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?
Luke says
Hi,
I had a logbook loan with a company called auto advance for £1500. It was the last of a series of very bad financial decisions I made when I couldn’t borrow from any other lenders. I made a complaint against them over a year ago and have just had a final decision from the FOS after a bit of back and forth with the adjudicator and finally the ombudsman. They eventually upheld the complaint and said the company would contact me to arrange settlement. I thought I’d get the ball rolling and contact them myself. The company replied saying they hoped to resolve the issue within the 4 weeks but they were waiting for clarification from the FOS ‘relating to inaccuracies within the response’. I guess my question is; is there still a way for them to get out of this or is the final decision really now final? It’s been a long journey to get to this point fighting my corner at every step and I just want to get it over with now!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Deep sigh. Go back and tell your adjudicator. A final decision is final, but FOS will explain this to them.
Luke says
Thanks for putting my mind at rest! I think they are just trying to delay the process. They have done this all along, not providing information within the time given, claiming not to have received the provisional decision so not responding in time. It’s been quite a drawn out process! Thanks for the help and information your website has provided over the years.
Tom says
Hi Sara,
I’ve posted on here before about my loan with Moneyway/Alpha Credit Solutions 8.
I submitted a complaint but they refused to look at it as they said I was out of time. This was last year and I took the loan in 2016 so I was well within the six years – so I have sent it off to the FOS.
Clearly there are now two elements to my complaint – whether it should be heard, and the grounds of the complaint itself. Will the FOS, if they decide that it should be looked at, consider the actual complaint as well, or will they make a decision on whether it’s within the timescales and then send it back to Alpha CS 8 for them to look at the complaint itself?
Just trying to manage my own expectations of what the process might look like. I can’t see Alpha, based on their behaviour to date, being reasonable so it would be a real shame if it had to go to the FOS twice!
Thanks for any insight you might have!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If FOS decide they will look at it – and from what you have said I don’t think this should take them long! – then they will make a decision on it. I haven’t heard of FOS passing the case back to a lender in this situation.
Tom says
Great, thank you.
Fingers crossed. It was a big loan (10k) and I had taken out nearly £55k’s worth of high cost loans with the likes of Avant Credit in the three months before I took it so I feel like I have got a pretty good case against them!
L says
Has anyone been paid out by 118 recently? I am on day 7/14 for my refund and I’m getting fed up of waiting! Is there a certain day of the week they seem to pay out the most? I don’t understand what takes then 14 days yet when they give you the loan it’s in your bank within 15 minutes!!! Doesn’t make sense.
Jo says
Hi L
I know it seems crazy, can’t work it out maybe just paperwork or something like that.
I’ve just had my payout from them and it took 10 days so hopefully not much longer hun.
L says
Hi Jo, did you get your 8% and redness same day? Seems after my moaning I checked my bank and they have paid my 8%! But not my redness. Also checked my online account (been paid of since 2017) but it has now changed to a refund due dates today! Hopefully I get the rest soon!!
Jo says
Mine came as 2 separate transactions (redress&8%)but both came on the same day, so fingers crossed the rest will be there soon, they are quick to take your money but not give it back.
L says
Second payment came around 3 hours after the other. So glad I am finally rid of 118. Thank you Sara for all your work
Luke says
Iv seen people asking this question a lot so I thought I would share my story with you all.
Put an irresponsible lending complaint in with 118 money back in October 2019! They point blank refused, in a really nasty email I received back saying that I could be held for fraud ect. Anyway pushed my complaint to FOS in December 2019. Heard nothing up until July 2020 when they took on my case. I had a total of 6 loans with 118 over 5 years of repeat borrowing with this I also had sunny loans which lucky for me I managed to pushed them for irresponsible lending back in 2018 and claimed back 2.6k before they went bust. This was the reason I went for 118 anyway.. after years and hate to say it but years!! I had my response back from FOS on the 13th of January 2021 and upheld all loans and have give them until the 28th January to respond. The must pay back 5.9k plus 8% interest. Anyway didn’t hold out for a response from them after reading things on here about them dragging their feet but I got an email back from them a day before the deadline on the 27th January accepting the claim and requested my bank details. On their email they said they will pay within 14 working days so fingers crossed it’s in next week.
Alex says
Hi Sara, I have got a loan with Salaryfinance from my work. When I took it out they did not ask for anything at all, just how long I have been working for my employee. Can I make an affordability complaint ? Thank you in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Can I check that this is a loan being repaid over several months? And not an Advance, taken from your next wage?
What is the interest rate?
Are the repayments leaving you too short of money to be able to manage?
Alex says
Hi, thank you for your answer, it is a loan. I found this;” A Salary Finance loan is an unsecured personal loan that should be used solely for personal, family, or household purposes. Most of our borrowers take out their loan to pay down existing, higher-cost debt, like credit cards, payday loans, or medical bills”.
The money gets taken out from my salary before it reaches me. It has an APR of 19.9%. This was super unaffordable as i was gambling a lot and taken out other loans at the same time. I have been on a payment holiday since March 2020 and I am now on a agreed lower amount for 3 months and when this ends I am worried I will not be able to make the payments.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok so this is a normal loan so far as I am aware and the normal rules about checking affordability will apply. IF your credit record would have showed a lot of other debts, they should have considered that before lending to you. But if you had taken out loans within a few days, it is possible they would not yet have shown on a credit check in which case you may not win an affordability complaint.
I suggest you use the template letter here to send in a complaint. I would be interested to know what happens.
You will still need a lower payment arrangement when the current arrangement ends if the normal amount is unaffordable. If you have other problem debts, a simple way may be to talk to StepChange and a debt management plan for all your debts, including this one. StepChange can also talk about whether you have any better options.
If you then win an affordability complaint about this loan or any other, that will remove the interest and so your DMP will end sooner.
H says
Hi – how did you get on with this SF complaint please?
Nick says
Hi all.
Has anybody had any dealings with everyday loans? Currently 4 months into a 6 month waiting list with the FOS for compensation.
Not too many posts on here regarding the company so just wondered how people have got on, did they receive a good settlement offer? How long did it take for everyday loans to pay the amount?
Mike Chapman says
My £2200 loan with bamboo (since 2017) had £1900 left to pay, as of today. When I initially complained they offered £500 off my loan, I declined and told them I would take it to the financial ombudsman, unless they clear the remaining loan. A bit cheeky but thought it was worth a go, low and behold I receive a call today, they are wiping the rest of the loan immediately!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well done – they just try to get away with as little as possible but can often be pushed into a reasonable offer.
Kirstie says
I have had similar. Today I have received a Bamboo offer full & final settlement of “ The offer, which is made in full and final settlement of this complaint, is to reduce your balance by £777.72. This is the equivalent of 6 months payments on the current loan.” The current balance of loan is £3891.95. I am unsure what to do.
PM says
Getting a bit frustrated with FOS now. I’ve had 3 claims in for 10 months and heard absolutely nothing. I escalated 2 weeks ago as I’ve been made redundant and was told it was escalated. I phoned again today and was told that adjudicators aren’t taking on any more cases at the minute, and when I queried that they literally had nothing to say. Has anyone else been told similar? Can anyone elaborate on what this means? I knew the wait would be lengthy but I’m seeing people make progress within a couple of months so I feel I’m right to be chasing 10 months in…
Luke says
I waited just over 9 months to be picked up, and I gave only just received my pay out. Total time frame for me was;
8 weeks from my first contract replied on the last day
Send to FOS October 2019
Picked up in July 2020
Upheld 14th of jan 2021
Payment today 29th jan 2021
Know this isn’t what you want to hear but it’s a time frame I had and hope it helps, you are not alone just hang in their they will pick it up and it will be worth while. Don’t give up.
PM says
Thanks for the response Luke. I guess my timeline looks pretty similar to yours, so I’ll take some assurance from that. Congrats on winning your case!
Zoe says
I was made redundant in October and escalated on 1st December and still not heard anything, I put in my original claims in April so not long after you. Also hoping something happens soon and I’m successful my redundancy money is coming to an end and still not managed to secure a new job
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you have debts that you are paying at the moment?
JC says
Hi Sara.
Quick update I made a claim against TM Advances for 2 high interest loans. The adjudicator found in my view which the company rejected and it went to the Ombudsman who found in my favour so I’m looking at circa £6.5k back in the interest paid in the 2 loans. I’m
Not sure if anyone else has successfully claimed against them so wanted to post to say that it could be done using the above templates.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well done!
Dean says
Nice one JC. I currently have a complaint with them and it’s recently been picked up by an adjudicator. Paid around 6.5K back for a 2K loan. Various other lending around the time and was also gambling very heavily. Fingers crossed although I suppose I have less of a chance, as it was just a single loan
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A 2k loan is large – the lender should have checked it was affordable.
Dean says
Complaint not upheld by an adjudicator this morning. No mention of gambling in the decision which I find strange. Think I shall be requesting that an ombudsman make a final decision.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
is that a final decision from the adjudicator? If they are just saying this is what they are going to decide, go back and make the points you think they have missed. Adjudicators do change their minds and this is much quicker than waiting for an ombudsman.
Dean says
Thanks for the reply, Sara. I took your advice and replied, raising the points that I mention above. The adjudicator has got back to me this afternoon. I’ve been informed that an ombudsman will make the final decision as I do not agree with his findings. Will update once I hear more.
Carl says
Hi Sara,
Do the high interest longer term loans have the same negative impact on mortgage applications as a PDL?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Are they repaid?
Carl says
Hi Sara,
1 will be repaid by final monthly payment on Monday and the other with 118 money has 1800 balance, with whom I may contact regarding an early settlement. Unsure if an affordability claim would be worthwhile as no payments missed.
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Once the loans are repaid it’s unlikely a mortgage lender will look at them closely. There won’t be a “payday loan flag” on them.
Before the loans are repaid the lender will look at your current debts. Usually, the payments are quite large so they impact on the mortgage affordability calculations.
Many people have won claims against 118 and other bad credit lenders if they never missed a payment. What matters is if the loan was unaffordable when it was given.
Luke says
I got a mortgage 2 years ago after absolute hammering payday loans and big loans! Was a complete shock to me but iv always payed on time and never missed any payment seam to go in my favour and obviously I no longer had an loans outstanding.
Jenny says
Hi Sara,
Just after a little bit of advise but firstly wanted to say thank you I was stuck in pay day loan cycles for about three years then finally after finding this site got out of it because of the refund money I got. The only loan I have left is On Stride I called them in Sept 2019 as I went on mat leave and asked for a payment holiday which they gave me and since haven’t taken a penny from my account. I had a complaint raised with them which was with the FO it had yet to be signed over to a person to deal with it when they went into administration. I just wondered as I have gone on the website to fill in my details to make sure they have a claim for me once the administrators sort out the claims but every time I fill it out with my details and my loan Id and account no it is saying account not found so my question is will the FO of sent my claim to them? It would also be nice to see how much my outstanding balance is but again I can’t even get into my account, what happens if you have money left to pay on it once it’s in administration? I just don’t want this to affect my credit report and for months and months nothing has showed on it and then all of a sudden last month it got added to my report?
Many thanks in advance,
Rachel
Sara (Debt Camel) says
See https://debtcamel.co.uk/quickquid-casheuronet-administration/. You have to get your claim submitted by mid February. You need to contact customer services if you can’t.
Jamie says
Hi Everyone,
I have had loans with Everyday Loans and Likely Loans but I can’t find them on my credit report, would they be called something else?
Thank you in advance
Jamie
Tom says
Hi Jamie,
Likely Loans are a brand under Oakbrook Finance and Everyday Loans may come under Everyday Lending or NSF (Non Standard Finance).
Hope that helps?
Tom
KC says
Result from Avant Credit-
I only had 1 loan from Avant Credit back in 2015 and this was paid back in 2017. I have put in irresponsible lending complaints for other short term pay day loans but hadnt thought to put one in for Avant until March last year, im so glad i did! They never responded to my complaint after 8 weeks, so i went straight to FO in May who picked up the case in October/Nov time, and a couple weeks ago they upheld my complaint and advised Avant to refund me all interest paid on the loan plus 8%.
Avant replied just after the 2 weeks deadline the FO had gave them, however this morning the FO emailed me to advise Avant had agreed and to give them 4 weeks to sort this with me directly. A few hours later… Avant emailed me with the calculation and advised payment had been issued and to allow 30 days, however the payment has also gone in instantly today too!
Thanks again Sara for your help.
Laura R says
My 118 loan has finally been picked up and the investigator agrees that they should not have given me the loan. He has given them until the 11th Feb to reply. How long do they take on average to reply?
Martin says
That’s good news Laura. My timefline with them has been so far..the FOS gave them to the 18th January to reply. They finally e-mailed me last Thursday 28th with a redress figure asking for my bank details and advising payment can take up to 14 working days. It’s a slow process looking forward to getting the payment and putting this behind me. Let me know how you get on.
Peter says
Hi.
I put in a complaint to George Banco, in brief, they lent to me 5 years ago when I had many, many outstanding loans, a shot credit report and unfortunately, a gambling issue. They responded to me saying the following:
As a responsible lender, we are obliged to carry out a number of suitability and affordability checks on all
loan applications. I have been unable to find evidence to suggest that all the necessary checks have been
carried out therefore, I cannot confirm that responsible checks were completed.
You borrowed £1,000 for loan 67315. We are willing to refund anything you have paid over £1,000 amount,
so we will refund £54.01 plus an additional 8% statutory interest.
My question here is, if they are admitting that the lent irresponsibly, should I not be entitled to all interest refunded? This was a final response letter.
Could anyone shed any light on this?
Thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you know how much you paid to the loan? They seem to be saying it was 1054, which sounds unlikely unless it was settled within a week or so!
peter says
It was part of my DMP which is almost finished, there was/is about £60 left to pay on this debt.
However, they forced me to pay them extra outside of my plan using a threat of an attachment of earnings so the payments differed.
In total to the company I’ve paid £1370.06.
This is the rest of the letter.
Please note this amount has included all payments you have made towards account 155666 as this is a
rewritten loan of 67315; therefore, you did not receive any advance for loan 155666.
Please see below calculations:
Payments made over £1,000: £54.01
Interest @ 8%: £1.10 (This is subject to 20% HMRC tax deduction)
Total Refund*: £55.11
Refund due: £54.89 (£0.22 deduction as per legislation going to HMRC)
In addition, I can confirm this account will be closed and therefore no more payments will be due. I have
also requested that detail of this loan be removed from your credit file
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This doesn’t make sense. I suggest you reply that you borrowed £1000 and have repaid £1370.06 in interest and charges and so you should be refunded £370.06 plus 8% statutory interest.
Peter says
Thank you for that.
They have sent it as a final response, so I presume I should reply, stating the above and that I’m going to escalate it? Or should I wait for a response?
Thanks again.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, where they seem to have made an error, go back and say it is wrong and ask them to look again.
David says
Good morning.
Has anyone ever had success from Picture Home loans? We stupidly in 2006 took out a secure loan with them, £89,000 in order to clear all our debt we had at the time. However, the total amount due was an eye watering £225,000.
We never knew the impact thus would have on us, charge on the house, variable interest rate, financial hardship after a couple of years paying the large monthly fee.
Late and missed payments etc.
We should never had this or been able too obtain such a massive loan, they never explained what we were going to do.
We have paid the capital that we have borrowed but just paying the interest. We still owe 50k?
Any help?
Thanks for your help.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The process discussed here is not for secured loans. I suggest you talk to Citizens Advice about your options.
Verne says
Back in last 2020 I made an irresponsible lending complaint to 118118. I had taken 1 loan with 2 top ups with them and they responded by saying they acted accordingly and rejected the claim. The fraud threat was mentioned along with manipulation of incoming and outgoings. I referred it to the FOS, since then the FOS has investigated and said the 2 top ups should not have been lend to due to my circumstances and living in and out of payday loans etc.
118118 have now 15 days to respond to the investigator. Question is are 118118 generally accepting FOS decisions or do they contest? Are they responding to the FOS within the timeframes or is dragged out?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They often accept the decisions.
Simone says
Hello Sara,
I just have a quick question. I’m just about to start my complaints procedure with Likely Loans, thanks for all of the advice on here, much appreciated! I’ve been on a payment plan with them for 18 months which I’ve kept up with, should I keep on paying while this is ongoing? Also, they are threatening to default me, if they do and I get a ruling in my favour, would this default be removed?
Thanks in advance, Simone
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you win the complaint the missed payments and any default will be removed.
Have you repaid more than you borrowed? Are the current repayments unaffordable?
Simone says
Hi Sara,
Thank you for your reply! I’ve currently paid £4182.07 of a £4000 loan, I currently have £3449.33 outstanding to which I am making part payments of £75, original payment £211.99. Yes this is difficult but doable even now, although I will keep making part payments if I should. They keep threatening me with default as I’ve been on a payment plan since month 9 of the 36 month loan term. Simone
GH says
I took a £2500 loan with them May 2018 over 24 months. After about the same time period as you I went in a payment plan also. I still have a balance of just over £500. I made a irresponsible lending complaint to them, still making payments while they investigated. They didn’t uphold the complaint so I’m now waiting on an adjudicator to pick up my complaint. Been waiting 4months so far.
Good luck
Simone says
Thanks for your reply, good luck to you too for a positive response from your adjudicator. I put an affordability complaint in last week to Likely Loans, so I’m right at the beginning of the process but I discovered my loan was for £3500 not £4K, so I’m glad I’ve paid what I owed. Can see it being a long drawn out process but I’m glad I’ve done it. Keep me updated, everything crossed!
Emma says
My husband had his complaint against carcash point upheld by the ombudsman at the FOS.
He hasn’t heard anything from carcashpoint since the ombudsman final decision over 4 weeks ago. What happens if they don’t pay?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you tell your adjudicator that you haven’t been paid,
Have you phoned carcashpoint? If not, do this.
Also email nick@carcashpoint.com and attach a copy of the Ombudsman final decision and ask why they have not been in touch to pay it.
Sally says
Hi ,
I am in a similar situation about carcashpoint, adjucator ruled in my favour and gave carcashpoint point 2 weeks to reply , it has been 3 weeks now and had no reply , so contacted FOS and they said they would chase carcashpoint for an update , fingers crossed 🤞
Catherine says
Hi could you tell me how long from first submitting your complaint it has taken to get the decision? I sent one on carcashpoint on 2 March 2020 and I’ve still not had a case handler assigned.
Emma says
I Have had my complaint against Carcashpoint in for 2 years next month. It has just been upheld and waiting to see if CCP agree.
Don’t hold your breath even when it gets assigned as they ignore tequests for information and are deliberately obstructive.
Nick says
Hi.
Just a quick query. Has anybody gotten due compensation from everyday loans? If so how was your process? I’m currently 4mths into waiting for the FOS to investigate further. Is it worth sending them a message regarding my case or wait til the timeline elapses?
Keeli says
I would like to know if anyone has had any luck with Everyday Loans too. I thought I would be done with my repayments in March 2021 & was offered no interest on on 3 missed payments back in 2019 when I was not working and instead told they would extend my agreement. I was made redundant back in October but kept up with payments until January and it is only because of this that I have now found out that no good will gesture was put in my notes and my repayment plan has been extended by 6mths due to balloon interest! They want to keep me bound to this agreement based off of just interest, that is wrong. I have now written to complain to them and request a refund on all interest. They are the absolute worst, never again! This entire pandemic I was not made aware I was entitled to any assistance by them. Instead, they were offering me top up loans!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes lots of cases won. But they drag a lot of them out, eg this recent one https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-large-high-cost-loans/comment-page-21/#comment-405057
Tom says
Hi all,
I hope this is the place for this question.
I have a £1500 loan with 118118 money which defaulted in January 2016 that is currently being looked at by FOS. The debt was sold on to Lowell and I am currently repaying Lowell monthly.
The question I have is that I appear to have this loan marked twice on my credit file. It appears as 118118 Money and is reported to all 3 agencies, additionally, it is reported as Lowell and reported to 1 agency. Does this matter? Should I ask for one of these to be closed so as to not show as 2 defaults? If so, which one?
Thanks,
Tom
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sounds normal. Where the debt is double reported to a CRA, only one should be used for calculating your credit score. If you win the FOS complaint all the negative marks will be deleted.
Alex says
Hi Sara, I wanted to thank you for the guidance you provide on this website. I’ve received over £4000 from 1188 this weeks at the back of 3 large loans I had. There was no need to send my complain to the FOS. They offered to refund me all the interests paid on all loans and 8% statutory interest on the 7th week.
Martin says
Hi Alex that’s good news. Can you tell me please how long did you have to wait for the money to reach your bank after you provided them with your bank details? I provided 118 118 with my bank details last Thursday 28th January but I am still waiting. Ridiculous really they are quick enough to give you it when you take out a loan with them but when it’s your own money they drag their heels.
Paul says
Hi, I’d like to know as well as i’m in the same situation. I’ve had offer accepted, provided 118 with bank details (even though they already had them) over 10 days ago. Is there a specific day of the week they process payments?
Martin says
Hi Paul just to let you know unfortunately I am still waiting despite providing them with my bank details on 28th January. Good question can anyone advise is there a specific day of the week they process payments and a time also?
verne says
Hi, Just to add I am in the situation as you both.
I provided my bank details earlier this week only to get a response email saying it takes unto 14 day for them to acknowledge due to covid.
The original email say 14 days to process the funds upon confirmation of the bank details. So its takes 28 days in total to pay out? Have you been paid yet?
Karen W says
Hello I am wondering when you did finally get your money? I am 6 days waiting from 118
Laura says
Hi Karen,
I got mine on day 11
Karen W says
Hi I finally received payment today.
Keeli says
Hi Sara,
I have just written an affordability complaint email to everyday loans regarding them refunding me interest (for some context please read my reply under Nick’s post). I wanted to ask, do I continue making my £172 repayments (to avoid missed payments) whilst I am waiting for a response which I can no longer afford as I was made redundant and I’m on UC? Or shall I ask for a payment holiday or for them to recalculate my affordability?
Thank you for your assistance in advance :)
Danielle says
Sorry this is a long one so I will try to simplify it. I had 4 loans, 3 paid off one outstanding with avant and put in a complaint that went to fos. I won all 4 and avant sent money to me. Didn’t hear from them again then checked my credit report and noticed an outstanding balance. Turns out they refunded me for interest rather than take it off the balance. I have complained to them as the money is now gone and the fos are aware and are investigating. Avant have now sold the outstanding balance to asset investigations who asked me to set up a payment plan. I did this as I’m worried about it defaulting again and the clock starting all over again and now aci have emailed me to state they are disappointed that I did not fill in an i&e despite them having not asked me too and if I don’t they will take further collections activity. I’ve done some research and noted aci are keen on ccjs. I know avant are allowed to sell a debt but is it possible to get a ccj on a debt that was deemed irresponsible?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So two separate points.
If the loan had not already been sold when the settlement was made, then I think Avant cocked up in giving you the refund and not reducing the debt. If for some bizarre reasons they wanted to do that (and I cannot imagine why!) then they should have made it VERY clear to you in their emails to you about the settlement. One thing you can ask them to do now is to buy the debt back from ACI.
But a debt remains at the moment. You should certainly complain to ACI that they are being unreasonable in saying you did not complete an I&E as they never asked you to. Also tell them that you are disputing the debt with Avant who did not handle the redress correctly. But it also seems simpler to set up an affordable repayment plan with them – if you do this a default should not be added to your credit record. What is the rest of your financial situation like, do you have other problem debts?
Danielle says
Hi Sara, thanks for responding. The loan had not been sold when the settlement was made. After I complained regarding not using the settlement to clear the loan they stated that they were unable to do that as it would have meant they would of owed me money after doing that as the settlement would of cleared the balance and then some. They also stated that they didn’t chase me after the settlement for the balance as I was in an IVA, but they knew I wasn’t and had failed that a few years ago as I had wrote to them and was paying them directly before the fos decision. I do have other debts which I’m hoping to get an f&f on over the next few months but obviously I don’t want to do a partial settlement on this one because the original 2017 default was removed so I don’t want it on my credit report for 6 years after the settlement. I’m just worried that aci will try and get a ccj even though it was deemed irresponsible to begin with
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If Avant they have refused to change this, send a complaint to FOS about it. Tell Aci what is happening. Make a repayment arrangement with them.
Tom says
Good morning Sara,
Today will be 4 weeks exactly since the acknowledgment date for 2 complaints I raised. Both companies advised that I would receive an update at the 4 week point (which is today) and I wanted to ask that, if I don’t receive a 4 week update, shall I just leave it until the 8 week point or ask them for an update?
I’ve left then to it, so far, as I know pestering them won’t speed up the process. However, as this is a point where they should at least tell me where they’re at with my complaint, should I ask for an update? Obviously, they have until close of business today, so I wouldn’t bother until Monday but just wondered what your opinion would be?
Many thanks
Tom
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would wait until 8 weeks. The 4 week point means nothing.
Tom says
Thank you, will do 👍
lynne Byrne says
I am at present starting to look at my credit files as most of my defaults are at or nearly at the six year stage and should be falling off.
I have one problem which is with Likely Loans.They have just issued me with a default now, although I was unable to pay the loan back in full from 2017.
I have just seen the default on my credit file which was issued in January this year although I have not yet had a letter informing me of this.
What I would like to know is firstly,can I have the date of default re -set back to when I couldn’t meet full payments?
In addition, I am thinking of writing to them with an affordability complaint as they have added over £4,000 interest onto a £5,000 loan.
Which action should I initiate first or does it make no difference?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A default should be added when you are 3-6 months in arrears. So a lot depends how much lower your payments were – if they were only token payments then that 3-6 months is usually hit in 3-6 months. If you are paying half, then it is hit in 6-12 months.
When you make an affordability complaint, you are not complaining about the high interest – you tend not to win these complaints as you knew what the interest rate was at the start. Instead you complain that the repayments were not affordable so you were unable to make them or you did make them but only by getting behind with bills or taking out more debt.
You can make both complaints at the same time. I would suggest not delaying the affordability complaint as winning that could solve the other one as If you win the affordability complaint all negative marks are removed from your credit record.
Emma says
I have just heard today that the adjudicator has upheld my complaint on 5 loans. CCP have tried to obstruct the process at every point so I don’t hold out much hope of it being resolved quickly.
Do they normally accept the decision of the adjudicator or does it go to Ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
they have been difficult in quite a few cases – I hope they will accept yours
Wes says
I’ve had a complaint with satsuma, which has been picked up by an adjudicator. I’ve sent all my information in, to which satsuma did also, however the adjudicator noticed a loan they was paid off within the ‘14 day cancellation period’ so requested more information about that loan. Since then satsuma have sent back any information, just replied to the FOS that it’s taking longer due to Covid etc. Is there anything I can do to make them speed up as such?!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
When did the adjudicator ask Satsuma for thus information?
Wes says
He requested the extra information on the 1st December. I received an email on the 5th jan from the adjudicator saying satsuma have responded saying they were extremely behind due to the pandemic, but they had no issues gathering the original paperwork/information from the first point of contact from the FOS.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think over 9 weeks is unacceptably long. I think you should inform the FCA, Satsuma’s regulator, of this. the FCA won’t look at your individual case, but they will be interested in this sort of information and hopefully it may kick Satsuma into action.
I suggest you email the FCA at consumer.queries@fca.org.uk and copy this to joe.sweeney@provident.co.uk and Neil.Iveson@provident.co.uk
Subject: Satsuma (Provident – 700144) hasn’t answered a FOS query for more info after 9 weeks
Put in a few short detail about your complaint – how many loans you had, Satsuma’s rejection and the date you sent the case to FOS.
Say Satsuma have sent the case file over but your FOS investigator has asked for more information about a loan on 1st December and Satsuma have only replied that they are behind because of the pandemic.
Say you know the FCA will not look at your individual case but say you think this unacceptably long and you thought the FCA should know about this. If there is a particular reason you need this resolved as soon as possible, mention that.
Wes says
I’ll get into it straight away, thank you
Wes says
Sent the email and copied in the relevant people. Fca emailed back. Still nothing from
Satsuma.
Approaching a month since I sent an email to the fca. Emailed the adjudicator yesterday to
Ask for any update, and that I’m starting to get frustrated with satsuma, as it’s taken longer to get Information together on the extra loan than for the original loans they sent Info on.
But had no reply from him.
Lottie says
Hi Sara, FOS have confirmed that Varooma need to pay back the interest on an old loan that I took in August 2015 , along with all charges and 8% interest. The charges totalled £1045 and the interest in the loan was £5345 – the final payment on the loan was made 30.04.2018 do you have any idea how much redress I would get if they agree with FOS ? Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
On those figures, 1045 + 5345 = 6390 Plus about 25% extra in 8% interest (very roughly)
Lottie says
Thank you. I want count my chickens just yet. But good to know roughly.
Many thanks
D Jacob says
Did u receive your refund?
How long did it take from Varooma agreeing for refund and contacting you for bank details and you actually getting the money in your account?
A timeline would be very helpful.
I am in same position as u.
Varooma has agreed with adjudicator but no contact since then.
Thanks in advance
D Jacob
Mandy watts says
Hi
I have a loan with bamboo which is currently with the priority team of ombudsman due to the first fact I am with Payplan dmp and the second fact they offered me 6 months refund payment once the loan was paid I asked them to take it off the loan now and stop all the interest which they refused hence gone to ombudsman, can they refund the whole amount if the ombudsman say to clear the loan is that ever a case at all thank you so much for your advice take care
Sara (Debt Camel) says
they offered me 6 months refund payment once the loan was paid
that seems an inappropriate offer to make to someone in difficulty!
How large was the loan? And what have you repaid so far?
Mandy watts says
5000 I have paid 1000 so far it’s over 60 months thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So if that loan is upheld by FOS, your balance would be reduced to £4000.
Is this a normal loan or a guarantor loan?
Could you say how large the other debts in your DMP are? And how much you are paying a month to them?
Mandy watts says
Dmp is for 34k loans range from 2k to 10k I pay 300 a month all the loans have gone to ombudsman for irresponsible lending one has agreed full deductible interest the others got sent before Christmas I’ve lost 4 stone in weight haven’t been able to afford to eat some weeks so dmp has helped me a lot because of COVID my income changed thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok and the £300 a month is affordable? Not just better than what was before, but really manageable?
Tyler N says
Hello Sara,
I have a complaint with Drafty, they agreed with the adjucator decision to refund over a £1000.. 29 days ago but they still havent made contact? My adjucator isnt available until wednesday to ask and Drafty complaints team have never responded to me via email or phone call since the start of my complaint.
Do you know what happened next? Correct me if im wrong but i thought it was legally binding once they agreed with the adjucators decision?
Thank you as always!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
An adjudicator decision as such is not legally binding. But Drafty have accepted this decision so they have to pay up.
Tell your adjudicator by email.
What happens when you phone them up?
Do you currently owe them any money?
Tyler N says
Thanks for the info, yes i have emailed the adjucator but he is unavailable until wednesday and thought it would be sorted by now but now i know it isnt legally binding il just have to wait a little longer then.
Yes i owe them around £520 and the refund is over £1000
Drafty complaints email address have acknowledged recieving my emails but have never replied in 14 emails over the last year.
I have phoned customer service 3 times in the last week trying to stop the overdue payment texts/emails and letters they just say “Its been Esculated to the complaints team, they’re just very busy at the moment”
Just frustrating when 118 and Bamboo and Loans2go paid up within 5 days of agreement and Drafty still hasn’t after 29 days.
Thanks for the help again anyway!
Take care Sara
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh very frustrating. Come back if it isn’t sorted in a couple of weeks?
Dana says
Hi Sara,
I’m down to my last loan now after winning my case against 118 118 money which is good, but I have just had a shocking discovery with Likely Loans, basically I was on a monthly plan for 6 months, significantly reducing my payments, due to unaffordability due to Covid-19.
But after a phone call today I have been informed of my new balance owed and it’s much greater than it was before I took the repayment plan, it is actually really shocking. I’ve started a complaint about this and expressed I really would have liked to have settled this loan at what the balance it was before I went on the repayment plan and they started piling on interest. Do I have a case here or is it normal for this to happen? They have been really unhelpful to me throughout the entire pandemic.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is normal for a lender to carry on adding interest in a covid-19 payment break. But did they give you the impression on the phone that they wouldn’t be doing this?
Have you sent LL an affordability complaint?
M says
Hi Sara,
I need some advice please. So after almost 6 months, Avantcredit have upheld my complaint (tbh, I had actually forgotten and given up hope after all the Amigo shambles!).
They will refund me my overpayments made to them and 8% interest. However as my debt was sold to Asset collections, they have told me that I should get any overpayment made to Asset collections back directly from them as Avant never received the money. Is this right?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No it’s not. AC are highly unlikely to agree to refund you any mony.
Tell Avant it is their job to resolve this. You don’t mind if they get the info from AC and get that account corrected or buy the loan back from AC but you want your payments to AC taken into account and you want the default on your credit record with AC removed. Say the complaint goes to the ombudsman if Avant don’t agree.
Steph says
Just wanted to say thank you Sara for your advice.
I put an affordability claim in to a lender who I had a current loan with, with an outstanding balance of just under £4K.
They did not uphold my claim but offered to deduct 6 x monthly payments off the end of the loan. I politely refused, and added up all the interest I had paid in all the loans I had had with them. This amount was £3.7k. I gave them all the calculations and they came back to me within a week to say they would not uphold my claim still but they are wiping the balance and giving me c £200 in refund. Perhaps I could have got more by going to FOS but I am very happy with this.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A quick result you are happy with is a good result!
Tom says
I have just received my final response, from Bamboo, and I feel they have ignored a major factor when assessing my case. Whilst acknowledging my gambling issue, they haven’t factored in to my expenditure. In the chart they have provided, they have said that after my ‘normal’ living expenses (I assume this doesn’t include gambling) they said I had £175.84, of disposable income, and my proposed loan payment, from this, was £115.96. This left we me with £59.88. I could gamble this amount (and did) in a matter of minutes. They have advised they can’t uphold the complaint for the initial loan, or the subsequent top ups. Other things that they have mentioned are the fact that I always kept my credit serviced (these were always minimum payments though, and I had to juggle money around to keep my head above water).
They have offered £200, to resolve the complaint. However, they haven’t actually told me how much interest I paid, across all of the loans. I have asked for this information, before I decide my next move.
Could you offer your thoughts please?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That doesn’t sound a good offer. If your debts were going up, that is a sign that top ups should not have been approaved.
Asking for information about what interest you have paid is the best place to start – Bamboo will often negotiate
Tom says
Hi Sara,
Just a quick update. I received a call, from Bamboo, who stated that (after review) they still felt they’d come to the correct conclusion. However, they agreed to my proposal of a 50% refund, which I am happy with. Initial offer increased from £200, to just over £500. I am happy with this and, to Bamboo’s credit, they were very polite.
Thanks for your help, just 118 118 to go now (who I think will not be as easy to deal with)
Tom
Sally says
Hi Sara ,
A quick update on my case regarding carcashpoint (CCP)
The adjucator has ruled in my favour that all 3 loans with them were unaffordable on January 13 and gave them until January 26 to reply but they had not replied back , so I contacted the adjucator again and she said she would chase them up , I got a reply from the adjucator today they CCP ARE AGREEING that 2 loans were unaffordable but the first one was affordable , the adjucator send them an email to tell them that she still feels that loan 1 was unaffordable too and given them until February 23 to reply . Fingers crossed 🤞 and hope to have a reply soon .
Loan 1-£2560
Loan 2-£800
Loan 3-£3060
Mel says
Hi, do you know if this applies to P2P lending like Zopa? Am I able to complain to them for irresponsible lending? Do you know if people have been successful when complaining to them?
Many thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
they have only been mentioned a handful of times. I don’t remember anyone saying how they actually got on. SO give it a go and please come back and say what happens!
Laura says
After 118 118 agreeing with my investigators decision on the very last day they had til, I am not awaiting the payout.
They asked for my bank details on the Thursday and confirmed receipt of them on the Friday but said it could take 14 days, today is day 9 and still nothing. So they take the full 14 days or do they go beyond this?
Vern says
Did they confirm receipt of your bank details the day after?
I sent them mine but got an generic email saying it takes up-to 14 to acknowledge emails. I’m on day 7 and nothing from them. Once I get to the 14th day if nothing back I will have to get in touch with the adjudicator.
Laura Rutter says
Yes they did, the day after. The email said:
Good afternoon,
Thank you for your email.
Your bank details have been passed to the customer relations manager who will be issuing your refund.
Please not, as outlined in our response, this may take up to 14 days to reach you.
Regards,
Customer Relations Team
Sandra says
I took a loan out with 118118 back in 2016 for £2000.00 the interest was £4200.00, i’ve ask a debt company to sort this out for me, they’ve come back with a settlement of 118 118 saying they will not charge for the interest, but i will have to pay the capital which according to 118 118 i have paid £2000 and don’t owe anything , i’m totally confused.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What interest rate was the loan and how many years?
So what is the settlement that has been proposed? Have you been given numbers or just a description?
How many payments of how much have you made to 118.
Sandra says
The settlement they have given me is they’ve taken the interest of £4500 off and i’ve just got to pay the capital, put the loan which was taken out in 2016 was for only £2000 and i’ve looked into my account and i don’t owe them anything, they say my balance is nil, the loan was over 2years
forgot to say 118 handed my account over Madison, and i’ve just been given a bill for £1500 from [a claims company]
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did you repay the loan in the two years? Or did you default so they have carried on adding interest?
For a 2 year loan at 95% interest, the total you would repay is about 4500. That is 2000 borrowed plus 2500 interest.
Sandra says
As I had a loan for £2000.00, the ombudsman as removed the interest of £4500, and says i have to pay the capital, i have been paying £75 a month for 2years, I looked into my account with 118 118 and according to their statement i don’t owe anything, it’s now gone to redress, what are the chances of any money back.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am sorry but I need all the details on this loan. Please don’t just repeat the numbers you have said before.
You borrowed 2000 for a 2 year loan from 118. 118 is a brand name of the lender called Madison CF UK.
I need to know the total amount you have paid to them. Ignore if this is “interest”, just add up how many payments you made, so 24 payments of £190 or whatever it was.
sandra says
I’ve just had a email from Madison, saying i don’t owe 118 118 any money as they handed it over to Lantern and the interest has been removed.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes but this doesn’t help, the numbers are needed.
How much had you paid Madison before the debt was sold? If you don’t know this, ask Madison for the number.
Have you made any payments to Lantern? How much?
sandra says
Two years @£75 a month with Lantern, Lantern say the balance is £4550.74, the interest is to written off which is £4225.00.
KH says
Hi,
I just have a question about interest ..
I had a loan with everyday loans, paid £313 a month from July 2019 for 9 payments and a £4k final payment.
Overall £2,969 interest paid, everyday have refunded the interest paid and calculated additional interest of £195 .. I used the interest calculator on the website and expected it to be more – I’ve queried it and they’ve paid it but wanted to check if it was worth going back to them again to query the interest?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how large was the loan?
KH says
6k, I paid £8.9k in total
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Oh I see, you are querying the 8% calculation.
So the loan was settled in May 2020?
£195 doesn’t sound wrong to me.
Lottie says
Hello Sara,
I have heard from FOS regarding another loan in my favour. The amount of refund will be £6214.35 taken out August 2015 & repaid March 2018. They have been advised to pay £6214.35 plus 8% interest. Do you know how much I am Likely to get? Please
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The 8% should be 1700-2000 very roughly. Less 20% tax on that part.
Who was the lender?
Lottie says
Thank you, it was another loan with Varooma/ Greenlight.
Do you have any intel on if they have been know to go with FOS decision or if they refer to the next step of the Ombudsman?
Many thanks for all your help as always.need to ask about a CCJ too, for another company.
The CCJ was applied by Lowell – following a debt buy from Shopacheck. Who do I direct my affordability claim to? Moses or Lowell?
Thank you!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I’ve not seen enough Varooma decisions to guess.
Shopacheck – complain to Morses. Say in your complaint you want the Lowell CCJ to be set aside. This one may be hard if Morses don’t have the details but see where it goes.
Lottie says
Brilliant thank you on both.
This site is invaluable, and I will be making a donation to CAB once I get some redress actually back :)
JC says
Hello sara,
I’ve recently sent an affordability complaint using your template to avant credit. I had 2 loans, both of £5000.
I received an e-mail saying that they are still investigating my complaint today, however it’s reaches the 8 week mark, which they’ve acknowledged.
I was just wondering if I should give them more time to reply with a final response before going to
The FOs?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If they had said they expected to respond in another week or two, then it might be sensible to wait. But with no indication of the extra time they need, it seems likely that no-one has yet looked at your complaint. And many Avant cases have to go to the Ombudsman anyway if Avant doesn’t uphold them, so it may be a good idea to send yours now.
paul says
Hello, not sure about this with Satsuma loans?
I had 2 loans which I defaulted on, and complained to Satsuma, who rejected my affordability complaint so I sent to the FOS.
At the time of these loans I was also paying Provident £120 a week, which I didn’t believe they had taken into account given they are the same company. I have successfully had redress with Provident.
Anyway the FOS have rejected my appeal saying that they would not look at upholding the first 2 complaints on affordability 9even though I pointed out (Provident). The are saying I can escalate to the Ombudsman – but wondering if there is any point?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how large were the Satsuma loans?
Pail says
£500 and £700 excluding interest.
Brian says
oplo rejected complaint. Off to FOS I go. I expect a long wait.
Jo says
I have just had 3x complaints upheld by the Ombudsman. They have notified myself and the 3x companies involved. 1 is final decision. 2 are provisional with a view to upholding. The one with the decision I have a payment due to be made in Thursday do you think in view of the final decision I would have to still make the payment ? Can companies still refuse to accept an Ombudsman final decision?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A final decision is legally binding. I think you are safe to cancel that payment!
Catherine says
Hi I have a complaint in against carcash point (£5k loan and paid back £10k after 1 year early – should have been £25k in total over 5 years) with the FOS submitted back in 2 March 2020. Since then I’ve chased a few times and had a request for more information in November but heard nothing accept an email in January 2021 saying they busy. I did call at one point last year abs they refer to my complaint as complex so will take more time. My questions are: 1) anyone else been assumed as complex and what are the likely timescales? 2) anyone else had a compliant upheld against carcashpoint for one loan on the grounds of unaffordable lending due to gambling etc
michael W says
Hi,
i have an adjudicator currently investigating my 118 claim. my loan was sold to Lowell which was then paid off by myself with an early settlement figure in may 2020.
I was paying lowell for around 2 years and they reported every payment to them as missed payments on my credit file even though i was paying them the agreed figure every month.
If my claim is upheld will the missed payment damage on my credit file be removed?
Would 118 also need to sort this out?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes they do. But tell your adjudicator and say you would like their decision to say this explicitly as this may save hassle later.
Michael w says
Hello,
thanks for this answer.
will let you know the outcome once i get this.
stay safe
Michael says
My loan has been upheld by the adjudicator and they have given 14 days for 118 to come back to them if they want appeal it etc.
do they usually go with there decision and do they normally stick to the 14 days?
Dean says
Hi Sara ,
I’ve recently had a claim against 118 118 upheld on loan 1 for £2000..
However.. loan 2 wasn’t upheld with the adjudicator for £2800 a total of £4800 and interest mounting up to £8900.
I’ve sent bank statement 3 months prior to both loan dates taken out I’ve said I’m in a debt management plan now and in a even worse position before the loans taken out. I’m a compulsive gambler.
My bank statements for loan 1 clearly shows gambling and payday loans.
Bank statements for loan 2 doesn’t show any even tho I was gambling still . 118 wouldn’t know that I agree with that. But still can they still grove me a top up even tho with such bad credit rating and so many payday loans and credit cards with outstanding balances and payments?
I have documents from banning myself from betting shops and am on gamcare also so I can’t do any online that’s why there isn’t much gambling on loan 2
What would you do regarding loan 2??
Many thanks
Dean
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you should ask for the case to go to an Ombudsman.
dean says
Thank you Sara I love your website and always look at comments your such a ledge x
taytay says
Hi Sarah
I hope you can help. We claimed irresponsible lending against Oakbrook Finance and we won our case and they refunded every loan we had. We had no missed payments or negative credit reporting from them previous to now. We have checked our credit reports and they have listed our loans as partially settled and this has made our credit rating drop. It may sound like a minor change but we have worked hard trying to get rid of credit and claiming through the ombudsman and we were really surprised to see ‘partially settled’ instead of them removing the loan. Can you give us any advice. I have sent a message to the adjudicator with a screenshot of what Oakbrook has written. Thanks for any help.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They didn’t have to remove the loan.ut it should have been marked as settled, not partially settled.
But partial settlement does not affect your credit rating.
taytay says
It is the only negative on the credit report which has dropped 70 points but either way it is not partial settlements – we didn’t owe them any money once finished, it was never behind in payments or lower than expected payments. I give up with contacting them so just gone back to the ombudsman and going to send Oakbrook CEO an email as to be quite honest we are pig sick of them. Thanks.
Shaun says
Hello all,
I submitted a complaint to Hitachi Finance for unfair lending in August 2019. They rejected it and I escalated it to the FOS in November 2019. However, I am ‘still’ waiting on any type of final response. The FOS have been in touch advising that they are ‘still working on it’. Anyone else waiting this long or does anyone know if there a limit on when I should receive a response?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Has an adjudicator/investigator been assigned?
Shaun says
Hi Sara,
Thank you for your post.
Yes, an adjudicator first made contact with me in April 2020. In January though I was assigned a new adjudicator (no reason given). The new adjudicator said though that they did not require any more detail from me and would be in touch.
Thank you for any advice you can offer.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, if that new adjudicator was more than a month ago, I suggest you contact them and ask about progress – point out the very long time you have been waiting.
Nick says
Hi
I’m still waiting for the FOS to get in contact/look into my case against everyday loans, they said an adjudicator was appointed to look at my claim 6mths ago but I still haven’t heard anything.
Is there a direct contact email address that I can use to get in contact with them regarding this matter. Thanks in advance.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Phone them up and ask about progress.
Wb says
Just got my final response back from loans2go (hadn’t sent bank statements off as was unable. However did contact them during the week to say I’ll send them over, they’ve given me my final response but said I have 7 days to add any information)
They’ve rejected my complaint saying that it was affordable and the checks they done were acceptable.
My issue is, they’ve stated in the final response, that the figures I had given during the application didn’t add up to what was on my credit file. So they changed the figures to the more reliable figures from the credit file, whilst adding a 10% buffer. Now my question is, how come after this information being ‘incorrect’ as such, why didn’t they come back to me to ask for bank statements or more information as to why a few things didn’t add up?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you send this to the Ombudsman.
Wb says
I’ve now sent off my bank statements, and as said before contained a lot of gambling. After your suggestion to send them off, I’ve now done that. Shall I wait for them to view this new information, which they gave a week to send to be reviewed (in their final response) before sending off to FOS?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes.
A Mal says
Hi, I took out a loan in February 2020 for £3000 and the interest on top was £1700 (59%) through bamboo. Would i be able to claim this all back or just the interest? if so how would i go about this?
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A claim for unaffordable lending results in a refund of the interest paid (plus 8% statutory interest on top but for a recent loan like yours that is going to be little or nothing).
If the loan is still ongoing, the balance is reduced so you only have pay in total the amount you borrowed.
The article above looks at what an affordabilty complaint is and has a template you can use if you think the bamboo loan was unaffordable for you at the time it was taken out.
Nisa says
I took out an everyday loan in 2018 for £5000 and interest is around £5000, its a 3 year loan which ends in August.
I took this loan out when I was struggling a lot (which was my worst mistake) my monthly payments are £284, which I have always struggled to pay. After reading all the comments, I have now made a irresponsible lending complaint to see what they say.
Even though my loan has not yet finished, I didn’t want to wait til August.
How long will I need to wait before I go to FOS?
Also is there a chance for me to claim the interest back
Thanks in advance
Mike says
Hi Sara
Do you know if many people have had success in getting refunds off Creation Finance at all?
Many thanks
Mike
Sara (Debt Camel) says
they have only been mentioned by a couple of people just starting complaints.
you should expect them to reject your complaint so it will have to go to the Ombudsman.
DO says
Hi,
Just looking for advice.
I have 2 accounts with Lowell, which were for defaulted Mobile Phone Accounts (Orange) in 2012/13
I believe they were irresponsible in the lending, Can I still make a complaint?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I have not seen anyone win an affordability complaint against a Mobile co.
Frank says
Hi, I put in an affordability complaints with bamboo.
Got my final response from them today, which has been for them to reject the complaint and offer me £50 as a “good will gesture”. I had one loan with them for a 1,000 and paid back 1,380.
Does the fact they are offering me £50 , show that I have a case for me and to fight this further or should I just accept?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is hard to guess. But do you feel the loan was unaffordable? Did you send them your banks statements showing this?
Bamboo are sometimes prepared to negotiate so if there is a larger compromise offer you would be happy with, you can go back and suggest that.
Frank says
No they never asked to see any of my bank statements. They just done my affordability check going of the numbers provided and said my loan is affordability going by this. However at the time I was gambling heavily ( I’ve now stopped thankfully), and this would show on my statements.Would this be worth pointing out to them
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if you used the template letter from here it did suggest you sent bank statements.
I suggest you reply with your bank statements and point out the gambling on them. Ask them to reconsider their offer of it goes to the ombudsman.
Hallaga says
Just want to share I recently won an ombudsman decision in my favour against Progressive Money.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Has anyone had a loan from Livelend? Not a refund, just a loan?
Chris says
Hi Sara. I currently have a loan with livelend
Jax says
Hi Sara, I have a loan with them. Is there something interesting going on with them?
DM84 says
Me too, haven’t got a bad word to say about them.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, I am just interested as this is an unusual sort of loan.
Tom says
Hi all,
Could anyone, who has submitted a complaint to 118118, please let me know of your timescales for when they responded with their final response? I’m approaching the end of week 7 now and, although I have persevered with my patience, I am starting to get a bit frustrated now. This is my final complaint and really want to bring this all to a close. I know that every case is individual but, just wanted to see how long people have waited?
Thanks in advance,
Tom
Jo says
My reply was 8 weeks exactly to the day, it feels like they leave it as long as possible just because they can.
Tom says
Thanks,
What was your outcome?
Tom
Jo says
I had 1 loan with them for £1200 (£2900 approx with interest)quite a few of my payments were late but they upheld my complaint and refunded all interest plus 8% and I had my money within a week, fingers crossed I hope you get a good outcome too.
Tom says
Thanks Jo,
Much appreciated! I’ll keep you posted.
Tom