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?
Lisa says
The marbles definitely think I paid more interest than what they are saying. Both cards was taken out in 2015 when I had the everyday loan to clear the cards they both had a balance of around 3 grand, I think… I was silly enough to use the cards again abd when I seeked help from stepchange in 2019 the marbles had a balance of £3300 and the aqua was about £5300 but I did transfer a balance which was interest free at the time.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you can ask Newday to explain how they derived the numbers and ask them to suppl your statements (or the information on them) going back to 2015 as you don’t things the numbers are correct.
Lisa says
Thankyou so much for your advice, I will definitely be contacting them. I also got intouch with the adjudicator aswell to let her know that it doesn’t seem right.
Debbie says
You asked me what date was the adjudicators decision?
He refers to it as an ‘assessment’ 7th March 2024, sent to myself and Barclaycard. I accepted the same day.
B/C to respond by 21st March.
10th April I email adjudicator, for update, he said B/C acknowledge his ‘assessment’ hadn’t provided a full response. Adjudicator had given B/C until 17th April. If no response he will consider Ombudsman for full decision.
29th April – B/C full response and agree with adjudicator.
Adjudicator only uses the term ‘assessment’ so hoping this all makes sense?
Like I’ve said, I’ve never heard from B/C. I have no idea what the figure is or how it was calculated.
24th June, now being told the following, by the adjudicator:
‘I’ll be back in contact once I have an update for you. At this stage, I think it will be likely that I share the information provided by Barclaycard, rather than it coming directly to you from them’
Thank you as always Sara for your help
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok so the decision was agreed on 29 April. It has been less than 2 months which annoying and shouldnt happen but it isnt a cause for alarm.
If there is no progress in another few weeks, tell the adjudicator that you want this to go to an Ombudsman to get a Final Decision
Debbie says
Ok Sara, thank you so much for all your help.
I’ve Just checked calendar, when you say ‘a few weeks’ – 21 July is 4 weeks away, would that be a reasonable timeframe to allow?? I didn’t realise that even though, the decision had been ‘agreed’ there would still be a possibility, to ask for the Ombudsman to give a final decision, the adjudicator, gave me the impression, that this was not a possibility? So thank you again Sara
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well 100% shouldn’t be needed. I will be very surprised if this isn’t sorted in 4 weeks
Debbie says
Let’s hope so Sara. I shall keep you posted. I know I always say it, but, I’m so very grateful to you. I can put it out of my mind ….. for the time being.
Dave says
So had a reply back from Halifax. They said they were not willing to look at anything before 2018 due to 6 year limitations and we should have made a complaint within 3 years of this time. They’ve also rejected everything after 2018 saying they said they did check that my wife could afford the overdraft and they believe she could and if she couldn’t then she should ‘cut down on none essential living expenses’
I know we now have to go to the FOS but what realistic chances do we have of winning?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you sent the overdraft complaint to the Ombudsman?
This is for the credit card I assume. Have they told you the dates of the credit limit increases?
is the account still open – if not, when was it closed?
Dave says
No not a credit card. Overdraft. The account is still open but not active (we had a secure loan in the end to pay off all our debts including this overdraft) we haven’t made the complaint yet to the FOS as we only got their letter this morning.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK, this is a page for credit cards and you mentioned you also had a credit card so I assumed you had complained about that. You probably should!
FOS makes decisions on how far back it can go. For overdrafts it can always go back 6 years. It will take what it calls “a jurisdiction decision” on going back further. It is alsoways a bit erratic if it chooses to but FOS it at the moment considering whether to adopt a different approach, which if it decides to could really help your case/. So I suggest you send the complaint in now and don’t expect any progress fast.
Catherine says
Hi
I have had an arranged overdraft with Halifax on my debit card for a while now. I am always in it and always have charges every day.
I have managed to pay it off this month and close it completely. They are my current account.
Is it worth raising a complaint about this? I have poor credit and defaults. I have also just successfully won unfair lending against other credit cards and loans with the ombudsman.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How long have you been in your overdraft every day? Have you just manged to clear it with other refunds?
Catherine says
Yes every day, I get paid and I’m back in it constantly. I got a bonus from work so paid it off and closed it.
When the overdraft was opened it was a lower amount. I was in high level of debt and in arrears with another debt. Halifax increased my overdraft to £850. Which I appreciate is minimum but I have had a lot of changes as constantly maxed out on the over drafted and it would regularly go over into an unarranged over draft
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK so send in the complaint using the template in the article above. Make the point that you have only been able to clear this with a bonus that you haven’t had before. Also that they should have seen how often you exceeded the overdraft limit and that the charges were making your position worse.
Jen says
Hi Sara,
I put in an affordability complaint with Tescobank. They have replied to say they are investigating and need copies of my bank statements from the time they issued my second credit card. This was in 2017-2018 and I don’t. My complaint refers to the multiple money transfers they kept approving, credit increases on two separate cards from 2018 onwards. They would have seen from my credit record I was using an overdraft more than twice my income, plus 4 credit cards. They have even asked if I am a homeowner as stated and infer I lied on my application which I certainly did not. I am unsure what to do. Should I send them anything or say I don’t have it and wait for rejection/ FOS?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you should be able to get bank statements going back 6 years even from a closed account. Have you asked?
HX says
Hi Jen – this happened to me, I had 2 cards, Tesco asked for bank statements, I provided and within a week I had a response with all interest, charges etc. refunded. TBF, their customer service in this respect was excellent.
Jen says
Hi Sara,
I have them up to June 2018, but Tesco want them from before this period and I don’t have them so I’m not sure what to do. My complaint isn’t so much related to an earlier time period, but the card was opened in 2017 which I presume is why they’re asking even though I made clear my complaint is from May 2018 onwards.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
did tesco increase your limits after May 2018?
Jen says
Yes, they did increase my limit after May 2018
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so go back and say you don’t have the earlier banks statements, you do have them from June 18.
Say you think it should have been clear from your first card that you should not be able to sustainably repay the limit they gave you on the second card
Rosie says
Hi there, I’ve had a couple of complaints upheld by the ombudsman such as Santander and Vanquis-does anybody know roughly how long the process takes following the decision? For example, are some companies taking longer to respond than others or is it quite quick?
Thank you in advance!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
are these adjudicator decisions? or final decisions from an ombudsman?
Rosie says
These are adjudicator decisions. Sorry, forgot there was another level it could go to! Santander had until today to respond to the adjudicator and haven’t, it’s been 3 weeks!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The adjudicator will probably just give them another few weeks…
Rosie says
As an update, the adjudicator gave them another week and Santander still didn’t respond so he has now sent it to the ombudsman. Is this normal for them not to respond to the adjudicator at all?
Have also had my Vanquis complaint upheld which I’m pleased about so hoping they respond!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
it’s pretty common…
HX says
I’ve complained to the FOS about 4 credit cards from Creation for irresponsible lending. For each they have asked (can you assist with the responses):
At what point did you realise that you felt the agreements had been offered irresponsibly?
Did you suffer any loss due to the agreement, and if so in what form and when?
If you did suffer a loss, who did you blame for you being in that position? and why?
Please could you, let me know why you were unable to bring your complaint about this agreement to the business before June 2018?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what were the dates each of the creation cards was opened? Were you manly making minimum payments?
are the accounts still open?
HX says
2012, 2013 and 2017.
Min payments only and missed payments on one of them.
All closed
Do you have advise on what I should respond back to FOS? Thank you Sara
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what happened to the two previous cards? Do you have any evidence relating to them?
MX says
I have credit reports showing all of them (this is how I know the open dates, limits etc) and also I have bank statements
Sara (Debt Camel) says
when were the accounts closed?
(I have deleted your other duplicate thread)
Dave says
Hi I logged a complaint with Vanquis on 28th May, hadn’t even had an auto response so chased and they have replied with simply the below:
‘Good Day
There is no complaint logged under this email.
Thank you’
There was no name no email signature etc very odd. Can I just check Customer.Relations@vanquisbank.co.uk is the correct email? I have replied saying regardless if they have logged my complaint I sent it on 28th May so it’s going to the Ombudsman 8 weeks from that date.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what email did you send the chaser to?
Dave says
The same customer relations email address, I just forwarded the original email on and in my new email I explained I had sent the email below in May but had no response. They were literally looking at the email I sent in May whilst saying they hadn’t logged a complaint. Assume I can still send to the ombudsman when the time is up?
Just a strange email reply, it didn’t have any company info on no phone number nothing from Vanquis etc just a blank email apart from those few words
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so the mail address is still functioning. And it is still the one listed on the FCA register.
Yes you could send this to the Ombudsman after 8 weeks. However in practice FOS won’t start work un til it has a decision from Vanquis so you don’t gain a lot from trying to do this.
Dave says
Just looked at the email chain and the customer relations email team forwarded my 2nd email that I sent them to a complaints email on Saturday 22nd June. The complaints email then emailed me on 3rd July saying they hadn’t logged a complaint. Really poor.
John says
Hi Sara,
The FOS has recently upheld an affordability complaint in my favour. It was for a Barclaycard when they increased my limit from £4,000 to £7,000 in February 2018. The Adjudicator has worded it as ‘Rework the account removing all interest, fees, charges and insurances (not already refunded) that have been applied to balances above £4,000’.
So does this mean that they would be reworking it as refund anything spent over £4,000? For example if my monthly interest at a £7,000 limit was £130, it would be reworked so that I only paid £70 interest and they back back the £60 difference? Or does it mean all of the interest would be refunded? For the record, I’ve always been around the £7,000 mark since the increase.
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
For example if my monthly interest at a £7,000 limit was £130, it would be reworked so that I only paid £70 interest and they back back the £60 difference?
yes that is right.
What was your financial situation at the point they increased the limit to 7000 – was it already pretty bad?
John says
Yes it was very bad. The other increases were over 6 years ago and the FOS didn’t accept my answers when they looked into going back further.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then you could go back and argue that at that point your finances were so bad that Barclaycard should have not only not increased your limit, but it should have instead offered you forbearance by offering to freeze the interest on the card – so that all the interest from that point should be refunded.
John says
Thanks Sara
John says
I had the same situation with Virgin credit card last year where I had a £2,000 card which increased to £4,000 in September 2017. The 2,000 was deemed as OK but 4,000 unaffordable so Virgin were asked to refund ALL interest from September 2017 when it was increased and then the account was closed…. Do you know what makes this different to that? Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It should depend how bad your situation was.
Jason says
Thanks Sara, I will go back to them with this
Jen says
Update here – I had 2 unaffordable credit cards with Tesco. The second was approved a few months after the first when already in a lot of debt. I complained only back to 2018 and only about one card. I cannot praise their customer service enough compared to other banks. After sending them minimal information by email I still had from near that time, they came back to me after 1 week to offer a full refund of fees, interest and 8% on BOTH cards. This completely erases my debt on both cards and leaves me with approx £2000 spare that I can now use to pay off my other card. I am so incredibly grateful to Sara & also very impressed with Tesco. After a battle, HSBC also refunded my overdraft. I am well on my way to being debt free after 20 years & my life has changed drastically.
Matt says
Hey
I made an affordability complaint against Barclaycard for irresponsible lending, which they have accepted and have refunded interest and fees. I asked for negative entries to be removed from my credit check which they have also adhered to. However the debt for my Barclaycard was sold onto PRA group and I still owe the balance to them. The refund is going against the remaining balance which is fine. The debt to barclaycard was defaulted on my credit check, but marked as settled when it was sold to PRA group, however I have a default account with PRA group for the debt. Should this default be removed as well as it was initially this credit card account? The Barclaycard one has been removed.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes it should – PRA should mirror what Barclaycard has done. Tell Barclaycard that you would like them to sort this out.
Matt says
Hey I finally got a response from Barclaycard saying they will ask PRA group to do the same. I contacted PRA to confirm this and they are being really difficult about it and not giving me a straight answer. They are now bombarding me with texts and emails about my account and can’t tell me when the balance will be reduced by the refund amount. I mean I’m not making any effort to pay off the balance until the refund gets applied but is this normal?
Barclaycard removed the default from my credit report literally days after they sent the final response letter
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This sort of problem is unusual. What do you expect the remaining refund to be?
Matt says
The refund is only about £80ish but the debt is only £300, so wanna pay it off in one and not overpay if that makes sense.
I’m more bothered that they are being difficult about removing the negative markers on my credit report. I want the default to be removed just as Barclaycard removed it.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you tell PRA that you hope to be able to clear the remaining balance when it had been corrected.
Amy says
Hi Sara
I’ve made an affordability complaint to TSB for loans taken out to consolidate debt, one of which was £25k I have refinanced this 5 times in 5 years and also been able to take out an additional loan with them. I did in fact put down that I had no additional debt payments but was using it to consolidate other debts, if I bank with them are they required to check my current account for details surrounding my incomings and outgoings? I am so surprised I’ve been able to take out as much as I have done so easily without any additional checks being done and also no questions asked when putting in 0 on my other outer outgoings. I’m not sure whether I have a good case or not.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes your bank should consider what it knows about you, including the bank statements when it decideds to lend you money. If you are on a good wage with very low borrowing and want a 4k loan, they wouldnt have to look that had. But refinancing 5 time in 5 years up to 25k and they should have been looking VERY closely. This sounds like a good complaint to me – let me know what happens but if they don’t make you a very good offer, straight to the Ombudsman!
Look at making complaints about the other debts that you cleared with these loans too. Any cash refund you get can then be used to reduce the TSB debt. This will not impact on the affordability complaint against TSB at all.
Amy says
Thank you, I’ll let you know what they say. My 2 loans with them currently stand at £28k in total, my salary is £30k a year, having said that I have several credit cards outstanding as well which would show my making payments to them on my bank statements, feels like I’m robbing Peter to pay Paul sometimes but not defaulted on anything. Thanks for your help
I’ve just checked my credit report and it’s 6 times I’ve refinanced my loan plus they allowed me to take out an additional £8k loan earlier this year on top, 1 of which was 3 months apart, scary!
Amy says
Unfortunately both have been rejected 😔
Sara (Debt Camel) says
send the complaint to the Ombudsman then – the article above explains how.
Matt says
I logged a complaint with Vanquis regarding my credit card. The account was opened on 9th June 2018. I logged the complaint on 12th June, not realising it was 3 days after 6 years. Anyway they’ve sent me a final response letter. They’ve said they can’t investigate the initial application as it was more than 6 years ago (by 3 days). However they’ve investigated the credit increase from £150 to £550 which happened August 2019 and have said because I have no CCJs and less than £1500 debt that it was OK and they are not up holding the complaint. What I don’t understand is that I was issued a CCJ in July 2018 for a credit card debt and had taken out an £11000 loan from Barclays in June 2019. Both which are prior to this check for the credit increase. In the letter it says any questions to ring them, is this worth it or should I just go to the FOA?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No point in wasting time arguing with Vanquis. Send this straight to the Ombudsman.
Lucy says
Hi Sara,
I have recently been discharged from a DRO and I am wondering if I am able to request a refund from many credit card/loans that irresponsibly loaned to me? Would I receive any money refunds even though I have been discharged from DRO and the debts wiped? My thinking is that technically I feel I am owed money as I was paying the debts for so long before they simply became unmanageable.
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes you can make a claim and there won’t be any effect on your completed DRO>
However if a card balance was included in the DRO, then the lender is entitled to set off any refund against that balance, so you will only get a cash refund if the refund is big compared to the balance.
A made up example to illustrate:
Say your Vanquis balance was 1800 at the start of your DRO.
And you win the claim, either with Vanquis or with the Ombudsman.
If the refund is less than 1800, you won’t get any refund, as it is less than the amount written off in your DRO.
If the refund is more than 1800 then the difference should be paid to you. Plus some 8% interest.
HX says
Hi Sara / update: re the Shawbrook loan – I received the following back re 2nd loan:
On this occasion, while I cannot uphold your complaint, I am willing as a gesture of goodwill to make the loan interest free. In situations of Personal Loan we would never refund the loan as you have had the benefit of the money, however it is typical in other situations where there has been an error that we make the loan interest free.
Good result! So the total interest is £13.5k
Will they reduce my payments or term?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how large was the loan and how much have you repaid so far?
HX says
I need to have a look to add up the interest (the online statements aren’t clear) but it was £804/month. 35k, accepted July 2022 for 5 years. £23k remains as a settlement.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So if you borrowed 35k (I am assuming that is what you borrowed, not £33k plus £13k interest) for 5 years and have paid 24 payments of £804 (it could have been 23? or even possibly 22?), then the balance should be reduced to about £16,000. Repaying that in the next 3 years would be about £440 a month. Is that actually affordable?
If it isn’t you need to ask for a lower payments that actually is affordable.
HX says
It would help me if the payment term was increased to enable me to pay off other debts
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then offer what you think is a sensible affordable amount. This is a huge debt and you do Need it cleared, so not a silly low amount.
Steven says
Hi there. I’m after some advice on Aqua and Fluid credit cards.
I have both accounts, Aqua was opened in August 2022 with a limit of £450.
Increased to £1300 14th November 2022
Increased to £2150 13 March 2023
Increased to £3350 11th July 2023
Increased to £4600 14 November 2023
My credit score was 334 at the time of application. Prior to this my credit score was 190 in the same year.
Fluid was opened in May 2023 with a limit of £2000
Original credit agreement of £2000
Increased to £2800 25 October 2023
Increased to £3400 28th February 2024
My credit score at this time was 453.
My Aqua card balance is now 10 times what my original credit amount was at the time of opening and completely out of control with the last 6 months payments containing recommended additional payments so between £290 and £360 per month. The additional recommended payments meant that I was using the card more to offset the additional outgoings.
My credit score is now 374 and dropping due to my current circumstances.
Would you class this as irresponsible lending and should I complain?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How large are your other total debts?
because yes I think you could complain about these, but that would only get the interest refunded. Have you added up how muich that is? And for the Aqua card, you may only get the interest refunded on balances over £450, which would be less.
Steven says
Thanks Sara.
Total CC debt is around 12k, car loan of around 10k, other debt around 8k.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
have you had any car finance that started before end Jan 2021?
could you win complaints about other credit card? What is the other debt – loans, overdrafts… you can win affordability complaints about them too
Steven says
Car finance started March 2022. Overdraft sits around -£1500 each month. Loans (incl car finance) sit at £13.1k outstanding.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes i was asking about older car finance – see https://debtcamel.co.uk/car-finance-commission-get-refund/ for why.
read up about other sorts of affordability refunds: https://debtcamel.co.uk/tag/refunds/
HX says
Hi Sara – I received back from the investigator for a complaint made about MBNA credit card with a limit of £10k. They agree that proportional checks weren’t made. So they went on to assess my bank statements. However, it looks like they have assumed my total income includes money I transferred from a savings account after I had taken out a loan from another provider the month before and I was using the money to live off. They say MBNA wouldn’t have been aware of this loan so not relevant.
Is it not a fair argument to say that only my actual income should have been taken into account?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Was there simply a large amount of money in your current account for months? Or were there transfers coming in from a savings account?
because this is not actually “savings” it is debt.
HX says
I can show it was £200, £300 amounts coming in from the savings which was from the loan.
I have queried and straight away I had an email back (even though it was the official final letter outlining findings) and they have asked for my wage slips. So I’ve sent those across which then show no disposable income left after debt outgoings. The interest is around £1k since I used the card for balance transfers which were 0% for a good while.
HX says
Complaint upheld by the investigator. MBNA have 2 weeks to provide further information. My bank statements show I had a deficit after all bills were paid. Do you think it’s likely to remain upheld?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I can’t really guess if MBNA will ask for this to go to an Ombudsman decision.
J says
Hi Sara, thank you for all your help on this website. Two months I complained to all previous lenders of credit cards, loans and payday loans. This was around 14 in total . All the pay day loans offered me refunds totalling 1.2k and agreed to delete the loans off my record which is great. However the bigger companies such as Capital, Admiral, 118 and Vanquis (where the bulk of my debt is) just sent back a generic email showing no real interest in my complaint at all. Is it harder to get refund from these companies? I will put a complaint in with the FOS but I’m having trouble getting hold of bank statements dating back years ago. Is it worth submitting without bank statements? Or do I not stand a chance without this. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how long ago were these debts? what is your current financial situation like?
J says
All within the last 3-5 years! I have two cards with capital both maxed out at £500 each. A vanquis card maxed out at 1k. No other debt now as I spent the last 18 months working as hard as possible to clear around 15k in loan debt.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can get bank statements going back 6 years easily, even from closed accounts. Get them as they will really help your case at the ombudsman.
Send FOS the complaints now, include in this that your payday loans should have been a warning sign of problems, and set about getting those bank statements so you will have then when FOS asks for them
Lee says
Hi Sara, Would this complaints template be suitable for a balance transfer card?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Has the 0% period ended? if not, when does it?
Catherine says
Had complaint with Capital one(post office card)upheld today after 5weeks,does the below response say to you that they are writing off the remaining balance after interest refund??They have cancelled my direct debit I had set up to make payments and said I don’t need to do anything so assuming I’ve read correctly as nothing is said about me setting up a plan to repay the remaining balance.
To put things right, we’re going to give you a refund of £443.97. This amounts to all the fees and interest we’ve charged as a result of our decision to lend.
Here’s how the refund has been calculated:
Fees: £74.53
Contractual Interest: £369.44
The refund will be offset against your current balance of £1415.79 and in accordance with your credit card agreement.
The remaining amount of £971.82 will then be cleared. You’ll see these refunds in your Capital One mobile app from 22 July 2024.
Your account will be closed in 60 days and as set out in your credit agreement. In the meantime, we’ve reduced your credit limit to £0 which means you won’t be able to use your card.
You won’t need to do anything and any further interest charged within the next 60 days, will be refunded automatically.
We won’t be making any amendments to your credit file, as we didn’t record any late marks while this account was active.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It would be more helpful if they said they were writing off the remaining balance or would not be seeking to collect it.
I think you should ask them to confirm that this is happening.
Catherine says
Hi sara Just an update after I received final response on Saturday upholding complaint with capital one,they refunded the interest and fees the next day and also cleared the remaining balance of £971 on my account as a financial loss.
I had initial limit of £500 for 2 years,maxed out and only paying minimum and they offered in app increase to £1500 in May this year,which I then maxed out.
Great result.
HX says
Hi Sara – a bit of advice please. I complained to FOS about a card which shouldn’t have been lent to my husband.
The investigator has not upheld but they did say that proportionate checks were not completed by HSBC and they have looked now at bank statements. His income was £30k and the external lending was £77.3k (loans/credit cards/HP) and HSBC gave him £9k limit. They are not upholding since they say that the bank account was maintained well (joint account) and no use of overdraft. They say he wasn’t over indebted but I think he was. They also didn’t look at % of income being spent on the debt. They say that they needed to consider that the credit card was used for a 0 % balance transfer which would have saved him paying interest on other lending. He also says that £1k was moved into a savings account but that was from the lending I took out (loans etc) and put into so-called ‘savings’ which was really debt.
I’m inclined to go the ombudsman but what is the success rate here? I’m a bit surprised at the investigators comments above, since just because he didn’t use the overdraft, doesn’t mean that he wasn’t over indebted and the lending was responsible, I disagree.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Go to the Ombudsman. It doesn’t really matter what the average success rate is, what matters is how good his case is. And he has a massive amount of borrowing for his income – that does not suggest that he was in a position to manage and pay down new credit card borrowings of even half of the 9k limit they gave him.
HX says
Thanks Sara.
What’s the difference between and investigator vs ombudsman as the investigator I had for the last upheld was much more thorough .
Sara (Debt Camel) says
An investigator/adjudicator is the “first stage” at FOS. they look at the complaint and suggest a solution with both parties, you and the firm, have to accept. How much detail they look into a case is up to them – a standard case may need less detail. 90% of FOS complaints are settled at this stage.
If either party doesn’t it goes to the “second stage” where it is looked at by a more senior member of staff with the tilte of an ombudsman/ Ombudaman decisions are legally binding on firms. They are also published, with the customers name anonymised eg to Miss H.
HX says
So, I had quite a scary call from the investigator. He says because the income declared on the online application was bigger than his actual income (I think it was £73k year vs actual of £30k), then HSBC could apply a CIFAS mark on his credit file. So the eg advise not taking it any further as this is a route lenders are going down? He says no one will lend even a mobile phone if that happened and so not worth it.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Was HSBC his bank?
Did he put that income on the application?
Did he say in his complaint that his income was only 30k?
It is very very rare (I can’t actually remember a case) for a lender to apply a CIFAS marker when an affordability complaint has been made saying that income was overstated. I can only remember one case where a CIFAS marker has been applied and that was where the lender said the customer had forged a letter from his doctor about his mental health.
Some payday lenders often make noises about fraud, but nothing ever seems to happen when people ignore then. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-lender-says-lied/
HX says
They say his income was £73k on the application from. They are not his bank. In the complaint (and in bank statements), his income is 30k.
Honestly, he was scary. He said that other investigators had had this situation before and that it’s risky to take it further to the ombudsman.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
do you think he would have put 73k on the application? A typo is not fraud. And HSBC should have made basic checks which would normally have included some rough estimate of his income…
A Cifas marker is a serious step. As the ombudsman put it on one decision telling a firm to remove a marker:
“I also need to consider whether the report to CIFAS was made fairly. On this point, [the bank] needs to have more than a suspicion or concern. It has to show it had reasonable grounds to believe that a fraud or financial crime had been committed or attempted and that the evidence would support this being reported to the authorities.”
It’s up to you. All I can say is that I have never seen this sort of problem with a bank complaint. And I have seen a lot of them.
HX says
Hi Sara, bit of an update.
I talked with a different investigator (who is dealing with my other cases) and they were appalled at the way in which I was told it was risky to take further to the ombudsman. The reason I was so shaken after the call is that he inferred he was having these discussions with HSBC about the potential to do this.
I called FOS and explained the situation and they have now transferred to the ombudsman. I received an email from the investigator apologising.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Good. I have never heard of this happening nor any FOS investigator mentioning the possibility
Rich says
Hello HX and Sara,
My complaint won with these comments from FOS:
As Tesco Bank knows, CONC 5.2A.16(3) says that it is not generally sufficient for a business to solely rely on a statement of income made by a customer without independent evidence, and here I cannot see that Tesco Bank did anything more than this.
So the FOS CIFAS comment is cobblers.
HX says
An update! The Ombudsman has upheld the complaint, provisionally… so hopefully it will remain upheld.
HX says
Hi Sara. I’ve complained about irresponsible credit cards (bank of Scotland, Halifax, Lloyds). All three are being looked at now by an investigator at the FOS. I am looking back at my bank accounts, credit report and there was a high debt:income ratio and my student account (owned by same bank) was maxed out every day for years at -1200. I remember applying for these cards to get 0% interest rates but eventually I started paying interest on all. One of the transactions has been queried in my bank account which was a cash deposit of £5.6k – my dad lent me money at this time. Will this go against my complaint? I also applied for 3 loans during this period and had more going out than coming in.
Thanks as ever for your support.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
no, just say it was a loan from your dad.
Hx says
Thanks, I have
HH says
Hi Sara, is there any update on the review the FO are conducting re time limitations, I’ve an outstanding complaint which has been put on hold and has now for 8 months. If so what approach are they taking? Thank you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I have seen the draft decision – it isn’t published yet.
What is your situation – is the card account still open? if not when was it settled? How far back was it opened and when were the limit increases?
JD says
Hi Sarah,
Would you be able to indicate if this will be positive or negative for the potentially time barred complaints and going back further than 6 years?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s positive. How much that affects an individual case will have to be seen.
HH says
Hello, it’s an overdraft with multiple increases over several years, Halifax have refunded for 2.5 years as account was closed around 3-4 ago so 6 in total, but refused to go back more. What’s the name of the case please? Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Canada Square v Potter. https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2021/339.html
Also see Patel v Patel https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/QB/2009/3264.html
BB says
HI Sara,
I put in a complaint in January 24 tried to go back to start of card but was rejected for first increase. they are investigatin all increases from 2018 which was 3. I now have an email after chasing which sates
“there’s been some legislative clarification – which impacts complaint scenarios such as yours, and we’re required to take the law into account before reaching our decisions.”
Has there been a new law that has com into force?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s not a new law, it is a Supreme Court case last year on the interpretation of the law.
FOS have issued some key decisions on this, but they aren’t yet published. And it isn’t clear how some of it will work in practice. But this is generally positive for going back further.
Emy says
Hi Sarah,
I want to make an affordability complaint with capital one using your template is it okay to put
as a reason that i shouldnt have been given the account because i was paying minimum payment to another lender (still am) and maxed my credit limit for nearly 2 yrs.
Also i have had this Capital one account for just over a year & only paid minimum, they increased my limit recently and I have maxed it out. Dro completed 2yrs ago.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You had The account with the other lender during your DRO?
Emy says
No it was a year after i had been discharged from dro
It is Vanquis i will also sending an affordability complaint to vanquis aswell as they increased my limit a few times when i had maxed my limit and paying minimum
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok so definitely complain to Vanquis.
how long had you had the Vanquis account for before you opened the Capital One account?
Emy says
Thanks Sara.
I had the Vanquis account for 16 months prior to opening the Capital One account.
Should i send the affordability to capital one aswell?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok that is long enough.
Emy says
Hi Sarah,
Vanquis emailed a final response have Rejected my complaint. Basically they stated:
“Following completion of the credit scoring and policy an affordable low initial credit limit, we were able to offer the modest facility of £500. In view of the above and I am satisfied it was not irresponsible to grant an initial £500. Your account was opened on 10 February 2022.On 10 August 2022, an email was sent to you advising of our intention to increase your credit limit to £850.
Prior to the increase being offered, the relevant checks were completed.
In view of the above we were able to offer an increased facility.Then 10 August 2023, an email was sent to you advising of our intention to increase your credit limit to £1,450.In view of the above we were able to offer an increased facility. The offers advised you to call us within the 30 day notice period if you didn’t want the credit limits increased. You were able to reject the offers, particularly if you were in possession of information unknown to us at those times. As no such rejections were received within this time, the credit limits were increased. I am satisfied the appropriate checks were made..Based on the information available, I do not believe it to have been irresponsible to have offered to increase your credit
limit.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You were only making the minimum payments during this time? If you were, send this to the ombudsman.
Emy says
Majority of the time was minimum but the few times i did pay more i used it up
Quite quickly
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send to FOS then.
Sam says
Hi Sara,
A few years ago, I did an affordability complaint with a catalogue that raised my credit limit 13 times in a couple of years, leading me to a DMP. They rejected my complaint. At the time, I was dealing with addiction and mental health issues, so I didn’t go to the Ombudsman and can’t now.
Two years ago, I complained about them charging interest on the buy-now-pay-later portion of my balance after I entered the DMP, while freezing interest on the rest. I cited Ombudsman decisions against this practice. Due to my issues, I didn’t follow up and never received a response.
Recently, I did a SAR and found they never acknowledged or responded to my BNPL interest complaint. The SAR included letters about the previous complaint but nothing about the BNPL one, other than my initial letter.
I think they’ll argue that I already asked for an interest refund in my affordability complaint, but I believe these are separate issues. The second complaint was about handling interest after entering the DMP, not affordability.
Is it worth going back to them or go straight to the FOS since they didn’t reply within 8 weeks?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
that is clearly a different issue. I suggest you ask them why they never replied to your complaint.
Amb says
Hi Sara,
I want to register an affordability complaint with several of my CC providers as they rapidly increased my borrowing amount. However, I do have a one off payment of around 35,000 from an insurance company after a car accident, will this impact my claims if they look through past bank statements? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what happened to this money – did you just buy another car with it?
where did this large payment come in terms of the credit limit increases – at the start, in the middle, at the end?
Amb says
No, some of it was given to my parents to pay back some money they had lent me, then 10K was put into savings to start to build a house deposit fund, some was used to pay off other debt.
For a couple of the cards it was after they were closed, pretty sure for all the others it was after the credit limits, I would need to check timelines but it might be that one or two were in the middle but vast majority would be after.
Also, can I just check about a Barclays card, the limit is now 300 (there is nothing on it) but it started at 1000 and increased to around 5k throughout the time, then it was gradually reduced, will I still be able to submit a claim as it was increased first? Hope that makes senses. Thank you for your quick response!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK so you will have problems with any affordability complaints about lending decisions made after you received the 35k. You made the choice to save it for a house deposit, not to clear more debt.
But if the decision to open an account or increase the limit was before the 35k was received, getting this money doesnt affect whether the lending was affordable at the time the lending decision was made.
You may not know the dates of the limit increases. My complaint template asks for those deatils.
Amb says
Ok, thanks. Can I just check if an account is still open with a balance, can I complain about affordability during the years of prior to receiving this money or will it only apply to accounts closed prior to receiving the sum.
Thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It doesnt matter if the account is closed or there still was a balance then, what is important is that the lending decision – to open the account or raise the limit – was before you got the 25k. Because “affordability” is a test that is applied at the time of the lending decision. If it was unaffordable then, it doesnt matter that you later got this money.
Amb says
Thanks so much! So in my letter would I just draft as it was unfortable during 2023, 2022 etc until just before I got the money for the charges etc?
Sorry for the million questions.
I also sent an email about overdraft fees to the TSB email listed on here two days ago, I haven’t had a response yet, is there a set time frame to hear back or would you also recommend I also send it via the secure messaging online?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes.
No dont send it again – it confuses things. if you havent heard anything in a few weeks phone and ask for confirmation it is being looked at
Sophia says
Opus credit card have stopped taking new applications – is this a bad sign for the company? I have a credit card with them and the APR is 45.5%. I’m considering doing an affordability complaint with them.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The Opus site suggests you now get an Aqua card instead. Opus and Aqua are both brand names of Newday who have a lot of cards.
It doesn’t matter if they stop offering the opus brand, newday are not in any danger of going out of business and that is who an opus claim would be against.
Did Opus increase your limit when you were only making minimum payments? When you opened this Opus account, did you have any other newday cards – Aqua, Fluid, Marbles, Pulse, Bip, a lot of store cards?
Sophia says
That makes sense. They’ve increased it, decreased it, then increased it again. I first took out the credit card with them in 2018 when my credit score was in the bin. It’s been a rollercoaster ever since.
I’m paying it off now. I had a Aqua card a few years ago and tried to go down the affordability complaint route and they declined me but have since paid it off.
Rachel says
Hi Sara,
I have made an affordability complaint to N Brown regarding 3 accounts opened with simply be and JD Williams in 2017, 2019 and 2021 the first two they put up the limit quite quickly and I defaulted on them all the 2017 account I ended up losing my house at the end of 2017 I couldn’t afford the rent as I was over stretching myself and left priority bills and it ended up as a ccj it’s dropped off now but Lowell portfolio still perusing the £1400 plus. I sent the email to daniel.mcintyre@nbrown.co.uk I have not received an acknowledgement and was hoping I sent it to the correct complaints address?
Many Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is the correct address from the FCA register. how long ago did you send the complaint?
Rachel says
Hi Sara,
Thank you for the reply, I only sent it yesterday so how long should I wait for a reply? 2 are with Cabot financial and the other is a old ccj but still showing on my Lowell account and still perusing.
Many Thanks for your help.
Rachel
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yesterday was a Saturday!
if you haven’t heard anything in 4 weeks, phone them and ask for confirmation that they have the complaint.
Rachel says
Hi Sara,
Ok no worries will do!
Thank you
Mr T says
Hello. I’m just curious how many of affordability complaints are successful. As creditors often reject them stating that You are not forced to taking loan or when You have credit card You have option to switch off / block ,automatic increases of the limit’ etc And only offer a goodwill wich is like very small amount. Like for example my limit rise from 4.000£ to 9.000£ within last 4 or 5 years while my salary (only income) was always around 2.000£ per month. Currently my total debt is around 35.000£ (few loans and credit cards). Currently under arrangement plans managed by myself. Bank only offered goodwill gesture of around 165£ (this is about one complaint for credit card with current limit of 9.000£). So I take it further to ombudsman just 2days ago… will see if they respond cuz there was info on ombudsman website that they only respond if they believe further complaint might be successful.
Regards.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t have any statistics.
The ombudsman will respond. They only don’t at this stage if you are making a complaint that they cannot look at – complaining about a foreign lender say, or about a non delivery of some item not bought on credit.
Charlotte Gray says
Hi, thank you for this article, it’s very helpful and insightful.
My husband was accepted for a Barclaycard credit card in 2017 for a £1500 credit limit. Between 2017-2019 the limit was increased to £15,000. At the time his salary was £21k annual, and he had a car finance of 12k outstanding.
He took out a loan in 2019 with Barclays for 12k to pay off the car finance.
2020 he took out a further 6k loan with Barclays to cover living costs due to the high card and loan payments.
His credit score is now awful and monthly repayments across the card and 2 loans is around £1300 a month.
His salary is now only slightly higher now at 24k annual.
Do you believe this could be a worthwhile affordability complaint.
Just to add – the card has been maxed since the account opened and has had a number of late payments and a couple of missed payments.
Thank you in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
has he mainly made minimum payments to the card?
Is Barclays his bank? Does he also have an overdraft?
(One point which isn’t relevant to any Barclays complaints – the car finance that he cleared in 2019, has he asked whether there was any discretionary commission charged on it? See https://debtcamel.co.uk/car-finance-commission-get-refund/. This will be slow moving but kick it off now!)
Charlotte Gray says
Always minimum payments apart from using some of his Barclays loan to try and lower the balance. 95% of his statements have been at his credit limit or above. He was only 20 years old when he was given this limit.
He does bank with Barclays yes, and has an over draft of £10 (odd amount) which he is not in/has never used.
Haven’t looked at the car finance side but will get on that straight away!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then he could make 2 complaints – one about the very large credit card limit increases – use template above. And a second one about the two loans, use the template here https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-large-high-cost-loans/
Louise says
Hi there. I’m confused about dates and how far things can be taken back. I have credit cards/store cards from 2015/2016. I became aware last year that I could make a complaint and went through a company who were useless. I received my final complaints less than 8 weeks ago and referred to the FOS. Have I missed the boat in regard to dates I’m unsure how it works (I had periodic unaffordable credit increased last of which were all before 2018). TIA
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did the claims company make a claim last year?
and what was the date of the rejection?
Louise says
Yes they did :)
22.04.24. Referred to ombudsman on the same day :)
And others were 15th July 24 final response. Again referred to ombudsman on the same day.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok so you are within the 6 months to send the case to FOS limit.
These cards, were there any credit limit increases?
Do you have bank statements going back to 2015/6?
Louise says
I have one of the statements going back that far and the last credit limit increase was 2018 (this was for Vanquis). New day have offered a small redress, however I have sent to the ombudsman as not happy with the offer. Last increase with them late 2018. I guess my question is really will the ombudsman look back at the accounts further than 6 years?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
FOS will make a decision on whether to go back further than 6 years. It is looking at changing how it makes these decisions, so the complaint may be slow at the start, but it seems as though the likely changes will make it easier to go back further.
If you had no evidence about things older than 6 years, these can lead to a frustrating situation where FOS says it can go back further but you are unable to show unaffordability at the time the credit limits were changed… but you have some information so that should be a problem,.
Emily S says
Hello!
I just wanted to ask – i submitted a complaint against aqua and the adjudicator was favorable to me – however it has been 3 weeks and aqua has not responded, so if this needs to be looked up by the ombudsman, how long it will take?
At the moment this is the second consecutive month i have been unable to pay my aqua card, so i am afraid of them taking legal actions on my debt if they keep delaying things… can they do so if there is an ongoing affordability complaint? What are my options? Thanks for your help and fir creating this site!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ombudsman rereferrals can take a few weeks or several months.
What is the rest of your financial situation like? If Aqua agree, do you expect that to clear your balance?
There is a very low change of aqua taking any legal action against you with an ongoing complaint with the Ombudsman. I can’t remember that happening.
Mrs O says
Hiya,
Do you know of any complaints email addresses for Opus credit card? I’ve looked online and it tells me to call them to make the complaint. I don’t feel comfortable doing this and also would like a footprint of when I made the complaint, if that makes sense.
I have been with Opus a while and they’ve upped my credit limit time and time again. Each time I’m nearing my credit limit, I get a notification to say they’ve increased it again. It feels like they are tempting me to get further into debt? Is it worth complaining for this reason? I’m only ever paying the minimum or just over each month.
If I do make a complaint, can that impact my credit file further? (e.g close the account?)
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Opus is a Newday card – there is an address to use in the page that is linked to in the artcile aboove.
If you have any other Newday cards, make a single complaint about all of them
Mrs O says
OK thanks. Can doing this complaint in any way impact my remortgage in January? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
do you need to remortgage with a different lender or just get a new fix?
who is your lender?
MrsO says
It’s likely we will get a new fix. We are with NatWest.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
NatWest wont care what your credit record is like if you only want a new fix and don’t have any mortgage arrears.
If Opus close your account, they will still let you repay it at the normal monthly rate.
JJ says
Dear Sara
The Ombudsman has upheld my affordability claims against MBNA on 2 cards. This has reduced my balance on the accounts to £3638.36 and £2724.41 (Previously £5800.08 and £5282.67). I am delighted and thank you for all your help. My next question is that as they debts are unenforceable and with PRA Group what percentage would you think would be a reasonable offer to settle. I was thinking 5% but maybe this is too cheeky.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Why do you think the debts are unenforceable? Winning an affordability complaint doesn’t mean they are unenforceable.
JJ says
Because they have been sold to PRA Group and the cannot
Provide a copy of the CCA Agreement.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So just stop paying. You cant make them accept a low settlement arrangement.
Amb says
Hi Sara,
Am I able to complain about a Barclay’s card opened in 2014? The credit limit was doubled in 2016, then again in 2017, I know this is beyond the 6 years but only recently discovered I could complain about this. The card is still currently open and active. I do have all statements from my card being sent to me so I will be able to show that I consistently struggled with it. Is it worth writing on or will it just be rejected based on the time frame? Thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Barclaycard are very likely to reject it as being too old. But the Ombudsman can decide to go back further than 6 years, so send the case to the Ombudsman if Barclaycard do reject.
HJ says
Hi sara,
I cant thankyou enough for your template and advice,
I thought it couldn’t do any harm to try, my credit card company after 7 weeks have admitted fault that they should never have increased my credit limits with my financial position. They agreed to an amazing £7414 refund which consists of interest charges plus 8% and have cancelled any future interest and fees while I pay off the remaining £1500. I feel like the world has lifted off my shoulders.
Laura says
Hi Sara, thank you so much for all the work you are doing in helping people. Are you aware if I can submit this claim against Klarna or Clearpay?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Are these for the zero interest “pay in 3” style? Or for longer loans with interest?
Laura says
This is for the pay in 3 or pay later method with no interest but late fees were charged.
Thank you!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
these are not Consumer Credit Act debts and I don’t think the lenders have any regulatory obligation to check for affordability. Sorry.
B says
Hi, ive made a affordability complaint with vanquis. The credit card was opened in 20/05/2016 for a limit of £500 which became £1500 in 22/12/2016 then £2250 in 2017. They rejected my complaint because it has been more than 6 years and they said they have reason to believe i could of complained in 2020 which is more than 3 yrs in which i was sent default letters and a final demand letter.
I made the point to the FOS that i had bills and the fact that i was not fluent in English, kids to raise on a low income (around £1500) and i had only realised that i had cause to complain when my son saw my finances in 2024, (its the son writing the message). I also had credit cards and fell behind in bills. I did not have the credit loan agreement for the interest rate and the decision letter given by vanquis said they had limited information since it has been more than 6yrs. I contacted the debt collection company and i am waiting for the details to be sent in regards to the credit loan agreement but in the meanwhile i submitted my reasons and decision letter to the FOS. Do you have any more advice on how i could win the case
Sara (Debt Camel) says
FOS can choose whether to go back further than 6 years. You have made good points to FOS – make sure FOS knows that your son is helping you with the complaint because of your English.
If FOS asks you further questions, you could add points such as (assuming they are correct for you of course):
– I knew I was in financial difficulty when I defaulted on the Vanquis card in 2020. But at that point I thought this was my fault for having borrowed too much
– I didn’t blame Vanquis for my problems in 2020 as I didn’t know that they should have checked a higher limit was affordable for me. So I had no reason to complain then as I didn’t think Vanquis had done anything wrong.
Jilly says
Hi Sara,
I was hoping you could advise on this, I opened a student overdraft with NatWest in 2018 of £2000, which was practically maxed out completely even after I graduated in 2022. I was in a bad place financially and maxed out a 3.8k Tesco cc, 2.7k Virgin Money cc, owed 3.4K to PayPal and had an overdraft with Santander also. Even whilst struggling with these payments NatWest offered me an overdraft increase to 3150 which I accepted to try and ease some pressure, as it was still registered as I graduate account, I don’t believe I was paying any interest. I do feel like this warrants an affordability complaint, however as I haven’t paid any interest what could be the possible outcomes if upheld?
Thanks in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So the overdraft increases were after you had Graduated? What were you earning?
When did you open the bread card accounts and did they increase your limits?
What are you earning After tax a month now?
Jilly says
Yes I graduated in 2022 with a maxed out overdraft but they still increased it in 2023. I was earning £1,700 at the time of increase but I had a lot of outgoings due to other credit cards, Drafty and PayPal which I had taken out at different points between 2022-2023 but this should have visible to NatWest that I had a high credit usage with other lenders. I am now in a dmp with pay plan and I pay 443.41 a month to them to clear around 18k worth of debt. Currently earning £2,200 a month after tax
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You are now in a DMP so no interest will ever be added to the overdraft. If you win an affordability complaint you won’t get a refund. Seeems pointless.
I suggest you look at affordability complaints against all the other lenders, who should have seen your high overdraft usage.
Will Stone says
I had a Vanquis cc as of 2017 with an initial limit of £500. Over the years, they increased my limit several times until reached £3500. As the limits crept up, I used the card slightly more, and my outstanding balance and monthly payments also crept up. By 2021 it was becoming problematic, and I had only been able to make minimum payments for a while by that point and I missed a payment for the first time. Things only got worse after that. Around the beginning of this year I had a mental breakdown (I have ASD, severe depression, and an anxiety disorder) and ceased further payments. At no point did Vanquis offer me any help, no offers to freeze interest or take a payment break for example. They have since sold the debt to Lowell.
Could I have a case for refund of interest paid?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
When was the last credit limit increase?
Is this your only problem debt?
Will says
I don’t recall when the last limit increase was. Might have been 2019 or 2020.
It’s my only problem debt.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so if you were making more than minimum payments for most of the time they were upping your limit, you may find it hard to win an affordability complaint.
“At no point did Vanquis offer me any help, no offers to freeze interest or take a payment break for example. ”
were Vanquis aware of your problems?
cep says
Hi Sara do you think I have a case against Very as I was put on breathing space back in 2022 and had also missed a few payments in the months before due to being unemployed which I had told them and they still increased my limit by £1000, do you think its worth complaining? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
When did they increase the limit?
cep says
They increased the limit in March 2023
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so after the breathing space and missed payments, had you mainly been making minimumpayments?
how much difficulty are you in at the moment?
cep says
Yes I’ve only made minimum payments and at the moment a lot as I was unable to keep up with the minimum payments after June this year
Sara (Debt Camel) says
do you have other debts as well, or is the the only one?
cep says
I have one other debt with capital one but I’m setting up a payment plan with them
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes I think this is worth a complaint.
But you cant be sure you will win it, and it may be a partial uphold, saying the limit increase was wrong but the original limit was ok, so you would still be charge interest on the original limit. So I strongly suggest you also set up a payment plan with them and ask them to stop interest.
cep says
I’ve asked them to set up a payment plan and the amount I can afford monthly they won’t accept so I have no idea what to do now
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How much can you afford to pay them? To pay capital one? What are the balances on each?
cep says
I’ve set up a £20 a month payment plan with capital one which is £800 but very is £3000 and they won’t accept the amount of £50 I offered which I understand is low but at the moment all I can afford
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did they ask questions about what you can Afford? One option is to miss a payment and then try again… another is to talk to StepChange about a debt management plan
These are in addition to making an affordability complaint
Jack says
Is it worth me complaining about a credit card I was issued by capital one which was passed over to Lowell portfolio, if so which one would I make a complaint too? (It has left a default on my credit file) the credit card I think may have been for around £250 but at the time I had multiple gambling and other loan companies on my bank statements in the months prior to this, is it worth a shot at complaining to get this default removed?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You would complain to cap one.
But it’s very unlikely you would win it if the limit was 250 and they never increased the limit.
Jennifer says
I had a credit card with bank of Scotland, taken out in 2019, which had credit limits raised several times up to £5500. At the time of the limit increases, I was either maxed or paying the minimum and maxing it out again. I finally paid off the whole card in June this year. Having seen Sara’s Instagram and her really good guides to credit card affordability complaints I thought I would try and put one in. Really easy to do, and emailed in at the end of July. Today (start of September) I received a cheque from Bank of Scotland, for interest paid plus 8% totalling £1673!!
Thank you very much for your excellent guides! It’s not something I would’ve thought to do without your resources!
I didn’t expect much, if anything back so definitely worth a try!
Adam says
Hi Sara,
I’ve recently put in a complaint to MBNA about a credit card account opened in 2004. I realise that time bar issues means that both MBNA and FOS might not go back that far, but there is a pretty established pattern from early on that it was not affordable, so much so that it took me until 2022 to finally finish it off, and had numerous missed payments during this time as it was a struggle to pay the minimum amount. My question is that if the credit limit was approved earlier than 6 years but an established pattern of unaffordability was present thereafter will that still be able to be claimed upon. I had a letter rejected by MBNA for time bar reasons (standard) and am not 5 weeks in to waiting for a investigator to take on my case with FOS, I have a case number and assume that they are waiting for paperwork from MBNA. Also I recently won an affordability complaint against Lloyds Bank for overdraft..could that be taken into consideration when shown that I was struggling with payment? Thanks for all that you do.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
when were the credit limit increases?
Adam says
Just checked and it was 2008 and 2012. Will the argument be on increase in limits or general affordability and inaction, like the overdraft claim?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Overdrafts have a T&C requiring them to be reviewed annually – credit cards don’t.
Did anything happen after 2012 which mean MBNA should have been aware you were struggling? Did you ever contact them? Miss payments?
Adam says
I had a multitude of missed payments post 2012, at least 3 or 4 a year for the next 8/9 years. I finally got to grips with it in 2020 and entered a agreement to pay back and reduce my limit down on a month by month basis payment plan..but last time I checked my credit file it was put down as missed payments. 2021 has 9 out of 11 months as missed payments. I did not have any correspondence from MBNA to say this was the case, just paid £100 a month as agreed on the phone and it reduced my £3k limit down to around £1900 and then I paid it of in full and closed the account.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok so you can try arguing that they knew you missed a lot of payments and offered no help or reduced the limit, which was clearly unaffordable.
MBNA are almost certainly going to reject this so expect to have to send it to the Ombudsman.
Adam says
That’s the angle I have presented to MBNA, which was rejected. Sent to ombudsman and had a reply 27/07/24 to say the case is now open, and they are waiting for an investigator. I then had an email yesterday 7/9/24 to say they are very busy and still waiting on an investigator. This part can take up to two months. Is there anything I can be doing in the meantime?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
get your bank statements going as far back as possible.
William says
Hi Sara I have received this today can you advise the best option to go with this see below
We write further to your complaint received 4th August 2024, concerning your account with Shop Direct Finance Company (SDFC).
We understand the reason for your complaint is in relation to unaffordable lending.
We have investigated your account in relation to your complaint about unaffordable lending and have set out our findings below.
SDFC considers this complaint is outside the jurisdiction of the Financial Ombudsman Service. In our view the complaint has been referred outside the regulator’s time limits.
The regulator’s rules state:
“DISP 2.82: The Ombudsman cannot consider a complaint if the complainant refers it to the Financial Ombudsman Service:
(2) more than:
(a) six years after the event complained of; or (if later)
(b) three years from the date on which the complainant became aware (or ought reasonably to have become aware) that he had cause for complaint;”
Sara (Debt Camel) says
can you say when the account was opened? When any credit limit increases were?
is it still open, if not when was it closed/
William says
This credit facility was granted in April 2016. The last credit limit increase on this account was provided in January 2018. SDFC considers all lending decisions on this account have been complained of more than six years since the events took place.
SDFC has gone on to consider the second aspect of the regulator’s time limit, whether you ought reasonably to have been aware of cause for complaint, more than three years before it was made.
In July 2018 the account entered a period of sustained arrears and incurred associated administration charges. While the account remained in arrears, SDFC reduced the credit limit on the account in July 2018 and this change was communicated on your account statements. We understand we also wrote separately to you around this time and explained we regularly review credit limits to ensure shopping with us remains affordable. SDFC consider this action would’ve made you aware we’d assessed the affordability of your credit limit and determined it to be unaffordable.
In June 2019, the account entered a period of sustained arrears and was then defaulted by SDFC in August 2020. The debt on your account was sold to a third-party in September 2020. SDFC considers by this point you ought reasonably to have been aware of cause for complaint about the actions of SDFC. This is because you were no longer able to use the account on the original terms provided. So, you had until September 2023 from the point of reasonable awareness to raise your concerns.
You have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, free of charge.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What was the original limit? Was what it increase£ to in Jan 18
What was it decreased to in July 18.
William says
Not 100% sure but was increased to £2,500 decreased to £0 I think but not sure to be honest
Sara (Debt Camel) says
did they stop charging interest in july 18 when they dropped the limit to zero?
William Campbell says
Stopped charging interest when they sold the account to a debt company
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK I suggest you send this to the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman can decide whether it can go back further than 6 year,.
I suggest you say that you think the account was unaffordable from the start. That you have only recently found out about an affordability complaint. And you do not agree with with SDFC’s comment that their reduction in the account limit in July 2018 meant you should have complained at that point – say at that point you just blamed yourself fro borrowing too much and did not realise SDFC had failed to make adequate checks so you had no reason at that point to consider making a complaint.
Jo says
Has anyone had any dealings with wave credit card??I put in a complaint with them a week ago but I haven’t even received an acknowledgment email to say they received my email, with other companies I’ve complained to they’ve acknowledged then stated that the 8 weeks has started, if anyone has any stories to share??tia
Rachel says
Hi Sara,
I sent an email regarding irresponsible lending to nbrowns on the 17/8/2024 it was 4 weeks on the 14/9/2024 should I now go to the ombudsman?
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, wait until it gets to 8 weeks
HJ says
Hi Sara,
I made a complaint against newday using your email template around three weeks ago (26th August). I received an acknowledgment email the next day along with a request to confirm my previous address (the address I was at when I opened the account). I then received correspondence on the 3rd September to say my complaint was being looked in to.
Last week they changed my account status to ‘in dispute’ and my credit score has dropped 103 points!
Will this remain until the complaint is resolved? Does this give any insight into the timeframe I might be looking at for a response?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, they remove the ‘in dispute’ marker when they have replied to your complaint.
HJ says
Thank you!
Will this most likely be at the 8 week marker? I’m guessing newday are not likely to respond before this!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I can’t guess.
HJ says
I received my response from New Day yesterday (though it was dated the 9th!) and they are not upholding my complaint. They have also quoted me incorrect amounts for my credit limit increases, stating that these only went up to £4500 when it was actually almost £6000. So frustrating!
I have sent my complaint into FOS this afternoon and attached the letter from New Day to the complaint. Is there any other documents I should look out while I wait to hear back?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Your bank statements from around the times of the credit limit increases
Ruth says
Hi Sara, I’ve started to email affordability complaints to my creditors, but I’ve just remembered that I had a phone call years ago from Barclaycard and a goodwill gesture of something like £100 which I’m pretty sure I accepted. Does that mean I can’t complain about them?
I was probably just glad to have the extra cash to be able to pay back some of the loans/credit cards.
According to my credit report, they gave me a £4000 credit limit in 2019 and if I remember correctly this was supposed to be a consolidation credit card that I unfortunately couldn’t keep up with the minimum payments on in the end, as I was spending 50% of my income just trying to make minimum payments by the time I started my DMP in July 2019.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well it may depend on the details – had you asked for help at the time? If this was out of the blue, what did they say?
That sounds rather a vague memory, I suggest you complain.
Ruth says
Thank you for responding to me, Sara, I really appreciate it.
No, I don’t think I contacted them at all before I started my DMP with Stepchange. I’ll make a complaint and see where it goes.
Cep says
Hi Sara I sent an affordability claim to Very 2 weeks ago and they’ve replied and given me a refund of £206 but added it to my account, but they also got the dates of my limit increase wrong so that amount isn’t correct, should I still go to the financial ombudsman
Sara (Debt Camel) says
When was the account opened? When was the limit actually increased and what date did Very give? What was the original limit and what did it go up to?
What is your curreNt balance?
Cep says
I opened the account in 2019 and the limit increase i complained about was 2023 and they said 2024 and the original limit was £400 it’s now £3490
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so it went up several times? what limit did they offer a refund from, and was this a “partial refund” of interest charged over that amount?
Cep says
Yeah and the limit from £2490 to £3490 was the refund but they got the date wrong it was April 23 not 24 I’m not sure if it was a partial refund or not
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what were the previous limit increases? do you think the one before the increase to 2490 was “affordable”?
Wendy says
Hi. I’m helping my son with affordability claims. The credit cards have all been passed to Debt Management companies. If the credit card companies make refunds or do reworks resulting in refunds, would the refund be applied to the current outstanding balance held by the debt management company, or sent as a refund direct to him? The complaints are regarding responsible lending, as all of the debt was due to a gambling addiction.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is up to the lender, but in almost all cases they reduce the outstanding balance and do not pay a cash refund.
Wendy says
Thanks for replying. I believe that the refund might amount to more than the balance now owed, so presumably any “credit” left after paying off the card would be sent to him.
Not sure when the credit limit was increased as statements not available for pre 2017 although were requested. So I will just have to not put any dates in for the credit limit increase(s) or say between xxx and xxx dates.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes just word the complaint vaguely. If you have a look at the template in the article above, you will see that it asks for the dates and amounts of credit limit increases.
Kelly says
Hello
I have poor credit history and applied for credit cards. I was approved for Aqua and Zable. I am unemployed and on universal credit however I did say that I was working but no finance checks or statements were asked. I have a plan set up with previous debts with Stepchange. Do you think that I have a case to make a complaint to the credit card companies? Thank you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how large were the limits you were given?
how large are the debts in your DMP and when did that start?
Kelly says
My debts with Stepchange are predicted to continue until 2029. All together it is £2062. £1962 for NatWest and £200 for Loans2Go. I pay Stepchange £40 per month. The limits on my credit card with Zable is £500 and the one with Aqua is £450. I have reached both of the limits.
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
are you buying or renting?
do you have any arrears on bills?
is the £40 a month really affordable, because having to borrow on very expensive credit cards suggests that it isnt.
is anything likely to change in the next couple of years?
Kelly says
I am in supported accommodation. My rent gets paid directly to them from the council. I pay £19.31 in service charge a week. I have arrears with my service charge as I’ve been there five years but as long as my rent is covered then they aren’t that strict about it and as long as I pay something towards it. Nothing is likely to change in the next couple of years. I am due to do a review at the end of the year with Stepchange so I may discuss then reducing the amount.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how large are the service charge areas?
Kelly says
It’s currently £2831.17.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you should consider paying a token £1 a month to both debts in your DMP and to the new Aqua and Zable debts, saying you are in supported accommodation and you have service arrears which you need to clear. Say you will be able to increase the payments to other debts when this is done.
An affordability complaint against Zable and Aqua will make very little difference as you still have to repay what you borrowed and you cannot afford to do that. You could ask Stepchange to add them into your DMP, but really you should be clearing the service charge arrears not these non priority consumer debts.
Talk to StepChange about these options.
Sarah says
Hi Sara
I made a complaint to 118 for a credit card i had, £500 limit and I was constantly at the max making minimal payments only, i was then offered a further £500 taking the limit to £1000 even though i had a considerable amount of other credit, it has pushed into it all being completely unmanageable. 118 have not upheld my complaint. I assume the next step is financial ombudsman’s or is there something i can do prior to this?
Thanks 😊
Sara (Debt Camel) says
no, straight to the Ombudsman
Sarah says
Thank you for the reply 😊