Have you had a catalogue, credit card or store card where your credit limit was too high? So high that the monthly repayments were hard to manage and you got into more debt?
Many people were originally given an OK limit, but the lender kept increasing them.
You may have a good complaint that the lender was irresponsible in allowing you to borrow so much that the debt was unaffordable.
This article explains how to complain and ask for a refund of the interest you paid
Contents
What is “affordability”?
The following is my summary of the regulator’s rules:
- a lender must check if credit is affordable when you apply for it. A mortgage lender will ask for bank statements, but a catalogue offering a £200 credit limit doesn’t have to go into so much detail;
- a lender should also make new checks when deciding to increase a credit limit;
- credit isn’t affordable if paying it leaves you short of money for your bills,everyday expenses, and your other debts;
- if you have to borrow more most months, this would not be affordable. This could be borrowing on the same account – making a credit card repayment but then using the credit card to pay for food so the balance never drops is “borrowing more”;
- you have to be able to repay the balance within a reasonable period of time. Paying the minimum amount is OK for a short while, but not for a prolonged period.
How to complain
Good reasons to complain
If the lender could see any of these on your credit record, they should probably have declined your original application:
- recent credit record problems: defaults, missed payments, or arrangements to pay, mortgage arrears, payday loans;
- you already had a different credit card with the same lender where you were only making minimum payments and were using it for essentials like food and petrol. If you were given two credit or catalogue accounts by the same lender, often the second one should never have been given.
- other credit cards where you were near your limit and persistent overdraft usage. Here is an Ombudsman decision saying Zopa should not have given quite a low initial limit in this situation;
- a level of borrowing that looks too high in relation to your income.
Your credit limit should not later have been increased unless you could afford it. In addition to the points above, the following should have also warned the lender you were in difficulty already:
- making minimum payments for a long while;
- using a lot of your limit for a long period;
- a lot of gambling showing on the account statement;
- recent missed payments or an arrangement to pay on this account;
- your overall level of debt on your credit record has gone up a lot.
You don’t need all the details to complain
When your lender increased your credit limit, you don’t need the exact date. If all you can say is “you increased my credit limit several times” that is fine. You don’t need to ask for copies of all your statements – you would get a ton of paper!
But getting your credit record can help. You can’t go back and see exactly what your credit score was in say 2018, but take a copy of your current credit record as soon as you complain (get your free TransUnion statutory credit report). That will show what the pre-2018 problems were that the lender should have spotted.
Template to complain & the email address to use
The best way to complain is by email. It’s free, instant and you have a record of what you sent and when. Here is a list of credit card and catalogue email addresses to use.
In the suggestions below, I’ve invented some examples for the bits in italics in brackets. Change/delete these to tell your story.
I want to complain about irresponsible lending by you for my Barclaycard account number 987654/444. My date of birth is dd/mm/yy. The email address I used for this account was myaddress@whatever.com.
Then say they should never have given you the account:
You should never have allowed me to open an account with such a large credit limit. When I applied in 2015, you should have checked my credit record and you would have seen I had recent missed payments to a credit card and a default only two months before on a loan.
Or say that they should not have increased your credit limit:
You should never have increased my credit limit in 2015. At that time I had only made minimum payments on this credit card for a long while and/or I was using a very high level of my credit limit.
If you had properly checked my credit record before increasing my limit, you would have seen that in the two years since my account with you was opened, I had got additional late payment markers and defaults and/or taken out a lot of other credit. This should have warned you I was struggling with my finances and it was not responsible to lend me more. By increasing my credit limit you made my financial position worse. Instead you should have offered me forbearance by freezing the interest on the card.
I do not know the exact months of these credit limit increases. In your reply to this complaint, please tell me the dates and amounts.
If the lender should already have known you had problems with your account, mention these
You should also have realised that I was having difficulty because:
of the late payment charges you added to my account
of the gambling transactions showing on my card statement
I had missed two payments to you the year before in 2017
I had already asked you on the phone if it was possible to stop adding interest for a while.
End with asking for a refund:
I would like you to refund me all the interest I paid and any late payment charges from the point the account was opened
OR
I would like you to refund me all the interest I paid and any late payment charges after you increased my credit limit in 2018.
I would also like any late payment and default markers to be removed from credit records after this point.
I understand that if I take this complaint to the Financial Ombudsman, 8% simple interest is usually added to a cash refund.
Points to think about
Timing
These complaints can be made if your account is still open, or if it is closed and settled, or if it is with a debt collector (NB the complaint goes to the original lender, not the debt collector.)
You can complain if you already have a CCJ for the debt. Add a sentence to the template saying you want the CCJ removed as part of the settlement of your complaint.
If you have had an IVA or bankruptcy after these problems, or if you are still in a DRO, then ask in the comments below, as this can be complicated.
Old accounts
The Financial Ombudsman (FOS) can only go back to April 2007, when the law changed to allow these complaints.
Many lenders will reject complaints about something that was more than 6 years ago and say the ombudsman won’t look at them. But FOS will often look at old problems if you have only found out in the last three years that you can make the complaint.
If your account was opened in 2015 but the lender increased your limit in 2018 and 2019, then the two limit increases are within the last 6 years and can definitely be looked at.
However, complaints about things that happened more than 6 years ago may be hard for you to produce much evidence for. But if you feel you have a strong older case and you have some evidence, then take it to the Ombudsman and let them decide!
An alternative approach for old accounts
If your account was opened a long while ago and you defaulted and still owe a balance, perhaps in a DMP, think about asking the debt collector to produce the Consumer Credit Act agreement for the account.
If the current creditor can’t produce a proper copy of the agreement, the debt cannot be enforced in court and you can simply stop paying anything to it. This applies to all credit cards, store cards and catalogues.
It may be that the balance on the account is larger than any refund you might get. In which case if the CCA agreement cannot be produced, you would be better off.
Is a refund what you really need?
This depends how large your current financial problems are.
Complaining about newish debt will often only get the interest removed – you still have to repay what you borrowed. Don’t spend months arguing with lenders and going to the ombudsman if you will still be in a mess even if you win.
So phone National Debtline on 0808 808 4000, tell them you are thinking about affordability complaints but you would like to know what your other debt options are.
Poor reasons to complain
You can’t complain just because the interest rate was high or because you have paid them a fortune over the years.
A poor credit score on its own isn’t a reason why you shouldn’t have been given an account. But if your credit score was poor because you were having a lot of problems with your existing debt, the account should have been refused.
You won’t win an affordability complaint if something unexpected went wrong later in your life. If you had been managing a credit card fine for years but then you lost your job or separated from your partner and you defaulted, this isn’t the lender’s fault.
Don’t be put off by a rejection or a poor offer
Lenders often reject good cases
If a lender rejects your complaint or offers a low “goodwill” gesture, don’t be fobbed off – they want you to give up.
In particular, if the lender says you had made all the payments to them on time so they had no reason to think you had problems, you can ignore this. Or if the lender dismisses your complaint as the account was opened over 6 years ago.
When you have a Final Response from the lender – or after 8 weeks if you haven’t had a Final Response – send your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). Don’t delay doing this!
Is a “partial uphold” good enough?
If the lender says they should not have increased your credit limit in June 2018 when your limit was increased and they will give you a refund of interest for balances over the previous limit, that may sound good. It is sometimes called a partial uphold or a partial refund or proportionate interest.
But often the amount of money refunded in this situation is a lot less than you might expect. So tell the lender you want to consider their offer but need to know how large the refund will be.
Often you were already in a difficult financial situation at that point, with cards close to maxed out, being used for everyday essentials and only paying the minimums. At that point the lender should have stepped in and offered to help you by freezing all interest. That is why a partial refund is often not good enough, you should have all the interest refunded from that point.
How to send a case to FOS
Send FOS a complaint using their online form. You can use bits of what you put in your complaint to the lender. If the lender has rejected your complaint or given a poor offer, say why you think this wrong.
The FOS form at the end asks you to add supporting documents. Don’t worry if you don’t have A copy of your credit or finance agreement – lots of people don’t and the lender will supply a copy to FOS if FOS asks for it. Don’t delay sending a complaint to FOS while you try to get this from the lender.
If your credit record shows that you had other debt problems, send FOS a copy of it. If you have kept some, send the oldest one you have, otherwise send the current one. Also get your bank statements if they will support your complaint and send those to FOS too.
FOS is a friendly service but not fast. Just use normal English, not legal terms. Using a claims company or a solicitor doesn’t help or speed this up.
Ask questions below!
There are hundreds of comments from readers who are using this template. It’s a good place to see how these complaints often go and to ask any questions.
FAQs about Affordability claims
Can you get an overdraft refund?
Could a Debt Relief order help you?
Jo says
Hi sara
My adjudicator asking following questions. What kind of reply I can give.
please can you also let me know why you didn’t raise this complaint soon and when (and how) you became aware that you had cause for complaint.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
see the reply I gave to someone in a similar situation here https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-catalogue-credit-card/comment-page-35/#comment-492126 – obviously change that so it explains what happend in your case.
AL says
Hi Sara, I’ve a complaint that was rejected by Next and is now waiting in the FOS queue. Next rejected on the basis that they saw nothing wrong with my credit report. However, my credit report would have shown my overdraft balance as permanently being in the red for years around the time Next increased my credit limit (2014). Is this a good argument to pursue as an overdraft is a short term lending facility and the fact I was permanently in it shows a level of some financial difficulty? Thanke
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how large was your Next limit originally? how much did they increase it to? were you only making minimum payments when they increased it?
AL says
They increased it from £900 to £3750. I’d mostly made minimum payments but had made some bigger payments from time to time (Nexy made a point if this) but that was borrowing from elsewhere.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you send this complaint to the Ombudsman. That was a huge increase.
James says
Hi AL, have you heard back from the ombudsman yet ?, I have a similar case rejected by next
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send it to the Ombudsman – what do you have to loose?
Bella says
Hi Sara,
I have prepared an email to send to Shop Direct using your template – thank you.
Just one question though; I have a default on the account dated 18/7/18, and a CCJ dated 3/10/19. There is still money owed on the acc that I’m paying via a DMP it’s still a few years away from being settled. If I ask them to remove the default and CCJ, is it right that I would be worse off in the future (ie the payments will still show on my credit file for a further 6 years after it’s settled)? Am I better keeping them on, so that they drop off in 2024/25? I’m not looking to get a mortgage until 2026+.
It might be important to note that the CCJ was actually added by Lowell, and it was applied as one CCJ across three creditors they were handling for me. So I’m not sure how easy it would be to be removed (if at all).
I’m unsure what to do for the best.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t think Lowell will remove the CCJ if it covered 3 debts and only one was unaffordable.
If SD (or FOS) decide the debt was unaffordable, Lowell should remove the default on the debt. The refund should then clear a lot of the debt? So if that is gone, with no default or negative marks, it just looks like a repaid debt. I suggest yousay you would like SD and Lowell to remove the negative marks on the debt on your credit record.
Gary says
Hi Sara, so the FOS has rejected my irresponsible lending complaint against Vanquis yesterday based on the three year rule. I’m planning to appeal this and ask the adjudicator to review again or otherwise if they can’t agree, for an ombudsman to make the final decision.
I said I only because aware earlier this year through your website about the chance to complain about this. However, they are saying that as I raised a complaint just over three years back to Vanquis about ROP and that Vanquis are saying i complained about irresponsible lending then. I’ve checked the complaint email and it was only about ROP and how this was affected my finances. Not once did I mention the credit agreement was irresponsibly provided to me some time earlier.
FOS also say that the final decision by Vanquis back in 2017 also referred to credit scores and affordability. Still, I don’t think this made me aware I could specifically complaint about irresponsible lending on the credit agreement.
Am I at the end of the road with this or do you think I have a chance to get this overturned?
Thanks again
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what did the ROP decision say about affordability? If you didn’t complain about it, then it would have had to be very clear for you to have even noticed that I would have thought.
Gary says
I actually will request a copy from FOS if they reject my appeal before ombudsman stage as there’s no way I was aware of this. I think the adjudicator has a very weak argument there.
Gary says
Hi Sara,
So now FOS have come back and said they’ve made a mistake. They said the reason my complaint was not upheld about the three year rule is because I made a complaint in 2018 about a number of Payday Loans with another form and they mentioned affordability and credit worthiness in their final decision.
I’ve still challenged this saying my complaint is about irresponsible lending on a credit card and the credit limit increases I didn’t ask for. I did mention in other complaint of mine that the repeated credit agreement for the Payday Loans led to financial problems. I still don’t think they can link these issues in my view as I still only found out in this year through this credit card and catalogues high limit article that I could complain about this type of product.
Do you think this is worth an appeal (which I will make anyway) or have I lost now because of the previous complaint? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did the other firm mention that you could make affordability complaints about credit cards or catalogues? If not, I suggest you go back and say you thought in 2018 that the complaints only applied to loans. If you had known they also applied to credit cards and catalogues, you would have complained back then.
Gary says
Thank you Sara, they’ve only said about payday loans, nothing about catalogues or loans. I’ll make that a prominent point in my appeal. I feel the adjudicator has made a mistake and is on shaky ground now with their view of my complaint. I’ll let you know what they say.
Tracy Sowerby says
Hi Gary
Im in a similar situation with MBNA. My complaint was originally upheld by an adjudicator with regards to jurisdiction but then after MBNA’s response the adjudicator changed his mind as I had previously lodged a complaint for payday loans. I have since requested it goes to an ombudsman. I was just wondering how your case was going as I know ive got another lengthy wait before I get any feedback from the FOS
Matthew Roberts says
Hi Sara, I’ve messaged on here a few times and you’ve always given amazing advice.. this time I have a question about an account I’ve had with Bank of Scotland for over 14 years, it’s called a Preference Account.. from the Googling I’ve done, it looks like it is a credit card but ran as a bank account! I’m not sure if you’re familiar with it?
It was delivered in the post after I took out a loan in 2007, I never asked not applied for this account, but quickly had a credit limit that was far too big to handle and I lost count of the times they sent “late charges”, I’ve been making the minimum payment every month for all those years and the card still has £90 on it,
Problem is.. I’ve no idea how to complain as it’s not a loan, credit card or overdraft! This is the first time I’ve become aware I could even try and claim.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I haven’t heard of this account. It does sound like a credit card, with minimum payments. I suggest you use the credit card template above and change it to say that you are complaining about this account and the credit limit increases you were given on it.
Sandra says
Hi Matthew,
I had one of these accounts. Way back 2007 /8 maybe. I took out a loan and got this with it. It ran like a credit card with bank of scotland
Tracy Sowerby says
Hi Sara
I initially had jurisdiction upheld by my adjudicator for an MBNA credit card which was taken out in 2009. He has since went on to say after MBNA disagreed, that it was out of time due to another irresponsible lending claim I had made which was just before the one I made with MBNA and I should have obviously known about irresponsible lending already. The difference is literally 3 months so im quite disappointed that Im out of time with this one. Given the 6 year rule and the additional 3 year Its there anything else I can add before I respond as I had literally forgotten about this debt and only picked up on it when going through bank statements that I had been paying a token payment of 1.00 per month for over 7 years.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
when was that other irresponsible lending claim made? who was that other claim to? this isn’t an argument I have heard before…
Tracy Sowerby says
Hi Sara
Initial complaint to provident started the clock on the 28th November 2018. Therefore he said because i was aware already of irresponsible lending the new claim to mbna should have been brought no later than 28th November 2021. I put my compliant in on the 13th December 2021 which is 15 days out of time.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Your claim to provident. What prompted that – did you see an article about it? Did you see an advert on Facebook or somewhere?
Tracy Sowerby says
I think it was actually debt camel I read the initial article from.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Are you sure?
Because in 2021, you said you were new to Debt Camel here: https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-catalogue-credit-card/comment-page-22/#comment-418905
If you found out about provident somewhere else, you can probably reasonably say that there was no information there except on refunds for loans, and you only because aware of refunds from credit cards and catalogues in 2021, when you started making complaints.
You can point out that if you had know you could complain about credit cards and catalogues you would have started this years earlier.
Mary says
Hi, do you have a contact email for Very at all?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
try informationrequest@very.co.uk using COMPLAINT as the subject.
Let me know if it doesn’t work
Daryl says
When obtaining a refund due to unaffordable lending, I assume monthly interest, late payment and overlimit fees are refunded? But what about individual transaction fees (i.e cash machine withdrawal fees), would they also be refunded?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think they too should be refunded. The basis being you should only have to repay the amount you borrowed.
Jen says
Hello,
I wonder if anyone has an idea what might happen with the accounts in my complaint. I had 3 accounts with JD Williams, adjudicator has upheld and JD have agreed to complaint. The accounts were sold to Lowell in 2018 and I have been given a 70% discount on the balances. Will JD buy the debt back and I will lose the 70% off balances? Or will JD give me the redress and accounts stay with Lowell? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s a bit random what a lender chooses to do.
But if they take the debts back, then your redress will reduce the debts owed.
Zara says
Hi I had a credit card with the Halifax opened in 2002 to 2008 with a credit limit starting from £4,500 to £14,300. Closed down by Halifax without me knowing in 2008 after I cleared my balance with other credit card balances. I found out about irresponsible lending in February when I opened up to a friend about my debt and she told me about your website. I complained to Halifax the day after finding all the information. They obviously wouldn’t expect my complaint because of the time pasted. I forwarded my complaint to the ombudsman. The adjudicator agreed with me but Halifax didn’t agree with the adjudicator and then changed his mind with there thought on how I should have complained earlier. I said how could I have possibly complained earlier if I didn’t know irresponsible lending even existed. I have provided a copy of a transcript of a conversation with National debt line the day before I complained to Halifax asking them if irresponsible lending was in fact a real thing and that I could complain about it. It has now been passed to the ombudsman without the adjudicator telling me if this new evidence I submitted is good enough or not. He has said “he has to assess whether I had a cause to make a complaint earlier than I did and not necessarily the knowledge of how to make a complaint “ Do you know what he means by this ? I really confused to what evidence I can give for the ombudsman to agree with me. I only have 7 days to reply. Any advise would be greatly received.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is quite likely that even if FOS does accept your complaint, they will only look at what happened from April 2007 onwards as that was when the law changed. And Halifax may have kept little or no information about the account as it was closed so long ago. I am afraid you may not win the complaint even if you get over this time bar problem. As the article above says, very old complaints can be hard to win.
Zara says
Halifax still have all my information because they sent everything to me. Oh I didn’t realize it could only go back to April 2007.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s not totally impossible as the lender is a bank. But I don’t think I have seen a credit card complaint go further back.
Zara says
Hi Sara many thanks. Do you know what the adjudicator is actually asking me to prove ? Do you know what I can send them to help my case ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s hard to say. I suggest you point out that 6 years after the account was closed was 2014, and at that point there had been no affordability complaints about credit cards and payday loan affordability complaints only started in 2015. Say you think it’s unreasonable of FOS to expect that it would occur to you to make a complaint about affordability when no-one else had.
Zara says
Many thanks Sara that a fantastic point which I never realized. Do you have any idea when it became knowledge that credit card could be held responsible? I have tried to find the first cases of this but unable to find any information. I’m thinking if it was another year after payday loans then I would be within the 6 year time period to complain?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I first put up an article on it in 2017.
BUT the FOS rules are 6 years from when the problem happened (long past) OR 3 years from when you knew you first had cause to complain. So that isn’t going to help.
Zara says
But they are saying I should have known to complain back in 2008 when they closed my account, which like you said wasn’t possible and I wasn’t aware of your website in 2017 or any other information about irresponsible lending. I didn’t become aware until February this year. Isn’t it reasonable then that I didn’t and couldn’t have known to complain? Within 6 years ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
the 6 years runs from the date of the problem – bck in 2008.
the 3 years runs from when you became aware you had a cause to complain.
Lou7 says
Hi
I had a complaint with Vanquis credit card. The adjudicator has said that Vanquis didn’t do anything wrong and that I could comfortably afford the repayments. But I was with stepchange at the time and had different pay day loans. Is it worth asking an ombudsman to look at the complaint? Any info would be appreciated.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you supplied bank statements showing that you couldn’t afford the repayments?
Lou7 says
Hi Sara,
No I haven’t. Do you think I should get more information together. He asked me on the phone today if I told Vanquis about being with stepchange and I said no.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send the bank statements straight away and point out they show unaffordable the repayments were. You can also point out that your credit record was very poor because of the DMP.
Lou7 says
Thank you Sara
Deano says
I recently complained to Vanquis and had to go to the FOS. At the time I was with stepchange too (well, it was the consumer credit counselling service at the time). I argued the payments were unaffordable as all my income was budgeted for by stepchange so any payments to VQ would be eating into my essential items. I sent the FOS copies of by stepchange budgets and copies of my credit file, which on some of my stepchange managed accounts either indicated a default, or a default and and an arrangement to pay marker. Some had notes to say DMP. I argued that VQ would have been able to see this, yet still gave me a card and stepped up the limit. When the FOS adjudicator asked why I took the card and the increases I was honest and said I was desperate. I didn’t tell stepchange and saw it (at the time) as them being helpful in accepting me. Long term though I came to realise it just made things harder. Eventually I won but VQ argued all the way. I didn’t have any bank statements, but a lot of other “supporting” information to show my stepchange budget was accurate at the time (although that was more luck than foresight).
Lou7 says
Thanks for that Deano, you got some interesting and helpful points that I had not thought of. I am just putting together an email with points I want them to consider. I am not sure where they got my £8,200 debt balance from but it was more than double that with stepchange.
Lou7 says
Do you think these points sound ok to put in my email. Any information would be appreciated. I would like the following points to be included in the decision. I had bills, an overdraft, credit cards, a dmp with stepchange, catalogues, borrowed heavily from my partner, which put a strain on my mental health, and after taking the credit card from Vanquis my debts increased. The credit card bill never reduced to less than half of the balance, when it was paid it was borrowed or used again, it was becoming a struggle to pay so more debt was taken on, the debt should have been paid off within a reasonable time and it wasn’t, the late payments were paid as I borrowed more from my partner, my credit score was poor
Deano says
Those are pretty much the arguments I used.
Sandra says
Just received this email from safety net. First time ever must be something new they are doing.
Dear
Your monthly statement is now available. You can view this by logging on to your dashboard and viewing ‘My Statements’.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact us via Live Chat on our website or on 0808 169 4911 . Our lines and Live Chat are open from 8am-7pm Monday to Friday with our Live Chat also available on Saturdays between the hours of 9am-5pm.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes this nasty cross between a payday loan, a credit card and an overdraft was forced to make some big changes by the FCA last month, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/safetynet-credit-stops-lending-fca-restrictions/. I guess this must be one of them
Anyone who has used them for more than a few months should consider make an affordability claim – they are often one of the easiest to win as SafetyNet Credit could see your bank statement! Use the payday loan template for these complaints, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/
Jax says
MBNA has now agreed with the adjudicator regarding my complaint. The debt was sold to a debt collector so does anyone know whether it takes longer to get the redress applied please and how long I should expect this to be resolved?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes it will take longer. How much depends on how proactive MBNA is. Are you still making any payments to the debt collector?
Jax says
Thanks Sara. I am still making payments to the debt collector. The redress owed will almost wipe the remaining balance.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This “redress owed” is taking into account the payments you have made to the debt collector?
Jax says
Yes it is Sara.
Should I not be including that in my calculation?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes you should be including this in your calculations – I was just checking.
There is a good case for halting payints to the current creditor now and telling them why. Every payment you make now has to be added into the redress cal;culations, it’s simpler to stop. Also it shows the creditor this needs to be sorted. Send the creditor a copy of the adjudicator decision and whatever you have that confirms that MBNA has accepted it.
If there remains a small balance to be paid, make an arrangement to pay that, either with the current creditor or with MBNA if they have taken the debt back.
Jax says
Excellent, thank you!
Mary says
Hi Sara,
I have onto affordability complaints against new day and both of debts have been sold to a debt collection agency – Cabot . The ombudsman wanted them to remove all negative markers from my file. The ombudsman also noted that new days to get in contact with me to arrange a repayment plan for the outstanding debt but would this be Cabot that would do it?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Either Newday will buy the debts back from Cabot and you make an arrangement with newday. Or Newday will organise for Cabot to reduce your debts and you make an arrangement with Cabit. Or Newday will pay you a refund which takes into account the amount you have paid Newday and Cabot, and you make an arrangement with Cabit.
I suggest you wait and see which of these happens – you don’t get to choose which you would prefer.
Mary Hughes says
Thanks Sara, I have contacted Cabot as they are threatening a CCJ now and have 22 days to respond to let them know. They didn’t believe me. I have been paying my reduced payments with them but missed one month due sickness and reduced salary.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“as they are threatening a CCJ now and have 22 days to respond to let them know”
Have they sent you a Letter Before Action/Claim? This article describes what one looks like: https://debtcamel.co.uk/letter-before-claim-ccj/.
if they haven’t, this is all just idle threats.
But it’s good to tell Cabot what is happening, send them a copy of the Ombudsman’s decision.
Sandra says
Be careful with cabot they are not very nice.
I had an account with Aqua for years no issues then was off work for months due to an operation. Requested to pay a reduced rate and did so online but payments were returned. Account pasted to Fredericks, requested a payment plan but letters and emails never replied to. Passed to Cabot had an initial letter your debt has been taken over etc etc. Never heard anything for 4 years. From dec to feb 5 letters then a warning it might go to court for a ccj. Phoned offered a generous reduced full and final. Refused as paperwork had been sent to court. Offered to pay full amount in installments refused, very rude and nasty. Got court papers filled in and returned. Judge accepted a payment plan less than i offered and they still put a ccj on my account. I only had 8 months before it was statue barred.
Gary says
Hi Sara, I was just reading the DISP 2.8 rules in the FCA’s handbook for handling complaints. As you know, the complaint must be brought with 6 years of the event or otherwise 3 years of the time you knew or ought to have known there was a reason for complaint. As mentioned on this thread already, FOS has not upheld my complaint on the 3 year jurisdiction rule. I’m adamant they can’t surely do this based on a complaint about a financial difficulties issue on another complaint I had about a payday loan when this is about irresponsible lending by Vanquis for a credit card agreement and increases to a credit limit that don’t apply on a single payday loan as far as I’m aware. I’m just wondering if there’s anything solid I can consider adding to my argument to appeal the decision? I’ve already mentioned the differences in the two products but wondering if there’s anything else you can think of that may support my argument? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Just say that you thought payday loans were a special case because they were so expensive. So you had no idea that the general affordability principle applied to a credit card – point out that if you had known, you would have complained earlier, why would you have waited?
Gary says
Thanks Sara, I’ll give this a go. I feel I’m going to be very hard done by if they don’t see this clearly.
Gary says
Hi Sara,
I’m really surprised to say that the adjudicator is still not agreeing to my three year rule argument.
They’ve said the following and just wondered if this is worth an appeal to an ombudsman for a final decision:
Whilst I appreciate the you’ve said the Pay Day loans and credit card complaints are different and you didn’t know you could’ve made a complaint about credit cards at the time, I have to take into account that I think you would’ve reasonably been aware when the the final response letter from the Pay Day loan complaint did mention an irresponsible lending complaint as mentioned in my earlier e mail. And also given your statements about your financial situation, I think this should’ve also prompted you to become aware that a complaint could’ve been made and the credit card company may have been responsible around the time the Pay Day complaint was made.
I really had no idea this earlier complaint meant I couldn’t complain about this other issue now. It’s just I can’t categorically prove it?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ask for it to go to an Ombudsman.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
has your DMP been running over 6 years?
Zara says
Thanks Sara. It’s so hard to prove you weren’t aware of
Something. I have said obviously if I was aware I would have complained, isn’t that common sense ? Why would someone wait years to complain about something? Also If I aware about it I would have been aware about the time limits also ? Therefore would have done it sooner. I only became aware recently after opening up about my debts for the first time ever to a friend, who told me about it. I then done some research online found your website and spoke to national debtline to confirm it was actually real because of all the fake news that’s about. The only proof I could sent was an email of the transcript of me talking to national debtline and me asking if irresponsible lending was a real thing ? The day before I submitted my complaint. Halifax has convinced the adjudicator that I had cause to complain earlier, so I sent my response and without the adjudicator directly replying to my response he said it’s now in a queue for the ombudsman? Does this sound right to you ? Many thanks in advance for any advice.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think if Halifax are digging in over this, it has to go to the Ombudsman.
Sandra says
I have sent three different account complaints to ombudsman regarding Halifax. Followed everything by the letter and won similar cases with other companies but for some reason ombudsman always found in favour of Halifax.
Good luck.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
each case is different. Halifax/Lloyds don’t win any more cases than other banks as far as I can see!
Zara says
Thank you that’s interesting to know.
Zara says
Thank you I will let you know what happens. Very interesting though as I have been told a few times Halifax are one of the hardest to win against. The adjudicator did initially agree with me but Halifax changed his mind, so will see what the ombudsman thinks.
Jax says
Good morning. I am about to put a complaint in with Newday. Do I tell them that the Financial Ombudsman has found in my favour for 2 credit cards taken out before Newday approved the credit card or is this irrelevant to my complaint please?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Why not tell them? It may not be strictly relevant, but it shows that you will go to FOS if they don’t make you a reasonable offer…
Jax says
Thanks, I will include it!
Jax says
Sorry I’m sure this has been asked loads of times but does anyone have an email address for newday please? I no longer have access to my online account as they closed it when I paid off the balance.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
complaints@newday.co.uk
Jax says
Excellent, thank you very much.
Malcolm Cotter says
Hi, I want to make an affordability/irresponsible lending complaint to Lloyds on behalf of my 83 y/o mother who has had a Lloyds Avios card for years, several credit limit increases in that time, and has been struggling to make minimum payments throughout. Can you advise on complaints by family members on behalf of card holders in circumstances like this; and suggest a good email at Lloyds to send complaints to? Unsuprisingly no email addresses on their statements. Any other advice much appreciated too! Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Try onlinecomplaints@lloydsbank.co.uk
does your mum have an email address that lloyds are aware of?
Malcolm Cotter says
Many thanks! Lloyds might have an email address for her on record, from some earlier info-gathering stage, but she (mum) certainly doesn’t communicate with them via email, and nor they with her. Is it important? Having made contact and verified my identity and ability to liaise on her behalf (hopefully), my plan is to confirm what credit limit increases have taken place and over what time period (I already have a clear picture but not complete), and then to make a formal complaint on affordability grounds. If I can make a ‘full and final’ type offer at some stage I would be inclined to do that (given her age and capabilities). Any guidance on such offers warmly appreciated. Thanks again.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Having made contact and verified my identity and ability to liaise on her behalf (hopefully),
yes, the question is how to do this…
If she can send them an email from an address they know, saying that she is 83 and finds it hard to manage money, so she is giving you (name, address, phone number, email) authority to make a complaint on her behalf about her credit card account, then that should do.
She has to give you this authority – you can’t just assume it (well not unless you have a Power of Attorney.
I suggest you postpone consideration of and F&F offer as at the moment you know little about the case.
Malcolm Cotter says
Hi Sara, coming back to this Lloyds related query — I have sent a comprehensive email to the Lloyds ‘onlinecomplaints’ address you shared. I cc’d the email address for my Mum they have on file, and also got Mum to send a parallel email from her address to ‘onlinecomplaints’ referencing my email and asking them to deal with me. I have had a standard ‘we’re very busy’ bounce back — at what point should I seek to escalate if I don’t hear back; and what options are open to me? NB. I would go to FOS but I don’t have the full account history yet (requested in my email to them), so I cannot construct an accurate affordability claim based on a pattern of CLIs, her only ever making minimum payments, etc. I expect both of these to have occurred, but need the proof. Very grateful for any additional advice. Best, Malcolm
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you phone then up after another few weeks and ask when you will get a reply to the complaint and also when you will be sent the complaint history.
You can’t go to the Ombudsman until it has been 8 weeks anyway,
This will also let you establish if they have accepted that they should talk to you. You need to get that sorted before you go to the Ombudsman,
Malcolm Cotter says
Hi Sara, it’s been over two weeks since I wrote to onlinecomplaints@lloydsbank.co.uk to start the process of complaining about the pattern of lending to my 83 y/o Mum who is frail and unable to deal with them, let alone make minimum repayments. I haven’t heard back so I’m minded to ring them. Do you happen to have a number that someone is likely to answer? Very grateful as on previous occasions. For your info, this was the auto response I had back from GRPG202026@lloydsbanking.com. I would say she certainly qualifies as ‘a vulnerable situation’:
“Thank you for contacting us. The challenging times we’re all experiencing mean we’re dealing with a much higher number of requests from customers than normal. This means we are only able to respond to our customers who are in the most vulnerable situations at the current time. If you’re in a vulnerable situation we’ll try to respond to you as soon as we can. If this isn’t the case, it will take us considerably longer than normal.”
Sara (Debt Camel) says
have you replied to that email saying your mum is in a vulnerable situation?
The phone number for complaints is 08000723572
Stuart says
Hi i wonder if anyone could help me with a very catalogue issue i have a balance of £2000+ on BNPL and i recently sent them a request that my account be frozen and a paydown plan be put in place. Before the huge amount of interest is added over Sept, Oct and Nov. They said the only way they could help was once the interest was added and the account was in default? So maybe a week or 2 later we receive a letter stating they had increased the account limit by an extra £1000 which of course will be swallowed up by the interest that is due to be added…I feel this is unfair lending do i have a case?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How large was your previous credit limit before this increase?
Had it previously been increased when you were only making minimum payments?
Stuart says
We had £2900 and was very close to the limit with BNPL purchases as i stated above the interest for these is due to be added in Sept, Oct and Nov. They then increased the limit by £1000 to £3900.
They have increased the limit previous when we were very close to maxed out although i don’t have dates and amounts to hand.
We haven’t been making minimum payments as it wasn’t due till the months mentioned above because of the BNPL.
Although i did make very aware both by message and phone that we were struggling to make the payments and adding the interest on would send us further into trouble but they refused to do anything until the BNPL interest was added to the account and it went into default.
It was just after this conversation they increased the limit! :(
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The redress you get for irresponsible lending is a refund of interest. This £1000 increase sounds very poor so soon after you said you had problems – but you havent actually used it and so there won’t be any interest to be refunded.
The interesting question is, was your previous limit affordable? Was that ever increased? If you can win a complaint saying that limit was affordable as it was unlikely you would manage to repay it within ghte 0% period and could not then manage the repayments, then they would not be able to add interest at the end of this period.
Stuart says
Right i see,
“This £1000 increase sounds very poor so soon after you said you had problems – but you havent actually used it and so there won’t be any interest to be refunded.”
So i guess my next question is do i proceed with a complaint now or wait until the interest is added on to my account i have now problem going into a paydown plan with them if interest is removed and frozen but i feel it was completely unreasonable for them to add £1000 to my limit knowing full well i couldn’t afford the balance i already had and also knowing that the extra money added to limit would be swallowed by interest in the coming months?
“The interesting question is, was your previous limit affordable? Was that ever increased? If you can win a complaint saying that limit was affordable as it was unlikely you would manage to repay it within ghte 0% period and could not then manage the repayments, then they would not be able to add interest at the end of this period.”
It was increased a couple of times but i don’t know dates or figures i guess its hard to say whether it was affordable or not as i was using most of my limit and paying chunks off when due on BNPL most of which i would pay using my overdraft or a CC to try and avoid the compound interest but of course this spiralled and made things much worse.
I told them i was in payment plans with other lenders previous to the increase also.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you should complain now about the previous credit limits. Don’t wait.
Do you still have an overdraft and other credit cards? I suggest the simplest thing may be to put all these debts into a debt management plan (DMP) with StepChange, see https://www.stepchange.org/how-we-help/debt-management-plan.aspx.
You can make affordability complaints while you are in a DMP and winning any will speed up the DMP. the DMP gets you into a safe financial space, out of the spiral of ever increasing debts.
Stuart says
I’m in payment plans with all the other debts directly they have all been great its just Very that are being difficult do you think i should mention the latest increase in the complaint to strengthen my case?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes you can mention it.
BUT even though these other lenders have been friendly, my guess is that overall you are paying more to them than if they were all in a DMP. Whence being unable to afford to repay these BNPLs. Seriously, look at a DMP and think about affordability complaints to the other lenders.
Stuart says
Also do i complain via the very message service or via email if its email do you have the correct address to use?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
try informationrequest@very.co.uk with COMPLAINT as the title. Let me know if it doesn’t work.
Kate says
Hi, I wonder if anyone can help me please? I am currently drowning in debt and not sure what to do. I have 3 credit cards. The first taken out in March 2021, Aqua. The limit was increased numerous times over between March and November, the current limit is now £3150. The second, 118, was taken out in June 2021 and also had numerous credit limit increases and currently at £2000. In November 2021 I got a Drafty account, limit of £1200 currently. Then January 2022 a Vanquis credit card, current limit of £600. All are maxed out at the moment and I am really struggling with repayments. I am a single parent on a part time wage. The Aqua card is currently on a payment holiday until December 2022. I had a poor credit score at the time of taking all these lines of credit out. I also had a number of defaults on catalogs and 2 credit cards from 2018/2019 in which the accounts had been closed and passed to collection agencies. I actually have a ccj as of February 2022 for the catalog debt.
Would it be worth me complaining for irresponsible lending? And would I be able to do this for all 4 accounts mentioned above?
I suffer with severe anxiety and after a traumatic event late 2021 involving my son I turned to gambling and things spiralled. My mental health is really taking a beating and I need to do something to try get back in control now.
Any advice is greatly appreciated
Sara (Debt Camel) says
can I ask if you have managed to stop gambling?
Kate says
Yes I have stopped, I self excluded myself from all sites and permanently banned my gambling accounts
Bella says
Hi Kate,
I can’t give you any financial advice but after reading your note I just wanted to say that you’ll be okay and with some work you’ll get there. Debt can really batter our brains can’t it. Your message took me back 4 years to when I was in a similar situation, in utter despair and at my wits end.
The best thing I did to feel in control was taking action and calling step change. Honestly, they’re brilliant. I’m still in a DMP with them which is going great. I’m hoping to claw back a bit of money using Sara’s advice and templates to pay more of it off. I’m trying to repair my credit score and for the first time in a decade or so, I’d actually say I feel positive about money!
I hope you soon feel better about your circumstances, and although I’m not in the clear just yet I wanted to let you know there is light at the end of the tunnel. Good luck.
Kate says
Thank you for your reply, it’s reassuring to know there is light at the end of the tunnel. I’m just so frustrated with myself for allowing myself to get into this mess!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That’s great.
Yes you can make affordability complaints about these 4 lenders. Aqua, 118 and Vanquis, use the template on this page. Vanquis didn’t increase your credit limit, but point out that you had taken out a lot of credit in 2021 and Vanquis should have considered why. For Drafty, it’s not quite a credit cards and I suggest you use the payday loan template on this other page https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/.
But these complaints can take a very long while to go through as many have to go to the Ombudsman. Don’t give up if a lender rejects your complaint. If you are currently dorowning in debt, I suggest you talk to StepChange about a debt management plan , see https://www.stepchange.org/how-we-help/debt-management-plan.aspx.
You can make affordability complaints while you are in a DMP and winning any will speed up the DMP. the DMP gets you into a safe financial space while they go through.
This is especially important for people who have recently managed to stop gambling. Living on very little and constantly worrying about money puts you at risk for gambling again… you need to be a more secure less pressured period.
Apart from these cards, what other debts do you have? Any expensive loans? An overdraft?
Kate says
Hi Sara, so I took your advise and contacted step change. I’m starting a DMP 1st November… huge weight lifted already!
My question is, I sent off complaints to the credit cards mentioned before, and logging into my account today I have seen that the Aqua one, has closed my account but the balance has dropped by £158. Does this mean my complaint has been upheld? If so that’s a nice little dint in what I am paying back, fingers crossed the other follow suit!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well done on contacting StepChange.
that sounds very small – it’s hard to guess.
if they offer you something that isnt enough, you can send it to the Finacial Ombudsman.
Chris says
Hi Sara
just want to say big thank you! your website is a fantastic and huge help. It helped me to put my life back on track.
I found your website in August 2020 – made 1st complaint to FO on March 2021 and today I can say I finished all my complaints. Had 10 of them and all have been upheld. I wish I would of found it earlier (some companies went in to administration :( )
to summarize refunds:
Vanquis Card: £1227 + £400 – Offer made by Vanquis via FO
Barclaycard: £10413.73 – time barred, partially upheld by FO refund from 2013.
Likely Loans: £1573.54 – upheld by FO
Lendable: £353.28 – upheld by FO
Avant Credit: £1125.83 -upheld by FO
118 118: £9422.13 – upheld by FO (time barred)
Argos Card: £255.08 – partially upheld by FO
Ferratum: £1081.11 – upheld by Ferratum
Lending Stream: £1100.78 – upheld by FO
Barclays Overdraft: £5067.90 – goodwill gesture – refund last 6 years
Whooping total of: £ 32030.45
I must say, without help from this website I would be struggling for another few years to pay it all back. now I’m debt free and 1st time in years I have savings.
Huge thanks!!!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is quite a collection of high cost lenders!
Kate says
Thank you, it took me while but I finally admitted I had a problem and decided to deal with it, next step is to tackle the debts!
I have an overdraft, not a large one and I try my best to not go into it if I can help it.
I have a divide buy account for a sofa I got last year, I have 3 payments left to make on that.
And I have a ccj which I am paying back at 50£ per month from a very account. I think that is about £4000.
I want to take responsibility for my debts, but only being able to afford the minimum payments is only just about covering interest, I’m not seeing any balances go down!
I don’t know much about debt management plans, but what I have read scares me a little. I’m sure I read about having a car. I need my car to work so I wouldn’t be able to give that up.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A car is not affected in a DMP, it is NOT a form of insolvency. DMPs are flexible, if your situation improves you can pay more, if it gets worse you can pay less.
Please talk to StepChange and they will explain how DMPs work.
A DMP does harm your credit record, but as you already have a CCJ it probably won’t make it much worse. If you win an affordability complaint any negative marks are removed from your credit record for that debt.
I suggest you also look at an affordability complaint against Very, and in that say that you would like the CCJ to be set aside.
Darren says
Hi Sara,
Thanks to your guide, I put a complaint in with Aqua for a card taken out in 2013 and limits were increased in 2014. Other lenders from the same period said no because it’s over 6 years but Aqua have agreed to a refund of £1k! Most of that wipes out the balance that’s with a DCA and the rest comes to me.
Absolutely delighted and thank you!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you can send the complaints about other lenders to FOS… see the section in the article above on “old Accounts”
Darren says
Already done, sadly a 4 month wait for it to even be assessed by an adjudicator. Surprised Aqua agreed when the others say it’s out of time but I’ll take it :)
Darren says
Just further to this – they’ve agreed a refund on my Marbles account of approx £400 also. What bothers me is they say they won’t remove any negative information from my credit file because they’ve reported the management of the account accurately – is this normal? To confuse matters even further, Link bought the account and it was Link that defaulted it, not Newday themselves..
Sara (Debt Camel) says
have you been paying Link?
Darren says
Yes, payments via the DMP go to Link.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
have you asked Marbles if the payments that are being made to Link have been taken into account in cal;culating the refund? Because they should be.
abdul hussain says
hi
just to let people know about my aqua card, finally upheld by the ombudsman.
card opened in january 2018 credit limit of 1200. my credit file showed 13000 of defaults and ccj.
as of january 2022 my limit stood at 7650, and i still owed 6800.
always paid the minimum and used card to take cash. currently monthly payment is 180 per month.
put in complaint in january, aqua upheld from increase from 5500 to 7650, and refunded 380 and closed my account.
i am still paying the monthly minimum of 180 but struggling.
sent complain to fos in february 2022, adjudicator upheld saying card never should been issued. newday didnt agree.
today received ombudsman, complaint upheld and to refund all interest from opening of the account.
i was just wondering if there is a balance, which is most likely, the ombudsman said they must agree on a suitable reypayment plan, does this mean this account will be deleted from my credit file, and my repayment will not show on my file, please advise anyone. thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
not normally – the account will usually remain there as the balances reduces. But there shouldn’t be any negative marks on it.
Do let us know what the balance reduction is.
abdul hussain says
will do, thanks
abdul hussain says
hi sara
i have just checked on line and my aqua account has been refunded the following
26 Aug INTEREST ADJUSTMENT -£436.30
26 Aug CASH ADVANCE FEE CREDIT ADJUSTMENT -£113.60
My balance left is still £5500,
the ombudsman said to repay all interest, from balance 0-6500, the account been opens since jan 18, please advice if you also think the interest is too low and how to proceed, do i contact FOS again
than Kyou
Sara (Debt Camel) says
can you look at the last few months statements and see what interest was charged?
abdul hussain says
hi sara
every month this year alone , i have been paying 103 interest, monthly payment between 179-183
i have paid 800 interest already this year, yet they only repaid 436?
please help
thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
then that must be wrong. Go back to Aqua and point this out. And tell your adjudicator what has happened.
abdul hussain says
Thanks sara
i will do just that, and let you know the outcome
abdul hussain says
sorry just one more thing
this is what the ombudsman said new day should do
Therefore, NewDay Ltd should: • Rework the account removing all interest, fees, charges and insurances (which have not already been refunded) that have been applied. • If the rework results in a credit balance, this should be refunded to Mr H along with 8% simple interest per year* calculated from the date of each overpayment to the date of settlement. NewDay should also remove all adverse information regarding this account from Mr H’s credit file. • Or, if after the rework there is still an outstanding balance, NewDay should arrange an affordable repayment plan with Mr H for the remaining amount. Once Mr H has Page 3 of 3 cleared the balance, any adverse information in relation to the account should be removed from their credit file.
looks like they have not, so i will contact FOS. thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
also contact NewDay and tell them this is wrong.
Mike_p says
Aqua messed me around with the refund too. I’d agreed with the adjudicator that Aqua would refund all interest since the credit limit increase, but the amount refunded was less than I thought. When I questioned it I found out that they had only refunded the proportionate interest of the amount over the increase which wasn’t what I’d agreed. I mentioned it to the adjudicator but they just brushed it off saying they had made a mistake in their originial decision. It’s now waiting for a final decision by an ombudsman.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Abdul says he should be getting a full refund from the time the account was opened – in that case Aqua has no excuse for getting this wrong!
abdul says
Hi Sara
just to give you a update about newday (aqua account).
after newday gave a refund of around 900 originally, instead of the full refund from account opening which should be £4000,.
I then requested all my statement from newday, which was sent to be by email 3 weeks later. i calcualted all interest paid from january 2018 until sept 2022, it came to £4002.02.
I got in contact with my adjudicator and provided evidence and asked them to send the business to ask why they have not refunded all interest from opening of account.
6 weeks later, i recieve an email from my adjudicater to say the business has replied to say:
Dear Mr H
The business has been in touch with the following:
“I have recalculated the refund – attached and Mr H is correct and so I send my apologies for this. The new refund will be as follows, if you could check this before I process it please;
REFUNDS
LATE PAYMENT £0.00
OVER LIMIT £0.00
INTEREST £3,717.04
CASH ADVANCE £233.50
TOTAL REFUND DUE £3,950.54
INTEREST REFUND FEB 22 -345.92
CASH REFUND FEB 22 -139
CASH REFUND AUG 22 -113.6
INTEREST REFUND AUG 22 -436.3
REMAINING AMOUNT TO BE CREDITED TO ACCOUNT £2915.72”
Please let me know by 31 October 2022 if you are happy with this and I will let them know.
Newday were a nightmare but i am happy now, i have a balance left to pay of 1800 with no interest added.
thank you sara
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A lot of numbers there but you are now happy that the refund is correct? It is certainly a lot larger :)
Dan says
Hi Sara,
So far capital one have written off a £500 card completely and today I had FOS uphold a complaint against Barclaycard who gave me a cc with a £9200 limit when I was in a lot of debt already. Just waiting on Barclaycard’s response now but feeling hopeful.
I rejected an offer from Lloyds this week over the phone so will send that to FOS when the final offer letter comes through.
Still waiting on very complaint (with FOS)
MBNA complaint (with FOS)
and a debt I had with AMEX/NCO they have been unable to provide me with the CCA agreement and haven’t replied to me since telling them I won’t be acknowledging the account until they provide it.
Thanks for your help
Lou7 says
Hi all,
I contacted the adjudicator after he had given me his outcome for my Vanquis card. I sent him some points that I would like to be included in the complaint. He as sent it to the ombudsman today. Do I need to provide them with paper copies for the points I have asked to be included in the complaint?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if you sent them by email, that is fine.
Lou7 says
I haven’t sent anything because the adjudicator said they had everything. But I don’t have any proof for my points. Shall I wait and see if they need anything or send stuff in via email even if they haven’t asked for it ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You could send a short email saying you would like to summarise the points you talked about.
Lou7 says
Thanks Sara. I will send an email then just explaining the points a bit better.
Jade says
Hi sara,
I’ve recently made a complaint for irresponsible lending & raising of my credit limit to Halifax which they rejected due to the 6 year rule. I made the complaint on the day I became aware and took the complaint to the ombudsman, the adjudicator was in my favour but the bank pushed back & it has gone to the ombudman now. Any experience of how the ombudsman usually views these complaints?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s case by case. When was your account opened and when were the credit limit increases.
Jade says
Hi, it was 2008 but the increases where continuous for many many years. Don’t have dates to hand sorry. Is it a positive sign the adjudicator was in my favour? Or may the ombudsman have a complete different view
Sara (Debt Camel) says
were any of the increases within the last 6 years?
Lou7 says
Hi Sara,
I put some extra information in an email for the ombudsman to look at for my complaint about vanquis. Basically I said that I had credit cards, catalogues, overdraft, was with stepchange, debts increased, had loans and borrowed from partner. Do you think those points are ok? Obviously I have expanded on them and put in extra information. Any advice would be appreciated.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It sounds good to me.
Lou7 says
Thanks Sara. Not sure how long the wait is for the ombudsman, but at least it’s in the queue.
Bella says
Hello,
I’ve just had my initial complaint to Cap One rejected; “This is because it’s been raised more than six years from 9 April 2013, when your account was opened, and 30 September 2014, when the credit limit was increased to £1500.” (Technically it’s not 6 years since the increase though?). I can’t remember the opening limit.
I don’t have any evidence of spending patterns before I took the card out, and no credit report either. The only thing I do have that demonstrates my mess before being granted the C1 card is emails from wonga in 2011, month after month taking out payday loans, and emails from them chasing failed payments.
Reckon it’s worth a stab at replying with these? Or is it arguable from their side that the last wonga loan was dated July 2011 and they gave me the card in Apr 2013 (even though I have follow up emails post July 2011 chasing money)?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
and 30 September 2014, when the credit limit was increased to £1500.” (Technically it’s not 6 years since the increase though?).
it’s nearly 8 years since Sept 14…
BUT the Ombudsman can look at cases where you have complained within 3 years of becoming aware you “have a cause to complain”/ So send this to the Ombudsman now and explain it is only recently you have found out that a credit card lender should have checked that the credit was affordable for you.
If you can get any bank statements that would be good. But evidence of payday loan problems should help as wonga would have reported these to the credit reference agencies.
Bella says
Oh gosh, sorry for my bad math – what was I thinking!
I’ll get something over to the FOS.
Many thanks Sara.
Bella says
Sorry one more question – should I respond to C1 with the information about the wonga loans and let them know I’m taking it to the FOS? Would this effect their decision?
Or should I just go straight to FOS?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would go straight to FOS. They haven’t looked at your case, just fobbed you off hoping you will give up.
Bella says
If this is useful to know; I’m in the process (but having trouble) of obtaining bank statements, so it’s unlikely I’d be able to get any from pre 2013.
Lou7 says
Hi all
Does anyone know roughly the time frame for complaints that are going to the ombudsman? Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
To FOS at the start? Or to an Ombudsman if an adjudicator decision is rejected?
Lou7 says
An adjudicator rejected my complaint saying that Vanquis had done the right things.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
probably 2-6 months, but it can be very variable.
John says
hi, just looking for some advice, currently got 7 open credit cards and in a bit of a mess, all cards are basically maxed out and im due roughly 4.9k total, im unemployed and on Universal Credit and have been since he start of covid, since then my dad has been helping me pay off the monthly minimum payments/interest for these credit cards, its all come to a head and my dad can no longer assist me on these payments, I equate it to be roughly £140 monthly interest combined for all 7 cards, after my essential bills are paid I have about £6 left so not even close to the £140 just to service the debt, I intend to file affordability claims for atleast 4 of these cards as they gave me credit limit increases in the last 6 months even though my cards have been maxed out for 2-3 years, my question is should I phone these credit card companies up and explain the situation that I cant meet this months interest payments and then send in affordability complaints or should I just do the affordability complaints without phoning them prior? any advice greatly appreciated, cheers
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what other debts do you have as well? As you have just posted on the payday loan page?
John says
just the credit card debt I mentioned above, no outstanding overdrafts or payday loans
Sara (Debt Camel) says
With 7 cards it sounds as though the individual balances may be fairly low? These could be hard complaints to win. – they are likely to have to go to the ombudsman and you may not win them all so you could be left with unaffordable debts. They will also take a long while to go through so you need to get yourself into a safe financial position while this happens.
Read https://debtcamel.co.uk/token-payment-debt/. But also read https://debtcamel.co.uk/debt-options/dro/ and I suggest you talk to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 about your options.
John says
yeh, the 7 credit limits are as follows, £300, £400, £500, £800, £800, £850, £1250 and ive maxed them all out basically to about a fiver left on each. The 4 cards of £800+ credit limit all increased my limit even though for almost 2 years prior I had only been making the min payment and just covering the monthly interest. My debt never decreased but they then let me go deeper but increasing the limit, its likely id win a complaint against these?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The three smaller cards, it’s possible you could win but unlikely.
The larger cards you may get the increased credit limit declared unaffordble, that’s much more likely, but if that was just in the last 6 months, the refunds would be very small.
These affordability complaints are VERY unlikely to resolve your current financial problems. You need to talk to a debt adviser about your debt options.
Sarah says
Hi I’ve have had credit cards for years, always used to pay off debt via balance transfers. One card in particular became my spending card (big mistake!) And I would often have to do balance transfers to pay the minimum payment.. always managing to pay and never missing a payment (luckily!) I took out my first card at 18 when I was a student and I’m 34 now :( and more in debt now than then!
The lenders increased my limit massively and I’ve not got two huge limits (luckily I’m not near these limits!) And I no longer spend.
However, I’m wondering if I have reason to make a claim?? As I’m the one who applied for the debt and put the info in and then spent?
Will it affect my credit score and will they close the account?? I’m wanting to clear Everything by next year.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks 😊
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Making an affordability complaint does not itself affect your credit score.
Sometimes the card will close the account – does that matter if you intend to clear them anyway?
Are these your only debts – any loans, catalogues or overdraft?
How large are your current balances? I am sure you would like to clear them by next summer, but is that realistic? Are you allowing for energy prices going up?
Sarah says
Hi
No other debt apart from car finance which is manageable and always paid on time. I don’t have any catalogue accounts and have never opened one. We have an overdraft which we tend to go into each month but that’s more about us not budgeting correctly as we shouldn’t need to but we do spend beyond our means (hence the credit card debt).
I’ve done a rough estimate and with us no longer paying childcare if we plough everything into debt we could be clear by 2024 not 2023 as I once thought.
Energy prices are not helping along with cost of living so I’m trying to factor this in too
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so you can now start clearing the balances as you are no longer paying childcare?
That suggests that the cars limit increases when you had childcare costs may well have been unaffordable.
This isn’t always easy to prove if you have kept shuffling debt around between cards and were getting balance transfers, which suggests your credit record is fine. But if you have had these two cards a long well and only made mimimum payments and the balances have kept going up, it’s probably worth a try.
John D says
Hi Sara
I have 2 old Credit Cards Aqua and Debenhams both owned by New Day.
New Day have since sold the debts.
Who do I send Irresponsible Lending Complaint to?
I did ring New Day and they got quite shirty with me saying they now longer hold the accounts
Sara (Debt Camel) says
the complaints go to the original lender, New Day. Don’t try to do this on the phone, send an email complaint to complaints@newday.co.uk
John D says
Thanks Sara
Shall I use your Credit Card Template letter?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes but change it so it describes your case
TB says
Shopdirect (Littlewoods & Very) went to adjudicator after refusing irresponsible lending complaint.
Out the blew they upheld any idea how long payout/receiving cheque will be?
Sarah says
Hi I can now that the childcare costs have stopped but I did have the cards prior to having a child.
It’s only two cards I’ve had with big balances and they always increased the ones with the largest debt and then other balance transfers have always had smaller amounts.
Thanks
I was on less money salary wise when the cards were taken out
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think this sounds like it’s worth a complaint. expect it to have to go to the ombudsman.
Bella says
Hi Sara,
A few days ago I submitted a complaint to the FOS about Cap 1. Today I’m writing a second complaint to the FOS after Vanquis have also decided to not uphold my complaint.
My question to you is – does it matter that both complaints will be pretty much the same? I won’t be doing a straight ‘copy and paste’, but the circumstances and numbers are pretty identical. Will it matter if they’re almost the same? I imagine I might have to submit more complaints to the FOS after this (pending the outcome from a few more creditors) and I worry that the recipient will see a number of the same complaints and my case will lose value?
Perhaps I’m worrying about nothing!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This isn’t a problem. People have often submitted half a dozen or more complaints about payday lenders within a couple of weeks.
Sam says
Hi Sara,
Can I have some advice please.
I entered into a DMP in April 2019. My lenders all defaulted me almost straight away but not Shop Direct.
Shop Direct have me down as arrangement to pay. I have complaint to them but they have rejected it.
My issue with it is that in April 2025 all of my other accounts will drop off my credit file even if there is an outstanding balance as they have been defaulted but Shop Direct will not. My DMP is due to complete in 2031 so if my Shop Direct account is settled in 2031 it and the payment arrangement will continue to show for 6 years after it is settled meaning it’ll be 2037 before it finally goes I don’t think it’s fair that entering a DMP in 2019 would should still impact me almost 20 years later!
All I have asked SD for is to default the account and backdate it to 2019 when I entered the DMP. I would understand the payment arrangement status if it was a short term thing but I entered into a long term debt management plan with interest frozen.
Do you think Shop Direct are being unreasonable and would I have a chance with the ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes they are being unreasonable. It’s a bit random what the Ombudsman will decide – definitely send to the Ombudsman though – why not?
BUT also read the article above. If you can win an affordability complaint against JDW, they have to remove ALL negative marks from the debt. And the balance would be reduced.
Also look at that for other cards/ catalogues in your DMP.
John says
vanquis already got back to me with their final decision, they arent upholding the initial credit card or the limit increase, disappointing, going to be a long wait with the FOS but have filed a complaint this afternoon, we’ll see which company gets back to me next!
John says
have just found out Capital One have upheld my complaint, it was a credit limit of £400, from what I can tell from the transactions section on the app, they’ve refunded enough to clear my whole balance + £164 on top of that which im guessing ill get with a cheque, some good news there after vanquis rejected my complaint
John says
Heard from Barclaycard today that they’re not upholding my complaint, that card is an £800 limit that was increased from £500 even though for 2 years the limit was maxed out, I had only made min payments + enough to cover the monthly interest. I should have a decent chance with this one at the financial ombudsman? incredibly the only complaint that I’ve had upheld so far was one of the smallest limits! its going to take ages for these complaints, what should I do? I cant afford to make the monthly interest repayments so these cards will eventually default, guess I should phone these companies and the national debt line and see what the options are
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you said before you had 7 maxed out cards and you are on UC?
do you have any priority debts – rent, council tax, energy etc?
John says
6 cards now and all fully maxed out after capital one have cleared my balance and closed that account. The remaining 6 have limits of £300, £500, £800, £800, £850, £1250. My only income right now is UC , im currently living with my dad and all the priority bills are in his name although I do pay him rent, council tax and half of the energy bills, would that make a difference as the bills arent in my name?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
As they aren’t in your name, any arrears on them are not your debt. which is what I was asking about.
One option for you now is to make token offers to all the cards – see https://debtcamel.co.uk/token-payment-debt/. You can talk to National Debtline as you say to see if they think that is a good options for you. It will hurt your credit record, but if you can’t make the payments there are no options that won’t. Winning an affordability complaint should clean the credit record for that debt.
Louise says
Hi there
I was just wondering about a complaint, I have a very account and when I opened it (2013) had one default and AP markers on my credit report, regularly maxing overdraft, although didn’t show on credit report (probably due to when it was reported in the month)
Taken out other credit to pay off, which just didn’t help…
I had multiple limit increases and can’t even imagine what I have paid in interest at 54.9% limit went up to 7050, albeit used upto around £5k.
So, I made a complaint 3 weeks ago after coming accross this site, ard nothing. Then randomly on Weds my limit has reduced to 5020 and I have had 3 balance adjustments amounting to around £200.
Not sure what’s happened but planning to call them tomorrow but just not sure of my next steps. It will depend on what they say i guess but looking for some advice.
If this is redress I have surely paid more than £200 in interest during that time?
Any advice in dealing with very/shopdirect would be much appreciated.
Thank you!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ask Very to respond to your complaint. You need to know what this £200 reduction is – as you say it doesn’t sound much!
You are probably going to have to send this to the Ombudsman, but it’s good to get the facts beforehand.
Louise says
Hi Sara
Thank you for your response. I called them, they said letter on way, said they upheld my complaint from when credit limit inc from 3450 to 3750, and so refunded £111 interest paid plus interest. Said will remove any negative data about me too. Doesn’t really even scratch the surface to what i have paid over the years.
My initial limit was £500. The customer service person, said they would ask the person handling my complaint to call me…
If i hear nothing will send to ombudsman
Louise says
Just wanted to update, sent this compalint to Ombudsman and have been refunded all interest and fees from when balance exceed £500.
Around £5800 refunded, has paid off my balance and a cheque in the post for £1400!
Thank you so much for this info Sara, I never would have known to complain and I am now I’m in such a more positive space and things all look possible again!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so you only sent this to the Ombudsman just over a month ago? Then Very decided to give you a full refund without the Ombudsman having to look at it?
Great result!
Andrew says
Hello Sara/ All
Does anyone have a Word/Adobe writable version of your new financial ombudsman complaint form, I would be grateful if you could send me this/ post a link. thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You mean the form to submit a complaint to the Ombudsman? So far as I know it’s just an online form. Is that a problem for you?
Andrew says
Thank you, I normally have PDF file to fill in on a computer and email the info.complaint address . . I help some people and much easier for me. The form recently changed and I cant adjust this. :-(
Laura says
Hi Sara,
Vanquis have upheld an affordability complaint I made in April. They said they will retrieve my account back from Lowell, pay it off, send any residual payments to me via faster payments and a refund of £215.51 is due. I have been chasing this up ever since and got an email from them today saying £879.97 will be paid off as “good will” and £215.51 refund will be used to bring the balance to zero. I have responded and said that is not what was stated in the outcome and that is why I haven’t referred my case to to ombudsman. Would you recommend referring my complaint as they are trying to deviate from
their Initial response.
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So the original offer was clear that you would get everything with Lowell cleared PLUS a cash refund of £215? And now they are saying you won’t get any cash refund?
Laura says
They initially said they will arrange a refund of £215.51 then retrieve the account back, pay off the balance and send any residual to me, now they have said they will pay £879.97 as goodwill once the refund of £215.51 has been applied to the account.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
sorry, I am still not clear.
They are now offering the Lowell balance to be cleared and a cash refund to you of £879? Or are they saying that there won’t be a cash refund as their goodwill offer just clears the Lowell account?
And are they also proposing to remove the negative marks (payment arrangement, default etc) from your Vanquis & Lowell accounts?
Laura says
They are now saying they will clear the balance but with no residual to be paid to me, even though I have paid towards the account, and yes they agreed on the outcome letter to remove any negative markers.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You could say you will be sending this to the Ombudsman if they do not refund you at least the £215 they originally said they would.
John Duddigan says
I have 2 Accounts with JD Williams
They have since Sold them to Debt Managers.
Do I contact JD Williams and complain about Irresponsible Lending? They kept increasing my Credit Limit to a stage I couldn’t keep up with payments.
The Accounts are now in a DMP with Payplan
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes your complaint goes to JDW. Make one complaint about both accounts. Email general.enquiries@jdwilliams.co.uk
with COMPLAINT as the title
John Duddigan says
Thanks Sara
Kelly E says
HI Sara
Can I pick your brains on something please..
I have put a complaint in against NewDay for a credit card I had in 2018. The limit was £450 and was manageble. They then asked me if I wanted to increase the amount to £1450 which I agreed too.. I maxed it out, but the payments were again manageable. There was then 2 further increases which I didn’t accept.. but they said unless I opted out they would automatically activate. These were from £1450 to £2950 on the 14.12.2020 and £2950 to £4450 on the 21.05.2021. I maxed the card out and the payments were anything between £250 and £380 per month from perhaps mid year 2021, til March 2022 – I had a bank loan to completely pay this off and the card is now closed. At the time I took the card out I had 2 CCJS over 9k between them and a default. There letter states 3 defaults which is incorrect, 1 CCJ and payday loans, again this is incorrect. I will say I never missed a payment, but it was hard trying to pay everything as I had 2 Capital one cards, a Vanquis card, and extra other smaller bits of credits on the go also.. I have sent it off to FOC and explained, I am not disputing the two initial increases.. but the last two, and explained that it did put strain on my finances, being a single parent.. and I have had to take out a loan to pay it off.. Taking all of this into consideration, what do you think my chances are of getting the interest back, plus 8% on everything after the 14.12.2020?
Thank you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think it sounds a good case.
The loan you took out – what interest rate was it at?
Kelly says
About 19% it’s with Natwest
Sara (Debt Camel) says
then look at an affordability complaint about that as well! It may have been cheaper then the card, doesn’t mean it was affordable.
Kelly says
Even if I bank with them???
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s an expensive loan.
How easy have the repayments been? Have you had to borrow more money after taking that out?
Jax says
Hello does anyone have an email address for MBNA complaints please? I’ve not heard a peep from them since they agreed with the adjudicator regarding my complaint. I’ve contacted the debt collector and sent them a copy of the letter from FOS and they have contacted MBNA but they’ve heard nothing back. The adjudicator said to let them know if I don’t hear from MBNA within 4 weeks. We’re now at 3 weeks. It’s taken a year to get to this point and I just want to know whats happening.
Gary says
I’m thinking of raising irresponsible lending complaints against Barclays and Capital One. However, these cards were given to me in about 2012. I’ll of course mention that I only became aware this year as per your website, but just wondering if these firms are likely to time at my complaint even if I do say that? I currently have a Vanquis complaint at FOS at the ombudsman final decision stage waiting to see if they’ll consider my complaint on the three year rule. If not then I won’t even be able to take these other two to the FOS as they’ll see that they can reject all of my irresponsible lending complaints. Question is, are Barclays and Capital One likely to consider my complaints and make a decision without going to FOS or are these serial time barring firms like Vanquis? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did Barclays or Cap One increase your credit limit?
Gary says
Yes both were increased on multiple occasions.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if either were increased in the last 6 years, you may be able to get a refund from that point uner the 6 year rule even if FOS don’t accept the 3 year rule argument (which in my opinion they should).
Fraser says
I was unaware of the ability in making an ‘irresponsible lending claim’ until this week after making a post here https://debtcamel.co.uk/debt-default-date/ regarding a none defaulted debt despite having paid £1 per month for 6 years.
Long story short, I’ve gone through my paperwork and feel I’d have a solid case to make an irresponsible lending claim as I’ve located an old 2016 credit report which covers the period of unrequested credit increases on the credit card between 2012-2014 and the report clearly shows mortgage over 6 months in arrears throughout this period, along with other defaulted debts outstanding, plus some card transactions prior to credit increases are for priority debts – would you consider this to be a strong case?
I understand that if successful that any amount offered would be placed against the outstanding debt, effectively reducing what’s owed and any negative markers regarding this debt would be removed.
Let’s say the debt is £3.5k and £2k is offered this would leave a £1.5k debt balance – How does this balance then get treated?
1) Could it start to incur monthly interest?
2) Because markers have been removed – is it somehow classed as a new debt?
3) If unable to fully pay what’s requested per month – what happens?
4) Could this debt incur fresh missed payments or default markers?
5) As I currently pay £1 per month – could paying £1 against the balance continue?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
1) Could it start to incur monthly interest?
no
2) Because markers have been removed – is it somehow classed as a new debt?
no
3) If unable to fully pay what’s requested per month – what happens?
an arrangement to pay – same as before
4) Could this debt incur fresh missed payments or default markers?
this is unclear. It isn’t a problem that often arises. I take the view that provided you have given the creditor and income & expenditure statement showing that you are offering what you can afford there should not be any further markers added. But if you are well off and are offering £1 a month or nothing because you hope to get away with not paying them, then that is different.
5) As I currently pay £1 per month – could paying £1 against the balance continue?
yes if that’s all you can afford. In your case you could also ask the debt collector to write off the debt because of your age and health problems which not get better
Fraser says
I’ve managed to put together a complete list of all monthly costs and interest the account incurred from the point of unsolicited credit increases as a result of re-payment problems ensued.
If I’ve understood and done correctly, when then adding 8% simple interest (https://debtcamel.co.uk/interest-payday-loan-refunds/) it would appear that the total amount I could potentially be claiming (if successful) outweighs the balance of the debt. In part, this may be to do with the age of the debt.
QUESTION – Could this be reasonable to expect?
QUESTION – If so, once placed against the debt what happens to the credit balance left?
Through this account history various (3-month) payment plans were put into place, where the lender would set temporary plans up on a shared basis i.e. 50/50, 64/40, 70/30. By that, I mean if a £300 payment was due I would have to pay £150 after which only then would the lender credit the account with £150.
QUESTION – If my claim proved successful, should I reasonably expect the lender to deduct the total value of their total contributions for the various temporary plans which they offered?
Thanks for all your help and guidance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The 8% may be much less than you would expect. I have just added a new section into the article above about simple interest on credit card refunds.
I think you are overthinking this. You think you have a good claim because the lender increased your limit when you were only making minimum payments. Why do you not just make a claim?
Fraser says
Within the past week or so, I have submitted a claim which has now been declined (final decision) – the reason was given as being submitted too late on the following basis:
The account was opened in June 2012 with 3 x unsolicited credit increases applied at various stages until the summer of 2013 – these happened more than 6 years ago.
They’re also saying, that various correspondences were issued from late 2014 to mid-2015 due to missed payments on the account – as these were issued more than 3-years ago, it’s considered that these provided reasonable awareness in which to raise a complaint in regards to lending decisions.
So before putting this to the FOS, I like to know if there is anything specific I’d need to include within my correspondence to them to pre-empt things like; explaining that I never knew I could make an irresponsible lending claim until recently, that missed payments started in late 2013 NOT late 2014 as being suggested.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you say that although you knew your finances were difficult, you thought it was your fault for being bad with money as you had no idea that the lender should have checked that higher limits were affordable.
Jax says
The MBNA saga continues. It’s been 4 weeks now since they agreed with the adjudicator findings and agreed to their recommendations. The debt was sold to a debt collector who I have been in regular contact with. They tell me that MBNA have made no contact whatsoever. However I asked the adjudicator to follow up with MBNA who say the delay is due to them having to buy the debt back, obtain the information about the amount I have paid and then calculate the redress owed to me. Goodness me! Frustrating to say the least.
Zara says
Hi Sara
Do you still have a copy of the article you first published about irresponsible lending by credit cards back in 2017 ? I think it would be good to show the ombudsman that if you an expert weren’t aware until then how could I have been aware back in 2015. Kind regards Zara
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is a copy of this article taken in January 2017 https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-catalogue-credit-card/comment-page-1/. If you look at the first comment on the page, that was left at the end of December 2016
Zara says
Many thanks Sara so was it in-fact posted in December 2016 if a comment was left then ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
well in theory it could have been posted any time before then – in practice the first few comments are normally left just after a post is published.
Andy says
I had same experience with adjudicator saying I should have been aware I could complain back in 2016 when I put the point that very few people were aware they could complain then she dismissed this. I was sure that the ombudsmen would agree with me but he also took the same line leaving me nowhere to argue the case. I thought the ombudsmen would have background checked and seen their not any or very few cases were being processed by FOS at this time. I believe that he simply signed off the adjudicators conclusion without looking into my agreement.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I agree the FOS decisions on this are inconsistent. Some people are winning this argument.
Zara says
I am the same. I said I couldn’t have complained earlier because I wasn’t aware earlier. The adjudication on both my claims agreed with me then after speaking to the 2 different banks in question the adjudicator changed his mind and the ombudsman as also agreed and not upheld my case on the one but I’m still awaiting the other one decision.
Happy says
Hello,
Not sure if this is covered or not, but worth asking the question. Back in 2010, I took out a Barclaycard Credit Card, where I was offered a 1k limit. At that point, I was using payday loans to bridge the gaps between inconsistent paydays as a contractor, and planned to use the cards in emergencies.
Nearly 12 years later, I’ve finally been able to pay the card off – there’s a slew of missed payments, payday loans, credit cards taken out, etc. I’d nearly paid it off back in 2020, but…yeah. Covid.
I paid it off, and then got an email the following day to say they’ve ‘reviewed by account and feel that as a responsible lender’ they wanted to drop my limit from 1k to £250. No argument with that, but why did it take them nearly 12 years to spot that?
I’m tempted to use the credit card template above – would it be worth it, as at the time I suppose I was ok with a few payday loans on the record, but over time things got worse and I feel that if they were a responsible lender and had checked at any point over the last 12years, it should have been flagged up?
(This card is cleared, and due to be cancelled in the next 2 weeks. I’m nearly clear of my debts overall – just £400 left to go!)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It sounds a reasoned argument to me – you could give it a try but expect to have to send it to the Ombudsman as it’s 💯 percent likely Barclaycard will reject it b
Happy says
Thanks for your reply, I’ll send that off, will update as we go.
Tracy says
Hi Sara
My saga with studio has finally came to fruition and has been upheld by an ombudsman.
I’m slightly confused by the decision, as although they agree with the adjudicator that any interest should be refunded after the balance went over 1050 (deeming any credit limit increases after this irresponsible) that the redress applies to account balances that exceed 1050. ( not to just refund any interest after the 1050 credit limit increase) My account balance remained mainly under 1650 (highest limit) but my finances improved and I managed to get it under 1050 balance for a while. It crept up again to the maximum limit. Is this just a case of reworking the account by removing any interest over 1050. Thankyou in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes it is. In these cases the refund is normally less than you might have hoped for, but at least its sorted.
Tracy Sowerby says
Thanks
Just one more thing. I paid off my account last year with the redress from another complaint so I don’t owe anything. Do I just add up all the interest and late fees etc over the 1050 limit and expect this figure with 8% interest.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The late fees yes. You may find it hard to work out how much of the interest charged was interest over that limit. The 8 % starts at the point your balance should have been zero. That may have been when you cleared it or earlier.
Mary says
Hi Sara,
Is There a possibility of complaining against mobile contracts due to affordability? O2 allowed me to take out 3 additional contracts following on from my contract renewal and my credit rating has several accounts in arrears and defaults
Sara (Debt Camel) says
in theory you can try. I haven’t seen anyone take one of these cases to the Ombudsman so I haven’t seen a win.
Bella says
Hi Sara, 5 weeks ago I emailed a complaint to Very for unaffordable credit, and for continually increasing the credit limit (I used the email address that’s on this website somewhere). Today they’ve emailed back saying “Your account has been sold and we do not have access to your account information any longer. You would need to call our Debt Recovery Team”.
Is it worth me calling to see if I can still get this sorted by them themselves, or should I just go to the FOS? Will the 8 weeks start again if I have to send a second email to another team?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have they told you you can go to the Ombudsman?
Bella says
No they haven’t. The inbox they emailed from isn’t monitored so I only have the telephone number for the debt recovery team that they gave me.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you phone them. This sounds like an internal team, so it is all part of your existing complaint.
Mrs X says
Hi Sara, I made a complaint to FOS about Newday and it went to buds an because Newday didn’t agree. I was late in complaining. The ombudsman said this: “Mrs X has told us about some
difficult personal circumstances she went through in 2019 and the impact it had on her own
health. Whilst I’m extremely sorry to hear about this and have given the matter some careful
thought, I don’t consider these circumstances are something I’m able to treat as exceptional.
It follows that I currently consider that Mrs X’s complaint has been brought to us too late
and that exceptional circumstances do not apply.
My provisional decision
For the reasons given above, my provisional decision is that this isn’t a complaint we have
power to consider as it has been brought to us too late.”
Anything more I can say or do? Thanks :(
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you argued that you have only found out in the last three years you could make this sort of complaint?
Mrs X says
Hi Sara, yes I did. This is what they said about thst “Unfortunately, based on the evidence and
information I’ve seen and applying our rules, I’m not persuaded that this is the date by
which MrsX was or ought to have been aware that she could make her complaint. Under
our rules, the three year period runs from when someone becomes aware of having ‘cause
for complaint’. That’s not the same as finding out that it’s possible to make a complaint.
Therefore, based on the evidence and information I’ve seen so far and applying our rules,
I’m not persuaded that under the rules that MrsX only became aware she had cause for a
complaint about the credit New Day gave her recently. I think she was aware from the time
she took out the card, or shortly after.
What do you think?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think it is a mystery why some of these decisions go in favor of the customer and others don’t.
When did you get the account? Did they increase your credit limits – if so, roughly when?