The repayments on many loans from bad credit lenders are too high to be manageable so people get deeper into debt trying to repay them.
If you have an unaffordable loan, you can complain and ask for interest to be removed from your balance. If the loan has been settled, you can ask for a refund of the interest you paid.
This article describes how to complain, with templates. It is a variation on the standard approach for payday loan refunds – this works better where the loans are very large, longer term and you only had 1 or 2 loans, possibly with top ups.
NB the complaints here are for “normal” unsecured loans and HP/PCP car finance. You can also use this approach for logbook loans. If you have a guarantor loan, read Refunds from guarantor loans as it’s very different, and the guarantor may be able to complain as well.
Contents
Like payday loan refunds – with some extra twists
The regulator says for a loan to be affordable:
you have to be able to make the repayments without hardship or having to borrow elsewhere.
This is the same test as for payday loan refunds. It applies to most forms of credit, including large, long term loans and logbook loans.
Many people have successfully adapted the payday loan refund template letters to get money back on large loans.
That letter emphasises the problems that repeat borrowing caused. It’s a strong point in favour of payday loan complaints and why I always say that it’s hard to get a refund if you only had one or two loans from a payday lender.
That sounds like bad news for these complaints about large loans, where you normally only have one loan plus possibly a top up or two…
But the good news is that because these loans are larger and longer term, the lender should have made better checks before giving you the first loan!
Making a complaint and asking for a refund
This is what you need to do:
- Get a copy of your personal information from the lender.
- Put in a detailed complaint.
- Consider lender’s response.
- Send the complaint to the Finanical Ombudsman.
Send your complaint by email – here are the addresses
It’s easiest if all communications are by email – free, instant and you have a copy with a date stamp to show the ombudsman. So here are the email addresses to use for the main bad credit, large loan lenders:
Avant Credit emailcomplaints@avantcredit.co.uk
Bamboo Loans complaints@bambooloans.com
CarCashPoint complaints@carcashpoint.com
Everyday Loans complaints@everyday-loans.co.uk
Likely Loans loans@likelyloans.com
Loans 2 Go (and their logbookloans.co.uk brand) ps@loans2go.co.uk
Mobile Money complaints@mobilemoney.co.uk
Moneybarn complaints@moneybarn.com
Moolr admin@moolr.co.uk
Motor Kitty customercare@motorkitty.co.uk
My Jar generalcomplaints@myjar.com
On Stride support@onstride.co.uk
Progressive Money complaints@progressivemoney.co.uk
Quick Loans customerscare@quickloans.co.uk
Ramsdens (logbook loans) customerservices@ramsdensforcash.co.uk
Satsuma onlinecustomercare@satsuma-loans.co.uk
Savvy info@savvy.co.uk
Vanquis customer.relations@vanquisbank.co.uk
Varooma complaints@varooma.com
1st Stop customerservices@1ststop.co.uk
118 118 Money complaints@118118money.com
I have included a couple of payday lenders there – Myjar and Satsuma – because they often give ver large loans. If you borrowed a lot from those lenders, use the main payday loan refund letter. But if you just had a few very big loans, use the letters on this page.
Stage 1 – ask for personal information
This first stage starts your affordability complaint. The clock is then going and the lender has 8 weeks to respond to you. Put AFFORDABILITY COMPLAINT as the subject of your email.
You probably already know when you took out the loan and any top-ups. But it’s good to ask the lender to send you a copy of all the personal information they have about you. This will give you a lot of infomration that can be useful later if you have to send the complaint to the ombudsman, so ask for it right at the beginning.
Sample email:
I am asking you to refund the interest and any charges I paid, plus statutory interest, and to delete any negative information from my credit record.
[delete if you have repaid the loan] I would also like an affordable repayment plan to be put in place if I still owe a balance after this refund.
I am also making a Subject Access Request (SAR) for all the personal information you hold about me including, but not limited to, my applications, all credit and other affordability checks, a statement of account for my borrowing, and a record of all phone calls. I understand you are not allowed to charge me for sending this information.
SARs are often sent out by post, make sure the lender has your new address if you have moved!
NB The template says you are asking for an affordable payment arrangement at the end of your complaint. If you want, you can ask for an affordable payment arrangement immediately unless you have a logbook loan, where you have to keep up the payments or you may lose your car.
While you are waiting for the lender’s reply, assemble some other information that may help your case:
- copies of your bank statements from 3 months before the first loan.
- your free Credit Karma credit report (used to be called Noddle).
Also read Payday lender says I lied. That looks at the various reasons why your application may not have been accurate. People have won complaints where they lied because they were desperate but there are other reasons too, so think what (if any) may have applied to you.
Stage 2 (optional) – give more complaint details (optional)
This step is optional because your complaint has already started. Many lenders don’t seem to think about what you write, they just do some internal check on your borrowing before sending you a response. So you may decide it’s not worth spending time to send them more detailed information which they will ignore…
But here is what to do if you want to write more. And it helps you to understand how good your case is.
When you have the SAR back from the lender, you can look for things that the lender knew but chose to ignore or didn’t ask about. See How Subject Access Request information can help an affordability complaint which has details about what to look for.
Change the template below so it reflects what happened to you. Where I have given some options, delete them all and put in another one if that is more accurate.
No-one will include all these points. It is better to write a short complaint summarising your problems than send pages telling the lender stuff they already know eg the lender doesn’t need a list of your loans.
You can see from my bank statements and credit record that I was unable to afford the loan repayments. [Delete if not relevant] [For example, I had to borrow from X payday lender and I defaulted on my Y debt.]
When I completed the loan application, I understated some of my expenses. This was because: [put what actually happened! this could be something like] I wasn’t very aware of the amounts I was spending and completed the application hastily. OR I wanted to hide the fact I was spending a lot of money on gambling/cigarettes/alcohol. OR I was desperate and wanted to make my expenses sound low so you would give me the loan.
The FCA says that you should not accept an application where you ought reasonably to know the figures are not truthful, you can’t rely solely on the information on an application, and that you should not accept information which is inconsistent with what you know.
This was a large loan, you knew I had poor credit and may have been in a difficult position so you should have tried to verify details. If you had done this, you would have rejected my application. For example [delete or add to these as appropriate]:
- You should have noticed that some figures were implausibly low, for example: x,y,z
- I didn’t include amounts such as [delete/add as appropriate]: car insurance, TV license, opticians and dental costs, presents]
- My bank statement would have shown that I was spending more than the application said. Either you saw my bank statement and ignored this or you never asked for my bank statement to verify this.
- During a telephone call, your agent talked me into agreeing that some figures should be lower in order to get my application accepted.
- Your application didn’t ask me for details of my other credit commitments and I didn’t realise I had to include them.
- You should have seen that the figures I put in for other credit commitments were inconsistent with my credit record.
When I applied for a second loan/a top-up [delete/add as appropriate]:
- you ignored the evidence on the credit check that my position had got more difficult OR you didn’t do a new credit check. If you had done this you would have seen the new credit I had taken out and the new problems showing on my credit record.
- you didn’t ask if my income or expenses had changed, and they had.
- you didn’t ask for bank statements so you could check if the new repayments were affordable.
- I had said the first loan was to consolidate debt, but you should have seen that this hadn’t happened.
- you increased my interest rate, showing you realised I was in a more difficult position but you did not check whether I could actually afford the new repayments.
Stage 3 – consider lender’s response
You should get a response from the lender within 8 weeks. If you don’t, phone them up and ask when you will get it – a couple of days is worth waiting for but many responses are rejections, so don’t wait weeks for one, go to the Ombudsman straight away.
Normally you can tell straight away if a response is acceptable or not good enough. If you aren’t sure, ask what other people think in the Comments below this article.
Don’t be put off by a rejection. Or if the lender saying it was your fault because your loan application wasn’t accurate.
Lenders are obliged to do checks. For one small payday loan, these checks could have been brief. But for your large loan, the lender should have made sure they knew enough to be confident you could afford it, even if was your first loan from them. If they didn’t, send your case to the Ombudsman.
For example, here is a recent Ombudsman decision about a logbook loan case. There were 8 loans and the ombudsman decided that the lender hadn’t verified the borrower’s expenses for any of the loans and they should all be refunded.
It isn’t usually worth trying to negotiate with these lenders, you are just wasting your time.
Stage 4 – send to Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS)
I suggest you use the “do it online” option to send a complaint to the Ombudsman. It asks you for all the details they need.
The main part of your complaint can be a version of what you sent the lender in Stage two. Add any more details you want, including pointing out if you think there are errors in the lender’s reply. Also attach:
- the reply from the lender
- Credit Karma credit record
- bank statements starting 3 months before first loan.
Your complaint will first be looked at by an adjudicator. If either you or the lender reject the adjudicator’s decision, it will then be looked at by an Ombudsman.
“Is this really going to work?”
Here are some recent comments from people who have had refunds for this sort of loan. They show how some people get a good result directly and others have to go to the Ombudsman. Don’t assume a rejection by the lender means you can’t win!
Andy: A flat out refusal from 118118 Money. One loan (£1,000) plus one top up (£2,500). Stating they had done nothing wrong, all payments made on time and paid top up loan off early. Saying I had a good income, verified by a bank statement and they had phone call recordings that I had made it clear the repayments were affordable.
Sent to FOS as I was in loads of debt at the time, loads of repeat pay day loans etc. Didn’t hold out much hope but thought I may get a positive decision on the top up loan. Adjudicator held in my favour on both loans. 118118 accepted decision and offered circa £800. I had my loan statements and the total interest (plus 8% interest) was nearer £1,300. Adjudicator queried this for me with 118118. They agreed with my calculations. Adjudicator gave them 28 days to pay. It was in my bank the very same day.
Dan: I had a complaint upheld by the adjudicator at the Ombudsman against Avant Credit: Refund of all interest and 8%, £75 compensation, removal of loan from my credit file. Avant Credit agreed with the adjudicator.
Louise: Have had my response from Everyday Loans and complaint upheld. All interest been removed and I only have to pay back what they lent. Excellent outcome. Lent 5000 and have paid 3k so just 2k left to go. On my DMPthe balance was showing at 6.5k still left. Took them 5 weeks to uphold my complaint a lot of emails going back and forth.
Soph: Had 2 loans from Avant Credit. Rejected within 2 days, sent to FOS Jan, upheld in March, Avant agreed with FOS and refund in the bank within 7 days.
Robert: I was successful in getting all interest wiped from my topped up loan with 118 118, didn’t go to the FOS or anything.
And here is a decision from the Ombudsman about one of these sorts of cases – Loans2Go ignored some of the details their credit check showed.
“What about a bank loan?”
The affordability test is the same – could you repay the loan without getting deeper into debt elsewhere. But there are two problems with normal bank loans:
- their interest rates are lower so it’s harder to show that the smaller repayments are unaffordable; and
- if your credit record was OK or even good, the bank wouldn’t have been alerted to the fact you may have difficulty.
So it can be hard to win a case involving a typical bank loan, especially if your credit record was OK. But if you want to try, use the template letters here.
Need some help?
If you need help to complain, go to your local Citizens Advice, they will help for free.
Don’t use a claims management company. They are expensive and often incompetent. And if you still owe money, then you may just get the interest removed so you owe less… which is great, but you don’t want to have to pay a claims company in cash when you never had a cash refund to pay it from.
Getting a payday loan refund if you owe money
What to put in an affordability complaint
Examples of gambling & payday loan refunds
David says
My 118 complain was upheld by the ombudsman’s. Today they had to reply and I spoke to them
Personally and they are challenging my complaint and result.
Ombudsman said they should pay back the interest which is £1400. Plus 8%
Has anyone had a result against them on one loan that they challenged.
David says
How do I see what happened to past complaints that’s have been challenged and their results?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
here are a couple of cases where the ombudsman upheld the adjudicator decision
https://www.ombudsman-decisions.org.uk/viewPDF.aspx?FileID=206150
https://www.ombudsman-decisions.org.uk/viewPDF.aspx?FileID=205803
Hannah says
Hi. Does anyone have any info about Loans2go and irresponsible lending. I was on maternity leave and they approved me top up loan. Despite chatting to me about my pregnancy and due date. My wage slips at the time wouldn’t show my SMP as it didnt begin until a few weeks after taking loan. Do I have a case for irresponsible lending? Should Loans2go have checked my personal circumstances carefully as being on maternity leave would obviously be a change in income for women across the board. I had my baby 2 days after taking out the loan. I have all the evidence to prove I was on maternity leave at the time of taking out the loan and all wage slips showing SMP. Any advice would be great. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is definitely worth a complaint.
Hannah says
Thankyou very much. I have sent a letter of complaint to Loans2go. I’ve also checked the FCA guidelines which clearly states lenders should consider any future changes in circumstances which could be reasonably expected to have a significant adverse financial impact on the customer eg reduced income. It goes on to say lenders can gain this information in a variety of ways, one of the sources being information provided from the consumer. Thanks again for your comment
Sara (Debt Camel) says
new article on this: https://debtcamel.co.uk/worst-loan-in-britain/
Paul says
Hi, i have put an affordability complaint to Avant and this was refused within a week. I have referred this to the FOS. Since doing this the Ombudsman has contacted me to say they are very busy and it will take time to review. They also said to contact them if you have further information, get an offer or in financial difficulty. I have since sending in the complaint to the FOS, have entered into a DMP. Should i advise the Ombudsman ? Will this help my complaint and will this speed up the process ? Paul
Sara (Debt Camel) says
When you get an adjudicator assigned, you can explain that you are now in a DMP but it won’t speed up the process. Hopefully it will mean you are in a more secure position while you wait for the FOS decision though.
Michelle says
Hi
I have put a complaint in with FOS with 118118 money… i know it will be sometime before this is looked into.
I have all information from 118118 money when i took a loan for £2000, i got into difficulties pretty quickly , and now i am paying only £1 per month, as i have no choice but to go though a DRO.
I received suject access request. I was shocked. No expenditure , no information where i worked or if its full time or part time, and no information on dependants. I was transferred though to 118118 money from Clearscore, stating 100% acceptances. 118118 money have come back stating i put 0 amounts in the fields asking questions about my expenses, which is 100% wrong, as these questions didnt even come up. Once transferred from clearacore all i remember is comfirming i could afford the loan and signing the agreement. This was all done late on a Friday evening, and £2000 was in my account in the morning. I rememeber being very surprised how easy it was getting this loan… no real questions no calls. At the time of being accepted for the 118118 money loan i had a number of payday loans .
My question is, are my chances of getting this loan quashed any good?
Im not looking for any kind of refund just the loan written off.
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is a very interesting story, and shocking.
A 2000 loan is not some small payday loan that a lender doesn’t have to do a lot of checks for. It is a large loan and your credit record also showed payday loans so 118 Money should have looked at whether it was affordable for you.
And if you had put 0 in for a lot of expenses then 118 Money should have checked some more eg by asking for your bank statements to confirm that.
I think this sounds like a good reason to get the interest removed from this loan and to have an affordable arrangement set up to repay the balance.
PS have you also made affordability complaints about the payday loans you had?
Michelle says
Hi. Below is part of the final repsonse from 118118 money.
You then raised an additional complaint point as you were unhappy with the override system and as a result wanted the loan written off. You also wanted to submit a data subject access request (DSAR).
I am aware that the point you have raised has already been addressed by another member of the customer relations team who informed you in their email to you on the28/11/2018 that as you had entered £0.00 for your expenditure on the application form the system overrides this as it is reasonable to presume that you would have a certain level of expenditure each month and this percentage has to be included in our affordability checks. Based on the credit and affordability check your expenditure of £0.00 was amended to £709.75.
I understand that you had disputed stating that you had entered £0.00 expenditure however, I can confirm this is the information that had been entered in to the application. As we do not have any control over what a customer submits we cannot be held responsible for this as there has been no error on our part and I am concerned at your claim.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“as you had entered £0.00 for your expenditure on the application form the system overrides this as it is reasonable to presume that you would have a certain level of expenditure each month” that isn’t a reasonable assumption at all. And they should have noticed the payday loans on your credit record.
You have sent the case to FOS which is good. It’s important that you make both points to FOS, that you were never asked for your expenses because of the transfer from ClearScore and that 118 should not have accepted you without checking in detail if you had put down 0 (which you didn’t).
But if you win the case interest will be removed from the debt – that won’t wipe it out unless the payments you have already made come to the 2000 you borrowed.
Michelle says
Hi.
My initial contact with 118118 was to stop the interest , so it would give me a fighting chance to pay the laon back, they continuously refused stating it is pre loaded interest, meaning they can not do anyrhing.
It was wirhin these discussion i was hihjlighred to me, that they had 0 expenses for me, so there override figure put in a generated figure. It was adter this i ask for SAR, which then i discovered how little they knew about me ,my work ,my family etc.
Once i received this report then, i sent a offical complaint of irresponsible lending.
They are pretty much blaming me all the way, when i know if i had the options for all the information that was missing, i most certainly would not 0. I dont understand even how it went rhough without them knowing where i work, my hrs of work for example. The only info they have is my addresses dob, income, but not half the imcome is working tax child tax etc. That is all they have… its sbocking.
E says
Sara and all,
Had success with 118 money, they have refunded me £1000+ and wiped off my loan. Total interest I paid to them was about 6k so probably could have got more by going to the FOS, but I’m happy they wiped my loan and refunded me. Long process but it can be worth the wait.
Michelle says
Hi.
May i ask a question please. I was trasfered from clearscore too 118118 money, guaranteeing a loan 100% ..
I have since been in contact with clearscore asking what information went with me to guarantee the loan for the loan company once transferred, as i think this is important and could be a reason the loan company have very little information about me.
Clearscore have since been in contact stating they only keep this information for a few weeks, and there is nothing they can do, becuase of this…
The information that transferred from them to 118118 money website is less than 1 year ago.
My question, if as clearscore transferred me from there website to 118118 site 100% guaranteeing the loan. Shouldnt they keep this information longer. As in my case the loan became unaffordable very quickly, and since i have found out i shouldnt have been accepted for the loan at the time, as i had payday loans many and a low credit score amongst other things. Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think this is interesting, but don’t get too hung up on it. It is the lender who has to check affordability. Your argument is that 118 money failed to do this adequately and if they had they would have realised that the loan was likely to be unaffordable for you.
Michelle says
Hi.
Thank you. I was just aiming from clearscore to get as much information as i could for FOS, as i would have thought this may have been a direction for FOS because it was a transfer .
Thanks
Michelle
Ross says
Hi Michelle,
This is really interesting, and caught my attention, as I am in a similar situation. I tried to borrow, with Avant Credit, and they declined. A short time later, my Noddle report asked me if I would like to check if I was eligible to borrow with any lenders. Low and behold, Avant came back as a lender who would lend, but it did charge a fee of £236, which I assume to be a brokers fee? I was asked very little information and a lot of what I borrowed (£5000) went on online gambling. Avant rejected my complaint, but the FOS are now looking at it. At the time, I had taken out numerous payday loans, had a very poor credit score (1 out 5, on Noddle itself) and a default for a Natwest personal loan, which was over £6000. I know they specialise in lending to consumers with poor credit, but where do they draw the line?
Michelle says
Hi. That’s interesting to read.
Its shocking really that this can happen with such little information from the loan company on us, but it actually still unusual to me that i can be told by clearscore what i was told and transferred too a 100% loan.. yet there seems no fall back on clearscore about information they used to determind this decision, they dont need to keep records more than a few weeks… i understand the loan company should have queried such little information, but as i went though from a credit score agency who told them 100% i can have the loan.. then this itself should hold responsibility too.
Be interesting to see how you get on, in my case its highly likely a DRO will be in place when FOC take up my case, meaning there will be no point fighting them anymore, aside from removing them from a DRO if that’s allowed.
Good luck
Michelle
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Ross, interesting story… do you remember how much earlier the appication to Avant had been? if it was soon before, it’s worth pointing out to FOS that Avant seemed to do a more thorough assessment when you applied direct (and eclined you) than when it came through noddle.
Also this fee … can you have a look at the documentation and see how that is described?
Tan says
Sara,
I ve posted on the normal payday loan forums but I wanted to ask you about Everyday Loans. I took out a £2000 loan with them last year. I had a number of payday loans since 2009 and basically drowning in pay day loans, the interest, fees, fines.
I had previously applied to them a few years ago and they rejected my application, probably because I had a low income. I had just entered in to a default with one of the banks in early 2018 and a few months into the year I had enough and knowing I was going for high cost credit I tried my luck. I made an application and It was approved, I provided bank statements, payslips and they were aware I had a default and multiple pay day loans outstanding.
Can I ask them for refund on these loans?
They did help me with paying off my pay day loans or at least some of them, which I was grateful for but at a high rate of interest (my financial situation has slightly improved as of this month) but I feel the the last 16 months were similar to what I experienced between 2009 – 2017.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Consolidating payday loan debt with a high interest loan such Everyday may seem like an improvement but unless the loan was really affordable you can just end up again after to borrow more as the repayments left you so short.
So did the loan solve your problems? Or were yiu soon getting behind with bills or having to take more payday loans?
Tan says
Thank you for your response. I used most of the money pay off the smaller pay day loans(£400 – £800) and a few credit card payments to decrease the limit but then few months later I maxed out my credit card. Then I did get behind with some bills (not as many as before), and then a few months later I was still struggling so took out smaller loans with 24 7 money box and Oakam, and Peachy. I managed ok for about 2-3 months but the bill got me in the end. Then only this and last month I ve been able to get to a position where I don’t owe money to any more pay day lenders except everyday loans.
Sian says
hi all,
have an affordability complaint with Satsuma going ahead had a loan for £700 and £2,000. They have asked for 14more days so have referred to FOS. Received my DSAR today and it contains another customers information so this will be going over to the FOS once a consultant is assigned.
Shocking from Provident but cannot say I am overly surprised!
This website has been a massive help in exposing these awful companies!
Cheers Sian
Kathy says
That is shocking!
Satsuma always seem to contact customers on the last day of the 8 weeks and ask for more time, it must just be a delaying tactic.
My complaint has gone off to the FOS now. Fingers crossed we both get good results!
Craig says
Hi Sian,
Im shocked to hear you got sent someone else’s information. The Complaint for that due to data breach under 2018 GDPR regs would need to go to the ICO. I think you can do this online on their website you just down load a form from the ICO site, fill it in, save it and then upload it back to the ICO site. Hope this helps and good luck with your Complaints.
Ann says
Has anybody had any joy with loans 4 u I got a loan for 500 I’m paying back 2052 over 18 months.will I have to sent back statement etc thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Loans4u is a bad credit broker, not a lender.
Was the loan they organised from Loans2go? Your refernece to 18 months and an extremely high amount of interest sounds as though it may be…
If it was, then read this article which looks at this exact lender/loan https://debtcamel.co.uk/worst-loan-in-britain/
Ann says
Thanks for your reply it loans to go yes I’m paying back £114 pm over 18 months.Do u think I should complain I can’t see how they can get away with this .
Sara (Debt Camel) says
100% yes! Read that article – it has details of a complaint to FOS where the ombudsman says what he thought about loans2go’s interest rates!
Ann says
Thanks I’m going to try irresponsibility lending and unaffordable lending when I send them email will I need to send back statements etc .
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t know.
Expect L2G to refuse your complaint then send it to FOS, who probably will want bank statements.
Subo1968 says
Hi
I bought a house in 2005 even though I had £50k worth of credit card debt. Once I moved into my house I enquired with First Plus the option of a £50k loan to consolidate my credit cards (a secured loan) even though my credit history was rubbish and I was desperate it was agreed. I have always struggled to pay this loan and after 14 years I still owe £50k ( now Elderbridge). Can I claim for irresponsible lending?
Many thanks
Su
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s unlikely. The loan is too old and rules and large secured loans are different. Often the only way to escape from this sort of loan is to sell the house.
Kel says
I have made a complaint with MyJar, they have come back to me with a very lengthy email about how they respond, part of it is asking for me for the below:
“Bank statements (at the time/s you took out your loan/s with us) Payslips (at the time/s you took out your loan/s with us) Any additional information relating to your financial circumstances (at the time/s you took out your loan/s with us”
Do I send these to them or shall I wait for them to send the relevant information I asked them for using the debt camel template?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How many loans did you have from them? If it was only one, then sending bank statements for the couple of month before is a good idea. Don’t bother with payslips – you pay will show on your bank statements.
Kel says
Hi Sara, thank you…it was just the one loan that I had with them but at the time I did have 2 other payday loans.
Kel says
Hi Sara,
Do you what Everydans loans are like with refunds? I have contacted them but have only had an automated messaged confirming receipt.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Expect them to reject the complaint and send it to FOS. Complaints about these large loans are being won even you only had one of them.
Lu says
Hi, does anyone have any experience with Likely loans? I took out a loan of £4k in Jan 2017 ( mainly to consolidate other debts ) reoayments were £220 per month. baring in mind at the time I also was paying repayments to vanquis bank which I still am and I am in an arrangement to pay with them, I was also at the time making payments to Safety net credit . I had outstanding debts towards 02 and towards a gym which had both been passed to debt collection agencies.
Now fast forwards to 2019 I am stuck in a rut, I cant afford to make the £220 repayments.
help :( so stressed and down
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes people have won cases against Likely Loans. expect them to decline it and have to go to the Ombudsman.
Even if you can’t get a refund, you need a payment arrangement on the loan.
Have you also tried to get a refund for Safetynet credit?
LU says
Yes I did , they sent me a final response back in 2017. But I had a very complicated childbirth during that time so did not have chance to get it to the FOS. Can I try again ? what is the best template for likely loans?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No you can’t try again if you maid an affordability complaint befiore. but you could talk to FOS and ask if you can take your complaint to them now – you are outside the 6 month limit but explain your cirucumstances.
Alisha says
Hi
I was rebuilding my credit file and ClearScore pointed me to 118118 I recently in February 2019 took a credit building credit card out with them. In May I was offered a £2000 loan which to my surprise was given to me with less then an hour but I assumed it was part of my credit score building . I was in the process of getting a mortgage and quite happy that my credit file was building up. To my surprise I have been declined a mortgage on the fact that I have taken out a payday loan! I queried this and to my surprise it is 118118 that has had a effect on my application. I want to pay this back asap and remove any information from my credit file of 118118. How best do I do this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
There is no way to remove this loan from your credit record. Well not unless it is “unaffordable” but you haven’t suggested that it is.
A 118 Money loan is not technically a payday loan as it is over 12 months long. But it is at a very high rate of interest which a mortgage lender may well not like. I suggest you repay it as soon as possible to minimise the money you are wasting on the interest.
If you are in the process of applying for a mortgage you should not be taking out ANY credit, even if it is cheap. All new credit has a poor effect on your credit score for several months. Your Feb credit card will only now be starting to have any positive impact. Do not make any more applications at all!
Can you say what was wrong with your credit score? Do you have defaults or missed payments on your credit record? If yes, have these debts been repaid?
Ann says
Hi Sara
Thanks I’m starting my complaint just now to loans to go do you think I should mention my gambling im my bank statement at the time this was issued. I had 8 defaults on my credit file at the time as well .
If I don’t win I’m taking it to financial ombudsman I don’t think they should get away with it 2052 for 500 .
Thank ann
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would just keep it simple and say the loan was unaffordable.
Ann says
Hi Sara
Thanks for quick reply
Ann
Darren says
Good evening Sara I recently complained against several loans that I have had. I have recently “broke the cycle” and I’m on track to clear around 20k worth of debt.
I would like some advice on a reply I received from avant credit regarding a complaint I made.
I borrowed £4000 to repay £221.40 for 48 months. I repaid this early after 13 months and made payments totalling £6550. They replied last week upholding my complaint saying they have contacted their processing team to calculate charges and interest. Do you know if this means they will refund the excess of £2550 I paid? I’m not sure what this means for me and any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
From what you have said, I think they should refund you £2550, possibly plus 8$ statutory interest. Well done, then will clear another good chunk of debt!
Darren says
Good evening Sara, just received confirmation from Avant that they are refunding me the £2550 plus 8% interest which works out £730 but 20% deduction goes to HMRC so works out I get 579 on top of the 2550. I’m very happy with the outcome so can’t thank you enough it’s all down to you and your help! Can I claim that extra back on the tax? I thought I seen something on a thread here before but can’t seem to find it. Thanks again for all your help
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well done! Here is the article about claiming back some of the tax deducted: https://debtcamel.co.uk/ppi-payday-refund-get-back-tax/
Bobby says
is the ombudsman a real person? these refund decisions have the same name on them. she must be busy if she is a real person
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Which refund decisions are you looking at?there are more than 100 FOS staff with the title “Ombudsman”, but some specialise in certain areas so you may well see the same names cropping up.
Bobby says
the 118 money ones here have the same name. so does the loans2u one.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, I have seen his name on a few payday loan ones as well.
Bobby says
my bad. thought he was a she.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I was guessing. You may be right!
Mr PDL says
Has anyone on the forum had experience with Bamboo loans? They have rejected my complaint on a 5k loan over 24 months on the basis that:-
1) I had ticked a box and said that I would be using the loan for debt consolidation and would not take out any additional payday loans
2) I had ticked a box to say that I did not expect my financial situation to worsen (this is also true, I ticked it as I needed the money)
They have also said that I fell within their affordability criteria so there was no need for further checks. They also said they noted I only had a couple of active payday loans active in the 6 months prior to taking the loan.
However, I had a number of high value instalment loans with Mr Lender (1k in a repayment plan), Pounds to Pocket (1.3k) and Satsuma (£500), Moneybox 247 (£500), Cash4UNow (£500) active at the time of taking the loan. And in the 6 months prior to taking the loan I had taken out a total of 10 loans, inclusive of the above.
I have a good income, which was always lost to a gambling addition (which I am now in recovery and abstained for over 6 months), so affordability wise based on income and ‘normal’ expenses I guess I looked ok.
Should Bamboo looked at all my other active loans and taken those into account as well, or were they right just to look at my income and stated expenditure?
Thank you in advance for anyone who has an opinion on this.
Mr PDL
Thanks for any advice
Mr PDL
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A 5k loan is a large commitment – a lender should have considered the affordability carefully. But single loan complaints where there is gambling can be hard to win.
Did they do a credit record check? Did they assess your income & expenditure?
How large were the debts showing on your credit record?
Mr PDL says
Thanks Sara.
Yes they assessed both the I&E and a credit record check. My credit file was showing ~£11k in unsecured debt at the time.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok so if you had used the loan for consolidation, that would have dropped to -6k and if that had happened and you weren’t gambling, the loan would have been clearly affordable. Correct?
If that is so, this is going to be a difficult one to win at FOS. You basically have to argue that the loan repayments are so large that the lender should have looked at your bank statements.
Mr PDL says
That would be fair to say Sara. Do lenders have a responsibility to look at borrowing behaviours prior to taking out a loan of this size? I’ve been continuously borrowing payday / high interest installment loans for over 6 years driven by my gambling problem. Or is it nullified by the debt consolidation piece?
I don’t want to waste FOS and others time unnecessarily on this if there is no case. Additionally, do Lenders get charged ~£500 for every FOS complaint even if they are not upheld? I don’t want to be unfair on anybody if my case is not legitimate.
Thanks as always.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
There is nothing laid down.
I don’t think this would be worth taking to FOS if the loan was for 1 or 2k. But 5k is a very large loan. The lender had a duty to think about whether it was in your best interest and it is arguable that they should have wondered why with a good salary and what looked like a lot of disposable income you had all this high cost short term borrowing.
I am just saying these are not necessarily easy cases to win. Personally I think it should be routine to check affordability in detail for a 5k loan, including looking at bank statements.
Nicki says
Hi,
Has anyone had any luck directly with 118 money recently? In the 8th week waiting for final response since the complaint now and wondering if they ask for longer at the moment…
Thanks!
D says
I’m 8 weeks tomorrow and nothing so far sadly.
D says
Well mine hasn’t showed in my inbox surprise surprise
MR says
They asked me for two weeks extra and then turned me down today.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They don’t often make good offers so if they ask for more time, I suggest saying No and sending the case straight to FOS.
Trutle says
After 8 weeks they sent me an Email saying they wanted 2 more weeks. 1 week in I got the final response.
Nicki says
Ok thanks everyone. Fingers crossed but I’ll prep for FOS anyway!
D says
Was it worth the wait?
Ruth says
Mine is 8 weeks today and 118 have just asked for a further 14 days.
Nicki says
Had an email this morning from 118 a few days before 8 week deadline saying it will be another 14 days….off to the FOS it goes then!
A. says
Hi just looking for some advice. I took out a loan with likely loans in July 2017, I repaid it early in Sept 2017 when I got a lump sum from student loans. I struggled and then took out another loans a few weeks later which has now been topped up twice. I’ve requested the information they hold on me which they have given me access to but there is no sign of credit checks? The only financial information I can find is what I told them my income is? Can that be right that they done no other checks? The original loan I was pre-approved for and the top up loans they offered. Thank you!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No it isn’t right. Go back to them and ask for the copies of the credit checks they did for each application. If they tell you to contact the credit reference agency, come back here.
Turtle says
Had the same problem with Likely Loans. The data request came back with everything apart from any sign of an actual credit check which I since requested. Strange.
A. says
Did they give you copies when you requested them separately ? I’ve emailed them to ask for them so will see what they say.
Turtle says
I only checked the data they sent me earlier this week and spotted the credit check missing so emailed them about it. Awaiting reply.
Sara, when the FOS look at cases like this (1 large loan 2k over 2 years), shall I be highlighting my overall debt situation to them? It seems they take this info into account based on some cases I read on published decisions.
Turtle says
Funnily enough Likely Loans have just emailed me back the below;
In relation to your query about credit reports, credit data is extracted from Credit Reference Agency data and is supplied by the Credit Reference Agencies, a copy of this would need to be obtained directly from them. Your credit file will show six years’ worth of data and you would be able to see your financial position at the time of your application.
What do you recommend I do in this situation Sara?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you reply to them:
I have made a subject access to you for a copy of all the personal information about me that you hold. Yhis includes any data about me you may have received from other sources. Oakbrook Finance Limited is the data controller for this information and under GDPR I have a right to a copy.
I am your customer not a customer of any credit reference agency you use. A CRA can provide me with a copy of my current credit report – that is not what I want. I want to see the data that was provided to you at the time of my loan application because I want to see the data on which you made the lending decision. A CRA cannot provide me with this historic information so I have no alternative route to get it.
If you do not provide this, I will be asking the financial Ombudsman for compensation for your poor and obstructive complaint handling, in addition to a refund for unaffordable lending. I will also be sending the ICO a complaint about your failure to answer a SAR.
Turtle says
Many thanks. Just sent them this. I will let you know what they come back with.
Turtle says
Presumably they don’t want to give me this because it will highlight other debts I had at the time?
DM84 says
I wouldnt bank on them giving you this information. I have asked multiple times and sent similar requests to likely. I stated this to my adjudicator also but he informs me they have not giving permission for me to see it. I do not know what information they have passed to him. It could be anything.
I lost my case at adjudicator level. He said I had no defaults on accounts at the time when I had 3. I made him aware of this and then he changed his mind and said he meant they had been satisfied. He is using my noddle credit report which does not go far enough back either because it only shows 6 years and was produced in 2018.
I have asked for an ombudsman to look at it. I would love to know what my data shown at application stage but I will never know. Either they didnt use the info or have it and wont share it.
I’m also concerned with how they ombudsman service are using the credit report I provided and bank statements are something Likely used to assess my application when the first time they seen them was at my complaint stage. Good luck with your case.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you sent a complaint to the ICO as well?
What date was your Likely Loan?
DM84 says
My response from adjudicator to see the credit file:
Oakbrook provided copies of credit file searches they completed for you at address XXXX XXX and a previous address XXXX XXX.
I asked if I could provide you with copies of these but Oakbrook haven’t provided authority.
Turtle says
Likely loans have come back to me with the below;
We can confirm that we have fully complied with your request for a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
Our affordability assessment took account of details held at the Credit Reference Agency, Experian. We do not retain the credit reference report as we use the data as part of our internal scorecard, the details of your credit report would need to be obtained from a credit reference agency and this will show your financial position at the time you applied with us as the report shows six years’ of data. As all personal information has been disclosed we are proposing to treat your request for information as closed.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you reply, then you are holding data about me obtained from credit reference e=agencies in your internal scorecard. I would like to see a copy of that.
DM84 says
My loan was 2016, I generated my report late 2018 so I can go back to late 2012. So whilst the 2 and half years missing probably wont change much it still is missing.
I will report to the ICO. I kind of lost interest when the adjudicator didnt agree.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well realistically not much that is over 3 years old would have been relevant.
But you absolutely should not lose interest in the ombudsman case. You should make the point to the ombudsman (tell your adjudicator and ask for it to be passed on) that you are entitled to see a copy of all your personal data that likely loans have, and that a CRA cannot provide you with a copy of what LL were sent. So LL should have given this to you and the adjuidcator should also have shared it. Say you feel LL is being deliberately obstructive in not providing you with the information that could help you explain your complaint and you would like compensation for this.
A says
I just received the same reply!
ClaireR says
Sara,
Question about 118118.
I had 3 loans with them, and last november they upheld on one of the loans, stating that they couldnt prove they had done sufficient checks.
They took the interest off the last loan, which reduced my balance from £3,600 to £1,300 which I was happy with.
There is a line in their email that says
“Please be aware that because the interest has been removed from the account you cannot have a full or partial settlement quote; should you wish to settle the account at any time, you would simply need to repay the remaining balance.”
I have been in a repayment plan to pay off the balance and it now stands at £1150.00
I get emails at 3pm every single day (since April)to tell me the account is in arrears (as I am not paying the contractual monthly payment of £202) as well as almost daily texts.
I will soon be in a position once the Lending Stream redress hits my account to pay this 118 loan off.
My question is, is it worth going back to them to ask for a settlement figure?
Ross says
Hi Sara,
After a spot of advice please, if I may? I am about to submit a complaint to Likely Loans. The loans, including a top up loan, were as follows;
03/11/17 Original loan
£2000.00 Loan amount
£1646.08 Interest
08/05/18 Top-Up
2719.38 Loan amount
2238.30 Interest
When taking both loans, I was gambling heavily and also had payday loans, a £5k loan with Avant Credit and there was also a default on my record, for an old Natwest loan, of over £5k as well as several credit cards near their limit. I’m expecting an instant rejection, so would this be one for the FOS?
Dale says
Hi Sara
I have submitted a complaint to Avant as i believe I have a good case against them as they gave me a loan of nearly 5000 when I was heavily in debt and had several other loans and credit cards.
I’m still paying this loan off and luckily have never missed a payment so far but I am just wondering could doing this leave a negative footprint on my credit report If they do decide to go ahead in my favour.
I just don’t want to leave any sort of footprint on my credit report as I have spent the past couple of years building it back up again as I am looking to get a mortgage In the next few years.
Thank You
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Making a complaint will not affect your credit record, whether you win it or not.
Are you saying that the loan was unaffordable when you were given it – how long ago was that? But that your circumstances have now changed and it is affordable?
If the loan is not affordable at the moment, you need a payment arrangement. That will harm your credit record, but if you win the case the negative marks will be removed. If a loan is not affordable you can’t hope to muddle through and save your credit rating, you will be borrowing more, probably at a high cost, to keep up with the unaffordable loan payments. A future mortgage in this situation is just a fantasy, always being few years away as you never sort out your debts.
Ross says
Complaint to Likely Loans just submitted. I have made them aware of what would’ve shown on my credit record, at the time of the initial loan, and subsequent top up. A default, numerous payday loans, another high interest loan with Avant Credit, high interest credit cards (all up to their limit) and a large overdraft. I’ve made them aware that, if they had conducted more thorough checks, I believe they would never have granted the loans. I’ve also made them aware of my online gambling problem, which I kicked in January of this year, and this has really changed my life, for the better.
I have asked that they refund/waive all interest and offset anything already paid against the actual capital amount. I have also asked them to remove a late payment marker, which they applied in February this year, even though I had a payment arrangement with them, which I stuck to and feel is unfair.
I’ll keep you all updated on how I get on.
DM84 says
Response from adjudicator today:
Thank you for your email and enquiring further about your credit files.
I’ve reviewed further your request and spoken with my manager. We agree that even though Oakbrook didn’t provide consent it seems fair to provide you with a copy of your credit files from Oakbrook as these were used when considering your complaint, please find them attached.
You will note that the search date is from 2019. Even though the search date is from this year it still shows the position of your accounts at the time of lending in September 2016. The credit file you provided showed the same information as contained in these credit files.
You will see there are defaults recorded but these are all listed as either settled or satisfied. There are no outstanding defaults at the time of your application in September 2016. This shows that you do repay your lending and could have actually improved your chances of being approved for a loan.
I am not haply about this obe bit. Likely have ran a search in January this year that goes back 6 years. I cant believe it. There is no credit check and they are using mine created by noddle and this one that was created after I made a complaint and trying to pass them off as their own.
Can you advise if there is something deeply wrong with what is going on here? My adjudicator seems to cherry pick false information to suit his outcome.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well let’s pick through this. First it’s good that FOS has sent you this information, because Oakbrook did not want you to see it.
“trying to pass them off as their own” um perhaps, but it’s not clear that this is what they are trying to do. The adjudicator said “it seems fair to provide you with a copy of your credit files from Oakbrook as these were used when considering your complaint” not “it seems fair to provide you with a copy of your credit files from Oakbrook as these were used when you made the loan application.”
What was on your credit record when you applied in September 2016? Were there short term high cost loans? Any recent defaults? Had you borrowed a lot recently?
If your credit record was great, there isn’t too much point in making a lot of fuss about it. You will not get a refund just because LL failed to do some checks, you also have to show that if they had done the checks then they would have seen infomration that means they should not have lent to you.
Have you won any payday loan refund cases and had anything deleted from your credit record as a result? If so, you can argue that your Jan 19 credit record does not give an accurate picture of what LL would have seen in 2016, which is why it is important that they show the adjudicator and you this information.
How large was this Likely Loan – how much did you borrow and what were the monthly payments?
How much other open credit did you have at that point?
DM84 says
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for the reply. I did shoot out of the starting blocks after reading that email. The loan was for 4.5k @ 273 a month.
No income expenditure asked for at time of application. 118 loan taken out (also topped up) and an avant loan (refunded interest due to successful complaint without ombudsman) within the 6 months prior to the likely loan. 3 Defaulted accounts all within 2 years of application. They are still on my report now and I believe they should have warranted likely to ask for bank statements/verify income etc where they would have seen my fimances were terrible. The only refund I remember getting was with Wonga but I have no payday loans on my reports now.
I also have to admit that a lot of the issues were gambling. I told likely beforehand that my account shows lots of gambling transactions before application. The repsonse I got was that they do not take it into consideration and I should apply.
The adjudicatoe states that my email regarding gambling did not indicate I had a gambling problem and therefore should not cause likely to ask for further info.
Also I lost my job so the adjudicator says that we can never know if I would have missed payments had I stayed.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“The adjudicator states that my email regarding gambling did not indicate I had a gambling problem and therefore should not cause likely to ask for further info.” WTF?
OK, this goes to an Ombudsman if you can’t make the adjudicator see reason.
So your overall argument goes as follows:
“I was in a financial mess due to gambling when I applied for this Likely Loan. LL have refused to provide me with details of what their credit check showed when I applied. I think this is against GDPR and is an obstructive approach to complaint handling.
My credit records would have showed that I borrowed £2000 five months before the LL application and £2500 3 months before. And that I had several short term high cost loans.
A loan of £4,500 is a large loan for someone with a poor credit record. LL should have made detailed checks to be sure I could afford it. In addition I had already told LL that my bank statements showed a lot of gambling [put in an exact quote] and they replied they didn’t take that into consideration [exact quote].
I think this is irresponsible lending – LL were on notice that gambling could be an issue and they should have checked my situation in detail.”
DM84 says
Thank you very much,
I will do that.
Nicki says
Now one week after the 8 weeks deadline for 118 money, so not holding out much hope at the moment, even though the SAR clearly shows a lot of expenditure as 0 or missing….but just out of curiosity…how long does 118 take to pay out if you are succesful?
Many thanks again Sara for all your great advice.
Mike says
Hi Sara
Has anyone ever had any results of putting in an affordability complaint against a credit union?
I have loans with 3 credit unions which is taken at source from my wages.
This leaves me with £40 take home a week when I work a flat week. I appreciate its my own doing but one takes £163p/w another takes £103p/wand the last £60 p/w. Only one asks for bank statements but all request payslips. One requests 4,one 2 and the other 1 when I have applied for more loans. I only applied when I had a few good weeks when I have had OT then the payslips look good and not the flat week £40 ones.
Any advice would be welcome
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The affordabilty rules are the same for credit unions as for other lenders.
Mike says
Thankyou
Combined I owe £20k+ To the biggest who takes £163 p/w
£8k+ to the one that takes £103 p/w and £7k+ to the one that takes £63p/w bringing the loans to a total of approximately £35k!!!!
Although only one checks bank statements they all should be checking my file and see for themselves my other borrowing on top of seeing the deductions on my payslips. My rating is still very poor and although they are in the market to help folk like me out with a relaxed lending criteria would you say in your experience they have acted irresponsibly??
Cheers mike
Sara (Debt Camel) says
When did you apply to them – did you still have a gambling problem at that point and do you still?
what have you done with the QQ refund money?
Mike says
Hi Sara,
I used it wisely and paid off credit cards and now only have one. Debts to friends along with catalogues and had a lovely holiday with the family. Soon goes!! Yes unfortunately I still do gamble and these loans have fuelled it over the years. The credit union loans are my major debts now having got most other things under control apart from one avant loan which is with a debt collector who at present gets £5 p/w. 2 satsuma loans in default and a cash plus card with £200 on it.
I have been having the credit union loans for over 5 years now, lots of reloads , top ups and new ones. Trying to log into credit file to find out actually how much I have actually had….could be very scary.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you put in an affordability complaint to avant?
Mike says
Hi Sara
No I haven’t as didn’t pay it all off hence it went to AIC. It was one of the things I did address when I got my QQ money but the settlement figure was far too big. I hoped as they buy cheap hoped to get a good offer but didn’t.
I have not read anything on your site with regards to credit union complaints, have there been any?
As they are lenient do their lending guidelines differ from other lenders?
Also how would you go about addressing the complaint to them?
How would the initial complaint letter go?
Sorry for all the questions but you have been so helpful in the past .
Cheers mike
D says
Sara
DSAR came through from 118. They’ve my old.employer down on it (I’ve not been with them for over 2 years now) they have my utilities as 0, rent as the amount of my first loan in 2016.
I don’t believe they’ve done any checks on my affordability for the two top up loans.
Would you be able to tell me exactly what I’m looking for please?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi D, this is getting to be a popular question here and on the articles about guarantor loans so I am planning an article on this for next week, if you could look out for it!
D says
That’s great Sara. I’ll await it coming onto the site
A. says
Does anyone know if likely loans normally take the full 8 weeks to reply?
Lisa says
Hi all I’ve recently made a complaint to mobile money due to various loans I couldn’t afford against my car, I was gambling heavy and this would have shown on my bank statements as well as a very bad credit record including ccjs. I used to burrow around 600 and pay back near 1400 just to get my logbook back, on my last loan they took my car instead of payment as I wanted to sell it they said they would take the car and settle the loan, instead they put it down they they had to take my car off of me to pay loan off and this went against my credit file for years. I have had the initial response and waiting for SAR to put a compiled complaint, has anyone had any dealing with mobile money complaints?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
There haven’t been many logbook loan complaints discussed here – that’s mainly because the logbook loan market is much smaller than the wider high cost bad credit loan market.
You should expect MM to reject your complaint and send it straight to FOS.
Here is a long decision from FOS recently published: https://www.ombudsman-decisions.org.uk/viewPDF.aspx?FileID=215231
In it the Ombudsman decides:
“As Mobile Money failed to take steps to verify the Mr N’s monthly expenditure for loan one and the subsequent ones even though he kept coming back for further expensive loans, some of which were for amounts that were less than what Mobile Money concluded was his monthly disposable income, I don’t think the checks it carried out before providing any of these loans were fair, reasonable or proportionate.”
So definitely these cases are worth taking to the Financial Ombudsman.
Lisa says
That’s great information, I will keep you posted on what happens, I’m not sure I will have bank statements going back as far as needed so how would I show irresponsibility claim if I can’t show them my bank statements and gambling etc, hoping their SAR has bank statements and will show my transactions.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how old are these loans?
Lisa says
Hi Sara, the loans are probably going back 2010-2013 ish
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok well it’s worth trying for the bank statements, tell the bank it is for a Financial Ombudsman complaint about high cost lending. You may have difficulty at the Ombudsman as the loans are so old, but it’s worth a try.
Chris says
Hi I thought I would post a controversial post on a logbook loan I have with a lender. I took an initial £2200 out and then extended once for a further £500 and then again for another £500. My monthly amounts are high but the total to repay is eye-watering. I completed the application for the second extension and deliberately made up my loans – made up the names of the lenders, amounts outstanding and monthly payments. The lender took 3 months of wage slips and 3 months of bank statements to do their credit checks. However, they completely failed to notice both my deliberate falsehoods and the fact that I was making hefty payments to a DMP. I am not posting because I want to make a claim but just to point out that, whilst I have behaved badly, the lender has been reckless and greedy in lending the money. I am hoping not to have to go the full distance on the loan. I am not mentioning the name of the lender as I don’t wish to risk action from them. The borrowing has all gone to fund gambling. Most people will rightly question my sanity (I suffer regular bouts of depression and have thought about suicide several times) but I hope this will give an insight into how the mind of a gambler works and how there are lenders out there who, frankly, are little different from loan sharks. If anybody thinks I should pass this on to the regulators I would be happy to do so. As much as anything else, I feel this particular lender needs an official knock on the door.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Was gambling showing on the bank statements the lender saw?
Chris says
Yes it was – all my transactions go through the same account so nothing hidden.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
In that case I suggest you put in an affordabilty complaint straight away. To lend to you when they had seen evidence of a significant gambling problem was irresponsible. And the previous loans may well have been unaffordable as well.
You will save depressingly little money by trying to settle a logbook loan early. An affordabilty complaint, where income is removed/refunded is a much better way forward.
Also making this sort of complaint is evidence to the regulator of how poor the lender’s checks were.
Chris says
Thanks Sara. Will do that and keep you posted.
B. Smith says
Hi Sara
I posted a while back about motorkitty threatening to take my car away. I have paid some money towards the arrears and anytime I am able to pay more I am doing my best. They have accepted this to s degree but I am wondering why they haven’t acknowledged my affordability complaint. I send it 2 weeks ago and have had no response to it whatsoever. I have even sent a follow up email again with absolutely no response again. This won’t make a difference will it after the 8 weeks to send to the FOS?
Tony says
Hi,
I hope you can help me before I respond to the company.
A complaint against Avant was upheld and redress of £413.53 stated, plus statutory interest.
My question is that this loan was from 2012, so how much stat interest, roughly, should be added?
Any help you can give is greatly received.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
About another 50%
That redress seems low for an Avant loan – was that the amount of interest you actually paid?
SJ says
HI Sara
Do you know of anybody complaining against Lendable? and any success rate?
Foolio2019 says
Hi i have a complaint with loans2go which they have rejected despite admitting on their checks i only had a surpluss of £150 for a £105 per month loan.
Anyway, its going to the fca. Do they hold collection activity when an account is with the FCA or do they continue? I have a payment plan set up anyway but wanted to check peoples experiances?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I assume you mean going to FOS, not the FCA (always a confusing set of initials)
If you have a payment plan set up, that should just continue. Is this a logbook loan or one of their horribly expensive 18 month loans?
Good luck!
fooio2019 says
hello, thanks for the reply and the help on this site!
its one of the 18 month loans and they fobbed my complaint right off so i know itll be a long wait but ill wait for the FOS.
In hindsight, and now im out of my big problems i cant see why anyone in their right mind or not desperate and struggling would take a loan from them
Ann says
Hi I’m going to make a complaint to shorty .They need to be stopped I’m paying Back £2052 on £500 loan .If fos get enough complaint we will see .its cost them for us going to fos
Paula says
I am in my 30 days for Avant’s processing team to confirm the amount having upheld my complaint. Anyone know if they always take the full time?
Kate says
I too am awaiting the processing team to confirm how much I am being refunded. I’m expecting a couple of grand so hopefully hear soon. They were quite quick in deciding they were upholding my complaint. I am only a week in.