UPDATE: in March 2021, Provident said it is asking for a “Scheme of Arrangement” that will mean it pays very little to complaints that are upheld. This is bad news for people with complaints. See Provident proposes a Scheme to cap refunds for details about the Scheme.
Doorstep lending – also called home credit – is where a collector comes to your house to collect the repayments. Many people have been borrowing from the same lender for years.
If you had doorstep loans from lenders such as Morses Club, Mutual and Loans At Home, 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.
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.
So even if you always paid your loans on time, they could still have been unaffordable. Especially if you had several 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 the lender 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 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 similar to the one for payday loans, but it has some extra points that matter for doorstep loans.
Template letter to use
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. I would like you to send me a complete list even if you consider that some of the loans are too old to be refunded. [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 The template letter on this page is no longer relevant – see Provident proposes a Scheme to cap refunds for what is happening for Provident loans,
- Morses Club & Shopacheck You have to use their form, see contact Morses– put COMPLAINT at the top of your message.
- Loans at home email with COMPLAINT in the title to customerservice@sd-taylor.co.uk.
- Mutual email to complaints@mutual.uk.com.
- CLC Finance email complaints@clcfinance.com
- Compton Finance email mark.phillips@comptonfinance.co.uk with Affordability Complaint as the title
- GR Finance email grfinanceltd@gmail.com with Affordability Complaint as the title
- Naylors Finance email with COMPLAINT in the title to admin@jrnaylors.com.
- Pinewood Finance C0 email tracy.evans@pinewood-finance.co.uk with Affordability Complaint as the title
- Short Term Finance (Birmingham) Use their online form and copy your complaints letter into there: complaints to Short-Term Finance.
- 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.
You should get a response in 8 weeks
You may get a list of your loans on its own. This is NOT the response to your complaint, which will arrive later. You don’t need to do anything with the list of loans, just keep it. If the lender makes you an offer, it will help you to see how good or bad it is.
The lender should reply to your complaint within 8 weeks from when you send the email, not when they acknowledge it.
Lenders may be 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.
How strong is your complaint?
Very large numbers of these complaints are being won at the Ombudsman – in the last quarter of 2020, 84% of doorstep lending complaints were won by the borrower.
In all of those Ombudsman cases, the lender had either rejected the complaint or made a poor offer.
So don’t be put off if this happens to you, send it to the Ombudsman!.
Three 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.
- It can be hard to win a complaint for just a couple of small loans.
- It’s normal to not get the first few loans refunded. If a lender has offered you a refund on 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.
- The larger the loans became, the better your complaint is.
- The Ombudsman will usually look at loans that are over 6 years old, but many lenders just refuse. You can go back to 2007.
Sending a complaint to the Ombudsman
The easiest way to send a complaint is to use their online application form because that asks all the questions they need to know the answer to (most of these are easy, such as would 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. If you don’t yet have a list of your loans, say you have asked for one but the lender hasn’t sent it.
What should you say to FOS?
There isn’t a separate template for this. You can just copy the complaint you sent to the lender. But here are some more things you may want to add.
- Say if you had a poor credit record, especially if it got worse as you carried on borrowing from the doorstep lender.
- Say if you repaid some loans early because you refinanced your loan. Here you may have paid more in interest than if you had just been given an extra loan. 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.
- Also tell 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 in your house should only offer a loan if you had asked them in writing for it. 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 what the ombudsman asks for.
Don’t worry if your bank statements show a lot of gambling. The Ombudsman 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 that you can’t get an old credit report – the Ombudsman knows this isn’t possible.
Do you have a current loan?
You can complain when you are still repaying a loan. If you tell the lender you want a payment arrangement, they should allow you to pay less each week over a longer period without adding any more interest.
But if you have other problem debts as well, talk to StepChange and they can see if a debt management plan would help.
You can also still complain if you are in a debt management plan. But don’t bother if you are in an IVA, bankruptcy or a DRo.
Need some help?
Your local Citizens Advice can help with these complaints.
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 complaints are going and the successes they have had. If you have a question, ask it here!
Are you struggling to pay car finance?
Is your credit limit too high? Not affordable?
Provident seeks to limit refunds
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Today Provident has said it is asking for a “Scheme of Arrangement” that will mean it pays very little to complaints that are upheld. It is not yet definite this will go ahead, but it is bad news for people with complaints. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/provident-satsuma-scheme/ for more about this.
As that says, if you currently have a cheque from Provident, cash it now.
If you have questions about the Scheme, I suggest you ask them on that other page.
UPDATE I am moving comments about Provident’s Scheme onto that page – So if you can’t find your comment here it may be because I have moved it!
Michele says
Hi Sarah, I had a cheque issued by provident in Sept 2020 but couldn’t cash it as was waiting on the FO to give me a decision as offer wasn’t fair, FO ruled in my favour and 2nd chq sent for remaining balance(banked ok) 1st chq returned as just over 6 months old. Spike with provident today to ask for re issue of original cheque only to be told tough….you should of banked it straight away so your lose that money!! Is this correct? FO can’t help because of new scheme,do you know who I can contact to get chq re issued please
Sara (Debt Camel) says
2nd chq sent for remaining balance(banked ok)
What date was that?
Michele says
Cheque banked 1st April 2021, chq was dated25/3/21 and recieved about 10 days after decision.
Sarah says
So I sent a complaint to mutual for my mum on the 30th of January. Last week I called them to ask if they had received as I got nothing back and they hadn’t. So on Friday I forwarded the first email on and today got an email back saying they have received and will take no longer than 8 weeks for the outcome. Do I now have to wait another 8 weeks or can I send when the first 8 weeks are up?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The 8 weeks starts when you first sent your complaint in. You should receive a proper response upholding or rejecting your complaint in that time – an email saying they want longer doesn’t count.
Sarah says
No this is what they sent me not asking for more time just that they only received on the 12/03.
We write to inform you we have received the complaint about your loans being mis-sold which you emailed us. We received this complaint on 12/03/2021. I will investigate the complaint you raised and send you the final response from the Company within 8 weeks of the date we received the complaint. We will treat this complaint as a priority due to your complaint not being received to our inbox.
What shall I do?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ah I see, sorry.
It’s up to you, you could send the complaint to FOS 8 weeks after 30 Jan. Or allow them the extra time as they say they didn’t get it then,
Sarah says
Ok thanks.
Maureen says
Morning all,
Quick update on my morses club complaint, after almost 7 months finally received redress today, am very relieved as seeing comments here about provident probably only a matter of time before morses and loans at home etc do the same. Good luck everyone getting your redress 🤞🤞
helen says
hi i was woundering if anyone could help me i had loans from morses club around 2015 i got loans to pay another i was on a very low income at the time and had to lend of my family as i had next to nothing left after the weekly payments in the end i couldnt afford to pay them and it got sold on to debt collection would i still be able to make a complaint if the debt got sold on and who would i contant the debt collection or morses club any help would be great
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes you can still complain. Your complaint goes to Morses as they gave you loans, but if it is upheld, Morses should make sure that your refund takes into account the payments you have made to the debt collector and also removes the default on the debt collector record on your credit file.
Nicola Hunter says
Hi I’ve sent my letter of complaint to loans at home and they’ve sent my list of loans back with time barred printed at side of them all can I still claim against them.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes you can. FOS can look at older loans.
Tony says
Hi Nicola can u help me and tell me what ya said in ur letter I have emailed the same company and they don’t know what am talking about I had loans with them years ago
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How long ago were your loans?
Linda says
Hi has anyone cashed a cheque that provident has sent them while waiting for the FOS to investigate. I have a cheque here off provident that they sent me before I referred my complaint to the FOS. I have contacted Allegiant who are dealing with my claim about cashing it, they said they are on the understanding that I can cash it and anything more offered will then be deducted. But they also said they dont know now if provident has cancelled all cheques, in light of this new scheme, so Im not sure what to do wether to just try and cash the cheque, as by the looks of it my claim with the FOS is gonna fall into this new scheme and I will get less back. Anyone got any advice please?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
See https://debtcamel.co.uk/provident-satsuma-scheme/ where I say it may be a good idea to cash it and the comments below that page – several people have talked to FOS or to provident and been told they can cash it.
Linda says
Thanks Sara I think I will try and deposit it tomorrow, does anyone know if provident has cancelled the cheque, will the bank tell me there and then when I try to deposit it, or will it take a few days?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
no-one has reported the cheques being cancelled.
Ruth says
Hi Linda
I paid my cheque into the bank yesterday morning and it was cleared by this afternoon
Linda says
Thanks Sara,
Allegiant has said that provident has told them they aren’t allowing customers in this situation to reverse their decision, so they don’t know if they have cancelled the cheque they sent to me or not. So fingers crossed the cheque still stands
Sara (Debt Camel) says
let us know!
Linda says
Thanks Ruth is your claim still with the FOS though? Or was that your final redress amount?
Ruth says
My claim is currently waiting for a breakdown from provident after they accepted the FOS recommendations
Lauren says
I got my redress detail today from Provident with the amount, it says I should allow up to 14 days for my cheque to arrive. Is it taking 14 days or more does anyone know? Tia
Amie says
Did they send you this within the 28 days? I’m day 29 (with provident) and still not received anything! I will be emailing them again tomorrow though. They will get fed up of me lol 😆
Lauren says
Yes I did my 28th day would have been the 30th
Amie says
I thought you had done I saw a comment you posted in the other thread. You got lucky there. Hopefully your cheque is with you soon 😄
Lauren says
Fingers crossed, good luck to you hun
Amie says
Did you receive your cheque? I got my breakdown on Tuesday (finally!) just waiting for the cheque now
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry, no-one knows – past history before Monday when they announced the Scheme (see https://debtcamel.co.uk/provident-satsuma-scheme/) is no longer relevant.
Fingers crossed you get paid soon!
George says
Hi,Sarah just to let you know that I received a letter from FOs letting me know that they have asked Provident for information regarding my Complaint. I Have also sent FOS all correspondence they asked for.Thanks
Emma P says
Hey guys can someone help me to calculate how much I should get back from Provident please in simple step by step calculations, with the 8% and whatever else I need to calculate? I am aware of the new scheme I put my complaint in to them on 4th feb. I’ve had 8 loans with them between 2014-2020
My 4th loan was taken out 5/12/17 paid up 25/9/2019
Loan amount £970
Charges £1350.24
I really have no idea how to do the calculations my maths skills are poor. So if someone can show me how to calculate this I would be so grateful so I can do the others.
Many thanks
Emma P
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You don’t need to do these calculations and they aren’t going to help you, so why bother?
You have sent in a complaint. It isn’t going to get replied to by Provident who will want it to go into the Scheme.
Do you still owe them any money?
Emma P says
I done it all via Resolver. I had a reply from them with the data I requested on 1st march and another on 12th March stating they aim to complete the investigation in 28 days.
Yes I took out a loan in March 2020 for £2500 so am still paying that off it was on a zero waiver for 9 months due to covid as my self employed business closed down just 2 weeks after taking that loan out and now on a reduced payment plan of £20 a week.
I just wanted to know from a personal point how to work it out incase I somehow get lucky enough to get an offer in the next 2 weeks x
Siobhan says
Hi, I’ve already put in my complaint, received the rubbish email from provident saying they didn’t loan irresponsibly and I’ve passed it to the FOC. They’ve emailed asking for details including bank statements etc but no adjudicator assigned yet. Do you know if this new scheme they’re applying for will affect me?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
FOS has stopped working on all Provident cases.
So if the Scheme goes ahead your case will be sent back to Provident to decide. Worrying for you as they have already rejected it! And if it was upheld you would only get a tiny amount back, by m numbers possibly less than 2%.
Do you still owe them money?
Linda says
I think All provident claims that have been sent to the FOS have been put on hold because of this scheme
Siobhan says
I could cry. FOS emailed me back in February asking for all my details which I sent back.
I cleared my last loan in 2018… 4 years after taking it out cos I couldn’t afford it.
Should have known this was too good to be true.
Siobhan says
Did my reply come through?
I said I could cry. I put this complaint in back in November so it takes the p*ss.
I don’t still owe them money.
I called the FOS who confirmed they wouldn’t look into provident claims regardless of if the scheme went ahead as they’d then enter into insolvency 😭
Sarah says
I started mind in June it went to fos in September, they requested info from myself and provident in nov/dec and today got email saying unsure what’s happening, it should have been over for me by now but what can I do it makes me so angry
Lisa says
Mine started feb 2020, FOS Replied in January 2021 saying they have requested all my information from Provident. I have recently asked for an update but still had no reply.
Is this also due to the new scheme, even though my complaint started over a year ago?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Very likely :(
See https://debtcamel.co.uk/provident-satsuma-scheme/
Alyson says
I’m on week 7 with Naylors and just received an email asking for an up to date number to talk, anybody know what might be asked off them
heather says
I got a cheque from Provident in February Provident only agreed to pay me one year for 2012 along I had had multiple loans from2007 I had referred to the FO in December though it still hasn’t been picked up I am so pleased I cashed the cheque as at least I got nearly £4000 from them though really miffed that they will be getting away with refunding me and other people. Because they have rejected earlier loans I can’t see them changing their minds with this scheme I know they say it will be a independant person doing the reviewing but who picks the independent person are they truly independent? How much have their shareholders pocketed in profits over the years and they will get away with this.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So it will be worth making a claim on the Provident Scheme if it goes ahead – nothing to lose. If more loans are upheld you will only get a small amount back
It’s understandable to be suspicious about what will happen and how real an appeal will be but it’s worth a go
heather says
Yes Sara I will make a claim. Might attend Zoom meeting too I received a letter from provident today about the scheme
Laura says
Hi,
Have pursued ,many affordability complaints before, however there is one that I have not in relation to doorstep lending with Shopacheck/ Morse’s Club. I have 7 loans with them altogether, spanning 2014 – 2019. I know that I would have an excellent case due to the fact I was already on a DMP at the time of at least 5 applications and an extremely poor credit record, lots of debt (monthly commitments). Plus, within those loans, there were a lot of missed payments, some I made up because I felt pressured to, but others I could not. The only thing is, I lied on my application, which I have done for other credit companies (payday loans, loans etc), only because I was desperate for money and thought that I would be refused if they saw how much debt I had. With Morse’s, they asked if I was in an IVA, DMP or bankrupt at the time of each application and I said no, although I did have a DMP. Also, I stated my actual incomings but elaborated my outgoings to show that I could afford it (this was all verbally), would I have a case? Realistically, for each loan, they could have looked at my credit file and seen the amount of debt that I had (between £8,000-£14,500) and the defaults on my file. I just need some advice please as would not want to get taken to court for fraud. I think I have stated this in other claims and didn’t have any issues, but always best to check. Thank you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
they asked if I was in an IVA, DMP or bankrupt at the time of each application and I said no,
That is factually correct. They should have asked about DMPs and payment arrangements if they wanted to know about them.
for each loan, they could have looked at my credit file and seen the amount of debt that I had (between £8,000-£14,500) and the defaults on my file.
exactly.
FOS may say that the lender didn’t have to look for the first few loans but when you carried on borrowing they should have realised you may be in trouble and looked more closely.
Despite the threatening replies from some lenders, in 5 years of these complaints I have not seen anyone being taken to court for fraud.
Joanne says
So after complaining to mutual for my mother-in-law they sent there response today saying they were all affordable. The only thing is they have only listed the last 6years of loans, but she has been borrowing for 15! They said…….
Under the financial conduct authority‘s complaint handling rules, we are able to reject a complaint without considering its merits in the event complained about is more than six years ago and you are complaining more than three years after you realised(or should have realised) that there was a problem. We will therefore only consider loan account entered into within the last six years.
If I send to the ombudsman (I am going to) will they look at older ones if I don’t have proof of them and mutual don’t forward them on? I would like to have proof of these for myself.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes FOS will usually look at the older loans. Mutual probably still have the records and they will have to send them to FOS.
Joanne says
They will do this with out me having a copy of this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If the lender has the records, yes.
Joanne says
Ok thanks for your help,I’ve just emailed them asking for this.
helen says
hi has anyone heard anything back from morses and loans at home if so how long are they taking for final response amy help would be good thanks
Jo says
Morses no and they have been 10 weeks as it’s stands. LAH got back at 8 weeks but asked for another 4 so sent to ombudsman.
Margaret says
I contacted Morses end of Jan. Had 2 letters saying they were investigating my complaint and would be in touch shortly. I emailed them a few days ago saying if I didn’t hear soon I would contact FOS. Hope this is not going to be another company setting up a “ scheme!!”
helen says
they have had mine now for 12 weeks( Loans at home ) i told them they got untill week 13 to get back to me otherwise taking it to the ombudsman i give them everything they asked for and when you ring them they just say they backlogged
Lisa b says
I waited 20 weeks from putting claim in till final response hope that helps it was loans at home
helen says
right i see did they send you a letter at 13 weeks asking for more time i have a feeling thats whats going to happen
helen cahill says
i got a letter of response from morses saying all loans were affordable , i had regular contact with my agent , which i didn’t i used to pay by text message and not seen an agent for current loan for 18 months at least , they said if i put false information down then i’ve committed fraud and they’ll report me , because of course their agents would never suggest such a thing ,also a lot of earlier transactions were done by cash so i won’t have all bank statements to show i paid ,do i take it further as i don’t want a black mark against me for any future borrowing i might want , there’s loads of untruths in reply but how can i prove it ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You don’t need to “prove” this, just send your complaint to the ombudsman and say what is wrong with Morses reply.
Several lenders mention reporting for fraud, but this just seems like an unpleasant bluff to get you to drop your case. No-one has had a problem when they send a case to the ombudsman.
margaret mcneil says
Hi Sara I contacted you regarding GR Finance. They agreed to pay off my outstanding balance which I was paying through a DMP. This has been done but on checking my other accounts they sent to me after my agreeing to balances written off I found I had 10 previous loans from 2015-6. Total borrowed from these was £4140 and total interest £2340. A few of these loans were given on the same date, 1 to pay off a previous. .. loan and give me cash as well. The letter states my complaint was now closed as I had accepted their offer to write off existing debts but can I still go to FOS about older accounts as I now have paperwork or am I too late? your help would be appreciated.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
did they deny these older accounts existed? or refuse to refund them?
Margaret says
I put in an affordability complaint, got a call a few days later from a manager with offer to write off balance. He mentioned that they had recordings of me and text messages to my agent asking for further loans which I previously had. I asked for account details to be sent . He never mentioned refunds on them
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Were you told that offer was in full settlement of your complaint?
Margaret says
Letter says it acts as final confirmation that I accepted offer and complaint now closed
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, but were you told this BEFORE you accepted the offer?
Margaret says
Don’t think he mentioned that on phone call. Only that they were willing to write off balances with Stepchange and contact credit agency to remove defaults
Sara (Debt Camel) says
then you should reply to them that it was not made clear that the offer to clear the balances was in final settlement or you would not have accepted it. Ask them to look at a refund on the older loans or you will send the case to the Finacial Ombudsman.
Margaret says
Thank you for your help. I will contact them
Alyson says
I e had my response from Naylors I did try to copy it here but says it’s to long….
There saying they can only go back 6yrs as before then all is destroyed, obviously they haven’t agreed to my complaint and say I agreed to everything and have offered me £250 redress obviously I’m not going to accept this, can FOS make them go back further or will it be just the 6yrs their saying
Alyson says
Also Sara I have sent my complaint to Morses I received a letter today to say it’s being dealt with…. my last 2 loans from them have ended up at Lowel do I need to message lowel to make them away of my complaint and the fact Morses have now removed themselves from my credit file thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest waiting until you have the reply from Morses about your complaint.
Chris says
So I put a complaint in to LAH who didn’t get back to me so I sent on to FOS on Wednesday, Today I got an email asking for more information. I started taking these loans out in march 2009 but in October 2009 I went bankrupt. I didn’t put these on the list as my caller said I wouldn’t be able to get any other loans so left it off. If I send a copy of the bankruptcy to FOS will this help my case or will I be shooting myself in the foot?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did you have any loans from them after your bankruptcy?
Chris says
Yes, it started in March 2009 and the last one I had was October 2018 paid the end of last year.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, well any redress relating to loans taken before you were discharged from bankruptcy should be paid to your Official Receiver. Redress from loans after your discharge should be paid to you.
Chris says
Ok thanks for your help.
Chris says
So the FOS wanted any information from me by the 12th of April, so do this mean it’s with a case handler? Do you know how long roughly it takes? Thanks again for your help.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Probably not. You are normally told when an adjudicator has picked up your case. They may be waiting for Loans at Home to supply the case file.
Gemma says
Hi Sara
I’ve had an offer from Morses today which has left me with questions. I had 6 loans in total and they are upholding loans 3, 4, 5 and 6 which I think is pretty good. However, I thought they refunded the total amount of interest?
The last 3 loans went to Lowell which I’ve been paying (slowly). Loan 3 was paid in full with Morses.
Their calculation says they’re refunding the interest that I had paid (£241.42 plus interest and taxes etc). And they are sending that amount to Lowell which still leaves a balance of £419 to pay.
My question is that the total amount of interest on these 4 loans was £975. I understand I only paid Morses £241.42 but the rest of that interest I am still paying with Lowell.
Also, should they be sending my Redress for loan no. 3 to Lowell when it was paid in full with Morses?
I hope this makes sense?
Thank you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They should remove the interest from the current loans (so 4,5,6) and then use the interest from 3 to further reduce the balance owed to Lowell.
Is that what has happened?
Gemma says
No. I’m waiting for a call back from Morses for them to explain it to me.
If they remove the interest from 4, 5 and 6 (just interest and no tax deduction etc) then send the interest (plus tax deduction etc) from loan 3, that will wipe my balance with Lowell completely.
But they state that I will still owe £416.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, you need the redress calculations from Morses to see what has gone wrong.
Gemma says
I’ve been waiting for a call back since about 10am this morning. They say the only person that can help me is the guy that done the calculation and all they can do is email him to contact me.
I just wanted to make sure that all interest should be returned (to Lowell).
Loan 3 is the interest plus 8% and minus tax deduction. And loans 4,5 and 6 is just the interest amount with no extra calculations? That’s correct isn’t it?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think it might be better to wait for the numbers?
Gemma says
Yes, of course.
I will let you know the outcome.
Thank you.
Gemma says
Hi
I just wanted to let you know that I’ve just got off the phone to Morses. The reason the numbers were wrong was because they had an incorrect balance from Lowell.
I have given updated figures (they need to confirm with Lowell) and now we agree.
Thank you for helping me from the beginning. From this Redress I get all 3 Lowell balances cleared, my defaults will be cleared, oh and I get 5p (haha).
Thanks again.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
good!
helen says
hi so today i have recieved a list of loans from morses saying here is the list of loans you requested does anyone know what happens after this any help would be great
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you have already made your complaint, you just sit back and wait for them to reply to it.
helen says
right do they normally send out a reply after the list of loans
Sara (Debt Camel) says
they have 8 weeks to reply from the date of the complaint.
helen says
ok thanks for your help also i put a complaint in with loans at home its been 12 weeks they asked for 13 weeks as they where behind with the pandemic i sent them a email this this morning asking if there was any update this is what they said i can confirm that your compaint had been assigned to a complaint handler and is in the process of investigation we anticipate at this stage this can take up to 7-10 working days and we will email you . does that mean they will have a outcome by then or fo you think they will ask for more time thanks again
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think that is quite specific.
But they often don’t make good offers so it’s up to you if you want to wait or send into FOS.
Jo says
Do anyone know how long it’s taking at the FOS? Had an email saying they were gonna ask LAH for details last week. I just assume it wouldn’t be as long as they are not dealing with the provident claims anymore.
helen says
Hi sara
i have just recieved the most insulting offer from loans at home they upholded 3 out of six loans here are my loans and what they have said is
200 for 540 bak paid rejected
550 for 940 back paid rejected
300 for 540 back paid rejected
750 for 1380 back all paid the redress 545 upheld
400 for 760 back i still owe 320 redress 0.00 upheld
1000 for 1800 back still owe 1060 redress 0.00 upheld
they said they will wipe the what i owe but the 545 redress from the one paid they are willing to offer me 139 pound refund because i still owe them money i really dont know what to do so any help would be great they have asked me to send my bank details for the refund but i think its a really poor ouycone
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so two issues – should any of the earlier loans have been included? and are the calculations on the last three loans right?
Upholding from the 4th loan isn’t an unusual decision. Can you say something more about your situation at this time?
The calculations. Can you double check all the numbers please…
loan 4 – if you paid 1380 and had borrowed 750, then the redress should be £630
loan 5 – if you should have paid 760 and still owe 320, then you have paid £440 so far – correct? That is more than the £400 you borrowed so you should get redress of £40
loan 6 – if you should have paid 1800 and still owe 1060, then you have paid £740 so far- correct? You still have to pay 1000-740=£260 to this loan.
So the £630 + 40 redress on loans 4 & 5 will be used to clear the remaining £260 on loan 6 and on those number you should get a refund of £410.
Can you go back and ask again about the numbers.
helen says
i was and still am a single parent on benefits at the time of all these loans at one point i was paying 60 pound a week leaving myself struggling as i was only recieving 125 a week and they were taking 60 and what you have said above about all the calculations on how much i have paid is correct so i dont understand why they are only offering me 139 pound i phoned them and they just said it was there final response do now i dont know what to do
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you should send the case to the Financial Ombudsman and say
1) you don’t think the earlier loans were affordable and they should not have given you loans 2 & 3 either.
2) their calculations of the refund on loans 4-6 is wrong.
helen says
thank you i will
Margaret says
Hi Sara, I received a reply from Morses stating they could only go back to 2015 for my complaint. They have upheld 15 out of 16 loans from 2015-17 but the letter only shows the total interest not for each individual loan. Also 5 of these were with Lowell and I am still paying them. The letter does not mention Lowell only the total redress to me along with an acceptance form for final settlement and that they will remove accounts from my credit file. Would I be expected to pay off Lowell with redress? Also would it be worth going to FOS for loans from 2011-15 or would they not look at these? Thanks for your help.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What is the total interest on these 15 they are offering?
Do you know how much you have paid to lowell so far?
Have Morses said anything about removing negative marks from your credit record?
Do you know what the interest you paid on the loans before 2015 was?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you look at this recent comment about Morses/Lowells https://debtcamel.co.uk/refund-doorstep-loans/comment-page-36/#comment-416030 you will see that
a) they normally do clear the balances at Lowells and repair your credit record
b) they sometimes get the claulations wrong – that person was offered a lot less than she should have been…
But you can’t assume from this what will happen in your case if they haven’t said they are clearing the lowell balances… you need this in writing from them before you accept.
Margaret says
Hi Sara I am trying to work out some old morses accounts. and would appreciate your help.An example is interest £375. Would I add 8% of this from November 2011 until now which I calculate as £270? These loans all go back from 2011 until 2015. There are 23 loans in total. Would the FOS even consider them?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
An example is interest £375. Would I add 8% of this from November 2011 until now which I calculate as £270?
If the loan ended in Nov 11 that would be a reasonable approximation.
FOS does normally look at loans over 6 years old if you have only recently found oput you reason to complain.
But FOS would not be likely to include the first few loans, so if you are working out what you might get, then perhaps don’t include them?
Margaret says
Morses have said they would remove upheld accounts from my credit file. The total interest they have offered is£4583 which includes the 8% interest. I have paid 3794 to Lowell. Having looked at my old accounts I’m getting approximately £6000 interest paid on previous loans. Should I reject their offer any go to ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have they said that is what you will be paid in cash?
Have they said they will clear the Lowell balances?
Are their calculations right, taking account of what you have paid Lowell?
If Yes, Yes & Yes, then the only question is how much more you you could get from the older loans.
But if you arent clear what you are being offered or you don’t think the numbers are right, this needs to be sorted out now. As Morses have got these numbers wrong for another reader.
Margaret says
Yes, yes and yes to your questions. My problem is unsure whether to accept or go to FOS with older loans. Has anybody had any success with affordability complaints before 2015?
Margaret says
Hi Sara Morses have just contacted me to say they had made an error with my redress and the money owing to Lowell would be deducted from my redress amount. They said I only had 8 loans from them from 2013-14 and older loans were with shops check and they had no information on them. They don’t seem to know what they are doing so I am tempted to go to FOS
kirsty chapman says
I sent an email complaint to provident mid last year and they came back with a really poor offer of £500 which we said he wasn’t happy with and refused but because he’s got an outstanding loans they just took the refund of his balance, we got them to acknowledge that we refused to accept the redress, and we sent it to the Ombudsman this was 2nd November we received confirmation email that they’d received it but we’ve heard nothing since!!! Can someone give me the phone number or email if the man that people have used to get a response, I think his name was Neil?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
sorry but this is now too late, read https://debtcamel.co.uk/provident-satsuma-scheme/
Lisa says
Hey, mines in a similar situation went to the ombudsman august last year.
As provident are going into this new scheme, all it now saves us from doing is having to reapply to them for outstanding moneys!
Sadly I think we’re all now going to loose out, provident should have emailed you about the scheme.
I had one from them, chased up the fos and he agreed. We have to wait for the outcome of the scheme, which could be end of may.
I started my claim over a year ago ;-(
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, you will all lose out massively – Provident have used 10% as an illustration of what you might get back, but that looks way too optimistic and it may be under 2%
Lisa says
Sara, I have an outstanding debt with Lowell via provident. Do you recommend cancelling or continuing paying this?
At present it is on hold.
Lisa
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest leaving it on hold until your claim is decided in the Scheme (if that goes ahead) or in administration (if it doesn’t). every £50 you pay to this now, you may only get £1-£5 back in a refund.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
PS I will be moving this and any other comments about Provident to the Provident Scheme page soon.
David says
Hi morses agreed with my complaint for 5 out of 18 loans I rang to query why the 5 they agreed with and they said it was because they shouldn’t of gave me every other loan during that time period. I said I wasn’t happy but they asked for my bank details for the refund which I gave them. I sent it to FOS but i just noticed it said if I gave bank details it finalises the complaint. Is it worth sticking with FOS or will I get no where ? Has anyone has any similar experiences. Thanks in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
they shouldn’t of gave me every other loan during that time period.
That is an argument I haven’t heard before!
It doesn’t seem a very good one.
You can’t say “if we hadn’t given you loan 10, there would have been a gap so it would be Ok to give you loan 11… because they did give lian 10 and that meant your finances were in a bad position so loan 11 was also unaffordable.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think it is worth sticking with FOS, I hope these complaints will now be going through much faster as provident cases are no longer being dealt with.
If you want to do this, you need to immediately tell Morses that you have NOT accepted their offer as a final settlement, you have sent this to FOS and so you do not want them to pay you the amount they said. If they have already paid you, you need to offer to return the money.
David says
Yeah no problem will do, yeah that’s exactly what they said loan 7 9 11 13 were affordable even tho there was only a few weeks between each loan. Thanks for your help
Jane Davies says
Hi there im just wondering if its possible to put an unaffordable claim in for shopacheck . I know that they merged with morses as i am still paying morses 4 of the shopacheck loans that were taken with with shopacheck b4 they merged in 2015 …in total i had 18 loans with them over the years . Aa morses have taken over the loans that are still live i was wondering if i can make a claim
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes you can.
Jane Davies says
Would that be including the earlier ones taken with shopacheck or would that just be the 1s im still paying back ..thankyou for reply
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sometimes Morses don’t have the details of the earlier loans
Jane Davies says
Thankyou so much for your answer .i was sucessful with my claim for provident .sadly my partner has just missed out and will fall into the scheme if approved ..we both had shopacheck loans around 18 each so gonna try for them now .just wasnt sure if i could as they merged .the loans were taken out around 2009 onwards i followed all advice you gave regarding provident. Thanks for your help with everything
Margaret says
Hi Jane, I contacted Morses regarding loans before they merged with shopacheck and they said they probably won’t have loan details before 2013 but as I had 20 loans from 2011-2015 that they won’t look at because it is over 6 years I am complaining to FOS.
Jane Davies says
Yes they all try that old chestnut ..it was the same with provident ..i took that to fos and they went back as far as 2007 .. thanks for the reply im going to go for it
Jody says
I had several loans from Provident from 2005/06 onwards
The last one in 2013 I failed to pay due to massive debts.
I received data report which listed some of the loans and a comment saying account was sold to Lowell in 2014. Does this mean I won’t get any compensation for all the loans that were paid in full prior to the last loan which I failed to pay?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you still owe Lowell a balance?
Jody says
I think it was written off as I moved house in 2013 and left the last loan unpaid.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK, then in that case it is likely if you make a complaint to Provident in the Scheme they will calculate what your real refund would have been, then they will use this to settle the debt still owed to lowell (it is very unlikely to have been written off) and the rest of the refund you will get a tiny percentage of. Provident used 10% an an example – I think it could be massively less, possibly under 2%.
Linda says
Hi Sarah just wondering if anyone has had any trouble with getting their tax back from the hmrc from their loan settlement. I have sent the r40 forms in, 1st one filled in wrong, second one refused and that’s with them telling me how to fill it in, they are now sending me a form through the post so I can put a letter in, any help will be appreciated. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you read https://debtcamel.co.uk/ppi-payday-refund-get-back-tax/
Any idea what is wrong?
Margaret says
I submitted 3 online forms in January and although it says they have been processed I have heard nothing.
Stef says
I was knocked back by morses & put in a complaint to the fos today. Any idea how long I’ll have to wait from this point?
Does anyone have any success stories from fos after morses rejected a complaint? Do you get a lot back?
TIA for any info
Rangytangy says
I have been knocked back too on on 7 loans dating from 2013- 2016 ,there response on several pages stating that affordability checks were carried out and All other lending criteria was adhered to .
Not sure whether to take up with the onbudsman ,would be interesting to see how other people have been refused by Morses and the outcomes of there claims. Good look .
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you should think back to the borrowing. If you know that the repayments were high for you and meant you had to get another loan, then take the case to the Ombudsman.
Vickie says
Hi there,
I am helping my mum with a complaint for loans at home. She has finally after a very very long time had a response from them today. They have told her that they will not consider loans between 2004-2014 due to being to old and being time barred. I just wanted to check this is correct before we consider her offer as it’s a pretty poor offer.
Thank you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You won’t get a refund for loans before April 2007. But the Ombudsman will usually look at loans after that.
How bad was the offer?
Vickie says
Hi Sara,
Thank you for your response. Out of 22 loans between 2004-2019 they are saying only 5 were unaffordable between 2017-2019 but have also said they are not considering any loans before 2014 due to being to old. They have offered just over 3k. What do you think on it? I think it’s seems low and not right only going back to 2014?
If we decide to wait on FOS’s answer as it was already sent to FOS a while ago, will she lose the offer from loans at home and potentially end up with nothing?
Stef says
Hi,
When you say you won’t be refunded for anything pre April 2007, is that loans taken before April 2007? Or can they be loans from before then but carry on after?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Loans have to be taken after then.
But in your situation, a refund from 2007-14 should be very decent!
And the ombudsman will take into account that you had had previous loans as well. So although the Ombudsman normally doesn’t refund the first few loans, in this situation people have found all their loans after 2007 are refunded because of their borrowing history before then.
Vickie says
Hi Sara,
Sorry I just want to check something. In my mums letter for the settlement it states “this offer is made in full and final settlement of all complaints and/or complaints relating to the consumer credit agreements, the subject matter of your complaint. By agreeing to the offer you acknowledge that you are forgoing your right to complain to FOS or any other regulatory authority about the subject matter” but earlier on in the letter it states you can complain to FOS within 6 months. I just want to confirm if I accept this money but then continue my complaint with fos about the Time barred loans etc will fos still look into this for me or does that mean they no longer will be able to? I’m currently waiting an audjudicator at fos.
Thank you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you accept this offer your FOS case will be ended.
Annie says
Who do you write to to try claim from Shopacheck Financial Services.I borrowed good few loans from them over the years and positive last one went to Debt Collection as I was struggling
damiien says
hi just wndering if this has anything to do with NESARA/GESARA or the financial reset and the new quantum financial system ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
NO. Don’t believe the conspiracy theory stuff on the internet. Any future replies about this will not be published.
Alyson says
I have just had my final response off Morses…
They state how I am aware of claims being made against payday lenders and how they are different as their home lenders, they mention payday loans again and how they don’t issue them….. then they go on to say they do not roll over loans every loan being a new loan.
On this letter they only go back to 2015 yet the breakdown they sent me goes back to 2010 as they can’t go back further….
The best bit is the threat at the end of the letter which Ive never seen anyone mention on here and I haven’t had it from the other companies it reads (this is exactly how they wrote it too)
It is worth nothing that it would considered an offence to have obtained funds by deception. If after this response you are suggesting that the information you provided did not accurately reflect your circumstances at the time of the sale then I need to advise you that we reserve the right to pass details of your application on to CIFAS the fraud prevention agency (note that as a result, this information would be utilised by other financial providers for their consideration in future dealings with you)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you send this to the ombudsman, they will usually go back more than 6 years.
Several lenders threaten people with being reported for fraud – no-one here has ever had a problem if they send their case to the ombudsman.
annie says
What happens now that Provident are stopping there door step lending.Will we still have to pay outstanding loans were struggling with
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The outstanding loans don’t just disappear.
BUT you can make a claim to the Provident Scheme if it goes ahead, or to the administrators if it doesn’t, that the loan was unaffordable. Are these your first loans or have you been borrowing from them for a while? The more loans yiou have had, the better your chance of winning a complaint. Or if the loans are very large.
AND you can ask for a lower more affordable repayment. Tell your collector or (if you feel uncomfortable doing that) see https://www.providentpersonalcredit.com/existing-customers/loan-repayment-difficulties/ which explains you can phone Provident and ask for a lower amount or complete their online contact form https://www.providentpersonalcredit.com/contact-us/contact-form/. Provident are usually OK to deal with, not horrible like some lenders. Let me know if you have problems?
A lower repayment will harm your credit record BUT if you win an affordability complaint all negative marks are removed.
Vickie says
Hi Sara,
My mum has received a email today advising her case has been taken on by an audjudicator at fos for her loans at home complaint. She has then received a second email asking for this :
In relation to your complaint – can you please explain when you first became aware that the business may have done something wrong and what prompted you to realise this?.
I find this a very odd question and not to sure how to respond to it? Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is a normal question for FOS to ask when the loans are more than 6 years old. FOS rules say they can look at problems that have happened in the last 6 years OR where you only became aware during the last three years that there was a reason to complain. So the question is to establish that your mum hasn’t known about affordability complaints for 5 years say and (for some weird reason) done nothing during that time.
She should reply saying when and how she found out that a lender should have checked the loans were affordable for her. Perhaps you told her about this in December 2020 (or whenever)?
Vickie says
Hi Sara,
Thank you for your response. So if we say she found out in Dec 2020 or whenever it was. Will they only look at loans in the last 3 years none before then?
Thank you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, they will go back to April 2007. The “3 year” test just means she isn’t too late to bring a claim about something that happened more than 6 years ago.
Jo says
Can I just ask when did she send this for the FOS? Just asking so I know wait time.