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?
John says
Hi Sara,
I mistakenly went through a claims company regarding and Aqua claim (mainly due to time restraints, however would not do again). It has been a drawn out process with Aqua constantly ignoring deadlines. The case was referred to the Ombudsman and they made recommendations on how to put everything right.
Aqua responded with an offer in line and partially withheld my complaint resulting in reducing my £3000 balance by £910.79 (calculated).
I went back to claims company and said wasn’t happy with this and could I refer to Senior Ombudsman. They said would not advise this as Aqua have made an offer in line with recommendations. The letter from Aqua I was copied in appears as though they have already applied this amount to my account even though I did not officially accept. The company is no win no fee so does not seem to want to help and said I would need to contact Aqua or Ombudsman myself.
Just seems a bit confusing, would you recommend contacting Ombudsman for clarification?
Happy to send more info if needed (not sure if you have a generic email I could send correspondence to?)
Thanks,
John
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So what is your disagreement – do you think the refunds w should have been from a previous limit increase? Or that it was from the right point but your situation was so bad that that Aqua should have seen it and offered to freeze interest then, so the refund should be. Full one from that point not a partial one?
John says
Hi Sara,
Just disputing the amount as don’t understand the calculation or think it is fair.
Opened – 14/07/2014 – £250
1st increase – 22/12/2014 £550
2nd increase – 18/06/2015 £650
3rd increase – 22/07/2021 – £1,150
4th increase – 24/11/2021 – £2,050
5th increase – 21/03/2022 – £3,250
Since the account opened I have paid Aqua a total of £11,237.98 and still have a balance of £3000 (just over £2000 if I accept their offer as per last message).
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, which credit increase have they decided to give a partial refund from?
John says
Hi Sara,
Thanks Sara,
It’s from the £550, just looking at in more detail and doesn’t seem far off. I have been paying minimum amount for such a long period and the larger amounts was only over the past few years.
Will have paid them over 13k to clear it and would not have received anywhere near that amount.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
can you go back and work out from statements how much interest you have paid since July 2021?
James says
Monzo now taken 18 weeks and still no reply!! Mad. They’ve acknowledged it but just keep apologising for the time it’s taking (with no real substance or explanation) every time I ask.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
send this to the Ombudsman now! Every week that passes delays having your case looked at by FOS.
james says
Sorry, have done and they said they’ll just do their own assessment. Worryingly adjudicator said she’ll keep me updated every MONTH. Previously once it’s got to the adjudicator its been quick (with other cases/banks)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
when did you send this to FOS?
james says
Probably around 6-7 weeks ago. Adjudicator assigned and contacted my on 12/9
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok well that is only last week. Do you know if Monzo has supplied FOS with their case file?
Julie says
Sara is it true that that the ombudsman adjudicators are upholding less affordability complaints. Its just that a lot of the emails on here complain that their complaints are not with held. I am only asking as I myself need to.contact them but feel it’s probably not going to be successful as ombudsman seems to be siding more with companies
Sara (Debt Camel) says
People have worried about this for years. What happens is that people with problems are more likely to post, and post several times, than people whose cases are straightforward. So the comments are full of problems!
Tell us about your case – who is the lender, what was the situation?
Barbara says
I had a complaint with the ombudsman following a decision by creation not to withhold my complaint of irresponsible lending. I had taken out a 6400 loan to refinance credit cards and pay off another high interest loan. Unfortunately as I am a term time only paid general assistant at a school I don’t receive pay for school closure days and I again got into financial difficulties leading to me juggling money between cards to keep up my loan repayments. At the time I took out the loan I had two defaults from a previous dmp plus three out of four weeks on my bank overdraft. The administrator replied saying that creation made adequate searches by pulling a hard pull and as no default was recorded that they couldn’t take it into account. But I had sent creation proof of my Capital one defaults in 2021 and it’s out of my control if the credit company they checked at the time of application didn’t record it. Also the adjudicator didn’t think that creation should have asked for bank statements or proof of income. I really don’t know if it’s worth me asking for this to be sent to the Ombudsman as I read somewhere that an ombudsman rarely disagrees with the adjudicator.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what date was the creation loan taken?
Barbara says
It was taken out in July 2022 Sara
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Why and how did you send Creation proof of the Capital One default in 2021?
Barbara says
When I made the complaint to creation in June past, I also sent them proof of the default that I got from Capital one. The default happened two years ago.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What was the interest rate on the loan?
Barbara says
Sara I think around 40 apr but honestly don’t really understand interest rates. I have decided its not worth the struggle as adjudicator has made up her mind. Thanks though for getting back to me.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The adjudicator may not change their mind but the Ombudsman may uphold your complaint.
That is a very expensive loan. Even if it was half that, the lender knew you were in trouble or they would not charge that much. So they should have taken care to verify your income and expenses eg by using bank statements.
Go back and say this and ask for this to go to an Ombudsman if the adjudicator doesn’t change their mind
Barbara Mulholland says
Thanks Sara. I will let it go to the ombudsman. Nothing to lose by doing so. I will let you know what happens.
MM says
Hi Sara, do lenders generally agree with the decisions of the adjudicators? Thank you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, less than 10% of cases go to the Ombudsman level,
Emma says
Hi Sara,
I’ve just found this article. My husbad has had his car finance terminated by Vauxhall Finance, it is £442 a month, so pricey! We originally borrowed £18995 over 60months starting in Jan 2022, have made 20 monthly payments, and now with the fees and interest added on, they are saying we owe £18890 as well as handing back the car?!
I think I have paid aroun £7000 off the balance originally borrowed. (I also paid £3000 cash deposit in the way of part exchanging my old car)
Anyway, I think we have been swindled here, because I’ve looked at our bank statements from the 3 months prior and we only had surplus of between £150-350 per month. This wasn’t checked by either us or the lender (I never checked because you just float along don’t you and don’t always realise what you spend outside of your commitments!), it was a couple of rushed phone calls to get everything sorted as we wanted the car.
The best part of it is, we missed the first payment and we also couldn’t afford to pay our rent on time either!
Anyway, more recently, things have gone seriously south for us recently and we have missed 3 payments with charges mounting on top.
The finance agreement has been terminated and now it’s been passed on to Equivo to deal with of Vauxhalls behalf.
Should I expect action to stop while this complaint is being made and I continue to make complaints? Or should I ask for that to happen? I want to keep the car but I can’t just magic £18000 out of my proverbial, but now I think it was really unaffordable in the first place.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
From what you have said, it seems clear that you cannot afford those monthly repayments. If you make an affordability complaint, you may well win it.
But you have paid less than half the amount that you borrowed. In this situation, if you win it is VERY likely you will have to hand the car back – you would then your deposit refunded, probably a refund of a part of the monthly payments you have made, the balance owed would be wiped and your credit record would be cleaned. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/car-finance-win-affordability-complaint/ which looks at this in detail.
I know that isn’t what you want, but it isn’t clear to me that you have any better option? It doesnt sound as though there is anyway you can pay a lot more than you can afford for many year. The finance agreement has been terminated, so the option of you Voluntarily Terminating it no longer exists (that would have meant hand back the car but it would have reduced the balance you owed a lot).
Should I expect action to stop while this complaint is being made
I can’t say 100% what will happen. But unless you restart paying – and it doesn’t sound as though you can afford that – then it’s likely the car will be repossessed.
So losing the car and making an affordability complaint may be your best option. But I think you should talk urgently to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 about your whole financial situation.
Emma says
Thanks for your advice Sara. I’ve been dreaming of financial freedom and I think letting go of this is probably one of the only ways of doing it.
I’ll get all the information together and I’m going to send it off later today, I do think I might appeal to their better nature by asking for action to be stopped while a solution is found, breathing space perhaps?
Many thanks!
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Stop focussing on the next few weeks and work out how are you going to manage without the car.
Because that is 98% likely to be the result, possibly very quickly. Appealing to their better nature is not at all likely to work.
A breathing space would stop them taking the car for 60 days. This is not a 60-day sort of problem. If you aren’t paying in that 60 days, it will just mean that you get less of a refund back when/if you do win the complaint.
Please talk to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 tomorrow about what your options are.
Emma says
Hi Sara,
I’ve had a reply and Vauxhall have said that they did the appropriate checks because we put an income of £60k and had clear credit history. So they did stringent checks. They said I’m not due a refund, what now? Complain to the FOS?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes send your complaint to FOS. See the Send to Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) section in the article above.
Definitely attach your bank statements from 3 month before to 3 months after the loan.
Emma says
Hi Sara,
Had a letter from equivo about handing the car back in 14 days or paying £18.8k
The surrender letter says ‘I understand that if I have paid one third or more of the total price of the goods, you cannot repossess them from me without a court order or without my consent’
I think I have paid one third of the total price of the goods.
My husband doesn’t know that we have got behind on our payments and I’m so scared to tell him how bad things are
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You have to tell your husband about this situation.
Have you talked to National debtline about your options?
Martyn says
Hi Sara
Could you advise me the best email for a loan complaint to the halifax, the onlinecomplaints@lloydsbank.co.uk doesn’t seem to work. No replies
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how long ago did you send in the complaint?
B says
Hi, has anyone had any dealings with Avant? They are objecting to the adjudicator’s decision to investigate.I’ve also an outstanding matter with Progressive Money, adjudicator has found in my favour, do they usually agree with that decision?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Avant stopped lending quite a few years ago. There used to be a LOT of wins against them, now they are rarely mentioned.
B says
Thank you, adjudicator decided FO can investigate as loan was taken out over 6 years ago but Avant disagree so I’ll just have to see what the Ombudsman decides to do. Thank you very much.
Cynthia says
Sara a wee query. I have an ongoing complaint at present with the ombudsman as the adjudicator didn’t withhold it. It was about Creation finance. As part of the process I sent in a copy of my credit file along with other evidence. Today I also started a complaint about irresponsible lending from ulster bank. I was wondering if I will need to send in a new credit report or if they will use the one I’ve already sent in. The loans were taken out the same time.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They should use the same one. Put a sentence in your FOS complaint saying that they already have your credit record on file.
Cynthia says
Thank You Sara. I will add that notice
Cynthia says
Unfortunately the ombudsman sided with adjudicator. I know truthfully that the £6400 loan was unaffordable. I sent in proof of default, credit card debt and bank statements but financial ombudsman says checks can be less for first loan. This person sided totally with creation. I have accepted decision as I have no other choice but have totally lost faith in financial ombudsman giving a fair decision and won’t waste time with them in the future
Nat says
Hi,
I wonder if anyone has any advice. I won a FOS against everyday loans and they agreed to wipe all interest from a loan of 6500. I am on a debt management plan and I have added up the money that I have paid to them since starting the plan as well as the amount they refunded into my loan statement due to interest being refunded . The numbers don’t add up at all and I would have paid over £9000 including their refund but they still say I owe 700. Has anyone had any experience of places still trying to get back more money when the numbers don’t add up at all.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you ask EL for a statement of account showing all the payments you have made to the account both before and during the DMP.
Let me know what happens – this isn’t the first time people have complained about EL in a DMP, but I think you are first one to be clear what has happened after winning a DOS complaint.
AE says
Hi Sara,
I sent in an affordability complaint to Zopa for my partner on a £6,000 loan he took out Nov 2019 which he has struggled with. I believe this was very unaffordable for him at the time and shouldn’t have been approved due to him having several maxed out credit cards and loans besides bad credit.
Zopa has replied with this below, I wanted to ask your opinion if this is a good resolve or should I be sending off to FOS?
“According to the contract your total amount payable would have been £9,209.31. You will not be making any payments towards the interest nor any payment greater than the funds you have been provided with.
Zopa will no longer report the loan agreement to the Credit Reference Agencies, and we will remove the loan from your Credit File, this includes any previous negative impact.
Looking into the payments received so far, as of 12 October 2023 you have paid Zopa £3,946.72. Therefore, your remaining balance owing to Zopa is £2,053.28 to make up the £6,000.00, Zopa credited you with.
As you have not repaid funds greater than what you have been given, there is no refund of monies to provide. I’d also like to take this opportunity to explain that we do not charge late payment fees and as such, no such fee has been levied against your loan.
You can create a plan to your affordability with our Repayments Team, which will be reviewed periodically and should any plan you agree become unaffordable, this can be reviewed sooner upon your request.”
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Unless you think Zopa’s numbers are wrong and he has paid them more than 3946 so far, this is fine – it is a “full refund” by removing the interest from the loan. Good result.
If he is making any other affordability complaints, or may in future, he should download and then keep a copy of his current credit record that shows this Zopa loan now, before it is deleted. Then he has it available to show the Ombudsman in any other cases
AE says
No, he says the numbers are correct!
Thank you! I am making further affordability claims and I have a reply from Tesco (which I have a question on), I will post to you in the credit cards section now.
Matt says
Hi I am in a very similar position I took out a loan at almost the same time and my finances were almost in the same position 10k overdraft 15 k owing on my credit card and two personal loans totaling 20k Zooa approved a further loan of 9k.
I have raised a complaint that it was not affordable. Zopa has responded by asking for 6 months of bank statements did you also have to provide statements not sure how to respond. Can you please advise if you were asked to provide bank statements or any other documents.
AE says
Hi Matt,
No I didn’t have to provide any bank statements to Zopa – they were very quick also to uphold the complaint (I believe within a week we got a reply).
Matt says
Thank youu
Martyn says
Hi Sara
What do I do if the card company newday says they can’t find my account or details.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how old is this account?
Martyn says
Hi I closed it in 2021 it’s on my credit report
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you have any emails relating to it?
Have you shown them the credit report?
Matt says
Has anyone got any experience with 118118 Money? I’ve had an adjudicator rule in my favour on a number of loans, and given 118 until the 24tb October to accept or refuse the findings. Just wondering in anyone’s experience, did they accept the decision from adjudicator and if so, how long did they take to reply and settle the case? Thank you!
Dan says
Had they replied to the adjudicator decision by today? On my complaint they had until 26th October to respond and nothing as of yet.
Matt says
Hi Dan,
Quick update. They accepted adjudicator decision on 20th October. All agreed with the findings now, but so far no further contact from 118118. Was advised that they have 28 days to make payment, but so far have not responded or offered payment, I just keep receiving the reply that the complaints are aware of the action they need to take and will be in touch.
Holly says
How did you get on with this? Was you advised about declaring to HMRC? I’ve had a complaint upheld by the FOS and now 118 are saying I should declare to HMRC depending on my tax status, just looking for advice!
Catherine says
Hi Sara,
I am helping my 20 year old daughter with an affordibiity claim for car finance. She is working on a part time, temp contract but given a loan which accounts for over a quarter of her salary (over a half when insurance is taken into account). They didn’t ask for bank statements and she was already missing payments to other creditors before the loan was given.
Because she is only 4 months into a 4 year loan, should she request to voluntarily give the car back (I know you’re supposed to have paid back 50% to do this). And should she ask for a reduced monthly payment.
Thank you!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So she doesn’t need the car?
Catherine says
Yes she does need a car to get to work but maybe a much cheaper one we could buy for a few hundred pounds. She paid £1500 deposit for her current car so I don’t know if she’d stand a chance of getting any of that money back.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can VT a car at any point – if it is before you have paid 50%, then the rest becomes a debt that you owe that you need to repay. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/vt-end-car-finance-early/ for more details. She can ask for a reduced payment to do this. IIt will harm her credit score but if the current payment is unaffordable it minises the amount she has to pay and her credit score is already poor.
From what you have said, this sounds like a good affordability complaint. Enclose 3 months of bank statements from before the application and 3 months after when you complain. Who is the finance lender?
As she is only a few months into the loan, I suggest she changes the standard template above for a return of her deposit and for the balance after the VT to be written off and not to affect her credit score. There is no interest to be refunded. And any “fair usage charge” refund (see https://debtcamel.co.uk/car-finance-win-affordability-complaint/) would be very small.
I also think she should probably talk to a debt adviser about her whole situation. She could phone National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 – they can advise on the VT and on her other debts as well.
Catherine says
The finance lender is CA Auto Finance.
Thanks so much for your advice, Sara.
Catherine says
Hi Sara,
Just a quick follow up question – if my daughter decided not to VT the car, but carry on with the affordability claim, could she ask the car finance company to cancel the loan, or are the only options to VT (nogotiating a lower payment) or to carry on.
Thank you!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I’m sorry I am not quite clear what you are asking.
Has she made an affordability complaint? Making an affordability complaint is best seen as seperate from the decision about what to immediatley do with the car. Because winning the affordability complaint is almost certainly going to result in the car having to be handed back if hasn’t already been VTd or repossessed.
There are no options here for someone so early on in a car finance term to be able to keep the car if the current monthly payments are unaffordable. And it is HIGHLY unlikely that the car finance company would agree to accept lower payments.
Is it possible to carry on paying the finance while the affordability complaint goes through? If it isn’t, then she either has to VT it now (simple, less stress) or the car finance lender will probably look to repossess the car even if an affordability complaint is in progress.
Catherine says
Sorry to be so confusing. She hasn’t made the affordability complaint yet but is drafting it now. We were just unclear about what to ask for in the affordability complaint letter if we didn’t want to VT it – should we ask them to terminate the contract so she can give the car back, or is that seen as VT? Ideally she’d like the contract to be terminated immediately with no further payments to be made, and to have her £1500 deposit back so she can go and buy a much cheaper car outright. Yes, she can carry on paying for the finance while the complaint goes through as her dad and I will help out.
Thanks very much.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What is the advantage to her in not VTing the car at the moment?
VTing the car limits her ultimate liability to half the total credit value if she loses this complaint.
She should not assume that it will be won even though I have said this sounds like a good affordability complaint. There may be some other important fact that hasn’t been mentioned. And there is always the possibility of not winning even a very strong case. This should not put her off complaining, but she cannot assume she will win.
She should also not assume that the complaint will be won quickly. If this goes to the Financial Ombudsman – and a lot of cases do have to – it may be many months.
If she VTs the car, I have suggested “she changes the standard template above for a return of her deposit and for the balance after the VT to be written off and not to affect her credit score. ” She has made so few monthly payments that trying to get a bit back from them is pointless.
But if she doesn’t VT the car and you are making the payments, then I suggest she leaves the template as it is and hopes to get a bit of money back on the monthly payments through a “fair usage” charge being set by the ombudsman. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/car-finance-win-affordability-complaint/ for more about this.
Catherine says
Thanks so much, Sara.
The reason we thought it might be best not to VT the car is that she will have no car but will still have several thousand £’s to pay back. She needs a car for work but we can’t afford to buy her a new car if she gives it back.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well this is up to you if you can afford to carry on paying for the extra months. You cannot assume that this will be sorted out speedily.
Joshua says
Hi Sarah,
I have several cases that I’m thinking of complaining about. I won’t go into great detail but I managed to secure 8 loans within a couple of months, varying from £300 – £6000. Lenders could clearly see from bank statements, that in some cases I had loans go in the day before but still approved. I am now on a DMP to help clear these. As some of them are still fairly fresh and I didn’t pay much back before entering a DMP, is it still worth challenging these companies?
Many Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
did the lenders check your bank records before offering you a loan?
Josh says
Hey,
Yes, I had to connect via my banking app for 6 out 8 of them.
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
When a loan goes into a DMP it normally has all the interest for the loan term included in the balance. So winning an affordability complaint can really reduce what is owed in the DMP and it will finish sooner.
I suggest you make a time line of all these loans – in date order, showing the lender and amount. Then in a complaint you can say to lender C athat they could seen via open Banking that you had bborrowed £500 from lender A and £1200 from Lender B 2 weeks before – this should have alerted lender C to that fact that you had big financail problems and they should not have given you this loan.
Louise says
Has anyone had any luck with AA loans (Bank of Ireland provide loan)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, same as any other mid cost lender. Your complaint goes to the Bank of Ireland (foscomplaints@boi.com, put Affordability Complaint about AA loan as the email subject) not the AA.
It isn’t really a question of “luck”, more what your situation was at the time you took the loan out. If you know the repayments caused problems from very early on, send this to the Ombudsman if Bank of Ireland reject it.
Louise says
Thank you for taking the time to reply.
Poor choice of words on my part, certainly nothing lucky about having to complain about a loan that you feel wasn’t measured appropriately.
I was struggling to find an email address to complain too as well so thank you for very much for providing one.
Nik says
Hi,
I am looking to put in an affordability claim in against novuna who i still have a loan with and in place for a while. Can they ‘cancel’ the loan if i make this claim and demand i pay it back in full?
Thanks!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No. Nice simple answer!
Can you afford to keep paying this while the complaint goes through?
Nik says
Hi,
Yes I can and plan to, just didn’t want an unexpected bill!
Thanks
:)
John says
I’ve had a complaint against Ratesetter with the adjudicator for a 7k loan for a month or so and they’ve not upheld my complaint as they don’t believe Ratesetter had reason to believe the loan was unaffordable.
The adjudicator did say however that another loan I had (a £19,000 loan with the Post Office which was taken out 8 months prior at £340 per month for 6 years) didn’t appear on my credit file.
Do you think I have cause to complain to post office about their negligence in failing to report it?
Prior to receiving the Ratesetter loan I would’ve had about £156 a month left after regular outgoings (which would’ve been needed for food etc) and the monthly repayments on the Ratesetter loan were £164.49 so obviously unaffordable.
I also struggled with a severe gambling addiction during that time (it lasted about 15 years but is now under control) and had Ratesetter checked my statements they would/should have noticed this.
Do you think I have cause to complain to post office about failure to report it?
I did complain to post office separately already about the affordability of their loan which they disagreed with.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The problem is that there are 3 credit reference agencies and the Post Office may not have reported to the one of the ones that Ratesetter checked. You can’t complain to the Post Office about this.
Have you sent the Post Office complaint to the Ombudsman?
Have you made payments arrangements for these unaffordable loans?
A M says
Hi, I’ve made an affordability complaint about lendable to the ombudsman and today got a response saying that they don’t uphold it.
When I took out the 10k loan I had taken another 2 x 10k loans only 3 months prior. (Did use one to pay off the other but still) I had credit card debts totalling more than my annual income but the adjudicator has deemed that , as I hadn’t missed any payments or had any late payments at the time then they see no reason why Lendable’s shouldn’t have given me the loan (I defaulted within 6 months of this on everything)
Is it worth taking it higher or not? I only asked for a reimbursement of the interest balance not even a loan write off
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That seems like a large increase in your borrowing. What were you earning at the time? Did you also have card debts or an overdraft?
Josh says
Hi Sara,
I got the exact same from the adjudicator. They didn’t seem bothered about the level of debt and increase in debt. They were very focused on the fact that if your credit report is clean with no CCJ, Defaults, DMP, Missed payments then the lending is okay as long as you have any money left over after paying the debts and rent. I was in the red after commuting costs and food, and even showed them my budget but it didn’t make a difference. Praying the ombudsman decided different but I know that’s very, very unlikely.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So a lot of this depends on how much you were borrowing and what other debts the lender saw on your credit record.
M says
I had the same with Lendable, it was one of the hardest battles on my road to becoming debt-free. Lendable didn’t uphold my affordability complaint, so sent it to FOS. Investigator at FOS didn’t uphold my complaint either as I had no adverse information on my credit report, despite being in a mountain of debt at the time the loan was approved. I argued that just because someone doesn’t have bad marks on their credit history doesn’t mean they can afford further borrowing. With the help of my credit report and evidence of earnings I had the proof I was way over the equivalent in debt of one year’s annual income at the time the loan was approved. Still not successful I asked the Investigator at FOS to further extend the deadline to gather more evidence to support my case and I put in a SAR request with Lendable. That swung everything in my favour as I had proof they didn’t carry out reasonable and proportionate checks, in fact they didn’t carry out any, some of the information contained in the SAR was inaccurate and they had relied on “industry-standard income verification tools” as they put it.
It took many months to get my result but don’t let that deter you, fight it all they way. I was prepared to escalate further to Ombudsman level if I had to. The result for me was £10k of interest wiped, a hard win, but so worth it in the end.
Olivia says
Hi Sara
I sent an affordability complaint to RBS for a loan of £25k I took out in 2016, the main purpose of which was to consolidate two loans they gave me in early 2016 in the space of about 2/3 months for around £18k, as well as car finance and some credit cards. I was earning about £38k at the time so this was a significant debt. The repayments were 25% of my monthly income. I have complained because I think giving me two huge loans very close to each other (I applied online) when I already had other debt was irresponsible and the large loan was initially declined then granted- but I racked up further debt in place of the consolidated debt. However I only submitted a complaint for the large loan not the first two. They declined it so I will appeal to the FOS but do I need to do anything to get them to consider the first two loans- or is there even any point considering they were consolidated a few months after? What’s the best thing to do?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you should complain about the first two loans now. Which is almost certain to be rejected but then you can send a sinlge complaint covering all 3 loans to FOS.
M says
Hi Sara, have you or anyone any information as to how long the ‘Ombudsman Queue’ is? I’ve a couple of cases that have been referred as the lender doesn’t agree with the investigators decision. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am afraid it seems very individual. 1-3 months is common.
T says
I asked for one of mine to go to the ombudsman and it’s been 4.5months, been told it’s typically 3-4months for similar cases so really hoping I get a decision soon.
Robert says
Hi,
I raised an affordability claim with 118 money due to a rollover loan they offered me through email. They cleared my previous one and provided a much larger one, without viewing bank statements or anything as I was a “valued” customer who had never missed a payment.
They came back to me and said they did not lend irresponsibly but understood I could have incurred some detriment as a result and provided a “gesture of goodwill payment of £1,020 – The loan I claimed in regards to was a loan of £2500, which with interest is sitting at £5400.
They said this is in full and final closure of the complaint and feels like success to me receiving this money back.
Is there any reason to challenge the gesture to try and get them to offer more? Or shall I just take the money and be happy despite the loan coming after my situation had worsened.
They have never asked for any bank statements, either in regards to the loans or the complaints
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Are they offering this in cash? Or as a reduction on the balance?
Are there any missed payments on this loan, because they aren’t offering to clean your credit record.
If you go to the Ombudsman and win, all interest would be removed from this second loan – so £2,900. Large rollover loans may well be unaffordable. If your situation was bad at the time of the second loan this is a serious option for you. If they thought you had a poor chance of winning they wouldn’t have made this offer.
But if you think it is a fair offer, then take it!
Are you making other complaints as well?
Robert says
They are offering it as cash, they offered it on Friday with no chance to reply to the email and the money hit my account last night so I don’t know if this means that I can’t do anything about it?
I assumed as much in terms of making the offer if there was no realistic chance of winning – I was thinking of replying and trying to negotiate the offer up but I don’t know if this would either work with them as I don’t know the company practices, or if this means they would rescind the offer – having already received the money now though I’m entirely unsure if I have any options.
There are no missed payments but the payments have always been a bit tough to make for me – I have just always been scared of missing the payments so made it work somehow.
I have not made other complaints as of yet, but since the time of the rollover loan, two more credit cards have been taken and are at the max now, and I feel as though If I applied for the loan in a standard way and not a rollover way then I would have been rejected so not sure why I was given it.
The offer of cash also confused me as it feels like alot, 20% of the balance nearly, and to send it so quick suggests to me it might be go away money and so to try negotiate but I don’t know what I would be asking for.
Thank you so much for your help
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That sounds odd – to offer this in cash, not take it off your balance and pay you without you accepting it as a settlement of your complaint.
It also means you can’t get them to agree to accept lower payments which would be easier for you.
You do not have to accept this offer. It’s unlikely they will increase it, you would be just wasting your time asking. So you can just send this to the Ombudsman now. (Their email should have said this.) I think you should do this unless you think this is a fair offer.
And the cash? Well I expect you have will have spent it soon or it will have been swallowed up in your overdraft. If they didn’t ask you to accept it, they can’t ask for it back!
Robert says
I found it odd too, especially since I currently have an outstanding balance with them or roughly £5,000 of this loan that I did complain about.
This was what they said in regards to the payment coming in –
“ We have arranged a gesture of goodwill payment of £1020.00 to be made to the bank account number ending ****, the payment will be with you within 14 working days.
Please note the offer is being made in full and final settlement of the whole complaint and of all disputes and matters arising from or connected to the complaint.”
There was no mention of accepting this and like I said received this email on Friday and money hit the account last night. It is not spent yet or in an Overdraft as it went to an older account, but it would be very useful if I did get to keep it.
I’m just concerned that if I send this to the ombudsman they will ask for this money back and I don’t want to push my luck per se, but the swiftness and the oddity of it all feels like go away money.
They also did not ask for bank statements following my complaint, they took my email (the template from here) and made their decision from there – assuming my credit file indicated that what I said was indeed correct.
Again thank you so much for your advice, I’m just stuck and feel as though they have been wrong in what they’ve done, but this money is more than I thought I’d ever get back so unsure whether to just let it lie and try pay off the loan over the next few years.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They are indeed trying to buy you off cheaply. If you accept this, you can’t later change your mind and go to the Ombudsman or make another complaint.
If your situation is OK and you are going to be able able to pay the large balance without difficulty, thenyou may feel this is an OK offer and you are happy to accept.
But if your situation isn’t fine, then going to the Ombudsman sounds best to me. And use the money to pay any urgent bills or debts that you have. Including the next months 118 payment!
Robert says
Is it likely or possible that referring to the ombudsman would mean they would ask for the money back or I would
be required to give this back based on the wording above?
I don’t know anything about the ombudsman so don’t want to go into it if they’re likely to uphold the complaint resolution as they have offered money to me – is this likely?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well they cant make you give back money you have spent… they could I suppose add it onto the balance you owe them but I have never seen a lender try this.
In fact i have never seen a lender do what 118 has done. It is very bizarre to send you cash when you owe them a balance.
Also “goodwill” offers are usually small – here is £50 or £100 to go away. When a lender has made a real offer, the Ombudsman usually starts from the assumption that that is the minimum you should get.
They didn’t say that the offer would be withdrawn if you go to the Ombudsman?
Robert says
No they didn’t say it would be withdrawn- they just said the offer was in full and final settlement of the whole complaint, the key word being offer when in reality they sent me money with no chance to do anything about it.
It has just completely perplexed me as bringing the interest off the loan would decrease it by over £2,500 – whereas it feels like they’ve given me £1,000 to go away and not cause trouble and are hoping that I need it and cannot chance the time to fight them or the risk of them asking for the money back I guess.
The money will be used pretty quickly – I guess I’m just unsure about what kind of success I might find with the ombudsman
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The Ombudsman will consider your case. It won’t be rejected because the lender has made an offer. FOS has seen a lot of poor offers!
Vii says
Just wanted to share my experience – I have 2 loans with Lloyds, and I sent a complaint to them. They rejected it so I sent it further to the FOS, and it was upheld – I got refunded £5658 – this was back in May this year. Very recently my partner won a complaint too – he has loan with Lloyds, and Lloyds rejected the complaint, so he escalated it to the FOS and it was upheld – he is to receive £4330 refund and it will clear the remaining balance + leave some extra. All thanks to the above template!
Herb says
Hi Sara,
in 2021 I had a complaint with New day as I had 3 cards that went to the ombudsman and I received a refund of the interest, Just 2 months later New Day gave me another card. It didn’t have a huge limit (just under 1k) but I’ve been maxed out on it and making minimum payments ever since. It wasn’t done on purpose.
Do I have a good case to complain as I am still suffering finanically and they have me given me card right after just closing 3 others.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how large were the limits on the 3 cards closed?
what is the rest of your financial situation line now? The idea bout winning complaints is that you shouldnt have to borrow like this agin…
Herb says
1 was around 3k and 2 other of 2k.
I should be in a better position but the pandemic was hard and led me borrow again, I haven’t had any missed payments but all these monthly things coming out of my account is really nearly putting me at breaking point.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well they reduced a 7k limit to 1k.
You can try a complaint about i don’t know how likely this is to succeed.
But it sounds as though you have a big problem – I think you should also talk to StepChange about a debt management plan (https://www.stepchange.org/debt-info/debt-management-plan.aspx) for all of your debts, including this newday card. That will get you into a safe position and if the win the complaint it will speed up the DMP.
JEH says
Hi, Lloyds have told me they can’t go back further than 6 years as the system won’t allow them to. The issue is they’ve gone back 6 years, then forward 10 months to a review date, and applied the complaint from then – this was only 10 months before the account was closed and debt sold. The problem had been going on for years – is this right?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
is this for a loan? or an overdraft?
JEH says
It was an overdraft
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What has happened to the account – are you currently paying a debt collector?
They can go back further than 6 years – they are choosing not to.
If you send this to the Ombudsman, the Ombudsman may decide that they can go back further because you have only recently found out that Lloyds should have been reviewing you overdraft each year to check it was affordable, so you have complained within 3 years of finding this out.
The Ombudsman makes rather erratic decisions on this, you may win, you may not.
JEH says
Thanks Sara.
I was paying a debt collector. The debt is now settled and has been since Summer 2022.
Lloyds have upheld the complaint and said I am entitled to a refund. If I go to Ombudsman, might this affect the offer?
Simon says
I had this same issue with Lloyd’s, they told me that they don’t keep info, including bank statements longer than 6 years. I then went onto online banking, although my account was closed I still had an active unused savings account and requested through online chat my statements from 2009. These were posted to me within a couple of weeks. I then supplied these to the Ombudsman when Lloyd’s also told them that they can not go back over 6 years.
John says
Hi can anyone offer advice or experiences. The adjudicator agreed with me that blue motor finance acted irresponsibly. They then agreed with this but queried how the settlement was addressed so fos reworked it and they have to refund what I paid over the cash price. They have another week to agree to this. My question is can they go back on originally agreeing it was irresponsible? Also if they agree at the adjudicator level? How long would I have to wait for the refund ? Does anyone have any similar experiences ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
My question is can they go back on originally agreeing it was irresponsible?
that may depend on whether they agree with how the settlement has been worked.
Scott says
Hi, I was wondering if there is a timescale a lender has to settle after a final Ombudsman decision which went in my favour. I was awarded a decision a month ago and so far haven’t had any real correspondence regarding my account. Just wondered if there was a set timescale they had to adhere to?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s 28 days. But who is the lender and had your account been sold to a debt collector?
Scott says
Hi, the lender was Tandem and no it hadn’t been sold to a debt collection. They have only ever replied to 1 email which confirmed they did have notice of final decision and sent bank details.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then it should be straightforward.
Scott says
Thanks Sara, at least I know there’s a timescale and yes I was hoping it would be fairly straight forward, but will see in next few days. Many thanks S
GS says
So here’s my success story….I had a loan with Bamboo at a very high interest rate. I used the affordability complaint template and sent to bamboo. They came back immediately with an offer to refund 3 months interest which I rejected straight away. They then offered to refund 35% of the interest charged. I was confident I would be able to get them to agree to more so I asked for a compromise to which they rejected. I then sent my complaint to the ombudsman and have today received an offer for all interested to be written off totalling £7621. I’m over the moon and couldn’t have achieved this without using the complaint templates! Thank you!!!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well done for persevering!
Fred says
I have a complaint in with Zopa currently.
In my complaint I have asked them to leave my accounts as is whilst it’s being investigated (I’d continue to make payments etc) I have never missed a payment/late payments etc.
Though I have logged into today and they have defaulted my loan and say my whole CC blance is overdue.
I’ve dropped them an email as a little stressed.
Hopefully it’s just part of their investigation. has anyone else had this happen?
Jono says
Hi Sara,
Big fan of this site btw. Just have an issue with regards to Financial ombudsman,
Basically I complained against money barn and life got in the way so I missed the 6 month window to take it to FO, I did however try and they opened a complaint but turned it down because it fell outside the 6 months,
So I re complained and got generated another final response, I submitted this within the 6 months but the FO are saying they have already investigated even though they didn’t? Here is the last part of the email.
Whilst I appreciate that this is not the answer you were hoping for, I hope it does explain why we can’t look at your complaint in relation to unaffordable or irresponsible lending.
Should you have any complaint points that have not been considered which you would like us to look into, please let me know within the next seven days.
Is there another avenue I can go down to keep the complaint alive as I’m worried what will happen if it’s not looked at and upheld.
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
no, sorry. You only have 6 months to take a complaint to FOS. And you can’t get round this by making the same complaint again.
What is your current financial situation? Do you still owe Moneybarn money?
Jono Hutchinson says
Even though they never actually looked at the complaint?
Yes I’ve been in arrears for 2 years and they have never checked up on me once, allowed me to take a large loan out with no credit checks and ignored all my emails for over a year.
M says
Jono, I feel your pain, I was in a similar situation with FOS.
It’s interesting you say ‘life got in the way’ – I’m not asking you to tell all on here, but you could explain it to FOS. I’m not saying it will change their decision, but it’s worth a try. I always communicate by email, but on that occasion I did rise above my anxiety to telephone FOS. I spoke to a very sympathetic lady who got back in touch with the Investigator to explain my circumstances. Tell them what has happened to you.
A few weeks later I got the result I wanted, a refund of all interest since the loan was taken out, deducted from the remaining balance and interest frozen until cleared. It was life changing for me.
I really don’t want to give you false hope that you will be successful, but it’s worth a try. What do you have to lose? At least you will know in your heart that you have tried every possible avenue which will help you deal with the situation as it is and make a decision moving forward that is right for your circumstances.
Very best of luck.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t make the rules.
Is the car essential for you? What other debts do you have?
Mia says
Hi Sara,
I had a complaint upheld against 118 Money. Original loan amount £2,000 + £1,258.36 interest, £3,258.36 in total.
When the complaint was upheld the balance was £2,443.77 and as such 118 removed the interest of £1,258.36* from the account which means that the balance has reduced from £2,443.77 to £1,185.41.
The ombudsman said that they should work out an affordable repayment plan with me if there is a remaining balance however, 118 are saying that I need to contact the collections department and enter a payment arrangement with them that will show on my credit file as it’s a fixed sum agreement, surely this defeats the object of an affordability complaint being upheld and them accepting the ombudsman’s decision.
Should I go back to the ombudsman with this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, tell your adjudicator.
Cal says
Hello, I’ve had a reply from the ombudsman and they are asking what I used the loan for, I used it to pay off an overdraft I have and towards another loan I had, I took a bigger loan to clear the loan/overdraft but didn’t use the rest for anything in specific, if I say that could it be used against me? This is my 3rd complaint I’ve put in and 2 of them have come back as irresponsible lending and they are all from the same/similar time
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How large was “the rest”? Did you need it for everyday living expenses?
Cal says
From my memory it would’ve been around 1500-2000, as the over draft was 3200 and then I paid off a loan which was around 1000-1500
Sara (Debt Camel) says
And you had to take the larger loan as that was all they would offer you? Did you need the rest for everyday living?
Nick says
I had a loan of £2000 from Likley loans and the repayment was £3646 it is still at a debt collection agency with a total of £347 left to pay to clear how do I claim to get a refund
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send your claim to Likely Loans. If it is upheld, they will settle the remaining balance with the debt collector, send you a cash refund for the rest and remove the default from your credit record.
chris says
hi sara just a quick question about VT, i have rang the national debt line and they wasn’t much help in explaining it to me,
when you say 50% of the balance, which of the following is it
1) 50% loan amount borrowed plus full term interest on the loan
2) 50% amount borrowed
3) 50% amount borrowed plsu interest to when the VT is requested?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
1)
This number is clearly stated on your finance documentation. See the articling on VTing.
What do you think the car is worth at the moment?
Laura says
Hi I have just made a irresponsible complaint to moneybarn after they gave me £6k car finance which if they would of done there checks I absolutely would not of been able to afford my credit score is TERRIBLE I can’t get even a phone contract, at the time I had multiple defaults on my credit record they didn’t ask for proof of income or bank statements, at the time my bank statement would of shown 2 amigo loans going out (mine and my partners currently awaiting a outcome for a complaint on mine) totalling over £400pm car insurance £180pm rent £620pm and that does not even include other bills like energy.. food.. council tax (also heavily in arrears) phone bills the list is endless, we had more going out than coming in and then £200pm car finance repayment, I was desperate at the time which is why I applied never thinking I would be accepted felt like I won the lottery getting 6k finance… any way fast forward to now iv accumulated nearly £1.6k in arrears on the car finance which by the way they have allowed they never chased me when I missed a payments no reminders ect.. it was too easy not to pay because they left me alone… I used the template on here but made it my own. What do you think the next steps are
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how much have you paid to this? what are the monthly payments at the moment and are they affordable at the moment??
what happened to your partners Amigo complaint?
do you still owe amigo a balance?
Laura says
So in total with interest my finance was just over 10k my balance to settle today is around 5.5k that’s with 1.6 arrears, my monthly repayments are £200pm my actual car finance that I borrowed was around 5k because I used my old car as down payment £840 the rest of the balance is interest.. the repayments was not affordable however going forward we think we will manage JUST.. (and that’s because I’m no longer paying amigo) my partner paid of his amigo but left it to late to claim via the scheme (I did keep telling him too and when he got round to it it was to late) I still owe amigo 1.7k and was making payments up untill 10th last month they emailed me asking to stop making repayments it’s also been taken of my credit record so likely been upheld, I do follow your other thread regarding amigo..
Sara (Debt Camel) says
can you add up the actual amounts you have paid Moneybarn.
Laura says
I have paid £3800 should of paid £5400 however in £1600 arrears
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So I hope you get some money back from Amigo that will let you clear the arrears. And that you are Now paying MB again.
The problem at the moment is that you haven’t yet repaid what you borrowed. So you could win the complaint and have to return to car. The closer you can get to the point where you have repaid what you borrowed, the less likely that is.
Laura says
I don’t want to return the car, and do have every intention of paying of my arrears with any refund I do receive from amigo, can they force me to return the car? I have paid nearly 4k off it so really only owe another grand before the actual car not interest is paid off, also do u have a idea how long complaints with Moneybarn are taking hopefully I get the refund through before my complaint is finalised
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, but send the complaint to the Ombudsman if they reject it or they make you an offer that doesn’t let you keep the car.
Holly says
Hi I was wondering if anyone could advise me. I’ve had an irresponsible lending claim upheld by the FOS. The loan company is saying I need to declare to HMRC, depending on my tax status. I’m currently PAYE only on maternity leave. The refund is £987.68 plus £72 simple interest. Do I need to declare this? Or pay tax on it? I’m so confused, I’ve you only pay tax on the simple interest as that’s extra like compensation. If anyone could help please!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So the 8% added was £72. That is potentially taxable – non of the rest of your refund is, that is your own money that is being returned to you.
The added 8% is taxed as savings income. BUT everyone has a tax free allowance of £1000 a year (£500 for higher rate tax payers)
So unless your other income from savings means you are at or very close to that £1000/£500 limit, you won’t need to pay any tax and don’t need to declare this to HMRC
Jess says
Hi Sara,
In September, October, December 22 and Jan 23, I missed payments on a CC (did pay Nov) and I got approved from Zopa for a loan in Jan 23, do I have grounds for an affordability complaint? All my other CC were also at max capacity.
Thank you!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How large was the zopa loan? What interest rate?
Was this for consolidation? What debts did you clear With it?
Jess says
£10,000
18.9%
It was to help me on maternity leave, I didn’t clear any debts with it. I’ve still got 11k to pay off as only had it a year!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think those are very recent missed missed payments. So you should send this case to the Ombudsman.
BUT you cannot rely on this working. And FOS cases are not quick. So if making the current payments is hard or imporssible, I think you should also contact StepChange and ask for all your debts, including the Zopa loan and the cards and overdrafts etc, to go into a debt management plan. This will get you into a safe financial space while the Zopa complaint and any other go through.
See https://www.stepchange.org/how-we-help/debt-management-plan.aspx
Jessy says
Thank you Sara, do I go through Zopa first then escalate to the ombudsman or go straight to them?
The missed payments were purely me forgetting, baby brain and what a silly mistake to make I know! I’m back at work now so should manage whilst I wait for this to go through. Thank you so much
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you go to Zopa first.
Jess says
Thank you so much Sara, heard today Zopa upheld my complaint! What a weight off my shoulders! Thank you a million times :)
Victoria Carson says
Sara I have an irresponsible lending complaint with the adjudicator since the middle of October. It was for 5 loans taken out within 3 years from ulster bank. These loans were from 2021-2023 and ranged from 5000 to 14000 the last being most recent. Each loan was to consulate the previous plus credit cards but as I am a term time only paid teaching assistant I don’t have a steady flow of income. I still owe £13,800. The bank I took out the loans is my own bank which I have my current account with so they would have seen that almost every month I am fully using my £250 overdraft. I have sent in all the bank statements requested so am waiting for a decision. However before Christmas I got an email informing me that a different adjudicator had taken over my case. Is this normal as I am worried that this may have a negative outcome for my complaint. Sorry for the long post
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It may simply mean that the previous adjudicator has changed jobs or gone on maternity leave.
Victoria Carson says
Yes possibly he changed jobs but I was communicating with him by phone and I believe he was someone who would have given me a positive outcome. Ah well I suppose these things happen
M says
Hi Victoria, if it helps I have sent several complaints to the FOS in the last couple of years. On 4 occasions I have had a switch of adjudicator, all the outcomes were positive for me regardless of the change of case handler. To endorse what Sara said I just assumed they had changed jobs or moved to a different department. I have every confidence the new adjudicator will reach their decision based on the facts and the evidence you have supplied. I hope this puts your mind at ease somewhat and you get the result you want.
Victoria says
Thank you M. That really did put my mind at ease as I was worried about it. Really delighted that you got a positive result.
S says
Hi. Has anyone any experience of Avant Loans? The investigator has upheld my complaint, after Avant asked for the matter to go to the Ombudsman as my complaint was made after 6 years. I’m just wondering if Avant usually refer all matters to the Ombudsman for a decision or whether they accept the investigators findings. Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Avant hasn’t been lending for several years so I don’t remember any recent complaints.
S says
Hi Sara, I am in the process of lodging an affordability complaint with Evolution for a secured loan. Do you have a template or any advice. I am also concerned as they consolidated an existing debt with a progressive money ( who are a subsidiary) and an investigator has recently upheld my affordability complaint in relation to that loan. thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Has the lender agreed to the adjudicator decision?
when was this loan consolidated into the secured loan? how large was the it and how large was the secured loan?
S says
Hi Sara, it’s gone to the Ombudsman. It’s been with them for 11 weeks now so I am hopeful for a final decision soon. Thanks
S says
Hi Sara, in 2019, original loan was £10k, consolidated with other debts at £20k. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So no template for secured loans.
In theory the first complaint is completely separate from the second. As it is so large however, I understand you feeling concerned – you may decide you want to wait until the first one is sorted?
Lyn says
Hi Sara, I recently received a financial obbudsman decision to refund any payments over the value of the cash value of the vehicle I financed with moneybarn, they agreed irresponsible lending, at the time when I was struggling to pay my daughter had a very difficult time and I had to come out of work to watch over her I explained this to moneybarn as I was worried about my payments and they said the only way out of my agreement was to settle it as I was too early in the agreement, so I had to get an early settlement figure and sell the car to a garage, I’ve had an email now from moneybarn this is after they agreed to withhold and asked for my bank details and said they will not be paying as a third party (the car dealer) paid my settlement which was obviously in exchange for the car! They owe me £5300 and I’m just wondering do I have any chance of getting this back? I only did this on their advice and I can’t believe they’ve gone back on their decision, do you know if I have any rights around this situation? Thanks in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am sorry, your comment went into spam for some odd reason.
I am not very clear what has happened here. As you had an Ombudsman decision, I suggest you go back to your adjudicator and explain what has happened and why you think it is unfair.
Kirsty says
Hi Sara
Have you heard of anyone complaining about Salary Finance? I took a loan out with them and it’s deducted at source from my salary each month.
Thanks
Kirsty
Sara (Debt Camel) says
same as any other loan – just because it comes out of your wages directly doesn’t mean it’s affordable.
The email address to complain to is in the list of loans in the article above.
Kirsty says
Thanks, Sara
T says
Hi Kirsty,
I had a few loans with salary Finance, complained to them and they didn’t agree, I sent it to the ombudsman, the adjudicator found in my favour but salary Finance messed around for months, the adjudicator sent it to the ombudsman then within days salary Finance contacted me saying they accepted the adjudicator decision. It was a long drawn out process with them 2 years from start to finish
Kirsty says
Hi T
Thank you for this – I’m going to complain and see what happens.
Lamar says
Hi Sara,
I was wondering if you have come across anyone that has had any luck with MoneyBarn?
I took out a £8k car finance loan with them in July 2020. I don’t exactly know what the APR was but I believe my total repay was around £13k. I now have £4k left of the loan. I am paying back £265 a month so I should finish repaying by 2025.
I sent an affordability complaint Friday as I believe my financial condition at the time was not great for such a high loan to be accepted.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes quite a few wins against them!
They accept some claims but reject other good one that are won at the Ombudsman, so a bit random.
It sounds as though you have already repaid at least the 8k you borrowed so your car is at risk provided you keep paying them.
Lamar says
Thank you for your response.
i have requested for a copy of my contract because i cannot seem to locate it.
Will my car be safe if or when i have paid back £8k?
Gemma says
Hi Lamar,
I recently won an affordability complaint against Moneybarn. I took over a year at the ombudsman, but they ruled in my favour.
My outcome was that money barn had to refund me all of the interest , £150 compensation & then 8% simple interest. Essentially I ended up paying just the asking price for the car.
Moneybarn rejected my complaint originally, so be prepared to take it to the ombudsman and fight your corner.
Lamar says
Thank you Gemma. I’ll update when they respond.
lamar says
Hi, I have located my contract and the finance agreement states the following.
Start June 2020
Car Price/credit amount – £8,367.80
Interest charged – £7,311.45
Total Payable – £15,679.25
Term of agreement – 60 months
I currently have a balance of £4,252.00.
from the amounts above it looks like I have already paid the value of my car. Does this mean my car is still at risk?
They confirmed yesterday that they have started to look at my claim.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That sounds as though you have already paid 15679 – 4252 = 11427, so a lot more than the price of the car.
Does that sound right to you? If it is, the car is not at risk provided you carry on making the payments while the complaint goes through.
Lamar says
Has anyone had any joy with Lendable?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes lots of wins against them. Many have to go to the Ombudsman though
M says
Lamar, they made my life a misery but I won in the end with the help of the FOS – it took 18 months in total but I had interest of £8k removed from the loan and compensation of £200. They will fight you every step of they way, they threatened me with a home visit after I put in a Subject Access Request for all data they held on me (which included proof of they affordability checks they had carried out) but when I phoned them and read them the riot act they backed down and apologised. Do your homework e.g. get a snapshot of all the debts you had plus 3 months bank statements just prior to when the lending was approved, evidence of earnings – everything you can get your hands on as proof. Best of luck and don’t give up.
Phil says
Hi
I sent a claim to lendable in October and have yet to have a response for 3 loans I had with them.
Can anyone confirm email address they have used?
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You need to phone them up urgently and ask why you have not had a reply
Catherine says
Just a quick update for me on my Creation Loan. Creation completely ignored the adjudicator so my claim had to go to the ombudsman. Luckily the ombudsman agreed with the adjudicator. So the decision is legally binding. However Creation are STILL ignoring communication from my adjudicator and today I received a letter to say that my Creation loan had been passed onto Intrum. Finance Unbelievable.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
when was the final decision from the Ombudsman? do you think the decision will clear the loan?
Tell Intrum that you have a final decision from the FOS that Creation is ignoring, so you will not be making any payments until this has been resolved.
CM says
Success at last!!!!! Zopa rejected the decision made by the adjudicator so it went to the ombudsman. Thankfully the ombudsman agreed with the adjudicator. Following this decision Zopa acted quickly. I received a letter from Zopa just a couple of days later confirming the refund of all interest. Most importantly Zopa will no longer report the loan agreement to the Credit Reference Agencies, and will remove the loan from my credit file – including the default. I am so happy. I still have £500 to pay off but the best news is the removal of all negative information on my credit file. Thank you so much Sara for all your help.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That took a while! But good that Zopa acted promptly in the end.
T says
Hi Sara,
Looking back I can see that this was sent to the Ombudsman in July last year. I rejected an adjudicators view at the beginning of June last year and still not had an Ombudsman’s decision with it now coming up to 7months. It is also nearly 14months since I referred the complaint to the FOS in the first place. Are these typical timescales as I didnt expect it to take this long after it had to go to the Ombudsman. They have not requested any further information and I have been keeping in touch with the adjudicator but without any significant update?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would say over 6 months isn’t common. Can you ask if it has been allocated to an Ombudsman yet?
How are the rest of your complaints going? You are in a DMP at the moment?
T says
Hi Sara,
It was allocated to an Ombudsman in July I believe. I had a couple complaints upheld and finalised middle of last year and a couple others ongoing. Virgin have just disagreed with the Adjudicator so might have to go to the ombudsman as well.
I’m not in a DMP as the resolved cases helped me avoid this.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you should ask your adjudicator to confirm if it has been allocated to an Ombudsman.
Victoria says
Sara, thanks to all your help and also advice from folk on here I have had a successful outcome of my complaint about irresponsible lending from Ulster Bank. I have had 5 loans within 2 years all totally to 28 thousand. Four of the loans have been deemed irresponsible and the bank has been told to pay back interest plus 8% and also early repayment fees. It has also been suggested that they write off the last loan. I did wait months for this to be resolved and sent in endless statements and other paperwork but it has definitely been worth it. Just hoping the bank will agree with adjudicator bur even if they don’t I am confident the ombudsman will agree.
B says
Hi Sara,
I took 2 loans out with future finance in 2018 & 2019 whilst a student. I was already up to my ears in debt when I took these out but needed the funds as a student. Life has obviously got in the way and now I’m a full time mum. I pick up a shift once per week as a nurse so isn’t much money but whatever I make covers my debts.
I have no savings so no way to pay it off in full and also I’m about to default. I think I’m entitled to a refund but I’m honestly not sure what route to go down and what even to say? They went into administration and it’s now Asset Link Capital. If I got a refund and an affordable plan I’ve budgeted £700 per month to pay off what is now a £16k loan yet what only £14k when I took it out all they years ago!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
can I ask if you have other debts as well? are you buying or renting?
B says
I have other debts £5k which I’m paying off well in payment plans each month due to end in August. Currently renting which my partner pays for. I want to get my credit record sorted so I can hopefully buy a house and save at some point. I spoke to Asset Link and honestly they are not helpful at all won’t freeze interest to help out etc so think this is my last shot.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Making claims after a lender has been liquidated can often be very hard. You can try – use the template letter above.
But if this cannot be resolved then you may need to consider a form of insolvency to get rid of this large debt… you can now get a mortgage from a few high street lenders including Nationwide 3 years after bankruptcy.
Asset link has to be sympathetic if you are in difficulty and need a payment arrangement. Send then a separate complaint if they are not being helpful.
B says
Thanks Sara. I don’t need to go down the route of bankruptcy but will definitely try give the refund process a start today. Im considering letting the loan default as then I can just pay it off without the interest holding me back. Would this be worth doing?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
it isn’t a question of “letting things default” – you need to either offer a payment arrangement or, which would probably be much let stressful, a debt management plan for all your debts. If you si,ply stop paying, you may end up with a CCJ.
And you should look at how much you can realistically pay a month across all your debts. because defaults that you are slowly paying off will prevent you getting a mortgage. Insolvency and a clean slate may be a better option for you.
Sarah says
I had a car finance with RCI financial services. For Renault car finance.
I can’t seem to find them anymore have they been taken over by another company?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They seem to now be called Mobilize. See this new list of car finance lenders emails: https://debtcamel.co.uk/car-finance-lenders-email-addresses/
Natalie says
Hi Sara!
9 years down the line since the finance was approved and a 2.5 year slog with complaints and the FOS being involved, I just received £4.8k back from Moneyway! £100 back a month after fair usage taken into consideration and 8% simple interest added (being old payments this was significant) and I’m finally done with them. Thank you so much for your help over the past couple of years on and off. Hopefully helpful to anyone else dragging themselves through the process!
Lisa says
Hi Sarah, I have had 3 questions again from the adjudicator on another claim. I always struggle to answer these. Can you help? The claim is over 6 years old.
* When I realised the account was causing me a loss or financial difficulty
It was causing me difficulty quite early on but I thought it was my fault. Can I say early on?
* What prompted me to make a complaint recently
That’s the advert I saw beginning of last year
* When I realised SDFC’s actions (or its failure to act) might have caused the loss
That will be when I saw the advert & it was explained
* Are there any exceptional circumstances I need to be aware of, which may have stopped you from complaining sooner? I have had poor health but I still didn’t know I could complain so would have made no difference.
Can I say these things?
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Can I say early on?
yes you can. FOS doesn’t expect that you kept a detailed diary of your thoughts, so your memory may well be quite unspecific.
those answers sound sensible to me.
Lisa says
Thank you so much
Net says
Hi Sara, Do you know anybody who has had dealings with a company called Ondal, a dreadful company.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They are a payday lender, a brand name (that I haven’t heard of) of My Finance Club. Use the template in https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/ to make affordability complaints about them.
Do you have other expensive loans or other types of credit?
Net says
Morning Sara,
Thank you for your response. I do and everything is snowballing. I did try using the email for My Finance Club, however I received a standard response advising basically you have to speak to one of their agents as they do not respond via email.
Do these type of lenders have to agree to forbearance for 60 days if you request it?
Best wishes
Net
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How many previous loans have you had from Ondal, roughly?
Can you list your other problems debts? lender, rough balance (nearest £10 or 310 is fine)
Katie says
Hi,
I currently have 2 x Novuna loans – one that was for £14000 (the interest means I have over 20k to pay back) I was offered an additional £4000 loan from Novuna which I accepted at the time because I was struggling to manage to the end of the month.
I contact Novuna to try and consolidate those two loans into one repayment a month with one interest payment as I am struggling to cover my bills (I have not missed any payments yet but it’s getting tight).
Can I put in an affordability complaint? What would be the best case scenario? I worry that they will put a default on my account and affect my credit rating. Any advice please?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
can I ask if you have any other debts? are you buying or renting?
Katie says
I have a mortgage, I currently have 3 credit cards, 5 loans (2 with Novuna both opened in 2023 feb and October) a large overdraft etc.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you :)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Can I ask when your mortgage fix ends? And who the mortgage lender is?
Katie says
Ends in May 2024, Kensington Mortgages.
Looking to sell before the fixed is up and use equity to clear balances before buying again.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Are the repayments just about affordable at the moment or are you at a crisis point?
If you intend to sell in a few months, it may be best to delay making these complaints until after all that is resolved, unless you cannot manage the payments now. These complaints should NOT affect your credit record, but why take any risk?