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?
Mel says
Has anyone had any luck with Everyday loans ? I have read a number of bad reviews on trust pilot saying that they reject complaints so I am expecting the worst but hoping for the best !
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They do reject a lot, but then a lot of those rejected cases are won at the Finaical Ombudsman – 58% for the last 6 months of las year.
Sian says
Hi Sara, is that 58% won at adjudicator stage? Are there any stats on how many adjudicator decisions everyday loans accepts, or are they likely to push it to the ombudsman? Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
there are no stats published on that. FWIW I think they often accept adjudicator decisions.
Chirag Shah says
Hi Mel
Yeah they rejected my claim but then the Ombudsman ruled in my favour and got a refund back. I would recommend taking it all the way to the Ombudsman if you need too.
Mel says
Thanks Chirag! I get the impression that it will be rejected but I will go to the ombudsman no problem- I have my complaint ready, I just need their final response! How long did they take to refund you after ruling in your favour ??
Chirag Shah says
Hi Mel, yeah I recommend after the final response if it not in your favour then take it to the Ombudsman. To be fair, they kept arguing back with the Ombudsman but after a month or so they decided to pay me
Kieren says
Hi Sara, i have been reading other comments and you definitely seem to know what you are doing! And helping us vulnerable people you are truly a saint!
I have a issue with my car finance Moneyway, i took a very high interest loan against a vehicle last year for 5 years.
I am currently earning 1600 a month after tax whilst living at home with my parents but have recently come up against hardship and paying 375 a month back on my car finance is starting to cripple me.
When i took the loan i already had bad credit with a very low score rating and CCJ on my credit file as-well as still not paying some older debts back.
This has now became unaffordable, i was wondering if i was to make a complaint would they look to take the vehicle away from myself ?
I feel like i should never of been given the loan, i was more surprised when it actually went through at the time tbh !
Sara (Debt Camel) says
they can’t repossess the vehicle if you are keeping up with the payments.
Why is repaying this hard if you are earning that much and living at home? Has something changed?
Kieren says
I have currently been made to look for somewhere else to live. When i applied for the loan i had bo intentions of having somewhere else to live, living with parents is cheap but when having to pay for a house and that much on a vehicle is going to more than cripple me as well as paying other debts.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ah. You will not win an affordability complaint because of that – the complaint looks at your financial situation when you took the loan.
One option is for you to find somewhere to live now that doesn’t require a car to get to work and then look at your financial situation at that point. VTing the car is one option (see Terminate your contract in https://debtcamel.co.uk/unaffordable-car-finance/). Another option if your other debts are large is insolvency – a debt relief order or bankruptcy. Talk to National Debtline about these options – phone 0808 808 4000 but from what you have said an affordability complaint is unlikely to work for you.
Chirag says
Hi Sara, I had a complaint with Lloyds TSB for charging me interest and charges. Llyods have come back as not upheld and I took it to the Ombudsman which the adjustor won this is my favour where Llyods needs to give me compensation to make me in a better financial situation when I was with llyods and also interest until they pay me, llyods never replied so it gone to the highest Ombudsman. I was wondering how long can this take and how much will I get back? Your doing a wonderful job with claiming back money for vulnerable people.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It will be several months usually, possibly longer. Unless you know how much you paid in interest and charges I can’t guess how much you might get back.
Yon says
Hi Sara I just got a final response from safety net credit saying they believe that the lending was responsible based on the affordability checks carried out and we are content that your account has been handled in the correct manner. What can I do from this point forward ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how long did you use them for? Were you borrowing every month? do you still owe them a balance?
Yon says
I used them for around 4 years. I was borrowing most months, less towards 2019. I don’t owe them a balance.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then I suggest you send your complaint to the Ombudsman – article above explains how to do this.
Jim says
Hello Sara , I’m In dispute with Volvo over the final damage charges when my lease agreement ended. They are trying to direct me to complain towards some motoring complaint organisation but I’ve had a look on FOS and it does look like they cover these agreements. Paid over £20,000 in 3 years and are trying to bill £1000 damage. I don’t agree with the claims and also can afford it. They have agreed to write down if the charges off etc my question is should I pay it and go to FOS or refer to FOS?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This FOS pages covers what FOS can look at: https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/complaints-can-help/credit-borrowing-money/car-finance
I don’t agree with the claims and also can afford it.
Can I check if you meant CAN or CAN’T?
They have agreed to write down if the charges off
I’m not clear what this means, can you expand it.
Jim says
Sorry can’t afford it.
The lease ended and car went back in June but I’ve also been made redundant so I don’t want to pay £1000 for things I don’t agree with. £200 charge for tyre when it passed a MOT two days before they collected it. Late service charges when the aberdeen Volvo was closed to build a new one across the road then it was a massive wait for a service. The nearest was Perth branch over 100 miles away, who has the time for that. They wrote off some of the charges when I challenged it but like the ones above I don’t agree with them one bit. Should I pay the reduced bill and go to FOS or not pay and FOS ? Thank you for swift response, thanks for helping people
Sara (Debt Camel) says
well if you can’t afford it, you can’t pay it, can you?
If there is a reduced amount you think would be fair & yopu can afford to pay that, you could go back to them and say “I am happy to pay £312 [or whatever] as I think the charges for A and B are reasonable. I do not think the charges for X,Y and Z are fair and I will be sending my complaint to the Financial Ombudsman if you do not agree to accept my offer of £312 to settle this matter.
BUT what are the rest of your finances like at the moment? Do you have other problem debts? Have you applied for benefits?
You may need any redundacny money to get through until you get a new job, you may not be able to afford even a reduced amount to this bill.
If you are getting Universal Credit, don’t forget it will be cut by £20 a week shortly :(
AK says
Just thought I’d post a quick recap of what I’ve done and what the outcomes were, as I’ve officially finished my debt “journey”.
In my mid-20s I was borrowing like mad, and at 30 I ended up with 11 different loans, credit cards etc. I was screwed financially and had to carry on borrowing to be able to survive the following month. Madness, and I thought there was no way out.
Found this blog and followed the above guidance – I’ve lodged complaints to 9 out of 11 lenders. Vast majority of them rejected my complaints after a few months which then I immediately submitted to FOS. That was at the end of 2019 and I expected very little. One thing to keep in mind with FOS- they take AGES, so don’t expect quick outcomes. What is important however is that they do help- FOS upheld all 9 of my complaints. I got credit interest back on all 9 loans, majority of it last year with the final one from Likely Loans a week ago. (Likely Loan complaint initially not ruled in my favour by FOS adjudicator, I then asked for ombudsman to review again and he upheld it). The only loan I didn’t get money back on was Sunny, and this is because they went bust right after my complaint against them was upheld.
Now I’m 33 and debt free.
To people that are struggling- submit complaints, be persistent even when companies or FOS initially reject your complaints, be patient. Things will get better.
Separately, the owner of Debt Camel deserves an MBE.
Ross says
I’ve just received an email, from the FOS, apologising for the delay in my case with 118118 (which I submitted in March 2021) stating they’re STILL waiting for the case file. Is this really acceptable?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
no, I don’t think that is acceptable at all.
I suggest you email the FCA and copy 118 on the email. The FCA doesn’t look at individual complaints (that’s what FOS is there for) but hopefully 118 will hate their regulator being told and this may kick them into action.
To do this, email consumer.queries@fca.org.uk and copy this to siwan.jones@118118money.com and any other 118 money complaint email address you have.
Subject: Why hasn’t Madison CF ltd trading as 118 Money (741774) sent my file to FOS?
Give your name, address, 118 customer number and FOS reference number.
Give a very brief summary of your complaint – no more than a couple of sentences.
Say 118 Money rejected it so you sent it to FOS on dd/mm/yy. Say FOS has apologised to you for the delay but 118 Money hasn’t yet sent them your case file. Point out this has been more than 5 months and say how stressful this is.
Say you think if an FCA authorised firm cannot deal with Ombudsman requests in a reasonable length of time they should have to stop trading until they staff their complaints function properly.
——————————————–
And leave them a bad review on Trustpilot! https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.118118money.com
Ross says
Thanks Sara, and apologies for the delay in responding (we’ve just returned from a well earned holiday!).
I’ve now done this, and included all of the points you have said.
I’ll keep you updated on what happens next.
Tom says
Hi all,
The adjudicator at the FOS has found in my favour against Avant, and to my surprise, Avant have agreed.
The redress is significant….
What’s peoples’ experience of how soon they pay out?!?!
Laura says
Hi Tom. I had the same experience with Avant. The end date for Avant to respond to my adjudicator was 25/8. It was confirmed the same day that they agreed. I have heard from Avant today with their calculation of my figures but they had sold the loan to another party which complicates matters a bit for me. They don’t seem to be dragging their heels though if that helps.
Fingers crossed you have a swift payout
LH says
I am having this trouble with Avant. My loan was also sold to another agency. The redress figures clearly show I’m due a refund but the owning company said I’m not. Have emailed Avant again who said they will recalculate and come back to me.
Laura says
That sounds like a nightmare for you. I’m waiting to hear back from the third party company now. Fingers crossed it all gets sorted for you soon.
The way I see it, although I might be wrong, is the complaint was about Avant who have found to be in the wrong, they are ultimately responsible for paying the money back and then sorting with any third party separately, although we are all aware it doesn’t always work like this.
LH says
Not heard from Avant today. Like you say, they’re upholding the complaint, confirmed what I paid, told me the 8% interest payment and said if I was due a refund it would come from new owner… surely this means avant have to send them the money to refund?? So frustrating
Hert says
Hi there , I’ve sent a complaint to 118 118 money on the 14th July and still they have sent a final response. What can I do now ? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Phone them up and ask why you haven’t had a reply.
. says
Hi They just replied to me rejecting a refund. They said I made claim on 19/03/2015 which is passed the limit to claim . Has anyone else got the same reply. What can I do from this stage? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did they say you made a claim then? or that was the date of the loan?
. says
That was the day the loan account was opened on that date
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then send it to the Ombudsman who will look at claims about loans over 6 years old if you explain you have onlt recently found out that the lender should have checked the loan was affordable.
. says
Will do thanks a lot . What’s the success rate of refunds from 118 in this scenario.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They are losing a lot of complaints. Numbers of =r this sort of over 6 year scenario, I have no idea. But you have nothing to lose by trying!
Karen Williams says
I wondered peoples experience with cash4u. I have put in a affordability complaint and waiting for their response. I expect it will be rejected.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How many loans and how large did you have from them? Do you owe a current balance?
Wb says
Adjudicator has upheld my complaint against 118 money, who in turn have accepted the decision. They now have to sort out my balance etc with lantern who they sold the debt too.
Does anybody know how long this could take?
Thanks
Dana says
Hi Sara, I won my case against 118 118 money last august and got the interest refunded and account closed, part of the resolution was for them to remove any negative information from my credit file which, they said they had actioned and would take 90 days to show on my credit file.
I’ve been using CreditKarma all year and 118 118 didn’t show on my credit report so I assumed it was gone, however, I used Clearscore today to discover the loan is still showing on my file with the outstanding balance before it was closed, and the default is still on my file. I have rang 118 to not much help and replied to their final email with the resolution asking why this hasn’t been removed from my credit file. Is there anything else I can do to ensure this is removed as instructed by the FOS?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, send them a complaint… and send it to FOS if it’s not resolved.
Kate says
Hi Dana, how long did it take from opening a file
With the FOS ? I just received a negative response from 118 so now taking to to the FOS x
Elaine Carver says
Hi Sara,
Please can you help me with a query I have? I would like to make a complaint for irresponsible lending against Barclaycard for a credit card I was pressured in to taking out just a couple of weeks after I turned 18 (I banked with Barclays so they targeted me that way). The balance was increased from £1,200 to £13,500 by the end. The account eventually defaulted as it ended up completely unaffordable but the problem is that they have now sold it on to a Debt Collection Agency? I know you would normally raise a complaint with the creditor but how does it work when they have already sold the debt on to a Debt Collection Agency? Coincidentally, they sold my debt immediately after MSE broke the news that Barclaycard had admitted to not following responsible procedures when providing and increasing customers’ credit limits…
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You complain to Barclays. If you win the complaint, they will sort out the debt with the debt collector.
I am not sure if you will win a complaint saying they targeted you at the start. But you may well win a complaint saying they later increased the limit to much too high a level. So make sure you also complain about that.
Lottie says
Hello Sara,
Do you know how long the ombudsman are taking to look at complaints at the moment? I have really bad MH and a terrible financial situation, and they have had my case after Logbook loans declined the adjudicators findings saying the loans were unaffordable. They have had it since August this year, not that long. But for someone like me with MH it feels forever. As I have already been in this process since June 2020 many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you phone FOS and tell them about your mental health problems and ask be treated as a priority.
Vickie says
I had a logbook loan with auto advance and then a top up loan. Neither was affordable due to being a compulsive gambler. Sent in complaint following the template on here. Autoadvance took the full 8 weeks to respond but did agree that the top up loan was unaffordable but disagreed that the original loan was unaffordable. Both loans have separate agreement numbers etc. They have refunded interest for the second loan. My question is this matter now closed or am I able to send the first loan to FOS? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did they ask you to accept the settlement offer?
Vickie says
Yes. They rejected loan 1 and offered settlement offer in relation to loan 2.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
And you accepted this? Did it say it was in full settlement of your complaint?
Vickie says
Yes they did
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then I’m sorry but you can’t send the first loan to FOS. “Full settlement of your complaint” means this is closed.
Vickie says
No problem thank you.
Chris Wright says
Hi Sara
I’ve recently made a unaffordable complaint to everyday loans which was rejected so I contacted the FOS who agreed with my complaint and gave everyday loans till September 7 2021 to reply. The FOS have contacted me to say everyday loans haven’t replied and it may have to go to an senior ombudsman . Wondered if this was common practice for a loan company to totally ignore the FOS and if there is anything else I can do? Also what happens if the senior ombudsman agrees with my complaint and what can he do to make everyday loans pay the readdress?
Mel says
Sorry to jump in on this, I have a complaint pending with Everyday loans and await their response (which will be no doubt rejection !) how long did you wait for adjudicator ?
I believe that if ombudsman upholds your complaint it is legally binding and Everyday loans must pay you the redress
Chris Wright says
Hi
When everyday loans sent the rejection letter, I sent my complaint to the FOS within a week after. To be honest the FOS were fantastic and replied to me within 3 weeks. They uphold my complaint and gave EDL 2 weeks to reply and as I said above EDL did not reply to the FOS within this time period, it’s going to be interesting to see what happens next
Mel says
That’s really promising. Did you complain directly to the ombudsman or use tools like resolver ?
Chris Wright says
I replied directly to the FOS with there online complaint form.
gez says
Hi How long does the financial ombudsman take get back to people.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s pretty variable. Who is the lender?
Gez says
Its safety net credit
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ok, when did you send FOS the case?
SNC normally send the case file over without much delay when asked. And they typically accept adjudicator decisions, so thus isn’t a particularly slow sort of case.
Tom says
Avant update … redress of £10k landed in my account this morning.
Thank you Sara for giving me the tools, and this forum the encouragement, to see these things through. I am so thrilled and very nearly at the end of my debt journey…
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Wow!
laura dodds says
Hi Tom,
Avant credit have upheld the FO decision on the 17th September and are quoting 14 days (not saying if working days etc). How long from the decision being upheld did it take for you to receive the email saying how much and then your payment please?
Many thanks,
Laura
Alisa says
Hello Sara!
I’m in a pretty bad financial situation at the moment. I’ve made irresponsible lending claim, still awaiting for reply, money were borrowed for trading, however, all gone left me in debt hole.
Do you think I have any chance to get something out of my claim. At the time of borrowing it was clearly that I couldn’t afford it. My biggest worry is if I will be asked for bank statements they will see where money were transferred and they will report me as a fraud.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Who was the lender? How much did you borrow?
What is you current financial position like?
Alisa says
Lender is Hitachi £25000, pretty bad, I have other four loans as well my current salary £2200 (had to opt out pension) at the time of loans was about £2000
only loan payments £1820, I have mortgage, bills, childcare etc
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So the problem here is that if you win your complaint only the interest is removed and you will still owe the 25k, which sounds unaffordable.
How much equity is there in your house? What is the total of your debts?
Alisa says
£87K total
Equity of the property about £150k
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you need to talk to a debt adviser about your options. Winning this Hitachi complaint won’t make much of a dent. In 87k of debt, as it’s only the interest that would be refunded. An IVA is one possibility, another is selling the house and settling them. I suggest you talk to StepChange.
AO says
Hi All,
Experiences with Moneybarn
Finally after 18 months my investigator has ruled in my favour with MONEYBARN and sent his findings over and Moneybarn has agreed with him.. this was back in 2013, Moneybarn revoked the car after 6 months.. anyone had dealings with them as I needed to send bank account number over but since then no communication at all or break down of the redress, to be fair it’s only been a week.
Thanks
james aylwin says
Has anyone had any experience with with TM Advances?
Bingbang says
Yes. I won a case against them with FOS. Adjucator denied my complaint then Ombudman overturned it. From complaint to FOS decision took about 12 months.
James Aylwin says
Once the FOS found in your favour how quickly did TM advances take to provide the refund?
Bingbang says
They were fairly quick once I chased them. 1-2 weeks at most but make sure to forward the decision to them and also call so they are aware.
James Aylwin says
OK. Thank you that is really helpful. They rejected the adjudication so it is going to ombudsmun for a final decision. Hopefully i don’t have to wait to long. I will definitely forward the decision and phone as well thanks for the advice. Did they pay the 8% interest as well?
Bingbang says
Yes they paid 8% interest. In my experience the ombudsman is much faster at reaching a decision now, especially if they agree with the adjucator so hopefully it’s all sorted for you in a couple of weeks.
James says
Thank you.
Njw says
Has anybody had any joy with go car credit? I’ve got a case at ombudsman
Tom says
I put a complaint in to Bamboo in May 2020. They roundly rejected it, so I sent it off the FOS.
An Adjudicator picked it up on Friday, and Bamboo got back in touch with me directly to say that having re-looked at my complaint, it was groundless but since going through the FOS would cost them money, they were prepared to offer me £750 as a goodwill gesture.
I had to think very carefully about this as if I won at FOS, I stood to be paid about £5k but to my mind, it wasn’t the strongest of my cases – it was unaffordable but there was a lot less evidence of it than other cases I’ve won.
So… I negotiated. In the end, we settled on £3k, plus £250 for the time it has taken, on the proviso it was paid within 5 days. They’d paid it by the end of the day!
I’ve seen it said on here before, but clearly you can negotiate with Bamboo! Shame they let it sit with the FOS for 14 months but a good result ultimately.
Lee says
Another success Tom. Congrats mate. Sent you a message above about Avant. Just wondering on timeframes. As got my Avant one waiting to be assigned to an adjudicator at the FOS.
david says
Hello DC,
You’ll have to forgive me, my Math isn’t very good and I have tried using this page to calculate interest on a refund but am coming back with silly figures so thought i could seek your sterling advice in the hope of getting a more realistic idea on what i should expect.
For context, i have a car finance complaint in with FOS which has been picked up by an adjudicator but before their investigation was complete the lender have actually offered a settlement which I’m delighted about. However, they appear to have applied 8% against the refund value only once, but the loan was taken out in June 2018. Should i accept their settlement offer or would holding out for the adjudicator to complete their investigation mean I’d be due a lot more (is it 8% per year meaning I’d get at least 3 times the 8%)?
For added context, i could really use the money but if I’m potentially losing out on a lot of additional money i’d be willing to wait a few more months. i also think i’m right in saying that now they have provided a settlement offer, that would be the minimum i would get now?
Any advise truly appreciated.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Has the finance been repaid? If do, when?
The 8% isn’t from the start of the loan, it is per year but from each of the individual interest payments you made to it
david says
Sorry, yes it was fully repaid in Oct 2020, i paid 4.5k interest so that is basically the refund offer, with 8% on that (about £380). I think you may have answered my question already, or allowed me to answer my own question now…!
David says
Can I also ask please, do I need to declare a refund to Universal Credits please, do you know?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A refund isn’t counted as income. If it takes you over the 6k capital level you have to declare that.
H says
Hi Sara – are there any cases on here for Salary Finance please?
Hi all – anyone logged a complaint with them please?
thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Only the one you have seen and asked about
Alex says
Hi Sara, they rejected my complaint and it’s been sent to the FOS but nobody contacted me yet. It’s been a while. They aren’t nice to deal with. I clearly could not afford it and they haven’t done any checks at all, but said it was affordable. I had 5 more loans at the time and they’ve all accepted it’s been unaffordable..I’m still waiting for the FOS to pick up my case, which takes ages seems like …
Dean says
Hi Sara,
Can you make a complaint about a car lease loan if you are still in the agreement?
Also, can you make a complaint about a car lease even if the loan has already been repaid?
The first is from Moneybarn, the second is from Specialist motor finance.
Thank you for your help Sara
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can complain during a credit agreement or when it has finished. You would have to keep on paying a car lease or it would be repossessed.
Do Moneybarn do car leasing? They are best known for HP. Are you sure you mean a lease agreement, not just car finance, which covers HP, PCP and leasing?
I don’t think I have seen people complaining about leasing contracts, although it is possible. Leasing normally requires you to have a very good credit record and the interest rates are low.
Dean says
Sorry I meant car finance/ HP Sara, thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, then yes you can complain during the agrrment (you have to keep paying) or at the end.
Read https://debtcamel.co.uk/unaffordable-car-finance/ which looks at you other options if you are in a HP/PCP contact as these may be better that an affordability complaint.
Then if you do want to make an affordability complaint, use the letter in the article above.
Dean says
Sorry just to confirm, can I use the unaffordable one for the one that is already paid up with specialist motor finance as well?
Thank you for your help and guidance Sara
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes you can
Sally says
Hi Sara ,
I have just 2 more cases left and both are with ombudsman, one is for logbook loan carcashpoint ,where adjucator ruled in my favour but they did not agree and now pending with ombudsman for last 6 months .
2nd one is with 118118money , where the adjucator did not rule in my favour and I told her that I would like an ombudsman to review it , nearly after a month the same adjucator called me up to say that she is reviewing my case again was she thinks she might have missed some information, I have not provided any further information, hopefully it goes in my favour , previously I have had success with lending stream, safety net credit ,myjar , casheuronet , sunny , amigo , aqua credit card all ruled in my favour
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is a lot of bad credit lenders! Hope these last two get sorted in your favour.
Tom says
Hi Sara,
I have just noticed that Bamboo carried out a hard search of my credit file, labelled as ‘credit application’ last week. This is when I was settling my complaint with them.
Are they allowed to do that? It seems unfair that I should be showing as having made a credit application when I haven’t…
I know only one search probably isn’t too bad, but it is annoying when I have gone to such lengths to repair my credit report…
Any advice? Thanks in advance.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Has your complaint been settled satisfactorily?
Tom says
Yes, no issues with the complaint, just the hard search…
Maybe I’m worrying about nothing!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send them a complaint and tell them to delete it!
anne says
Hi, with one thing and another I received a reply from Likely Loans saying that they did not uphold my complaint.
Is there a time limit as to when I can send this through to the Ombudsman?
Or would I have to send another complaint to Likely Loans?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
6 months. If you are beyond that point it is too late – unless you have a very good reason for the delay, not “one thing and another”.
If you are beyond that time, you can’t start again by sending a second complaint to LL – they will reject it on the grounds that they have already replied to it. And the Ombudsman will not look at it.
Ha says
I have had a letter from the adjudicator saying he sides with my complaint and gave them until today to respond. What happens if the debt was sold by the original lender.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The lender has to resolve the situation with the debt collector. Have you been paying the debt collector? Are you expecting a cash refund once the balance is cleared?
HA says
I’ve been paying step change who have been paying the new collector. I took a £5000 loan out in 2016 and the interest was £4680 I’ve been paying them back ever since and think I still owe them around £6000. I’m hoping they just clear my balance but unsure how it all works
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok so it may not clear your balance as it sounds as though you have paid less than the £5000 you borrowed. In that case I would just let StepChange carry on paying and the lender can sort it out.
Dom says
Good evening, I am currently in a DMP with a ramining balance of £9331, I pay back £382 a month. It is made up of 7 creditors. My question is I have 3 complaints in with the Financial Ombudsman, 1 of them being with Everyday Loans, the remaining balance is £6966 with a interest repayment at the moment of £1077 without the interest added. Obviously should i win this affordability complaint it would take a huge chunk out of my debts, it’s been 4 months, i’ve seen you say before you can ask the FO to prioritise you, what would allow this to happen? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
FOS will normally give priority to people who are in danger of losing their homes through eviction, or where their mental or physical health is being affected.
Lex says
Hello sara
Peachy loan have sent me an email saying my compensation is £231 but will only get £10. Is this normal ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes I am afraid so – someone reported yesterday (https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/comment-page-214/#comment-444845) that they were paying out less than 5%.
Max says
I got a similar email, they’re only paying out 4.65p in the £1.
Max says
Hi Sara,
I’ve not see Livelend (Chetwood Finance Ltd) mentioned much here, so thought I’d share my story as been very, very impressed with their response to my complaint.
I borrowed £5,000 about three years ago with x 12 monthly repayments of around £450. The APR was relatively favourable (for me!) at sub-20%,
I made a (relatively weak) complaint in mid-August, they completed their investigation last week, upheld my complaint 48 hours ago, and the money is already in my account.
They said in summary: “Typically we’ve seen customers with a similar financial profile to yours have been able to maintain their contractual monthly payments. However, we appreciate that each customer is different and having reviewed your specific circumstances we can see that there may have been signs of financial stress on your credit file.”
My refund – including 8% interest – was around £100 less than what the FOS case fee would have been, but whether that was a factor in their decision is unclear.
I feel lots of other high-cost lenders could learn from their approach.
Max
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Thanks for that feedback.
Brian says
Just an update against oplo. An adjudicator upheld my claim against them. However, oplo have disagreed and it now goes to an ombudsman. Anyone know how long this process usually takes?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
it seems to vary a lot :(
James Aylwin says
I have had several in the last few months. Some have been 5 days from the ombudsmun receiving it from the adjudicator and some have taken 4 months. I know that doesn’t help much but there seems to be no rhyme or reason
Brian says
I had a feeling oplo would do this. They have not been very responsive/helpful at all. I offered them a reduced figure settlement once adjudicator found in my favour, but rhey refused flat out. Are there many cases where an ombudsman has overturned an adjudicators decision?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
FOS say the Ombudsman agrees with the adjudicator in about 90% of cases.
Brian says
Thanks sara. The loan was for 8k..but paid back over 16k with interest. I just hope ombudsman agrees with adjudicator in my case. fingers crossed.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
for anyone reading this – the Ombudsman upheld Brian’s case against Oplo :)
PM says
I’m also waiting on an Ombudsman decision for a case against Bamboo. I’m now on my 16th week, and my adjudicator advised me (2 days ago) that it’s still waiting to be assigned. I’ve been given different timelines on this, 12 months, 6months and 4 months. It really is anybody’s guess!
Lucy says
Hi Sara
I hope your well can I ask please have you seen any cases with the FOS and NatWest bank in relation to loans and unaffordable / irresponsible lending ?
I have a current case with the FOS and today my case was finally heard after 18 months and they unfortunately and completely unexpectedly they found in NatWests favour.
The investigator blamed me for being in debt and taking out further borrowing saying that I knew full well what I was getting into when taking out the unaffordable loans and NatWest apparently did the correct checks which I fully disagree with
Any help would be very grateful thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Not many people have reported on a NatWest loan.
Can you say something about it – what was the interest rate, size of loan, monthly repayments?
Should NatWest have realised it was unaffordable – what was your credit record like at the time of the application, would that have shown recent repayment problems, or a lot of new credit being taken out? Did you have a bank account or a credit card with NatWest?
Lucy says
Hi Sara yes the interest rate was 18% the monthly amount £567.89. Yes I had lots of debt issues with defaults but she says they were never shown on the credit report ? I had a NatWest current account that was never used it was always at £0 so they had no idea on my income or expenditures from any bank account as it was all in my partners account held with starling bank. She stated in her findings I was left with a £120 a week surplus after my bills were paid again this is incorrect so not sure where she’s getting this information from because it was definitely under £80 and there is 6 of us to live on that hence the constant borrowing as fuel for work would take £40 instantly from the £80 a week left thank you again
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How long ago was this? Have you sent FOS a copy of your credit report?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
And how large was the loan? What did you say it was for?
Lucy says
The first loan was taken out in March 2018 for £9900 the 2nd loan for £20k was taken out in July 2018. I cleared the first loan with the £20k.
The strange thing about everything is they have asked me for absolutely nothing and decided on the case within 24 hours after a 18 month wait it was all very one sided
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well you need to go back to the adjudicator and ask them to reconsider this. Send a copy of your credit record and your bank statements for 3 months before each loan. (I am sorry but the article above tells people to send these to FOS when they submot a complaint, I don’t know why so many people ignore this.)
You can also point out that NatWest must have known you had a poor credit record or they should not have charged you such a high interest rate.
And at the same time send NatWest a Subject Access Request (see https://personal.natwest.com/personal/gdpr-triage-page.html) asking for copies of all the personal information they hold about you, including any credit record searches they made prior to approving your loan applications. This may take some time, don’t delay starting this. And don’t delay going back to your adjuicator until you have the SAR info. You need to do them both at once.
If the adjuicator doesn’t change their mind, ask for this to go to an Ombudsman for a final decision.
Lucy says
Thank you for your in-depth reply I’ve now completed the SAR request asking for everything you stated, we never sent any statements in etc with our complaint as we only done what the citizens advice advisor told us to do I wish I’d found this site sooner it certainly would have been of benefit. Thank you again
Anna says
Has anyone had success with Varooma? If so, what was the outcome? The Adjudicator found in my favour, and now they have to come back and accept or reject. Anyone have experience with them?
CHRISTOS says
Hi Sara, about 10 years ago i had an overdraft with Abbey National/Santander which was over £2k, I was charged lots of interest and lots of £15 and £32 fees each month for failed DD’s and S/O.
I moved my current account elsewhere and slowly paid the Abby Overdraft via a debt collector.
Is this something i should look into or is it too late?
Thanks in advance
Chris
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s not too late. Santander may reject a complaint on the grounds it is over 6 years old, but the Ombudsman normally decides can look at these older cases if you explain you have only recently found out that the bank should have checked to see if the overdraft was affordable or i9f you were constantly using it to buy essentials.
CHRISTOS says
Hi Sara,
Do Santander have an email for complaints, I cant seem to find one.
Thanks in Advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Try customerservices@santander.co.uk and put COMPLAINT as the subject line
Tom says
Hi Sara, you’ll never guess what!!!
A refund of £4,700 has appeared in my bank this morning from the Alpha/Target/Moneyway debacle!
I’m absolutely thrilled. It was a battle but I got there in the end. Thank you for all the help on this one.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh wow. Well persevered!
Anon says
Hi,
I’ve just sent my complaint form off, my credit score was and is below the average and poor around my area and the uk according to clear score and at the time of agreed loan, it wasn’t for myself and the email address they had for me was in correct which has been amended now. So no emails to confirm how much interest or how much I would be paying back was received. Do you reckon I have a strong claim as my ex was the one who processed the loan using my details I had acknowledgment that she was wanting to get a loan but not the full details at the time, they also hadn’t asked about any other outgoings or other loans I currently have.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Who is the lender? How long ago was this loan given? Was this a guarantor loan?
Anon says
This lender is likely loans, the loan was given on the 15th of September 2020 so last year and this wasn’t a guarantor loan, it was for my partner at the time. She was paying me monthly to pay for it as it’s a direct debit, unfortunately as we are no longer together as of today I’m going to have to take on the debt, 1.5k loan, overall to pay back over 2.5k includes interest
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok so you did know about the loan before it was given and you were paying it from your own bank account for a while.
The fact the loan was for your partner not you, and that she has now stopped repaying you, doesn’t mean the loan was unaffordable for you at the time of the application. LL don’t lend to people with a good credit score, the question is, could you afford the repayments and still pay your other debts, bills and living expenses? If LL had looked carefully at your situation, whould they have decided you could not afford the repayments at that point?
Your financial situation may be worse now, but that doesn’t help you win an affordability complaint…
Do you have other problem debts apart from this one?
Anon says
I’ve been struggling to pay this loan as well as other debts now as my expenditure is more than my income because of this loan, for e.g I’ve had to pay this monthly direct debit yesterday and now I have no money to pay credit card such as 118188 & Capital One and other bills, which would normally be split towards these 3.
I currently now have a car finance in my name as of tomorrow which i will have to pay as well.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, so you may want to look at affordability complaints against 118 and Capital One if they increased your credit limit to too high a level? And also Very. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-catalogue-credit-card/ for this sort of complaint.
Also who is the car finance from? I am surprised you would pass any affordability test?
It sounds as though you need urgent help – you cannot rely on affordability complaints being resolved quickly. LL will often reject a good complaint so this may well have to go to the Ombudsman.
I suggest you talk to StepChange about putting all your debts except for the car finance into a debt management plan, where you pay one affordable payment a month and interest is frozen. That gets you into a safe position while the affordability complaints go through.
Cal says
Hi Sara
I had a Cahoot flexi loan some years ago I had a ccj and defaults at the time of taking the loan. I feel that they irresponsibly lent to me. I struggled to keep up with repayments and it eventually went to a debt collector. Do you think there’s any chance of winning a case against them? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How long ago was this?
Cal says
Hi Sara it was in 2007
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ah that is a long time ago.
If it was before April 2007, the Ombudsman can’t look at it, as before then it had no power to look at consumer debt.
If it was after that date, do you still have any evidence of your financial situation at the time of the laon application? eg bank statements, credit record, other debts?
Elaine says
Hi Sara, just a quick update on the Barclaycard irresponsible lending. They responded to my complaint and request for documentation saying that they would not be considering my complaint because they were taking the date I should have been ‘reasonably aware’ as 2009 as the credit limit increases started in 2009 and ended in 2016.
I have therefore logged a complaint with the FOS disagreeing with Barclaycard’s claim that I am out of time because I only found out there was even such a thing as ‘irresponsible lending’ complaints this year in May when I got some debt advice from a debt advice charity. They’ve also admitted the credit limit increases occurred until 2016 so why they are trying to set the clock back to 2009, I have no idea.
They did send through with their response, all of the dates they increased my credit limit and how much they increased it by, and they increased my credit limit by 564% in less than 3 years. They started the credit limit increases when I was an unemployed full time student with two young children and they made their biggest credit limit increase 8 months after my credit report would have shown them that I had taken out a £2,800 credit card and a £15,000 loan due to financial difficulties.
Fingers crossed the FOS agree that a 564% increase in credit, without even speaking to the borrower to find out what their financial situation was, is definitely not responsible lending.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A lot of the banks are rejecting good cases at the moment.
Bob says
Need some advice please so back in 2018 I bought my house 153k mortgage in June 18
Also in June 18 I took out a 20k loan with Lloyds and within days I increased it to 22k then in July Lloyds offered me a 5.5k credit card limit both this and the loan where high interest. In July I also opened another bank account with a £500 overdraft and finally I took out a 53k car finance to replace a car I already had on finance. I have to accept responsibility for my actions but I had some form of mental breakdown. I was left with £116 a month before paying fuel. Would I have any argument for an affordability complaint and surely these companies should have picked up on me going very debt dependant. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I’m missing payments left right and centre
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So somewhere along this trail of extra borrowing, it may well have become “unaffordable”.
The car finance sounds likely. What was the interest rate on this?
Lloyds also knew by the time you got the credit card that your unsecured borrowing was mounting up. If the first loan was affordable (was it?) then the top and the credit card may not have been.
The £500 overdraft from another bank is obviously much small so it may have looked reasonable to that bank.
Bob says
I believe the car finance is 4.3% but I can double check. Car was 42k and I pay back 53k with a 16k balloon payment. The Lloyds loan was barely affordable when I look at it. They didn’t ask for any income or expenditure proof. The car finance requested my sa302. Both the Lloyds loan and credit card where over 15% interest
Sara (Debt Camel) says
when did you get the car and what are the monthly payments? How have you been mamanging, have you borrowed a lot more or defaulted on the unsecured debt?
Bob says
I received the car July 18 but I’ve missed payments and had a 6 month repayment holiday on it. I managed by maxing credit cards and getting a further loan that I couldn’t afford. No defaults as of yet but I’m on the brink of it. The additional loan I took out in November is with progressive money I have already taken this to the ombudsman for irresponsible lending it was clear to see I was deep in my overdraft and maxed on credit
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Can you list all your debts eg credit card 1 £3500 please.
For the car, how much have you paid to date? How much are the monthly payments? The £53k, that includes the 16k balloon payment?
Your house, how much equity is there?
How much do you earn and is this very variable?
Your mental health, could you say some more about this? Was it a breakdown you are now over! Or do you have ongoing problems eg bipolar, addictions, or what?
Sorry for all these questions but with car finance you have other alternatives to affordability complaints but sone of these alternatives are removed if you default, so it’s essential to take the right decision now. And it isn’t clear to me that an affordability complaint (or many of them) will resolve your problems because (a) only interest is removed and (b) they can take a very long while and I am not sure how you can get through this and still make the car finance payments.
If you don’t want to answer them here, then I suggest you phone National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 and go through your full financial situation with them. Please don’t delay…
B says
Hi Sara so here goes credit card 1 £1257 currently in default but I’m arguing as this has just happened and I wasn’t notified.
Card 2 £4800 payment of £117.
Loan 1 £19846 payment of £578.74
Loan 2 £5940 payment of £173 (currently with ombudsman for irresponsible lending)
Car finance settlement figure of 39k
Monthly payment £683 currently in arrears.
Mortgage £804 with around 16k equity.
I had just gotten divorced and had access removed from seeing my child. I spent everything I had spare fighting for access and lost my mind
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how far in arrears are you with the car finance?
what is your monthly income?
B says
About 4 months in arrears but I’ve heard nothing from them. Monthly income after tax is around £3200. My income has been all over since covid started because I’m self employed
Sara (Debt Camel) says
do you have child maintenece payments? any legal bills? any arrears on bills? any other unusual monthly bills?
because on those figures and that income it looks just about manageable at the moment?
If it is manageable in good months and not in less good income months, then one thing is to talk to StepChange and get a debt management plan for all the debts apart from the mortgage and car finance. You can still carry on with affordability complaints, but in the knowledge that you are in a safe finacial position, with interest frozen on the debts in the DMP and making a single affordable monthly payments to it. Winning any affordability complaint s then reduces the debts in the DMP and speeds up the repayment.
But you need to catch up on the car arrears fast and make the standard payments going forward. Iyou could just stop paying any of the debts apart from the car and mortgage for a couple of months while a DMP is set up and throw all the money at the car to get it back on track.
If there are a lot of debts and expenses you haven’t mentioned, then the other option you need to consider fast is to Voluntarily Terminate the car agreement. You have the legal right to do this and cap the amount you owe to the car finance at 50% of the total cost of finance – this number will be bin your car finance paperwork. This is an urgent decision because if the car fiance company terminates the arrangement, you lose the right to VT the car and then owe all the remaining finance money.
If you aren’t sure what to do, please do talk to National Debtline fast. What I have said isn’t debt advice, it is suggesting things to talk to a debt adviser about – Stepchange about a DMP, or National Debtline about the car and the rest of your financial situation.
Edward says
Hi Sara,
I had a logbook loan over many years with Logbook loans but they said as it is older than 6 years all records have been deleted. All I have are bank statements showing the payments in and out. Anything I can do or is it not possible? I also have one with Car cash point but they did affordability checks and say I can afford it, I owe £10000 still due to really high interest, I did not show them everything and was not as honest with them about my debts, I am worried if I complain they will take the car and I need it for work
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ho old is the older loan?
The current one – they can’t take your car if you keep up with the repayments while the complaint goes through at the Ombudsman. That is a very large loan and they should have checked your credit record carefully before giving it to you. You know if this affordable, if it isn’t, then send it to the Ombudsman.
Eddie Reed says
The logbook loan one around 2008 after looking at my bank statements.
The car cash point ones are many top-up loans I added after they sent emails saying I could take out another etc It is the current balance as the interest is more than double what the loan is over 3 years
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That’s old but just inside the possible window – nothing before April 2007. Many people have problems with evidence about their situation so long ago but if you have your bank statements, I would send the case to FOS.
Hazel says
Hi I also had a car loan with log book loans from well over 6 years ago ans they said the same thing to me , I took it to the FOS and won my case so don’t give up
Eddie says
Thanks but all I have are bank statements nothing else and previously with the FOS I had a payday loan with a company and because all I had were bank statements I was told this was not enough evidence about the loan, so it was rejected.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think that should be enough – this is worth a try. It is a lot more money than a payday loan presumably.
Eddie says
Hi Sara,
have just looked at the details of a loan with Car Cashpoint and I took out a loan for £2,196.80 over 60 months interest 236.55% so the total amount payable is £14,059.80!!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, remember that your complaint is that the loan was UNAFFORDABLE not that the interest rate was too high.
Eddie says
Hi Sara,
Thanks, I will note that. In spite of numerous emails over many years when I was struggling to make payments, they always sent me ones offering a top-up or discount loan s I was a “good customer”. For Car cashpoint, I am going to use a company that takes 25% plus VAT because I do not trust them and have seen complaints from customers saying they ignored emails and still waiting 2 years for a refund. I would rather a company do all the work and give them a percentage, and everything goes through them rather than car cashpoint contacting me. I do not believe they will be honest with the amount I have paid in interest etc
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s up to you if you want to use one, but really they add nothing.
In fact they often get in the way – they can’t answer any questions from the lender of FOS so they just have to ask you.
If the lender doesn’t respond in 8 weeks, send it to the Ombudsman. That’s all a claims company will do.
Your complaint is NOT more likely to be upheld if you go through a claims company. Their emails are much the same as my templates.
They don’t do any individual work on your complaint. They will not check the amount you are offered either.
Mel says
I am really happy that an investigator has picked up my complaint about Everyday Loans after only a week of submitting to FOS. On average how long does it take for assessments to conclude ?
Sian says
Wow that is lucky. I put a complaint in with FOS in August last year I think. Got a decision from the adjudicator after 1 year. Everyday Loans have just accepted the adjudicator decision 1 week ago. Now just waiting for their calculations.
Mel says
The investigator told me that EL haven’t yet responded to him for information but I hope that it is concluded soon. I was up to my ears in OD and payday loans – and they increased the original amount applied for from £6k to £10K !
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Are you sure your case is actually being looked at? Unless it has been given priority for some reason FOS won’t normally start work on a case before the lender has supplied the case file..
Mel says
As far as I know, they introduced themselves as the person who will be reviewing my case and wanted to clarify their understanding of my complaint. So I took from that it’s been assigned and they are waiting for my information from EL
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ok, well I wouldn’t expect anything to happen fast.
Mel says
No I won’t, but from what I have read from people on here I was expecting to hear nothing until next year before anyone even started to look at it so I guess it’s a good start 👍🏻 my other complaint has been in since July and I have heard nothing so I guess it’s just the luck of the draw. FOS told me that it’s cases where people have been subjected to fraud over the last 12 months that are taking a long time to resolve
BillyBobb says
Hi Sara. Do you happen to have any contact details for Natwest’s ombudsman complaint department? I’ve won a FOS decision against them and they’re not replying. I want to let FCA know. Thanks in advance.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t, I don’t know if anyone else has.
Have you won an adjudicator level complaint or was it a final decision from an Ombudsman?
BillyBobb says
It was a final decision from an Ombudsman. They never replied to the adjudicator’s decision. I’ve read several complaints on the ombudsman website and they don’t reply to the adjudicator.
Ali says
Hello,
Just wondering is it regarding an overdraft??
Thanks
Ali
BillyBobb says
Yes it is.
Ali says
Thanks, I’ve just had a natwest one looked at and adjudicator didn’t uphold so rendered to Ombudsman. Its more affordability on giving it me in the first place as didn’t increase.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Ali, have you been completely in your overdraft for a long time, like years? Never getting into the black even on payday? If you have, then this is an extra point worth mentioning.
Ali says
As soon as I got the account I was in straight away and always in it until I closed and paid it off a year or 2 later.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is worth making this point explicitly to the Ombudsman.
Ali says
Thanks I had until today to give views to the adjudicator and additional info etc so I’ve made that as a point but will again when I hear from the ombudsman.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You may not hear from the Ombudsman – the adjudicator is the “go between”. If the Ombudsman agrees with the adjudicator decision it can just go straight to a Final Decision. That’s why I always suggest people list all their points and send them to the adjudicator as soon as possible.
Ali says
Thanks for that.. well I’ve reiterated that point so hopefully it helps but not holding out hope!
Laura says
Hi Sara
I am hoping you can help (yet again) with some redress figures. After taking my complaint to the FOS the adjudicator found in my favour and Avant accepted the decision.
I had a loan with them for £1000 taken out in 2016. I paid Avant £239.64 before the loan was sold to a third party and I ended up with a CCJ. I paid the third party £1000.75 in 2018 and cleared the debt.
The FOS have provided their standard response that any amount above the principle needs to be refunded with 8% simple interest. I’ve calculated that to be £240.30 with c. £59 to be added in simple interest (from September 2018 when the debt was paid until now).
I’ve had a refund for £218 which by my calculation is short and Avant have said it’s not their problem. They told the third party how much I paid them and it is for the third party to work out the refund.
Can you confirm if I have calculated my figures correctly or if I have missed anything making their calculations correct?
I have no reason to dispute the amounts they have said I have paid as they sound about right.
As an aside I have noticed that avant are no longer accepting new loans.
Thanks as always for your help. The work you do is phenomenal and a literal life saver for people.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I’ve calculated that to be £240.30 with c. £59 to be added in simple interest (from September 2018 when the debt was paid until now).
In the figures you gave, that sounds right.
It is Avant’s job to sort this out. tell your adjudicator what is happening.
You also want the CCJ removed from your credit record by the debt collector – they need to apply to the court for the CCJ to be set aside.
Laura says
Thank you! I have sent copies of the emails to my adjudicator and asked all parties involved to make sure the necessary amendments are made to my credit file, including the removal of the CCJ.
I will keep you updated if anything else progresses.
Max says
Hi Sara,
Unsure whether this belongs here or on the payday loans thread, but it concerns Drafty. (Gain Credit LLC)
They’ve “upheld” my complaint, but only from 18 months after I opened the credit line, so their refund figure is only about 25% of what it would be if I escalated to the FOS and win.
My credit line of £1,000 was approved despite payday/high-cost loan lending of £40,000 in the 18 months prior, plus £10,000+ of credit card debts and permanent use of a large overdraft.
Within 48 hours of its opening, I used 95% of the credit line. And within six months of its creation, the size of the credit line almost doubled – despite my hefty balance.
Am puzzled as to how they’ve calculated the refund and I intend to reject their offer (still have large debt with them), but wondering if they ever rethink or negotiate such offers?
Thanks,
Max
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so they increase it from 100 to 2000 after 6 months. Then again at the 18 month point?
You could go back and say you will accept a refund of all the interest you have paid after 6 months as they should not have increased your limit then but should have seen the £1000 was unaffordable in practice and frozen interest at that point.
I don’t know if they are likely to accept, but it’s worth a try? Say the case goes to FOS in a weeks if they don’t agree.
Were you literally in your overdraft the whole time for a long while? You may have a good claim against your bank for this…
Max says
Hi Sara,
Thanks for the prompt reply.
Opened with £1,000 limit, I immediately utilised nearly the whole amount, and then six months later the credit line was almost doubled.
I’ll do as you suggest and update in due course, they only had until a week tomorrow to respond anyway so will give them a chance to settle without FOS intervention and the £650 case fee.
I’ve calculated a rough refund of around £3,000 (including 8% simple interest) but would be open to a lower offer for a quick resolution even though one of my stronger complaints.
And yes, already lodged complaint against Halifax as been well and truly stuck in the OD for more than a decade – I complained via Resolver and also lodged a Packaged Bank Account complaint the same day.
Although they got back to me on the latter, the former got “lost in the system” so I escalated to the FOS after eight weeks as not wasting more time on their incompetence.
Max
Max says
Hi Sara,
Brief update, despite sending them a copy of my poor credit report and bank statements (which they refused to accept as suggested I could have edited them as in Excel format) my full complaint has not been upheld.
So, off to the FOS it goes,. Given Drafty have already admitted they should have acted from mid-2020 (and refund me about £550), the question for the FOS is should the account ever have been opened, and then the limit nearly doubled within eight months.
I still owe them nearly £2,000 and had planned to settle that with my imminent LL payout. But now I’m wondering if I should hold fire as if I pay it off and they then go bust AND I win my FOS complaint, I’ll be throwing good money away. At the same time, their APR is horrendous. Decisions, decisions…..
Max
Vickie says
Hi I have had a response from ombudsman stating that log book loan company didn’t need to look at my credit file or look at bank statements so didn’t have to verify my outgoing. (95% of wages were being spent on gambling) my car was repossessed. Is there an email address I can forward the email onto for some advice please? So they are rejecting my complaint.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
is this the Autoadvance case?
Vickie says
No that was settled and paid. This was a different one with easy logbook loans
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, how large was the loan?
Vickie says
It was for £1000
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what was the car worth? what did they sell it for?
Vickie says
Car was worth approx £2500. They didn’t sell it in the end. I managed to borrow money off family to pay it off inc fees and went and collected car. But took me 3 weeks I think. They held it until then.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
and is this a decision from an adjudicator or an Ombudsman?
Vickie says
It’s the adjudicator. But she did say if I have anymore information to send it to her by the 21st October and she will look at it. She has sent a long email explaining why she thinks the loan company didn’t have to check credit score or bank statements. My address that they were sending mail to didn’t match my v5, driving license or utility bill either but she said it could of been an oversight and doesn’t see it as a problem. I could forward the email on if there is an email address to send to. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ok well go back to the adjudicator and point out that https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/businesses/complaints-deal/consumer-credit/unaffordable-lending says
But, in circumstances where a customer’s finances are likely to be less stable, they are being expected to repay a larger amount for a longer period of time. There the other potential factors (such as the borrower losing any security provided, or a guarantee could be called on), it’s far more likely that an affordability assessment will need to be more detailed and contain a greater degree of verification, in order for it to be fair, reasonable and proportionate.
Say you think a very high cost logbook loan, which is only taken out by people with financial problems and where their car is provided as security is a situation where the lender should have to look close at whether a loan is affordable. Say you want your complaint to go to an Ombudsman if the adjudicator doesn’t change their decision.
Vickie says
Thank you for this. I have sent them an email and I will update you.
Vickie says
I have had another response from the adjudicator. She is now referring my case to a senior member. Does this mean she is still rejecting my complaint and it is going to the ombudsman or just that she needs a more senior adjudicator to have a look? Thanks
Thank you for your patience whilst I’ve had your complaint.
I’ve referred your complaint to a senior colleague and I hope to have an update for you next week.
Please bear with me and I’ll be in touch with you soon.
Thank you once again.
Kind regards
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Adjudicators are normally clear if they are not changing their mind and so your case will go to an Ombudsman. And an Ombudsman will not normally reply within a week.
So my guess is she is asking a more senior adjudicator or her team leader or similar to look at the points you have raised.
Graeme says
Thank you Sara for the work you do on this site. I have had an adjudicators decision accepted by lender today (118118 money) and am waiting on a refund of over £1,500. I also have put forward claims against NewDay (Aqua and Marbles) and NatWest ( large loan). Previously I had some success with Bamboo and accepted an offer from them without referral as I was so relieved to get anything at the time ( they closed account stopping further payments). I had a horrible record ( 35+ lending stream loans, max 2k overdraft permanently ,all credit cards at 95% constantly, and late loan payments)and as a result a large debt mountain that I am now trying to manage. I had no idea such claims could be made before I came across this site. I may not win them all but I do feel that I have a strong cases. I will also put claims in against Vanquis, Tesco bank, capital one 2 x accounts inc ocean, Lendable and livelend. I felt a bit guilty at first as I did take the loans,overdraft, cards etc but the more I see the less I feel it. These companies have acted recklessly in pursuit of profit and should not gain from reaping misery on others. Thanks again
GH says
Evening all
Has anyone here had a unaffordability claim upheld by the ombudsman from Likely Loans?
Likely Loans didn’t uphold my claim and the adjudicator also didn’t uphold it so I went to the ombudsman and they upheld my claim so now waiting for Likely Loans to refund me.
Has anyone here had a refund to know the timeframe?
Ross says
Hi GH,
Likely Loans refused my complaint but, the adjudicator upheld it. They accepted the adjudicator decision and paid out rather swiftly. Hope this helps?
Simone says
Hello,
I currently have a complaint in regarding Likely Loans. May I ask why the adjudicator didn’t uphold your complaint? I’ve been asked for more information by my adjudicator and am a bit nervous to say the least even though I know the loan was unaffordable. Thanks in advance!
GH says
The adjudicator sided with LL to say that proportionate credit checks were done and that the loan was affordable to myself.
I had submitted a credit report from that time which showed multiple payday loans. This in it self showed just how bad my finances were at the time.
Just state all the facts to your adjudicator why you believe it was unaffordable to yourself and it will all be considered
Max says
Hi GH,
You’re in a similar boat to me, although my complaint was upheld by a FOS adjudicator and then accepted by LL nearly three weeks ago.
I’d hoped the refund (loans x 3 were all paid off some time ago) would have hit my account by now but not even a peep on what figure I’m due, let alone an actual payment.
I checked loads of posts on here the other night and it seems around 2019-2020 payments were very swift (within 10 days), but I assume they have slowed since.
I actually emailed my adjudicator 72 hours ago for a brief update as believe LL has 28 days to make the payment, but the adjudicator has yet to respond.
It’a very frustrating as I reckon I’m due about £3,500 and am concerned they’ll go under in the meantime.
Will update here as and when any news.
Max
james says
put a post on trustpilot sating they have been poor. they will reply.
Simone says
Hello
I currently have a complaint in regarding Likely Loans. May I ask why the adjudicator didn’t uphold the complaint? I’ve been asked for more information by my adjudicator and am a bit nervous to say the least even though I know the loan was unaffordable. Thanks in advance!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, you should have been sent an explanation. If you disagree, you should then ask for it to be looked by an Ombudsman.
Jax says
Hi, has anyone had any luck with Zopa please? Not seen any posts about them.
Ross says
Morning Sara,
Apologies, I posted this on the credit card refunds page, in error.
You may recall that I posted on here, a few weeks ago, with reference to a complaint with 118118 I placed with the FOS, in March 2021. The FOS replied, 4 weeks ago, to state that they were still awaiting the business file and apologised for the delay. As per your recommendation, I emailed both the FCA and the Director of Compliance at 118118. The FCA responded, saying the usual ‘we can’t comment on individual cases etc…’ but, unsurprisingly, no response from anybody at 118118. 4 weeks later, and I am still none the wiser what is going on. I’m not going to pester the FOS, as I know they’re snowed under but, do you think that when I (eventually) hear from an adjudicator, that I should press for compensation (from 118118), whether they choose to uphold, or not? The whole process has been dragged out, by the fact that they haven’t even bothered to send the case file over and I think they should be held accountable for their poor complaint handling.
Regards,
Ross
Beth says
Can a claim be made against a creditor if I am still actively paying car finance?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes it can. You will need to keep paying, or the car could be taken, while the complaint goes through.
BUT read https://debtcamel.co.uk/unaffordable-car-finance/ first to see if you have a better option.
Liam says
Just wondered how to maybe go about this. I have a default on my credit file from 2015, but the firm (Different Money they were known as) have since gone into administration some years ago. I’ve been asked by my mortgage broker to obtain proof that this default is settled, which I know it is, but I need something from the firm itself as they won’t accept a credit report showing it as settled. Any ideas where to start?! I got asked the same for my other default but as that was Barclaycard that was very easily done.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so you settled the account with Different Money? It wasn’t sold to a debt collector? what is the default date showing on your credit record?
Tom says
Hi All,
My complaint against a number of loans from 118118 Money has been upheld by the business nearly 3 weeks ago- complaint had to be assessed by FOS.The debt collector told me that my account is no longer with them as 118118 Money has taken over, this was after FOS decision..Please can you advise on the length of time 118118 Money have come back to you with the final figure of redress and how quickly it was paid up ? Thank you in advance for your feedback.
Lee says
Hi Sara,
I need some advice, I put in a 2nd seperate complaint for Nationwide in addition to my overdraft complaint currently with the FOS awaiting allocation.
The nationwide loan was initially taken out before I moved my main bank account to them in 2010.
The initial loan I had was for 7k in 2006, this was topped up a further 4 times each 12 months. The 4th top up loan was 5k more than the initial loan amount. Basically each 12 months for next 4 years from 2006 I topped up my loan. I was consolidating debt including a lot of gambling debt each time, my last loan (top up) was 12k in total (5k more than initial loan). It took me 8 years in total to payback the initial 3 year loan.
I did settle the loan in 2012. The final decision came back from nationwide on Friday basically saying they can only see the information for 2009 and 2010 (3rd and 4th top ups). And say they say they did nothing wrong. The final response was very basic with little information.
Do you think this one is worth sending to the FOS? as I hold no bank statements only those since July 2010 when started banking with nationwide. I do hold information on figures paid for each top up including total interest amounts. I wondered if it is too far back to challenge or should try to go back to nationwide and counter offer asking them to pay me just the interest for the last loan top up as a gesture of goodwill. I reckon this would be about £1000 and gets me something.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
FOS will probably reject any complaint about something which happened before April 2007. But if the top ups were after that, the tops ups can be considered. I don’t see why you shouldn’t send this to FOS. If you only get a refund from the 4th, or the 3rd or 4th top ups, that’s still better than nothing?
You can try to bargain with Nationwide but I would be surprised if they agree,