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?
Claire says
Hi I got this reply from administrator about my NatWest loans
• Miss W raised her complaint on 28 May 2024. This is more than six years after the first three of four loans were opened – the dates being 7 June 2016, 19 July 2016, and 30 June 2017.
• So, I’ve then gone on to look at when I think Miss W should have been reasonably aware that NatWest may have done something wrong. NatWest has said if Miss W was unhappy about the debt, then she should have raised her complaint when she refinanced her loan for the last time in June 2018. But I don’t agree. Miss W has also provided testimony on what happened. She explained that she knew she was struggling but blamed her own “bad money management” rather than the bank. It was only last year when she saw adverts on Facebook that she learnt that the bank should have undertaken a proper affordability assessment. And as she didn’t think they had, a complaint was raised. So, on the back of this I think Miss W only ought to have become reasonably aware that that the bank may have made a mistake in 2023. And as this is within the last three years that means the complaint was raised in time and that this is a complaint we was raised in time and that this is a complaint we can consider.
Does this mean NatWest can still contest
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes they can object to this decision. In which case it will go to an Ombudsman for a final decision.
HX says
Hi Sara / the mystery of the first Shawbrook complaint… FOS have found the copy (so I think I can’t go back and argue any case?). I didn’t know how to handle the complaint back then and just accepted their final response unfortunately…..
Subject title: irresponsible lending – loan unaffordable complaint
Shawbrook did not assess my affordability for the loan. My debt has accumulated and I ended up borrowing more to pay borrowing. By Sept i calculated I was -£750/month.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ok so you cant progress that old one, it is out of time. Good job you won the one about the much larger later loan!
Al says
Sara,
I’m in a tizz. So, what happened is – long story not short – I went off travelling, did well for 6 months budgeting and then went off the deep end mentally and subsequently with money. I was maxed out of one overdraft, Monzo Flex and two credit cards and applied for a loan of 5k with NatWest, who I have a current account with that I don’t use much. I currently have breathing space. I didn’t update my employment details – which I know is lying and a crap thing to do. I was travelling and wasn’t honest about that. In fairness, I made all my contractual payments whilst out of the country, it was only when I returned home to the UK that I stopped making payments/sought help. The main issue is I think the loan was unaffordable. I didn’t really understand the interest, and just saw 5k and thought that I would pay everything off with it and only have one payment going out each month would feel more manageable. At the time of the loan, I was maxed out on two credit cards at 1k each, had a 1k overdraft with consistent high utilisation, high on both cards as well and only making minimum payments. I had a couple of missed payments as well on CC’s.
I’m just wondering whether it’s worth still complaining about the original affordability of the loan when I wasn’t honest about my income at the time? They’d be able to see from bank statements if I send them from my other accounts that I wasn’t in the UK at the time of taking out the loan.
Just to confirm my current status. I’ve got the 5k loan on hold. I paid off one credit card, so I only have one left with Lloyds. The balance is just under £900. I’ve managed to reduce my Monzo overdraft to £500, and I’ve got £760 on my Monzo Flex to pay off.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How long ago was this? what was the interest rate on the loan?
Al says
I took out the loan in April 2023. I’m not sure of the interest, they’ve taken the loan off of my account since I defaulted and asked for help. These are the details I could find:
Loan amount: £5,000.00
Loan term: 60 months
Monthly repayment amount: £147.83
Sara (Debt Camel) says
that looks like about 25% interest.
You say you didn’t update your details – did NatWest already have them? Were you a NatWest customer?
Al says
Yes – that sounds right. I think I just filled in my previous employment details, or left them the same. I was a NatWest account holder already. Current account. No overdraft. Previous student account. Don’t use the current account anymore much at all apart from a few transfers.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you should have updated the details. But it may have been easy to apply without updating them.
Do you remember what you said you wanted the loan for?
Al says
Yes, I wasn’t honest about it which is on me and the reason for my query. I did put debt consolidation as the reason, which it initially was. I thought paying everything off and having one payment a month instead would be more manageable and it wasn’t in the end and ended up just adding it as more debt.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So it’s very unusual for making an affordability complaint to lead to any problems because you didn’t update your old employment details.
It is possible that complaint may fail if the Ombudsman thinks Natest made as many checks as they should have. If your credit record was great, say, then the Ombudsman is unlikely to say that they should have looked in great depth at a loan of 5k.
But it sounds as though NatWest should have realised something was wrong, as you didn’t have 5k of debt to consolidate. And you had missed payments on the cards. And they must have realised that you had some problems or they wouldn’t have charged you 25%… If they had tried to verify your income, it would have been clear that they shouldn’t lend.
It’s your choice about whether to complain. If you win, you still have repay the amount your borrowed from NatWest
Bc says
I sent off an affordability complaint to customer.relations@vanquisbank.co.uk two days ago and have not received any response from them, how long should I wait for a reply, I’m unable to call them as I have had a stroke and still in recovery but I struggle with telephone conversations, could you advise please.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It could be weeks. They have 8 weeks to reply.
Are your current payments unaffordable and you are hoping for immediate help?
Have you informed Vanquis about your health problems and that you would like all communications to be by email?
Bc says
I’ve added the information to the email, the loans have been paid off but I’m currently making claims to others and these fall into the same time frame so I thought I’d give it a try, all the others are communicating via email and I have sent the others the bank statements they requested, I have put complaint in with better borrow one paid off and one open it was them who wanted statement for the paid off one so that pleased me, others are with lendable, Hastings and novuma, if I can get some success it would be a great help as I’m already on a payment plan, but I have made it clear that the loans should not have been given and on checking the bank statements they wanted there were a number of other loan payments and going into overdraft each month, thanks for your assistance, as said if I could get a few successful complaints upheld then I will be in a better position and thought I can’t change the past, I can take control and be responsible for a better future.
Thanks Bc
Andrew Walker says
Hello iv won a case against lendable using your wonderful page, I’m getting intrest and over payments made back with 8% interested added, is the 8% per year or just flat line 8% overall, also anyone have quick refunds paid out or do they usually take the full 14days like they state to issue it.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well done!
The 8% is per year from the point the overpayments were made.
Has his loan been repaid already? If so, when?
Andrew Walker says
First loan was paid on full in 2019 and second one is nearly paid but paid over 3,000 in intrest on that loan too. Currently got another against loans2go they’ve offered getting rid of £400 worth of intrest but I’m going to take.it to finical ombudsman as it was £500 loan but paging nearly over 2,000 in intrest.
Bc says
How long did you have to wait until lendable replied with your outcome, as I’ve got 2 paid off loans I’ve put affordability complaints in almost 3 weeks ago.
Thanks Bc
FF says
Hi I had a loan with The AA in 2021. I couldn’t find an email address for sending my complaint to. They are underwritten by the Bank of Ireland. I did see an email address on the credit cards page for the AA to jaja legal (?) but i am not sure that would be right? does anyone have the email address for the AA loans complaints team or should i go on their website and find out that way? Thanks so much.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
try foscomplaints@boi.com. And put “complaint about AA loan” as the email title
Claire says
Hi I put affordability complaint to my community finance I took loan out in 2021. The administrator has come back to me wanting 3 months bank statements which I have rough estimate what I paid for utility bills
Then the below questions can you help with below
were the checks done by Brent Shrine Credit Union during the lending assessment proportionate?
if the checks weren’t proportionate, what information should they have considered?
was their lending decision fair given what they either knew, or should have known?
did Brent Shrine Credit Union act unfairly or unreasonably in some other way?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Get the bank statements and send them in. even if the bank account has been closed, you can still get bank statements fro 2021.
Those are the normal questions the investigator looks into. It isnt up to you to answer them
Claire says
Ok thank you the last few months before taking the loan my bank balance showed I had about 500 to 600 left before I got paid this is because beginning of year I had received some money from a family member if I hadn’t received this I would been over drawn should I explain this to administrator
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How much was the loan payment a month?
Was the bank. Balance at the end of the month tending to go up or fall?
What was the loan for and what was the interest rate?
Claire says
88 pounds month yes it was falling loan was to pay credit card off apr 28.58 loan for 3000 payable back to them 5426.87
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what was the minimum payment on the credit card?
Claire says
I was paying about 138 month but I had more cards and loans on than this one
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so the interest question is whether the payment to the car you wanted to clear was less then the payment to the loan.
you can point out that you only hade any money in the bank because of a gift from a relative, and that thour bank balance was falling each month. That suggests it would be hard to afford the new loan unless it was clear a debt that cost you more a month.
Claire says
Ok thanks well I will go back and send my statements see what happens will keep you posted
Dave Smith says
Got £257 refund from Drafty who caved straight away. They did however say they were keeping 20% of the interest as they had been instructed by HMRC to do this for tax reasons. Never heard of this before? And I thought to pay tax on interest it would have to be over £1000 a year. Trust me, if I had the amount of money in the bank that would generate a grand of interest I wouldn’t be claiming charges back from credit companies. Can I ask the HMRC for this tax back?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how long had you been using Drafty? Is that a good offer?
Yes you can ask HMRC for a refund of any tax deducted. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/ppi-payday-refund-get-back-tax/
Fred says
A company I have multiple loans with that I am currently complaining to the ombudsman have sold the debts on to a collection agency.
I have not yet had a decision on my complaint. But should be coming soon. But it’s really stressed me out as I have not missed one single payment on my loans and can’t have collection agencies on my credit file. Shall I inform the ombudsman or should I do a new complaint. I can’t believe they have done this.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Who is the lender? How many loans do you have from them?
“can’t have collection agencies on my credit file”
why not? they wont show a default or a payment arrangement?
Fred says
I am very worried about it as if I have that and payments on my statements to them it would have a negative effect on mortgage applications and would negatively affect my personal life. Even if I I have a explanation I know it will cause problems
It’s with Duologi. Strangely so far they have only transferred the last ones I took out. I am really hoping the ombudsman agrees with my complaint. If it’s upheld I assume I can argue the fact of these transferred ones shouldn’t be on my file.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Looking on their website it looks as though they may be exiting some types of lending. In which case they are probably selling a lot or all of their loans and this has nothing to do with your complaint.
This sort of sale of an up to date loan does happen and should not impact a mortgage application.
Fred says
Thank you. That has reassured me.
Out of curiosity if my complaint is upheld would whoever they sold it too have to adhere to the ombudsman’s decision? Or would they ask them to take the account back?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is up to the lender how they sort out loans that have been sold.
What were these loans for?
Clara says
Hi – I am kind of going through a crisis of borrowing to repay borrowing and just in a financial muddle overall. I had a DRO back in 2020 and financially I was coping until I was hit with a personal (not finance related) crisis which has sent me spiralling.
My main concerns are the 2 credit cards (£1300 and £250 limits) with 118 118 and also 2 loans of £2000 (total £4000) which are pushing me to breaking point. The repayment for these 4 products is £400 per month.
I’ve also stupidly took out 2 (payday?) loans with Tick Tock (£300) and Cash Float (£500) earlier this year as I had an emergency to deal with.
I can’t afford to repay any of these debts at all.
Would an affordability complaint be the way to go.
The 2 credits cards were taken out in Jan 2024 and the loans in May 2024 all at the same time. I already had credit card debt totalling £6,000 at this point as well.
I am 100% to blame because I knew I couldn’t afford to repay them and have no excuse other than bad decision making.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest two things.
First talk to StepChange about a DMP. You can make affordability complaints but they take many months (expect them to have to go to the Ombudsman) and anyway winning will only remove the interest, so there will still be a lot to repay. So you need to be in a safe financial space while they are going through – winning any complaints will really speed the DMP up
Second make affordability complaints to all the lenders – even the payday loans as they should have seen you have just borrowed a lot in January. If you have a loan and a card with 118, make a single complaint for both of them.
David says
Is it possible to complain I had two loans with Likely loans but they have been passed onto another company now called Cabot Financial?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes it is. Your complaint goes to Likely Loans. If its upheld (it may well have to go to the ombudsmnan) LL will sort out the debt to Cabot.
Natalie says
I sent an affordability complaint to Bamboo Loans about two consecutive loans I had taken out. They emailed me to say that they did not uphold the complaint but offered me £150 to settle. I emailed back to say I would be referring the complaint to the Ombudsman. They then sent another offer of £450 stating this would be their final offer and that they still did not uphold the complaint. I referred it to the Ombudsman and have today received an email saying that even though they have not fully investigated, Bamboo have offered to repay the interest on both loans plus 8%! What a win!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
well done for not settling cheaply!
Kimberley says
Hi Sara, I’m wondering if you’d know whether it’s possible to put an affordability complaint into credit unions too? I was given two loans quite close together to consolidate other debts, but I feel I definitely should not have been given the second loan, as they had their own hesitations about it before they sent me it.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes you can. Just use the standard template letter.
Let me know how this goes!
Jane says
Hi! Sara,
do you have an email address for loans taken out with RateSetter?
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
it is a trading name of Metro Bank. Use customerrelations@metrobank.plc.uk and out COMPLAINT ABOUT RATESETTER LOAN as the email title
Jane says
Hi! Sara,
is it still possible to make a complaint against older RateSetter loans that existed before the Metro Bank takeover?
Thanks,
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The only way to find out is to try
JH says
I raised a complaint about 3 Lloyds loans back in September. Lloyds messed about and “couldn’t find” the loans (even though the investigator looking at my overdraft complaint saw it straight away on my file).
I complained 2 more times and Lloyds didn’t investigate/closed my case. I complained to FOS who then said that Lloyds should be given a chance to review again, and they objected as the original loan was outside of the 6 years (by 30 days), but the two top ups were within the timeframe. I argued that I only knew within the last 3 years etc etc.
The Ombudsman then contacted me in June to say: “ In October 2023, the Supreme Court clarified the law regarding how time limits work with regards to unfair relationships (S.140 of the Consumer Credit Act) and we’re required to take the law into account when reaching our decisions. With that in mind we’ve been looking closely at the clarification and how it affects our work across various complaint types, including irresponsible lending. It may take a little more time, but it is important that we carefully consider all of the arguments in this area, in order to reach the right outcome in each complaint.” and I’ve had nothing since. Are others seeing this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes this is affecting quite a few cases. Hopefully this will be resolved soon – it may well help your case.
Bc says
Hi Sarah, had a response from one of my complaints I sent off, this is from Novuna, so do I need to add up all the repayments, will that be used to reduce the outstanding balance.
We’ve now completed our investigation into your complaint and can confirm we are upholding your complaint.
As per our uphold process you will not have to pay any interest and will only have to pay the capital of the loan (£4,000.00). In addition to this we will also refund an 8% compensatory interest and remove any charges and any negative information applied to your Credit File for this agreement.
At this moment I have no figures for you as I have requested these from our Finance Team and once, I have these I will be in touch.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That sounds great! Yes add up all the repayments to Novuna, ignore whether they were interest or principal just add up the cash paid.
Then take that away from £4000, what you borrowed. That should be your new balance. So if you have paid 7 lots of £150, that is £1,050 and your balance will be reduced to about £2950.
Bc says
Thanks for the update, confused why they’re adding the 8% even though there’s going to be a balance, Will update you when I get the figures
Thank you
KJ says
I am confused about the 8% as well, I have had exactly the same response from them on an 8k loan that began in Fen 23 where deducting payments I have made leaves around £2500 still to pay. Do I get 8% of the interest paid annually (interest rate was 27.7%), I cant do the maths on this? Is that paid to me or deducted from my outstanding balance?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
it sounds like a bank error in your favour (as the Monopoly card used to say).
EP says
Hello Sara
Some good news.
My loan and credit card claims were dismissed quite quickly by the FOS investigator without them providing much reasoning behind their decision.
I asked for it to go to the Ombudsman explaining why I didn’t agree with the investigators decision. The ombudsman has come back with a provisional decision which is now in my favour.
If the final decision remains the same, this would mean my loans and credit cards will be paid off and I should have something left on top.
Thanks for all of your help, and for others it is well worth asking the ombudsman to reconsider the initial decision if it doesn’t go in your favour.
Bc says
I have had a reply from lendable on the two closed loans and they’ve not upheld, strangely they have listed various things that I called them in August and said I was going into an IVA and that I never responded to them regarding a payment plan set up, also that I have told them I’m suffering from mental health issues.
So I’ve emailed back with the email that is from march this year that’s got the information on that my loan is paid in full and nothing outstanding, so I’ve added that they’ve either replied to the wrong person or used a standard template with copy and paste.
I’ve given them 3 days to respond before I send to the financial ombudsman
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sounds like you got someone else reply. I would phone them up. And give them a week to respond
Bc says
Hi Sara
I didn’t get a response to my email to Lendable regarding getting a reply to someone else’s claim, so I called them today and they have raised another complaint and I asked them to look at my complaint, the girl said I should hear from them in the next few weeks as I have already been waiting four weeks, then about an hour later I got an email apologizing and to confirm that they will not be upholding my complaint, due to the speed of the response I have sent it over to FOS, I now have 3 complaints with FOS over the last 3 weeks I have received the usual email reply but none have been assigned yet, so I haven’t been issued a case number, how long do you think I should wait before I contact FOS.
Thanks BC
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Another few weeks
Bc says
They have raised another complaint due to recieving the wrong details and I have told them I’ve sent the complaint to FOS and looks like they’re re looking at the original complaint, but not holding my breath.
Katie says
Hi Sara,
I really hope you can help me because I am now completely lost.
I had an investigator go in my favour regarding three NatWest loans. Long story short, NatWest finally agreed to avoid it going to ombudsman.
They have calculated the refund different to me. The investigator directed them to ‘recalculate the total amount of money I received have been given the loans. The repayments I made should be deducted from this amount. If I paid more than I received any overpayments should be refunded along with 8% interest.
I’ve calculated a higher figure than NatWest. The reason for the difference is that I used say £6000 of a £10000 second loan to pay off the difference for loan one. They said they don’t count that as a repayment even though I borrowed it and paid it?
Can you please let me know your understanding.
Thank you so much!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They are wrong, you are right. Go back and tell your investigator that NatWest’s calculation doesnt make sense, and why.
Katie says
Thank you!
They just kept repeating ‘ The consolidation funds were bank funds, not your funds, so they cannot be included in payments you made towards the debt owed.’ But i still had to pay back all of the loans in full and those payments were made from loans I paid back.
Definitely feel like I’m going crazy, hopefully the investigator can help
Sara (Debt Camel) says
let me know what the investigator says
Katie says
Unfortunately the investigator has said he agrees with NatWest.
‘ As I agree with how NatWest have calculated the redress I can’t ask them to redo things in this regard.
Usually, once a case has been upheld in the consumers favour, we’d explain what we expect a business to do to put things right, and then close the case at this stage. We wouldn’t necessarily wait to see how any settlement has been put together before closing the case , as we expect business to have the right processes in place to do this. In this case, I’ve no reason to think NatWest has done anything incorrectly.
It is of course your choice whether you pursue any further challenges with NatWest regarding this, however, I don’t think it will be able to proceed with any settlement until you’ve agreed to the figure it’s put forward. ‘
It still clears what I had left to pay them just not as much as I expected.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well it’s still wrong. Go back and say that that you want the case to go to an Ombudsan if the calculation is not revised.
Katie says
The investigator has just told me the whole case will have to be looked at by an ombudsman not just the calculations so I think I’m going to have to back down and take the smaller amount. I can’t run the risk of the ombudsman changing the original decision and go back to owing them 😔
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Can you go back and say that doesn’t sound fair as both you and NatWest have accepted the investigator’s decision on affordability
Katie says
Will do! Honestly it is all really deflating.
Katie says
The investigator has come back again, they are not budging so I think I will have to settle with the lower offer rather than risk losing everything.
‘ When a case is escalated for a final decision, it standard practice for the full case to be reviewed by the ombudsman.
As mentioned previously, we wouldn’t usually expect the business to provide their working out before closing the case. However, as there has been a disagreement I was happy to review NatWest’s calculations and I haven’t found any reason to think this was done incorrectly and I’ve put forward my reasons for this.’
Sara (Debt Camel) says
In theory the Ombudsman reviews the whole case. I can’t remember a situation where both sides have accepted the adjudicator’s decision on unaffordability and the ombudsman decides to reverse it.
Steve says
Hi Katie
Roughly how long did you complaint with Natwest take if you don’t mind me asking? They are my main bank complaining about 3 loans had with them a single and likes yours a rolled up loan.
Luckily I am not in any desperate financial situation like I was previously more just out of interest I complained at the start of this month and just got a letter today. Asking for more information so sent in some details and my trans union credit report.
Cheers
Steve
Claire says
I’ve got case with NatWest started in June and got decision yesterday from administrator say loan 4 was unaffordable for them to refund interest. I just hope don’t do what done to Katie as i refinanced loans to pay others off
Katie says
Fingers crossed for you Claire!
NatWest were by far my most difficult case.
Katie says
Hi Steve,
No problems at all.
NatWest took the maximum amount of time to reply to me, I think I got their final response two days before the 8 week deadline.
When the investigator at the ombudsman made a provisional decision too, NatWest were asking for further information of them that dragged out a further couple of months.
They took the longest out of all my creditors unfortunately, I hope they are a bit quicker for yourself!
Steve says
Thanks Katie I have had some decent refunds off other things I don’t need the cash these days so anything back is a bonus.
Would just end up in savings on an ISA some times you get huge surprises got £7200 back off Novuna a couple of years ago which cleared my debts totally.
Steven says
Hi Sarah
Got my FRL off natwest today rejected so off to the FOS as they took no real time to investigate.
Some months there was 5 figures passing through my account I only earn £1500 a month had numerous loans overdrawn. Had a heavy gambling problem at the time.
Which spiked again for the second large loan when my mam was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Other major lenders I had at that time upheld my complaints without the need for FOS intervention so see what happens.
Claire says
I’ve had a response from the administrator who thinks NatWest haven’t done anything wrong the response is to big to detail some parts of it
So, I’ve looked through the information NatWest had access to. I will say I think it’s a concern that this was the third refinance in under two years. And whilst all were termed re-finances each loan granted significant amounts of extra funds each time. But having said that, from the information available to me, there is not enough to show that the lending was either unaffordable or unsustainable.
I’ve reviewed Miss current account statements for the three months leading up to the lending decision. Income is £1,679 vs the credit turnover through the account of just over £2,000. So around what NatWest took to be her income. Again, there were regular repayments to the likes of MBNA and Vanquis, but these all look to be managed satisfactorily.
Whilst Miss account was mainly in credit, it did go overdrawn for a couple of days at the end of May 2018 before her salary returned the account to credit. Whilst not ideal, the overdrawn balance was only £64 and it returned to order very shortly after. And there was no other indication that Miss was struggling financially.
So I just accept the decision or do I send it to ombudsman
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Were the refinancing as your card balances had grown?
were all the payments to cards the minimum amounts? Were you using those cards for more borrowing to help you get through the month?
Claire says
Yes the balances were growing I had 3 credit cards and I paid the minimum payments. Do I sent copy of my credit report to administrator explain this
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes- say the fact you weren’t missing payments to cards isn’t relevant – say with the two refinancing loans, NatWest should have looked closely at what was happening as the previous loans didnt seem to have helped. Point out you were not able to repay the cards sustainably, you were only making minimum payments and were having to use the cards for living expenses 9if that is true).
AND send a copy of your credit report.
Claire says
Thank you I will respond and keep you updated
HX says
Hi Sara / the 2nd Shawbrook loan whereby they said they would make it interest free, is still not resolved. I sent the complaint in 7th May. Can you advise if I should ask for compensation for the delay. Today they have said the following:
Please accept our apologies for the lack of updates on the processing of the resolution that was agreed on your account.
To restructure the loan account in the way that’s necessary involves many steps and stages for us to complete and while it does take some time to execute, we acknowledge that there are ongoing delays and we have not provided you with updates along the way as we progress the amendments to the loan account.
We would like to assure you that the matter is being dealt with and once in place, we will review the actions and time taken and consider if you have suffered any detriment as a result.
Could we please ask that you bear with us for a short while longer while we seek to complete the changes and in any event, we will endeavour to keep you updated more frequently from here until conclusion.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what date was the resolution agreed? Do you expect there will be a remaining balance when it is sorted? Are you still making payments?
HX says
It was agreed 10th July.
Still making payments and there will be a balance after the loan is reworked. Because of salary rises, I am in a position to keep paying what was agreed as the monthly payment.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
then I would just reply saying this is extremely stressful as you are trying to sort out your finances and you would like to ask for some compensation for the delay.
Also tell your FOS adjudicator that Shawbrook still haven’t come up with any figures.
Samuel says
Good Afternoon,
I won an affordability complaint against 118118 money back in 2022. I still had a balance so a payment plan was set up. I have however not paid towards the payment plan for 2 months, I’ve now re-set up a payment plan, but I’ve received an email from 118 saying a default has now been added to my credit file and the full amount is now due.
I’m just wondering are they allowed to add a default considering the affordability complaint was upheld by the FOS? The whole loan was removed from my credit file when the complaint was upheld but will it now be added back on? I did contact them to ask but they weren’t sure and have had to raise my query as a complaint.
Just wondering if there has been any previous cases where a default has been removed due an affordability complaint then added back on?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t remember this happening. But what is the rest of your financial situation like if you could make the payments for 2 months? Did you tell them or just not pay?
Stacey McIntosh says
Hello
I want to complain to my bank TSB regarding 2 loans and a credit card however i think when i applied they will say i mislead them.
It asked for my income and any child maintenance payments etc. My childrens dad gives me money which is arranged between us not through an agency.
Also it asked how much i pay for my share of the mortgage which is £0 as my childrens dad pays.
Would any of this effect my claim?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
None of that sounds a problem to me.
Claire says
I’ve had response from administrator said look back at last 2 loans but my credit file only gone back to June 2018 asked if I can get it before how do I do this? Also asking for balance on my mbna card before June 2017 so it can show balance before I took the 3rd loan. I don’t have mbna credit card no more so not sure how to get this. Would it be from credit report?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
are these Natwest loans? I though you said FOS had agreed it could go back and look at all 4?
Claire says
The first 2 were granted correctly it’s been last 2 loans that I feel need more investigation as my finances got worse. I have contacted mbna asked to send all my statements from July 2017 to when it was closed said it will take 7 to 10 days so this will show balance of when I took the 3rd loan. Hopefully this will help
Kimberley says
Hi Sara, just wanted to thank you for this template and all your advice. Recently complained to Capquest (who now own my Koyo Loan) about two loans I took out with Koyo. One was settled and the other still being paid back. Capquest came back to me and upheld my complaint, giving me £737 interest back on the first loan, plus the £4000 interest on my second loan, reducing the amount I owe and stopping all future interest. All amazing news and means I can now be in more control of my finances. Thank you again!
Ems says
Hi Sara,
I have had a response from Bamboo regarding affordability complaint. They have not upheld my complaint saying that they have done nothing wrong. They have offered me £300 to settle the complaint within 7 days if I don’t take it further to the ombudsman. I believe lending was unaffordable as I was left with no disposable income after servicing my debts and essential bills. Should I take this further. It just seems odd to me that they are offering me money when they say they have done nothing wrong? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That sounds unaffordable to me. How large was the loan and how much interest was added?
Ems says
Hi Sara,
I had 3 loans in total.
Loan 1 was for £1500, interest was £722.25 so a total of £ 2222.25. Then 6 month later they allowed me to top up my loan. So I was loaned a further £ 932.47 and £1267.60 was used to settle original loan. So a total of £3540.35 for second loan ( 1340.28 interest) and then just over a year later they allowed a further top of £ £1956.02 settling loan 2 with £1654.93 a total of £ 7557.95 for loan 3 ( interest 3947.00)
Loan 1 I had repaid £ 555.54 before top up. Loan 2 I had repaid £ 1376.76 before too up and then Loan 3 I settled with a repayment of £5735.25 by using further borrowing from else where. Not sure if this all makes sense and how much interest I have actually paid. By loan 2 and 3 I had no income left after bills and debt repayments was living in my overdraft and from credit cards. What do you think? They are saying that they don’t uphold my complaint but offering me £300 to settle for the inconvenience? I feel that if they had done nothing wrong why offer £300? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would definitely send that to the Ombudsman.
Also look at complaints about your other debts.. eg the loan to settle the last Bamboo loan
Ems says
Thanks Sarah. I have made a few complaints. Nationwide have rejected, shawbrook have also rejected so I have forwarded them on to the ombudsman. I will go back to Bamboo and say that I’ll forward complaint to ombudsman too.
John says
Hi Sara
Was looking for some advice if possible to see whether I had a valid complaint
I took out a loan with updraft in January 2023 for £7000 at 18.90% interest at £180 a month , I already had 4 loans on the go before taking this out
I then took out a further loan of £8000 with updraft in august 2023 at 22.90% interest at £225 a month , at the time there was a lot of gambling on my bank statements but this wasn’t checked by updraft , I used the money to pay off some debts and the rest went on gambling , I already had 3-4 open loans before taking this out
In March this year updraft offered me another loan which I took out for £7200 at 24.90% interest at £235 a month , again there was a lot of gambling on my statements but this wasn’t checked , I used some of this money to pay off debts and the rest went on gambling
I’ve kept up all payments for these loans but as a result I’m constantly in overdraft and borrowing at short term loans as I’m paying in total £640 a month to updraft
If I do have a valid complaint would it be against all 3 loans ?
Thanks in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Short term loans – do you mean payday loans. Very high interest?
John says
Mainly loans like credit spring where you pay a yearly fee and then borrow over 6 months .
Also maxed out with 2-3 credit cards
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes I suggest you complain to Updraft about all three loans.
But these complaints take time and you also need immediate help to reduce your payments and stop interest being added to the credit cards. So I suggest you contact StepChange about a debt management plan for all your debts. See https://www.stepchange.org/. Winning an affordability complaint will speed up the DMP a lot.
Also read https://debtcamel.co.uk/gambling/ and think about getting help to stop gambling
Bc says
I contacted vanquis on 30 July with affordability complaint regarding two loans paid off, but still not received a response, what date should I wait till before I forward to FOS
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so its been about 5 weeks? You have to wait until 8 weeks. Have you had any acknowledgement from Vanquis?
Bc says
No nothing not been acknowledged, I used the email address you had listed.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, when it gets to 7 weeks, ask them to confirm they have your complaint.
R smith says
Hi,
In July 2020 I applied for a HSBC loan of 7k which was approved at the time I already had one other 5k loan with admiral from January.
At the time I was betting a lot and this was showing on my bank statements.
Later in July I applied for another loan with Halifax of 17k which was approved again.
In September 2020 I applied for a top up loan with HSBC of 12.5k to pay off my original loan with them and have some left over.
Again I was betting a lot and spending on average 1k a month from my HSBC account alone, this is linked to my loan account.
In May 2021 I applied for a second top up loan with HSBC of 21.5k which again was approved, I was clearly spending a lot each month and by this point had borrowed over 40k within 12 months.
In January 2022 I missed my first Halifax payment and later defaulted on this loan.
I’ve gone back to both Halifax and HSBC about irresponsible lending, HSBC have come back to me and said they don’t believe they did anything wrong and that my betting wasn’t an issue because my account was always in credit and I argued that was because I had so much money from loans at the time. I also explained within two months of my final loan with them I was maxed out on my credit cards and overdraft.
Do you think I have a case for irresponsible lending?
Still waiting for Halifax to respond.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes. Send this to the ombudsman.
R smith says
Amazing thank you, I’ll do it straight away
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I’m not saying you will win, but it looks a good enough case to to go to FOS!
R smith says
Thank you, I also got my mortgage in May 2020 so my borrowing at that point was extremely high
R smith says
Hi Sara,
I’ve just had a email from Halifax asking for bank statements leading up to the loan with them, surely when you’re giving someone nearly 20k you should have all this information?
Do you think this will help my case?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It will help your case if you supply The statements and they show the loan would be affordable.
You won5 win just because Halifax didn’t make adequate checks if those checks would hav3 shown the loan was affordable.
Bc says
Could you help please, what is the 8% that will be added to a £2100 interest, how much would it be when refunded for the £2100 and I assume they’ll take off the tax just waiting on the figures but this is the amount of interest I was charged for the loan that’s been paid off.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Who is the lender? When was the loan paid off?
Bc says
Better borrow paid off February 2022
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well you should get at least 20% added (2 and a half years of 8%).
Bc says
Thanks, will wait for the figures and come back
Bc
Stuart Hancox says
Hi Sara
My complaint against Specialist Motor Finance has been upheld finally after it was escalated to the Ombudsman from an investigator. My queation is about the 8% interest, I am due around £2800 which is the difference between the payments I made minus a fair usage charge set by the FOS. In terms of the 8% interest is it worked out from the start date of the car finance or is it different? Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What happened to the car?
Stuart Hancox says
I handed the car back to the finance company
I made £9400+ in payments and FOS have said £6600 is fair usage leaving £2800 + interest
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ok when did the finance start? When did you hand the car back?
Did you put down a deposit, how much, and is that included in the 9400?
Stuart Hancox says
The finance started Jan 2018 I handed car back 30 months later. There was no deposit the actual figure was £9447 in payments and fair usage is £6600. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you have just over 4 years of 8% interest since the car was headed back , so about about 940
then you should get some credit for the overpayments during the 30 months. They built up from 0 to 2800, so its the equivalent of 15 months interest on 1400, which is about another 140
less basic rate tax deducted, but you may be able to reclaim that from HMRC, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/ppi-payday-refund-get-back-tax/
Stuart Hancox says
Thanks for the info Sara its really appreciated. I have used the site quite a few times now and has been invaluable.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
very pleased to see a win against SMF!
Stuart Hancox says
I hope I am allowed to say this but I started a claim by myself which they rejected. I then escalated to an Ombudsman that after delaying all information requested to the maximum time for every request by the FOS they initially accepted they didn’t carry out the necessary checks (this was when the initial ‘putting this right’ was worked out incorrectly meaning they had nothing to pay), after your advice and going back to the FOS they then retracted their decision at SMF and basically made no contact at all. The FOS then upgraded my case from investigator to an actual Ombudsman and again after months of delays they have now finally accpeted the findings with the updated figures for putting this right. I am just waiting for them to make contact and payment which I guess they will take the maximum 28 days. So to anyone making a claim against then stick at it as they delay and deny as many times as they can.
Rachel Day says
I am currently paying a 118 118 loan, i want to put in an unaffordable lending complaint, do I continue paying my monthly instalments ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Can you manage to pay them? Or does it leave you short so you have to borrow more?
Bob says
Hi Sara/all,
I used your template to write the following complaint and included bank statements. Nationwide came back and rejected the complaint, do you think it’s worth going to the Ombudsman based on the info in the letter below (which might be of use to others)?
Thanks in advance!
…
I am making a complaint to you about irresponsible lending. You should never have given me this unaffordable loan.
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; including the registered default.
This was a large loan (£25,000) and my bank statements (attached) show that the loan was unaffordable and you should have rejected my application had you requested and reviewed them adequately. It is clear from my main bank account statements that I was in a cycle of large borrowing and gambling (with numerous sizeable transactions from Betfair etc.) both before and after the loan start date. Moreover, you should have noticed gambling transactions on my current account with you.
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 September 2024 when I saw an advert on Facebook for refunds. Additionally, it has taken time to face the reality of gambling and recover from this terrible addiction. So, I am complaining within 3 years of having found out that I have cause to complain.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes send this to the Ombudsman.
Did you have Any other borrowing?
R smith says
Hi Sara,
I borrowed 5k from admiral in January 2020 -7.5k early july from HSBC , – 12k top up loan September 1st from HSBC – 17k September 28th Halifax – then another 18.3k top up loan May 2021 from HSBC, would you say there is a case for dependency? Each time I was increasing the loans while gambling heavily.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Dependency can be a helpful argument when you are borrowing relearn a lender, often small amounts. These are large loans and it isn’t needed. To admiral the argument is that you coul Afford the repayments. To HSBC the fact that the first loan was large and unaffordable then there were two large top ups, which should have caused HSBC to look closely and see the gambling. To Halifax the fact that you had Borrowed so much from other lenders recently.
R smith says
Morning Sara,
So you think dependency could be a valid argument? HSBC just said “if I had a gambling problem I should have told them” they felt it was my responsibility to inform them and that I always had my statements! my view on that was “yes I did have money but only because I was taking out large loans including a 5k loan from my employer which again shows on my HSBC statements as “loan”
I also explained after the final loan from them and I couldn’t borrow anymore, within 3 months I was heavily in the red on all my accounts and within 6 months I defaulted on my Halifax loan.
Their response back was “but you didn’t default on your HSBC loan so it was clearly affordable”
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Are you talking about dependency on gambling? I think addidiction is more of an effective word to use.
HSBC was your bank? Could they see heavy gambling on your statements?
R smith says
Okay thank you and yes HSBC are my main bank on average I was gambling £800-£1400 showing on my statements this doesn’t include using cash.
But their response was “this wasn’t excessive because I was being paid £2400 a month and wasn’t in my overdraft” and I said I only wasn’t in the overdraft because I was borrowing money from multiple people and she wouldn’t take that.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
straight to the Ombudsman!
Gee says
Hi Sarah,
I submitted a complaint to the FOS in respect of five loans with NatWest over a four year period, totalling £41,500.
The FOS investigator has responded to my complaint stating that based on the figures provided by NatWest, the monthly repayments showing on my credit file equated to only 25 to 40% of my net salary. I also had four or five credit cards open at the time of each loan.
However, the figures on both my credit report from TransUnion and my bank statements show that the repayments were much higher (on average over £300 per month higher than what NatWest quote). The Investigator states that this was the information available to NatWest but I can’t see how that can be the case, when it is visible on my TransUnion report that I have submitted, and my bank statements. The investigator has also advised that they have worked out what the minimum credit card repayments would have been based on the balance on the cards, but those figures are much less than what I was actually repaying as minimum payments.
NatWest are my primary bank and so they would have access to my statements and would have been able to see what I was committed to repaying.
I would be very grateful for any advice on how to respond. In particular, what information should NatWest be relying on, and would they have been able to see what is on my TransUnion report now?
Thanks so much
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so you say you were only making the mi9nimum payments? But Natwest says you were paying a lot more than the minimum?
Do you have any old credit card statements?
Gee says
I was only making minimum repayments to my credit cards the whole time, but NatWest have calculated an estimated minimum repayment around which is less than what I was actually paying.
As an example, the FOS Investigator response states:
“The results of the credit checks confirmed he had repayments on loans totalling £556 per month and credit card repayments of around £52 per month (based on minimum repayments)”. However, I was actually repaying £768 on loans, and £137 on credit cards.
For another of the loans, they state I was making £94 credit card repayments when my bank statement shows I was making £257.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
do you have any old credit card statements?
How large were the credit card balances at this time?
Gee says
I would only have statements for one of the cards as I have changed or got rid of the others.
Loan 1 (June 2021) I had:
– £4,960 total balance across four cards and repayments of £256
– £18,600 loan balance across 3 loans with £547 repayments
– 2 maxed out overdrafts of £500, although not with NatWest
– £1835 net monthly salary (£27,500 p/a gross)
Loan 2 (February 2022) I had:
– £3,129 credit card balance across four card with £137 repayments
– £22,425 loan balance across four loans with £769 repayments
– One £500 maxed out overdraft although not with NatWest
– £1,960 net monthly income (£30,000 p/a gross)
Loan 3 (May 2023) I had:
– £7,500 credit card balance across four card with £257 monthly repayment
– £23,618 loan balance across four loans with £826 monthly repayments
– £2,000 maxed out overdraft of (not NatWest)
– £600 overdraft with NatWest maxed out
– £3,300 net monthly income (£65k p/a gross)
Loan four:
This is the loan that the investigator has agreed was unaffordable. It was a £7,500 taken in December 2023, and I then paid a large chunk of it off in January with a further loan, and so there was only £1,250 remaining. NatWest has just come back to offer to remove £350 worth of interest, offer 8% compensatory interest on the £350, and wipe the remaining £900 as a “gesture of good will”.
The investigator also stated that NatWest never actually provided them with the checks they completed, just a summary of the results. The investigator states that the figures she has used are based on my credit report, but the figures are not accurate.
Do you think I should ask for this to be referred to the ombudsman, or is it worth trying to explain to the investigator?
Thanks so much
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would only have statements for one of the cards as I have changed or got rid of the others
well proving that the numbers are the minimums for just one card would help your case.
did the payments show as direct debits on your bank statements ? if they did that is good evidence that your card was set to debit the minimum each month
These 4 natwest loans – how large were each of them? what were the interest rates?
was one settling the previous one or did you have more than one at the same time?
Do you think I should ask for this to be referred to the ombudsman, or is it worth trying to explain to the investigator?
i think you should make a detailed case to the investigator and ask them to look again and for this to go to an Ombudsman if they dont change their mind
The investigator states that the figures she has used are based on my credit report, but the figures are not accurate
does the investigator have your bank statements?
You should argue that NatWest should take account of all the information they know – and this includes what shows on your bank statements.
And that taking more than one loan should make them look in more detail, as your situation may have got worse.
Andy says
Hi Sara
I had a FOS complaint upheld in my favour upheld about 3 years ago. I had a redress of around £1500 from Avant at the time and they amended by credit history to show no missed payments, but didn’t remove it from my file (if you drill down into the detail you can still see missed payments even though they aren’t reported as such). I’ve contacted Avant several times to get it removed from my credit file entirely but have had no response at all. If I dispute directly with Experian and Equifax, will they be likely to suppress the account or will Avant stop it?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how have you tried to contact them? if email, what address did you use and has it bounced back?
Andy says
Hi Sara
I have used the email address on their website which is support@avantcredit.co.uk
I haven’t been notified of a bounce.
Thanks
Gee says
Hi Sarah,
I have downloaded the MBNA statements which show that the payments were always minimum payments, and are higher than the investigator has quoted.
The four NatWest loans were:
– 15 June 2021 – £9,000 (20.5%)
– 8 February 2022 – £7,500 (25.5%)
– 2 May 2023 £12,750 (22.9%). This consolidated the February 2022 loan.
– 28 December 2023 – £7,250 (27.1%)
From the 15 June 2021 loan, I always had at least 2 NatWest loans, as well as at least one other external loans.
The investigator states that the figures that were quoted were what was retrieved from the credit report for the time of each application, not just on the information that was provided by NatWest. I have provided bank statements as well but they don’t seem to have taken those into account. In any event, the credit report does show higher repayments than they are quoting.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So go back to the investigator with these. Point out that Natwest could see from your bank statements what you were actually paying, and NatWest should have paid attention to those, especially with your increasing levels of debts. .
Noel says
I got this reply is it worth going to the Ombudsman?
I understand you feel we should not have given you a loan of £25,000.00 in 2017 as you were in a cycle of large borrowing and gambling. However, I am afraid I cannot agree we have done anything wrong as you passed our affordability checks at the time of your application.
How did we reach our decision?
I have reviewed the two loans we gave you in 2017.
The first loan for £25,000.00 was issued to you on the 15 March 2017, but you repaid it on the 28 March 2017 within the 14-day cooling off period.
You then applied for another £25,000.00 loan on the 4 May 2017. Your application was successful as you passed our affordability checks. The income and outcome you provided on your application was sufficient for us to believe the loan was affordable and was to be used for consolidation of debt. As you passed our checks, we did not require further evidence such as bank statements.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes. This is a massive loan and they should have checked carefully.
Anita says
Hi Sara,
Can you complain to FOS about FOS???
Back in April of this year I ‘won’ an affordability complaint against Simply Be (Fashion World and J D Williams). Both accounts had defaulted and been passed to Cabot Financial Debt Management and so Simply Be instructed them to adjust the balances owed taking off the redress that had been awarded, which they did and the balances on my credit file were adjusted also – all good so far.
The problem came when I did some of my own research on the FOS website and discovered that where CCJs had been issued but affordability claims upheld that in most cases the creditor, if not already done so, will be instructed by FOS to remove the CCJ from the debtor’s credit file in it’s entirety (notwithstanding that the default remains on file).
So I contacted Cabot who said that although they had applied for the CCJ the cases were being managed by their solicitor, Mortimer Clarke, and that I should contact them. With zero cooperation from Mortimer Clarke I raised a complaint with FOS quoting their own case precedence from their own website.
Many weeks later I received an update stating that my case had not been reviewed yet due to a backlog but then within days of that email I received another which simply stated that “As a court has already made a decision in relation to these debts, we are unable to provide any assistance in this matter”.
I write to you to see if I am missing something really or if I can complain?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
did you defend the CCJ case in court? or was there just a default judgement?
Pauline says
I took out a loan with Novuna (Hitachi) and because of an issue with a Debt Management Company being closed down by the Government and find that a Utility Bill had remained un paid
I contacted Novuna and explained that I was in financial distress and agreed to pay £100 instead of £290 a month, they agreed.
Now earlier this year I was in the position as a 70 year old disabled pensioner to remortgage and rid myself of debt.
Novuna was owed £13000 ,I asked as a settlement figure would they accept £11000 as a settlement figure.
To be told that this is only accepted in extreme situations and I do not fit the criteria.
Continued to be told that under these circumstances they would need proof, a letter from a hospital or a signed letter from my GP. Then it would be submitted to a senior manager for review.
Should I decide to explore this avenue and believe I fit the criteria, a criteria I have no knowledge off. Then Novuna will talk me through the process of being referred to their Specialist Support Team. The criteria the agent referred to is commercially sensitive information that they are not liberty to elaborate on
I now have a balance of over £2000 so I remain in debt. Nothing is going to change for me. I will not get better over night or be able to go back to work aged 70. I can get a letter from my GP that’s not the problem.I feel Novuna are being unfair, surely when I first spoke to Novuna they should of put me in touch with the Specialist support Team
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How long ago did you take this loan – was it to pay this utility bill?
What is the interest rate on the loan?
Do you have other debts?
I am unclear if you have remortgaged to get more money or you just know you can?
Do you think it was “affordable” at the time you took it – could you pay it and all household bills and other debts and be able to pay all your everyday living expenses – food, heating, transport, clothes etc?
Pauline says
When this loan was taken out I could afford everything ok. When news of the utility bill came to light I contacted Hitachi and they agreed to me paying £100. Now years on I was in the position to remortgage. In doing so I managed to clear debts I had and contacted Hitachi to ask if they would accept £11,000 as a reduced settlement figure. They accepted the £11.000 but said I did not fit the criteria for an early settlement agreement. I still do not know what the criteria is. Now I find my self with a £2000 debt. The person who I have been in contact with says they would need a letter from my GP or hospital specialist. I must the contact their specialist department. This is the department I have been corresponding to, she says no! So who have I been giving all my information to? I would understand if I wanted to just offer a £2000 settlement figure but I paid £11.000. I just feel I am being treated unfairly and not getting the full information. Yes I can get a letter from my GP but if I don’t fit the criteria why am I bothering.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you need to to talk to a debt adviser about this. If you are happy to do this in the phone, National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 and very nice to deal with. Or if you count manage it, you could get help from your local Citizens Advice, who may be able to write on your behalf?
Paul says
Hi, can you still do affordability claims after bankruptcy?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes in theory but any refunds will be paid to the Official Receiver, so it’s not worth bothering with.
Paul says
Is that even after you’ve been discharged? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes it is. The only exception is if the unaffordable lending happened after you went bankrupt.
Mk says
Hi Sarah,
I have had a response from The Money Platform which does not really deal with the complaint l think:
” There was no indication that you were reliant on high-cost short-term lending. Regarding your credit score, as measured by Equifax, it was well within our lending policy minimum requirements. However in light of your situation as a quick settlement on this, we can offer you a month’s payment holiday so your next repayment date will be in November”
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did you tell them you currently have no income as you are looking after your sick mum and that QuidMarket and Vanquis have agreed to stop interest and accept a low payment arrangement?
MK says
Yes I did but that was the only response they gave
MK says
Hi Sarah
I received another email today from Money Platform saying “we have removed the interest and
your outstanding balance now is £115.00 and your repayment plan has been set up for£15 on the 27th of each month”
I think this is acceptable
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Good result
Rachel Day says
I’m not really sure where or how to start a complaint,
I took a 118 loan out of £3k over three years £130 a month , then a year in the offered me a top up or something like that, an extra £1500 . Restarting the loan , now £125 over 5 years. I’m nearly two years into it. Just seems alot , I pay every month and never missed a payment but I’m worried about the future and my finances changing, can I put an unaffordable complaint forward although I haven’t missed a payment? Do I need to contact them first regarding about financial hardship? I didn’t have the best credit when I took out the loan , and was worse when they offered the extra £1500.
Do I need to miss a payment and then put a complaint in ? I could probably pay it off faster without the dreaded interest.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No you don’t have to miss a payment first.
What other debts do you have? Any arrears on bills?
Rachel Day says
I have a few credit cards etc who have agreed a payment plan and have froze the interest,
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then I suggest you contact StepChange and put all the cards and the 118 loan into a debt management plan with StepChange. And make affordability complaints against the cards and 118 as well.
GS says
I have a DMP with several loan providers including 118118. During the dmp my 118118 money loan has defaulted and has been purchased by another company. I believe they ask me for the total amount with the interests for the full loan term of 5 years, when it has been only over one year. Out of the 6 others providers, no other loan company requested the full loan term interests. On my 118118 account the total amount due was always listed with total interests for the full term and thats also what has been taken into account on my dmp. Is there anything I can do as it does not seem to be fair?
I can see in there terms : If You do not make Payments in full on the
dates they are due, You will be breaking
Your Agreement with Us and We may:
b) end this Agreement and require You to
repay the loan in full, together with any
other amounts due and owing from
You;
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The easiest thing is to make an affordability complaint against 118. If you win that, all the interest will be refunded from the start of the loan.
Also look to make these complaints against the other debts in your DMP!
If you lose this complaint against 118 at the Ombudsman, come back and we can talk about possible other complaints, but the simple affordability complaint is the most like to work and to get you the Best result.
R smith says
Hi Sara,
Sorry I recieved a phone call from Halifax last week after me sending them bank statements, they agree my gambling was extremely high at the time of the loan and so was my outgoings.
They are going to review my loan for irresponsible lending and I should know within the next week or so.
One thing they did tell me is, in the last few weeks they have changed the way they view this sort of of case, they have been heavily criticised and ms case will be one of the first that will be put to an internal investigation for review.
I’m trying not to get too excited but he talked about compensation and everything so I’m hopeful not only my default might be removed but I might also get some money back!
The debt was sold on to PRA group, do you know if I’ll get interest paid back for all that too?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That sounds interesting. I’m tired of so many complaints having to go to FOS! Let me know!
If it’s upheld, the balance with PRA will be reduced to what you borrowed less what you have paid so far.
R smith says
Morning Sara,
Yes I was surprised with how positive it sounded, he spoke to me about the PRA part but I’ve already paid that off in full and his words “great we can just give you money rather than offsetting what is owed to them”
I had another loan with HSBC 8 months later than this Halifax loan but they refused my claim and said go to the FOS even though my financial situation was even worse at this point.
And yes no worries, I should hear this week.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send the HSBC claim to FOS now!
R smith says
Hi Sara,
Already sent! I’ve also sent over the credit card higher limit from £500 to £1500 and my overdraft from £1000 to £3000 all within 3 months of the 21k loan.
When debt is sold is that the loan without interest? Because the loan was 17k but PRA was still 13k and that was over 1 1/2 years into the loan ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s a bit random what loan lenders do in a default.
R smith says
Thanks Okay, I’ll look up my old loan agreement, would it be the full interest plus 8%?
With my credit card and overdraft if they are found to be irresponsible too how would that work? Do you just get back interest within the period you were in financial issues?
I still have both now
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Usually Not 8% unless the balance is cleared by the refund
Credit cards typically depend on the date of the limit on increases. Just make the complaint.
Dave Smith says
So I used a 3rd party to chase Marbles card for irresponsible lending (before I found this site and made the other claims myself) it went to the FOS but they have found against me stating I should have made a claim when Marbles made my last credit card increase which was more than 6 years ago so they can’t consider it.
The company I used have said that a recent court ruling states that it should be 6 years from when the credit agreement ended (it ended 5 years ago when I went into a debt management program) and not when I had cause to complain after the last increase. The FOS also said that when asked why it had taken me over the 3 year period to make a claim they said I should have ‘reasonably’ been aware sooner and didn’t accept the ‘I only recently found out I could make a claim after reading about a similar case online’ defence.
Do you think it’s worth appealing? (I also have a complaint against Aqua who are owned by newday as well so I now know what their final response will be!)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What does the claims company say?
Loopy Loo says
Dave – how long did the FOS take! I have raised a complaint against Marbles too to the FOS. Submitted in August.
Newday upheld my affordability complaint for the first card they lent with Aqua but didn’t uphold my second card with Marbles.
Last increase for Marbles was 2018 but I only found out this year I could raise this kinda complaint.
Dave Smith says
They haven’t got back to me yet. It was them that told me about the court ruling but then said it was up to me if I wanted to appeal it. Are they not allowed to advise me so they’re just steering me in that direction?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well as you haven’t been offered any thing and they think you should appeal, why wouldn’t you?
Won’t the claims firm do this for you?
Dave Smith says
It only took a couple of weeks. I’ve also got a claim against aqua but had no reply from them yet (did sometime after Marbles) the FOS said I should have complained after my last increase (2017 think that was) and not at the point of default and cancelling the credit agreement (2019) however, the company I used to take this case claim a new court ruling states it should be 6 years from when the agreement was cancelled but they didn’t specify state if I should appeal on those grounds so awaiting their reply after I asked if it’s worth appealing. I’ll let you know what they say.
Dave Smith says
Guy from Allegiant that was going after Marbles for me has replied after I asked if I should appeal. He said no even though case law now states that a debt can be chased within 6 years of the agreement being cancelled they wouldn’t recommend I appeal as Marbles sold the debt to Cabot and it would now be them I’m chasing but as they’re unregulated it wouldn’t matter what FOS said they don’t have to comply.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I will reply in a few days
R smith says
Hi Sara,
So, Halifax have just called and stated although they agree my gambling was prolific and that if they had seen the statements at the time they would have declined my loan but because this was from my HSBC account that they didn’t have access to it without requesting the statements.
Now surely for a 17k loan they should have asked?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
For a 17k loan they should have verified your income and expenses. Ask them how they did this.
R smith says
Hi Sara,
This is what’s on the letter-
We checked you could afford to repay during your application
When you ask to borrow money, we check to see if you can afford to repay us. To do this, we use the income
you put on your application, your share of rent or mortgage payments and any other monthly commitments
you told us about.
You told us that:
● Your income was £2,400 per month
● Your mortgage/rent payments were £400
● You had other monthly commitments of £400
Then we take off things like any monthly minimum repayments on any debt you already have from credit
reference agencies. We also work out an amount for day-to-day living costs. We estimated the expected day
to day living costs using data from the Office of National Statistics ‘Family Spending Survey’.
We checked your credit file during the application stage
You’ve let us know you don’t think we should’ve approved the Personal Loan because you had close to
£20,000 in combined lending on your credit file when you applied.
We appreciate you had external debts at the point of application and you believe we should’ve been aware
of this. The Credit Reference Agencies can take between 6 and 8 weeks to update their records with any
recent lending. Its possible this information had yet to be reported.
You passed the credit checks
On all applications, we check if you can pay us back and how likely it is that you will.
And that they don’t need to see other bank statements for this loan :/
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send it to the Ombudsman. That is a very large loan
R smith says
Hi Sara,
I have sent this over to the ombudsman but I’ve just had a case for a default not upheld.
I missed 2 payments from Jan to May and made all others, I found several case studies on their website where the ombudsman has stated it’s the amount of payments missed and not months passed a missed payment that counts when it comes to the ICO guidance but on mine they have said no it’s over 3 months in arrears.
I sent them the other cases and said how is this consistent if you are using the guidance differently on mine, I’m waiting for a response.
One of the cases I’ve sent over someone missed 2 payments over 7 months so a longer period of time than me.
Have you ever seen them review their decision or how do I go about asking to get it checked.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is this a decision from an investigator/adjudicator? Or a second level ombudsman decision?
R smith says
Hi Sara,
It wouldn’t allow me to comment to the right message, this is a final decision but surely how can they say they are being consistent if they don’t use the guidance the right way on mine ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then they won’t change it.
Sorry, I said before that the “rules” aren’t clear and that this is a grey area.
R smith says
Hi Sara,
Then the service cannot be called fair and consistent-
This was from another case I sent to them -“ I think it’s clear from reading the rest of the section quoted by Ms B that the number of payments missed are what’s counted, not how many months one payment’s been outstanding.”
Helen Stacey quoted this on a final decision and I’ve found loads more.
I’m going to send my irresistible lending to them now for the same case, hopefully the fact it was unaffordable and I later defaulted might get the whole loan removed.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Much better option.
Emmanuel Abedi says
Dear Sarah,
So I have recently received a letter responce from Motonovo finance,after I complained about the unaffordable car loan to them in January 2024.
Their letter states that,they admit for not giving me the correct legal documents when it was required,but have done so now with some attachments in their letter.The response letter also states that they would be reviewing my account with them within 30 days from now,and if I am due any charges they would refund.The letter states Contractual interest, Defaults interest/sums which could be due me after my account has reviewed.
In 2018 Motonovo offered me a car loan on finance and the charges are on the agreement to date.The duration for repayment was 5yrs..Now that Motonovo has admitted that they did not provide me the right documents at the time the agreement started.Now if my account review is finished in 30 days,and am due a refund,you to tell me if it would as all interest charge refund or something else.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What are these documents they did not provide you with That they have now sent?
Emmanuel says
The documents are highlighted as Notice of Sums in Arrears within the HP agreement .The letter further states that they would be reviewing my account with them for 30days and would let me know if they need make some adjustments to my Motonovo account and/or if they need to repay an amount to me.It goes on to say I should do nothing while they are reviewing my account.however on their completion of my account review.My Motonovo account will be updated to Show the correct balance,but may not show all historic transactions or separate adjustments to components of my account.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
NOSIA refunds are complicated.
. It may well be some interest but it’s unlikely to be all. I suggest you tell Motonovo unless they are going to refund all interest, and remove negative marks on your credit record (and clear any remaining balance if these is one) then you still want a response to your affordability complaint.
Loopy Loo says
Hey
I made a complaint to the financial ombudsman re a Livelend loan (Betterborrow was upheld by the company but they didn’t uphold Livelend) the FO acknowledged my complaint mid July…. How long does it typically take? I’ve not heard anything since from either Livelend or FO.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Cases are normally picked up by an investigator within 1-4 months.
Wul says
Hi Sara I sent affordability compliant to nationwide who rejected so went to the ombudsman but there asking when did realise u could put affordability compliant in etc can u help me on this one please
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is for a loan? What date was it taken out? When did it finish, or are you still paying?
Wul says
Start date: March 2016
Credit Limit amount: £5,500
Status: Active
If I’ve misunderstood this, please let me know.
Before I can investigate the actual merits of the complaint I need to establish if this is something that is within the Financial Ombudsman Services’ jurisdiction.
In essence, jurisdiction relates to set timeframes that must be adhered to as to what our service can look at. You can view these under DISP 2.8.
I’m currently looking into this with Nationwide. However, in case I do need to make a finding on this, I’ll also need some information from you.
To help me look into this, please can you answer all the questions below in your own words?
In relation to the application, please can you:
let me know what date (even an approximation) you became aware of a cause to complain regarding the lending decision.
let me know what triggered your awareness. If you can provide any evidence, it would be welcomed.
let me know if there was any reason you were unable to raise your complaint sooner than you did after coming to this realisation. If there was, what was the reason for the delay?
let me know if you remember being asked anything around finances during the application process.
let me know if you remember providing any payslips or bank statements at the time.
Please provide a copy of your credit report at the time of the application, if possible. If not, a copy of their current credit report
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is this a credit card or an overdraft? Is it’s an overdraft, is this your main bank account?
Wul says
Credit card which was connected to current account
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ok, I assume that means a credit card from the same bank you had a current account with.
Were you only paying the minimum amount from the start? Was there any particular time your finnces got a lot worse?
Did you use an overdraft a lot?
How did you find out about affordability complaints – did you see Them mentioned on social media or did a friend tell you or what? There are no wrong answers here, what really happened?
Wul says
Yes and there was no overdraft with the current account so they closed that when defaulted the credit card and defaulted on that when the pandemic hit as lost ny job etc
A friend told me about the affordability complaints
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ok so what FOS is asking is questions to see if it can look at this as the card was opened more than 6 years ago. This isn’t about whether the limit was unaffordable, just a pre check to the real investigation. So your answers can be quite short.
As the account was closed in the last 6 years, FOS may well decide they can look at this. It’s much harder if it was closed over 6 years ago.
So from what you have said, typical responses to those questions could be:
“let me know what date (even an approximation) you became aware of a cause to complain regarding the lending decision”
This is when you found Out about affordability complaints. It doesn’t have to be exact “in January this year” is fine.
“let me know what triggered your awareness. If you can provide any evidence, it would be welcomed.”
A friend (of the family? A work colleague?) told me that banks should have checked that a credit limit was affordable and that I may be able to get a refund if they set the limit too high. If you know how your friend knew (had they seen an advert on social media for a claims firm? Or made a complaint themselves?) say that. If this was by email you could forward that but if it was when you met them or on the phone , say that. If the “friend” was in a Facebook group, give the name of the group. There are no wrong answers here.
“let me know if there was any reason you were unable to raise your complaint sooner than you did after coming to this realisation. If there was, what was the reason for the delay?”
Most people say something like “I knew I was in difficulty with the credit card as my payments didn’t really reduce the balance. And later when I couldn’t pay the account was closed. But I thought that was my problem and I didn’t know Nationwide should have checked the limit wasn’t too high so I didn’t complain as I was unaware Nationwide were partly to blame. After I found out I could make an affordability complaint, I didn’t delay and complained within the next few (days/weeks/months)
Put those into your own words, add your dates and details. But you don’t have to write a lot, brief is fine.
Wul says
Sara thank you for your reply and will get this worded and sent back them but before I do I just need to clarify with u that the credit card account is still showing active to this date and shows this on my credit file
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That’s fine. It’s the cases where the account was closed more than 6 years ago that are much harder.
Wul says
Ok so just proceed with what you advised previously?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well adjusted to reflect what actually happened to you, yes.
Vicky says
Hi
I took out a 10k loan from Natwest just 3 months after having brain surgery in Sept 22 & i don’t think they should have let me as i was still receiving employment support allowance & was still receiving it when i applied for the loan to consolidate debt. I was receiving esa since about April 2021 due to my illness , so a good sign that i wasn’t able to work for a long time. I was also constantly living in my 1k overdraft, i had 7k in a natwest credit card & also over 2k in a virgin credit card. It’s pretty clear to me they shouldn’t have given me the loan as it wasn’t affordable, i have all the bank statements from around the time to email over. Do i just email natwest to start with?
Sorry i have read lots but find it hard to take all the info in. I have 7k left of the loan to pay, if i win is it just the interest i receive back or has there ever been anyone that has had the debt completely written off?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes email NatWest with your complaint.
Was the overdraft from NatWest?
In 99.9% of cases the interest is just removed. Are you now recovered and back at work?
Bella says
Hi debt camel,
I recently put in affordability complaints to all my previous pay day loans as at the time when I had taken out I was not financially healthy.
I have received a response from Fernovo, also known as Quidie stating that they did all the appropriate credit checks and affordability checks etc. As a good will gesture they have offered a £41 payment and to remove all history from them off my credit file. What are your thoughts?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How many times did you borrow from them and how large were the loans?
Tony J says
I wanted to ask if I have a potential complaint with a number of accounts:
1- MCB loan of £6000 at 25.56% interest. At the time I already had another loan, was working LTFT, constantly in and out of overdraft, credit card and catalogue repayments, credit score not great. I do not think they did the appropriate checks to grant the loan.
2- marble credit card, taken out in 2022, they kept upping the limit and it was high interest (around 34%).
3- 118118 loan- £1000 at 34%- this definitely was not responsibly lent.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Complain about them all!
Claire says
Hi
I’ve had a response from administrator on my NatWest loans agreeing loan 4 shouldn’t been granted. And for all refund fees and charges to be repaid
8 % interest each year paid.
I know NatWest can disagree with the decision if there don’t am I assuming if my loan was for £19450 I paid £398 for 74 months = £29452
I have 2 payments left to pay I roughly £9206 refund plus 8 %
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So on those figures you have paid 2952 as you say. That is more than you borrowed so the balance is wiped. And you should get a refund of 29452-19450=10,002 plus 8% initerest
Did the 4th loans clear the third loan?
Claire says
Yes the 4th loan cleared the 3rd I’m 2 months away from finishing 4th loan so less than 800 to pay hopefully NatWest will agree if not will go to ombudsman
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you shouldn’t have to pay anything more if Natwest agree,
I have know Natwest try to argue that in this situation you should not be refunded the amount that cleared the 3rd loan. That is quite wrong. If they say this object.
Are you happy that the previous loan were found to be affordable?
Claire says
Ok I will see what there reply. Yes I’m happy it was just the 4th loan. If NatWest agree I get the amount this is huge success I will get chance to pay other debt off thanks to all your help on here
Claire says
Just an update NatWest have agreed and are paying back the interest on 4th loan plus 8% so I’ll receive over £13k just a massive thank you for all your advice this is chance for me to be debt free
Sara (Debt Camel) says
excellent
JB says
Hello Sara,
Thanks so much for all your advice – over the past year I have put in complaints about 23 lines of credit between Car Finance, credit cards, overdrafts and loan, and I’ve had at least part of my complaint upheld in 17 of them leading to an overall reduction in debt of over £21,000. Life changing stuff!
Still a bit of a way to go in a DMP, but starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and have a friend who may be able to offer assistance to put forward a full and final settlement offer.
One question – in the complaints that were upheld, part of the outcome is to remove any negative information once the balance is cleared. Do you know if this would still apply for a partial settlement? In order to try and repair my credit history my thoughts are I could try to settle the ones in which my complaints were declined in full and then try and do a full and final settlement offer for those who will be required to remove negative information.
Keen to get your thoughts – thanks again!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how long ago did these accounts default? have they all been sold to debt collectors?
JB says
I started my DMP in August so most of them defaulted this time last year.
There is currently a mix of those sold to debt collectors and those being repaid directly.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I assume that was August 2023.
It makes no difference to your credit score if you settle in full or partially. It is just a flag against the debt.
I am not sure that partial settlement would be seen as negative information that would have to be removed. I suggest you make the same settlement offer to all creditors – they are more likely to think that is fair.
Laura says
Hello
I got a series of loans out with Natwest – the final one being a total £27k I had to get a IVA to consolidate that and other debts. Would I still be able to send the above letter as one of the reasons I got the IVA was due to the monthly amounts.
I got the loan in 2018 and IVA in 2020
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how much in total did you pay to the IVA and how large were the debts in total that went into it?
Laura says
The total amount of debts that went in to the IVA was £32k
I paid £2,664 over 12 months worth of payments and then my brother paid a lump sum of £5,500 for me and it closed as I was risk of being homeless and a single parent on mat leave.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok so you paid a LOT less to the IVA than the debts.
This matter because if you win an affordability complaint against Natwest, the refund would only be the interest added. And Natwest are entitled to “set off” that refund against the amount of debt that was written off at the end of the IVA… so it sounds to me very unlikely that you would get anything back.
Annoying, but in this sort of case the IVA was your revenge against Natwest.
Jason says
Hi Sarah,
I had an affordability complaint upheld by Bamboo and they’ve refunded the money but still haven’t removed the negative marks to my credit file. Its been 3 months since the final response. I contacted them today and they’ve said ‘due to a backlog’ they haven’t been able to do it yet and they can’t give a time frame… Is there anything I can do if it goes on longer? I can contact credit agencies to get it removed but in the past they’ve just told me that ‘it’s been actioned’ by the loan company therefore there’s nothing more they can do? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
tell Bamboo if its not done in the next month you will be going to the ombudsman and asking for compensation
Jason says
Thanks Sarah
Yvette says
Good Morning,
I am in the process of getting all the information together to send an Affordability complaint to Novuna, Virgin Money and MBNA. I have a DMP in place. How do I go about accessing my credit score information from the time I took out the loans and credit cards? I have been on Money Saving Expert and Experion but can only see what my score is now (pretty awful) and not from a few years before?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you can’t get “old” credit score reports unless you have downloaded them yourself and kept them – almost no-one has these.
But you dont need that information to start a complaint – lenders never see the score you see anyway. You know if a debt caused you problems – just send the complaints in!
How long ago did your DMP start?
Adam says
Hi. I’ve put in a complaint about affordability on a loan – had been made redundant the week prior so not in a position to repay – and the lender (First Direct) have said they’re looking into my complaint but in the meantime have said they will close my current account with them. Is this any indicator of which way my complain will go?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
was there an overdraft on this current account? did you use the account or was it dormant? I have never heard of a bank closing a bank account because of a complaint about a loan.
Adam says
It was my main account. I just think the timing of it is fishy – came barely a week after the complaint. No specific reason given, just two month notice period. Weird eh
JD9 says
Hi just wanted to say thank you for the information you post.
I sent an affordability complaint to 118 money for a loan I had with them in 2018 which at the time I was struggling with money, overdrafts and pay day loan debts. They have investigated the loan and refunded me £842 for irresponsible lending this sum was made up of interest paid and the statutory 8%.
I couldn’t remember all of my account details but used your template and provided basic details and they did the rest. Also got the refund the same day after confirming which bank account I would like it paying into.
Thank you again.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Great result!