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?
Gareth says
Hi Sara, please can you have a look at these loans my mum had from prov over the years theres quite a few and all are refinanced from what I can see i was hoping for some insight before I help her put the complaint in.
OK so loans were:
1) 19/6/2009 £570 end 8/8/2011 4 pwk
2) 29/1/2010 £100 ( 50 interest) end 23/7/2010 5 pwk
3) 23/7/2010 £525 ( 225 int) end 5/8/2011 10.50 pwk
4) 22/11/2010 £262 (112 int) end 23/9/2011 5.25 pwk
5) 5/8/2011 £700 (300 Int) end 10/2/2012 14 pwk
6) 23/9/2011 £525 (225 int) end 27/4/2012 10.50 pwk
7) 10/2/2011 £1050 (450 int) end 7/9/2012 21 pwk
8) 27/4/2012 £720 (320 int) end 7/12/2012 12 pwk
9) 7/9/2012 £1944 (944 int) end 18/10/2013 24 pwk
10) 7/12/2012 £945 (445 int) end 30/8/ 2013 15 pwk
11) 11/3/2013 £182 (82 int) end 18/10/2013 3.50 pwk
12) 30/8/2013 £ 1134 ( 534 int) end 25/4/2014 18 pwk
13) 18/10/2013 £3024 (1524 int) 120 owing 36 pwk
14) 17/1/2014 £364 (164 int) closed i think 7pwk
15) 25/4/14. £1512 (712 int) 172 owing 24 pwk.
All of them are repeat loans since 2009, my case with FO wasn’t nowhere half a strong as this above and that was eventually upheld my mum only worked part time too so was only earning half as much as me. Worked the interest out at around the 6k mark but not sure how the 8% would work here as they are all refinanced into the next one. Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You know how these cases work and that looks like a good one. Just send it off, the exact wording really isn’t that important.
Gareth says
Thanks Sara its what I thought and last 4 loans worked at around almost 300 a month in repayments …holy moly.
Louise says
Hi Guys,
I winder if someone can give me some advice please. I sent my complaint to provident in January & after 8 weeks onto FOS. I emailed provident this week to ask for an update & this evening have received an email from Neil Iverson. He has asked if he can call me to see if we can come to a settlement. The interest I have paid amounts to almost twenty grand. My question is how much should I look to accept. I don’t know how to calculate the interest but wondered if someone can give me a rough idea as to what is a fair amount. Thanks
Louise
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Louise, over what years was your borrowing?
Louise says
Hi Sara
From 2007 until 2016. The las loan was paid off 2019. There are no gaps in my borrowing.
Thanks for the reply
Louise
Sara (Debt Camel) says
With prolonged borrowing and no gaps you should expect that FOS would say that a large proportion of the interest should be refunded. Whether that would be 90% or 80% I can’t guess. But I would be surprised if it was less than 2/3… You will also have 8% interest added onto the refund, which over a long period can also add up. I would expect this to mean that the total of a FOS refund would be a bit more than the interest you paid.
Provident are supposed to be settling complaint in line with what FOS would offer. If you aren’t sure you are being offered enough, ask how much of the amount is a refund and how much is added 8% interest and come back here – say you would like to think about it. You should not be offered a “take this now or the offer is withdrawn” type ultimatum – people haven’t had this sort of problem.
Louise says
Thank you Sara. Neil Iveson is calling me next week. It’s a bit daunting when you have no idea what offer is fair. I will certainly ask the questions you have mentioned
Julia says
Hi could I please ask who is Neil Iveson is please? I have been getting fobbed off by provident they just keep saying that they can’t find any of my accounts so I have just told them that I am going to get in touch with FO and that I am also going to get a copy of my credit reports
Julie clarke says
I have today received an offer of settlement following an adjudicator decision from FOS . The adjudicator said they should refund interest and fees on all loans from five onwards, except in respect of loans 20-25 as these had already been refunded.. However morses have only partly agreed with the decision and have left out a gap of about 10 loans in the middle ? I don’t know why. They have not agreed with all of the assessment they have agreed in part and made an offer to refund the interest and fees on loans 7 to 15 and loans 26 to 30.. So there is a gap of 5-7 , 15-26. Is it worth waiting and sending to ombudsman for full refund .? Just seems a bit weird some loans refunded and some not when they were in the middle of the lending cycle . Anyone else had this ? What did u do ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did they give any reasons for saying those loans in the middle were affordable?
If they haven’t, you could go back to Morses and ask why, saying they have failed to explain why these loans were affordable and point out that DISP 1.4.1 says (the DISP rules say how a firm should handle complaints) that a lender should “explain to the complainant promptly and, in a way that is fair, clear and not misleading, its assessment of the complaint, its decision on it, and any offer of remedial action or redress”.
Louise Bates says
Hi all,
Yesterday I spoke with Neil Iveson. I found him to be very open & helpful. He made an offer to refund the interest plus the statutory interest on the majority of my loans and also to remove any negative information on my credit file regarding these.
He told me to take some time & think it over & then to let him now what I had decided.
As his offer was very near to what I thought I have today accepted the offer.
I would like to say thank you to Sara for this page as I would have had no idea what to do without it.
To everyone else keep going. I have been lucky in that my claim has only taken 17 weeks from being to end.
I wish you all the very best & hope you get good outcomes soon
Graham says
I first reported my complaint to provident jan 2019, then escalated to the fos wHi hon took a year for them to adjudicate in my favour I mast add, refunds of interest from loan 4 to 13 , provident took over 6 weeks to respond and have accepted the claim, it’s now been 3 weeks but still nothing from provident, just don’t know what to do, any advice Sara please.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Give it another week then tell your adjudicator. I think are settling hundreds of cases at the moment.
tracey says
i have had privident and morses over a 15 year period how do i apply for refund
Sara (Debt Camel) says
read the article above these comments. If you have borrowed for a long while with few or no gaps when you didn’t have a loan from that lender, it is probably a very strong complaint.
Rebecca Miller says
Hi I had loans with morses club from 2007 to 2014
I was a single mum at the time claiming benefits. I had many loans with them, the loan collector only ever checked my income once and would often give me another loan to pay back the last. I was stuck in a continuous loop of debt. I always paid on time but really did struggle financially. Do you thi k it would be worth complain?
Thanks
Becky
Shirley says
Hiya I was in a similar position. I had lots of loans from them and also a single parent. I contacted them and got back 1600 pound. They didn’t give me refunds on loans over six years but could have got to FOS but didn’t. It took them 10 weeks to complain and actually get the money out in the bank. Do it today
Rebecca says
OK, thank you Shirley. I will do it today and let you know how I get on.
Thanks
Becky
Val says
Hello I received an email on the 24th of april to say provident would be paying out after a ruling from the ombudsman, I know a few people had the same email ,has anybody had any more info or cheques yet? They have till the 22nd may to pay out
Graham says
Me too, exactly the same email, nothing yet, what worries me is that they may go into liquidation and we will get nothing.
Val says
Oh god dont say that I’ve been waiting over 2 years lol . Heres hoping we hear soon
I’ve contacted him to but no reply at all very frustrated. Every day I think maybe today
Liz says
Yep same for me. I’ve contacted Neil iveson at provident but had no reply. Getting frustrated now as near to the end and like others do not provident to go into administration.
kat says
me too .. thought I was the only one. When I got the email I thought there was finally alight at the end of the tunnel. No response to email to provident which I sent 25th.
The light is fading
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The light isn’t really fading. Provident are paying out on several hundred claims. That takes time to organise.
Mark says
I’m waiting too since the 27th April however it does say within 28 days so keep the faith! Also I personally think they’re going the other way and profiteering from the current climate with more people after money / loans, maybe I’m wrong.
Julia says
Hi I have asked a couple of times who is Neil Iverson can someone please tell me? I am getting no where with provident customer service I just keep receiving the same email from them?
TT says
He has supposed to of helped a few people with their claims that have had adjudicators decisions agreeing with the clamaint through FOS so you could try emailing him and ask for his help in finding your accounts or someone who can help you his email address is Neil.Iverson@provident.co.uk that’s what I’ve seen other people put on there posts in this forum no harm in trying him x
Julia says
Thank you 😊
AJ says
Hi TT, Is it Iverson or Iveson for Neil’s surname? Only asking as I’ve sent an email but no response as yet. I may have spelt it wrong!!
Michelle Wilson says
Neil.Iveson@provident.co.uk
TT says
Sorry I spelt it wrong Neil.Iveson@provident.co.uk by the looks of other comments on here he does take a while to get back to you
Joanne says
My partner and I had same email from ombudsman regarding our claims on 24 April, both contacted Neil. My partner received and email from him (I didn’t) to say they have 4 weeks to settle the claim so assume they will use all the time allowed before paying out. Like all of you just want it resolved now as both been 2 years or so.
Lauren says
Got the exact same response from Neil, saying they have 2 more weeks to sort it out. Heres hoping the 22nd may comes around quickly and they honour the 28 days.
Kee says
Hi just wondering when the fos ask for bank statements three months before loans take and one month after is that for each loan or all of them?
And also they want a copy of credit report how do I go about getting that?
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you have borrowed for a long period – many years – I would just send your bank statements for the first couple of years and say you can supply others if necessary. with long periods of repeat lending FOS often doesn’t check each individual loan after a certain point unless there is some reason your situation has changed a lot.
I suggest you get and download a copy of your current TransUnion statutory credit report, get it here: https://www.transunionstatreport.co.uk/CreditReport/AboutYou.
Kaz says
I emailed Neil @ Provident on 8/4/20 and haven’t even had an acknowledgement if receipt. Should I wait or email him again?
Suzi says
I was 6th may nothing since, in the same boat a a few I think, the waiting game!
Siobhan says
I’m about to lose it with Provident. They have contacted FOS and are agreeing in line with the adjudicator, that’s great. Currently waiting for Provident to contact me with an offer (three weeks in) I’ve had an email today from provident saying my complaint is with FOS for them to make a decision. The decision has been made! They have agreed. I’ve contacted provident, spoken to four different people, all who cut me off as soon as I gave them my details. How long have people currently been waiting for an offer? How can’t their systems show up to date information or are just they fobbing off people ?
Amanda Eilertsen says
That’s what I think there fobbing people off .im just gonna leave it now .if it takes years then so be it …not contacting any of them anymore
Graham says
If you had an email from the fos telling you that provident have agreed with their decision You could try forwarding to them, that may help, if not wait for the full 28 days and contact the fos adjudicator to sort out. Only a suggestion. By the way I’m in exactly the same position.
Suzi says
Beginning to worry about the whole provident situation. Doesn’t seem to be many good news stories at moment, was feeling better when I got a email from fos saying they were going to pay inline with decision, I know I’m only two weeks in. I have emailed neil twice, not reply. Just get the feeling that I’m going to get to the 4 week deadline and have to start chasing them, I know it’s another month of interest. But like many of you I just want this 2year fight to be finished 😞😞😞
Nicole says
Hi suzi
Can I ask what do you mean another month of interest? All my loans were payed in 2013 do we get insterest from then till now?
How much is the insterest?
I’m in the same boat as everyone else, provident agreed with fos with loans 4-20.
Currently in day 16 of the 28 day frame!
I’ve phoned up 3 times being a pest and all I get is it’s not on the system!
But today lady was very helpful and said she will flag it up.
Suzi says
You get 8% interest on the interest that you paid on each loan from the date you took the loan out, until they sort it out, as long as that’s what the FOS say which I believe is the case most times. I’m on day 15, email neil twice since then but nothing back. See last comment gives a better idea of how they are processing within the 28 days. Hope this helps
Ross says
I had confirmation from FOS around the same day as you are all mentioning at the end of last month. Received letter for Provi last week and got my cheque today and its banked already.
I called Provi 2 weeks ago and they said it was with FOS still, but explained to them and it was dealt with in no time at all.
It’ll come through soon hopefully…
Nicole says
That’s brilliant news Ross
Can I ask what the letter was the week before? And was it the amount you thought?
Liz says
Hi guys
Just got this email from provident saying that our claims should be sorted soon. So let’s hope that this rings true and our long wait will be finally over.
Hi
Everything should be sorted by the end of the 28 day period specified (I believe this would take us to the end of next week). For the sake of simplicity we will be doing everything at once. This means a member of the team will complete the calculations, send you a breakdown, complete any other required action and organise a cheque being sent all at the same time. Due to remote working the breakdown and any cheque will be issued to you separately, but at fairly similar times.
You are one of a group of customers in this situation, so the team are working through these as quickly as possible. It may well be that it’s dealt with before then, but someone should certainly have completed your case by the end of next week.
Kind regards
Neil Iveson
Joanne says
My email just received after I chased Neil – my husband just got a similar one too.
We will make sure we have completed all the actions we agreed to by the specified date. I appreciate you will want to make sure you agree with the amount and you may wish to speak to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) again. However, the 28 day deadline is for us to complete the actions we have agreed to rather than a date by which you have to do anything. I have no reason to expect there will be any problems with the calculations, but in the unlikely event there was a mistake we would put it right irrespective of when we were made aware. Similarly, FOS will not decline to deal with you if you happen to go back to them slightly outside this window. Your desire to receive a breakdown and any funds due is completely understandable. However, the deadline provided is for us and you are not under any pressure to do anything by this date.
I hope this clarifies matters and provides you with some peace of mind.
Joanne says
My husband got his letter today with the breakdown so hopefully we will all hear now
Nicole says
That’s great news
Mine was same sort of time so hopefully anyday now, can ask I was the breakdown the amount you thought? And was the interest from the date you payed the loan till now? Sorry for all questions
Joanne says
I’m still waiting for my letter too. He worked it out within a few hundred pounds so sounds like they are being fair. Will let you know how long the cheque takes to come too and you all hear soon as well
Joanne says
Husband got his cheque on Friday after getting the breakdown on Wednesday but I’ve not heard anything apart from email from Neil so should be this week!
kat says
So pleased for the people who had heard back and got their cheques.. must be a weight of your shoulders.
i’m still waiting. 22/5 will be my 28th day.
Sasha Docherty says
How long did you have to wait for your cheque after your final decision.
Mines coming up to 28days and still not heard anything. X
Suzi says
Just had an email from Neil Iveson tonight, saying that my cheque should be issued near the end of next week and gave me a number to phone later next week to give me an update, ie; if had already been posted. Said post was a bit erratic at moment. So this is just about the 28 day mark for my dates. 27th April
Good thing I can’t get out to spend it before it comes, hoping my figure I’ve worked out is in the ball park area that I get, will keep you up to date as things happen🤞🏻🤞🏻
Nicole says
Postman just been and still no later… these 2 and half years is dragging now! Don’t know weather to ring again ha
I’ve already emailed Neil last night
JP says
Hi Nicole,
Provident usually do their cheque run on a Thursday so if you are waiting on a cheque then it is likely to be received on a Monday if your cheque was posted today.
I suspect given the back log, you’ll probably get your cheque on 26th.
I am still waiting for my initial response (7th week) and have emailed Neil, Tom and Joseph. Hoping I will get this next week but wouldn’t put my 2 pence on it.
Regards,
JP
Val says
Hi nicole,post just been here too and no letter, I’ve been waiting the same time as you but neil has said a cheque will arrive next week ,heres hoping
Kaz says
Had an email from Provident saying my complaint couldn’t be resolved and I can if I want to refer it to the ombudsman with 6 months. I’m taking it this is a generic response. So I will be referring it to the ombudsman but just want some advice as to how I go about this. Do I send an email or write a letter and i there a standard letter I can use?
Nicole says
Hi jp and val I’m waiting for the breakdown so the calculation first… val have you had the breakdown down yet and agreed?
Hopefully not that much longer
Val says
Hi nicole I’ve had nothing at all yet
Kim Dyer says
Has anyone had success in claiming for loans of a deceased spouse?
victoria says
Hi,
I had my notification from FOS on 26/4/20. Provident had not been in touch so I rang them this Monday 11/5/20. They were not very helpful, defaulting to the standard 28 day response. I was told that a manager would be working the case and a lot of them are working from home. I asked if my case was being worked, they couldn’t tell me, asked to speak to a manager. I was told ‘not possible’.
I asked for an approximation of the refund, wouldn’t enlighten me; just kept repeating that they have until 25/5/20.
I did loose my cool a little, and retorted with that they have not acted within ANY of the deadlines previously set and in some instances had not even replied.. so asked them to forgive my cynicism but I had my doubts based on past performances in the last two years.
I have sent an email to Neil Iveson – will await a reply.
Thanks
Vicki
Julie Clarke says
Hi anyone know how long ombudsman are taking to reconsider a decision at the moment . I have had an offer from morses , following adjudicators decision, but only for 15 out of 20 loans . The reason is a gap in chain of lending of 4 months in between. I am wondering if It is worth it to wait or take offer in current circumstances .
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what was the adjudicator’s decision? how much interest was paid on the loans the adjudicator said to refund which Morses are not including?
Julie clarke says
Hi adjudicators decision was from loan 5 to 30. The reason for not paying all was :-
With regard to loans 16-19 they have not accepted my opinion that the gap of seven months was not sufficient on its’ own to consider this to be a new chain of borrowing. They say that after this gap in borrowing that they did in any case conduct new income and expenditure checks and found these loans to be affordable to you.
Not sure how much for probably about another 800 interest and 8% simple interest from 2018
Rebecca says
Hi, I’ve just received an email from the FCA advising that they have advised morses club to refund all interest and charge etc for loans 4-14. They have until 28th May to respond! Fingers crossed 🤞🏼
Wendy Smith says
Hi , I am just at the start of my complaint to provident , and loans at home . Can anyone share with me, roughly how long the process takes ? It is almost 4 weeks since I emailed both companies with my complaints , and they have both acknowledged them . I have asked for a breakdown of the loans I have had with them ( it’s a lot ) , but I haven’t had this yet . Should I be chasing them up for this ? Any info anyone has , would be great . I am self employed , and unable to work with current situation ,so any refund I could get would be amazing ,
Thankyou in advance , Wendy
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sit back and wait for the 8 week point. There is nothing you can do to speed up this process and your complaints may well have to go to the Ombudsman which will take many months. great results in the end often, but not fast.
Wendy Smith says
Thankyou for your reply Sara. I am reassured there is nothing else I need to be doing just now . Your website is fab , and really informative. I wouldn’t have had a clue where to start ,
Wendy
Suzi says
I waited the 8weeks with a no from provident, so took it to FOS on 2nd November 2018, I have been told I will have my cheque by 25th, been a long 2 years + but worth it now
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think cases will be going through quicker from now on!
Suzi says
Hopefully as it’s been a long wait🤞🏻☹️ But it’s been worth it, I’ve never counted on getting anything back, and does seem to be a lot of cases getting pushed through quicker now.
Kelly McCandless says
Hi Wendy, I put my complaint into loans at home in june 2018 with a subject access request. The emailed all details of my 32 loans they rejected my complaint in august 2018 and I sent it to ombudsman same day. I waited until start of december 2019 to be picked up by adjudicator and they had a decision on deceber 31st 2019 upholding loans 5-39. The company rejected this in March 2020 and I was put in a queue for ombudsman. Picked up at start of April 2020 and today I have received ombudsman final decision agreeing with adjudicator they have to refund all interest on loans 5-30 + 8% simple interest.
Kelly
Nicole says
Good morning
Still no letter or email from Neil so I phoned again and still nothing on the system… 8 days to go and still nothing on the system…
can’t see this happening in the 28days
Lauren says
When are your 28 days up by? We have until the 22nd May, and haven’t recieved anything yet.
Nicole says
Got till the 23rd
Christian Hare says
Hi, could someone please give me the email address for Neil at provident please as now waited five months from my complaint going in and heard nothing so would like to email him
Many thanks Chris
Lou Lou says
We are on day 56 with Provident after receiving 2 genetic emails in that time saying they are dealing with it. Phoned them yesterday and was told by a very laid back, I don’t really care member of staff that it hadn’t even been looked at and we are within our rights to go to FOS as it’s passed the 28 day’s 🙄
Nicole says
Day 56 😳
Have you emailed Neil?
Lou Lou says
Yep, emailed him 7th May and explained we’re in financial hardship (rent arrears etc) due to the current situation as well as health issues and we would really appreciate some help if he’s able to. We haven’t heard anything back but I know from this site that he’s inundated with calls and emails, so I totally understand. Looks like we’re going to have to go down the FOS road which we wanted to avoid because of the time scale that isn’t on our side 😔
Laura says
Laura
I was contacted by a claims company asking me if I had ever had a door step loan. I filled out a form online signed it and sent it back. I have filled out a survey, however I have not signed the next stage since seeing these comments. I have had numerous loans wirh provident but cant remember all the details. Should I sign the last form and give them 30 % of any reward. Is it less hassle for me?
Nicole says
Hi Laura
The template is up the top of this page for you to email provident yourself.
30% is a lot plus it wouldn’t go any quicker then you doing it yourself
kat says
My deadline to hear back is the 22 May.
Not heard a thing. No reply either to email sent on 25/4.
Kind of glad to know it’s not just me.
Michelle says
My 8 weeks are up next week what should happen after that plz
Nicole says
Hi everyone
Good news 😁
After all my emails and phone calls lol neil phoned me today and said I should hear by next week, after getting of the phone to him I received an email of my breakdown and was more then I thought cause of the 8% m, my last loan was in 2013 so that’s a lot of interest… just waiting for cheque now
Rik says
Hello. Provident gave me a loan which the FO have told them to pay back. The original loan was for 1200 and I paid 50 weeks at 42 pound so I paid 900 in interest. The loan was paid 01/03/2011 so I’ve worked out 900 plus 8% for 3374 days is 665.56 does that sound correct so I’m due the 900 for original interest plus the 665.56 less 20% vat, is that correct?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sounds about right! The tax deduction is income tax not VAT but that does matter.
S brown says
Provident success!
I received a letter from provident yesterday (after I had complained to FO) to say they were refunding all the interest on my loans. This now means my existing loans are wiped out and I am getting a £600 refund by cheque.major relief to get over £2k of debt wiped out. Thanks Sara for all the templates, you and your website have really helped me.
Graham says
My 28 day deadline to provide me with a calculation of an offer to return interest and 8% interest on loans from 4-13 I have heard nothing from provident within the first 3 weeks even though they have agreed with the FOS to redress in line with their decision, i have made numerous phone calls and emailed Neil Iverson with no reply. No idea when they will get to my case and conclude it, very frustrating , I’ve been waiting for 19 months from start .
Nicole says
Hi graham
Neil told me personally that when you phone it’s pretty much useless, nothing shows on the system…
Soon as someone gets to your case they do the calculations the same day and cheque, did say cheques are done on a Thursday…
I emailed Neil 3 days in a row and left my number on last email within few hours he phoned I was surprised.. soon as I got off the phone had email with my calculations for nearly 9 grand 😁
He was very nice well the nicest person I’ve spoken to within provident…
My advice is keep being a pest lol it worked for me
Dorota W says
Provident was meant to replay by 25th May with offer after FOS decision. Cheque received today. So they are all accurate saying cheques are being issued on Thursday.
Sasha says
Did you have a letter first with the offer amount?
I’m getting close to 28days and still no letter or cheque.
Dorota W says
I received both yesterday letter and cheque
Amanda Eilertsen says
Hi and good news for you .how long did your case take from start till receiving your cheque ?.
Dorota W says
They refused me in September last year do I went to Fos. So nearly 8 months.
Chris says
Finally some good news and a thanks to Sara for this website. Provident have agreed with adjudicator to refund interest and add 8% on loans 4-15 and will issue a cheque for £5449.40. Things seem to be speeding up a bit with them as my complaint was submitted on 14/9/19 and adjudicator ruled in my favour on 24/4/20. Was expecting a long wait
Graham says
Sara, your thoughts please, how can people be paid their redress when the dead line to receive was 25th may and mine is due by the 22nd May, I have made numerous phone calls and emailed but not even one reply, I have been very patient and have waited for 19 months to get this resolved, but my patience is now running a little fraught.
Lauren says
I am in exactly the same boat as you. Got till 22nd for their 28 days. And heard absolutely nothing :(
Graham says
I feel for you Lauren, very very frustrating, just communication would be nice,it’s the not knowing….”
Joanne says
I’m in same boat too but hubby got letter last Wednesday and cheque on the Friday when we’d both received confirmation emails on same day that we would get the redress. I’ve email Neil to say they have till Friday and can I get an update.
kat says
I feel for you as i am in the same situation. My deadline is the 22nd. Frustrating is not the word.
i am wondering if the straight forward ones are done first? my provident loan was sold to Lowell so wondering if this has an impact.
TW says
Had passed my complaint to ombudsman as provident said to do this as they had a back log that was near the end of 2019 got a email out of the blue saying they had dealt with complaint and I was getting £4846.69
Graham says
Hooray !,,, I have received a phone call from provident, Neil Iverson, very pleasant man considering he is under great pressure, my case has been concluded and I have also received an email of the breakdown of my refund, delighted as you can imagine, refund from loan 4-13 plus statutory 8% interest cheque to follow, Thursday is there cheque run so should receive by Monday at the latest, then it’s off to the bank for me.
Good luck everybody ,hope you all hear soon !
Elizabeth says
Hi graham
Did breakdown tell you how much interest you paid for each loan?
Well done
Craig says
Had my reply from provident today and am a little disheartened as I have been told there was no irresponsible lending even though I had 11 loans that got larger every time. My wife has had 6 loans and they are refunding her 3rd loan but that’s all. It’s already with FOS but feeling down, could I still get more from them?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
11 loans getting larger? unless there were some very big gaps between the loans that sounds like a good case to me.
Craig says
All loans from my wife and I were at the same time and overlapped apart from 1 from each of us.
Craig says
Update, for my wifes complaint we were told on 19th May by email and a cheque has arrived this morning. On my understanding if this is cashed then it is acceptance but we have sent a complaint to FOS. Provident have said this needs to be cashed in the next 6 months, so my question is if the FOS take longer than that what will happen to this award from provident? Will they send a new cheque or have I missed out?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you wait 3 or 4 months and then see if there has been any progress. A lot of provident cases are being settled at the moment. i hope this will free up resources so other complaints are dealt with more quickly.
Val says
Morning guys, I got a call of neil last night what a nice guy , he was saying that my case was just waiting to be signed off as mines was one of the larger amounts so has to be signed off . Has anybody else had this ? As my time to complete is this friday as said by the ombudsman. Just wondering how long now before I get the email with the complete breakdown etc as the cheque should be due to be processed this thursday . I’m so nervous as I’ve waited nearly 3 years to get to this point . Thanks for your help guys
Jane G says
My deadline is 26th May and from comments I don’t expect to hear anything from Provident until at least that date however I wondered how others have worked out what they should be owed. I find it difficult to calculate the loan charges and interest. Can anyone advise please?
Dan says
Deadline friday. Still no email/phone call/letter. So frustrating :(
Just want it all over with.
Mark says
Just went to deposit my cheque I received from Provident. The whole process of making the complaint to today has taken 18 months. Just want to say a massive thanks to Sara and everybody on the page for the advice given. One final question though I remember reading a few weeks back about claiming the tax back, how do I do this?
Again, thank everybody, good luck.
Suzi says
Well I phoned provident this morning got a lovely lady on phoned who looked on the system and said my case was settled today and cheque posted today😀😀😀 asked her for a figure and she got that for me. Quite a bit more than I thought but takes a lot of pressure off things. She did say Up to 5days for cheque to arrive, mail is erratic at moment, but will let you know timescale my cut off date was 25th.🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻
Dan says
Phoned provident and all the guy said was ‘he’s sure it will be dealt with by friday’ he couldn’t give me any further information, no idea of breakdown or anything. Extremely frustrating and poor communication. I just don’t see any end to this ongoing battle.
Rhona says
Hi I’m rhona I’ve been reading through this forum for a while and decided to make a complaint to provident they got back to me yesteday. They have offered me £650 interest I paid on loan 7 and 9 plus 8%interest out of the 9 loans I had with them . I’m not sure if this is a good offer to accept or take this to the ombudsman ? If I take this to the ombudsman will I loose this offer from provident?
Sarah says
Hi,
Looking for some advice re Provident/Greenwoods. I sent off a complaint for myself and my husband on 26/02, got an email on 24/03 saying they needed more time and would reply within 28 days. We then received a further email on 21/04 saying it was still being investigated but I could now refer to FOS as time was up. I did so on 21/04 and have heard nothing from either FOS or Provident. I haven’t had a breakdown or anything so I’m not sure what I do next. Can anyone help? Thanks :)
Lou Lou says
Had a response back. Very random picking of loans & clutching at straw conclusions from Provident 😏 I’ve continually borrowed from them since 1998 up until 2019 on a very regular basis using one loan after another to pay balances off. I know the ones previous to 2007 are not counted as far as a refund is concerned but the fact I was borrowing 9 years before then is an important affect of the claim surely. Only upheld 4 out of 9 in a very random order saying their records show we were good customers who paid regularly. They must be looking at someone else’s records because we missed many payments and also paid very low payments which meant the loans went on for a lot longer until we decided to refinance them. Wrote back and said I wasn’t happy with the outcome and basically told, fine, go to FOS. So FOS it is and they will have every detail, warts & all 😤
Amanda Eilertsen says
Yes I had a email from Neil saying saying there is only two loans they could possibly look at and then they would be no refund because I didn’t pay it all back …and they said all the 100 And odd other loans wouldn’t be taken into account with the ombudsman because they were before 2007 so don’t really know what’s happening
Sara (Debt Camel) says
the Ombudsman can’t look at complaints about loans before April 2007 – that is the point at which they were given the legal responsibility to look at this sort of complaint. But they may be able to take into consideration what happened before that date in so far as it suggests that loans given after then were unaffordable.
Amanda Eilertsen says
Thanks Sara .just going to leave it with the big boys now lol anything would be a bonus .
Lou Lou says
Thanks Sarah, that’s what I thought and have pointed that out to Provident. They haven’t upheld the “1st” one of their list (it’s the largest one too) because they are treating that as the 1st one but in actual fact I’d had several, one after the other with no gaps before that. Their upheld loan selection was quite random.
Hurricane Haggis says
Hi, I’ve been chasing Provident since Feb/March this year (emailed Neil a couple of times explaining the urgency of my situation – rent arrears, poor health, loss of work) and after my second email to him, I had a response within 24 hours. I’ve had 9 loans over a 14 year period (8 of them show reduced/missed payments) and each loan goes almost seemlessly into the next one. They reckon 5 of the 9 loans were given responsibly, and have offered redress on 4, plus wiping off my current balance on loan 9 (about £500). They have strangely chosen loans 3,4,7 and 8 for redress – I don’t understand this at all. I emailed last night pointing out that every loan had poor repayment records and every loan rolled into the next – Joanne came back this morning telling me that a full review has been completed and “your next step is to go to the Financial Ombudsman Service if you remain unhappy.” Do you think I have a good case for them?
Thank you in advance.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how large were loans 5 & 6 and what interest did you pay on those?
Hurricane Haggis says
Hi Sara,
Loan 5 was for £250 with £100 interest (may have been vouchers not cash) and loan 6 was £400 with £240 interest.
Incidentally, after loan 8 ended, they refused to lend to me for a month because of my payment history… then they lent me £1500 with £2088 interest! And they reckon that my payment history showed no cause for concern :-/
Hurricane Haggis says
Loan 3 – £100 & £75 interest.
Loan 4 – £500 & £375 interest.
Loan 7 – £400 & £328 interest.
Loan 8 – £400 & £328 interest.
Redress offered:
Interest £1105.71
8% £622.24
Less tax -£124 45
Goodwill £575.50
Total £2179 (which they’re using to clear balance of loan 9).
The “goodwill” is them clearing off the balance that’s left on loan 9 after they have offset the redress value against the balance. I still owe £2179, their redress is £1603.50, so the “goodwill” is a write-off of the final balance.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
and was the last loan determined to be unaffordable? You have paid more than £1500 to it?
Hurricane Haggis says
No, they reckon that was affordable (despite the fact that they refused to lend to me for a month due to loan number 8 taking almost 3 years to pay when it should only have taken one year!).
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok so that is the problem, not the “missing” two loans in the middle. If they were the only problem there would be no point in going to FOS as the interest on them is effectively being covered by the “goodwill” they are adding on.
But obviously there is a good case that the last loan should be treated as unaffordable and that is quite a lot of money. And then you may as well ask for the missing two loans to be included as well.
Hurricane Haggis says
Exactly what I thought. Thank you so much for your advice. Will let you know the outcome of the FOS investigation.
Hurricane Haggis says
Just a wee update on this… Before going to FOS, I emailed Neil to give him a chance to avoid FOS involvement. I set out 2 proposals, one very cheeky one which I knew would never see the light of day, and one more realistic one. I had a phone call from Neil at the end of last week and he has agreed to the realistic proposal and has in fact recalculated and slightly improved it for me. The end result is, instead of receiving absolutely nothing and just having my outstanding balance written off, I’m now awaiting a cheque for around £1600, with the balance of loan 9 being written off.
Thank you Sara for your help and advice – I’m over the moon with the result.
Dan says
2 days till deadline, still no communication! Stress levels are to the max.
kat says
Me too Dan.
post been and nothing. no response to my email. Curious if it us just us 2 on the forum who had deadline of 22/5 and not heard?
Shelley says
My claim has been ongoing since 4th Feb 2018, that was the first contact that it’s provident who refused my claim, so went to FOS, adjudicator agreed loans 4-12 were mis sold , gave provident until 23rd April (last month) to reply…nothing heard so has now gone to ombudsman…haven’t a clue how much longer I’ll have to wait, emailed Neil who replied after 4 days, not a lot of info tho just saying they have lot of backlog. Rang provident today who said my claim is with the team and couldn’t help anymore, wish I knew how long it’s going to take. 😩
Dan says
It’s so frustrating. Had an email from neil who said he would get a colleague to look into it. This was at 2pm today. But now 8pm and heard nothing. Just want this all over with. Even if I had to wait longer for the cheque just the breakdown would be nice.
Joanne says
Me too! Hubby had his sorted last week breakdown letter on Wednesday and cheque on Friday. We had email from omsbudsman on same day too so deadline for me is 22/05 but not heard anything – email Neil but nothing either.
Sasha says
Same!! I keep reading that they post cheques put on a Thursday so fingers crossed!
Val says
Hi Dan, I’m the same but I heard in an email today all the cases due to be settled by friday are being signed off today for the cheques to be processed tomorrow . Hope that helps a bit
Kaz says
Have just raised a complaint with the ombudsman for Provident for myself and my hubby. We had continuous loans over a 4 year period. My hubby was self employed at the time and I was unemployed. Our agent used to count his expenses as income even though she knew it was wrong. There is no way I should have been given the amount of finance that I was getting due to not working. My payments at one point were £160 per week which was basically all my tax credits. We also had numerous continual loans from Morses at the same time. Do you think we have a good case? My agent was always telling us we were her best customers and she once said her boss agreed.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That sounds like a good case to me. Also against Morses – have you sent those complaints in?
Kaz says
Yes but only to Morses at the moment. Have received 2 letters, both generic so may just skip them and take it to the ombudsman.
Hurricane Haggis says
Hi again,
Now that I know where I’m going with my claim, I’m starting to work on my wife’s. Details of her loans and what she’s been offered are as follows:
Loan 1: £800 & £520 interest
Loan 2: £600 & £390 interest
Loan 3: £600 & £408 interest
Loan 4: £350 & £262.50 interest
Loan 5: £200 & £80 interest (possibly vouchers?)
Loan 6: £400 & £240 interest
Loan 7: £400 & £328 interest
Loan 8: £400 & £328 interest
Loan 9: £700 & £610.40 interest (Outstanding balance of £1027.80 on this – should have been cleared in April 2020 if normal payments were met)
Loan 1 was before FOS took overbut she had a constant borrowing cycle with Provident in the years leading up to that. The gap between Loan 8 ending and Loan 9 starting was about a year. All other loans rolled into each other and payment performance was poor on all loans.
Provident have deemed Loans 4, 6, 7 & 8 unaffordable and have offered redress as follows:
Interest £1158.50
8% £636.90
Less HMRC -£127.38
Total redress £1668.02
Less Bal of Loan 9 -£1027.80
Cheque to be raised for £640.22
Do you think this is worth sending to FOS or do we bank the cheque when it comes?
Thank you again :-)
Hurricane Haggis says
My wife’s cheque arrived this morning… should we bank it and accept it as full and final settlement or should we take it further? All details are below.
Loan 1: £800 & £520 interest
Loan 2: £600 & £390 interest
Loan 3: £600 & £408 interest
Loan 4: £350 & £262.50 interest
Loan 5: £200 & £80 interest (possibly vouchers?)
Loan 6: £400 & £240 interest
Loan 7: £400 & £328 interest
Loan 8: £400 & £328 interest
Loan 9: £700 & £610.40 interest (Outstanding balance of £1027.80 on this – should have been cleared in April 2020 if normal payments were met)
Loan 1 was before FOS took overbut she had a constant borrowing cycle with Provident in the years leading up to that. The gap between Loan 8 ending and Loan 9 starting was about a year. All other loans rolled into each other and payment performance was poor on all loans.
Provident have deemed Loans 4, 6, 7 & 8 unaffordable and have offered redress as follows:
Interest £1158.50
8% £636.90
Less HMRC -£127.38
Total redress £1668.02
Less Bal of Loan 9 -£1027.80
Cheque to be raised for £640.22
Thank you again :-)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That looks like a similar situation to your own, doesn’t it? Although in your case the final loan was even larger, but for your wife £700 was still more than her recent loans. What do you think?
Hurricane Haggis says
I don’t know what to think in all honesty. On one hand I’m thinking “bank the cheque and pay the rent” but on the other hand I’m wondering if they’re getting off lightly. Very confused!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The big break makes it harder. It was more clear cut in your case because the last loan was huge. But she may get more by going to FOS.
Hurricane Haggis says
We’ve decided to bite the bullet and bank the cheque. We could have fought with them for months and ended up with the same outcome, so something’s better than nothing. Thank you again for all your help Sara.
Helen says
Hi my claim has been refused by provident and have said i can contact the FOS but how do i go about this please,thanks
CAS says
Hi Helen
I had the same issue so I complained to FOS using the online form below.
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/contact-us/complain-online
I think its the easiest way, you should get an acknowledgement that they have received your email, then you just have to wait for someone to contact you. I did mine in November and someone from FOS contacted me in December, but im not sure if the process will be longer at present due to the current situation.
Regards
CAS
CAS says
Hi Sara and everyone – Part 1
I sent a claim to provident 18.09.19 and after 8 weeks of no response from Provident I sent the issue to the Financial Ombudsman 13.11.19 to look into. FOS acknowledged my complaint 05.12.19 and said they had written to Provident to ask for the information I was complaining about. I received a letter from Provident 03.02.20 (dated 28.01.20) rejecting my complaint but giving me a breakdown of all the loans I had and the interest I had paid, this letter was forwarded onto FOS. FOS chased for my business file for quite a few weeks. FOS emailed me 27.04.20 upholding my complaint and sent a letter to Provident confirming that they should pay back loan interest 6-33 with the 8% interest. Provident were given until 11.05.20 to agree to the complaint or to provide further information to FOS. I contacted FOS as the deadline had passed and they informed me that they were still waiting for a response from provident and provident had advised that they were behind due to the current situation. After reading comments on here, I also emailed Neil Iverson @ provident 18.05.20 asking if he could provide me with any information, I haven’t heard anything back …..as of yet.