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?
Gemma says
Another question many years ago (approx 2005) I had a Lloyds credit card with a £15,000 limit. This card was maxed out. The bank called me to ask if I’d like a loan to pay off the card as the limit again wasn’t going down I was only paying the minimum (even the minimum on £15,000 was a lot). I remember saying on the phone I had just gone self employed was I eligible. They said yes. I went to my local branch completed the paper work and the credit card balance was now instead a 5yr loan.
The bank though didn’t cancel the credit card they instead split it into 2 cards with £7500 on each (one being American Express the other a standard Master Card).
Do I have grounds here for a claim for irresponsible lending? Within a year both cards were maxed out so was worse off than before with still 4years to pay on a loan. I eventually had to call the bank and make a payment plan as I was in financial difficulties. Lloyds eventually sold my debts to other companies. One company I’ve settled the balance, but am still to this day still paying another company £50 each month.
I appreciate your advice.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You have to be able to show that the repayments were not affordable – if you can, then that is the basis of your claim.
Ray says
Has anyone had any experience of using the resolver service? I went to complain to capital one and the only option they gave me to complain to was the resolver service that automatically structures your complaint letter than then capital one have uploaded an aknowledgement to it. Also says i’m able to go to the FOS after 15 days which seems too good to be true?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Resolver is a good service but very structured. They create your complaint letter from the rather limited options you choose from but if you select Other then you can just write (or paste in) the complaint you may have preferred to email.
The 15 days is because that is the time limit that applies to complaints about payment services, which some CapOne complaints are. But if you are complaining about affordability then it’s 8 weeks, so dont get your hopes up!
Rafal says
Hi Sara,
I’m in DMP . Just recently I got a letter from from Lloyds in regards to my overdraft , originally it was in excess of £2500.( having been using Lloyds account for a long time and debt has been moved to Cabot). They are going to refund me £137.45 – they applied some interest and charges when they shouldn’t have, but it will be send down to Cabot to reduce the outstanding balance. I’ve requested to have the cheque send to my home address but was told they can’t do that. Also, when asked them whether any compensation interest has been applied to refund they said no as they didn’t have to do that. Should I challenge their decision and ask for review of that refund?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you could ask them to explain how the refund has been calculated?
what are the rest of your finances like?
Rafal says
I still have about 5 years left on my DMP till my debts will be cleared. But to be honest I had to take out Vanquis credit card and Likely Loan to stay afloat.
Lucy says
Good news for me, i complained to very and jd williams group ( which consisted of 3 cataloges ) about irresponsible lending and have had £850 refund off very and £550 off jd all interest and charges, im on a dmp so these have come off that bringing my dmp down.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
good one!
Lucy says
Hi
I was just wondering if this went to the ombudsman, and if so, how long it took? I’m still waiting for a decision from the ombudsman, as JD Williams didn’t agree with the adjudicator.
Thanks
Lucy says
Hi, i did not have to send mine throught to the fos as jd agreed with me
I sent my letter to them in July, I kept getting letters saying they needed longer, then last week I received a letter saying they were sorry they were taking so long and didn’t want to cause me anymore stress or worry, so we’re refunding me interest and charges from 2014.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you have had to take out a Likely Loan and a Vanquis card while you are on a DMP, then your DMP payments must be too high – and you must be struggling badly with the Likely Loan repayments? Read https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-large-high-cost-loans/ and see if you can get the interest removed from the Likely Loan – that probably a better way to improve your situation than trying to get more because of the old lloyds error.
And talk to your DMP firm about cutting the payments and including the Likely Loan and Vanquis card.
Rafal says
will do that. Also, trying to get hold of Littlewoods ( which is in my DMP ). Is there any email address I can send my complain to? Tried 2 different emails but didn’t work.
mrs. cheaplaugh says
Hi Sarah
Well I finally received my cheque from JD Williams, It will go to pay off some other debts of whom I will open complaints against next. My total redress from them was £2245. This was for two catalogues which had ridiculous credit limit increases. It has taken 12 months to resolve but well worth the wait. I was able to use the evidence from my successful case against Quick Quid to bolster my case with the Ombudsman. My advice is be patient. It takes time but is worth the wait.
Anita says
Was it resolved with Ombudsman or directly with Jd Williams?
mrs. cheaplaugh says
It was through the FOS, first the investigator, who JDW disagreed with, so it went to the Ombudsman for a final decision.
Rafal says
I have noticed that nobody mentioned anything about high cost car loans. Can they be dealt the same way as other high cost loans? I took a car loan few years ago with Specialist Motor Finance Limited, 5 years term, and after 2.5 years I did voluntary termination, I returned the car. The interest was 100% of the value of the car ( spread over 5 years ). Is there any way I can get the interest refunded? My credit history at the time of taking the car loan was very poor. Still in DMP.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Same approach as other high cost loans – start on this page https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-large-high-cost-loans/.
But if you VTd, how much interest did you actually pay?
Rafal says
The car value was £12600, the interest in total was £11451.60 plus some other cost £445. I’ve paid £12300 of which interest was at least £5700. Probably more as I do not know how they applied interest. On top of that I had to return the car.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, well the car must have had some residual value when you returned it so you will have paid some interest. Worth a complaint if you can show you could not afford the monthly repayments and the purchase was less than 6 years ago. Expect this to be rejected by the lender and to have to go to the ombudsman. The other page I linked to has the best template I think.
Rafal says
The car value was £12600. The interest was £11451.60 ( spread over 5 years) plus other cost of £445. I have paid back £12300 of which interest of at least £5700. On top of that I had to return the car. The APR was 34.9%
Lucy says
Hi Sara,
I’m absolutely shocked. Only sent my complaint to the FOS about NatWest automatically increasing my credit card limit during the second week in October. It has been assigned to an adjudicator already. I will keep you updated on the progress.
Bob says
this is from Next. How do they get that amount from a £3000 limit??
“Following a review into the operation of credit limits on your nextpay credit account, we have determined that you are due a refund to the value of £1.69.
You are due this refund as we have identified that, for a limited period, the amount we allowed you to borrow exceeded the amount we now consider to be appropriate based on relevant information about your circumstances that was available to us at the time.
We have reduced your account balance by the above amount and this will show as a credit on your account.
We calculated your refund based on the amount of interest charged on your additional borrowing, plus interest on this amount at 8% per year, to acknowledge the inconvenience this may have caused you.”
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Don’t spend it all at once! If you think they have increased your credit limit to a level which is unaffordable, make a complaint as the article above suggests.
Bob says
I never made a complaint, surely now they’ve admitted fault it should be more. My limit went from £200 to £3000 in one increase. 3 months later they closed my account with a balance of £1400 which I’ve been paying for the past 10 months
J says
Hi Sara
I raised a complaint with NewDay Ltd regarding an Aqua Card. NewDay rejected the complaint and I sent same to the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman have today advised me that they are not upholding my complaint. My initial credit limit was £250 then increased to £550, £1,250, £2,250 and finally £3,500 despite my payments being late and going over my credit limit. The FO have said they do not see any issues with NewDay doing this as I only went over my limit by a little. The FO also said that I didn’t have to accept the increases however these were automatic. They did write to me to advise of the increases and said I should contact them to decline these if I wished. I pointed out that perhaps it would be better if NewDay asked you to contact them if you wanted to accept this increase given that this card claims to help people rebuild their credit rating. Anyway I’m wondering what your view is on this and whether an Ombudsman is likely to have a different view on the complaint? I have advised the adjudicator that I don’t agree with their decision.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think it depends how often your payments were late. Once or twice by a day or two – not important. But if it happened a lot, especially as the limits got larger then they should have taken this into account. Also what your income was and what the rest of your credit record was like. these cards are meant for people with poor credit records, but if you had more credit problems after you took this card out, it should have been a sign that you were getting deeper into trouble.
J says
Thanks Sara. The adjudicator said “I can see you exceeded your credit limit on a number of
occasions however you didn’t go over the limit by a large amount at any point and always brought it within limit once you paid the monthly payment. There were a number of late payments but you always maintained payments and regularly made more than the minimum payment.”
This was because I was relying on the card so heavily that I would make payments knowing that I had to use it again.
The adjudicator also says they can see I had taken a number of payday loans but they were being repaid.
I also had loans with Avant Credit, Everyday Loans and On Stride, my local credit union as well as a £3k overdraft. My total income was £17,250.
For a card that claims to rebuild someone’s credit they don’t take much responsibility for helping you do so. Not sure what the outcome will be now.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you often paid more than the minimum, that may be a hard case to win. HAve you looked at complaints to Avant Credit, Everyday Loans and On Stride and the payday lenders? For the large bad credit loans, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-large-high-cost-loans/.
J says
My Avant complaint was assigned to an adjudicator a few days ago. On Stride was not upheld by Adjudicator so I have asked an Ombudsman to look at this. I will look into the Everyday Loans one. Thanks for your help Sara!
Rosie says
Hi J,
Just to advise, I made a similar complaint against Aqua and FOS found in my favour. The main issue was Aqua not carrying out sufficient credit checks.
“I think that Aqua should have carried out sufficient and proportionate checks at that time – such as, requesting bank statements. If it had, the statements would have shown xxx xxxxxx management of external debts. The bank statements in this period show that she is regularly borrowing from payday lending. It seems by this time she was dependent on borrowing from one lender to pay off another.
I think that as this was xxx xxxxxx third increase it might have prompted Aqua to carry out further checks, asked further questions and requested evidence about her financial situation. I don’t think Aqua did enough to ensure the lending was responsible here.
I recommend that Aqua refund interest and charges from 3rd increase onwards.”
J says
Hi Rosie
Thanks so much for your reply which I have just noticed. You’ve given me a little hope that an Ombudsman might agree. I have until 14/12/18 to provide any further info. I’ll let you know how I get on :)
B says
I think the adjudicator comment about “I can see you exceeded your limit but not by much” is ridiculous.
Firstly, it’s almost impossible to exceed a credit card limit, you can’t physically spend what you do not have – the card would be declined. I tried to buy a £9.99 CD on mine and it was declined as there was only £9.98 available! You can only exceed if your at your limit and they then add on the months interest and any charges.
I would challenge the adjudicator on that comment
Mr and Mrs C says
Afternoon all, has anyone received a letter from Barclaycard regarding Payment Break Plan held on a Monument Credit card? I have received a letter saying they have reason to believe I could be affected and would I like to complain? I dont remember having a Monument card – although have had numerous cards over the years. They are quoting a card number which again I dont recognize as being my Egg card that I defaulted on.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Read https://debtcamel.co.uk/barclays-refund-customers-arrears/. This letter may be part of that refund. The card could originally have been from Providian (does that ring a bell) then Barclays took them over and rebranded to Monument. I suggest you contact the phone number in that article to talk to them and mention your defaulted egg account.
SB says
Hi Sara,
I used the PDL template to request information that AQUA and LUMA hold on me. It is now 4 weeks today and they have not responded, outside of an automatic reply. Do I wait the full 8 weeks? As I don’t have information on charges, I can’t work out how much interest I paid.
I believe that AQUA lent to me irresponsibly. I was in a DMP with them in 2014 when they increased my limit automatically, I really blame this for me re-entering into the debt crisis cycle. I have proof that I previously used my credit card to gamble and they were aware of mental health issues. They also refused to deal with me on the phone when I was trying to set up a plan when I was in mental health crisis.
I took out LUMA credit card when I was still in a DMP, they increased my limit from £1,200 to £1,400 within a couple of months and I am certain that I was very close to my limit and only making minimum repayments.
My question is, do I wait for 8 weeks and then complain to FOS or as they have not provided me with information within 4 weeks, can I take it further?
Many thanks,
SB
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Wait until it is 1 month not 28 days. Then send them a reminder that you want your information and they have missed the 1 month GDPR time limit set by the ICO. But you have to wait 8 weeks before sending the case to FOS.
Lucy says
I made a complaint to studio, for irresponsible lending, I have had a letter back today off them saying they will not look into this as my account is being managed by a collection agency, and that complaints should go to them. Is this right?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No it isn’t. Tell them they are the ones that made the lending decisions so if they refuse to answer your complaint you will send it to the Finanical Ombudsman.
Lucy cooke says
I thought I was right in sending it to studio, I will get straight back onto them, Thankyou.
SC says
So thanks to site I’ve successfully managed (through the FSO) to have my claims for irresponsible lending against JD Williams upheld.
To cut a long story short, JD Williams allowed me to open 3 credit accounts within quick succession in the space of 30 days. My credit file at the time wold have shown a CCJ, multiple payday loans, credit cards and other high interest loans. Despite the initial credit being low, one of the accounts quickly fell into arrears, followed closely by the others.
I complained to JD Williams regarding irresponsible lending and within 10 days I receive a reply stating that they could not uphold my complaint. The adjudicator at the FSO investigated and agreed with me, upheld my complaint – however JD Williams disagreed and was referred to the ombudsmen. Then out of the blue I received a call from the adjudicator saying that JD Williams had changed their mind and accepted the adjudicators finding.
Although financial recompense is small (the accounts have a zero balance as I cleared these with Lowell) they have agreed to pay £20 compensation per account, rework the accounts to determine what the balance would be without added interest and late charges +8% and remove the negative info from my credit file, which now means no defaults on my credit file :)
Thank you to Sarah and all of the contributors on here for all of your help and support :)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ombudsman decisions are published – perhaps JD Williams didn’t want this one to be visible so they agreed to accept the adjudicator decision!
SC says
That’s sounds about right! From the moment I first spoke with them they difficult to deal with and I knew they’d make it as hard as possible (late replying to adjudicator etc.) andvthen tefusing to accept andvthen accepting! Just so glad it’s all over now and I can move on and not ever have to deal with them again!
chris says
Hi everyone
how long do very take to reply to the complaints, does anyone know?
I have received a reply so far saying as soon as possible with no idea at all of how long it takes, when i ask them for a rough idea they just say its been passed to another team.
Also, how successful have these complaints been for everyone here? I had no idea i could do one so thank you for the advise on the site Sara and fingers crossed!
sophie says
Hi, so my Very complaint took 8 weeks to get a response and unsurprisingly they did not uphold my complaint so it is now with the FOS. Just hold in there and fingers crossed you have more luck than i did!
Annie says
I am the same, I’ve just got a rejection from very, I now owe them 3k and the interest is crippling, what details did you give in your application to the FOS?
My credit limit was increased through the years and I was dependant on payday and high interest loans. Very state I never missed payments and was managing to pay the loans without default so therefore financially I ok and could afford it. Should I request a SAR from very then refer to FOS or put in a claim now and forward SAR later. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send it straight to FOS – I don’t think a SAR will help much here. If you can’t afford the repayments, you need to ask for a payment arrangement that you can afford and for interest to be frozen. Do this now, then it won’t matter how long the case takes at FOS.
Annie says
Thanks Sara, I have done as you suggested and referred to FOS.
MM says
I’m looking to pursue a complaint with Capital One and Barclaycard regarding increased credit limits. Has anyone had recent experience of making complaints and been successful? Does anyone have the complaint e-mail addresses for each organisation in question?
Lee Sharratt says
Hello. This prob ain’t the right place for advice . I had a loan with first direct for 5k, from ten years ago, now with a debt collector. Can I do anything to get rid of this? Or complain about bad lending ?
K says
Hi Sara,
So In 2015 I opened approx 4 credit cards all with limits low ish 2/3k from what I can remember, embarrassingly I developed a gambling problem and maxed out 1 card after the other, I’m the one that asked the credit card company to increase the credit limit until they wouldn’t increase them anymore I simply applied for a new one until I had approx 4 cards all with 5-7k limits totally approx 30k and an overdraft of 5k which I was able to just keep increasing. I then ended up going to step change because I knew I was never going to be able to make the minimum payments on them and ended up in a dmp. With all defaults applued to all accoubts. My question is do you think I have any grounds to complain they shouldn’t of allowed me to increase these limits as if they had credit checked me properly they would see I had large amounts of borrowing in a short space of time? If so how do I go about complaining?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes you can complain about being given larger credit limits on cards and overdraft even if you asked for them. See the “Once you had an account, any of the following suggest that you shouldn’t have been given a larger limit:” section in the article above.
These complaints are not as easy to win as payday loan ones, but it’s worth a try. Your complaint needs to mention the extra borrowing they would have seen if they had checked your credit record, and missed payments, and cash taken out on the account, any gambling showing. Here you are looking to emphasise the large number of problems they should have seen – any one of the problems individually wouldn’t be enough to win a case, but taken together the lenders should have realised you were in trouble and not offered more credit.
K says
I’ll get cracking then thanks for the advice. Do the fos take as long to pick these up as payday loan complaints?
David says
Hello, i submitted a complaint to Barclaycard regarding irresponsible lending due to a very high increase to my credit card (trebled it). My credit report shows that i was a frequent Payday loan user (to which i have successfully re-claimed for irresponsible lending, thanks to you), always close to my credit limit, took cash advances and only ever made the minimum payment, but they increased the limit anyway. So i made a complaint 22/10/2018, to which i was told they aim to resolve this by 6th November, on the 6th November i received additional correspondence saying they needed more time, they aim to resolve by 26/11/2018. As of today i haven’t yet had any further correspondence, however, upon logging into my Barclaycard account i have noticed the following:
Cr Standard Int CS +£306.55
Cr Cash Int CS +£1.45
Both dated 16/11/2018, could this be Barclaycard accepting to a degree irresponsible lending? If so, would this increase my chances of winning the case if submitting to the FOS? I haven’t agreed to any payment/ compensation from them. The account has nothing outstanding as i took out a balance transfer card back in September.
Kind Regards
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“could this be Barclaycard accepting to a degree irresponsible lending?” that is hard to guess.
“If so, would this increase my chances of winning the case if submitting to the FOS?” it would depend why they were refunding you some money. Just because they agree they did something wrong doesn’t necessarily mean that they did other things wrong.
I suggest you phone up and ask.
David says
I have contacted Barclaycard and asked them for an update into my complaint (in writing), as they have not responded to me within their specified time frame. Hopefully, i will be able to provide an update ASAP
I have not touched the money that my account has been credited with, as i’m assuming they would take that as me accepting their findings?
Many Thanks
Max says
Hi Sara.
I had a very account, an aqua card, and Argos card.
I do know the number account. I know the increase my limit, but I do know when. I don’t know even when I had opened this account.
Can I ask the companies
to proportionate to me that information?
Thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can ask for the information is you want. But if you think it was simply increased too high, you could just put in a complaint saying that, unless you think the exact dates make a difference?
J says
Would this be the right page to ask about any dealings with Creation Consumer Finance? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This page is for affordability complaints – is that what you want to ask about?
JOJO says
Hi Sarah
Do you still have to issue SAR for a credit card complaint?
thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Not for all ypour personal information unless there is something you really want to check. You will get a mountain of paperwork.
SARs are most useful for large laons where you only made a few applications so you can really cross check what they send.
JOJO says
:-) thank you just checking x
Jb says
I’m thinking of making complaints to very, aqua, capital one and a fair few other places. They all let me open accounts and increased limits several times while I was in an IVA. I was Struggling to pay the Iva And once it finishes I was left in the awful situation I find myself in now due to all these places letting me borrow loads while in an IVA with an awful credit file. Do I even have a case here?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes you have a case for irresponsible lending. But there is a chance that if the case has to go to the ombudsman (and many of these cases do) then it’s possible any compensation for interest you paid while you were in the IVA may go to the IVA firm not to you.
When did your IVA complete? How large are your current debts?
Jb says
My Iva completed over a year ago now. I accrued about 8k debt while in the Iva and I am now in 12k plus debt spiralling out of control. I feel as if I should never have been lent to while I was insolvent.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Was there a particular reason why you had to borrow so much when you were in the IVA? You probably broke the terms of your IVA by borrowing that much. I think you should talk to StepChange about setting up a DMP for all your current debts.
Jb says
I was in the Iva in the first place due to a spending and borrowing addiction. I got accepted once and the credit limit was increased and it just spiralled out of control again during my Iva. No borrowers ever mentioned me being in an Iva. I definitly broke the terms of the Iva but it completed and is all done now. I had a dmp with stepchange but it recently failed. I am now receiving professional help for my addiction and the mental stress this has caused me, I just feel it’s wrongg it was so easy for me to get into this situation again while dealing with it the first time and being in an IvA.
JOJO says
Hi Sarah,
me again, sorry. If you have more than 1 credit card with the same lender, can you issue 1 complaint or do you have to issue 2 separate complaints?
thanks in advance.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can do either – but I think a single complaint would normally be easier?
David says
Hi Sara,
I’ve had a response from Barclaycard, they have rejected my complaint regarding irresponsible lending. They claim to have made all relevant credit checks.
Also within the response they claim that payday loans will not identify someone as struggling with finances if they are paid on time, despite the amount that were on my credit file at the time. From what I read they must be the only ones that don’t view payday loans negatively? With regards to the cash advance they claim they allow this facility, so this would not flag up as a negative impact on my credit file. They have made no mention to me going over my limit on a couple of occasions.
The funds listed in my original post have been isssued to me as a good Will gesture for the last 6 month interest on the account.
Does the above sound true on your experience or is it something I should pursue with FOS?
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You said your credit limit was trebled – was this all in one go? How much too? What was your income at the time? How long ago?
David says
All in one go, from £1500 straight up to £4500. Looking back on my original complaint my take home income was around £2100 per month, but my outgoings per month were just shy of £1600 (on average, sometimes more or slightly less dependant on payday loans). The increase was April 2014.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So your argument to FOS would be – “they increased my credit limit by a very large amount without considering if this would be harmful for me. If they had looked at my credit record and seen all the payday loans and looked at my card usage and seen the cash withdrawals and minimum payments, I think they should have realised that although one of those three may not be much cause for worry, the combination of all three suggested someone who was having difficulty with their finances in 2014 and a large credit limit increase was irresponsible.”
There haven’t been enough of these cases for it to be clear how likely this would be to succeed. But it’s quick to send a case to FOS so you may as well try!
David says
Thanks for the advice Sara, I’ll give it a try. The worst that can happen is I get rejected.
I’ll keep updating as my case moves forward.
Thanks again.
SC says
Hi Sara, just a quick positive update on this complaint! After initially rejecting the adjudicators decision, they accepted rather than go through the ombudsmen. I initially thought the financial recompense would be tiny, however it has been calculated at £600 and the final three defaults have been removed from my credit file.
My advice to anybody complaining to JD Williams companies is to keep at it! They’re slow, no responsive and have been rude to both me and the FOS. If you have a strong case, stick at it and don’t let them put you off!!
Katie says
I have put a complaint in with Vanquis for irresponsible lending they have not replied so I sent it to FOS and it was assigned to an adjudicator a couple of months ago. I took the card out in 2011 with a £500 limit it was increased to £1500 in 2013 then a number of increases up to £4000. All the time the limit was maxed out and there were over limit charges and still they increased the limit! The adjudicator has found in my favour and asked Vanquis to refund all interest from 2013. I doubt they will agree but they have until next week to reply.
Dan says
Katie, can I ask how long your case was with the adjudicator ?
I had the same complaint with vanquis which they rejected and it has now been with the adjudicator for 3 months going back and forth to vanquis for further information!
Katie says
Its been with an adjudicator since October. I don’t think Vanquis have been very helpful supplying them with information! I will let you know when I have an update.
Katie says
Update to above. Amazingly Vanquis have agreed with the adjudicator. This will pay off the card and there is £1000 back to me! Great Result. Thanks so much to Sara and this site, would not have known we could put in these complaints without it.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
excellent!
Dan says
They have come back to the adjudicator prior to them making a decision and offered to pay back interest and charges from the 1st credit limit increase ! No idea how long they will take to refund or even how they go about refunding ! The account was sold off over 12 months ago.
Dan says
Katie,
Can I ask if you have heard anything directly from vanquis yet in terms of a letter or cheque in the post etc ? Just seeing how long it takes them
Katie says
Hi Dan,
I spoke to them last week and the card was paid off the week before. They said the cheque would be sent off last week too but I haven’t got it yet so rang again today to be told it had been sent today! Hopefully here tomorrow.
Dan says
That’s great news – could you tell me what number you phoned to speak with them about it?
Shells says
Hi guys, my Vanquis is with adjudicator, have u also won your complaint?
Katie says
I phoned them on the complaints number 03300993130. Good Luck!
Dan says
Thanks Katie,
Have them a bell should have something early next week….
Shells – yes both myself and Katie have both won complaints against vanquis via FOS
Shells says
Hey Katie, did they apply statutory interest to refund?
San M says
Hi Sara, I’m hoping you can advise me. I have a Simply Be account, the interest was increased on the 3rd June 2017 (I can not remember getting a letter, but they say one was sent) the rate they are charging me now is 69.98%. I complained and received their decision by letter saying ‘ As the interest rate has been increased in line with the terms of your account I am unable to uphold your complaint’. My balance is £983, the monthly credit charge is £35.64 and my monthly payment is £39.33 (I can only afford to pay the minimum payment). Is there anything I can do?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Are you struggling to make the monthly payment? Do you have other debts that are also a problem?
San M says
Yes, I am struggling and have other debts, but the other balances are coming down.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK, this depends how much you are struggling. If you are getting behind with utility bills or other important payments, or you are sometimes spending on the cards and catalogues then you aren’t managing and I suggest you talk to StepChange https://www.stepchange.org/debt-info/debt-management-plan.aspx about setting up a debt management plan.
If you are just coping but it’s hard work, read https://debtcamel.co.uk/money-detox-seven-easy-steps/ and see if any of the ideas there will help you free up some cash.
I assume your credit rating isn’t good so you couldn’t get a balance transfer credit card. This doesn’t reduce your minimum payments but it pays off the debt a lot faster
If you are paying more than the minimum to any of your other debts, you should probably change to overpaying this Simply Be one as it is probably the highest interest.
If you can’t do this, the best thing to do is to stop using the SB account and set up a standing order to pay it £40 a month. It will start falling, just slowly. Fixing the amount you pay will make this faster, as otherwise your monthly minimum will drop a tiny bit each month, trapping you in debt for longer.
San M says
Thank you Sara.
Max says
Hi Katie. Can I ask you how did you find out when they had increased your credit limit?
I want to claim to Vanquis, but I cannot find that info.
Thanks
Max
Katie says
Hi Max,
You can see on the Noddle credit report, year by year what your Credit Limit was.
Shells says
Can I ask if provident is similar to the Wonga situation re the older than 6 yrs, time Barr? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Provident was paying out on over 6 year cases but recently a few people have reported they have refused to consider them. In which case go to FOS if the older loans are an important part of your case. How many provi loans did you have over 6years? And under?
Shells says
They did refuse, I sent it to Fos around May last year. Then Fos said it was time barred, 2 loans were just under when I complained. Around 8-10 over. Just received email from Fos as I asked for update. They said they are still looking into whether or not they can look into over 6 years. Just wondered whether just to drop the over
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Are any of the 8-10 before April 2007? If they are, they will never be considered.
I would expect FOS to reach the same conclusion on provident loans that they have on payday loans.
If the two within 6 years (NB that means within 6 years when the case went to FOS, not when you complained to Provident) are much larger, would that be an OK result for you?
Shells says
There was 4 in 2011 but only 2 under 6 yrs when I complained. All 09, 10 & 11. I’ll just hold on. Been waiting for a year anyway! Thanks
david askew says
Hi guys,
Just wondering if something similar can be done with credit card charges?
When i was in my payday loan hell i also had a Capital One credit card. They only gave me a £100 credit limit but every single month i was late with payments.
For the sake of a £100 limit i almost every single month for a 2 year period had charges of approx £25. I would estimate i paid around £500 in charges for that £100 limit!!
Thanks,
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Winning an “affordability complaint” here is unlikely – if they had increased your credit limit during this time you would have a better case.
But those default charges are absurdly high. You could complain to Capital One that their charges were too high and did not represent the real cost to them of your late payments. Ask for a refund of them. And take it to the Ombudsman if they say No. But don’t try to call this an affordability complaint as that will obscure your real point.
Antony walker says
Hello i have just put in a complaint to vanquis aswell, quite similar to the others as they kept on increasing my limit despite me always using the full credit available every month. I had defaults on my file and alot of credit out at this time also. I have used the templet letter and asked for refund of all interest and sent email yesterday and got reply next day acknowledging the complaint. My question is it worthwhile me sending them proof of my current financial position, ie showing them all the debt i now have with 4 credit cards and a hefty loan of 25k which stemmed from after i severed ties with them in 2014? I got money off relative u see in 2014 to pay the 3k i owed them but had to get credit to pay them back and it spirralled out of control again until this day.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You will only get a refund if Vanquis made poor decisions in lending to you. I don’t think that anything that happened after you repaid the card is going to be relevant to your complaint.
But who was the 25k loan from? Is it affordable?
Antony says
The 25k loan was from tesco and and used to pay 2 of the 5 cards off that i had and ive kept up with the repayments so far although it is a struggle with my other cards to pay and all other bills etc.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A Tesco loan was probably at a lot lower rate than your credit cards, so a good move. If you are finding things too hard though I suggest you talk to StepChange about a debt management plan, see https://www.stepchange.org/debt-info/debt-management-plan.aspx
Antony says
Yeah it was at a decent apr. Cheers i will take a look, thankyou
Claire says
I just wanted to give people some hope. I complained to aqua about irresponsible lending, they rejected the complaint and so did the adjudicator. I then took it the ombudsman who agreed with me and upheld my complaint, Aqua made no further comment and I will be receiving interest back from 2013. It’s taken since last year, but thought it might give people some hope.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well done for persevering!
J says
Hi Claire
I’ve had my complaint re Aqua rejected by them
and adjudicator. It’s now going to ombudsman. Your outcome has given me some hope!
J
Claire says
Honestly stick in. The ombudsman who dealt with. My complaint also pulled a previous case I had with them which I think helped.
Shells says
I had mine rejected by aqua, then while it was with adjudicator they agreed! From the first increase.
SB says
Hi all, I’ve just had my complaint rejected for my Aqua card by the adjudicator and submitted an escalation to the ombudsman. My concern is that I took out the card in 2007 and had 5 Increases (from £200 to £2100) across 19 months. I had significantly increasing debts every time they applied an automatic increase and extremely high credit utilisation plus over limit payments from before each increase. Adjudicator ruled it was more than 3 years since I should have known to make a complaint due to the credit increase letters sent to me (despite providing thorough evidence of only finding out this year). I luckily have my credit file from 2013 as I needed to undertake DRO in that year and have kept records including statements and letters. My question is, how long does the ombudsman generally take and also has anybody had an over 6 year claim upheld? Im aware it’s unlikely with timescale but I’m hopeful all the same! Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am not aware of anyone winning one of these cases about unaffordability of credit limit increases more than 6 years ago. Was a debt to Aqua included in your DRO?
SB says
Hi Sara,
Yes the aqua card was included in the DRO, which was discharged in April 2014. It’s strange because he deemed it over 3 years only due to the fact they sent out a credit limit increase letter and I should have been aware I couldn’t afford this, I queried as to how this was any different to payday lenders lending money irresponsibly and the customer still knowing they couldn’t afford it, same principle of checks in my opinion. There was also a lot of contradictory statements in aquas final response about increases and decreases which I also pointed out. Seems there’s a distinct lack of consistency between adjudicators and ombudsman.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Payday loans are very different. There the element of repeat lending by itself after a while suggests the lender should have made better checks. That element is missing from other sorts of lending. Also if you did win, you may find Aqua ask for any refund to set off against the balance they wrote off in a DRO.
SB says
I understand the differences between them both, however I don’t understand how a customer would have been reasonably aware they could make a complaint at that point and why princeply the customer who was paying minimum payments would be allowed additional credit knowing they were already maxing their card and reliant on it. I’ll let you know how I get on, even though I’m hopeful, I’m still expecting a flat out rejection! Would it make a difference for redress if the debt was bought by a debt collection company and that is 1 month away from being defaulted for 6 years? Along with the DRO dropping off my file in April this year, In essence dropping off credit file and statute barred? (My understanding may be wrong on that)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, the over 6 year cases are not being rejected as they are statute barred. That is irrelevant. It’s a fair point that you didn’t know you could have complained, but the 6 year rule is there for the very practical reason that there will very often be little or no evidence of what checks the lender made in these old cases.
SB says
Sara
Sorry I meant would they be able to offset the redress against the current debt if the debt was sold on to a collection company and default is over 6 years old? Wouldn’t it make it statute barred and unable to be offset against it? Apologies for the million questions, just attempting to gauge my own expectations. Thank you for everything you do on this site by the way, as thanks to your site I have been successful in payday loan complaints.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
” I meant would they be able to offset the redress against the current debt if the debt was sold on to a collection company and default is over 6 years old?”
Yes, they can. This is normal – it happens a lot with PPI complaints. A debt still legally exists even if it is statute barred.
Antony says
Im hoping my complaint with vanquis goes well, as soon as my limit increases to 1k, 2k and 3k went on i quickly maxed them out and was paying always around the minimum payments each month for 3 years ( 148 minimum payment with 125 of that interest alone). Every payment i made and had available credit left i quickly spent that and it was a repeated cycle every month although i only had 1 or 2 late payments. I couldnt ever make any inroads into paying it off until a relative helped me. After the 1st increase i had 4 defaults on my file and various other debt with other cards so surely they should of checked my file and refused these increases
alana says
Is it possible to complain about unaffordable lending for a bank of Scotland overdraft?
and if so – would it still be a case if i was requesting the overdrafts?
I was desperate as i was trying to pay off so many other debts and requested my overdraft higher and higher and higher.
22nd June 17 – £200
22nd June 17 – £400
22nd June 17 – £600
4th July 17 – £750
4th July – £900
4th July – £1000
25th August – £1100
25th August – £1200
29th August – £1400
21st December – £1750
21 December – £1850
4th January – £2000
7th February – £2100
7th February – £2250
14th February – £2400
14th February – £2550
14th February – £2750
I have been maxed every time and ever since with what seems to be no way out.
I wrote to them about 4 months asking if there is any way i can fix it or get help with it as there was no end and constant interest and they said no and gave me £100 good will.
This is my current bank account – not sure if this makes a difference or il get punished from them and lose my account if i complain?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Alana, yes you can complain. the article above mainly talks about credit cards but the approach fro overdrafts is similar – that they should not have kept increasing your credit limit without checking on your overall situation.
In your case I suggest that RBS should have noticed you may be in financial trouble because of the number of times you asked for your limit to be increased. If they had then done a credit check on you, that would presumably have shown what a lot of other debts you had and it would then be irresponsible for them to further increase your limit.
Many of these cases have to go to the Ombudsman so this could take a long while.
I suggest that you should take action now to get a different bank account – go for a basic one with no overdraft, you can’t be refused one because of a poor credit record and there are NO FEES on them. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/new-basic-bank-account/ for details.
alana says
Do i request a subject access report etc. too? or just go with the above and sent in the complaint and explaining why?
I have just opened a new basic bank account this morning as per your advice.
Do i then ask for a repayment plan for the overdraft on my old account and try pay it off that way after i have told them i now have a new account? will the interest keep going up even with a payment plan in place?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You don’t need a SAR – you know when they increased your credit limit.
Once the new account is set up and all your income and payments have been switched over, your old overdraft is just another debt. Perhaps that is the best time to put in your complaint? You could ask for a payment arrangement and for the interest and charges to be frozen on it and for the interest and charges added to be refunded from 25th of August when you made your 7th request for an increase in 2 months.
Chris M says
Good afternoon,
I got myself in to a lot of debt through compulsive gambling, pleased to say I am now 10 month gamble free.
this doesn’t help me with my outstanding debt, currently on a DMP that is due to run to 2026.
I currently owe,
-RBS loan £14,203, was originally a £4000 then £7500 then up to £17500. currently with collections.
-RBS overdraft £945, was £1600. been living in the overdraft for about 9 years. also with collection.
-118Money, £1447, originally £1500. taken out when already £20,000 in debt and struggling.
-PayPal Credit £907 originally £1000
-Vanquis £455 originally £500, offered me to close account if I can pay £280.
-Sunny £320 originally £450, taken out when £22,000 in debt
-Sunny £60 originally £100 taken out a week after the first.
I have had an appointment with my medical officer after a break down and he has signed of a debt and mental health questionnaire, stating, I am a compulsive gambler, I cant manage money, depressed, stressed and anxious about the debts.
I have been submitting complaints through Resolver, so far I can escalate them all to FoS as they all keep saying it was irresponsible and there not in the wrong.
any help from here would be greatly appreciated.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
10 months clean – well done!
So you are paying about £200 a month to your DMP? Are you buying or renting?
What about previous debts – did you have other payday loans from other lenders that you repaid?
Chris m says
Hi,
£276 a month, in a rented unfurnished house. These have been my only debts. Never had a pay day loan before, had a credit card which was paid off.
Jayne lee says
Hi could any1 help with borrowing whilst in an iva. Was in a bad way way when i applied for vanquid credit card and didnt know cudnt take out borrowing…cut long story short credit limit kept increasing now owing £3K..IVa Was completed over 12 months ago..this debt was taken out after iva had started…just feel that thrse increases shouldnt have happened if vanquis had done sufficient checks. Could a claim be made for irrespomsible lending..thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Has your IVA finished?
Dan says
Good afternoon all,
Has anyone had any successful irresponsible lending complaints with vanquis ?
After 10 months vanquis have made an offer to the adjudicator ht was wondering if anyone knew from experience how long they take to send this on ? And I presume they just send a cheque in the post ?
Gary says
Hi, could you please give me some advice, i made a complaint of irresponsible and unaffordable lending with Halifax on a credit card i have had for over 10 years where they increased the credit limit annually without any request by myself until the balanced reached £8500. Halifax refused to accept any responsibility and advised that as the last credit increases were made 6 years ago before they closed my account whereby i should have made a complaint at a that time. I am going to be sending my complaint to the FOS on the off chance that they may agree with me.
My question is i have around £3500 left to pay off on the Halifax credit card however I have been provided with a new credit card with Santander with 0% interest for 30 months which will allow me to pay the card off. Would a balance transfer to Santander affect my complaint with Halifax?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t think you have any chance of winning that FOS complaint. FOS will probably refuse to look at the complaint and if they did it would probably fail because of lack of evidence. Halifax may well not have retained records about decisions they made more than 6 years ago. And your current credit record must presumably be looking very good to get a 0% balance transfer so how can you prove that it was looking very poor more than 6 years ago?
I suggest you grab the 0% balance transfer offer.
gary says
Thanks for your reply.
I have worked hard over the last year to improve my credit rating. However previous to that i had 100’s of payday loans with nearly every payday lender going and lodged complaints with them all and won all but one. Some of these complaints were won independantly with the payday loan company direct and some were won through the FOS. In addition i have won a complaint with 118 money on an unaffordale loan that dates back 4 years.
My complaint with Halifax surrounds the 6 month / annual credit increases from the date of opening the account where my credit rating was increased from 1000 to 8500 within a matter of years where i was continually at my max limit and used the card primarily to withdraw cash. I have various statements available but not all.
Surely it is worth submitting the complaint rather than ignoring it?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s your choice but my view is you won’t win and so it’s pointless. These credit card affordabilty complaints are harder to win than payday loans even if they are within 6 years. Older than 6 years I have not seen FOS agree to look at a credit card, catalogue or overdraft complaint- their decision to look at payday loans over 6 years does not help you trying to get this considered.
Laura says
Hi Sara looking for some advice. I wrote before about the issues I was having with littlewoods and now being in a situation where I am unable to repay without borrowing more. I currently am in arrears of ~£900. They have been very difficult and are my only debt. I have also lost my hearing In a car accident, been made redundant and am currently expecting a baby. So it’s highly stressful. I have offered to pay £100 a month until I can get back into employment and yesterday they said this wasn’t acceptable and the debt would be sold on. They told me to contact CAB and when I did it was them who said about affordability and that complaint has been submitted but they are not engaging ang it’s becomimg so stressful, had my first panic attack today. How do I’ve forward from here
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Are you sure you can afford £100 a month to this debt? That looks unlikely to me from what you have said.
It’s not bad news if Littlewoods sell your debt – most debt collectors are easier to deal with than Littlewoods!
Going forward:
– definitely carry on with your affordabilty complaint to Littlewoods (and the Barclaycard one you mentioned before)
– when your complaint goes to FOS, also add that they have not treated you fairly as a vulnerable customer, who is deaf, pregnant and has been made redundant. Say that you think they should have frozen interest from the point you told them about your problems and it was unfair for them to continue to phone you after you had explained that you were deaf.
– I think you should talk to StepChange about your debts as apart from this catalogue debt you also have a bank loan?
Laura says
Thanks Sara,
The Barclaycard debt has been cleared due to an unexpected inheritance we received at Xmas. The bank loan my husband can and continues to want to cover himself (he works in financial sectors requires credit checks for jobs etc) my final question is as this is my only debt should I still contact step change? I have almost £10,000 refund from
Adjudicator about casheuronet but I’m
In the 2015 situation, as ideally that world clear the debt and would be debt free. Can definitely afford the £100 gym and mobile phone contact cancelled
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is a shame you didn’t use the inheritance to clear some of the Littlewoods debt which will have been at a higher interest rate. Are you waiting for QQ to agree your refund from the adjudicator? If you are, lets hope they agree then you can pay off Littlewoods.
No you don’t have to go to StepChange. Or cancel the gym contract. Or ask for reduced payments on the loan. But from littlewoods point of view why should you carry on with all of those and not pay them?
Laura says
Sorry no I have cancelled them so I can afford to pay £100 a month to littlewoods For sure.
The adjudication descision was in Sept but I asked to go to ombudsman as they only accepted surround £1800 as they said post 2015 was affordable but when I called in Dec for a update FOS said everyone was on hold and negotiating with the company direct.
My husband thought I had a better chance of littlewoods being classed as unaffordable as it went from £25 credit limit to £5500 without me ever asking and when I applied I was on 8 hours a week at a supermarket and I never had to or was asked to do a income/ expense to update records, should have asked you first!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ah I misunderstood your point about the gym contract.
Well the bottom line is not to panic over Littlewoods selling the debt. No you don’t have to go to StepChange if your husband wants to pay the bank debt in full. Worse case is Littlewoods carry on adding interest until the debt is sold.
mrs cheaplaugh says
Hello Sarah.
I have opened a complaint against New Day, trading as Aqua. I had the card in 2012 with an initial limit of £200. My argument is that they kept raising my credit limit to such a point it became unsustainable. I ended with a credit limit in 2017 of £6950, of which I was maxed on. My argument was that they continued to raise my limit despite me making cash advances within days of paying my account: That the money I was paying in I was withdrawing again, only leaving enough each month to cover the interest. On the face of it Aqua argued that I ran my account well so saw no reason not to raise my limit. During the life of the account, I was using Payday loans, had catalogues and was juggling payments each month. I incurred CCJs and was in debt to my utilities. The FOS adjudicator has replied saying they saw nothing that New Day had done wrong. My argument was that had they carried out more thorough checks the would have seen how my account was being run and that Aqua was a special card for people with poor credit. I feel that the frequency and scale of the increases further encouraged me to get into debt. Should I ask the Ombudsman to make a final decision?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
(I assume this is a final decision from the adjudicator? if not ask them to look at it again.)
Yes I think you should ask for this to go to an Ombudsman. Write back to the adjudicator setting out your reasons and ask for these to be passed to the ombudsman. These could include the following points:
Aqua are aware their card is often used by people who have a poor credit record and may get into difficulties. This should not have stopped it lending to you originally but means that it should have been careful when increasing your credit limit that the new limit would still be affordable for you.
Point out to the Ombudsman that this is a customer-focussed test, looking at whether additional credit would be harmful to you, rather than a check on whether you were likely to default to Aqua.
Supply a list of CCJs, new defaults and payday loans during this period. Point out the scale of these problems would have suggested to Aqua that you were in deep financial trouble and could not afford to borrow any more from Aqua.
mrs cheaplaugh says
I wrote back and made all my points to the adjudicator. Their reply stated
‘I am still of the view that NewDay did not do anything wrong by giving you the account and
then increasing your credit limit. You have had the use of the money that NewDay gave
you access to by increasing the credit limit – so I don’t feel a refund of interest or fees is
justified. I think it’s now best for my consideration of your complaint to conclude.’
He is now passing my file to the Ombudsman. I just find I peculiar that he cannot see the fault here; that my debts were spiralling out of control and I needed the money from the credit limit increases to live on and pay other debts.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Let’s hope a new pair of eyes takes a different view!
annie says
Hi Sarah
Can I ask for clarification.
I made a complaint to Shop Direct/very about unaffordable credit.
They made a goodwill payment so I forwarded my complaint to FOS.
They have come back to say that catalogue complants if successful pay only interest applied to the account and any other charges such as late payments etc. No 8 % interest is added.
Just wanted to check this was the case as tne template letter above suggests asking for 8 per cent.
Thanks for your help
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It depends on whether the account has been closed or the balance cleared down to zero. In that case 8% would be added. But if the account has always been maxed out, then instead you get a refund of the interest as that is at a higher rate.
Annie says
thank you for clarifying that Sarah,
Much appreciated
Garry says
Hi Sara. Please can I check something. I had Very shopping insurance between November 2011 and October 2016. The account is still running but PPI was stopped when I cancelled it in 2016. I’ve fortunately just been made an offer by Shop Direct which I’m happy but not very happy with. I wondered if you can give me an indication if the associated interest figure seems about right or too low? Premiums paid were roughly £1,200. 8% interest of £400, overlimit and charges refund of £200 and £400 associates interest due to the PPI being on the account. It’s that last figure I feel is too low as the Very account interest was usually around 29.9% APR. Please can you let me know if I should challenge this offer? Thanks so much.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did you sometimes clear the balance down to zero? That stops associated interest accumulating on the previously paid PPI and switches it to 8% interest instead.
Garry says
To be honest I can’t really remember. Do Shop Direct have a history of making fair offers though or should I ask for a more detailed redress breakdown? Thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t see enough PPI complaints to know. Why not ask for the detailed breakdown?
Annie says
I put in a claim to Very for irresponsible lending where they increased my credit limit several times over the years, I asked for the refund of interest paid. Verys final response was a rejection so I logged a compliant with the FOS on 2nd January which has been acknowledged. I have now received an email from Very to say they have received my complaint and will issue a final response before 21 February, I find this a bit strange and random, does this mean that due to the FOS involvement that they are going to reassess their decision and deal with me directly rather than the FOS. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t know – but it would be good if they change their mind!
Laura says
Hi Sara,
Littlewoods sent a default notice to my old address. They were scanned my driving lisence and council tax as requested and they wrote to my new address in Dec . I even sent copies recorded delivery as they were bring so akward. I only got the letter today 26th and the deadline was 25th . My dad gave me the money to pay the arrears £827 but where do I stand with the lateness? I sent a notice on 31st Oct advising I wished to raise and affordability complaint requested my data. I got that 6 weeks later, not sure if the limit is 4?! Then I sent a more detailed complaint. On 12th December followed by another one last week about the way they are dealing with me not responding to emails, letters etc and I’m
Deaf and they have just acknowledged that. Can I got to FOS now as I said I was complaining on 31st Oct? Thanks as always
April says
Hi there,
I have written to Next with a complaint as I’ve had to have two lowered payment plans with them which they lifted after three months. So basically, I opened an account with them and they gave me a limit of £150. Around 3 months later, take into consideration my low credit score, they randomly raised it straight to £3750! I was good at paying off the £150 everytime I used it but that doesn’t mean I can afford £3750… I started using it as a kitchen appliance broke and needed a new mattress due to SPD(serverely painful pelvic problem during pregnancy) but also had a very low income as a single parent with childcare and rent to pay so used the credit for clothes. Started struggling to pay off the minimum amount each month hence why I asked for a lower payment plan. They then would then lift the payment plan and give me the credit back knowing hat the reason I needed the plan was cause I’d had another baby and was on an even lower income on maternity leave. I am currently seeing a therapist due to depression and money factors into that. They suspended my account when I’d got to around £2300 but then again, keep giving me the credit back, this has happened around three times also. Am I in the right to complain considering I’ve been open and honest with them about my struggles?
Thank you so much for any help!!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That sounds well worth a complaint! It sounds as though they should have left the payment plan in place with interest frozen, not let you go back to spending more on the account.
Were most of your communications with them by phone?
Don’t be depressed if they reject your complaint, send it straight to the ombudsman and tell Next you have done this.
alana black says
is it common to be refunded 8% interest on credit card refunds too?
i have just had a call to say that aqua agree with my adjudicators decision of refunding all interest and charges for when i took my credit card out in 2013. (started with £200 limit and now at £2400)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Normally no unless you cleared the account down to zero. Otherwise you were being charged the card interest rate effectively – much more than 8% – and that is what you get back.
alana black says
thanks for replying. i really have no idea what to even expect back. im not sure if it will be £500 or £1000. i really really have no idea. i will need to go back over all my statements.
I still have a large balance so i am so glad it will be used to bring that right back down atleast and pay the remaining off properly.
i didn’t expect it at all.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A nice surprise! let us know how much you get?
alana black says
I will do! I didn’t expect it at all! I thought it would of went to an ombudsman!
alana black says
I also meant to say they won’t take it off my credit file as they believe they have an obligation to report as I did spend the money and go over and was late.
If they were to take it off my file, it would be essentially lieing that i hadn’t had the credit and defaulted.
my adjudicator agrees that the outcome i have is very good. is it worth going to ombudsman for this? or accepting the above?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t know what the Ombudsman would say… Is this the only problem on your credit record?
alana black says
no, there are other issues also on my file also – so i guess this one won’t make a big difference.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think that is probably the realistic answer.
Ann-marie says
Hi ya I’ve been with studio catalogue for over 9 years and each time my bill comes in the interest goes up and the minum payments changes EACH time now I want some advice on how to claim my money back from them because I believe they have overcharged me for the past 9 years
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How often do you spend on the catalogue? Do you ever use buy now pay later deals? These can be very confusing and result in chunks of backdated intere4st being added when the deals end if they have not been repaid.
Kirsty Atkins says
Hi,
hoping someone can help!
I was in a DMP years ago and paid everything off – during that time i still held a very & littlewoods account, all of which had high limits and i was struggling to pay and limits did increase. I also opened an account with Jd williams, fashion world & simply be all again with high, increasing limits and now i owe a large sum to all and interest is insane. I also took a loan out with 118 and likley loans all of which i am finidng impossible to pay and am considering entering into another DMP to help.
Can i put a complaint into any of these for irresponsible lending? and if yes, can someone please help me and explain how i do this? and any contact details i may need? It seems Very & Littlewoods are impossible to get a hold of now.
Appreciate the help
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How long ago did your DMP end?
Laura says
Hello,
Do shop direct (Littlewoods) usually reply to complaints? I was 8 weeks yesterday and nothing. It took 7 weeks for the SAR to be issued and now it’s all silent. Which is funny considering I was getting 8 calls a day!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Phone them up, ask why you haven’t a response to your complaint and say it will go to the Ombudsman if you haven’t had a reply within a week.
Kelly says
Hi, I am making complaint again Aqua on the basis they increased my credit limit to 4.5k within a short period of time even though I was only making minimum payment for a long period of time. I couldn’t afford these payments and was then using the card straight away to get by. I also have 4 other credit cards including one from marbles. Are Marbles and Aqua the same company and should I send as 1 complaint or separately?
lee says
Hi Sara,
Great website, I’ve used a lot of tips from it and have a number of complaints currently with the ombudsman, my question relates to credit cards, I feel I have a strong complaint as from opening vanquis card with £250 limit it went to £2K + within 18 months.
But the ombudsman is sticking by the Disp Rules 2.8 when since I put all my debts into a DMP in april 2012 the 3 years starts from then and not Aug 2018 when I really did find out that I could actually complain.
do you think i can argue this further or leave it now
thanks again for all your help
Sara (Debt Camel) says
FOS doesn’t normally look at affordability complaints about credit cards where the limit increases are more than 6 years ago. As the article above says, complaints about old accounts are going to be hard.
Suecanwin says
Hi need URGENT advice. …Think this is a very rare situation
After mothers death have found loads of paperwork ref an IVA in 2006.
Was discharged same year. Lost her house etc.
However going through all her paperwork Ive noticed shes kept everything.
The period in particular I am looking at is the from 1999 to 2005 aged 76- 81.
To my horror the IVA shows she had amassed 190k of debt through credit cards and loans.
At the time in 1999 aged 75/76 it was approx 100k. So in the next 6 years it escalated with more borrowing to 190k.
in the period 2002 to 2005 alone she borrowed approx 60k of this!
I have every bank statement which shows during this time she was grossly over drawn and she had no income coming in. Basically she was just borrowing more and more and more to pay all the crazy interest on her loans and cards. Her monthly payments in the end were approx 3k …and that was just interest …the debts were not getting any smaller. I have letters galore during this whole period sending credit card cheques which she simply used and saying …’ we have increased you account balance’ from most of the providers. A year before it all came crumbling down she got an MBNA loan for £30k! and was paying £450 a month for it! Its horrendous! ( and at that point she owed £140k)
Suecanwin says
They did no affordability at all and obviously did no credit searches. Getting a loan at aged 80 years for £30k is scandalous. I have so much proof and evidence of everything….minimum payments always being made….over drawn at the bank…..no income coming in other than her state pension and to top it all a letter from her GP saying she had depression! I have a letter in her own handwriting to say she had no income and was struggling with depression and had to keep borrowing to pay all her credit cards and loans.
They have preyed on an old woman, who was 100% vulnerable etc. The fact that the IVA was discharged at 82 within 6 months says it all.
She lost her house as the result of this as what little equity that was left in it had to be sold and the proceeds …about £30k was divided between the creditors.
I think this is an exceptional case. I want to name and shame MBNA, Barclaycard, Bank Of Scotland (approx 45k owed to each) plus all the others who did absolutely no affordability checks. I discovered all of this in October and its taken me all this time to go through it.
Ive worked out just in those 6 years she paid interest of approx £200,000 … I concede that most of this was lenders money …however the stress she went through! Ive got statement after statement of showing about 40 lines of number calculations on each in really frail handwriting…what she must have gone through!. Its the worst case of miss selling to someone so old and vulnerable that Ive ever come across.
Regarding the 6 year time bar …do you think given the circumstances and the sheer amount of evidence I am sitting on I have a good case to get the 6 year time bar over ruled?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
When you say her IVA “was discharged” do you mean it completed? or it failed? or was she made bankrupt?
Suecanwin says
It was completed successfully but due to her age it was finalised within 6 months.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, but why did she then lose her house?
Suecanwin says
Because she could no longer carry on paying for all the loans and credit cards and owed the money. At the time rather than go bankrupt and loose her house and live in a care home or similar she opted for an IVA to try and pay her debtors and sold the house to a family member for the correct market value.
The family member then allowed her to remain in the house as she had normally been till her death.
This way, as she had already lived in her house for 25 years she didnt have to live else where or move into a home. She was able to keep living in the same house and it was better for her mental health as well. Looking back now I realise it was probably better for her to have gone bankrupt …then the family member would have got the house cheaper probably ….but whats done is done!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That sounds like a good solution for her. She should have had quite a lot of the debt written off in the IVA I guess?
Suecanwin says
Yes she did … however she lost a heck of a lot more as the result of the previous 6 years. Had the correct actions been taken by the loan sharks etc in the first place actually going back even further then this would not have happened.
Do you think there is a case to answer here. Its not about the debt being written off its about the damage that was done to her prior it getting to this stage.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I’m sorry but I don’t think you have any chance of getting compensation after so long. It’s not a question of how much damage she suffered, or how fair it was, but prior to April 2007 the ombudsman had no remit to look at consumer credit cases. Nothing you can argue will change that.
I was asking whether a significant amount was written off in the IVA, beacsue if the IVA had paid her debts in full there may be some possibility of PPI reclaims. THough these are tricky after IVAs, hers was so long ago the IVA firm would probably not claim the refund. BUT any refund would be very likely to be set off against the amounts written off in the IVA so honestly I doubt this is worth bothering with.
Suecanwin says
Hi there
But I am sure that Ive read many time that cases prior to 2007 for PPI are still looked at …so why not this situation?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am sorry but I think they are different because they are insurance cases not consumer credit cases. Why don’t you talk to the Ombudsman about this? You can call their consumer helpline https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/contact/index.html.