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?
MW says
Hello,
4 weeks ago my complaint to 118 118 was upheld by the adjudicator. 2 weeks ago 118 accepted the decision.
my account was sold onto lowell – they have not heard anything at all from 118 118 money asking for any details are anything.
lowell did email them last week when i told them the adjudicator had upheld the complaint. They have not heard back.
i have tried calling customer services at 118 and aslo emailed them last week and i am getting know where becuase i cant a reply from anyone.
what can i do? im really concerned about this.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if nothing has happened in another 2 weeks, go back to your adjudicator. Are you currently paying Lowell?
MW says
From comments on hear that i have read people have said usually 118 are quite quick.
I paid my balance off as an early settlement with lowell in may 2020 they gave me 1300 discount as a settlement figure if i paid early.
I paid £700 to 118 and when it was sold onto lowell i paid them 4800.
do you think this could be causing the delay?
Lowell did say though they havent heard a thing from them?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
sorting things out with a debt collector often causes a delay. Whether 118 have started doing this, I can’t guess.
MW says
118 did contact lowell straight away. i called lowell and they replied within an hour with the details as i chased.
118 have not been in touch since that was 14 days ago.
just annoying it takes this long and they get away with it.
Ross Sinclair says
I have a high interest car loan with moneybarn, I’m currently in arrears and have an agreement in place to clear the arrears. If I attempt to get a refund on the interest from this loan will it put my vehicle at risk as I’m in arrears? I have less than 15% left to pay on the loan
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Can I suggest you talk to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 about this? If you stick to your agreement to clear the arrears you may be ok – but you may decide it is safer to wait until the arrears are clear before starting a complaint.
Alexandra says
Hi Sara, I have a car loan finance with Blue Motor. It was definitely unaffordable, can I make a complaint? I still have the car and I am making the monthly payments on time, I had a COVID payment holiday with them last year. I was just wondering wether it’s possible to send them an affordability complaint.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The answer is yes. You can use the template letter above.
BUT is this your best option? Car finance is complicated.
Can you afford the monthly payments now? Because you have to carry on making them while complaint goes through which can take a long while.
Also read https://debtcamel.co.uk/vt-end-car-finance-early/ as terminating your agreement may be a better option than an affordability complaint.
If you aren’t sure, talk to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 about your options.
Alexandra says
I can afford the payments now, I am doing my best not be behind. I’ve only had the car a little over a year and with the 4 months payment holiday on it, I haven’t paid much on it. If my complaint will be uphold I was hoping the interest will be removed (which is over £4000). I looked on my bank statements 3 months prior to the loan and I’ve had 5 payday guarantor loans plus I was gambling heavily. If I send them an affordability complaint, is there anything bad that can happen to me ? I still want to keep the car, and maybe arrange a lower monthly payment (if the complaint it’s uphold). I have been working hard lately to fix my credit score which was terrible and thanks to your website I had 4 out of 5 loans uphold, so these are gone. Why do you say that car finance complaints are complicated? Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They are complicated because:
– some people have better options
– you have to keep paying or the car may be repossessed.
But nothing bad can happen if you keep paying. Your case sounds a good one so if hte lender rejects it, don’t give up, send it to the ombudsman to look at.
Alexandra says
Thank you so much for your response. I just thought about it and I haven’t dealt with them myself, the car dealership did. I applied for the car that I wanted and the car dealership applied for the loan for me. I don’t remember them contacting me at all. They sent me the agreement to sign. Then they sent the money directly to the dealership. What could’ve they checked more than my credit score ? Do you think this will affect my claim in any way ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is quite normal for car finance. Your complaint is against the car finance company on the finance documentation, not the dealership where you bought the car.
If you use the template letter in the article above, it includes a request for a copy of all your personal information, so you should see what checks, if any, they made.
JJ says
Hi Sara, I was made bankrupt in 2017 as a result of 2 loans I received from a bank to buy 2x rental properties. They weren’t mortgages, they were a lending facility that was given to me secured against the houses. In the small print the bank could decide to review the facility on a yearly basis and recall the loan when they deemed fit. Believe it or not the facility was an interest only, 100% loan to value which meant I was able to purchase the house with no money down based on the valuation at the time. Unfortunately that meant that after the property crash in 2008ish I instantly fell into negative equity and they eventually decided to recall the loan and I was made bankrupt because I could not repay the principle amount borrowed.
This is going back a number of years, do you think there is any chance of disputing this loan under the circumstances? I feel I definitely have a case that they were negligent in lending the money to me, however because of the time lapsed and the fact I had went bankrupt over it, would there be any hope in trying to recover the interest?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No. Any money you got back would go to your Official Receiver.
Nesta says
118 118 have been terrible so far, they agreed with the adjudicators decision on Monday last week. Typical of them to leave it until the very last day. 11 days have passed since i replied with my bank details and so far they have not even acknowledged the email apart from the auto-reply.
Really annoying as was expecting the refund in my account by now.
Anyone recently had a redress claim settled by 118 118 have a similar experience?
JoJo says
Hi. They made me an offer in the 15th and I accepted and sent bank details 17th. Still waiting and 14 days tomorrow. So I will wait and see what tomorrow brings..
JoJo says
Funds received today. So 13 days (9 days ex weekends).
Nesta says
Hi,
I just got mine today too around 5:30 my online banking flashed up with 2 separate payments.
Took a long time to get this over the line over a year at the FOS and then 118 118 using up as much time as they could.
Thanks again Sara for all your help and hosting this amazing site.
Holly says
Can I just say thank you to all the advice on here. Within a week of submitting a complaint to bamboo they sent me a response offering 50% reduction in interest leaving a balance of £1,200 (which is all interest) I challenged this and provided a more detailed response within 45 minutes they have come back agreeing to waive all the interest (£2,259.11) which I am ecstatic about I’m not bothered about the 3k because that’s the amount they lent me and I dont mind the fact I have paid that off but I’m so please that I can finally stop worrying about this 2.2k it’s shaved 15 months off my agreement I have only £75.58 left to pay this month and and account is closed I am over the moon!
Paul says
I submitted a complaint against 118 money which has now been upheld. In between submitting the claim and it being up held I was offered a full and final settled figure which was considerably lower than even the principle amount. I accepted and paid this off, would this be classed as me paying all of the debt off I.e money returned to me or as I paid lower than the principle amount am I not entitled to a refund. Kind of a tricky one, still waiting to hear back. Has anyone else had this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if you have settled with less than the principal amount, then you haven’t paid any interest so won’t receive a refund now. But you have got a better result from doing this than you would from the refund, so it isn’t bad!
Michelle says
Hi Sara ,
I took a loan out with hitachi for £10,000 in feb 2017 and then another one with hitachi for £5000 in March 2018
I am still paying these loans now , they were both over 5 year term . I want to do a affordability complaint as these loans have caused me to have to take more credit out including pay day loans . at the time of taking both these loans I had , 3 large loans 3 credits cards 2 pay day loans and 2 catalogs I was self employed at the time so my wages varied , I did tell a few porkies on my application, said my income was a little higher then it was and didn’t put down all my credit commitments, I’m a bit worried about sending a compliant incase it opens a can of worms and they accuse me of fraud . Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No one here has ever had a problem with fraud if a lender rejects the complaint and they take it to the Ombudsman.
See https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-lender-says-lied/ which looks at the many reasons why an application may not be accurate.
Amanda says
anyone put in a complaint against lendable loans?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
only mentioned a few times.
Amy says
Hi Sara,
I took out a 3k loan with Bamboo and at the time had a terrible gambling problem. I had taken out multiple multiple payday loans with other companies and was stuck in the payday loan cycle. I have sent them an unaffordability complaint but they are asking to see my bank statements from the 2 months prior to the loan being taken out. I am not very comfortable sharing my bank statements with them and don’t feel comfortable explaining my addiction to them as I am still paying off my loan to them. What’s the best way to answer them. I have been 6 months clean and I am well on the way to becoming debt free thanks to StepChange.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send them your bank statements! You don’t have to “explain” anything, your statements show the position.
Katy says
Hi, I made a complaint to TM Advance back in Jan last year, they sent an acknowledgement letter but then never responded so I took my complaint to FOS in May 2020. Over the past 11 months they have requested the same information three times and everytime I send the information back. Every time I chase them I get told they are extremely busy and it’s in a queue. I also have another complaint open with them since Jan 2020 and after chasing that one I’m still in a queue waiting for it to be looked at.
Reading the comments in this thread everyone is in a similar position.
Is there anything I can do to get them at least looked at?
Thanks
Hazel says
Hi Sara
I wonder if you could offer me some advice, I put a complaint in about unaffordable lending with Log Book Loans, they got back to me saying since it was over 6 years ago they will not look into this . It’s now with the FOS and they have asked me to explain what made me aware that I might have had a cause to complain after 6 years , they will then look into my complaint .
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Just say how you found out about affordability complaints – was that when the wageday advance administrators contacted you in early 2019? Say your complaint to log book loans was then sent in within 3 years of you becoming aware that a lender should have checked affordability.
Hazel says
Thank you I will respond to them today and let you know how I get on
Tom says
Hi Sara
Do you have a view on affordability complaints against a bank (HSBC)?
They lent me c.£30k in 2016 and I’d say on any measure that was a pretty irresponsible decision. I’ve just checked back through my bank statements and I was frequently overdrawn (unauthorised), maxed out credit card (£7k credit limit) and gambling pretty heavily. It was casino gambling so may not have been immediately obvious but should have encouraged them to ask, surely?
It was a big commitment over 60 months so I feel like there’s a case to answer…
Any thoughts would be very welcome!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Exactly the same affordability rules apply to a loan from a bank as from bad credit lenders.
That is a very large loan – was it secured?
Tom says
Hi Sara,
Indeed. It was £32k in total. Unsecured.
I’ve just dug out my statements and I was consistently exceeding my overdraft limit (of £1.5k) and there’s £4k’s worth of gambling in the month leading up to the loan…
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK! than a normal affordability complaint. Let us know how it goes!
Tom says
Hi Sara,
Just a quick question on this. I submitted a complaint a couple of months ago about this loan, specifically regarding their collection practices. Their feeling was that they had done nothing wrong so I sent it to the FOS.
How is the best way to now make my complaint on the grounds of affordability? My feeling is that as it is an entirely separate issue, I should just make a fresh complaint in the normal way – do you agree?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would send them a new complaint. If they reject, then send it to FOS as a new complaint but also say you have an existing complaint number 999999 and you would like the two considered together.
Nick says
Hi Sara.
I’ve had an ongoing claim against Everyday loans so far lasting 7months, still waiting for an adjudicator to be assigned to my case, today everyday loans has responded to my claim and in their response they have accepted that in both cases where my 2 loans were taken out, they shouldn’t have loaned me the money because of affordability reasons and therefore I shouldn’t have been given them. In total I took out 2 loans that totalled £3000 over a six month period.
I have paid back a total £3102.23 up to date and am still currently paying them off through a DMP, however, in their correspondence they are accepting responsibility but are asking me to pay back a total of £710 in order to close the account and they haven’t stated anything about removing this from my credit score.
I phoned the FOS to report everyday loans final decision and that’s been added to my case with them.
Do you think this is a fair response from everyday loans or do you think they’re just trying to low ball me and they are (as in my original claim against them) they are due to pay me a substantial amount in compensation? Any help would be fantastic. Also do you know how long the FOS are behind cases?like I previously stated I am now 7mths into waiting for an adjudicator for my case and hope this to resolved soon.
Many thanks
Nick
Sara (Debt Camel) says
no that seems like an odd response from everyday loans. Have you asked them why they say you still have to pay more when you have repaid more than you borrowed?
on the numbers you have given – and obviously I cant tell if they are right – then your balance should cleared and you should be refunded £102.
I think a lot of FOS cases may start to move faster as staff transfer over from Amigo and Provident cases. I hope this will happen with yours.
Nick says
The interest for both loans came to roughly £13k and I’ve been in a DMP for 2 and a half years now paying back almost £100pm, they have stopped all interest aswell so again I’m not sure what to make of their offer. Do you have a private email address I can forward you the response I received from everyday loans and see what you think of their findings?
Thanks. Nick.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No sorry.
Just ask them to expllain why they are saying you need to pay more when you have already repaid more then you borrowed.
Thomas says
Hello. I took out a loan in April 2017 from 118 118 money £ 1,500. I then took a £ 1950 loan top up in October. Then another loan from amigo of £ 5,000 with less interest to pay off the one with 118 118 money. Then I have topped up my loan up to 10,000. I’ve fallen in arrears in january 2020 . Today I have 4000 in arrears to pay . My question is. Should I submit a case against 118 118 as the loan was not affordable at the time and left me with a loan to todays day of 485 £a month to pay. Few years later …Thank you for your help
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If the 118 loan was unaffordable, definitely make a claim – and sent it to the Ombudsman if 118 reject it.
What is happening about the Amigo loan – is your guarantor being asked to pay? Have you already made a complaint about the Amigo loans? The fact the interest rate is less than 118 doesn’t mean the Amigo loan was affordable! Your gaurantor can also put in a complaint.
Have you looked at the Amigo Scheme? See https://debtcamel.co.uk/amigo-scheme-timetable-approval-how-work/ for details. With an unaffordable loan, a large balance and a previous loan from Amigo, you may well be better off if Amigo goes into administration not this Scheme… but ask about this on the Amigo page.
Keith says
Hi. I borrowed £1500 from 118 money 6/1/15 repayable amount £2022
Got the loan down to £919 then topped it up with a £750 advance. Which adds another £585.04 interest on top.
As of last week I’ve managed to get the whole loan down to £660
I have complained to 118 around 3-4 weeks ago.
Do I continue making payments?
How much should I be owed if any?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did the top up loan settle the previous loan?
Keith says
Yes I think so. The “original” loan is seen as settled
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you got £750 in cash from the op up – what was the amount borrowed? Not incuding the interest added?
Also how much did you pay to the first loan in monthly payments?
And how much have you paid to the top up loan so far?
Keith says
Ok the 1st loan was £1500. Paid £518 off that, got a top up loan of £750. All together £2250 and i have paid £1597 in repayments so far
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you look at the current loan it mi=ust be for much more than £750 as it includes the amount needed to settle the first loan.
Can you also say how much of the “paid £1597 in repayments so far” was to the first loan? And to the second?
I am sorry but I can’t look at possible refunds without all the numbers.
Keith says
Is there an email address i can send you the agreement/statement?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry No.
Is it hard to make the repayments?
If you stop, your credit record will be harmed, but if you then win the complaint about the last loan all negative marks are removed from your credit record.
It’s a bad idea to try to borrow more money or get behind with bills to pay this.
Keith says
It’s alot easier now than what it was. My credit score is slowly but surely going up
Holly says
The FOS have agreed that avant credit shouldn’t of given me the loan, they gave them 4 weeks to make contact with me regarding this and for them to work out calculations, it will be four weeks on Wednesday next week and I haven’t heard anything,
Does any one no how long it takes for avant to contact ?
Charlie says
I have put in a few complaints recently, one being with Bamboo loans where they have agreed to take off £500 of my loan, which I am happy about. another complaint was against Likely Loans. I am with stepchange now because my debts got out of control, likely loans have reject my complaint basically saying they didn’t lend irresponsibly etc. this complaint was 3 years ago, which at the time I was in a bad place so I gave up a didn’t follow it up. I have now sent another complaint which they have refused because I have already made a complaint and they have already looked into and have said it is too late to go the Ombudsman. I took out a loan of 3,500 and which has gone to Stepchange now, however they are telling I have to pay the interest as well which means I had to pay 7431. obviously payments have been made through stepchange and it has decreased by a few hundred, but just wondering what I would need to do next to help with this. I feel like I am paying far too much for a loan that caused a lot of financial difficulty
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you can’t make the same complaint twice. It is a shame you did not go to the Ombudsman three years ago.
So do you have any other reason to complain?
When you took the loan out, how much did you borrow and how much interest was there going to be on the loan? How much have you paid to it in total, to LL direct then through StepChange? If you don’t know this last figure, StaepChange will be able to tell you or you may be able to see it on a loan statement online?
Dave R says
Not sure if this is the right section Sara. Query about several loans with Lloyds Bank.
I borrowed £1000 3 times in close succession. At a time where they were often also extending my overdraft and I also had a lot of pay day loans coming in and out of my account at the time.
May 2014 – £1000 borrowed, repaid June 2015
July 2015 – £1000 borrowed, repaid January 2016
March 2016 – £1000 borrowed, repaid October 2017
Is it worth filing an affordability complaint and am I still able to do so?
I also have a complaint about Lloyds with the FOS at the moment. They increased my overdraft from £2,300 to £5,000 in 12 months. Am I still able to complaint about a separate issue whilst this is ongoing?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes you can complain about a separate issue – I think its probably worth it because there are 3 loans in quick succession AND they should have noted your overdraft was being extemded.
If Lloyds reject it and it goes to FOS, you could ask FOS if it would like to look at both complaints at the same time
Dave R says
Brilliant, thanks Sara.
Overdraft complaint has been with FOS since December 2020 and still not got a case handler. Am told they are taking complaints about overdrafts and banks “very seriously” and “fast-tracking” them according to a chap I spoke with about a month ago when chasing… Can see this dragging on and on…
PH says
Afternoon everyone
Really sorry to ask again, as I know it’s been answered before.
Does anyone have any experience with settlements with Everyday Loans? The FOS have found them to have lent to me irresponsibly, and to my amazement, they have agreed with the adjudicator and will be settling the account by repaying the interest paid.
I had a £5,500 loan and have paid back £11,369.45 since Nov 18 – a direct settlement should be £5,860.45 before any interest so absolutely fantastic.
My query is for anyone that has had a settlement – did they take the full 4 weeks to process, or did they do it sooner? I have received verbal confirmation from EDL that my redress is in the queue to be processed (since they accepted on April 1st) and also been told that they process all payments on a Wednesday. I’m hoping that by April 28th or May 5th this is sorted, but would welcome anyone’s comments on if they had been sorted earlier. I’m yet to receive the email outlining the settlement amount from EDL
Linds says
I’m waiting for my settlement letter from them at the moment also, the final decision via FOS was accepted by me on 22nd March (but I think the FOS have not processed it properly until the 8th April :(
I have tried to get in touch with EDL but all they have said and they’ve told me I will get the settlement letter within 4 weeks. My refund is also in the region of £5-6k
I have found them to be slow and difficult to deal with and I must say I’m still worried I’m not actually going to get the refund.
But I have seen on here that others have been paid within a couple of weeks of decisions.
Hope you get your refund soon!
Nick says
Yes I’m currently in a similar position, EDL have done their own review and have stated that they were wrong to have given me 2 loans in such a short period of time where if they’d done their proper checks they would have seen that I was also paying off several payday loans and the repayments were going to be difficult.
I have paid off the first loan but still owe on the 2nd and with all the information they provided they stated that I’d paid back just over £3k over the 2 loans and were asking me to pay back the remaining balance which was is roughly £700, I countered and stated, with proof and evidence that they offered zero support or help once I got into financial trouble I decided to go for the DMP in which they have been receiving just shy of £100 a month. I requested that they pay back the monies I’d already paid them as fair compensation but they simply refuse and state the FOS will find in their favour and that me continuing with my complaint with the FOS is a mistake and I’ll get nothing and they’ll agree with EDL. Can anybody tell me if the FOS will agree with me in this matter and help me to recover the £3K I’ve already paid back?
massive congratulations on getting a positive decision from the FOS, how long did you have to wait in total for an adjudicator to be appointed to your claim and how long did they take to report back their findings? I’m into the 7th month of waiting now.
PH says
So I sent mine to to EDL last Feb. They didn’t even acknowledge I had sent a complaint until I asked the FOS to look at it. The FOS were sent the complaint in April, but weirdly didn’t acknowledge receipt of it until I chased it in maybe August. They said to ring back every 4 weeks to push them on it.
I didn’t get an adjudicator until February and they made the decision very quickly (less than 2 weeks, but only due to the length of time I had already waited).
EDL were given 2 weeks to respond, but didn’t and when I chased the adjudicator, they told me that they were typically answering within 4 weeks. Right on the last day of the 4th week, they responded saying they would accept the decision.
Im not counting my eggs before they hatch either, as EDL have been useless in responding, but when I rang their central complaint number, the lady confirmed she could see my complaint had been accepted and that it was queued to be redressed. She said it would take up to 4 weeks – I don’t know whether that was 4 weeks to send out the redress calculation or 4 weeks to finally settle, but hopefully by the 5th May, I’ll be completely finished. Fingers crossed. I’ll keep you up to date.
Yvette says
Hi has anyone recently had the company not respond to the adjudicator at the FOS and then gone on to the ombudsmen?
If so do you remember how long that took?
Thanks x
Lorainne says
How do you know they have not responded? Did the email say they had to respond? Sometimes they say if you agree respond or it will go further. I had this with Amigo.
Yvette says
The adjudicator emailed me past the cut off time on Friday and said they had not replied. Therefore it was now being passed to an ombudsman, they responded twice before this. And were warned if no final conclby close of business Friday it will go to the ombudsmen.
They kept asking the same questions to the adjudicator and they were always answered. Therefore potentially stalling.
I wonder what would happen if the lady dealing with it at Varooma was off sick if it would still go to ombudsman.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think Varooma have more than one person in their complaints department! If V had asked for an extra couple of weeks, the Ombudsman would have allowed that – but in the end FOS has to treat no response as a rejection and move the case on, or it would never finish,
Yvette says
Hi Sara,
Thank you for your reply. Here was one specific lady dwlaing with it. What I meant was if there is suddenly an agreement for example on Monday, despite it now going to the ombudsman from the adjudicator would that be accepted if I agrees. Or does it have to go through the ombudsman to be published?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh that won’t be a problem. If the lender agrees to accept the adjudicator offer, it’s settled, no need for an Ombudsman to spend the time looking at it. This does happen sometimes.
Linds says
Hi Sara, if you have a final legally binding decision from the FOS (agreed on 22nd march) and the company goes into administration before they have paid you, do you become a priority creditor or do you miss out?
EDL taking their time to confirm the settlement amount & pay out – it’s making me nervous…
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Unfortunately, you would not become a priority creditor.
Linds says
Thanks Sara. Will just have to keep hoping they do pay out & nothing goes wrong 🤞
PH says
Sara,
Can I ask you the following two questions (I know this isn’t officially advice, but some input would be appreciated)
1. Is there any indication that EDL may be struggling? They’re still lending and their 2019 accounts look OK.
2. If they try and enter a scheme of arrangement, would they be allowed to put cases that they have agreed to into the scheme?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
1. I doubt they are comfortable, but I haven’t heard they are about to go under.
2. Both Amigo & Provident have paid out in full on cases they have already made an offer on, already accepted a FOS decision or had a FOS Ombudsman final decision on.
Tom says
hi,
have satsuma gone into administration? I put in an affordability complaint in the first week of Feb for an outstanding loan I have with them. They emailed me March 5th saying they were still looking into my complaint and would get back to me within 28 days, this come and went without receiving another email. Now today they have emailed saying the following below. I dont know what to do, should I open a case at the ombudsman or just wait for satsuma to get back to me? its quite a vague email response. I was hoping to get this sorted ASAP to get the default removed from my credit file, its a real pain
“We are sorry that we have been unable to resolve your complaint at this time.
Please be assured this matter is receiving our urgent attention. We have set out below an update on the steps that we are taking to deal with your complaint and the timeline within which we expect to be able to resolve your complaint.
Next steps
You have already submitted a complaint to us before the Scheme was announced on 15 March 2021. If the Scheme is approved you will NOT need to resubmit your claim in the Scheme. Your claim will be automatically entered into the Scheme and it will be reviewed to see if you are eligible for compensation. We may ask for further information from you during the Scheme process in order to decide if you are due compensation.”
Maria says
Hi I received the same email from satsuma my complaint was with the FOS. I’m not sure if I need to do anything else.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Satsuma is part of the provident group. It hasn’t gone into administration but it is proposing a “Scheme” to pay people a lot lower refunds – see https://debtcamel.co.uk/provident-satsuma-scheme/ and please ask furure questions on that page.
Provident has used as an illustration what might happen if it pay people 10% of their proper claim value. That’s bad, but I am worried it may be more like 2%, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/provident-scheme-tiny-refunds/
There is nothing you need to do now UNLESS you are still making payments, which you should consider stopping.
The Ombudsman will not take on any new Satsuma cases and isn’t progressing the ones it currently has.
These Schemes almost always get passed at the first court hearing on 22 April, at that point customers can vote on the Scheme. Come back here then?
Elizabeth says
Hi Sara,
I sent my affordability complaint about log book loans to the Financial Ombudsman. They have awarded in my favour. Log book loans are in liquidation and the liquidators Nine Regions are dealing with my settlement.
Yesterday the FOS emailed me the below email.I have completed the debt form and now waiting to hear in the meantime I just wondered how much do you think I can expect to receive. Many thanks Liz
This is the email –
My colleague has calculated the total redress due.
Please find below details.
Total interest and payments made including the sale of the car £13,467.04
Plus total interest due for yesterdays date- £11,774.08 minus tax of £2,234.82
Total amount as of yesterdays date- £22,886.30.
The liquidators have asked you to complete the claim form before they can confirm what you can receive.
Please complete the form putting the amount of £22,886.30 and send it to me so I can send it to the liquidators.
Kind regards
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Elizabeth, someone here has said they are paying out 1.77p in the pound. On that large refund, I am afraid you would get about £400 back.
Liz Andrews says
Thank you for letting me know.
Also, many thanks for your website, I used all your advice and templates, it’s taken 14 months from my first email to log book loans and even though £400 is a tiny fraction of the total settlement amount it’s better than nothing and much needed at the moment, thank you again.
Wendy says
I was wondering how long people are waiting to be picked up by an adjudicator (my case is with 118118) thanks I have been waiting for about 7 months
Thanks for a helpful site
Nick says
Likewise, had my complaint with the FOS for 7months, been told to keep calling every few weeks. I think the more proof of evidence that you have on your claim whilst waiting for an adjudicator to pick up your case the quicker they’ll try to process and progress your claims due to your wait
Wendy says
Thanks Nick hopefully we will hear soon
Good luck
Yvette says
My claim with Varooma was sent to FOS in January 2020 and picked up January 2021. I’m sure covid had a bit to do with that length of time and they are now in the process of catch up. Hopefully.
Laura says
I waited well over a year for mine to be picked up
Jack says
Hey Everyone,
So after putting my complaint into moneybarn, and it being rejected, then sending it to the FOS, an adjudicator picked it up in January and recently gave their decision and moneybarn 2 weeks to get back to her
They responded on Monday and agreed to her decision which including
Ending the agreement and transferring ownership to me
Paying me back any payments that were above the value of the car (£7210) I have paid £9700 so far
Adding 8% interest to these payments
Remove all adverse information from my credit file
They now have 4 weeks to make the redress payment to me, I wondered if anyone has had a decision go their way against moneybarn and how long their redress took? Did you need to contact them or anything?
Thanks
Yvette says
Morning sara,
Varooma have counter offered with a refund. If this is the case will the bill of sale be cancelled along with the account?
Also does anyone know how quickly they pay out the redress?
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you still owe them money at the moment? How much?
How much is Varooma offering as a refund – is it clear if this is a cash refund or will they use it to clear all / some of the balance?
How does the Varroma offer compare to the adjudicator decision?
I *think* ombudsman cases are starting to go through quicker with the Provident & Amigo backlogs out of the way.
Yvette says
Hi Sara,
I have asked the FOS to clarify today. As the recommendation was the refund. The response from varooma was £4792 paid with 102 deducted as basic rate of interest, and negative details removed from file.
Thanks
Yvette says
Hi Sara,
All was confirmed and all done and dusted. Hopefully the redress won’t take too long.
Thank you for your continued support.
Yvette
Alexandra says
Hi Sara, I put a complaint in with Motonovo and sent them the bank statements before and after the loan, and they emailed me today asking for Monthly income,
Living arrangements, Rent/mortgage costs, Credit commitments.
Then they asked for Occupation, Marital status, Period of time in job (at the time of my application)
Am I right in replying back with the bank statements, as only a quick look in there will tell them everything they need to know. They said they’re asking for this to have a better understanding of my circumstances when I applied. Thank you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you think your bank statements give a clear picture of your situation, I suggest you reply saying that.
If they don’t, eg because your partner paid the rent and other bills and so you just made a large payment each month to your partner, then it may be useful to go into more detail.
If the loan was given in the last 6 years it’s also worth sending them a copy of your credit record – a copy of your TransUnion Statutory Report is best, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/best-way-to-check-credit-score/
Jax says
Hi Sara, sorry but I wasn’t sure where to post this. I have a loan with Barclays that defaulted early last year. The debt was transferred to Avarto to collect. I logged on to the Barclays website today and the amount outstanding on the loan is showing on there but it’s more than I expected it to be. I have a spreadsheet that I keep with the amount I pay towards each debt and the rolling amount owing based on each payment made so I can easily see when each debt will be paid off. I updated the spreadsheet last time Avarto wrote to me that stated the outstanding balance (this was a few months ago). The trouble is, the balance showing online is currently about £60 more than the amount I have calculated on my spreadsheet but based on the confirmed amount when Avarto last wrote to me minus the payments I have made since that date it appears that Barclays must still be adding interest? Also if I look at the settlement amount it is about £100 ish more than the balance that is showing online. Does it sound to you like interest is still being added or am I missing something? Should Barclays have stopped adding interest at the point that they defaulted the debt? Thank you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Jax,
I think it would help to talk this debt and your full situation through with a debt adviser. I suggest you call National Debtline on 0808 808 4000.
You seem to have a lot of problem debts, a debt management plan is often the simplest way to deal with them. You can still carry on with affordability complaints – anyone you will win then speeds up your DMP.
National Debtline can talk you through the pros and cons of this and any options.
Jax says
Thanks Sara, I am managing my own DMP. I have managed to pay quite a bit off in the last 12 months or so. I did talk to Stepchange but I decided that I wanted to be in control! I have payment arrangements in place with all of my creditors that I have faithfully stuck to and I enjoy seeing the balance reduce each month.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, well it is one of the fun parts of running your own DMP is you have to deal with creditors asking different things and supplying you with different information. Talk to National Debtline if you don’t think what you have been said is right.
heath says
Hi sara can you help me with a problem.I had a car from yes car credit but the loan for the car was from welcome financial services but they stop trading
Sara (Debt Camel) says
When was the loan taken out?
Heath says
Hi Sara the loan was taken out 2002
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry, you can’t make an affordability complaint for a loan that started before April 2007.
Heath says
Thanks for your help sara
Yvette says
Hi does anyone have any idea how quickly or slowly Varooma take to process a redress refund? I remember some one mentioning it a while ago on here but can’t seem to find it now.
I know they say upto 4 weeks, but I truly hope not.
Ben says
Hi, sorry have a quick question
I have recently had a complaint upheld by Savvy without needing to go to the Ombudsman. They have stated that they have now removed all the interest on the loan and that I now only need to pay the capital amount due. Most of this is now cleared, which I am happy with.
They have however stated that the 8% interest is not due on this complain as I have yet to clear the capital amount due. This does not sound right but before I escalate this I wanted to check
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes that is correct.
Diane says
Hi, Had a loan from a bank for £16000 inc. interest took this to £27000 also had quite a few cc and I/draft. Ended up in a TD which was completed last yr. Recently have had a couple of cheques from cc for inconvenience payment. Is it worth sending a letter to the bank for refund of interest due to unaffordable loan?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you ask this question on a specialist Scottish advice site here: https://www.advicescotland.com/home/protected-trust-deed/
Darren says
Can anyone please advise .I took out a loan with everyday Lona’s approximately 15 years ago.
High interest etc etc .shortly after I lost my job and simply wouldn’t accept any reduced payments for the duration of the loan.
Letters…phone calls ..it was harassment .I eventually paid it all back but got into worse debt as I was unable to pay others.
Is this reason for a complaint ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can’t complain about events before April 2007. If this was just after then, how much evidence do you now have about what happened? It may be hard to prove anything.
Darren says
Hi Sarah
It was taken out SEP 2008
£5000
Paid back £8300
I told them countless times that the mortgage and utility bills came first but they didn’t care .
They hounded and hounded us
So unsure if it’s worth pursuing .
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
do you have any record of their hounding?
Darren says
I probably have some letters but it was mainly automated phone calls numerous times a day .
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t think the lender will have kept records about that after so long. So while you could complain, it isn’t clear that there is anything to help you win this I am afraid.
Gavin says
Hi there I received my final decision from the ombudsman against Varooma they need to pay me back £5800. Anyone any idea how long they are taking to pay up? It’s been over a week and I’ve had no contact from them. I’m panicking they aren’t going to pay up.
Yve says
Hi gavin,
I’m also waiting. I have been speaking to them and there is only 1 lady working in their complaints/compliance team at the moment. The average is about 10 days so hopefully you will receive it within the next few days. I was told by FOS it can take 4 weeks. But it doesn’t usually apparently.
Gavin says
Hi Yve,
I think I’ve been speaking to the same woman don’t think she likes me. Have you had your final decision from the ombudsman? I got mine on the 8th so I know I’m being impatient but could really do with the money.
Yve says
Hi gavin,
Highly likely. Have you had your letter/email of breakdown from varooma yet?
Yes has final complaint confirmed with FOS and liaised redress payment with Varooma.
I think their accounts team only work on certain days due to covid.
Gavin says
No I’ve received nothing yet from them. I’ve emailed chasing and they’ve advised will be done within the 4 weeks
Yve says
I’ve been told once the breakdown of funds come through by email that payment follows soon after. When I asked when it would be processed I was informed it would be a few days after the email.
Gavin says
I’ve asked her if she can give me a rough idea but no joy ha ha
Have you had your breakdown yet?
Simon B says
Hi, I had a £700 loan with a credit union in 2014 and then a top up of 1800 6 months later which was completely unaffordable to young and stupid me. They never carried out a credit check for the loan and never asked for any bank statements. I defaulted on the loan and am still living under the blanket of that default, do you think I could complain?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes you can. But a default in 2015 will be dropping off your credit record this year.
Simon B says
Thanks Sara, the default was in 2016 so still have until July next year, I have everything ready to go for a mortgage with my partner but this is holding us back just now.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you can make an affordability complaint and send it to the Ombudsman if it is rejected.
Linds says
Hi Sara
I finally got my settlement letter through for my ELL final decision. the 8% simple interest doesnt make sense to me
The loan was taken out in Mar 2019 and settled in Oct 2020 (with a lump sum)
Offered:
Loan: £5000
Monthly Payments £304
Overpayment of fees/interest = £5,328.34
8% Interest £237.99 minus 20% tax of £47.80
offered a total refund of £5518
I don’t agree with the interest calculations, but i only have a statement which shows my running balance after each payment & interest debit amount
I have looked at the interest charged each month in the below way:
eg running balance as at 28/06/2019 was £5025. payment on 29/07/2019 of £304. Interest debited on 1/8/2019 was -292.35
So i would look at that and say £5025 minus 304 = 4721 plus 292.35 = running balance £5013. so i reduced the capital only by £12 and rest was interest.
So i would think the interest would be on the amount of £292.35 should be the figure that has the 8% simple calculated and using your formula of =overpayment*number of days*8)/36500 (using a settlement date of 28th April) this would be 639 days, the 8% interest for that month alone would be £40.89
Adding them all up I get figure much closer for the 8% interest of £540.40 minus 20% tax of £432.
Am i looking at the calculations the wrong way? For a interest rate of 67% it just feels it should be a higher amount.
any advice gratefully received!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I’m not sure how your calculation is supposed to work, some of the numbers look odd.
My rough calculation makes it about £500.
£5328 in interest paid.
Divide that by £304 = 17.5 months.
So the loan without interest was fully repaid 17.5 months before Oct 20.
After that time the interest paid started off from zero and ended up at 5328. Working out 8% calculations on this is the same as having paid 5328 half way through that period.
Then since Oct 20 there has been over 5 months more interest. – so thats about 14 months worth of 8% interest
5328*0.08*(14/12) = £495.
So that is more than ELL’s calculation – you can ask them to explainhow they arriived at it.
Linds says
Thanks Sara, I probably didn’t explain my calculation very well and may not have got it right in the way I’ve worked it out but looking at your estimate it’s not too dissimilar and certainly more than £247 that they have said.
I’ve gone back to them with a spreadsheet of all payments/interest & the formula to calculate the 8% and asked them to let me know how that differs to their amount and justify it.
I know it’s only a few hundred quid but it’s been an 18 month battle and I want to feel like it’s been calculated correctly.
Hopefully can resolve it.
Thanks for your help – really appreciate it!
Linds says
ok i think i see what they are saying now. they are saying from April 2019 – July 2020 i made 17 monthly payments which took me up to £5400 and paid off the capital of the loan & £400 started the overpayment pot in that month . The payments from then on were overpayments Aug, Sep & October 2020 & my final lump sum in October 2020. They have done the calculations of the 8% simple interest on those overpayments up until todays date and that’s where they have got the £247 amount from.
Im finding the way this interest calculate things a bit confusing as i thought it was calculated on the interest you paid at the time for each monthly payment, but I’ll ring them on Monday and see if i can clarify.
Its still a decent payout that will be very lifechanging so still happy!
thanks again
Annie Goodfellow says
Has anyone put in a claim against logbook Money. Com I did they dealt with Co. Plint 4 days after I sent it with a rejection. And not full. But partial breakdown of loans and missing dates I went straight to ombudsman as the period of loan was same time as many others I e of which Provident was upfield and I’ve had payment redress all ready. So if that was unaffordable does this automatically make others as I was robbing peter to pay Paul. All over th is period and has a bad credit rating but log book wote saying good it wS bad my rating hence I did log book. At tememdoys Interedt rare ie borrowed 1000 paid back over 4000
Sara (Debt Camel) says
People are winning logbook loan cases at the ombudsman – I suggest you send you complaint to the Ombudsman now.
Gavin says
Hi Sara
I have a final decision against greenlight credit (Varooma) which I’m waiting for them to sort out payment of my redress currently on day 11. Before my complaint went to the ombudsman they offered me a 50% reduction in my settlement figure if I dropped my complaint. Is this not against some form of law? Should I maybe report them.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well done on rejecting that poor offer!
You could email the FCA (their regulator) at consumer.queries@fca.org.uk. Put “Greenlight Credit trading as Varooma” as the subject line.
Make it clear that you have one your complaint at FOS (you could attach the decision) but say you thought the FCA should be aware that Varooma was making very poor settlement offers when people complained, not following what FOS does and say you think this is trying to take advantage of vulnerable customers.
Gavin says
Thank you Sara. Do you think it would be wise to wait until I have received settlement. I’ve been emailing them a lot asking for them to pay up (as I could really do with the money) I had to surrender my car as I couldn’t afford the payments as I lost my job. I really need to get a new car. The ombudsman ordered them to pay me the market value of the car they took so I can buy a new one.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if you wait you will be able to give all the details of how it was settled,, so this may be a good idea. But nothing is going to come instantly from telling the FCA this. It is just information that will be passed to the bit of the FCA that monitors members.
Gavin says
Ok brilliant thank you
Gavin says
Any ideas on how to get them to hurry up making payment due. I’ve been emailing them but lady dealing with keeps saying she’s busy
Lottie says
Mine was given within the timescale, id only worry if it goes over the 4 weeks, they dont have to pay until then. ive had lenders all take different timescales but all within 4 weeks.
Yv says
Hi Lottie,
How long after you received the email with breakdown figures on did you receive the money. And I know sounds silly, but do you know which day of the week? As have been told alot of the accounts team are only working certain days due to furlough.
Thanks
Lottie says
I was told a set date, which seem to be the case with all lenders I have had refunds from not just Varooma. When they gavethe breakdown letter they all confirmed a date – did you not get a date confirmed ? With Varooma I got the letter by the end of a week and was paid mid week the following week. I found it quicker too not chase them all, they have a deadline and none missed the deadline. I have two outstanding still with the Financial OS which I hope come to conclusion soon.
Gavin says
Hi lottie,
I got my final decision from the ombudsman on the 8th April but haven’t heard anything from Varooma yet. I’ve been emailing them but the just keep saying they will sort out within the 4 week timeframe.
Yve says
Thank you yes I have been given a date, I just recalled you saying it was there within 24/48 hrs on a previous post so wanted to clarify.
J.Jones says
Hi, I am wondering if anyone has any advice for me. The ombudsman gave a final decision to Motorkitty 4 months ago and were asked to return my car to me, my logbook, remove any other information from the car and my credit file, and that I could set up a repayment plan for the small remainder of my principle loan balance. They took 3 months to get the car back to me (with pressure from the ombudsman) when it came back it was littered with rubbish inside, my spare tyre was thrown in the back, and back seats were down. There was writing all over my windscreen, and the battery was completely dead. I have since taken it to a garage and been told because it sat idle for a year the battery was faulty, the brake discs and callipers were seized from rust, and there were numerous other issues. These repairs have cost me over £650, not to mention having to clean the car from the state it was in. I’ve now found out Motorkitty still have a marker on my car to say they own it! I have told the ombudsman about all of this 6 weeks ago, but I’m still waiting for someone to get back to me. I honestly don’t know where to turn. Will Motorkitty be liable for any of this? I’m thinking about taking legal action against these clowns (Motorkitty) but I don’t know what the best thing to do is
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you should ask FOS again what is happening.
Lottie says
Hi Yve
I got the email on a friday and was paid the following wednesday which was the date they told me. Google search says they shut at 6pm so would expect Varooma to pay by 6pm on date they gave you. Hold them accountable if they miss the date completely, let the FOS know.
I did the same with Amigo
Yve says
Thank you. Will definitely let the FOS know if it doesn’t arrive on said day.
Ash says
Has anyone has any success with varooma logbook loam?
Yve says
Hi Ash,
Yes it has taken a while but has just finalised 15 months later.
Dave says
Did you have to go to Ombundsman? I was rejected by the initial adjudicator a couple of weeks ago and sent it on to FOS
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you mean Varooma rejected your complaint? That’s very common, people normally have to go to FOS.
PS a rejection from Varooma was not from “an adjudicator”, that is the name given to a FOS person whose role is to look at both sides of a case and decide. Varooma doesn’t do that!
Dave says
Thank you Sara, it was an adjudicator that rejected it, but I felt that it was not the right decision given the evidence I had presented. Hopefully I will get the right result from someone else at the FOS.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ah I see, yes definitely right to ask this to be looked at by an Ombudsman if you are not happy with the adjudicator decision. It is usually best for you to set out why you think the adjudicator’s decision is wrong. You may feel you have done this in several emails already, but I think a Summary can help. Send this to the adjudicator and ask for it to be shown to the ombudsman.
Is there any useful evidence you feel is missing?
Yve says
Hi Dave,
Varooma ruled against my complaint and it went to an adjudicator at the FOS. There was a bad offer which I rejected and was about to take to the ombudsmen but Varooma counter offered and agreed with adjudicator.
Hope you get assigned to an ombudsman soon, I here things may be moving quicker as workloads are getting better- but don’t hold me to that. Good luck.
Gavin says
Hi Yve,
Have you heard anything yet?
Have you had your breakdown?
Holly says
Good afternoon sara
Please can you advise I have just received the out come of my refund with avant credit- In relation to your recent complaint to Avant Credit we have refunded all the interest and charges on your account prior to the loan being sold to Asset Collections Investigations.
As a result of this, the loan balance prior to the sale to ACI should have been £xxx- we have also notified ACI of this balance amendment.
Amount Funded: £xxx
Amount Paid to Avant Credit: £xxx
8% Interest: £xxx
Balance Amendment Amount: £xxx
ACI will now need to deduct all payments received after sale to the above amended sale balance, please contact them to query your current remaining balance on your loan as the remaining of the principal amount borrowed does need to be repaid.
By my calculations I am owed about £5000
Will it be asset collections refunding me the money owed if avant have communicated with them and how long do you think this will be?
Any help will be great
Thanks in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you need to talk to ACI about this. If they will pay you the refund – fine. If they say that’s up to Avant…
Holly says
Thank you Sara ,
I will await to hear from asset collections regarding this tomorrow, the over payment has now with them following the new working out for avant credit,
Thank you for your support with this
Caroline says
Hi holly how did you get on with this? Avant sold my debt to Asset collection I paid them in full in 2018 in 2019 I put in a claim to Avant which they agreed with and they gave me a figure which I agreed with. But they never gave me the money they said they sent it too Asset collections. I’m currently awaiting an ombudsman to pick up my case. I have proven to FCO I paid the debt in full. And the adjudicator has found in my my favour.
Dave says
It was more that the evidence I had provided, showing that I had several defaults already registered at the time of the first loan, had been ignored by both Varooma and the adjudicator for some reason. I managed to get the message across that the recording of the call did actually show me saying that I was in a DMP, but the follow up questions then confused the issue. I am hopeful that another pair of eyes can see what I can!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you set this all out clearly once again. Include the snippets from your credit report showing the recent defaults. Give an actual quote from the call recording. Make it easy for the ombudsman to get an overview.
sarah says
You say in your article “These affordability complaints do not apply to secured loans or mortgages. If you have a priblem with one of these, talk to your local Citizens Advice”
Can you explain why it’s so different for secured loans and mortgages please?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Unsecured credit comes under the FCA’s CONC rules, which is what the affordability complaints here are based on.
Mortgages come under the FCA’s MCOB rules.
sarah says
Ok, so what’s the difference and does this mean that we can’t complain about “affordability” to the FOS?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It means the rules are totally different. That’s why I suggest you talk to a debt adviser such as Citizens Advice about your situation and what your options are.
Steve says
Hi Sara,
Can I ask how far back can a complaint go. I am being told that I can only go back 6 years. Is that right?
The response is on a letter and it says.
‘The financial conduct authority allows us to limit the time you have to make a complaint. In usual circumstances you must raise your concerns within six years from when you took out your borrowing or, if later, three years from when you should have become aware you had reason to complain.’
Can you advise please.
Steve
Sara (Debt Camel) says
When did you find out the lender should have checked the loan was affordable for you? If that is in the last three years, then FOS normally decides it can look at these complaints that are about loans over 6 years old.
You can’t go back further than April 2007, when the law changed to allow these complaints.
Steve says
Hi Sara
It was only over the last year because I was told I could claim for irresponsible lending based on my finances and my history etc. then a friend pointed me to your site for guidance. Hence I raised the complaint to them and a couple of other lenders I was impacted by.
How should I best approach this because they are saying,
‘you’re complaining more than three years after you realised (or should have realised) that there was a problem’
But it is not until the last year. This loan was taken out in 2011.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Just send it to the Financial Ombudsman (FOS). And tell FOS when & how you found out about affordability complaints and that before that you didn’t realise the lender had done anything wrong so you had no idea you could complain.
Steve says
Ok thank you shall I just scan the letter and do it that way because they have sent by post and I prefer to do this all electronically.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, use the online FOS complaint form here https://help.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/help and attach the scan/photo of the rejection letter.
Wayne says
Hi Sara,
I sent a affordability complaint to 118118 Money for a loan which I took out in late 2016 which was then sold to Lowell less than a year later after I fell behind with payments. I am to this day still paying back small amounts monthly for this loan to Lowell.
The affordability complaint was sent to 118118 in October 2020 and they responded in December after investigation saying they will not be upholding my complaint.
I therefore sent my complaint to the FOS in mid December 2020 and in the first week of January 2021 I received an email from FOS with with a reference for my complaint and advising me:
“ 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.”
We are now nearing the end of April and I have yet to receive any further response from the FOS.
Is this normal? as I was under the impression that case handler is normally assigned within 8 weeks. It seems that the FOS and lenders are using COVID 19 as an excuse.
Please advise what I can do to speed up, is it worth chasing the FOS? I’m fearful that by the time my complaint is looked into 118118 May go into admin like other lenders. It’s been 4 and a half months since I originally sent my complaint to the FOS.
Tom says
I’ve been waiting since September 20 for the FOS to do anything. Each time I chase they just say that they are very busy…
Zoe says
I put a complaint in against 118 in April last year was not picked up until February you will be waiting a while yet
Jack says
Today is the day, 10 days after receiving the adjudicators decision and moneybarn accepting it! I have just been paid £2700 in over payments
The adjudicator judged that I would have the car on the agreement transferred to me, the over payments above the capital repaid + 8% interest, and all adverse information on my credit file removed!
The adjudicator took about 3 months from getting my case to getting a decision, and moneybarn have paid out in 10 days ish which is amazing! A nice little sum, I get to keep my car & my credit file will look better,
Thank you for this site and all the advice and information Sara
ami says
I took out a loan with Bamboo in April 2019 for the amount of £2000 and the total amount i had to pay was around £6000. At the time, I had already taken two other loans out before and I was not working.
I took out a top up loan with Bamboo in December 2019 for £700 so the total amount payable changed to around £8500. Before taking this loan out I had taken an additional 3 other loans out and I was not working.
I complained to Bamboo about irresponsible lending and also about the stress, anxiety and even physical issues I have developed due to not being able to cope with the financial stress of all the loans I had to pay back.
I said to them that I want £2500 off the loan, they agreed to this. However, upon reflection i told them i actually wanted all of the interest off my loan and they rejected this. I have paid off more than £2700 which is the amount i took out so the amount left is all interest.
I don’t know whether to sort things out with Bamboo and tell them to reduce the interest more or go straight to the financial ombudsman. Please help.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How large is the current balance?
Do you have problems with other debts as well?
ami says
My current balance is around £6500 however i am able to ask for settlement amount so it would be lower if i paid it early.
yes i do have problems with other debt.
i recently paid off one of my loans so now i have 4 loans including the bamboo loan
i have an amigo loan which was for £5000 but i have to pay back £11000. I complained about them but they rejected my claim. i made a claim with the financial ombudsman but as amigo may be going into administration, i just have to wait for the result.
i have another loan with quickquid company for £5000 but pay back £9000, they are in administration and i made an appeal but i have not heard an answer.
I have a satsuma loan which was for £1000 but paying back £1800 – they also may be going into administration so i am just waiting for the outcome. i am currently on payment plans.
So, the bamboo loan is my main focus right now but i don”t know my chances if i were to complain to financial ombudsman about them or am i better off finding a solution with bamboo? I just want to be loan free and for this nightmare to be over!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So 2500 off the current balance doesn’t resolve your problem. I don’t think Bamboo are likely to clear this balance so you may as well send this to the Ombudsman, but reduce the payments you are making to a much lower more affordable amount.
The Amigo loan – how much have you paid on this so far? What is your guarantor’s financial position?
ami says
I would only be willing to pay no more than £1000 to Bamboo but i do not think they will accept this. Is there anything i could say or do that would make them consider this amount?
do you think i have a strong case for the financial ombudsman as if i lose then i will have to pay the full amount back to bamboo
yes my payments have been reduced
i have paid around £5000 so far and i have another £6000 to pay! my guarantor is working and i am making a reduced payment to amigo each month.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you just need to make it clear that you think you have a good case and will take it to the Ombudsman if they don’t reduce it to £1000. did you send them your bank statements before the first loan with your complaint? That can help show them how good your case is.
ami says
Okay yes i will make it clear, do you think £1000 is the right amount, do you think it should be more or less considering the circumstances?
I don’t think i should be paying them anymore money as i have paid off the actual loan it is only the interest that is left but i want to get this over with and i am unsure if the financial ombudsman will agree with me as well.
yes i sent them bank statements 3 months prior to first loan and 3 months prior to top up loan.
when i took out the first loan i already had two loans out and when i took out the top up i had taken an additional 3 loans out.
my bank statements clearly show i was not working, i was in overdraft, i had 5 different loans out and i was not in a good financial position. the interest as well they charged was so high, i took out less then £3000 and altogether my balance was around £8000
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It sounds a good case from what you have said.
The £1000 is a compromise offer. As you have another financial problems, it may be a mistake to compromise too much if you will still be left in a mess – better to take the extra time by going to FOS to try to get the maximum?
Gavin says
Hello Sara,
Varooma have 6 days left and 3 of them are weekend/bank holiday and I still haven’t had my official breakdown or any indication of when payment going to be made. I emailed the lady dealing with it yesterday and she’s now ignoring me. Any ideas I’m panicking.
Yve says
Hi Gavin,
Have you contacted the adjudicator at the FOS and advised them they still have not paid? I was paid last Wednesday and from previous peoples payments it looks like the redress is always processed on a Wednesday. Usually the Wednesday after the breakdown of payment.
Have you tried speaking to a chap called Salv or the accounts department.
Hope you get it sorted soon.
Gavin says
Hi Yve thank you for messaging me. I’ve been dealing with Sarah. When did you get your final decision?
Thanks
yve says
Hi Gavin,
Yes I was also dealing with Sarah, I believe she is the only one in the department due to Covid. I got my final decision on the 13th April 2021 via adjudicator at FOS. Breakdown via email from varooma on the 16th April and redress paid on the 21st April.
If you are still waiting past the cut off time then the adjudicator at the FOS needs to be informed asap.
Hope that helps
Yve says
Hi gavin,
Have you had anything yet?
Gavin says
They paid me one part of my redress and she’s said last part by Wednesday at the latest. The part they haven’t paid is the majority of the redress
ami says
Yes thats what i am thinking it might be a mistake to pay them off when i could a better offer from the FOS.
Do you think the FOS would take all the interest off or only some of it? how long would a response from the FOS take?
i have emailed them to say that i would like to know what the settlement amount would be if they took the £2500 off the loan just to see what kind of figure they give me. A couple of months ago i asked them for a settlement figure and they said with my balance of around £6500, my settlement amount would be around £2500 figure so i am just curious to know what it would be.
PH says
I have just had word from Payday Uk that redress payments will definitely start in May and that my payment is in the first batch to be processed and prioritised. Thank god for that. About time. Had ongoing issues with this company so it’s the least they could do.
So everybody knows. It defo gunna be May.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Please post this on the ICL Scheme page: https://debtcamel.co.uk/money-shop-to-close-two-million-customers-will-be-informed/
Katie says
Hi there
Has anyone made a successful claim against MoneyBarn?
I have a car which I’m still paying for (about 14 months left on the agreement), however I am paying an extremely high apr.
As you will probably glean, my credit was/is less than perfect, so at the time, I was just happy to get car finance.
I’d it worth putting in a claim even though I still owe on the car?
Thanks
PF says
Hi Katie,
Yes definitely start the process now if you are claiming that the finance was unaffordable and you can prove that Moneybarn didn’t carry out enough checks before issuing the finance. I was pretty much in the same position getting towards the final year of an agreement. The whole process for me took around 19 months and was finally completed in March this year, so I had completed my agreement when receiving a final decision from the Ombudsman. You have to keep paying while the investigations are ongoing – luckily for me that meant that I got all the interest I had paid back as cash with the added 8%. Hopefully things may be a bit quicker with the FOS these days but be prepared for a wait as Moneybarn don’t respond to Investigators or provisional Ombudsman decisions.
Knowing Moneybarn and their ridiculous interest rates if you have only 14 months left to go you may already have repaid the principle value of the car and if you get a quicker decision the chances are you will get to keep the car and not make any further payments but check your agreement to double check.
Hope this helps and good luck.
PF
Katie says
Thank you. I worked out the repayments this morning and you’re absolutely right…I’ve been paying interest only for about the last 18 months and will be continuing to do so until it ends.
The finance was initially arranged through CarFinance247.
I will Chuck a complaint in and see what happens. I still intend on making the monthly payments, as I need the car.
Paul says
Hi
Has anyone heard what is happening regarding loans taken out with First Plus pre 2007 (owned by Barclays)? I’m lead to believe that the FOS have changed their original decision of not upholding any claims of mis-selling of unfair interest rates. This because First Plus continued to raise interest rates when they went up but didn’t pass on any reductions when the rates went down. I can see some links elsewhere which seem to end earlier this year, is this due to any settlements being included a “gagging clause”?
Any info would be much appreciated.
Kind regards
Paul
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I have heard rumours that complaints have been settled with a gagging clause – I can’t say whether this is accurate.
Read https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/apr/24/sell-flat-30000-loan-repaying-over-100000 – that very recent court case was against Blemain, another bad credit secured lender.
Paul says
Hi Sara
Thank you for your comments.
I was thinking of appointing sols X on my behalf but they want £500 fir a ‘Letter of advice” and their overall fees amount to £3000. Do you think this is worthwhile me pursuing? X advise they have dealt with numerous First Plus cases and that to date none have ended up in court as all settled beforehand. My lian was for 43k and we settled it after 11 of the 15 year period. What are your thoughts?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think it sounds unusual to be asked to pay £500 for a letter of advice. Most solicitors would give you a free conculation to see if you may have a case first.
Paul says
Hi
Thanks for your reply.
I have written back to the solicitors and asked why I can’t have the free 30 min case assessment advertised on their website rather than possibly waste £500 on may what turns out to be a ‘Letter of advice and a waste of money.
Paul T says
First plus / Elderbridge loans can be challenged just like the Blemain case. The Blemain agreement is very similar to the First plus agreement.
There have been court cases with First plus where the same outcome as Jane Charles case. You should have a read of Jane’s Judgment, its quite powerful I was Jane’s lawyer.