Have you had a catalogue, credit card or store card where your credit limit was too high? So high that the monthly repayments were hard to manage and you got into more debt?
Many people were originally given an OK limit, but the lender kept increasing it too high.
You may have a good complaint that the lender was irresponsible in allowing you to borrow so much that the debt was unaffordable.
This article explains how to complain and ask for a refund of the interest you have paid.
Contents
What is “affordable”?
The regulator’s rules
You may have made every payment on time, but the debt is still unaffordable.
The following is my summary of the regulator’s rules:
- a lender must check if credit is affordable when you apply for it. A mortgage lender will ask for bank statements, but a catalogue offering a £400 credit limit doesn’t have to go into so much detail;
- a lender should also make checks before increasing a credit limit;
- credit isn’t affordable if paying it leaves you short of money for your bills, normal expenses, and your other debts;
- if you have to borrow more most months, this would not be affordable;
- you must be able to repay the balance within a reasonable period. Paying the minimum amount is OK for a while, but not for a long time.
Good reasons to complain
If the lender could see any of these on your credit record, they should probably have declined your original application:
- recent credit record problems: defaults, missed payments, or arrangements to pay, mortgage arrears, payday loans;
- you already had a different credit card with the same lender where you were only making minimum payments;
- other credit cards where you were near your limit and persistent overdraft usage. Here is an Ombudsman decision saying Zopa should not have given quite a low initial limit in this situation;
- a level of borrowing that looks too high in relation to your income.
Your credit limit should not later have been increased unless you could afford it. In addition to the points above, the following should have also warned the lender you were in difficulty already:
- making minimum payments for a long while;
- making a minimum repayment but then using the card to pay for food or petrol so the balance never drops;
- using a lot of your limit for a long period;
- significant gambling the lender was aware of (this could be gambling on your bank statement if the credit card lender was from the same bank);
- recent missed payments or an arrangement to pay on this account or any others on your credit record;
- your overall level of debt on your credit record has increased.
When your lender increased your credit limit, you don’t need the exact dates before you start a complaint, my template asks for the details.
How to complain
The email address to use
The best way to complain is by email. It’s free, instant and you have a record of what you sent and when.
Here is a list of credit card and catalogue email addresses to use for the banks and major lenders.
Template to use
I’ve invented some examples so you can see how a complaint should read. Change/delete the bits in italics to tell your story.
I want to complain about irresponsible lending for my Barclaycard account number 987654/444.
My date of birth is dd/mm/yy. The email address I used for this account was myaddress@whatever.com.
Then say they should never have given you the account:
You should never have allowed me to open an account with such a large credit limit. When I applied in 2018, you should have checked my credit record and would have seen I had recent missed payments to a credit card and a default only two months before on a loan.
AND/OR say that they should not have increased your credit limit:
You should never have increased my credit limit in 2021. At that time I had only made minimum payments on this credit card for a long while and/or I was using a very high level of my credit limit.
If you had properly checked my credit record before increasing my limit, you would have seen that in the two years since my account with you was opened, I had got additional late payment markers and defaults and/or taken out a lot of other credit. This should have warned you I was struggling with my finances and it was not responsible to lend more. By increasing my credit limit you made my financial position worse. Instead you should have offered me forbearance by freezing the interest on the card.
I do not know the exact months of these credit limit increases. In your reply to this complaint, please tell me the dates and amounts.
If the lender should already have known you had problems with your account, mention these
You should also have realised that I was having difficulty because:
of the late payment charges you added to my account
I had missed two payments to you the year before in 2017
I had already asked you on the phone if it was possible to stop adding interest for a while.
End with asking for a refund:
I would like you to refund me all the interest I paid and any late payment charges from the point the account was opened
OR
I would like you to refund me all the interest I paid and any late payment charges after you increased my credit limit in 2021.
I would also like any late payment and default markers to be removed from credit records after this point.
Think about these points before complaining
Timing
These complaints can be made if your account is still open, or if it is closed and settled, or if it is with a debt collector (NB the complaint goes to the original lender, not the debt collector.)
You can complain if you already have a CCJ for the debt. Add a sentence to the template saying you want the CCJ removed as part of the settlement of your complaint.
If you have had an IVA or bankruptcy after these problems, or if you are still in a DRO, then ask in the comments below, as this can be complicated.
Old accounts
The Financial Ombudsman (FOS) can only go back to April 2007, when the law changed to allow these complaints.
Many lenders will reject complaints about something that was more than six years ago and say the ombudsman won’t look at them. But FOS will often look at these “old” accounts if they have still been open within the last six years, although you may have problems producing bank statements or other evidence from a long while ago to show that a limit was unaffordable.
If your account was opened in 2015 but the lender increased your limit in the last six years, then those limit increases can definitely be looked at. And you can always get bank statements going back six years even from closed bank accounts.
A better approach for old defaulted accounts?
If your account was opened a long while ago and you defaulted and still owe a balance, perhaps in a DMP, think about asking the debt collector to produce the Consumer Credit Act agreement for the account.
If the current creditor can’t produce a proper copy of the agreement, the debt cannot be enforced in court and you can simply stop paying anything to it. This applies to all credit cards, store cards and catalogues.
It may be that the balance on the account is larger than any refund you might get. In which case if the CCA agreement cannot be produced, you would be better off.
Is a refund what you really need?
This depends how large your current financial problems are.
Complaining about newish debt will often only get the interest removed – you still have to repay what you borrowed. Don’t spend months arguing with lenders and going to the ombudsman if you will still be in a mess even if you win.
So phone National Debtline on 0808 808 4000, tell them you are thinking about affordability complaints but you would like to know what your other debt options are.
Poor reasons to complain
You can’t complain just because the interest rate was high or because you have paid them a fortune over the years.
A poor credit score on its own isn’t a reason why you shouldn’t have been given an account. But if your credit score was poor because you were having a lot of problems with your existing debt, the account should have been refused.
You won’t win an affordability complaint if something unexpected went wrong later in your life. If you had been managing a credit card fine for years but then you lost your job or separated from your partner, this isn’t the lender’s fault. here you may still need help to get interest stopped on the cards – talk to StepChange or National Debtline.
Don’t be put off by a rejection or a poor offer
Lenders often reject good cases
If a lender rejects your complaint or offers a low “goodwill” gesture, don’t be fobbed off – they want you to give up.
Here are some bad or irrelevant comments lenders sometimes make when rejecting a complaint:
- you had made all the payments to them on time – that doesn’t mean you could manage a higher limit;
- the account was opened over 6 years ago – if it was open in the last 6 years the Ombudsman may look at it;
- you could have rejected the limit increase – they still shouldn’t have offered it if it was unaffordable.
You know if this car or catalogue has caused you difficulty – it’s easy to send a case to the ombudsman. Don’t delay doing this!
How to send a case to FOS
Send FOS a complaint using their online form. You can use bits of what you put in your complaint to the lender. If the lender has rejected your complaint or given a poor offer, say why you think this wrong.
The FOS form at the end asks you to add supporting documents. Don’t worry if you don’t have A copy of your credit or finance agreement – lots of people don’t. The lender will supply a copy to FOS if FOS asks for it. Don’t delay sending a complaint to FOS while you try to get this from the lender.
If your credit record shows that you had other debt problems, send FOS a copy of it. If you have kept someold credit reports, send the oldest one you have, otherwise send the current one. Also get your bank statements if they will support your complaint and send those to FOS too.
FOS is a friendly service but not fast. Just use normal English, not legal terms. Using a claims company or a solicitor doesn’t help or speed this up.
Ask questions below!
There are hundreds of comments from readers who are using this template. It’s a good place to see how these complaints often go and to ask any questions.
FAQs about Affordability claims
Can you get an overdraft refund?
Could a Debt Relief Order help you?
Ruth says
I have received a letter from a debt management company for a shop direct account. I have not had a catalogue account for over 10 years. They are saying I need to contact them to make arrangements to repay this account (£1247) I am not even sure what shop direct account this refers to. How do I deal with this as I would assume it’s statute barred after all this time?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send them a Prove It letter https://debtcamel.co.uk/prove-it/
KH says
Hi, for those who have had Vanquis agree with the FOS Investigator and where the debt has been sold to a third party ….how long has it taken for Vanquis to contact you and then to receive the refund?
Amy says
If I have a Barclay card and Barclays overdraft, would I need to make two separate complaints? If so is it best to do one , wait for the outcome and then the other?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you make two separate complaints -the Ombudsman has separate teams for different types of debt.
You can add a sentence to the standard template to cross refer eg (making this up totally just as an example) “After you gave me a loan in 2021 (I am making a separate complaint about that), my overdraft situation became even worse.”
Make them both now, there is no reason to delay at all.
Catrin says
Hello! did you make your complaint in the end? Curious to know the outcome – I also need to make two separate complaints. Have done the credit card, but wanted to see the outcome of that before I did one for my overdraft.
Jacob says
What is a general % of income that would be too high, therefore making it irresponsible lending? I owe ~£22k from credit cards and was on £32-35k at the time of receiving cards with these limits.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
There is no general percentage. Obviously if you were living at home you would be able to afford more than if you were renting in an expensive area.
So did the cards cause you problems, have you only been paying the minimum and using them for essentials?
Did any of the cards increase your limit while you were only making minimum payments? Or did any of them give you a very large limit at the start?
Were any of the originally 0% balance transfers which you now may interest on?
Jacob says
Yes, I’ve only been paying the minimum and paying essentials. They had a large limit to begin with, they were all 0% balance transfers which now have interest. I had one initially and over time had to get more. As far as I recall, there was no query to me about if I had others that I was only making minimum payments on.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“As far as I recall, there was no query to me about if I had others that I was only making minimum payments on.”
A card lender doesn’t need to ask, they can see from your credit record.
I suggest you add this bit to the standard template as they were 0% balance transfers with a large limit. NB its only worth complaining if you ended up paying interest, not transferring the balance before then:
““You failed to set my [initial limit] limit in accordance with the FCAs CONC 5.2A.27 which says you should assume that the borrower draws down the whole limit very quickly and that they have to be able to repay that amount in a reasonable time. It should have been clear to you that I would be unable to clear it during the 0% period and would struggle when interest was added at the end. I would like a refund of the 0% balance transfer fee I was charged and all the interest you have added since.”
Jacob Lowe says
Thanks, will do. I’ve entered a debt management plan, would taking this action effect this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is this with Stepchange?
Jacob Lowe says
Yes. They weren’t able to advise.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That’s fine, making these complaints with a StepChange DMP won’t hurt the DMP and if you win any it will speed the DMP up
Marie says
My debt to income ratio is around 80%
Am I likely to be successful if I complain about the creditors that gave me credit increases and new credit cards which increased this %, hence becoming unable to sustainably live without the continued use of my credit cards ??
Marie says
Also thought, I was on maternity leave so my pay was variable in 2015/16, so should this have been taken in to consideration during that particular period?
I was given limit increases whilst only paying the minimum, although I had done some balance transfers between cards. Infact the very fact that they were offering me 0% transfers probably didn’t help as it led me in to a false sense, because when the apr increases it becomes so difficult to keep up!
Should I create a time line of my credit, limits and when they were given to me??
And yes, I have been using credit cards for some time now to buy essentials such as the food shops and petrol
Sara (Debt Camel) says
a time line of when the cards were given and when they increased your limits can be very helpful for you to see the full picture.
It may be some of the earlier events in the time line were affordable, but any card giving you a large initial limit should probably be complained about.
The regulator’s rules (CONC 5.2a.27) say that a lender when setting a limit or increasing it should assume you will used the full limit very quickly and that you then have to be able to repay this in a reasonable period. Reasonable is not defined, but making the minimum payments for a long while is NOT reasonable, so the Ombudsmn is more likely to think that 5 or 6 years would be a reasonable time.
Marie says
Yes I was only paying minimum. The earlier cards were lower limits but some were rapidly increased. In 2020 I was given a limit of £8500 on and new card, which was increased to 12,000, and then another new card in 2022 with a limit of £16,000. A card I had since 2014 was also increased to £16,000 in 2024.
Also thought, I was on maternity leave so my pay was variable in 2015/16, so should this have been taken in to consideration during that particular period?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“The earlier cards were lower limits but some were rapidly increased”
so your complaint there is probably that theinital limit was Ok but it shouldn’t have been increased
“In 2020 I was given a limit of £8500 on and new card, which was increased to 12,000, and then another new card in 2022 with a limit of £16,000. “
Here you are complaining that the initial limits were two high. Add to your complaint about the other cards you had at the point you applied if you were only paying the minimum to them.
And also add a sentence to each complaint saying:
if the card was originally a 0% balance transfer: “The regulator’s rules (CONC 5.2a.27) say that a lender when setting a limit or increasing it should assume I will used the full limit very quickly and check that I am likely to be able to repay this in a reasonable period. There is no chance that I could have repaid [8,500] before the 0% period ended except by borrowing again, and once these 0% ended the interest meant it would have been clear I could not repay it in a reasonable time.”
if the card was not a 0% balance transfer: “The regulator’s rules (CONC 5.2a.27) say that a lender when setting a limit or increasing it should assume I will used the full limit very quickly and check that I am likely to be able to repay this in a reasonable period. There is no chance that I could have repaid [8,500] in a reasonable time given the interest being added and this should have been clear.”
Marie says
Thank you! I already submitted complaints a couple of days ago and have missed being able to add these sentences! Barclays have actually messaged me today asking if I can speak to a complaints handler tomorrow- is that normal?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes banks sometimes do this. Its not good or bad news, it seems random.
Ellie says
What about loans with high % interest that are secured loans? Could it harm my house if I complain?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I have no experience of seeing these affordability arguments used on secured loan. But if you carry on paying the loan I cannot see how your house cpould be at risk.
Becky says
I have numerous cards which started off as 0% balance transfers. These are now being charged interest. From my knowledge I haven’t had any limit increases. I have had missed payments and been paying the bare minimum. Barclays even lowered my minimum payment and how they worked out the minimum payment. By doing this will this effect credit rating etc or have an adverse effect as due to remortgage soon.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how long ago were these accounts opened? Were the original limits high?
Who is your mortgage lender?
Lauren says
Hi
Would this also work on credit cards I have opened as I have applied for balance transfers?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes if you are now paying interest. See my reply today to Jade below this.
If you aren’t yet paying interest, then there is nothing to be refunded.
Jade says
Hi Sara,
I’ve just had a response from one of my credit card who I complained to. For context, I took this card out on a 0% interest to pay off other credit card debt (I had 3 other cards at the time, all maxed out). The balance was £5000, it didn’t clear my other balances, just the majority, so I wasn’t able to close the other cards once paid, because they weren’t fully paid off. I then ended up in worse debt and had to take out more cards further down the line.
They’ve responded to the complaint with ‘the account at opening wasn’t unaffordable and more your change in circumstances that has caused the account to no longer be affordable’. By being allowed to open another credit card whilst already in debt and only making minimum payments on all my other cards has put me into an even worse position than what I was when I opened that account. Is this one worth escalating to the financial ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
who is the lender?
yes I think this is worth sending to FOS. One point to make to FOS is
“[X] failed to set my initial limit and increased limits in accordance with the FCAs CONC 5.2A.27 which says they should assume that the borrower draws down the whole limit very quickly and that they have to be able to repay that amount in a reasonable time. It should have been clear from my other maxed out cards I was only making minimum payments to when I took this from X that I would not be in a position to clear the 5000 before the 0% deal ended and that when interest was added after that, I would not be able to clear the balance in a reasonable time.”
Jade says
The lender is MBNA, I have had the card with them for 2+ years, the only time they ever decreased it was when I was late making one payment (long after the 0% had ended) and it was by a few hundred pounds, they have never made any other decreases even though I got half way through clearing it completely (by taking out other cards)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
send this to the Ombudsman
Andrew says
Can complaints only be made about affordability when an account was opened or when the credit limit was increased? My dad is currently 3 years in to a DMP after I found he had £70,000 of credit card debt and was £9500 overdrawn, given he was forced to retire in 2005 due to a stroke and his income is ~£20,000/year with no ability to increase that income, it seems inappropriate for him to have had so much credit available to him, but then all of the accounts were opened before 2005. I’ve just made a complaint about the overdraft but was wondering if it was worth complaining about the credit cards too.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How much is he paying to the DMP a month? Who is it with & is it affordable?
how many of his debts have been sold to debt collectors?
Does he own his house mortgage free?
Were his limits ever reduced after 2005 – he can argue this is a point his account should have been reassessed to a lot less.
Did he really not take out any new credit – loans, cards, car finance, after 2005?
In theory as the account were still open in the last 6 years the Ombudsman can go back further than 6 years. But there will likely be little of no evidence about anything a lot way back. Unless he has kept all his bank statements and credit cards statements?
He will always be able to go back at least 6 years for an overdraft though.
Andrew says
He’s currently paying about £700/month via stepchange, its just about affordable but it has another 6 years to go by which time he’ll be in his 80s.
I think 3 of the 10 debts he has have been sold to debt collectors, the rest with original lenders still.
He does own his own home.
As for whether the limits were reduced, I suppose its possible but I’m not really sure how to find that out. He had no new credit that I’m aware of after 2005, most of the accounts were opened between 2002-2004 bar one credit card opened in 1985. I’m wondering if they are old enough to make CCA requests worthwhile?
I suppose I’ll have to take a look through the piles of unorganised paperwork he has!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think asking for the CCA from all the current creditors, debt collectors or original lenders, sounds a good move.
K says
Shop Direct (Littlewoods and Very) have agreed with the Investigator to refund all Interest and charges since 2016. Others who have dealt with Very, do they contact you by letter or email? And how long have you waited for your settlement to be completed?
Natalie says
I have also just had my complaint upheld by the FOS regarding (shop direct Very) going back to 2010, so it was over 6 years, but I have heard they are referring complaints to the Ombudsman then they are put on hold.
We are still waiting for Very to reply as to whether they agree or not with the Investigator.
Sara can you advise on this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Very can’t be rejecting all investigator decisions or all invoke d”over 6 years” as K’s comment shows.
If they reject, I suggest you ask the investigator why
K says
In my case, Very agreed with the investigator a week after they upheld my complaint and the funds were refunded 2 days later. It was a quick turnaround – whereas Vanquis I am still waiting for refund 6 weeks later!
Antonia says
Please may I ask how long this complaint took?
Philip says
Hello, I haven’t taken been contacted by MBNA to say that they are terminating my credit agreement as I am now in DMP with Stepchange and therefore have not made payments. They have said that I owe the outstanding balance and that if I do not pay then they will refer to a debt collection agency and I might get taken to court. In December I complained to MBNA about affordability. They upheld my complaint and paid me a £1500 refund. They stated that this would not affect my credit record as they accepted responsibility? Should I call them and explain this or are these processes normal?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I haven’t taken been contacted by MBNA to say that they are terminating my credit agreement as I am now in DMP with Stepchange and therefore have not made payments
that is a typo and you meant to say you HAVE been contacted by MBNA?
Philip says
Sorry yes that’s a typo. I have been contacted
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you have been sent a standard “letter when a customer has started a DMP” letter,
Jen says
Hi Sara,
I had 2 credit cards with Halifax and 1 with Lloyds. None were affordable with my other debts and I’m finally paying all 3 off with 2 large balance transfer cards. I had a small self employed income (around £500 p/m) plus other credit card debts and overdraft when I was given these. Hfax increased my original card limit in April 2019 & gave me a new balance transfer card in 2019 but I didn’t manage to clear this so aquired even more debt. Same with Lloyds, balance transfer card in 2019 I couldn’t afford. My question is, is it worth complaining about any or all of these cards? I’ve had a successful complaint for my HSBC overdraft and both Tesco credit card. And do I put the Halifax complaint separately to Lloyds?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think its worth complaining about these. You know they were unaffordable and you now have a good feel for how complaints can work.
lloyds/Halifax have the same complaint email so I would send a combined complaint about all three
Sally says
Hello. I’m just curious how much time has for example big high street bank to settle final decision from ombudsman. For example ombudsman ordered that bank have to settle it directly with me, pay refund of interest and lower the credit card limit. Weeks are passing and I have not heard from the bank. Is it common? How many days or weeks is it reasonable to wait for response from bank. (Ombudsman has finished his investigation – just to make it clear)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is this a decision from an investigator/adjudicator or a final decision from an Ombudsman?
Sally says
, Thank you for your communication. *** bank have said once the case was closed, they would refund charges applied to the credit card account and will reduce the credit limit by the amount of the settlement.’ So investigator was communicating with me via email, then asked me if I agree, I said yes so he said his job has finished and bank should settle complaint directly with me.
So You are saying that there is still someone above investigator?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This sounds like an investigator decision that the bank has accepted. If it has been 28 days, go back to the investigator and say you haven’t heard from the bank
Sally says
It was just a week after the decision. Maybe im just being impatient. However after another email, investigator respond to me today showing what ***bank reply:
“Dear *** (investigator)
Apologies for the delay, an offshore team had to arrange the calculations to include the interest that would have been applied to the monthly interest.
I have asked our credit card team to process the refund urgently.”
Claire says
I used this template with Barclaycard and got all my interest refunded, as well as the credit card removed from my credit file and I now only have to pay the card off with 0% interest. My balance is £5,900 and I’ve worked out if I continued to pay off £200 per month, it would have taken me 117 months. Now after using this template and Barclays upholding my complaint, as well as the interest refund of £560.82, it will only take me 26 months. I’ve worked out this will have saved me £18,132 in interest. In shock and so grateful for this template and Debt Camel’s resources.
Marie says
I recently complained to Barclays re my Barclaycard and irresponsible lending. They have replied really quickly but only partially upholding my complaint.
I opened the credit card act with them in 2014. The limits were increased in 2015, twice in 2016, then in 2017, 2022 and 2024.
In their response, that have said that the increases up to 2017 are out of timeframe, and they can only uphold my complaint from when the limit was increased in 2022.
They have refunded interest but only interest on balances over the 2017 limit.
Should I take this to the FOS ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what was the 2017 limit and what was it later increased to?
how bad was your situation in 2022, were your other debts increasing, were you only making minimum payments, any other problems?
How much have they offered you?
do you have bank statements going back earlier than 2019?
Marie says
Initial limit in Jan 2014 £2500
Oct 2015 increased to £4000
May 2016 increased to £7000
Sept 2016 increased to £10,000
May 2017 increased to £13,000
May 2022 increased to £14,000
April 2024 increased to £16,500
Yes minimum payments and yes other credit cards/debt which would have been visible.
They say in the letter I am out of timeframe for the increases between 2015 and 2022 and they have quoted they cannot considering brought to them more than 6 years after an event or 3 years after claimant became aware there was a possible complaint.
They have refunded me £191 which they say is the interest since 2022 on the balance above the £13,000.
They have added all the info re the FOS but have also said I can go back to them if I feel they have missed anything or if there is anything else I would like to add.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
do you have bank statements going back earlier than 2019 or can you get them?
Marie says
I have access to my normal bank accounts from 2018 via online banking. I could possibly request further?
I was wondering whether to reply to Barclays and say I’ve only just become aware that I could complain. She has asked if there is anything else I would like her to consider??
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It will help going to FOS if you can get older statements. Barclaycard are unlikely to change their mind.
But even if you can’t, you can go to FOS and argue that in 2022 Barclaycard should have seen that you could not sustainably repay a limit of 13,000 so at that point they should have stopped charging you interest and you should get a full refund from then, which would be a lot more.
Marie says
Thank you! I will pop an email back to Barclays just in case, but will otherwise refer to FOS
Marie says
Do you mean a full refund of all the balance above the 13,000 or just the interest? They are already saying the interest from then is the £191
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I mean that all the interest you were charged after May 2022 should be refunded. At the moment they are saying 13,000 was find so you are only get a refund when your balance was higher, sonif one month your balance was 14,000, you would be charged interest on the 13,000 and refunded the interest on the extra 1,000,
Richard says
Hi I am doing a complaint with marbles about affordability and they did not uphold it so I have sent to the ombudsman. When reviewing the statements from the time, it seems I have embellished my actual earnings at the time I applied for credit, is this going to get me into trouble as I have basically lied. At the time I was in an abusive relationship and was desperate – I know it’s not an excuse but that was the situation. Should I be honest because I got a credit card with no job this was a long time ago 2016
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How large a limit did Marbles give you? Did you have any other Newday cards at that time eg Aqua?
Richard says
Marbles gave me 1k limit and I only paid the minimum over 8 years and ended up on 4.5k limit. Not massive limits but only paid minimums for all those years. I had 4 other new day cards not aqua but store cards between 2020 and 2022 and all I have complaints looking at too they were small limits but increased as well paying minimums.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK so tell the Ombudsman about your abusive relationship, when it comes to later increases, Marbles should have seen that yoy were on;y making the minimum payments and should to have upped your limit so high
Louisa says
Hi Sarah,
I sent off an affordability complaint to Shop Direct last January with your very helpful advice and I have just received an email from FOS investigator upholding my complaint! But I just have a few questions.
She said that she found Shop Direct acted unfairly since the opening of my Very account in August 2014 and Littlewoods account in February 2016. Throughout this period they increased my limits several times. However she has said that because I didn’t complain sooner she doesn’t think it’s reasonable for Shop Direct to refund all interest from 2015 but from January 2018 6 years prior to when I put in an affordability complaint. She requested copy’s of my bank statements from May 2014 and came to this decision with evidence of my income and credit report. She has given Shop Direct two weeks to respond.
I’m just wondering where I stand with this. Am I able get around this 6 year time block? As there is evidence that they acted unfairly, which she has upheld since inception? Would transferring this to Ombudsman change this? I obviously need to wait for Shop Direct to respond anyway but just thinking in advance as it seems unfair that I have paid so much interest and they acted unfairly from the beginning!
Also could sending Ombudsman change the decision? Could they decide to not uphold my complaint at all?
Just wondering where I stand with this :)
Thank you so much!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
had the investigator previously asked you questions about when you realised the account was causing you difficulty? what did you reply?
Louisa says
These were the responses I gave her.
When did you become aware catalogue accounts were causing you financial difficulties?
I knew I wasn’t managing money well a long while ago, as I was getting into arrears and later got persistent debt emails and then I defaulted in 2019. But I thought it was my responsibility as I had used the Very and Littlewoods accounts too much and only made minimum payments as that was all I could afford.
Aware of financial difficulties could have been because of Shop Direct?
I learnt about affordability complaints in January 2024. Discovering on Instagram that a lender should have made sure that a limit was affordable and the balance would be repaid in a reasonable time. By the time the Littlewoods account was opened, they had increased my limit several times and I had never paid more than the minimum. At the time I was just happy to have another account but it’s now clear with hindsight that the Very account was already unaffordable and the Littlewoods account made everything worse.
What made you aware?
Finding out about affordability complaints. Until then I thought it was my fault for not being good with money.
4. Are exceptional circumstances?
No. I just didn’t know that I could and complained as soon as I did.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think it’s HIGHLY unlikely the Ombudsman would say you should get nothing.
What happened after 2019? Did you ever take debt advice? Were the debts sold to a debt collector?
Suzanna says
Hello, Myself and my partner recently made a couple of affordability complaints to credit card and store card providers. These were not upheld by the creditors and send to FOS for investigation. FOS has upheld our complain to Natwest as well fort eh overdraft charges and ordered NW to repay interest etc. This was about two months ago and we haven’t heard back from either FOS or Natwest. At around the same time FOS has ordered Vanquis to repay the credit card charges for irresponsible lending. Again we have not heard regarding any money being repaid. Does this normally take so long for the money to be returned? Also we have complained to FoS regarding a Jacomo credit that was raised a number of times over the years and no affordability checks were done. However FoS did not upheld this complaint. All three of the complaints were for the same period of time (more than 6 years ago) and it is odd that two out of three complaints were upheld and not the third one. We have time till 16th of Feb to go back to the investigator of the Jacamo compalint. Can we argue his decision to say that other two complaints were upheld and were all pretty much the same situations? Also the other two investigators were asking a lot of questions so during the investigation and he only contacted us once or twice with a couple of standard questions. So I am not sure that he investigated it thoroughly, to be honest. Is there anything we can do now that he made his decision?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Taking these separately
Natwest – I assume this is an investigator/adjudicator decision? Has NatWest accepted it?
Vanquis – same question as Natwest
Jacomo – what did you say in response to the couple of standard questions?
Suzanna says
Hi Sara, thank you for getting back to me. With regards to the Natwest and Vanquis – thet have accepted it as far as we know or did not decline it that makes sense.. For both it was the investigator decision and they (investigators from both cases) have informed us that the companies should sort out the payment directly with us. We have just heard today from one of the investigators, after chasing up that Natwest has received a large number of complaints and that redress is being delayed. With regards to Jacamo the questions were regarding why haven’t we complained sooner and when did we realise that Jacamo was in the wrong – the same questions we received for the other two complaints. We got back saying that we were not aware of the possibility of complaining until we were made aware of it via online article – which is the truth. We are not from the UK and the consumer rights are different in our country and affordability complaints are not possible where we are from.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
re Natwest – ask the investigator to confirm that Natwest will be paying this and that they haven’t changed their mind and want it to go to an ombudsman.
Tell the Vanquis investigator that you haven’t been paid.
Jacomo – I know it’s hard to think back to what you thought over 6 years ago, but at that did it occur to you taht Jacomo were to blame, of did you think your financial difficulties were your fault for borrowing too much?
Suzanna says
For the Jacamo, it didn’t occur to us that to be honest. They were increasing the credit without us requesting it every couple of months until it became unmanageable. Looking back perhaps it would be easy to judge and say that we shouldn’t have used the credit but being in a difficult financial situation already at the time it was often only means of being able to afford necessary things.
H says
I have had investigator decision where they have rejected my complaint. However, in the breakdown my income is not accurate at all. Where does the ombudsman obtain these figures?? I have never had an income higher that £3000 as they have stated.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Go back and say this and ask where the number came from
Have you supplied bank statements?
What was your income roughly?
H says
I have not supplied any bank statements
Sara (Debt Camel) says
send them now!
H says
‘In January 2022, NewDay increased your limit to £4,500. The credit check carried out at the time of the increase shows you had a net monthly income of around £3,299’
Looking at my bank account, my salary for this month was £1573, my partner also transferred me his half of the bills £220 (but I had deducted this from my stated living expenses).
I also moved money from my savings account to my current account £675, this was my student loan. It looks as though the have used both the payment of the student loan to my savings as income, but also the moving it to
Aaron says
Just wanted to leave you a message to say i cant thank you enough for your help and advice.
I suffered with a gambling problem for years which spiralled getting myself into more debt over the years. I have used your templates to send off emails to all lenders and i have had the first response back today from 118118 refunding me a total of £999. 07 for all the interest i had paid with my credit card whilst i was with them!
Thanks again, and hopefully i will be receiving some more good news shortly from other lenders!
R says
Is it normal for a lender to only refund interest on the portion above the unaffordable credit limit increase, rather than the whole balance? I sometimes paid the full balance with help from friends/family, so I expected all interest refunded.
This is what the investigator said:
“Santander shouldn’t have increased the limit above £4,100, so it’s unfair to charge interest/fees on balances above that. But as the money was spent, it should be repaid. Santander should remove all interest, fees, and charges above £4,100 from Oct 2017. If this results in a credit balance, it should be refunded with 8% interest. If a balance remains, an affordable repayment plan should be arranged. Any adverse info after Oct 2017 should be removed. If the debt was sold, Santander should ensure this redress is carried out.”
**Should I push for full interest removal?**
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How large were your other debts in Oct 17?
And did you have gambling showing on the card statements? Or your bank statements?
From your overdraft complaint, you weren’t using the overdraft heavily at that point
R says
I had very large debts in October 2017 from other lenders too.
My overdraft of which was with the same bank was maded out at £5k.
The credit card showed no gambling transactions but the bank account would have showed numberous gambling transactions and on the overdraft complaint i was using it heavily to rely in gambling.
I did receive a responce today from the investigator as to why the interest would nit be refunded on the whole amount and there response is below…
I understand what you’ve said however, at the financial ombudsman service when reviewing complaints regarding irresponsible lending there’s a set of guidelines we have to adhere to when asking a business to put things right.
In this case, because I’ve only upheld the last limit increase, I’m only able to ask Santander to put the account back in the position it would have been had the last limit increase not occurred, which would mean removing all interest, fees, charges, and insurances that have been applied to balances above £4,100 after October 2017.
I’m unable to ask Santander to do anything beyond what I’ve already put forward in my view.
At this moment, Santander are yet to accept my findings and have maintained that the case is still out of our jurisdiction, so I’m currently in the process of discussing this with them.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I’m unable to ask Santander to do anything beyond what I’ve already put forward in my view.
Well that isn’t correct. The Investigator could choose to offer a full refund from that point, they just think a partial refund is the right result
So go back to the investigator and say
“I feel that my situation in 2017 was so bad that Santander should have realised when the account was reviewed for a limit increase that I had a significant amount of gambling showing on my bank statements with them and that £4,100 was already too high for me to be able to repay in a sustainable fashion. So they should have offered help not a limit increase. And so I should get a full refund from that point, not a partial one.
If Santander accept your proposal, I would like this to go to an Ombudsman. And if Santander reject it, please pass this on the Ombudsman as I too do not accept your decision.”
R says
Hi Sara, the investigater has said the following, what does this mean? Surely they should not have looked at the case if the below was to be considered.
The ombudsman are currently under judicial review and Santander are disagreeing with this approach. Santander have stated that after the judicial review is settled and the courts deem that our service’s application of S140A is
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So the Ombudsman has progressed your complaint as far as it can at the moment. Would you have preferred them to put it on ice earlier? The ombudsman wins most cases of judicial review, it can’t halt doing anything while they go through.
Alice says
Hi,
I have submitted an irresponsible lending complaint to MBNA regarding my credit card. They have written back requesting a lot of information. 7 bullet points! I’ll list below- please let me know your thoughts on how I should respond and if this is normal. (I recently complained to Barclays and they didn’t ask for anything!)
• A testimony of my version of events to understand why I’m raising the complaint and has there been a change in my circumstances
• 3 months bank statements from before the card account was opened.
• 3 months bank statements prior to all credit limit increases
• statements from any other external accounts used for income including savings
• verification of income via payslips
• Credit file information from point of lending which shows existing lending and affordability
• evidence of other debt information including any ccj/default
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This sounds like the standard response they send out, without having read what you wrote.
Who was your bank at this time?
Alice says
My bank was NatWest.
I’ve since received the same letter from other creditors I’ve complained too. Do I need to reply or should I just wait for their outcome first? Surely it was their job to check these things at point of pending!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
when was the account opened?
Alice says
The MBNA account was opened in 2021
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok so its easy to get bank statements going back to 3 months before the account was opened. You can get these even from close accounts. I suggest you do this now, as the ombudsman will want to see them if MBNA rejects your complaint or makes a poor offer.
It’s up to you if you want to send the bank statements to MBNA. Sending them may mean MBNA makes a better decision of your complaint, or they may just be asking to make this all seem difficult!
If you want to send them, I suggest you reply saying “I have already set out my reason for making a complaint in my initial email I will get my bank statements and send them to you, these will also show my pay. As my lender, you can check my credit records yourself and those will show my other debts. I look forward to receiving a suitable offer to my complaint.”
If you don’t want to send them, I suggest you reply: “I have already set out my reason for making a complaint in my initial email. I don’t have those bank statements to hand but I will supply them to the ombudsman if they are required then. As my lender, you can check my credit records yourself and those will show my other debts. I look forward to receiving a suitable offer to my complaint.”
EMMA says
Here is a bit of my story
I took out a Barclays partner finance for a phone in 2022. I was repaying monthly and some months I had to pay twice because I wasn’t working at the time to reduce my balance. So the month I couldn’t pay they kept ringing me saying I missed my payment so I told them I could pay since I already paid twice in one month. They kept threatening to report me to Credit bureau which will after my credit score. They ended up leaving a CCJ on my credit file. I was able to clear my loan in 2024.
Now how do I complain that it was unjust by leaving a CCJ on my credit file as I want it removed
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what date was the CCJ?
EMMA says
11th April 2024
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is very recent.
You haven’t said you didn’t receive the court papers, so it is going to be hard to challenge this as you should have defended the court claim that led to the CCJ.
Phone National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 and ask if there is anything you can do.
I will move this post to https://debtcamel.co.uk/help-ccj/ in a few days as that is a more relevant page
Rae says
I used the template for my American Express card and I received an £8k refund (credit applied to my account) for interest paid over 7 years. I cannot recommend using the templates and advice from Debt Camel enough. The process was easy and quick and I did not expect any result let alone this one.
Antonia says
Amazing. May I ask how long the process took and did you go via FOS
Dani says
Hi,
I submitted a complaint to Aqua / new day using your template and they have rejected this and also closed my account with immediate effect (there is still a balance to repay which they will continue to charge interest on). Can they close the account just because I’ve made a complaint, and will this affect my credit report?
They rejected because I:
“ Didn’t incur any overlimit or late payment fees, Hadn’t missed any repayments on any other lending products, Didn’t miss any repayments on your account. Prior to each increase, we sent you a letter that notified of the increase and allowed up to 40 days to opt out of the increase.
I can’t see that your client contacted us to opt out of any of the credit limits or raise concerns regarding
affordability.”
Would it be reasonable to go to FOS as this doesn’t show that I could afford further debt? There’s a pattern of increases being offered when my balance was near the max limit. From £1200 to £8000 in 2 years. And if they’d looked at my credit report, they will have seen over these years I’d opened 4 more cards to try and shift the debt away from Aqua and had a loan and car finance. And they seem to acknowledge that the current limit is not affordable as they’ve closed the account?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They cant make you repay the balance in full, but you have to carry on making the minimum payments or your credit record will be harmed
8000!
Did you mainly make minimum payments, not including transfers to other cards?
Dani says
Thanks for your reply! I haven’t used the card for a few months anyway so not bothered as long as it doesn’t go down as a negative marker on my report but seems strange they have done this yet rejected the complaint!
Yes and the whole time only making minimum payments or their “boosted” payments which are only slightly higher than minimum (and if I’d not done boosted payments my balance would have increased every month due to interest outweighing minimum payment anyway). Plus when I did pay off a chunk I usually ended up spending just as much as I’d paid off anyway! (rest assured I’m much more sensible nowadays!)
john says
Hi Sara,
i have made a complaint to Vanquis credit card for irresponsible lending due to limit increase from £250 to £1000 in 2017. i had missed multiple payments and overlimit 3 times in the last 12 months of the increase. i had also built up more debt. account was default in 2023.
will they consider my complaint considering it is long ago? i have bank statement and even credit file reports from that time when i had made affordability complaints to FOS in regards to other lenders in 2019 which were upheld.
i want the default to be off as it is only 1 of 2 defaults on my file.
thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
why didn’t you complain about this in 2019?
John says
The account was frozen under ROP so i was not paying anytbing and interest was frozen, they kept me on the ROP despite it being removed.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well you can try, but FOS may take the view that you made other affordability complaint complaints years ago and you should have made one about this.
R says
Hi sara,
I have made a complaint to the ombudsman, the investigator held the complaint in my favour however there seems to be a delay, when i asked for an update the investigater said the below.
The ombudsman are currently under judicial review and Barclays are disagreeing with this approach. Barclays have stated that after the judicial review is settled and the courts deem that our service’s application of S140A is
deemed correct, they will settle the complaint accordingly.
What does this mean? And how long could this take, my complaint has been with them for over 1 year now.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So the Ombudsman has progressed your complaint as far as it can at the moment, but Barclays wont accept the investigator decision until the result of a court case is known. I don’t know what the time scale is, but this is up to the courts and not under the Ombudsman’s control. For what it’s worth, the ombudsman wins most judicial review cases.
Catrin says
Hello!
I’ve submitted a complaint to Barclays about my Barclaycard. I was due a response by the 15th but have had a letter to say they’ve missed their deadline and will now contact me by the 7th as they are still investigating.
In brief, I’ve had this card for around 15 years. I started on a 1600 limit, which increased to 3k, then 9k, and then £12k over the years. My salary at the time was around £22-23k. I have an overdraft with Barclays that I’ve had since 2005 that is usually maxed out, and am going to make a separate complaint about that – but I imagine as they’re the same bank, they should have had an idea of the state of my accounts when making the credit increases. I’m going to ask a separate question about that in the overdraft thread.
I’ve made the complaint based on my limit increases and have asked for them to refund the interest – this I imagine would wipe out my remaining balance. I think what I’m trying to ask is if I have a good case and is it a good sign that they’re taking longer to investigate? I imagine it’s quite rare to get the desired outcome from the beginning and I’m likely to have to go to FOS too?
Thank you!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
were any of the limit increases within the last 6 years?
Loren says
I have sent a complaint to the FOS after the bank rejecting my credit card affordability complaint. I have been paying the minimum payments on time but the interest is high so each time I make a payment the balance is barely going down. I wanted to balance transfer whilst I await the outcome so that I can make some progress with the debt, however should the FOS find in my favour what would the process be for the refund of all interest on the original account where I have paid off the balance (due to transferring it to a card with a different provider with 0% interest)?
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The refund will be paid to you in cash. You can then use some or all of this to clear the new BT card