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?
Ernest says
I have my credit report and all bank statements with alot of gambling transaction on it that time … have send my bank statement and credit report that time and after to fos already. They have the bank statement and credit report already.
Ernest says
This is what am planning to reply to them. What do think pls?I will like this complain about car finance loan taken in 2015 to send to Ombudsman pls. I recently found out in January 2022 that car finance lender should have checked the loans was affordable for me. When l was trying to find information about QUICKQUID claim and came across the debt camel website which has a page on car finance. So l think this falls within the three years since l became aware l could complain. Also request Subject access request (SAR) for all the personal information they hold about me including, but not limited to, my applications, all credit and other affordability with include information about the loan in 2015 and after and they provide me all the information about the loan 2015 and after – have send you all the information to you already about the loans (SAR) and affordability check we’re not carry-out .. they ask me for my payslips to check where am working proof of my working place, without ask for my bank statement to carry affordability checks or do affordability checks – and they did not carry out any affordability checks at all . Also l have alot of gambling transaction on my bank statement at the period before the loans and during the loans and after the loans. Lender have to make proportionate checks . They said they don’t have information about the loan in 2015 but they send me all the information when l ask for SAR and have passed the information to you already.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Good point that they have already sent you this info.
These 3 year rules case decisions can be a bit random.
Deeanne says
Hi Sara
I have received the redress calculations from Vanquis and thought I would let you know the final outcome from FOS:
Your redress was calculated as follows:
Interest Refund: £590.22
Charges Refund: £132.00
Notional Int: £1.98
Withheld Tax (@20%): -£0.40
Total Refund: £723.80
Your account balance currently stood at £1,813.68.
We have applied a total amount of redress of £1,283.68 to bring the balance to £530, below the agreed upon Credit limit of £550.
A CRA amendment request has also been made to remove any adverse information from the date of the Credit Limit Increase.
I am not sure why it jumped from £723.80 to the £1283.68 but not complaining!
I will now make an arrangement to clear the balance ongoing.
I hope that I get a similar outcome for 118 and Tappily but will keep you updated.
Thanks again for your blogs – without this I would be really struggling.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
My guess is that they wanted to get the balance below £550. But that’s just a guess!
Cocodog411 says
HI Sara, Is it possible to make a claim again Citi Financial Europe PLC for a loan that is quite old? and if so do you know how to go about this? I have very few details and just debt collector details.
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
roughly how old?
Cocodog411 says
I Can’t even remember but I would say 10 years maybe
Sara (Debt Camel) says
well in theory you can win a complaint about a loan that started after 2007. but if you can remember so little about it, it may be hard to show that the loan was unaffordable. Do you have your bank statements from back then? Any evidence about your finances?
Cocodog411 says
I could probably dig bank statements out I just don’t have the loan details so wasn’t sure if I could contact Citi and they would have a record
Jax says
Hello, can anyone tell me how long they have waited for an ombudsman decision please? Adjudicator found in my favour but the business has disagreed. I’ve not had an ombudsman review a case so far. I know timescales are random but I’m interested to understand how long people have waited. Thanks in advance.
Sand says
I am painfully on month number 9 waiting for the ombudsman to assign me to someone on my car finance with Moneybarn.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you asked why this is taking so long?
Kirsty says
I contacted the Ombudsman this week as I am on month 6 and they said these type of complaints are now at around 9 months before being assigned – hopefully you should hear something soon :)
Emma says
I’ve complained to my car finance company and asked for the refund and the SAR information. They have ignored my refund request and just sent the SAR information. This shows my credit score of the 500 mark but no bank statements. If they saw the bank statements they would have been able to see that it’s an unaffordable loan. What do I do now? Take it to the ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Many lender send you the SAR information separately from the response to your complaint.
When did you complain?
Greg says
Sorry I couldn’t find my original post.
Got an email from Motonovo a few days back saying rejected. They claim I met their lending criteria and that I had given exaggerated figures and then subsequently signed on the basis of those figures. So I guess they’re claiming its my fault the application went through. Quite laughable if it wasn’t so serious.
Sarah says
Hi I received a decision from an adjudicator in my favour at the FOS for a loan and they advised the company all the interest should be repaid and any negative marks removed from my credit file. He gave them a timescale to reply in which they ignored and it has now been passed to an ombudsman. I have one remaining payment on this loan can I stop the payment or should I make it. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
who is the lender?
can you afford this payment or will it mean you have to borrow more eg on a card? or get behind with bills?
fusion says
I’ve had success with 1 plus 1 loans – borrowed 3k for 36 months.
they denied wrong doing but adjudicator ruled in my favour. although they dragged their feet responding a lot and also added delays.
hopefully will receive a refund in interest for 2300 + 8% interest
Robinsonad86 says
Hi I did post before about a lendable loan I wanted to challenge. They did reply saying they deny any wrongdoing and the loan was affordable in their opinion. When they replied I had a few personal issues ongoing and didnt take it any further, it jad been around 5/6 months. Can I still take this to the adjudicator of so will I need to start the process again ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You have 6 months from the date of that reply to go to FOS.
If you are in the 6 months send FOS the complaint immediately. Do not delay. Do not go back to the lender.
If you are outside the 6 months, it is too late. You can’t go to FOS and you cannot restart the process by making a new complaint as that will be dismissed as already having been answered.
Robinsonad86 says
Thanks for the reply Sara. I couldnt find lendable response anywhere so contacted them through the website. They replied yesterday to say they replied and declined to uphold the complaint on the 5th April. Great news as it means I am just within the 6 month window by a few days. I have requested they resend their reply and all documentation via email, this request was sent yesterday and will be chasing hourly from Monday. As the deadline is so close (wednesday) I’m just wondering if they dragged it out and disn’t send the documents could I start the ombudsman claim without it and submit at a later date?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes start the FOS claim NOW. You can add the lendable rejection letter later.
Caroline G says
Hi guys
I’ve sent an affordability complaint to SMF Motors a couple of week ago and they haven’t acknowledged receipt of my email or my second email asking if they had received the first.
Is this standard, did anybody else get an acknowledgment or confirmation of email received reply?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Phone them up and ask.
Cj says
So I’ve received a reply from likely loans they said my 1st loan was affordable as when they did there checks all was OK even though my bank was overdrawn my credit rating was low and used payday loans had a couple defaults and one old ccj. the second loan 10 months after the first was also affordable stating it is normal to have credit commitments etc..theyvsaid on my application I stated I could afford all repayments.is it worth going to fos
Sara (Debt Camel) says
was the second loan larger? had your situation got worse – did you have more debt at that point/
Cj says
It was a top up loan of 500 . Money wasn’t great hence the loan.to be honest situation was worse
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then send this straight to the Ombudsman. Say th3 first loan was unaffordable and the top up made it worse.
James says
Hi, I made a complaint against bamboo. They made an offer of good will this morning to refund 196 pounds of the 391 pounds of interest I paid.
I rejected this and said I would send it to the ombudsmun. This was at 9.30 this morning. At 5pm the agreed to refund the full interest and uphold my complaint.
Just a reminder to push back with them.
They have said they will refund it in 7 days.
Has anyone had a refund. How long does it normally take?
Deeanne says
Hi Sara
Just to update you 118 refused my complaint and Tappily still haven’t replied so I have escalated both to the ombudsman
I cannot find my original chat but appreciate how many comments are on here but was also looking for the advice you gave me re my car finance – is there a way of tracing this back?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
here it is https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-large-high-cost-loans/comment-page-34/#comment-491356
Deeanne says
Thank you Sara
Gemma says
Hi Sara,
I made a complaint to Elderbridge regarding at £35k Firstplus Loan taken out in 2005 which was transferred to them at some point.
Basically I didn’t hear anything from them for months, but last week received a letter out of the blue asking me to contact them. They said they’d written to me with a complaint response from firstplus offering £2059 settlement for my complaint against the Interest being charged on the loan. They said what did I think & I said I think I’d like to see a written response with a calculation of how they came to that figure, as the loan was over 14 years and repayment went up from about £250 at the start to £375 when it finished, which by my estimates meant they owed me something closer to about £30k-£40k by the time interest was added on at 8%.
I’m awaiting the letter, so I suppose my ask is have you heard about any such claims against this company going well with the FOS? They asked me on the call would I be taking it to the FOS and I said in all likelihood yes, as I believed the offer to be about 5-7% of what they actually owe me.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
FirstPlus lost 38 out of 39 decisions at the Ombudsman in the first half of 2022… so far as I know most, possibly all, were loans that had been sold to Elderbridge.
Gemma says
Thanks for the reply Sara. Sounds like taking them to the FOS is the right thing to do then.
Gemma Gordon says
Hi Sara,
I finally received a copy of the response from First Plus via Elderbridge. I’m summary;
Sept 21: I complained via email (time & date stamped to including up to date address & contact info) about the interested on the variable rate loan, essentially a 2nd charge mortgage.
End of Jan 22: first plus send a written response to an address I hadn’t lived at for 7 years, so never received the letter.
End of Sept 22: I receive a letter at my new address asking me to contact elderbridge. I did and they stated as per my previous comment and eventually sent me a copy of the original letter.
Oct 22: lodged a complaint with the ombudsman.
In their letter they say I only have 6 months from the date of their letter to complain to the ombudsman , but I couldn’t because they sent the letter to an old address.
Within their response they also state there is a 6 year limit and I’ve not complained within that timescale, so they are only willing to look at 2019 onwards, which is how they’ve come up with this non-fault good will amount.
In my complaint to the ombudsman I’ve highlighted the mishandling of the complaint & also stated the 6 year point they make is invalid , as I only became aware of the issue I was complain thing about in Sept 21, therefore couldn’t have complained any earlier as the pertinent info wasn’t available to me.
Does that sound about right? I’m worried they’ll reject the complaint tbh.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well the 6 months thing is not relevant as it’s their fault because they send the letter to the wrong address.
The 6 year decision is up to the Ombudsman not the lender to make. But it’s really hard to see why they decided to give you a refund from 2019… no logic to that at all.
Send it to FOS and explain you have complained within 3 years of becoming aware you had a cause for complaint.
shari says
Hi Sara,
I took out a loan with Likely Loans in March 2021 for £5000 with monthly payment of £579.82 over 12 months with APR 89.9%
Total repayable amount was £6,957.84 so they added £1,957.84 which was the interest amount. Then in November 2021 I had a top up for £1500 on top of the previous loan balance of £2,061.28 which resulted in me then paying £270.52 each month.
The outstanding balance is £4057.80 and it’s not affordable.
I had poor credit and a CCJ when I initially applied for the loan and they did not even ask me for any proof of income or other documentation to prove it would be affordable. It’s like they take advantage of vulnerable people and take everything out of them.
Can I make a claim and how should I do it
Thanks for your help.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
£5000 is a huge loan and the monthly payments were also large. They should have checked affordability properly.
Use the template letter in the article above. And send it to the Ombudsman if LL reject it or only offer a refund for the top up.
Shairiz says
Thanks Sara. I sent them the letter via email and they responded today saying they are investigating and have sent me the SAR which has all the communication and statements. They have advised they will respond within 8 weeks from date of my complaint
Jax says
Hi, I know timescales are variable but I was wondering how long it takes for a decision once a case has been allocated at Ombudsman level please. Adjudicator found in my favour but the creditor disagreed so it was sent to an ombudsman for a final decision.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This can sometimes be very quick, just days. It depends if the lender has come up with new information or arguments. If the Ombudsman just upholds the adjudicator decision then you may not be contacted before the final decision is made, so if there are any points you want to make, it’s best to get them in right away, don’t wait to be asked.
Nikki says
Hi just wondering how long it took for you to wait for your case to be picked up by an ombudsman after the creditor disagreed with the adjudicators thanks
Jax says
Thanks Sara I made my representations in great detail so I am happy that I have covered everything off. The creditor has been really difficult up until this point so I suspect they might have come up with new arguments. I’ll sit tight and wait it out.
shaun says
Hi Sara,
Just an update really on my NatWest claim.
Yeah rejected there offer and adjudicator sided with me today on all loans, so happy! Hopefully NatWest accept the adjudication and all settled next week!
Thanks so much again for time and advice.
Kay says
Hi Sara,
I made an affordability complaint to 118 money, they have responded…
‘Whilst we do not agree that the loan was provided irresponsibly, based on the information you have provided in your complaint, we can appreciate that you may have suffered an element of detriment or inconvenience and as such, we would like to offer you a goodwill payment and an update to your credit file in full and final settlement of the complaint.
The goodwill payment would be a redress payment of £50.00 that would be paid to your bank account. Should you accept this offer, it is important you understand the following:
If you are happy to accept the above, and as a further token gesture, based on what you have explained, we will also reach out to the Credit Reference Agencies to request that any negative information regarding the loan is removed from your credit file – this can take up to 60 days to be completed by the Credit Reference Agencies. This additional gesture is also part of the full and final settlement, as explained above.’
I’m thinking this could be the best possible outcome, all I really want is for the default to be removed but just wanted advise on why they would offer this as a gesture if they do not believe that the loan was unaffordable? Seems too good to be true, not even worth taking it to the ombudsman as this is the best outcome for me.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They are hoping you don’t go to FOS so they are offering you this. They have to pay an Ombudsman fee even if they win the case.
It may be you could get a refund of the interest by going to FOS, I can’t tell, if you want to say more about your case that would help. But if this is all you want, then you have got it!
Kay says
Hi Sara, thank you for your reply, it was a one off loan for £1000, paying back £1376. There were a few loans from other lenders before this one but loads after so really the default being removed is actually an amazing outcome for my situation as in all honestly I wasn’t even expecting that. If I took it to FOS and they found in favour of 118, could 118 take back the gesture of goodwill? I wouldn’t want to lose out on that for being greedy? Thanks again!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes that is a possibility when they have just made a small goodwill offer.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
the max you would get make would be 376 + a bit of 8% interest. Not clear that is worth fighting over?
Andrew says
Hi Kay,
I submitted an affordability complaint to 118 money for a loan that they offered me. They rejected the claim stating that it was fully affordable. I took it to the FOS and won my claim easily. They said told me that 118 didn’t do anywhere near the required standard for checks etc. 118 were instructed to refund over £1,200 to me. I hope this helps with your decision making.
Regards,
Andrew
A Q says
Hi,
Just want to add here , 118 rejected my complaint and offered £400 “gesture of good will”. Took it to ombudsman and adjudicator upheld my complaint. Now they have till 3rd of November to reply back.
Point is it’s always worth it taking to ombudsman. Good luck 🤞
DO says
Hi There,
I just have a question as I have searched around and wasn’t 100% sure of what to do.
So I have had several TSB loans from October 2016 to date. they are as per below.
01/10/2016 – £7,635
13/03/2017 – £2,500
21/12/2017 – £17,000
04/03/2022 – £16,104
29/04/2022 – £17,813
As you can see there have been massive increases as the time went on, on top of which I had a £3,000 overdraft with them, and dozens of payday loans.
I am out of the payday loan cycle and have paid of the overdraft. With just the TSB loan left after several payday loan refunds. The only reason loan 2 was only £2,500 was due to gambling and winning some money to pay a chunk off (stopped gambling since).
If I was to go for an affordability complaint with TSB, as my mortgage is with them and due to renew next year, could that impact my mortgage?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That ios a huge amount of lending.
If a mortgage fix ends, your mortgage is still with TSB. They should not refuse to offer you a new fix because you have made a complaint about other matters – I haven’t come across anyone having an issue with it.
When was your last payday loan repaid? Have you looked at affordability complaints against them as well?
DO says
Yeah, sorry just to confirm, some of the previous loan would always be paid with the new loan, so only one TSB loan would be open at once.
Yeah I went through all the payday lenders through 2020/2021 and got quite a lot of success, which is what paid off my overdraft and some smaller loans which weren’t upheld by the ombudsman at the time.
I have worked out that in interest I have paid in the last 3 years, just over £14,000, I am still going back through to work out the actual total.
I think I will send the complaint to them today. As they are my only bank, they had visibility of all my incoming and outgoings throughout.
just to confirm, when I say paid that off with the payday loan success, that is most, not all. I still had a few over 2021 and the start of 2022, which took a little longer to pay off.
DO says
letter back today, TSB claim they did all the checks needed and that they cant look into any loans opened over 3 years ago. So i have all my bank statements 3 months before and after each loan, sent to the ombudsman today.
DO says
Hi Sara,
Just wanted to check, with the 6 and 3 year rules, is it that you can complain about things that happened in the last 6 years, then if over 6 years old only if you became reasonably aware within the last 3 years?
As I just spoke to TSB complaints, they confirmed the ombudsman had requested all the data from them yesterday. But I asked them the question, as they disbarred these 2 loans, 13/03/2017 – £2,500 & 21/12/2017 – £17,000 (6 years would be 12/03/2023), due to being over 3 years ago.
Should they have been looked at due to being within the last 6 years, they just said the 6 and 3 year rule can be interpreted many different ways.
Which just seems strange, as I thought it should be a set rule with no deviation on the meaning. The person I spoke to said he deals with multiple affordability complaints every day, so knows what he is talking about. Which just sounded patronizing.
Thanks
DO
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you can complain about things that happened in the last 6 years, then if over 6 years old only if you became reasonably aware within the last 3 years?
yes
Should they have been looked at due to being within the last 6 years, they just said the 6 and 3 year rule can be interpreted many different ways.
Yes they should always be looked at if in the last 6 years. Assuming those dates were the start date of the loans, not the end date, then they are in the 6 year window. TSB are wrong.
MJ says
Hi, I’m looking for a bit of guidance please.
I took out a secured loan in March 2007 with GE Money. This was brokered by Ocean Finance. The loan was subsequently sold to Arrow Global. I have recently paid the loan off.
OF, GE and AG all deny responsibility for an affordability complaint.
I also made a complaint to Arrow on an unrelated matter which ended up being referred to the Ombudsman. As Arrow responded to my affordability complaint in their final response letter I asked the Ombudsman to deal with this as well (and if appropriate to join the other entities as parties.)
The Ombudsman investigator now says that they won’t be able to look into it as their jurisdiction on Consumer Credit Regulated Loans only applies to loans taken out after 6th April 2007.
Is this definitely the case, even though this is a secured loan? I am querying it as the investigator originally told me this wasn’t her area and she would have to pass it to a colleague for the affordability complaint.
Does this mean that my only recourse would be a Court claim?
Many thanks
MJ
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I havent seen a FOS decision on a secured loan before 2007. I am afraid you need to ask this to be looked at by an Ombudsman.
I also think you may have a lot of difficulty with a court claim. I suggest you would need a solicitor for this.
Kerry says
Hi please go to the Financial ombudsman, I did about a 20,000 secured loan and I won against it they should not of sold it to me , I got the extra 6000 back and the loan written off interest free it did take nearly a year but at least I won , I was advised on here to sell my house but glad I didn’t and went to them good luck
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Kerry, your loan was within the last 6 years, that is a very different situation. And I suggested you go to Citizens Advice to get help with making a complaint as the ones discussed on this page are unsecured loans.
Cazza7 says
Hi Kerry
I had a secured loan complained to lender several holding letters now with financial ombudsman
Can I ask how long FOS took to sort out your complaint please?
T says
Hi Sara,
Some more positive news today that Novuna have accepted my complaint and have cancelled interest, reducing outstanding balance and also refunding 8% on the interest paid to date. I have just gone in to arrears on this loan as was looking to default before starting a DMP but they have said they would remove any negative information on my credit file. Does this mean that they wont now default me in the future. Whilst I’m happy to get this confirmation now, it looks like I might have been better off waiting for the account to default before submitting the complaint. Not sure if you have any experience of what might happen?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
it looks like I might have been better off waiting for the account to default before submitting the complaint.
That could be years. It isn’t sensible to wait, much better the get the interest removed.
You can argue that they should not add any negative marks onto your credit record now. Send them a new complaint if they do.
T says
Thanks Sara, I definitely agree that its better to have the interest cancelled now, just trying to get my head round what to do next. I want to avoid an arrangement to pay marker being stuck on my file for 6years after repaying the debt but didn’t know if it will actually be defaulted
shaun says
Hi Sara,
I’ve just had an update from NatWest on my claim and they accepted the adjudication but have said this
In respect of this Nat West Bank said:
Under the circumstances, we have agreed to accept your view; with the following redress to be paid: –
Refund of interest paid on loans two to six totalling £3,609.62 as offered in our Gesture of Goodwill response of 23rd May 2022.
A further refund of interest paid on loan seven totalling £5,178.00.
These refunds totalling £8,787.62 will be applied to Mr, existing personal loan; due to the consolidation of his previous borrowing onto this remaining product.
8% simple interest on the above interest payments totalling as at today’s date is £2,028.66 (£1,622.93 following a deduction of 20% tax); which will be credited to Mr Doran’s Select current account ending 5280; as this related to compensation.
I think the monies mention is brilliant but can they do it this way? End of the day there in the wrong can they dictate how they refund me my money?
Any advice really appreciated as always
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The current loan is loan 8? Is that also being refunded, ie interest is being removed from it?
shaun says
Hi Sara,
Yeah that will be 8 and only been open for I think 6/7 months. I haven’t mentioned loan 8 to them to be honest. With it being open and new.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Oh no. You could have got the interest removed from it. Oh well it wasn’t included in the decision so they aren’t wrong to have not mentioned it.
Yes it’s normal for them to offset the refund against a current loan.
shaun says
Hi Sara,
Bit disappointed I didn’t even realise to do loan 8 as it was new and hadn’t paid much of the loan.
Is it worth claiming against 8 or just be happy and draw a line under it all and be happy with the outcome?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Can you read the FOS decision, does it mention loan 8?
I don’t remember seeing a case where someone didn’t complain about the most recent loan.
Big d says
Hi All,
I applied for £500 loan with everyday loans in October 2021, and was contacted immediately with an offer of a face to face meet ag the local branch, on arrival I was told the minimum would be 1500 and it was suggested it was used to pay off 2 credit cards and a loan I already had, checks were done however lots of information about gambling and crypto were overlooked. I took the loan and in recent weeks I borrow money from my other to pay off the loan as the interest was so high and I was struggling since I neglected to clear my other debts they gave me the extra for. I’ve been on my ass trying to catch up all year, behind on lots of bills but I took a 2nd job and tried as hard as I could to get back on track. I ended up paying everything I borrowed plus full interest and completed the loan 12 months early.
Coming away from it now I’m thinking I was led into a bad situation and was vulnerable at the time so took the money but lots got gambled away, I shouldn’t have taken it but also probably shouldn’t have been offered it in the first place.
Do I have grounds to complain? I not seeking to undo my wrong doing but it dosnt seem right
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So EL saw bank statements showing your gambling and crypto trading?
Big d says
Yeah they did
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then complain immediately and point this out.
Sam says
I have a complaint against Likely Loans currently with the ombudsman. I’ve finally received a response today – I’m a bit confused. I had 2 loans with them, one £1000 and the next £1500. I complained about both but I mostly want loan 2 to be upheld. Below is the ombudsman response regarding Loan 2:
With reference to loan two, I think the lender should’ve taken steps to build a more detailed picture of your financial situation. This could’ve included asking you for more information at the time of lending – for example, payslips, bills, or bank statements that showed your income and expenditure. I can’t see that it did this. I say this because it appeared that due to Covid-19 you were having difficulty repaying the first loan. I think Oakbrook Finance should’ve done more to ensure your circumstances had improved. Normally, I would consider your bank statements for around the time of the sale to see whether the business would’ve found anything concerning which might have affected its decision to lend. I understand loan two is currently outstanding. I’d like to remind Oakbrook Finance of its obligations to treat you sympathetically and positively if you’re having difficulties repaying the loan.
I did originally send my bank statements but it doesn’t look like it’s been looked at. I’ve asked for a an ombudsman to review. Any idea why they wouldn’t have been looked at?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you asked the adjudicator? You need to do this, not just say sen£ the case to an Ombudsman.
Stacey says
Hi, looking for advice.
I sent an affordability complaint to vanquis LOANS, just 3 hours later they’ve emailed me saying acknowledgement of my complaint and I quote, ‘As a responsible lender and, as the complaint states that you are in financial difficulty and cannot afford the card, we need to inform you that that your existing card facility has been suspended’ surely this isn’t aloud considering 1, I never stated it was about a credit card, I clearly said LOAN. 2, I never said I AM on financial difficulties I said I was when the loan was taken. I feel if they are going to involved my credit card and suspend it then surely they should include that in my complaint/request for refund?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How large is the balance on the Vanquis credit card? Did they increase your limit while you were only making minimum payments?
Stacey says
My outstanding balance on the credit card is £667 the limit is £700 it used to be £1000 limit but a while back they decided to reduce it.
However the loan I am initially complaining about has been fully paid off for around 3 years. I’ve never missed or had late payments with the credit card and have used it regularly up untill that email they sent today.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did you have the credit card when you had the loan? Did they increase the card limit to £1000 or was it that at the start?
Stacey says
I had the credit card first I think :/ and it was an increase, I started initially with £250
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then it sounds as though they may have increased the limit while you had the loan…. I suggest you now send them a complaint about the credit card too, saying they should not have done this. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-catalogue-credit-card/ which has a template for credit cards. Add to this template that this is in edition to your previous complaint about a loan and they should not have increased your credit limit after giving you a loan. Also say you want to complain that they have acted unreasonably by closing your card when you made a complaint about a loan that has already been settled.
Stacey says
Okay, thank you.
I’ve just realised I could possibly also claim for previous catalogues.
However I don’t want a repeat of what’s happened with vanquis. What would your advice be on..
Jd Williams, littlewoods, and studio catalogue I had over £1000 debt on each, all 3 ended in a CCJ. I’ve been paying off at £10 a month to each as agreed with the courts to prevent bailiffs. However over the past year being back on my feet ect, I’ve opened new credit accounts with the same 3 companies. Difference is I’m not a young 18year old first time mum with no income. I can actually afford the bills this time round. If I was to make a complaint for previous debts and ccjs would they close my new accounts. The debts/ccjs was all 2015/16
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you include in your complaint a line saying that you want to be clear you are complaining about the account opened in xxxx, not your current account opened in the last year that you have no affordability concerns about.
Sam says
Hi,
I made an irresponsible lending complaint to likely loans a couple of years ago. The complaint was rejected and in my lack of understanding I just ignored the email and accepted it had been rejected. Am I able to make a new complaint? Or has the opportunity passed
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry you have to go to the Ombudsman within 6 months. And you can’t start a new complaint as your previous one was answered.
Ernest says
Good evening SARA .. just quick question pls can you make complain about resolve loan pls?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
who is the lender?
Ernest says
Barclays bank
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so what was the situation when they gave you this loan?
Ernest says
Un paid debt , credit, overdraft and loan. They give me the loan to cover everything. The loans was £12,000 but left with £2000 now
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what interest rate? have you already complained about the debts that were cleared by it?
Ernest says
I just findout now .. theu said NO interest on the loan because is relsove loans
Sara (Debt Camel) says
then there is nothing to be refunded.
Ernest says
I did but they said is over years and also am not sure about the interest … l will call them to findout
Tim says
Hi Sara,
I am considering putting a claim in regarding my Lloyds bank overdraft which I have had for a few years and used a lot during those years. Mainly due to a gambling problem. I am planning on applying for a mortgage mid next year and just want to check if I put a complaint in and mention gambling issues are they potentially going to mark that against my account etc so if I was to apply with Lloyds it might lower my chance? I will have paid a lot in interest on the overdraft (estimate 2k+) so it would be nice to get a refund but I don’t want to affect my chance of getting a mortgage or have a ‘black mark’ against my account
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t think you should apply for a mortgage to Lloyds (or Halifax) as your account with them has shown gambling even if you don’t make a complaint. Go elsewhere for a mortgage!
Tim says
I always used PayPal show they mostly show up as PayPal on bank statements so wouldn’t indicate gambling. If I made a claim I would probably need to show PayPal statements to back up the claim. Also they were nearly 2 years ago. So my thinking is if I claim I’m alerting them to a previous gambling issue so might be best to just leave it. Would a bank be able to alert other banks about an issue like that?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Would a bank be able to alert other banks about an issue like that?
No. There is no secret blacklisting network.
It’s up to you. If you have got over your problems and will be fine getting a mortgage next year, then fine.
Hayley says
Hi Sara
Just after some advice please, In July I made an affordability complaint to Santander for my overdraft (£2800)from 2016, I was constantly in it I had gambling transactions on my account etc, Santander declined this so forwarded to the Obudesman who agreed in my favour so santander had to pay me all interest fees and 8% interest, I also had a personal loan of £9100 with santander in total I had payed them £11,379 back, At the time of taking the loan out I had gambling transactions etc, Do you think I have a chance with santander over the loan ? Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, I suggest you make a claim about this.
Gia says
Hi Sara,
I used one of your templates to contact 118 re unaffordable loans (thank you!)
I received an offer today which I didn’t expect at all! Still it’s only half of the interest paid so I have emailed the FOS
My question is.. if the FOS investigate and reject my case, do I lose that offer from 118?
Thanks so much,
Gia
Sara (Debt Camel) says
have you had several loans from 118?
Gia says
One original loan which was topped up 3x so it shows at 4 on my account
They have agreed to refund me the interest plus 8% but don’t accept that they acted irresponsibly so refuse to uphold that part of the complaint
I’m not sure what to do as on one hand I did not expect to get anything at all BUT I believe they did lend irresponsibly. Do I have anything to lose by asking the FOS to step in?
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Are they refunding the interest on all of the loans? Or just some of them? You said they are only refunding half.
Gia says
Sorry Sara, I may have been confused. I’m not very savvy in these matters!
I will copy the response..
“I have not upheld your complaint regarding the first agreement; however, I will be upholding your complaint regarding the second, third and fourth agreement and the reason I say this is because I feel that we could have asked more questions of you to be able to fully assess your circumstances; I appreciate that this is not ideal and for this I am sorry, however, it is important to note that I don’t agree that our loans solely contributed to the position you have now found yourself in but I do feel that we could have done more.
As a result of the above, as you repaid the loan a refund of interest is due to you. You have paid a total of [approx 8k] to the loans and therefore, the amount of [approx £3900] can be refunded to you and once the amount has been refunded to you; this would mean that you would have only repaid the loan amounts with no interest.”
I basically wanted to know if this is the response I should be happy with? I do believe the first loan should never have been approved, which is why I contacted FOS but I don’t want to jeopardise this offer in doing so. If that makes sense?
Thanks again
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok so let’s have some figures on the loans.
How large were each of the loans in order, so 800, 1200, 1200 etc
Did each loan repay the previous one or did you have more than 1 at once?
Gia says
I only had one at a time, each one paid off the last one
It’s been a while but off the top of my head, the first was for 2k then another for 2k. I’m sure I owed 8k in total over a 2 year period
Maybe I should accept the offer, it’s a decent amount
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So an offer to refund the later three loans obviously isn’t dreadful. But the first loan was large, so if you want to the Ombudsman it’s possible you may get refunded it. If the first one was 800 and then 3 loans of 2000 I would say don bother, but they should have made proper checks on a loan of 2k even if it was the first one.
In theory the Ombudsman can make any decision. In practice they usually take the simple route and say The lender has agreed to refund this so I will look at the loans that are in dispute.
It’s up to you. It’s not a bad offer and it’s nice to get it sorted quickly.
Gia says
Thank you very much for all your help Sara
I found my documents and original loan was for 2k, 7 months later a top up of £600, 6 months after that £700 then 6 months after that £1200
It’s not a bad offer at all and I didn’t want to be greedy but it was definitely irresponsible lending (on both sides) I was not in a good place and my bank account was depressing reading, pay day loans everywhere! Lesson learned for sure
If the FOS did look into my case, do 118 have to pay the original offer either way? This was my concern
I may just accept. Your template did all of this for me.. I’m so grateful
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If the FOS did look into my case, do 118 have to pay the original offer either way?
FOS can make any decision in theory. But in practice they look at the loans that are in dispute. I can’t recall a case where a lnder has offered a full refund For loans 2-4 and the ombudsman has said some of those should not be refunded.
Nick s says
Hi Sarah
Can we make affordability complaints to tsb bank loans? I have taken one out one loan in 2020 and then topped it up in March 2022.
Do tsb take a long while to reply (don’t know if anyone has previously complained to tsb)
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes you can.
They tend to reject a lot, so send this to the Ombudsman if they do this with your case.
Also were they your bank? If they were, did you have an overdraft or credit card with them at the same time?
Nick s says
Yes TSB are my main bank… initially I took a £7000 loan in November 2020 and topped up a further £15000 in March 2022… and in July 2022 I took out a credit card. No agreed overdraft.
I am on GamStop now so I haven’t gambled in the last few months but I have been a heavy gambler over the last few years.
I have 2 bank accounts- main one is tsb where I get paid my wages. And I used to use my Lloyds bank for mainly gambling purposes
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so would your TSB account have shown transfers to the Lloyds acount?
Nick s says
Yes… there are many transactions back and forth to these accounts
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then this sounds like a good complaint. TSB may not have known what you used the other account for, but a lot of transaction is abnormal. Also they should have asked themselves why yuou needed to borrow more money after the first loan.
I suggest you also put in a complaint about the credit card, saying TSB should have seen from your bank account that you were in financial difficulty.
Maggie says
Hi I just wondering if I could make complaint about irresponsible lending to Evolution Money company (secured loans) I borrowed £12000 in 2015 didn’t pay as I had several problems I still have £15000 back to pay. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
did these problems occur straight away? of after several years?
Meggie says
Hi thank you for quick reply the problems started straight away thanks
Jess says
Yes they would, wouldn’t they!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then you can make a complaint. very few complaints about secured loans have been made, so there is no history to go on.
In addition to the complaint about affordability, if you are being charge for being sent letters about arrears, add up what those charges are and say that they are unreasonable and do not relect the cost to the lender of producing the letters and ask for that to be refunded.
Let me know what happens?
Expect this to be rejected and have to go to Financial Ombudsman.
DO says
Just an update on a complaint I have with TSB. As well as one with Hitachi/Novuna. Apologies for the length.
So TSB have called me 2 weeks after the ombudsman asked them for the info they need. To offer a £500 goodwill gesture on 5 loans over the last 6 years. Which I declined, as I have worked out in that time in total I have paid £16,334 interest. They tried to reiterate what they said on their letter, quoting “It is ultimately for the ombudsman to decide whether they can consider your complaint, but we believe it now outside their jurisdiction”, this was about 3 of the loans being over 3 years old, but within 6 years. Tried to tell the guy that the 3 year rule was only for complaints over 6 years and he just said I’m wrong and he knew what he was talking about as he did this every day. Needless to say, I stayed polite but said I will happily wait for the ombudsman to come back, as I believe I have a strong case and believe I will get close to the total £16k back.
Novuna – I had a loan with these for £10,000. only had it with 11 months running concurrently with TSB loan as well, but they have come back to say even when looking at bank statements, it shows monthly, I had an income of £1,719 on average, paid £650 on average on other loans (payday and TSB), £46 on overdraft charges, £231 to them for the loan I had, plus £580 for my mortgage. Leaving me with £212 per month on other bills and food, which they said they believe is reasonable. I am unsure how they think that, as council tax alone takes over half. My application also said I had a dependent (newborn daughter) and wife was on maternity, so I had the only income. Sending to the Ombudsman as soon as I get the email from them, as they told me this on the phone.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am honestly surprised TSB is persisting with this bizarre stance on loans over 3 years old.
Kelsey says
Hi Sara
Hope you are well. A family member of mine who is vulnerable has recently applied and received a loan from Admiral finance. (Compulsive Gambler) When going through the process Credit Kudos did an open banking check. My family member had a number of gambling transactions and in the 3 months which were visible had around 60K go in and out due to transferring to other accounts and gambling. Is this something open banking should have picked up as when approved there were no further checks? They also got the pre-approval from Totally Money website when he put his expenditure at 5k a month. Credit Kudos then did there checks further. The person in question is getting support now thankfully.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you mind saying how large the admiral loan was?
And what was his income from salary at the time?
Kelsey says
The loan was for 4000 pound and the salary was 25k. Credit rating ok I believe but credit kudos showed over a thousand transcstions between his accounts.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think that is worth a complaint then. OB showing gambling and a very large number of transfers should have made them think and probably reject this loan.
Hayley says
Hi Sara I’m after some advice please, My partner has currently got a loan with Bamboo Loans he has had 3 more off them in the past (top up loans) In total he has paid around £4500 in interest upto now, He made the complaint to Bamboo loans who have replied back today and declined it, However they have said they will reduce his balance from £2139 to £1283, Do you think he should go to the Obudesman? Is there a chance he could loose ? many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
are the current repayments affordable? How large were these loans in order eg 500,800, 1000 …
Hayley says
No not really as he lives in his £900 overdraft and just gets by each month, The 1st loan was for £2000, The second was for £3000 which got topped up by £900 after 5 months this got topped up again for an additional £2000 loan, many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That looks like a strong complaint and Bamboos offer is not good.
But they will sometimes be prepared to negotiate. he could replay that he would be happy if they clear the current debt, but otherwise he will be sending it to the Ombudsman? From what you have said, that is a compromise and he may be able to get more from FOS… but would you prefer a speedy settlement even if it is lower?
In theory the Ombudsman can make any deciaion they want. But those are large loans and I would be very surprised if the Ombudsman doesnt decide at least the last one is unaffordable, probably more.
Hayley says
He is going to reply back to Bamboo and negotiate and hope they clear the current debt, Thank you for your help
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If they don’t then this sounds like. Very good case to go to the Ombudsman
Karol says
Hi Hayley,
All depends on the circumstances, but I’ve listened to Sara and I won against bumble. I didn’t need to repay my APR.
I am eternally grateful for this site!
Karol
Hayley says
This site is great Karol It has helped me a lot I won with Santander for my overdraft and Vanquis for my credit card so I am now just over £4000 better off
Karol says
Financial ombudsman, uphold my complain and I did not needed to pay apr on a Bamboo loan, which saved me £10000. When I made a complaint to Bamboo they have agreed twice to lower the amount but I decided to take my case to FoS and I won.
lisa says
Ive sent a affordability complaint to everyday loans, which they’ve rejected because they’ve said that they made checks and we had disposable income at the time of taking out the loan.. It was a joint loan and was both in alot of debt at the time, which in total was nearly £32,000 and had maxed most of the credit cards out and was only paying minimum payments. Should I take this up with the ombudsman?? The loan will be paid off in Aug 2023. I’m In a dmp with stepchange and my partner pays the remaining balance every month because of being a joint loan
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes send this to FOS. Every lender makes their rejection letter try to sound convincing and yet they lose cases when they are taken to the Ombudsman…
Have you looked at affordability claims against the other debts in your DMP? eg cards, overdrafts as well as loans?
Lisa Rhodes says
Thanks for the reply.. That’s great thanks I will send it to the ombudsman, I was expecting them not to uphold the complaint to be honest because they are a nightmare company to deal with.. No I haven’t tried with the others, I think i will be looking into it in the new year, my others were aqua, marbles, capital one and barclaycard which were all credit builder ones that were always increasing your credit limit and have all been passed onto debt collectors now and I pay through stepchange..
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Increasing your credit limit if you were only making minimum payments is definitely worth a complaint. Use the template here https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-catalogue-credit-card/
Aqua & Marbles is a single complaint to Newday.
I suggest you get on with these asap, it doesn’t take long to send off and the complaints can take a long while if they have to go to FOS.
Lisa Rhodes says
Thankyou, I will do this then before Xmas, thankyou.. Will I also need my account numbers for a complaint with them?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You will need to provide enough details (name addresses date of birth etc) so they can identify your account if you don’t know the numbers. StepChange may have them?
Lisa Rhodes says
That’s great thanks.
Jax says
I’m still waiting on an outcome from an ombudsman regarding my Zopa complaint. It was allocated 12 weeks ago and the adjudicator keeps saying it hasn’t been looked at yet. The adjudicator has changed since the original adjudicator too. Is this usual?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well it sometimes happens that an adjudicator changes roles at FOS, leaves or is unwell. I suggest you ask every couple of week swhat is happening and if they need any more information from you
Jax says
On another note, Barclays refunded charges and interest on my overdraft last December back to 2016. In August 2017 they gave me a 5k loan. Today I have had a very protracted online chat with someone at Barclays. I asked them to remove the default from my credit file as the loan was funded during the time they deemed my overdraft to be unaffordable. They said in the chat that the charges on my overdraft were refunded due to lock down as a gesture of goodwill. Obviously lockdown wasn’t until March 2020 so I challenged this. They also said I could have asked for a payment holiday during lockdown and I didn’t. Barclays had already defaulted the loan by that time. I’ve asked them to raise a formal complaint requesting a refund of all interest and charges and removal of the default. I was only really bothered about the default initially to be honest but after the chat experience I thought I’d ask for a refund too. Loan is paid off. Let’s see what happens.
Jax says
Also, they continued to add interest after the loan was defaulted so I’ve raised that too.
Sam Carvell says
Hi Jax
Unfortunately, they can add interest to the total defaulted amount, until it is paid in full, you will find those terms in your contractual agreement, that you agreed to.
Sam
Lydia says
Hi Sara.
I just wanted to ask advice on a potential affordability complaint to Natwest.
Mar 22 – Took out loan £7450 (Apr 22.19%)
Sep 22 – Took out Credit card £2200 with transfer at zero % for 22 months – Transferred over prev debt from other high cost cards – Fluid
Dec 22 – Took out further £4000 loan from Natwest (Apr 27.9%)
Had year’s of living in overdraft with Natwest £500 limit) and around 6k debt currently on cards with 118/Vanquis/Fluid/Next/Very catalogue
My partner was supporting me with payments against this credit, however we have now split. I earn roughly 1.5k per month and have two young dependents. Do I have grounds to make complaints?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you have just taken out the second loan? Was this before or after your separated from your partner? What was this loan for?
Do you have a house with a mortgage?
Lydia says
Hi Sara, partner was paying rent but now that’s going to fall on me. Renting and used to fund gambling habit unfortunately. Nov 22 (not dec) before separation
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Was the gambling habit clear on your bank statements.
Are you getting help with this?
Private rented or social housing?
Lydia says
Private renting, some are clear others were transfers to partner for their account. I wasn’t the one with problem but now left with debt if that makes sense.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
On the basis that some payments were showing and there were large and unexplained payments going to your partner, I think this is worth a complint. A bank should not lend money when it suspects there is a gambling issue. In particular it should have queried why you needed a second loan less than a year after the first – the fact the interest rate is so very high shows the bank knew your finances were in a difficult poision.
I think you should also look at making affordability complaints to all the credit cards you had if they increased your limit when you were only making minimum payments. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-catalogue-credit-card/
Lydia says
Thank you so much for getting back to me.
Gary says
If you have been through FOS and won case but money is still outstanding at debt collectors, can the debt collectors take you to court or legal proceedings if the debt is not paid? Even though all bad marks ets are removed from credit file
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, but they should not if you make an affordable offer to repay this. This has not been a problem in practice.
Gary says
Thank you for reply, once gone through to debt collectors can they put the debt on credit score even though FOS told original loan company to remove any bad marks. Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if this was sold before the FOS decision, then the original lender will arrange fr the debt purchaser to remove negative marks.
if it is sold after the FOS decisio, it should be sold with the condition that no negative marks are added.
(NB this does depend on you make a sensible, affordable offer to repay, you can’t just decide to offer £1 a month to a 5k remaining balance when you could afford a lot more.)
Kirsty says
Will doing this negatively impact my credit rating? I had several loans in 2020 (that have been consolidated as they were unaffordable) and I am sure I could successfully get money back from Virgin Money, Post Office Loans, Oplo and First Direct but I don’t want to do this if it will impact my credit rating negatively. Will it show on my credit file? Thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No it doesn’t show on your credit record. Only the lender (and any other companies in their group) know you have made a complaint.
If you win a complaint any negative marks (missed payments, defaults) should be removed so your rating improves.
MJ says
Hi Sara
Thank you in advance for any guidance you may be able to provide. My situation is as follows:
In 2018, I took a loan for £4000 with Bamboo, the third loan I’d had with them in the space of two years. I defaulted on repayments due to a change in employment, but more significantly, the impact of a serious gambling addiction. This came at a time when I was juggling loans from multiple payday/short term lenders on a weekly basis.
Since then, the debt was sold to TBI whose tactics have included regular emails and phone calls, including one call to my most recent employer. I have just received a default notice from TBI asking the balance of £6560.45 to be paid in full before January 23rd.
So, today, I sent a mail to Bamboo, following the guidance above. I included bank statements from my main bank account but the funds were paid in to a second account which is now closed. I will try to track down statements from that account also.
Have I left it too late? Is it a question of waiting? Any guidance, greatly appreciated and thanks for all the help and expertise you provide to people. 👏
MJ
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s not too late (although earlier would have been better as you may not be getting the hassle from TBI.) Yes it is just a case of waiting.
Tell TBI you are disputing the debt with Bamboo.
Have you also complained about the payday loans and other high cost debt?
MJ says
Hi Sara
Update on this following my complaint to Bamboo:
Following the submission of the complaint, TBI suspended any pending action.
Today, I received an email from Bamboo with a “final response”. In that, they have said:
“Bamboo believes it made a fair lending decision in approving your loans after carefully considering your circumstances and affordability and we are therefore unable to uphold your complaint.”
They have offered “to reduce your balance by £2,084.23. This is equivalent to 50% of the interest on the (current) loan.”
There’s no mention of gambling in their assessment of my bank statement, in spite of significant gambling transactions being visible on my bank statements.
What would you recommend?
Thanks in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what would statements from the other bank account have shown?
MJ says
The account that the funds were paid in to shows multiple gambling transactions. My other account, which I also provided to them, was used for two earlier loans and that also shows gambling and other payday loans at that period.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, if the statements you have sent showed gambling, it doesnt really matter that there is another account that also showed gambling. But the Ombudsman will want to see all the ststements.
Your choices now anre to go back to Bamboss and ask them to look again, say the complaint goes to FOS in a week if they don’t make suitable offer, or to send it straight to FOS,
MJ says
I replied to Bamboo and said I would consider a revised offer if it also corrected the negative marks on my credit rating. They replied with the following offer:
“agree to remove all negative information from your credit file once the capital balance (ie the £4000.00 that you borrowed from us) has been repaid”
I’v already repaid £1600 on this loan so it feels like there may still be something to be gained from rejecting this latest offer? Any thoughts appreciated.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What is the rest of your current financial situation like?
Do you have other problem debts? Have you made affordability complaints about other debts?
How much can you afford to pay to this Bamboo debt a month?
Are bamboo proposing to buy the debt back from the debt collector or get the debt collector to adjust the balance?
MJ says
What is the rest of your current financial situation like?
Currently unemployed with no savings
Do you have other problem debts? Have you made affordability complaints about other debts?
I tried using the third party tool to chase other loans but with no success. Some payday providers who folded paid out meagre sums.
How much can you afford to pay to this Bamboo debt a month?
£100?
Are bamboo proposing to buy the debt back from the debt collector or get the debt collector to adjust the balance?
They’ve mentioned arranging this with TBI.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So do you have other debts?
MJ says
Hi Sara, no, only other current debts are c. 1k credit cards but those accounts are all in good shape.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you are unemplyed I don’t see how you can manage to pay 3100 a month to Bamboo.
They havent offered to remove all the interest, and it would take you a very long while to repay the ba;ance they are suggesting, so it may be sensible to send this to the ombudsman.
MJ says
Final update on this one. Bamboo called me after I’d notified them I was going to the ombudsman. It went before their senior management weekly meeting and they have agreed to wipe off the loan completely and remove any negative references on my credit rating. Very pleased with the outcome and have to give credit (no pun intended) to Bamboo for their communication and willingness to resolve this.
Couple of other observations:
1. It appeared to be the high volume of gambling transactions which made it a strong case.
2. I was at pains to point out the appalling behaviour of TBI who they had sold the debt to and I’m hopeful that will lead to some changes in their tactics
Finally, I’d like to thank you again Sara. You give your time and energy for free on here and it’s incredible. If it wasn’t a community of folks in debt then I’d say that you should charge for it! Thank you 🙏.
Bj says
Has anyone had any dealings with AA Loans regarding affordability complaints, just wondering how they processed or if they were hard to deal with
Jax says
The Ombudsman has upheld my complaint against Zopa. As this is a decision from an ombudsman rather than an adjudicator do businesses typically tend to accept the decision now or may there be a further disagreement from the lender?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
a decision from an Ombudsman is legally binding – Zopa will pay.
(In theory the lender can take the ombudsman to court for a judicial review. This increadibly rare and has never happened for an affordability complaint.)
Jax says
Great thanks Sara, just a waiting game now for calculations and payment then.
Nikki says
Hi jax just wondering how long did it take for an ombudsman to pick up your case after the adjudicator decision?thanks
Jax says
Hi Nikki it’s taken about 16 weeks from being referred to an ombudsman to the decision being issued.
Tim says
Hi Sara,
I took out a loan in September 2022 for £3000 with a logbook loan company and secured it on my car. At the time I was going through some personal problems and also suffering with a severe gambling addiction. Whilst at the time I had excluded myself from online gambling, it is clear to see there was an issue there with thousands of pounds each month being transferred from the bank account the lender viewed prior to approving to loan to the bank account I was using for my gambling. I believe the lender should have asked where the money was going and why there were so many transactions before approving the loan.
I appreciate this was my own doing and thankfully I am on a better path now, but does the lender have a duty to check this before approving a loan or are the statements they ask for purely to confirm income?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you actually stopped gambling. Are the repayments affordable?
Tim says
Hi Sara,
I have stopped gambling now and haven’t placed a bet for 3 months. The repayments are £435 per month over 12 months, I can make this payment (although it does leave me a bit short). My question is regarding irresponsibility rather than unaffordability.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Affordability and irresponsibilty are two sides of the same coin. If the Ombudsman doesn’t think you have lost out by being given an unaffordable loan you are pretty unlikely to get any refund or reduction in your balance.
But if the payment leaves you “a bit short” does that mean that you are borrowing more elsewhere? or getting behind with any bills? If it does, then you do have an affordability complaint and yes, the lender should have taken note of the gambling showing on your bank statements.
Hayley says
Hi Sarah
I sent an affordability complaint to 118118 money for a £2000 loan I had taken out the total amount I had to pay back was £3779, I had quite a few gambling transactions coming out of my bank at the time and was not in a good financial situation, I sent the complaint 16/11/22 they acknowledged the complaint and said the had logged it for that date, Today is the 8 week mark and I still haven’t had a final response from them, Should I get in touch with them and chase this up ? Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would wait until tomorrow then phone them up and ask when you will be getting a reply – say it goes to the Ombudsman on Monday if you hadn’t had a reasonable offer by then.
Steve says
Hi
Have a case agaonst 118 with the FOS – original loan in 2019, top up in 2020. Found in my favour by adjudicator this week – wondered how often 118 accept this or whether they usually go to the ombudsman to make final decision – evidence seems pretty stacked in my favour of being unaffordable both times. Reading the comments I see the wait for ombudsman can be 9 months or so
Becky says
118 responded straight away to mine and refunded in 8 weeks