UPDATE: The Morses Scheme has failed. See Morses – what is happening to loans and refunds
UPDATE: in March 2022, Loans At Home went into administration. There is no money to pay any refunds. Any remaining loans have been written off and you should not make any payments to them.
UPDATE: The Provident Scheme has now closed and it is too late to make any Provident complaints.
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, 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
Here is a template letter you can use. Change it so it tells what happened to you.
Template letter for doorstep loan refunds
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. 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 have all 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
- Cockle email enquiries@cocklefinance.co.uk with Affordability Complaint as the title
- 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
- Mutual email to complaints@mutual.uk.com.
- 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
- Valleys Finance admin@valleysfinance.ltd.uk with Affordability Complaint as the title
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?
Can you get an overdraft refund?
Paul d says
Hi Sara, it’s me again (paul dodd,) just dawned on me i took quite a few provi loans out when i was on the dole the last one they got debt agency i paid it in 2013, may put complaint in as the loan was for five hundred, paid remaining balance of other loan and received 300. Over the years I’ve always used provi and shopacheck. Not bothered about shop as way over 15 years since I used them. But how would I know about how many loans I had with them, think at least ten loans easily. May give them a ring….. Even if I get an apology its something
K M says
Hi Success again provident!
I have just completed an offer to have £1567 refunded from provident for interest on 3 loans. This amount will be used to clear off the balance I hold with them – finally there is light at the end of the tunnel! Thanks you for ALL your help.
Stacey Reddick says
Hi Guys , I’ve had numerous Provident loans.
I called provident following my first email regarding all my previous loans.
I followed this up with a phone call as i had received nothing. They stated their system suggested my first loan was Dec 2015 , I moved into my flat in 2011 this is when i started the viscous circle of the provident world!
What can i do? Anyone else had this?
Gareth says
credit report will give you more insight as any from 6 years ago should be on file and as you said you started in 2011 any you had should be on there as long as you get the report today so any after sept 2011 don’t drop off your file
Stacey says
Right , my credit report has said i had 14 loans from Provident from 2011 – 2017. Amounts to around £9000. Have i got a good start?
They also never accepted me the credit agency they use , the manager passed me anyway. Does this lie in my favour?
Thanks
Stacey
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That sounds like a lot of borrowing – good luck with the complaint and take it to the ombudsman if they don’t offer a good refund.
Wendy says
I sent my complaint to the fo 2 weeks ago I’m wondering how long does it usually take I’ve heard nothing yet not even to say they have received my complaint thanks
GMA says
I sent my complaint on the 25th July and got a response on the 22nd August with forms to filling from the FOS, nothing since, just a waiting game, good luck
Wendy says
I emailed yesterday just to see where upto and the adjudicator has emailed back saying provident sent reply on the 7th September so I should have a answer next week. Fingers crossed please as I could do with some luck lately x
Wendy says
Had my reply the fo are asking provident to pay out 8 loans out of 47 but I’m happy with anything xx
tony says
hi
I requested that provident looked at my loans with them and asked them for a refund of intrest due to irresponsible lending
however all these loans were over 6 years old and they replied that they would not consider it as it was time barred
do you think I would have a good chance if I sent the file off to the FOS
thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I wouldn’t say a good chance, but it’s worth a try?
tony says
file sent e mail from fos saying they were looking into it hopefull
CC says
I have sent my claim to the FOS and my adjudicator will not look at loans over 6 years old, even though I’ve stated I didn’t realise I could claim to until this year. I’m taking it to the next step for the Ombudsman to look at
gillian says
has anyone had any success with refunds from short term loans limited. i have had over 15 short term loans over the past few years all around 16 weeks with continued rollovers the next loan paying the arrears of a previous loan. i am really worried as in the past they have become aggressive when i have told them i am struggling to pay and the agent only becomes friendly when they rollover the loan to pay off the last one.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Gillian, do you have any more information on who this lender is? Is it online, through a branch or home credit, where someone comes and collected the payments?
gillian says
hi sarah. they are based in birmingham they are called short term finance and provide home credit loans. when the agent comes to the house they always sign up the loan for continuous card payment. when you fall in arrears and they are not able to get payment by card the agents starts coming every week until your balance reduces. does this help.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Gillian, first time anyone has mentioned them. I have added their details for complaints to the article above.
They sound unpleasant –
– make sure you put COMPLAINT in caps at the top of the online form
– make sure you cancel your CPA so you are financially safe
– keep things very short and professional. Ask for a reply to your complaint by email or letter. Say you do not want to be visited by an agent and that you will be sending the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman if you do not get offered a satisfactory refund within 8 weeks.
They shouldn’t harass you when you have put in a formal complaint – and it is unlikely that that will try. If they seem difficult, keep a record of all visits and telephone calls by writing down afterwards what was said and the date and who you spoke to. These will form part of your complaint to the Ombudsman.
Rick says
I’ve just submitted a form for provident.. working it out in the last 3 years they have had £2.400 in interest off me £3.3k if you include my current loan. I hope to God they get it sorted quickly I could do with just some of it back would be a real blessing if I got all £3k …. wish me luck I’ll keep you posted.
GMA says
Just had the final letter and they are not upholding my complaint. 3 pages long, key points;
They made reasonable attempts to obtain information about other debts
They cannot be held accountable if i didn’t declare the full extent of my additional commitments
I settled the last loan early with a lump sum so it contradicts my affordability complaint (2 loads were settled early)
Although late payments I never dropped below 68% in the 12 weeks prior to taking out a new loan
FOS?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You borrowed a lot over a long period. There were a couple of short gaps but I think it’s definitely worth sending to the FOS.
GMA says
Thank you, have sent of evidence and information to the FOS copying in Prov, will keep you updated.
GMA says
Just had a response from the FOC saying information received and they will respond in 4 weeks, very fast response from them, fingers crossed. Just one thing, they have not sent me a form to fill in like i have received from the other complaints forwarded, just stated they had enough information.
Becca says
I too have just approached short term finance, I had continuous loans for three years, sometimes paying off one and only receiving small amounts of cash back after paying off the balance. As I had three different loans at the time, none of this was checked for affordability. Silly of me but still I would’ve thought guidelines would’ve been followed.
Also I agree with the person that spoke of harassment, I went through a period where I informed them that my circumstances had changed and that my payments needed to be smaller for a short period, this led to many many phone calls from managers, customer care, and the agent still demanding more- it was quite shocking.
Today I’ve had two responses from them both asking me to contact them by phone, I have responded saying that I prefer to discuss via email or post so there is a paper trail. Any advice with dealing with this company would be appreciated.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
General advice in dealing with difficult companies:
– cancel the CPA with your bank
– keeping things in writing is a good idea
– you do not have to talk on the phone if you don’t want to. or to any agent they send round to your house.
– make it very clear that you have put in a COMPLAINT, what you want them to do (presumably to issue you a REFUND of interest? or WRITE OFF your current loans) and that you will be going to the Ombudsman 8 weeks after your original complaint if they don’t make you an acceptable offer. (The CAPS are there because it’s good to use these exact words with a lender who is difficult.)
– if you still owe them money, ask them to FREEZE INTEREST and NOT ADD ANY CHARGES until your complaint is resolved.
– read the article above in detail and think which points apply to your case
– also read the Citizens Advice report Debt on your doorstep which is linked to. you are looking for problems that may also have happened to you.
– also read https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/blog/payday-loans-what-to-expect-from-your-lender-if-you-re-struggling-to-repay which is about payday lenders, but see if any of the bad practices mentioned there happened to you when you told Short Term Finance you were in difficulty.
Becca says
Many thanks- will update once I get a response.
grace says
I had a letter from the FO in the post on Friday saying 4 out of 29 loans yes 29 loans were unaffordable and they are asking Provident to do no more – does this sound fair? Surely 29 loans shows a cycle of debt and more than 4 loans were unaffordable – any advice?
Wendy says
OMG that’s shocking how long was the loans taken out over. I’m not holding much hope for my 19 loans then. I should hear this week my adjudicator said x
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Grace’s is only an adjudicator decision at the moment, so it’s not final. And the 4 loan refund is £3,600 so it’s not too shabby!
grace says
I understand that Sara and in no way am I being ungrateful but 4 out of 29 something seems a miss or my thinking is if 4 were unaffordable would more not be :(
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well very probably! But not always – the 4 picked out could be a lot larger, or your income for those 4 could be a lot lower. Loan numbers alone don’t prove anything. NB I am not saying you should accept this offer – it does sound very low, but it needs to be disputed with your adjudicator by arguing in detail that you could not afford this loan, and this one, and this one etc
Wendy says
I’ve just had response from fo out of 47 loans they say 8 of mine were un affordable as I missed lots of payments on them n non on my others so I understand where mines coming from. I have still got 3 loans to pay off yet so there taking that and fingers crossed there’s something left for me. I wonder if they only take the amount of the loans without the interest now if so I should come away with around 2 thousand I hope xx
Wendy says
Just had email from my adjudicator provident have asked her for a extention so they have till next Tuesday before it goes further. She’s asking them to pay out on 8 loans out of 47 they must not want to. They need hurry up they have had long enough now. Think there just dragging it out xx
Michele says
I’ve received a statement listing all my loans & payments made from Provident but they’re saying they don’t have a copy of any information older than 6 years & that they’re legally not obliged to keep records after that time. The statement starts from 2011, shall I just go ahead and claim from that date or is there a way to make them get records from earlier loans I had?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You could send them a SAR, this takes up to a month and it’s free after May 25th, but if they don’t have any info it won’t find it…
They have had the data in other cases, but they have also produced it when asked, there hasn’t had to be a SAR.
Can you get the data from your bank statements? How long have you been borrowing from them?
In practice most Provident cases result in recent loans being refunded, not very old ones so you may decide to go ahead now.
Michele says
Thanks for your reply Sara. There’s no details at all on my bank statements as they were all cash payments. I’m pretty sure I had loans from them before 2011 but can’t remember the amounts unfortunately. Think I’ll just go ahead with the information they have given me, worth a try!
tony says
I sen them a SAR and got all my report back to 2006 worth a try £10 well spent
Rick Whitmore says
I’ve recieved an email back telling me they’re looking into it. Early days but will be happy if they settle all of them. 6 loans over 3 years I have already paid over £2.300 in interest with my current loan added as well goes up to 3.5k so here’s hoping….
drew says
Just a quick question, my mother in law has been using Provident for 30+ years, she usually gets 2/3 laons a year off then, constantly topping them up, she has always got a minimum of £300, do you think its worth her putting in a complaint, she hasn’t worked for last 8 years but she still gets loans every few month, they keep lending her.
Any advice??
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Good idea! She may only get a refund for the last few, but that could get her out of the borrowing and repaying trap that she is currently in.
You should also ask if she has other debts she needs help with – one of the reasons she may be borrowing from the Provi is if she has credit card or catalogue debt she can’t really afford – setting up a repayments arrangement with these and asking them to freeze interest may help.
drew says
Hi sara,
sorry I got this wrong, she hasn’t worked for last 18 years, I thought she said 8, but her last job was 1999
How far will provident look back at her loans?
thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Unlikely to be more than 6 years. But claim for the whole period she was borrowing.
paul says
hi sara, i took out a 500 gbp loan with provi, if the loan was oringinaly 2006-7 , but i cleared it via debt agency , in my case my mother in law footed the bill , £780 after a 500 pound loan , only one ive paid of in last 6 years (4 years ago) and it was in 2013 while my wife was pregnant with my first child (causing her undue stress) and nearly a marrage brakdown , bk in 2007 i was in debt had defaults on everthing i took out (ie computer on finance) yet they gave me 500 pound i also belive i cleared a loan of so the amount i recieved was less ie borrowing to pay what i owed , is it worth chasing , wouldnt bother me if they offered me 100 quid id take it .. as for wonga my 8 weeks is up mid next month 23rd i think .. is it worth chasing them. abviously ive had many loans over the years (since i was 18 ) i hope the ombusman changes the rules so i can claim since i was 18
im going to ring them up today and ask for statement of account. hope your well , btw i think debt camel is brilliant
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You have no chance of getting a refund for anything before April 2007.
It is unlikely you will get a refund from Provi for loans over 6 years but if you want to try , just put in a complaint about all your borrowing and send it to the Ombudsman, but keep your expectations low.
Re Wonga, just send the whole complaint to the Ombudsman if they refuse to look at the over 6 year loans. And settle back and wait as the case may well be very slow.
Claire says
Hi all,
I’m looking for advice. My mum has a mild learning disability & is now physically disabled, she had a minor stroke & has lung disease & uses oxygen for that condition.
She’s in sheltered housing and gets D.L.A. She may need nursing care in a nursing home in yrs to come but because of debt, won’t be able to afford top up fees of £200 per month!
She has been getting provident loans for over 20yrs but as she’s a vunerable adult i feel they are taking advantage of her by rolling on her loan & not collecting money’s some weeks! She owes them about 10k. She’s paying about £100 a week.
I am really worried about the situation as i only found out the extend of the debt a few months ago.
Advice would be appreciated.
Many Thanks
Claire
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It does sound as though they have been milking her … The fact they aren’t collecting the money at the moment though may be due to the fact that they have had a pretty chaotic administration change.
Does she have other debts as well? Is she renting?
Claire says
Hi
it’s rented. The sad thing is my mum has plenty of money in her account & she doesn’t realise that she has. I think because of her mobility issues she finds getting a loan to her home hander than going to the bank!
She may need nursing care in the future & they charge top up funds in N.Ireland, she won’t be able to afford to go into a nursing home now because of her loan!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This isn’t going to be a simple affordability complaint. If your mum has plenty of money in her account then she may well not win an affordability complaint because the loans were affordable.
You could make out a case that she is a vulnerable client because of her mental and physical problems and that her collector should have realised this. On that basis you could ask for a removal of interest from the current balance and then settle that.
Claire says
Hi Sara,
I know they have let her roll & roll on loans! Paying around £400 per month! I think they have taken advantage of her! If her health deteriates she’ll not be able to afford nursing care in a nursing home, with the debt.
Thanks for your advice, i will argue her case & try to get a settlement in place.
Thanks again
Claire
Mike says
So tempted to start a complaint against Morses/shopacheck…… I don’t remember a week gone by when I haven’t had to make a loan payment.(years)
The only thing is I have had the same agent for years…. and don’t know the knock on effect for her? But we are talking £1000’s each year for many years so think I could potentially get a nice refund. Any advice would be welcome as to where to start?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t know how morses employ their agents, but she has made a LOT of money from your loans over the years so I suggest you ignore whether making a complaint will affect her.
You won’t win just because you have kept on borrowing – you do have to show that the loans were “unaffordable” in that you couldn’t make the repayments without hardship or borrowing more elsewhere. If you have a current loan that you are struggling with, you should say this and say how much can really afford to repay.
Wendy says
How long did people wait to hear from the fo my adjudicator received my complaint end of August received all the paper work from provident 7th September emailed me saying should have result in a week then week later emailed and said they had everything they needed and would keep in touch heard nothing since xx
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you get back to the adjudicator and ask if there is anything else that you could provide…. a sort of tactful nudge…
Wendy says
Received a email today from fo she’s asked provident to pay our on all loans between 2013 and 2015 and then 2016 and 2017 so about 10 loans I think but I don’t know how much as I didn’t keep a copy of my loans will let u know the outcome xx
Suzyem says
Just sent off my complaint. Had a loan in 2009 that took me 3 years to pay back (supposed to be 48 weeks), finished it in 2012 and immediately they borrowed money to me again. I paid the next one in full each month because I was borrowing from payday loan lenders in 2012, so managed to keep up with the repayments. All of this borrowing would have been on my credit file, but also why borrow to me again when it took 3 years for the last one? I have had another 2 since then off them, the last one being in 2013 (never again!), i’m still paying it off!! £70 to go, four years later. Hoping for a success story
Ruby says
Hi Sara
Could you please advise on the following. Provident sold my loans to a third party and the adjudicator has made a decision that Provident should clear the interest on these charges. I still have an amount outstanding which I am paying through my DMP, removing the interest will clear the balance and would also mean that there are still refunds of interest and charges owed to me. The adjudicator is waiting for a response from Provident as to whether they agree with their findings. Should I continue making payments until confirmation from Provident is received, or should I request that this is put on hold pending the outcome?
Hope the above makes sense.
Thank you.
tony says
i would stop payments and inform the third party of the decision
Ruby says
Thank you Tony, I wasn’t sure what to do because the adjudicator hasn’t yet had a response back from Provident.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It may be simpler to carry on making the DMP payments… this will just mean that you get a larger refund back.
Ruby says
Thank you Sara, should I still notify the third party or should I leave this to Provident to notify them?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Definitely, notify the debt collector who has bought the debt that you are currently disputing the debt with provident.
Victorya says
Hi
I was just wondering if anyone could help me! I have put in a complaint with provident as I have had 14 loans over the last 6 years and they have all been roll over loans (where the pay the old loan off and give me the difference in cash).
I don’t know if I have any chance of a refund as I didn’t really miss any payments with them. That doesn’t mean that I didn’t really struggle it’s just that the agent said she would call into my place of work to collect my payments if I wasn’t home and I didn’t want my employer to find out. Also I had to go into a debt management plan 5 years ago. my provident agent said I was unable to include the provident loans in the plan and I stupidly believed her.
Do I have any chance of getting anything back?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Definitely make a complaint! And include those two remarks from your agent in it… Provident loans can of course be included in a DMP.
Is your DMP still going?
Victorya says
Thanks for your reply! Yes it’s still running. Also my last provident loan was paid off in a lump with a credit card from my mum as I just couldn’t carry on trying to pay them will this effect my claim??
I put the complaint in 8 weeks ago tomorrow and I haven’t heard anything back from provident yet.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s a pity you didn’t include it in your DMP as that way no interest would have been charged. This supports what you said that your agent told you the debt couldn’t be included in your DMP, which was a lie… this isn’t going to harm your complaint, it helps it.
Who is your DMP with?
Victorya says
It was with a company called Bournes debt solutions but they went into liquidation and I lost my money that I had in savings with them to make full and final payments. It’s now with step change
Linda says
Hi Sara/all – just wondering if you could give me some advice please. I have some complaints in the pipeline at the moment with the FO. The only one that hasn’t been escalated as yet is with Morses/Shopacheck. To be honest I can’t really fault their complaints process so far and they have been very communicative with me. I have sent them through some evidence already but they are asking for my credit file. I do have a copy of this but is it ok to send due to the confidential information on it? As I say they have been pretty good so far
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They can look at your credit file themselves if they want, they don’t need to ask you for this! It’s up to you if you want to send it, but you could just reply that you would like them to consider your complaint as it stands and you will be happy to supply any additional information to the ombudsman. How many weeks has this complaint been?
Linda says
Thanks Sarah, I thought they could but they have asked for a ‘historic one’ which I don’t think I can get hold of anyway.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No one can get hold of a historic one! They are just trying to make this seem difficult by asking for this.
Linda says
Thanks will give them another email to let them know. Just as I thought things were going well. Thanks for the info
Mike foster says
Hi Linda , do you have an email address for Morses ?
I am about to put in a complaint and it would be a lot easier if I could do it by email instead of putting it in a letter.
Thanks
Mike
Ps. How is/did your complaint turn out?
Chris says
Update on my case against loans at home. Adjudicator told them they had to pay out on 6 of 14 loans. (7 were over 6 years old) the other they felt was affordable.
Loans at home disagreed. So it went to FO for final decision. They came back to me today upholding the adjudicator decision.
Hopefully it won’t be long until a pay out norw
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well done!
Wendy says
Yipeeee well done. Provident have asked my adjudicator for another week they have till Wednesday. Hope you get pay out soon xx
Thomas says
Have so much from Provident to the point I have now defaulted on over £6000 across 6 separate loans they allowed me at the same time. I was regularly borrowing and clearing off the balance off one loan with a new higher loan.
It sounds silly but I had a good relationship with my collection agent – is he likely to get into problems surrounding any claim I may make?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Rationally it is silly, Your agent has milked you over the years, giving you loans you couldn’t afford and earning a lot of commission in the process. Your agent should have offered a longer term repayment plan when you were in difficulties, not yet another refinancing loan.
Emotionally it is understandable. But you have to choose between doing what is right for you or being nice to the agent. I don’t know if making a complaint gets the agent into trouble. Provident at the moment has huge problems with its agent networks. The agents used to be self employed, now they are having to switch to being employees and the lending decisions will be made centrally. Also their new system is a disaster, agents are turning up at the wrong times, or not at all. They are only collecting 65% of payments in time.
Thomas says
I have had probably over about £20k over the years from them. I’ve never done these things but with that amount do you reckon I would get a decent refund if in my favour?
I don’t want to get anyone into hassle just for me to get a couple of hundred back. I understand they done wrong by me but I feel like that’s the way they were trained and always acted.
Stacey Reddick says
OK so Provident have asked for another 14days to respond. I called them today as they have until next Tuesday to get back to me. To be told nobody has even looked at my complaint. He said its unlikly to be looked at anytime soon as they have over 10,000 complaints. I have 2 options wait for a response or take it to the FO. I think i should be owed about £4000 , what should i do ?
Wendy says
Arhhhhhh my adjudicator has emailed saying provident have come up with some more evidence so she has to take another look to see if her decision stands. I wonder what it could be. They do anything to not pay out.
Bridget says
The adjudicator ruled in my favour three weeks ago against Provident who have now asked the adjudicator for a copy of my credit file and bank statements I sent to the FO together with the income and expenditure form the adjudicator used. Obviously he sent my credit file as Provident can obtain this themselves but I refused to let them have the bank statements or income and expenditure (shame they didn’t ask for these before they lent me the money) so the adjudicator has told me it will now go to an Ombudsman. Another delaying tactic I think.
Does the Ombudsman usually agree with the adjudicator’s decision as I am worried he will rule in Provident’s favour?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry, why didn’t you let your bank statements go to Provident? It is reasonable for them to ask to see these if they don’t think the adjudicator’s decision is right. I suggest you should tell your adjudicator that you have changed your mind and are happy for them to be passed over.
Bridget says
Sara
Thank you for your quick response. Why do you think I should let them see all my personal financial spending as I’m sure they will come up with gambling transactions etc. I haven’t got a problem with doing it but it just seems they are trying to delay things.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Your adjudicator has seen the gambling and that wasn’t a problem, was it!
They aren’t trying to delay it, I know people think this often happens but these firms have a LOT of complaints at the moment. One reader said yesterday provident had told him they had 10,000 … I think this is probably an exaggeration, but provident’s debt collection is in a mess at the moment so it may be possible.
If you were the lender and you don’t think the adjudicator’s decision is right, you could just say No and let it go to the ombudsman or you may decide you want to look at the case in more detail yourself. It’s not an unreasonable request for them to make at this point.
Dave says
HI does anyone know if the ombudsman will dismiss a complaint that hasnt been forwarded to them within the six month time limit issued by a loan company in their final response. I had a final response in Feb but havent managed to get the complaint off due to other issues. Am I too late to get this looked at?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes unless you can argue that there were good reasons why you didn’t take the case to the Ombudsman within the 6 months.
Janet says
Has anyone had any decisions from the FOS recently with Provident ? All information was received by the FOS at the beginning of September I have heard nothing since. I sent an email asking for an update about 2 weeks ago but haven’t received a reply yet.
Wendy says
I sent mine in end of August got email September saying all info was received had email 3rd October she told provident pay out on 8 loans I agreed provident wanted more time had email Monday provident have supplied more evidents so she’s looking at it all again arghhh so fed up
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Provident are in a mess at the moment. Not because of these affordability complaints but because they have changed a lot of the agents they use for doorstep collections and large numbers of people are complaining that their agent hasn’t arrived, or came on day they had said they wouldn’t be in , or that two agents have arrived…
I know it’s frustrating but the adjudicator wants to listen to Provident’s side on your complaint.because doing this is actually the fastest (as well as the fairest) way to resolve a complaint. The alternative is to force all the Provident complaints into the Ombudsman queue if they don’t reply promptly and that won’t help anyone.
Wendy says
Oh I understand that I am just wondering what different evidence they have sent after her decision was made x
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well she could have said something they know is factually wrong. Or they think she may have overlooked something. Or this could be the first time anyone has looked at your case in detail. Or they may be sending the same sort of thing on many cases. Sometimes adjudicators change their mind, in which case you get another chance to comment on their revised decision. But very often the adjudicator says they have read the lender’s comment and their decision stands.
GMA says
I emailed in September 15th too and got a reply on 19th saying they were looking into my complaint and didn’t need any further information and would be in touch. Monday I got an email with their form attached saying they couldn’t do any more until I had signed and returned. A whole month after they told me they didn’t need any more information.
Wendy says
I’ve heard back today the adjudicator is upholding her decision to pay out on the 8 loans so just waiting now for provident to see if they finally agree
Sylvia Greatrex says
Hi,I am just wondering if I can claim back interest from Provident,Greenwood’s and Shopacheck,I lived off these doorstep loans all while my children were growing up,my problem is I have no letters or old payment books to prove this,I haven’t had any loans for around 2 yrs now but I know over a good 20 yr period I’ve paid a fortune to these companies I was a single unemployed mum but still got the loans no problem!
Any advice will be greatly appreciated
Thankyou
Sylvia
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, you can complain to all those companies. You will not be able to complain about loans before 2007, and you are actually unlikely to get refunds for loans over 6 years old. But it’s still worth doing even if you only get refunds for the last few years!
Griff says
Hi I’ve worked out with my wife since 2011 the interest paid to provident £12875
Can any one advice
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Put in a complaint! You don’t tend to get it all back in these claims because the Ombudsman will typically say the borrowing was ok for the fi st few year, but ask for it all and if you don’t get an offer you think is reasonable take it to the Ombudsman.
Lorraine Mcgrath says
I’ve had about 10 loans from provident I was a single mum and thought it was a great idea but I have just found both my repayment books and at one point I was paying 46 a week the first loan I had was in 2001is it to late to go for these ones also I’m now in a debt arrangement with them now will that matter. Who do I contact as I’m all new to the internet .
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can’t go back before 2007. And you are pretty unlikely to get any refunds for loans that are more than 6 years old. But you may as well put in a complaint about the lot. It doesn’t matter that you are in a debt arrangement with them.
The article about explains what to do. You start with the payday loan complaint template letter over here https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/, delete the bits where it says “payday loans” so it just says “loans”, and then think if there are any extra points to add – there is a list of things that sometimes happens with doorstep lending in the article above, so if any of those happened to you, add those to your complaint letter.
With provident, when you have a complaint letter, you have to use their online complaint system (link in the article above) and copy your complaint in. keep a copy for yourself!
Come back with any questions!
lorraine mcgrath says
hi i dont seem to beable to find the templates and after looking i have also seen you can tried with catalogues and credit cards do they need differents templates as i cant find them either.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The payday lending templates are in this post https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/
I suggest you start with the provident complaint. Then when that one is underway and you are feeling more confident, have a look at the catalogue and credit card complaints, which are harder to win. This article looks at those: https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/
Mike foster says
Does anyone have an email address for complaining to Morses , is there a reason why the other ‘door step’ lenders all supply them but not Morses ?
Linda says
I had to complain in writing to Morses as I couldn’t find an email address either. They got back to me and acknowledged my complaint really quickly after posting though literally a couple of days via email and phone call and once your complaint has been logged you get a point of contact
Mike says
Thanks Linda, I sent my request through the email they get you to fill in for general querys.
If you don’t mind me asking how did you get on with your complaint? Was it straight forward and resolved within the 8 weeks or did it have to escalate to FOS?
Are they like slippery eels or helpful?
Cheers mike
Linda says
Still waiting for a response the 8 weeks is up on 28th Nov so I’ve a while to go yet. I emailed the lady who picked up my complaint the other day and asked for my statement of Account that was 3 days ago and still nothing although it might be coming out in the post. They did ask at first for any evidence I wanted to be considered and a ‘historic’ credit report which you can’t get. When I pointed this out they were ok so don’t know if they were trying to stall a bit. Other than that they’ve replied to all my emails. I’m going to chase my account statement at the end of the week if I haven’t received it. I’ll keep you posted
Mike says
Hi again Linda,
As I said I sent my request for a statement of account through their general email portal , under ‘other’ categorie.
I did this on Tuesday 24th and not had an acknowledgement as of yet, as you said they got back to you in a couple of days not totally sure they have got my request.
You said they contacted you by email , could you possibly give me the email address they gave to you if you wouldn’t mind so I can chase them up.
Thanks mike
Linda says
Hi Mike you asked me for an email address for Morses this is the one I have MCL.Complaints@morsesclub.com just seen your second comment yes I received my statement of account and to be honest they sent it through quite quickly. Not by email though they posted it to me was only a few days though. Maybe email them and ask whats what as I say they have been helpful so far although I havent received a final response as yet
Mike says
Evening Linda,
Thank you very much for the email address, I have sent my request again (for the 3rd time).I have been looking at my ‘Noddle’ account and see roughly 39 loans over the last 6 years …totalling approximately £43k!!! Ouch !!
I have also checked ‘Clearscore’ and ‘Experian’ and although my closed and current loans show, I see no trace of any credit searches on any of them. Was this the same for yourself?
Anyhow thank you again and sure we will talk again soon.
Cheers Mike
Linda says
Hi Mike that’s a lot of money you paid fingers crossed for you. Mine was really easy in comparison to be honest as I only had one loan with them but the interest I paid worked out to be so high I thought I’d give it a go as I had many other payday loans at the same time some of which I’d defaulted on as I was struggling financially so my credit file wouldn’t have been good. I only checked clear score and noddle and like you found no sign of a search. Good luck with your complaint let me know how you get on and I’ll do the same. As I say they have until 28th November to reply so I’ve a while to go yet.
Janet says
Well 11 loans in 15 months over £5500 from Provident and the adjudicator states that Provident have done nothing wrong. They did all the checks they should have and I had 14 days to cancel if I wasn’t happy. Not sure if it’s worth taking it to an ombudsman.
Wendy says
Always worth trying nothing to lose
Wendy says
Heard back today my adjudicator has upheld her first decision and asked provident to pay out on the 8 loans provident have another week to agree. Just wondering I still owe provident and 1 of the loans she’s asked them to refund is the last loan so would they have to pay me the interest plus 8% then would they have to take the interest off my balance or would I just pay it all out my refund
Bev says
Hi Sarah
My parents have just told.me they had a number of loans from provident but mostly over 6 years ago is it worth a complaint. I know the man put some different details on the forms for wages etc plus lent to my mum saying she worked even though she was on benefits. If it is worth a try is there an example letter please?
Thanks
Wendy says
So provident had until yesterday to get back to the adjudicator to see if they agree this time but yet again they have asked for another week so they have till the 8th November. If they don’t agree does it then go to ombudsman as the adjudicator has looked twice and asked them both times to pay out.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, if Provident don’t agree, it gets put in the queue for the Ombudsman.
Wendy says
Thanks I’m sure that is what’s going to happen but they have said there case worker is off so have till next Wednesday to let adjudicator know. I’ll not expect anything soon then I think the ombudsman are very busy at the moment too. Didn’t realise it would take so long.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Provident are in all kinds of trouble at the moment. They are getting loads of complaints about the changes to their collections system – agents haven’t turned up, 2 have turned up or they have come on the wong days so no-one was in, so people are worried they are behind with their payments when it’s not their fault.
It’s worth waiting this out if Provident come back with a lower offer. than the adjudicator said. It take take a few months with the ombudsman level, but think how long it would take you to save up the extra money – a lot longer than a few months for most people!
Wendy says
Oh I agree if they come back with a decent amount I’m not greedy they have just refused so far or come back with more evidence. I’m not after thousands even though if they paid out it would amount to about just over 8 thousand. Anything is better than nothing I just didn’t realise it would take so long. X
veronica says
i took my complaint against provident to fo, they requested everything from me on 1st september which i emailed straight across, 9 weeks later and it is still waiting to be allocated to an adjudicator i have phoned and phoned and still nothing but i was told the other week that decision has to be made within 12 week of receiving information, dont know how they gonna do that when not even allocated to anyone.
Wendy says
Wow mine was sent in September and I got a adjudicator straight away I must have been lucky.
Aida says
How do you work out how much you’d be refunded?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The maximum you could get would be all the interest you have paid plus 8% interest per year on top.
But with doorstep lending it is typical to only get a refund on the more recent loans. When did you start borrowing from them? Do you still owe money? Any idea how many loans?
Aida says
I have approx 14 loans (from the paperwork I have). When I asked for statements, they sent me 3 statements, which I shows I still owe from 2012. However loans started from 2010. The remaining 9 I found from credit report I printed earlier this year (all settled). Comes up to £10k. Because I don’t have contract copies, I weren’t sure how much I should be expecting at least.
Aida says
Sorry, 11 loans from credit report. Would they purposely only sending the ones that still show there were balances?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It could be an error. I suggest going back to them and saying you had a lot more loans than that and you would like to see statements for all of them.
Mike says
I have reviewed my noddle credit report and worked out roughly had 39 loans over the past 6 years with Morses.
I have been struggling through the duration….on a week to week basis for 6 years.I have taken out other loans to clear Morses on a number of occasions but still taking out new loans within a few weeks. The interesting thing is although the open/closed accounts appear on noddle/clear score /Experian there is no trace of any searches for any of the loans.Also, they show different information about my other debts yet they have never turned me down.
My loans have totalled near on £43k including my current ones. I am awaiting a full statement of account but got to be talking around £15k in interest!!!
It’s just that there is a lot of stories about provident and hardly any about Morses, why is this ?
Cheers
Mike
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Because Provident are MASSIVELY larger than Morses! So there are many more people with complaints about them.
Mike says
Hi Sara ,
Following previous my previous posts I received this today.
Dear Mr Foster,
We have received your complaint and an acknowledgement letter was posted to you on the 2nd November, should have you not received the letter please let me know and I will get this regenerated for you.
Morses Club acquired Shopacheck Financial Services in March 2014 any accounts which were settled before this point are being investigated by Welcome Finance. Therefore we are only investigating accounts 23-50, we have passed your concerns to Welcome Finance, who will be in touch shortly regarding your previous accounts.
Your statements for the accounts Morses Club are responsible for were posted out to you yesterday and you should receive these shortly.
We will be in contact in due course regarding your concerns.
I am a little confused as I thought welcome finance has gone out of business?
Cheers mike
Mike says
Hello again ,
As they said in their email all loans(shopacheck) before march 2014 should be referred to welcome finance ….yet looking on my noddle account on ‘closed’ accounts it shows as far back as 02/04/12 under the title of Morses club limited ???
If they say they are not accountable for loans before they took over then strange it shows as Morses and not shopacheck??
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes they have :( This is probably not good news, but wait and see what Welcome Finance come back with.
Mike says
Hello Sara,
I wanted to keep you upto date with my complaint about Morses following their email saying that they will not address loans prior to taking over shopacheck.
They said they would pass my concerns over the welcome finance…..well today got a letter from welcome finance customer relations ??? Didn’t expect that?. Standard complaint response letter but with a ref.number and details of what the process is and a contact email/number to use.
How bizarre who thought they didn’t exist any longer ? So sent a request for a statement this afternoon. My be still a little hope yet???
deborah says
hi Sarah do you have a complaints email address for welcome finance? I too have old loans with shopacheck & thought I would’ve had to go through morses..thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Try info@wfs.co.uk With SHOPACHECK COMPLAINT in the title
Ross says
Hi, I put in a complaint to provident about irresponsible lending, today was the 8 week deadline for them getting back in touch which they never, I called them today and they said my complaint was still under investigation, they said this is because they have had high volumes of complaints but assured me they would contact me ASAP, do I go to the ombudsman now or wait for provident to get back to me ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The advantage of going to the Ombudsman now is that you get yourself into the queue. Also it shows Provident you are serious.
The disadvantage is that if Provident make a reasonable offer you wouldn’t need to bother.
You could decide to wait to the weekend?
Ross says
Thanks Sara, I think I will wait until the weekend and go to the ombudsman if they don’t get back to me by then
Wendy says
Well still no news from provident. On the 1st November they were given another week to reply as the case handler was off sick so on the 8th November still no new I emailed today and they have been given another week to reply….. Do they have a certain time scale to give them I read somewhere the adjudicator only has so long then somewhere else it says can take years. Hopefully hear end if this week I’m just so impatient
Rubes says
Hi Wendy
I understand how you feel, my complaint was sent in Feb this year. Provident disagreed with the adjudicators decision so it’s now in a queue waiting for the Ombudsman’s final decision. I guess I won’t have a response back until the New Year now. So frustrating but hopefully we will both receive a good result.
Wendy says
I hope so they disagreed with my adjudicator but she looked again and stuck to her decision I just wish they would decide so if it’s going to ombudsman I can get in the cue. Just feel like there dragging it out. X hope you hear soon I was quite lucky at beginning as my adjudicator made her decision quite quick but since then they have had 4 weeks to keep asking for more time xx
Chris says
Hello Sarah. Can I ask how the 8% should be worked out? I’ve had a response today with a breakdown of refund. They have added 8% to each interest charge. So for example. Interest on one loan from 4years ago was £160 so 8% is £12.86. Is that correct?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It should be 8% per year, so one 4 years ago would have 32% added and if the loan was 6 months ago it would have 4% added.
Who is the lender?
Chris says
Loans at Home
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK a small doorstep lender. They probably haven’t see a lot of complaints so far. Did you get this refund directly from them or via the Ombudsman?
Chris says
Yes, the disagreed so it went to the FO who told them to pay out on 6 loans. They contacted me direct with a break down of what was refunded and told me it would be paid Monday. I have forwarded the email to my adjudicator
Wendy says
Well finally I’ve got my refund… Provident have agreed to pay out on the 8 loans I’ve still got 3 loans outstanding the balance is 4800I’m getting 5665 so I’m getting 865 back and my loans are getting paid off. What I want to know is 2 of these loans were only took out in March and April this year so do I get a early settlement rebate as I’m paying them early thank you Sara for all your help
Mark says
Hi Wendy how long did it take from start to finish with provident I have just put a complaint in against them as had 5 loans with them over 10 months and I defaulted with them years ago so don’t believe they should ever have gave me the first one. Thanks Mark
Wendy says
It’s taken since June provident didn’t think they had done irresponsible lending so I took it to fo. Been with them since August and got my offer yesterday thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is this offer from Provident direct or through an adjudicator? It’s to refund 8 loans, 5 are paid off with an interest paid of 5665 – do you agree with that? And there is a balance remaining of 4885 on the other three, is that correct?
Wendy says
This is through the adjudicator the interest is off 7 of the loans I’ve got 3 outstanding 1 of them there taking the interest off as it’s 1 of the 8 she said so the balance on the 3 outstanding is 4800 there using my 5665 to pay my balance off and I get 865 back.
Wendy says
I only took 2 of these loans out this year so haven’t paid much off them yet. I took 1 out in February and 1 March
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I see. I haven’t come across this before but yes, I think the two outstanding loans that aren’t having the interest removed should probably have a discount for an early settlement. Can you ask your adjudicator about this?
PS nice result anyway!
GMA says
Mine has been with the adjudicator since 15/09/2017 some are older than 6 years, last response from FOS was 02/11/2017 stating that i was in a queue waiting to be assigned although on the 19th Oct I had an email from the FOS saying that Provident had been contacted and asked for further information, I thought if that was the case it was already assigned. Its just a waiting game, I have had over 7K in refunds from Payday loans and have 3 sitting with the FOS, Provident, Lending Stream and The Money Shop, scary looking back to see the mess I was in, I have no outstanding debts anymore and it feels good. Great site and hopefully these last 3 will be worth the wait, another 10K with a bit of luck, just sitting it out!
Date taken Paid Back Amount Charges ESR
11/05/09 13/07/09 £300.00 £165.00 £84.82
09/07/09 17/05/10 £500.00 £355.00 £19.28
24/12/09 08/11/10 £100.00 £75.00 £0.53
17/03/10 04/07/11 £550.00 £412.50
08/11/10 30/07/12 £400.00 £300.00
30/07/10 18/03/13 £300.00 £225.00 £27.63
15/10/12 05/08/13 £400.00 £328.00 £12.28
18/03/13 03/03/14 £400.00 £328.00 £0.05
05/08/13 05/03/15 £700.00 £574.00
03/03/14 28/07/15 £400.00 £328.00
10/09/15 16/10/15 £300.00 £180.00 £119.09
08/12/15 21/06/16 £500.00 £247.50
12/01/16 05/07/16 £300.00 £180.00 £6.95
05/07/16 09/06/17 £600.00 £492.00 £0.67
£5,750.00 £4,190.00
Wendy says
I’m quite lucky as my adjudicator was on the case within a week good luck
Janet says
I borrowed 11 times in 15 months totalling £5500 Provident totally refused to consider it so I went to the FOS where the Adjudicator ruled totally in Provident’s favour stating that they had done all the necessary checks and I had missed payments but they were mainly caught up at a later date (only by borrowing more from Provident and other sources) I have asked for an Ombudsman to look at it but not holding out much hope to be honest. I too have had refunds for my payday loans mostly direct from the lender but 2 upheld by the FOS. Good luck with yours :)
GMA says
Despite all the above and it being with the FOS, I just had a call from Provident asking if I needed any assistance over Christmas, shame it was a voicemail or I could have said ‘just a refund on interest!!’
grace says
I wish you luck as out of 29 loans they found 4 unaffordable!!!
Wendy says
Yes I got 8 out of 48 found irresponsible by adjudicator. Just waiting on payment from provident been 2 weeks today
Sarah says
Hi, I’m also sorry to jump on your thread but I would just like to know something. I had door step loans with a company which are not named but were bought by morses and I paid the final payments to morses. Do I still have a case? Or will they only look at any payments made to them when they took over?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Was this Shopacheck? If it was, then complain to Welcome Finance at info@wfs.co.uk and put SHOPACHECK COMPLAINT in the title. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/refund-doorstep-loans/comment-page-2/#comment-249014.
Mike says
Hi Sarah
I had 50+ loans from shopacheck/Morses when I complained to Morses they said they could only look at loans 23-50 as 1-22 were before they bought shopacheck. They referred them to Welcome Finance …..strangely when Welcome contacted me they said they needed to get details of loans 1-22 from Morses ????
Seems like Morses have all 1-50 loan details?? Rather strange I thought??
Good luck
Ann says
I sent off a complaint for mum to provident regarding loans from 2010 as I had her payment book with details in. They’ve had 8 weeks and I can now escalate to ombudsmen. They emailed to ask for another 14 days. Should I wait the 14 days or just go to ombudsman now?
I think she has a pretty good case. She defaulted 8 times in the 12 weeks before being issued the second loan in this time and loans got higher and higher til she was paying back £59.80 a week while on benefits of about £72 A week
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That does sound like a good case. her loans started in 2010, is she still borrowing?
Ann says
No. She got herself sorted out and paid the final biggest loan off at 20 a week taking 4 years to clear a loan that should have been 81 weeks.
I read online that someone had received 3 letters asking for yet another 14 days…so I just hit the button to escalate the case. Did it through resolver site so it was very easy
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Good move. You didn’t say when her last loan was – she may have a problem if all the loans were over 6 years ago.
Ann says
I thought I could only claim from 2011 and her book she had kept (as a reminder of how much a mess things were) onky goes back to 2010. So i just detailed those ones in my complaint. You can clearly see it totally spiralled in that time. First loan in the book has regular payments for an 800 loan. Then 4 weeks of lower and missed payments then a 1000 loan. 10 weeks later there was 2 loans for 1200 and 200 together which were used to settle the initial 800 loan but meant that she was paying 3 loans together every week amounting to 59.80 weekly payments and the whole time her only income was out of work benefits of around 70 pounds. Final 3 loans were issued 2011 and took her until June 2015 to clear
They make me sick. I was making her weekly payments for her while she was in hospital. She was there for 5 months and we didn’t think she would be coming back out to be honest. The agent tried to get me to increase her payments because ‘she doesn’t exactly need the money if she’s in hospital does she?’… and tgen she tried to talk me into taking out a loan too. She’s lucky I didn’t land her in the blooming hospital lol
She’s been a customer with provident for over 40 years. Finally got herself free from the cycle 2 years ago. Never going back.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is a horrible story. Do make sure it is in your complaint to provident and to the Ombudsman.
Ann says
She’s been a customer with provident for over 40 years. Finally got herself free from the cycle 2 years ago. Never going back
Ann says
Just had final response from provident (although all paperwork was posted to financial ombudsman last week after initial contact via email weeks ago)
Provident say it’s time barred as her last loan was issued July 2011 and my claim process started September 2017.
Are we likely to get anywhere with FOS?
I did state in letters to FOS that I only had proof of payments from one book which I photocopied for them and added notes to show missed payments/when new loans were issued etc and i stated that id like entire case history investigated. Just on the off chance lol
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t know. Let’s see what the FOS says.
Mandy says
Hi Sara iv had 22 loans with 3sr Taylor and 18 with provident/ greenwoods none of them have been upheld by the adjudicator . She has only gone on the information provided by the companies regarding what was on my income and expenditure form . She never asked for any bank statements credit report or anything from me .This don’t seem right
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is this a final decision from the adjudicator? Have you not sent in your bank statements and credit report?
Mandy says
Hi Sara, I have asked her to look at it again as it was not a final decision I asked if she wanted my bank statements and credit report but she more or less told me it wouldn’t make a difference to her decision because of what I put as my income and expenditure on the loan form .Also her title was investigator when I asked if she was actually an adjudicator she said that was an old name for investigator
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send her the bank statements and credit records immediately.
Also write a detailed note about your borrowing. Say that the number of times you borrowed should have alerted the lender to the fact that you were dependent on the loans. Point out that the OFT and FCA rules say that a lender shouldn’t just accept what is written on a loan application if they have reason to think it isn’t correct and that continued borrowing should have suggested this.
Also re-read the article above, especially the “Here are some points that often crop up with doorstep lending” and if any of them happened to you, go into details about them.
Get this in asap, if you can’t do it today, send her an email saying you will be supplying some more information for her to consider tomorrow.
Adjudicator / investigator / case handler it doesn’t really matter what job titles are.
Mandy says
Ok I will do that Thank you for your help ?
Mandy says
Just a quick question Sara, if your complaint is not upheld by the adjudicator and you ask for it to be referred to the ombudsman, can the adjudicator tell the company their decision or do they have to wait for the final ruling from the ombudman. Thanks
Jane says
Hi I had some loans with provident, mores, and loans at home provident sometimes stop me in the street and they have not come mores I payed 3 times and thenot never came to me and loans at home I did a finances assessment with them and pay £10 every 2 weeks what can I do for a refund I am paying a arm and a leg for these
Chris says
Hello
Just wanted to say thank you to Sara
On Monday I had a pay out of £3,200 from loans at home.
It’s a long process, but well worth it!
Linda says
Hi everyone just thought I’d let you know my experience with Morses. I put a complaint in and bang on the 8 week deadline I received a letter through the post upholding my complaint with a cheque for interest/charges, 8% simple interest and removal from credit file. I can only speak personally but communication throughout was extremely good.
mike says
Great news Linda , I’m still waiting as it’s only 4 weeks this coming Thursday .
They seem to be moving through the process professionally so far , what sort of info did they want from you?
I asked for a full refund ….. they said in this sort of complaint if I could provide. Credit file, bank statements, bills, DM details…..I asked them to treat it on the merits of my initial letter.
Any tips/hints/advice would be grateful
Cheers mike
Ps well done ‘n
Linda says
Hi Mike I did exactly the same as you as they requested the same information credit file, bank statements etc I said they would be made available to them if referred to FO. They were fine. The only other thing I did do as they asked if I wanted to send any of my own evidence to be considered was to send them a list of my other payday loans and debts/defaults I had at the time of taking out the loan and also an income/expenditure form (it was approximate as we’re going back a few years) and I felt it helped evidence not only affordability but the list of other debts/defaults helped show dependency with other loans and that I was struggling financially. Good luck
mike says
Well I wasn’t so lucky Linda , it was 4 weeks today and received their final response and it was not good.
Rejected on all accounts they claimed their affordability checks were thoroughly worked through. They claimed income and expenditure was taken as said with evidence…well that’s not true at all.
They claimed the agent visited/collected every week and gave me ample opportunity to let her know any problems I had ….well not true I only communicate through text and rarely see/speak with her.
They claim that I cleared loans off with gambling winnings ( yes I do gamble ) but generally by taking out additional loans from other companies but agent said I could not pay credit with credit.
Her manager even laughed it off ‘ had he got a cert this weekend ‘ when I asked/accepted new loans .
Generally they claimed I knew the terms and conditions and should have read each time I got more money , the agent always filled in forms and I just signed and took the cash . Never asked for ‘ evidence ‘ just kept offering more and more.
I hope they have done themselves no favours by admitting I gambled and got in arrears , poor credit rating £1000’s of other debt along with arrangements with 2/3 debt collectors…surely they have not behaved in a responsible manor……have they???
Well fired off a complaint to FOS this evening, hopefully they will see it for what it is?
Linda says
Sorry to hear that Mike they maybe upheld mine because the refund was for a relatively small amount. I’m inclined to agree they didn’t behave responsibly and it’s definitely worth escalating to the FO. Put everything in your complaint as much evidence as you can and good luck to you. Let us know how you get on.
Stacey Reddick says
Good Morning Guys ,
My first complaint was sent to Provident back in Aug. After 56 days no response .. i am now on the 4th 14 day automated email. Anyone else having similar issues?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send it to the Ombudsman now. Provident are very disorganised.
Ann says
I sent to ombudsman when I got the first 14 day request at the end of the initial 8 weeks. Ombudsman has replied to say they hope to get back to me within 4 weeks now
Many says
Hi Stacey , I had the same thing I submitted my complaint to Provident on the 8th August with no replys except keeping asking for more time then out of the blue on Monday last week (20/11) I received a letter from them with a cheque enclosed . Totally surprised as had not received any correspondence from them whatsoever. Hope it works out for you.
Regards
Mandy
drew says
I put my complaint in 20 Aug, had 2 of the automated ” we hope to have our query resolved in the next 14 days ” emails, and spoke to them yesterday, my complaint still hasn’t been picked up. Hope it gets sorted before xmas
Sara (Debt Camel) says
don’t cross your fingers, not many of these complaints are resolved by the lender, send it to the Finanical Ombudsman!
Karen says
Hello
I have provident loans owing over 2,000 I pay £78 every two weeks the first loan was for £100 I payed the first one off the 2nd was for £400 I payed that off with the 3rd loan the 3nd was for £900 and the 4th was for £600 all with interest am struggling now no pay
Could I put in for a refund and what do i do to put in for a refund and do i still pay them
Thank You
mike says
Question : if a lender is aware you gamble and repeatedly borrow and borrow without question.
Is the lender acting responsibly?
If the lender says that income / expenditure is correct and have evidence to confirm this , but you know that is not true.
Is the lender acting not only responsibly but honestly ?
Just a sample of what Morses said as to not uphold a complaint!!!!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
All things to put in your complaint to the Ombudsman.
mike says
I put in my complaint earlier this evening but with a brief overviews of my complaint, will I be able to add these questions at a later date?
Also given that most lenders are aware of being allowed 8 weeks to send their final response, is it unusual they did this after only 4 weeks??
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, you can add anything you want. Let your adjudicator know when one is assigned.
Any sensible lender will deal with complaints as soon as possible. I know it’s natural to think lenders will take the maximum time possible, but it makes their lives easier to just get complaints resolved.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Also don’t phrase these as questions, just explain the facts of the lending, the adjudicator can draw their own conclusions. So point out that the lender was aware that you had a gambling habit and supply the evidence for that). Also point out that lender should have known the income & expenditure wasn’t true because …
mike says
Also in your experience , I know I am obviously biased but I would not say a lender is responsible knowing what they do and still lend.
Would you agree? One thing they stated was you cleared a loan on October 23 ( with gambling winnings )and did not take out another loan until November 6 ……2weeks??
Rubes says
Hi All
Well the saga continues, after thinking that I was waiting in the queue for an Ombudsman’s decision, I have received a further decision from an adjudicator changing their decision yet again. She has now considered further information and feels 3 out of 11 loans was not affordable not 6. This is the 3rd decision she has made and to be honest she has made mistake after mistake and constant delays. Unhappy is an understatement.
Anyway have a lovely weekend all.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh dear, you are having an epic. Go back in writing and explain why you think 8 (or however many) loans were unaffordable. Argues each one carefully, using numbers from your bank statements where that will help. Try to distinguish if she has made factual errors or just drawn a poor conclusion.
Rubes says
Thank you Sara I will do. I have really lost all confidence in the FOS to be honest, I know they are under a lot of pressure and have an enormous workload but needless to say the service should still provide the level of fairness to each customer raising a complaint. I realise that yes they do have to make decisions which we are all not going to agree with but at the end of the day I should not be made to feel that I am being a nuisance by questioning that decision. Well enough of the ranting, let me get to work on the points you have suggested.
Amy says
Fos have come back to me last week saying that I’m owed £882 from provident and they will be in touch and they have 4 weeks to contact me? Is this what normally happens or will they send me a cheque, I sent in the complaint 25th may 2017
Wendy says
I got told 2 weeks ago by fo I was getting 865 back and to wait upto 8weeks for cheque
Wendy says
Just a question for people who have had a regin from provident once you accepted there offer if it went to fo how long did it take for you to receive a cheque please I accepted just over 2 weeks ago and heard nothing from provident
Maxine gill says
Just got a letter from provident there still looking into the claim should hear within 28 days
drew says
provident took 15 weeks to give me final response, my mother in law is up to week 13 and still no final response for her.
Vikki says
I had provident loan fell behind few times while shopping once the collector stopped me outside shop and asked me how i could be shopping when i owed money all paid now though
Sara (Debt Camel) says
People can feel very pressured by doorstep lending :(