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 applies even if you made every payment on time, as you may have borrowed more elsewhere.
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, any of 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 your complaint – my template asks for the details.
0% balance transfers
Here the lender should check that you would be able to repay the whole limit within a manageable length of time (say 5 or 6 years) taking into account the interest that will be charged when the 0% term ends.
So if you were ok during the 0% term but then you couldn’t afford the payments when interest started being added, you can complain. Ask for any interest to be refunded and to be able to repay the rest with no interest.
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.
Only put this in if you think the lender may have an old address for you
I have moved and my home address is now xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. Please do not send any letters to any older addresses on your system.
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 accepted the limit increase – they still shouldn’t have offered it if it was unaffordable.
You know if this card 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 some old credit reports, send the oldest one you have, otherwise send the current one. You can download a statutory TransUnion report for free.
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?
Kelley says
I recently sent a complaint to NewDay regarding a Fluid credit card on the basis of it not being affordable – issued in 2021 and subsequent limit increases over the next 2 years even though my overall debt was increasing. They sent a final response rejecting it very quickly, so I sent it to the FOS who acknowledged they were looking into it 10 days ago. I’ve just received a message from NewDay saying my complaint is still under review. Is this normal? Might they be considering making me an offer before the FOS have fully reviewed, or is it more likely that they are just letting me know that they’re communicating with the FOS?
Their rejection letter just stated my declared salary at the time of application, that I hadn’t missed any payments on my credit file and that I hadn’t contacted NewDay to tell them I was struggling.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry I don’t know
Lucy says
Hi
I sent this template over to Newday a couple days ago and I’ve had a final response today rejecting my complaint but closing my account down .. I use this account to pay for my everyday goods because the repayment is soo high on it.
I have referred this to the FO – just wondering what success stories people have had from this? It just seemed like they washed their hands with the complaint very quickly.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Lots of Newday cases have been won at FIS
If you have to use credit for essentials, I suggest you either nee to ask Newday for a payment arrange to pay less and freeze interest, or talk to StepChange about a debt management plan for all of your debts https://www.stepchange.org/how-we-help/debt-management-plan.aspx. This will get you into a safe financial space
Abigail says
Hi Lucy
Can I ask, when you say they closed your account, what does that mean if you still have a balance on the card? Do they expect you to repay it immediately or as you have been but with no option to use the card? I am thinking of doing an affordability complaint too.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
it means you can’t spend on the card but they can’t ask you to repay the whole balance immediately. You can carry on making the usual monthly payments and your credit score will not be affected
Meg says
Hi I also received a reply back from New Day Aqua card with a rejection. Stating that they had completed checks and I was in a situation to pay. Yet they have closed the account, which indicates to me that they feel I’m not in a situation to afford the card?
I am going to report this to the FO – I just wondered if anyone had any luck with it?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes lots of Newday cases have been won at FOS
Kelley says
I submitted a complaint to Barclaycard concerning an account opened in 2015 with a £15k limit, which had one small increase then decreases over 2018,19 and 2020. The FOS investigator is asking for 2015 bank statements which I definitely can’t provide. All I really have is a 2018 credit report which covers 2015, and which also doesn’t quite align with the info that Barclaycard have provided regarding credit limit decreases.
The investigator has asked me why I didn’t know that I could complain when Barclaycard wrote to me about the limit decreases – my honest response is that the letters didn’t give any indication that Barclaycard were at fault and I wasn’t aware of the opportunity to complain about irresponsible lending. Also, I’m aware of people with high disposable incomes and very little debt who have also been surprised to have their Barclaycard limits reduced, so I didn’t know that it was necessarily personal or indicative of me having been given an unaffordable limit. They have also asked for evidence of when I became aware, so I was going to talk about my overall debt having gotten to a point where I recognised that it is not manageable and therefore having looked for advice online and reading articles about unaffordable lending and the right of consumers to complain and have their debts reviewed. I am not holding out much hope for this one, but do you think this is the right approach to take? Thanks .
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I’m aware of people with high disposable incomes and very little debt who have also been surprised to have their Barclaycard limits reduced, so I didn’t know that it was necessarily personal or indicative of me having been given an unaffordable limit.
That is a VERY good point to make
It also helps if you say you blamed yourself for borrowing too much, not Barclays for lending too much
Kelley says
Thanks, this is really helpful. The investigator is inevitably asking for copies of all statements and stuff from 2015 which I can’t provide, so I think this is going to be a struggle.
Hannah says
Hi, should I be sending the bank statements to the credit card company?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have they asked for them?
K says
I have recently found this site and it encouraged me, with other success stories, to go ahead and submit affordability complaints with all lenders.
So far I have had 2 credit card decisions upheld with capital one, reducing one balance from £1500 to £500, and clearing another £500 balance.
118 upheld a decision on a loan, clearing £700 interest and meaning I have no further payments with them.
2 cards have been rejected so far but forwarded to FO with investigators assigned, while some other claims remain within the 8 weeks for a decision.
I used the templates on these pages and couldn’t be more thankful!
Chloe says
Hi Sarah,
My case handler asked for my credit file on the 3rd April, on the 3rd May she then asked if I had any other documents from around the time I got the credit card.
It now seems a long time since I heard any more? Could I email and ask or is it best to wait?
Many thank
Sara (Debt Camel) says
have you sent bank statements?
Chloe says
I sent bank statements in when I sent it to the Ombusmen original in Dec 24. I sent an up to date credit report in April. Then in May she asked about a default on my report and I was able to send further evidence to support this from when I took out the card in 2018.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You could ask her if there is any other information she needs – a polite nudge?
M says
Hi
I did an affordability Claim regarding my two Lloyds credit cards that I have had since 2004, they requested copies of my bank statements at certain times from opening the cards and when they increased the limits on them, the bank statements clearly showed I was 4K overdrawn each statement I sent them , within four weeks of making a claim they cleared the two credit cards balances closed them, and refunded in total 9k since 2004. All interest and even balance transfer fees along with 8% interest . Over the moon! This has been excellent website and thank you ! and I have now a decent amount of money in my bank! Time to move onto the others !!!
E says
Hey Sara,
I recently wrote on 28th May regarding Barclays lending me £9,200 credit card while I had 2 overdrafts and another credit card.
Barclays have today called me and agree they never should’ve lent me credit. They have offered me £1,500 refund so my account will stand at £7,800 and to then pay it back at my own pace with no interest and to wipe it from my credit file once paid back.
Do you think this is a good resolution? Or should i externally attempt to have the whole thing wiped.
Either way this has really helped so thank you very much
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How long ago was this opened?
Was this originally a 0% offer?
Have you paid them more than £1,500?
E says
It was opened in 2022
Yes was originally 0%
£1,500 is what I have paid them
Do you think that’s a fair resolution? Or should I push further?
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“£1,500 is what I have paid them”
if that is all the interest you have paid, then the Barclays offer to remove that from the balance and let you pay off the rest at 0% is the best you will get from the ombudsman.
You always have to repay what you borrowed.
E says
Thought so, thanks for your help.
Holly says
Hi, hope you don’t mind me commenting. I put in a claim similar time to you and had a missed call from Barclays today. Did they ask you any questions when you spoke or just say that they agreed they were irresponsible? TIA
Jodie says
Hi Sarah
I’ve had an account with first Direct since 2016 – I can’t see records prior to Dec ‘19, but by then my overdraft was at £700, when i would have been earning 2500 a month
I then was made redundant (voluntary) after maternity leave in Feb ’21 so used that money to keep me afloat for 5-6 months. I went freelancer later that year so income had dropped to 1300 by dec ’21 – so come january ’22 i requested a 1500 overdraft – which I’m rarely out of, and have missed many payments (always receive letters from FD to alert me)
My income very sporadic – some great months, some not – although it’s tricky because our mortgage comes from my bank account so my husband has to transfer me so that we can pay on time each month – which makes it look like my incomings are more than they are! On this basis would I be eligible?
I’m also struggling to pay off a Tesco card which almost at the 15000 limit, which went up from 10 in 2019 (can’t see any detail prior to this). I can only afford the minimum payment which is obviously mostly interest, so it’s coming down by just a fraction each month. Tesco recently wrote to me with a “personalised payment” suggestion (which I can’t afford) to get me out of persistent debt. Does this mean they are covering themselves?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So by Dec 2019 the overdraft was clearly no longer unaffordable, if it was before. It may well be hard to win an affordability complaint about the period before that as it was so long ago.
Perhaps you should not have been given the 1500 overdraft in 2022. You can try a complaint about this. very erratic income can make this harder, but being rarely out of your overdraft should have been clear to FD
Do you know what date the Tesco card limit was increased in 2019?
But it looks clear that you need a debt management plan to get the interest stopped on the overdraft and the very large credit card. In addition to any affordability complaints. As you are self employed, I suggest you talk to Payplan https://www.payplan.com/debt-solutions/debt-management-plans/
jodie says
Thank you – will a plan put a black mark against my name? Yes i think that”s the issue with First Direct – they knew i was struggling. I’ve even had conversations with them a few years ago and they put a 2 or 3 month relief on the account so didn’t charge interest/charges during this time – although I have no idea when this was…
Regarding the credit card, it went up to 12,500 in nov ’21, then a year later it went up to 15k in nov ’22.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A DMP will harm your credit score. but I am not sure that you have any sensible alternative
Jodie says
Thank you – hopefully I can get somewhere with these two complaints because i want to move in a few years time, so a DMP could be a bad choice unless the fact that I’m married to someone with a clean sheet helps? he does have his own debts that he can just about keep up with!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You aren’t likely to get a mortgage until you clear almost all of that 15k Tesco card you are struggling with… don’t let a daydream about a future mortgage stop you from actually sorting out your debts,
Sarah says
Hi
i have been requested to produce bank statements to capital one for the year 2019 is the normal has anyone lese had to send these?
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes this is not unusual
james says
Hi there,
I’ve had two instances where the adjudicator has ruled in my favour (vs natwest and Amex). As part of that they advised I should be refunded for the last 6 years for anything over and above a credit limit I shouldn’t have been given about 10 years ago.
Both NW and Amex have disagreed and it’s gone to the full ombudsman.
How long can I expect to wait to hear back from them? The Natwest one has been with them alomst 2 months, and Amex has only been rejected by Amex this week.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Some of these Ombudsman complaints are taking a long while, others aren’t. Some are caught up in a judicial review court case of a FOS decision, but I can’t tell which.
James says
If I ask my adjudicator whether my cases will likely be delayed due to an ongoing judicial review, do you think they’d say?
Thanks for the responses
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Probabaly, but does this help you at all?
Josie says
Hi Sara
I put in a complaint to Bank of Scotland 8 weeks ago. Original date they said they’d be in touch by was 9th June, today they messaged to say they’d be in touch again by July 7th. Do I wait it out or refer to the FOS? I couldn’t see anyone else with a BoS complaint to know how quickly they’re processing complaints.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They are part of the Lloyds/Halifax group and they are all slow.
It isnt clear that things will go any faster if you send this to FOS now. But if you do, BoS will still carry on looking at it
Hannah Dunn says
I have been struggling with credit card debt since around 2012, for years I was stuck in a cycle of
running up large debts on multiple cards, which I struggled to afford the minimum payments on, then I would take out a loan or borrow money from family to pay them off, rinse and repeat. Whilst there is no doubt I was irresponsible, I really do think I was leant to irresponsibly as well as I was allowed to take out multiple credit cards, with the highest credit limit being over £6,000 with Virgin Money, despite only earning around £20k at the time. I have looked at your templates, however the issue is I cannot remember the exact years or timelines of when these cards were taken out. I know at some point my Virgin Card Credit Limit was increased to £10k, whilst I was still only earning around £25K, however I cannot remember if I asked for this credit increase, or if it was offered spontaneously, and I also cannot remember when the increase happened. My main question is do I need to provide dates and an exact breakdown of the lending history for each card? Or is there something more generic I can say to get them to look into it? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It doesn’t matter if you asked for na increase or it was just offered to you – the lender has to make the same checks that the higher limit would be affordable
You don’t need to provide dates – if you read the template article, there is a sentence in there that asks for the dates and amounts of any credit increases/
MS ALICE WILDE says
Hi Sara!
Your advice may have saved me. I sent an affordability complaint about my Aqua card to NewDay Ltd September 2024 and they flat-out rejected it and closed my account. I felt too discouraged to send a referral to the FCA but posted here in early March asking if I should and when the deadline was. You encouraged me to do it and told me I had until the end of the day on the 6-month deadline, I was in two minds about whether to bother but I ended up doing it about 3:57pm on the last day thinking they probably won’t accept it…well yhe Adjudicator sent me their decision yesterday – they are upholding my complaint!
They agreed, saying all 3 of the increases £450 – £3,500 should not have happened and have also awarded me 8% interest; and because I am currently on Universal Credit apparently I can claim the tax on that back too. I estimate the total refund will clear the balance on that card and my Vanquis one (about £960) meaning I’ll be out of debt for the first time since 2016!! I just hope that they agree with the Adjudicator and don’t escalate but even then it seems the Ombudsman is likely to agree with the Adjudicator so I’m okay?
Thank you for all your assistance and encouragement. Alice
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well done, fingers crossed Newday accepts the investigator decision and doesn’t drag this out
For anyone else – don’t leave this until the last minute! The sooner you get the FOS case lodged, the sooner you may get a great result
Alice Wilde says
Thank you.
I’m confused what I will get, I’ve been putting the figures into ChatGPT but it keeps getting confused especially about the 8% I’ve been awarded.
I estimate I’ll be owed about £4,800, it’s high because the overpayment covers 5 1/2 years. Since my current balance is about £3,280 is it legitimate that I could get a refund so much higher than my balance. I would get the excess as a payment directly to me?
The 8% is on the £4,800 figure or on the excess that’s left over?
Please clarify, thank you.
Alice
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can’t rely on ChatGPT to get any of these calculations right!
It is possible to get a refund that is larger than your balance. The 8% in this case is only on the cash refund part, not the whole amount. It will be small
Also it sounds to me as though you may not be getting a “full refund”, but the investigator is saying that that the original limit was ok and the increases weren’t. In this case Newday is allowed to carry on charging you interest on the original limit. But that sounds pretty low so the overall refund will be good, but perhaps not as large as you have calculated.
ALICE WILDE says
Yes ChatGPT is turning out to be only good for entertainment unfortunately…
Yes you are correct. I was happy with my original limit of £450 but think the increases £1,200, £2950 and £3,500 were wrong. The adjudicator has agreed and told NewDay to refund the overpayment – about £4,800. My APR was high, 40.34-49.9% and I have had a high balance for years just making minimum payments so I think that’s why it’s a lot.
My balance is about £3,200. You are saying I would only get the 8% on the difference, about £1,600 so 8% of that? The adjudicator’s wording is confusing because it says per year??
Thanks again ,
Alice
Thanks again
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If your refund is over your current balance, that will be paid in cash. The 8% is per year, but only starts at the point where your account, reworked to remove the interest over 450, moved into credit. That may be 8 months ago or 28 months ago. From, that point your credit balance gradually increased until it reached the maximum today. So you get effectively 8%interest on the full cash refund for HALF the time that you account would have been in credit – 4 months or 14months on my examples.
This is very hard for you to work out, but in general this is unlikely to be very much.
Jade says
Hi Sara!
I’m in a similar situation to Hannah Dunn above so thank you for your response there.
I previously had a HSBC overdraft and I now have a HSBC credit card balance which is in a DMP. Should I make the complaint for these at the same time during the same complaint letter?
Same goes for an old/closed Virgin credit card and a Virgin credit card balance that is currently in a DMP?
My old accounts were all closed in 2021 so within the 6 years.
Going to start my complaints tonight, thanks for all of your guidance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest making separate complaints for cards and overdrafts, but you can combine them if you want.
If the account were closed in 2021, you are within the 6 years, but the key think is how far back you can get bank statements. Set about doing this now.
Adam Robinson says
I had an Aqua credit card which defaulted a few years ago. I sent an unaffordable lending complaint to Newday nut never received a reply. I have now discovered this was because it was sent to my previous address which they still had on file and not my new one. As this is now over 6 months since there response can I send to FCA based on the address being wrong or do I need to just suck it up? I only found out because I re-sent my unfair lending claim and they then informed me they had replied last year
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You never chased it up to see why they didnt reply? And you didnt give them your new address?
Adam says
I sent a lot of claims at the time but for some reason I cant find a single email relating to this from that period. I likely changed the address with the DCA and not Newday though I have received a letter relating to another account from them at my new address
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you have two cards from them?
Adam says
One account was an Aqua Card one was an Aqua/Newday loan which is due to be removed from my file shortly
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you got a letter about the loan sent to your new address? Before you complained about the card?
Adam says
Both complaints would have been around the same period of time last year.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did you take the loan out after the card? So it had your more recent address?
Adam says
No the loan was taken out at my old address and defaulted there same as the card
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so you had never told Aqua your new address? And yet they replied to the loan complaint to the new address so you assumed they had that address for the card?
Adam says
In essence yes I know I would have told the DCAs who brought the accounts and obviously Newday would have had my new address on record as they had sent correspondence to me. I have received a copy of the letter sent to my old address and it is on Newday headed paper so has clearly come from the parent company
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then send this to FOS now.
Say you were waiting for a reply but never got one. Say you have since foiund out it was sent to your old address, but you know from other correspondence that you have attached that newday has your current address so you don’t know why they didnt use that.
And attach a copy of the letter on newday paper
Sarah says
Hi! I too had a complaint rejected (very quickly) by Newday. I referred to the FO and they upheld my complaint. Whilst they suggested that I still repay the amount I borrowed (which I never disputed), any interest and charges should be refunded + 8%. This was back in April. Two months on and the FO has still not heard anything from New day. I keep chasing the FO, but they just say they’re waiting to hear back from New day. They also keep extending the deadline for Newday? Surely that’s not an acceptable length of time for a response from Newday? They also transferred the debt to link financial. So I’m not quite sure where I stand now and how to chase this up? Any advice on typical timescales and/or escalation would be appreciated?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can ask FOS to put the case into a queue for an Ombudsman
ALICE WILDE says
Wow this is shocking, my adjudicator said they only get two weeks to respond!
David says
Hi Sara
I made a complaint to Capital One regarding 2 closed credit cards with credit limits of £1500 and £500. They rejected the complaint but after FOS investigator upheld it they agreed to calculate any redress and refund. My problem is I don’t understand how it will be calculated. I worked out I have made payments of £4500 in the 5 years I had the cards and I thought that the £2000 credit limit would be subtracted from that and I would receive the £2500 difference. When I asked the investigator if this was the case he sent me an email and below is the part that concerns me
As the credit has been utilised and benefitted from, the redress shouldn’t include any reimbursement of payments that were made over the total credit limits of each account.
I can’t work out if that means anything I’ve paid over £2000 will be refunded to me. Please help
Sara (Debt Camel) says
is the decison that all interest paid on both cards should be refunded?
David says
I think so, this is from the investigator
Capital One should be calculating the redress for both of your credit card accounts individually and by removing any interest, fees, charges and insurances that were applied since the date of each account opening. So, this should include any additional interest that’s been charged, along with things like any late payment fees or overlimit charges for example.
If this results in a credit balance, where it works out that you’ve paid more and are therefore owed funds, this should be refunded back to you with the 8% simple interest per year.
As the credit has been utilised and benefitted from, the redress shouldn’t include any reimbursement of payments that were made over the total credit limits of each account.
Capital One have been a nightmare to deal with despite being obviously in the wrong and I just want to make sure that they calculate what I’m owed correctly
Any help would be greatly appreciated
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is a “full refund”.
I have no idea what that baffling sentence from the investigator means.
Cap One will rework the account to to remove the interest & charges and give you a new balance on each
The sum of the new balances should equally the total of all the interest and charges, less the £2000 that you still owe
David says
Thanks Sara but I do not owe anything I had £2000 limit over both cards if I paid £4500 over the life of the accounts does that mean, in plain speaking, anything over £2000 must be interest? And should be refunded to me? Sorry to keep pressing but I don’t get the terminology that is used
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If there is no balance, you will get the full total of interest plus charges back. No deductions
Jamie W says
Hello, I’ve recieved an email today reference a Aqua complaint back in 2017/2018 – “You were previously awarded compensation which we’ve now recalculated, having deducted the amount you’ve already been paid – Redress amount of £114.28”
Am I owed any interest on this being that it’s 6/7 years later ? Any reason why they would randomly look through my complaint this long into the future and send this email?
Want to know what would be your recomendation or just get the £114 and call it a day seeing as I wasn’t expecting it etc.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, I haven’t heard of this. what happened to the card?
Jamie w says
The card was closed and repaid a long time ago , maybe 2019.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ok then you can hardly make another complaint bout later unaffordability
I suggest you enjoy the £114 unexpected extra!
Jen says
Hi Sara
Have really appreciated all the help you give here I just wanted to let you know my outcome, sadly the ombudsman hasn’t upheld my unaffordable complaint about large credit card debt Iv had since 2016 with Barclaycard, with increase’s in 2017 and 2018. I complained to Barclaycard in Oct 2024 which was rejected straight away and then referred it to the ombudsman in January and Iv been waiting for the final decision since then from the ombudsman. They said as it is over the 6 years mark of lending and past 3 years since they think I should have known (as I defaulted in 2021) they couldn’t uphold it. A really sad outcome as i genuinely didn’t know I could complain until recently and they did agree that the Barclaycard lending was unaffordable it’s just over the time limit that I could have complained, which makes it even more frustrating.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you still owe money on this debt? Has it been sold to a debt collector?
Jen says
I had been a DMP for years paying it off then got made redundant in December so used my redundancy payment to pay the last of it off in February. I’m just frustrated about how they decided that I should of known I could of complained when I defaulted back in spring 2021, as it seems I would of won the case if I did know and complained only 6 months earlier.
Chloe says
Hi Sara, this sit helped me massively a few year ago and I was successful in a number of affordability complaints. Yesterday I I received an email from NewDay about my Marbels and Aqua card saying, they have had an internal audit and have realised they owe me further compensation for the amount that worked out. As such I will receive a further 646 for the Aqua complaint and 300 for the Marbels (based on interest owed etc) this has been a lovely surprised and not something I was expecting. Thanks so much once again.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you are now the second person to say this, see Jamie W’s comment a couple of days ago
L says
Hey, just wanted to say thank you. I used your affordability complaint template and I’m getting £500 back from Vanquis for the interest they have chargerd me other the past two years. The card only had a £1200 limit as well!
I will be putting this straight towards the remainder of my debt management plan.
Jane says
Hey,
is it possible to complain to Virgin and MBNA for balance transfer cards that i got in 2017 and 2019 and still havent been able to pay off as only been making minimum payments? i havent missed these payments only had a missed on my other credit card i transferred from?
thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have either increased your limit?
Can you get bank statements back to 2017? to the 3 months before you took the car in 2019?
Al says
Hello Sara,
I had a complaint partially upheld with NewDay for 3 cards. I didn’t agree with the outcome and took it to FOS. Today they sent initial assessment. 2 of them they upheld completely but the 3rd card which NewDay upheld from 1st limit increase, they “downgraded” to 4th limit increase. I believe this must be a mistake and hopefully they can sort it out by writing to NewDay. My question is can NewDay ask for refund from me. I have emailed them about it but I’m worried now because I don’t have over £3k to give back to NewDay.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
well it does sound like a mistake, see what FOS says
Al says
I’m sorry I think I couldn’t make my point clearer , NewDay upheld complaint from 1st limit increase and an investigator at FOS upheld the same complaint
from 4th limit increase , question is can NewDay ask for money back or FOS will directly sort it out with NewDay
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I have no idea as this is such an odd decision. Thats why I think you should challenge this with the FOS
Maria Koutsofta says
Hi Sara it’s probably really simply and obvious but will my debt be cleared or will I continue making payments to capital one see below
calculated
Fees: £185.96
Contractual Interest: £717.58
Statutory interest (8%): £0.66
– Tax (20%): £0.01
The refund will be offset against your current balance of £1463.38 and in accordance with your credit card agreement. The remaining amount of £559.79 will then be cleared, leaving you with nothing to pay.
Your account will be closed in 60 days and as set out in your credit card agreement. In the meantime, we’ve reduced your credit limit to £0, which means you won’t be able to use your card.
We may add interest or charges to your account in the next 60 days. You won’t need to do anything as we’ll remove these for you.
We’ve requested for all the late marks we’ve recorded on your credit file for this account to be removed. This can take up to eight weeks to be completed.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
is this Vanquis?
they seem to be saying that the refund is less than the balance but they will clear the remainder