Have you had a catalogue, credit card or overdraft where you were given a high credit limit? So high that the monthly repayments were hard to manage so you got into more debt?
Many people were originally given sensible limits, 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.
You can complain to the lender and ask for a refund of the interest you paid. This article explains how to do this, with the points you need to put in your complaint.
In 2020, Barclaycard wrote to some customers saying their credit limit was set too high. I hope more lenders recognise this. But you can complain now, you don’t have to wait for a letter from your bank.
Contents
What is “responsible lending” and “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.
- If you can’t make the monthly repayments without difficulty, credit isn’t affordable. This means being able to pay all your normal household bills, 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 debt within a reasonable period of time. Paying the minimum amount is OK for a short while, but if you did this for a long period, this suggests the debt isn’t affordable and your limit should not be increased.
- A lender shouldn’t increase a credit limit without new checks. Just because you have been able to make your repayments so far doesn’t mean you can manage a larger limit!
How to complain
Good reasons to complain
If the lender could see any of these on your credit record, they should have declined your application:
- increasing mortgage arrears;
- a lot of recent high-cost short-term lending;
- recent credit record problems: defaults, a lot of missed payments, or arrangements to pay. “Credit builder” cards, aimed at people with a low credit score, will only reject if the problems were large;
- a level of borrowing that looks too high in relation to your income.
Your credit limit should not have been increased unless you could afford it. Any of these points suggest that you couldn’t:
- making minimum payments for a long while;
- using a lot of your limit;
- a lot of gambling showing on the statement;
- recent missed payments or an arrangement to pay on this account;
- your credit record has got worse – new missed payments, defaults or CCJs on other debts;
- your overall level of debts has gone up a lot.
Accounts with the same lender should be taken into account:
- did you have arrears on other accounts with the same lender?
- one reader was allowed to open a second account with Capital One. The Ombudsman decided this was unfair as he had quickly reached and gone over his limit on the first card.
- another reader had applied for a loan and a credit card to his bank but been turned down. But the bank then increased the limit on his overdraft. The Ombudsman decided this was unfair.
You don’t need the details and dates
If your lender increased your credit limit, you don’t need the precise date. Being able to say “A few years ago you increased my credit limit. After that I could only make the minimum payments but you increased my limit again to £3000.” is fine.
If you have your paper statements or emails, these may help, but 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 record said in 2017, but if you look at your current credit record (get your free TransUnion statutory credit report) you can see what the pre-2017 problems were that the lender should have spotted.
What you are looking for is the point at which the lender made an irresponsible lending decision. For a few people that will have been when you applied to open the account. For many people, it will have been when your credit limit was increased.
Template complaint
The best way to complain is by email. It’s free, instant and you have a record of what you sent and when. Some lenders make you complete a form on their website instead. And for some lenders you have to send a letter.
In the suggestions below, I’ve invented some examples for the bits [in italics in brackets]. Change/delete/add to these to tell your story.
Start off with the basics: identify you and your account and make it clear what sort of complaint you have:
I want to complain about irresponsible lending by you for my [Very] 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 either say they should never have given you the account:
and / or say that they should not have increased your 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 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.
It will help your complaint to add more details about why the account repayments were unaffordable for you:
If the lender should already have known you had problems with your account, mention this
[the late payment charges you added to my account]
[I had missed two payments in 2012]
[I had already asked you on the phone if it was possible to stop adding interest for a while] .
It will help your complaint to add more details about affordability:
End with asking for a credit card or catalogue 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 with a debt collector. NB complain to the original lender, not the debt collector.
You can complain if you already have a CCJ for the debt. Tell the lender you want the CCJ removed as part of the settlement of your complaint.
But if you have had an IVA or bankruptcy after these problems, or if you are still in a DRO, then you shouldn’t complain – ask in the comments below for details.
Old accounts
If your complaint is about an account that you closed more than 6 years ago, it’s harder to win. If the account has been open within 6 years but the credit limit raises were more than 6 years ago, you may have difficulty.
These older cases are hard for you to produce much evidence for. Defaults, DMPs and CCJs over 6 years old will have disappeared from your credit record, so unless you have other things (letters? emails?) referring to them, it can be hardto show the problems you had.
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!
Another 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.
There is a template letter for this from National Debtline: Credit agreements – getting information.
If the current creditor (not the original lender) 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, catalogues but not overdrafts. Discuss the response you get with National Debtline if you aren’t sure it is adequate.
For older accounts this is more likely to work than affordability complaint, so it’s worth trying first. It is common for debt collectors with an old account (eg pre 2007 MBNA and Egg cards) to be unable to produce correct paperwork.
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. You could have been recently discharged from bankruptcy – that makes a “bad credit card” such as Vanquis or a catalogue an ideal “first new credit” and it may be completely affordable because going bankrupt solved all your previous debt problems.
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 get a credit card or catalogue refund if something unexpected went wrong 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 – sending a case to the Ombudsman
If a lender rejects your complaint or offers a low “goodwill” gesture, don’t be put off.
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 – the lender should have made other checks before increasing your credit limit!
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).
The simple way to send FOS a complaint is their online form – it asks for all the little things they need to set up your complaint correctly (eg your date of birth and whether this is a joint complaint). You can just copy out what you put in your complaint to the lender but if the lender has rejected your complaint or given a poor offer, mention why you think this wrong.
FOS is a friendly service but it isn’t speedy. You can just use normal English, not legal terms. Using a claims company or a solicitor will not speed this up and will not make you more likely to win your complaint.
Need some help?
Claims firms are pretty useless at this sort of thing. The only person that can write the template letter above is you! You can get better help for free by asking in the comments below or by going to your local Citizens Advice.
Complain if a lender doesn’t freeze interest
Get a refund from Provident?
Why Buy Now Pay Later often goes wrong
Martin says
Hi Sarah,
I had run up quite high unaffordable debts & have now agreed payment plans with the lenders. Could I claim on this unaffordable debt basis or would this cause problems with the payment plans I already have in place?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No this won’t cause problems for the payment arrangements. The regulator would not think that was fair and people haven’t had this problem in practice.
Craig Wallace says
Finally….after adjudicator decision Barclaycard provided additional information which resulted in some negotiation between them. Interest up to their second credit increase has been disregarded but all interest since then has been taken into account. £6100 balance wiped and £612 received from Barclaycard. Great result
Sara (Debt Camel) says
nice one!
A Harrison says
Can I ask the background of this case?
I’ve got a complaint with Barclaycard for irresponsible lending and they just keep extending the date when they will get back to me.
Craig Wallace says
They initially didn’t uphold the complaint but gave £500 as a goodwill gesture. Sent to FOS in March 2020. Adjudicator took it up in August and after requests for further information sent Barclaycard there decision in December. Barclaycard disagreed and provided further information. After some negotiation a renewed decision was sent to them at beginning of March with balance being written off last week and remainder dropping into my bank account today
George says
Please can I ask What were your circumstances that meant that the FOS agrees with you? I.e what were the credit increases, what other credit did you have etc?
Craig Wallace says
Credit increases went from £100 up to £6600 over a period of 5 years.
Payday loans and other borrowing evident in credit history with only my minimum payments being my made. Final increase was after I’d pay balance off with a secured consolidation loan
Tyrone says
Hi.
Did you send your complaint via email? I can’t find an email address to raise a complaint and what template did you use ?
Lynne says
Well next told me last Thursday they’d sent £100 to my bank account as a goodwill gesture but it’s not there yet. I’m waiting on this money to get some grocery shopping! Sick of being fobbed off by people.
Lynne says
I asked Next by what method they sent my payment as it should be here by now. No reply! When I got a refund from cash 4 u now it was there in 2 hours!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Lynne I am sorry but this feels as though it is back to the situation with Wonga. I think you should talk to a debt advise – phone National Debtline on 0808 808 4000. At the moment you are making a lot of very weak affordability complaints that are unlikely to succeed and stressing about when you will get paid from administrations which can take many months.
You cannot organise your life around getting refunds paid promptly.
Lynne says
Quick update. I now have my money from next.
JR1981 says
Hi Lynne,
Did you do an unaffordability complaint to next. I have just sent mine to them and just wondering how long it takes for them to respond.
Lyme says
Yes I did. It took them nearly 8 weeks and they didn’t uphold my complaint. They acknowledged they should not have risen my credit limit from £150 to £3750 and hence offered me £100 goodwill gesture!
Lynne says
JD Williams are really winding me up. I’ve had several of these automated responses from them now with the ‘we’ll get back to you within 5 days’ claptrap. I’m going to Ombudsman now.
Mr and Mrs C says
I’m afraid they arent much better once you are with the FOS. My case was decided in February in my favour and they are still dragging their feet over calculations.
Fred says
a little off topic. But does Catalogue accounts effect the credit utilisation on a credit file?
I am clearing up my file and had some refunds so wanted to know if it’s better to close them completely or leave them with zero balance to help my utilisation whilst I work at clearing my cards.
Thank you :)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think it does.
Jack says
Hi,
What do you think will happen the current claims against provident for unaffordable leading already in process with FSA (and current complaints at company stage – for people reading) now they have started Provident SPV Limited Scheme of Arrangement process?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Jack – see my article on this: https://debtcamel.co.uk/provident-satsuma-scheme/. All further comments over there please!
Jack says
Hello Thank you –
I my case I submitted a claim to FSA ombudsman in November last year and is been reviewed now. Its the timing I don’t understand?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can talk to the adjudicator but unless FOS has given you priority for some reason it is likely they will be stopping work on the case. See my new article
amanda says
hi, sorry for the lomg rant.. can i ask anyone that claimed off very, how long did it take? did they respond via email or letter? what was there response? they where the reason all my problems started with a credit increase going from 750 till 7000 in 2 years i then crumbled. yes my fault but by now pay later was a good idea at the time.
plus i asked them several days ago could i change my payment date from 27th till 29th and they said no, ive already paid march so was wanting end of april to start as im paid end of month. makes sense to have payment date just after pay instead of just before as i could struggle.. there response was thats the way they work and i would need to declare financial difficulty to change the date, my response but im not in financial difficulty now i just think to reduce any risks date should suit the customer.. they said to phone again when my next statement is out and then say financial difficulty.. i hung up, so angry and put in a complaint to attach to my affordabilty complaint and no response.. disgusted to say the least.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is likely your complaint may have to go to the Ombudsman. 750 up to 7000 sounds like a strong complaint, so if Very reject or make a poor offer send it to FOS.
This may take some time. Are you really OK to keep making the payments?
In the complaint to the ombudsman, do say that Very refused to let you change the payment date. It’s minor compared to the credit limit hikes, but worth mentioning.
Amanda says
yes im fine as ive finally finished studying and now up the ladder in my post so im doing well. at the time of the big increase i had to take a debt consolidation loan to pay them as they threatened to take me to a debt collector as i couldnt make £400 plus a month payments. so that loan i took was then high interest and the bad circle started..was just trying to get negative comments from them off tbh as we want to buy a house in the next year or so and they have a arrangements to pay and a couple late payments.. they sent me a statement of my whole account 2 weeks ago, hard to understand tho, 3 weeks and il send to ombudsman..
more annoyed at their attitude about a date change tbh.. i just dont get why they where being so difficult when payments have all been paid on time and the account is smaller and i set the limit on increases, after i done that the next day i got a message to say i can get 1000 increase on my account today and then emails of loans and credit cards.. ive saved them all lol madness im not going backwards.. thanks for your help sara with everythingx
Paul says
Hi,
It’s been 8 weeks since I complained to Lloyds they have not given a final response. Should I start the ball rolling with the Ombudsman or wait for Lloyds final answer.
Thanks
Paul
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ask them why you have not had a response.
Mr F says
So finally had FOS uphold my complaint from Lloyds for raising my overdraft from 100 to 4750 in just 3 months, they have till March 30th to respond to Adjudicator. What are my chances they will respond / agree? The refund of all the interest and charges relating from should clear the outstanding balance,
Diana Schwarz says
Hi I would like to sent a complaint via email to aqua but i cant find an email for them anywhere.
Does anyone have their details?
Thank you
Diana
Mike Chapman says
I have just lodged a complaint with new day over an Aqua and marbles card, I had a text from them to say they were looking into it. I messaged them today to find out they closed both my cards two weeks ago but the balances are still being charged interest and I still have to make payments.
Very weird behaviour as I had zero communication from them saying this? I will now pursue with the ombudsman
Sara (Debt Camel) says
can you afford the repayments? do you have other problem debts?
Mike Chapman says
I have other debts which I took out after these cards, I had a CCJ, when I was approved for them. My finances are back on track now, I’ve paid off most of it. I just felt it was odd behaviour from them?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes it sounds odd. I suppose you have said the limit is unaffordably high so by doing this are stopping you borrowing any more which would be unaffordable.
Better off without this card anyway!
Amanda McCullough says
hi sara, weird one very have lowered my available credit, says i owe them nothing. then i check transactions and they refunded me money, Payment received £2,418.20 – Thank you and also another add of 132- thank you..
but i didnt make payments and they have not acknowledged my complaint in writing or phone call.. but my account is paid off however my account was only 1200. is it normal for them to clear, make payments and not contact customer? delighted its cleared but wanted negative comments off.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well it sounds like good progress! It may take longer to clean up the negative marks on your credit record? Or they may not be planning to do this. You could wait a week and see if you get a reply which explains what is going on? Or ask them now.
Amanda says
omg i didnt read further into my transactions. they are refunding me 4383 and after the phone call they said they will be removing all negative comments.. actually crying! this was the start of my down fall.. thank you so much sara. what an amazing result
Sara (Debt Camel) says
wow!
Delyth says
How long did it take for them to review/ refund from the point of making your complaint?
Amanda says
4 and half weeks.. accounts cleared, got a decent cheque and also all negative comments removed. tho i had no communication from them.. i actually only noticed when i went into my transactions so i phoned and they said it had all been sorted yesterday, 2 weeks for check and 28 days to up date my credit file x
Delyth says
Wow, that’s amazing. I hope my complaint goes as smoothly.
Xubo says
How long did you have to wait for the cheque? I got a letter Saturday saying there upholding my complaint, just curious on a time frame
amanda says
10 days and then it took 1 1/2 days to clear.. great news for you x
Xubo says
I’m now going to try with littlewoods and see what happens, will try JD Williams at some point too
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Try now! These things can take a long while, don’t delay starting them!
Colin Brown says
Hi Sarah,
I hope you are well!
I’m having problems with getting basic information from RBS.
I have asked for basic information on my account so I can make a complaint and they haven’t even responded to my email.
So I phoned up and a woman said they only keep records for 6 years. I know this is incorrect because a couple of weeks earlier I phoned up collections and he had all the information on my account.
Do you have any idea on how I can progress this?
Kind regards
Colin Brown
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What evidence do you want?
Colin Brown says
Hi Sarah,
I had loads of transactions on my bank account where I went £5 overdrawn and they charged me £60. Can you make a complaint based solely on the charges being far too expensive for the crime or does it have to be related to being in hardship?
Also how far back can you go with this complaint?
Kind regards
Colin Brown
Sara (Debt Camel) says
See the MSE page on this https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/bank-charges/
Mr and mrs c says
Colin I tried this with RBS about 3 years ago. They told me they couldn’t look at anything over 6 years old. I also asked the Fos who told me the same. Annoying as I paid 1000s in bank charges to them.
Charlie says
Hi Sara,
A few years ago I had a Vanquis card (now sold on to DCA) close to a £500 limit.
This jumped to £800, then I was maxed to the limit, then £1800.
And for months I was almost at the Max. Eventually I missed a payment and had to enter a DMP.
At the time of account opening I was earning about £800-900 a month, already in a DMP for multiple defaulted debts of around £13k. 4-5 defaults in the 6-12 months just before opening the card.
I unfortunately had to take out a payday loan in the month of limit increase to help pay my credit card bill at one point and afford food.
I then got stuck in a PDL cycle for a few months and then defaulted those too.
Looking back I now think it seems mad to up my credit limit by an extra 1,000, a credit search would have identified all my defaults and that I was borrowing more than I could afford in my opinion.
Arguably I suppose opening a credit card with multiple defaults only a few months before was not wise either, but also I’m so surprised they accepted me.
Is a complaint worthwhile or is this unlikely? I can see examples unsuccessful with the lender in these comments and saying ‘you accepted the limit’ well I understand that but at the same time I don’t think its wise to offer it to many people I’ve read about.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This sounds worth a complaint.
I can see examples unsuccessful with the lender in these comments and saying ‘you accepted the limit’
Lenders may say that but you should ignore it – they are just trying to put you off. This doesn’t mean you have a weak case, so then send the complaint to the Finacial Ombudsman.
frank mcdonnell says
Have been on benefits last few years as I’m a carer. Halifax kept offering me an overdraft increase without checking my income. Now the overdraft is £600 and I’m paying the higher interest rate. Am struggling to reduce this. Can I make a complaint that halifax never checked my income before offering increases, and I think me paying the higher interest rate is unfair as well.
Elizabeth says
Hi Sara,
I’ve just had an unaffordable lending claim for MBNA rejected by the FOS as it’s more than 6 years ago and MBNA won’t allow them to investigate, I didn’t realise they could do that? They said they no longer hold any details for the account, even though a SAR returned paperwork showing they increased the limit several times without checking my income. They said the only exceptional circumstances they can accept for not making a claim sooner is if I was in a coma at the time!
Around the same time I was also allowed a Barclaycard even though I wasn’t earning much, my income didn’t cover my outgoings and I had a high level of debt with only minimum payments being made. However, the card was only for £1250 and they never increased the credit limit. The card eventually went into an arrangement to pay because I was unable to keep up the minimum payments when I had to stop work due to ill health. Both debts are because I was financially abused by a family member and coerced into taking out credit for them. Would it be worth putting in a claim with Barclaycard and mentioning this too? I know you’ve said before it’s not usually worth doing if the credit limit was quite low and it’s also more than 6 years since it was taken out.
Thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is decision from a FOS adjudicator or an Ombudsman?
Have you explained you only recently found out about affordability complaints?
Elizabeth says
Hi Sara,
From an adjudicator. From what they were saying the fact that it was 6 years old was the end of it, they didn’t even mention I could ask for the ombudsman to look into it, they just said they couldn’t take it any further because of DISP rule 2.8 and because of MBNA’s objections. Yes, I said that I only recently found out about these type of complaints when I saw it on the internet. Is it worth referring it to the ombudsman?
Thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes this is worth taking to an Ombudsman.
Your point is that you had never heard that the lender should have checked you could aford the larger credit limit so you had no idea that you had a reason to complain.
Elizabeth says
Thanks Sara, I’ll email them now. Should I also add that because of my ill health I didn’t start getting advice about the debts until recently and that’s when I realised I could complain or is it better not to mention that?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
was it a debt adviser that told you about these complaints?
Adam says
Hi Sara,
I had three credit cards which I had maxed out in the past when I had significant problems with debts, including payday loans and a default on one credit card. I’m pleased to say that I received healthy payouts from some of the payday loan companies thanks to your website a couple of years ago.
I have now received two letters, each with a cheque (one for £50 and one for £300) from HSBC, saying that they’ve reviewed the way my account was handled by their recovery department and decided I was due this compensation. This is without me having ever lodged a complaint about this with them and it’s now made me wonder whether in reality I have a case for a claim for a much larger payout, and maybe this offer is an attempt to stop me enquiring further. Do you or does anyone have any experience as to why I would have received this offer from nowhere and whether I should push them further?
One of my issues is that the accounts were created a long time ago and I don’t have any information about when any credit limits were increased etc. Thanks in advance.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The banks seem to be doing a lot of this. Barclaycard contacted thousands of people last year.
So there are two things you can complain about here. First that they didn’t treat you sympathetically eg by freezing interest and charges, when they knew you were in difficulty.
Second that they had increased your limit too high.
You don’t need the details before you complain, you can ask the banks to tell you what you need to know.
Jay says
Hi, I’m not sure how this works – I have a Vanquis card which was given at £1000 a couple of years ago, also a Capital One at £200 & numerous catalogues. The catalogues increased limits but cards didn’t.
Vanquis were made fully aware I was on disability benefits & of my conditions but none of the others asked.
Most of my catalogues were also part of a previous IVA (which failed after 3.5 years until my ex sold house & IVA took £30k from him!!!)
I am juggling & struggling, even unable to keep up with agreed lower payments. Cards are still over limit too.
Any advice would be much appreciated x
Sara (Debt Camel) says
do you know how large your total debts are? And what is your housing situation?
Jay says
Inclusive of a utility bill debt, around £5000 xxx
I’m in council house xxx
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I ‘m not sure affordability complaints are the best option for you here. They take a long time. I suggest you talk to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 about your debt options, including a Debt Relief Order. That could be a simple way of getting you a clean start after struggling so long.
Jay says
Thankyou so much for your advice, I’ll contact them tomorrow xxx
Sianyy says
Has anyone had any replies regarding JD Williams complaints? My adjudicator advised they asked for an extension to complaints until 31/03/2021. Curious to know if anyone has had an outcome? Thanks
Gary says
Hiya
This morning JDW have come back and agreed with the adjudicator. The adjudicator had escalated to the Ombudsman 2 weeks ago and it’s been a long 2 and a bit years.
Now we shall see how long JDW take with the offer.
Stick in there things are moving but just slowly with I think just complaint levels and the obvious covid issues.
Lynne says
I’ve had no word from them at all and the complaint went in at the start of February. When you say adjudicator who are you referring to? How does that work? I thought it went to the Ombudsman if you weren’t satisfied after 8 weeks? Thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
read https://debtcamel.co.uk/financial-ombudsman-what-happens/ which explains hot the Financial Ombudsman works.
Bruno says
Hi Sara,
Thank you again for your tireless support to us all.
I come here again because I have two complaints running against Vanquis and NewDay. Both of these with the FOS.
I filed these complaints in November 2020 and now we’ve reached the stage that the FOS has requested the case files from both companies in January 2021 but both companies failed to provide the investigators with the information required.
I have checked with the FOS and it seems weird that they do not give a deadline for the companies to provide them with the case files. I called and email my investigators so they escalate this matter, but both said to me they can only send gentle reminders weekly.
This is pretty absurd. How is it that companies have no specific timeline to work on these cases? Complaints against payday loan companies do give the lenders 15 days to send the data, but this doesn’t seem to occur with credit card complaints.
Do I have options, either than sitting and waiting? Is there a way of escalating this? And is there a way of complaining against FOS’ processes?
I look forward to hearing from you.
all the best for you and stay safe.
Bruno
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you send two emails to the FCA at consumer.queries@fca.org.uk
The first with the Subject line Vanquis (221156) hasnt sent my case file to FOS
and copy this to customer.relations@vanquisbank.co.uk
Put in a few short details about your complaint – how loang you were borroiwng, how Vanquis raised your credit limit, the rejection from Vanquis and the date you sent the case to FOS.
Say FOS has been asking Vanquis for your case file since dd/mm/yy but Vanquis have still not sent it over. Say you know the FCA will not look at your individual case but say you think this unacceptably long and you thought the FCA should know about this. If there is a particular reason you need this resolved as soon as possible, mention that.
Then send a similar one about NewDay (690292). Copy this one to executiveandmediacomplaints@newday.co.uk
Bruno says
Thank you Sara! This worked. I’ve followed your advice and both lenders already replied stating they would get this rectified by Tuesday. Much appreciated, as always!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
gosh – that was speedy!
Isobel Izzy Kilgallon says
Jd williams have not responded to adjudicator in my case and is now with ombudsman
Chris says
Hi, I am looking in an affordability complaint, well 2, one old and one current, the old was Fashion World, the current one is Simply Be, both owned by JD Williams I believe, do I need to contact both Fashion World and Simply Be separate or send a joint claim to JD Williams?
The Fashion World ended up at over £3000 and also a CCJ which I am still paying off, but Simply Be still offered me an account (stupid to open this I know)
Thanks
Nico says
Hi is anyone get refund from Vanquis credit card for irresponsible lending?if yes how they calculate this?
Carl says
Hi Nico,
I am actually awaiting them calculating a refund. What are there time scales like? Ombudsman told them yesterday to contact me but I new it wouldn’t be today. Just wondered a time frame if you new please.
Nico says
I have no idea i just put my case to FOS
Elizabeth says
“was it a debt adviser that told you about these complaints?”
No, it wasn’t a debt adviser, I read about them on the internet.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok that’s fine, just tell FOS how you heard about them.
Diamantis says
Hi ,
Thank you for the article , I have 2 complaints for my credit cards currently at the ombudsman as the companies did not agree …at the time of credit limit increased to £3000 I had few door to door loans do they have the same argument as the payday loans ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
which doorstep lender?
Michelle says
Morning ,
So sent a letter of complaint to littlewoods and very got a conformation letter this morning to say it’s been received and they will investigate, didn’t know any exact dates of upped limits but basically I opened the account about 8 years ago on a £400 limited I was earning around £1000 a month at the time , over the years they have increased my limit to £8000 I have always only ever paid minimum payments never a penny more and iv had to have at least 3 payment freezes as I just couldn’t keep up with payments ( before Covid ) they have never asked me since opening account my financial situation just every time I reached my limit they upped it again , after a year of opening I went part time at work after having kids and the last few years I haven’t worked at all , credit rating is shocking yet they still kept increasing, do you think I have a good case what’s my chances ? Are they good at handling compliants ?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well you ought to have a good chance but they are pretty poor at handling complaints :(
What is your current balance?
Are the current repayments affordable?
Do you have other debts as well?
Michelle says
My current balance is £3000 and I’m on a payment plan of £82 for 36 months same with very ! They are now decreasing my limit each time I pay £82 . I don’t have a huge amount of debt left thanks to your help ! Iv won all my cases so far and not one had to go to the fos , just had a huge U.K. credit loan wiped :-)
Oh and as they will be able to tell I’m assuming from my payment history , I have never had the cash to pay my minimum payment I always used at least 2 different credit cards each month to pay my monthly payment which is like to think would show I couldn’t really afford it ??
Sara (Debt Camel) says
are those payments affordable? They have frozen interest I trust.
Michelle says
Yes they are affordable , there was no mention of interest being frozen and it didn’t include my buy now pay laters.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Can you not see from the statements if interest is frozen?
A Harrison says
Hi all
How many times can I company look into the complaint for without an answer?
I have a complaint with Barclays, via the Ombudsman, which I made in December. Since then they write every month saying they are still looking into it and stating they will update me no later than….
The next date I now have is 29th April.
Paul says
It basically means its in a huge pile on someones desk and they havent got to it yet or are waiting on more information which is again waiting in a huge pile. They will get there but covid hasnt helped
Liam says
Hi Sara,
Hope you are well!
I don’t suppose you have an escalation email for Barclaycard and also Barclays.
I raised complaints with both in November 2020 and had no response despite several follow up/chaser emails and calls.
Despite several further attempts for updates I have had no success. I have a defaulted Overdraft and defaulted Barclaycard account I wish to have addressed and have made unaffordability complaint with medical report included.
Any information would be grateful!
Regards,
Liam
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you phoned them up and asked why your complaints have not had a reply?
Liam says
Yeah – I have phoned/emailed many time and was asked to send any further communication to customer-relations@barclays.com to which I have sent numerous follow ups with no success and this is now approaching 6 months since first raising these issues. I feel like the complaint has been lost at some point and I will have to start again
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No don’t start again! Phone up on 0800 151 0900 or 0333 200 9090, say you are getting no reply from that email address and the complaint goes to the Finacial Ombudsman if you have not had a response to your complaint within a week.
Lynne says
JD Williams really are awful. I’ve just had yet another message via Resolver to say they’re ‘looking into it’ and ‘will be back in touch soon’. I’ve already gone to FOS and Resolver says the case can escalate in 4 days through them. It’s like these people wait until the full 8 weeks is up on purpose!
Lauren T says
Morning,
Just an update for everyone with long outstanding JD Williams complaints, I have been contacting them via Twitter and this has been my response yesterday , “The Ombudsman Decision has been accepted but at present, we are unable to provide you with a full calculation of what may be due based on their findings. Once the calculations have been done, you will be notified of the next steps for action which I will request for an update today. Our Senior Management are extremely busy at present but we will be doing our best to close this matter as soon as possible.”
Going to give it until Friday then chase again. Good luck everyone.
G
Sara (Debt Camel) says
gotta love the idea of senior management busy using a calculator…
Lynne says
This is what I can’t stand about them. There’s never a proper answer it’s just generic ‘as soon as possible’ type phrases. They told me in February someone would get back to me ‘in 5 days’!
Mr and Mrs C says
Im the same – final decision by FOS made 7 weeks ago, still waiting for them to do the calculations, and then it will be another 8 weeks before payent – shower of sh*t :)
JaneSG says
I have an account with JD Williams that’s just gone into a DMP. Over the years they’ve increased my credit limit several times and the current debt is around 50% of the limit. It was getting out of hand and so I asked them to ‘suspend’ the account and I offered a monthly payment slightly higher than what I was paying. They refused to do this. They also have a habit of asking for payment a couple of days before payday and then charging me for a late payment. Their replies to my emails and letters are repetitve and unhelpful and I’m afraid I’ve sent some very angry responses at times. For a few months before the DMP was in place I paid them the minimum amount (as I told them I would and also told them I had done with trying to negotiate with them). They continue to tell me the account is in arrears and to place a £12 charge every month. I’m still waiting for the DMP to kick in so hopefully StepChange have been able to stop the charges.
I’m wondering if I should make an affordability complaint, mainly over the extra charges. Also, I haven’t kept much in the way of paperwork – would they be obliged to send me a full account transcription on request?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
did you ask them to change your payment day?
JaneG says
Answer was yes, a couple of times but they said it wasn’t their policy. The only thing I could do was to make a double payment in one month and that left me short for the rest of the month. Then a payment would be missed again by a couple of days and the whole cycle would start again. I did also try explaining that my employer pays on a different day/date each month – anywhere between 24th and 30th – but they didn’t want to know.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then I think you should complain that they increased your limit too high, they carried on adding charges when they you had told them you were in difficulty and they refused to let you chnage your payments date in the month.
Send it to the Ombudsman if they don’t make you a reasonable offer.
Nick says
The thing I don’t like about many catalogue companies is their 28-day billing cycle. This means bills creep forward every month and you have to pay them 13 times a year – despite only being paid 12 times! I guess asking to change payment dates with this type of agreement is pointless since the date is different every month! It’s about time such agreements were banned in favour of calendar month billing cycles!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I agree!
JaneG says
I’ve just received an interesting letter from JDW that acknowledges the DMP. They’re going to stop all interest and charges and also “We have agreed to reduced payments… which are due to be paid every 28 days. It is important that StepChange make the payment amount agreed on or before the payment dates”.
Considering StepChange take their money from me per calendar month, I wish them luck with that one. They didn’t intimidate little me so I doubt they’ll manage to dictate terms to StepChange.
JaneG says
Thank you, Sarah.
Lynne says
Next just said once the debt is brought back to them from Debt Manager Services the default and relating arrears will be removed from my credit file. Apparently it takes a while longer to do this when the debt was sold on.
frogman says
I wonder what the success rate is with credit card complaints, I know it very much depend of personal circumstances.
I have a complaint currently being looked at by the Adjudicator so thought I should share what has been happening. This is regarding a £250 Marbles credit card I took out in 2018. I defaulted late 2018 but have now cleared the balance. I complained so I could get adverse entries in credit file removed (Reason because I was in financial difficulty at the time with various other loans, guarantor loan, credit card, overdraft etc so believe I shouldn’t have been offered). Today, I received an email from the adjudicator asking for further bank statements dating back to 2016, this is before I even got the Marbles card. I held an Aqua card (£1000 limit) before I got the Marbles. He said to reach a fair decision, he needs to look deeper, specifically relating to credit increases on the Aqua around 2016. I don’t know if I should take this as a positive sign because if I win, it might mean adverse entries on both Marbles and Aqua removed with a reduced balance on the Aqua (Still owe approx £800 on that). Thanks
frogman says
I have just gone back to my DSAR to newday and credit limit for the Aquacard is as follows
Application for Aqua credit card accepted in August 2015 for £450
November 2015 – Limit increase from £450 to £850
April 2016 – Limit increase from £850 to £1,100
August 2016 – Limit increase from £1,100 to £1,900
So in fact, it was around £1900 balance on the Aqua card when I got accepted for the Marbles in 2018 because I maxed all my credit cards monthly during that period. Hopefully adjudicator rules in my favour.
Lynne says
Surprise surprise jd Williams are not upholding my complaint so I’ve said I’ve taken it up to FOS. I’ve also asked them to clarify what the credit limit was as they’re saying they never made any increases, but surely if it was opened with a large credit limit that would be bad enough in itself.
Mr and Mrs C says
Prepare for a long wait on this one, mine was with for FOS for nearly 3 years, I have had the final decision 7 weeks ago and still waiting for JDW to make payment.
Lynne says
They’re awful. Even their response which I’ve waited the full 8 weeks for is quite rude.
izzy says
im in same boat as yourself, was wondeing if there was a CEO email address for jd Williams company so can start to bombard them
.
came this far so can wait
Sara , do u have any email addresses we could contact. jd Williams company ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You could try dan.joy@nbrown.co.uk
DM84 says
I have an upheld decision that JDWilliams said they would respond to by 31st and they were not prepared to give me any information till then.
The 31st has been and gone but still nothing, as expected.
I have made the FOS aware that after a phoning and emailing JDW that they aren’t doing anything to put things right.
It is frustrating but when it’s been 3 years it doesn’t even bother me anymore. It’s only costing then more in interest on the refunds.
Lauren T says
Use Twitter it works!
JD William’s actually responded to me again today. Twice in one week!
DM84 says
I told the FOS I had heard nothing from JDWilliams a d got this today:
J D Williams have been in touch with the following update:
“Whilst we have got the decision in favour of him, we have advised the calculations are yet to be actioned. The reason for the delay in the calculations being action are simply due to the vast amount of cases we are handling from your Service, especially relating to irresponsible lending.”
I appreciate the delay is frustrating, but J D Williams will write to you in due course when they have completed their calculations. Unfortunately, they are unable to say how long that might take.
Don’t know why JDWilliams couldn’t have just told me that but least it’s something.
Gary says
Good work, thanks for the update we just all need to hold tight, I know it’s been a long old trip on these guys I’m right there with you.
Fingers crossed we all hear soon
Isobel says
Hi dm84 ,I managed to contact jd williams direct and got an answer exactly same as yours today also. Mines is with ombudsman for final decision . They told me to contact them again in 2 weeks .I’ve been bombarding them on there Facebook posts and twitter .im thinking of going down the
Court line eventually to be honest £44 which they will have 2 refund anyway .but I’ll sit tight just now and see what happens ,waited this long so ……
Ann says
Hi Sara, apologies for a long post. Next put a block on my account due to my credit report. They said it was due to 7 credit searches in six months so they were concerned about affordability issues. Fair enough, 1 hard search was for a loan but the others were current accounts with no overdrafts.
But up until March 2019 I was carrying a large balance, up to my credit limit,paying the minimum (by another credit card) and then struggling to make ends meet. I had 2 credit cards up to my limit and a loan payments. In 2019 I had my light bulb moment and started aggressively attacking my debt.
From 2015-2019 I was in a cycle of taking out payday loans to get me through the end of the month.
I feel that if Next had reviewed my Experian report during that time they would have seen I was struggling.
They have admitted to lowering my credit limit from
£3600 to £3000 in dec 2015 as I was only paying minimums but they also admit increasing it to £5000 in 2017. I do not recall being contacted about these changes.
I never missed a payment and never contacted them as I was in denial about my problem. Next have given me a final response and do not agree that they were irresponsible and have offered a £25 voucher. I’d like your opinion as to whether it is worth me taking this further?
Thank you, Ann
Sara (Debt Camel) says
From what you have said, it seems clear that they should not have increased your credit limit in 2017 – they had been concerned about you in 2015 and since then you had taken a lot of payday loans and only been paying the minimum.
I think that complaint is well worth sending to the Ombudsman.
Ann says
Thank you Sara, I’m going to go ahead with it.
Delyth says
Hi sara
Just wondering if anyone has had any joy with claims against PayPal credit?
My issue is that in 2019 I defaulted due to increasingly unaffordable debt.
Towards the middle of 2020 my credit account disappeared from my PayPal home page, meaning that I can no longer log in to make repayments.
I contacted PayPal last year to complain about this as it still shows as defaulted on my credit file, but I can’t physically make repayments due to them hindering my attempts. I have had no reply.
I’ve just sent another email to complain and also make an affordability complaint to request that interest and fees be reviewed and refunded/credit report altered if found in favour.
Just wondering if anyone else has had a similar issue.
Col says
Hi Sara,
I have had a bit of an issue with the FOS and Vanquis. I put in an affordability complaint against vanquis which the Adjudicator upheld in my favour.
They then came back to me and said that vanquis had put forward some new evidence that shows from the information they had at the time that the credit increases were affordable and that my amount of debt had actually fallen. So he was changing his decision.
I sent a lengthy reply showing that my debt had risen rapidly during each increase and that the FOS had ruled in my favour for loans taken out between these increases from Sunny, Drafty and Avant.
I asked for the complaint to be looked at by the Ombudsman, and within 2 weeks they sent a reply that was a carbon copy of the reply i got from the Adjudicator. I tried to query that they had not looked at the emails of information i had sent but just kept getting emails back from the Adjudicator saying decision is final.
Sorry for the long message but is there no way to complain about the handling of this case? I find it strange that the amount of debt between these increases was deemed unaffordable yet vanquis was not. Any guidance would be much appreciated.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Are you saying you had an Ombudsman decision within 2 weeks of declining an adjudicator decision?
Col says
Hi Sara.
I got an email from Adjudicator on 27th Jan to say they were sending it to Ombudsman and got final decision from an Ombudsman by 12th Feb.
Col says
Hi Sara
Is there anyway to escalate this within the FOS as i dont believe the Ombudsman could have possibly looked through everything additionally i sent via email etc.
Or anything i can do?
Thanks
Col
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, you can phone up and say you want to make a complaint as the points you made were completely ignored and you don’t think the Ombudsman ever read them.
Andy says
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/who-we-are/service-standards/service-complaints
Del says
Hi sara,
Not sure if you saw my earlier post.
Just wondering if anyone has had any joy with claims against PayPal credit?
My issue is that in 2019 I defaulted due to increasingly unaffordable debt.
Towards the middle of 2020 my credit account disappeared from my PayPal home page, meaning that I can no longer log in to make repayments.
I contacted PayPal last year to complain about this as it still shows as defaulted on my credit file, but I can’t physically make repayments due to them hindering my attempts. I have had no reply.
I’ve just sent another email to complain and also make an affordability complaint to request that interest and fees be reviewed and refunded/credit report altered if found in favour.
Just wondering if anyone else has had a similar issue.
Del says
I assume no one has had any joy from PayPal then.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They have hardly ever been mentioned and then mainly in passing, as in a list of other debts people had. I don’t recall anyone winning or losing a complaint against them.
So it’s “no news” not “bad news”. If you have an affordability complaint don’t let this out you off – make the complaint and send it to the Financial Ombudsman if PayPal reject it, which they probably will.
Andrew says
I agree, submit it like any affordability claim. I used resolver to submit my complaint about another subject but shifty resolved it.
Mary says
Hi, I have put in a complaint with JD Wiliams and after being with the FOS for about a year and a half, the adjudicator has decided in my favour. The adjudicators decision was sent to JD Williams last week and they have until the 15th April to reply. I was wondering what are they like with replying to the adjudicator and how long do they take to process any refunds.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
FOS seem to have got through a lot of JD Williams cases recently so they have got slow in accepting / calculating / paying out. This is just an admin problem for then so far as I know.
Mr and Mrs C says
HI Mary, my JDW case was finalised by the FOS 7 weeks ago and i am still waiting for JDW to send me their calculations/refund. They are unbelievably slow and the FOS just keep telling me that they have reminded them and to give it another couple of weeks. IT will be 3 years in May since I started this complaint and I am fed up now :)
Xubo says
How long did you have to wait for the cheque please
Delyth says
Sadly PayPal don’t use resolver.
I recieved an email from them this morning re my complaint
I would like to acknowledge the complaint you made on 14/04/2021 with our agent via email. As this complaint is related to PayPal Credit and the Credit Search, we unfortunately do not have any control over this and cannot change the process.
Regarding the credit search, the credit check is an automated process, and we would not have access to the credit search. You are made aware of the credit check under section 19 of the credit agreement.
We measure the affordability for you by asking you to fill in the application form and provide information such as living situation, monthly income, and monthly expenditure. We then complete a search to your credit file to review your credit score. Once this is completed the decision is made and if PayPal Credit can be granted to you.
The date for the Credit application was 10/04/2019 and I can confirm the Credit Reference agencies we use are Equifax and TransUnion (formally CallCredit)
So it basically doesn’t answer anything. I still have no access to my PayPal credit account and can’t pay it off.
It’s so difficult to get an email to them. They are possibly the worst company I have dealt with.
Mary says
Hi,
I have made a complaint against Next Retail Ltd and it has been with the FOS. I have just had a reply this morning to say that the adjudicator has agreed with my complaint and that Next Retail Ltd need to refund all interest and charges. I was just wondering if anyone has had a refund from Next Retail Ltd and how fast they are in getting back to the adjudicator and refunding the money.
Thank You.
turtle says
Hi Sara & everyone else.
I havent posted for a while as i’ve got back on top of my finances after claiming back over £20k in pay day loan refunds with Debt camels help.
Today i received a letter from Barclaycard informing me my credit limit is being reduced from £5k to £250 in 1 months time. My balance is zero fyi and has been for several months).
Not very happy about this as it’s there for emergencies etc and it’s quite odd and out of the blue but I am aware its not only me and they have been doing this to.
During the bad times I was often at or over my £5k limit on this card but I didnt raise an affordability complaint with them as I had a balance and i didnt want the credit to be taken away. Anyway, these guys have now p***ed me off so im now going to dive back into the game and make an affordability complaint.
Has anyone had any experience with Barclaycard and any tips? As I say, i was often at or over my limit, paying minimums, making late payments and painful interest.
Thanks all.