking at it, they have emailed me this today –
The business has said that your complaint cannot be assessed as your loans were given to you more than six years before you complained. Therefore, I will need more information from you.
In relation to this complaint:
Please explain when you first became aware that the business may have done something wrong? Please provide as specific a date as possible – including the month and year (or a rough approximation would be sufficient if you aren’t able to recall the exact date).
What prompted you to realise that the business may have done something wrong?
Have you raised this complaint before to the business?
I have loans from 2011 to 2019 (2 still running) does the email mean I can’t claim for any loans? Even tho morses have already upheld 1 of 27 from 2014?
Thanks
Julie
Sara (Debt Camel) says
FOS is looking to see if they can consider the loans that were over 6 years old at the point you sent it to FOS. They are asking these questions as their rules say they can look at problems under 6 years old OR problems where the person has only just found out they can complain in the last 3 years.
You just need to say what happened to you, here is an example but change this! There are no right or wrong answers, providing you actully answer the questions…
Please explain when you first became aware that the business may have done something wrong?
At Christmas 2019 I saw an advert on Facebook about payday loan refunds and I wondered if you could get a refund for Morses loans as they had caused me so much trouble for such a long while.
What prompted you to realise that the business may have done something wrong?
When I investigated refunds and found out a lender should have checked the loans were affordable for me. Morses never did properly just kept giving me more loans
Have you raised this complaint before to the business?
no.
They will always look at the under 6 year loans – so that is most of yours in 2014 and all from then onwards. FOS normally decide they can look at the older loans too, but they ask these questions to be sure.
Julie says
Hi Sara thank you for your reply.
I sent them this email in response earlier, is it OK?
Thanks for email.
Towards the back end of last year I came across some information online regarding irresponsible lending / unaffordable loans etc.
After reading the information I felt that could apply to my lending with morses.
I didnt know and was unaware that the lender was supposed to check that I could repay loans without having to borrow more,
Thus why I submitted my claim.
I had 27 loans in total with Morses over the years, most times renewing loans when I couldnt afford that weekly payment, I had loans running alongside each other, 2 and sometimes 3,
missed payments on account but always offered another one as soon as balance was at half the origional loan amount.
I don’t believe they completed any credit check on me had they have done so it would of given them a clearer image of my financial position
I complained directly to morses in February this year and they rejected my complaint. ( upheld one loan from 2014 which they said they could not find paperwork etc for)
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
that looks fine :)
Julie says
Thank you Sara
Quite surprised it has been picked up so quick. I only sent to the FO at the end of May
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This isn’t close to a decision – this is a “pre-check” that FOS can look at your case.
Julie says
Oh I thought they were looking into it now. My mistake. At the start of the email it says – I am now looking at your complaint but before I progress further i must consider these points.
I have another with the FO (buddy loans) which seems to be taking forever, it has been with the ombundsman since may, origionally complained in Dec.
Thanks for your help and information.
Much appreciated
Sara (Debt Camel) says
well that would be good! Normally this is just a pre-check, but great if they are going straight through to a decision on your case.
James says
Hi, you cannot claim for any loans before 6th April 2007. Looks like you can go ahead to the Ombudsman. Your loans can be looked at without having to prove anything or provide further information. The Ombudsman will look at all the loans and your pattern of borrowing.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
er No. Morses have objected, so FOS is asking these extra questions. They aren’t a hard barrier to get over but they do need to be answered.
James says
I am not aware of any customers having to prove the lender was irresponsible . I, as a customer of several payday lenders provided details requested by ombudsman, and they then decide . Some cases were upheld and some were not. Personally I didn’t have to prove anything about the lenders.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi James,
I know you are trying to be helpful but you don’t understand what is happening here. If a lender refuses to let FOS look at loans over 6 years old then FOS asks these questions so it can decide if it is allowed to look at the older loans. It doesn’t mean a complaint about these older loans is going to be hard to win, she isn’t going to have to “prove irresponsible lending”. It will be a normal complaint. But FOS just has to ask these questions first for its records so it can reasch the sensible conclusion that she has only just complained as she didn’t know earlier. She has sent back a set of answers which sound fine to me and that is quite likely to be the last time she will be troubled about this.
Julie says
I have no loans prior to 2007, all loans are from 2011 onwards,
Morses upheld 1 loan from 2014 and refused the other 26.
Ombundsman is looking at it now and asked for the extra info above.
:)
david says
Hi I was just wondering if anyone else can help. The FOS said they had a few weeks to give me my calculations. I’m in week 4 and haven’t heard anything. How long has anyone waited after provident accepted FOS decision. Thanks in advance
James says
ok, no worries. I have had many dealings with the Ombudsman over payday loans and doorstep ones too. I have had to provide some details for some of them but not all of them. I provided no extra details for the complaint against Provident , just the details of the loans, Ombudsman has found in my favour. My adjudicator said he would work on the ‘ lending pattern’ of the loans and did not require and additional info.
I am only speaking about my experience, maybe others will be different. Some people have been settled in a matter of weeks, my complaint with provident is over 15 months and counting. its good to know how other people are getting on.
lauren says
This is the first time I’ve seen anything about being able to claim from provident, am I better off contacting them first asking for all my loans going back to 2007? Because I seriously can’t remember them all
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, that just wastes time by adding another step in. Use the template letter in the article you will see it asks for details of all your loans as part of the complaint.
Lauren says
I’ve sent the complaint, ill keep you posted thanks
Christine Andrews says
Hi Guys
Sent my original complaint to provident nearly 2 weeks ago and so was impressed when I recieved a letter 2days ago to say they were investigating. I have no outstanding paperwork from provident so unsure how many loans we had and exact years, I’ve requested a break down of everything we had with them, is it common for them to send all this information, as to place a claim we will need it.
Thanks
Christine
Adrian says
Hi bit worried.. I have rejected a final letter and cheque.. and provident sent me a very short email saying we accept you final letter rejection. I have escalated to fos but could the fos reject my complaint? Have I been too hasty in rejecting the cheque..they only upheld on 2 out of 13 loans adding upto £33,000 nearly £19,000 in interest.please any advice
James says
Hi Adrian, I do not think you have been too hasty. The fact they had upheld some loans is a good sign for you. The ombudsman service will look at all the loans and lending patterns and I am sure they will uphold more of your loans. This is a tactic now from provident to uphold a couple of loans in the hope that you will accept it as full and final settlement, which would save them a small fortune.
adrian says
Thanks .hope that’s the case..I have read a lot of comments on this site that are positive so i’ll cross my fingers and play the waiting game..
Michelle says
Hi, just had an offer from provident, they have only upheld 1 loan loan 12, 1-14 not upheld would it be worth going to fos, offer was 1800£, thank you xx
Ash says
Does anyone know how long Neil @ Prov takes to respond to emails?
Pam says
Hi Ash,
I had a reply within 20 minutes of sending him an email. Very responsive and keen to resolve issues. Hope that helps.
Ash says
Thanks for your reply. I emailed him on Friday, not heard anything yet. It’s a long waiting game be glad when my complaint is resolved.
James says
Hi Ash, I don’t want to dampen your enthusiasm, but I’ve been waiting over 15 months and counting. However I was not very pro active in the beginning and thought it was just taking its time. keep up the contact and some pressure and you might get a result sooner rather than later.
Sarah says
Does Neil only get involved if the FOS have gotten involved in your case? I got a response from someone in Provident complaints dept, not Neil basically saying this is our decision like it or lump it and we’ll wait to see what FOS say.
I emailed Neil on Friday also, but I’m not holding out any hope he’ll get in touch and that it’ll be the long game waiting for FOS to pick my case up. If I do get a response then I’ll update on here.
Ash says
My complaint is already with the ombudsman and has been assigned to an adjudicator but I keep reading comments that people have emailed Neil and agreed a settlement as they prefer this than letting the ombudsman settle. Just trying to hurry things along but guess I will just have to wait.
Paul says
Unfortunately I haven’t had the news I was waiting for after sending my bank statements in FOS have looked at the statements and worked out my bills but even that’s wrong and they don’t rule any of my loans even though I was given 3 loans all within 12 weeks of each other, 2 loans were with in 3 weeks of each other, but after sending all my evidence they say they was giving fairly to say I’m not impressed! He said I can pass to ombudsman but he will probably say the same!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you ask for this to go to an Ombudsman if you know the loans causes you problems – adjudicators ALWAYS day the ombudsman will probably say the same, this is a standard statement they make.
You said before that your bank statements were complicated. This is the point at which you need to sit down with them and colour code them or extract the numbers into a spreadsheet so you can easily explain what was going on. Write this up and send it to the adjudicator and say you would like it passed on to the Ombudsman.
Alan says
I complained to Provident on behalf of my Mother, she is a disabled pensioner, When I found out she had been having loans from Provident, this was in December, they have offered to repay interest on 5 loans, but not the other 51, yes 51 loans, all in since 2006 they have issued my Mother 56 loans ranging from £50-800, they have offered £2,901, I have added up the interest on the remaining 51 loans and it comes to just under 20k, in interest alone, I have contacted the FSO and the gentleman I spoke to was amazed, I do not know what her chances of success are but I had to try, anyone else in a similar situation.
deb says
hi Sara
Just recieved a final response from morses.
They have uphelp decision on loans 23-35 only it says i have been unable to locate loans 36-56.
Refund offered £2876.38 & wiping the £1068.55 off that i still owe.
Appriciate any help.
Natalie says
Hi all,
Just wondering if anyone is waiting for Prov to contact them after the FOS have made the decision with agreement from Prov, it states that you should hear/have a breakdown of offer within 5 weeks I am now into week 7. Perhaps this is just a backlog? or dragging heels again?
Amanda Eilertsen says
Hi Sara I’ve just received a message saying my case has been pick up by an adjudicator From on ombudsman she said she hoping to assess it within the next few days .so not sure how long it will be from them any ideas ??.xx
joanne says
Hi
Ive accepted a offer today from Morses.
They have asked for bank details.Does anyone know how long untill it hits my account.Complaint dealt with in 8 weeks for 4k.
Thanks in advance
Shirley says
Hiya Joanne mine was a week from them saying they would pay into my bank. Good luck
Ash says
If you don’t mind me asking how many loans did you have? I had 12 without a gap in between any and they have rejected mine. I’ve escalated to the ombudsman but don’t hold out much hope.
Timbouk says
Hi
I took out a £300 with Provident in October 2018 and since then have had 11 loans with them of which four are still active and I until recently I have been paying fully weekly.I have never paid off a loan in full myself as they always offered additional loans to pay the older loan off. I am now struggling with the £65 weekly payment. Do you think it is worth complaining about Mis-sold loans?
The reason is ask that although my income and expenditure is correct i have roughly 15.000 of credit card debit which i haven’t been paying. When this shows up during the loan application all my collector says is’ you have other payments you are sorting yourself?’ When I reply yes the loan application goes through. Do you think I have a case? Thanks
joanne says
Ash
was that question for me?
16 loans 12 upheld .Ive not even asked about the other 4.Im happy with that
Good luck
Michelle Ramsey says
Hi, provident upheld 1 loan out of 14, only loan no:12, offer was £1844, interest alone on the loans was £7500 is it worth going fos, thank you x
claire says
received the final decision from ombudsman who has agreed that loans 3 to 51 were irresponsible and only reason not upholding loans 1 to 3 as these were pre 2007 although they have took them into consideration when making their final decision, my loans were with loans at home and i complained oct 2019, adjudicator agreed and gave until april 24th to reply, no response from loans at home, so went to ombudsman 17th june and received email 14th july to say they agreed, i accepted the same day, i still dont know how much yet, but i am so happy its nearing the end, hopefully not too long, i also emailed lah asking for all correspondance by email, nothing as yet.
i could not have done this if it wasnt for reading all the advice on this site, thank you so much.
James says
Hi Claire, glad you have got some redress from this company. Can I ask , has Ombudsman made the decision, if so, I believe it is legally binding and company has 28 days to pay you. You said you have accepted offer, what have you accepted, I don’t want to know amount, just what you accepted. Cheers. Enjoy your redress cash, well done.
Adrian says
Hi just received email from fos asking for bank statements and credit file..I dont know if I can get these as the loans start at 2007 to 2013. Will my complaint still be looked into if I cant provide what they ask for???
James says
Hi Adrian, I believe they can look into it for you without the bank statements. I had loans pre 2007 so they could not look into those loans, but the loans after that date were looked into. I could not provide statements and neither could my bank, but Ombudsman adjudicator said they would look at the ‘ lending pattern’ of the loans. They upheld 8 out of 14 for me.
Kat says
I can’t quite believe it but Provident have finally come back and accepted the FOS adjudicators decision! It’s taken 10 months to sort out and I nearly gave up. Hopefully, a cheque will arrive in the next few weeks. Just wanted to say good luck to all those in the process, it feels like forever but hang in there and push it all the way. Thanks to this fantastic website and all the advice x
Mandy says
I have just had an offer from provident of £5993 which I will accept even though they disputed loads of loans. They gave dealt with it in exactly 8 weeks from me contacting them just have to wait for the cheque now. At least I had good news I wish eveyone else good luck in thier quest