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?
Miss v says
Hi. A quick question please. As I explained in a older post I was complaining to Loans2go about an affordability check. I was approved a top up loan in store ..in person whilst on maternity leave. I was full term. I spoke to the rep about my pregnancy but despite this was still approved a top up loan. I have submitted all relevant evidence . Loans2go have offered very low amounts. I refused. This loan was in 2017. Loans2go want me to wait whilst they get wla statement from the rep who approved the loan. He no longer works for the company according to Loans2go is this just a delay tactic? Should I give them time or go to FOS? The whole handling of my complaint has been appalling in my opinion.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you say your complaint will be going to FOS if they have not made an adequate offer by the end of the week.
Michelle says
Hi, I had a £1000 loan with Likely Loans, and a top up loan of £2000 in Dec 2016, with interest total debt was approx £5000. I was about to go on mat leave just before the top up loan, no checks were done, I defaulted on the remaining balance in Dec 2018 as the £190 monthly repayment had totally messed up my finances by this point. I want to put in an affordability complaint, however the remainder of the loan (approx £750) has been sold on to cabot who have instructed solicitors and are threatening a CCJ. If my affordability complaint is upheld and/or wiped from my record what does this mean for cabot? If they purchased a dud debt how can they claim it? Should I copy them and their solictors into the affordability comlaint email to likely loans?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
By the point you defaulted you had already probably repaid all or nearly all the amount borrowed. If your complaint against Likely Loans is upheld, then LL will have to remove all the interest from the outstanding debt which should bring the balance down to zero or very low. If it is down to zero, then LL have to arrange for the Cabot debt to be cleared or returned to them and they will clear it.
Also LL and Cabot would have to remove the default from your credit record.
Once there is a complaint in progress, Cabot should not start legal proceedings. So send LL the complaint and inform Cabot and their solicitors that you are disputing the debt with LL and ask them to hold off on any enforcement action.
If LL reject your complaint (and they usually do, so don’t be discouraged!) Yiu need to send it to the Financial Ombudsman immediately an duel Cabot and their solicitors that the case is with FOS – again they should not start court action.
If you keep Cabot informed, they is very rarely trouble in these cases. But have their solicitors sent you a Letter Before Action/Claim? See https://debtcamel.co.uk/letter-before-claim-ccj/ for what one looks like. If you get one you cannot ignore it.
Michelle says
Yes – I replied to the letter before claim, and stated I wasn’t sure if I owed the debt, requested all documents and asked for time to get debt advice (solicitors replied and said they couldn’t get a detailed statement of account and just to come to a payment arrangement basically :/ ) they sent through the rest of the documents.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ok, then be specific in what you tell Cabot and their solicitors – after their Latter Before Claim you took advice and are now disputing the debt with the original lender so ask them to hold any enforcement action.
B.smith says
So I have a few questions regarding my logbook loan with motorkitty. My account went into arrears so I reached out to ask if I could make smaller repayments to try and bring the balance back up to date as I am struggling financially Very much at the moment.
They initially agreed, and I made smaller repayments. I then put in an affordability compliant 3 weeks ago and they didn’t even give me an acknowledgment email. I emailed 4x since asking for acknowledgment of my compliant and for the to tell me their complaints procedure. Then then finally answered me today, and all they replied was that they expect my arrears to be paid in full ASAP and that they are perplexed as to why I am making an affordability complaint when I was the one who signed my expenditure forms. I then emailed back asking for a copy of their complaints procedure yet again and told them that I would be forwarding the compliant to the FOS in 5 weeks regardless of whether they give me an answer.
Their emails are not formal at all and they are not formally written in anyway! Do I just send off my compliant to FOS regardless if they have given me any kind of answer after 8 weeks?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Here is their complaints procedure: http://motorkitty.co.uk/images/Complaints_Handling_Procedure.pdf. I suggest you go back to them and ask if their answer today is their Final Response to your complaint. If they say it is, you can go to FOS immediately.
caz says
hi,we’ve been getting varooma loans 1 after another,and if we’ve had a big win we’ve repaid early,the account shows lots of gambling,also 2 big wins that are spent now..we’re still paying 127 a month til march next yr,whats the chances if i send an email about irresponsible lending that we would get something back?im totally new to all this but we cant afford this plus the payday loans we have..thanks
Scott says
Hi caz,
If you’re still gambling, there is no point submitting affordability complaints as any money you get would probably go into someone elses pocket.
You both need to get your gambling under control first.
Scott
caz says
Well we still gamble but have closed some accounts now and I’ve put a limit on our main one.im not missing bills or anything. We have holidays nice home car ect. But I borrowed for silly things like new carpets or weekends away spur of the moment things..
lisa says
Hi Caz, gambling is a vicious circle, and is hard to get hold off, bit like telling an alcoholic stop drinking, I have seen many cases on this site being upheld due to not checking affordability and irresponsible lending to people that had large gambling problems, I would advise it is always worth putting a claim in and let them make the decision, they cant judge you for gambling. good luck.
Caz says
Hi Lisa. Yes ur correct. I’ve had lots of addictions. It’s coin master at the minute 😂, stopped me gambling though! Do u know which template I should use or should I just say they could see all the gambling and still continued to lend us knowing thr could be an issue? Thanks
lisa says
Hi Caz, i’m not an expert, Sara has done some great stencils, I would initially use the 1st template at the top of this feed raising an affordability complaint and request your SAR so you can see what information you supplied and what they used to base their decision to lend to you. Once this is received then go back to them and add further details with regards to your gambling and also what your find on the SAR. Start the ball rolling, good luck
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you use the template letter in the artcile above ^^^
When you have borrowed a lot from someone, it is often the “pattern of borrowing” that most helps you – varooma should have wondered why you were getting so many loans and looked into your case in more detail. Gambling by itself isn’t a reason to refuse if it’s obviously under control. It will depend on just how “unaffordable” the loans were. Expect this case to have to go to the ombudsman – most cases involving gambling do.
caz says
thanks ladies,il use the template but my partner wants to wait til its paid incase he loses the car..weve had continious loans for past 2 yr.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you up to date with the payments, the lender can’t take your car just because you make a complaint.
ClaireR says
After winning my Lending Stream case, I am using the money to pay off few other loans, here is a response I have had this morning from 118118 after requesting a settlement figure.
If you would like to settle your loan early, you will need to make a payment of £2,416.84 which has been calculated
by taking the loan balance £1,105.74 and deducting the interest rebate of £108.78 in accordance with the Consumer
Credit (Early Settlement) Regulations 2004.
This settlement figure of £2,416.84 is valid until 15/08/2019 which has been calculated in accordance with Regulation
3 of the Consumer Credit (Early Settlement) Regulations 1983
Surely they have made a mistake ????
I had a complaint with 118118 directly, this was the outcome.
The current balance on the account is £3618.96 and as such, I have now removed the interest of £2243.22 from the account which means that the balance has reduced from £3618.96 to £1375.74 which means that once this amount is repaid, you would have only repaid the loan amount with no interest. Please note that I will also be reaching out to the Credit Reference Agency to ask that the loan is removed from your file – this can take up to 60 days to be completed.
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.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
(Sorry I didn’t read your comment properly before and assumed it was the common complaint about how little you save by early settlement.)
What 118 has said is obviously nonsense, you need to reply that you want to know your current balance, their figures don’t make sense.
Can I check that you have cleared all interest bearing debts such as credit cards, catalogues and overdraft? This 118 loan should be bottom of the pile to repay as it is interest free, Good to be able to do that though!
ClaireR says
Thanks Sara,
I have a capital one card with a £1400 balance,
Hadn’t thought about your very true point that 118118 is interest free.
I do also have outstanding balances with bamboo and Avant, but both these are awaiting ombudsman decisions (adjudicator didn’t uphold) so I was reluctant to pay those two off until I knew ombudsman decision.
sm says
Hi,I have had a loan with Varooma which was clearly unaffordable at the time,resulting in two more top ups on it as well as several other payday loans to try and make ends meet.
I have never missed a payment with Varooma but I’m concerned that should I make an affordability complaint they might try and take the car,would me opening a complaint give them any power to do this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, that can’t happen if you are up-to-date with payments.
jaz says
I had 4 continues loans with 118 118 loans, every time i cleared a loan, straight away i took another one straight after, i did this for 4 year, so basically it rolled over each time the loan finished, but sometimes half way through paying some of my loans borrowed more, and there added this to the previous loan, paying of the remainder, and what extra I borrowed, so my loan was more as I had to pay off recent loan and for the extra money i borrowed and this was getting me in a vicious circle like I had to rely on them, as it was struggling paying them, and keeping the house cost going like rent bills, and food and all other house hold living costs,I was falling more into debt, i must of paid over £5500 in intrest, I have already sent them a email to them a couple of days ago abt a affordability complaint, there have responded back there are going to investigate, I was just wondering how long does 118 118 loans take to deal with this, are there pretty reasonable and, whats the chances iv got, as there could clear see I was struggling, that I had to keep on borrowing, plus there didnt check my bank details to see my income, if i could afford my payments, and my credit record clearly shows im not in a situation to lend, as my credit was quiet bad. I’m a single dad also, I’m self-employed and sometimes my income vary where im not making much, Thank you for your help in advance.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That sounds like a very strong case.
118 are not fast about replying. And often they reject good cases or make a poor offer – eg to refund the interest just on the last loan. So come back here and check if you aren’t sure what they have offered is enough.
If you don’t get a good offer, send it straight to the Financial Ombudsman where many people are getting good results.
Jeo says
I am past the 8 weeks. They asked for a two week extension. I haven’t granted it but will wait and see. Will be filing with Ombudsman in mean time since 8 weeks have past.
Iain123 says
The £5.5k will turn into an £8k refund. Hang in there, read through the archive and good luck.
Sarah says
Hi Sara, I had a loan from Progressive Money. I was off sick from work at the time with mental health problems, I was also under pressure from my ex partner to get the loan. I had several defaults on my credit record from 2016 and my bank statements showed frequent direct debit fails and pay day loans.
I borrowed £1529.00 and unsurprisingly defaulted 3 months later as the repayments were £193 a month. The amount showing as owed now on my credit file is £3482 so more than double the original amount. Am I able to make a complaint in these circumstances? I lost my career in 2018 due to my mental health and now work in a minimum wage job so the likelihood of being able to repay is slim.
Thanks in anticipation.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It sounds as though the lender should have seen from your credit record that you may be in a difficult situation and looked carefully at whether you afford the repayments… which you couldn’t. So yes, I suggest making a complaint. Expect this to be rejected by the lender and to have to send it to the Financial Ombudsman.
Are you also looking at possible refunds from any payday lenders you used?
Do you mind saying how much debt you owe across everything?
Sarah says
It’s rather horrifically £30,000 in total. One loan to progressive money (detailed above), and the rest are credit cards debts. They’ve all been sold on (some more than once). I did have an IVA but it failed when I lost my job and kicked out the ex partner.
Currently wondering as the debts are from 2016 whether it’s worth seeing if they have the original credit agreement and are therefore enforceable.
I’m a home owner and a single parent which complicates matters otherwise bankruptcy would have been a viable option.
I had payday loans from quickquid which were all repaid in full. Basically my ex ex partner left when my child was 18 months. I couldn’t afford nursery fees, mortgage and debt he left behind and earned too much for benefits. I used credit cards and it all spiralled from there. I’m now in a job but get universal credit as a top up. I’m not sure if it’s worth pursuing another IVA as I probably could only afford 80-90 a month payback and I think it would be too low.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well that is a big mess :(
Chipping away in all directions for a while may be your best way forward – £80-90 is very thin for an IVA, it gives you no wriggle room if anything goes wrong and, as you know, IVAs can fail.
So an affordabilty complaint to QQ and progressive money. And to any credit cards that increased your credit limit when you were already in a mess, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-catalogue-credit-card/. It’s quite soon to ask for CCAs, but some may work. In the meanwhile a DMP with StepChange? Any chance of getting a lodger?
Sarah says
No, 2 bedroomed house and even if I did get a lodger I’d have to declare any income and that would impact my benefits.
I’m currently paying back 3 smaller debts to a total of £80 a month and in November I’ll be £100 a month better off (mobile phone contract ends and UC advance will be paid back). Planning on snowballing the amount at that point.
Would it be worth starting a token payment plan with the other creditors? Mostly the bigger lenders have been fine, it’s the smaller amounts that have been quite pushy.
ele says
Hi all
can i just ask what do you do when you send the first email and they dont give you the oppertunity to send the second? Every time i have sent the first email to all lenders, they seem to take this as my full complaint and dont send me any of my info until the 8 week deadline is up and send this as their final response. This means i am not getting the chance to put my detailed complaint in?
thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
True.
The alternative is to make the first email just ask for information, not say anything about why. But that would then delay starting your complaint by 4-8 weeks so it’s not a good idea.
The problem is that as there are more and more complaints, all the lenders except the smallest now have pretty automated complaint handling. Unless there is something very unusual they can see about your case from their own system, you are likely to get a standard fill-in-the-gaps response whatever you write…
So although it may feel frustrating, not being able to give details before you get their response, it probably doesn’t very often make a difference.
A says
Hi all,
An adjudicator upheld my complaints on 2 out of 2 loans from Myjar. Great news! Interest from loan outstanding wiped and the redress will be deducted from outstanding principle loan amount leaving a (comparatively) small amount to be paid. The FOS has now asked MYJAR to contact me directly to arrange a payment plan for outstanding amount but I’ve had radio silence thus far.
Thanks,
A
PF says
Hi Sara and all, Just looking for some help with a query regarding a conditional sale agreement I have with Moneybarn. I am currently 40 months into a 48-month agreement and for much of the time, I have struggled with the repayments. I don’t believe I should have been given the loan – where do I stand with this agreement and an affordability complaint? Can Moneybarn repossess my car if I put in a complaint against them?
Has anyone else put in an affordability complaint against Moneybarn while still in an agreement? Any help or guidance is appreciated. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They can’t reposess the car if you keep up the payments.
I don’t remember a reader’s affordability complaint against Moneybarn finishing, there are several underway. Here is a published Ombudsman decision:
https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/files/243734/DRN2326724.pdf
PF says
Thank you Sara – that’s really helpful. Looking at my credit report at the time there was at least 1 CCJ and two defaults registered on it. I don’t recall completing an income and expenditure but did send them payslips. It will be interesting to see what is included in the SAR when they send it to me. Thanks again.
John says
Update on the Loans2go.
They have accepted the adjudicator decision.
• refund any interest and charges that you paid, so that you’ve only repaid the capital amount;
• pay 8% interest simple per year on the above refund from the date of payment to the date of settlement*;
• offset any refund against any capital amount correctly outstanding, and pay the remaining amount to you;
• remove any negative information about this loan from your credit file.
Loans 2 Go has also said that you’ve complained regarding four other loans you had with them. And it has made a decision to uphold your complaint about those loans as well. So it will be refunding you for all the loans you took out with them. It will complete the calculation once it receives your acceptance.
Lets see how long it takes them now, this should open the flood gates against this corrupt company.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Good news!
Was this their wickedly expensive unsecured loans? or their horribly expensive logbook loans?
john says
Their wickedly expensive unsecured loans.
I’m a bit surprised by their decision to agree with the adjudicator, and even their stance with the other complaint I had with them.
Tim says
How long did it take for your complaint to get picked up by an adjudicator?
I too have a complaint against them for a logbook loan,they said no straight away so I went to the FOS in March! Still not been picked up yet!
Ann says
Well done with loans to go I’m going to send my complaint over the weekend when I have time to do it .They have told me no but I will take it to ombudsman.
KR says
I managed to get loans 2 go to agree just to pay off what my husband borrowed which was 250, got 6 weeks payments left, better than the £1000+, it took some arguing even after their final response but was worth it
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh that’s good news if they are settling these cases directly.
Ann says
Well done How did u manage that I borrow £500 paying Back £2050 they have rejected my complaint I’m sending to ombudsman tho
John says
Just a wee follow up, Loans2go have refund me what was agree this afternoon, very prompt.
Jane says
Hi,
I submitted a complaint with supporting information to My Jar in August 2018 for the following loans:
January 2018-£1000 (repaid May, then re-borrowed on the same day)
May 2018-£1200 (repaid then borrowed same day)
August-£900-couldn’t repay amount outstanding
All of the loans were for 12 months.
Unfortunately, my case was not upheld by the adjudicator. They believe MY Jar did proportionate checks despite never speaking with me or my supplying supporting information. MY Jar have offered to remove some of the interest on the last loan (it’s up to £1800 inc the loan).
I’ve offered £400 full and final settlement which has now been declined.
I’m thinking of referring this to the Ombudsman. I had and still have a serious health condition and I only wish I’d been more open about this.
Do I let it go?!! Thanks so much…any advice appreciated.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What has myjar offered? Have you made any payments to the last loan?
Jane says
Hi Sara,
My Jar have offered to remove the some of the interest from loan 3 leaving £966.00 to pay.
They have filed a default since the complaint, which I had no idea about. I have charges applied to the account despite having been in touch with the collections team(they said it would be frozen) and offering to discuss an arrangement….The interest has been occurring at £3.17 a day.
I was employed on the day I took the first loan and self employed on loan 2 and 3.
Thank you again Sara!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
have you made any payments to the last loan?
Jane says
Sorry Sara, no I haven’t.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So they are removing almost all the interest from the last loan. Weird sort of offer, to not remove it all! Well it’s not the worst offer. But there is a good case to say myjar should have looked hard at the second loan because you were taking it out the same day as settling the first loan early. It all probably depends on how bad your credit file was when you applied for loans 1 and 2. You must have had a lot of borowing given the number affordabilty complaints you were making. You know the arguments to make – the lender should have seen all the borrowing and not given me a loan without making detaiuled checks.
Jane says
Sara, thank you so much….I just needed that extra nudge!
Will reply to the adjudicator and report back.
Your advice means so much…I’m climbing out of debt slowly but, surely!
Lee Sharratt says
Took a loan with 118 in December 18 for 2018 pound. Paid off 2800 off till now. Called them. If I want to pay off. Another 3k. Is this right ? I’m really shocked. How can this be ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can ask them for details of the settlement calculation. but the interest is front-loaded (like all loans) so at the beginning, you are paying off little capital. And they are allowed to charge 1 months more interest (normally, check the T&Cs). And they figure they have given you is good for 30 days (normally, check the T&Cs). So that is effectively 2 months more interest.
Have you put in an affordability complaint.
Lee Sharratt says
Not yet. I’m going to. As u know I have a horrendous history of payday loans
KR says
Ann you just have to keep at them and insist they have not taken everything into account, after the final response I put in SAR and what I was planning on doing so they reviewed the file and gave me a different response to their final letter, it was worth the hassle just so it can be paid off in 5 weeks
Paul Wakeman says
Hi Sara,
Now that I have made a number of complaints to Companies about Irresponsible Lending and most of these are now with the OmBudsman I am now trying to help my Cousin as over the last 2 years she managed to get herself in to a bit of debt with Lending Stream, Safety Net Credit and she is also my Guarantor for Amigo Loans (She has never had to make a payment though).
In 2017 she also took out a £10,000 loan from Lendable and her monthly payments were £247.88 per month. As she was/is only employed part time I used to help her out with the monthly payment when I could. In Jan of this year we “cashed in” her pension and asked Lendable for a settlement figure and I managed to get this down to £6,500 which we accepted just to get it cleared. I have 3 questions: Is it worth putting in an irresponsible lending complaint? (If so, what template letter should I use?) and have you ever come across Lendable before?
Many Thanks, Paul.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So how much interest did she pay?
Lendable are a provider of large bad credit loans. A loan of 10k should have been properly assessed to make sure it was affordable.
Paul Wakeman says
Loan was taken out in January 2017, Monthly payment was £247.88 of which £110 was interest so at least £2,500+ has been paid in interest.
Miss v says
Update. I had 1 successful refund with Loans2go, they gave me a loan whilst on maternity leave. Still got more complaints with Loans2go, still yet to hear about those..The 8 week time limit is approaching. I have advised them verbally I have other complaints separately from the maternity complaint. . So let’s see. I was given several top up loans despite my initial loans going to collections more than once. They still gave me loans. Will see how this goes. Any advice in preparation? Thanks.
Mike Foster says
Hi Sara,
Following on from my question with regards making a complaint to a credit union. You said they have to abide by the same rules as everyone else. Well I did put in the initial letter saying I was making a complaint and requested statement of account and SAR. Once received I would explain my complaint. Well did this at the start of the week and today received the requested info accompanied by their final response???
They say they have reviewed all the info they hold, payslips,bank statements and credit reports and done nothing wrong.
Wow I thought they have not even given me time to actually explain why I feel I have to make the complaint!! As this is their final response should I just send it straight to FOS now?
Mike Foster says
Some of my questions would have been.
Why they assessed my available income along with my wife’s ( which I did put down but not to be assessed for the applications)
They have payslips showing overtime and using this to assess although was led to believe they should not take these as a sound reflection of all my pay.
There are clear gambling signs on the bank statements which they use to assess applications.
They have never asked what an actual basic weeks pay would be if I got no overtime…well would be and is £39!!
They declined one application because the ratio of debt to my earnings was very high…but 12 weeks later topped me up again.
Looking at my loan summary it goes from £2k and now sits at £20k+.
Surely this should have never happened without some serious checks.
I don’t really understand some of the info they sent but sure it does.
What do you think about it so far?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, straight to FOS, it sounds like a strong case if they saw bank statements showing a lot of gambling. No point in arguing with them, they won’t have seen a lot of these complaints and are probably hoping you will just give up.
Mike Foster says
Thankyou
Is it right that should not of taken selective payslips showing a lot of overtime and assumed that was a constant? Should they have asked what a basic pick up would be?
Also they could see on payslips other direct deductions to 2 other credit unions, should they not if asked what the amounts were on them too?
And on their summary sheets using my wife’s earnings ( other household income ) with no verification to show I had a lot of expendable money. It should only have been assessed on my income, or am I wrong?
Cheers mike
Kate says
Update from Avant. A month ago they upheld my complaint and offered me redress of about £200. I rejected the redress and asked for them to look into the calculation.
Today I got an email offering me redress of over £1000 which I have of course accepted.
They have said this will be paid within 30 days – does anyone know how quick they pay out?
Cheers.
Paula says
Update from Avant. They are refunding almost £1500 but this is about £1000 less than I worked out. I asked them which loan this refers to explaining I paid more than this. Not sure whether just to take it?
Andrew says
Good morning all,
Has anyone had dealings with nine regions? I have (stupidly a Log Book Loan) with them, are they still trading or yet another company gone in to administration,
Thanks and any information would be good.
PF says
Hi Andrew, Yes I took out a logbook loan with them in Sept 2009 – after doing a bit of digging I found out that the name was bought by Loans2Go shortly after Nine Regions went in administration. I chanced my arm and asked Loans2Go for information relating to my Logbook loan which after a bit of searching they were able to supply (including agreement number, start date, end date, loan term and interest rate). Upon receiving this info I put in affordability complaint to Loans2Go, who unsurprisedly have dismissed it saying although they bought the name, my loan was taken out with Nine Regions? So I don’t know how they have been able to access the relevant info. Anyway, they have told me that the company is now being administered by PRAC Financial Limited, Longfields Court, Wharncliffe Business Park, Barnsley. I haven’t done anything further with this information yet as I don’t know if it is worth following up if the company has gone into administration.
I hope there may be others on this forum who can offer some further insights. Good luck.
Andrew says
Thank you PF for that very much appreciated.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Not heard of them but after some googling:
– they went into liquidation in about 2012 BUT it seems the liquidation was still going in December 2018. See latest document here: https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/04286387/filing-history
– the last date for submitting a claim was in 2012. I don’t know if you can now make a claim. You need to contact the liquidators fast if you want to try to do anything here. Do you have your bank statements for the period?
Andrew says
Thank you Sara, yes I have all information, I will look into this as you don’t get if you don’t ask.
Thanks again
sJ says
Hi Sara,
I have a complaint in with 118118 money. 8 weeks is up on Monday and I’ve not heard from them. Tried calling their complaints number today and it said leave a message and someone would reply in 5 days. Do I just go straight to the ombudsman on Monday or is it worth waiting a bit?
Thanks!
Tim says
Hi Sara
Do you know roughly how long the FOS are taking to process complaints? I put in my complaint with them in March regarding loans 2 go!
Thanks
Tim
Kellie says
Hi Sara,
I submitted an affordability complaint to avant back in April. It was one loan 36 months of 3000 with monthly repayments of £142. I never missed a payment but mainly because I was petrified of them contacting me as my husband knew nothing of this loan and I was so ashamed of the stupidity. I wasn’t paying other bills such as Council tax, o credit cards and my HP car agreement .I’d had a lot of payday loans prior to this loan (qq and pduk have won complaints at ombudsmen with both). Avant havent upheld so I have sent to the ombudsmen (hasn’t been picked up yet). What kind of info do you have on people winning these complaints with just one loan with Avant?
Thanks very much
Kellie
Kate says
Hi Kellie,. I have just won one against Avant. They upheld my complaint quite quickly but then offered me a very low amount of redress. I rejected the redress asked them to recalculate it. I got a response on Friday offering me almost £1000 more than the original amount.
I only had one loan with Avant for £2000 over 4 years.
I didnt have to go the ombudsman with them.
Hope you get a better result soon. X
Kellie says
Thanks very much Kate. That’s great news for you and hope you get the refund quickly and painlessly! X
River says
Hi Kate, I like you received a response from Avant upholding my complaint. They only took 3 1/2 weeks to respond and I didn’t have to go to the FOS. Have you received anything further in terms of calcualtions/payment yet?
Natalie says
Hi,
I am in the process of compiling info to complain to Everyday loans, originally I took out a £1000 loan in dec 2017 over 12 months @ £144.36 a month, then in Sep 18 I took out a top up loan mainly because I was penniless. My credit karma account is showing a balance of £2300 but only £1779 was paid in to my account. I originally took the loan for debt consolidation I told them amount I needed however the amount they actually gave me didn’t cover all my debts. Am I right in thinking if I’m getting a top up loan only the remaining balance should be paid and not interest?
I am now paying £244 a month and although I can’t be sure of the exact amount until I receive info from the SARS request. I do know I’m paying over £7000 back. I have taken out further loans since with other companies because it has been difficult to pay this amount and pay other debts and now I’m in great financial difficulty.
Do I have grounds for a valid complaint?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
the fact you were penniless in Septemeber 18 suggests that the December 17 loan was unaffordable. Put in a complaint saying they should not have given you the first loan or the top up and send the case to the Finacial Ombudsman if EL reject it.
KR says
Has anyone had a positive result from Varooma? I used the correct complaints email as advertised in website and they ignored it so after 8 weeks I sent to ombudsman. They did acknowledge my SAR but this was using a different email for the DPO
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Quite right to send it to the Ombudsman. They normally reject all complaints.
Paula says
I decided to accept the £1500 from Avant so just waiting on payment. They have also confirmed they have set the interest at 0% on my current loan with them and added a slight redresss to that as well.
So far I have had £2,500 from Sunny and the above. I have a further 7 complaints with the FOS, 1 of which has been picked up by an adjudicator.
Thanks so much for all your help Sara.
Scott says
Hi Paula,
Have Avant said that they will pay you the £1500? They usually offset payments against outstanding balances.
Scott
Paula says
Hi Scott
The response is below:
The refund amount of £1465.60 is the combine over payment and interest paid on both of your paid off loans under the references 116447 & 254129. We have set your interest rate on your active loan to 0% as of the funding date of your loan, the 4th July 2015, and credited your active account with the amount of £43.39.
I hope this information is helpful, if you have any further queries or concerns please do not hesitate to contact us.
Scott says
Hi Paula,
I still think that they will apply the redress to the outstanding balance, it would be irresponsible to refund you and leave you with an ongoing debt that you have already complained was unaffordable.
I would check with them before working out what you will do with the money. The response from them neither confirms that they will credit your bank account or offset the refund.
Scott
Paula says
No the wording of the first email is that the money will be refunded into my bank account ending ***. They have set my interest to 0% on my current loan which means instead of £147 a month I will be paying about £60.
Scott says
Hi Paula,
That’s good for you, well done.
Didn’t know about 1st email and was just concerned you’d make plans and then it would be offset.
Scott
Kate says
Both Likely Loans £1500 loan and Bamboo £2000 loan, have come back to me in the last few days rejecting my complaint.
Has anyone had any luck with getting refunds through the ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh yes, those two lenders reject all complaints, send the cases straight to the ombudsman.
Kate says
Thank you. Have submitted a SAR to both as well as making payment plans as can’t afford their loans.
Bamboo in particular was very condescending in their response. Will send to FOS this week.
Thanks
R says
Hi Kate,
May I please ask how long you waited for a response from Likely Loans? I am in to week 4 and, if I am honest, I expected a swift rejection, but am interested as they seem to be taking their time with mine.
Kate says
I’m at week 6. I wouldnt get too excited by the sounds of things……
I even chased them 2 weeks ago as I thought the length of time was perhaps promising….. Seems not…
R says
I strongly anticipate it going to the FOS, so I am not that excited. The only upside for me is that my credit file was shot to pieces, at the time of taking out the initial loan, and subsequent top up. Looking at my file, even I wouldn’t have lent to me! Please keep us updated on how you get on?
A. says
My likely loan complaint was rejected at week 7. Two loans plus two top ups. Off to fos now.
Maxine Mann says
I made a complaint to moneybarn recently regarding a loan I took out on 2011, this was then settled in 2014 as they put a charge on my property due to defaulting. I have made an affordability complaint which they have as expected rejected.
Is it too late to do anything further about this.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So there was county court case – did you defend that case? Or was a CCJ awarded against you “in default” as you didn’t defend it?
The answer to this affects what you can do now.
Maxine mann says
I did not defend the CCJ I was not aware I needed to go and did not attend.
Yes there then was a county court case and I attended but they awarded a charge against our property for the debt.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
As you didn’t defend the CCJ case, you can take an affordability case to the Financial Ombudsman and in your complaint ask for the CCJ to be set aside as well as the nomral interest to be removed.
BUT the problem here is that this is such an old loan. If Moneybarn say they have no detailed records of your application, FOS may decide they can’t look at the complaint. Do you have all your bank statements for this time? If you do, you can put in the complaint and see how it goes. If you don’t, I doubt it’s worth bothering with.
Jane says
Hi Kate,
My £2k loan with Likely Loans was also rejected and is with the FOS…just picked up by an adjudicator so I’ll keep you informed with any news!
Kate says
Great. Please do. I’ve just put my complaint into the fos today. How long was it until an adjudcator picked yours up?
Jane says
Hi Kate,
My Likely Loans complaint was submitted to the FOS in May and picked up in late July….super fast compared to other complaints. It’s with an investigator in the High Cost Team.
Crossing my fingers for us both!
Ian Purser says
Hi folks, I have put in an irresponsible lending complaint against The Funding Corporation (AKA ACF Car Finance) for a car it sold me when I had defaults on my file. The car cost £7245 which was inflated anyway and the repayment was around £17000 I think it was 49% APR. They rejected my complaint so I have sent to FOS.
I really dislike these guys as they sold me the car and said if I get into difficulty I could VT the contract half way through and return the car and when I tried to do this I had the old “This was a Bill of Sale so you can’t do this”
in the end I had to remortgage to pay the loan off as it was £274 a month which was really affecting me.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you have asked them for a copy of all your personal information as the template letter above suggests? You should expect your complainbtot be rejected, then read https://debtcamel.co.uk/sar-affordability-complaint/which looks at how y=to use the SAR data to help make a good case to the Ombudsman.
Ian says
Yes had all The Sar through and sent everything over to FOS. Just a waiting game now. This company ripped off many people so I would hope the Adjudicator will agree with my complaint.
No Affordability done so that is a start.
Ian Purser says
Sara, Have you seen any irresponsible lending on Car finance (Bill Of Sale complaints be successful with the FOS?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, who is the lender?
Ian Purser says
The Funding Corporation AKA Approved Car Finance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t remember any complaints against them. Just send your complaint in and expect it to be rejected so it has to go to the Ombudsman.
Paula says
That’s my Avant money in, less than a week after agreeing :)
Got another complaint picked up by adjudicator as well.
Kate says
I got my money today from Avant too Paula :) Roll on the rest of them!
Tim says
Paula
How long was your complaint in before it got picked up by an adjudicator?
I’ve had one in since March and still not been picked up yet?
Thanks
Tim
Paula says
My Avant complaint was settled direct as they upheld this without having to go to FOS.
Shaun says
Hello all,
Not sure if this has been answered or not but I was wondering if anyone has complained against any of the so-called “bigger” banks such as HSBC, Nationwide Building Society, HSBC etc. and had any success? I have had luck in getting reimbursed for some payday loans I took out but I also had loans and credit cards with some of these bigger companies and wondering if I should submit a claim to them also?
Many thanks for any feedback on this,
Shaun
Kate says
Has anyone had any luck with Satsuma? I contacted them directly almost 8 weeks ago and have not even had an acknowledgement.
I have had several loans with them over the last few years and they have all resulted in payment plans. Once the payment plan has been paid they have allowed me to borrow £1000 immediately.
Currently have 2 loans outstanding. Both on repayment plans.
If anyone has any info on luck or anything else re them let me know 😊
R says
Hi Kate,
I Had numerous loans, with Satsuma, and they rejected my complaint (along with 5 pages of complete waffle). Sent to FOS, and the adjudicator sided with me. They accepted and paid me out, eventually, via cheque. It appears their faster payments are exclusive to getting people into debt, via loaning, rather than refunding.
A says
Hi Kate,
My personal experience is that they requested an extra 2 weeks at the end of my 8week period and then rejected my complaint.
I sent it to the FOS and it has been picked up however satsuma are now at least 2weeks beyond the adjudicators timeline for receiving info on my case from them. I’m expecting this will end up in a queue for the ombudsman by default.
Hope you have a more positive experience!
Kate says
Hi A. Did you have any sort of acknowledgment before they asked for another 2 weeks? I have had absolutely nothing despite asking for an update.
A says
Hi Kate,
I had acknowledgement of my complaint and was asked for further details (dob/ account number etc) for security purposes not long after I initially submitted it.
They are frustrating me now by stalling with FOS!
A
Lance says
Hi
I had a loan out which I have paid off this month. It was for £4200 and paid £345 a month.
I have paid £2000 in interest.
I had another loan with sprout loans for £1200.
I paid back on time all the time but now have run up a credit card bill as I couldn’t afford the monthly payments and has given me financial difficulty. I didn’t have enough each month to live and Pay off the loans.
Do you think I should put in a complaint as shown on this post or a waste of time?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
the question is, do you think the lenders should have known when they gave you the loan ts that you were likely to struggle to repay them? If yes, send them an affordability complaint.
R says
Morning all,
Today is day 28 of my complaint with Likely Loans. As it’s halfway through the 8 week period, am I correct in assuming that I should receive some kind of contact stating that they are either unable to provide a final response, at the current time, and/or they require more time. From what I have read, they’re not exactly the best at communicating, but I would like to think they have to follow the set guidelines which all other companies have to follow when dealing with complaints? Many thanks.
Chris says
I don’t think the 4 weeks stage is set in stone because lots of lenders I have complaints against have ignored it and just got in touch at the 8 week point.
Louise says
Well, 118’s deadline is today, I’ve had nothing from them.
Pounds to Pocket have said they’re not upholding any, with no reasons given at all so that’s gone straight to FOS.
Rosie says
Has anyone had any dealings trying to negotiate with MYJAR ? I took 2 payday loans out with MYJAR, £250 over 3 months in Sep 18 & £300 over 3 months in Dec 18 which I paid back.
Then in March 19, I was able to get a loan for £1975 over 2 years (£1695 interest to be paid). I have currently paid back over £600. I submitted an affordability complaint to MYJAR. They dismissed the first 2 loans as being affordable.
For the 3rd loan, they have since put my account on hold and frozen interest. They have advised “When a complaint is made to us, we place the account on hold and freeze any further interest. As part of our response to the customer, we advise that the loan is on hold, and that this will lapse 3 months after the complaint was originally received. We also advise that a 1 month payment repayment plan has been set up to clear this outstanding balance – and for the customer to contact us if this is not convenient.
Please note that your account has an outstanding balance on the final loan of £1800. We understand that your financial situation may not allow you to clear this in full, and are more than willing to discuss setting up a repayment plan with weekly or monthly instalments you deem affordable.
Once the loan is repaid, the account with MYJAR will be permanently closed as we have been made aware that our product is not suitable. As a responsible lender we would never wish to lend money to any customer who may find it difficult to repay”.
Rosie says
From the above, they are admitting that the loan was not suitable for me. Had they completed the proper credit checks they would have known this was unaffordable.
As the loan was for £1975 and I have paid £600 back should I now be asking them to reduce the balance to £1375 and then coming to a repayment plan with them. I know I received the money and have an obligation to repay it but think all interest should be wiped from this loan completely.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“From the above, they are admitting that the loan was not suitable for me.” But have they agreed the third loan was unaffordable? they may just be saying that they won’t give you any more loans in future as you are concerned about their affordabilty. That isn’t really the same thing as agreeing the third loan was unaffordable.
You could go back to them and say as they agree their product is not suitable, you would like them to remove the interest from the third loan, leaving you with a balance of £1375 which you would be able to affordably repay at a rate of £x per month.
Mark says
I had a loan from 118 of £2000 in December 2016 repaying £196 a month over two years.I did not manage to repay all by the end of the loan term ,I still owed £776 of which they set up a pay plan.of which I am halfway nearing the end.When they gave me the loan in 2016 I had many outstanding payday loans which including the £196 a month to them meant my monthly repayments to all including my living expenses outweighed my salary..Just wonder if it’s only one loan is it worth.
Joseph says
One loan cases are harder to win, but because of the huge amount they gave you they should’ve made some further checks. So yes, I think it’s worth complaining if it was evident from your outgoings and credit file. For reference, I won a 1 loan complaint for £500 against Money Boat a few months ago. I put all my evidence forward of my credit file and both adjudicator and ombudsman agreed. It’s doable, but make a good argument.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is worth complaining about one loan when it is so large. That is why this page has been set up! The template letter is different to payday loans – no going on about repeat borrowing as there wasn’t any, but instead you ask for a copy of all your personal infomration. This may help you show the ombudsman that 118 ignored some information that meant it should not have given you the loan.
lots of cases won against 118 money.
Johan says
Definitely worth complaining. I had the exact same loan with 118 and they agreed to upheld. My interest went down by £2500.00. Worth it considering it’s only one email. Good luck!
Chris says
I had a £2000 loan with 118 and paid it off totalling £3750. They have just upheld my complaint and agreed to pay all interest plus stat 8%. Incredible result thanks to this site
JA says
Hello,
Do you think it would be a strong case if I show the FOS I was on a DMP when i was funded a loan? ( 2016 – I know very stupid of me and have learnt the hard way).
I was wondering if this would help the out come?
Regards
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If this was a large loan, the lender (who was it?) shopuld have looked at your credit record and seen all the problem caused by the DMP.
This may sounds as though it hasn’t answered your question, but for you it’s better to show that the lender should have realised you were in trouble because of your credit record than just say you were in a DMP which the lender may deny knowing anything about.
JA says
The lender was likely loans, I had been on a DMP from late 2015 and I got the loan for £2500 mid 2016.
I’m currently waiting for some documents from my old DMP (Baines & Ernst – Now moneyplus ) to back my case up but didn’t know if it would help me going forward.
Thanks for your help
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Get your complaint in now! LL don’t usually make good offers, so this will probably have to go to the ombudsman.
Ben Blackman says
I had four loans with Mobile Money, I sent them the complaint letter and MM replied, upholding my complaint, but only for loans Three and Four. The refund amount is substantial (~£9000), Loans One and Two were rejected owing to the Six year ‘rule’. (They are outside the 6 year cut-off by months)
I already have precedent from the Ombudsman for other loans older than 6 years – see excerpt below from a ruling against QQ in July 2019.
‘Your final response and subsequent submissions to this service mentioned that you didn’t look at Mr Blackman’s first three loans because they were given more than six years before he complained. But as you’ll be aware Mr Blackman will still have complained in time if he
complained within three years of when he knew, or he should really have known, he had reason to.’
I replied to MM asking them to reconsider, however they were steadfast in their response;
‘As stated in MMLs final response, we believe the first two loans fall outside the jurisdiction of the Financial Ombudsman Service owing to them being over six years old.’
The interest of loans One and Two would amount to another ~£7500.
Is it worth forwarding the complaint to the Ombudsman and waiting months for their response, or should I close the matter now and take the offer?
Secondly, how likely is it that the Ombudsman would consider their previous rulings when reviewing a latter case as above, specifically in relation to loans outside of 6 years.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It may well take a long while at FOS. If MM say the loans are too old, FOS has to go through a jurisdiction decision first, before an adjudicator starts to look at it.
FOS will look at this case from scratch, they won’t use their previous decision in your favour for QQ as a precedent.
It is now routine for loans over 6 years to be considered for payday loan refunds, and I think doorstep loans. But in both these sorts of cases there is “relending” at the heart of the case. I don’t think it is yet routine that over 6 year cases are accepted for other sorts of affordability complaints. They may be, they may not be.
If the lender hasn’t retained detailed information about the credit application you may well not win your case. And of course FOS may decide the first loan was affordable and the second one wasn’t.
As an additional unknown, there is always the possibility that MM will go bust. I have absolutely no reason to think they are in financial trouble, but if the case at FOS is protracted, it is something you may worry about.
Have to say if it was me I would pocket the 9k. But I do understand that 7.5k is a huge amount of money so I am afraid you have a difficult decision.
Ben Blackman says
I have ALL SAR / GDPR relating to the loans including pay breakdowns, bank statements, and any other documents they held on file.
The fact they won’t take into account previous precedents is worrying, however as I am allowed to supply previous evidence, it certainly can’t hurt to refer them to other open cases (something that is actually on their complaints form online already)
Even if the first loan is deemed acceptable, a company that went on to charge £12000 interest on a £3k loan as a ‘top up’ solution (I eventually cleared the balance before end of term) should be held to account in my eyes.
I will consider my options over the next days and decide. Any further examples of FOS awards similar to my case would be much appreciated in helping me reach a decision.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you have all your own bank statements from 3 months before the first loan?
Ben Blackman says
I have everything. I have multiple complaints in place around the same time with other companies so I already have most of it organised.
Lisa says
Hi Ben. Can you tell me how long they took to replay to you, I’m 6 weeks in final response due by 5th September. I had 9 loans/top ups with them from 2012/2013 so believe this will be rejected based on what they came back to you with on the 6 year ruling, however on receiving my SAR I found income and expenditure documents forged and signed off which was not my signature. Not sure if this will have a different impact on the result?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Lisa, have you gone back and told them that someone appears to have forged your signature on the I&E documents as you never saw them and certainly never signed them?
Lisa says
Hi Sara, yes I added this to my complaint once I received the SAR which they acknowledged receipt, the signature attempt is shocking, because of how many loans I had with them they have enough of my signature for comparison purposes.
charlotte says
Hi Sara
Thanks for all the info on this site, I have today had 118 contact me to say they would refund £1161 from the 3rd loan they gave me👍.
I had 3 loans from them which are all paid off. What I wanted to ask was if I accept the refund for the 3rd loan am I still able to send the first 2 to the FOS or will that be full and final from 118?
Thanks again for all your work.
Charlotte
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Accepting their offer will be final settlement of your case, so you can’t send the earlier loans to FOS
Charlotte says
Thanks Sara, accepted the offer from 118 last Thursday and the money was in my bank within 24 hours. Thanks to you and this site I have so far received over 2k back from loans and payday lenders with more being look at by FOS. Thanks again for helping would never of tried without your site.
Charlotte
Paul says
Hi
Can anyone please tell me how long 118 usually take to pay out after email to say they are upholding my affordability complaint?
Paul
PF says
Hi Sara, I started an affordability complaint against Moneybarn at the end of July, using your template and requesting my SAR. Today I received the information but no copy of an income and expenditure form from my application (not even an application form really) I don’t remember completing one at the time of my application and I only ever supplied 2 payslips – no bank statements! If my original expression of interest went through a broker (24/7 Car Finance) do I have to request my SAR from this company also?
Also with a conditional sale agreement is the company still required to do the same proportionate checks as any other finance agreement? The amount of car finance was £6995 before interest, so not a small amount.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you ask Moneybarn if they completed an income & expenditure form for you as they haven’t supplied that with your SAR. If they don’t have one, it may help your case!
yes, the checks should be the same for a conditional sale agreement.
River says
Hi
I wrote to Avant 6 weeks ago and I received a response from them last week upholding my complaint and agreed to refund all the interest and simple interest on one loan I had with them. They have today emailed me with the final figure which is in line with the amount I had worked out. My question is, how long does the refund show in your bank after you have received the calculation email?
Thank you.
Brian says
Mine was just a few days (on a Saturday morning too if I remember correctly)
River says
Thank you! Hopefully this week then!
Sharper says
Hi Sara,
I have question in regards to Likely Loans. I made an unaffordable lending complaint to them in April which they did not uphold (it’s now with the FOS). I’ve since checked my Experian credit report and can see they ran soft searches when I complained. I’ve asked them why they did this and they said they needed to do this to be able to look into my complaint. I do not owe them any money as I paid off the loans and top up loan last October. I pointed out that my current financial situation is irrelevant to my complaint.
Can they run these type of searches without my permission? I know it doesn’t affect my credit score but feel that it was completely unnecessary.
Robert says
Hi Sara,
I am going through a DMP with Payplan in LINCS. While checking my creditors and balances owing, I noticed Everyday Loans had said balance owing £2310. I know for a fact my balance before I entered the DMP was £410 and around 8 months to be paid in full.
I telephoned to ask why the difference in the above two figures. I was told that because I had commenced a DMP,
They were charging me around £1800 in ‘future interest to cover me going to a DMP. Surely they cannot do this, things are bad enough without Everyday Loans charging me £1800 extra to my debt. What can I do Sara?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you send them an affordabilty complaint, using the template letter in the article above.
And you include within this complaint a line saying you also want to complain about the fact that they added a lot of interest when you entered a DMP, instead of freezing the interest and charges.
Chris says
Hi Robert
This is exactly what Provident has done to me – my actual debt is about £3200 but they have given figures to Payplan of nearly £7000. In other words, they have included the cost of repaying all the capital AND the interest. My complaint is already with the FOS so good luck.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you have sent your Provident case to FOS? It sounds from what you previously wrote that some (all?) of the Provident loans were over 6 years old and at the moment Provident are rejecting all these cases. It’s hard to see how Provident hope to win an argument with FOS about these as it is now standard practice for over 6 year payday loans to be considered for refunds and really there is no difference between payday loans and provident loans because they bothe have the same big element of massive repeat lending.
Robert says
Good luck Chris, I am really shocked that companies think they can do this to people already under pressure.
I have submitted my complaint to Everyday.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“I know for a fact my balance before I entered the DMP was £410” do you mean that was the total left of the payments on your loan at that point? Or that would have been the cost to settle the outstanding loan at that point? or what?
ROBERT says
Yes the balance left of the payments due on the loan to pay, it was not an early settlement figure.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
In that case I have no idea how they can justify adding any more interest.
R says
Final response from Likely Loans, yesterday, rejecting my complaint. In a nutshell, they state that they are not a payday lender (?!?) and that they only have to run certain proportionate checks, for ‘small’ loans (it appears £2000 is a ‘small’ loan to them). They say that they checked my credit file and all was well, as I didn’t have CCJ’s etc… It appears having over £26000 in unsecured debts and numerous other payday loans, credit cards up to their limit and a large overdraft can just be overlooked, as they’re a ‘bad credit’ lender? Another one for the FOS, but hardly surprising.
Jane says
Hi R,
My situation was pretty much exactly the same. I also believe £2,000 is a reasonable sum of money! I borrowed £2k in 2018…had the same rejection as yourself from Likely Loans when I made a complaint. Though I have to say I did enter into a repayment plan late 2018 based on my circumstances and they have been very fair indeed.
My case is with the high cost team at the FOS…defo get yours over to them. Good luck!
R says
Hi Jane,
Thanks for your response. The response, itself, seemed to come from a template and they failed to address the late payment marker they put on my credit file when I was in an agreed repayment plan with them, and stuck to it, so they can explain this one to the FOS too! Keep me updated on how you get on please? Good luck!
R
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is actually correct to record a late payment marker if you have an agreed repayment plan.
R says
The agent advised me, over the phone, that if I made the payments on the agreed dates, this would avoid a late payment marker being added to my credit file, so now I’m totally confused?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
well that is technically wrong, but you can reasonably complain that you were misinformed! Do you have a copy of the phone call recordings? If not, did you ask for these as part of the copy of all your personal information?
Tim says
Does anyone know the timescale for a complaint for log book lender with the FOS
My complaint went in in March and it’s not yet been picked up by an adjudicator!
I have rang up at the beginning of August and was told I should hear by the end of the month,but when I rang yesterday it still hadn’t been picked up and was told they don’t know how long it will be.
Thanks
Tim
Sara (Debt Camel) says
6 months seem to be a typical time, some quicker, some longer.
Andrew says
Good morning all,
Just a question, has there been any positive results from Likely Loans after the 8 weeks or is it looking like ever affordability Complaint been not upheld. Also anyone had a good response after taken to the ombudsman after this.
Thanks
Kate says
Hi Andrew, mine was not upheld and it took them to just short of the 8 weeks to tell me even though I am on a repayment plan with them…. I sent it over to the Ombudsman a few weeks ago but as yet have not had an acknowledgement from them.
Andrew says
Thanks Kate,
The sounds of it there not the best to deal with as seem to not uphold any complaint, did you just have the one loan with them or top ups as well.
Thanks
A. says
My complaint with likely loans was rejected at about 7 weeks and was sent to the fos about 3 weeks ago – not received anything from them yet. I had 2 loans and 2 top ups on the 2nd loan.
R says
Mine was rejected after 6 weeks and has been sent to the FOS. They stated that they’re not a payday lender and that any negative marks, on my credit report, wouldn’t necessarily exclude me from getting a loan. So, the fact that I had a default for over £5000, with Natwest from a previous loan, didn’t seem to matter? This is in addition to numerous payday loans and cards all being at their limit. i agree that they seem to reject all complaints, in the hope that we will just go away. I’ll let the FOS decide.
Kate says
Yes I only had one loan of £2000….will see what the FOS say?
Robert says
Does anyone know the complaints email for Aqua credit card (Newday) and if they have had any success
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Some people have recently won FOS cases against Aqua. See the comments below https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-catalogue-credit-card/ which is the best page for complaints about credit cards.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If anyone reading this is in a DMP including an loan from Everyday Loans, I would be interested to know.
I am following up on the comment left by Robert above.
Jamie Lowe says
Hi,
I took a loan out with Savvy and defaulted after the 3rd payment.
This loan was not affordable to me at the time, I am currently paying this back through a CCJ, should I complain??
Thanks
Jamie
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Was this the only loan from Savvy? How large was it? Who took you to court, Savvy or a debt collector?
Jamie Lowe says
Yes this was the only loan for around £750 currently owe 1k paying £25 per month to CCJ.
Yes it was Savvy who took me to court.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, well change the sentence in the template which says “I am asking you to refund the interest and any charges I paid, plus statutory interest, and to delete any negative information from my credit record.” to read “I am asking you to remove the interest and charges from the balance, set aside the CCJ and delete any negative information from my credit record.”
I suggest you also add a couple of lines saying that £750 was a large loan to give someone with a poor credit record so Savvy should have checked carefully that it was affordable.