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?
L says
Hi Sara. I just wanted to thank you for your help, the Ombudsman just upheld my complaint relating the Progressive Money, it’s taken since May last year. Just waiting for them to contact me now re my refund. Thank you.
TT says
Hi Sarah,
I have a unaffordability complaint with savvy, as I have had a loan with them for £500, and repaid them £1000 over 6 months. I tried to withdrawal from the loan and emailed them but was not able to repay in time. So the loan continued. Had several failed payments but managed to repay. Once paid off I complaint and they declined my offer, offering a courtesy of 50£. At the time of the application, I tried to apply every where but was declined everywhere. With credit score of double digits only, and excessively exposed to credit in overdrafts, loans and CCs. As its the only and 1st loan I had with them do you think its worth going to the ombudsman or will they likely side with the lender?
Many thanks!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Its worth a go.
but what about your other debts – have you made claims about the overdrafts, other loans and credit cards?
TT says
Yes made claims about the overdraft and this was upheld eventually by FOS, other loans have been upheld as well, and few of the credit cards were also upheld others were declined but over the same period so have send them to the FOS. Ok thank you, will send to FOS!
Jacky says
Sara
I have made an irresponsible lending complaint to the F.O.S. re a MINT credit card with Royal Bank of Scotland.
They have asked me to respond to the following questions.
When you struggled to make the repayments on the account who did you blame?
In 2019 when you spoke to Stepchange who did you blame?
When did you first become aware RBS may’ve done something wrong?
Do you have a suggested response to the first two questions. To be honest I didn’t blame anyone, I thought I had been somewhat reckless but that spending had been encourage by such high credit limits.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So something like “I didn’t really blame anyone else, I thought I had been too reckless with my spending so it was my fault that I was in difficult. And this didn’t change when I want to StepChange – when I was setting up the DMP I was asked about the reason for my problems and I think I probably ticked overspending. “
Emmanuel Abedi says
I took out a car finance in 2018,and the interest rate shows high.Now the agreement which was supposed to end in 5yrs is still pending with the lender adding charges and further interest to make me repay longer than said..
I want to give the Affordability compliant a go.
Just double checking if I am eligible to do so
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did you miss payments?
Emmanuel Abedi says
I made late payments and lost job around COVID -19 time,and so qualified for COVID -19 PAYMENT DEFERRAL,but has expired now.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
well that may explain why the loan is still running. If you aren’t sure, phone National Debtline on 0808 808 4000.
Do you know how much you borrowed? And how much in total you have paid so far? So late on you are probably past the point where you have paid the lender (who is it?) more than you borrowed, so it is safe to make an affordability complaint,
Emmanuel Abedi says
I borrowed £14.011.60 which includes interest of £2.853 .60 plus optional option to purchase fee of £10.00 @ 60mths from Feb 2018.So realistically the car finance repayment shld finish last year February, But last year February I still had £4000plus to pay off @ £233 plus repayment from agreement.This I believe has come about by increase in interest rate plus unnecessary charges.The last time I check,I was left with £1857.51 to finish paying off .That’s like 7mths to go from now..The lender is Motonovo finance…
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you are mainly concerned bout the added charges and interest? In that case talk to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000
TT says
Hi Sara, if I were to accept their offer, can I still send to FOS and refund their offer?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How much have they sent you? Did they ask you to accept this?
TT says
Hi Sara, £70, we went back and forth and I accepted their offer. Think I have a strong case here. Should not have taken the bait. Can I still send the money back and send to FOS? or is this too late now?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
unless you accepted this on Friday, It’s too late
TT says
I did accept that, so no way of going back on that right?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, unless you have just accepted it. ie Friday.
TT says
Hi Sara, this was actually on Thursday? Can I still revert back and turn it around?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well you can try – phone them up now and say you want to go to FOS and should you return the money? But this is a pretty marginal case, I wouldn’t describe this as strong.
TT says
Hi Sara, they have provided me with their bank details to return the refund back to them. Now I am back on the fence again on what I should do, not sure if it is worth sending it to the FOS and waiting it out, and potentially losing the case. If the FOS doesn’t uphold the complaint I wont get the £70. Or will I still get that as they have offered it already?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s a difficult decision. I cant help you with it. As this is a goodwill offer – they deny the loan was unaffordable, if you lose the case at the ombudsman you may not get that offer.
Emmanuel Abedi says
Not at all.
I have sent my complaint anyway by email.
I think I needed that type of car finance when I needed a car.
On the lender side they knew I was desperate for that car on car finance and so offered me a deal.
Lucy says
Hi Sara,
THANK YOU so much for this template! I have just heard that my affordability complaint against Moneybarn was successful. They are offering me a cash refund of just under £2,000, they are terminating the agreement so I don’t have to make any further payments (they said I owed them another £5,000) and they are wiping all missed payments from my credit record. I am over the moon! This is life changing for me as Moneybarn was the biggest debt in my snowball. I wouldn’t have done this without your encouragement, your easily understandable no jargon advice and your templates! I would highly recommend your free advice to anyone.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
great result!
Krystal Phillips says
Hi Lucy.
I am planning to do this with Moneybarn can you explain what your loan was please? Just checking I am somewhat eligible
Cyndy says
Sara I am very confused and would appreciate your advice. Last week the fos adjudicator upheld a complaint I had regarding 4 loans taken out through Bank of Ireland. They recommended that although I am still paying off the latest £13400 loan that all interest,fees plus payments already made are deducted off this amount and they are to contact me to make arrangements to pay off remaining amount. They agreed with this. I was delighted that yesterday £3800 was deducted off my balance but disappointed today when I noticed £168 added back on as a part payment interest. Do you think it will sort itself out or if its too soon for me to contact for again
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I Think you should contact BoI straight away and ask if there has been a mistake.
Mic says
Hi, ive a loan with plend thats become unaffordable with my other debts, which have all got bad at the same time,I’m left with about 100 to get through month after all paid, would I be able to do an affordability complaint?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, use the template in the article above.
And possibly about your other debts as well if you can List those.
BUT these complaints are slow and many have to go to the Ombudsman. So I suggest you talk to StepChange now about a debt management plan that can get you into a safe financial position. Then winning any affordability complaints will really speed up your DMP. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/debt-options/guide-to-dmps/ for more about DMPs
carson_cyn@yahoo.com says
I am now panicking as a further £231 interest was also added on the following day. I have sent an email to BOI asking for an explanation. I may have to contact the fos again but was not expecting this to happen.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
it sounds like an error to me.
Nick Taylor says
Hi Sara I sent my complaint to likely loans they have replied back with a 4 page letter refusing my claim saying that I could afford the loan where do I go from here?
Many thanks
Nick
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send it to the Ombudsman. The article above explains how.
Fred says
Hi Sara,
I had a complaint upheld with Zopa for a loan and credit card. They actually were very quick to reply and very helpful.
This was at the end of November. They agreed to put the interest to my exisitng balance and i could arrange a repayment plan.
I have been emailing them constantly through out december and Janaury and finally had to resort to sorting it out via their webchat as kept getting messages saying I was in arrears. calling gives tremendous anxiety which they are aware of.
However they are now destroying my credit ifle with defaults appearing then dissapearing and then reappearing. I was told they’d be removed completely. now they have resurfaced with payment plans. IT’s absolutely driving me crazy as they never reply. I have now tried to contact their CEO. can i raise this to the ombudsman as they simply no longer reply to me. I never actually defaulted my payments as I continued to make them until looked at my complaint. They instantly put them as defualt as soon as they replied.
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so they have agreed that there shouldn’t be a default, it is just they don’t seem capable of actually doing this?
Fred says
Hi Sara, they removed them but then they reappeared as payment agreement.
But I managed to talk to someone new who is finally rectifiying it. has been such a big fight to get resolved. however they did send me a payment of goodwill for the trouble.
It must have been part of their process as as soon as the final response was issued both accounts were instnatly shown as defaulted dispite never missing a payment.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
glad this is now sorted
Olivia Duncan says
Hi Sara, I have a complaint with the FOS for three MBNA cards which were given within a six month period as well as multiple credit limit increases within that time. It was rejected by MBNA due to being out of time as the last limit increase was in 2017. The fos have asked me when I realised MBNA may have done something wrong and what prompted me to realise this, the answer to this is October 2023 when I made the complaint and it was by reading your articles, is there a better way to word this answer or do I just say that?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
do you still have the cards open? or did they default, go into payment arrrangements?
Olivia says
Hi, I commented on this yesterday I think but it seems to have disappeared. I went into a DMP with Stepchange in 2019 and they defaulted.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You need to make the point clearly that you knew you were in financial difficulty for some time before you entered a DMP with StepChange in 2019, but at that point you thought of your debt problems as being your responsibility because you had spent too much and allowed the debts to accumulate. It wasn’t October 2023 when you first heard of affordability complaints that you realised with hindsight that MBNA were partly to blame for your situation and needing a DMP – if they hadn’t given you 3 cards and increased the limits, you would not have got so deeply into debt that it was unmanageable. You can point out that when you took debt advice with StepChange, they never mentioned that you may have a potential affordability claim, or you would have looked into that immediately.
Olivia says
Thank you so much that’s really helpful
Jason says
Hi Sara,
I had an affordability complaint upheld by Likely Loans last January 2023 which left me about £1,000 left to pay after refunded. I entered an agreement with them to pay less and they removed the loan from my credit report a couple months afterwards. However, I have just received an alert from my credit karma profile that ‘Oakbrook Finance’ (Likely Loans) have ‘reactivated’ the account to my credit report?
What is this about? As everything had been removed?
Thanks for any help on this
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hard to tell until you see what happens
Jason says
Sorry Sara I’m unsure what you mean?
I thought after having affordability complaint upheld, as per the guidelines that loan and negative reporting would be removed and the customer is to be put back into a position that they were had they not taken out the loan…. And that would mean it not being on my credit file, in anyway, shape or form?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I mean you aren’t yet sure what will reappear on your credit record. Until you know that, it’s hard to say much. Sometime Credit Karma and ClearScore alerts don’t seen that accurate.
If the loan has reappeared – with a default? With payment arrangements? – then you can complain to LL
Jason says
Ah OK I see. Thanks, I will investigate when more details appear, hopefully it will be something simple that won’t be affecting my score as I really don’t have the energy to deal with complaining to Likely Loans anymore. They’ve been a bit of a pain sending me letters in error stating I owe them loads of ”missed payments’ and adding random interest to the remaining balance. Whenever I’ve got hold of them they just apologise and tell me it’s an error.
Emmanuel Abedi says
Hello Sara!
So I have gotten a response since the last time I put in the affordable complaint.The lender intends to invest into my complaint as their complaint procedure and it takes them Weeks to do and get back to me.
I stop paying monthly repayment since I put in the affordable complaint.
In the complaint I stated also if they arrange a repayment which is affordable.
In all I have used the Affordable complaint template on your page in doing so…
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You do know you are risking having the car repossessed by stopping paying?
Emmanuel Abedi says
Car isn’t Ulez compliant at the moment.So hardly so I drive it much.I’d already spent,£2000.00 plus repairing the Time chain which was that was supposed to be changed at time of purchase but they never did.
I have about 7mths on my repayment to finish off.
But the original payment plan wàs to finish sometime last year March.Car was on 60months repayment plan effective February 2018.I also requested a newer repayment plan in my affordable complaint letter to the lender.This is one reason I halt the repayment.I am left £1800plus to finish off..
Lauren says
Hi
Can you advise please I put in unaffordable lending complaint with updraft they have gave me 3 loans each with 6 months apart first 10 thousand then 3000 then 8000 I’ve got that much debt I had to take a secured loan now 7 weeks and they say still looking at it ! Has anyone any experience of dealing with updraft ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They lose quite a few cases at the Ombudsman.
I hope the secured loan was much cheaper?
Lauren says
Hi Sara
Secured loan was much cheaper and now in better position. Do you know if updraft reject most complaints and will I need to go to ombudsman? They haven’t given me their final response yet and it’s been 7 weeks so looks like they are going to take the full 8 weeks, just wondering if you know if they uphold cases or just reject them ? Thanks x
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Many lenders tell all of the 8 weeks.
Most of the cases I have seen have had to go to the Ombudsman, but that is because people with problems are more likely to post a comment.
Lauren says
Ok thanks will update when I hear. How long is the wait time now for an adjudicator to be assigned ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
most cases aren’t long – it depends often how fast the lender send its case file to FOS.
Carly Cunningham says
When did you first think Shop Direct had done something wrong when it lent to you?
What prompted you to log you concerns?
What prevented you from raising your complaint sooner?
Were there any exceptional circumstances which prevented you from complaining to Shop Direct sooner?
Can anyone help me with a reply to the questions the Ombudsman has asked me?
Thanks
Elain says
Hi sara I made a complaint to startline but wasn’t upheld it then went to the a
Ombudsman but adjudicator didn’t uphold it either is it worth sending it to ombudsmun or will they like decline it aswell.
Despite sending bank statements showing gambling addiction etc I did have a fairly high income with a lot after bills etc and had a few defaults . I have asked him to look at how much interest I’ve paid as I feel like I was over charged as the agreement was for 59months at 250 which worked out to be about 15k for 8999car but paid it of in 19months totalling to just over 12k meaning I’ve paid 3k investment In 19months . Does that sound d right to u?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is definitely worth sending to the Ombudsman for the affordability complaint. I can’t guess if the interest charges are correct.
If you do lose this at the ombudsman level, then ask Startline whether there was any “discretionary commission” included in your finance. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/car-finance-commission-get-refund/ for how and why to do this. But you will get more back from winning an affordability complaint, so finish that first – if you win that there is no need to ask about discretionary commission.
Marie says
Ok will send it to ombudsmun but adjudicator believe startline did all the right checks and wernt to know I had a gambling addiction , my income was high which left enough to pay car finance etc so I highly doubt they will uphold tbh despite a few defaults and payday loans I was taking out
Steve says
I had a v similar experience with a lender just like Startline. Adjudicator initially ruled in lenders favour and it really deflated me. I sent reasons back as to why I respectfully disagreed and doubled down on any evidence of hardship I could find. I had to prove I couldn’t afford the monthly payments without taking on further debt. Fortunately the Ombudsman sided with me and overruled the initial decision in my favour which was a huge relief. Don’t give up as you’ve got nothing to lose.
Marie says
Ok thanks so much
Emmanuel Abedi says
I got told by Motonovo finance my lender that they would what I put in in the affordable complaint and it can take up to 8weeks to get back to with a response.
Do I have to go to the Ombudsman or wait?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can’t go to the Ombudsman until Motonovo have had 8 weeks to reply.
Fred H says
Hi Sara,
Just had a couple of questions.
I have 2 complaints on going.
One is with Novuna, 8 weeks have past. I have contacted them 3 times and they now say they have no record of my complaint. I have sent them copies and seem to be delaying. Can I send this to the ombudsman right away?
Also I had a similar complaint to Livelend. they replied extremly quickly. they have basically said it’s my fault for applying and I had plenty of itmes to withdraw when I took out the loan, Not really looking into my sitaution at the time of taking out the loan really. I have gone back to them but should I also start the ombudsman process. I really belive I have a fair and strong arugment with both of these. I had more outgoings than incoming and large amounts of debt on my credit file at the time of application.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Novuna – when you first contacted did did they say they were looking at your complaint?
Livelend – send to the Ombudsman straight away, lenders very rarely listen to you saying they made the wrong decision.
What are your finances like at the moment – can you afford to carry on paying the loans while the complaints go through the Ombudsman?
Fred says
I didn’t get any acknoweldegement but emailed using the email on their website several times then called them. I am not very comfortable on the phone.
I will still continue to make payments during the complaint. it’s seems a shame I may now have to wait another 2 months.
Lee says
Your assistance has been great so far and my recent overdraft success this led to a Loan complaint as it was around same time. My complaint with at FOS is nearing the final response and the adjudicator has come back with some further information for me, is there anything you would add to assist in their requests regarding notifying Nationwide about gambling when i was taking out loans, it was literally done on my app where they would let me effectively top up/Consolidate my loans and there was not a section to add this declaration of my addiction . At the time i was using it to consolidate debts on credit cards, overdraft and other loans and also fund on my gambling addiction at the time which is where it all stemmed from.
Lee says
part 2
I have a feeling this may be getting rejected based on the tone. FOS say:
I’m particularly interested in the rationale behind the three consolidation loans granted in November 2017, August 2018 and December 2018.
I’ll be using the statements you’ve provided to assess your affordability for each loan which will help define whether their lending decision for each event was fair. It’s worth mentioning that there’s no obligation on the business to consider or ask for bank statements as part of their lending decision. What’s important is whether they carried out reasonable and proportionate checks to satisfy themselves the lending was affordable to you. I can see gambling was an issue at the time and this is something we’ll take into account as part of our investigation.
please answer the following:
explain why you applied for further increased consolidation loans so quickly after the June 2017 loan (I’ve asked the business to explain their reasoning for granting the new loans so quickly but it would help if I could understand why the new loans were applied for)
confirm whether you told the business about your gambling addiction and other financial troubles or, simply said the loans were for debt consolidation
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Was Nationwide your bank?
Lee says
No Santander is my bank , I had overdraft complaint against them and won , At the time I disclosed on forum I had 30k loan with nationwide and you said to put affordability complaint in with them due to amount .and also was at same time. Nationwide are my mortgage provider but not my bank …..
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How large were these loans? Did the interest rate increase on them.
. Was the second loan paying off the first or was it in addition?
Lee says
Thats the thing, i have asked for copies before i submitted the complaint and also in my complaint i requested as i couldn’t recall exact figures and interest rates. Nationwide failed to provide this on both occasions and is part of my complaint with FOS , Note , FOS adjudicator has also asked if i ever received the copies of my credit agreements . The value of these top up loans grew to circa 25k before my work bailed me out with a loan of 30k with 0% interest , so in short i was literally paying off each one with effectively a top up each time……
Sara (Debt Camel) says
were the loans in the last 6 years?
So the first loan you said was consolidation? did you use it for that but then go on and use the cards again? Did you clear some cards with it and gamble the rest? or what?
Lee says
All within the last 6 years, they would be used to pay off large chunks of credit elsewhere so a credit card with Virgin for example for 5k, i topped up my Nationwide loan for 6k and kept the other 1k to gamble , so a combination of consilidation whether they were credit cards/ loans or to get me away from my overdraft limit for the month , i would then sometime be left over with an amount of credit that would be utilized for the habit at the time.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, then that is what you need to reply to your adjudicator –
So far as I remember, I applied for the top up loans using the app and ticked the box Consolidate as that was what most of the money was for -paying off large chunks of credit cards and /or keep me under my overdraft limit for the month . For example a credit card with Virgin for 5k, I topped up my Nationwide loan for 6k and kept the other 1k to gamble. There was nowhere on the app to explain in detail waht the money was for. and it didnt ask me if I had a gambling problem and i don’t remember there being anywhere to put that. At the time i was trying to reduce the interest I paid.
Lee says
Upddate- Fos still making decision however had an email about the 2017 loan which they initially stated fell outside of jurisdiction – over 6 years. They have advised : Our service issued instructions last week to say that for now, we won’t be issuing any views or outcomes that address jurisdiction alone. This is because we’re reviewing our approach to jurisdiction to ensure it’s still correct and consistent with our commitment to doing the right thing. They have asked me whether i want to hold, and say “if you accept I can’t address anything concerning the 2017 loan, even the jurisdiction, we’ll move towards issuing our view concerning the other loans. If however, you want me to explain and consider the jurisdiction of the 2017 loan, we’ll need to pause things until our review has been completed. ” Ive gone back to ask how long this review will take and for further clarity.
Emmanuel Abedi says
Hello Sara,
I was offered Credit worth £500.00plus with high interest rate from Drafty a credit line company in 2020.I took the credit out of desperation.Drafty refused to provide statements of my account for the whole repayment time,and so to date I have no records and recollection of what I have paid.The last time I logged into my Drafty acct,the status recorded zero outstanding balance.I have also not asked for additional credit and so the account is not active at the moment.With the lack of my account statement not being reported,would I stand a chance of being rewarded refund if it is found that I overpaid and with that high interest on the credit?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
this was a line of credit. For how long a period did you use it?
Emmanuel Abedi says
Can I put in an affordable complaint in the above case?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how many months did you use this?
Emmanuel says
I used it to pay my rent arrears ,but can’t recollect the repayment time period.
I used it when I needed it,but not more than 3months after the offer was given.
That’s as far as I can remember..
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ok so you may have borrowed 3 times from them… you may be able to win a complaint about this, but use the payday lending template here https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/ not the one in the article above these comments.
This isn’t a particularly strong complaint as you were boring a low amount for only three months. But you may win
James says
Could this be the quickest resolution yet? Emailed complaint to Car Cashpoint late last night and just after 9:30am this morning they responded to say they agree the loan should not have been agreed and they will refund all interest paid which is almost £1500 and clear the small outstanding balance.
Was a pretty straightforward case due to the amout of gambling transactions showing on the bank statments which were reviewed at the time but still impressed how quickly they dealt with it.
James says
And redress paid into my account before 3pm today, total time between complaint sent and refund recieved was 43 hours
Kateryna says
Could you please explain what should I do if the lender rejects my complaint or offers a poor resolution?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Has this happened?
Maria K says
Hi all,
I had a credit spring loan which was £500 over 6 months and paying £12 a month for membership l would repay and then request another loan which was easily approved until l was asked if l wanted £1000 at the time l needed this so took the loan of £1000 at £160 a month and £28 a month membership. I have repaid the loan now but want to put in an affordability complaint as l struggled a lot but not sure which wording to use.
Are you able to assist please.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
use the above template letter but change it so it is clear you are just complaining about the last loan. And that you would like a refund of the membership charged from the point when they increased them
Maria K says
Thank you Sara
Sharron says
Hi sarah,
Do you have any insight for my situation?
November 2019 I got a car finance through moneybarn, £6000, increased to just over £10,000 with interest.
I had multiple debts that I wasn’t paying, although I was paying one to Amigo for £300 a month.
I was desperate for a vehicle due to mobility issues.
February I had only paid moneybarn 1 month of instalments (£180)
May I contacted money barn as I couldn’t afford the car, the discussed me giving it back under VT but in the same sentence told me to think about it and not worry about my payments
I just struggled for a couple of month and went back to them but again, they told me my options but to just this and think don’t worry about making payments, think that was July/august
I struggled with all other payments and kept the car because I need the vehicle
I made a payment October/November of £180 and it wasn’t until December 2020 I decided I mentally could keep struggling financially so arranged VT and the car was collected first week January 2021, they reduced my debt to around £5,500.
I couldn’t afford the car I’m unsure what checks were done as I honestly just breezed through the application process, (1) my mental health (2) physical need (3) before they changed there mind as I couldn’t believe I was being accepted.
Am I able to claim on affordability and have the rest of the owing debt removed?
Any advise would be appreciated.
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
have you made any payments to the debt after the VT?
what other debts do you have?
did you make a claim to the Amigo scheme?
Sharron says
It was passed to a debt collection agency soon as it was finalised and I’ve been paying them £5 a week since.
Other debts were; energy suppliers, phone companys, Broad band providers, a few small loan lenders (provident, morses, Naylors) also others that I can’t remember. I think I owed about £25,000 at the point I was given this loan.
And yes i did through the Amigo scheme which was upheld, I took that loan out in July 18.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That looks to me like a strong complaint. Kick this off straight away..
The ombudsman will normally say you need to pay a “fair usage” amount for the time you had the car. – which will normally be a lot less than Moneybarns monthly payments. Because of this winning the case may not quite clear the remaking balance but it should reduce it a lot and clean up your credit record.
(If you think you aren’t being made a reasonable offer by MB or at the Ombudsman, come back here. You had been telling them it was unaffordable in 2020 and they told you not to worry about paying… in 2020 during Covid many lenders didn’t want to collect cars being handed back. You can argue that you wanted To return it and they weren’t treating you fairLy so you shouldn’t be charged anything for this period. )
Sharron says
Hi sara, I’ve gone to start wringing a complaint and I’m unsure of what I am asking them to do, could you give me a little help. Is it just basically to wipe the debt, I don’t want to word it wrong.
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you ask for the balance to be cleared, your credit record to be repaired, and for any deposit you paid to be refunded. See what they come back and offer.
Sharron says
Thank you Sara
Sharron says
That sounds promising, anything’s better than nothing.
I will return with an update.
Thank you sara
T says
Hi Sara,
Thanks again for all your help.
It’s now been 8months since my case (loan) was added to the queue for a final decision. I know it was assigned an Ombudsman by July last year but when I ask for an update I’m just told the Ombudsman is actively working on my case and they are aware I’ve been waiting for some time. Are you aware of other cases taking this long? I have already had a provisional decision for another case (credit card) that was only referred last month so seems odd that this one is taking so long.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is indeed an unusally long time. How have you been asking for an update – by email or phone/
T says
Thanks for the response. I have been emailing and hearing back normally within a day or two.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you should phone up and ask.
Simon says
Hi, need a bit of advice on this one
The ombudsman upheld my complaint to Lloyd’s for irresponsible lending on a loan from 2015. The ombudsman stated: remove all interest, fees and charges applied to this loan from the outset. The payments made should be deducted from the new starting balance – the £5,619.52 originally lent. If, once all adjustments have been made, this shows overpayments have been made leading to a credit balance, these overpayments should be refunded together with interest at 8% simple a year* from the date they were made to the date of settlement.
I have now received a settlement from Lloyds but it does not seem correct. I made payments of £202 every month from July 2015 to May 2018 before this went to a third party debt collection agency. I have since paid around £350 to this agency.
The settlement I received from Lloyds is £537.
I requested and was provided a breakdown of how they came to this figure and it seems that they have just refunded interest that they charged me throughout the loan. Surely this can not be right?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is there a balance left on this debt?
So you made 33 monthly payments? Plus 350 that would be 7016. Less 5619 is about £1400. And you should be getting another few hundred in 8% added interest…
Go back to your adjudicator and say that the numbers don’t look right.
And go back to Lloyds with the details of exactly what you have paid and the what these payments add up to.
Simon says
Hi, nope no balance left. I have gone back to the Ombudsman but they have said that they can not help. Lloyds are fobbing me off and telling me it I’d correct.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you have gone back to Lloyds in writing not asking them to check the amount but telling them how much you have paid and what the refund should be?
Simon says
Kind of. I have told them that there figure is incorrect, stated how many payments I have made, how much over the initial amount I have paid, how much I think I should be refunded. They are just not interested.
The ombudsman has said that they do not get involved with the settlement calculations. Unsure where I go from here
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send Lloyds a new complaint saying their calculation is incorrect, listing the payments you made, including the ones through debt management, and ask for a refund of that amount less the amount you borrowed plus 8% interest. Say you will be asking for compensation if this has to go to the Ombudsman.
Simon says
Hi, just an update. After numerous emails I have finally had an admission from Lloyds that there calculations were incorrect. Not only have they now refunded me the correct amount but also given me an additional £150 as compensation.
I would just like to say thank you Sara, I have used this site for about 10 complaints over the last few years, most of which I have won. Without the knowledge gained from here I either would not have even bothered complaining or given up after the first rejection.
This Lloyds complaint was my last one and luckily I am in a much better place financially nowadays. Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well persevered!
David says
Hi Sara,
I recently had an Unaffordable loan complaint upheld with a Guarantor loan company (one that’s still trading).
Part of my acceptance of their offer was that they would remove all the negitive marks from my file.
I could see that missed payments still appeared on one loan account. I contacted them by email the first reply they started I had to wait 8 weeks and then to contact the CRA’s to ask for them to be removed. I got replies from CRA stating my complaint was not successful and a list of possible reasons why it could of been unsuccessful.
How can I escalate this complaint please as I feel they have purposely left the missed payment marker on after agreeing to remove the black marks. I also have an email stating they would remove the black marks prior to me accepting their refund.
What can I add in my next email to them backing up my rights to have these removed please.
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
who is the lender?
it is up to the lender to endure that they report correctly to the CRAs, it is not up to you to get the CRAs to correct this.
I suggest you send the lender a complaint in writing and say this will go to the Financial Ombudsman as you accepted their offer on dd/mm/yy on the basis that the negative marks would be removed.
David says
Thank you Sara,
It’s Bamboo Loans.
I will do that.
Kind regards
James says
Hi Sara,
I hope you are well, I won my case against 118 118 for the credit card but not the loan.
I am going to go into a payment plan on the loan and 118 118 have confirmed the account should have went to default on 23rd of August 2023 as they sent default notice but it is sitting as 6 months missed payment. I think a default would be better as it is guaranteed to be removed in 6 years.
118 118 are not great at sorting stuff as they are still telling Lowell to chase me for credit card and keep the default on my account even though I have won my case with the ombudsman.
My question is how do I get the default backdated as they won’t tell me how to get it backdated.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Just send them a complaint saying that a default should have been added for the loan in August last year.
James says
Ok thank you
Conor Smyth says
Hi Sara, can you let me know if the following email is legitimate??
Don’t miss out on your Refund!
Get My Refund
Important update on your potential refunds
Hi Conor,
We are delighted to present our updated list of Credit Cards, Catalogues and Loan providers we are now successfully getting refunds from for our ever-growing community. If you have ever used any of the below lenders please click the link and take our 30-second refund check, before it is too late.
Don’t forget this is all on a No Win, No Fee basis so no expensive up front fees and nothing to lose.
REFUND CHECK
Take a look at our new list of Lenders below, we are already getting refunds for our clients from them;
Lending Stream
118 118
Vanquis
Very and Littlewoods catalogues
Loans2Go
Likely Loans (Oakbrook)
Bamboo
Moneybarn
Cash4UNow (Novaloans)
H&T Pawnbrokers
JD Williams
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is correct that many people can get refunds if they make affordability complaints, including to those lenders and many others.
But that email make it sound as though those lender are handing out refunds to many people and you just have to claim yours… that isn’t right. You have to make a out a case why your borrowing was unaffordable. That is what my template letters do – the one in the article above is for loans, there are others for credit cards, catalogues, overdrafts etc here https://debtcamel.co.uk/tag/refunds/.
All a claims company does is send a template letter on your behalf – you can do a better job by doing it yourself and save their very large fees. The Financial Ombudsman says people who use a claims company are not more likely to win a case than those who do it themselves.
Nita says
Hi Sara. Could you please provide me with the template for car finance afordability complaint? Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The article above has the template for loans including car finance. But it is also helpful to read https://debtcamel.co.uk/unaffordable-car-finance/ which looks at affordability complaints about cars specifically, before using the template to above to complain.
Takunda says
Hello Sara,
I purchased a car on Hire purchase in 2016, the agreement was for 5 years.
The amount of credit was £12 200, the total amount payable was £23 800. The agreement ended in 2021. I complained to the lender that affordability checks were not done properly and they should not have accepted my application. They responded today saying i took too long with my complaint therefore they are not upholding my complaint.
I was unaware that the HP agreement was mis-sold to me due to irresponsible lending hence the length of time in raising my complaint. I only discovered this after reading online news about this a couple of months ago.
Can I forward my case to the Ombudsman for adjudication? I also previously complained to the lender about the recent car “PPI” that has been in the news lately and they said that that does not apply to me because my agreement was not a DiC model and that a fixed rate of commission was given to the broker and they had no influence on the interest charged to me.
Please kindly advise what my options are.
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes you can send this to FOS. FOS can decide to look at older cases, it makes rather erratic decisions on this but you have nothing to lose by asking FOS to look at this.
Who was the lender?
Takunda says
Thank you. The lender was Moneyway
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They have lost quite a few affordability complaints!
Charlie says
Hi Sara
It would be great if you could provide some assistance again!
I made a complaint to bamboo loans on 23rd Jan 2024 on the grounds of affordability (much like many others I have done recently, all of which have been upheld in my favour which is great) The loan in question was provided to me on 21st Aug 2017. Bamboo have rejected the complaint on the grounds that it has been over the 6 years time limit as per FCA rules.
They did mention in their rejection of my complaint, that there is a 3 year limit that also applies from the time that you may have become aware of the right to complain, but they conclude I would have been aware in any case given my financial difficulty at the time and reminder letters they would have sent. I don’t accept this however, as being in financial difficulty and been aware of the right to complain are not mutually exclusive in my book.
So I have decided to escalate to the Ombudsman on this basis (3 year limit of when I first became aware) as I fall outside of the 6 year period.
Is there anything else I can say or do to support my case? or is it dead in the water….
Many thanks
Charlie
Sara (Debt Camel) says
it is up to FOS whether they decide they can go back further than 6 years because of the 3 year rule.
FOS normally asks you some questions about when you realised Bamboo were partly to blame for your problems – come back here when you know what the questions are?
Chelsea says
Hello! I’m currently part way through a complaint that has reached the ombudsman in regards to irresponsible lending from RBS. The loan was taken out in 2014, and the ombudsman is now saying that they believe I should have complained earlier, and that they don’t think they can uphold the complaint as I should have known I could have complained earlier (of course the loan is more than 6 years ago which makes it difficult). I genuinely had no idea I had cause to complain until I found your page! I don’t know how I prove this? If I had known I could complain earlier I would have. I figured it was contract signed, done, dusted, nothing I can do. Do I have a leg to stand on here? They aren’t accepting that I have a genuine reason as to why I didn’t complain earlier. We’re talking £1200 of interest on this loan that I took our age 19 with absolutely 0 knowledge of what I was getting into :(
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What happened to the loan? And to the rest of your finances over the next few years?
Are you still with the same bank, or do you have your old bank statements?
Chelsea says
I paid it off over time, but did miss a lot of payments, had to pay lots of unarranged overdraft fees, took out credit cards to pay for daily spending and now am still paying another loan back. Finances took a plummet as I started university the following year (which the bank were aware of but still granted me the loan). Not with the bank now (this is RBS and now with Barclays). Sadly don’t have the bank statements!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Has the adjudicator / investigator asjked you questions about when you blamed RBS for your difficulties?
The problem here is even if the Ombudsman accepts you have only realised recently that you had a cause to complain, there may be very little evidence about what actually happened back in 2014.
What is this more recent loan you are still repaying – was that affordable?
James says
Hi Sara,
I had mentioned before about 118 adding 6 months of missed payment on my account even though they sent me default notice back in August. They have told me to raise a complaint with the credit reference agencies.
They are a nightmare to deal with, even trying to get a repayment plan we discussed it. I said it would be end of March and now they are hounding me by call and text to make payments now which not replying to my email.
Is there anyone else you can refer this too if you lost case with ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
this is for a loan? (118 also do credit cards)
James says
This is for the loan, I won affordability for cc not for the loan.
They text me 5/6 times per day telling me to pay now but no one gets back to me about repayment plan.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So for loans, all the interest was agreed at the start of the loan, so this carries on, unlike credit cards where if you are in difficulty the lender shouls stop adding interest. Do you have other problem debts? because oftne the simplest approach is to get a debt management from StepChange that will cover all your debts. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/debt-options/guide-to-dmps/ and https://www.stepchange.org/how-we-help/debt-management-plan.aspx
Sam says
Hi, I have submitted a case against Lendable. Adjudicator has upheld my complaint and given til 22nd March to respond.
Anyone had any experience with Lendable? Do they normally push back for FO or accept adjudicators findings?
Just wondering if this can be wrapped up by the end of the month.
Steve says
Mine went to Ombudsman as they disagreed, things change all the time though with Lenders.. If you have a strong (blatent) case, they may agree so it doesn’t get published.. Good luck
Sam says
Thanks Steve. Digits crossed.
M says
Hi Sam, Lendable was one of my hardest cases to win – they fought me to the bitter end, so speaking from experience I would say be prepared for them to reject the initial decision. I hope I’m wrong, but be prepared. The fact the adjudicator has upheld your complaint is a very positive sign as the majority (but not all) of cases that are escalated to Ombudsman level generally agree with the decision made at adjudicator stage. Best of luck with it, let us know how you get on.
Sam says
Thanks M. Will let you know.
Sam says
Hi – update Lendable have agreed with the adjudicator! Just had the below off FOS:
Dear Sam
Your complaint about Lendable Ltd
Thank you for letting me know you agree with how I think your complaint should be sorted out. Lendable have now come back and also agreed with my view.
I’ve asked Lendable Ltd to settle the complaint directly in the way we agreed. So I won’t do anything more unless I hear from you.
But if you don’t hear from Lendable Ltd within the next eight weeks – or there are any problems – please let me know.
Wow can’t believe it! Thank you all and Sara for all the advice.
Martin Brown says
Hi Sam,
I’m now in the same position as you were, Lendable have agreed with the adjudicator. I haven’t heard anything from Lendable, how long did it take them to get in touch with you? Thanks
Sara T says
Has anyone complained about a loan with Natwest bank? Just a bit worried as I still bank with them tia
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is this a current loan?
Sara t says
I have a current one but I had a few loans back to 2017 up to 2022 when I was taking out payday loans Im wanting to complain about.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok so making a complaint about this loan and previous ones should not have any impact on your bank account. I cannot remember anyone having a problem with this.
Change the above template letter to mention the payday laons. Also mention if you had an overdraft from natWest that you used a lot.
Sara says
Ok thank you
Simon says
Hey Sara,
I put claims in for unaffordable lending to my creditors a year or so ago. All of which returned in by favour. So saved lots on the interest. I still have to pay back the capital, but I’m struggling with minimal payments each month. The figures vary with around about £15 – £20 per month on some debts around 4k still. In your experience given I have won the unaffordable lending claims, if i came into some money would use advise offing a settlement figure? And i guess is there a percentage these companies tend to accept?
Thanks for your help
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What is the total value of all the debts? how many creditors do you have?
How much do you think you could afford to may each month in total and not struggle?
Where would the money come from to make settlement offers?
Simon says
So I total 4 creditors totalling around 10k. I’m struggling at the moment with minimal payments. So I thought if I came into a lump sum I could offer a settlement fee? I’m hoping to lend some money off a family member who as offered to help. Appreciate your input on this. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have any of these been sold to debt purchasers?
Do you have any major health problems?
Do you expect your situation to change?
Simon says
So 2 were sold but before I won my cases. The stress of paying these back is getting so much it has been going on for 10 years plus I do have long standing heart issues. I dont see things changing as cost of living is spiraling. Do you think I’m in good standing to offer them a settlement? It was more finding a percentage to offer
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How much are you paying a month at the moment?
Are you buying or renting?
Simon says
In total I’m paying around £200 per month across the loans. I have a mortgage and this has increase around £400 the last few months. After all essential are paid for I have around 5 quid left per month…
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think your first step should be to talk to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 and ask them to help you work out a budget and what you can afford to pay each month. the recent mortgage increase is a good reason to reduce payments. It is easier to get a settlement agreed if you have presented a recent budget showing that you can afford to pay very little or nothing.
Simon says
Thanks Sara. Sound advise on the budget.
It was more a question about statistics, I know each case is different due to personal situation. I was more wondering if there are statistics on average percentages creditors agree to for settlement? And do my personal cases – because my cases were deemed unaffordable, hold more weight?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No there are no statistics.
And the fact that the loans are unaffordable probably won’t carry much weight because the interest has already been removed.
Normally what matters is (a) showing you can pay very very little, (b) having evidence (health or age) that this is unlikely to improve (c) the length of time you have been making low payments
So getting the payments reduced should be your first thought. Also make sure all the creditors are aware of your health issues.
MK says
Hi Sara,
Just an update on my Vanquis complaint. The FO found in my favour and wrote to Vanquis on the 18th January asking them to remove all interest and charges from the original loan amount and update me within four weeks with the balance now owing. I have yet to hear from Vanquis and have gone back to the FO who will chase them. Is this normal practice for Vanquis to take so long?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Was this a decision from an adjudicator or an Ombudsman?
MK says
It was from an adjudicator who said Vanquis had accepted his finding and to contact me within 4 weeks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok so Vanquis have accepted it.
How much have you borrowed and how much have you paid to this already?
MK says
Hi Sara,
I borrowed £3000 and l have paid back £1,440 so far and when l checked the balance yesterday l have outstanding £3,674.00.
MK
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So on those numbers you would expect to see the balance be reduced to £3000 – £1,440 = £1560
Do you want to set up a payment arrangement for this? If you do, I suggest you contact Vanquis and say so.
MK says
Thank you Sara I will contact them and arrange this once I have heard back from the FO with their figure
Catherine Duggan says
How has everyone got on with a complaint against Lendable? I emailed them however I have not received a response.
Next week it’ll have been 8 weeks since I sent my initial complaint. I have sent chasers but not had a single response or acknowledgement.
How is everyone else doing with a complaint against Lendable?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
lots of them have to go to the Ombudsman. Have you phoned up and asked?
M says
I speak from experience and this is typical Lendable awkward behaviour, they will keep you waiting and respond just in the nick of time, I would say you will hear from them the day before the 8 week deadline, perhaps two
Sam says
I have a current complaint in.
I first raised it in Sept 2023. They had acknowledged it but didn’t give a response by the 8 week mark so I referred it to FOS 12th Nov.
Lendable rejected the complaint in Dec.
11th Jan an adjudicator was assigned.
Throughout Feb some queries from adjudicator.
8th March adjudicator issued decision in my favour.
Currently waiting to see if Lendable accept or if it’ll go to actual Ombudsman.
I am expecting them to reject it and go all the way.
Sara’s advice is golden, make sure you have supplied your bank statements before and after the application, the more evidence the FOS has to make a decision the better.
Sam says
As I was writing the above the adjudicator has come back to say Lendable has accepted their decision to uphold.
I had contacted Lendable on the 9th March to highlight the adjudicator had issued a decision and asked that they review and respond as quickly as possible.
I’ll still have some principal to pay but can arranged a realistic payment plan and most importantly the default will be removed once it’s paid.
Robert says
Hi Sara,
I left a comment a few months back about a couple of loans with 118 money. They gave me a £1000 gesture of goodwill payment for distress and inconvenience however I referred to the FOS anyway.
The adjudicator came back recently and said one loan was not irresponsible lending but the other was after assessing bank statements and gave 118 chance to respond.
Today the adjudicator got back to me and said they have responded and “strongly disagree” that it was unaffordable lending and have provided “extra information” for the adjudicator to look it which they said they are going to do to assess the claim fully.
I am a bit concerned now as I don’t know if the adjudicator can change their mind and if this is likely, I’m unsure as to what they could have provided that would mean this would change that would be more relevant than my bank statements and credit report from that period?
Just a bit confused about what happens next and how likely it would be that an adjudicator would change their decision on it being unaffordable lending? The adjudicator gave them a list of “make right next steps” if that’s any help into if this will be overturned or not.
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes the adjudicator can change their mind. I can’t guess how likely this is.
Do you agree the other loan was affordable? Because if not, this is the point for you to argue about that and ask the adjudicator to change their mind on that… say you only accepted in the interest of a quick settlement.
Grace says
My loan has been sold to another company – can I still complain to the original lender?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes – it is the original lender that made the poor decision to lend to you. If this upheld, by the lender or by the Ombudsamn, the lender will sirt out the position with the debt collector.
Cyndy says
Sara two months ago I won a complaint regarding irresponsible lending from the ulster bank regarding 4 loans. Three of these loans have been paid off by taking out a bigger loan each time. The adjudicator asked the bank to refund interests paid on them ( which they did) and to allow me to pay off the latest outstanding loan of £10400 interest free. The bank agreed with this but each month interest is still added on and until I contact the bank each time to remind them then it is removed. Should I really have to ring them every month for the next 3 years to keep reminding them of the agreement. I have contacted them also on their online correspondence form but never get a response.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No you shouldn’t. But I would wait another two mints and then send them a complaint and ask for compensation.
Cyndy says
Thank you. I will do that
Niki says
Hi Sara,
I would appreciate your advice. I have recently made a complaint to car finance company re irresponsible lending. It was rejected. At the time the finance was taken I was with DMP and I should not be offered any finance products. is it worth to go to the Ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How long ago was this? was this finance just replacing some previous finance of much the same monthly payment? did the car finance company take into account your payments to the DMP?
Basically the question is, was this car finance affordable? the fact you were in a DMP makes it less likely that it was, but it’s not impossible. And you won’t win a c complain just because of the DMP if the finance repayments were manageable and didnt cause you difficulty with the rest of your finances.
James says
Hi Sara,
So after ombusman ruled in my favour that anything after the 2k increase should be refunded and all charges and interest after the increase from 2k-3k 118 have come back and said they will refund £319 and make Lowel aware.
Now I know this is wrong as I was paying £112 in interest per month plus the balance is sitting at £3750 with Lowell but the original balance is £3000 so there is at least £750 to be refunded before all the interest payments.
I have went back to the ombudsman but do you have any advise on what I should be doing? 118 are a shambles to deal with.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So after ombusman ruled in my favour that anything after the 2k increase should be refunded and all charges and interest after the increase from 2k
Are you sure that is what the Ombudsman said?
Might they have said you will get a “partial refund” of the interest charged on the part of the balance that is over 2k?
Do you feel 2k was an affordable limit? What was the previous limit before that?
Suzanne says
Hi
I got approved for 2 loans with Zopa back in 2020 £9000 in feb and £11000 in September, due to being on maternity leave and husband on furlough. I sent complaint to Zopa and they have came back rejecting the complaint. Do you think I could take this to the ombudsman? In the same year I also got approved for two credit cards with virgin which I’m also waiting to hear back after putting in an affordability complaint. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what did Zopa’s rejection say?
Suzanne says
This was their reply.
My findings
I can see that you were approved for a £11000.00 loan on 04th September 2022 and another loan of £9000.00 on 20th February 2022. After assessing your application, I am unable to agree that the decision to approve the loan was irresponsible.
When assessing any loan application, we consider several factors including (but not limited to) credit profile, credit history and affordability. Decisions are made based on information given in the application itself and obtained from various Credit Reference Agencies.
My conclusion
Following the reasons above I have not upheld your complaint on this occasion, however if there is further evidence that you can provide to support that the loan was unaffordable, we would be happy to investigate your complaint further.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you should send that to the Ombudsman.
Charles says
Firstly, thanks for everything you do with this site, it really is amazing!
I took out car finance in 2015, and I believe the loan was unaffordable to me. The purchase price of the car was 11,850 and the total amount I would repay was over 17,000 (over 60 months). Repayments of nearly 300 per month, with my take home salary of around 1200 per month.
I’m currently awaiting a response from the finance provider, Barclays Partner Finance, and I have chased them as we’re past the 8 week deadline.
As it was in 2015, do I have any chance of a successful claim? Should I go to the ombudsman now, or should I continue wait for the company for their final response?
Thanks again!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would wait for a couple of months. I have just heard to day of someone getting a reply from them so they are working their way through them presumbaly
Charles says
Hi Sara,
Just following on from my message above, I have no received a letter from Barclays Partner finance.
They have made an offer of £50 – is there a standard response to reject this and ask for more?
They said they uphold my complaint as they’ve identified an element of poor service.
They then go on to say that it was checked that I met their lending criteria, credit check, affordability check etc were carried out.
They then ask for 6 months bank statements from 2015 (3 months before and 3 months after I took out the car loan) – will getting these have any impact on the claim? Is there anything I should avoid showing them?
Thank you
Charles
Sara (Debt Camel) says
does their email suggest they will reconsider the affordability if you supply the bank statements? If it does, I suggest you send them.
If it doesn’t, and it isn’t clear why they want them, I suggest you send this complaint to the Ombudsman now. Who will want to see those bank statements.
Charles says
It says they’ll need them to further consider the complaint.
After a long wait, I now have these bank statements. Looking back, I had a net monthly income of £1000. The car finance payments on the loan the gave me were nearly £300 per month. Insurance £100 per month.
I can see on the bank statements, in the 3 months prior to taking out the car loan, I had repayments on 2 payday loans. I also had several other finance agreements prior to the car loan, including one with BPF. My balance was regularly very low, until I got paid.
Do you think the above is a strong case, despite being back in 2015? Thanks Sara
Sara (Debt Camel) says
payday loans are an indicator of financial difficulty.
Send the statements in and then send the complaint to the Ombudsman if BPF don’t offer a satisfactory resolution.
BUT have you already had a rejection which says you have the right to send the case to the Ombudsman? If you have, don’t forget about this complaint. If you haven’t had a reply in the next couple of months send it to the Ombudsman then. There is a limit of 6 months to take a case to FOS and it is very easy to forget, especially if you feel the case in back with the lender, but actually the clock is ticking.
Charles says
Hi Sarah,
I have now received an updated final response from BPF in relation to this claim.
Despite my low earnings at the time (around £1000) per month, and history of payday loans on my account in the months leading up to taking out the car finance, they have not upheld my complaint.
They have said that they carried out appropriate checks, and for the first 14 months of the loan I made payments on time. It’s worth noting that I treated this as a priority bill, and other payments were affected so I could make this payment. After 14 months I went into arrears, but BPF tell me that I made a payment arrangement and stuck to it. The wages I received on my bank statement were around £1000 a month and the car repayments were £285 per month.
I will now refer this to the Ombudsman – please could you let me know how I can best present this case, and what information I should include.
Thank you so much
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Your bank statements show how unaffordable the finance was. Point out to FOS your low income and payday loans.
This will probably go slowly as the finance was taken out over 6 years ago. But FOS can choose to look at these older cases.
Once you have sent the complaint to FOS, I suggest you also send BPF a question about whether there was any discretionary commission included in your finance. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/car-finance-commission-get-refund/. If BPF had accepted your affordability complaint and paid out, there would have been no need to make this other claim. But now they have rejected it, ask them about discretionary commission as well. So you will have two claims running concurrently.
Charles says
Hi Sara, I’ve now heard back from the ombudsman, they are looking into this further. They have asked me the following questions:
– when did you become aware that there was a problem with the lending, for example that it was unaffordable for you? What made you realise this?
– did you suffer any loss due to the agreement, and if so in what form and when?
– if you did suffer a loss, who did you blame for you being in that position? and why?
– were there any exceptional circumstances that prevented you from bringing the complaint forward before?
In relation to the above, the impact on my mental health is one reason why I didn’t raise the complaint before – I was also not aware that I had the ability or right to make a claim. In addition, I took out additional finance in order to help with repayments.
Are there any tips you can give me on answering the above? Is there anything specific I need to include?
Thank you Sara
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“after 14 months I went into arrears, but BPF tell me that I made a payment arrangement and stuck to it.”
does this mean that after 14 months BPF agreed to lower repayments and you kept to them?
Charles says
After 14 months I was unable to make a payment, due to financial difficulties. Barclays agreed to spread the arrears from this payment across the next few payments cycles (I believe 6). I stuck to that arrangement.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So typical answers might say something like (but change these so they are right for your)
– when did you become aware that there was a problem with the lending, for example that it was unaffordable for you? What made you realise this?
I ran into problems and missed a payment about a year into the agreement, but BPF let me make a payment arrangement to clear the arrears over the about 6 months. But at that time I had no concept of lenders having to check if credit was affordable and I blamed myself for my poor finances not BPF. So while the finances was causing me problems it didn’t occur to me that this was a problem with the lending as such.
I found out what “unaffordable” meant in [month/year] when I came across an advert from a claims company / a friend tod em about it / I saw a post on social media {whatever actually happened to you]. At that point I realised that BPF could not have made adequate cheks before lending to me.
– did you suffer any loss due to the agreement, and if so in what form and when?
Trying to make the repayments to the car finance cause me a lot of trouble and led to me having to borrow more from other lenders. And because of the missed payment to BPF this borrowing was very expensive. SO I think it was a major contributor to my debt problem.
– if you did suffer a loss, who did you blame for you being in that position? and why?
As I said, at the time I thought it was my fault because I had borrowed too much for my income and let things get out of hand.
– were there any exceptional circumstances that prevented you from bringing the complaint forward before?
No
Laura says
Hi,
I recently won my first claim (I have 4 in) for irresponsible lending against Finio, they had until yesterday to respond to the investigator and they haven’t. I’m not sure what happens now, I was hoping to reduce the payment asap to ease the pressure but looks like this month it will be staying the same.
Should I follow up myself with them or leave it to the FOS?
Thanks!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Leave it to FOS.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
two questions
– Has anyone had a recent letter (spring 2024) from Barclays about a refund that has arrived out of the blue, not in response to a complaint?
– Has anyone with a case at FOS about “jurisdiction ” – wanting a refund for overdraft charges over 6 years ago – had an odd message from an investigator/adjudicator about this?
D says
Hi Sara
No to the Barclays question
Not quite sure what you mean about the ‘jurisdiction’ question, so don’t know if this is relevant. But, my partner has been waiting on a jurisdiction decision (for a number of months) and was told by the adjudicator, about a week ago, that ALL jurisdiction decisions were on ‘hold’. They apparently did not know why, but confirmed that NO jurisdiction decisions could be issued at the moment, until this had been lifted.
D says
Sara
Just to clarify, this wasn’t in connection to an overdraft complaint but in relation to a large loan, but the adjudicator was clear that ‘all jurisdiction decisions; (over 6 years) were on ‘hold
D says
Hi Sara
Any thoughts on my reply to your question? My partner is still waiting for a jurisdiction decision (over 6 years). The reply from the adjudicator was odd – that all jurisdiction decisions are on hold for everyone. Given your questions, have you heard anything about jurisdictions that you can share? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am making some enquiries. Does your case have a part which is under 6 years? or is it all over 6 years?
D says
Hi Sara
Thanks for your reply. It was all over 6 years old
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes there does seem to be some sort of review going on. I hope it will produce a simpler, clearer check as to which cases can be looked at
Beth says
My partner has just received £6300 from Sainsburys for several loans he had in a short period of time – 4 in total, where they allowed him to refinance and take others out to the point he was paying them about £800p/m for 3 loans at very high interest rates. Sainsburys of course declined initially saying they couldn’t go back further than 6 years, although FOS agreed to look back from the beginning as he had only just learned about irresponsible lending.
Sainsburys continued to fight it and rejected the case handlers decision (to uphold), sending it to an Ombudsman and once at that level, it was upheld in my partners favour (and very quickly).
If you’re contemplating sending to the FOS, you absolutely must – it takes less than 15 minutes to send the initial form and if my partner had taken Sainsburys final decision at face value he wouldn’t be £6.3K better off right now.
It’s certainly not the quickest process in terms of decision making as they’re so busy and sometimes a case handler decides not to uphold either BUT you should follow through to Ombudsman level and if you’ve got a strong case, you might just find yourself better off financially.
Thanks Sara!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
great result!