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?
River says
Hi Sara
I had my complaint with Avant Credit upheld about 6 weeks after I first submitted my complaint. This was done on the 14 August 2019. They then sent me an email on 22 August 2019 confirming the calculations and then paid a partial payment on 29 August 2019 as they had failed to pay the 8% interest, which they admitted was an error on their part. They then sent an email on 30 August 2019 to say they admit their error and will process their payment within 30 days. Now as I had received my first payment within 7 days and from looking at comments, I expected the payment within 7-10 days. It has now been more than 30 days and I have emailed them once a week for the past 3 weeks to get them to expedite and if they do not, I will escalate to FOS. They are now saying they have escalated the matter and that I cannot go to the FOS until I complain again to them even though it is connected to the original complaint. Not sure what to do……
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send your complaint straight to FOS. This is the same complaint as before, not a new one, because they haven’t properly settled it.
River says
Thanks for confirming! That’s what I keep saying to them but they keep insisting on me starting a new complaint!
Thanks so much for your help.
Lew says
How did you manage to get it sorted so quick? I submitted mine 7 month ago, they emailed me last month to advise me they would be looking at it and they have the case file. Then they told me it was in the wrong department and it’s looking like 2020!
Sara/anyone does this sound right? Should I call up as this surely isn’t my fault it was in the wrong department
Cal says
Hi Sara,
How far back can I claim for irresponsible lending?thanks in advance
Sara (Debt Camel) says
April 2007 is the earliest possible point. who is the lender?
Cal says
Welcome finance is the lender.
matthew says
HI Sara,
So i have lodged a complaint with Lending Stream, Varooma, 24/7 Moneybox & Ferratum.
Lending stream i had 7 loans totalling £2590 pus interest charged @ £2487.74, total balance was £5077.74, still owe around £1200, am i right in saying i can claim back all the interest for this if they uphold my complaint? the first loan taken out in Jan 2016 with the last top up in November 2016.
24/7 money box borrowed total of £865.00 paid back £938.10 with a balance of £656.24 still outstanding, this was spread over 4 loans and each being re-loaned as soon as the previous was paid off.
Varooma was a log book loan, nearly lost my car due to non payment, the interest on that was unbearable, i eventually managed to settle the account and keep my car after paying £1000’s back on top of loan has anyone else dealt with Varooma?
Lending stream have acknowledged the complaint so has 24/7 moneybox. Ferratum and Varooma are yet to acknowledge.
thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Varooma has a reputation for rejecting all complaints and being pretty unpleasant to deal with. Hopefully you won’t have this problem, but if they reject your complaint send it to the ombudsman straight away. Quite a few people have cases there against them.
Here is a case at the ombudsman won against Varooma: https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/files/55638/DRN1815685.pdf
matthew peacock says
Lending Stream are not upholding my compliant, original complaint sent in JULY 2018, i have now sent this to the Ombudsman this morning, lets see what they think of this.
RMS says
Hi Sara,
Just looking for a little advice after reading through this thread. I took out a loan with Everyday loans a few years ago, and then entered a DMP shortly after as i was spiraling with payday loans etc. I entered the DMP and my adviser told me they’d ask all creditors to freeze interest, Everyday Loans were the only company who didn’t do this. I have now been in my DMP since 2016 and if it wasn’t for Everyday Loans i would have already paid this off. The loan amount was £3000 but with interest my amount to repay was well over £7000. I believe giving me the loan in the first place was irresponsible as i clearly was in a spiral of debt which they would have seen if correct checks were done of bank statements etc, secondly i believe the fact they haven’t stopped interest even after i entered a DMP was ridiculous. To date, on my latest stepchange statement I’ve actually paid them £3000 to date but have £4500 left to pay. How is this fair and just to anyone?
Do you believe i have a case?
Thanks
Robyn
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Definitely worth making an affordability complaint that you should never have been given the loan in the first place. Use the template letter in the article above. The template letter also asks for a copy of all your personal information and a statement of your account – that could prove useful information in complaining about how they have added interest in your DMP.
Ljc says
Hello Sara
Can I have some advice please – from 2008 I had multiple pay day loans , credit cards , bank loans etc and on some of the credit cards I was able to have cheques paid to me eg mbna had a balence on the card of say £2000 and they’d write to me with blank cheques and I’d fill out and get £3500 credited to my bank as I was robbing Peter to pay Paul etc – I was bouncing payments , only making min payments etc and wondered if I could go to these credit cards/loans and say they should of never of lent me/given me these loans/cards upped my limits etc – if I can put in a complaint what template should I use and say etc ?
Thanks for your help
Sara (Debt Camel) says
For payday loans where you used the same lender several times, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/
For bank loans, use the template on this page.
For credit cards and overdrafts where your credit limit was increased, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-catalogue-credit-card/
Ljc says
Thank you Sara
Can I put in a complaint to welcome finance about affordability / irresponsible lending for a secured loan I was given in 2007 and still owe money on (PRA have got the debt now)
Lou7 says
Hi
I have had a decision from the adjudicator about 118 money and they have two weeks to agree or disagree. As anyone had them sort things out at this stage or do 118 money make things difficult and disagree? Any information would be appreciated
Mark says
Hi
I had a reply from 118 at the eight week stage saying they need more time to make a decision.because of the extra time they need is it more likely or unlikely I will get a refund or not.
Scott says
Hi Mark,
As the 8 weeks have passed, I would submit to FOS to get in the queue.
If they come back with an offer that is decent, you can withdraw your complaint with FOS.
118 have probably not even looked at your complaint yet.
Scott
Ljc says
Hi Sara
Can I put in a complaint to welcome finance about affordability / irresponsible lending for a secured loan I was given in 2007 and still owe money on (PRA have got the debt now)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you go to your local Citizens Advice or talk to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 about this, as the rules about secured loans are different and have also changed over the years.
Turtle says
So I got an Email back today from the ICO. I complained a few months ago to them after Likely Loans refused to send me a copy of my credit report which they used to grant the 1 £2k loan I had with them. Response below, not great. Thoughts?
“The information on your credit reference file covers a period of six years so you should be able to see your credit history on your credit reference file at the time the lending decision was made. This should not be any different to the information available to Oakbrook Finance when they checked your credit file.
You can obtain your statutory credit report free of charge from one or more of the credit reference agencies. Full details of how to do this are provided in the ICO guide “Credit Explained” available via the ICO website”
Aimee b says
Hi Sara, I understand if you don’t have the time to come back to me. I got into the payday loan spiral a few of years ago and it got worse and worse, to the point where I tried to take out a large 118118 loan – looking back I was surprised when I was approved as I was getting rejected on extending loans by this point etc. It’s taken me years but I have managed to clear all debts apart from this one.
£3000 loan sent to me 05/01/16
My repayments so far:
01/02/16-31/05/16: £1483.20
11/07/16-£579 stepchange – not sure how much of this went to 118
08/12/17-31/10/18 £77.17 direct on 118 website
I then had a letter to say my debt had been sent to Lantern so my repayments so far to Lantern have been:
03/12/18-02/10/19 £900
I still have the monthly payment of £50 set up. (Originally £150 but decreased it a couple of months ago)
Current amount with Lantern left to pay: £4060
So all together I have paid back £2460.37 & the amount through stepchange that I am unsure of.
I guess my query is do I just keep paying lantern back until clear balance? Looking back I don’t understand how 118 would have given me that large amount given the amount of defaults and late payments on my credit report at that time but I accept responsibility that I got myself into the mess. Am I in any place to email 118118? Or is it too late because it’s now with lantern? Whatever the case I just want to be able to rebuild my credit and be debt free.
Thank you so much for reading this
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can still complain to 118 even though your debt has been sold to Lantern. Just use the template in the article above.
If you win the case, 118 will sort out with Lantern how much has been paid. It sounds as though you haven’t quite repaid £3000 borrowed, but are getting close. SO there may still be a few hundred left. But that would be a big improvement on £4000!
sam says
Hi Sara
Can you get refunds on loans when you’ve only had 2?
I was in a bad situation with payday lenders for years and took 2 bigger loans out with 118118, one is 2016 and the other 2018.
(£1000 & £2000 interest being £2500).
Emailed them about 6 weeks ago so waiting for a reply.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, you can get a refund on only one loan if it is large!
sam says
the first one was £1000 and paid back £1400 in 2016
the second was £2000 and I am paying back £3500 in total – this one I still owe £700 I believe.
See what they say I suppose!
sam says
Hi Sara
Can I obviously ask for the larger one to be refunded or would they make the offer for the smaller one?
do I get a choice?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ask for them both to be refunded. If they offer a refund on the smaller one, then you would probably want to send the larger one to the Ombudsman. If they offer a refund on the larger one, you may decide that is a good enough offer and just accept?
But set off asking for both. and if they reject both, take the complaint about both to the ombudsman.
118 can be very slow. don’t let yourself be messed around, if they haven’t replied at the end of 8 weeks, send the case to the ombudsman.
Tony says
Hi guys. Likely loans have upheld complaint on a top up loan saying they could have done more checks but declined the initial loan saying they conducted reasonable checks. it’s a bit contradictory to uphold top up but not initial so I shall bank the 589 they are refunding for the top up and send the initial complaint for loan 1 to the ombudsman. A good result so far hope ombudsman agrees with me and repays loan 1 as this interest is 1500. Good luck with any with them. They only took 5 weeks to come back with final response so fair play to them for that.
HBurnett says
Just had reply from Ombudsman Re: Myjar, I have been awarded a refund of £4538.01.
The initial response from Myjar was for a refund of £650, just shows keep going as initial responses
are not correct.
Paul Wakeman says
After some advice please. In Feb 2017, my Partner and I took out a Hire Purchase Agreement with First Response Finance as our car at the time had had so many problems it was cheaper to scrap it rather than pay for repairs. Having 4 kids in the household we were desperate to be accepted for some sort of finance to get a loan to enable us to get a second hand car. We were given £3,699 Credit (we had already put down a deposit of £600 which was borrowed from my Partners Parents) to enable us to buy a car for £4,299 and the interest to be paid back on the £3,699 was/is £2,726.28 and we entered in to a 4 year agreement where we are paying £133.86 per month. At the time of being accepted for the loan, both of us had Provident accounts totalling £11,000 in arrears, Credit Cards, Payday loans and Guarantor Loans. I also had some judgment debts registered against me on my Credit file. We are currently in the process of repairing our credit files and getting out of the payday loan trap etc and have been successful with a few. My question is: Is it worth submitting a joint complaint or should we do separate ones based on our individual circumstances at the time? Many Thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Joint complaint.
Have you complained about the Guarantor loan? That may be easier to win!
Paul Wakeman says
I have complained about the Guarantor Loan (Amigo) and they refused to uphold so that has been passed recently from an Investigator to an Adjudicator. The Guarantor Loan is in my name only and has 2 payments left (£268.34 tomorrow and £172.30 on 21 November). Both my Partner and I have numerous complaints with the FOS at the moment due to a year from hell last year which resulted in us taking numerous payday loans/credit cards/catalogues and with regards to the Car loan, our Credit Files show a couple of missed payments (even though our account was brought back up to date within a week of missing them). I am trying to get our files in a more healthy position and figured as the missed payments show on both our credit files, a joint complaint would be easier rather than 2 separate ones.
Dan says
So after my amigo complaint being upheld, a week later 118 have also upheld my complaint. They admitted that they could have done a lot more to assess my financial situation and they apologised for this.
I only had one loan of 1700 and they agreed to remove interest of 1698.78. This means my balance went down from 2075.81 to 376.03.
What was amazing was that they had deducted this before sending the email whereas amigo made me wait 5 days. I sent bank statements with the initial complaint for both amigo and 118 and i cannot stress how important it is to do this.
Thank you again sara
Sara (Debt Camel) says
2 good results!
118 Money has been doing this for quite a while now. The concept of refunds is still pretty new to Amigo!
Taylor says
Hi Dan – can I ask did 118 uphold your complaint once you sent to the FOS or was this within the 8 week complaint period? I currently have one approaching the 8 week mark, I appreciate it’s probably going to take a couple of years just like every other complaint I’ve made :)
Dan says
They upheld it themselves. I sent them my bank statements with the complaint and it was littered with PDL, maxed credit cards overdrafts and an amigo loan.
They did send their final response 3 days after 8 week deadline – i phoned up customer services to chase them which seemed to work.
Hope yours gets upheld too.
Taylor says
Hi Dan, oh this is promising! I never sent my statements though, they hadn’t asked for them. I got my SARs back and each time they lent to me it said 95% credit limit etc. They’ve given me 4 loans and a credit card. I currently have a loan with them so I’m hoping they wipe the interest as I’ve seen them do with other people.
Rob says
Just a quiestion for Sara or anyone else who can help?
I have put a complaint in with several companies, a few of which I have paid off, a few of which I have outstanding balances with, I got an email the other day stating my account would be put on hold during the investigation and no payment would be taken from both MyJar & Likely Loans… will they report this negatively? I haven’t asked for payments to stop as I don’t want this to go against me! This seems unfair. Can anyone advise?
Tony says
Hi Rob I had a refund from likely loans agreed last week for a top up loan. They were quick with their replies thinking was 6 weeks. I’m still going after 1st loan interest sent to FOS. I know on 1st loan they asked for a pay slip but that wasn’t on the top up they asked for nothing. I hope the ombudsman agrees they should have asked for bank statements as well to prove the lian was affordable. Good luck
Scott says
I started my claims 20 months ago, with the help of this website. Only 1 I felt necessary to send to FOS was 118 money which I did in April 2018. Today I got my response and the adjudicator has upheld my complaint against 118 and recommended they refund all interest and charges on all loans and top ups I had between 2015-2018. Excellent result, they now have 2 weeks to either agree or disagree, I’m just wondering, had anybody ever had adjudicator agree, and then ombudsman disagree? Thanks, and thank you to the creators of this amazing help thread!!!
Sean says
Hello.
I complained to Avant 7 weeks ago and have had no response as yet apart from the initial email and an email at 4 weeks to say they are still looking into it. Should I send another email to chase it up or wait until the full 8 weeks before I contact them?
Thanks
Silly Borrower says
Every case is different. Complaint letter sent on the 05/09, Reply received on the 04/11 (upheld). Interest returned 3 days later.
Adrian says
Hi Sara,
Thanks a lot for this article. It’s very clear and helpful.
I’m paying a loan to On Stride. They are charging almost 100% of interest! I borrowed £1000 and I’ll end up paying £1900 when I’m done. I have 4 payments left, but I’m on overdraft (I was on overdraft when I borrowed the money, but I needed to pay my rent). I have emailed them using your template. It’s been 6 weeks now since I sent it, no response, and they continue to charge me. You mentioned they have 8 weeks to reply. What if they don’t reply after 8 weeks? Have you ever dealt with this lender in particular? Have anyone here in the comments section dealt with them?
Thank you so much in advance!
Best,
Adrian
Scott says
Hi Adrian,
I did not deal with on stride, however I did deal with a multitude of lenders. With regards to the 8 week response window just 1 of the many lenders did not respond, until the 10th week when they had asked for more information. That was uncle buck. I simply advised them that I had already escalated my case to the FOS and their next email was an offer of settlement, which wasn’t the amount of interest I had paid in total however I did accept it as not all of my. Loans with them were unaffordable completely. In my opinion. Many other lenders responded with offers within 8 weeks, the only 1 I sent to FOS was 118 money, that was March 2018, I got a response from adjudicator last week and am currently waiting for the firm to respond to the decision to uphold my complaint. So long story short, you could be in for a short ride, or the long haul 😁 good luck!
Adrian says
Hi Scott!
Thank you very much for sharing your experience! That really gives me hope!
I’ll keep waiting then, and see what happens. I’ll post any update on my situation here so people who borrowed money from them can refer to it.
Thanks a lot again!
Adrian
Tha
Sara (Debt Camel) says
On Stride went into administration on Friday. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/quickquid-casheuronet-administration/ for how your complaint will be handled and what your options are now for the outstanding loan.
david says
Hi all,
I think I already know the answer to this question but I made a complaint about irresponsible lending to loans2go in 2018 and received a very brief response saying that they didn’t feel they did. I didn’t escalate to FOS at the time as I didn’t know the information I know now, largely due to the brilliant work of this site and its users but also because since then I’ve created, escalated and won a guarantor loan from the same period and went through a lot of work and investigation with it.
should I attempt to escalate this to FOS based on a lack of knowledge at the time or will they point blank refuse as its over (well) 6 months?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Unless their reply to you was seriously factually inaccurate OR they forget to say you had the right to go to FOS, this is too late.
David says
They didn’t go into any detail about why they rejected it. Their response literally just says we feel we performed satisfactory checks. No evidence to suggest why or detail about what info I submitted etc.
It did have FOS info on it however.
Thanks Sara.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
then I am sorry, it’s too late to go to FOS.
david says
Does this apply if on my original complaint I only complained that it was unaffordable due to my financial circumstances, while I didn’t mention that I thought the interest rate they charged was too high?
what i’m saying is if I made a new complaint now saying the interest rate was too high, would that be classed as a new complaint?
thanks as always for your input.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
that’s worth a try! Expect L2G to reject it and see what FOS say…
Christine says
Sara,
I have made an irresponsible lending complaint to loans2go they have come back to me asking me to send bank statements. I have these but not sure they would make sense of them as I was using two accounts and transferring money between the two so that I could control PAYDAY loan payments. I am in the process of responding to their request by suggesting I supplied these and other documentation at the time of the loan and will supply these to the ombudsman should they be required to. Is that the correct way to proceed with this.
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if you want a better chance of an offer off L2G I suggest you send them statements for both accounts.
Dan says
How long are loans2go taking to acknowledge complaints? Ive heard nothing in 4 days and usually these companies acknowledge the next day at latest.
Christine says
I had to send them another email to get them to acknowledge my first email, they stated they hadn’t received my first email. After I sent the second email they responded straight away.
Charlotte says
They acknowledged(and refused) mine within a week,they even refused the complaint/claim before they sent me the SAR and I could explain why I thought it was unaffordable.
My complaint has been with the FOS since March,apparently theirs only 7 people on “the team” that deals with these complaints and that’s why it’s so slow.
Paul Wakeman says
Has anyone ever had any dealings with First Response Finance? If so, What were like in the way of responding (timescales etc). Thanks.
Danielle says
So I had 3 cases in with the FOS, 1) casheuronet with qq, onstride and p2p which the adjudicator found in my favour but was just double checking the onstride loans which obviously I am no longer getting 2) likelyloans 3) avantcredit. Likelyloans and advant haven’t been picked up yet but been with the fos for some time and I have outstanding loans with them including onstride in which I have been in a payment plan paying around 50% of my monthly payment. Obviously I have cancelled the onstride one but so frustrating that I’ve been paying into something on a belief I would get my money back anyway. So I am thinking about stopping payments to avant and likely until they have either been rejected or accepted. As I dont want to be in another situation that I’ve been paying in and they go into administration. They have already previously been defaulted and I can restart the payment plan at any time after a decision has been made, but is this ok? What affect could this have? If I received the full refund it would clear the debts anyway and I dont like the thought of stopping paying them but I just cant be in this situation again
Lew says
Anyone notice how avant credit have not been lending for nearly 3 months now? I keep checking their website.
9 months in waiting to be assigned, is anyone else having theirs taking this long?
Danielle says
Mines been in since January too. I’ve spoken to the FOS but they’ve just said its in the queue
A. says
Has anyone had a complaint against likely loans picked up at fos recently? I submitted mines 12 weeks ago and haven’t heard anything yet, also sumbitted complaint about cmc 8 weeks ago to them and not heard anything…
Danielle says
My likelyloans one has been with the fos since April and they’ve said its still in the queue
JA says
I also sent mine in april and they say its still in a queue but the 4 other complaints I sent at the same time and also one in june have been dealt with. Little frustrating as this is one of my big ones I’d like to of got dealt with first.
Clare Jane says
Hi A,
I’ve just had my Likely Loans case,” not-upheld,” by the FOS. It was for a loan of £2,000. Originally submitted in Spring.
For all those reading and awaiting Likely Loans updates do not be disheartened, each case is obviously individual!
I was really disappointed…the FOS said I was managing debts and Likely Loans had carried out all the correct checks….I very politely disagreed with them and it’s off to the Ombudsmen.
Not expecting a win here…more about highlighting flaws in these proportionate checks!!
Best of luck!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Good luck!
Clare Jane says
Thanks Sara…God loves a trier!!
Sarah Harrison says
Hi Sarah i complained about Amegio loans to the financial Ombudsman and they have contacted me today to say ameigo has made an offer to settle my account and remove any negative information from my credit file. This is their email Amigo’s offer
Amigo will write to confirm the full detail of its offer including any amounts due – however, it has told us that it will follow our general approach. This includes:Amigo refunding all of the interest and charges (if any) that you’ve paid on all the loans you’ve had with them;
If you’re still repaying your loan, Amigo will be reducing the amount you owe on your loan by the refund amount and no future interest will be applied to it. If the total you’ve paid in interest and charges is more than the amount you still owe, you’ll get the amount leftover once your loan is cleared;If your loan has been repaid, your refund will include interest at the simple rate of 8% per year (less any tax properly due), from the date you repaid the loan until the date of settlement;*
Amigo removing any negative information that has been recorded on your credit file concerning the loan;
C says
Are Avant credit in trouble? They have upheld my complaint but not given me a final redress figure and I can’t get a figure from them over the phone?
Lew says
I think so yes they haven’t been lending for a while now. Mines been in the que for 9 month and I’m very sorry it does not take 9 month to review a complaint. The fos have stopped me from getting a chance at a refund they’ll soon email me when they say theirs nothing more that can be done
C says
Mine didn’t go to the FOS. Avant said they’d refund all interest plus statutory interest but haven’t given me an actual figure which I think is bizarre. They are ignoring my emails and won’t give me any answers when I call
Gemma says
Hi Sara, is Avant Credit UK covered by the FSCS? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, no lenders are.
Lindsay says
Hi Sara
I’ve had my complaint with 118118 partially upheld and they are removing all the interest from my current loan. This is decent as it means I will only pay off the balance of the loan without any interest. They are also removing this loan from my file.
However they did not uphold the complaint for my original two loans.
Am I able to accept the interest reduction and still refer my case to the Ombudsman for the first two loans or does it not work like that?
Scott says
Hi Lindsay,
Unless the company say to you that you can refer the other 2 loans to the FOS then it’s a no I’m afraid.
How much was each of your loans and how were your finances at the time of taking out each loan?
It may be that you get a better result at the FOS.
Scott
Taylor says
118 has reached their 8 week mark and now sent me an email saying they will reach their outcome within a further 21 days – anyone else has this, is this a good sign or a bad one? Suggestions please :)
Scott says
Hi Taylor,
118 have probably not even looked at your complaint as they are busy.
Submit it to FOS now and get in the queue, if 118 get back to you in 21 days with a fair offer then you can withdraw your complaint from the FOS.
Scott
Bill says
I called the fos regarding complaints 118 and likely loans, luckily I actually spoke an experienced personal on the switchboard, when asked the question why have my complaints not been looked at after 12 months? He informed me in depth saying the organization is struggling as the adjicators have been pulled of the cases to train up new staff to deal with complicated cases such as mine! Although it doesn’t help me nor give confidence with the FOS
Adrian says
Hi All,
I’ve had a reply from Likely and they have upheld my complaint, however, they have not included statutory interest. And they state this is a final response.
I would like to ask that because they’ve stated this is a final response, should I accept and then complain to the FOS or dismiss in full and go to FOS. And are they duty bound to include statutory interest?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you have a current loan with them? If yes, have you paid more so far then the amount you borrowed?
Adrian says
Hi Sara,
I still have one outstanding loan that’s now with a debt collector. They have cancelled the interest but I still owe £900+.
Thanks
Matthew Vidler says
Hi
What about logbook loans? I have one for varooma but wonder if they even do credit checks?
Asked for a settlement figure today after 15 payments and it’s higher than the amount loaned!
At the time it was the only credit available to me and if they had done a credit check and affordability check, no way they would have lent me a tenner!
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Asked for a settlement figure today after 15 payments and it’s higher than the amount loaned!
Have you missed any payments? that sounds wrong if you haven’t!
Yes, affordability complaints apply to logbook loans.
Lee Walker says
Hi Sara, Ive had a complaint upheld by Avant Credit, full refund of interest and charges along with statutory interest. I still owe them about half my loan….Do I stop paying them now and will they write off whats owed?? Thanks
Calvin says
Hi all,
What’s everybody’s current wait time for the FOS to assign an adjudicator? I am now a year on from submitting my everyday loan complaint.
Bob says
My two large high interest loan cases were picked up by an adjudicator at FOS after 16 months.
Sarah says
Hi Calvin
I have an outstanding complaint about EL. I have messaged the FOS a couple of times and said that it’s still waiting to be assigned to an adjudicator.
They also said that the way in which complaints are being dealt with has changed, not sure what that means!!
Mine has been with them for over a year.
I keep checking the ombudsman decisions for EL and there are either very few got through to the ombudsman stage or there aren’t that many people complaining about them. There have only been a handful of complaints resolved so far this year at ombudsman stage.
The good news might be that if the adjudicator rules on our favour, EL might agree and pay out.
Hope this helps!
Sarah
robert says
Hi guys, i just received my complain answer from Likely Loans. What advice do you have for me?
You have submitted an irresponsible lending complaint in relation to your Likely Loans accounts. Our records show that you have obtained two loans: 1300051606 and 1300162690.
In relation to your second loan agreement number 1300162690, your application for £1,000.00 was received on 04/10/2018. On the application you stated that you were employed with an annual income of £28,458.00 and monthly net income of £1,894.36. Your monthly expenditure was declared as £100.00. Your application was approved at an APR of 89.9%, over a 24-month term. Your repayments were therefore set at £75.96 per month. The funds were sent to you on 05/10/2018.
We have reviewed the information provided at the point of application and have found no evidence to suggest that this information was incorrect or that the correct processes were not followed. As such, I am unable to uphold your complaint that this loan was granted irresponsibly or comply with your request to refund any sums to you.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“Your monthly expenditure was declared as £100.00”
common sense should have suggested that might not be totally accurate… so Likely Loans should have looked in more detail at this. Send your case to the ombudsman.
Kate says
I had a very similar reply. The figures they quoted were not correct and I have sent this to the FOS. I would ask them for sight of the initial application
Robert says
The point is that the income and the expenditure that they mentioned are true…i remember put theose ones every aplication i had but they wasn’t true. And I’m sure my credit score was very bad. Aswell i had other loan with them but i paid it back in 2 months…
Sara (Debt Camel) says
My point is that a lender should have suspected your application wasn’t accurate and verified your income & expenditure.
Shaun says
Hi, I submitted my complaint to OnStride (two loans) a day before they went into administration. However, I’m still received emails from them about my compliant. Does this mean they will process my compliant or is this an automated service?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you are just getting some automated emails.
Isaac Okafor says
Any refund of interest for bank overdraft, checked and cant find any on your site
If you have any written up, can I have the link please
Thanks
Kathryn says
I’ve had a response to my singular loan complaint with avant credit from the adjudicator. He upheld my complaint and avant have until 7th November to respond. I will update with progress when any is made as regards this. Loan was 5500. Interest 6300. Refund is interest with 8% etc
Danielle says
Can I please ask when you put your complaint in? I’ve been waiting since January and just called the FOS and was told firstly theres a problem with the business and when I asked her what this problem was she put me on hold then came back and said that they only have a certain number of people able to make decisions on the avantcredit ones which seems a bit strange
Bob says
Avant disagreed with my adjudicator so was passed to the ombudsman, I’ve been waiting 14 months now and still not picked up
Kathryn says
My complaint was put in in November last year.
Kathryn says
7th has come and gone, and nothing from the Adjudicator or Avantcredit in regard to the complaint.
It may end up at the ombudsman as it doesnt look good.
Hey ho
Taylor says
So couple of days ago 118 did an ‘Administration Review’ soft check on my credit file. I’m guessing this is them only just looking into my complaint. What I don’t understand is why they are checking my situation now rather than when they let me take out 4 loans in the past? They already provided my SARs weeks and weeks ago! Hmmm.
A. says
I have the same administration review on my credit report from 118 on the 21st October. Still waiting for my reply – the 8 weeks was up on the 13th October. I’ve already put mine in the queue for fos x
Taylor says
Did you get an email stating a further 21 days? I have sent mine to the FOS also but I was trying to gauge if this was good news or bad news :)
A. says
Yeh I got that email on the 10th of October… still waiting.
Zoe says
I heard back from 118118 today after I logged a complaint with them on 31st August. I’d called up a couple of times to chase up once the 8 weeks was up. My complaint was about 4 loans I’d had with them & they have offered redress of the interest on two of these loans. I have accepted & they tell me I’ll get the money within the next 5 working days. Thanks Sara for your advice.
A says
No I didnt as I submitted my complaint through resolver. I have emailed them asking for a copy of the recording of the phone call and when it was meant to have taken place.
A. says
Finally got a reply from 118 rejecting my complaint saying they carried out appropriate checks and also carried out a welcome call. All nonsense – I was pre approved on clearscore that was why I applied and I have never spoken to their company on the phone at all. I had 4 maxed out credit cards, overdrafts and a high cost loan with likely that was rolled over. Already been sent to ombudsman.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did you send 118 Money the template complaint letter above which asks for a copy of all your personal infomration? If you did, were you sent a copy of the checks they carried out and a recording of the Welcome telephone call?
A. says
I sent 118 an email back after the reply that said they had given me a welcome call etc to make sure the loan was suitable asking them to prove it because I knew it didnt happen. Recieved a reply just saying they had checked and could see it didnt happen and they were sorry – that’s it.
Caroline says
Hi Sarah can you give me some advice please. I made a claim against Advent credit which they agreed to and upheld. The problem is they sold the debt to a debt collector who I paid in full last year. Advent are now saying they have contacted the debt collector and changed the balance amount due and I must get a refund from the debt collector. Do you believe that is the case? Many thanks Caroline
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you ask the debt collector. But if they don’t agree with what AC have said and offer you the refund right away, tell AC that you will be sending your complaint to FOS as they haven’t implemented the offer that you accepted.
Caroline says
Thank you, I have sent the debt collectors the email chain and I will see what they come back with.
Martin says
Sara, I would like to thank you very, very much for…not only the hope, but also practical instructions on how to start getting rid of the debt.
I have studied your blog thoroughly, sent only one email to Avant Credit and received a massive redress nine weeks later from the first lender.
Now, I will more confidently approach the rest of the parasites that were draining the life out of me for more than a decade…
Thank you, thank you……
Robert Thompson says
Anyone got concerns on avant credit? Been in over 14 months now with no response. Lender not lending anymore. Can see what’s going to happen we’ve all waited nearly 2 years to have it looked at and they’ll go bust a week before it does.
2 years to look at a complaint. I would absolutely love to use that excuse at work
Martin says
See my post above. 9 weeks from the original email of complaint to the redress. I didn’t even call them with any follow up, as I was thinking it’s all lost due to the fact they do not lend anymore….
Catherine says
Hi Martin I submitted a complaint to Avant Credit 3 weeks for 1 loan taken in 2016 only recently repaid but I had lots of payday loans at the time from over 8 lenders,a guarantor loan taken a few months before and was heavily in my overdraft.Whilst I made payments,bar deferring one payment to end of the loan term I don’t think it was responsible to lend as I have continued to rely on borrowing for several years.
Did you send any statements or a copy of your credit file to avant?
Martin says
Hi Catherine,
Nope, nothing. Just a simple, plain email based on the templates above: Dear Sir/Madam + literally four, short sentences + kindest regards. There wasn’t any communication in between. I was (and still am) shocked how easy it was to remove the burden.
Good luck!
Catherine says
Hi Martin,Thanks,if you don’t mind me asking,when was the loan from,was it large and what was your credit situation like?
I’ve sent my credit report in which shows multiple payday loans and repeated borrowing and a statement that they had at the time of the application but seem to have ignored the payday debt.
Did it take the full 8 weeks?
Martin says
Hi Catherine,
2014 and 2016. Both slightly above 5k and on very high interest – all paid off on time with no missed payments.
At the time I have had lots of PD loans, overdraft and several maxed CC with very few missed payments.
All together 9 weeks (including the redress).
Catherine says
Similar situation to mine,it looks as though more recent complaints are been settled direct,hoping the business has realised that the FOS are upholding a lot of these and crossing my fingers that they uphold as think I have sent in a good initial complaint with additional info.
Will let you know how I get on.
Thanks
H says
Martin
Can I.ask was it 9 weeks till money was in your account?
I emailed this morning as I have not had my redress figures, they said max 30 days for the figures and the money to be put back into my account. I’m on day 10 now and still no figures.
Did you supply with bank details??
Linds says
Hello,
Has anyone had any luck with Varooma and UK Credit? Both complaints have been rejected by the companies, I have sent them to the FOS, fingers crossed 🤞
Linds
KR says
I submitted complaint to varooma and they ignored all my emails so after 8 weeks I submitted to ombudsman with evidence I tried to complain. Ombudsman are now requesting info from Varooma. Find it strange I email to request a SAR to a different email and got a full response but they have ignored their official complaints email.
Linds says
Thanks for your reply, I will keep my fingers crossed. They did reply after 8 weeks but did not uphold it. Keep my fingers crossed for FOS.
JA says
Any one had any cases picked up at the FOS about likely loans? Mines been there since april with no joy – I’ve had a load of payday loans sent after my likely loans one that have been dealt with already. Seems like they pick and choose easier cases?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think there is a different team dealing with payday loans.
JA says
This would make a lot of sense, Want some closure on it all as I’m still paying off my likely loans loan. The principal has been paid so now just getting rid of the 2.5k interest smh..
Clare says
Hi JA,
My Likely Loans case was considered by an investigator (adjudicator) in the High Cost team. It wasn’t upheld but, I’ve challenged that and it’s now in the Ombudsman queue. They do deal with cases on a chronological basis but, naturally some are faster than others in terms of the decision process. Delays can also regularly occur when the team are waiting for a response from the lender or awaiting further documents to assist the process.
In the meantime, always worth dropping a monthly email to chase progress.
Wishing you a good response!
Catherine says
Anyone had a experiences with George Banco,Shawbrook Bank,Hitachi or Bamboo loans,I’ve sent complaints to all,along with a copy of my credit report.
Shawbrook came back with a final response in 1 week stating they did all checks correctly.However on my credit report they never did a credit application check only a admin review and quotation and didn’t even do a anti money laundering soft check until over 6 weeks after I had been issued the loan.I was pre approved on clear score and even though they said they would call to check final details before approving they never did so they have assumed the figures in clear score offers section were accurate.
I’ve sent to FOS but doubt it will be looked at for a while.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Geroge Banco is a guarantor loan. Bamboo may be a normal loan or a guarantor loan.
See this specific page for guarantor loans: https://debtcamel.co.uk/how-to-complain-guarantor-loan/. At the moment there is a VERY high uphold rate at the Ombudsman for these loans. Amigo – the largest lender – has started upholding a lot of cases directly. But any case rejected by a lender should be sent straight to the ombudsman.
Catherine says
Thanks Sara,
The bamboo loan is just me,but the interest is massive on a £5000 loan,only had since April 2018 but had to enter a repayment plan 6 months in but they have said I have to return to contractual payments and address arrears or a default will be added.
I asked that the interest is removed to leave the capital left.If they agree then it would mean I would only have about £200 to clear the loan due to the payments I’ve made so far.Im really hoping that they agree.I had a George Banco loan,livelend,avant credit,Shawbrook bank and hitachi loan all on my file at the time of the application with previous closed payday loan arrears visible and a £7000 over draft across two current accounts.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“they have said I have to return to contractual payments and address arrears or a default will be added.”
So shrug. If you can’t afford the repayments, a default is not going to make much difference to you as your credit record is already wrecked or you wouldn’t be reduced to borrowing from these bad credit lenders.
Can I ask if you are buying or renting?
Catherine says
Neither,I live in my partners house,my credit is wrecked and yes a default is not really going to make a difference.
Some lenders just make you really worry about the powers they have and what they can do.
Tony says
Drafty have rejected my complaint despite being only able to pay the minimum.payment for 2 years. Balance never going down. still allowed me to go up £20 a month after min payment. stated that their records shows I was able to repay the credit line despite never getting anywhere with repayments. their reasoning is that they are not a high interest payday loan lender. well 89% seems pretty high to me. If they asked for bank statements they would have seen that the monthly outgoings I gave them were ridiculously low. Oh well another in the queue for the FOS. Fingers crossed.
Christine says
Sara,
Thank you because of you and your site and the information it holds I have managed to get refunds from numerous payday loan companies and now I have received a refund from Loans2go which I didn’t think I would win …. but I have and I am over the moon £1800 back just before christmas!! And in only 4 weeks from start to finish!! Thank you so much I’m now thinking about doing an amigo loan complaint now!
So a Massive THANK YOU xx
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well done! Go for the Amigo one now!
Ben says
Hi, I had many loans with mobile money LTD and have begun taking action for mis sold loans. I have had a response today asking for bank statements from over 6 years ago. The loans are from 2008-2014. I don’t have access to the accounts I had then so am at a loss of where to go from here. (I had severe gambling problems at the time) any help on how to move forward will be appreciated.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You need to get bank statements going as far back as you can. You can get bank statements from closed accounts. Do this now, don’t hope you will get an offer then put it off until FOS asks you for them. You can reply to MM that you will supply your bank statements to the ombudsman.
Ben says
Thanks for responding, I’ll contact RBS and Halifax to see if I can obtain them.
Lisa says
Hi Ben, I had 13 loans with Mobile money between 2010-2013, they forged my signature and completed expenditure forms without my knowledge, and I also had very heavy gambling transactions on my statements if they had checked – they rejected on the basis all loans were older than 6 years, its now with the FOS to look at, they will probably only look at any loan within the 6 year rule so send to FOS in the meantime. good luck.
Ben says
Thanks Lisa, keep me posted on how you get on and I’ll do the same. Hope the gambling is behind you.
Lisa says
Of course I will and likewise, there’s little info on mobile money outcomes so be nice to hear back. I wouldn’t say gambling is behind me fully but am working on it.
Kate says
I raised a complaint with Bamboo months ago, which they did not uphold. I then sent the complaint to the Ombudsman. Today I received an email from Bamboo Compliance saying the following :
“I have attempted to contact you by phone this morning to discuss your existing complaint with the Financial Ombudsman Service.
I have been liaising with them regarding your complaint and have a proposal for you as a resolution.
I would love the chance to briefly discuss with you to explain the rationale behind the decision.”
I wondered if anyone else has had anything like this? I have arranged to call them when I finish work later – don’t know whether to get my hopes up or not……
I can be reached on
Catherine says
Hi Kate,
When did you send it to the FOS?I sent my complaint to Bamboo 3 weeks ago with credit file showing debt I had at the time and that it was unaffordable as I had to enter a repayment plan only 6 months into a 36month term.
Be interesting to hear about your complaint.
Fingers crossed for you
Kate says
Hi Catherine….. I sent the complaint to the FOS around 6 weeks ago. I have been in a repayment plan with Bamboo since the summer and have worked out I have repaid a little more than I borrowed (excluding interest)…… I am imagining they are going to offer to wipe the interest and remove negative markers from my credit file – anything more than than will be a bonus, anything less than that and I will be telling them I am not interested and to refer back to the FOS…will update once I have spoken to them….
Good luck with your complaint…..
Catherine says
Was it just 1 loan?Was it large?That’s pretty quick that the FOS have picked it up after 6 weeks,I’ve nearly paid capital so hoping they will remove interest so I would have just one payment to settle the original loan amount and be rid of the debt.
If not it will be going to FOS as think I have a strong case.
Will keep a eye out for your update.
Kate says
Hi, Yes it was just 1 loan of £2000 pre-approved on Clear Score. I had several other paydays and credit cards and overdraft at the time – they also say I told them my income was £35k (i wish) which I did not, so they clearly didnt check everything they said they did.
I was paying £165 a month which I paid for a year and have been paying £50 a month since June in the repayment – I had to send them bank statements before they set up the payment plan, so they could then see exactly what I was paying and to whom….if they had done that in the first place they would never have lent to me. These companies prey on people who can’t get credit elsewhere, then change them ridiculous amounts of interest to make the loan unaffordable, and then the customer goes elsewhere to borrow to repay the original debt making their situation worse and end up in a spiral, but the companies dont think they are doing anything wrong??? madness!
Kate says
Hi Catherine. I spoke to the guy at Bamboo, who by the way, couldn’t have been nicer. He explained that the automated checks when I applied meant the had lent to me when they shouldn’t have and as I have paid back the capital they would wipe the interest and remove all record of the loan from my credit file as it should never have been given. Was as I expected so I gladly agreed. Hope you have luck with yours x
Catherine says
Hi Kate,
That’s great news for you.Wonder why they didn’t uphold at first but have now they have spoke to FOS,surely if they had completed a proper investigation of your complaint to start with it would of been clear the checks were not completed correctly.
I’m really hoping that they clear the interest on mine,I’ve now found that the only expenditure that is shown on my online account is £300 rent and I don’t recall entering any other figures in any other part of the application.
I’m also self employed and even though I already had a guarantor loan with another lender,I didn’t need one with Bamboo and never sent any proof of income.Looking at their blog it says they usually ask for a guarantor with self employed borrowers and bank statements/tax return as proof of income but I never had to send anything.
I think they made quite a few errors by lending to me so crossing my fingers I hear back in 8 weeks with a positive response.
Elle says
Update on my sunny complaint. Adjudicator rules in my favour and gave sunny until 13th November to respond, no surprise I have heard nothing. Have expressed my dissatisfaction with adjudicator so guess what… adjudicator has given them until the 28th November! Another two weeks! How is this allowed to happen!! If we didn’t progress our complaints with wonga by their deadline set on the portal would they give us another two weeks? No they would not we would be told no you missed the deadline!
Sara there must be something we can do about this why are they being allowed to get away with this time and time again!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Leave them a bad review on Trust Pilot: https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/sunny.co.uk
Matt says
Hi All
Just had an adjudicator uphold a complaint against everyday loans. I borrowed £7500 in Jan 18 and interest was due to be £10743.60 over 5 years (crazy I know). I was and still am in a mess but this is a massive bonus. Adjudicator rules that all interest should be refunded. I’ve paid about £5200 since I took the loan out so now only have the £2300 to pay and no missed payments on my credit file! Hopefully they agree with adjudicator as this complaint is well over a year old!
Thanks again to Sara and this site.
JD says
Hi Matt
I have a complaint with the FOS regarding an Everyday Loans complaint. I made my original complaint against the business in July 2018. They rejected and I sent my complaint to the FOS in September 2018.
It’s been with them ever since, I check in every couple of months and keep hearing the same story. They are waiting for it to be assigned.
I’ve seen very few posts regarding Everyday Loans and not much on the FOS website, so was wondering if they were stuck.
How did yours play out in the end and how long were your timelines in terms of being assigned an adjudicator.
Thanks a lot
JD
Matt says
Hi JD
I complained back in June 18, it went to Ombudsman August 18. There’s been a lot of bouncing around various departments as they thought it was a guarantor loan, then it went to another department who had it for ages and then realised it was not their department either (that was an adjudicator).
My complaint was put through as a priority in the end as I had evidence of missed council tax bills and financial hardship. I wouldn’t think yours will be too much longer. My adjudicator decision came on Friday after 4 weeks with them.
Hope that helps, good luck JD
Sarah says
Hi Matt
I am in the same boat as you.
Not sure what’s happening with EL.
I asked the FOS for an update a while back and they just said that the way in which complaints were being dealt with has changed and I would get an update as soon as possible. Not sure what this means.
I’ve had a look on the FOS decisions section and it does look like all the most recent outcomes (not many), have come back in the customer’s favour.
I’ll let you know if I hear anything else.
Sarah
Anon says
Has anyone had a response from FOS about 118? My case has been with them since March and still not been assigned to an adjudicator. This is concerning me it’s taking so long.
John C says
Mine has been with the FOS since the start of January and hasn’t been picked up. It seems to be a smaller team working on high cost longer term loans. I had 4 loans with them, 118 offered to remove the interest from the last one as they “couldn’t find” the credit check they did, however from the SAR I could see, and therefore they could also see, that my credit checks for other loans showed an increasing number of credit taken out (payday loans) and the amount of missed payments on things like credit cards, mortgage etc. was horrific
When I took out my 2nd loan with them I had 107 missed credit payments in the previous 3 years and had £18k of revolving credit balance. A year later I took my 3rd loan with them and my revolving credit balance was up to £24k and I was using 98% of my avail credit. Anyone looking at that wouldn’t lend me £10 let alone a few thousand
So glad I got in early will all my payday loan claims and have had no loans or new credit for a few years now. Anything from 118 through the FOS would be a nice bonus at some point in 2020 as I’ll be buying a new house. I’ll be surprised if there is anything this side of Xmas, but hopefully we’ll hear something soon
Catherine says
Anyone that has not had responses to emails from 118 I’d check your complaint is in the right department.
I put a lending complaint in on the 23rd of Oct,no acknowledgment,phoned up to add a additional complaint to original of excessive admin searches on my report for same loan.Some months they were doing over 5 searches every month.Instead of adding this to my initial complaint they opened it as a new phone complaint so it was fast tracked.I followed up the phone call by sending a email of what me and the call handler discussed(he said he would add it to original complaint)
I got a final response pretty quick based only on my excessive searches phone complaint.
I phoned up and explained it was suppose to form part of original complaint and the handler told me to ignore the final response and he would add all emails together and reopen case under same case number(have a email confirmation of what he supposedly did).I have since sent additional support documents,statements,credit report etc but just had the automated response.
Been in live chat tonight and they said I received my final response and the case is closed.I explained the above that the case should of been reopened and was told nothing is open on my account,so potentially nearly 4 weeks into the 8,I’m going to have to go back to start.I told them I want a manager of the customer relations team to phone so guess I’ll wait and see what happens.
Mark says
Firstly, many thanks to this marvellous website, you have helped me recover over £3000 in complaints I made to Safetynet, MyJar, 247 and one other that I cant recall off top of my head.
I have claims waiting at Wonga and Wageday Advance, and a couple of others. However, the biggest downfall for me was Mobile Money. I didnt set my claim off there until I had paid them off last month.
I had 19 loans with them from 2008-19, they asked me for bank statements, I told them I would send them to the Ombudsman, but they wanted them to have chance to sort themselves, so I sent them 6 years worth last week.
Theres about 17k in interest and charges over the whole lot, so will be interesting how this goes.
KH says
So glad to have stumbled across this site and hoping that I can get the same success as others. Without going into a huge amount of detail after separating from my husband in 2015 and being left with his and my debt, I ended up in the payday loan cycle, initially borrowing from Lending Stream and Quick Quid. Between then and now I have also used MyJar, Satsuma, Sunny and Safety net most months. Unfortunately from 2016 I also developed a gambling habit – looking back through bank statements for this purpose I am ashamed at how bad it actually got, so many gambling entries every month. I have also had large loans – including top ups – from Everyday and 118118 – and have a 2.5k overdraft. All in all I am in around 40k worth of debt and am constantly borrowing from one to cover off another.
I used Gamstop to block myself from all gambling sites over 6 months ago and have been doing really well, but can’t get myself out of this cycle. I am hopeful that I can get some success to set me back up.
Overall I think I have paid the following in interest:
118118 – 4.2k
Everyday Loans – 2k
Satsuma – 3k
MyJar – 1.2k
Sunny – 1k
QQ – 1k
LS – 1k
SNC – 2k
Looking at that now actually makes me sick! I’ve had responses from 118118 and MyJar and have sent bank statements from the preceding months to each loan.
Fingers crossed if I can get even half of that back and an improvement on my credit score it would literally be lifechanging on a month to month basis!!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
With 40k of debt you need to get into a formal debt management plan to end the cycle of having to borrow to repay other debt. All debt goes into it including your overdraft – move to a basic bank account with no fees and no overdraft – you won’t be rejected as you have a bad credit score.
You can’t borrow you way out of a debt mountain that big. Getting the interest frozen will help a lot. And any refunds from those borrowers will also speed up the DMP.
Many of the lenders you list are very likely to have to go to the ombudsman so these claims can take a long while. A DMP gets you into a safe position to do this. Otherwise you will be tempted to take some very poor offers just because it makes this month a little bit easier.
So talk to StepChange about your options. This works much better than crossing your fingers!
KH says
Thanks for replying – 11k of that is my car, if I went into a DMP would they take that back? I assume I would have to include that in the DMP?
You mentioned that a lot of the lenders will likely reject and I will need to go to the ombudsman, with 118118/Satsuma and SNC being the largest is it common for them to respond directly with offers within the initial 8 weeks?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, car finance is a secured loan so it is a priority debt. It isn’t included in a DMP. You have to carry on paying the car finance and that reduces what you can pay to the DMP.
the chance of you getting a response from Satsuma, let alone an offer, is pretty low. They are incredibly slow – send them straight to FOS at 8 weeks, don’t be fobbed off by them asking for more time.
SNC you will get a response and they often – but not always! – make OK offers.
118 money seems a bit random.
KH says
Thank you
So 4 days after submitting I received a final response from Satsuma .. Not upholding the complaint obviously .. They said they did the required checks on income and expenditure and only leant what I said I could afford (right I suppose in that I have paid or am paying them all off without defaulting)
I just wanted to check if you think it is worth escalating to FOB:
Sept 17 – 1000
Jan 18 – 2000
Nov 18 – 800
Feb 19 – 600
May 19 – 1550
Aug 19 – 900
Sept 19 – 300
Nov 19 – 1400
Surely the frequency of the loans would suggest there is an issue? Do you think I should push on?
Thank you for your help
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Definitely. Those are very big loans. Satsuma should have done detailed checks on all of them in my opinion.
The fact that you repaid the previous loans does NOT mean they were affordable.
Lee sharratt says
Hello. My complaint has been with 118 for some Time now. Got an email to say 21 days on the 10th October: now up to 28 working days has passed. Awaiting my final response. What should I do ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How long has it been with them?
Lee sharratt says
Since mid August
Slc7915 says
Mine as well they have been ignoring my emails, yesterday I left a voicemail today I got a text message saying my loan has been closed i had £3900 outstanding
Kellie says
Hi everyone
I’ve had the adjudicator response back about 6 weeks ago from my avant credit complaint. It was not upheld although the adjudicator said it was close and that it should have prompted concern and further checks done. Bizarre. So I have I asked for it to go to ombudsmen for a final decision.
Anyone any idea how long the wait is for this? Last one I done was QQ and the ombudsman ruled within about a month which was brilliant.
Thanks very much
Ross says
Hi Katie,
I had the same issue as you. The adjudicator took all of my information and, to an extent, I felt that she was going to uphold the complaint. I’d had lots of payday loans, a default on my credit file and lots of other borrowing, with multiple credit cards all up to their limit. Bizarrely, she wouldn’t uphold, because I’d kept all of my accounts up to date. The reason why they were all up to date was because I was borrowing, constantly, to keep them up to date. She gave me her decision on 25/09/19 and it was sent to be looked at, by an ombudsman, on 01/10/19. Since then, I have heard nothing else. Just a waiting game now.
Shaun says
I managed to settle my Bamboo Loan with the help fo a family member. My complaint to them was rejected, saying they carried out all the affordability checks necessary and that I said I would be in a better financial situation in a few months and no longer require payday loans. Will this affect my case if I bring it to the FOS? I would have said anything to get my hands on that money, desperate times.
They never recognised that I had numerous maxed credit cards and a large overdraft at the time.