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?
lynne Byrne says
I am buying.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I have just looked back at your previous comments.
You can put in an affordability complaint to LL, see the template letter in the article above. If you win that, the interest will be removed and so will the deafult.
You can also ask them to backdate the default date.
But as I said before on a different page, your main problem is the huge debts you will have. Whether or not they are on your credit record is largely irrelevant. No lender is likely to give you a mortgage in a couple of years with that mountain of debt.
I said before that one option was to rent out one or two rooms. You could then use that rental income to start clearing the debts that have been sold to debt collectrs who may well be happy to accept a 50% settlement or less.
I know you don’t want to rent out a room but it isn’t clear that you have any options that you would like that stand a chance of working. If you win a LL affordability complaint that halves the LL debt but it is still big. And your other debts are huge. You need more income fast.
Lynne says
Many thanks for your advice which I will follow.
I agree that I need to find ways of making enough money to offer full and final settlements and am working toward this with other avenues as renting out my home is a definite no no for me personally for various reasons.
Out of interest you say that no lender would give me a mortgage with my current debt.If it doesn’t show on my file in a couple of years the how would they know unless I showed them the bank account from which I make my loan payments?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They will ask for your bank statements. It’s fraud to not give them statements from some accounts.
Lynne says
Thanks for that.
I would likely only need a small mortgage(if one at all)after the sale of my house.I have just read your article on the subject too and so my best option would likely be to go to a broker by the looks of it.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Obviously not needing a mortgage at all would be great! Good luck with the Likely Loans complaint.
sam says
has anyone on here actually been paid out by 118118?
just wondered how long it look
Bill says
They the worse ever, pass the buck to Azuro and Azuro pass it on the debt collection dodgy agencies
NJW says
I just won against Savvy Loans at Ombudsman final decision. Approximately 1 yr ago Savvy paid me £100 compo for non material damages (sent me an email which said I had a gambling addiction when I dont and caused me all manner of grief)
They didn’t uphold iresponsible lending complaint, went to FOS they disagreed with adjudicator, went to ombudsman who ruled in my favour.
They then reluctantly paid me minus the £100 which they then said was in lieu of interest. I tried to point out that how could that work as they never intended to repay my interest but bless them, they don’t understand this. Now waiting for FOS to give them a poke in the eye!!
Wes says
I had just come out of a spell where I was in a lot of debt, and stupidly got myself back into debt by getting a loan with 118. There was no way my credit file or score was good enough to have been accepted for a loan of £7000. I’m pretty sure I didn’t make one payment, it has now been taken up by lantern, who I am making reduced payments to.
Do you think I should send a complaint and ask them
If they had done a thorough look at my credit file etc?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if you think the repayments were unaffordable, send them a complaint and send it to the Ombudsman if they say No.
You are not “asking them if they did a thorough check”, you are telling them they didn’t.
Gra says
Hi
I was wondering if you could advise me if I have been miss sold and worth trying to claim ,
I had a logbook loan with Varooma , I was constantly topping it up , and although payslips were checked , on the last top up I didn’t have the 3 requested payslips. Only 2 , for December and January 2017 /18 , my November bank statement showed a bank transfer for £1200 into my account , from a friend , which was in fact an amigo loan , and the sales agent asked what this was and I told him , and he said “ it was your income for November “ and then called Varooma to say all was ok and to issue the top up .
Do you think this would be a case for miss selling and I shouldn’t of been given the loan ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think if you topped up several times that by itself is a reason to make a complaint. Send it in!
Lynne says
Hi Sara
I am following your advice regarding claiming a refund on the LikelyLoan interest and have just viewed my Transunion credit report
I was astounded to see multiple recent searches from 118118 moneyand Zopla peer to peer loans,neither of whom I have applied to as far as I’m aware.
What can I do about this as I’m now very concerned?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You have never borrowed from these companies?
Have you recently gone onto a broker site looking for a loan?
Ricky says
I made an unaffordability complaint to 118 118, they rejected the complaint and even went as far as saying I have committed fraud. I send the complaint to FOS who today have ruled in my favour and have given 118 118 two weeks to respond.
Robert mills says
You will be waiting for a while before they pay you out. They ask you to email the complaints department complaining that your original complaint has been upheld, however they don’t have a clue what your taking about and ask you to wait until someone gets in touch.
Then after two months when they still haven’t contacted you you will have to go back to the ombudsman who will then instruct them to pay you out so your looking about late November.
Total joke
Ricky says
Oh really?? That’s disgraceful.
Sam says
Ricky how long did it take for the FoS to respond if you dont mind me asking
Ricky says
Hi Sam
It took 2 months. Much shorter time frame as I said I was in financial hardship which I am.
Pete says
Ricky,
I was in the same situation as yourself, and they responded back after 3 weeks requesting my bank details for redress payment.
Good luck
Robert mills says
How long did you wait after that?
I’ve had to go back to the ombudsman explaining that after two months nobody has got in touch
Sam says
had an affordabilty complaint not upheld today by Mobile Money. However have agreed to wipe the balance. And remove all hpi marker and credit file entries as a good will gesture
Im happy with the outcome
delyth jones says
Do you have an email address for creation loans or would they not be covered by this refund scheme?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Are these secured loans?
Delyth Jones says
No. It was a Personal loan
Sara (Debt Camel) says
they seem to want you to use the form in their website. You could try claire.moore@bnpparibas-pf.co.uk but if there is no reply, use the web form
Delyth Jones says
Thank you
I’ve just had a letter to say that they have sold my debt to a collection agency after 1 missed payment….. Do I go to them or the agency now?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
a complaint about an unaffordable loan should be sent to the original lender.
James says
Update: 118 118 Money partly upheld my complaint, offering to settle my remaining balance of c. £3.5k and pay me c. £1.5k as redress. I tried to counter offer to no avail, but received payment last week. Glad to get something back, move on with rebuilding my finances and put this episode behind me.
27/05/2020 Complaint sent to 118 118 Money
21/07/2020 Complaint upheld for only loans 3 & 4
21/07/2020 – 05/08/2020 I tried to negotiate but they did not entertain my counter offer
06/08/2020 I confirmed acceptance
14/08/2020 Payment received
Thank you again Sara for hosting this website and providing much needed advice.
Dj says
After a long waited time I have finally been paid my redress from 118 118 todayso for this who keep chasing just be patient I waited 4 weeks after ombudsman ruled in my favour n received an email asking to confirm banking details and after sending that it took another 10 days for payment so expect a 5-6 week wait once ruled in your favour . Just want to say thank you to Sara for your help and guidance on this website wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for debtcamel .
Rachel Rooney says
I made an unaffordability complaint to 118 118 on a £2000 loan I took out in October 2017, they rejected the complaint and in their response said I had committed fraud. I send the complaint to FOS. I took the loan out during a time of real financial turmoil, one to help me consolidate at least 5 other payday loans and I was also gambling at the time. The loan was completely unaffordable and it was very evident at the time that I was repeatedly taking loans out to pay off other loans. I was also already missing payments and had a poor credit score by this point. I reviewed my bank statements on the 3 months leading up to applying for my loan with 118118 and it was clearly visible that I was already borrowing and repaying with lending stream, wonga, satsuma, sunny, Ferratum and had a 5,000 overdraft. I am stunned that they can even refute the fact I wasn’t financially stable and in a position to take out this loan. I have since replayed it back after missing a load of repayments along the way. But I feel I should have the £1900 interest I paid returned to me. Does anyone else think I stand a good chance with the FOS?
Thanks in advance.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You know the loan was unaffordable – that is a good reason to go to FOS. And a lot of 118 cases are being won.
Craig Wallace says
I too had a loan with 118118 for £2500. After complaining 118118 did not uphold stating that they had carried out required checks and found it affordable for me to borrow despite various payday loans, credit cards and car loan showing on my credit report. I sent to FOS and an investigator found in my favour and I’ve just had full refund of interest paid on the loan plus 8% paid into my bank account 4 days after investigator wrote to 118118 with her recommendation.
Rachel Rooney says
I’m so pleased you won your claim. I hope I am successful too. Can I please ask how long this process took after you sent it to FOS?
Craig Wallace says
I first sent to FOS in December 2019
Luk says
Hi Sara
I have guick guestion.
I’m going to put unaffordable complaint against few lenders. I’m already in DMP with Step change. Step change is paying them from my behalf. Should I stop paying them until my complain will be resolve ???
Sara (Debt Camel) says
who are the lenders? Unless they are in administration, it can be easiest to carry on paying while the complaint goes through.
Sarah W says
Avant Credit – I submitted an affordability complaint in November 2019 about two loans I’d taken out with Avant Credit. They kept sending fairly generic ‘we are looking into this’ and so by May 2020 I referred it directly to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Several more generic emails followed from Avant and then at the beginning of August I received a full and very detailed email from an investigator at the Financial Ombudsman Service. The email said that the right checks had not been conducted as if they had, Avant would have been able to see that I had not declared all my outgoings. Avant agreed with the decision and have refunded me the interest on the two loans. Much more surprisingly (and for me, excitingly!) is that they’ve also paid off the third loan completely as I had made two years of payments on it (it still had another 18 months to go). This was not a loan that I asked the Financial Ombudsman Service to look at but obviously Avant had a bit of a wobble about it and rather thank go through the rigmarole again, have just cancelled it out. A long and drawn out process but a great result, all thanks to this website. THANK YOU!
Sarah W says
And just by way of an update – they paid out today. No fuss, no delay. After all the hell, it’s good to see a result.
KR says
Hi does anyone know what the current wait is for an ombudsman to be allocated? Only got husbands adjudicator decision April from a Varooma case submitted last July and hes getting fed up as staff keep changing and no consistency at the fos, even complained but no joy. Is it is possible to try and negotiate with the provider based on the adjudicators decision or just ride it out and hope the company does not go under.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I doubt you will get much joy from trying to negotiate with them.
KR says
Lol that’s what I said, bit thought it might be in there best interests as the decision was in his favour with the evidence provided so the longer it goes on the more it would cost them. He’s just fed up with the lack of communication which he raised as a complaint and a manager replied but no real outcome from it over than we will be in touch as it progresses.
Fraggles says
Hi – Please can I have some advise? I complained against ELL and the adjudicator agreed with me. ELL didn’t respond so the complaint went to an ombudsman who didn’t uphold the complaint and stated the following!
The assessment of Miss C’s outstanding credit showed that she had a significant high cost instalment loan outstanding, and a large overdraft on her bank account. Servicing these debts would have made it impossible for Miss C to sustainably repay any new borrowing. But Miss C assured ELL that she would be using its lending to refinance those two debts. I think it was reasonable for ELL to rely on what Miss C had said and so discount those two debts when considering whether Miss C could afford to repay this loan.
I would normally have a degree of concern that the lender had used a statistical estimate of Miss C’s expenditure. Its checks needed to be specific to Miss C’s circumstances rather than those of an “average” consumer. But ELL supported that assessment by asking Miss C for copies of her bank statements.
I have until the 24th to respond. Is there any advise you can give me to turn this around??
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you had used the loan to repay those debts, would the loan repayments have then been affordable?
Were the EL loan repayments cheaper per month than the debts you were proposing to refinance?
Was there anything else on you bank statements (gambling perhaps?) or your credit record (other recent credit applications? recent defaults?) that should have made EL realise that the loan might turn out to be unaffordable?
Fraggles says
I had taken a recent payday loan with P2P for £1500. There was some gambling and a second overdraft on another bank account. Has they checked they would have seen there was a second account
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So did they take this P2P loan into account? or was it so recent they didn’t know about it?
Was the gambling showing on the account you showed them?
Were there large transfers to the other account showing?
What else went through the other account?
Fraggles says
They discounted the P2P and overdraft. Gambling would have been small amounts.
They said that because the loan would have paid P2p and the overdraft off, they discounted them in the affordability checked
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you think this is fair? I am not saying it is, I am trying to get you to explain to me why it isn’t….
Fraggles says
There was no guarantee that the loan was going to be used the pay P2P or the overdraft (which the exceeded the loan amount)
To me this seems like lending based on trust rather than the fact, and it was clear that my finances at the time could not afford the additional lending.
The adjudicator agreed but the ombudsman didnt which is frustrating :(
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, so go back and argue that. The fact that the loan would not have been enough to clear your overdraft means you would still have had overdrafts charges.
Fraggles says
Thanks Sara.
Im presuming that is unlikely that they will change the decision, it’s extremely disappointing to get this far and then have the decision switched!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The ombudsman will listen to any points you make. I understand it’s disappointing but it’s up to you if you want to try to explain in more detail why their decision is unfair.
Paul says
Hi Sarah,
Could you please advise me on affordability complaint.
I took out a loan from 118118 money for the amount of £2500, I since paid back £3700. I am currently on the DMP because I lost my job sometime ago and was not able to pay full instalment to my creditors.
When I applied for 118118 money loan it was not affordable, I already had several payday loans and credit cards. I was really in the spiral of debt.
My concern is also that after checking my credit agreement I’ve noticed that the Apr for the loan is 168%. I borrowed £2500 and I have to repay back £6194.
I know I should have check it earlier but I just realised how much the Apr, and it’s outrageous.
Could you please advise if the price cap also apply to credit agreement s or it’s only applicable to payday loans?
Thanks for advice.
Paul
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The price cap only applies to loans of less than a year.
But you can make an affordability complaint that the repayments were unaffordable, see article above.
What is the total debt in your DMP? How much are you paying a month?
Harvey Jr says
It can be 18 months if it was “substantially repaid within 12 months” with excessive interest in some cases. Loans2go for example.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
There is a discussion of that drafting point in relation to Loans2Go’s horrible loans here https://debtcamel.co.uk/worst-loan-in-britain/. But as that says, FOS found against L2G not because they had breached the price cap but because of the very high level of interest – 990%.
I don’t think this has much relevance to a 118 case.
Craig Wallace says
I too had a loan with 118118 for £2500. After complaining 118118 did not uphold stating that they had carried out required checks and found it affordable for me to borrow despite various payday loans, credit cards and car loan showing on my credit report. I sent to FOS and an investigator found in my favour and I’ve just had full refund of interest paid on the loan plus 8% paid into my bank account 4 days after investigator wrote to 118118 with her recommendation.
DB says
Sara,
I’d like some advise please. I’ve had a lot of success with redress for payday loans to the point where the debt i have left is with 2 large bank loans and a credit card debt. I have questions about my loan with secure trust bank under the brand name moneyway. The original loan was for £7,500 and i had to pay back £14,000 in total over 4 years. The loan was taken out in 2014 and i made maybe 2 payments and since than have paid nothing as i was unable to. This was at a time when i was gambling heavily and at the same time taking out payday loans and rolling them over and also borrowing more to pay other debts. The debt is now with debt-managers ltd and has been since 2017. I’ve kept asking them to hold my account and they have as they know i can’t afford to pay anything to them. The balance currently stands at just over £13,000 and i’d like some advise on where to go from here. Is it worth putting an affordability complaint in? As i still owe them money and even if a complaint was upheld i would still owe them a large amount i don’t want to anger them into court action. i’ve considered bankruptcy but i am now down to 3 debts albeit large ones from 15. Also i was looking at my credit reports and it says my debt with secure trust bank is paid and closed. I know that it isn’t but if it says that on my credit file can they still claim i owe the debt?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is a normal unsecured loan? How large is the other loan and the remaining credit card? Are you making any payments to these?
Can you say some more about your current finances?
Does the loan show on your credit record with a debt collector? Have you checked all three CRAs? See https://debtcamel.co.uk/best-way-to-check-credit-score/
DB says
Sara,
Yes it’s a normal unsecured loan. The other loan has a balance of £5500 and the credit card has a balance of £4200. I’m not making any payments at all to them either as i am currently out of work. I have made payments on both in the past but not for over 2 years.
I have no disposable income and am currently on benefits due to illness and unable to work at the moment. I have no assets or savings.
I’ve checked all three CRA’S. The debt only shows on one of them as secure trust bank who are the original lender saying ‘paid in full.’ And it’s located under closed accounts. The debt does not show with any CRA under the debt collectors name or any other name.
Thank you for your help
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The problem with making an affordability complaint is that if you win. it would only remove the interest, still leaving you with a large loan you cannot repay.
Bankruptcy may well be a better and simpler option. Don’t be put off by the fact you “only” have three debts left – they are still impossibly large for you.
The other thing you you look at is asking for a write off https://debtcamel.co.uk/debt-options/less-common/write-off/. This is most likely to work if you have been making low or no payments for years and your health problems make it clear you your situation won’t improve in the next few years.
PM says
Getting really frustrated with FOS. I’ve submitted complaints to them for Likely Loans, 118 Money and Bamboo Loans. They initially told me that my claims may take 6 months to be resolved due to the volume of complaints. I’ve now waited 5 months and 1 week and received no updates from them. Phoned them today to chase and was told that all 3 are still sat in the administration queue and had not been looked at by anyone – nor is it likely that they’ll be resolved within the 6 month timeline that was initially set out. They also told me that they cannot escalate because I’m not in financial hardship. It’s really difficult seeing others make progress with FOS within a month or two. Can I escalate this any further?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Are you making payments to these loans?
FOS has picked up a lot of extra complaints because of Covid. You aren’t the only one affected and I don’t think there is a way of speeding up your complaints.
PM says
Hi Sara,
Likely Loans and Bamboo Loans are settled in full. I have an active agreement with 118 which I’m continuing to pay as per my original agreement. I just want to know where I stand with them – is it normal to wait over 5 months and have no updates? Are others finding themselves in a similar position, time wise?
Roly says
Hate to sat this, but I have complaints with FOS that took over a year, and am still waiting for 118118 and Everyday decisions from adjudicators that were sent in March and April 2019. You just have to be patient I’m afraid. Most of the delay is often down to the loan companies taking ages to send the case files. Hang in there, it will happen, but everyone is in the same boat
PM says
Thanks Roly, appreciate the update. I’m happy to wait, I just wanted to gauge the experience of others as the initial timeline set out by FOS is due to finish, yet they couldn’t set any further expectations so I was at a loss.
Paul says
I sent my 118 complaint to FOS last August and I’m still waiting for it to be picked up by an adjudicator. I’ve emailed tons of times only to be told the same old message every time:
“I can assure you that your complaint is progressing here at the Financial Ombudsman Service. We have requested the file of papers from the business to complete your case file and to avoid further delays at the assessment stage.”
This is the same message they’ve been feeding me since December time last year. Hugely frustrated.
PM says
Wow so the timelines have definitely shifted to the right since I was last told it is 6 months. I guess it’s the waiting game now, and hoping they don’t go under in the meantime.
stu says
Hi PM just for some reference I waited 13 months for an adjudicator to pickup my complaint against Loans2Go and I have now been waiting 7 months for an Ombudsman to be assigned. I phoned today and was told it was still in the queue which I find to be nothing short of ridiculous!
PM says
It’s incredible Stu, but as we’re all finding out, there is very little we can do about it. As frustrating as it is, I guess we just need to play the waiting game
Phil says
I have a complaint against Everyday Loans that was submitted to the FOS a year ago, on 13th August I emailed them for an update on my case as it was a year since I made my complaint but have yet to receive a reply from them.
I asked for an update in May and was told that they were still awaiting a reply from EDL. EDL were supposed to reply by 11th November last year so I think they have had sufficient time !!
I have had complaints against Payday Express, Payday UK and Quick Quid upheld by adjudicators in the past, only for them to fail as the FOS allowed the delaying tactics employed by these companies whilst they decided on a way to weasel their way out of settling valid claims.
I am getting very disillusioned with the FOS, as they appear to be allowing these companies to walk all over them.
I believe now that if the FOS specify time limits for a response, they should stick to it and only allow one extension unless the company have a valid reason before moving the complaint on to the next stage. I know that would create a backlog at the Ombudsman stage but I don’t see any alternative, at least the companies would know if they lose at the Ombudsman stage it would be binding on them.
I know that covid-19 has had a big impact but firms are working remotely and it is galling that EDL have been advertising on TV again so they clearly operating as normal.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I asked for an update in May and was told that they were still awaiting a reply from EDL
What are FOS waiting for – the case file from EDL? Has the adjudicator asked them something? has the adjudicator made a decision which they haven’t accepted or rejected?
Phil says
Hi Sara
I have checked back and they said they had emailed EDL to chase the business file.
I thought that this should have been supplied to them by 11th November, i submitted all of my supporting documentation by that date.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did you have a subject access request fro EDL?
Phil says
Yes I had one and sent a copy to the FOS in November so I don’t understand why they are still giving them more time
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ok, phone FOS up and say you want to put a complaint in unless FOS are prepared to start work on the case as they have the SAR.
Also send an email to the FCA at consumer.queries@fca.org.uk copy it to chioma.nwachukwu@everyday-loans.co.uk. Put as the subject “Unacceptable Complaint delays by Everyday Loans (454865)“. Give your name, address and postcode.
Say that your case has been at FOS since dd/mm/yy and that Everyday Loans have still not sent your case file over to allow FOS to start work on it. Add that you know the FCA doesn’t investigate complaints but you thought they should know about how an authorised firm is ignoring FOS and the DISP rules.
Phil says
I sent the emails you suggested Sara & have received this reply from EDL.
Kindly accept our apologies for your experience with Everyday Loans.
The Business File request is marked as complete on our system, and normally if this isn’t received by FOS as requested they would send an email reminder , however I can’t see that this has been the case.
The Business request will now be resent to FOS and I will also send an email to you to acknowledge this.
Kindly accept our apologies for any inconvenience you may have experienced.
Regards
Chioma Nwachukwu
I will forward a copy to the FOS
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Good!
Thomas says
Hi,
I got a decision from Likely loans around 7 weeks ago. I have sent three emails since, the first with a counter off and then followed up with two emails chasing them but I have heard nothing. In the original response I received it said I only had 14 days to respond with a decision.
Any ideas what the next step I should take?
Thanks in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What was their offer?
I don’t think they often change their minds so the best choice may be to send it to the ombudsman and not spend any more time thinking about it.
Thomas says
They said my first loan was unaffordable but the top up wasn’t. So they would remove all the interest I paid on the first and knock it off the outstanding balance.
This meant I had £539 left to pay. I went back to them but they haven’t responded, would it be worth calling them do you think?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well you can try. But so far you have just wasted 7 weeks… What was your counter offer?
Thomas says
I went back saying how I was in a worse position when I got my top up loan from them so I thought that was unaffordable as well and if the remaining balance was cleared then I wouldn’t take it to the ombudsman.
I am now considering just paying off the balance and be done with them.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Why not go to the Ombudsman and pay off the balance? What can you lose?
Tyler N says
Hello Sara,
I sent a response to 118money based on the template here about 2x£1000 loans in the last 2 years and i just had a response to my affordability complaint. A bit of background info i was gambling excessively and had prior poor history of being over limit with my 118credit card for the year before the first loan and i had active loans with likelyloans and bamboo, 6 other cards on max limits and 1-4 payday activr loans when i applied for the first loan.
They responded throughly but they reject the complaint on the first loan saying it was trusted and declared id provide accurate information on the application and information as such shared with fraud prevention agencies but understand people often have poorer credit scores when using 118. they considered they done everything they had to before accepting for the first loan at 99% apr..
The 2nd loan at 49% apr active still. they agreed they should of asked more questions before accepting and will refund the interest reducing my remaining balance from £1371 to £732. i thought i might of got a refund on the first higher interest loan also especially as i didn’t have the payday loans when i applied for the 2nd loan (still terrible history but no payday loans active when i applied)?
Do you think i should just be happy with what i got or is it worth esculating for a second opinion off the Ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if you had problems with being over the limit with a 118 card, they should have looked closely at an application for a large loan. I think you should send that to the ombudsman.
Matt says
Hi Sara
Just had this from an investigator regarding my 2 year old moneybarn complaint!
I appreciate you’re unhappy with how long its taking for your complaint to be reviewed by an ombudsman and you’ve been asking for an update.
Unfortunately I can’t provide you with any further updates at this moment.
We were waiting on further information, which will be reviewed in due course.
As soon as I have an update, I will let you know.
2 years and they still wait on further info?!!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Time to phone up and say you wish to make a complaint.
Matt says
Hi Sara
What happens when I make a complaint, will it be given to someone else to assess?
Cheers
Matt
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Formally, I don’t know. In practice a complaint that has got “ stuck” may get “unstuck”.
PF says
Hi Matt, Please make a complaint the more people who express their dismay at the speed of the complaints against Moneybarn the better. I have only been waiting 12 months but i made a complaint about 6 weeks ago as my adjudicator picked up the case in January but still hadn’t issued his findings. After i complained i was called by an Ombudsman (adjudicators line manager) who explained that most of the Moneybarn complaints were being scrutinised by an administration team who were looking to ensure a consistent approach to the decisions. I have a further scheduled call with this Ombudsman this week for an update. They are really poor at communicating progress and reasons with Moneybarn but it does seem that the FCA investigation into Moneybarn earlier this year is a contributing factor. Cheers PF
Matt says
Complaint made. Apparently will be called within 72 hours.
I lost out on QQ and Wonga admins to the tune of about £12k due to Ombudsman delays I am hoping the same doesn’t happen here.
Best of luck with your complaint and I will update when I speak with an Ombudsman.
PF says
Cheers Matt, Good luck with yours.
Please let us know how you get on with the Ombudsman,
PF
Luke says
Hi there
I sent of my complaint to FOS back in December last year heard back about 2 months ago. Got allocated to someone. He’s requested bank statements and stuff which is fine they were all sent off about 2 months ago. He also emailed me to say he had received the case file around 3 weeks ago and then emailed me asking to confirm a few things on my bank statement. Does anyone have a time frame from here on out? Or has anyone been in the same situation? I put in an irresponsible lending complaint had 6 loans in total over 4 years looking for around 7k back I was heavily into pay day loans at the time of all these being topped up. I won against sunny a few years back before it went under and managed to crawl back 2.3k. Hoping that because these have paid out that 118 should also as it’s the same things there looking at surly? Any advice would be much appreciated
Dana says
Hi Sara, I just want to update you on my situation, I complained to 118 118 Money in December 2018, they declined my complaint, so I sent to FOS, the case was finally picked up earlier this year, however, I did not know the FOS had come to a decision in March, upholding my complaint, I received no phone calls or emails or letters.
It turns out 118 118 Money were avoiding the complaints using Covid-19 as their excuse for not having access to files etc. ANYWAY, I got an email from 118 the other day saying they are refunding over £1100 to me in the next 14 days, they are removing the negative information from my credit file, including the default, and the loan is completely settled due to the rest of the interest. I couldn’t be happier.
Thanks again so much for your help with this Sara, I’d lost hope with this one, I’ve been through the mill with 118 as I found the repayments unaffordable and they defaulted me, but after a lot of time and patience I got a great result.
Alan says
Would be interested to know when you receive your refund? And what date they confirmed they’d give you a refund? Thanks
Dana says
I got an email on Monday saying it’ll be refunded within 14 working days, they really go enjoy dragging this out.
Every other company has pretty much been same day.
TeeJay says
I took out a log—book loan back in 2016, for £1500 with an APR of 306.04%. The total length of contract was 18 months, with a total repayment of £3,390. I had no option financially at the time, as I was let down by a family member and had to pay of the remainder of my wedding.
I stupidly paid the above, although my credit history was tarnished, and I had a history of failed payments, defaults and CCJ’s at that point. I kept borrowing from Peter to pay Paul, and I find myself years down the road, with a few re-loans/top up loans since then (3 in total I believe), and just chasing my tail and getting no further.
Whenever I have re-loaned, they have taken a settlement figure from the previous loan, added it to a new loan, and applied further interest and I have been paying the new amount. The initial loan attracted some questions regarding my banking and what a few transactions meant, however this got less and less as I borrowed more money for re-loans.
At the risk of seeming irresponsible, I have had bad credit for a number of years, am looking to improve my situation, and this high payment per month (£250) could be put elsewhere and be nuking other debts I have to get myself debt free.
I exported from my online banking every payment that has been made since 2016…and I am at £12,500 paid out so far.
I asked for a full statement of account, and received a much abbreviated statement with incorrect information dated from 2018 onwards, rather than the full amount ever borrowed/re-loaned or topped up since 2016.
Do you think I have a case to use your template, and claim interest etc back from the company in question? I now have around £4k total debt left to reduce, and this could well put me back on the map with my finances if there is even a slim opportunity this could be an option.
Thanks in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think with three top-up loans this is worth a complaint. This sort of high-cost credit is not meant to be used continuously. They should have done more checks as the borrowing continued, not less.
Tim says
Thanks Sara, I will get the ball rolling and post back my results :)
D says
Thanks to all the advice in here I got a good will gesture of a one of my bad credit loans. Question can I accept their partial offer and once they pay it still raise with FOS. They are claiming that it’s a good will offer to close the issue only 10% refund of interest paid
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Normally no but there are a few exceptions.
Can you say who the lender is and what the offer is?
Percy says
How quick are 118 118 in sorting redress after confirming with adjudicators decision.
Quick or the full 4 weeks the FOS allow them?
Tyler says
I had a complaint with 118 recently, didnt require ombudsman service surprisingly but they did wait until 5.30pm on the last day before responding to my complaint (next day i would of esculated it) . So based on that i would say 118 will take the full 4 weeks
Alan says
How long did they take to pay your refund after that?
Tyler says
It was only refunded for my 2nd ‘still active’ loan so the interest was removed as soon as they sent their final response but they didnt refund for my first loan.
Do you mind me asking if you were successful getting a refund on your first loan or only the later ones?
For you though, Nicola answered below saying they paid out the settlement in the 4th week I think, if you haven’t seen it
Percy says
118 dragging their heels.
Ombusdman final response over 4 week ago.
No reply.
Ricky says
I am in the same boat. It has been 2 weeks since FOS made their decision, 118 118 has missed the FOS deadline
Percy says
Rude and aggresive too. Have gone back to FOS and asked them to deal with them again.
NICOLA says
I waited 3 weeks and then the redress refund was in my account within a week
Liam says
Hi Nicola,
Was the payment made via BACs? Or just deposited at some point throughout the day? I’m currently on day 13 of the 14 day period for 118 and don’t have high hopes of it being paid on time
Matt says
Moneybarn update:
I complained about the length of time it has taken the Ombudsman to sort this (now clicked past 2 years).
A manager called me this afternoon and told me the reason for the delay is due to the FCA fining Moneybarn in January and the fact my case is identical to those that caused the FCA’s intervention. He said there is a back log as they want to get these cases correct now and in the future according to the guidelines.
He apologised and said it should never take 2 years to resolve. Hopefully as Sara said this will now be unstuck. My major concern now is all of a sudden the dam breaks and Moneybarn end up the same way QQ and Wonga did and I’m left again without a refund.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Moneybarn are owned by Provident who also own Vanquis – they are less likely to go under than most bad credit lenders!
Matt says
Hi Sara
Thanks for the reassurance. Hoping that the Ombudsman agrees with the adjudicator as this refund will be life changing for me potentially.
PF says
Hi Matt,
This sounds like great news for you – did the Manager give you any indication as to how long you may now be waiting for the Ombudsman to review your complaint? Have they promised to keep you updated moving forward?
This was the same response I received around 6 weeks ago so I am hoping the backlog will start to move.
Cheers,
PF
Matt says
Hi PF
He wouldn’t commit to a time frame but he said he hoped it wouldn’t be too much longer, hoping a few weeks personally. He said he had spoken with the Ombudsman looking into my case and she had started to look at it yesterday. Tried to make it sound like a Co -incidence. He was full of apologies though so I am really hopeful I am near the end now.
I will update if I hear anymore.
Al says
I sent my complaint to 118 on 8th July and received a reply on 2nd September(Exactly 8 weeks) at 18:30 at night!
They have agreed to refund the interest for both my previous loans (just over £2.2k) and remove them from credit history. They have stated they will arrange payment within 14 days and I am a nervous wreck checking constantly due to losing out at the last minute with Sunny going bust!
Anyone had similar with 118 recently and do they normally wait the full 14 days or could it be sooner?
Lea says
Hi Al
Currently waiting the 14 days Working days myself only on day 6 though, did they pay you by day 14 or did you have to chase? I’m the same constantly checking as Past refunds , lending stream were a nightmare processing my refund !
Thanks
Lea
Bob says
What is everyone’s experience with Everyday Loans once it goes to adjudicator level? My adjudicator has ruled in my favour and gave them til Friday last week to reply to her however they still haven’t. Likelihood of them replying and agreeing?
Calvin says
Hi Bob,
My adjudicator found in my favour and EDL rejected this. It’s been in the queue for the Ombudsman since March.
A.n says
Hi sara
I am after some advice if you wouldnt mind
I have an open loan with Everyday Loans. I cannot afford to make payments and have complained (they rejected and so is now woth Ombudsman)
They were chasing constantly and emailing my work as well as threatening a home visit
Could you tell me if I am in my rights to tell them that I will not be making payment until my complaint is resolved by FOs?
I really would appreciate your advice.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Was this your first loan from them? How large? How much have you paid them so far?
Do you have other problem debts?
A.n says
It is my first loan.
I have paid roughly half
I cannot pay them as my wife is on reduced hours so I am covering all household Bill’s but not sure where i stand with this being at FOS
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, if you have only repaid half what you borrowed, then even if you win the case, there will still be a half to carry on paying. On that basis it may be better to offer a low affordable amount now to stop them pestering you.
If you don’t pay, then they should not start a court case against you while there is an open FOS case.
You do not have to let anyone in who comes to your house.
You are expecting a big refund from Amigo? What has happened to your GB complaint? Do you have other problem debts?
Are your wife’s reduced hours covid-related? Will this change in the near future?
Lisa says
BAMBOO LOANS
Dont give up! Here is my timeline:
Jan 2020 – complained to Bamboo
Mar 2020 – Complaint rejected
Apr 2020 – Complained to FOS
May 2020 – FOS gave me a reference number and said it would take some time
Jul 2020 – FOS Apologised for delay
2nd Sep 2020 – Email from Bamboo stating they were liasing with FOS and could they have bank statements. I replied the same day stating that they were sent these with my original complaint in January. They replied the following day stating they had what they needed.
4th September – Phone call from Bamboo asking for more information, i just said it was all in original complaint.
7th Sep 2020 – Offer from Bamboo of £500, apoximately half of the interest. I rejected this the same day stating that unless they were will to refund it all and remove negative markings on credit file i would await FOS outcome. Same day they replied offering to meet all my requests. Closed the loan and are reunding me the £50 I have overpaid with interest making it £55!
Hope this helps someone.
Ricky says
Bamboo just called me for more information – I too said it’s all in my complaint. They asked how would I like to resolve this I said by removing all interest and offset interest that I paid in my previous loans against my existing loan. Await hear the outcome from FOS
Lisa says
Good luck Ricky
Kat says
Oh wow Lisa you are so lucky! I too got rejected, then got offered £750, which was about a sixth of what I should get back. I said no and FOS have since said to them they should pay me back the full amount owed, they have until the 20th to get back to him/me. I just can’t stop refreshing my emails! Is anyone else in the same boat, I just hope they reply soon and not long this out!
Lisa says
Hopefully they will just agree and pay you out, good luck. I received my £55 in the bank today so didnt have to wait the 7 days they said it could take.
I am still waiting for amigo to reply to the adjudicator, who uphelp my complaint, they have until 18th. I also have a few Credit Card complaints with FOS but been told they are looking at the ways to deal with these types of complaint, so waiting game there.
Roly says
I started my 118118 complaint in June 2019. Today my adjudicator agreed with me that the loan should not have been made. I am delighted, as even though only about £100 will come back to me if they agree, about £3000 of interest still owed will be written off and the loan will be removed from my credit file.
This is the last but one of my complaints still with the ombudsman, and the last one is Everyday loans which is in the queue for an Ombudsman as our adjudicator barely seemed to even look at our actual financial situation at the time we took out thebloan before making their decision in Everyday’s favour! We were paying more than our income just in payday loan and credit card payments at the time, without our household bills! I submitted thatbone in January 2019, so it has been a long old slog… hopefully the ombudsman will agree with me in the end!
D says
😀😀 well done
Holly says
Hi all
Doe anyone no how long it takes for the ombudsman to look at my complaint t following avant sending it to them as they didn’t agree with the adjudicator,
Ombudsman sent my complaint from adjudicator in March 20,
Many thanks
Calvin says
Hi Holly. I’m in the same position. Sent to the ombudsman in March. I read somewhere on there that it was approximately a 6 month wait…..which means anytime now. Good luck.
Paul says
An adjudicator ruled in my favour against Vanquis back in April and Vanquis paid me quite quickly but they haven’t removed the negative marker from my credit file even though they were told to. The adjudicator chased this up but he’s had to “escalate” it as he hasn’t had a response in over 2 months.
Is there anybody at Vanquis I can contact about it or should I leave it with the adjudicator? I’m keen to get this removed ASAP.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
try customer.relations@vanquisbank.co.uk and make it clear they have already accepted the adjudicator offer and paid it, but not corrected your credit record.
Shaun says
May i ask what you got from Vanquish and what happened?
Paul says
I submitted a complaint to Vanquis regarding the 3rd and final increase in my credit limit on my credit card with them. They rejected the complaint so I referred it to the FOS back in July/August last year.
It was picked up by an adjudicator in January this year. Initially the adjudicator disagreed with me and sided with Vanquis. He believed that Vanquis had acted fairly and stated that he wouldn’t be asking Vanquis to do any more. He gave me 2 weeks to accept the decision and stated if he couldn’t resolve things, an ombudsman would take a look. I didn’t agree. I did some research and went back with tons of regulations and guidelines which I believed backed up my facts. I provided him with a breakdown of figures and stats and circumstances etc. To be honest, I think I word counted him to death.
After I must’ve sent him about 25 pages worth of argument and guidelines and regulations, he altered his decision and upheld my complaint. Vanquis agreed with his decision and they refunded me the interest and charges following the 3rd credit limit increase with 8% on top. They paid out pretty quick actually. I think they paid out within a week but the negative information on my credit file has yet to be removed.
Jenny says
Sent the Template email to Mobile Money as I have had many loans from them going back to 2013 – all paid back without any defaults (even though I had to borrow from other PayDay Lenders to make payments). They requested Bank Statements but the Bank sent the wrong ones (my fault) and I am waiting for the ones that cover the loan dates.
Meanwhile I received a letter attached to an email offering me £650 (they wouldn’t even look at the first three loans as they were over 6 years old).
They state “Whilst I cannot uphold your complaint, in an attempt to bring your complaint to a satisfactory resolution, we
are prepared to offer £650.00 as a gesture of goodwill to resolve your complaint in full and final settlement.”
Please view this letters as MML’s final response to your complaint.
The Interest on Loans 4-7 comes to well over £3,500. Shall I accept the Offer, try and get them to include the first three (most expensive) loans or go to the Ombudsman?
Thanks in advance for your advice. Jenny
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The Ombudsman usually does look at the older loans. They won’t change their mind and refund all the first three. I suppose you could say that you would to accept a compromise offer if they include the 3rd loan?
But if the first 3 are large you might get them all refunded from FOS. Hard decision.
D says
Has any one had any sucess with drafty
Tyler says
I got a case with Drafty.. Still waiting for an adjucator to be assigned since August. I will post an update here when i eventually hear anything.
Col says
I have had my complaint upheld by an Adjudicator against Drafty. They agreed and sent a calculation that was nowhere near what i was owed as i had access to all my statements.
I have been waiting 3 months while they still took payments for a re-calculation of refund.
Got an email from Adjudicator last week to say they had spoke to drafty and for me to cancel my Automatic payment so they can recalculate. Still waiting. Drafty Have been a nightmare to deal with.
Covid-19 etc hasn’t helped the whole process as alot of the offices etc were closed
Vic says
Hi Guys, I put a complaint in with 118118 money and have had a lengthily response which includes a threat that I could be investigated for fraud if the information I gave them was misleading? Is this the case?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They seem to be saying this to everyone at the moment. So far no one has had any problems if they send the case to the ombudsman, where people have been winning more than half the cases against 118…
You might like to read https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-lender-says-lied/ which looks at the many reasons why an application may not have been accurate.
J says
Hi Sara,
I’ve had a confusing settlement letter from EDL, which I’m struggling to make sense of. The settlement figure they’ve quoted is approx £700 short of my own calculations (that I did using the guide you posted on this website, although I could well have done these incorrectly). Would it be at all possible for you to take a look at the letter?
Many thanks
J says
here is the refund explanation. Some of the amounts paid stated are incorrect too – I paid back £8442.72 and the final loan they mention I paid back £913.08:
“Agreement Number 1106374753
You took this loan in October 2014, you borrowed £5000.00 over 60 months and your monthly repayments were £163.97 this made your total repayable amount £9838.20. However I can see that at the time the loan was settled, you had paid £819.85 leaving an outstanding balance of £4180.15 for the principal amount you borrowed to be paid in full. Therefore, this outstanding amount of £4180.15 will be
taken out of the refund due on loan 1106374753.
Agreement Number 1106913606:
You took this loan on 10th April 2015. The loan amount was £6019.94 however, £5212.16 was used to settle your previous loan 1106374753. As this loan has been found to be unaffordable to you at the time it was approved, we would require you to pay back the amount you had use of with no interest. By the time this account was settled you had paid a total of £8250.84 on this account. You have therefore paid £7443.06 more than the amount you had use of. We would now refund this amount plus 8% statutory interest.
Agreement Number 1108813324
You took this loan in June 2017, you borrowed £1000.00 over 24 months and your monthly repayments were £65.22 this made your total repayable amount £1565.28. However I can see that at the time the loan was settled, you had paid £847.86 leaving an outstanding balance of £152.14 for the principal amount you borrowed to be paid in full. Therefore, this outstanding amount of £152.14 will be taken out
of the redress amount from your second loan.
Therefore the total amount due you across loans 1106374753, 1106913606 and 1108813324 is £4710.48.”
1106913606 Overpayments made: £7443.06
Interest @ 8%: £1999.63 (This is subject to 20% HMRC tax deduction)
Total Refund*: £9442.69
Refund due: £9042.77 (£399.93 deduction as per legislation going to HMRC)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That does look weirdly complicated. I changed the loans to be in date order. Do you think they are refunding all three loans?
Can we cut through this by looking at the real numbers – I suppose they may have go to the right(ish) answer by an odd route…
so for all of these, just look at the cash payments, ignore whether EDL say they were interest or pincipal:
loan 1 – you borrowed 5000 – correct? How much were the monthly payments you made eg 7 lots of £152? How much of loan 2 was used to settle this loan? Any other settlement payment to this made?
loan 2 – you borrowed 6019 – correct? How much did you receive in cash? How much were the monthly payments you made? Was any money from loan 3 used to settle this? Any other settlement payment to this made?
loan 3 – you borrowed 1000 – correct? Was this a top-up of loan 2 or a new separate loan – How much did you receive in cash? How much were the monthly payments you made? Any settlement payment to this made?
J says
I’m glad it’s not just me. Yes, the Ombudsman decision was that all three loans should be refunded.
Loan 1: Yes, £5000 borrowed. I made 5 payments of 163.97. The majority of the second loan was used to pay this off – the balance at the time of borrowing the second loan was £4820. No other settlement payment made. Total paid: £819.85
Loan 2: Yes, £6019 borrowed, a top up of loan 1. Monthly payments were £191.88, and I made 44 of these, totaling £8442.72. No money used from loan 3 to settle this one, no other settlement payment made. I received £207.78 in cash, as most of this top up loan was used to pay off Loan 1 and other debts accrued after taking out loan 1. Total paid: £8442.72
Loan 3: Yes, £1000 borrowed. This was a new separate loan. I received £1000 in cash. The monthly payments were £65.22 and I made 14 of these payments. No settlement payment made to this loan. Total paid: £913.08
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I received £207.78 in cash as most of this top up loan was used to pay off Loan 1 and other debts accrued after taking out loan 1.
Do you know how much was used to settle Loan 1? How much was used to settle debts owed to other lenders?
J says
I’ve found their written response.
To settle loan 1: £5212.16
To settle debts: £600
Amount received in cash: £207.78
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I’m sorry but I can’t get any of your figures to match against their interest overpayment figures at all (lthough the 8% extra looks like the right ballpark on their numbers), it’s hard to image what has happened here. I haven’t worked through numbers where a lender has paid off loans to other lenders from a a new loan, but I don’t think that’s the problem as that should just be treated the same as money paid to you.
Gut feel says it looks like a good offer to you, so you could just accept it but if you aren’t happy I think you need to go back and verify everything from your bank statements if you have them.
Linds says
Can i ask J – did your case go to an Ombudsman or was this an Adjudicators decision?
The adjudicator has agreed with me on one of my loans and I’m waiting to hear back from EDL, who are notoriously difficult to deal with in my opinion so i’m not hopeful they will agree, so just was looking to get a sense of how you got to your decision (great news by the way!)
J says
Hi Linds,
Mine went all the way to Ombudsman – my adjudicator stated all three loans should be refunded, EDL accepted loans two and three but argued against loan one, so it went to Ombudsman level. They have been exceptionally difficult to deal with and I’m sorry to hear you’re going through the same. My case took two years in total because they have been so poor. I really hope they accept your adjudicator’s decision, I have everything crossed for you! Thank you – I’m just glad it’s over now!
J says
Thank you Sara – it’s good to have had your eye and advice on it, and to know I wasn’t just being dim with the way they have worded it. I think I will get them to correct the total paid figures as these are definitely wrong and then get them to recalculate from there, but once that’s been done I will accept. It’s been a long two years so I’m just happy it’s at settlement stage now! Thank you for this site and all of your advice, it is so life changing for us all.
Linds says
Thanks J, I’m hoping they play ball with me but not hopeful given my and others experience with them!
The adjudicator agreed with me that a top up loan shouldn’t have been lent and I’ve actually paid just over the principle amount back to EDL so I’m just hoping they agree with the adjudicator – it’s really just not having to pay another 2 years of high payments/interest that would make all the difference!.
But I’m not expecting much, and if they don’t agree I will let it go to the Ombudsman and hope for the best!
Hope you get it all squared off from them soon!
Shaun says
Can a company add interested to a debt once it is defulted? Just had my adjucator not uphold my complaint regarding everyday loans but has asked for more information so she can consider this and if im still notnhapoy it can go to an obidsman to make a final decision. What does this invole and intail. Is it worth it?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so was your original complaint an affordability complaint? or that EDL carried on adding interest?
Can you say a bit more about your loan(s) from EDL – why they weren’t affordable and what happened when they defaulted.
Shaun says
Hi sara they were not affordable however edl and the adjusicator seem to think so. I missed payments on loan 2 as i was struggling eventually it defaulted in 2018 the 2nd loan was for 2k interest was suposeadly 2900 odd ive paid a total of 3.8k and i still apparantly owe 2.5k does this help?
My repsonse to adjudicator with attachments was:
Looking down below and you stated you would not look at the interest. Its not right and if you could id appricate yourself or an obusiman to look.
A. Loan was for 2000, interest for loan was 2937 so this would come to 4937.
B. i have paid a total of 3856.68p how can i still owe above 2599 still. Its states on attachment that from my agreement that interest was 2937.52 when i asked for a breakdown it states total interest charged was 4455.70? The orignal loan document contradicts my statement of account statement (see attached).
Did you notice in my natwest statement i was paying provident payments too and another debt. Was this included in your conculsion?
I did ask if you wanted me to provide enails from everyday loans offering me further loans but you did not require them. Would this be helpful?
Id appriacate if you could and would take in consideration to the above
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you are quote right to ask the Ombudsman to
(a) look again at the affordability complaint and
(b) say EDL seem to have charged you a lot of extra interest even though they knew you were in trouble. You could add that this is not treating you fairly (use those exact words) and you have been told this seems to go against the FCA’s CONC 7.3 rules.
Shaun says
Hi sara what is conc 7.3 rule?
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Here it is https://www.handbook.fca.org.uk/handbook/CONC/7/3.html but you don’t need to explain it to FOS, they know about it, you are just saying this is why you think it’s unfair they added so much interest.
If the Ombudsman decided the loan is unaffordable all interest is removed, so there will be no need to look at this extra interest question.
Lottie says
I have made complaints to Loans to go and Varooma, for logbook loans and top up loans that were never affordable, I was on constant defaults and repossession action, yet they still have me more loans and did not help me when I advised Then how much debt o was in, and behind with other priority bills. I borrow £4500 and paid £11,600 back as it included further charges and interest. And then they lent me a further £2000 and the following month a further 6000 which I paid back £18,300 with interest and charges. I spoke to them on so many occasions told them about my financial situation and I could not afford to pay my rent and bills, that I am now in a DMP as I took out so many payday loans and a another large loan to try and consolidate all my debt. They offered me £1018 back as they said they should of helped me once repossession action had been submitted. I have referred to FOS what is the likelyhood of getting anything further from them. I have 3 CCJ and that many missed payments, I believe they should of helped me.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That sounds like a good complaint from what you have said.
Lottie says
Hello Sara,
Thank you for your response. Do you think I should hold on and see what FOS say rather than accept their low offer? – the loans to go loans are more than 6 years ago, they were 2012-2014 and they said they are unable to acknowledge anything over 6 years. Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Varroma – it’s sounds as though they have made a you a pretty poor offer. Yiou may well get a a lot more by going to the ombudsman.
Loans2go haven’t offered you anything at all? The Ombudsman will often look at laons over 6 years if you explain that you have only recently found out that a lender should have checked the loans were affordable for you.
Lottie says
Thank you so much Sara. Yes you are correct. Varooma is a poor offer, and loans 2 go have offered nothing, as they are over 6 years. I have referred both to FOS. I currently have a loan with Buddy loans, I borrowed £7500, and repaid 37 payments at £296:44 per month. No missed payments, due to my guarantor. However, 1) they encouraged me to take £3000 more than I asked for, I had 3 CCJ’s all unsatisfied at the time, a outstanding logbook loans , and approx 12 defaults, all not paid for months at the time. I wasn’t the best at giving them my budget, as I was desperate but my bank statements would have shown how turmoil my finances were at the time. I have contacted them several times, to discuss affordability and even had to have a DMP in 2019 due to so many debts because I have been paying this as a priority. Do I have a case to make a complaint? I have a further 26 payments to make at £296.44. Which would be paying £17.786.84 I contacted them recently to try and get a cheaper settlement figure as it was crippling me to pay it, they wouldn’t help me.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Definitely complain to Buddy Loans. That was a large loan and they shocks gave proper verified your income and expenses eg using payslips or bank statements.
Peter says
Hello fos are wanting an old credit report from 2015 I made a member of credit karma but it not showing old reports only old loans what part are they looking for there don’t explain very well its for a Moneybarn complaint thanks peter
Sara (Debt Camel) says
FOS only want your current credit report – almost no-one has old credit reports to send.
The best one to send is the statutory TransUnion report – it is less pretty than Credit Karma but it’s easier to download and send to FOS and has the same data.
Get it here https://www.transunionstatreport.co.uk/CreditReport/AboutYou
Shaun says
Thankyou sara, on the case that the adjudicator still not upholds and then the obusiman also not holds there is noting i can do?
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
well you could take the lender to court… I always suggest taking legal advice before doing this.
Shaun says
Hi sara, my adjucator after less than one day has stated she will thinks its affordable so i said i would like the odbusman to look at it i also mentioned about the conc 7.3 etc
Matt S says
Hi all, just wondered if anyone can advise on the below?
Sent complaint regarding Likely Loans to FOS on 14th May and received an email acknowledgement next day. Got an email 20th June advising ref. no and that there would be delays due to Covid, didn’t hear any more until 28th August when they advised that ‘We try to resolve complaints as quickly as we can. But there’s currently a very high demand for our service – so it might take around four months before a case handler gets in touch with you and starts looking into your complaint. It could be more – or less – time than this, depending on what your complaint is about.’
I asked them to clarify it this ‘four months’ was from the date of the complaint or from the date of the email but haven’t had a response.
I know a lot of people are in the same boat at the moment so wondered if anyone knew if it was 4 months from date of complaint or from date of their email?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
it doesn’t really matter – they will get to your complaint as soon as they can, it was just some rough indication.
Jat says
I recently sent out claims to lots of lenders and only Satsuma can back and refunded me.
Have had responses from 118118, Likely Loans, Avant saying they did thorough checks based on. my credit file at the time. Which I don’t believe. to be true, if they had seen my statements they would have known I was in hardship. I have been paying back through a DMP but what I would like is for them to take off the interest they applied to the loan. EG likely loans £5000 loan, added £4000 interest. I have paid back £3000 so far so would like that taken off the original loan. same with 118 money and avant, is it likely that the Ombudsmen will do this. Do I have to submit individual cases against them.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, separate FOS cases against each lender.
Good luck – a lot of these are being won at FOS.
maria says
Hi all,
The financial ombudsman has looked at my complaint with 118118 Money and found in my favour and contacted them. Does 118118 reply to the financial ombudsman or direct to me and how long does the process take if anyone can help.
Maria
Liam says
Hi Maria,
In my experience they contacted me copying in the adjudicator although they waited the full 14 days the ombudsman gave them. I’m also still waiting to receive my refund I’m on day 14 now
Dave says
Any joy Liam, I’m on about day 10 now..it’s weird they say working days when they are open 7 days a week. I assume you have been chasing them on trust pilot as well. Did they actually say Anything via email to you?
Liam says
Hi, I left a comment on trust pilot yesterday around 1pm and the money was in my account by 5pm.
Dave says
Sweet. Will wait till Monday then do that
Rachel Rooney says
Hi Maria. How long did it take for the ombudsman to look at your case please.
Rachel
Maria says
Hi Rachel I sent my complaint to the FO on the 14th May and they picked it up on the 4th July
Wanttobedebtfree says
Hi. I have a complaint against Progressive Money. Adjucator ruled in my favour. It’s been more than 6 months since then and waiting for ombudsman decision. I chased up and they said : “ Please note that as well as currently dealing with a high volume of complaints awaiting final decision – there is also a court case ongoing (regarding a similar form of lending to what your complaint is about) that we are watching closely as a service. In the interest of fairness, our Ombudsmen are paying close attention to this case, as they feel that the ruling may affect the outcomes of complaints such as yours.”
However I won ombudsman decision against 118118 and TMAdvances which are very similar loan provider earlier
this year so I don’t understand her reply. Do you know which court case she is referring to? Thank you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
no idea! there is the Kerrigan case (see https://debtcamel.co.uk/kerrigan-elevate-credit-unfair-relationship/) but the judgment on that was out in early August.
Zoe says
How long from receiving a reference number from FOS have people been waiting for an adjudicators to pick up? For 118 if that makes a difference
Lisa G says
Hi all. My Everyday Loan case went to an adjudicator. They ruled only one (the first) of 3 Loans were to be refunded. EDL agreed as they couldn’t find much detail for me. I disagreed. It went to an ombudsman.
On 03/09/20 the ombudsman made a provisional ruling that all 3 loans were to be refunded unless EDL could provide more evidence. They gave them until 03/10 to provide this, otherwise their ruling would be what they stated on 03/09.
I’m wondering if anyone else has had a provisional ruling? Also, using people experiences, are EDL likely to come back to the ombudsman at all? Will they accept? Or will they ignore this and simply wait for the final ruling after 03/10?
My biggest fear is that they go bust in the next few weeks… I know that might seem unlikely, but you just never know!
Just looking for peoples experiences with similar cases.
Many thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think every case at this point is individual – knowing what happened to anyone else won’t give much clue about your complaint. Fingers crossed it goes through and quickly!
Sarah says
Hi Lisa
Did EDL come back to the ombudsman?
I am in exactly the same position. EDL have until 1st Nov to come back to the ombudsman with any additional information.
Many thanks
Sarah
Lisa G says
Hi Sarah.
So EDL had until 03/10 to come back with information. As far as I’ve been told the FOS “don’t think” they’ve come back with anything. The lady I spoke with on the general phone number said she’d email the adjudicator and the ombudsman.
(I’ve called the FOS every day this week!).
The response from the adjudicator by email is “If there has been a response, it will have gone to their support team who will action it accordingly. If there has been no response it will likely be considered for a final decision. Apologies, I have no further update for you at this point”.
Phoning another day and by chance speaking with the same lady who sent a chase up email for me, told me that the ombudsman was aware I was chasing it but they had to make sure that EDL did actually receive the preliminary decision. So I guess they must need to wait for confirmation of this?
I was thinking once the ombudsman gave EDL a date, if they didn’t respond a final decision would given within days. It seems it’s not that simple, and another week on I’m still waiting 🤷♀️.
Let me know how you get on with yours.
Lisa G says
Just to give an update. Today I received my final decision from the ombudsman. I accepted the provisional decision, EDL did not respond.
The ombudsman has stuck with their provisional decision and EDL are to refund me on all 3 loans. I have sent my acceptance of this via email.
Can I just double check… this final decision is legally binding, is it?
I have to say I’m pleased… it’s been a long process. I originally sent my complaint to EDL at the beginning of July 2018. This case has been with the FOS since 18/10/18 (so 4 days short of 2 years).
I have one more case with the FOS, which I put in earlier this year, then that’s the end of this journey.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What a long haul. Yes an Ombudsman’s decision is legally binding on the firm once you have accepted it.
Lisa G says
My last update regarding EDL.
I got my final decision from the FOS yesterday morning. I accepted yesterday afternoon.
This morning I got an email from EDL breaking down my refund (£11K) and asking me to sign an acceptance letter and send bank details in order for them to process a BACS payment. I’ve done this so I would imagine the money will clear next week at some point. I was amazed at how quickly EDL contacted me after 2 years plus of silence 😬
I’ve got one more claim with the FOS regarding Progressive money.
Sara, I want to say a massive thank you, to you. I’ve tallied up what I’ve been refunded in interest and in money and it comes to £28,043.98. And if I win my progressive complaint it’ll be significantly higher still. This has been life changing for me and I couldn’t have do it without you and your site, so thank you again 😊
Sarah says
Hi Lisa
That’s amazing news!
I will do the same as you, wait for the 1st November and then drop the FOS a line and see if EDL have come back with anything.
At least EDL are action if the FOS final decisions promptly.
I hope you get your money through quickly.
Sarah 😊
Morris says
Hi Sara. Can you complain about credit union personal loans to the Ombudsman service? Are they regulated by the FCA? Thank you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes they are.
RelievedPaul says
Sara, I have a complaint in with TM Advances, they rejected so currently at FOS.
I had 2 other complaints to the other loans I had taken in the same 3 month period.
2 of them have won, one at FOS one direct. Is it okay to go back to TM and explain this and ask again if they want to re think and settle?
Won’t harm my case in anyway will it?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It won’t harm your case but you are probably wasting your time.
Ian says
I posted this last week but in the wrong area I think! I have a £700 redress refund coming to me from 118 118. The loan was from Feb 2015 to being paid off in early 2016.
On top of the loan, what interest do you get back and how is that calculated?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The 8% statutory interest at a very rough guess will be about £280.
Ian says
How does that work? What’s the maths?
8% of £700 is £56
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is 8% per year. The estimate is rough as it depends exactly when you made the payments.
Maria says
Hi Sara I hope your well.
I have sent an affordability complaint to satsuma and they have acknowledged my complaint and also sent me a list of my loans. Can you please help with the figures if I am successful the amount I will receive:-
Borrowed – £600.00
Interest Applied – £594.00
Amount paid in total – £1180.18 (Settled early)
Borrowed – £700.00
Interest Applied – £693.08
Amount paid in total – £1393.08
Borrowed – £1100.00
Interest Applied – £1089.20
Amount paid in total – £1759.20 (Partial settlement accepted)
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You paid the following interest:
Loan 1 £680
Loan 2 £693
Loan 3 £659
Julie says
Hello Everyone,
When a complaint is upheld, are you refunded back late fees aswell as the interest?
Many Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes – all interest and any fees/charges added.
Kas says
Hello I need some advice so – I made complaint about 118 money – The adjudicator agreed with my complaint but 118 said they want the final financial ombudsman to make the decisions. After 2 half years now the financial ombudsman has said no to my complaint. And has asked for more evidence
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What more evidence has been asked for?
Kas says
They have not said I ASKED today and they goes anything you want to add but he made his mind up saying this ” I appreciate how disappointing my decision will be for Mr A. But, in summary, althoughI don’t think the checks MCF did before agreeing this loan were proportionate, I don’t think better checks should have led to the loan request being declined. So I don’t currently think this complaint should be upheld – but I have a chance to send more information.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you sent bank statements for this period?
kas says
Well I did but don’t think I sent everything so I have asked them to send what i sent them as it been over 2 years
Graeme says
Hi sara ,
Firstly a big thank you for the advice posted on this website , I recently submitted an affordability complaint to amigo , I initially took out a loan in 2017 and since then had 3 top ups , ending up at £5.500 , with a current balance of £3997.00 ,
Today I received my final response , upholding all 4 loans , with a redress that wipes out my current balance and a cash refund of £2200 ,
Also when accepted I received an email straight away to say the funds had been released and to expect them in 3-5 business days ,
Fingers crossed
Graeme says
The refund once I accepted was processed in 2 hours !!