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.
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.
At the bottom of that article there are thousands of comments from people making payday loan claims, so you can see how it works in practice. And now people are having success with complaints about doorstep loans – see the comments at the bottom of this article!
Here are some points that often crop up with doorstep lending. If any of the following happened to you, add a similar sentence to the standard letter in that link:
- “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.”
Those are all pretty common!
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.
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. Most refunds being given are just for the more recent loans.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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 this in a report (its long report – 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.”
ie 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.
What about your current loan?
If you are still repaying a doorstep loan, you can still complain. If you tell the doorstep lender, they will usually allow you to pay less each week over a longer period without adding any more interest.
But if you have other problem debts, 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?
I suggest you add a comment below!.
Asking for a refund for payday interest
Too high a credit card or catalogue limit?
Asking BrightHouse for a refund
Pete says
Just had my final response from provident I took out 18 loans from May 2006 to March 2014 . Ten of the loans not being looked at as over 6 years old. I think fos anyone agree?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have Provident offered a full refund on the 8 loans that are less than 6 years old?
The FOS will NEVER look at loans before April 2007.
Pete says
No they haven’t upheld complaint
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh then definitely send it the FOS. In these cases it is often only the more recent loans that are refunded, so just the loans under 6 years may be a good result for you. Are you currently paying a loan?
Pete says
Yes but to Lowell they brought the debt from provident so I’m paying them monthly
Shells says
Hi, I thought my complaint had been picked up by an adjudicator who introduced himself some weeks back. However, after emailing for update, he said has been passed to specialist team as some loans over 6 yrs. what the view on this, is it like the Wonga situation?
Caroline Robertson says
Mine’s has been with them since May. It does appear to be like the Wonga situation. If i phone for an update i get told its with legislation
Shells says
I’m not quite sure why he told me he was my adjudicator and would have an answer to me in a few wks, this was20th June. Now he says with special team. Also he said he couldn’t discuss the time bar!
Max says
Sent all my documents to the adjudicator got a feeling I’m not going to win my case we’re wait and see just got a feeling
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you have a list of all of your loans from Provident? If you don’t, I suggest sending them a Subject Access Request asking for a copy of all of your personal information (not just the loans ask for the lot). Send this to informationrequests@provident.co.uk.
Matty says
I sent my complaint to FOS at the begging of March and still heard nothing, is this normal time frame ? Also has anyone had any success with winning there cases?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Cases are typically picked up in 10-14 weeks, I suggest you phone up and ask. The success rate is is over 70% according to Ombudsman statistics. Most of the cases rejected are for a very small number of loans, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/why-lose-refund-cases/ which looks at 10 rejected cases with links to Ombudsman decision.
lilly says
hi, me and my other half had some provident loans about 5 years ago. for the first couple years we were meeting all the repayments but we just kept borrowing and borrowing more and in the end we couldn’t afford the repayments and amounts are still outstanding. can we still claim even though the loans aren’t settled??
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes you can! Any refunds will be used to settle your outstanding balances, once these have had the interest deducted.
Kelly McCandless says
Hi Sara
I have put in a complaint to loans at home for irresponsible lending, I sent a SAR and received the paperwork and went through. Parts of the forms I have never seen. I believe I have a good case as I have had 32 loans from Feb 2012 to present day. All but 1 were refinanced. my collector marked that she had saw my wage slips and bank statements. Which is impossible as I didn’t have a bank account. My wage slips would also have shown in 2014 I was only receiving 500 a month as I was repaying a loan for my mums funeral. More alarmingly one of then forms shows 4 signatures all different and none of them are mine. I have told them This is fraud and i want it fully investigated. They have now sent an email requesting bank statements. I dont have any. Santander is marked on the form but that was my sisters account my wages were paid into Should injust escalate this to the ombudsmen.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry lots of questions, some of which may sound irrelevant or unimportant or obvious but bear with me.
Do you have a final response from Loans at Home?
No bank account – so did your sister just give you your wages in cash? Do you have old payslips or P45/P60s? If not, any chance you would be able to get a cooy of your sisters bank statements to send to the Ombudsman as proof on income?
Refinancing the loans – were you ever offered the choice of refinancing or taking out another loan in addition?
Did you request the refinancing or were they mostly suggested by the agent?
Was your agent aware of your financial difficulties?
Have you gone back and told LatH of the errors and discrepancies in the SAR information? If you haven’t, I think you should write out a detailed list of these and end it by saying not that this looks like fraud, but that LatH appear to have been running a system which had no checks on the accuracy of what their agent said and as a result there were no accurate checks made on the affordability of your loans and that you want a refund of all your interest or you will be taking the case to the Ombudsman.
Kelly McCandless says
Hi Sarah, had a final response from loans at home. They have upheld complaint on 3 loans because they can’t find the paperwork so they are refunding interest on all 3 plus 8%. They have NOT upheld 29 loans. They say may income remained stable and wage slips were produced. They also said that as I had always paid the loans (only 5 late payment) the last email j received was requesting bank statements. I replied stating I didn’t have a bank account and that accurate checks were not made. I didn’t at that point disclose that I have wage slips dating back to 2012 . Although there letter states it is a final response should I now disclose to them the wage slips which will prove these loans were unaffordable and that these were not seen by or asked form by my agent. Or should I escalate my case to ombudsman. I must admit LAH have been quick dealing with this including sending my SAR and obviousl sending to ombudsman will delay things. I am just not sure if LAH are allowed to respond after final desision.
Kelly
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes go back to LAH and show them your pay slips. They can change their mind if they want to.
The Ombudsman asks for bank statements but if you didnt have an account they should accept payslips, so don’t let that put you off going to the FO. But it’s going to be quicker if you can get a sensible offer from LAH directly.
Kelly McCandless says
Thanks Sara i sent them an e-mail this morning to say I had all wage slips which I would forward. I also have taken screenshots of texts from my agent. Do you think I can use these. In the txt she tells me new loans are available. My reply is that I can’t afford it and want to get the other loans down as I have to much outgoings and her reply was she needs the sales!! I think that in itself is irresponsible. It has taken me 4 years to start to clear my feet of my debt which was just through unfortunate circumstances I cannot believe that I actually came home to an letter from Loans at home today offering me a loan of up to £1000 One day after not upholding my complaint for irresponsible lending.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Those screen shots sound like GREAT evidence, definitely send them to Loans At Home and to the Ombudsman when you send them the case.
Offered another loan – not sure whether to laugh or scream loudly…
Caroline Robertson says
Quick update on mine. Been with FOS since April, was passed to adjudicator in May who asked if wanted all the loans looked at and as i did then it would be a different team and would take longer. Phoned a couple of times and like some others on here was told it is with legislation team. Just phoned FOS for an update and its now waiting on an adjudicator to be allocated but they cant say how long it will take, im in a queue. Hoping the wait will have been worth it
Max says
I’m waiting for a discussion from the adjudicator he email me to say he was making a discussion don’t think I get anything
Angie says
Don’t hold your breath… mine has been with the FOS since November 17 and I called a couple of weeks ago and got told they were still waiting on someone being assigned to the case
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Can I ask if you have supplied bank statements? Are there loans more than 6 years old involved, if so how many, and how many are under 6 years old?
Angela Cheshire says
I sent all details including credit report to an investigator. She said she had everything land would now pass it on to an adjudicator. This was in March, still waiting for it to be assigned!!!. I have also sent a complaint about payday express with all documents and just been told they have received everything and I am still waiting
Some are older than 6!years but payday express and 3 provident loans are more recent. Provident settled one of the loans and a got £1500 back howeverrefused the others. I don’t want to keep pestering ombudsman but what is a reasonable amount of time to wait ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, so which are the lenders with loans over 6 years? Some of these can be VERY slow?
Provident – did they agree to you accepting £1500 on one loan and sending the rest to the Ombudsman?
Angela Cheshire says
It’s some of the provident loans that are over 6 years old. Provident refused to settle on the and 2 that were more recent . They said I could go to ombudsman which I did months back but still waiting to be picked up by an adjudicator. Investigator as got all the information and documents but not heard anything since march
Kelly McCandless says
Part 1) Hi Sara thanks for replying.
I haven’t had a final response yet. I have sent them quite a detailed complaint. At some points there were 3 or 4 loans running at the one time. Any time I spoke to my collector she suggested another loan. Now that I have gone through then paper work there is a box that has tick boxes that I would like my collecter to discuss a) my finances b) a new loan my signature is at the bottom but I did not ask for these boxes to be ticked. I was given the forms to sign in 4 sections. The story behind the bank account is that my mum my sister and i bought the family home. We have always viewed our incomes as one pot. All the bills came out the one bank account and our salaries went in. It was always the easiest way. I have all my wage slips for the time period they have requested. In August 2014 my mum passed away suddenly. My mum had no insurance or savings so I was faced with a £4300 funeral bill. I informed my collector of this and she still came out to collect the payment the day after my mum died. She also offered me two more loans. The most alarming one is the form that is clearly not my signature. This was for a loan I supposedly took out 1 week after another loan. The discrepancies in these two forms are on the second one my age is 3 years of a difference 10 years of a difference in the number of years at adress and not my signature.
Kelly McCandless says
Part 2) My collecter continually texts me to see if I want another loan. I have clearly stated I CANNOT AFFORD IT but she comes back with max amounts available. I have kept all texts. In total the loans have amounted to £11,320 WITH £7925 in interest totalling £19425. In 2016 I was made redundant.. Although I walked straight into another job I was working 15 hours less. I told my collector and she offered me another loan but said she would keep my old employer on it. I am slowly getting out of the rut that I am in but it has been a long hard struggle. I only had 3 loans from them and from the paperwork it clearly shows the frequency of loans increased from the August my mum died. Sorry a bit long winded. The only outgoings marked on the form were mortgage and council tax.
Kelly
PaulaM says
Hi. Just had a final response from Prov. They are not upholding complaints against any of my 22 loans basically because I had a ‘right of withdrawal’. Is it still worth going to the ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Absolutely. The fact you didn’t have to take the loans is NOT a good excuse for Provident giving you loans without making proper to checks to ensure they were affordable.
Lisa says
I’ve put in a claim with Provident for 9 loans. A lot of these messages are quite old now so I was wondering if anyone has had a sensible settlement figure from provident without the need to refer it to the FO? And have Provident woken up to these claims and are they now acting decently without leaving people waiting months before declining?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Provident is not being sensible… I am afraid most claims at the moment do have to go to the Ombudsman.
Lisa says
Thanks for the response Sara. That’s a shame. I’ll wait for the 8 weeks and send my complaint to the FO.
Max says
Just had a phone call from the financial Ombudsman Service I won my case he’s writing a letter to provident to say I could not afford the loan .good news
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Good news! It’s not over yet, Provident have to accept the adjudicator decision, but this is good and I know you were feeling pessimistic.
Max says
What happens next sara
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If Provident accept the adjudicator’s decision, you will be asked to sign that you accept it then provident will pay you the refund (or take it off any balance you owe? is this clear?)
If Provident refuse, it goes to be looked at by an Ombudsman, which typically takes another 10-14 weeks.
Max says
Thank god I don’t owe provident any money ombudsman say I couldn’t afford the loans had rent account bank statement we wait and see
Caroline says
Anyone had any luck with Provident? I have referred my case to the ombudsman as they denied that I had any loans newer than 6 years old. Luckily I had my payment book so could prove that I did. Went to ombudsman in March but still waiting to hear.
Angela Cheshire says
Me too. Would like to have an idea how long the ombudsman take to respond . I have been told they have everything but waiting for an adjudicator to be assigned. Been waiting months now.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How many months?
Angela Cheshire says
Almost 8 months now. I sent my case in January was contacted by an investigator in February. Case was passed on to wait for an adjudicator in March. Was told in May it was still waiting to be allocated. I emailed last week for an update but as yet not had a reply
Caroline Robertson says
Me too although mine’s first went to Ombudsman in April. Phoned last week for an update to be told waiting on adjudicator, any time i phoned before that i was told waiting on leglislation
laura says
hi i sent my case to FOS the adjudicator emailed me today asking for bank statements just from 2012 to 2013 yet the loans are more then them years, what does this mean by her just wanting that year?any help would be great thankyou
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How many loans did you have and over what timescale?
lisa says
question , FOS wants my bank statements but on there its got transactions of bank withdrawls as i used to pay my rent in cash also it has transactions where my ex would put money in my bank but it wasnt my money lump sums she would just get me to keep a hold for her so she wouldnt spend it, will this go against me? any help would be good thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Paying your rent in cash is easily explained to FOS.
Hopefully it will be clear that the transfers into your account from your ex were later transferred out, just explain this. FOS is used to dealing with people that handle their finances in different ways.
molly says
after the adjudicator has your bank statements how long does it take for them to decide outcome?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is this provident? Has an adjudicator been assigned? And have provident supplied their case file?
molly says
the adjudicator has emailed me just there saying they agree that provident did irrosponsible lending to me on 19 loans but i still have £4,750 to pay back but the company that bought my provident debt it says on my credit report that its Satisfied, what will happen now? does anyone know?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Were you surprised to see the debt marked as Satisfied or have you repaid it?
molly says
the last 5loans i didnt pay so was sursprised it said that, so what will happen now?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It may be that the debt has been sold on to a different debt collector? In theory you can leave this with provident to sort out. I should wait and see what they say. But you want the default and late payment markers removed from all the records, Provident and any debt collectors.
martin says
just to say thank you, for the very useful advice on this site, i have this week (after many months) received the findings and conclusions of the financial ombudsman service investigator, his recommendation is for provident to refund all the interest on loans since 2011, plus simple 8% interest and remove the loans from my credit file.
this sounds like good news, but does anyone have any experience with provident disputing the investigators findings ? or conclusions being changed if it continues to the ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Firstly Provident are sometimes incredibly slow. It may well end up going into the queue for the Ombudsman just because provident haven’t replied at all. This sounds like quite a large refund – that may mean Provident are more likely to reject it.
In these big cases the Ombudsman will sometimes tinker with the number of loans to be refunded, but it’s very rare for there to be a big change.
Kerry says
How long did it take the ombudsman to decide ?
Did they make you wait to see if they could look into loans over 6 years ?
tracey says
i dropped my 6 years loans and it took from getting ajudicator tuesday till today she gave me my answer that she thinks i should have 14 refunded!!! but i put my complaint in feb and got answer today got to wait and see if provident will agree or not .
molly says
so this is what my adjudicator wrote at the end of my response to upholding my claim, is this just standard ?
in every case, both the business and their customer can ask an ombudsman to make a final decision. But I think it’s unlikely the outcome would be different – unless there’s any important information that you haven’t already given us.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes. It doesn’t mean your adjudicator thinks your case is especially strong, that statement is always used.
Molly says
it only took her like 4 hours to give me answer back i gave her the bank statements and within 4 hours she said provident should refund all my loans!!! i shall wait and see what provident say now.
Max says
Me 2 my adjucators on holiday he agree 5 loans were unfordable how long does it take now
Alex Cameron says
My wife and i have paid over £5000 since 2012 to provident we have turned over loans to pay off other loans , were free of provident im 2012 when the manager visited our house to say he was looking to encourage previous customers back and offered us a £100 loan each , this started us on a downward spiral with them , we now owe them £3890 , can we claim back any interest.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That sounds like a lot of borrowing since 2012 – I suggest complaining and asking fro a refund of interest paid since then. read the article above which has some points you may want to include in your complaint if they applied to you.
Alex Cameron says
Thanks for your help Sara
Alex Cameron says
I have phoned provident today and they say that they will send out all details they have on wife and i , it will take 14 to 30 days
Max says
Good news getting my interest back from provident lol happy
Shells says
Happy days! Was the loans all under 6yrs?
Max says
Yes wouldn’t do the other
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So Provident accepted the adjudicator’s decision? That’s excellent news.
I remember you being convinced you wouldn’t win!
Max says
Thanks so happy
lauren says
have you getting your refund yet? how long did it take after provident accepted to pay you back!!!
Michele says
Hi I sent my complaint to FOS after Provident wouldn’t uphold it. Last week I had email from FOS asking me for a copy of my credit report, which I’ve now sent. Has anyone else had this asked of them and had their complaint upheld? I’ve only ever seen requests for bank statements
molly says
yes FOS asked for my bank statements last week and credit report and with in 4 hours she agreed they did irresponsible lending to me. waiting on provident now to see if the agree or not.
Michele says
Thanks Molly. I hope they don’t ask me for bank statements, I’m with a different bank no so can’t get access to my old one
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can get bank statements from closed accounts. It is normally easier than people expected!
It is common to be asked for a copy of your credit record. the best one to send is the free Noddle report.
Michele says
Thanks Sara I didn’t know that. Yes I used Noddle x
Ella says
Not sure what is happening with the Provident cases. I contacted the FOS today as mine has been with them since 5th February this year, they said it is still with jurisdiction. When I questioned them about this the reply was the following:-
‘Provident have said that you have had more than three years to make a complaint against them and haven’t done so until Dec 2017 and this means that I cannot claim my interest back’.
They are for loans that were taken out between 2007 and 2017, which the last one finished in May 2017 and then I found this website in December 2017 and made the decision to claim. I am now unsure as to what will happen because when I questioned them about the claim he just said that it will just be waiting to see if there is a change in the decisions from Provident. I have no idea what this means and any help would be great.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
At the moment your case will be waiting for a decision about whether the FOS can look at the loans that are more than 6 years old. DO you have a list of your loans and how much interest you have paid on each? It is a good idea to add up how much iterest was on the loans over 6 years and how much under 6 years.
If your loans have tended to get bigger over the years, you may find that the under 6 year loans are 75% or more of the total interest.
Your options are to sit and wait for the FOS to decide whether it can look at the older loans OR to tell the FOS you are happy not to get a refund on the older loans if they can be taken into account in assessing the more recent loans. because often the first few loans are ignored anyway. So if this means that you could get a refund on all the under 6 years loans would this be a good result for you?
You can’t really tell unless you have the loan details. If the over 6 year loans and large and a lot of them, then forgetting about them could mean not getting a lot of money.
Ella says
Thank you Sara, I have a list and all but one are over the six year time period when taken out and apparently that is when they take the six years from. I will just play the waiting game. My other has been picked up by an adjudicator so that news was a little better. :)
claire says
i didnt even know i could complain, thought it was just the way it was because of having poor credit rating, i started with wilson & tuppholme back in 1999, they came to my door and asked if i wanted 75 high street vouchers, they didnt even do a check on me i got vouchers off them within 2 mins of meeting and ive been with them since, they are called loans at home now, my loans have never been big loans (100, 250, 750) but every time i got a loan i had to pay remainder of another i would end up with around 140 of a 250 loan, it quickly rose from 75 in vouchers to 7 loans totalling 70 a week can i still claim interest? if so how far back please
Sara (Debt Camel) says
In theory you can go back to 2007.
claire says
thanks, i used the template and sent them an email, within half an hour i received a reply which said –
“Due to some information being more easily obtainable than other information we may be able to process you request quicker if we know what information it is your require specifically. If it is the full DSAR request that you need please let me know.
I look forward to your respond.”
any idea what i ask for?
Izzy says
I had loans for over thirty years from provident personel credit and refinanced after getting calls letters and collector asking me too, finished 2 big loans in October 2014, but had them continously for thirty years non stop.
I paid fine and then in later years got behind so bad my credit rating fell badly,they offered me more to try pay of these ones,as well.I was robbing Peter to pay Paul, almost 150 pounds per week,my husband never knew about these loan’s, and I always paid regularly so he wouldn’t find out,and those last few years of payments took a lot out of me,worry was my middle name,I got help and cleared them,and then got more offers from them,by this time I was 67 yrs old how did I even get accepted for these loan’s at that age,I never once signed in my own home I was in friends collectors cars in the street,sometimes I never even signed for them,the ones I did were already filled in so I only had sign my name,I still don’t know what they said,how can I go claiming interest please
Caroline Robertson says
A lot of my loans were done in cars or local shops and were already filled out by the agent. Like you Izzy, my husband didnt know either. I have put all this information into the Ombudsman with my complaint. If anyone looks at Provident reviews by employees, you can clearly see the pressure the agents were under to meet targets and it didnt matter how vulnerable the person was that they were pushing the loans onto and it didnt matter where they did the loans always saying “if anyone asks it was done at home”
Izzy says
We wernt the only ones in this predicament Caroline,how do I go about trying to claim,I don’t know how,I sent them (provident)emails and they are sending me out statement of loans I had with them,but I don’t know what to do or who to contact.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Izzy, go through the article above ^^^. As that says:
– the basic process is described, with template letters and how to send your complaint to the Ombudsman if Provident say No, on the payday loan refund page
– and it lists other points for Provident lending that you may want to add to the standard letters.
You have done the right thing by asking for a list of your loans. Just take this step by step, come back with questions and you will be fine.
Connor says
Starting to get annoyed wiyh the FOS, 6 months since I sent my complaint in, nearly 14 weeks since an investigator contacted me saying they would be looking into what provident said about me complaining to late…. i’m assuming this is regarding some loans being 6 years plus.
They wont update me via phone call or email… thats what is annoying me, not knowing if anything is moving, surely there must be a cap or time limit they have to stick too…rant over.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you only had a few loans over 6 years old, then you may want to consider dropping these from your complaint.
Angela Cheshire says
I have contacted ombudsman today as not heard anything from them for 3 months following sending my Provident complaint. U was told I had 8 loans 6 are over 6 years old and Provident have said they can’t be considered. Is it best to consider dropping the case on these 6 loans and just go for the 2 latest loans. Any help appreciated
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is a hard decsion. If there were 6 loans uder 6 years and only 2 older, it would be sensible to drop the older ones.
But dropping 6 out of 8 would mean agreeing to have a much lower refund, but it would be a lot quicker. I can’t guarantee if you hold out for your full complaint you will get a refund on the older loans, but this could be a lot of money.
Angela Cheshire says
Thanks for that. Has it been known for the ombudsman to look at loans over 6 years and say they were unaffordable. Has anybody had any success?
Izzy says
Sara can I just ask,as I told you I had loans thirty years or more,never was I asked about how much money I had,never did I have a bank account till I was over sixty,always my loans were taken out long before they were due to be paid out,I started with a hundred pound loan,and in the end I was getting 5,000 loans,and they knew I was having difficulty, because I started missing and falling behind,and told collector and even cried when I found much credit score had dropped so badly,would this be the kind of thing I shud say to provident I tried fill in complaint for but it keeps saying wrong email and won’t let me continue,so how can I contact them, even though my loans are paid of over three years x
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“they knew I was having difficulty, because I started missing and falling behind” that is exactly the sort of thing to put in your complaint!
Are you trying to fill out this form https://www.providentpersonalcredit.com/contact-us/complaints-form/ and it keeps rejecting your email address? If that doesn’t work, you could phone in your complaint – just say you were given unaffordable loans, your agent knew you were in difficulty but just kept giving you more. Ask for a copy of all your loans and a refund of interest – you aren’t going to get that going back 30 years, but just ask for everything then pass it all on to the finanical Ombudsman.
If you are finding this very difficult, you could go to your local Citizens Advice and ask for their help to complain first to provident and then to the Ombudsman.
Izzy says
Thank you Sara.
mike says
Provident have till the 10th of August till rely to FOS , i think they will reject it as its for 13 loans, as anyone had any looke with provident at this stage?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes they do sometimes accept the adjudicator decision. If you look back a few comments this happened to Max a few days ago.
If they don’t it gets dragged on for longer by going to the Ombudsman. Normally the ombudsman agrees with the adjudicator, but sometimes the number of loans being refunded is tinkered with, so you get a refund on 10 or 15 loans say. It is VERY unusual to get a really different decision from the Ombudsman.
Eva says
Hi help needed please. I had 8 loans with Provident. The first 3 older than 6 years. The loan 3 (over 6 years) took 180 weeks to repay rather then 50 weeks!!! but I dropped it after was told they will have a look at all the loans for info but not include in the refund. Fair enough. Do after I paid off the loan 3 I got loan 4 in May for 2013 for 200. That one was paid of by loans 5,6 (£500 and £300) in October 2013. To then pay of these with loans 7,8 in September 2014 which u didn’t pay off till 2017. Adjudicator thinks that only loans 7,8 from 2014 should be refunded. I dont agree and think loans 5,6 should be included as well. When I spoke to the adjudicator that I don’t agree with her she tried to put me off not taking this offer as apparently I can loose the whole lot if I decide to include the October 2013 loans? She said provident koans are for people with bad credit! She’s also saying that i didn’t borrow for a while before the loan 4. Well I coudnt as was paying the previous loan for over 3 years!! and also she thinks £30 weekly didposable income is more than enough. Firstly the outgoings were higher that what was on the prefilled form. I’m not sure if I should just refuse her findings. I also had to I many payday loans that time plus other debts and late payments. Thank you for advise
orla Lynch says
Hi all
got a response from Provident that they are not upholding my complaint as loans were affordable as sufficient checks were done. Hardly the case as if i could borrow from a bank at the time i would have. They will not remove any date form my credit file as it would not be a correct reflection of my account. Has anyone else had this and have you gone to the Ombudsum in relation to this? Funny how he had investigated my claim and my loans but unable to send me the details of these loans as its not available and comes form another department. i need concise details foe the ombudsman don’t i?
TIA
Orla
Sara (Debt Camel) says
He clearly hasn’t looked at your complaint in any detail if he doesn’t have the list of loans, you have just been sent a standard rejection. 😠
orla lynch says
Thanks Sara,
Ill forward it to the Ombudsman see what they say.
Orla
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s nice to be able to provide an overall summary (“I have had 13 loans from Provident between 2010 and 2015”) But it’s not essential. I suggest you send your complaint immediately to the Ombudsman.
At the same time, send Provident a Subject Access Resquest for all your personal information. Send an email to:informationrequests@provident.co.uk and say you want a copy of all your personal information, including but not limited to a list of all your loans including details of the payments you have made, details of all credit checks or other verification checks they have done and copies of all letters and email correspondence with them.
Kelly McCandless says
Hi Sara just a quick update on loans at home about my complaint further up in comments. As you know i received my final desision letter upholding 3 and not upholding 27. I emailed them on Saturday morning asking them to look into the other 27 loans and attached a selection of wage slips and the screenshots of the text messages from my agent saying she needs the sales. They have come back very quickly to say they ask my claims handler to look at the loans again and have passed on my additional evidence. In the mean time I thought I would get the ball rolling with the ombudsman and uploaded a copy of my original complaint along with there final decisions and my wage slips and text messages. I also uploaded a copy of the letter (which is actually dated the same date as my desision letter) offering me another loan. I have not told them yet that I am not accepting the offer. If I do could I lose what they have already offered me?
Kelly
Sara (Debt Camel) says
” I have not told them yet that I am not accepting the offer. If I do could I lose what they have already offered me?” In theory yes. In practice this doesn’t happen! from what you have said, I don’t think there is any chance that the ombudsman will look at your case and decide that you should get less.
” They have come back very quickly to say they ask my claims handler to look at the loans again and have passed on my additional evidence.” good – let’s hope they come back with a much improved offer!
Sharon White says
My mother recently passed away and it has come to light she has a provident loan and also other loans in in 2015 and 2016 which where paid in full. My mother was aged 79 in their terms and conditions it says age limit is 18 to 74, she was 76 when the 2015 loan was given do we have a case for a refund to her estate.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They may have changed the T&Cs, but I think it is worth asking for a refund of the interest she paid.
Mike says
provident have till the 10th to reply to the FOS only 3 days to go now bet they just drag it out and send it to Ombudsman, whats peoples thoughts on this?
Eva says
They replied to my adjudicator 1 day later agreeing but I rejected so off to Ombudsman
Margaret McDaid says
I had many loans with Provident over a 20 year period. Can I make a claim online if I don’t have paperwork showing account numbers? Unfortunately I cannot find any payment books either. I did not realise until I saw the comments on here that you could lodge a claim with Provident
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes you can claim. they should be able to find your loan details from your name and address.
You can only go back to 2007 at the earliest though.
gillian says
ty again sara I put in a complaint to morse club about 5 weeks ago claiming I had loans with shopacheck from 2012till 2016 they said they coul d only look into last three loans but would send the first 12to welcome finance as they were the provides then I them had a letter from welcome to say they had received this from morse club morse club asked me for bank statements for the period of the 3 loans I sent them and highlighted all the payments going out to other lenders this morning had a cheque for the full amount of intrest plus 8 percent for 1487.63 so a excellent result as I did think they might not agree but I must say morse club were very helpful and fast dealing with this ty again
Lauren says
Provident have 1 more day to reply to my adjudicator, i think they will just drag it out, have they done this to anyone else?
Eva says
1 day late to my adjudicator but agreeing.
lauren says
why did you disagree? there just dragging mine out its for 13 loans no doubt it will go to ombudsman aswell
Eva says
Because i didnt agree with the adjudicator that said only the last 2 loans to be refunded. I wanted the previous 3. Apparently I didn’t borrow for few years therefore it was ok to be issued with another loan. Which I then paid off with the next 2 (within 4 months) Well I coudnt borrow for 3.5 years as that’s how long it took me to pay of the previous loan!! rather than 50 weeks. And she also said Provident is for people with bad credit!!! So now in a queue for the Ombudsman. I’m in no rush with this.
lauren says
well provident still aint been in touch with the adjudicator yet for me they had till the 10th,heres to waiting lol
Kelly says
Hi Margaret. I try sending them a SAR request. Sara has a template on this page and it’s free now. (just edit to your own needs) this way provident will send you all the details they have on you including loan amounts Ireceived my paperwork and went through it. Between 2008 and 2014 I had 22 loans from them. This started of with £200 shopping vouchers which were cleared then went on to a cash loan. That was paid off early by another loan for a higher amount. I think everyone’s stories will be much the same. It then begins to escalate to 2-3 or 4 loans running at anytime. Luckily I have all wage slips and can see my wage was 606 per month in 2011 but I had 3 loans totalling £98 PER WEEK. The total I was allowed to borrow over the 6 years was £19300 interest on that was £16500. That is £35000. I also had loans with loans at home running at same time and they totalled £19000. between them £55000. I see how they trapped me into this cycle. I have never been out of work but have nothing to show for it except the roof over my head. I am clear of these loans now but I will fight tooth and nail to get back what is rightfully mine. These companies prey on the vulnerable and also make people vulnerable to the point you are dependant on them. They trap you into a cycle which is very difficult to get out of. Sara your site is absolutely incredible and has empowered so many people now to take on these companies. For that I thank you. Kelly
Karen says
Hi Sara
I put in a complaint for Provident I had loans from them I got £30 back I think and I still own on the loans I didn’t have my loans refund I think the £30 was interest I still owe £2000 I think is this right or can I do anything else about this or put another complaint in or can’t I do nothing else now
Thank You
Billy says
Hi Sarah,
Cut a long story short, my wife was a guarantor for a very unscrupulous person in August 2011, he did a runner once the money came through, he went behind her back by applying on line for a loan, alls I know is he electronically put her signature to get the loan, following day my wife received a phone call from Amigo to confirm her name, adress etc, not once did she receive any paperwork to sign, at the time she wasn’t working nor would of been able to pay for the loan if the lender did not pay, oh by the way the dodgy ex went down on his knees to my wife begging her to accept the loan from Amigo whilst on the phone to them, I sent a template letter to Amigo, they replied quickly saying anything over 4 years they don’t keep, only if the loan was live! I ended up paying the Amigo loan, initial loan was £3500, but final balance with interest £4800,
Amigo also told me not to waste my time going to the ombudsman as they ‘Amigo’ could not supply any evidence after the 4 year rule, the question is…..do I have a case against this very dodgy company
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This page is best for guarantor complaints: https://debtcamel.co.uk/amigo-complaints-by-guarantor/. (I will move your comment there in a few days)
I am surprised Amigo don’t have the details for 6 years from when the loan ended.
I don’t know what the Ombudsman will say about this. These complaints are quite new. All you can do is try.
lauren says
just spoke to FOS provident replied to my adjudicator with new evidance and she has told them it dont change her view, she has gave them till monday morning to reply now or she is sending it to ombudsman, do you think it will go to ombudsman now?any help would be great if this has happened to anyone else. thankyou
Connor says
Just a quick question, my adjudicator has emailed me today and said they are still looking into if they can look at the loans that are older than 6 years.
Let’s say they decide they can’t, when do they take the 6 years to go back from?, November 2017 when I first complained to provident or January 2018 when I filled the complaint with the FOS or let’s say November 2018 when they say they can’t go back further than 6 years?
TIA
Sara (Debt Camel) says
January 2018.
kay says
I used to work for provident. My husband took out a provident loan about a week before they told us they were making us redundant. We then couldn’t afford the loan from when I was made redundant. (we’d paid every payment on time while I was still working for them which was about 4 months) would we have a claim for not ensuring they were affordable when they knew I wouldn’t have a job very shortly afterwards. They assessed his affordability at the time but it was based on me paying at least half of household bills but they knew this wouldn’t continue.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is a sad story. I suppose you may be able to guilt Provident into giving you a refund but legally I don’t think you can actually argue that the person making the loan decision (or the computer) knew you would be made redundant. In many firms information about people at risk of future redundancies is on a strict need-to-know basis and indeed the decision may not have been taken a week before you were informed.
lauren says
well provident ignored my adjudicators date and still ignoring her, shes sending it to the ombudsman now, I knew they would drag it out. Has anyone else had this with provident?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, they are VERY slow… perhaps they are getting a lot of complaints!
Kelly McCandless says
Hi Sara I received another e-mail from my complaints advisor at LAH. He has asked me to send anymore evidence I have by Wednesday so that he can look into my complaint again. Over the weekend I had sent wage slips relevant to the loans (my agent put a date of wage slip she had seen, so I sent the dated ones to disprove the income that was put down.) What sort of evidence should no send. I have details of provident loans I had at same time and also statements of council tax not paid since 2014 as i couldnt afford to. Can you suggest anything else? Monthly car payments maybe? Also have statements of my endowment that was 11 months in arrears.
Thank you
Kelly
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A copy of your Noddle credit report? Also the provident loans if they don’t show on the credit report and the letters about council tax arrears.
Michele says
Hi advice needed please. I sent my complaint about Provident to FOS who then asked me to send a copy of my credit report, which I did. I’ve now had email from FOS saying Provident will only give consent to consider loans from 2012, and they want to know if I want to object to this or just go ahead on the loans from 6 years ago. What’s the best thing to do?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
do you know how much interest you paid on the loans taken out before then? And after then?
Michele says
I haven’t got the info on me at the mo Sara will have a look later but most of my loans were taken out before 2012, I had maybe 2 or 3 after that
Michele says
Hi Sara I paid £700 interest on the loans after 2012, what would the payout be if I won my case? Not sure it’s worth pursuing my claim before the 2012 loans I just want it over with to be honest, it’s dragged on far too long for my liking!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then a “full” payout on the loans after 2012 would probably be from £800-900 depending on when you actually made the repayments that are being refunded.
Of course you may not get a full payout for the under 6 year loans.
Michele says
Thanks Sara. I’ve checked the loans with Provident from 2009, interest between then & 2012 is £790. Although I just want this over & done with, a part of me is saying I should pursue my complaint for the loans before 2012 but I’m not sure if it’s worth it? Has anyone had any success getting interest paid back for loans older than 6 years?
lauren says
Provident didnt reply to my adjudicator after saying they had new evidance and she told them it doesnt change a thing, today she has the case to the ombudsman as provident are now ignoring her, can provident still come back to her even though its been sent to ombudsman?any help would be great
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Either of you can go back with more points you want to be considered up until there is a final decision from the ombudsman. And Provident may suddenly wake up and accept the adjuicator’s decision.
lauren says
yeah they came back with evidance and then ignored the adjudicator even though she have them extra time, so she sent it to ombudsman this morning, how long roughly does the ombudsman take? the adjudicator said some times when they escalate the case to the ombudsman the company sometimes come back and reply with offer, i will just have to wait! I thought they would drag it out as it was for 13 loans to be refunded for the interest plus the 8%
michelle giles says
I made a complaint to provident for a total of 15 loans between 2009 and 2012, they have come back to me saying they wont look at the ones older than 6 years. which leaves only 2 loans that they will consider but believe they were completed correctly. I have worked out I have paid over £20,000 in interest on these loans!!!! does the ombudsman look at loans older than 6 years old? I kept borrowing and borrowing just to pay off the payments
Sara (Debt Camel) says
These cases are very slow at the moment with the Ombudsman, but as Provident haven’t offered you anything, you have nothing to lose by sending your case in and saying you have only recently found out that provident should have made more checks, so you didn’t know you had a reason to complain before.
Caroline Robertson says
Phoned the Ombudsman to see if there was any update on my complaint with Provident for loans over 6 years old. My complaint has been with them since April and looks like im in for a long long wait. They try to go through them in date order of when they were received or if new information has came to light. I was told my case is relatively new despite them having it for months now. Frustrating, as complaint was put in with Provident in December last year but im hopeful that all good things come to she who waits. The older loans would increase any refund by £10000 if adjudicator/ombudsman rules in my favour, so althoug patience is not my strong point it may turn out to be worthwhile in the long run.
If anyone complaining about Provident on loans over 6 years old, you will be in for a long haul but with any luck it will be worth the wait
Angela Cheshire says
My complaint against Provident has been with ombudsmen since January and still waiting as there are 6 loans over 6 years old. Hope the wait is worth it. Would like to know if anyone has actually had any luck with the older loans
Lauren says
some good news my adjudicator came back to me today and provident have now accepted what the adjudicator said and are now refunding the 13 loans plus the 8% interest, id just like to say thank you to this site for all its help. Thanks again.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
well done!
Michele says
Were some of the loans over 6 years old Lauren? Trying to decide if I should go ahead and claim for the loans I had before 2012
lauren says
no i told them to forget the loans over 6 years and within 2 month i had my answer i had been waiting very long time till i dropped my loans , iv getting nearly 6 thousand refund. the FOS told me straight if you wait for the loans to be looked at over 6 years your in for a very long wait.
Darren says
I just had a phone call from provident they said the looked at all my loans in the past 6 years and there is only one that they are paying out on they said they’re sending me a cheque for £470 should I still try and get more from ombudsmen