Have you had a credit card, store card or catalogue where your credit limit was too high? So high that the monthly repayments were hard to manage and you got into more debt?
For some people the limit was too high at the start. Others were originally given an OK limit, but the lender kept increasing it. or it was OK while the 0% offer lasted, then unmanageable.
You may have a good affordability complaint that the lender was irresponsible in allowing you to borrow so much.
This applies even if you made every payment on time, as you may have borrowed more elsewhere.
This article explains how to ask for a refund of the interest you have paid.
Contents
What is “affordable”?
The regulator’s rules
Even if you made every payment on time, the debt may still have been unaffordable.
The following is my summary of the regulator’s rules:
- a lender must check if credit is affordable when you apply for it. For a very low limit, not many checks are needed;
- a lender should make similar checks before increasing a credit limit;
- credit isn’t affordable if paying it leaves you short of money for your bills, normal expenses, and your other debts;
- if you have to borrow more most months, this would not be affordable;
- you must be able to repay the limit set within a reasonable period. Paying the minimum amount is OK for a while, but not for a long time.
Good reasons to complain
If the lender could see any of these on your credit record, they should probably have declined your original application:
- a level of borrowing that looks very high in relation to your income; or
- you had a different credit card with the same lender where you were only making minimum payments; or
- 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; or
- recent credit record problems: defaults, missed payments, or arrangements to pay, mortgage arrears; or
- recent payday loans or a lot of recent credit applications.
Your credit limit should not have been increased unless you could afford it. In addition to the points above, any of the following should have also warned the lender you were already in difficulty:
- making minimum payments for a long while;
- often taking cash out on the card;
- making a minimum repayment but then using the card to pay for food or petrol so the balance never drops;
- using most of your limit for a long period;
- significant gambling the lender was aware of;
- recent missed payments or an arrangement to pay on your credit record;
- your overall level of debt on your credit record had increased a lot.
NB many cases are won when someone has never missed a payment.
You don’t need to know the dates and amounts of any limit increases before you start your complaint – my template asks for these.
0% balance transfers
Here the lender should check that you would be able to repay the whole limit within a manageable length of time (say 5 or 6 years) taking into account that interest will be charged when the 0% term ends.
So if you were ok during the 0% term but then you couldn’t afford the payments when interest started being added, you can complain. Ask for any interest to be refunded and to be able to repay the rest with no interest. Don’t make a complaint about a BT that is still at 0%, it’s much easier to wait until the 0% has ended.
Do I need to know the limit and date details?
No. My template below asks for these. The lender already knows the details so it doesn’t help your complaint by listing them. Don’t delay making a complain trying to find these out.
Think about these points before complaining
You can complain about open or recently closed accounts
These complaints can be made if your account:
- is still open; OR
- it is closed and settled within the last 6 years; OR
- or if it is with a debt collector and you defaulted within the last 6 years (NB the complaint goes to the original lender, not the debt collector.)
If you have had a DRO, IVA or bankruptcy after these problems, ask in the comments below, as this can be complicated.
Old accounts
Many lenders reject complaints about a card opened more than six years ago and say the ombudsman won’t look at them.
FOS may look at these “old” accounts if they have still been open within the last six years. But you are much more likely to win if there have been limit increases in the last 6 years.
If your account was opened in 2017 say, but the lender increased your limit in 2021, that limit increase is within the last 6 years so it can definitely be looked at. You can always get bank statements going back six years, even from closed bank accounts.
A alternative for old defaulted accounts?
If your account was opened over 6 years ago, 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 asking for this rather than making an affordability complaint.
Is a refund what you really need?
Any refund sounds good, but is your problem much bigger than this?
Complaining only gets the interest refunded – you still have to repay what you borrowed. If the debt is newish, you may still be left with a large, unaffordable balance.
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.
You won’t win an affordability complaint if something unexpected went wrong later in your life. If you had been managing a credit card fine for years but then you lost your job or separated from your partner, this isn’t the lender’s fault. But you may still need help to get interest stopped on the cards – talk to StepChange or National Debtline about getting new interest stopped when you are in difficulty.
How to complain
The email address to use
The best way to complain is by email. Find the email address here:
Credit card and catalogue email addresses
Start with this template
I’ve invented an example so you can see how a complaint could read.
Change/delete the bits in italics to tell your story. Miss out any dates if you don’t know them, this isn’t a problem
I want to complain about irresponsible lending for my Barclaycard account number 987654/444.
My date of birth is dd/mm/yy. The email address I used for this account was myaddress@whatever.com.
Put this in if you think the lender may have an old address for you
I have moved and my home address is now xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. Please do not send any letters to any older addresses on your system.
Put this in if you don’t know some details
I do not know the exact months when the account was opened or any credit limit increases or decreases. In your reply to my complaint, please tell me the dates and amounts of all limit changes, even if these happened over 6 years ago.
Then say IF they should never have given you the account:
You should never have allowed me to open an account with such a large credit limit.
On my income with my regular household expenses and other debts I could not manage to repay that amount in a reasonable time.
[if you had already missed payments] When I applied, you should have checked my credit record and would have seen I had recent missed payments to a credit card and a default only five months before on a loan.
[If this started as a 0% transfer: You should have seen that I would not be able to clear the balance in a manageable length of time, and that after the 0% period ended, I would struggle to pay the higher minimums once interest was being added.]
AND / OR say that they should not have increased your credit limit:
You should never have increased my credit limit. At that time I had only made minimum payments on this credit card for a long while and/or I was using a very high level of my credit limit.
If you had properly checked my credit record before increasing my limit, you would have seen that in the two years since my account with you was opened, I had got additional late payment markers and defaults and/or taken out a lot of other credit. This should have warned you I was struggling with my finances and it was not responsible to lend more. By increasing my credit limit, you made my financial position worse. Instead you should have offered me forbearance by freezing the interest on the card.
If the lender should have known you had problems with your account, mention these
You should also have realised that I was having difficulty because:
of the late payment charges you added to my account
I had missed payments to you in 2023
I had already asked you on the phone if it was possible to stop adding interest for a while.
End with asking for a refund:
I would like you to refund me all the interest I paid and any late payment charges from the point the account was opened
OR
I would like you to refund me all the interest I paid and any late payment charges after you increased my credit limit in 2021.
OR
I would like you to refund all the interest I have paid since the 0% period ended and allow me to clear the balance without adding interest.
I would also like any late payment and default markers to be removed from my credit record. (do not mention this if the credit record for this card doesn’t have problems)
Don’t be put off by a rejection or a poor offer
Lenders often reject good cases
If a lender rejects your complaint or offers a low “goodwill” gesture, don’t be fobbed off – they want you to give up.
Here are some bad or irrelevant comments lenders sometimes make when rejecting a complaint:
- you made the payments to them on time – that doesn’t mean you could manage a higher limit;
- the account was opened over 6 years ago – if it was still open in the last 6 years the Ombudsman may look at it;
- you accepted the limit increase – that doesn’t make a difference! The increase should not have been offered if it was unaffordable.
You know if this card or catalogue has caused you difficulty – it’s easy to send a case to the independent ombudsman. Don’t delay doing this!
How to send a case to FOS
Send FOS a complaint using their online form. You can use bits of what you put in your complaint to the lender. If the lender has rejected your complaint or given a poor offer, say why you think this wrong.
The FOS form at the end asks you to add supporting documents. Don’t bother to send A copy of your credit or finance agreement – the lender will supply that if FOS asks for it.
Send FOS a copy of your credit report, they always want to see it. If you have any old credit reports, send the oldest one you have, otherwise send the current one. You can download a statutory TransUnion report for free.
Also get your bank statements if they will support your complaint and send those to FOS too. Do not wait to be asked by FOS for these.
Ideally you want them 3 months before and three months after the account was opened and before /after any limit increase
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?
Lisa says
Hi All
This is a warning about Aqua refunds. When I complained about my limit being increased Aqua accepted my complaint and refunded me all the interest and charges over the original limit. However, the refund was put against my balance as i expected but this did not bring me down below the original limit. Once they had applied the refund they then started charging me interest on the full balance not just interest on the original limit. I complained to them directly and they refused to change this. I took it to FOS and the Adjudicator agreed with me but Aqua didnt. I asked for it to go to Ombudsman and they have now agreed with me. In my case it is a very small sum as i was able to clear the balance in total a few months after my original complaint but for others this may be significant.
Bob says
Hi Sara,
I spoke to you earlier in the year about Vanquis and irresponsible lending. & an account that handy defaulted until 2021, 1 years after it was sold, and 5 years since I reduced payments. Given a card in 2014, multiple defaults at the time from credit cards/overdrafts. The investigator wanted a reason why it was over 6 years ago and I asked you for advice?
They replied today, rejected that the decision around the card was too long ago and I’ve not given exceptional circumstances. (To me not finding out about that you could complain till recently seems more than fair..)
They’ve also stated even though I eventually struggled, I was making the payments and above the required amount prior to increase.
I feel they have a point there, even though I was struggling on the face of it, I was making those payments.
However they’ve spoke with Vanquis who are willing to offer £75, and place a default for 2015 meaning the default will drop off next spring.
I’m torn. On one hand I don’t think checks were done at all, on the other for me the real goal of getting rid of that default (as it was unfair to last 6 years from this year) for future mortgage is a huge incentive.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They’ve also stated even though I eventually struggled, I was making the payments and above the required amount prior to increase.
Why do you think Vanquis should have realised you were struggling? (I’m not disputing it, just asking for the reasons.)
If you are happy with the offer then its fine to take it. Is the balance now cleared? because debts not on your credit record still matter for mortgage applications.
Ross says
Hi Sara,
You may recall that I posted on here, a few weeks ago, with reference to a complaint with 118118 I placed with the FOS, in March 2021. The FOS replied, 4 weeks ago, to state that they were still awaiting the business file and apologised for the delay. As per your recommendation, I emailed both the FCA and the Director of Compliance at 118118. The FCA responded, saying the usual ‘we can’t comment on individual cases etc…’ but, unsurprisingly, no response from anybody at 118118. 4 weeks later, and I am still none the wiser what is going on. I’m not going to pester the FOS, as I know they’re snowed under but, do you think that when I (eventually) hear from an adjudicator, that I should press for compensation (from 118118), whether they choose to uphold, or not? The whole process has been dragged out, by the fact that they haven’t even bothered to send the case file over and I think they should be held accountable for their poor complaint handling.
Regards,
Ross
Andrew says
Hi Max
Same sort of situation to you
New Day rejected the aqua and Marbles cards and adjudicator partially upheld marbles that they was ok to open the card but not form the 1st increase, aqua should never have been opened
However less than 5 weeks after rejected a ombudsman is looking at it
Chris says
Has anyone had experience of TSB, I used Resolver to raise an overdraft complaint 8 weeks ago and have had no response or acknowledgment. I have chased several times and again no response. Just wondered if anyone had similar issues?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you phoned them up?
But it’s simplest to send it straight to the Ombudsman. Banks often give very poor offers or rejections so there is no reason to delay going to FOS.
Stacy says
I’ve had a catalogue account since 2010 and the more I spent the more they increase my limit. I’ve been paying back the minimum amount for 3 years now and have not made any purchases in this time frame. What should I do? I was a student from 2010-2013 and they raised my limit to £5000! Any advice would be great thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What are the rest of your finances like at the moment?
Stacy says
Thank you for your reply
Finances are OK – I haven’t defaulted a payment on any account ever.This catalogue debt never goes down, it’s the same now as it was last year as I can only afford minimum repayments, they have said I am now on a pay down plan for this.
The good news is that we are able to help you do this in a structured way which will reduce the amount of interest, fees and charges you pay over the life of your account, and help you pay off the amount you owe in a reasonable time. To do this, we will be making changes to your account.
As a valued and loyal customer, we want to make sure that not only can we help you to pay down your balance quicker, but that you can also continue to use your account in the future.
We have set out below the changes we are making to your minimum payment, and what this means to you.
We are changing the way your minimum payment is calculated to ensure that your account does not remain in Persistent Debt, and to prevent this situation from re-occurring.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so what are the changes they are proposing?
david simmons says
Hi Sara,
I would appreciate your thoughts. I contacted you after my mother passed away about a year ago after I found a large outstanding debt from 2 credit card companies. I followed your advice and referred my complain to the FOS for unaffordable and irresponsible lending. Since it involved 2 credit cards, Nationwide and Barclaycard, the complaints had to be done under 2 separate complaints, as this was the only way the system would allow. Both investigations have said the same thing which, in summary, ‘says the Financial Ombudsman Service has concluded that the lenders involved have done nothing wrong’ and therefore have concluded that giving an 83-year-old pensioner with no savings and only a small pension to live on over £42400 in unsecured credit card loans, with average APRs of 23% as responsible lending? The lenders have provided no credit checks as the limits were set more than 6 years before my mother died. Her income which has been proven with Bank Statements show she was only receiving a pension before the limits were set and increased. (the Nationwide increased the limit by 70% in a single year). Nor will the lenders provide a copy of the credit agreements saying they do not have a copy. I have asked for my complaints to be referred to the Ombudsman for a final review but I am not optimistic!
Regards,
David
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you made the point to FOS that your mother was elderly and not financially aware and would have had no idea that she had any cause to complain that the debts were unaffordable?
Nor will the lenders provide a copy of the credit agreements saying they do not have a copy.
Are these accounts extremely old?
Did your own any assets eg a house with equity?
david simmons says
Hello Sara,
My complaint was accepted due to having been made within 3 years of my being aware. However, having been allowed it is impossible to actually prove as the 6 years means the lenders are not required to provide any documentation.
I have repeatedly told the investigators that my mother was vulnerable as per the FCA definition. They have just said that they do not agree without giving a reason. The fact that the lender(s) do not have to provide any documentation due to the 6 years rule has just meant that they are considered to have done all the checks required, despite the sums involved! The prima facie evidence of the amounts involved verses income would suggest that the checks could not have been done.
I was also told “that before November 2018, an affordability assessment for credit limit increases was not a regulatory requirement.” I do not believe this to be the case according to the FOS own website!
My late mother paid the minimum payment for a least the last 6 years and the FOS has told me that this is not a sign of financial stress or difficulty because she could have chosen to do so. This is hard to believe when the minimum amount repayments over those 6 years was meant much more was paid in interest that the principle debt.
The accounts were originally opened 15-20 years ago, so yes, rather old. I did ask for a copy of the terms and conditions that would have been in use at the time but only ended up with the current ones.
My parents had no savings but did have equity in the house. It always had a largish mortgage until my mother passed away.
My father died 3 years before my mother. His financial affairs with credit cards was not so good. I was able to resolve these debts but never knew there were still credit cards in my mother’s name. I believe the problem stemmed from my late father, which really proves my late mother’s vulnerability. She never told me, which was my fault for being so unhappy about my late father’s mess!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So this does sound complicated. I’m not clear how much you know about what happened.
It seems very likely that the limits were increased too high, but proving it may be very hard. You could say to the adjuicator that you understand that the ombudsman has to make a decision “on the balance of probablities” and common sense suggests that these limits were way too high. Her bank statements are useful to back this up.
Have the lenders said they do not have the CCA agreements for the debts? You are entitled to ask for these as the executor – the balances are debts that need to be paid by the estate if the debts are enforceable, but if the CCA agreement cannot be produced then the debts are probably not enforceable. You may want to take legal advice on this – as executor the cost of that can be paid from the estate.
Bob says
Hi, I had a credit card with Aqua and marbles. Can I just do the one complaint to newday ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes. It’s best done as a single complaint because they should have looked at both cards when deciding to increase your limit on one.
david simmons says
Hello Sara. Between the Nationwide and Barclays she had a credit limit of £43000 and over just the last 3 years paid nearly £20000 in minimum payments! The FOS has so far said that my late mother might have chosen to just make the minimum payment and the lenders, having supplied no documentation other than statements are considered to have done nothing wrong! I have even been told that the FCA only required regulatory affordability assessments in November 2018. However, I found that CONC 6.2 predates this before being removed from the handbook. I have asked the complaint(s) to be referred to the Ombudsman for a final ruling…..
Daniel says
Hi Sara , could you possibly help me with some refund calculations from littlewoods
So they have upheld my complaint and the refunds is as follows
Spent £8030 including buy pay later of which was £4851
Refund administrative fees £300
Adjustments £10869
Cheque refund £2833
My question is they obviously taken back the £8030 I owe them and refunded me the difference but the buy now pays laters we’re £4851 which had the interest added , so the interest in the £4851 figure is around £2600 so should that be refunded too ?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is £8030 your current balance? Are they refunding all the interest and charges on the account from the begining?
Daniel says
Yes that’s my current balance, my balance is now £0 I don’t know what they are doing as iv had no communication from them just my online account has been adjusted
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well starting from the obvious, wiping a balance of 8k and sending you a cheque for a couple of thousand isn’t a dreadful offer!
Should it be more?
How long have you had the account? Do you know how much you have bought on it? And do you know the total of payments you have made to it?
A says
Hi Sara. Very had upheld my complaint. I did say the initial £2000 shouldn’t have been given as I’d only just finished paying a payment plan on a previous very account 12 months earlier. However they have only upheld my complaint from when the limit was raised from £2000 to £2500 (even though there was only a few months between opening the account and the raiae). My question is how do I check the redress as they’ve given me only £60 but I’ve no clue how it’s worked out. All they have said is they have upheld my complaint from when the account went over £2000. Also what happens with Buy Now Pay Later products? There is interest waiting to be added if I don’t pay them by a certain point
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so how long ago did the account got to 2500? do you know how much interest you have paid since then? Are you close to the 2500 limit now?
A says
They stated in the letter that they were upholding my complaint from 14th September 2019 but that was when I actually opened tje account. The raise from 2000 to 2500 was in April 2020. It was maxed out throughout the whole time and at one point was just under 3000 even though credit limit was 2500. I can only go back on statements for the last 12 months but each month the interest is between £20 and £50
Sara (Debt Camel) says
My guess is they are doing some complicated calculation saying that it’s ok to charge you interest on £2000 but not on the extra £500. This doesn’t sound reasonable to me. I suggest you go back to them and say unless they refund you all the interest you have paid since April 2020 and allow you to pay the balance off interest free, including the BNPLs, you will be sending the case to the Ombudsman and asking for a full refund from the start of the account.
Andrew says
Hi, I recently won a case against barclaycard. The adjudicator said after the repayment they will close my account. I have just logged into my account and can see they have refunded £5000 leaving me a shortfall of £2000. Does anyone know if Barclaycard will ask for immediate payment of this money? I will struggle to pay this in one go, but don’t want this to have any adverse affect on my credit file. Anyone been in a similar situation. Thanks Andy
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I assume you think this refund is correct or adequate enough.
Barclaycard may well close your account, but they cannot ask you to repay the balance immediately and they should allow you to set up a monthly payment that is affordable and not add interest without this affecting your credit record.
I suggest you are proactive and contact Barclaycard and offer a reasonable amount each month and make the point about no interest and no negative marks on your credit record. It is better to have this discussion now, not wait until a problem has happened.
Mel says
Hi Paul, I got a pathetic response from HSBC claiming that when they gave me credit that I was not showing any signs of concern and that I was always within my overdraft limit so rejected my complaint. I actually laughed at the complaints lady as she was basically telling pork pies and thought I would be stupid enough to believe her.
I spent that evening going through my accounts from Oct 15 which is 6 years they can go back to and it put all in order with dates credit was issued. I have banked with HSBC for 20 years and I have never showed any irrational behaviour like that before (as in, payday lending, gambling transactions) and I was clearly bows of an addiction. I was issued a credit card, that went straight to its limit and minimum payments met, more payday lending and going overdraft limit and then a loan was issued. She claimed that I never went over my limit, and when I looked back I went over my limit a number of times once to £3025 of a £2500 limit.
I rang FOS the next day and explained my complaint the lady, who actually said that she may take on the case on and in the afternoon she emailed me to say that she will look at it and has already emailed HSBC for information and that will take some time.
Honestly do they think they can actually lie to people about there accounts ! I take full responsibility for my behaviour but I needed help not more credit !
Good luck with your complaint, let us know how you get on
Tracy Sowerby says
I have recently spoken to vanquis regarding irresponsible credit limits. Its been upheld and they have agreed to refund which is great.
However they say they will refund all interest after the first irresponsible limit of 500 and subsequent limits but go on to deduct interest on the first 500.
I’ve advised that the instruction was to refund the interest after the first 500 but nothing was said about refunding interest on the limit which wasn’t unfair but they say this is the correct way to calculate.
Given that I’m paying back a balance on the account which includes all interest payments, purchases in its entirety since the account start this surely cannot be correct?
Thanks in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No it isn’t right.
There are two possible right ways to do this.
1) The very simple one just refunds all the interest charged from the point the limit was raised irresponsibly.
2) the more complex one is for Vanquis to go back and work each month’s account so that you are only charged interest on the first £500 and the rest is interest free. The payments you made then need to be credited to the interest charging part of the debt, not the interest free part.
What Vanquis are doing is wrong because it is essentially saying that the payments you make reduce the interest free part first, not affecting the part that interest is charged on. That is against the FCAs rule CONC 6.7.4.
I suggest you go back to Vanquis and say this. Also go back to your adjudicator and say what Vanquis are going and why you think this is wrong.
Bill says
I would like to share some information that may be of interest. In 2015 I was experiencing a number of difficulties including multiple payday lenders, loans, and two overdrafts. I was also gambling heavily. Nationwide Building Society allowed me to increase my overdraft from 0, to 500, to 2k, to 5k within the space of four months. One month later they removed the overdraft and put me on a repayment plan. Using information from this website, I complained to Nationwide at the end of 2018 saying they treated me badly and they should have never let me increase my overdraft in this way – they could see I was in trouble and not managing my money responsibly. My initial complaint fell on deaf ears and they refused to look at it. Nearly three years later I have had an outcome from the Financial Ombudsman who agreed with my assessment and told Nationwide to repay all fees and interest on my overdraft since 2015. It amounts to nearly 2k. I couldn’t have done it without the advice here. Although it has taken a very long time, my advice would be to not give up, and be very patient. It’s a great outcome for me and means I can draw a line under a very difficult period. As for Nationwide – I have to say they have been awful in accepting any sort of wrongdoing. My experience of their complaints process leaves a lot to be desired to say the least. Good luck everyone.
Kate says
Hi Bill, this is fantastic news.
I am in a similar situation, I have credit card debts from gambling and tsb gave me overdraft increases that amount to 4,500 even though they could clearly see I wasn’t managing my account responsibly and that I already had 18k debt, I made a complaint after I had been in touch with them asking for help, they refused me any help and treated me appallingly, they refused my complaint so I sent to FOS, 14 months on and I’m still awaiting an adjudicator, your post has give me some hope to continue with my complaint
Daniel says
Hi Sara ,
I had my letter from littlewoods and very , they are upholding both complaints from 2012 and refund all interest and charges from that year . My limit on littlewoods was £9000 I was always at max limit and they have refunded £11,170 they wiped my £8600 balance and gave me a cheque for just under £3000 , with the very my limit was £7000 and again always at max limit , now they have upheld again from 2012 but only refund £943 I very confused as to how they’ve worked that out seeing as very charge more interest then littlewoods but yet there is a huge difference in refunds
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ask them for a list of how much you have paid in interest and charges on the Very account in each month since 2012.
Tracy Sowerby says
Hi Sara
I’ve spoken to vanquis and told them what you have said. After a lengthy discussion they said they would seek clarification from the ombudsman as to what exactly is asked of them. I went onto say I will forward the decision to them which states to simply refund all interest and charges after the first 500 limit and nothing more. There’s also a figure of 289.00 for simple interest which seems low. Any advice further advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you have to get the main refund sorted out first before looking at the 8%
Louise says
Has anyone had a successful claim against creation finance credit card. I put a complaint in over 8 weeks ago and no response contacted them yesterday and they said that they need longer.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
tell them the complaint goes to the Finacial Ombudsman in a week. the danger is they will string you along for a month or two and then reject your complaint so it has to go to FOS anyway!
Lee says
Sara I had a creation financial store card with USC for many years. The debt was sold to Lowell’s about 1 year ago without letting me know. I have just finished paying it off as Lowell’s gave me a discount and froze interest. Am I able to make a claim to USC creation storecard at all. Limit was £1250 was struggling to pay it off due to all my debt gambling etc. Had it from around 2014/2015.
Wondering now if worth trying to get that one in didn’t think about this one at all?
Interest was about £35 every month.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So questions.
1. Did they increase the limit to that or was it that from the start?
2. Did you only ever pay the minimum, or did you sometimes clear it down?
3. Had you missed a lot of payments or made an arrangement with them before it was sold?
Rasheeda says
Hi Sara.
I opened account with argos in 2004 and the credit limit was few hundred pounds but time to time they increase my credit limit even though they know that I am making minimum payment and my income was the same.Now the limit is nearly 3000 still making minimum payment. Same thing happened with barclaycard.creation.and mbna.what should I do now.My payments are nearly 450 and my wages are 550 because I am a carer of my disabled child and I am using my carer allowance to pay of my debts wh are not coming down instead growing up.i am making minimum payments from15 to 20 years.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Can I ask what the current balances add up to, roughly?
Do you have any other debts – any loans? Overdraft? Behind with rent, council tax or other important bills?
Are you a single parent?
Is your name on the mortgage?
Lee says
Sara,
Limit I think was increased only once.
Only paid minimum payments have it for 5/6 years at least
I had missed a number of payments bern in touch ro ask them to freeze interest / help. But have little evidence or dates of the calls on this one.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So yes you can make a complaint now to USC. Say they should not have increased your credit limt. Ask for a refund of all interest added after that point. And say they should also have frozen interest and chrges when you toldthem you were in trouble, Ask for the default to be removed from your credit record.
Rasheeda says
Hi Sara
I checked my credit report I opened barclaycard with few hundred pounds in 2008 and the current balance is 5600 and argos current balance is 1900 and creation balance is 2300 mbna just increase my limit last year from 1400 to 2500 even though know very well that I am making minimum payment.
I am not single parent but my husband does not have any idea about my debts.I opened very account in2014 and that increased my limit after that even though I was not able to make buy now pay later on time sometimes I have to use my credit card to pay BNPL.
My husband is paying mortgage and Bill’s and they are up to date.
the limit for very account is 3000 and balance is 1000 and barclaycard increased my limit 11to12000 but after that they decreased it to 9000 then 7000then 6700.
No my name is not on the mortgage
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok so you have two options. But for eiother of these you really should tell your husband what is happening…
1) you can make affordability complaints to all the lenders. Use the template in the article above. But these will take a long while – you need to expect many of the will be rejected or get a poor offer so they have to go to the Ombudsman. This will take many months, possibly over a year. So if you choose this options your HAVE to get your self into a safe place while the complaints go through. read https://debtcamel.co.uk/token-payment-debt/ and offer them all £5 a month.
2) look at whether you can be accepted for a Debt Relief Order now. If this works the debts will be cleared. And here ther is little point in going through the 6-18 month paid of making a lot of individual complaints. Phone National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 about this op[tion – see if they think you will qualify as your only income is from benefits.
National Debtline can also talk to you about the token payments while you complain option. So if you aren’t sure, talk to them.
Rasheeda says
Hi
Sara I am already talking to them about payment plan but I wan t to know can I claim refunds from them because all these crediters increased my limit without knocking my income and my accounts are open with all crediters.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes you can if the limits were increased to an unaffordable level. Which it sounds like.
BUT
a) you need to TELL the creditors how much you can afford each month and start paying that. You are not asking their permission, you have to do this.
b) do yourself a big favour and also talk to National Debtline about your options. Because you gave a mountain of debt a DRO may be a better – quicker, less stressful, more certain – way forward if you are Eligible.
National Debtline can also help you work out a budget to show creditors that will prove why you are offering each of them that lower payment.
Ross says
Well, I’ve had some good news (and not so good) about my Marbles complaint. The good news is that it’s, finally, been picked up by an investigator. The not so good news is that she’s had to go back to Newday, for clarification on some of the information they’ve provided. They have told her that this could take up to SEVEN WEEKS! I’m sure this shouldn’t be really acceptable, although I suppose I just have to wait for Newday to send the info. Rather frustrating.
Samantha says
Hi, I have a vanquis credit card since 2017, I did start with a limit of £500 this limit quickly increased to 4k, at the time I was a student and couldn’t afford the limit increase since then I have had a loan to the pay off the debt, I’m still paying the loan that I got to clear the card, now I have the loan and the card to pay! I cannot and could not afford to have the credit increase as I was a student and used the cards again the keep living and paying my normal bills, I’m not in debt with my normal bills, I asked vanquis to freeze the card during covid since working part time, the second freeze I asked for they didn’t actually freeze so I had £800 charges to pay to keep my balance within the 4k, I had to work away from home for 2 weeks to pay the £800 as I could see this quickly escalating, since then the balance has not come down as it was all charges and I’ve used it again to pay for things like food or petrol as the money I had paid the card, I should have never been given the increase in the first place! How do I complain and would I be in a position to reclaim any charges?? I have cleared the balance afew times by getting other loans or borrowing money or paying with my student allowance, but keep using it to live off as I couldn’t afford the increase in the first place!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Read the article above and make a claim saying you should never have been given such large credit increases as a student.
Put the points you have made in the comment here into your claim.
Also look into whether the loans you were given were affordable – you may be able to complain about them too.
Ally says
Hi Sara.
I’m slowly having some small successes after many months of waiting for FOS to investigate my complaint.
I’ve been back & forth with HSBC with an affordability complaint for a C/C. The investigator agreed that HSBC didn’t do their due diligence to check affordability and has suggested a refund of interest/charges, any adverse credit is revoked (this is the biggy – as it’s a CCJ), and compensation of £150.
Of the above, I am most interested in the CCJ.
HSBC have until 11 Nov to respond.
If they don’t agree, presume this goes to an Ombudsman.
As I haven’t reached this step – I don’t know how long or how likely it is to go in my favour?
Any advice welcome?
Ps. I am already over the moon to have got this far. Fingers crossed! And thank you!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If HSBC reject the decision it goes to the Ombudsman. If they just don’t reply, the adjudicator normally gives them another couple of weeks.
If it goes to an Ombudsman, in a large majority of cases the Ombudsman reaches the same decision. But it’s very case by case, it is a separate investigation, not a quick review. And it can take months waiting in the Ombudsman queue.
Ally says
Hi Sara,
Thank you for this information.
Just out of curiosity – have you heard of any recent ombudsman disputes against HSBC where a consumer has won?
Secondly, due to the CCJ I am now fixed to a higher interest rate mortgage. With this ccj removed, I can’t do anything about the mortgage interest rate still. The exit fee for leaving is the same as the saving if I switched mortgages. So I would be no better off.
Over 5 yrs it’s approx £7k more than a high st mortgage. (I checked with my broker) I have no other adverse credit. So my score would otherwise be perfect without the ccj.
I’m sure they wouldn’t agree to compensation to cover this £7k, but do you think it’s worth mentioning this to the investigator?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Here is one where a customer won a complaint about an HSBC overdraft https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/files/314224/DRN-2923576.pdf
Here is one relating to increases ion bith an overdraft and a credit card https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/files/308126/DRN-2815836.pdf
No I don’t think it is worth mentioning your high cost mortgage fix.
Andrew says
Hi all thought would give you a update
Barclaycard dismissed by barclays, adjudicator and ombudsman agreed wiped 1100 off balance 600 remaining
Then new day (marbles and aqua) adj deemed increases on marbles from May 16 unjust and refund interest from that point, marbles disagreed ombudsman has agreed with adj
Aqua adj agreed increase from Jan 2017 unjust, aqua disagreed and ombudsman actually increased the award saying the aqua card should never have been issued and to refund whole interest which will wipe the whole balance and give me some back
Quick question Sara so on the marbles card if the limit was OK how do I calculate interest I know it will be rough
So on my statement interest is –
May 16 46.50
June 16 44.88
July 52.97
Aug 55.07
Do I take the May figure as the constant amount of interest and word out the difference between the later interest figures and that’s what my refund is calculated and that comes off the figure (I still owe marbles 3 grand)
Sorry if not explained properly
Thanks for all your advice couldn’t have done it without this site
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have marbles come back with a number or are you just anticipating this?
Andrew says
Sara
No they haven’t come back yet only just got the ombudsman decision
So with the aqua I have added up all the interest applied and it wipes the balance clear
But because Marbles was only upheld from the initial interest I was wondering what likely to be so do you if say it was 50 quid a month interest and then went up to say 80 a month once you spent extra on the card you take the difference ie 30 quid monthly until the account was closed is that right ?
Dana says
Hi Sara,
First of all thanks so much for this website, I have had so much success getting refunds from payday loans and large loans due to irresponsible lending, thanks to this website. I am no longer up to my eyeballs in debt which is honestly such a nice feeling.
My one last target however is NewDay, they gave me an aqua card for £250 in 2015 and over the course of 3 years that rose to £2500, despite me being in the middle of my payday loan trap. They then also gave me an Amazon card in 2018 with a balance of £900.
I’ve complained to NewDay, they didn’t agree I had a case, I then went to FOS, which I thought was in the bag because the irresponsible lending was right there, and he has come back saying he sees no evidence of irresponsible lending, which baffles me as I sent the same bank statements I sent for the payday loan complaints.
Is it worth asking to go to the next step to the Ombudsman?
The investigator said NewDay rely on the information I provide and don’t do proper credit checks so they did everything right?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They don’t have to make many chacks when only giving a card with a limit of £250. But those were large credit limit increases…
So questions looking for points you could make to the adjudicator. Were you only making minimum payments to the Aqua card? Did the Aqua card have a high balance when you applied for the Amazon card?
Dana says
Hi Sara,
Yes minimum payments have pretty much all I’ve paid since opening this account, so the limit increases and Amazon card were done whilst I was at the max of my limit whilst making minimal payments.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then you should go back to your adjudicator and make those points. Point out that CONC 5.2A.6 says “If an increase in the amount of credit or in the credit limit is not itself significant but would result in there having been, since the last creditworthiness assessment, a cumulative increase that is significant, then a further creditworthiness assessment is required.”
Ask the adjudicator to look again at your case and send it to an Ombudsman if they don’t change their mind.
Lynn says
Hi Sara,
Wondering if you could help. I replied to Dana yesterday with my situation at the fos, the ombudsman has passed the New Day case back to the investigator as Cabot have a ccj for the outstanding debt.
The investigator has came back to me this morning and advised they may not be able to look at the complaint at all now because of the ccj.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Go back to your adjudicator and say the CCJ was from Cabot, but your complaint about unaffordable lending is against Newday, so you want FOS to consider this.
Lynn says
Hi, he has now came back to me and asked why I did not raise an affordability as part of my defence in court. I never attended court so I’m unsure what to write back to him also this was back in 2019 and I didn’t know you could use affordability as a defence or even that you could raise affordability complaints to companies.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you reply and say you did not defend the case, judgment was given in default. Add that you were unaware that you could make an affordability complaint at that time, which is why you only made the complaint to Newday this/last year. Say you are not even sure now whether you could defend a claim brought by Cabot on the grounds of unaffordable lending by Newday as you haven’t heard of anyone doing this.
Alex says
Hi,
I thought I would leave an update regarding my complaint made to HSBC regarding my overdraft charges for two of my accounts, hopefully others will find this useful.
I complained to HSBC in January 2020, they rejected my complaint within two days, and I sent it to the FOS. I was contacted to inform me that there was an extended delay dealing with cases and I should expect a long wait.
I finally received a response from the Adjudicator on 22nd October 2021 stating that they were upholding my complaint and they have given HSBC two weeks to respond. Exactly two weeks later 5th November, the Adjudicator contacted me to say that HSBC had accepted the Adjudicators decision and recommendations. He said that HSBC will contact me directly to arrange the refund as per his instructions. The outcome was that HSBC should refund all interest and charges from 15th July 2015, including 8% interest.
I’m just patiently waiting now for HSBC to complete their calculations and hopefully this comes back correct. I’m curious to know how they calculate the interest rate as all the charges are staggered over different dates and will it be refunded in one lot or separately for each account? Also how long it will take them to do this, I hope they do not drag their feet, and contact me soon!
The charges totalled £6878.77 (£3680.95 & £3197.82) as of Jan 2020, this does not include additional charges incurred since sending the complaint and today.
Alex says
To put some context, here is an extract of the complaint I made:
Account number: (00-00-00 00000000) and (00-00-00 000000000)
I am writing to request that you repay all the charges in relation to unauthorised overdrafts that have been applied to my account in the past six years.
• Over the last few years it is a regular occurrence for payments to be returned to my accounts due to lack of funds. However, there are numerous occasions where HSBC authorised these to be taken which placed me over my arranged overdraft limit.
• For the vast majority of the last six years I have been heavily using and relying on my overdraft. I have attempted to improve my situation myself by significantly reducing my overdraft allowance. However, I feel that HSBC could have done more to help.
• During the period of charges, I have frequently exceeded my overdraft limit. Several of the situations have been as a direct result of HSBC taking their overdraft charge. I have been in a desperate situation over the last few years but feel that HSBC could have done a lot more to prevent me going over my arranged overdraft limit.
• Incurring these charges and being so easily able to exceed my overdraft limits during financial hardship has placed me in a continuous cycle of relying on my overdrafts, paying fees, taking out ‘payday loans’ to cover fees and resorting to gambling to try to win money to cover my everyday bills.
Mel says
Hi Alex, this could be literally my complaint. I was the same as you, gambling- taking Pd loans to stay within limit, constantly in overdraft and HSBC allows transactions up to £3100 of a £2500 OD – it wasn’t ‘normal’ behaviour for my account and I was then allowed a CC which I hit limit within a month, a couple of months later a loan was issued which I later defaulted on. I take responsibility for my actions but I don’t think HSBC did enough, they would send me a letter to say they recommend paying £1000 of my OD in the next month, like of course I have the funds to be able to do that !!!
The lady at FOS I spoke to took my case on so I am 2 weeks waiting for HSBC to send my file to her
Mike says
I’ve just had the ombudsman’s final decision back in which theyve not upheld my complaint, in their response they’ve commented that because Of large payments (5k, 7k 11k) to the account, it was right for Barclaycard to assume that it was affordable, despite me telling the Investigator that the payments where from taking out more lines of credit, in which I evidenced. Am I able to go back to the ombudsman to ensure they have considered that the payments where in fact loan payments and not from savings/friends/family.
On a different note, I looked up the ombudsman who responded and they previously worked for Barclay’s, I would of assumed that an ombudsman couldn’t investigate a complain for an organisation they used to work for.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Am I able to go back to the ombudsman to ensure they have considered that the payments where in fact loan payments and not from savings/friends/family.
You can ask, but if this was a Final decision then that is that. If you can go back and make points, the issue is that that should have seen from y=from your credit record that your overall debt level were going up.
I would of assumed that an ombudsman couldn’t investigate a complain for an organisation they used to work for.
I don’t think that is a rule. And I don’t think it should be. It helps FOS to have people who have previously worked in the sector.
Sabrina says
Hello everyone
I have just had my Newday complaint partially upheld by the FOS. Newday had issued me with an aqua card, opus card and a loan and the ombudsman ruled that certain increases should not have taken place.
From anyones experience with Newday, how long do the interest refunds take?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
When you get the email with the amount of the refund, come back here if you think it sounds low… some card companies are doing some odd calculations in this situation.
Bc says
Hi Sarah,
Can you advise please, had a response back today from the adjudicator assigned for my Vanquis affordability complaint sent on 24th June 2021, I had to advise why they should look at over the 6 year’s, it was opened in march 2014 with £500 limit which within 18 months had 4 increases to the maximum £4000 and has been on minimum payments made since then, the adjudicator has given them till 24th November 2021 to re look at the complainant other wise it will be passed to the ombudsman, does this mean that it’s been upheld, as it doesn’t seem to confirm this in the email. Thanks in advance for your help.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It sounds to me as though this is just a “jurisdiction” decision at the moment – Vanquis has objected to FOS looking at your complaint, the adjudicator thinks they should, if Vanquis again says No it will have to be looked at by an Ombudsman. If that’s right, no one has yet looked at how good the complaint is.
Lee says
Be careful with New Day. My marbles refund that had £500 balance refunded around £1530 on all interest paid including cash advance fees and over limit charges but no 8% resulting in a credit.
My aqua card the card I actually complained about they proportionality upheld – but only refunded me about £1100 (even though my credit limit was £4200 and 9 times bigger than the marbles credit limit at its highest. For the past 5 years it had been maxed out each month with 83 cash advances once paying minimums each month, as struggling that much with debt.
I had lots of evidence (after requesting SOA at time of initial compliant) of me in December 2014 saying I was struggling. Evidence of going over my limit 6 times before further credit limit increases.
The adjudicator phoned me last month to ask me a few extra bits of info on my claim. She indicated I had a very strong case and been short changed, but needed to look at time limit rules to check how far she can go back etc
I reckon from my calculations they need to refund me about around another £4,500 which would mean the current outstanding balance would be cleared in full and I would have about a 2k refund. (Resulting in a refund from new Day of around 7k in total rather than about £2,600).
Michelle says
Hi Sara ,
Hope you can help me , I won my complaint against very and they upheld it from January 2017 , the refunds cleared most of my debt with them leaving me £746 left to pay , because I have had 3 payments plans before during the time my account has been open they are refusing to set a plan up to clear the balance for me , it’s in arrears at £400 ish ( I stopped paying while waiting for me compliant to be resolved ) they said the only option is to go to step change , I feel this is unnecessary as this is my only debt left , the lady said if I don’t pay all arrears by the 28th of this month I am AT RISK ( used this phase Many times in our conversation) at getting a section 87 default notice , can they give me a default notice if I won a affordability complaint?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I won my complaint against very and they upheld it from January 2017
this was direct from Very? not via the Ombudsman?
How much can you afford to pay each month? Have they removed the previous payment arrangement markers?
Michelle says
Yes direct from very and the have removed all previous markers on my file , I can afford around £30-£50 a month
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then I suggest you tell them if they don’t agree to that payment plan and agree not mark your credit record you will take your complaint to the Finacial Ombudsman.
Sally says
Hello
I complained to the FO regarding barclaycard increasing my limit and as a consequence my complaint was looked by an investigator that he not upholding my complaint. The following were looked at
Firstly, terms and conditions of the account to assess if increasing the limit was permitted.
Secondly,how Barclaycard communicated those limit increases to you, as well as how I responded.
Did Barclaycard complete reasonable and proportionate checks to satisfy itself that you would be able to repay any credit in a sustainable way.
He felt that Barclays have done nothing wrong here based on the available evidence
Is it worth going to the ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What the limit before, what was it raised to?
When it was raised, had you only been making minimum payments for a while?
Why do you think it shouldn’t have been increased?
Sally says
Hello
From 9k in June 2016 to 11k and then a further increase in jan 2017 £15700. I’ve always been on the limit since
Ive always paid the min as I have had a debt problem. I had around 18k to £21k of debt at the time of increases. By increasing my debt this was a lifeline to hide away from the constant mount of debt
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I had around 18k to £21k of debt at the time of increases.
This was other debt, or including the Barclaycard debt?
What was your income a month after tax (roughly) at this time?
I think the second increase in particular was very large. If you had only ever paid the minimum amounts, I think they should have looked closely at whether this was really affordable for you
Sally says
Apparently they looked at my income via the following methods:
“Barclaycard have told me that at that time of the increase, the credit agency verified your income, based on recent credit applications made by you.
I can see that Barclaycard took the credit agency data and applied proportionate checks on affordability. Again, using the information from your credit file and their own account data, Barclaycard looked at the sustainability of the debt to see if you could afford to repay it over a reasonable period.”
I don’t agree with this approach.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t like the approach either. But you won’t win a FOS case by saying that, you need to be clear about why it was wrong in your case and what should have warned Barclaycard to look more closely.
Let me give an extreme example, it is nothing like your case but it shows what it is reasonable for a lender to think about.
Suppose you earned 70k a year and had only developed a major gambling habit in the few weeks before your application but no gambling showed on your credit card. A credit limit increase may look perfectly affordable to a lender, even though if they had, say, looked at your bank statement they would have seen the gambling and declined any more credit. FOS won’t say the lender was at fault here, there was nothing to warn the lender to look in more detail.
You have identified one thing – only making minimum payments – which was a warning. because of this I think you should go back to the investigato and ask them to look again, saying Barclaycard should not have given you such a large limit when you were only making minimum payments.
but it’s worth looking for additional points you can make.
I asked if the “18k to £21k of debt at the time of increases” included the Barclaycard debt – if it didnt, then you should also point out the large amount of other debt that was showing on your credit record.
What was your income a month after tax (roughly) at this time? if this wasn’t high, you can point out the large amount of debt compared to your income.
Were you in an overdraft for most or all of the month – that is another warning sign.
kate says
Hi, i first sent an affordability complaint to TSB back in October 2020, they declined my complaint so i sent it to the fos, i have just recently been assigned an adjudicator and he has upheld my complaint, ordering tsb to pay back all interest and charges put on my account since they first started increasing my overdraft limit, they have 2 weeks to reply. I have worked out that they owe me roughly 2.5K in charges and interest, but this figure also includes the past year since i sent my complaint, does anyone know if they will include the ongoing charges the banks have made since i put forward my complaint? i am still getting charged over £100 per month on interest.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
From what you have said, yes this should include the current charges.
Will this refund be enough to clear the overdraft?
kate says
Hi Sara,
if my workings out are correct after the refund is paid i will have just £400 left outstanding as of 30th november (the date they have until they need to make a final decision) the fos has also said that if a balance remains they should offer me a payment plan, but i should be able to pay the outstanding balance off in full the following week, im guessing tsb should allow me a week to do this before arranging a payment plan, as i dont want anything to hurt my credit score that ive been doing so well to maintain recently
Ross says
Just an update, on my Newday complaint. After (incorrectly) telling the FOS that my complaint had fallen foul of the ‘out of time’ rule, they have now advised that my complaint DOES fall within the timescales. As such, the FOS have now confirmed that my case is being investigated but Newday have still insisted that they won’t upheld any part of my complaint (that bit is hardly surprising, considering I have had to go the FOS in the first place). It’s just a waiting game now but, at least the ball is now rolling after them telling my adjudicator that it could be 7 weeks (4 weeks ago) before they would come back to them to advise why they objected to the complaint being looked at. I’ll be interested to see where this goes…
Louise says
I’ve had a complaint upheld by littlewoods not had the final response letter yet however the payments which have been applied to my littlewoods account are as follows. Does this mean I will be refunded this amount really confused.
Payment correction £1104.22
Refund admin charge £216
Balance adjustment £2367.31
Balance adjustment £170.76
Balance adjustment £563.01
Paul says
No it will be taken off what you owe them first and if anything is left over you will then recieve that payment
DM says
Hi Sara, just got my response from drafty refunding all interest from Nov 2019 which clears the outstanding £688 and a £86 refund so just hoping safety net credit come back with the same result which will save me £100 a month. Thanks Again
Lee says
Hi Sara,
The FOS adjudicator yesterday called me and sent me their final outcome.
My already fully upheld marbles card with £1031 refunded they have agreed to pay the 8% on top.
However with Aqua card.
My balance was £4,200 had card since 2012.
There was 6 credit limit increases.
Partially refunded me proportional interest from June 2016 resulting in £994 paid back from £3,400 credit limit increase onwards.
The adjudicator said Aqua New Day now agreed to pay the cash advance charges from June 2016. This amounts to £342 extra.
But due to time limit rules they cannot look at December 2014. I told them I complained in July 2021 as only aware then had grounds due to finding this website. I had put in some payday loan complaint in 2017 to the ombudsman I won. However I didn’t realise I could complain about credit card providers as had gone into a reduced payment plan back in 2015 with Aqua, despite repeatedly asking for all interest to be frozen and a payment plan to be arranged on the phone. I felt that was a complaint in itself at the time.
Basically the adjudicator is saying I missed time limit rules.
Do you think this is worth going to the ombudsman. As under 6 year rule I could go back to July 2015 (as made my complaint July 2021). Saying I want them to look at refunding me from July 2015 rather than June 2016 (when I first asked for interest frozen). Also do I have grounds to say I want 100% interest paid from July 2015?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So the Marbles one is now sorted.
And the Aqua offer is increased.
Do you know the dates of the Aqua credit limit increases?
what date dod you send the complaint to FOS?
Lee says
Hi Sara,
Just had to double check my facts from the letters sent. This info is completely correct below.
1) Marbles will be sorted with the extra 8%, but like I said a while ago this credit limit was £250 most of the time (£500) at highest and upheld in full on such a low balance. Was opened around June 2016. I’m expecting about £200 extra back for this when calculations done. So far had already had refunded back £283.50 cash advance fees, £240 overlimit fees and £736.41 interest fees before it was sent to the FOS.
2) The aqua offer however has only increased by £342 for the cash advances they hadn’t paid me from June 2016 onwards. (I know I have 83 cash advances on this card from May 2015 to present)
No 8% statutory interest given as have an outstanding balance still of around £3070.
Aqua had only refunded me £994.13 proportionate interest (from June 2016 increase to £3400) and £12 in late payment fees up to now. I just think this is poor given the credit limit was around 9 times higher most of the time compared to marbles.
The limits on my Aqua were…
October 2012 – £250 to £600
Feb 2013 – £600 to £1000
May 2014 – £1000 to £1750
Dec 2014 – £1750 to £2500
June 2016 – £2500 to £3400
Feb 2017 – £3400 to £4200
3) My initial complaint letter was sent 14th July 2021 this year. But the SOA evidence 137 pages shows in July 14 to Nov 14; 3 times going over credit limit before Dec 14 credit limit increase. In March 2015 was when I first got in touch with Aqua from SOA and asked to freeze all interest and for a payment plan. Instead they put me on a reduced interest but no formal plan was created by them to bring my account down to zero despite requesting this at the time.
I then asked in my counter offer recently for Aqua to freeze interest while FOS investigate. They wouldn’t even do this. I’m paying £45 mins and they are taking about £15 interest each month (still in this reduced interest plan).
Just want to know if got any grounds to go back to FOS and disagree. I just think should go from 14/7/16 then and give me 100% interest if using 6 years. But the increase after Dec 14 was June 16 next.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok so there weren’t any credit increases in the period between July 15 and June 16 – I am not saying I agree with the 6 year decision, but if there had been a limit increase in that period then that should clearly have been included.
“I just think this is poor given the credit limit was around 9 times higher most of the time compared to marbles.”
I can see why you feel that but it isn’t an argument that will impress FOS, which is what i am looking for.
So three points you can make. If adjudicator doesn’t change their mind, ask for this to go to an Ombudsman.
1) You don’t understand why the 6 year rule is being applied in this case. Yes you made a claim for a payday loan refund in 2017 but at that time you had no idea it was possible to make a complaint about a credit card. point out that if you had know, you would have made a complaint then – what possible reason could there be for you to decide to wait 4 years?
2) You asked in 2015 for help as you could not afford the repayments. At this point they should have considered your account and frozen interest. And they should have been monitoring your account usage after this point. So you would like to ask for a refund of interest from that point.
3) this means they should never have considered increasing your interest after 2015. So from June 2016 they should have been offering you more help by freezing interest and charges, not increasing your limit. So all interest and charges should be refunded from that point, not just those over a credit limit of £2500 as that limit was clearly too high and had caused you problems.
Lee says
Thanks Sara.
Much appreciated I will email the adjudicator directly as advised by them on Friday to tell them I don’t agree based on those points.
Will keep you posted on the outcome.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
please do – I think the point about refunding all interest not just that over a certain limit is important for a lot of cases.
Michelle says
Hi Sara
Could you help me with some advice
Iv just heard from the investigators at the fos about my vanquis complaint , they would like me to explain what exceptional circumstances as to why I didn’t complain sooner ( some increase is more than six years ago ) it was genuinely when I found your website when I realise these complaints could be made to me that doesn’t seem exceptional circumstances ??
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You should reply saying how you found out eg that although you knew you were in financial difficulty earlier, you thought that was your own fault, and you only found out that a lender should have checked for affordability in 2020 when you saw an advert for a claims company about Amigo (change this so it describes exactly what happened to you, don’t just use those words, they are an example). Say you have therefore complained within 3 years of becoming aware you had cause for complaint. If the investigator doesn’t agree, ask for this to go to an Ombudsman.
Mike_p says
Michelle,
They have just asked me this too about my Barclaycard complaint, although they worded it a bit more tactfully. It never occurred to me at the the that I’d be able to complain, all the statements had warnings about what happened if you missed payments, and I’d never heard of anyone making such a complaint before. Even Stepchange don’t mention it which seems odd.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Definitely mention as part of your response that StepCahnge never told you that this was an option,
Graeme says
Does anyone have any experience of NewDay accepting an adjudicator decision? Their deadline to respond was 19/11/2021 and I haven’t heard anything. I can see from reading FOS website for ombudsman cases that they are regulars there so I expect they may object. It would be a big win for me, Aqua and secondary Marbles Cards refunding all interest over £600 up to a limit of £3250 that has been constantly maxed out for nearly 4 years on Aqua as well as all interest on Marbles. It would clear all my debt and a bit more – saving £195 a month in current minimum repayments. I hope it doesn’t take another 6 months ….
Ross says
Hi Graeme,
From what I have seen, both on here and the Ombudsman Decisions website, they tend not to agree quite frequently with adjudicator decisions. However, there seems to be a large amount of upholds, at Ombudsman level, so don’t be disheartened, if they disagree. I have a complaint being investigated, at the moment, and I am 99.9% certain that, even if it gets upheld in my favour, that they’ll object (especially as mine would be a sizeable refund of all interest from when the card was opened). Please keep us updated and good luck!
Natalie says
Hi just to give you a chink of light – marbles didn’t accept but once the ombudsman had given the final verdict they refunded within a day of that decision and also corrected my adverse information on the credit file. I am
Left with a balance still to pay but they have been told
To be sympathetic to my situation so I am hoping no more threats of debt collection etc.
Gaz says
Hi just wondering if any one on hear has had any dealings with everyday loans. Iv just won my case from the FOS. They have agreed that 4 of the 6000 + loans I received were to be irresponsible. Dose any one no how long it takes for them to get back to you with a figure.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well done. This is best asked over on the “large loans” page. https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-large-high-cost-loans/