The repayments on many loans and car finance are too high to be manageable so people get deeper into debt trying to repay them.
When you applied, a lender should have checked a loan would be affordable for you – often they did not check properly and you should never have been given this loan.
This article describes how to complain, with a template to use. Many people have won complaints using this. If you win, you will get the interest refunded in cash. If you still owe a balance, the interest is removed so you only have to repay what you borrowed.
These complaints do not hurt your credit record if you carry on making the loan repayments while the complaint goes through.
Contents
A quick overview
What types of loans?
- this includes high cost, bad credit lenders, bank loans, and credit union loans;
- you can complain if you are still paying the loans, it has already been repaid, it has defaulted, or you have a payment arrangement/DMP;
- a consolidation loan may have been cheaper than the credit cards it cleared – but it could still have been unaffordable for you!
- you can also use this approach for car finance. But if you are still paying car finance, you may have a better option than an affordability complaint, so read HP/PCP car finance problems first. And then read Car finance affordability – what you get if you win a complaint
- if you have a guarantor loan, read Refunds from guarantor loans as it’s different and the guarantor may be able to complain as well;
- the complaints here do not apply to mortgages.
What is “unaffordable”?
The regulator says “affordable” means:
you can make the repayments without hardship or having to borrow elsewhere.
This isn’t just for “bad credit” loans – you can win a complaint about a loan from a major bank. But as bad credit loans have very high interest rates, they are more often unaffordable.
For large loans, a lender should have made adequate checks at the start. The larger your loan, the worse your credit score and the more other debt you had, the closer a lender should look.
If your loan was fine at the beginning and only caused problems later when you lost your job or your mortgage repayments went up, you are unlikely to win an affordability complaint as this could not have been predicted at the start.
How does this work?
You first make a complaint to the lender saying the loan was unaffordable and ask for a refund of the interest.
There is a template here you can adapt to say what happened to you. Send it by email.
The lender has up to 8 weeks to reply. Lenders reject many good complaints, so you can send a rejection to the Financial Ombudsman.
Complain to the lender
Email addresses for lenders
If your loan has been sold to a debt collector, send your complaint to the original lender not the debt collector.
It’s easiest if all communications are by email – free, instant and you have a copy with a date stamp to show the ombudsman.
For banks, see this list here: email complaint addresses for banks.
For car finance and logbook loans, see this list: email address for car finance lenders
Here are the email addresses for some non-bank lenders. There are a lot of other smaller lenders, including many Credit Unions. If your lender is not listed, ask in the comment below for an email address.
Abound (used to be Fintern) complaints@getabound.com
Admiral loansquality@admiralgroup.co.uk
Anico complaints@anicofinancialservices.com
Avant Credit emailcomplaints@avantcredit.co.uk
Bamboo Loans complaints@bambooloans.com
Better Borrow enquiries@chetwood.co
Creation customercare@creation.co.uk
Everyday Loans – for loans after 31 March 2021 complain to complaints@everyday-loans.co.uk using the template in this article. It is no longer possible to make complaints about loans before that date
Fair Finance complaints@fairfinance.org.uk
Finio Loans (rebrand of Likely Loans) complaints@oakbrookfinance.com
Fluro (used to be Lending Works) cx@fluro.co.uk
Koyo loans info@koyoloans.com
Lendable complaint@lendable.co.uk
Lifestyle Loans info@lifestyleloans.co.uk
Likely Loans – see Finio
LiveLend support@livelend.co
Loans by Mal (Monthly Advance Loans) Complaints@loansbymal.co.uk
Loans 2 Go read Loans2Go – how to complain
MBNA mbnaonlinecomplaints@mbna.co.uk
Moneyline headoffice@moneyline-uk.com
My Community Bank complaints@mycommunitybank.co.uk
Novuna (used to be called Hitachi) ComplaintsTeam@NovunaPersonalFinance.co.uk
Plata complaints@plata.com
Plend complaints@plend.co.uk
Progressive Money complaints@progressivemoney.co.uk
Quick Loans customerscare@quickloans.co.uk
Reevo complaints@reevomoney.com
Salary Finance (Neyber) complaints@salaryfinance.com (for loans, not “pay advance”)
Savvy info@savvy.co.uk
Shawbrook Customercare.team@shawbrook.co.uk
Snap Finance customer@snapfinance.co.uk
Tandem pl@tandem.co.uk
TM Advances info@tmadvances.co.uk
Updraft complaints@updraft.com
Vanquis customer.relations@vanquisbank.co.uk
Zopa complaints@zopa.com
118 118 Money complaints@118118money.com
Use this template
Email the lender to begin your complaint. Put AFFORDABILITY COMPLAINT as the subject of your email.
Template for you to adapt:
Please confirm the date this loan started, the amount, the interest rate and the monthly repayments. [don’t include this if you already know the information]
I am asking for a refund of the interest and any charges I paid, plus statutory interest, and to delete any negative information from my credit record. [the refunds for car finance can be a lot more complicated than this, see but this is all you need to put in your complaint]
I also want the CCJ that I have for this debt set aside. [delete this sentence if you don’t have a CCJ!]
I attach copies of my bank statements and credit report from the time I applied for this loan/these loans. [delete if you don’t yet have them yet, but they help your case if you do. Even if they show gambling, that supports your argument the loan was unaffordable.]
I didn’t know that the lender was supposed to check that I could repay the loan without having to borrow more. I only found out in [2024] when I saw a newspaper article in the Sun/an advert on Facebook for refunds/a friend said they had made a complaint/whatever. So I am complaining within 3 years of having found out that I have cause to complain. [only put this paragraph if some of your loans are more than 6 years old. It explains why you haven’t complained before. It’s only an example so change it so it really covers what happened to you!]
Add extra information if you want – see below for some ideas – you don’t have to do this.
Do you need a payment arrangement now?
If you want an affordable payment arrangement now, add a sentence to the complaint saying this. These complaints may take months to sort out – a payment arrangement can get your finances into a safe place:
- a payment arrangement shows on your credit record, but if you win the complaint all negative marks will be deleted
- talk to a debt adviser such as National Debtline if you want to know more about payment arrangements
- but don’t risk a payment arrangement for car finance or a logbook loan – one would put your car at risk.
Other details to add if you want
The template above is fine, you don’t have to add a lot more details.
But you can add extra points if they apply in your case, for example
- my bank statements and credit record (attached) show that I was unable to afford the loan repayments.
- 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 my income and expenses. If you had done this, you would have rejected my application.
- during a telephone call, your agent suggested some figures should be lower to get my application accepted.
- if the lender was your bank – you should have seen from my bank account that I was in financial difficulty, I was using my overdraft a lot, I was only making minimum payments to my credit card from you.
And some examples of points about top-ups:
- a credit check would have shown that my finances had got worse since the first loan
- I had said the first loan was to consolidate debt, but you should have seen that this hadn’t happened.
While you are waiting for a reply
Try to get copies of your bank statements from 3 months before a loan to three months afterwards. You can get statements from closed bank accounts, normally going back 6 years.
Also get a statutory credit report now and download it. You can get one from TransUnion. Do this as soon as possible as sometimes the details change, so you want a full one saved to show the Ombudsman later if necessary.
Do not wait until the Ombudsman asks you for credit records or bank statements – you want them ready to hand. They really help your case as they prove your financial situation when you took the loan out.
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.
Go to the Ombudsman if you don’t get a good offer
Don’t be put off by a rejection! Or if the lender said it was your fault because your loan application wasn’t accurate – the lender should have made checks.
Sometimes a lender will send a long, complicated reply designed to make you look as though you should give up. If they say the loan was over 6 years ago, see below for “time limits”.
I suggest you rely on your instinct – if repaying the loan caused you a lot of problems then send it to be looked at by the Ombudsman.
If you aren’t sure, ask in the Comments below this article. You only have 6 months to send the complaint to FOS, so it’s best to do this as soon as possible.
It isn’t usually worth trying to negotiate with these lenders, you are just wasting your time.
Send to Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS)
It’s easy! 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 your complaint. Add any more details you want, including pointing out mistakes in the lender’s reply. Also attach:
- the reply from the lender
- Trans Union statutory credit record
- bank statements starting 3 months before first loan
- do not worry if you don’t have A copy of your credit or finance agreement – lots of people don’t. 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.
Other information that may help your case
Don’t delay sending a case to the Ombudsman while waiting for this information.
If you don’t have the bank statements from the time of the loan application, get them now. You can get these going back at least 6 years even from closed accounts. And you can often go back a lot further with an account that you are still using.
This is a good point to ask the lender for a Subject Access Request (SAR) if you are missing information that may come in useful at the Ombudsman. This could be your loan applications, all credit and other affordability checks and assessments, and a statement of account for the loans, and – if you think this will help – a record of all phone calls.
Your lender will have details of how to ask for this information on their website – it’s often included in their Privacy Policy, with a link at the bottom of web pages.
“Is there a time limit?”
You can’t complain about a loan that started before April 2007 – that is when the law changed to allow these complaints.
Lenders will often reject a complaint if the loan started more than 6 years ago.
But the Ombudsman can look at a complaint about older loans where you complained within 3 years of finding out you have a “cause to complain”. So if you have only just heard that a lender should have checked the affordability, you can take your complaint to the Ombudsman if the lender rejects it as too old.
The Ombudsman also has a 6 month rule. You must send a complaint to the Ombudsman within 6 months of getting a reply from a lender. So don’t delay!
Need some help?
Don’t use a claims management company. They are expensive and often incompetent and use a similar template to the one in this article.
Instead ask a question in the comments below.
Can you get an overdraft refund?
Refunds from cards and catalogues
Get a car finance commission refund?
Will says
Hello Sara,
1. borrowed £2000.00 from Satsuma for 1 year term. Loan started October 2019 with £332.00 monthly repayment, I was shocked when they gave me settlement figure of £1,832.00 that is having paid back in 5 months repayments of sum of £1,660.00. I now wish to request a lower settlement figure just so i can clear off my debts and save on mortgage and also tidy up my credit file which is currently in very poor. how can i ask for refund or reduction of settlement figure from Satsuma?
2. I have another loan with AUTO ADVANCE log book loan. that is even worse. I took out £3,900.00 for 3 years term with monthly repayment of £335.00 per month, never defaulted for the last 5 months but i now wish to settle this debt and clear off the debt, i asked for settlement figure, I was told i owed £9,500.00 interest plus principal but settlement will have to be £4,700.00, this is even more than I borrowed and that is after paying back a total of £2,800.00 since i took out the loan, I emailed and phone them to complain and ask for reduction to settle the balance, no reply yet.
My question is, how can i get refunds or reduction in settlement amount as i am keen to free myself of debt while i still have a job? please, kindly advise.
will it improve my credit score? I am currently in top end of very poor rating but desperate to improve the score as me and wife are planning to get a mortgage by December 2020.
Will –
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you read the above article and think whether these satsuma and log book loans were “unaffordable” when you were given them. That is, were the repayments to high for you to be able to manage to repay and still pay all your other debts, bills and usual expenses. If they were, then send in an affordability complaint and ask for the interest to be removed.
This is the only way to get a reduced settlement amount. with these high interest loans just settling early can save you surprisingly little.
Have you had other payday loans and high cost credit before? Look at affordability complaints to them too, even if they are paid off. Any money you get back from them will help repay current debts.
Do you have other debt you are currently paying?
Why is your credit rating very poor – apart from having borrowed too much at too high a rate, do you also have missed payments and defaults? Read https://debtcamel.co.uk/improve-credit-score-mortgage/
It sounds as though a mortgage by the end of the year is incredibly unlikely. You need to stop borrowing any more money at all. And especially not payday loans / high cost credit – having those on your recent credit record will get a rejection from most mortgage lenders.
Will says
Hi Sara,
Thanks for replying back. I did read the article and I have submitted affordability complaint to both Satsuma and AUTO ADVANCE yesterday, I got acknowledgement letter back that it will take 8 weeks or less to respond to my request, just as you predicted. all i can do is wait.
My question is, has any one has any claim success against Satsuma or AUTO ADVANCE log book loan before without going to adjudicator?
Regarding your question on why my credit rating was poor? i had missed payments and defaults 2 years ago on about 4 different short loans from pay day lenders ranging between £1,000.00 to £2,500.00 at a time i was struggling for jobs, now I have a stable job and i was able to pay them all off in full.
Currently, I have Satsuma loan of 2k, Auto advance log book loan of 3,900 and credit card of 3K credit limit. i now wanted to pay off this loans and credit card as i currently have a well paid contract until August. I can afford to put 2k per month towards this loans monthly with the plan to clear them off by August. is this a good idea? and, will it improve my credit rating?
William
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Paying down the credit card will help your credit score a bit. But with missed payments & defaults it will never get up to good. Have you looked at affordability complaints against the payday lender where you had difficulties? If you win those, the negative marks on your credit record will be deleted.
Laura says
Could I just ask…
Those who have made complaints against Likely Loans, how long did it take them to come back with a decision either way?
It will be 5 weeks on Friday. They have sent me all information I requested. Twice in fact. So just playing the waiting game now.
Thanks and stay safe
PM says
Hi Laura,
I wrote to Likely Loans at the beginning of March and Didn’t receive a final response within the 8 weeks. I chased them throughout the 8 weeks and they repeatedly promised me that I would have a response but nothing materialised. At the 8 week mark, I simply had an email to say it was still being looked at and I should consider sending it to the FOS, which I did immediately. I’m not sure if that’s an isolated case or they’re generally struggling to manage the workload.
Frogman says
I complained to likely loan mid March, apart from the initial acknowledgement email, there hasn’t been a word from them since and I don’t expect there to be until at least Monday when the 8th weeks is up. I am already preparing to file to FOS.
PM says
Ironically, I received my response from
likely loans this afternoon (took 9 weeks). The response felt rushed as there was minimal investigation and they hadn’t even assessed all of the loans that I’d had with them. I’ve already logged this with FOS so I’ll add this to my case and await an adjudicator.
Tom says
Hi there,
Firstly, I’d like to thank this website for the help that it has given me. It has helped me to get to grips with my situation and I am feeling much, much brighter already.
I’d also like to give a bit of good news! I submitted affordability complaints over the weekends where I thought it was appropriate. One of the companies I contacted was SafetyNet. Since Sunday, they have investigated and upheld my complaint, written off my balance and are refunding me £1,500 by close of business tomorrow. An incredible turnaround!
I have a question regarding Everyday Loans and the question is this:
When assessing an application, is there any obligation on them to look at information previously supplied by the applicant?
By way of background, I had a loan with Everyday and applied for a top up. This was going swimmingly until they requested a copy of bank statements which showed the mess I was in, and significant instances of gambling – they rejected my application for a top up. Some months later, I applied for another top up when my bank statements looked slightly less shabby. Notwithstanding the unaffordability of the top up that they then did give me, can I say that they should have taken into account the information that I supplied them during my first, unsuccessful application for a top up, too?
I hope that makes sense and would appreciate any advice.
Thanks again for all that you do.
Tom says
Just to add context, there was eight months between the two top up applications.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well I think it depends what the second set of bank statements showed. If there had been no gambling since the previous application, then they could reasonably have thought you had kicked the habit. 2 months with rather less gambling – obviously less convincing.
But if the top-up was clearly unaffordable, I would stick to pointing that out.
Tom says
They only wanted 30 days worth of transactions on the second application…
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then i think you can argue that in view of rejecting you becaue of gambling previously, they should have looked at more statements to be sure.
But the loan still has to be unaffordable.
L v says
Hello. So I’ve been back and forth with adjudicator who wont uphold my Loans2go complaint Loans2go have been so dishonest and unprofessional I cant believe this.
Loan 1 june 2010
Loan 2 august 2011
Loan 3 December 2011 £2100 this one took me ages to repay, it includes balance of loan 2. I never ever took a single loan of £2100 ! I have given emails to adjudicator showing my difficulties but she says as there was a 15 month gap between loan 3 and 4 it’s not unreasonable for the lender to assume it a new business relationship. Even though emails show cancelled payment plan demanding money from previous loans where they were still operating under Hermes property Services not Loans2go I was still allowed more loans after that.
Loans2go say I borrowed £2100 which is not true it has a previous balance in it this was a top up loan. So how can they include the balance of old loan in this and then say they aren’t responsible for it?
Loan 4 april 2016
Loan 5 September 2016
Loan 6 August 2017 already been refunded for this one as I complained about being given a loan during maternity.
Adjudicator will only look at loan 3, 4, 5, 6.
So that’s loan 1 2 3 4 in their opinion but it’s not I had more loans than that but Loans2go say they went into liquidation conveniently in or around December 2011 which would be loan 1 in their approach but its actually loan 3. I checked out liquidation dates and its actually November 2012 they went Into liquidation and then came back as Hermes property Services and they took over logbook loans. I had a live running loan so nothing changed and I was able to reapply December 2011.
Its actually 2015 Loans2go took over. Even so wouldn’t the new owners still receive payments to outstanding loans when they take over? They continued to issue loans. The adjudicator sent me 1 screenshot of loan 1 which is actually loan 3 .Its says logbook loans on it and credit £2100 over 78 weeks but it took me 4 years to clear no mention of the repayments £325 per month. I sent statements showing what I did pay and emails verify this so why are they lying to the adjudicator like this. My salary was only £800 a month, They are saying I lent £2100 when I never. It’s a blatant lie. I ask adjudicator to check this and still they only see Loans2go view.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I have tried to edit your various long comments together. let me know if I have got something wrong.
So the adjudicator will look at loans 3-6, yes?
Loan 2 would have very little interest as it’s only lasted a few months. How large was loans 1 & 2? Unless these were very large it’s probably not worth arguing about them – if you get a refund of 3,4,5 (as you have already had 6 refunded) isn’t that a good result?
L v says
Sorry about the length and complexity. Yes so the adjudicator will only look at loans 3-6 for now. My argument is loan 1 and 2 were quite high as I repaid over £5000 ,in interest. Loans2go provided credit agreement for loan 1 but that loan was issued by nine regions logbook loans..then in the next breath they say they arent responsible for loans before December 2011. That they were liquidaed in Decemeber 2011. But information online states it was 2012. Ombudsman case study suggests otherwise. They are contradicting themselves. How can they include previous 2011 balance into loan 1? Which is why it says I borrowed £2100 that consists of 2 loans. The adjudicator isnt upholding any of my loans. Not even 4 or 5.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How much did you borrow for loans 1 & 2? Are you sure you paid that much interest? loan 2 was settled early with loan 3, so you only look at the interest you actually paid, not the amount the original contract said.
But anyway, if you haven’t been offered anything, I suggest you ask for the case to be looked at bh an Ombudsman.
L v says
Just to clarify. Loan 1 and 2 were for £700 each. Loan 1 was settled via by insurance due to a car accident in june 2011. Loan 2 was topped up with loan 3 making the balance £5000 to repay in total. I’ve ask adjudicator to show me the full credit agreement to show there was a balance brought forward. The monthly repayment for loan 3 was £325 a month. I struggled to pay all the way through. Provided several emails about difficulties before 2015 when Loans2go took over. Then the loans after so you can see how much I’ve paid. I will send to Ombudsman Ithankyou sara.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
At the point loan 2 was topped up, was it really increased? or was it settled and the larger loan 3 opened. The latter is what normally happens. In which case there will have been little interest paid on loan two and it will all be in loan 3 .
But anyway, just ask an ombudsman to look at the whole complaint.
Maria says
Hi I’ve had a reply from 118118 who have not upheld 2 accounts 1st loan 365592 £1500 paid £2122 closed
Credit card £250 repaid in full closed but have upheld 2nd loan for £2000 in default and say
“The current balance on the account is £4126.15 and as such, I have now removed the interest of £2681.20 from the account which means that the balance has reduced from £4126.15 to £1444.95 which means that once this amount is repaid, you would have only repaid the loan amount with no interest. “
I am not sure do I go to the ombudsman while carrying on the repayment of £195 a month
Sorry it’s so long
A says
Hi Sara
I just want to say thank you for all of your advice and efforts. I was successful with 3/5 loan companies. I have just now received a refund from Everyday loans after submitting my complaint a year ago. I would never have known to submit complaints if it wasn’t for this website. Thanks again.
Grace says
Hi I have just complained to everyday loans for an outstanding loan I have from 2017. Do you have any advice of why they upheld your complaint?
Lisa G says
Hi A. Did your Everyday Loan complaint go to the FOS or did it take Everyday Loans a year to make a decision?
Roly says
When did you sumbit to FOS, please? I have a complaint that has been with them since March 2019 and hasn’t even been assigned to an adjudicator yet (though have been told it has, then it hasn’t) Is one of the last complaints O have left to get a response on (along with 118118) and I just want to be able to put this part of my life behind me now.
carole says
Hi Sara,
Got a final response from 118 loan after just 4 weeks not upholding my complaint. In fact was quite threatening email saying i could get into serious trouble for fraud if gave incorrect income/expenditure. 1st Loan was for £1000 and top up was £1000 and i went into a payment plan from December which they agreed, they then sold my loan on to debt collection agency without informing me on the 3rd month of the payment plan adding £2400 interest. The debt collection agency have sent a letter with £4680 as amount due.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman. You have two problems – whether the loans were affordable and whether you have been treated fairly once you were in difficulty. I suggest you make it clear these are distinct issues. It is often easier to win the affordability side and if you succeed it doesn’t matter how much interest was added as it will all be removed.
Sam says
100% email FOS and CC in 118. I did this, then they decided to refund the top up loan interest paid plus 8% statutory interest.
Good luck
Carole says
Thanks Sara and Sam
Ben says
Just out of curiosity would you put one in for 118 if you taking this out as one of your last loans which you got and only were able to make a few payments before not being able to make any payment as i put one in as shouldnt have gotten another one when was already defaulted with a credit rating of 80!
Claire says
Yes I also got this threatening email which put me off going to the financial ombudsman
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Several lenders make these threats but so far as I know no-one has ever had any problem if they take a case to FOS.
Andy B says
Having dealt with a few companies out this issue, from my own experience 118 118 have been by far the ‘nastiest’ group I have dealt with. I didn’t receive any threatening email but they were needlessly combative on the telephone. One might interpret this that they know they (like Amigo) but be about to be hit with a rather large stick.
118 118 also didn’t send my case-file over to the FOS, claimed they had received no-such communication from the FOS requesting a file and left me with the distinct impression that I was trying to carry out some elaborate scam. The FOS remained adamant that they HAD requested the file (twice) and that 118 118 had all but ignored their communications. Some months later it eventually arrived with the FOS and it’s sitting waiting patiently in a queue.
I’ve dealt with Amigo and 118 118, and Amigo’s incompetence aside they’ve been at least warm on the telephone and in writing. 118 118 have been borderline abusive whenever I’ve contacted them.
Maria says
Hi Sara and all
I also had two loans with Avant credit the first I have no details and cannot find any on my account it was in 2015 the second was for £2000 I paid £147 a month x 5 but then l went into debt management and paid £27 x 8 a month but then they agreed to waive the remainder and close the account, I am not sure if I should send an affordability complaint as I do not have all the details I’m not sure
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Are you sure that is all you paid to the second loan? because 147*5=725 and 27*8=216, so you paid less than £1000 back to it.
If that’s right, then there is no point in making a complaint as you didn’t pay any interest on that. Unless you can find the details of your first loan, there is no point. Have you looked at your bank statements?
Maria says
Hi Sara thank you for prompt response I will try looking on my bank statements fir 2015/16 for the 1st loan but was wondering whether I should just leave this one alone and not complain if I don’t find any details of 1st loan.
Can you please read my come to on 118118 as I am having dilemmas as to send to ombudsman although I still think they shouldn’t have given me another loan and credit card but their working in response letter is frightening and scary as they mention fraud and incorrect information
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Other people have said their 118 response was threatening.
A few other lenders do this too. In practice no-one has had problems with this if they have then sent a complaint to the ombudsman.
So they have offered a refund on the second loan but not the first? And you paid over £600 interest on the first loan. It’s up to you if you think this is a good enough offer. If you went to FOS and won your complaint, your balance for the last loan would be reduced by another £600.
Maria says
Thank you so much for all your help
Hayley says
Hi, how does it work if the loans have been passed on to debt collectors?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Your complaint goes to the original lender, not the debt collector.
K says
Hi – Just received a really great outcome with 118 and Wanted to share here as I am so thankful to this site for helping me get out of debt.
I had a large long-term loan with 118 spanning 4/5 years which I have just been chipping away at with monthly repayments. Due to the interest being so high the monthly repayments were barely making a dent. I set myself a goal to own a house by the end of this year and therefore have been doing everything I can to improve my financial situation. 118 quoted me almost £4000 to settle and close my account. I exported my bank statements and calculated I had repaid every penny I received from them, and then some. I submitted a formal affordability complaint to them and I offered them a final payment of £500 just to be done with them. Well, the 8 weeks passed with no response – I chased and they extended the response time by a few weeks as they were very busy. Last week out of the blue I received an email saying that they would look to accept my offer of £500, but since 3 direct debits had been taken from my account in the meantime as their response took so long, they would actually REFUND me the extra amount. It felt too good to be true. But this morning I woke up to a text from them saying you have now completed your loan.
I cannot explain the relief and weight off my shoulders that I feel. Anyone else in the same situation please persevere and exhaust all avenues – It really is worth it.
frogman says
Hi Sara,
I took out a £16,000k loan from Natwest in March 2014, it was over 20 months with a repayment of £924 (All paid off with no missed pay,meant). I don’t believe my credit score was that good at the time as the interest rate wasn’t that great. I am now in the process of digging out all the details to see if I can complain. My questions are
1 – Is it too late to complain as this loan was taken out 6yrs and 2 months ago?
2- My main account is still with them and I have an overdraft facility of £2k that I have been maxing every month for a few years now. Could this be affected?
3 – I had a £3k credit card with them that I defaulted in 2018 and have been paying reduced payment through DMP, can this be affected.
4- My income wasn’t great and regular at the time, maybe approx £2500/m. What are the chances of succeeding with this? I had very little gambling transactions too.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
did you say the loan was for consolidation?
frogman says
No, It wasn’t consolidation, I did not have any debts at the time. I think I said something like buying a car.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can complain about older loans. NatWest will probably object. It’s the Ombudsman’s decision whether they will look at it. If you didn’t have any other debts at the time it seems unlikely your credit record was that poor – do you have a any details about it as it will be too long ago for your current credit report to be much help. This doesn’t sound easy to win.
Your current account and DMP shouldn’t be affected if you complain. but why haven’t you included the current account in your DMP?
frogman says
Thanks very much Sara. I am just reviewing the account and I was earning £2766 monthly net, rent was £563, single at the time and no other massive outgoings so it’s going to be tough as you said. I was wrong not to include the overdraft in my DMP at the time. I was scared of losing the natwest account and I was worried I might not be able to get an account with a high street bank with a bad credit. I made some terrible decisions in the period I went into DMP. Once again, thanks very much for the advice and swift response. Much appreciated.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The loan sounds likely to have been affordable to me.
frogman says
Please has anyone recently dealt with Likely Loans? Their 8 weeks ran out yesterday and I got the below at 11:51 pm. in spite of the reassurance last week that they were going to conclude the investigation in time. Can they be trusted? Is it worth waiting another 2 weeks before going to FOS?
In view of the current situation and combined with high complaint volumes, it has not been possible for us to provide you with a final response as of today’s date. I would like to take this opportunity to apologise for the delay and assure you that Likely Loans is committed to investigating your complaint and providing you with a response as soon as possible. Our aim is to do this within the next two weeks and I will let you know if this is not possible.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They may get back to you by the end of 2 weeks, but it may just be a rejection. 2 weeks isn’t an unreasonable request – 8 weeks or no clear commitment at all is. It’s up to you.
frogman says
Thanks very much Sara,
I will wait another two weeks but get myself ready for a long battle.
mike says
Hi frogman my affordability complaint was at the 8 week mark on the 24/5/2020 got an email from them the next day saying they were upholding my complaint and refunding all intrest paid plus the 8%. So far there the only company that I have not had to sent to the financial ombudsman. I should note i had no emails from them at all till my final offer. They didn’t even email me to say they received my complaint.
frogman says
Thanks very much for the update Mike, They got back to me as well after a few days and upheld complaint. They paid me the next day and I have used the money for settle logbook loan from CCP. I am now making a complaint against CCP, the interest is ridiculous. Paid a total of £8105 to settle for a £4500 borrowed last year May.
Bella says
Finally, after complaining to both the FCA, the Ombudsman and to Likely Loans, I got a response and was asked to call in. We called and got sorted out immediately with the payment holiday put in place for three months – April, May and June. The advisor was great and also put a complaint in on our behalf to Likely Loans which we have had confirmation of. It’s annoying that you have to complain and complain to get results but it is sorted now. Thought I would put it on here in case someone else is having problems.
Ruth says
So 118 118 are getting very funny with me. I originally complained irresponsible lending 13th May 2019, they didn’t give their final response until 22nd July 2019 (nearly 3 weeks past the 8 week deadline). They rejected it. It went to FOS. Adjudicator went in my favour, gave them until 11th May to respond…118 then ignored that. Left them a bad review on Trustpilot, they instantly replied to the review asking for more info…they have now had the audacity to claim they haven’t been ignoring us and intend to challenge… So I guess my question is, how long from adjudicator to ombudsman roughly at the moment? Also, anyone else I can complain to as they shouldn’t get away with this. Many thanks so far for all your help.
A100 says
This is very similar to myself. 118 failed to respond to my adjudicators request for information. They had until yesterday to respond and I left a trust pilot review. They asked me for some information and said the complaints a manger was reviewing the case prior to responding. My adjudicator emailed me this morning to say 118 have said they will respond today.
G says
I made a complaint against 118 118 Money June 2019, rejected and off to FOS September 2019. Picked up by adjudicator March 2020. Got an email from adjudicator today accepting my complaint and have given 118 2 weeks to respond.
frogman says
Sara, I know I have said ‘I can’t thank you enough’ so many times already but you can expect more of it. I have won 3 now, yet lose any complaint. 8 weeks and 2days it took Likely loan, no FOS required. They’ve just come back upholding my complaint. Just one loan of £5000k taken out in 2015. Now I am being refunded over £3000. I am yet to read the entire investigation and how they concluded…brb.
frogman says
Below is what Likely Loan said. In addition to my bank statement, I had submitted a spreadsheet showing extracts of income and expenditure and it clearly showed I would have been in negative with their £305 monthly repayment.
‘This is because I have reviewed the bank statements which you provided with your complaint and considered the transactions shown both before and after our loan application was approved. As a result of this review and after considering the status of your Credit Report, I believe that had further checks been conducted at the time of lending, it might have become apparent that our loan may not be affordable for you.’
Nigel says
I had a aa Loan and aa credit card did affordability complainet through a ex work colleagues company.
The complaint was not upheld (he’s not replying)should I take it to obdusman.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you have used a claims company?
Nigel says
I did only for this one as it was not payday loan(will not use again)
Didn’t pay that company anything, he’s replied now and he’s not gona take it futhur do you think I should
Intrest was 500
Sara (Debt Camel) says
were the repayments unaffordable for you? what was your credit rating like at the start, how should the lender have known you would have difficulty?
Nigel says
Yes as I had missed payments for months however in the end paid it off early, credit rating was good when I applied.
They should have know because I was I. And out of work and not a lot of income
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How large was the loan? what were the monthly repayments?
Nigel says
5000 loan not including intrest monthly payments about 200
Sara (Debt Camel) says
it looks like a difficult one to win if your credit record was good and the interest rate wasn’t high. But I always suggest people follow their instinct here – you know best if the loan was actually unaffordable at the time you took it out – if you think it was, ask the ombudsman to look at it.
frogman says
Hi Sara,
Quick question for you please. You once mentioned claiming back taxes on refund. how does this work with the below?
Payments made: £7,529.33 – Loan amount £5,000 = Refund of £2,529.33
8% simple interest per year: £599.94 – Tax at 20% £119.99 = Interest of £479.95
frogman says
I was referring to the £119.99. The interest is basically earnings, isn’t it?
frogman says
Hi Sara,
Please I have some questions for you. I have two more complaints to make, Savvy and Car Cash Point.
With Savvy, I took out just one loan of £2500 in January 2018 and made 3 payments of £188 before I went on DMP. I have since paid an additional £343 through the arrangement making a total of £907. I was contracting at this point through my LTD company so there was no regular salary coming into my personal account. I must have put some rough figures on the application. They didn’t request for statement or payslip. I don’t expect them to know about the gambling without looking at statement but I believe the credit search would have revealed all that was happening, amigo loans, 3 maxed big credit cards, overdrawn current account, lots of payday loan, unsecured debt of £20k plus etc. How on earth can I defend the salary and info I declared at the time of applying? What is the likely implication of a complaint on my DMP if I don’t win? They are claiming I still owe about £4000. What’s you view on the chances of winning this complaint?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How on earth can I defend the salary and info I declared at the time of applying?
Say you were contracting so there was no regular salary and you made some estimates but you were under a lot of stress and may not have been thinking clearly.
What is the likely implication of a complaint on my DMP if I don’t win?
nothing – 2hy should it affect it?
What’s you view on the chances of winning this complaint?
I don’t make that sort of guess. If you know the repayments were unaffordable and that no-one who had looked at your credit record should have lent you £2500 then make the compliant.
frogman says
Thanks very much, I’ll gather all the evidence.
frogman says
CCP is a different matter entirely, I was so engulfed in gambling that I lost my senses completely. I had £1500 left on my 4 yr HP with BMW paying £360/m but needed to pay HMRC some money. I couldn’t really afford to miss that payment so I took out £4500 from CCP in May 2019, paid off BMW and paid HMRC. I have since been struggling with CCP’s £395 monthly payment which is for 3 years. I was already on DMP at this point and in full time employment earning circa £2800 monthly (The HMRC debt was from the previous year when I was still contracting). All declared I&E to CCP was basically made up to show it was affordable. They only ask for a statement of account where they were paying to. After paying a total of £3565 to date, I requested for settlement figure on Monday and it cam back as £4385. Is it worth complaining and what are the chances with this? I can definitely prove it’s not affordable, I foot all the bills at home (two kids included). This repayment is killing me and I was going to pay off some with a refund I am expecting from Likely Loan. Should I pay them off before complaining? (They have my V5 and I don’t want interests growing) Can the complaint affect my DMP as I should not have been borrowing more whilst on the DMP. The HMRC debt was a business one so I really couldn’t add it to DMP. My finances were all over the place at the time. There are reasons why I did what I did when I wen on DMP but that’s a story for another day. Thanks very much
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Should I pay them off before complaining?
Again if you know the repayments were unaffordable, send in a complaint asap. There is no reason to delay. deciding to repay the loan is a seperate matter.
(They have my V5 and I don’t want interests growing)
That is a reason to clear the loan. It has nothing to do with whether or when you make a complaint.
Can the complaint affect my DMP as I should not have been borrowing more whilst on the DMP.
no. How will your DMP firm know you have complained?
Worst case – and I can’t remember this happening to anyone, if your DMP is cancelled, set up another one.
frogman says
Thanks very Sara, I will treat the complaint separately. the reason I asked about it affecting my DMP is that I remember somewhere on the application form where it ask if you are on DMP and I believe I said No to that.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
well that could potentially affect your complaint (but it probably won’t) but it can’t affect your DMP.
lisa says
Good news today, FOS have partially upheld my Mobile Money complaint loans 4-8 which is what i expected, slight complication on the fact that loan 8 i voluntary gave my car up and my adjudicator needs to ensure I am put back into a financial position should i not have had the loan, they sold the car at auction to clear the debt, but need to check this was a fair price, am curious what they advise mobile money to compensate me on this? Long road to go still as they may not agree but feel its all moving the right way.
Sara have you seen this before with regards to the compensation and putting me back into financial position after giving the car voluntary as i didnt feel there was any other way out?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Car finance & logbook loan resolutions can be pretty complicated and down to the individual case I am afraid.
lisa says
ok, thanks i did think as much, the redress in itself is a large amount, so will see what my adjudicator says, he has promised a full written response to mobile money tomorrow and will send me a copy, I will update you with their response, my adjudicator advised he needs to take it to an Ombudsman due to its nature.
Bill says
Hi Lisa, that’s good and thanks for letting me know, mine hasn’t been picked up as yet, I didn’t realise your car went for auction it must have been awful for you! Mines not as drastic, had 8 loans in the space of 18 months ranging between £200 and £300 loans, I received the information on the interest they charged and couldn’t believe I was charged £1000 interest, keep us updated how you get on,
Bill
Lisa says
Hi Bill, yes it was very stressful times and the interest as you say is just shocking, my 7th loan was £1100 and payable was just under £3400. £2300 interest. My last loan was £700 and payable was £1800 I hade made a few payments and then I gave my car voluntary and they wrote the loan off. They made me feel it was the only way out. The adjudicator came back to me today to say due to the complexity they have written to mobile money for further information regarding the sale of my vehicle, I will keep you updated, hopefully yours gets picked up soon.
lisa says
Hi Bill, I have to day accepted my offer of redress, FOS told mobile money to refund me the money the vehicle was sold at auction after the loan amount was paid as well as all interest and 8%, their email and response were quick and they accepted the adjudicators decision in just under the 2 weeks they were given, my offer of redress will be paid within 3-5 days as per their email. I hope you have chased yours up and got someone looking into your case. regards Lisa
Nigel says
I’m thinking of complaining about my bank overdraft charges, which they increased over 6 times even though my account was a mess
What is putting me off, is;
They may demand to pay of the full overdraft and close my bank account, which they said they were close to doing because I kept going in my unrraged od,
I have a few complainant with the obdsuman and if they see my bank staments, they will see my outgoing don’t match with my other complainnet and could they report me putting on false info or different info ie there being lots of loans but on payday applications didn’t put any
Should I still complain?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
could you give an overview of your whole debt situation? You are the guarantor for an Amigo loan? But you said you could afford to pay it? That doesnt match with using an unarranged overdraft a lot? what other debts do you have?
Nigel says
All At the moment
1) AA credit card (on 3 month payment break)
2) 1678 owed, original amount 1600
3) date took out: 13 November 2017
4) interest rate 22.09% apr
5) one months in arrears
6)monthly payment 50
1) Nationwide loan (3 month payment break)
2) monthly payment 108.53
3) date took out: 23 November 2017
4) amount took out 5700
Amount now owed 3780.99
5) 5.5% interest
6) 4 months in arrears at the moment.
1)Nationwide loan 3 month payment break)
2) monthley payment 89.19
3) date took out: 29 January 2019
4)Amount took out 4000
Amount now owed 3730.20
5) 12.8% interetest
6) 4 months in arrears at the moment
1) likely loans (with fincial obdusman), 3 months payment break
2) taken on 15 January 2020
3) original 2000 (f £3646.08 repayable by 24 monthly instalments of £151.92)
4) paid 151 only so far
1) Halifax overdraft
2) amount borrowed total 2000, increased over 5 times.
3 Total charges since February 2018 (558.17)
4) have refunded about £100
5) on top of charges already paid paying 1.50 a day at the momment
6) took out November 2018
Amigo(I am grauntoor), awaiting complainet response (Applied for 3 months payment hoilday
1) balance to settle 2467.39
2) never made a payment to them
3) arrears 1482.16 last paymnet made February 2019 by the borrower.
4) account opend 14/05/2018
That’s all of them thank you for taking time too look.
All other debts cleard
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest a debt management plan. Even if you win the Likely Loans case, there is a lot left to repay. put the overdraft into the DMP = no more charges. Get yourself another bank account with someone you don’t owe money too. Go for a basic bank account with no overdraft.
Nigel says
Likely loans was to help a friend out and myself (may post about this later)
He owes me 5000, once COVID over he going to increase bank loan and pay me at least 3000 he says, at the momment only doing emergency increase he pays every month and increases every year.
Should I still go to the obdsuman about all the other ones
Dmp with all creditors or just my od
Why a new bank as I will still have to pay this bank off so may is well stay with them
Won’t a dmp, affect my credit rating I work in a fincial instution?
Also won’t dmp stop me getting a moragte, in future
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You should take a complaint to the ombudsman if you consider they gave you unaffordable credit.
A DMP has to be for all your debts including the overdraft.
You have a pile of unaffordable debt a lot of it expensive. You are using an unarranged overdraft regularly. You may be ok at the moment because of payment breaks but it doesn’t look at all likely you can get through this without your credit record being affected. Your credit score can hardly be good or you would never have had to borrow from the likes of Likely Loans…
Affordability complaint can be a slow and uncertain route. A DMP will get you in a safe position where you can get through each month with an affordable payment. Then if you win affordability complaints and/or your friend pays you money you can clear off debt.
Why a new bank as I will still have to pay this bank off so may is well stay with them
because you want your overdraft in the DMP so charges stop and it starts getting cleared. that means you have to stop using an account. so you need a new bank account.
Your problem debts will stop you getting a mortgage in future if you don’t sort them… I suggest you talk to StepChange https://www.stepchange.org/ about your full situation and they can go through it in detail and explain how a DMP works. DMPs are informal debt solutions and work well for temporary periods – they aren’t a form of insolvency.
Nigel says
Thanks for all that
Just one question about dmp, I’ve had missed payments but however isn’t a dmp much worse
Once I’ve cleard all my debts should be within 2 years.
I can quickly get my credit record to good?, because I have no default or ccjs etc
Sara (Debt Camel) says
a DMP is a payment arrangement. If you can afford to make the normal payments then that is best – but being in an unarranged overdraft and having all that debt makes it look unlikely. If you can’t make the normal monthly payments, then a payment arrangement is better than missing payments. Missed payments will end up with defaults!
See the How do future lenders view DMPs? section in https://debtcamel.co.uk/dmp-credit-rating/
Simon says
Looking for some feedback re 118 money response times. I had 3 loans with 118 money and submitted a compliant April 2019. They rejected in June 2019 and I submitted to FoS. The adjudicator reviewer at the end of April 2020 and ruled in my favour for all 3 loans. 118 finally responded yesterday and offered to uphold loans 2 and 3. I don’t fully agree but accepted rather than waiting in a long ombudsman queue and potentially reaching the same conclusion. The redress will allow me to clear some interest bearing debts. The adjudicator confirmed my acceptance to them this morning.
Does anyone have any recent experience of how long I should expect to wait for them to calculate and the refund and then pay out? Thanks in advance
Marts says
Hello,
Before I go to 118 money, I have a quick question. I often look at my credit file and not once seen (just downloaded a copy as per instructed) and there is no mention of 118 on my credit file? what does this mean and why is it missing?. 118 have sold the loan to a collection company now and also no mention of that company either. I will be sending 118 an affordability complaint, and deal with the company after. Any help or advise is appreciated. Thank you .
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what credit report are you looking at?
Marts says
Thank you for your fast response. Credit Karma – and ClearScore
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you also look at an experian report.
Marts says
Hello, I have used CheckMyFile, which uses Equifax, Experian, TransUnion & Crediva. This loan is on none of them. Has anyone come across this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t know but I am not sure it is very interesting for you. Just send 118 your complaint.
PS save yourself £15 a month by cancelling that Checkmyfile subscription! That’s £180 a year when you can get all the information for free: https://debtcamel.co.uk/best-way-to-check-credit-score/
Emily says
I’ve got the exact same thing!
I had two loans with 118 money, submitted my complaint in Dec 18, got my adjudicator decision March 20 ruling in my favour on loan 2. I’ve calculated that I should still have £950 left to pay but not heard a peep from 118 since the decision (I figured they’d all been furloughed)
They sold the second loan to moorcroft in Sept 19. Moorcroft performed a hard search on my credit file in Sept 19 but there is no other mention of the loan (or the previous one) on any of my files (clear score, credit karma, Experian, the lot!) I’ve called the Moorcroft about it once a month since the decision and they’ve said that my debts on hold and they haven’t been instructed by 118 to do anything yet. It’s like they’ve just forgotten about me!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It sounds as though the debt hasn’t been sold to Moorcroft but 118 are using them as debt collectors.
Nesta says
A couple of updates from me on my complaints.
I finally had an adjudicator allocated to my Bamboo and Avant complaints.
I complained to Bamboo in the spring last year and they rejected my complaint telling me they did all the appropriate checks on all 4 of my loans. I referred this to the FOS and last week the adjudicator told me that in his response. Bamboo accept they did not do enough checks on loan 2,3 and 4. They have therefore offered to remove all interest from the loans and as a gesture of goodwill also wipe from loan 1.
The adjudicator has not had much to do as they have provided the desired outcome. Just waiting on Bamboo to send through the finalised total which should be a few hundred and is a big relief from the £1500 still due.
Avant complaint was rejected mid last year and referred to the FOS. The adjudicator has agreed they lent irresponsibly but much to my annoyance Avant have not agreed with the adjudicator and she has now referred it over to ombudsman. This was just for one loan but my credit file was showing a deep debt problem.
sarahS says
Some brilliant news from the ombudsmen today Likely loans have agreed with his findings and will refund me £5964. I am in shock. After nearly a year since I made my complaint this feels like a genuinely life changing amount of money and they will remove the default from my file. Sara I CAN NOT THANK YOU ENOUGH! Without this site there is no way I would have complained. Here is to a much brighter future.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
excellent!
Katy James says
Hi this is very positive. likely loans rejected my complaint and I sent it to the FOS in October last year. It’s still not been picked up by an adjudicator yet. I sent a bamboo one at the same time and it was dealt with and completed before Xmas. Just wondering how long your case took in total x
sarahS says
Hi Katy, I complained in late June 2019 to LL. They rejected on 30 July. I went straight to the ombudsman and its taken until about 3 weeks ago to get them to look at the case. I think these high cost loans take longer as the detail sent back from the ombudsman was more in depth than for payday loan. Its been a long road so dont think you will get a decision quickly but dont give up hope either!
Tom says
Hi Sara, just a quickie.
I am going to make a complaint to Everyday Loans today. They gave me a loan of £7,000 in Feb 16. I applied for a top up in Sep 18 and they closed the first loan and provided me with a further loan for £6,000. By the time of the second loan, I’d repaid £11,465 against the first and have now paid £5,643 against the second loan. In total I have repaid £17,108 against two loans totalling £13k. My financial situation was dire when taking out the loans (multiple delinquent loans) and having had applications turned down by them in between the first and second loans because of gambling, I would argue that given the size of the loans, it was not sufficient to just request 30 days worth of bank statements. Would you agree?
On another note, I am used to Everyday ringing incessantly when they want to get hold of me, including the landline, speaking to my Mother. I have seen you post somewhere else about the FOS saying they have to be reasonable in contact methods etc., so is there something I can say to them that will almost compel them to stick to post or email? I can’t find the thread anymore. Thanks!!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think those were very large loans and EL should have looked closely at the affordability. In particular if they have already rejected you for a loan because of gambling, they should have looked closely at subsequent applications.
Here is the blog about being pestered by phone: https://debtcamel.co.uk/debt-collector-lender-phone-at-work/.
Tom says
Thanks Sara. I can’t echo enough the comments from everybody else about what a Godsend you are!!
Another factor on these loans… the second loan was destined for debt consolidation but it won’t surprise you to know that’s not quite where it ended up. I itemised a number of loans that were open and delinquent and they insisted that they paid one of them directly (which they did, £900 to settle a Loans2Go) and gave me the balance in cash. Is there anything in this that I should raise with them? Why would they want to pay one specific one directly? It maybe nothing, just seems a bit odd.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t know.
Nigel says
This is not about me but just what I read on fca website About customer complaining.
What’s your view on this.
I think it’s awful they close down his account just because he complains that can ruin someone’s life, a default, and suprised fca didn’t help him
How we helped
We looked at the available evidence. We thought the nature of the change wasn’t something Ben would have foreseen when he first agreed his overdraft. And as his situation meant he couldn’t have found a way to clear his overdraft before it took effect, we thought it fair and reasonable for his bank to refund the fees he’d been charged since the change took place, and to stop future changes.
After reviewing Ben’s situation, the bank gave notice under the terms and conditions of the account, closed his account and recorded a default. They said the overdraft was clearly unaffordable for Ben and it was unlikely he’d be able to pay back what he owed them over a reasonable period of time. Ben was unhappy with this. He didn’t want his credit file affected.
Our decision
We thought the bank’s actions were appropriate and proportionate. We didn’t think they should have to provide Ben with an overdraft facility free of charge. We agreed it was unlikely he could pay back what he’d borrowed even after his charges had been refunded. The account was always revocable and they could always have asked Ben to repay what he owed.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It would have been interesting to know what the decision would have been if the customer had complained that he should never have been given such a large overdraft in the first place, rather than just about the new charges.
The customer was actually better off after complaining as the new fees were removed. If he hadn’t complained he would have been heading for a default and closed account anyway as the new charges were unaffordable.
Overdrafts are a uniquely hard debt to get out of. Often there is no good solution that avoids defaults. I think the real problem here is that the banks were allowed to make the overdraft changes by the FCA. The Ombudsman can only work within the rules which say overdrafts are repayable on demand.
Nigel says
In 90% of cases I would accpect the obdsuman descion, even though there working in rules I don’t feel it’s right, the default, is there anyeone higher then the obdusman?
My account has been advised they may close but never have cos I kept going over my od, I don’t go over anymore, if I complained they may have closed it hence I have not.
For my own situation, at the momment I can save about 500 a month and pay my od in 4 months, if I complain after that can my account still be defaulted?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you can clear your overdraft in a few months that sounds great.
You can never have a default added if you haven’t missed payments and don’t owe anything. I don’t think your situation sounds anything like that case study and I suggest you ignore it.
Matt S says
I had an issue a couple of years back with an overdraft from Nationwide. Originally applied not expecting to be approved as my credit score was so bad but was approvced £1200 and i kept applying for more consistnently and being approved over the following 2 months until it was up to £4000. I was never coming close to clearing it and eventually after a couple of years they called it in and i had to reach an agreement with them to reduce it by £50 a month.
I complained to them it was unaffordable and irresponsible to allow me to increase it so quickly (almost all of it went on gambling). They rejected so went to Ombudsman who found in my favour stating they shouldn’t have approved me for so much and should have noted what the money was being spent on.
Got a refund of interest and fees which reduced my overdraft to under £500 which i cleared off in a few months. Had a feeling they would close my account when i wasn’t due them any more mobey but have had the overdraft cleared for a couple of years now and still have the account.
I guess it depend on the bank and the situation.
Nick says
Hi,
Has anyone had any experience dealing with EverydayLoans? I borrwed £3,000 in September 2019 and have been paying £357 p/m since. (Totalling £3,200 so far). I’ve asked them for an early settlment figure, in which they’re quoting £2,800! This means i’m paying £3,000 interest for a 7 month loan…
I logged an irresponsible lending complaint back in December, which they rejected and then sent onto FOS (who are yet to look at this). I’ve offered EDL to pay back another £500 to settle early and cancel the FOS complaint but they rejected that also. Has anyone had any success with Every Day Loans? They seem extortionate and quite hard to deal with
Ruth says
118 money update – so they disagreed with the adjudicator and it’s now being sent to the ombudsman…just wondering if anyone has any recent experience how long this stage might take and if the ombudsman generally agrees with the adjudicator findings? Back story – I originally sent my complaint to 118 Money May 2019 to which they didn’t reply to until July 2019, sent to FOS August 2019 and it was picked up by an adjudicator end of April 2020. He agreed with my complaint which was a one loan of £1800 in 2015 that 118 money certainly didn’t do any adequate checks for (I was naive/desperate and had multiple pay day loans out with a huge student overdraft I was living in for years resulting in a large DMP). 118 initially didn’t respond to my complaint within the 8 weeks and then also was late replying to the ombudsman (a bad Trustpilot review got a bit of an funny response from them to me in private message). I go on maternity leave in July and only entitled to maternity allowance due to a job change so the money would certainly be helpful! Many thanks in advance and a big thankyou to Sara again for all the work she puts into this.
JA says
I had an ombudsman pick up two complaints that at the start of this month. They were sent for ombudsman queue in sept 2019 – 7/8 months roughly
G says
Our cases look similar time wise with dates. Adjudicator agreed with my complaint midweek and gave 118 2 weeks to respond, so I’m awaiting their answer now. I fully expect them to disagree with adjudicator decision and to delay another 6 months. Keep the head up Ruth you have got this far!
Will says
Hi Sara,
I borrowed an initial £2,000.00 pounds for 1 year term at 550% interest rate from Satsuma loans in 2019 and luckily, I paid back quickly in 3 months due to a gift i received from my uncle. 2 months after, I went borrowing another £2,000.00 for 1 year term with£332.00 monthly repayments. Now i have been paying this repayment for 6 months and i decided to check the settlement balance, shockingly, i was told i still owe£1,992.00 and this after having paid 6 monthly repayments of £332 totaling £1,992.00, so, it means only £8.00 has been deducted from my principal in 6 months. I think this way too much of a rip-off. I now intend to seek for interest refund on this loan by lodging a complaint against Satsuma Loans, is this advisable and what is my chances of being successful with my claim?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You won’t win a complaint because the interest is exorbitant. Are the loan repayments to high for you manage without borrowing more or getting behind with bills?
Will says
Yes, they are too much for me to manage right now and affecting my other bills
Will
Sara (Debt Camel) says
but were they too much to afford when you took them out?
Getting behind with bills is a very bad idea. It may be a good idea to make affordability complaints and at the same time go onto a debt management plan so you are just paying one affordable amount each month to your debts so you can manage the bills. Talk to StepChange about how this could work for you https://www.stepchange.org/how-we-help/debt-management-plan.aspx
GH says
I’m looking for advice please. As the company I want to complain to I have onky had the 1 loan with. Do you think I have a case?
My complaint for irresponsible lending is to Likely Loans. In May 2018 I was accepted a loan for £2500. 24 repayments of £189.91. Interest was front loaded so total balance £4557.84. By Jan 19 I was struggling to pay and went on a payment plan, initially for £80pm, then £100pm and now £125pm. My balance is still over £1000.
Looking back through my bank statements I had payments going out that month to Wageday Advance, Satsuma, Sunny, MyJar, Wonga and Mr Lender.
Do i have a valid claim as surley this should have shown on my credit file and can i claim as am still paying?
I have successfully claimed in other named companies.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes you can make a complaint if you are still repaying a loan.
It is possible to win one loan cases when the loans are large like yours.
If you think the loan repayments were too large and Likely loans should have realised if they had looked at your situation carefully, then send in an affordability complaint.
frogman says
Hi,
I won my single-loan unaffordability complaint with Likely Loans. It was a £5k loan paid over two years and I didn’t have to go to FOS. I think what won it for me was that my bank statement which I supplied with the complaint. It clearly showed the loan was unaffordable. I extracted my income and all monthly expenditure into a spreadsheet for six months prior to when I took out the loan. When I added the £305 monthly repayment of Likely Loan, I went into negative for nearly all the months.
Maria says
Hi Sara
I have a loan with everyday loans for £4100 over 36 months which I took in July 2019. I asked for a statement of payments and balance and it showed I have made 6 payments of £250 and 4 reduced payments of £125 – Total Interest Closing Balances £1914.57 – Main Loan £4008
After 9 months of payments I have only paid back £92 is this correct? I want to make an affordability complaint but am lost as to how to word it. When I applied for the loan they asked for 1 statement for June/July which I sent. I had stopped gambling in May 19 and registered with Gamstop. Please can you advise how I should approach this as I am worried they will ask for the whole loan to be repaid at once or say I should have know how high the interest was but I was desperate at the time and the statement showed the payday loans
Sara (Debt Camel) says
After 9 months of payments I have only paid back £92 is this correct?
This may be because of the reduced payments you have made.
Did you restart gambling or was the loan unaffordable anyway because of your other debts and bills?
Maria says
Hi Sara
The loan was unaffordable because of my other debts and bills so they agreed a reduced payment but they have now stopped this and I am back to contractual payments of £250
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then I think you should send an affordability complaint.
If you have other debts as well, the best thing is probably to put them all – including things like your overdraft – into a debt management plan. See https://www.stepchange.org/how-we-help/debt-management-plan.aspx and talk to StepChange about this.
Affordability complaints can take a very long while to go through, you can’t rely on this solving your current difficulty – a DMP gets you into a safe situation. But if you win the complaint it will make your DMP end a lot sooner!
Maria says
Thank you so much Sara for all your help and for this website.
Andy says
Hi Sarah,
Fantastic work on here. I had a quick question, ive had an offer from Satusma loans recently and they’ve advised that they will remove any negative information from my credit report. Does this mean they will remove the entire loan and any record?
Thank you,
Andy
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It normally means they just delete any defaults, missed or late payments.
Ciara says
Hi Sara,
I have just recieved a reply from 118 – 2 weeks late of the 8 week time frame. They have not upheld – my complaint was that I should never have been accepted for such a big credit limit – I only had one loan with them and that was £1500 – I repaid first couple of payments (not easily) and then had to go into a plan – not long of being in the plan they sold to a debt collection agency which i still don’t know what the company is and when they are going to try and collect the remaining balance? Would FOS be likely to uphold if I show my bank statements at the time ? Also if I get my credit report for that time? (How do I request a copy of my credit report from last year?)
Thankyou
Ciara
Pn says
118 refused my complaint it got sold to lowell who agreed 75% discount on balance
KR says
So my husband’s adjudicator replied to say Varooma case is in a que for ombudsman bit cannot advise how long this will take, it’s already been 1 year. Adjudicator agreed 4 loans out of 5 bit Varooma have ignored all communication from them. Does anyone know how long the last bit usually takes and is it unusual for a business to ignore the adjudicator and not reply.
Fraggles23 says
The wait is normally around 6months, maybe longer due to the pandemic.
Ive been waiting since Feb for an ombudsman to pick mine up which is against EL.
Adjudicator ruled in my favour but they ignored it
Mel says
Hello, what if the initial credit amount was affordable, but only when the credit and interest was increased it became unmanageable? I had £250 with Vanquis to begin with, then they kept increasing credit and I kept spending and paying minimum. At one point interest rate increased and it became even more difficult to pay, until my financial situation changed and I couldn’t pay at all. I also had other credits that became unmanageable. Can I argue that credit shouldn’t have been increased or % rate as I clearly made min payments only and at times paid other credits with Vanquis credit? Also this credit was taken 10 y ago and the debt is with DCA now, who has issued CC claim against me. We are in the process of ‘negotiating’ if I could call it. Can I still dispute this debt with Vanquis to begin with? I want to reduce the debt and trying to figure out the best way. The debt is nearly £3k. The credit limit was £2500, I’ve paid nearly £2500 to Vanqs and £330 to DCA when they first came at me. DCA offered settlement of full amount at £20/m, but I’m really not willing to pay over £5k, when I’ve already paid nearly £3000 over the years. BTW, I have sent SAR to Vanquis before, but only asked for agreement and statements. Can I request additional info again?
Sorry for that much info, I hope it’s possible to understand.
Kind Regards
Mel
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Can I argue that credit shouldn’t have been increased
Yes you can. That is usually the best approach with credit cards, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-catalogue-credit-card/ which looks at this sort of complaint. They aren’t as simple to win as payday loan complaints and they tend to take much longer, having to go to the Finanical Ombudsman normally.
Can I request additional info again?
Yes you can.
the debt is with DCA now, who has issued CC claim against me. We are in the process of ‘negotiating’ if I could call it.
Have you actually had a Claim Form? if so you need to enter a defence, not just send letters or emails trying to negotiate. Talk to National Debtline urgently on 0808 808 4000 about your options, otherwise you will end up with a CCJ for the full amount by default as you have not filed a defence.
Mel says
Thank you for your reply. I have filled all the papers for the court, last being DQ. Then DCA contacted me with the settlement offer, but since there is no agreement and the docs DCA have sent me are questionable, I’m looking at the ways I could reduce the balance.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
An affordability complaint has to go to the original creditors. This is likely to take a long time to resolve. I haven’t heard of anyone being able to get a court claim bought by a debt purchaser “stayed” (legal jargon for put on hold) while a complaint goes through. I suggest you talk to National Debtline urgently about your options.
Craig says
Hi Sara,
I want to thank you for all the help available on this site. I have many successful claims for irresponsible lending and am currently awaiting an answer from the FOS on 2 logbook loan companies (mobile money and Loans2go) my complaint for mobile money goes back to 2009 to 2013 and the FOS have just told me that they will investigate it as under the rule that my complaint was made within 3years of realising I had cause for complaint. It’s been a long road (started march 2019) but I am finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel. Thank you again
MrN says
Afternoon….anyone had anything to do with TM Advances?
I’ve had my SAR…quite a lot of pages. Shown my application and stated income.
They have then added a ‘partner contribution’ which I have never said.
Then on the affordability pages it stated my income was £72,000…I have no idea how they have got to these figures. Especially, like I say, my application clearly stated my income.
What you think about the chances?
I had to take more credit out after too.
Dana says
Hi Sara, I’d like some advice, when we went into lockdown I froze my loans and 118 118 money were not contactable via phone, so I was advised to receive help through the live chat on their website, they told me they had frozen my account, however, after speaking to them on the phone today I have been told my account wasn’t frozen after all and that I’m actually in arrears, they have no records of their live chats it seems and I don’t have this information either. Is there anything I can do? It sounds like they’ve messed up here.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The first thing is to ask for a payment break now if you still need it – have you done that?
It is a shame you did not put your request in writing or take a screen shot of the webchat. You can put in a complaint saying what happened and when and ask them to correct your credit record. But anyway you were in a payment plan, so this error will make little difference to your credit record.
Dana says
They said because I was in arrears they can’t freeze it, I’ve put in a complaint about the web chat situation, I’ve already got a complaint with 118 that has gone to the FOS and has finally been picked up, so I’ll be adding this onto the complaint. It really feels like 118 118 will do anything to screw people over. Likely Loans were really supportive when we went into lockdown.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you can’t afford to pay them, just stop paying!
Ciara says
Hi Sara,
I have just recieved a reply from 118 – 2 weeks late of the 8 week time frame. They have not upheld – my complaint was that I should never have been accepted for such a big credit limit – I only had one loan with them and that was £1500 – I repaid first couple of payments (not easily) and then had to go into a plan – not long of being in the plan they sold to a debt collection agency which i still don’t know what the company is and when they are going to try and collect the remaining balance? Would FOS be likely to uphold if I show my bank statements at the time ? Also if I get my credit report for that time? (How do I request a copy of my credit report from last year?)
Thankyou
Ciara
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send your complaint to FOS, with your bank statements for the 3 months before the 118 loan and the three months afterwards. Include a copy of you current credit record – you can’t get an old one. That will give FOS the details they need.
Mister Anonymous says
Hi Sara,
This is probably the wrong place to ask this so I apologise. However, I recently received a letter from Lowell saying they undertook a review of my account and found BW Legal were overstating the alleged debt and included a cheque to compensate me for any inconvenience.
Is this an underhand way to get me to tacitly acknowledge the alleged debt? Thus far I have beat them twice at the Sheriff Court as they could not produce a valid credit agreement never mind show the alleged debt was assigned or that I was notified of such assignation.
I have dutifully never acknowledged the alleged debt and it is about six months away from being statute barred.
Should I just bin their letter and cheque?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I will ask a Scottish debt adviser to reply to you.
Alan McIntosh says
Hi
The law in Scotland in relation to prescription is the running of it only stops on:
A relevant acknowledgement of the debt; or a
relevant claim being made.
A relevant acknowledgement is generally accepted as meaning a written acknowledgment by you of the debts existence; or a payment to the debt.
A relevant claim is when they take you to court or serve a charge for payment or arrest your wages etc.
The way I see they are sending you a cheque, not requiring you to make a payment or acknowledge the debt in writing to obtain the cheque. Could cashing the cheque be a relevant acknowledgement? I have certainly never heard of such a thing. That is not to say someone could not argue it, but then that doesn’t mean they would succeed in front of a judge. What I dont understand is why not just reduce the amount you owe by offsetting aginst the other.
It may be they are planning to bring the case back to Court before the prescription period runs out and are going through the case with a tooth comb and have found this and made you the refund.
You are not being asked to confirm in writing you owe the debt. If you do write to them, say you are not acknowledging the debt, but will accept the payment.
Mr Anonymous says
Thank you Alan,
While the sum proffered in the cheque is significant, it is insignificant in comparison to the quantum of the alleged debt.
The alleged debt will be statute barred in December 2020 so I think you’re right that they are going through it with a fine tooth comb. The Sheriff took a dim view last time in Court that they failed to comply with an Order of the Sheriff to supply documents to myself and the Court. While the case was dismissed pro loco et tempore at that time he did warn that next time I would be granted a Decree of Absolvitor in my favour.
I take it that because I refuted the debt previously in Court does not extend the length of time to barring? It would still be from the time of the default on the alleged debt?
frogman says
Out of the blue, Metro bank refunding me charges of £150 + 8% interest on my current account. Below is what they said for anyone banking with them.
We’re getting in touch about texts we sent between February 2018 and December 2019, asking customers to top up their balance if it couldn’t cover the payments due to leave their account.
What’s happened
These texts didn’t make it clear that, if the account wasn’t topped up, there would be a charge for each payment due. Also, they should have been sent by 10am, and we’ve realised that in a few cases this didn’t happen.
Each payment due was charged at £10, with a maximum of £60 being charged in any month. We’ve reviewed our accounts and can see you were affected by this – we’re now going to put it right.
Hel says
Hi Sara,
I have a loan with Everyday Loans, for the amount of £1500 at the time of taking it out. I took this out in 2017 and I am still paying it off now, I make reduced payments to the company, however my last updated sum from them states
“The outstanding balance for your loan still to be paid, which includes all remaining interest is £2061.43.”
I believe this is a case or irresponsible lending, and they are the worst company to try and tackle. I am wanting to complain to them but as I still havent paid the loan off in full, which template would you suggest using? I worked out from my bank statements that I have paid, up to date, £1836.76 without interest.
Any Advice would be a massive help!!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Use the template in the article above. You need to argue that EL should have realised that you could not afford the lain repayments in 2017 if they had checked properly.
hel says
Thank you for the reply.
I have used the template and added a few more bits to emphasise the position I was in and the negligence of it all.
So thankful I found this page!
Thank you for all your work x
frogman says
Hi Sara,
I once posted about my logbook loan with CCP. I borrowed £4500 in May 2019. £1803 of it was used to pay off HP on the car from BMW and CCP paid me the balance of £2697. I have now paid a total of £8085 to settle the loan. I am putting in an affordability complaint based on the below points and wanted your thoughts.
1 – BMW HP payment history that I submitted to CCP – Although showed timely repayment from when I bought the car in Aug 2015 to May 2018, I missed every single payment from then on, commencing with a rejected DD in June 2018. I was playing catch-up with irregular direct transfer of repayments to BMW up until the point I took out the CCP loan and was one month in arrears.
2 – They requested 3 months bank statement and payslips to be submitted to the inspecting agent but I doubt this was ever looked at because the application differed greatly from the statement and still got the loan the next afternoon. Eg, I had regular payment towards my DMP despite saying I wasn’t on DMP. I had Amigo loan coming out (had to be topping them up as guarantor (wife) wouldn’t let me have peace of mind at home) as well as monthly payment to HMRC for overdue returns. There was a huge % of my salary going to my wife to pay essential bills as I couldn’t trust myself not gambling it way.
3 – I already had 7 or more defaults on my credit file at the time, but as they do not credit check, this is impossible to argue.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if they asked for bank statements they should have taken account of what was on them.
frogman says
Thanks very much. If there are not credit checking, the bank statement seems to me the only way to check I&E and affordability.
K says
Apologies Sara can you remove my previous comment as my complaint is still ongoing and I do not want to interfere with the outcome.
“
K says
May 11, 2020 at 5:10 pm”
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Your previous comment was about Sunny in February?
frogman says
Sara,
I need help please. CCP just phoned me to discuss my complaint which went in last week. Paid £3585 interest. They have offered £1000 as a goodwill and said they can defend the claim at FOS. I have said no that I will only accept £1800. What’s what take? FOS route will probably take 6months plus. The manager said he is going to call back in 5 mins.
£1800 is approx half the interest. The guy I spoke to was really nice on the phone (This really surprised me based on CCP experience that I have read here)
frogman says
I forgot to mention that the guy said even if it went to FOS and I win, that the refund would go to my creditors because I am on a DMP. I told him I wouldn’t mind that. I think they’ve seen the evidence and that I have a strong point and willing to settle outside.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
in a DMP the refund goes to you :) of course it is often a good idea to use it to settle some of your DMP debts but it’s your choice & you can use it to make full&final settlement offers, so a 2k refund may be able to clear more than 2k of debt.
Frogman says
Thanks Sara, they’ve just rang back offering £1200 final offer to be paid today. Now I am just weighing £3600 FOS or £1200 from them. They said she couldn’t see any gambling transactions on the statement – true, there wasn’t, but I want transferring to other accounts to gamble. My settlement statement from BMW also showed I missed the last 11 payments and was playing catch up. I am confused. £2600 for the 6month plus at FOS with no guarantee I will win
Sara (Debt Camel) says
it doesn’t sound like a great offer to me. I think your suggestion to accept half the interest is a fair compromise.
frogman says
Thanks very much. We couldn’t agree. I said £1500 final and they said £1200 final. so FOS it is. I will wait for their rejection email and then refer to FOS.
Andrew says
Frogman
When input my complaint in they rang me within 2 to 3 days asking what I would accept I said 3 grand plus interest and loans taking off report they said I will come back, they replied and said no
Went to FOS and won at adjudicator level approx 4k plus interest I reckon, they refused and now in queue for ombudsman
Frogman says
Thanks very much Andrew. I have decided I am
going to wait it out too. What’s your timeline if you don’t mind me asking please? How long did they take to send you the reject email after asking you what you wanted?
Andrew says
Hi
They had the response within 7 days with a evidence pack very efficient all documents in a envelope
Complained April 2019 to FOS, got adjudicator decision in Early May now in queue for ombudsman
Frogman says
Thanks very much Andrew, very helpful info. I will take £1500 from them if they offer but will get myself ready for the long wait.
bob says
I send my complaint in 6 weeks week ago. Only got en email to say that it was logged with them and they have 8 weeks to investigate it. It will be sent to FOS soon as I hit week 8. Ive heard on here they are talking longer than 8 weeks to review. I am keen to see how people are getting on with 118118 complaints.
Shelley says
Hi Sara
I have sent an email to Likely Loans as I have an outstanding loan with them and they were on your list.
I also have a personal loan with Hitachi Personal Finance (I believe I applied through a trading name of BeSavvi maybe?) but they aren’t on your list. Can I still send the email to them?
Thanks
Shelley
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes! I just listed some of the largest lenders, but the rules apply to all loans.
Linds says
I sent a complaint to 118 118 in March 2019, they did not accept so I forwarded it to FOS July 2019, I’m still waiting for it to be picked up by an adjudicator.
The outstanding debt is with Lowell.
Linds
Ross says
Hi Sara,
I won my case, with Likely Loans, back in April. After they refunded me, I realised that they had not sent a tax certificate, so I could claim some of this back. On 29/04/20, I emailed them, to ask for a tax certificate. However, since then, I have not heard anything. Another thing is that they agreed to remove all adverse credit entries on my report. Despite me paying a lot of debt off, over the past few months, and getting my CC balances down, I noted that my Credit Karma score has actually DECREASED by 19 points. One of the things they point out is because I had a late payment, to Oakbrook Finance, 16 months ago (parent company for LL). Should I raise this with LL, as a new complaint? They’ve not followed through on what they agreed to do, with the FOS and also haven’t sent the tax certificate which I think they should be obliged to do?
Could you please let me know your thoughts?
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Your FOS case was quite recent so I suggest you go back to the adjudicator and explain what has happened.
Ross says
Thanks, as ever, Sara. I have just emailed the adjudicator at the FOS.
Ross says
Hi Sara,
As you suggested, I contacted the adjudicator who dealt with my Likely Loans case but no response a week later. Likely Loans, themselves, are not responding either? Could you please offer a suggestion on what do/where to go next? I had my weekly credit report, yesterday, and the loans are still sat there and the late payment marker is still affecting my score?
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Honestly I would just wait a few weeks.
You can send in a tex reclaim without the “tax certificate” if LL told you how much 8% interest was added and how much tax was deducted.
Ennio Fara says
Hi Sara ,
It is possible been approved a loan with 6 default and ccj in your credit file ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Who was the lender? were the defaults and CCJs recent?
Ennio says
Lender is loan2go and ccj is in 2018
Sara (Debt Camel) says
and they gave you the loan?
read https://debtcamel.co.uk/worst-loan-in-britain/ which looks at their loans and how to complain.
Ennio says
Yes they approved a loan on line with out ask me income and with out run any check and now they start to ask me the payment and already email them saying irresponsible lender plus all the bank statement has been sent to them and I’m not pay any amount of the loan ..what you think they can do against me if I don’t pay any amount of money to them ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you win the complaint, interest is removed so you just have to repay what you borrowed.
It sounds as though you have a lot of other problem debts? Can I suggest you should talk to StepChange now about your options, it may be a debt management plan will get you through – then winning the Loans2Go compliant will speed up the DMP. Or it may be that a DMP won’t work and you need to look at other options. https://www.stepchange.org/debt-info/debt-management-plan.aspx
Ennio says
No basically my identity has been stole and they open a loan and all the fraud police are under investigation and I proof to them with this example is not safe …is very easy now open a
Loan if they know name surname date of birth ..doesn’t matter where you live ..the lender are not running any hard check ..all my situation about this default and ccj show on my credit score even fraud…this why I don’t understand why they approved
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, well it would be simpler if you had said that at the start.
That particular lender doesn’t seem to do adequate affordability checks.
Mag says
Hi, i have just had an affordability complaint rejected by EDL. I’m till paying for loan and have not been paying whilst they came to their decision. I have now referred to Ombudsman, but should i start paying again or can i wait for Ombudsman’s decision? Thank you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Can you afford the payments? Do you have other problem debts as well?
Pendarlo says
Hi.
Wondering if I could get some advice.
I took out a £1000 loan with Avant Credit a few years ago and managed to pay it off. My credit report was littered with pay day loans and huge outstanding amounts of credit with other providers. The say I paid off my £1000 with Avant they gave me the option on applying for another loan and offered £4000. At this point, I had a huge amount of outstanding credit, numerous pay day loans and a salary that didn’t cover the monthly repayments. They did request a bank statement for this second loan but looking at the statement I emailed them, it showed lots of other debt repayments, gambling and payday loans. It would be obvious to anyone the financial issues i was having at the time.
Would this be a good enough reason to complain? I am currently on a DMP and haven’t repaid the full £4,000 yet.
Thank you for your help.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
from what you have said, that sounds a good reason to complaint the 4k loan was unaffordable and as they should have noticed the gambling on your bank statement 9assuming it was significant) they should not have given you the loan. Getting the interest removed will speed up your DMP.
How large are the debts in your DMP? how much are you paying per month?
Mag says
Hi,
It would have to be very reduced payments as i was made redundant from my job, and am now just receiving carer’s allowance. So would definitely be a struggle :-( . No other debts now. This was last one. I asked for a top of loan of £1000 and they talked me into having £5000. My weakness i know but struggled ever since, nowhere near enough checks were done. i’m convinced there is no way they should of given me this loan.
Donna says
Has anyone had experience with high cost catalogues like Jacamo and Simply be?
Just had a complete turn down from them with not even a goodwill gesture. Should I send this
to the FOS? Has anyone had rulings by the FOS against the catalogues and if so, do they take long?
Sean says
Hi all, got an email from FOS about my compliant against Bamboo “Bamboo loans has now told us it would like to make an offer in full and final settlement of your complaint. And we wanted to let you know about this offer so that you can decide whether or not you want to accept it.”
How long will it take Bamboo to get back to me?