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?
Dotty says
I was in Debt Management Plan at the time and still they were lending me between 2010 and 2016. Just started my complain with Mobile Money. Will see what happens next. Anyone dealt with them?
Kathy says
Hi Sara
I made a SARS to Bamboo on 16th May and haven’t heard anything since. Aren’t they legally obliged to send me this information? Is this worth a complaint alone?
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did you use the template letter above? If you did, it started a complaint for unaffordable lending.
Kathy says
Hi Sara
Yes I did, haven’t heard anything back since. I will start the 8 week countdown from the date I sent the SARs.
Sianyy says
Hi Sara,
REceived my DSAR from Avant in relation to a complaint that has gone through to the FOS. Funnily enough when investigating my original complaint they noted on my file ‘confirmed on proof £XXX not affordable with proof income but TAC passed need to refer’. They rejected my complaint but surely that comment means the loan was never affordable? Should I send my DSAR to the FOS as it has been picked up by a mass claims consultant.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would send FOS a note saying you have your SAR, you can send them a copy if they would like, but you spotted this …… and wanted to add this to your FOS complaint.
James H says
The adjudicator at the FOS has agreed with me and asked Savvy to refund me all interest.
Savvy have just ignored the adjudicator though! They were due to respond last week and he has chased but nothing so far.
Has anyone else had experience with these people?
Thansk
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They are a small lender so not often mentioned. Try leaving them a bad review on Trust Pilot https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/savvy.co.uk that sometimes kicks a lender into action.
JamesH says
Thanks Sara. Luckilly other refunds mean I’m in no rush now.
Which is lucky as the longer this goes on the worse these people seem.
I’ve left a trustpilot review and if nothing else I heop this acts as a warning to others!
Ruth says
I have received my SAR from 118118, but I am not too sure how to proceed from here.
Date Drawn Date Repaid Amount Interest
17/04/2017 06/06/2017 £2,000 £388.33
15/08/2017 20/03/2018 £3,500 £1,671.24
18/12/2018 06/03/2019 £3,500 £887.64
I can see they did credit checks, and that my total debt was high and increased every time. I can see from my applications that in my expenses I put considerably less for my loan/credit repayments – Loan 1 – £300, Loan 2 – £40, Loan 3 – £600.
Would my argument for irresponsible lending be that for debts over £30,000 that those figures were clearly not correct and that they should have questioned it? I had other PayDay loans in this time, totalling over £10,500 which I also would not have declared.
CREDIT CHECK 1
Total Balances (All): £ 33,136
CREDIT CHECK 2
Total Balances (All): £ 34,501
CREDIT CHECK 3
Total Balances (All): £ 39,142
Thanks in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
(sorry I missed your previous comment)
Does the SAR show an income & expenditure estimate for you for each application? or just what you put on your applications?
Did you give a reason for wanting each loan?
Ruth says
Hi Sara,
The only income and expenditure are the details I have put on on the applications, which
There is a reason on the application for each loan, but this is just generic drop down. Loan 1 – Every day expenses, Loan 2 – Debt consolidation, Loan 3 – Other.
Thanks
Ruth
David says
My 118 complain was upheld by the ombudsman’s. Today they had to reply and I spoke to them
Personally and they are challenging my complaint and result.
Ombudsman said they should pay back the interest which is £1400. Plus 8%
Has anyone had a result against them on one loan that they challenged.
David says
How do I see what happened to past complaints that’s have been challenged and their results?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
here is a one loan 118 Money case where the ombudsman upheld the adjudicator decision
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/files/94051/DRN3611620.pdf
Hannah says
Hi. Does anyone have any info about Loans2go and irresponsible lending. I was on maternity leave and they approved me top up loan. Despite chatting to me about my pregnancy and due date. My wage slips at the time wouldn’t show my SMP as it didnt begin until a few weeks after taking loan. Do I have a case for irresponsible lending? Should Loans2go have checked my personal circumstances carefully as being on maternity leave would obviously be a change in income for women across the board. I had my baby 2 days after taking out the loan. I have all the evidence to prove I was on maternity leave at the time of taking out the loan and all wage slips showing SMP. Any advice would be great. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is definitely worth a complaint.
Hannah says
Thankyou very much. I have sent a letter of complaint to Loans2go. I’ve also checked the FCA guidelines which clearly states lenders should consider any future changes in circumstances which could be reasonably expected to have a significant adverse financial impact on the customer eg reduced income. It goes on to say lenders can gain this information in a variety of ways, one of the sources being information provided from the consumer. Thanks again for your comment
Sara (Debt Camel) says
new article on this: https://debtcamel.co.uk/worst-loan-in-britain/
Paul says
Hi, i have put an affordability complaint to Avant and this was refused within a week. I have referred this to the FOS. Since doing this the Ombudsman has contacted me to say they are very busy and it will take time to review. They also said to contact them if you have further information, get an offer or in financial difficulty. I have since sending in the complaint to the FOS, have entered into a DMP. Should i advise the Ombudsman ? Will this help my complaint and will this speed up the process ? Paul
Sara (Debt Camel) says
When you get an adjudicator assigned, you can explain that you are now in a DMP but it won’t speed up the process. Hopefully it will mean you are in a more secure position while you wait for the FOS decision though.
Michelle says
Hi
I have put a complaint in with FOS with 118118 money… i know it will be sometime before this is looked into.
I have all information from 118118 money when i took a loan for £2000, i got into difficulties pretty quickly , and now i am paying only £1 per month, as i have no choice but to go though a DRO.
I received suject access request. I was shocked. No expenditure , no information where i worked or if its full time or part time, and no information on dependants. I was transferred though to 118118 money from Clearscore, stating 100% acceptances. 118118 money have come back stating i put 0 amounts in the fields asking questions about my expenses, which is 100% wrong, as these questions didnt even come up. Once transferred from clearacore all i remember is comfirming i could afford the loan and signing the agreement. This was all done late on a Friday evening, and £2000 was in my account in the morning. I rememeber being very surprised how easy it was getting this loan… no real questions no calls. At the time of being accepted for the 118118 money loan i had a number of payday loans .
My question is, are my chances of getting this loan quashed any good?
Im not looking for any kind of refund just the loan written off.
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is a very interesting story, and shocking.
A 2000 loan is not some small payday loan that a lender doesn’t have to do a lot of checks for. It is a large loan and your credit record also showed payday loans so 118 Money should have looked at whether it was affordable for you.
And if you had put 0 in for a lot of expenses then 118 Money should have checked some more eg by asking for your bank statements to confirm that.
I think this sounds like a good reason to get the interest removed from this loan and to have an affordable arrangement set up to repay the balance.
PS have you also made affordability complaints about the payday loans you had?
Michelle says
Hi. Below is part of the final repsonse from 118118 money.
You then raised an additional complaint point as you were unhappy with the override system and as a result wanted the loan written off. You also wanted to submit a data subject access request (DSAR).
I am aware that the point you have raised has already been addressed by another member of the customer relations team who informed you in their email to you on the28/11/2018 that as you had entered £0.00 for your expenditure on the application form the system overrides this as it is reasonable to presume that you would have a certain level of expenditure each month and this percentage has to be included in our affordability checks. Based on the credit and affordability check your expenditure of £0.00 was amended to £709.75.
I understand that you had disputed stating that you had entered £0.00 expenditure however, I can confirm this is the information that had been entered in to the application. As we do not have any control over what a customer submits we cannot be held responsible for this as there has been no error on our part and I am concerned at your claim.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“as you had entered £0.00 for your expenditure on the application form the system overrides this as it is reasonable to presume that you would have a certain level of expenditure each month” that isn’t a reasonable assumption at all. And they should have noticed the payday loans on your credit record.
You have sent the case to FOS which is good. It’s important that you make both points to FOS, that you were never asked for your expenses because of the transfer from ClearScore and that 118 should not have accepted you without checking in detail if you had put down 0 (which you didn’t).
But if you win the case interest will be removed from the debt – that won’t wipe it out unless the payments you have already made come to the 2000 you borrowed.
Michelle says
Hi.
My initial contact with 118118 was to stop the interest , so it would give me a fighting chance to pay the laon back, they continuously refused stating it is pre loaded interest, meaning they can not do anyrhing.
It was wirhin these discussion i was hihjlighred to me, that they had 0 expenses for me, so there override figure put in a generated figure. It was adter this i ask for SAR, which then i discovered how little they knew about me ,my work ,my family etc.
Once i received this report then, i sent a offical complaint of irresponsible lending.
They are pretty much blaming me all the way, when i know if i had the options for all the information that was missing, i most certainly would not 0. I dont understand even how it went rhough without them knowing where i work, my hrs of work for example. The only info they have is my addresses dob, income, but not half the imcome is working tax child tax etc. That is all they have… its sbocking.
E says
Sara and all,
Had success with 118 money, they have refunded me £1000+ and wiped off my loan. Total interest I paid to them was about 6k so probably could have got more by going to the FOS, but I’m happy they wiped my loan and refunded me. Long process but it can be worth the wait.
Michelle says
Hi.
May i ask a question please. I was trasfered from clearscore too 118118 money, guaranteeing a loan 100% ..
I have since been in contact with clearscore asking what information went with me to guarantee the loan for the loan company once transferred, as i think this is important and could be a reason the loan company have very little information about me.
Clearscore have since been in contact stating they only keep this information for a few weeks, and there is nothing they can do, becuase of this…
The information that transferred from them to 118118 money website is less than 1 year ago.
My question, if as clearscore transferred me from there website to 118118 site 100% guaranteeing the loan. Shouldnt they keep this information longer. As in my case the loan became unaffordable very quickly, and since i have found out i shouldnt have been accepted for the loan at the time, as i had payday loans many and a low credit score amongst other things. Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think this is interesting, but don’t get too hung up on it. It is the lender who has to check affordability. Your argument is that 118 money failed to do this adequately and if they had they would have realised that the loan was likely to be unaffordable for you.
Michelle says
Hi.
Thank you. I was just aiming from clearscore to get as much information as i could for FOS, as i would have thought this may have been a direction for FOS because it was a transfer .
Thanks
Michelle
Ross says
Hi Michelle,
This is really interesting, and caught my attention, as I am in a similar situation. I tried to borrow, with Avant Credit, and they declined. A short time later, my Noddle report asked me if I would like to check if I was eligible to borrow with any lenders. Low and behold, Avant came back as a lender who would lend, but it did charge a fee of £236, which I assume to be a brokers fee? I was asked very little information and a lot of what I borrowed (£5000) went on online gambling. Avant rejected my complaint, but the FOS are now looking at it. At the time, I had taken out numerous payday loans, had a very poor credit score (1 out 5, on Noddle itself) and a default for a Natwest personal loan, which was over £6000. I know they specialise in lending to consumers with poor credit, but where do they draw the line?
Michelle says
Hi. That’s interesting to read.
Its shocking really that this can happen with such little information from the loan company on us, but it actually still unusual to me that i can be told by clearscore what i was told and transferred too a 100% loan.. yet there seems no fall back on clearscore about information they used to determind this decision, they dont need to keep records more than a few weeks… i understand the loan company should have queried such little information, but as i went though from a credit score agency who told them 100% i can have the loan.. then this itself should hold responsibility too.
Be interesting to see how you get on, in my case its highly likely a DRO will be in place when FOC take up my case, meaning there will be no point fighting them anymore, aside from removing them from a DRO if that’s allowed.
Good luck
Michelle
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Ross, interesting story… do you remember how much earlier the application to Avant had been? if it was soon before, it’s worth pointing out to FOS that Avant seemed to do a more thorough assessment when you applied direct (and declined you) than when it came through noddle.
Also this fee … can you have a look at the documentation and see how that is described?
Deebee says
Sara could you tell me if there are problems with 118118 as I have a complaint with them since August 2018 ive not heard anything and it clearly hasn’t been given to an adjudicator .Is this normal??
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, I suggest you ask FOS why it is taken no so long
Deebee says
Apparently 118118 never sent any paperwork although has been requested on 4separate occasions.I suspect nobody has chased them up.What’s really frustrating is I’ve only now found that out and ive been told numerous times it was waiting an adjudicator.
Tan says
Sara,
I ve posted on the normal payday loan forums but I wanted to ask you about Everyday Loans. I took out a £2000 loan with them last year. I had a number of payday loans since 2009 and basically drowning in pay day loans, the interest, fees, fines.
I had previously applied to them a few years ago and they rejected my application, probably because I had a low income. I had just entered in to a default with one of the banks in early 2018 and a few months into the year I had enough and knowing I was going for high cost credit I tried my luck. I made an application and It was approved, I provided bank statements, payslips and they were aware I had a default and multiple pay day loans outstanding.
Can I ask them for refund on these loans?
They did help me with paying off my pay day loans or at least some of them, which I was grateful for but at a high rate of interest (my financial situation has slightly improved as of this month) but I feel the the last 16 months were similar to what I experienced between 2009 – 2017.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Consolidating payday loan debt with a high interest loan such Everyday may seem like an improvement but unless the loan was really affordable you can just end up again after to borrow more as the repayments left you so short.
So did the loan solve your problems? Or were yiu soon getting behind with bills or having to take more payday loans?
Tan says
Thank you for your response. I used most of the money pay off the smaller pay day loans(£400 – £800) and a few credit card payments to decrease the limit but then few months later I maxed out my credit card. Then I did get behind with some bills (not as many as before), and then a few months later I was still struggling so took out smaller loans with 24 7 money box and Oakam, and Peachy. I managed ok for about 2-3 months but the bill got me in the end. Then only this and last month I ve been able to get to a position where I don’t owe money to any more pay day lenders except everyday loans.
Sian says
hi all,
have an affordability complaint with Satsuma going ahead had a loan for £700 and £2,000. They have asked for 14more days so have referred to FOS. Received my DSAR today and it contains another customers information so this will be going over to the FOS once a consultant is assigned.
Shocking from Provident but cannot say I am overly surprised!
This website has been a massive help in exposing these awful companies!
Cheers Sian
Kathy says
That is shocking!
Satsuma always seem to contact customers on the last day of the 8 weeks and ask for more time, it must just be a delaying tactic.
My complaint has gone off to the FOS now. Fingers crossed we both get good results!
Craig says
Hi Sian,
Im shocked to hear you got sent someone else’s information. The Complaint for that due to data breach under 2018 GDPR regs would need to go to the ICO. I think you can do this online on their website you just down load a form from the ICO site, fill it in, save it and then upload it back to the ICO site. Hope this helps and good luck with your Complaints.
Ann says
Has anybody had any joy with loans 4 u I got a loan for 500 I’m paying back 2052 over 18 months.will I have to sent back statement etc thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Loans4u is a bad credit broker, not a lender.
Was the loan they organised from Loans2go? Your refernece to 18 months and an extremely high amount of interest sounds as though it may be…
If it was, then read this article which looks at this exact lender/loan https://debtcamel.co.uk/worst-loan-in-britain/
Ann says
Thanks for your reply it loans to go yes I’m paying back £114 pm over 18 months.Do u think I should complain I can’t see how they can get away with this .
Sara (Debt Camel) says
100% yes! Read that article – it has details of a complaint to FOS where the ombudsman says what he thought about loans2go’s interest rates!
Ann says
Thanks I’m going to try irresponsibility lending and unaffordable lending when I send them email will I need to send back statements etc .
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t know.
Expect L2G to refuse your complaint then send it to FOS, who probably will want bank statements.
Subo1968 says
Hi
I bought a house in 2005 even though I had £50k worth of credit card debt. Once I moved into my house I enquired with First Plus the option of a £50k loan to consolidate my credit cards (a secured loan) even though my credit history was rubbish and I was desperate it was agreed. I have always struggled to pay this loan and after 14 years I still owe £50k ( now Elderbridge). Can I claim for irresponsible lending?
Many thanks
Su
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s unlikely. The loan is too old and rules and large secured loans are different. Often the only way to escape from this sort of loan is to sell the house.
Kel says
I have made a complaint with MyJar, they have come back to me with a very lengthy email about how they respond, part of it is asking for me for the below:
“Bank statements (at the time/s you took out your loan/s with us) Payslips (at the time/s you took out your loan/s with us) Any additional information relating to your financial circumstances (at the time/s you took out your loan/s with us”
Do I send these to them or shall I wait for them to send the relevant information I asked them for using the debt camel template?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How many loans did you have from them? If it was only one, then sending bank statements for the couple of month before is a good idea. Don’t bother with payslips – you pay will show on your bank statements.
Kel says
Hi Sara, thank you…it was just the one loan that I had with them but at the time I did have 2 other payday loans.
Kel says
Hi Sara,
Do you what Everydans loans are like with refunds? I have contacted them but have only had an automated messaged confirming receipt.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Expect them to reject the complaint and send it to FOS. Complaints about these large loans are being won even you only had one of them.
Lu says
Hi, does anyone have any experience with Likely loans? I took out a loan of £4k in Jan 2017 ( mainly to consolidate other debts ) reoayments were £220 per month. baring in mind at the time I also was paying repayments to vanquis bank which I still am and I am in an arrangement to pay with them, I was also at the time making payments to Safety net credit . I had outstanding debts towards 02 and towards a gym which had both been passed to debt collection agencies.
Now fast forwards to 2019 I am stuck in a rut, I cant afford to make the £220 repayments.
help :( so stressed and down
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes people have won cases against Likely Loans. expect them to decline it and have to go to the Ombudsman.
Even if you can’t get a refund, you need a payment arrangement on the loan.
Have you also tried to get a refund for Safetynet credit?
Fiona says
Do Likely loans ever agree with an adjudicator’s decision?
LU says
Yes I did , they sent me a final response back in 2017. But I had a very complicated childbirth during that time so did not have chance to get it to the FOS. Can I try again ? what is the best template for likely loans?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No you can’t try again if you maid an affordability complaint befiore. but you could talk to FOS and ask if you can take your complaint to them now – you are outside the 6 month limit but explain your cirucumstances.
jane says
Hi Lu,
I have a complaint at the FOS regarding Likely Loans.
I borrowed £2,000 in early 2018 ironically to pay of MYJAR! It’s just been picked up by a very nice investigator at the FOS in the high cost team.
He was very helpful and asked me lots of questions about my borrowing levels at the time, income and also my health. I have been very poorly for the last few years and this has naturally had an impact on my finances. Plus, I was just outside the time to contact the FOS by a week or two having received a final response from Likely Loans not upholding the complaint.
I appealed to the FOS and sent letters from my consultant…they are now investigating…it really is worth explaining your situation.
Do hope you are able to make some progress. Apols if this post is out of date…
Fiona says
Hi Jane,
Have you had any progress with your Likely loans complaint? Was it upheld and paid out?
My adjudicator upheld my complaint against them and they have two weeks to respond. I’m wondering how likely they are to respond before the deadline.
Alisha says
Hi
I was rebuilding my credit file and ClearScore pointed me to 118118 I recently in February 2019 took a credit building credit card out with them. In May I was offered a £2000 loan which to my surprise was given to me with less then an hour but I assumed it was part of my credit score building . I was in the process of getting a mortgage and quite happy that my credit file was building up. To my surprise I have been declined a mortgage on the fact that I have taken out a payday loan! I queried this and to my surprise it is 118118 that has had a effect on my application. I want to pay this back asap and remove any information from my credit file of 118118. How best do I do this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
There is no way to remove this loan from your credit record. Well not unless it is “unaffordable” but you haven’t suggested that it is.
A 118 Money loan is not technically a payday loan as it is over 12 months long. But it is at a very high rate of interest which a mortgage lender may well not like. I suggest you repay it as soon as possible to minimise the money you are wasting on the interest.
If you are in the process of applying for a mortgage you should not be taking out ANY credit, even if it is cheap. All new credit has a poor effect on your credit score for several months. Your Feb credit card will only now be starting to have any positive impact. Do not make any more applications at all!
Can you say what was wrong with your credit score? Do you have defaults or missed payments on your credit record? If yes, have these debts been repaid?
Ann says
Hi Sara
Thanks I’m starting my complaint just now to loans to go do you think I should mention my gambling im my bank statement at the time this was issued. I had 8 defaults on my credit file at the time as well .
If I don’t win I’m taking it to financial ombudsman I don’t think they should get away with it 2052 for 500 .
Thank ann
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would just keep it simple and say the loan was unaffordable.
Ann says
Hi Sara
Thanks for quick reply
Ann
Darren says
Good evening Sara I recently complained against several loans that I have had. I have recently “broke the cycle” and I’m on track to clear around 20k worth of debt.
I would like some advice on a reply I received from avant credit regarding a complaint I made.
I borrowed £4000 to repay £221.40 for 48 months. I repaid this early after 13 months and made payments totalling £6550. They replied last week upholding my complaint saying they have contacted their processing team to calculate charges and interest. Do you know if this means they will refund the excess of £2550 I paid? I’m not sure what this means for me and any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
From what you have said, I think they should refund you £2550, possibly plus 8$ statutory interest. Well done, then will clear another good chunk of debt!
Darren says
Good evening Sara, just received confirmation from Avant that they are refunding me the £2550 plus 8% interest which works out £730 but 20% deduction goes to HMRC so works out I get 579 on top of the 2550. I’m very happy with the outcome so can’t thank you enough it’s all down to you and your help! Can I claim that extra back on the tax? I thought I seen something on a thread here before but can’t seem to find it. Thanks again for all your help
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well done! Here is the article about claiming back some of the tax deducted: https://debtcamel.co.uk/ppi-payday-refund-get-back-tax/
lisa says
Hi Sara, thanks I didn’t know about this refund of tax, I submitted last week online and received my refund of £198.20 today. thanks again for all your advise.
On a different note I messaged on here couple of weeks back about Mobile Money, I have received my DSAR, shockingly they have frauded my signature on expenses form and expenses were all made up on 2 of the loan applications, the other 5 loans this process was not even done or attached to my loans application. Each new loan no payslips were taken, only the initial loan, just the front of the bank statement was photocopied, one of the statements showed over £5k in and out in 10 days, which is to do with my gambling addiction. I’m not sure what angle to complain on, obviously they never done adequate checks, but also frauding my expenses and signature is shocking. my loans were between 2011-2013 last notes on file was 2014. I also defaulted on most loans but they subsequently allowed me to top up sometimes 10 days after defaulting? the DSAR has shown how irresponsible they were. thanks for any advise Sara
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Complain about everything!
– their affordabilty checks were erratic, inadequate and they never considered your borrowing pattern with them
– they saw a bank statement with a lot of gambling – to continue to lend after that is irresponsible
– you never signed X or Y and it looks as though they have forged your signatures on them
– no Income & expenditure calculations for 5 of the loans
– they allowed you to top up loans after missing payments
Lisa says
Thanks Sarah, I emailed a lengthily complaint (stage 2) details everything that happened between loans 1-8, and put your paragraph slightly reworded so it was in 1st person, I spoke with them to confirm receipt, lady I spoke with said complaints are handled swiftly and due to the nature of documents being forged they would look sooner rather than later, I will update once I here back.
Bobby says
is the ombudsman a real person? these refund decisions have the same name on them. she must be busy if she is a real person
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Which refund decisions are you looking at?there are more than 100 FOS staff with the title “Ombudsman”, but some specialise in certain areas so you may well see the same names cropping up.
Bobby says
the 118 money ones here have the same name. so does the loans2u one.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, I have seen his name on a few payday loan ones as well.
Bobby says
my bad. thought he was a she.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I was guessing. You may be right!
Mr PDL says
Has anyone on the forum had experience with Bamboo loans? They have rejected my complaint on a 5k loan over 24 months on the basis that:-
1) I had ticked a box and said that I would be using the loan for debt consolidation and would not take out any additional payday loans
2) I had ticked a box to say that I did not expect my financial situation to worsen (this is also true, I ticked it as I needed the money)
They have also said that I fell within their affordability criteria so there was no need for further checks. They also said they noted I only had a couple of active payday loans active in the 6 months prior to taking the loan.
However, I had a number of high value instalment loans with Mr Lender (1k in a repayment plan), Pounds to Pocket (1.3k) and Satsuma (£500), Moneybox 247 (£500), Cash4UNow (£500) active at the time of taking the loan. And in the 6 months prior to taking the loan I had taken out a total of 10 loans, inclusive of the above.
I have a good income, which was always lost to a gambling addition (which I am now in recovery and abstained for over 6 months), so affordability wise based on income and ‘normal’ expenses I guess I looked ok.
Should Bamboo looked at all my other active loans and taken those into account as well, or were they right just to look at my income and stated expenditure?
Thank you in advance for anyone who has an opinion on this.
Mr PDL
Thanks for any advice
Mr PDL
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A 5k loan is a large commitment – a lender should have considered the affordability carefully. But single loan complaints where there is gambling can be hard to win.
Did they do a credit record check? Did they assess your income & expenditure?
How large were the debts showing on your credit record?
Mr PDL says
Thanks Sara.
Yes they assessed both the I&E and a credit record check. My credit file was showing ~£11k in unsecured debt at the time.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok so if you had used the loan for consolidation, that would have dropped to -6k and if that had happened and you weren’t gambling, the loan would have been clearly affordable. Correct?
If that is so, this is going to be a difficult one to win at FOS. You basically have to argue that the loan repayments are so large that the lender should have looked at your bank statements.
Mr PDL says
That would be fair to say Sara. Do lenders have a responsibility to look at borrowing behaviours prior to taking out a loan of this size? I’ve been continuously borrowing payday / high interest installment loans for over 6 years driven by my gambling problem. Or is it nullified by the debt consolidation piece?
I don’t want to waste FOS and others time unnecessarily on this if there is no case. Additionally, do Lenders get charged ~£500 for every FOS complaint even if they are not upheld? I don’t want to be unfair on anybody if my case is not legitimate.
Thanks as always.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
There is nothing laid down.
I don’t think this would be worth taking to FOS if the loan was for 1 or 2k. But 5k is a very large loan. The lender had a duty to think about whether it was in your best interest and it is arguable that they should have wondered why with a good salary and what looked like a lot of disposable income you had all this high cost short term borrowing.
I am just saying these are not necessarily easy cases to win. Personally I think it should be routine to check affordability in detail for a 5k loan, including looking at bank statements.
Nicki says
Hi,
Has anyone had any luck directly with 118 money recently? In the 8th week waiting for final response since the complaint now and wondering if they ask for longer at the moment…
Thanks!
D says
I’m 8 weeks tomorrow and nothing so far sadly.
D says
Well mine hasn’t showed in my inbox surprise surprise
MR says
They asked me for two weeks extra and then turned me down today.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They don’t often make good offers so if they ask for more time, I suggest saying No and sending the case straight to FOS.
Trutle says
After 8 weeks they sent me an Email saying they wanted 2 more weeks. 1 week in I got the final response.
Nicki says
Ok thanks everyone. Fingers crossed but I’ll prep for FOS anyway!
D says
Was it worth the wait?
Ruth says
Mine is 8 weeks today and 118 have just asked for a further 14 days.
Nicki says
Had an email this morning from 118 a few days before 8 week deadline saying it will be another 14 days….off to the FOS it goes then!
A. says
Hi just looking for some advice. I took out a loan with likely loans in July 2017, I repaid it early in Sept 2017 when I got a lump sum from student loans. I struggled and then took out another loans a few weeks later which has now been topped up twice. I’ve requested the information they hold on me which they have given me access to but there is no sign of credit checks? The only financial information I can find is what I told them my income is? Can that be right that they done no other checks? The original loan I was pre-approved for and the top up loans they offered. Thank you!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No it isn’t right. Go back to them and ask for the copies of the credit checks they did for each application. If they tell you to contact the credit reference agency, come back here.
Turtle says
Had the same problem with Likely Loans. The data request came back with everything apart from any sign of an actual credit check which I since requested. Strange.
A. says
Did they give you copies when you requested them separately ? I’ve emailed them to ask for them so will see what they say.
Turtle says
I only checked the data they sent me earlier this week and spotted the credit check missing so emailed them about it. Awaiting reply.
Sara, when the FOS look at cases like this (1 large loan 2k over 2 years), shall I be highlighting my overall debt situation to them? It seems they take this info into account based on some cases I read on published decisions.
Turtle says
Funnily enough Likely Loans have just emailed me back the below;
In relation to your query about credit reports, credit data is extracted from Credit Reference Agency data and is supplied by the Credit Reference Agencies, a copy of this would need to be obtained directly from them. Your credit file will show six years’ worth of data and you would be able to see your financial position at the time of your application.
What do you recommend I do in this situation Sara?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you reply to them:
I have made a subject access to you for a copy of all the personal information about me that you hold. Yhis includes any data about me you may have received from other sources. Oakbrook Finance Limited is the data controller for this information and under GDPR I have a right to a copy.
I am your customer not a customer of any credit reference agency you use. A CRA can provide me with a copy of my current credit report – that is not what I want. I want to see the data that was provided to you at the time of my loan application because I want to see the data on which you made the lending decision. A CRA cannot provide me with this historic information so I have no alternative route to get it.
If you do not provide this, I will be asking the financial Ombudsman for compensation for your poor and obstructive complaint handling, in addition to a refund for unaffordable lending. I will also be sending the ICO a complaint about your failure to answer a SAR.
Turtle says
Many thanks. Just sent them this. I will let you know what they come back with.
Turtle says
Presumably they don’t want to give me this because it will highlight other debts I had at the time?
DM84 says
I wouldnt bank on them giving you this information. I have asked multiple times and sent similar requests to likely. I stated this to my adjudicator also but he informs me they have not giving permission for me to see it. I do not know what information they have passed to him. It could be anything.
I lost my case at adjudicator level. He said I had no defaults on accounts at the time when I had 3. I made him aware of this and then he changed his mind and said he meant they had been satisfied. He is using my noddle credit report which does not go far enough back either because it only shows 6 years and was produced in 2018.
I have asked for an ombudsman to look at it. I would love to know what my data shown at application stage but I will never know. Either they didnt use the info or have it and wont share it.
I’m also concerned with how they ombudsman service are using the credit report I provided and bank statements are something Likely used to assess my application when the first time they seen them was at my complaint stage. Good luck with your case.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you sent a complaint to the ICO as well?
What date was your Likely Loan?
DM84 says
My response from adjudicator to see the credit file:
Oakbrook provided copies of credit file searches they completed for you at address XXXX XXX and a previous address XXXX XXX.
I asked if I could provide you with copies of these but Oakbrook haven’t provided authority.
Turtle says
Likely loans have come back to me with the below;
We can confirm that we have fully complied with your request for a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
Our affordability assessment took account of details held at the Credit Reference Agency, Experian. We do not retain the credit reference report as we use the data as part of our internal scorecard, the details of your credit report would need to be obtained from a credit reference agency and this will show your financial position at the time you applied with us as the report shows six years’ of data. As all personal information has been disclosed we are proposing to treat your request for information as closed.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you reply, then you are holding data about me obtained from credit reference e=agencies in your internal scorecard. I would like to see a copy of that.
DM84 says
My loan was 2016, I generated my report late 2018 so I can go back to late 2012. So whilst the 2 and half years missing probably wont change much it still is missing.
I will report to the ICO. I kind of lost interest when the adjudicator didnt agree.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well realistically not much that is over 3 years old would have been relevant.
But you absolutely should not lose interest in the ombudsman case. You should make the point to the ombudsman (tell your adjudicator and ask for it to be passed on) that you are entitled to see a copy of all your personal data that likely loans have, and that a CRA cannot provide you with a copy of what LL were sent. So LL should have given this to you and the adjuidcator should also have shared it. Say you feel LL is being deliberately obstructive in not providing you with the information that could help you explain your complaint and you would like compensation for this.
A says
I just received the same reply!
A. says
Update- likely loans rejected my complaint after 7 weeks – 1 original loan for £1000 repaid early but the loan borrowed again about a month after repaying and then topped up twice since said they carried out appropriate checks and I told them my income but they wont provide copies of my credit report. Sent to fos will see what happens now.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Also send a complaint to the ICO that Likely Loans (ICO register number Z3250811) has refused to provide you with the details of the data they hold from the credit search they made in mmm/yyyy when you asked for a copy of all your personal information. You can phone the ICO on 0303 123 1113 or complete their form https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/your-personal-information-concerns/
ClaireR says
Sara,
Question about 118118.
I had 3 loans with them, and last november they upheld on one of the loans, stating that they couldnt prove they had done sufficient checks.
They took the interest off the last loan, which reduced my balance from £3,600 to £1,300 which I was happy with.
There is a line in their email that says
“Please be aware that because the interest has been removed from the account you cannot have a full or partial settlement quote; should you wish to settle the account at any time, you would simply need to repay the remaining balance.”
I have been in a repayment plan to pay off the balance and it now stands at £1150.00
I get emails at 3pm every single day (since April)to tell me the account is in arrears (as I am not paying the contractual monthly payment of £202) as well as almost daily texts.
I will soon be in a position once the Lending Stream redress hits my account to pay this 118 loan off.
My question is, is it worth going back to them to ask for a settlement figure?
Ross says
Hi Sara,
After a spot of advice please, if I may? I am about to submit a complaint to Likely Loans. The loans, including a top up loan, were as follows;
03/11/17 Original loan
£2000.00 Loan amount
£1646.08 Interest
08/05/18 Top-Up
2719.38 Loan amount
2238.30 Interest
When taking both loans, I was gambling heavily and also had payday loans, a £5k loan with Avant Credit and there was also a default on my record, for an old Natwest loan, of over £5k as well as several credit cards near their limit. I’m expecting an instant rejection, so would this be one for the FOS?
Dale says
Hi Sara
I have submitted a complaint to Avant as i believe I have a good case against them as they gave me a loan of nearly 5000 when I was heavily in debt and had several other loans and credit cards.
I’m still paying this loan off and luckily have never missed a payment so far but I am just wondering could doing this leave a negative footprint on my credit report If they do decide to go ahead in my favour.
I just don’t want to leave any sort of footprint on my credit report as I have spent the past couple of years building it back up again as I am looking to get a mortgage In the next few years.
Thank You
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Making a complaint will not affect your credit record, whether you win it or not.
Are you saying that the loan was unaffordable when you were given it – how long ago was that? But that your circumstances have now changed and it is affordable?
If the loan is not affordable at the moment, you need a payment arrangement. That will harm your credit record, but if you win the case the negative marks will be removed. If a loan is not affordable you can’t hope to muddle through and save your credit rating, you will be borrowing more, probably at a high cost, to keep up with the unaffordable loan payments. A future mortgage in this situation is just a fantasy, always being few years away as you never sort out your debts.
Aymen says
Hello Sara
I want to put claim for everyday loans. But here the issue I took 2 loans with them back 2014-2015 but one of them as joint loan with my ex partner. Am I still able to claim back or not ? first Loan was £1000 ( my self) paid full second was joint loan for £1200 paid full.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Certainly put in a complaint for the first loan. I think you will find it hard to win a complaint about a joint loan unless your ex also complains as FOS may want to know both your circumstances, indeed it is possible FOS may not consider a complaint about a joint loan from just one of you … I don’t know, haven’t seen this issue crop up with affordability complaints.
Paula says
I got the below response from Avant
Dear Miss ,
We are writing regarding your complaint with us at Avant Credit.
After completing our investigation we will be upholding your complaint and so all interest and charges will be cleared.
Please respond to this email confirming you accept the uphold complaint. What will then happen is your complaint will be forwarded onto our processing team, who will calculate all interest and charges. They will then contact you directly confirming the interest and charges and also to confirm your details. This will be completed within 30 working days.
If you are unhappy with the outcome at any point you will still have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman.
Thank you for your patience while this has been investigated.
Kind regards
Avant Credit Complaints
I had 2 previous £2,000 loans and currently have a £3,000 loan with them which I am still paying off. Do they mean all interest? If so what happens going forward? Assume they would take it off my balance instead of paying this out?
Chris says
Not sure they can ask you to accept an offer BEFORE they have calculated what it is! I would get straight back to them and say that. They have to give you a figure before you accept.
Ross says
Complaint to Likely Loans just submitted. I have made them aware of what would’ve shown on my credit record, at the time of the initial loan, and subsequent top up. A default, numerous payday loans, another high interest loan with Avant Credit, high interest credit cards (all up to their limit) and a large overdraft. I’ve made them aware that, if they had conducted more thorough checks, I believe they would never have granted the loans. I’ve also made them aware of my online gambling problem, which I kicked in January of this year, and this has really changed my life, for the better.
I have asked that they refund/waive all interest and offset anything already paid against the actual capital amount. I have also asked them to remove a late payment marker, which they applied in February this year, even though I had a payment arrangement with them, which I stuck to and feel is unfair.
I’ll keep you all updated on how I get on.
DM84 says
Response from adjudicator today:
Thank you for your email and enquiring further about your credit files.
I’ve reviewed further your request and spoken with my manager. We agree that even though Oakbrook didn’t provide consent it seems fair to provide you with a copy of your credit files from Oakbrook as these were used when considering your complaint, please find them attached.
You will note that the search date is from 2019. Even though the search date is from this year it still shows the position of your accounts at the time of lending in September 2016. The credit file you provided showed the same information as contained in these credit files.
You will see there are defaults recorded but these are all listed as either settled or satisfied. There are no outstanding defaults at the time of your application in September 2016. This shows that you do repay your lending and could have actually improved your chances of being approved for a loan.
I am not haply about this obe bit. Likely have ran a search in January this year that goes back 6 years. I cant believe it. There is no credit check and they are using mine created by noddle and this one that was created after I made a complaint and trying to pass them off as their own.
Can you advise if there is something deeply wrong with what is going on here? My adjudicator seems to cherry pick false information to suit his outcome.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well let’s pick through this. First it’s good that FOS has sent you this information, because Oakbrook did not want you to see it.
“trying to pass them off as their own” um perhaps, but it’s not clear that this is what they are trying to do. The adjudicator said “it seems fair to provide you with a copy of your credit files from Oakbrook as these were used when considering your complaint” not “it seems fair to provide you with a copy of your credit files from Oakbrook as these were used when you made the loan application.”
What was on your credit record when you applied in September 2016? Were there short term high cost loans? Any recent defaults? Had you borrowed a lot recently?
If your credit record was great, there isn’t too much point in making a lot of fuss about it. You will not get a refund just because LL failed to do some checks, you also have to show that if they had done the checks then they would have seen infomration that means they should not have lent to you.
Have you won any payday loan refund cases and had anything deleted from your credit record as a result? If so, you can argue that your Jan 19 credit record does not give an accurate picture of what LL would have seen in 2016, which is why it is important that they show the adjudicator and you this information.
How large was this Likely Loan – how much did you borrow and what were the monthly payments?
How much other open credit did you have at that point?
DM84 says
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for the reply. I did shoot out of the starting blocks after reading that email. The loan was for 4.5k @ 273 a month.
No income expenditure asked for at time of application. 118 loan taken out (also topped up) and an avant loan (refunded interest due to successful complaint without ombudsman) within the 6 months prior to the likely loan. 3 Defaulted accounts all within 2 years of application. They are still on my report now and I believe they should have warranted likely to ask for bank statements/verify income etc where they would have seen my fimances were terrible. The only refund I remember getting was with Wonga but I have no payday loans on my reports now.
I also have to admit that a lot of the issues were gambling. I told likely beforehand that my account shows lots of gambling transactions before application. The repsonse I got was that they do not take it into consideration and I should apply.
The adjudicatoe states that my email regarding gambling did not indicate I had a gambling problem and therefore should not cause likely to ask for further info.
Also I lost my job so the adjudicator says that we can never know if I would have missed payments had I stayed.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“The adjudicator states that my email regarding gambling did not indicate I had a gambling problem and therefore should not cause likely to ask for further info.” WTF?
OK, this goes to an Ombudsman if you can’t make the adjudicator see reason.
So your overall argument goes as follows:
“I was in a financial mess due to gambling when I applied for this Likely Loan. LL have refused to provide me with details of what their credit check showed when I applied. I think this is against GDPR and is an obstructive approach to complaint handling.
My credit records would have showed that I borrowed £2000 five months before the LL application and £2500 3 months before. And that I had several short term high cost loans.
A loan of £4,500 is a large loan for someone with a poor credit record. LL should have made detailed checks to be sure I could afford it. In addition I had already told LL that my bank statements showed a lot of gambling [put in an exact quote] and they replied they didn’t take that into consideration [exact quote].
I think this is irresponsible lending – LL were on notice that gambling could be an issue and they should have checked my situation in detail.”
DM84 says
Thank you very much,
I will do that.
Nicki says
Now one week after the 8 weeks deadline for 118 money, so not holding out much hope at the moment, even though the SAR clearly shows a lot of expenditure as 0 or missing….but just out of curiosity…how long does 118 take to pay out if you are succesful?
Many thanks again Sara for all your great advice.
Mike says
Hi Sara
Has anyone ever had any results of putting in an affordability complaint against a credit union?
I have loans with 3 credit unions which is taken at source from my wages.
This leaves me with £40 take home a week when I work a flat week. I appreciate its my own doing but one takes £163p/w another takes £103p/wand the last £60 p/w. Only one asks for bank statements but all request payslips. One requests 4,one 2 and the other 1 when I have applied for more loans. I only applied when I had a few good weeks when I have had OT then the payslips look good and not the flat week £40 ones.
Any advice would be welcome
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The affordabilty rules are the same for credit unions as for other lenders.
Mike says
Thankyou
Combined I owe £20k+ To the biggest who takes £163 p/w
£8k+ to the one that takes £103 p/w and £7k+ to the one that takes £63p/w bringing the loans to a total of approximately £35k!!!!
Although only one checks bank statements they all should be checking my file and see for themselves my other borrowing on top of seeing the deductions on my payslips. My rating is still very poor and although they are in the market to help folk like me out with a relaxed lending criteria would you say in your experience they have acted irresponsibly??
Cheers mike
Sara (Debt Camel) says
When did you apply to them – did you still have a gambling problem at that point and do you still?
what have you done with the QQ refund money?
Mike says
Hi Sara,
I used it wisely and paid off credit cards and now only have one. Debts to friends along with catalogues and had a lovely holiday with the family. Soon goes!! Yes unfortunately I still do gamble and these loans have fuelled it over the years. The credit union loans are my major debts now having got most other things under control apart from one avant loan which is with a debt collector who at present gets £5 p/w. 2 satsuma loans in default and a cash plus card with £200 on it.
I have been having the credit union loans for over 5 years now, lots of reloads , top ups and new ones. Trying to log into credit file to find out actually how much I have actually had….could be very scary.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you put in an affordability complaint to avant?
Mike says
Hi Sara
No I haven’t as didn’t pay it all off hence it went to AIC. It was one of the things I did address when I got my QQ money but the settlement figure was far too big. I hoped as they buy cheap hoped to get a good offer but didn’t.
I have not read anything on your site with regards to credit union complaints, have there been any?
As they are lenient do their lending guidelines differ from other lenders?
Also how would you go about addressing the complaint to them?
How would the initial complaint letter go?
Sorry for all the questions but you have been so helpful in the past .
Cheers mike
D says
Sara
DSAR came through from 118. They’ve my old.employer down on it (I’ve not been with them for over 2 years now) they have my utilities as 0, rent as the amount of my first loan in 2016.
I don’t believe they’ve done any checks on my affordability for the two top up loans.
Would you be able to tell me exactly what I’m looking for please?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi D, this is getting to be a popular question here and on the articles about guarantor loans so I am planning an article on this for next week, if you could look out for it!
D says
That’s great Sara. I’ll await it coming onto the site
A. says
Does anyone know if likely loans normally take the full 8 weeks to reply?
Lisa says
Hi all I’ve recently made a complaint to mobile money due to various loans I couldn’t afford against my car, I was gambling heavy and this would have shown on my bank statements as well as a very bad credit record including ccjs. I used to burrow around 600 and pay back near 1400 just to get my logbook back, on my last loan they took my car instead of payment as I wanted to sell it they said they would take the car and settle the loan, instead they put it down they they had to take my car off of me to pay loan off and this went against my credit file for years. I have had the initial response and waiting for SAR to put a compiled complaint, has anyone had any dealing with mobile money complaints?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
There haven’t been many logbook loan complaints discussed here – that’s mainly because the logbook loan market is much smaller than the wider high cost bad credit loan market.
You should expect MM to reject your complaint and send it straight to FOS.
Here is a recent, long decision from FOS: https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/files/250738/DRN3419145.pdf. In it the Ombudsman decides:
“As Mobile Money failed to take steps to verify the Mr N’s monthly expenditure for loan one and the subsequent ones even though he kept coming back for further expensive loans, some of which were for amounts that were less than what Mobile Money concluded was his monthly disposable income, I don’t think the checks it carried out before providing any of these loans were fair, reasonable or proportionate.”
So definitely these cases are worth taking to the Financial Ombudsman.
Lisa says
That’s great information, I will keep you posted on what happens, I’m not sure I will have bank statements going back as far as needed so how would I show irresponsibility claim if I can’t show them my bank statements and gambling etc, hoping their SAR has bank statements and will show my transactions.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how old are these loans?
Lisa says
Hi Sara, the loans are probably going back 2010-2013 ish
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok well it’s worth trying for the bank statements, tell the bank it is for a Financial Ombudsman complaint about high cost lending. You may have difficulty at the Ombudsman as the loans are so old, but it’s worth a try.
Chris says
Hi I thought I would post a controversial post on a logbook loan I have with a lender. I took an initial £2200 out and then extended once for a further £500 and then again for another £500. My monthly amounts are high but the total to repay is eye-watering. I completed the application for the second extension and deliberately made up my loans – made up the names of the lenders, amounts outstanding and monthly payments. The lender took 3 months of wage slips and 3 months of bank statements to do their credit checks. However, they completely failed to notice both my deliberate falsehoods and the fact that I was making hefty payments to a DMP. I am not posting because I want to make a claim but just to point out that, whilst I have behaved badly, the lender has been reckless and greedy in lending the money. I am hoping not to have to go the full distance on the loan. I am not mentioning the name of the lender as I don’t wish to risk action from them. The borrowing has all gone to fund gambling. Most people will rightly question my sanity (I suffer regular bouts of depression and have thought about suicide several times) but I hope this will give an insight into how the mind of a gambler works and how there are lenders out there who, frankly, are little different from loan sharks. If anybody thinks I should pass this on to the regulators I would be happy to do so. As much as anything else, I feel this particular lender needs an official knock on the door.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Was gambling showing on the bank statements the lender saw?
Chris says
Yes it was – all my transactions go through the same account so nothing hidden.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
In that case I suggest you put in an affordabilty complaint straight away. To lend to you when they had seen evidence of a significant gambling problem was irresponsible. And the previous loans may well have been unaffordable as well.
You will save depressingly little money by trying to settle a logbook loan early. An affordabilty complaint, where income is removed/refunded is a much better way forward.
Also making this sort of complaint is evidence to the regulator of how poor the lender’s checks were.
Chris says
Thanks Sara. Will do that and keep you posted.
B. Smith says
Hi Sara
I posted a while back about motorkitty threatening to take my car away. I have paid some money towards the arrears and anytime I am able to pay more I am doing my best. They have accepted this to s degree but I am wondering why they haven’t acknowledged my affordability complaint. I send it 2 weeks ago and have had no response to it whatsoever. I have even sent a follow up email again with absolutely no response again. This won’t make a difference will it after the 8 weeks to send to the FOS?
SI LAD says
If a lender asks for 2 more weeks to respond to my complaint. After already having used the full 8 weeks.?? Can they ask for more time?? What are my rights?? Anyone had any experience in this?? As I need the final decision don’t I before I can take to Ombudsman??
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can go to the Ombudsman at 8 weeks if you want. The email you got saying they wanted 2 extra weeks should have said you had the right to go to FOS now – you can attach that to your FOS complaint.
Who is the lender?
SI LAD says
It was 118118 Money.
Thanks for your advice. I appreciate it.
Tony says
Hi,
I hope you can help me before I respond to the company.
A complaint against Avant was upheld and redress of £413.53 stated, plus statutory interest.
My question is that this loan was from 2012, so how much stat interest, roughly, should be added?
Any help you can give is greatly received.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
About another 50%
That redress seems low for an Avant loan – was that the amount of interest you actually paid?
SJ says
HI Sara
Do you know of anybody complaining against Lendable? and any success rate?
Foolio2019 says
Hi i have a complaint with loans2go which they have rejected despite admitting on their checks i only had a surpluss of £150 for a £105 per month loan.
Anyway, its going to the fca. Do they hold collection activity when an account is with the FCA or do they continue? I have a payment plan set up anyway but wanted to check peoples experiances?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I assume you mean going to FOS, not the FCA (always a confusing set of initials)
If you have a payment plan set up, that should just continue. Is this a logbook loan or one of their horribly expensive 18 month loans?
Good luck!
fooio2019 says
hello, thanks for the reply and the help on this site!
its one of the 18 month loans and they fobbed my complaint right off so i know itll be a long wait but ill wait for the FOS.
In hindsight, and now im out of my big problems i cant see why anyone in their right mind or not desperate and struggling would take a loan from them
Ann says
Hi I’m going to make a complaint to shorty .They need to be stopped I’m paying Back £2052 on £500 loan .If fos get enough complaint we will see .its cost them for us going to fos
Paula says
I am in my 30 days for Avant’s processing team to confirm the amount having upheld my complaint. Anyone know if they always take the full time?
Paula says
I am in my 30 days for Avant’s processing team to confirm the amount having upheld my complaint. Anyone know if they always take the full time?
Kate says
I too am awaiting the processing team to confirm how much I am being refunded. I’m expecting a couple of grand so hopefully hear soon. They were quite quick in deciding they were upholding my complaint. I am only a week in.
Darren says
It took just over 3 weeks from Avant upheld my complaint to I received contact from them regarding my redress. On the same day I received an email from their customer care team saying refund should be in my account within 3-5 working days. Just waiting on the money hitting my account now!
Rosie says
What is the difference between MYJAR & MYJAR PLUS ?
Reason I am asking is I took £250 – 3 month loan with MYJAR in Sep 18. Repaid it and took a £300 – 3 month loan again with them Dec 18. Repaid it and was able to get a £1975.00 loan with MYJAR PLUS in March 19 to be repaid over 2 years. I was able to just go on line and apply and was approved even though my credit score was 1/5.
At that time, I was in a financial mess. I also had payday loans with
QuidMarket – £300 – May 18, £400 – Aug 18, £450 – Nov 18 & £600 – Jan 19
Quickquid – £250 – Dec 18
& Credit cards
Aqua – £2.4k balance over limit & default registered 30/11/18
MBNA – £1.7k balance
Evanquis – £1k balance
Halifax – £1.6k balance
Trying to get my financial situation sorted out. Should better affordability checks have been completed for such a large loan ?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Same company. Loans under 12 months are subject to certain interest rate caps and rules that don’t apply to loans over 12 months. But the affordability rules are the same for all loans. And better, more thorough checks should have been done for larger loans.
So put in a complaint to Myjar using the template letter on this page, covering all three of your loans.
Rosie says
Yesterday, I put an affordability complaint in against MYJAR. The payment schedule yesterday had a balance of over £3k.Today when I log into my account, the payment schedule status is “CAA.Shared.Instalment.Status” with a date in October 19 and a repay balance of £1800. Does anyone know what this means ?
Thanks
D says
Anyone else due to hear back from 118 money tomorrow after them asking for the two week extension?
I’ve went to FOS anyway however I hold out next to no hope of hearing back from 118. Think I’ve said before but their on credit checks they sent me through have proven it was unaffordable and they’ve also added in their own totals for me with regards expenses.
So you never know. But I doubt it.
Ruth says
Yes, my two week extension is up tomorrow and they have just responded. Upheld 1 loan out of 3.
D says
I’ll check my emails thanks Ruth.
Hope that’s a good deal for you
Stee says
It’s been almost 6 months since my complaint now, 118 replied on the last day with a pathetic response which I escalated to Ombudsman. I got a letter from the Ombudsman near the end of May to say they have been inundated with consumer credit complaints, will most likely be September before I hear anything
Ruth says
Please could you help with an offer from 118118.
£2,000.00 17/04/2017 06/06/2017 £2,388.33 £388.33
£3,500.00 15/08/2017 20/03/2018 £5,171.24 £1,671.24
£3,500.00 18/12/2018 06/03/2019 £4,387.64 £887.64
They have upheld my complaint for loan 3 but have dismissed my claim for the first two loans. They said they should have done more checks for loan 3. They did credit checks on all 3 loans, which showed my was over £30k. On my application I stated my debt repayments were £300 on loan 1, and £40 on loan 2, even though my debt had increased in this time. Should they not have queried this?
Should I accept their offer for loan 3 or would I have more luck with the FOS?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I agree that they should have looked more closely at loan 2. I suggest you send this to FOS.
Linda says
Hi Sara apologies if this has already been covered however I am trying to find out the impact of entering a payment arrangement on my credit file? I have 4 complaints, 2 against payday loans and 2 for high cost loans. They haven’t defaulted but because I am complaining about their affordability i have entered in to PAs with them. Once these are paid and marked as settled will they have a negative affect on my credit file and affect mortgage applications for 6 years? I know payday loans can have an affect anyway but I’m worried an AR is as bad as a default. Unless that is that they agree to remove negative information.
D says
Sara
Do you think this is a good offer from 118?
Agreement 2092747
· The loan amount was £1300.31
· You repaid £615.84 to this agreement before taking additional borrowing via agreement 2287675 – this means that you did not repay the full capital of £1300.31 and there’s a difference of £684.47.
Agreement 2287675
· The loan amount was £1747.93
o Of which, £1147.93 was used to settle 2092747
As a result of our above comments, we firstly need to remove the interest that was applied to agreement 2287675 – this means that the balance has reduced from £2694.00 to £1209.13.
As well as removing the interest from agreement 2287675, we also need to remove the excess internal settlement that was used to settle 2092747. As explained above, there was a remaining balance of £684.47 on agreement 2092747 due to the internal settlement and therefore, we have deducted the amount of £684.47 from the internal settlement of £1147.93 which equates to £463.46.
We have then further reduced the balance on agreement 2287675 by the amount of £463.46 which further reduces the balance from £1209.13 to £745.67. This means that once the remaining balance of £745.67 has been paid on agreement 2287675, you would have only repaid the loan amounts on both agreement 2092747 and 2287675. Please note that as the amounts we’ve removed were not actually paid by you, no 8% statutory interest is due.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what a confusing way to write things.
how much have you paid to loan 2. Ignore whether they say it was repaying interest or capital, what payments have you made to this loan.
D says
Top up 2 Was paid from September last year to March this year. That was 108 pounds per month.
So that was 6x£108 although it may have been 7 months so either 648 Or 756 to that
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well there are various ways to to do these calculations but they should all arrive at the same amount.
My approach is an approximiation as I do not know the dates you made payments so i cannot work out the 8%s exactly. My way shows you owing less than theirs does …
What I do. Take loan 1 . Borrowed 1300, paid 615 to it and then settled with 1147 – – that means 462 interest was paid.
This has been paid by you and should have 8% simple interest added, that could be about £25 say, let’s ignore it as it is small.
Then loan 2 you need to look up how many payments you made if you want to go back and argue with 118 over their offer so you can argue from the facts. let’s say 6 payments.
So you borrowed 1747, ignore any interest as you aren’t going to pay any, and have repaid 648, so there is a balance of 1099. But this is then reduced by the 462 interest meaning you still have to repay £637.
Not £745.
And the £637 will be a bit lower because of the 85 interest on the first loan. and will be another £108 lower if you had made 7 payments not 6.
You could reeasonably decide you don’t care about c £25 statutory if the rest of their calculation was right, but it doesn’t look right.
I suggest you go back and argue. This is also a good point to get them to agree to an affordable payment arrangement for the balance and for it to not affect your credit record.
D says
Thank you Sara
Mary says
Onstride have asked me for all of the below, should I supply it all?
• Bank statements (at the point/s you took out your loan/s with us)
• Payslips (at the point/s you took out your loan/s with us)
• Any additional information relating to your financial circumstances (at the point you took out your loan/s with us)
• What is the date of your first loan?
• How long did it take you to realise that On Stride might have been responsible for any financial difficulty you faced
Sara (Debt Camel) says
See https://debtcamel.co.uk/quickquid-payday-loan-refunds/
Craig Wallace says
Hi Sara
Is it worth making a similar complaint to a loan company who provided a £10,000 secured loan which was used to pay off various pay day loans, credit cards and other debt (paid direct by loan company). This is a high interest loan which, when paid off, will mean I have repaid £30,000.
Scott says
Hi Craig,
What were your monthly payments before this loan and how much were the payments for this loan?
Scott
Craig Wallace says
I can’t remember everything I was paying before the loan but now paying £279 a month which is a lot less but obviously over a long period of time (10 years). I also had to pay off partners debt as the loan was secured on the house which is in both our names. I just feel that, due to desperation, I had no other choice but to accept a high interest loan
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The question is not what the interest rate is, but whether the repayments on this secured loan were affordable for you.
john says
Good Morning, i had a complaint in with Loans2go which has been upheld by the adjudicator. I spoke to them at the beginning of the week in regards to my complaint and she did allude to that they have seen a rise in complaints against them, all because of the interest they are charging the terms of the contract and people they are lending to shouldnt really considered.
It will be interesting to see what their response is to the decision being upheld.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
thanks for that update.
Ann says
That’s fab news I’m going to make a complaint next week .I borrowed £500 to pay Back £2052 .I hope you get all your interest back .
Paula says
I am very confused by my response from Avant.
Dear Miss C
Loan ID 148591
Further to the outcome from your recent complaint I can confirm that AvantCredit have now;
• Refunded all interest and fees charged on your loan resulting in an overpayment
• Awarded 8% flat rate per annum interest to the overpayment. This has been calculated on a daily basis for each element of the overpayment.
• As a result of the above we have set your interest rate to 0% as of the funding date of the loan and credited your account with the amount of £41.57
The interest awarded was £51.96 but in accordance with the FOS guidance (below), 20% tax on this interest has been deducted at source and will be forwarded to HMRC.
If you have any questions regarding this please contact your local tax office. http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/guidance/comp_tax.htm
Kind regards
AvantCredit
I had 2 previous loans with them (both £2,000 and repaid over 24 months) and my current loan is £3157 however it states I have only paid back £780 principal but in total I have paid £2058 so far. I am not sure what they have done here but assuming this will be another one that has to go to FOS? Sigh.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Your current loan ends 591? Is that all they have said? Have they said they are upholding your case for the last loan only? Have they said hat the remaining balance is?
Paula says
No I just checked and none of my loans have this loan ID? Do you think they have emailed me someone else’s?
Paula says
Just had a response sincerely apologising for the confusion and noting they will provide me with an update ASAP. Hoping they have just messed up here and I am due much more back!
Kate says
I have just had a similar email to you regarding my loan. I took £2000 from Avant in June 2016 paying £80.63 monthly. The principal loan says I have paid £1260 (approx) I worked out I’ve paid nearly £3000 including interest. I have an outstanding balance of £800 and asked that to be cleared and then refunded the difference. They emailed today saying they would refund me £189??? Emailed them straight back rejecting that and asking for a breakdown of their findings as I think I’m due way more even after they take off the balance outstanding. Will update you when they get back to me.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
1 loan cases should be simple! You borrowed £2000, if the loan is decided to be unaffordable, you should only have to repay what you have borrowed. You have paid nearly £3,000, so the loan should be written off and you should get a refund of about £1000.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Oh! Well anything is possible and that would explain why it didn’t make much sense, have to see what they say…
Kate says
Thanks Sara,.
I have been paying £80.63 since July 2016 which by my calculations is £2902. When I logged in to Avant today is says principal amount paid is £1262.
I will await their response to my reply.
Thanks for your help. I thought they were going to be easy to deal with when they were so prompt compared to others.
Paula says
Update from Avant:
Good Morning Paula,
It appear the a technical error occurred on our system causing the loan id to not be updated when the email was sent to you. As per my previous email we have escalated this matter to our senior management team for review and we hope to provide you with the redress to your recent upheld complaint as soon as possible.
We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.
Kind Regards,
Lucy
Hopefully they won’t take too
Paula says
I still haven’t had a further response from Avant which is a bit annoying. Do you think calling would make any difference?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes – call them and say if you don’t get a response by the end of the weekend, you will be sending the case to the ombudsman on Monday.
Miss v says
Hi so I just had a call from Loans2go. My complaint being that they gave me a loan despite being on maternity leave. I’ve supplied all the evidence to back this complaint up. So they called offering me £100 and then £200..they owe me well owe a £1000. They also said they guy who approved the loan doesnt work for the company and they would need a statement from him. Very apologetic and overly nice. What’s all that about? Why have they offered me low amounts like that?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“Why have they offered me low amounts like that?” because they are hoping that you will need the money and settle it cheaply.
Miss b says
Yeah I got that feeling. Oh well. Good job I’m not that desperate, I take my money seriously and I repaid everything I owe. Dear me. What do you think will happen? Is it a Ombudsman route?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you tell them again that you want a refund of all the interest you paid or you will be going to the ombudsman and give them a couple of days to think about it. But not much longer!
Miss v says
I did !! I gave them till Wednesday. I supplied very strong evidence. They know that hence the offers but what a insult. I will start preparing for the ombudsman because I got a feeling they want to play hard ball. I will keep you updated .
Ann says
Hi Sara,
118 money asked for an extension to the 8 week deadline 15 days ago now and still nothing..I’ve tried calling them but they have been vague at best of when I would recieve final letter of response. Can the FOS take my case without the FLR?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes you can. FOS will want to see the email showing when you first complained. And what you were sent after 8 weeks asking for more time. But you can go to FOS now and I think you should.
Adam says
Hi Sara,
I recently had a loan with 118 and i also took top-up. Long story short I was struggling to pay and my family had to help me out, my interest rate was a whopping 103.17% with an APR of 169.9%. Is it legal to offer that high amount of interest on a loan?
Thanks
Adam says
Sorry just to expand a little, this was a £2000 loan over 24 months, with £4677.60 payable. The top up i took was an extra £850 which was 9 months into my agreement. So my new balance then became £6234 which I ended up paying off in a few months with help from family as it got too much.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
it is legal, unfortunately. there are restrictions on what payday lenders can charge, but not for loans over 12 months.
BUT it sounds as though the loan was unaffordable for you. Read the article above and out in an affordabilty complaint, about both the original loan and the top-up.
afaq tariq says
This is reply I got for natwest any suggestions please.
————————————-
Here is a brief summary of your complaint as I understand it:
You have explained you are making an affordability complaint in relation to your loan. You feel the loan was not affordable for you at all because your monthly income on average is around £1100; you had another guarantor loan with UK credit which was not paid off, and also another £10,000 loan with Lendable. After your personal expenditures you say you save barely anything.
You have advised you have severe gambling habits and that your bank statement is full of gambling transactions which were never checked. As you state you are in £15,000 of debt you feel the loan should never have been given to you.
You feel we should have realised this and that we didn’t check your circumstances properly before giving you the loan.
You’ve stated this has caused you severe depression and stress. You are now in a situation where you are struggling for food money and about to go homeless. You have asked that the loan is written off.
afaq tariq says
I would like to apologise you feel we have mis-sold you a loan based on your personal circumstances however, I would like to assure you that when assessing any means of borrowing with us, our application process is consistent and fair and supported by the office of fair trading. We use a system called credit scoring and assess all applications using our lending criteria.
When a customer applies for a loan, you will need to provide us details on how the loan funds would be used and why they are required. Based on this information, credit scoring and affordability your application was assessed and the application was then approved. Prior to the loan being assessed a Consumer Credit Agreement (CCA) is produced which is a legal contract between the bank and customer. The CCA details all of the terms and conditions of the loan, it is then down to you if you wish to sign the CCA and by doing so you are stating that you understand and accept the terms and conditions of the loan.
In addition as the application was done online, it meant there was no staff intervention. …
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“The computer said Yes” isn’t really an adequate response. Most of what they have said is irrelevant to an affordability complaint. You could send this to the Financial Ombudsman…
BUT the Ombudsman is not going to say that the loans should be written off. They would say that interest should be removed from it and you should be treated sympathetically when setting up a payment arrangement.
If getting interest removed really isn’t going to be enough for you then you need to be looking at a debt relief order or bankruptcy. Getting your guarantor loan complaint won first will mean your guarantor can no longer be affected if you opt for Insolvency.