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?
Bea says
It’s taken a year for me – this is from making the complaint to having the ombudsman uphold my complaint, still waiting for payout.
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
Jen says
I have heard back from them to say they’re investigating & have asked for a ‘testimony of events’ as to why I’m complaining now / have my circumstances change. The reason I’m complaining now is because I saw an affordability programme re overdrafts last March and went through FOS to get an overdraft refund. That all took time and I then took out 2 balance transfer cards to clear the debt to Halifax/ Lloyds late last year. My circumstances haven’t really changed I’m just aware now that it was unaffordable and it really affected my mental health. I’m not sure how best to explain this. I was first aware in March 24 of overdraft affordability but it was only later I found this also applied to credit cards and a friend helped me trawl my credit report. I’ve got all bank statements etc I’m just not sure how much I should say re ‘change in circumstances’ making me apply now as that’s not the case..
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is a standard list of things they ask everyone for to make this look difficulty.
I suggest you reply that your complaint explained what you complaint is,
they would like to see your bank statements for the 3 months before a limit increase of the account opening. If you have those, send them over (unless your bank was Halifax/lloyds, in which case tell them to look themselves!)
the statements will show your income so you dont need to bother with payslips.
tell them they can check your credit reports themselves for the information.
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
‘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
I have not supplied any bank statements
Sara (Debt Camel) says
send them now!
H says
Hi Sara,
I received this response from New Day after sending my bank statements:
‘Whilst I appreciate you providing copies of your statements, we wouldn’t expect NewDay to have requested or reviewed your statements at the time and therefore we will use the information you provided at application and also the information taken from the credit checks at the time.’
Should I just quit while I am ahead?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well you aren’t ahead, are you…
Reply saying you have supplied your bank statements to show that Newday’s income figures are incorrect. Explain what the bank statements say.
h says
Sorry I meant to say that response was from the Ombudsman.
Should I still go back to them?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes i understood that. Explain to the ombudsman that you have supplied the statements to show that newday’s income figures are wrong, and that using accurate figures would show you were in difficulty. Ask for this to go an ombudsman if the investigator doesn’t change their mind
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!)
Alice says
Hi did you refer it to the Ombudsman?
I had the same experience with Aqua. Rejected my complaint and closed my account completely (I had asked them to reduced my credit limit back down to the initial limit of £450). I still owe them the balance and am on a payment plan but can’t use the card, seems unfair? I have referred it to the Ombudsman today.
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?
Catrin says
Hmm I think they’ve been before then. Pretty sure the last one would have been 7 years ago. Would that have a big impact in my claim?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Can you get your bank statements going back to that time?
Catrin says
I should be able to, it would be with Barclays so ideally they’d be able to match up all the details. I can see from text messages the last increase looks like it was just applied to my credit card rather than me agreeing to it.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
it doesnt make much difference if you asked for the increase or they offered it – in either case the lender should make the same check that the higher limit was affordable.
You know they increase your limit stupidly high, so if Barclaycard reject this or make a poor offer, send it to the ombudsman to look at
Catrin says
Hi Sara!
I’ve finally had a response from Barclaycard. They’rve rejected my complaint saying that my last limit increase was 2017, so outside the timeframe for complaint. They’ve also said under the ‘three year knowledge’ rule, I should’ve been aware I was in trouble after the persistent debt notice and entering a paydown plan down my card, which was started in 2021.
Should I go back to them as well as referring ti FOS? I think they’ve tried to use the year as a bit of a get-out clause, and it’s not really for them to make the judgement that I should’ve been aware in 2021 when the plan started – it’s only very recently I’ve been educating myself about debt and working out how much interest I have been paying over the years – something that wouldn’t have happened without the increase.
Grateful for your thoughts as always!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Banks don’t change their minds – straight to the Ombudsman
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
Alice says
They pay it in cash? Notes and coins?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, as a trasnfer to your bank account. I said “in cash” to mean not as a reduction in the balance owed
Ruth says
I’ve had a reply from FOS upholding my complaint against Vanquis. They have stated that Vanquis should rework the account removing all interest, fees and charges that have been applied to balances over £500 since 2018. As I still have an outstanding balance of £2200 how does this work please?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
For each month after the date in 2018 that this partial refund starts from, Vanquis will working out what interest was charged – and what the interest on 500 would have been then your refund for that months is the extra interest they charged over the 500.
Ruth says
Would this then just be deducted from my outstanding balance as for the past 18 months I haven’t spent anything on it so really the balance would equal interest on top of interest wouldn’t it? I’ve been paying round about £100 per month but the balance has only been going down by £20-£25
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes the refund is deducted from your balance.
At the moment you are paying about £75-80 in interest each month.
Leo says
Hi Sara, I wanted to share a good news story to give hope to others in a similar situation to mine.
I used your templates to make affordability claims in respect of previous overdrafts and credit cards (several months ago now). The post relates to x2 MBNA credit cards and a Lloyds credit card. I received a call from Lloyds yesterday to say they were upholding all 3 complaints as I should have never been offered the cards I was authorised for given what I was earning at the time. The MBNA cards were issued in 2016 and the Lloyds card was way back in 2013.
The result? A refund of all interest and charges on all 3 cards, PLUS 8%. I will shortly be receiving over £15,000. This would never have happened if we had not found this website and this is literally life-changing for us at this point. Thanks so much Sara!
Steve says
Hi! What a great result! Can I ask, did Lloyds and MBNA question the accounts being opening more than 6yrs a go? I’ve seen other people write about this, and I’ve had a Barclaycard where they won’t look before 2019 and I’ve referred to FOS.
Just interesting to know 😊
K says
My complaint to Vanquis was upheld by the FOS investigator and they agreed with their view. 8 weeks later Vanquis have emailed to say how they are dealing with it. however I don’t think the redress is correct and should be more. What do I do in this situation?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ask Vanquis to explain how it was calculated. Then tell your FOS investigator/adjudicator if you think it’s wrong.
K says
Thank you. What if Vanquis are not responding to my request of a breakdown?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Tell your FOS investigator that you think it’s wrong and Vanquis haven’t given you a breakdown
Jimmy says
Hi,
Thanks as always for an amazing site.
Is it common for companies to reject adjudicator decisions? My loan and overdraft decisions were accepted by Natwest (a year or so ago), and having recently submitted a Credit Card complaint they have rejected/disagreed with the adjudicator decision. The adjudicator advised in my favour due to lots of lending, pay day lending, and gambling. She hasn’t told me WHY they disagreed, just that they did.
Also, now that this has had to go to the full ombudsman, how long will I likely have to wait for the decision to be reviewed?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
FOS says that 90% of adjudicator decisions are accepted.
Did you credit card relate to a different time period from the loan and overdraft decisions they accepted?
Jimmy says
No – in fact the limit increase was on the same day as one of the loans they provided and then accepted the decision on! Bizarre.
Any idea how long it usually takes to pass through this next process?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
was any of this over 6 years ago? Those cases are going slower
It is a shame you didn’t complain about the credit card at the same time as the others!
Jimmy says
The Credit limit increase was within the last 6 years. I’ve got no idea whether it’s a few weeks or a few months.
Agree, annoying I didn’t do it at the same time – but at least the initial view was positive (for me)
alis says
Hi Sara
My complaint is going on since last year February with MBNA. They didn’t uphold , took it to FOS. Adjudicator found in my favour and in the end MBNA agreed. He gave them 4 weeks to action his recommendations but they still haven’t. I tried to reach my complaints manager but was told she will call me back but didn’t. I have informed adjudicator yesterday about it. My question is can MBNA now change their mind and case will go to Ombudsman to make final decision or once they have agreed to adjudicator they have to action his recommendations.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How long ago was the adjudicator decision? When did MBNA accept it?
alis says
On 03/02/25 I received an email from adjudicator confirming they have accepted it. Initially he gave them till 13/01/25 to get back to him if they wanted to add anything. I didn’t hear anything from him till 3rd of February, maybe there was some correspondence going in between them.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok so this hasn’t been that long. Try again to talk to your investigator.
alis says
Hi Sara, I just logged into my MBNA app and there is a credit transaction of nearly £5k as “ex-gratia payment”. Is this normal way of writing it as I thought it’s not a refund given by gesture of goodwill? Secondly it almost cleared my balance. I’m not a bookkeeper but it’s simple maths, I added all the interest paid since 2017 and it’s nearly £7k. I have not received any text, email, letter or call as how they came up with these number. Can you please suggest what to do now. Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t think it really matters what they label the refund as on their system, what matters is if this is the right amount. I suggest you phone them up and ask how they arrived at the 5k figure as you have added up the interest that should be refunded and it comes to nearly 7k.
if you don’t get a satisfactory answer, tell your FOS investigator.
Alice says
Hello Sara,
I raised a dispute with Aquacard/Newsday last September about a card I opened in Nov 2018, I started with a limit of £450 and ended up with £3,500 by 2020. I sent a letter to them 12th September, they wrote back 26th September rejecting my dispute but saying I could refer it to the FCA within 6 months. Due to ill health I haven’t got around to it yet and wondering when exactly the 6 month deadline would be – March 12th or March 26th?
Please advise, thank you.
Alice
Sara (Debt Camel) says
March 26, but I suggest the sooner you do this the better!
HX says
Success story!
Submitted Sara’s complaint template to MBNA for three credit cards. Not upheld by MBNA and went to FOS.
£5.8k refunded across the cards, and the remaining debt is now interest free until paid. This is great as a huge drop in minimum payment and I can become debt free a lot quicker!
The rework of the credit cards took approx 4.5 weeks.
Molly says
Do you mean from you initial complaint to MBNA and then to FOS this took a total of 4.5 weeks to resolve? I thought FOS could take a while?
HX says
Hi – sorry just seen this reply. No, unfortunately it took from March 2024 until end of Feb 25. This includes complaining to MBNA, investigator at FOS and then finally an ombudsman opinion.
The four weeks relates to the ombudsman upholding the complaint and MBNA refunding the money.
Hope that helps.
Alice says
Hi, when did you refer it to the FOS? Soon after March 2024 or later? Just trying to judge how long it can take since I just referred mine to them today.
Ruth says
Hi Sara, FOS have responded to me to say they can’t look at my complaint as I’ve timed out on the 6 years and the 3 year time limit, especially as Barclays sent me a letter in 2020: “We may have previously set your credit limit higher than we should have” which FOS say should’ve triggered me to complain.
I did say that I thought it was all my fault until I read your article last year. I’m guessing there’s nothing more I can do now that FOS can’t look into it?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how much did they decrease your limit in 2020? That was during covid, did the reduction cause you a problem or didn’t you even notice it?
Ruth says
I was already on a DMP with Stepchange in June 2019, so they didn’t decrease my credit limit. If I’m remembering correctly, I think the letter said they were refunding £50, but I didn’t check, to be honest.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So go back to FOS and say you don’t really recall the letter from Barclays, you think it was some small refund, you doubt you read it carefully as it was during Covid and you had already been in a DMP with StepChange since the previous year so it wouldn’t have looked very relevant. Point out Stepchange never mentioned to you that you may be able to make any affordability complaints.
Ruth says
Thank you, Sara! I’ve just done that, so hopefully they’ll come back and look at it.
Kelley says
I have had a Barclaycard for severely years. The limit was over £10k but then reduced to £5k after I was able to bring my constantly maxed balance down, and recently I brought the balance down from £5k to £4k (using money I’d borrowed as part of a consolidation loan) and they immediately lowered my limit to £4k.
I have forever been at the limit, my minimum payments are mainly lost to interest charges, and there are occasional late payments. Looking back I don’t know why they haven’t responded to the persistent debt by offering a payment plan that would allow me to start reducing the balance. Should they have done so? Is it worth me complaining on the basis of the persistent debt? Thanks in advance.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How did you get the balance down from 10k to 5k? Any borrowing eg 0% transfers or loans? When was this?
Kelley says
I got the balance down to £3k in Feb 2020 by taking a debt consolidation loan. It then crept up to £5k and they decreased the limit in Jul 2020. I then just made minimum payments for the next 2 years before taking another loan to clear the balance. Again it crept up to £5k and stayed there for 18m until I managed to pay £1k off 6 months ago at which point they immediately lowered the limit to £4k, so I feel like they know I am struggling. Should they have done more around the obvious persistent debt issue? Thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
There are set points where a lender has to offer help with “persistent debt”, but the definition of that is very narrow. Until April last year, when Barclaycard cut its minimum payments, few customers would have met the regulator’s definition of “persistent debt”. (See https://debtcamel.co.uk/barclaycards-minimum-payment-cuts/ for more about this.)
You may think that ethically Barclaycard should still have offered to help you. But to make an effective complaint here, you need to complain not about this lack of help, but about the fact that Barclaycard set your credit limit too high at 10k and then 5k.
You only got your balance down to 3k with a consolidation loan – that is borrowing more, it isn’t a sign that you could manage to repay a balance of nearly 10k.
So I suggest you read the article above and use the template there to make an affordability complaint to Barclaycard. Don’t complicate this by saying Barclaycard should have helped you with this persistent debt, keep your complaint simple and about something you may win.
Rachel says
Just wanted to share a success story with Amex. I complained on 14.2.25 and received a response yesterday 7.3.25. They are refunding me £6,382 of interest paid since they increased my credit limit from £5000 to £13000 on 1st June 2022. Also £75 as a gesture of goodwill. Thank you so much for all the information, I wasn’t even aware that this was something I could do until I saw your instagram and I followed your template exactly.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Some Amex limits are astonishingly high!
Rachel says
Something I didn’t ask for, and unfortunately then used too much whilst on maternity leave. They did admit it was a mistake and apologised in their response which surprised me!
Matt says
Hi Rachel
Congratulations on your win against AMEX , can I ask you how long it took for your complaint to resolved .
Did you have to got the ombudsman ?
Thanks
Matt
Kimberley says
Hi Sara, just wanted to say a massive thank you for your help and these templates.
I sent a complaint to Vanquis about a credit card I shouldn’t have been given, and initially they rejected the complaint.
I took it to the Financial Ombudsman, where the investigator initially didn’t agree, but after submitting further evidence (payslips and bank statements) they agreed with my complaint and told Vanquis to refund all interest.
I received an email today from Vanquis, telling me that they had refunded all the interest and fees, which left me with a £1k balance to pay – but they had also written off that balance and had now closed my account. A really great win after some perseverance! Thank you!
Ruth says
Hi Kimberley
How long did it take for Vanquis to email you after the FOS decision please?
K says
It took them 8 weeks to contact me!
Jason says
I have had an offer and an upheld complaint. Is it worth pursuing the financial ombudsman or is there a chance they could overturn the decision?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Who is this from, and can you tell me about the claim and the offer?
ZC says
Just wanted to say a massive thank you!!
So far I have
1 credit account with Zopa with a £150 refund off of my final balance
Halifax refunded me £120 off of my final balance
Ombudsman;
Vanquis account- they agreed to take off £1500 worth of interest and took the rest of the balance off as a goodwill gesture, meaning I have saved £2300! – Ombudsman ruled in my favour
Got two complaints with advisors assigned against Barclaycard (from 2015!) and Very
Two complaints awaiting advisors against Monzo & Zable
And today just got a refund from Lending Stream refunding me £210 worth of interest for loans I had taken out and paid a stupid amount of interest for!
None of this would have been possible without the advice I was given by Sara who has been helping me the whole way through with templates and advice regarding the ombudsman!
Thank you so much
Elisha says
I have just received a response from my credit card lender regarding my unaffordable lending claim, they are requesting for bank statements from the period when the alleged irresponsible lending took place. Is this normal? Are they asking for bank statements from my debit card accounts
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Your bank statements are good evidence that lending was unaffordable. Can you get these?
J says
Hi Sara, I sent an affordability complaint to RBS re a credit card they issued to me in 2010, with a credit limit of £35,000 (still can’t work out how on earth they gave me so much credit, I had no assets, no proof of income at the time as I’d had a year out, and there was no way that I could afford to pay it back.) Here I am 15 years later, still not far off the limit and just about managing the minimum payments each month. RBS came back with a standard response denying my complaint; I escalated it within RBS and it was picked up by the Executive Team who have also said they are not accepting my complaint, on the basis they don’t ahve access to the original records any more. I do intend to try and escalate to FOS – but a question for you around the timings of this. Surely any lender can use the same excuse to ignore the complaint, but if we are legally entitled to raise a complaint how does this work in your experience? I did explaint to them that I’ve only just discovered that raising a complaint is even possible. Any thoughts/advice would be great. thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
As the article above says, “you may have problems producing bank statements or other evidence from a long while ago to show that a limit was unaffordable.”
What evidence can you produce about this – do you have old bank statements, payslips?
what is the rest of your financial situation like, do you have other debts? Are you buying or renting?
Katie says
Some good news, I won an affordability complaint against Shop Direct using your template. They have refunded interest charged and cleared my balance and paid out £1090.50 that was over my outstanding balance :) thank you for your help!
Mel says
Hi Sara, I was wondering if it was worth using your credit card template for an affordability complaint on my nationwide credit card even though it was a 0% balance transfer card but also has 0% for spending for the whole duration of the card at this rate. I put in last week an affordability complaint about my overdraft using your template who I also had with nationwide over many years. Nationwide accepted my credit card application offering me almost a £6000 credit limit back in August 2024 and them knowing I’ve been in an overdraft with them for years and at the time of application I was in £1000 overdraft. I have no overdraft now but that’s simply cause I’ve used this credit card to shift that debt onto it at 0%
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you aren’t being charged any interest at the moment?
Mel says
No interest still at the moment as it’s still within my time given with 0%. I just wasn’t sure if I had a case still to do an affordability complaint even though the credit card is 0%. As I had an overdraft at time with nationwide and could see I was always in it for years to give me that much credit limit to then also spend on the card and they can see I’m now in more debt since this.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you make an affordability complaint at the moment, there is no interest to be refunded, and the Ombudsman may be reluctant to make a decision which says you won’t be able to repay the amount lent as your situation may change. If you win the overdraft affordability complaint for example you may be able to clear some of the card balance
James says
Hi,
I’ve currently got a case with an adjudicator at the FOS. My complaint relates to a number of credit limit increases and giving me the card in the first place.
The card was issues in 2016 and so longer than 6 years ago. The adjudicator asked me a number of questions re why I hadn’t complained sooner. I answered and said ultimately said I think the 2016 incident should be looked at, but if you can’t then please do it from the most recent point you can. I didn’t hear back specifically but she asked for statements all the way back to 2016.
A couple of weeks later she is asking some specific questions relating to my 2016 statements. This suggests she is investigating stuff as far back as that. Hypothetically, if she has decided she can consider incidents that far back and rules in my favour, can AMEX flat out refuse to reimburse from that far back? I appreciate they can argue and it can go to the full FOS, but in general can they just refuse anything from later than 6 years ago?
Hope that makes sense and thanks for the help
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A final decision from an ombudsman is legally binding. A lender can take the Ombudsman to court for a judicial review (JR), but in these very rare cases, the customer involved is normally paid by the lender anyway as it is the principle the lender is arguing about.
There is talk of some JRs, if one is in progress and is relevant, you may find your case sits in limbo for a while. On the bright side, FOS usually wins JR cases.
Alice says
I’ve just won my case with the financial ombudsman about my Vanquis credit card. I used your template and complained to Vanquis about the level of credit they gave me and them increasing the limit. Vanquis turned me down, but the ombudsman agreed that the limit increase shouldn’t have happened. They’ve awarded me £671 in interest and charges and most importantly, they’re removing the missed payments from my credit file which will make a huge difference.
Thank you!!
Alice.
Leah says
Your templates & guidance is appreciated more than you’d ever know!!
Just won a case through the ombudsman regarding Vanquis and not only did they award £600 interest, as a good will gesture they have also written off the remaining £400 odd pound worth of debt, leaving my Vanquis at £0 and the account being closed!! Just so pleased!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You are the third person I have seen in the last couple of weeks win a case against Vanquis and have the remaining balance cleared!
Amy says
Just wanted to share a little positivity outcome from the template. I work part time and had a Barclaycard with limit of £9000 and overdraft with Santander of £1000. I was constantly in my overdraft for 5+ years and Barclaycard balance always really high and close to credit limit. I made a complaint using the templates on the website and have just heard back from
Both companies in the last few weeks. Santander said they didn’t feel they lending irresponsibly however they feel they didn’t offer me any support when it was clear due to the usage of the overdraft that I was struggling and not using it for short term borrowing. They refunded £1900 which was interest I had paid , which cleared the overdraft and had £900 left over. Now the big one with Barclaycard I had initially complained regarding credit limit increases , Barclaycard upheld my complaint but actually went further back and said they didn’t think I should have been offered the limit I was on the initial application. They refunded all interest and fees paid which totalled just over £9000. This cleared my Acc and with a little bit left over. This has made a massive difference to my finances and I feel like such a weight has been lifted.
Katherine says
That’s a great result! Can I ask how long this took from your initial complaint?
Janai says
Anyone who won a case against shop Direct (Very) able to share how long Shop Direct took to refund the interest and charges? Is this paid via cheque or straight to the bank account?
Becca says
Hi Sara,
Is it true that complaints cannot be made to PayPal for unaffordable lending since the UK left the EU?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No!
Jade says
Hi Sara,
I submitted an affordability complaint to paypal who declined it so I submitted it to the ombudsman and they’ve come back with the following:
‘They found that PayPal initially granted you credit in October 2019 from its Luxembourg office under an EEA services passport, meaning the FOS cannot review that part of your complaint due to jurisdiction rules. However, since your credit limit was increased in December 2021—after PayPal had to comply with UK regulations—the FOS can investigate this part.
PayPal referenced the FOS in its response due to regulatory changes after Brexit, but complaints about lending before January 2021 must go to the Luxembourg dispute resolution authority (CSSF)’
I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do now, do I still ask them to investigate the increase? Or do I file the complaint with CSSF
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes ask FOS to investigate the increase.
I have not heard of anyone getting a positive result from going to the CSSF
K says
I have had a similar response from my investigator but i didn’t have an increase , the agreement was in 2019. Should I still ask the ombudsman to look at it or forget this one?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I doubt the Ombudsman can look at that as the lending decision as before FCA authorisation which happened with Brexit