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?
Jarvis says
Not that I’m not happy for those who have received them, but it is a bit annoying that people who apparently only complained earlier this year are receiving cheques (seemingly out of the blue) while I’ve been waiting for just over a year now :(
I do have a complaint with the FOS but they’re running behind too so not hearing anything from them just compounds the annoyance.
I guess I’ll be giving them a call in the morning! It’s been a few weeks since they fobbed me off…
J
Ian says
Hi Jarvis, sorry to hear you’ve been waiting so long (seems others have waited much longer too). It does seem there is no structure to provident in their responses to complaints or giving offers.
If you were referring to my case I can assure you the cheque/offer I received in the post was completely out of the blue I’d had no correspondence from Provident since the usual email advising I could go to the FOS and have never had any breakdown of my loans or which loans were upheld. The cheque /offer seems to be a tactic from them to get people to just cash the cheque and unwittingly accept the poor offer as full and final settlement with no information about what they’ve paid and what is being refunded.
Sorry if this has annoyed you but after following this forum for months I’m just trying to get any information about what provident is doing out there to try and help others as we’re all in the same boat after all.
Good luck and hope you get sorted soon.
Jarvis says
Hi Ian,
Not you’re problem buddy so don’t stress it :)
I’ve actually been fine with Provident and accepting of the fact that they have a backlog and people working from home right now perhaps not being as effective as normal with perhaps people also not being able to work from home compounding the issue.
My frustration right now is that when you call for an update, they can’t provide one. I have even told them that I’m happy to get a rough estimate meaning that if they said ‘it’ll be a couple of months at least’ then I’d be fine with it as I’d have a date in my mind but they’re unwilling to even do that.
The whole thing is a farce, I’d never get away with continually saying “I dunno” in my role so how anyone in any role can just shirk and say “I dunno” is beyond me as it’s so unprofessional and just generates a feeling of ‘I couldn’t care less’.
I just wish they’d sort their act out! All they need to do (if they’re genuinely working through in order of date received which they’re clearly not) is sort them into the month received and count them. Then they need to get a rough average of how many they’re completing per month. Once they have that they can say something like ‘we’re x months behind with x thousand claims and we’re completing an avg. of x claims per month so we’ll hopefully have a response within x months’.
I know I’ve massively simplified it here but working out a rough time to within a month shouldn’t be that hard.
Shirley says
I know the feeling my complaint went in a year ago heard nothing as yet, Fos dealing with it and still waiting to hear from prov. its so frustrating. Good luck.
Jarvis says
Hi Shirley!
Thanks :) right now I’m more bothered by the attitude than I am getting any money back lol. I’d be a lot less annoyed if they said something ‘I’m sorry it’s taking so long, we have a 6 month backlog in claims and are short staffed due to working from home with reduced resource, we should have a response for you within 6 weeks’.
Tell me that and I’m happy to wait for 6 weeks haha, I’m pretty chilled until I’m kept hanging around like a idiot.
Good luck on you claim too!
Ian says
Hi Jarvis,
Sorry didn’t mean to come across as being stressed out lol.
I totally understand the frustration about the way provident seem to be responding to some cases and not others as you said surely they could just work through them in date order.
I suppose it shows how disorganised they are even in my case I received a cheque from them out of the blue last Thursday and got a letter today giving the breakdown.
They decided to uphold 1 (of the smaller) loans out of 30 loans.
No logic in the way they singled out that particular loan apart from it being the second last so obviously less interest to pay.
Anyway I hope you get some response from them soon. And a better offer than me lol.
Nicole says
Hi Jarvis
I don’t know if this helps I was waiting since November 2018 and received my cheque 2 weeks ago… I feel your frustration, all I can suggest is hang in there, there is light at the end
Jarvis says
Thanks Nicole :)
I actually called to request an update and was told that a letter was in the post! The helpful guy even emailed me a copy… All rejected.
Apparently they performed checks every time before loaning to me and there is nothing on my file to say that I’d told my agent about my gambling, drink and drug problems as well as the £26k of debt I had… Which is not surprising as he told me what to say and how to get around any queries from head office so I could get the loan :(
My problem now is that I have no evidence, I was hiding all my debts from family, friends and girlfriend as I was ashamed. Then on 2013 I went into a DMP (a massive 4 months after my last loan for £2.1k from Provident) so clearly their checks weren’t very good lol.
Now it’s all in the hands of the Ombudsman so let the waiting commence/continue :(
Nicole says
Hi Jarvis
They said the same to me as well but 2 years later I got a cheque for 9 grand so worth it! Good luck it will be worth it :-)
Jarvis says
Hi Nicole,
Wow, that’s awesome! Good for you :)
Now I’ve had a response I’m fine to just wait really. They’ve made their decision and now all I can do is wait on the Ombudsman. They either a) say I don’t have a case or b) support my claim. Either way, I’m happier to wait on a response from them than from Provident.
Jane Davies says
Hi there im fishing for some advice . january i put in a complaint to provident for unaffordable lending year 2007 to 2011 17 loans in all ..i had the standard emails off them over the months .. around 2 weeks ago i sent the complaint to the fos . Today i had a letter off provident complaints department .. and they dont agree that they were at fault even said i earnt 600 plus a week so loans were affordable ..i was on benifits and my partner was working but he paid child maintanace. the agent just combined our income together to make it look like we earnt more as he also had loans as well with them. over the years our cirmanstaces changed and we realy struggled . . My loans were renewed or rolled over every two to three months over them years yet they deny it wasnt affordable except for 1 which was sent with 2 others to lowell as a goodwill gesture im not happy …what to do now do i wait for a reply off the fos or should i drop neil a message and hope i get a better result than the complaint office sent .. thanks jane
Michelle A says
The exact same thing has happened to me. According to Providents ‘final response’ I was earning £1000 per week and my husband was earning £1330 per week. If we were earning almost £7000 per month, Im sure we wouldn’t have needed their poxy £500 loans at ridiculous interest rates. I called Provident who said that my paperwork showed £1000 per month but then the agent had also calculated that at £1000 per week !! Apparently as I signed it I have no comeback from them. I have taken this to the Ombudsman. They have partially upheld my husbands complaint (one loan out of 8) and sent a cheque. They have also stated that this is their final decision. Again we have gone to the Ombudsman with this. I have questioned whether cashing the cheque would invalidate my claim with the Ombudsman and they have said no it wouldn’t. Is this true? Should we cash the cheque ?
Jane Davies says
There is a lot that went on during my borrowing days with the agent that should never have happened ..my husband at the time came into a lot of money through inheratance ..the agent who had been calling for around 6 years kept begging and crying to my husband to borrow her 7000 to stop het loosing her house..which he did eventualy which was foolish but he had mental health probs and an alcoholic so was easily parted with his cash …a year on we split up he owed provident money still and couldnt pay as all his money had gone. I met someone new and the agent as she was still paying back what she owed my ex asked my new partner if he would like loans then few months later told me i could have some to told me not to worry by what my ex owed she would sort it .and she only paid she around 2000 back as she became ill . I wasnt working but she combined our wage to make it look like i earnt more ..a lot more went on over the years and iv written it all in a statement and its now with the fos .. i wouldnt cash the check at this time if i was you i would wait as i think its valid for 6 months good luck with everything x
Stef says
Hi everyone complained end of jan this year, complained again last week as hadn’t had much response and received a letter this morning saying a cheque is being issued for £754.68 and my debt written off, what a result, good luck everyone and thanks Sara
Matthew Davies says
Hello All
May be in wrong place currently but have complaint with provident backdated to sucession of top up loans between 2011 – 2014.
Like majority these were refinnaced top up etc and caused more interest and borrowing.
FOS have been in contacted and asked :-
” can you please explain when ou first became aware that the busniess have done something wrong?” And wat prompted you to realise this?
before i reply what angle are the FOS coming at please?
Many Thanks in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They want to know if you have only recently realised you can make this sort of complaint. If you knew more than three years ago, FOS will say you should have complained sooner.
Just say what happened – how you heard about affordability complaints (a friend? seeing a claims company advert? a newspaper article?) and when. There are no wrong answers here.
Matthew Davies says
Brilliant thanks just though random question when had no other response !
Have we had much success with complaints to Fos against provident
Had 6 loans all refinanced/topped up within 3/5 months of agreement
Holding for fast resolution from Fos any ideas of timeframes after contact ?
Thanks Matt
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes! Lots of people have been getting large refunds.
Hurricane Haggis says
Hi Sara, just wanted to thank you for your help and advice. I went back to Provident (straight to Neil!) and let them know I wasn’t happy with their decision. In my email, I gave 2 very cheeky proposals in a last-ditch attempt to avoid involving the FSO. The first one was never goimg to happen in a million years, but the second one was a bit more realistic. Neil phoned me and was very sympathetic towards my current situation, and he agreed to the second proposal (in fact he actually recalculated and improved it!). So instead of having my outstanding balance of loan 9 paid off with the redress from previous loans and the goodwill gesture mentioned in an earlier thread, I’ve had loan 9 written off and had a refund of over £1600 which arrived yesterday.
Thank you again for confirming that there was a good case to fight.
Patricia says
I have been waiting since June 2019
Fos upheld my complaint on 3 loans and i received an email confirming provident agreed with them and would make me an offer, ive been waiting 6 weeks now and not heard anything from provident.
Paul says
Has anyone had any luck with ombudsman changing the decision ? I have loan 1-11 and the adjudicator only up held loan 11 to which I said I wasn’t happy so waiting for the ombudsman now it’s in a que has anyone had it where they changed the decision completely? As I feel more loans should not have been lent?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes the Ombudsman will sometimes change an adjudicator decision. 1 out of 11 sounds well worth a try to me, unless a lot of your loans were TINY or there were several big gaps in the lending.
CAS says
Hi, just wondering if anyone can help with the 8% simple interest calculation. Im currently waiting for an offer letter and cheque following FOS decision, but trying to work out what will be a fair offer. Im stuck with working out the interest. EG one of the loans i had i paid £3000 interest, rate paid was £50 per week, loan taken out 22.11.12 and paid up 18.02.14. Can anyone guide me in the right direction of working out the interest so I can do it with the other loans, Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The simple way is just to think of the 8% being credited from the date the loan was settled. So £3000 at 8% since Feb 14 is about £1500 very roughly.
CAS says
Great thanks Sara
Matt says
Hello all
Update on my provident claim, final response from provident before escalated to FOS was
1) they can’t look at 4 of 6 loans as over 6 years and should have made complaints at time when entered DMP.
2) although having considered my loans they Believe they were affordable And I knew impact on credit file they don’t feel irresponsible although they Refinanced/topped up 4 of 6 loans within 3 months of starting agreement !
Ombudsman has replies to me today stating he has written to provident and he believes all loans should be looked Into at as only realised in 2019 about lending complaints ?
Sound familiar to anyone
Many thanks
Louise says
Do you think this is good or bad? Ombudsman rules in my favour
Dear Ms,
Thank you for your email, and apologies for the delay in responding.
I would like to assure you the decision provided by the Financial Ombudsman is being reviewed, and I am actively working your case.
I hope to have a more in depth response for you by the end of next week at the latest, and I will ensure I contact you directly.
Nicky says
Hi,
Received this response for my first letter, does this mean I can’t dispute this now ??
Thank you for your email below dated 8 June 2020
We can confirm we have previously investigated the concerns raised within your below email.
Unfortunately, we wouldn’t be in a position to investigate the same concerns again. I have attached the final response which was sent to you.
We are sorry for any inconvenience caused, Please don’t hesitate to contact us for any further information.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
did you send them a complaint before?
Nicky Maitland says
Yeah, I think when the PPI was about
Lisa says
Hi I had an email today, saying “sorry we have been unable to resolve your complaint at this time, but please rest assured it is with our investigators and we aim to complete this in 28 days”
Is this one of the standard emails you get after three weeks of my first complaints?
And I need not to reply? No?
Matt says
Hello yes I complained and that was basis of response so escalated to FOS
Nicky Maitland says
Aw really so how would I do that ??
Janine says
Hey! Been reading all the posts regarding provident for a while now and now need a bit of advice please.
Long story short my complaint is with the fos , yet to be picked up by an adjudicator. This morning I received my final response from provident saying they will be sending a cheque for £1106.52 as their final response. Now I don’t want to accept this as I know the interest I paid on continuous loans from 2007 to 2015 amounts to around £9000 and hopefully I will get a better outcome from the fos. What I’d like to ask is do I just hang on to the letter and cheque when it arrives and ignore them or am I meant to reply and say I don’t accept the offer.
Kerry says
You should let the FOS know that you have received an offer which you decline and forward the offer on to them. You can also let Provident know that you decline if you would like to. Hold on to the cheque though as when FOS have investigated, whatever Provident agree to pay is deducted from that cheque figure (so you will need to cash both cheques)
Janine says
Thankyou. All done, now to sit back and wait.
Mark says
Hi,
Used your template and I’ve received this from provident, but they’ve not sent me details of loans but asking me to send documents but don’t know what ?? See below
Thank you for contacting us to tell us of your concerns.
We do take your comments very seriously and we are committed to resolving your complaint quickly and to your satisfaction.
In support of our investigation, you are welcome to provide any evidence you feel is relevant to your concern(s). In order to avoid any delay, please can you provide us with any additional information / evidence within the next 10 working days via email at newcustomer.complaints@provident.co.uk, in writing using the address at the foot of this letter or ring us on the number below. However, should you require more time, please contact us within this timescale to let us know.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s up to you if you want to send them anything else but you don’t have to. You don’t have to reply at all!
But you could reply saying when they give you the details of your loans that will help you in providing any further information.
Mark says
Thank you I’ll do that
Lisa says
I received that too Mark, and although I did add a little more info to my compliant. I since have not heard anything more from them..
That was 3 weeks ago. ;-)
Dd says
I replied to that over 2 months ago. Email replied to 3 weeks ago suggested it will be quite a few weeks for further replym
Stef says
Received my cheque today so happy, applied end of January, and wasn’t expecting to get anything, so hope for everyone
Matt says
Hello all
Has anyone as part of complaint had the ombudsman write to provident and state they feel all loans over 6 years should Be considered due to only aware of complaint in 2019 ?
If so what did provident reply ?
Mike D says
Hi Matt
I think Sara said the financial ombudsman would consider refunds to loans ranging back to April 2007. Anything before that wouldn’t be considered as that’s when the ombudsman was given the powers to rule upon these matters. Hope this helps. :-)
Matt says
Hello thanks for reply
My loans were 2013-2016, my final response from provident was that they couldn’t look into them !
Hence now ombudsman have since reviewed they can and have asked provident I’d they accept ?
All help appreciated
Matt
Kel says
Hi I put an unaffordable claim with Morses and they have rejected it I have sent to the financial ombudsman I have had numerous loans continually from 2016 to now has anyone else had any luck or won a case against Morses club?
david says
hi I rec aletter from prov stating they have unheld 5 of loans then on the last loan which they upheld which was a ongoing loan they have knocked off my settlement so if they have upheld it how can they knock it off the settlement thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how many loans did you have?
how large was the last loan? did you make any payments to it?
dave says
hi had about 20 loans it was for 800.00 I payed some to it left 720.00 to pay with the interest they upheld it then knocked off the full amount off my settlement thanks
Shebs says
Hi Sara I’m a bit confused as I put in complaint to morses last year and they sent final responses that they couldn’t find my loans so rejected my claim I took to fos I also had 2 loans for morses with Lowell and I forwarded to morses to say I did have loans fos is now looking into complaint
I phoned morses to get all my loan numbers and a gentle man gave me all my loan numbers dates and amounts but he said that there was no name on these loans it had been removed fos called today to say they find it a bit strange to that my name is not on the loans called back to morses and they couldn’t answer why and found it a bit strange to don’t know what to do I sent over letters from Lowell with my name customer number attached to the last 2 loans they gave to lowell
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So all the loans with no name (!) had the same customer number on them?
And the letters from Lowell say that was your customer number?
Shebs says
I had 5 loans in the space of seven months I was just 18 at the time and on job seekers allowance and agent kept pressuring me to take loans she filled out income and expenses I wasn’t happy about it as it left me with no money and had to keep borrowing to pay this
Shebs says
Yes that’s what morses are saying but the last 2 they sent to lowell which I’ve now paid had my customer number on them and my name and address
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so only upholding 5 out 20 loans sounds like one of provident’s new poor offers :( As they aren’t actually offering you any money, I suggest sending the complaint to the ombudsman.
For the last loan, an “uphold” means they deduct the interest so you only have to repay what you borrowed.
Shebs says
The way morses work is your customer no prefixes your loan ie 999999/1 999999/2 and so on so the 2 loans with lowel were my customer number /4 and /5 but the customer service agent could locate my loans with the number but my name has been taken off I was told by one agent that they did this when the new data protection law came out then all other agent said they have no idea why this has been done total idiots so how can an adjudicator make them pay redress if they are saying this totally mixed up
Kaz says
Anyone got any idea why my hubby’s complaints with Provident and Morses are at the next stage with the ombudsman and mine haven’t even been acknowledged yet? They were all sent off at the same time and out of the two of us I was the main borrower. Should I resubmit my complaints it’s been over 4 weeks now?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No don’t resubmit it. There just seems to be a big random element with these.
Kaz says
Thank you. Seems very odd? I guess I’m in a queue?
dave says
they sent i offer of 950.15 then removed 295.72 org amount outstanding of loan and 436.00 interest totalling 731.72 left a balance of 218.43 by chq thanks
Dd says
How long did your cheque take to arrive?
Kym says
Minecwas upheld in February and the reason it took nearly 9 months was they get so many they group them together and then look into it that what I was told by ombidsmen
Jonny says
Put complaint via template, in in January, had the obligatory 2 x need more time emails before forwarding to FOS. Never received an answer for proviodent or details of loans etc as asked for. Start of june got an email from FOS askin g if there had been a final response or anything from Provident – i replied with nope,, and then emailed provident again to say FOS had asked for this (to see if it jollied them up a tad). Shockingly got a final response a day later with 20 loans going back to 2007 (£16k borrowed, £30k repaid) all overlapping and was told they were all responsibly lent bar one, no 17. (despite it being in a clump of 4 that overlapped) They did a bit of a calculation, added some interest, wrote off outstanding amount of one loan and said thats that. (this was a 2500 loan, since paid off, i do have a defaulted loan or two from 4 years ago of around £1300 balance) I have refused and sent the details to FOS to deal with. I honestly was shocked by how much id borrowed and paid them over the years.
Anne says
Hi can anyone help have I missed the deadline to reclaim ppi back from various loans taken with provident ?? ive contacted them they said deadline was August 2019
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you are trying to reclaim PPI, then yes, you have missed the deadline. Nothing you can do.
The people on this page are making affordability complaints – they are not affected by that PPI deadline.
David says
Has anyone had a significant sum refund from Provident?. I’m waiting on loans over £20,000 year on year from 2008. Once you realise that £20,000 plus interest you have paid on these loans you finally wake up to how trapped you were into to these parasites. I have spoken to the FOS and they said constant loans from the same company is a red flag. Provident should have been more responsible to there customers.
Many thanks to Sara for all advice to everyone. I hope you can relax away from the misery you read everyday because it can affect you x
Jonny says
I empathize, i hadn’t realised the amount until i saw the breakdown, £16,500 over the period and my wife always had matching loans, over £33k repaid each…. and theyve only accepted 1 loan in the middle as a problem, conveniently its just about clears the outstanding balance i left with them when i entered an IVA 6 years ago…. am awaiting Ombudsman input
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Jonny, are you still in an IVA?
jonny says
Thats a sore subject, i was in it for 4 years, paid it religiously, was settling at 7p in the £ – i was paying £400 a month and then got made redundant, was advised by IVA crowd to use the payment to live on for a while until i got a new job, after three months they then announced i should have paid it into IVA and it then failed. What then shocked me was the money id paid in was pretty much massively swallowed by fees etc by the practicioner and i was right back to square one with all the lenders…. After that i pretty much entered an ” @all can kiss my a%% ” mentaility. Only getting round to sorting stuff now. Although i have a massive shortfall from mortgage of £175k that overshadows everything, but i havent heard from them in years (scared to rock the boat and ask if its still valid from them unless they take it as an acceptance of it all over again…)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How old is that mortgage shortfall? when were you last contacted about it? Was the mortgage shortfall included in your IVA?
David says
They admitted £200 was irresponsible.. Lol.
jonny says
Mortgage shortfall is from 2008/2009. It (£175k) and a secured loan from welcome (£25k) where both included in the IVA and dwarfed everyone else to the point where there votes didnt count, only mortgage company (Accord). Havent heard a peep from the mortgage peeps since i received a letter after the IVA failed in 2017 i think. Never heard anything from welcome – they didnt even vote or respond when the iva was being set up.
Have though about writing to accord to see if they’ll just write it off (they sold a £275k house for £65k at an auction… and shafted me) but was worried that brings up the 12 years again… it doesnt appear on any credit reports etc… dunno if its even still against me.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well that is a mess. Why on earth didn’t you go bankrupt back in 2010?
Two bits of bad news.
1) the debts that were in your IVA are not statute barred until 6 years after the IVA failed. Although it’s possible the creditors haven’t thought about this. I can’t see any benefit in you writing to Accord.
2) it is possible that your IVA firm will try to claim the provident refund (assuming you get one) even though the IVA failed. Although this may not happen.
Nicola maitland says
Hiya,
I’ve received a letter from the financial ombudsman ( I complained to Prov Jun 17 got no where then complained beginning of jun 20 was told they wouldn’t open the case again ) so went to the financial ombudsman) there saying my claim is over 6 months. So they can’t look at it unless there is ex. Circumstances??? What can I do now ?? If anything ??
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Nothing. Unless there is some very good reason why you left this for years?
Jonny says
I was a trustee.and employee of large charity and paid adviser to others…… Bankruptcy wouldn’t have suited…
Iva is failed 3 or 4 years now.. does that mean even the shortfall will be statute barred in another few years?
As for them coming after refund… They made out like bandits when it failed… Nearly twenty grand I’d paid in and I think less than £3k went to the debts…. I’ve heard nothing from them in years.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
does that mean even the shortfall will be statute barred in another few years?
I haven’t come across a case where an IVA with a mortgage shortfall has failed. You could ask national Debtline on 0808 808 4000 if they know the answer to that.
As for them coming after refund… They made out like bandits when it failed… Nearly twenty grand I’d paid in and I think less than £3k went to the debts…. I’ve heard nothing from them in years.
I am warning you it is a possibility. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/ppi-iva-green-wright/
Jonny says
Thanks for this, food for thought. I appreciate all the help. I should really have sorted this all out years ago but head wasn’t in the right place…
Michelle says
I am just after about advice. I put in an affordability complaint in to Provident back in February. The 56 days they had to respond passed so I got in touch with the FO andI’m awaiting a response from them. Yesterday I received an email from Provident and they have upheld 6 out of 27 loans so my outstanding balance will be cleared plus I will receive a cheque for just over £1300. Do you think it’s worth waiting for a decision from the FO as the interest on the 21 loans they haven’t upheld adds up to about 6k and most of the loans were given at a time when I was unemployed and had a low income plus my agent put down I was working when I wasn’t on quite a few of my loans.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
that looks like a very poor offer from Provident. I suggest waiting for an ombudsman decision.
Michelle says
Thanks Sara, thats what I thought, I think I will do that and just wait.
ronnie says
i have had provedent loans for years finished paying them of last year could i still claim got no proof as i no longer needed the payment book
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes you can.
hazel says
I am the same , had provident loans dating back to 2007 , paid them all off and used the template to claim just last week
Stef says
I didn’t have mine either and have received a refund, they didn’t ask me for anything either
claire says
my complaint is with loans at home, from 2003 until 2019 i was never without a loan from them, sent in my complaint oct 19, forwarded to ombudsman soon after, then received response march 2020 saying they advised loans at home to uphold complaints for loans 3 to 59 and only reason not to look at loans 1 and 2 was because it was pre 2007, they gave them until april 24th but nothing then i have received a message saying they are putting it to the ombudsman for final decision on the 23rd june does anyone know how long this takes please? also where would i start working out a rough estimate of how much?, they were all smallish loans, thanks for any help
Sara (Debt Camel) says
unless you know what was borrowed and what was repaid, there is no way of guessing this., sorry.
Kelly says
Hi Clair, I had 32 loans with Loans at home. From 2012 to 2018. I had an adjudicator decide in december 2019 that loans 5 to 32 were unafordable and loans at home disagreed so I went in queu for ombudsman. This was picked up in April 2020 and I had my decision by may 14th agreeing with adjudicator. My loans were also quite small but this soon adds up. Also the 8% simple is calculated from the first payment on each loan until your claim is settled. The largest loan I had was £500 but I paid £400 interest on that. Overall I got just under £9000. On the day I received the email I emailed loans at home and asked them to send all correspondence through email as not much mail through the post is reaching me. They emailed the same day with my break down and requested my details to send money by bank transfer. Money was in my account within 3 days. I also requested a tax certificate for the tax they deducted and I also claimed that back online. Hang in there it is worth the wait. Good luck
Claire H says
Hello I am just after some advice I put in a complaint with Provident 23/11/18 about loans that started in 2005 the only information they have is when my debt was sent to provident central collection in April 2007 with an outstanding balance of £352.26 and that I continued to make payments with a DMP which finished 18/03/13 and because they dont have any of my credit agreements or affordability assessments they could not uphold my complaint, provident did tell me that I overpaid them by £1.20 and sent me a cheque in the wrong name, I was wondering if I was able to send my complaint to the FOS even though i put in my complaint 19 months ago? And would it be worth it? many thanks Claire
Stef says
Hello I had a refund from provident, they said my internet was going to be written off with Lowell, has any idea how long this process takes as I think I’m due a refund from them now too.
Sarah says
Hi I’ve had many loans with provident between 2011 and 2016 but my last 2 loans I couldn’t pay and they went to Lowell’s debtors going from over 2000 to 4600 which I pay now 50 a month can I still claim
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes you can!
Pam says
My complaint to Provident in Sept 2019 was declined by provident. I then passed it on to the FOS and last week they found in my favour that 8 loans taken out between 2007 and 2011 were unaffordable. The ombudsman is asking them to refund all interest paid plus 8%. Most of the loans were between 1000 to 2400 and some were to refinance other loans with provident. How likely is Provident to respond to the ombudsman’s decision.
Louise says
Wait until after the date the ombudsman and start chasing them. They were due to respond to mine on 2nd June and they have settled it today so they are about 3 weeks behind. I rang every week after that date and started to chase them. Good luck 😉
Sarah says
I’m in the same boat, provident was supposed to reply to the ombudsman by the 19th May after the Ombudsman agreed that 7 loans where miss sold.
Sarah says
Hi Sarah have you had a reply yet?
The adjudicator went in my favour and provident also had until the 19th May to get back but I’m still waiting!! 😫😫
Louise says
Hi all,
Just wanted to say a massive thank you if it hadn’t of been for this site I wouldn’t have known where to start. I started my claim with provident at the beginning of November. Sent off to ombudsman and today I have had my claim settled and a cheque is on its way.
Hang in there it does take a while but it pays off.
Keep up the good work Sara for helping vulnerable people fight against the leeches .
Good luck everyone
Kat says
Hi Louise, I am so pleased you had a good outcome to this :) May I ask how long it took for the Ombudsman to make the decision and the cheque thereafter to arrive? Just hoping here mine get’s resolved soon. Thanks v much.
Louise says
Hi Kat I ant to the ombudsman on 7th January this year and they agreed on 19th may give provident until 2nd June to reply. They didn’t so I started chasing they have confirmed the amount this morning and said cheque is on its way – after reading on here cheque run is a Thursday so I’m guessing I’ll get it next week.
Hope that helps
Louise
Kat says
Thanks very much Louise, that is super helpful. I will call Provident tomorrow and take it from there. Enjoy your cheque and thanks again :)
Best wishes, Kat
Sue says
Hello, looking for some advice please.
I have gone through the process of complaining regarding affordability to Provident- I borrowed four loans through Satsuma- they didn’t uphold the claims so passed across the Ombudsman in January 2020. The adjuticator has upheld one of the loans, and gave Provident a deadline date of 25th May. I appreciate that with Covid-19 etc, they may be understaffed and have backlogs. However, what should my next steps be? Is there any use in me contacting them directly? I have let my adjutictor know, and they have said they will start the process for it to be reviewed by an Ombudsman. I understand they have a backlog though too?
Appreciate any advice, and thanks for all the incredibly useful material on this site!
Dd says
Thank you so much Sara
Just heard from Provident after sending in complaint using your template. They have upheld my complaint, issuing a cheque for just over £8000, and writing off the 4k I owe them. This means I am debt free, with money to invest. Sunny also replied today and have upheld and are sending £2k
Sheree says
Hi i have refused my offer from provident how long after you refused yours and the ombusman looked at it. How long dud it take thanks x
Jo says
Hi sara, just finished and refunded by amigo! I also have loans with mutual! Obviously it’s been in all the same timescale! My question is obvs I want to reduce my debt and monthly outgoings! I have £800 outstanding at the mo! So clearing that balance makes sense! Are mutual getting affordability complaints upheld! I just don’t want to attack the agent cause he’s not pushy really and he’s a nice bloke! But they always gave me what I wanted obvs until I stated to get in A mess
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What other debts do you have? Because it sounds as though you have a good affordability complaint against Mutual.
Jo says
Obvs amigo which was just refunded and cleared! But all others are little bits! I’m fine now but basically I had a breakdown and got In debt with newly every bill I had! It’s In the process of getting sorted! As amigo was causing an issue with me. It wanting it to be included because of my dad but That’s done now! When I’ve ever got credit I’ve always been in overdraft with part time wage and top up benefits do never in a post to get ahead! I’m sure you get, then the credit runs out soon enough and it’s worse! I’ve had a fair bit over the yrs but not for a long time! Mainly cash advances of 500/1000
If I pay it off with amigo payout then he won’t be coming here anymore and I won’t feel guilty lol
Sara (Debt Camel) says
well it’s up to you. You could clear the mutual debt and also put in a complaint? Or clear off all the little bits and a chunk off the mutual?
Jo says
Yeah just with him still coming and knowing I’ve put in a complaint is making me anxious but most of the time they sent letters offering new loans
Thanks
Kat says
After the FOS adjudicator upholding loans 5-21, dating from 2007 – 2018. Provident had until 15th June to respond to the FOS. They didn’t. I have just called Provident this morning and they say they have a huge backlog of complaints. They couldn’t give me a timescale, so I am going to just keep chasing them every two weeks or so. They did say however, as my case has been reviewed by FOS, it was near the end of the process so could be 3 weeks could be 3 months. So still some hope but a while away still for knowing for sure the outcome. I will let you know. This site has been brilliant, thank you. I would not have known I could claim in the first place if I hadn’t seen this! Thanks Sara :)
Dd says
My complaint went to provident on 28th March heard yesterday they are sending a cheque for 8k
Kat says
That’s amazing Dd , great news! So there is still some hope then? I hope you get your cheque asap . Take care
Dd says
Yes good luck with yours
Alison Wood says
My complaint went to the ombudsman 16 months ago! They went in my favour in may and I have just had a letter from provident saying I will receive a cheque for £15600 in the next two weeks,
Karen says
I’m getting really anxious now, my complaints with Provident and Morses have gone to the ombudsman and I haven’t heard anything, it’s been nearly 6 weeks. My hubby sent his at the same time and he is at the next stage with the ombudsman. My loans were considerably more than his. I don’t understand how theyr doing these refunds, some people have received cheques after 6 months others have waited 2 years. Yet I can’t even get a response! Feel like giving up.
Karen says
Ok so today I finally had a response to my Provident complaint. However the ombudsman are asking for bank statements from 3 months prior to my lending and I cannot send them as I changed my account 4 months into my lending. What should I do?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
when was the start of your lending?
Karen says
February 2013 changed bank in the June
Karen says
February 2013 changed banks June 2013.
Marion Mullan says
Why cant i claim for loans i was forced to take out to repay loans in the 1990’s?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Because the Financial Ombudsman only has the legal power to look at consumer credit problems arising after April 2007.
Kat says
Wow Alison! You must be so relieved after all this time. That’s a fantastic result and again this gives me hope. Enjoy your cheque!
Louise says
Hi all, I received my cheque for just under 13k today so hang in there.
Thanks everyone for your support and good luck with your claims.
Dd says
When did they write to you with the amount? Mine was Monday this week and said the cheque will be within 14 says
Sarah Castleton says
Did they deduct income tax from the amount? Just checking to see if that’s normal as they have on the letter I’ve received.
Thanks
Sarah says
I have contacted provident with my complaint so fingers crossed thanks for advice
Michelle Ramsey says
Hi does anyone have the number for fos for provident plz x
Kat says
Hi Michelle, I don’t have a direct number for FOS complaints at Provident but if you call 0800 9166 421 and try and ask to speak to that department you may have some luck. I haven’t been able to get directly through to FOS yet, just told they have a backlog. Unless anyone else can suggest a better number/way? Good luck
Michelle Ramsey says
Thank you x
Julie says
Hello,
I first made a complaint against provident in December 2019. They came back with a final response in May 2020. Out of 8 loans, they only upheld 2 of them. I didn’t agree with their final response so I sent my complaint to the FOS. Provident sent me a cheque for the interest that I had paid on the 2 loans that they upheld. It states in their final response letter that if I cash the cheque then I would be accepting their final response. How can I word a letter stating that I should be allowed to cash the cheque because they have agreed that is what I’m owed but also go to the FOS for the remaining loans?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can’t really. It’s sneaky what they are doing but they are making you an offer to settle the whole complaint.
Paul says
Hello I have wrote on this site before just need some help adjudicatior up help my loan but only loan 11? So I asked for this to be looked at he now come back with the following:
When we look into complaints about short term lending we consider a large number of factors.
Our process is to see if the business did proportionate checks based on the information they were aware of, which includes any information you submitted (income, expense, loan amount) but also the history of borrowing that they are aware of.
Where loans have been sold on to third parties, the loan is no longer active on the business’s systems so this looks like a break in lending.
During my assessment I can only rely on the information I have to determine an outcome and whilst I believe that the business did not do the correct checks for loans 5, 9, 10 and 11. I could only say that loan 11 was unsustainable as I did not have the information to show that better checks at the time of loans 5,9 and 10 would have also shown these to be unaffordable.
If you are able to provide me with bank statements and credit reports from November 2012 and July 2017 – October 2017 then I can look into these to determine if they were unaffordable.
What does this mean and why do they need to see bank statements and credit file?
Some help would be good?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Bank statements and your credit record can provide extra information which will help show which loans were unaffordable. It’s pretty normal to be asked for these.
When in your lending was a loan sold to a debt collector?
Paul says
Ok brilliant thanks I will get that done. Is the adjudicatior saying I shouldn’t have been leant loans 5,9,10? I’m confused.
Well my loans we’re never sold to debt collectors they were just passed to provident collections department which I can’t work out ??
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well my loans we’re never sold to debt collectors they were just passed to provident collections department which I can’t work out ??
In that case you should go back and tell the adjudicator that it is not reasonable to treat debts in collections with provident as being a break from borrowing, as you were in debt to provident throughout the period.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The adjudicator is only saying at the moment that loan 11 should be refunded. But you supplying bank statements & objecting to their treating as loans with collections as being a break in borrowing will hopefully get more loans included.
If not, ask for the case to go to an Ombudsman as that argument about loans in collection s seems simply wrong to me.
Paul says
Ok brilliant thank you I will do that I have one small issue I have got my bank statements as asked but unfortunately at the time’s I was a student at uni so I was bringing in student loans and he wants to see my back statements for proof of what I warm but it looks like lots but these were student loans for attending uni and paying childcare how can I explain this to them what will they think
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You explain what is on your bank statements if you think they are confusing.
Simon says
Hi Sara
Just a quick update. I am now totally free from loans with Provident, Loans at home, Loans to go, Morse’s and have the ombudsman looking at Everyday loans who have been the most difficult to deal with.
It is like a new lease of life and I can’t thank you and this site enough for all the help and advice. I am sure there are many more people who have been in a similar situation to myself that owe you a great deal.
Many many thanks
Simon
Lisa b says
Excellent news Simon! How long did everyday loans take in the end? I’ve just sent mine off to the FOS
Simon Turner says
Hi Lisa,
It is still with the Ombudsman as they rejected the decision from the adjudicator.
Simon
Amanda Eilertsen says
Hi simon good news for you ..can I ask what you complaint was for with everyday loans .because I’m saying In my complaint that the interest is Extortionate but there are saying I signed tge agreement which I did and there said I could afford it .so don’t think I will get anywhere really ..honestly wish I thought about it before I signed it .cant believe how stupid I was .
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you won’t win a complaint that the interest was too high (unless they have calculated incorrectly – that’s very rare), instead you need to complain the loan was unaffordable for you.
Simon Turner says
Hi Amanda
I complained about the fact that they didn’t do the right affordability checks and that they chased me to top up after 6 payments.
Simon
Sarah Castleton says
We’ve just had a great result for our client, who will receive more than £6,000 from Provident following the complaint to FOS. I’m only curious that Provident have paid £320 to HMRC in income tax on her behalf and said she can claim it back if she’s not a taxpayer. They say it is an HMRC requirement. Is this the correct process? It creates yet more work for the advice service.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes this is normal. The R40 form is pretty easy to complete: https://debtcamel.co.uk/ppi-payday-refund-get-back-tax/
Sarah Castleton says
Thanks Sara
Sinead says
Hey guys
I put my complaint in last week & had a response today saying they have nothing matching my personal details even though I had numerous loans over many years. Unsure of next step… any help appreciated.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
do you have any details about the loans, do they show on your bank statements, emails, credit records?
Sinead says
Unfortunately I don’t, as they were a few years ago and back then didn’t have a bank account. My doorstep collector always filled in paperwork for me, so worried maybe a mistake in details. I had numerous loans over many years.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This may be hard if you have no proof at all about any of the loans.
Mike D says
Hi. I’m not sure this will help but i downloaded an app for a totally money credit report earlier this year. It’s free and it has a section that shows all your closed and settled accounts. TransUnion is the name of the CRA and is one of the main three recognised agencies. It showed me my Provident loans dating back to 2013 with the dates they were opened and settled. Hope you find the info you need.
Sinead says
That was my thinking too… thanks for your help.
Sarah says
I have evidence of loans other than the fact I’m paying Lowell’s for last 2 loans of them so surely this should prove to them with my id details that I’ve had loans
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Lowell’s have two of your provident loans? Yes that should do as evidence!
Tell Lowell you would like a copy of the CCA agreement for both loans. Use this template letter to ask lowells, you have to send a 31 cheque or postal order with each request. They should send you a copy of the legal agreement between you and Provident, you can then send that to provident as proof.
David says
You’d be best requesting a dsars, they’ll send you over all information they have on their records.