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 them.
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 paid
Contents
What is “affordability”?
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 £200 credit limit doesn’t have to go into so much detail;
- a lender should also make new checks when deciding to increase a credit limit;
- credit isn’t affordable if paying it leaves you short of money for your bills,everyday expenses, and your other debts;
- if you have to borrow more most months, this would not be affordable. This could be borrowing on the same account – making a credit card repayment but then using the credit card to pay for food so the balance never drops is “borrowing more”;
- you have to be able to repay the balance within a reasonable period of time. Paying the minimum amount is OK for a short while, but not for a prolonged period.
How to complain
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 and were using it for essentials like food and petrol. If you were given two credit or catalogue accounts by the same lender, often the second one should never have been given.
- 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;
- using a lot of your limit for a long period;
- a lot of gambling showing on the account statement;
- recent missed payments or an arrangement to pay on this account;
- your overall level of debt on your credit record has gone up a lot.
You don’t need all the details to complain
When your lender increased your credit limit, you don’t need the exact date. If all you can say is “you increased my credit limit several times” that is fine. You don’t need to ask for copies of all your statements – you would get a ton of paper!
But getting your credit record can help. You can’t go back and see exactly what your credit score was in say 2018, but take a copy of your current credit record as soon as you complain (get your free TransUnion statutory credit report). That will show what the pre-2018 problems were that the lender should have spotted.
Template 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.
In the suggestions below, I’ve invented some examples for the bits in italics in brackets. Change/delete these to tell your story.
I want to complain about irresponsible lending by you 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 2015, you should have checked my credit record and you would have seen I had recent missed payments to a credit card and a default only two months before on a loan.
Or say that they should not have increased your credit limit:
You should never have increased my credit limit in 2015. 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 me 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
of the gambling transactions showing on my card statement
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 2018.
I would also like any late payment and default markers to be removed from credit records after this point.
I understand that if I take this complaint to the Financial Ombudsman, 8% simple interest is usually added to a cash refund.
Points to think about
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 6 years ago and say the ombudsman won’t look at them. But FOS will often look at old problems if you have only found out in the last three years that you can make the complaint.
If your account was opened in 2015 but the lender increased your limit in 2018 and 2019, then the two limit increases are within the last 6 years and can definitely be looked at.
However, complaints about things that happened more than 6 years ago may be hard for you to produce much evidence for. But if you feel you have a strong older case and you have some evidence, then take it to the Ombudsman and let them decide!
An alternative approach for old 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 and you defaulted, this isn’t the lender’s fault.
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.
In particular, if the lender says you had made all the payments to them on time so they had no reason to think you had problems, you can ignore this. Or if the lender dismisses your complaint as the account was opened over 6 years ago.
When you have a Final Response from the lender – or after 8 weeks if you haven’t had a Final Response – send your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). Don’t delay doing this!
Is a “partial uphold” good enough?
If the lender says they should not have increased your credit limit in June 2018 when your limit was increased and they will give you a refund of interest for balances over the previous limit, that may sound good. It is sometimes called a partial uphold or a partial refund or proportionate interest.
But often the amount of money refunded in this situation is a lot less than you might expect. So tell the lender you want to consider their offer but need to know how large the refund will be.
Often you were already in a difficult financial situation at that point, with cards close to maxed out, being used for everyday essentials and only paying the minimums. At that point the lender should have stepped in and offered to help you by freezing all interest. That is why a partial refund is often not good enough, you should have all the interest refunded from that point.
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 and 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, 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?
Wayne Smith says
Hi Sara, Reading through all of this information has been really useful. I wanted to ask about my situation to see if you feel it’s worth a complaint or not. I have had my Barclaycard since 2011. The balance started at £1,200. Over the years through sensible use, it rose all the way up to £16,000 and then things didn’t get so sensible. I had a rough patch and ended up in a horrible situation and I had maxed out the £16,000. I then had to apply to other credit card companies and over a time I was using balance transfers to make the minimum payment on barclaycard which was around £350-£400 per month. Luckily I came into an unexpected windfall and was able to clear off all of my debts this year. However, would I have an argument for complaint on the fact that Barclaycard know my income is £30k per annum and they ended up giving me a limit that is over 50% of my salary? Look forward to hearing back.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
While the credit limit was being upped, were you always paying the minimum? Or did you make larger payments, sometimes even clearing the balance?
Barry says
Hi Sara,
Just an update.
I took my case to the ombudsman, regarding Barclaycard, Unfortunately the ombudsman didn’t take my side, as i was apparently out of time. In that it was too long since my last increase on my credit card (apparently 2013), and because i joined step change in 2015, i should have known then to raise a complaint. Although i had pointed out that Step Change dont offer this kind of advise (at least not to me) they say i should have know. With this in mind i wont bother taking my Halifax one down the same route. Never mind.. as they say there is always more than one way. The battle may be lost but the war is not over. :)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
was this an adjudicator decision or an Ombudsman decision?
Barry says
This was from the Ombudsman, with a full report. They said although i had pointed out that my credit file showed 2014 for the last change this was just a delay on their part and was actually changed in 2013.
I have a Halifax one i was going to take to the ombudsman also, Halifax have refused citing its more than 6 years since i opened the accounts, but given my reply on the latter i dont see any point taking it further.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s worth a try and also ask StepChange if they will confirm to the Ombudsman that they did not give any advice to people in DMPs on the possibility of affordability complaints in 2015.
Sue says
Just wanted to update everyone on my complaint against bank. They originally replied saying the aimed to resolve most complaints in 5 days but could be 20 working days but they would update me further. They replied yesterday saying the need the next 5 weeks to investigate. At least I know they are properly investigating and not just saying no. Will let you know when I get final response.
Paul says
No thats a wait of 5 weeks before they will likely look at it, dont be fooled into believing that they are looking into it properly
Sue says
Don’t think so because they have been in contact to ask questions. I don’t see many people report bank cases, I’ve won 7 other cases so just wanted to share a bit of positivity!
Kirsty says
Hello,
I have various credit cards with vanquis, aqua capital one while also having various store cards/catalogues. Although I was having issues paying my limits were increased and I have now ended up taking a payment plan (DAS) with Stepchange (I reside in Scotland). Also during this time I was given finance on a car which is now being taken. This will be sold and I will have to pay the difference of the sold price / outstanding finance which is going to leave myself in even more debt.
Do you have any advice please?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is the car finance debt going to be included in your DAS scheme? How long do StepChange say it will take to complete the DAS scheme?
Kirsty says
Yes I will need to add the car finance into the das plan as I have no way of paying it otherwise.
Stepchange have advised I am in the plan for 6 years, I have been paying towards this for a year now
Kirsty
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK so talk to StepChange about that,
So far as i know – and StepChange will be able to confirm this – because you repay your “full debts” in a DA, then if you can get refunds by making affordability complaints then that would reduce the debts so the DAs would be completed sooner. So it may well be worth making these complaints. Read the article above for more details about them.
Gary H says
Hi all,
I’m looking for some help/advice.
I have complaints in with Capital One, Vanquis and New Day (Aqua).
1. Capital one have upheld my complaint and refunded me £602.30. This is made up of £75 fees and £527.30 of interest and leaves a balance of circa £420 on my account. For this reason, they say that 8% simple interest isn’t due. Is this correct does anyone know?
2. Vanquis have responded and basically said all lending decisions occurred more than 6 years ago. My account was opened Late April 2012 and I had increases in June 2013 and March 2014 – but I only recently knew I could complain about these things. Should I therefore refer to the Ombudsman and if so, do I have a good chance of the complaint being considered do you think?
And finally
3. New Day (Aqua). I’ve had 2 letters from them saying that they’re still looking into things but have not yet determined an outcome. In their 2nd letter they say they’re still looking at things but accept it’s now outside the 8 weeks and so I may decide to contact the Ombudsman without waiting for their response. However, what are people’s experience’s with New Day (Aqua)? Is it advisable to wait and to jump the gun and get the FOS involved now and potentially save time?
Thanks in advance everyone.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
1. This isnt actually written down clearly anywhere. You can send it to the Ombudsman and ask them to look at it if you want, but most people just give up and are glad to have got some money back.
2. The Ombudsman will go back more than 6 years. Do you have you bank statements going back that far? Or is it very obvious from the Vanquis statements that you were in difficulty?
3. I don’t know what other people will say to this. My inclination is to send it now.
Gary H says
1. Ok. I’ll leave that alone.
2. The FOS have dealt with many cases with payday loan company’s for me – so I would suggest it’s very obvious I was struggling. I’d also suggest it would be very obvious from the Vanquis statements (that would more often than not just been minimum repayments on there). So I’ll send this to the FOS I think.
3. Yes, I was thinking thinking the same to be honest. They’re being very courteous. It actually has me thinking “why?”.
Thanks for everything Sara, this sight is absolutely invaluable and I can’t express enough how great it and you are.
Gemma says
Hi Sara
Can I ask advice for my son his got himself in a bit of debt he wanted to build his credit report but he has capital one who started him off with a £200 limit and marbles who also started him off on a £300 limit now just over a year later he now has over £2.5k on marbles and £1.5k on capital also has a Argos card a small bank loan I’ve only just found out as he is struggling! His at college and only works part and his majorly depressed as his got this debt. His only 21 and his life hasn’t even started and has all the world on his shoulders do you think a complaint to the credit cards as surely a student only earning between £300-£600 a month and whacking his limits up that quickly is wrong ? X
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, I do think both of those are shocking increases to give to a student. How is he managing the repayments? If it is leaving him impossibly short of money, can I suggest he talks to StepChange about a debt management plan?
Gemma says
His struggling most months to even get through the month! I help him as much as I can but him trying to build his credit file and it’s been destroyed! I was thinking a debt management but wasn’t sure where he stood!
Thank you Sara x
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Debt management wont help his credit record, but it’s probably already poor so the only thing to do is clear the debts as cheaply as possible and get a fresh start that way. And debt management freezes interest so it makes clearing the debts much cheaper and quicker.
Time heals credit record problems, but it won’t if you are trapped trying to repay more than you can afford, as then new problems keep occurring.
He can also look at making affordability complaint complaints to Cap One and MArbles as the article above says. If he wins these his balances may be reduced AND and negative marks on his credit record would be removed. But these cases can take ages to go through, so a StepChange DMP can get him into a safe place while the complaints trog on…
Gemma says
Will do thanks again sara you are a star x
Mik says
I raised a complaint with NewDay (Aqua), they cancelled my card and closed my account without any warning. When I contacted customer services to ask why, after being passed to the fraud department, they eventually came back and said they haven’t upheld my complaint but have closed my account because I have raised the issue that I am in financial hardship (I’m not, my complaint is I was back in 2016 when they increased my limit).
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can send the complaint to the Ombudsman as they have rejected it.
Do you care about the account? It is a horribly expensive way of buying things…
Mik says
No, I am happy with the account being closed, however, I’m about to apply for a mortgage so unsure how that will affect my credit file. How will the report the closing of the account on my file? Barclaycard marked my account as delinquent which it isn’t. I just questioned their lending ethics.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I can’t guess what they will do but they should NOT mark it as delinquent if you have not missed any payments.
Neil says
Hi , did you have any outstanding balance on the card when they closed the account ?
Thanks
Martin says
I have had a similar situation.
In about 2016 I have disagreed with the increase to the new 59%APR, so my account was closed. Repaid in full within a few months without any hiccups
At the beginning of 2019, I have applied for the Amazon card (guess who is the issuer…NewDay!), and got it. Used it a bit (less than 50% of the limit), always paid in time.
In May 2020 I have complained about irresponsible credit increases to my original AquaCard (card was held since 2005 with a small limit, in 2014-2015 got 3increases, in total – increasing the limit 5 fold).
In June 2020 – my completely unrelated to the complaint Amazon card was switched off as punishment for daring to complain. Without any warning. NewDay is not a serious financial company it is just a typical usury.
Liza says
Did you have an outstanding balance whenthe account was closed? If so did you have to pay it?
Lisa says
I put in a complaint to Virgin Credit Card which was rejected so went to FOS in January. I had been told that the review of this complaint was on hold while FOS look into how to handle these types of complaints. Today I received an email from the adjudicator asking for bank statements for the 3 month period before the card was issued so looks like they have decided a way forward. I sent the bank statements showing huge gambling transactions,over £8k, and just in those 3 months I had other loans amounting to £6,700. One of the loans was from amigo and I have already won that case with FOS. I had 3 detafults on my credit file and two other accounts with payments over 3 months late. Virgin gave me a credit limit of £5,700 with interest free offers at the time. Im not sure whose credit file Virgin were looking at to give me a limit that high but it cant have been mine! Havent gambled for well over a year now after getting help and with these complaints from your site im hoping to finally be debt free. Fingers crossed they uphold my complaint.
Sue says
Hi Sara
I put complaint In About my bank about unaffordable loan and overdraft lending against a background of horrific payday loan lending, bank loans, credit cards, catalogues etc my outgoings were £2800 a month just on debt repayments on a wage of around £2400. I wasn’t missing payments etc due to the snowball of lending. I’ve own all my other cases and it was actually adjudicator who mentioned to me about my bank lending. Anyway I sent it in and they asked a few questions etc but I got a response which details and went on about being mis-sold overdraft and loans and they were not as they were utilitiesed and repayed. I mentioned nowhere in my complaint about Mis-selling all affordability. I mean this is absolutely no way disrespectfully but it’s like a foreign outsourced team doing the complaint handling. Is there any point going back to them and asking what they are talking about ? Or should I just send it to FOS now?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I doubt the bank will change its mind. I would send it to FOS and say you don’t think the bank’s response addressed your complaint as you were complaining about the credit increases.
Keith says
Regarding Aqua – I have some bad news and some brilliant news…. at least in my case.
Bad: I complained in November 2018 about unaffordability. It was rejected. Went to FOS. 6 months later – rejected by FOS (so that’s now circa mid 2019). Asked for it to be sent to an ombudsman for review. 12 months later still no response so I pushed for an update.
Good! : Ombudsman disagreed with original decision and upheld July 2020. £3,123 in my account (even this I had to chase Aqua for – for about 5 weeks in total!).
So, it took 2 years nearly, but in a way it went in my favour as a considerable chunk of that money was stat interest – which became a lot more after 2 years of waiting. Complaint dated back to 2014.
Hang in there. Even a double rejection came with a decent outcome.
Brad says
I have a question which hopefully someone will know the answer to – I had a credit card where the cash limit was £300 per day, say I gambled £500 a day on that credit card would that class as irresponsible lending due to Sainsburys lending me more than the cash limit?
I had a complaint with Sainsbury regarding this & even though gambling was treated as a cash transaction (including all the extra charges) they rejected my complaint as they are saying the cash limit of £300 is a limit for actual physical cash & not cash transactions – I have not seen any paperwork saying the cash limit is just for cash. I feel I should take the case to the ombudsman but I would like a 2nd opinion please.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So far as I know, this depends on the T&Cs for your particular card. Have you seen the T&Cs?
Did Sainsbury’s at any point increase your limit? Was the original limit they gace you high?
Brad says
The original limit they gave me was £9k which i think was far too high. They did not increase it, also for 50 of 60 months i was over my credit limit but never blocked my card – also had many missed payments.
The T&C’s that i can find say:
Cash advances
‘When you withdraw cash, you’ll be charged 3% of your withdrawal or £3, whichever is greater. There’s no interest free period on cash, so you’ll be charged interest from the day you withdraw it until it’s paid off.
Cash advances include:
Cash obtained by using the card
Finance payments or gambling transactions
All ATM withdrawals’
As my limit was £300 i dont see how they should allow me to spend over that daily amount.
Other terms include:
We may also limit the amount of your overall balance that can be made up of cash advances to a percentage of your overall
credit limit. If we apply this cash limit we will tell you what that limit is and we will tell you
if it changes at any time as detailed in condition.
I am pretty sure my whole balance was gambling related!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So your arguments to the Ombudsman are:
– that the original limit was set too high given your other debts at the time
– that they never put a limit on the daily cash you used for gambling, even though they treated it just like cash in all other respectes and the T&Cs do not explain that the cash limit does not apply to gambling
– that they never limited the amount of your balance that that could be made up of cash advances
– that they allowed you to carry on using the card despite you being over the limit for 50 out of 60 months.
Alison says
Hello
First of all I just want to say a big thank you for the information available on this site. Especially the letter templates. I have been a financial mess probably since about 2009 and I’m now just seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Being older and wiser has made me realise that my debt was mostly due to irresponsible lending (and my own stupidity) and this site has given me the confidence to follow up and try to get refunds and most importantly improve my credit score as I really want to get a mortgage.
I have already sent 5 emails to PDLs and although only one has admitted responsibility and wiped the debt and offered me a refund- this cost me nothing to do! And I have gained so much in confidence with dealing with these companies.
I today decided to tackle my biggest debt to Aqua card who repeatedly gave me credit increases although it was very clear I was in financial difficulty. They even continued my account after paying it off through a DMP in 2011 rather than just settling the account. They then continues to increase the credit limit again and again till it it got to £4000 even with late/minimal payments.
I just would like to ask if anyone has any advice about dealing with this company as I have a feeling they are going to play hard ball.
Any success stories or words of wisdom would be much appreciated
Thanks in Advance
Sophie says
Hello Everyone,
I want to make a complaint to Newday – over a period of years i had a loan and 2 credit cards with them along with numerous increases despite defaults on my credit record.
Do i need to contact each company directly – ie Aqua, Opus etc ? Or can i go straight to newday ?
Does anyone have the email address for aqua/newday to complain to ? Online i can only find the address to send it by post.
Alison says
complaints@newday.co.uk. All
The same company I think. Good luck. Sent mine yesterday
Dave says
A provisional decision was made at Ombudsman level 5 weeks ago in my favour. Both Aqua and myself were given 4 weeks (which was up last Friday) to respond before the Ombudsman made their final decision. I was told the final decision would be made sooner if we responded before the end of the deadline. It’s now a week over that deadline and I’ve not heard anything. Is this normal? I was kind of expecting a final decision either over the weekend or Monday?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
There really isn’t a “normal” here. I suggest you ask your adjudicator what is happening on Monday.
K says
Looking for a bit of advice regarding simply be. When I opened the account I had numerous defaults and a ccj. Since having the account I’ve been borrowing more in overdrafts, credit card even a doorstep loan. Every few months they increased my credit limit then a month after it was applied to my account my APR went from 24.9% for first 12 months to 34.9% For the next 12 months and is now at a whopping 44.9% I have never missed a payment and there were times in the beginning I was clearing my balance. Only checking statements did I find the apr going up to 34.9 -I don’t ever recall being notified of this though I do remember the letter for 44.9. I am currently paying £90 each month which is about £14 over minimum payment and received an email today to remind me to pay more than the minimum – something I could have done had it not been for them putting the Apr up and pushing me further into debt. Don’t know if it’s worth a claim or not? I know I should have said no to credit increases but it was manageable at the 24.9 Apr I did not think at the time that would increase
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I can’t say whether you will win or not, but if you think the credit limit is now at a level which is too high for you to be able to pay off the debt, then I suggest you complain. Expect this to be rejected so it will have to go to the Ombudsman.
Alanna says
Hi I was wondering if anyone had any luck with next catalogue? I had bad credit was given a account for £300 next month they upped to £1500 and then 2 months later £3750 a month later they took it back down to £3000 and then when I started falling behind a few months later they took me down to £300 although balance was over 2k so was instantly in arrears. My credit was bad all the way through. Do you think I have a case I’ve since missed payments and had defaults. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes I think you should complain about the increased credit limit. Also if their reducing your credit limit meant you were in arrears so they charged you more, complain about that too!
Alanna says
Thank you I’ve submitted and complaint and they are looking into this, I will let you know the outcome
Maria says
Hi Sara,
Just an update on my ongoing complaint with Vanquis. The adjudicator has sent me her final response again after reopening the matter and again not upholding it again and asking if l want it passed to an Ombudsman she also says:-
“Due to this increase being in 2012. I feel that Vanquis hadn’t been given the opportunity to explain why they increased your other account back in 2012. Vanquis have explained that they were unaware of this accounts existence, as you’d never previously referred to it throughout this complaint. However, since you sent me the additional information, they’ve looked into this and have confirmed they no longer hold any records in relation to this account. From looking at the new information, I can acknowledge that you had a credit limit of £500, which increased was to £2,000, there is no dispute that this increase did occur. However, this was in the year of 2012 and was in regard to an old account which was opened in 2009.
Can l raise the fact that if they did not hold accounts for this increase how did they manage to send me the data for it? I have asked her to pass my file to an ombudsman to review it
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what data have they sent you for it?
Maria says
Hi Sara
I will try and find what l can. I have sent them an email stating that the 67 page Data which l provided shows all transaction from 2009 up to when the accounts where closed therefore l cannot understand how Vanquis can say that they were not aware of the accounts
I will keep you updated.
S says
Hi Sara,
I received the following reply from the FOS investigator today:-
Findings:-
I’ve considered all the available evidence and arguments to consider what I think is fair and reasonable in the circumstances of your complaint. And based on what I’ve seen, I don’t think you’ve brought this complaint to us in time. So, I haven’t asked Capital One to do anything. I will explain in more detail why I think this below.
There are time limits which apply to our power to consider complaints. These rules can be found in the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) handbook under section DISP 2.8. The rules say we can’t look at a complaint if it was made more than:
six years after the event complained of; or if later
three years from when the customer was aware, or ought reasonably to have been aware, of cause for complaint.
You opened your credit card with Capital One on 13 February 2012. Capital One sent you a notice of default letter on 22 June 2012 and a statement of default on 25 July 2012. These two letters ought to have made you aware that you were unable to afford the credit card. You complained to Capital One on 3 September 2019. This complaint was made more than six years from the date you opened your credit card and more than three years after the date that you ought reasonably to have been aware, of the cause for the complaint. Therefore, under DISP rule 2.8 this aspect of the complaint has not been bought to us in time.
Any thoughts please Sara?
Many thanks S
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Were you asked when you became aware you could make this sort of complaint?
S says
Further to the above Sara I did mention the following which has been acknowledged:-
You’ve informed us that you didn’t complain to Capital One at the time as you were unaware that you were able to do so. You found out that you could complain in 2019 when your friend directed you to the website https://debtcamel.co.uk/.
Appreciate your help.
Thanks S
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How large was the credit limit you were given by Cap One? It sounds as though you used the full limit very quickly and made almost no payments to it, is that right?
S says
Hi Sara,
I had a £750 credit limit. I had the card for approx 6 months before starting to default on payments. I was using cash from the card to help pay off numerous pay day loans.
Thanks S
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“You opened your credit card with Capital One on 13 February 2012. Capital One sent you a notice of default letter on 22 June 2012 ” – so this from FOS isn’t right?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you can go back to FOS and argue that although you realised the repayments were unafordable when you defaulted, thsi didn’t mean that you knew you had a reason to complain, as you thought it was your fault as you were just being very bad with money.
You had no idea at that time that the lender should have checked that the credit was affordable for you so you didnt realise that the lender had done anything wrong. You complained as soon as your did,.
(Assuming that thta is all correct? don’t say anything that is wrong just because you hope it might sound better, stick to the facts!)
BUT this is going to be a hard case to win as the initial limit was not very big and Cap One never increased it.
S says
Thanks for the reply and advice Sara.
Much appreciated.
Cheers S
Paul says
Hi,
Looking for advice. I have a case against Tesco credit card. My case is currently with an ombudsman and has been since the 22nd October. They have everything from Tesco.
Should I email again and ask why its taking so long or wait.
I have had other cases that were resolved much quicker than this one.
Thanks
Paul
Sara (Debt Camel) says
that doesn’t seem very long to me.
Paul says
Hi,
The Ombudsman has had my case for nearly a year, it has been with a case handler since October 2020 they also have my file from Tesco and they said they are still reviewing the evidence.
Should I ask for an update or wait as it is nearly 4 weeks since they said they were reviewing it and will be in contact soon.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would ask them if there is any more information you can provide – a friendly sort of nudge!
Nat says
Ive had some take a few days some take weeks. Just wait is best. Ive had 1 since 14th october and im still waiting. Also they’ve had everything they need since February
Sarah Heydon says
Hi Sara,
Sorry for the long post,
My husband had a redit card back in 2000, we fell behind with payments and had the card cancelled, we then moved and got in contact with the bank and they stated that it had been sold to a debt collection agency in 2005 and they didn’t know who the agency was and to wait for them to get in touch with us.
We never heard anything for a long time then a company Robinson way got in touch with us and said they had the debt which had gone from £500 to £1650.
I have Robinson way for the credit agreement but they have said that it went to court in 2014 so they don’t have to give us any information that we have asked for as its been dealt with in court.
I have contacted NatWest to see if they can help but they have no record of the debt anymore as it is so old, so they said to talk to the debt company.
Is there anyway I can find the original details, we are currently paying Robinson Way £10 pmth
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If there is a CCJ then it doesn’t make any difference if the CCA agreement can be found or not.
Laura says
No real point to this post. Of all my cases and i had a lot of refunds the only one I didn’t win was Barclaycard. I actually thought that was my strongest case of everything but FOS said no. Pretty frustrating today to receive a refund following a internal review because that undoubtedly is a admission of wrongdoing and how can anyone now question the process etc!
S says
Hi Sara,
Have the FOS guidelines changed please?
I had numerous pay day loans, which were a lot more than six years old, and the FOS was more than happy to investigate, however, having made unaffordable / irresponsible credit card complaints against Capital One and Vanquis Bank, I’ve recently received the following; which is quite annoying having waited so long for a response.
Just to make you aware the Financial Ombudsman Service isn’t able to look at every complaint brought to us, and we may not be able to look at your complaint. Our rules are set by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) who is the industry regulator. They publish the rules that set out how we – and financial businesses – should handle complaints in the FCA Handbook in the section called Dispute Resolution: complaints (DISP). In this instance DISP 2.8.2R (2) applies:
The Ombudsman cannot consider a complaint if the complainant refers it to the Financial Ombudsman Service:
(2) more than:
(a) six years after the event complained of; or (if later)
(b) three years from the date on which the complainant became aware (or ought reasonably to have become aware) that he had cause for complaint;
We can look at complaints out of jurisdiction if there are exceptional circumstances such as incapacitating illness.If there’s anything which stopped, you from bringing the complaint to us within six years of taking out the credit card please let me know.
Many thanks,
S
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No the guidelines haven’t changed.
You need to reply explaining that you only found out that a credit card lender should have checked affordability in [month & year] when [say however you found out. A friend may have told you, you may have had a refund from Wonga. You saw an advert by a claims company]. Add that you knew earlier that you were in financial difficulty, but you thought it was your fault as you were bad with money and had borrowed too much, you didn’t realise the lender should not have given you the credit so you had no idea you could complain at that time.
S says
Thanks for the advice Sara.
Jonny says
I can’t find my comment from last year.. but I made a complaint against Barclaycard. I had 2 cards, both issued within 1 year of each other, and the credit limit was raised 3 times on each card. The limit totalled £14,350 across both cards. Barclaycard completely fobbed me off – they advised a full credit check was done and my account history was fine. I referred it to the FOS as I had £27,500 of unsecured debt before applying and a large number of cash withdrawals. The FOS have sided with me today – total refund given including interest, account charges and cash withdrawal fees is £9,456.78.
Just wanted to post this to let others know as you can win especially against some of these bigger banks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well done!
chrissy says
That is indeed heartening to hear. Well done Jonny. I too have cases in against banks which are currently with the FOS. I will update everyone too as and when I get any news.
Ljc says
That’s brilliant Jonny , very pleased for you . Can I ask something please , how do you remember your balence was raised on 3 occasions ? as I can’t remember anything like that with the credit cards I had .
Chrissy says
Hi Ljc, sorry to nip in here but if you look at TotallyMoney it gives a fantastic timeline of credit history in graph form including credit limit, payment and balance. Very easy to use. For free TransUnion try Credit Karma – updated regularly too. I only use the free ones. Hope this helps.
Ljc says
That’s great thank you Chrissy
Anonymous says
Hi everyone just an update. I complained to very about a catalogue account I had in June 2019, they replied and rejected my complaint on the final day of the 8 weeks allotted time (shock), I took my case to the FOS immediately. Today after 15 months of pain and patience I have received an offer from very to refund all interest after my first increase, and all default payment charges. This was offered at the moment very provided my business file (shock again), yes it did take them 14 months for the FOS to request and obtain this due to them “seeking clarification” over how to handle these cases. I of course accepted this offer. I suppose anyone familiar with dealing with lending stream the payday loan lender may be able to relate to these timescales (waiting until the last day to reply, then only offer refunds when the FOS adjudicator gets involved)
My question to all is does anyone know how long they take to issue cheques?
Also on an additional side note the FOS admitted they have handled my case poorly and themselves have offered me £200 in compensation.
chris says
Wow – the FOS paying you money? Crikey. I am in an almost identical set up as you but with J D Williams. Got a call on Thursday after nearly 19 months with the FOS asking me for more info on salary. The lady at the FOS did apologise for the length of time it was taking and told me a decision would be made on the case next week. Will post results on here.
Katie says
I have just won a case with J D Williams. Case opened with them January 2019 sent to FOS and picked up by adjudicator MAY 2019. A decision in my favour FEB 2020 but JDW did not agree so sent to Ombudsman and been there since. Ombudman agreed with adjudicator and found in my favour. They had 4 weeks after I accepted and I have heard nothing from them. Just to give you an idea on timescale. Will update when I here something back from JDW>
chris says
Thank you for letting me know – much appreciated. Gives me a little bit of hope. Paying that catalogue brings back some horrible memories facing nearly £100 minimum payment each month and knowing that every payment consisted mostly of paying interest. never again!
Anonymous says
Just received correspondence from FOS they have given shop direct 4 weeks to get in touch to arrange my refund. I’m not holding me breath I’ll be seeing the money this year.
Nat says
I complained to capital one i had 2 cards with them both £200 credit limit. One i opened 2016 one i opened 2018. They upheld my complaint within 5 weeks. Im over the limit on both cards. My first card they are refunding £628 plus my balance removed. They second balance removed. Both will be removed from my credit file. I am so happy because i seen this thread. Thanks alot for this site :):):)
Liza says
Did you have an outstanding balance whenthe account was closed? If so did you have to pay it?
Linda says
Not sure but I’m waiting on a refund from a certain catalogue and had receipt which they have the details been month now and still nothing where does one go to do this Linda
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Linda, have you made an affordability complaint to the catalogue? Or are you asking for a refund for some item you bought? If it is about a specific item, then I suggest you talk to the Consumer helpline about the problem: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/get-more-help/if-you-need-more-help-about-a-consumer-issue/
Nat says
Hi anyone have the email to complain to aqua credit card. My account is in default and i can’t log in to complain. And i can’t find an email address anywhere online
Marty90 says
Hi. I had a credit card with a limit of £2500. After experiencing financial problems I regularly exceeded this credit limit by almost £500 every month for almost a year. Would this be irresponsible lending on the part of my credit card provider? Even if they dont call it a credit limit increase, it effectively was, but with all those extra charges. Surely they should have started declining the transactions or frozen my account after i had been doing it for a few months? Account is currently frozen and I am on DMP.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Who was the lender? Did you talk to them during thus year? How much was added in charges for going over the limit during the year?
Marty90 says
The lender was M&S bank. The charges were standard 12 pounds fee every month for going over limit plus the interest. I had the card for over 5 years before I started doing this and had been at or close to the limit for several years.
I was under the impression that they should have either stopped allowing me to use it or maybe called me to discuss it but I just got a single letter each month saying you’ve gone over and your card may not work.
I’m just wondering if this is a bit suspect on their behalf. Because I was able to regularly rely on going hundreds of pounds over limit. So it was effectively a credit limit increase in all but name.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I haven’t seen this argument tried before so I don’t know how likely it is to be successful.
Marty90 says
I’ve fired off a complaint anyway. I’ve had loads of successful complaints go through (thanks to your help), including a 14k one from Amigo, but I’m probably scraping the barrel a bit with this one.
My complaint is basically based around the fact that lenders are supposed to pick up on such behaviour (especially if it occurs over a prolonged period of time) and maybe offer some advice or restrict card usage. Because it is a blatant indicator of financial distress.
Secondly, I was spending almost a third of my NET salary each month on this one card bill. So this is clearly unaffordable and in the end was unsustainable.
I will definitely let you know if it works though. I actually used a modified version of your complaint letter to reclaim 3k from student finance, so anything is possible.
Sam says
Hi Sara
I would just like to thank you for your website. It has given me the courage and the skills to contest 4 defaults on my credit file. I am pleased to say that 3 defaults have been removed and I am waiting on the final one: I wish I had found your website earlier as I could have had these defaults removed a few years ago. It only took a matter of weeks to get the defaults removed!
Anonymous says
Quick update on my very refund. I wasn’t prepared to wait any longer than the time the FOS gave them to get in touch to sort my refund (4 weeks) so I emailed the FCA and CCd them into the email. Within hours they contacted me to arrange my cheque in the post. I’m assuming this grabbed their attention. Whether this turns up within the 21 days they said remains to be seen….
Lisa says
Hi all
I am still being told that FOS are still deciding how to handle affordability complaints against credit cards and that I should expect a long wait. I have been waiting since January, which i know in the scheme of things isnt that long but im worried it will be a wait till they decide how to handle them and then another long wait till an adjudicator make a decision. Has anyone else had the same?
Ellie says
Im in the same situation as you, submitted to FOS Jan, picked up my Adjudicator in March. Been chasing but get the same response as you.
Lisa says
Its very frustrating that others on this site seem to have Credit Card unaffordability complaints being dealt with by FOS yet we seem to be told they havent decided how to deal with them!
chris says
Rung up by somebody at the FOS 10 days ago to say that a decision on my claim against J D Williams would be decided by the end of last week. No decision yet. So, the 18 month wait continues.
Richard says
I’d like a bit of advice please about reclaiming old bank charges more than 6 years old. Back in 2012 my wife and I had a lot of financial problems due to both of us being made redundant and struggling to find new jobs for over a year. We entered a debt management plan with StepChange (best thing we ever did – can’t recommend them highly enough). It took us about 5 years on the DMP but all our debts are now cleared and our credit rating restored. I wonder if it’s possible to reclaim for bank charges from 2011-12 – I realise it’s over the 6yr limit, but looking back the charges we incurred were eye watering? I suppose we should have claimed before but when you’re struggling with debt and unemployment reclaiming bank charges aren’t the first things you think about in life. We still have all the old bank statements and record of the overdraft/credit card charges incurred. Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
did all the charges stop when the DMP started?
Richard says
Yes we incurred no charges when on the DMP, but were continually had charges added until the DMP started because we kept bouncing payments because we had reached our overdraft limit.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So it sounds as though the problems occurred because you both lost your jobs? In that case you probably can’t argue the problem was that the banks set the overdraft limits too high – which is the sort of problems covered in the article above.
But you may be able to argue that the charges put you into more and more difficulty… see https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/bank-charges/ which looks at how to make a complaint about this sort of problem.
Jack B says
Hi Sarah,
I made a complaint to Natwest for irresponsible lending using the templates above and they have come back to me saying that I had a convoluted adress history and that it’s Experians fault and told me I should reach out to them and so have not found in my favour.
In your opinion is this just a fobbing off technique and should I then immediately complain to the FOS? I went through some really bad times and have around 12 defaults at the time etc and Natwest gave me a Credit Card + Overdraft and raised them
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s Natwest’s fault if they couldn’t correctly interpret your credit record. not Experian’s!
Yes I suggest you send this to FOS.
Scott says
Natwest, nationwide and hsbc all done the same to me. Trying to say credit agencies didnt report any issues or defaults to them. They said if i had live defaults they would not have given me credit. I even sent my credit report to them which shows defaults but they still didnt uphold my complaints saying they were not informed at the time. Ive sent all of mine to FOS.
Dave says
How long do Aqua have to contact me following an Ombudsman’s final decision, is it 2 weeks? Decision at Ombudsman level was made final last Thursday (26th Nov) so just wondered how long I should give it before potentially chasing.
Meee says
Anyone had complaint upheld by capital one im waiting for a cheque. Its taking ages 😔
Gary H says
Hi Sara,
I’m after some advice please.
NewDay have come back upholding my claim against (at least in part anyhow). There were 5 credit limit increases and they said they shouldn’t have done the middle one (no reference to the ones after it, but I’ve asked them about that and await their response). My Question is this, At one point, a couple of years ago, Aqua/Newday transferred my balance to Cabot. I have since had a repayment plan in place with Cabot. However, the refund that Aqua/Newday have made in upholding my claim they have sent to Cabot to reduce my balance. Is this correct? Are Cabot part of Newday? If not, then are NewDay allowed to dictate where my refund should be applied? I’m not sure what the rules/regulations are on this.
Thanks in advance.
Gary
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, a lender can do this.
If they don’t uphold the later increases, send the complaint to the Ombudsman. It is VERY had to see how the middle one could be wrong and the later ones could be right!
Gary H says
Thanks Sara – I have to say that’s a little surprising if they’re unrelated companies. But I’m happy and thankful for your knowledge on this.
Yes, them upholding the complaint and me sending it to the FOS kind of crossed in the post. So I’ve left it with the FOS whilst I await the answer on the other increases.
As for Cabot, they once offered me a heavily reduced settlement amount if I can find the capital (which I couldn’t). I explained I couldn’t find that kind of money right now but was grateful for the offer and they said that such settlements were pretty much always available and so to ask at any point. The settlement amount they offered was well below the refund from NewDay, so I might ask the question – shouldn’t this settle the balance, not just reduce it? They can only say no.
Thanks again.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I have to say that’s a little surprising if they’re unrelated companies. But I’m happy and thankful for your knowledge on this.
The Ombudsman will say the lender has to resolve the situation with the debt that has been sold. That can be by paying the redress into the debt held by the debt purchaser OR by buying the debt back from the debt purchaser OR by paying the money to you. It isn’t your choice, it is up to the lender.
This has a long track record of experience as it was what was done with PPI.
so I might ask the question – shouldn’t this settle the balance, not just reduce it? They can only say no.
worth a try.
Jason Rock says
Good afternoon,
Just a quick query as not seen any one so far on complaints to catalogues on here I had 2 which I’ve only just found out I owe on.
Now id like to put in a complaint but don’t have a reference number for the catalogues as it was a few years ago but a debt company has purchased it and they don’t have that information either so the template at top does not work for me .
Is there any other options available. Or a dead end.
Much appreciated
Sara (Debt Camel) says
do you agree you probably owe the money or do you think this is some error? How large are the debts?
Jason rock says
I be honest as always. I do owe the money.
But they kept increasing my credit for a whole year I was not working so intrest was just piling on.
Final figure was 1297.67 on a start of 300 I made some payments but could never recover
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, well you don’t need an account number to send an affordability complaint to the catalogue. Just give your name, address, email address, date of birth and they should be able to locate your account.
Another option that may help is to ask the debt collector to produce the CCA agreements for the debts. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/ask-cca-agreement-for-debt/. If they cant, the balance is unenforceable in court.
Darren Cairns says
i was recommended to enter a iva after using a company recommended by my union i owe approx £9k some dating back 10 years been paying a pound a month until taking out the iva who now wants £50 and finding it hard to afford this have only made 4 payments so far.
recently changed my car as i need a reliable car for work and my mother in law needs help with hospital appointments as does my daughter as she registered disabled(she 21 lives with her nan but has to travel to hospital over 250 miles away.
my car is worth £6500 and owe £8000 on the finance and not included in the iva and the finance company will allow me to keep the car if i carry on paying if i go bankrupt but really not sure what to do
should also say rent my home and have no assets worth over £1000
should i apply to go bankrupt ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you need to talk to a debt adviser who will look at your situation in detail. I suggest you phone National Debtline on 0808 808 4000.
If the IVA payments are not affordable then this is VERY early in the IVA. If you were at year 4 it may be worth trying to get through the next year, but if this IVA is going to fail it may as well be quick.
Charlotte says
Hi! I’ve finally had a response from NewDay, they’ve pretty much said they assessed my finances when I first got the card and with that score I was suitable for increases? They said they sent me letters about it increasing due to me being close to the limit and I should have called if I couldn’t afford it? They’ve also said because I never missed a payment I can afford it so they’ve offered me nothing. Is it worth taking it to the ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A lender has to reassess your situation when they increase your limit significantly. they can’t rely on the assessment they did at the start still being right.
You know if the limit was raised to a level that was unaffordable for you. If it was, send the complaint to the Ombudsman.
Cazza says
I think I will write to Next as well, I had an account with them about 10 years ago which due to escalating debt ended up for I g part of an IVA.
After my IVA was completed I then stupidly applied for a Next account again – thinking I would be declined but they accepted me again, my limit was continually increased and I began to struggled.
Nearly 2 years ago they reduced my limit as I’m assuming my credit rating began to drop and I am still trying to reach this limit but it seems never ending.
Cazza says
I wrote yesterday and today they responded with three lines starting that they simply perform the correct checks, kind regards…. followed by if I wanted it looked into by their complaints department then let them know. It is bizarre as I emailed their complaints department in the first place.
I’ve replied stating that I definitely want it looked into.
Dave R says
Hi Sara,
I’m curious to know whether I would have a case with a complaint to my bank about the affordability of my overdraft (now fully cleared)
I had an overdraft of around £1000-1500 for a while and then suddenly started to increase it until it got all the way up to £5000. Sometimes I’d increase a few times in the same week, no questions asked via the app. I then lived in this overdraft for years and paid extortionate fees every month. On top of this, I was having to take other pay day loans out to offset the £200+ overdraft charges. Whilst I’m not looking to blame somebody else for my mistakes and stupidity – I can’t look back on it without thinking – how did they let me get all the way to £5000k when they could see what was going on surely?
Eventually I converted the overdraft into a loan so that the monthly charges would be lower – I paid this off fully in October (years early).
Do I have any case to raise a complaint with my bank?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
when were the increases?
Dave R says
Can’t remember off the top of my head but probably around 3 years ago?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh that’s fine. There can be very few recordfs if people want to try to go back a long way.
If you know the overdraft was causing you a lot of problems, then it’s definitely worth complaining ask for a refund of the overdraft fees from the date they increased your limit. The bank (who was it?) should have been able to see the payday loans on your credit record and on your bank statements.
Don’t be surprised if the bank says No, send the case to the Ombudsman.
These cases aren’t as easy to win as payday loan refunds, but many are being won at FOS.
emma says
Just a reply about not as easy to win September 2019 went to ombudsman with a similar complaint about Barclay’s bank January 2020 my adjudicator came back sticking up for them with various reasons the bank eventually put all my debt in a resolve loan put when I pointed out I was years into a active iva so the bank shouldn’t have done that she then passed it to another department to deal with high cost credit and im still waiting nearly a year later do you think it will be worth the wait the bank admitted they don’t do credit checks on resolve loans as you allready owe them the money they just end up making more money from you in interest
Sara (Debt Camel) says
do you think it will be worth the wait
I can’t really guess, these decisions are case by case.
You have nothing to lose by waiting for the answer!
Dave R says
Will definitely look into this then. The bank is Lloyds – do you have any knowledge on how tricky they are when dealing with complaints such as this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
all the banks are tricky at the moment – they haven’t had many of this sort of complaint before.
Mr f says
Your situation is very similar to mine, I’ve just had FOS Adjudicator uphold the complaint, waiting for Lloyds to respond their deadline is 30th march so hopefully….. Good luck
Paul says
Just wondering if anyone has an experience in knowing how long Aqua take you I contact you once the ombudsman has made a final decision in your favour and is it worth me contacting them myself to chase?
M says
My claim was partially upheld by an Ombudsmen, and the four weeks have passed with not a word. Dreadful, obstructive, predatory company. I’ve messaged the initial Adjudicator, and suggest doing the same.
Paul says
Thanks M, hopefully the press ahead with yours now you’ve chased it with the adjudicator.
Dan says
Hi Sara
I don’t if this is the right page for this question
I received a letter today from my old bank Santander about them giving me a refund for not alerting me about me going over my unnaranged overdrafts few years ago (£85)
My question is earlier this year I changed bank accounts but as my new bank did not give me a overdraft I had to pay back £500 for my Santander account as I was in overdraft with them when closing the account
I could not afford paying all in full, so paid £25 back weekly but this was all put on my credit limit and decreased my credit report number, it has all been paid now
I was wondering would I be able to remove this account and any negative information from my credit report after I have received the letter about them not alerting me about the unarranged overdrafts and giving me a refund
Do I have a foot to stand on?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what were the charges on the £500 overdraft a month? Was it authorised or unauthorised?
Dan says
It was an authorised overdraft which I did many many years back which I never got over it, I used get arranged and unnarranged charges every month with Santander which never really helped, I can’t remember the exact sum but I would say an average of £50 a month for about 2 years
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The reason I am asking is 325 a week is a lot to pay back. If it was over the charges being added to the account, it isn’t clear whay there were any late payments or default added at all.
Dave R says
I’ve looked into the actual timelines and figures and looked at my statements for these periods.
Looks like it was up to 5 years ago and a pattern of extending that was in bursts in 2015 and 2016. I would often request to extend it on consecutive days – and sometimes even multiple times on the same day! Always approved, never a phone call to ask or check what was going on. My statements are filled with payments to payday lenders over this period. I think there might have been times where I can entered my current salary as 100 or 200 pounds higher than it was – but they should have still been able to see that I was in a desperate situation?
Date. Increased to
17 June 2016 – £5,000
15th June 2016 – £4,600
14th June 2016 – £4,550
13th June 2016 – £4,500
13th June – £4,400
25th April 2016 – £4,350
25th April 2016 – £4,300
22nd April 2016 – £4,150
21st April 2016 – £4,100
20th April 2016 – £4050
18th April 2016 – £4,000
18th April – £3,850
29th February 2016 – £3,800
26th February 2016 – £3,750
25h February 2016 – £3,700
23rd February 2016 – £3,650
22nd February 2016 – £3,600
22nd February 2016 – £3,550
19th February 2016 – £3,500
18th February 2016 – £3,450
25th June 2015 – £3,400
15th June 2015 – £3,250
10th June 2015 – £3,000
8th June 2015 – £2,750
2nd June 2015 – £2,500
1st June 2015 – £2,250
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think they should have wondered why you kept asking for increases – if they had looked at what was going through the ccount they would have seen all the payday loans.
Dave R says
They seem to be saying they haven’t done anything wrong and that they would have automatically assessed my applications each time and deemed them acceptable… Escalating it to their proper complaints team but I don’t expect them to uphold anything in all honesty!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send your complaint to the Finacial Ombudsman 8 weeks after you sent it in. Many people are getting good results from teh ombudsman after a bank dismissed the complaint saying they had done everything right….
Dave R says
Now the complaints team have text me this morning to say that they feel there is potential for a valid complaint and that they are investigating further and will respond in 8 weeks. You never know! Otherwise, FOS it is…
Dave R says
I’ve now received confirmation that they are not upholding my complaint. The fact that they feel I was eligible for all these increases is ridiculous. FOS it is then.
Paul says
I’ve just had the breakdown in how Aqua have calculated my settlement and I’m almost certain it’s wrong. I believe it to be around double the amount they’ve calculated it to be but I only have statements from year 1 of 4 regarding the interest I paid but the 3 missing years, the interest I paid was a lot more than year 1.
Have Aqua ever been known or any company ever been known to calculate the settlements incorrectly? I’ve gone back to the Ombudsman advising I believe it to be wrong.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
calculation errors do happen.
David says
Hello Sara,
I would welcome your thoughts and advice. My mother died last year and I discovered she had been given 2 credit cards with Barclaycard with a total limit of £26000! She was living on a state pension and had retired over 20 years ago. I have only the last 3 years statements showing she paid only the minimum payment for the last 3 year period. The total on the cards was £24000 so she had to pay over £400 per month to cover the minimum payment. Barclays did nothing as the minimum payment was being made, other than just before she died, they doubled the minimum payment on one of the cards. She paid far more in interest than off the principal debt. I complained and Barclays refused to accept they had done anything wrong. The FOS is looking into the case as I complained about the credit limit and the fact that she was in persistent debt and Barclaycard offered no help! The FOS seems to say that the limit was set more than 6 years ago Barclays are refusing the complaint, although my main complaint was about the lack of following FCA guidelines as a responsible lender. I have raised the question about regular affordability checks and product reviews. Barclays have refused to send any correspondence or a copy of the agreement (or sample agreement). They also took £9000 from her Barclays account as an off set, which was the only money left in her estate.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The FOS seems to say that the limit was set more than 6 years ago Barclays are refusing the complaint
Have FOS refused to look at this, or are they saying they need to consider it as Barclays has objected?
They also took £9000 from her Barclays account as an off set, which was the only money left in her estate.
Really? Was this the money you would have used for funeral costs?
David Simmons says
Hello Sarah,
Yes Barclays are refusing to accept the FOS complaint due to the time limit saying the persistent debt new rules only applied from March 2018 with a 6 month period before it was legally binding. They seem to ignore my requests for proof that they acted as a responsible lender with periodic reviews of the debt. It seems that all correspondence is outsourced and they have no records available. The 6 years is for the credit card limits. Over the 3 year period, my mother paid about £22000 via the minimum payment and only paid £2000 off the principal debt. I asked them why she had not be contacted when they admitted that they had failed their customers with their duty of care as per their website and they ignored me! The £9000 taken from my late mother’s account would have been used for funeral expenses and when I complained to Barclay’s they said they had acted properly! The FOS is still considering my complaint. I will keep you posted.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Your complaint is not about the persistent debt rules (which are recent)), it is about the affordability rules (which aren’t).
David Simmons says
Hello Sara, thank you for the reply. Barclays are trying to say that since the limit increase was set more than 6 yars ago it does not have to look into the complaint. I am saying that the FCA rules say that annual affordability checks are required especially with an open ended credit agreement to help with changes to life. They have never conducted any review as my late mother was a 83 year old pensioner with nearly £24000 on two credit cards! I believe this makes her vulnerable and needed Barclays to exercise a duty of care. If they offered to freeze the interest, my mother would have paid most of the debt off. My understanding is that the FCA rules are clear regarding the annual reviews / affordability checks and financial difficulty. Over the last 3 years at least, Barclays offered no help. I have been shocked at the way they profited from the situation!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send the complaint to FOS. They will often look at complaints over 6 years old where you have only recently found you can complain – it is theri decision to make, not Barclays.
And be clear to FOS. You are saying the limit was sett way too high for her back over 6 years ago AND they have faiuled to consider her situation in recent years when they should have realised she was in persistent debt and offered to help.
david simmons says
Hi Sara, I just wanted to update you on the subject I raised. The FOS Ombudsman has ruled that my late mother, living on a pension and having paid only the minimum payment for years, was treated correctly when Barclays and Nationwide gave her nearly £50,000 on 3 credit cards. Since the credit increases happened more than 6 years ago these companies were not required to provide any documentation. It was therefore decided that the credit was affordable! I am shocked and surprised that the FOS can conclude that a pensioner, despite my providing bank statements etc was considered to have not have been vulnerable nor in financial stress because she was able to make the minimum payments despite having to borrow from the family.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am sorry to hear that. I haven’t seen this sort of jurisdiction complaint on behalf of someone who has died.
Bruno says
Hi Sara,
Thanks to your website I was able tk have a complaint against Aqua upheld and they have now reduced the balance in my outstanding defaulted account by £700 (account now with Cabot). The balance is nearly fully cleared now and this refund reduced the balance by more than 50%.
They didn’t however agree with my request on my initial complaint to remove the default frlm my file and I am getting ready to appeal / counteroffer them requesting they remove the default on the premise the unaffordable card defaulted because of the high limit and interests.
Do you think I have a pathway to get them remove the default when they upheld my complaint? The original defaulted amount was £2100; original credit limit was £1800; amount upheld and refunded £700; current balance with Cabot £300.
Thank you in advance for your response and cooperation.
Best wishes
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Say if they refuse, the complaint is going to the Ombudsman.
Bruno says
Will do. Thanks Sara. Have a great end to 2020 and thanks for all your support
Nat says
Hi i have complained to aqua card 2 weeks ago. And now ive had a notification on clear score that an account will be removed on my next report which is aqua card. Anyone else had this? What does it mean?
Chrissy says
Anybody heard off Vanquis lately? I complained, 8 wks later they deny & didn’t look at part of my complaint (unfair treatment). I respond asking them to look at original complaint & reconsider affordability. No response after 2 weeks so I sent to FOS. They respond same time saying they had more time – fair enough. That was 9 weeks ago now & nothing! Any phone numbers exist please? Something fishy going on? (going bust like others?) or just ignoring complaints? Any/all advice welcome please x
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t think there is any sign that Vanquis is going bust!
How long has it been with FOS?
Chrissy says
Hi Sara, It’s only been with FOS 2 months. Vanquis did not respond to half of my first complaint at 8 weeks. They then quoted 8 weeks after my second response for reconsideration. In total it’s been with Vanquis now for 18 weeks. Do you think they are not responding because I sent it to FOS perhaps? (thank you for your website btw. I love what you do to help people)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think they probably aren’t very well organised. Ask FOS what is happening if you haven’t heard anything from them in another coupld of months.
Do you currently have a Vanquis debt you are struggling to pay?
Chrissy says
Thanks Sara. Will do. Not struggling as already arranged £4 pcm with them.
Justin Reeves says
Hi,
I am helping out my OH sort out her finances.
She has a Aqua card, never missed a payment, we recently asked for a DSAR and got it through today.
Inside was a copy of the CCA that the OH had signed,
For nearly 30 months she has been in persistent debt with the card of only making the minimum payments and cannot pay anymore to clear the balance.
When the card was first taken out the OH had quite a good paying job and could afford the payments, around 5 years ago we moved house and the only jobs that were available were lower paid jobs.
The card started out with a £750 limit and gradually increased to £4500 today, looking through no checks were done when these increases were applied, in total there have been 12 over limit fees added to the account and sometimes the credit limits were increased the month later.
What we are looking for is advice on how to manage this account, and would a claim for irresponsible lending be worth a shot.
Thanks in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
is this her only difficult debt? Are you buying or renting?
Justin Reeves says
Thanks Sara,
No she has a couple of other debts that she is struggling along with.
We rent our house
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then I suggest that she talks to StepChange about a debt management plan https://www.stepchange.org/how-we-help/debt-management-plan.aspx. StepChange is a charity so it doesn’t charge her – 100% of her monthly payment would be used to clear the debts and as no interest is added, they will start to drop a lot faster.
She can also make an affordability complaint to Aqua saying they increased her credit limit too far to be affordable. If she get a refund from this it will really speed up the DMP.
Lynne says
Hi Sara.
I need some advise. I gambled in September and November £200 and £150 I was expecting money to be paid into my account. However, there was insufficient funds in my account, but Santander allowed the casino to deposit the money.
Santander say they can do that, I say the deposits should have been declined. At the time I could not check my balance on my online account as it was unavailable. I feel this was irresponsible of Santander. Can I ask them to refund me as I would not gamble with money not in my account.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did the casino deposit money into your bank account? Or take money out of your bank account?
Lisa says
Hi Sara
Have you heard anything about the FOS deciding how to take forward affordability complaints against credit cards? It seems there are quite a few people on here who have received FOS decisions recently but i am still being told they are agreeing how to deal with these complaints. Mine have been with FOS since January.
F says
Hi,
Has anyone had experience of dealing with Littlewoods? Had an account for 10 years, started off ok but credit limit was increased during this time and the APR increased to nearly 40%. Lots of emails and letters encouraging me to Buy Now and Pay Later, despite struggling financially with credit cards, even using the cards to make minimum payments on account. Wrote to Littlewoods 10 weeks ago but only response so far is to say they are slow responding due to Covid. Any advice welcomed?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send your case to the Financial Ombudsman now! They usually don’t make a good offer so there is no point in waiting for it. Get yourself in the FOS queue now.
Do you owe them a balance at the moment? can you afford the repayments?
F says
Hi Sara,
Thank you for your reply, the balance is about 8k currently but am finally in a position in which I am able to make the repayments at last without using cards. I will contact the FOS straight away.
Laura says
Yes, they are horrible! They will just send a letter saying no but once you have a case reference number go back to them and quote it because that’s really only when they take note. Once I got allocated a adjudicator and it took 19months they made a offer straight away. £8000 is ridiculous, good luck I’m confident for you
Paul says
Having a nightmare with Aqua and the FOS. Decision at ombudsman level was made for Aqua to refund all interest and charges following the first limit increase in May 2015 until the point in which the account was at zero. Aqua have calculated this wrong in my opinion and I believe the figure should be around double what it is. Even though I raised this with Aqua, they still paid this amount into my account and said if I disagree with the figure, I need to raise it with the Ombudsman. The adjudicator has come back saying they won’t look into how the figure was put together and its down to Aqua to do this and they won’t be liaising with Aqua on it. Aqua again say I’ve been misinformed by FOS, won’t speak to me about how they’ve come to this figure and say if I want to raise it, I have to do it through the adjudicator who then has to raise it with Aqua who will look into it again. Being batted back and forth and getting nowhere.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you phone FOS up and say you want to make a complaint, because although you were happy with the adjuicator decision, Aqua are not calculating it correctly and you think it’s unreasonable for the adjuidcator to refuse to look at this.
Paul says
Hi,
I need some advice concerning my Tesco credit card claim for irresponsible lending.
Its now with an adjudicator after waiting over 1 year for it to be picked up. The adjudicator has all the information from Tesco but its been 2 months and I have emailed to ask for an update and they have replied saying we have all the information and will be in touch.
Why is it taking so long as I have had other credit card claims finalised quicker.
Any ideas please.
Thanks
Paul
S says
Hi Sara,
Just a quick update. Although, I’ve had numerous successes with redress for PDL’s, that were well over 6 years old, I’m struggling to get passed the adjudicator stage with my complaints regarding credit cards (i.e. Vanquis, Capital One, etc)
Despite having my complaint for many months, this seems to be the general response:-
“I’m sorry to hear you don’t agree with my view. But before sending your complaint on to an Ombudsman I’d like to clarify a couple points.
You’re unhappy as you only realised you could complain recently and as such the complaint should be within jurisdiction. Unfortunately, this isn’t how we consider complaints. According to the rules set out by the FCA the six-year limit starts when you knew there was something to complain about. This doesn’t extend to when you were aware you were able to complain.”
Firstly, I didn’t say in my response that the complaint should be within jurisdiction, however, I did say:- “I was unaware that I was able to make a complaint of this nature, until I was directed by a friend (date included) to the Debt Camel, website”.
In my opinion if the company had done thorough checks, and seen the numerous late payments, defaults, CCJ’s etc they shouldn’t have issued the card to me in the first place!
Any thoughts please Sara, or do I just have to take this one on the chin?
Best wishes to you, and everyone for Xmas and a better 2021!
Many thanks,
S
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ask for it to go to an Ombudsman. Your point is that you knew the repayments were a lot, but at that point you didn’t realise the lender should have checked that the repayments were affordable, so you were not aware there was anything you could complain about.
I too am hoping for a better 2021!
s says
Thanks Sara much appreciated x
E says
Has anyone had any joy with refunds from studio? Since my account was opened in 2011 they haved refused to look at it. The credit limit was increased on my account almost every month until i started to fall behind with payments, then as i struggled with fees and charges and higher minimum payments i began taking out pay day loans. This led to almost 8 years of debt wih payday loans and credit cards. I now have my finances under control thanks to hard work and numerous unaffordable loan repayments, but i feel that since this all began because of studio there must be something i can do to get some redress from them, or at the very least, some closure.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
have you sent the complaint to the Ombudsman?
E says
Yes its been with them for a few months but im not expecting them to look at it for a few more months
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then you just need to wait for that. I don’t think anyone has made Studio change their mind.