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?
Robrrt says
I recently checked my credit file and 118118 have put a default on it. I received no advanced warning or was not notified that they were going to do this.
Can I complain about this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Legally they don’t have to tell you. Have you made an affordability complaint? Stopped paying them?
Taylor says
I’m really worried now. They are not replying to my emails – I complained a while back and still waiting on outcome. I’ve continued to pay them on time every month – surely they can’t just default for no reason?!
H says
Thanks to your website I’ve had a successful claim with avant credit. They have agreed to refund my interest plus annual statutory interest. Recieved the email yesterday asking me to accept that I accept this decision and said they would be in touch with how much I am owed and payment. Anyone have any idea how long AC will take to action this will certainly come in handy at this time of year.
I have now went on to complain about several smaller loans with different companies so hope I am as successful with them.
Catherine says
Hi H,
Can you say abit more about your complaint and situation with Avant Credit.Did it go to the FOS or did you get a response direct in the 8 weeks.
Avant have had my complaint for 4 weeks,I sent in a bank statement for the month before the loan and my credit file from 2016 that I still had saved in files to support why I thought it was irresponsible to lend.
Thanks
H says
I sent in a template letter to the company on the 1/10/19 for irresponsible lending, that’s all I sent.
I got an email saying they had my complaint and would deal with it within 8 weeks.
Got another email around 4 weeks to say they were still looking into it.
As my original post says I had an email yesterday saying they were upholding my complaint. Had another email this morning to say I’d be passed over to another team to complete redress and organise payment. It would have been 8 weeks tuesday coming. So hang in there
Catherine says
Great that they have upheld your complaint.Was it just one loan?When was the loan from?Was it fully repaid?
What was your credit like at the time of the loan?
Just trying to see if there is any similarities to my complaint,obviously every case is different but crossing my fingers.
Thanks
H says
Just one loan for 2000, finished repaying it this year. Paid back about 3500 though Was over 36 months. I had the occasional late payment on it. My credit rating was awful, I was self employed but business was struggling.
I hope you have some good luck too
ROBERT says
Once I seen they have defaulted me without telling me, I will submit an unaffordable lending complaint.
I am currently repaying them through a DMP with Payplan.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Oh definitely complain! Any more high cost credit in your a DMP you haven’t complained about?
Robert says
Yes, I complained to Advant, but got a decline. Was holding back on whether I should refer it due to the lengths others are waiting.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Why does the length of waiting at FOS make it sensible to wait before sending in your case? It’s no hassle to put in a complaint to FOS, if you never win you have wasted about 15 minutes. Do it!
Nicki says
I have just had a rejection from Avant which I am about to escalate to the . Avant rejected my complaint on the grounds that I had applied to consolidate my debts (so they expected me to clear the payday loans) & that all my accounts were up to date for the preceding 12 months. This was only because I kept borrowing from payday lenders! Although I initially managed to keep up the payments to Avant, it was a struggle & I started borrowing from payday lenders again (I also had a DMP running with Stepchange which had been in place before I took out the Avant loan). Surely they should have taken all this into account when they made their decision to lend to me? My credit rating must have been dreadful. A few months later I borrowed again from MyJar & I also complained to them (at the same time as Avant) & they have upheld the complaint & removed all the interest. The situation with them was no different. Do I stand a chance via the FOS? Also, can I stop paying Avant while the complaint is ongoing because I am really struggling at the moment (again)! (I should add that I have had repayment plans with both Avant & MyJar for the last year).
Catherine says
Did you send your bank statements and credit report in when you made your complaint?
In my opinion a lender should be confident that the borrower is going to pay off other debts when applying for a consolidation loan and work on a probability scale that if a borrower was not to clear other debts would the loan still be affordable,if it would only be affordable if other debts are clear then they should be performing more checks on borrowing and repayment history to see if repeated borrowing is long term.If it is then they shouldn’t lend as it shows signs of reliance on borrowing from one to pay another.
I have a complaint in with avant,they have had it 4 weeks,I sent in my report and bank statement from the month prior showing payday loan repayments to over 10 different lenders,a large overdraft and multiple credit application searches.My loan was for £2000 in 2016,all paid now,had one missed payment and a deferred payment to end of loan term,I think I said it was to consolidate debt(payday loans)I did clear a few but then borrowed again,but it was never affordable as I had lived in overdraft for 3 years prior and balance was never in the black.
Fingers crossed the FOS supports your complaint and mine if I have to go that far.
Nicki says
Catherine
Yes I sent in bank statements for 3 months prior to the loan (which show all of the multiple payday lenders) & a copy of my credit report.
I will definitely be sending to the FOS, as the MyJar decision as well as a large WONGA repayment (although I know it won’t be nearly as much as it should be) make me pretty confident that Avant shouldn’t have given me this loan.
Good luck with yours, it sounds very similar to my situation. Avant took about 5 weeks to give me their response.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
THE DMP shows you could probably not afford the Avant loan even if you did pay off the payday day loans. This is worth sending to FOS.
Also ask Stepchange if you can include the Avant and Myjar debts in your DMP.
Nicki says
Thanks Sara, I will speak to Stepchange. If Avant eventually give me a refund, will it go to Stepchange (to reduce my other balances) or to me?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A refund will first be used to clear the balance you owe to Avant, the rest is paid to you.
Lisa says
I have put in complaints to quite a few lenders.
Wonga and QQ upheld my complaints mostly without me having to supply anything but I didn’t get to the point of being paid out 😰
Now have active complaints with 118, myjar, amigo, and me lender.
Mr lender complaint is now with FOS and I have just been given a reference number and asked to supply my bank statements which I have done.
Myjar is asking me to supply them with bank statements. PROBLEM -the information on wages and bills I gave to the loan companies is correct. However, I had a serious gambling problem. It wasn’t that I couldn’t afford the loan it’s that I was getting payday loan after payday loan from lots of different companies to then gamble. You can see all the loans coming in and the. All the gambling transactions on my statements. I am worried that my claims will be rejected due to this. If they had asked for my bank statements when I applied for my loans they would have never given them to me. Question is should I send my bank statements to myjar or wait for it to go to FOS?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes send the statement to Myjar. This was presumably a large loan? Gambling supports your complaint that if they had properly checked your situation they wouldn’t have given you the loan. There is more chance of them upholding a 1 loan case if you send statements.
Also send statements to Amigo if you haven’t already done this. Amigo want statements for the 3 months before each loan and top up application. Don’t wait to be asked, as that would be at the end of the 8 weeks, send them now to try to speed up the process.
Elle says
Hi all
Please can anyone advise if we are able to contact companies ourselves. I am so fed up with the adjudicator she is taking days to respond to me and adding valuable time onto this. Sunny offered me loans 15-43 after adjudicator ruled they should pay 5-43. I counter offered sunny 7-43 but all done through my adjudicator and it’s taking too long I am fed up now. I could have called sunny and negotiated this within ten minutes on the phone and have an agreement by now. My patience is wearing thin with the adjudicator now.
Scott says
Hi Elle,
Yes you can, just phone FOS and tell them you want to close your complaint and that you will deal with it yourself.
Scott
Sara (Debt Camel) says
NO that is not a sensible thing to try. If the FOS complaint is closed, Sunny could just say no to any refund and you would have to go to court.
Elle says
Thanks I wouldn’t close it with FOS but I wondered if I can also contact sunny myself. I have sent the adjudicator an email saying I am unhappy with the communication with her. If she is that slow with me then I can assume she is also that slow with responding to sunny.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“I can assume she is also that slow with responding to sunny.”
No you really can’t assume that. You only asked her to do this a few days ago.
I also doubt Sunny will play ball. This is a long shot. Don’t pin your hopes on it working.
Lee Walker says
So, I’ve been contacted by Avant to let me know my complaint was upheld, they’re going to cover all interest and charges along with statutory interest too, they’ll also remove negative marks on the credit score too – no figures were given but they’ve said I’ll hear back about redress in 1-2 weeks. The Loan is about half paid off and I think what I get back should cover the principal and then some…..
I wonder if anyone has been in this position with Avant – My thoughts are to stop paying the loan, although no figures have been confirmed I know I’ve paid enough interest to cover what’s owed and they’ve agreed they owe this, they also say negative remarks will be removed so it’s not possible to default right? I’ve moved the next payment date to the deadline they gave and we’ll see what they say in roughly 2 weeks.
any one got any suggestions/experience to share, I would be appreciate it. Also if you have any questions please let me know.
Nick says
Lee – you are lucky – my Avant complaint was not upheld (even though a MyJar one with almost identical circumstances but loan taken a few months later was upheld). I am now about to take the Avant complaint to the FOS. I was wondering what your circumstances were & why they have agreed to uphold your complaint?
I too have stopped paying Avant but they are being difficult about this. They are insisting I go via a Debt Management company (won’t let me send payments to them via electronic banking) but they have given me 30 days to sort this out/contact a Debt Management co. So my thoughts are that if you stop paying them, they have to allow you that 30 day timescale so you should have (hopefully) had your refund from them. I haven’t (personally) found them a very easy company to deal with though!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Nick,
Avant can’t refuse to deal with you unless you go via a debt management company.
You could quote this FCA rule to them:
CONC 7.12.2R A firm must not:
…
(3) refuse to deal with a customer who is developing a repayment plan, a third party who is assisting a customer to develop a repayment plan or a third party who is developing a debt management plan for the customer’s debts, unless there is an objectively justifiable reason for doing so
However they can insist on you providing them with an income & expenditure statement and something showing that you are offering fair payments to all your debts. It would not be fair to carry on paying your other debts the full amount and expect Avant to accept less.
If you have a lot of debts, going through a DMP firm is often just simpler!
Ross says
Hi Lee,
I would recommend that you keep on paying until Avant give you the figures and they close your account. Whatever you pay over, you will get back anyway. Well done on your victory. It’s good to see so many Avant success stories on here. Mine wasn’t upheld and the adjudicator at the FOS never upheld it either. Just waiting for an Ombudsman decision now. Seems it will be a while though!
sam says
Hello all
just letting everyone know about the complaint about my loan from H & T Pawnbrokers.
I took a £500 loan last year and paid back £950.
They have agreed today to refund me my interest & 8% , which is excellent news.
taken about 5/6 weeks which isn’t too bad for a response, just going to wait for the money now. (not sure how long this takes if anyone knows?)
thanks sara for this site once again
Martin says
Not that I am particularly stressed about timings and the process, but one thing did annoy me lately. I have sent the complaint by post to New Day on the 09/11, they have signed for on the 13 and yesterday (26) I have received a letter dated 19th with confirmation of complaint receipt.
Which date will be valid for a referral to ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The 13th.
John G says
Hi Sara
I have a very important question which I need your help with please which I think will help others in the future.
118118 agreed they irresponsibly lent and removed the interest and deleted the loan off my account which they did. They have since sold the debt to a third party who have now added the agreement back onto my credit report?! Is this allowed?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
There aren’t hard written rules but this doesn’t sound fair to me. Tell the debt purchaser why the debt was originally deleted from your credit record and ask them to do the same. If they refuse, send them a formal complaint and then on to the Ombudsman if that is rejected.
Rob says
Does anyone know why Everyday Loans would be searching my credit file? I put a complaint in about 5 weeks ago and haven’t heard anything back (not even an acknowledgement of my complaint!) and now I’ve just got an email from clearscore saying a hard search will be added to my report from Everyday Loans. Any ideas??
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Contact Everyday Loans and tell them this and ask for the hard search to be removed. EL should only be making an administrative search that is not visible to other lenders.
Em says
Hi All,
Is anyone else having to wait ridiculous amount of time for their queries to be looked into? I submitted complaints against Avant and 118 in December last year. Avant was picked up by an adjudicator and then escalated to an ombudsman and closed within a matter of weeks. 118 has now been with the FOS for a year and hasn’t even been picked up by an adjudicator? I know I was signing up to a long process but this is now begining to get out of control. 118 have sold my debt (even though I had a payment plan, which ended and then I went back to paying the full amount for a month then it was just sold!) I have the debt collectors chasing me daily, 118 are not contacting them to tell them to back off despite the fact the FOS have asked them too. This is all just getting a bit too much.
Clare Jane says
Hi Em,
Totally appreciate and sympathise your frustration. I have two claims from December 2018 with FOS which were allocated then dropped and sent in another direction, presumably the high cost team.
From what I understand the FOS is training large numbers of staff to try to handle the complaint, which are increasing daily in size. An adjudicator on another case of mine mentioned this to me via email recently.
I check in with the team for an a monthly update. I know it’s very frustrating but, hang in there…patience can be well worth it.
I sincerely hope you have good news soon.
Rachel says
I have recently done a complaint with 118, after the initial 8 weeks they asked for another 21days for my final response. It has now been another 4 weeks and they are not replying to my emails where do I go from here?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send it to the Ombudsman now. Sorry you have wasted this time.
Rachel says
What if I hear from them in the meantime does this matter? Also them not given me my final response will this go in my favour with the ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can withdraw a complaint at FOS if your case has been settled. You won’t win your case at FOA just because the lender didn’t reply in time, FOS will still want to see if the loan was affordable for you and what checkes 118 made.
Ella says
After a year and a bit wait on my Likely Loans complaint, the adjudicator has found in my favour on all loans and has sent it off to LL. Now waiting for their response. I didn’t think I would win this case so was surprised. These types of claims take alot longer than payday claims and the team is a smaller team. There is no guarantee that they will agree but they have until the 9th December.
JA says
Good luck ella – I’m waiting on an adjudicator to pick up my case that was sent in april this year. Hopefully they agree and you get what you’re owed.
JA says
May I ask – What did your adjudicator say behind upholding your complaint?
Ella says
I was medically finished work in 2009 and not been able to work since and this is on my bank statements as I have healthcare that I have to pay for – NHS only pay for so much – so although I had money coming in it had to go out on medical expenses so didn’t leave enough to pay bills etc and we also had three students at the same time so the bank statements showed a lot of transactions taking place to and from our bank. We had ccj’s, defaults on our credit reports so if they had done the proper checks they would have seen these. Credit report from 2011 to 2017.
I do think that with these types of cases you have to speak to the adjudicator to give them an insight into everything – I mean everything – it was a little upsetting but it has been worth it in the end – I just need LL to agree now. The refund – 1496.00 after tax is for two loans over 18 months.
I will say as well, keep ringing them and if you get to 12 months ask to speak to a manager as the FOS agreed with me that they had taken too long to deal with my cases. I was always polite and so were they, but they also told me that LL took four months to respond with information so they are using delaying tactics. If they don’t pick it up by the 9th December it is going straight to ombudsman but that should not be a long wait on this case. It should have been a priority case and wasn’t picked up as such and the FOS apologised for that too.
Ella says
Likely Loans agreed with the adjudicators findings and I should have payment within 3 to 5 days. It wasn’t the amount I thought it would be as the interest is worked different on these loans but it is still nice before Christmas. Good luck to those waiting.
Ella says
Likely Loans have been in touch with me today to confirm the amount they are refunding me and the calculations they made to get there and expect payment to be in my bank within the next ten days. They seem very organised.
Ella says
Payment made direct by LL on 6th December. So 16 months in total start to finish including ombudsman and initial 8 weeks. Good luck to anybody waiting. Thanks Sara.
Lee sharratt says
So. 118 have written off 4K in interest from my £2800 loan. Only owe them £270. What a result. Only 4 more complaints to settle
Taylor says
Hi Lee how long did you wait? Can you share your timeline? :)
Lee sharratt says
Since August. But emailed a director and dealt within a week.
Chris says
Hi Sara I have a complaint in against Carcashpoint at the FOS and am struggling this month to make the month’s payment. I have rung them to see if I can repay this months’ arrears over a period (total £370) but they have been pretty aggressive asking me to make a 50% deposit today – this I can’t do. I have made 16 months payment on the loan to date – so I am up to date – but it has not been easy as my income has dropped since the loans were taken out. I rang the FOS to let them know the situation. Do you know if repossession of a vehicle takes place after one missed payment? Very worried at the moment so any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you have other debts that you are paying?
Chris says
Yes – I’m in a DMP.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
your logbook loan is a secured debt so paying it is a priority. I suggest you talk to your DMP firm about reducing the DMP payments.
SN says
Just to say thanks to Sara & all at this site. I contacted Loans2Go with whom I have had several loans over the last few years. The did not uphold my complaint but as a gesture, have agreed to write off the rest of my outstanding loan (c. £2500) and remove any adverse information on my credit file. I know I could probably go to FOS and get a bit more but to know I don’t owe that money any more, to be honest, is as important as getting redress and money back.
Becs says
I have finally had a settlement offer from Everyday Loans, but I don’t understand what they mean by ‘you have an outstanding balance’ when I paid everything in full? “You took this loan with us in April 2017. The amount borrowed was £8241.66 out of which £6043.49 was used to settle your 1st loanand the remaining £2198.17 was paid directly to you. As this loan has been found to be unaffordable to you at the time it was approved, we would require you to pay back only the amount we paid directly to you with no interest. When the loan was settled in October 2017, you had paid a total of £10709.99. You have therefore paid £8511.82 more than the amount that was paid directly to you. We would now refund this amount plus 8% statutory interest. The total amount to be refunded is set out below, but should you wish to discuss this further with me, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Becs says
Part II: Overpayment made: £8511.82 / Interest @ 8%: £1456.68 (This is subject to 20% HMRC tax deduction) / Total Refund*: £9968.50 / Refund due: £9677.16 (£291.34 deduction as per legislation going to HMRC)
This loan was taken in September 2016. The amount borrowed was £6000.00 which you had full use of. As this loan has been found to be unaffordable to you at the time it was approved, we would require you to pay back the amount you borrowed with no interest. When the loan was settled in April 2017, you had paid a total of £3328.16. This means you have an outstanding balance of £2671.84 for the amount borrowed to be paid in full. This outstanding balance will be deducted from the total redress due on loan 1108677716. The total redress now due you across these two loans is therefore £7005.32.
Rob says
Hi, can I ask how long it took for everyday loans?? I sent initial complaint 6 weeks ago and they didn’t reply to acknowledge it or anything and then I sent another 2 emails asking if they received my complaint and they replied about 4 days ago saying ‘please send your address and personal details so we can locate your account’ – after 6 weeks!!! Do I just send straight to FOS after 8 weeks?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
In the 8 week period it seems standard for no-one to look at the complaint until the last week… so hopefully you will get a reply in the 8 weeks.
Becs says
I sent my original complaint in April 2018. The FOS finally got in touch agreeing with me at the beginning of October 2019. Everyday disagreed and strung it out until 2 weeks ago. They then agreed but said it would take two weeks to complete the calculation. And now I don’t know if what they have calculated is correct or not.
Scott says
Hi Becs,
The figures in EL settlement offer look very good to me, they have calculated in a different way but it is in your favour by about £350.
To break it down easier, you received £6000 and then another £2198.17 – total £8198.17.
You paid £3328.16 towards the 1st loan before topping up, you then paid £10,709.99 – total paid £14,038.15
You paid £5839.99 more than the original principal amount. 8% on that from 10/17 amounts to £1012.47. (Tax on this would be £202.49 leaving £802.98)
If they had calculated things as above then you would have ended up with £5839.99 (extra paid above principal) plus £802.98 ( 8% stat int after tax) = £6649.97
Because they done all their calculations before addressing the balance of the original loan, you have benefited from the extra statutory interest on the higher amount.
Hope this all makes sense.
Scott
Becs says
Thanks Scott – that makes sense to me (numbers are not my strong point)! Very much appreciated!
Taylor says
Success story.
I took out 4 loans with 118 over the course of 2 years. Each for around £3,500. I complained mid August to them also did request a SAR which they did send before the 8 weeks was up. Once it passed the 8 weeks they asked for a further 21 days, they
did wait a further 31 days rather than 21 but they uplheld the latter 2 loans, meaning they refunded interest on both these loans. This wiped the balance of my current loan which they closed immediately and then asked me for my bank details to credit the second one. Payment was in my account within 2 working days once I agreed.
They’ve also agreed to remove these loans from credit file resulting in a very good credit score now.
I could have taken the whole 4 to FOS but given I missed out on Wonga and just got my QQ payment before they went bust – I went ahead and agreed :)
Very happy as I’m almost debt free now and the debt I do have left I’m comfortably paying off each month as they are high street bank loans and almost finished!
Thanks for all your help Sarah – you are a legend!
Jen says
Hi Sara, I had a few loans with Peachey and made an irresponsible lending complaint with them. They upheld my final loan, at the time I was struggling and the debt got sold to motormile finance (now known as lantern uk) they applied a CCJ to my credit file for this debt. Now that the complaint has been upheld and the result was a refund and to remove all negative information associated with that loan I have been attempting to get the CCJ removed from my credit file. I first contacted peachy and the courts who both advised that it would be lantern to remove this, I contacted them and raised a dispute regarding this with them, they came back today and advised they have sent my account back to peachy and raise the request with them instead. I find it hard to believe that peachy will be able to do anything. I’m at a bit of a loss as to where to go with this now. I just want it to be removed but dont feel it’s my place to have to pay £250 to the courts to apply for it to be set aside. Please help!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Tell Peachy that either they have to sort it or they have to give you the £250 so you can apply for the set aside.
Catherine says
Success story with Bamboo-
I complained to the business at the end of October and received a final response on a Monday about 6 weeks in not upholding.The response was in great detail but I did not accept their response.
I went back and addressed every part of their response and why I still thought they should uphold and asked for it to be reviewed by the compliance team instead of the complaints team.Less then 36 hours later and they have now agreed they should of done more and wiped over £5000 interest.This means I have only £400 to pay to clear original loan amount,I had nearly 17 months left of the loan term with payments of over £300 a month to make.
So I am very happy.Just because the business says it’s a final response does not mean that’s that.
I strongly urge anyone that doesn’t get the response they want push for a further investigation by the executive team in compliance by providing a response to their response before going to FOS.It worked for me.
Good luck everyone
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well pushed! That is the second time Bamboo have been persuaded to change their mind.
Jo says
Hi
My complaint with Avant has been upheld, I was sent an email on the 22nd November saying they would email me the breakdown, as of yet I have still not received this. Any idea of timescale this normally takes.
Thanks
Jo
Lee Walker says
Hi Jo,
Roughly the same stage as you, got the upheld email on the 22th November, ask how long for redress and the agent replied saying 1 to 2 weeks the following Monday 25th. I’m still waiting as of today, I chased by email yesterday as it just happens that my next payment falls on the 2 week deadline. I’m reluctant to pay as I’ve already calculated that the interest paid is over the principal left to pay….way over. Hope this helps.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Cancel that payment! Every payment you make now means any calculation has to be redone to take account of it.
H says
I am still waiting for avant to contact me too.
I emailed after a week and they said it cant take up to 30 days.
I have since emailed to ask for the contact details of who is dealing with the redress and apparently the redress team do not have any contact details.
They like to take their time!
Jo says
I also emailed them and said they can’t give me a time frame. Hopefully not to long
H says
Jo and lee
Dont suppose you guys have heard from avant yet?? The 1/2 week time frame given to others is up today?
Lee Walker says
Hi Sara, I’ve done this now and let them know. That’s an extra £150 this Christmas thanks…..
Lee Walker says
Hi Jo,
Just heard from them 10 minutes ago.
having chased them yesterday, and to tell them I’m not paying my next bill.
So my £1500 remaining principal has been wiped, I have a payment to my bank within 30 days coming for the rest, it’s about £300.
Hope this helps
Lee
H says
I have just heard from them too. Merry christmas to us.
Hopefully a wee payment in before christmas
Jo says
Hi lee just checked emails and I will receive money in 30 days, this website is brilliant
Jo says
Hi Lee
Have you received any money from Avant yet.
Jo
H says
Jo
I spoke to avant last week they said it should be in before the 5th of January. But would not give a definite date. Going by others on here seems to take roughly 2 weeks so hopefully will be in by friday
H
Jo says
Thanks Lee. Would be nice for Christmas fingers crossed.
Jo
Lee Walker says
Hi Jo,
I’ve just chased them now, the principal owed has changed to being almost, but not completely paid back and I’ve asked why?…. I’ve had no funds yet but 5 Jan is the deadline for that I guess?….I’ll let you know if they come back with anything of interest (no pun intended!).
Lee.
Lee Walker says
the principal owed has now changed to completely paid.
Just had an email, no later than 6th Jan for my payment..
Mary Lou from didgerydoo says
Starting to think I’m just the most unlucky person in the world now
1 year and 6 months in for a avant credit from ombudsman still waiting to be assigned. Is this some sort of joke now? Everyone else seems to be having success
Scott says
Hi Mary Lou,
A year and 6 months is a long time to wait, I would chase the FOS on this.
On a positive note the wait may be in your favour. The FOS seem to be upholding more of these complaints these days compared to over a year ago.
My own Likely Loans and Amigo complaints weren’t upheld way back then although every other complaint I had was.
Hope the wait goes in your favour but I would chase them.
Scott
John Stockwell says
Dear sara I have finally after 16 months wait had a decision on my 118118 complaint two loans and a top up .my question is the second loan for £ 1000 was paid over 24 months in the 13th month I took a top up of £750 this took the loan to just over £2700 owing I have paid back £1450 will I get anything back or just have the balance wiped .the second loan was August 2016and top up sept 17 .I am in a dmp and was hoping to be debt free .They 118 have agreed with the adjudicator .the loan went to lowell financial and I am just confused.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What was the adjudicator’s decision?
John Stockwell says
The adjudicator decision was to refund all loans interest and take the principal loan amount and use this to pay off remaining interest
Scott says
Hi John,
How much was loan 1 and how much did you pay on that one?
Is the £1450 figure the total amount that you have paid towards the £1000 2nd loan and £750 top up?
Scott
John Stockwell says
Sorry my grammar wasn’t correct.Adjudicator said the usual take the principal sums away from the total .refund interest plus statutory 8% deduct remaining balance .The reason im confused as to how this is calculated as first 1k loan £484 interest second 1k loan £956 interest .third (top up)loan £1450 interest.Its the paying off of second loans interest and adding that in to the third one thats confusing me.All I can see is I borrowed £1750 have paid back £2400 but still have £1450 left to pay .Would lowell had added interest interest or would they not be allowed to.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you had 1 loan and two top ups. Were these top ups set up as new loans that were settling the old ones? Assuming they were, can you give the following figures:
loan 1 – what did you borrow? what is the total of monthly repayments you made to this?
Loan 2 – how large was the loan, how much did you get paid in cash and how much was used to settle loan 1? what is the total of monthly repayments you made to this?
loan 3 – – how large was the loan, how much did you get paid in cash and how much was used to settle loan 2? what is the total of monthly repayments you have made to this so far to 118? And how much have you paid to Lowell?
For all these numbers, ignore any statements saying how much was interest and what the current balance is. You just follow the money trail. What was the amount of the loan excluding interest, what did you receive & what did you pay
Ljc says
Sara this has just come up in my local Newspaper https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/18089038.amigo-loans-boss-hamish-paton-resigns-just-five-months/
Sara (Debt Camel) says
gosh. Thanks!
Lee Walker says
Brilliant news…..
I’m now gunning for 118 money – 3 loans over 3 years in the same time-frame as Avant.
Bamboo – fully paid and early but I thought I’d give it ago.
and Likely loans – 2 loans back to back after a poor payment history with the first.
They’ve all got back and investigating my complaints but, these are way behind the Avant one I think I’ve got a good case with all of these and I’ll post updates when I hear from them.
D Jacob says
Hi guys,
Anyone had any luck with varooma, autoadvance and loans2go (Logbook + personal loan). I have had logbook loans from them over last 4 years. Whats the likelihood of success? as at the time I took those loans I had around 20+ loans from multiple payday lenders/bank loans/credit cards?
I have paid all those log book loans in full though but have defaulted on rest of the loans. It it worth putting in a affordability claim?
Thanks for any advice.
D Jacob
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is definitely worth a try if you think the loans were unaffordable – you could only make the repayments if you borrowed more money to survive on. Some people have won, it sounds as though you had a lot of borrowing so you may have a strong case. expect the lenders to say No and just send it to the ombudsman.
Also make claims against payday lenders!
D Jacob says
Thanks for the reply. Will definitely put the complaint through then. I have only put in complaint against a few in last 4weeks and already 1 of them (safety net credIt) have written off the balance over £1.5k and paid me around £200, settled it and wiped the negative credit impact. Rest all have acknowledged the complaint and said will reply within 8 weeks so fingers crossed.
SN says
Loans2Go were good with me to a point. They rejected my complaint but they did wipe the remaining balance and remove info from my credit file. I think I could have got more redress from FOS but my main aim was to reduce my outgoings and that is £200 a month I dont have to find leading up to Christmas! Got a Credit Karma notification this morning and the loan is now settled.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I didn’t focus on you having a L2G personal loan as well as a logbook loan. I have a special page dedicated to this uniquely appalling loan – https://debtcamel.co.uk/worst-loan-in-britain/
D Jacob says
Hi Sara,
Just an update on Loans2Go claim, I put in an affordability complaint on Sunday (15/12) and today morning (20/12) they emailed me saying they are upholding my claim and offered me full interest that I paid on both logbook and personal loan back, almost 1.4k. I am just surprised how quickly they have taken a decision in my favor, hope they pay out quickly too ;-).
Thanks for your help Sara.
DJ
debbie says
hi sara am i able to make a complaint to mobile money i have had 3 loans off them 1 with a top up this was paid in full then took another one out which ends in august 2019 i am behind on my payments and dont want to lose my car
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes you can if you think this logbook loan was unaffordable. Use the template letter in the article above. But you may still loose you car if you can’t keep up with payments while the complaint goes through. I suggest you phone National Debtline for advice about this on 0808 808 4000.
debbie says
yes i will keep up with the payments until i hear anything back i just wanted to check you are able to with log book loans
thanks
Dan says
Hello sara and all
Very interesting result with loans2go. I complained about taking a 250 pound loan when i was in huge debt – complained about affordability and sent them 3 months bank statements.
After 6 weeks they rejected it – i replied saying i wasnt happy because of my payday loan debts. They responded by stating they couldnt uphold because ‘the bank statements you attached have no evidence of padyday loan problems.
I pointed out that the attached statements in fact had 2600 pounds of payday loans coming in and 4500 of PDL payments going out in those 3 months.
I told them it appeared they hadnt even looked at the statements. They responded saying they have now reviewed my evidence and agreed to refund interest and 8%.
No need for FOS!
Ann says
How long did refund take
Dan says
Loans2go refund was 30 mins within acceptance
Ann says
Wow they called me yesterday and I missed it fingers crossed x
Dan says
Call them back!!
Ann says
I’ve just tried they said professional standards team will call me back Thanks
Mark says
Finally have a reply from 118 but they have not upheld my complaint..Borrowed £2000 at a time when I had multiple other payday loans which combined were more than my monthly salary.Also on my statements will show lots of gambling transactions which I have worries about but I will send off to the FOS
sam says
I had 2 big loans and they rejected them both for me too, worth going fos as you might get something
John Stockwell says
Dear sara .can you clarify for me I have two recent upheld complaints at ombudsman level .However I believed they had 28 days to comply .On both decisions they have given the company 4_8weeks to comply .Have the goalposts been changed or am I wrong . I am expecting 4figure sums from 118money and satsuma .After waiting best part of eighteen months start to finish for both to go through all of the complaints process I am just confused as to how much leniency is being shown .
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have they gone over 28 days?
Catherine says
Hi Sara
Do you know what the various letters and figures mean on a SAR report under gauge 2 credit risk
Eg
ABC U
AZB ND
BYB 0
CBC U
I’m a little confused,some do have numbers next to them,others say U or ND
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No I don’t. I suggest you go back to the lender and ask.
Michael Lord says
Hi again.
I got my email from amigo asking for 4 more weeks so i emailed the fca and compied amigo in and left a bad review on trustpilot as ive seen on here, amigo responded to my trustpilot review saying they are busy etc. So maybe it might push it on but im not holding much hope lol
Also i complained to varooma a few weeks ago and heard nothing but today my credit report emailed to say greenlight has settled my account. Could this be them selling on my debt or could they have closee it
Thanks for the help on this again
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am not expecting the Trustpilot/inform the FCA to make a difference to any individual case directly. But a few of them may force Amigo to get better organised and get some more staff to handle complaints.
Are you up to date with your logbook loan?
KR says
Did you have a balance outstanding with Greenlight Credit? I complained about 5 loans all fully settled and they just ignored it so waiting for ombudsman to pass to an ajudicator. Hope it’s good news for you and keep us posted.
Michael Lord says
Hi
My vehicle was taken back and there is an outstanding balance after they sold the vehicle. I have emailed them again asking for an update as im unsure why it will show as settled
Dot says
Hi
I’ve had a complaint reject by 118 118. I had a ton of pay day loans at the time.
I rolled over my first loan and took out additional borrowing. This is probably the biggest refund im expecting.
Adjudicator is waiting on the business file.
Has anyone had any experience with 118 with FOS – waiting time for them to send information? Or pay out times if upheld ?
Thanks
Jon wilks says
Your going to be waiting no later than 2 years. Honestly that’s not joking either average cases get looked at within 16/18 months of being submitted.
However by then I assume most of these lenders will have gone bust
John C says
I put my 118118 complaint into the FOS at the start of January. It was picked up pretty quickly by an adjudicator, gave them everything they needed, was then it was passed to another adjudicator, and then from them to the high cost, longer term loan team that are looking at these kind of loans. That was around April / May time. I ring every couple of months but not been allocated to anyone yet and I don’t think it will for a while. I’d get your complaint in and then forget about it for a while. Good luck
Emily says
I submitted my 118 claim in December 2018 and it still has not been picked up by an adjudicator. 😔
Catherine says
Did you complain using the online form?Did you get a email with a reference number from a investigator after submitting saying they had requested information from the business??
Dilmon says
Hi,
Anyone had any luck with AutoAdvance logbook loans? Also, does anyone know their complaint procedure or complaint email details?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t remember anyone mentioning them – they may be a very small lender.
Complaints should go to kris.baldwin@cceuk.co.uk, cc to service@autoadvance.co.uk and put AFFORDABILITY COMPLAINT as the email title.
You could also add to the standard template in the article above the following:
————————-
I can’t find any reference to complaints on your website. I am informed that this is breach of the FCA’s DISP rule 1.2.1 which says a firm must:
(4) provide information to eligible complainants, in a clear, comprehensible and easily accessible way, about the Financial Ombudsman Service including the Financial Ombudsman Service’s website address:
(a) on the respondent’s website, where one exists; and …
If you do not make me a suitable offer to settle my complaint I shall be pointing this out to the Financial Ombudsman and the FCA.
D Jacob says
Thanks Sara that’s really helpful.. I have had only 1 loan from them..taken for 18months which at the time of issuing they said I will be paying less if I settled it early. So to save interest I settled in 14months but there was difference at all in how much I paid.. I paid exactly what I would have in 18months
Caroline says
Hey I put in a complaint to auto advance had there final response at the start of December to say they are not upholding my complaint on the grounds that I didn’t have any ccjs on my credit file. Which is lies the ccjs are from 2017 and I didn’t get the loan from them until 2018, I sent them screen shots of the ccjs they also said that even through I had 19 defaults on my account the loan was affordable as I wasn’t in default on my bank account. Madness. I have sent my complaint to the FOS. Hope you have more luck with them.
TT says
Successful claims upheld from both MyJar and Everyday Loans! Thank you so much!!!!
A. says
Just received my SAR from 118 in regards to my £1000 loan. They have all my outgoings as 0 and on my credit report it says I am using 94% of my available credit – my complaint is currently with fos as 118 rejected. They could clearly see the information they had was wrong and they shouldn’t have lent to me!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send FOS an update on your case saying this!
JA says
Hello,
Has any one had any highcost loan complains picked up recently? I’ve has my likely loans complaint with the FOS since april..
Lisa G says
I’ve had my Everyday Loan complaint with the FOS since Oct 2018. Still waiting to be allocated to an adjudicator. It’ll be a long wait.
JA says
Thanks for the update Lisa , It’s a shame they seem to have such a small group working on these type of loans.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
After so long I think you should be phoning every month and if you are in financial hardship or have mental health issues you should be complaining.
JA says
I’m currently paying my likely loans loan back monthly through payplan . Would that count as financial hardship?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
not really, the payment should be affordable. Any priority debts? Rent/mortgage arrears, council tax arrears, gas/electric?
JA says
No all my finances are in order , Thanks anyway though. I’ll just keep waiting and hope it gets picked up
Lee Walker says
Hi Jo,
Thanks nothing yet but, the amount owed on my online account has changed although not fully clear-which is odd as they said it would be. I’ve not asked anything yet…..shame it’s not looking landing before Xmas🙁 You had anything??
Cheers
Lee
H says
Lee and Jo
Have you guys been paid yet?
Just checked my bank and mine has went in.
H
Jo says
Hi
Just checked bank and money is there 😀
Jo
Crissy says
I’m still waiting for complaint against safety net credit to be allocated at FOS, been in since end of January this year ?
Catherine says
Hi Crissy,
Did you send using online form or phone up?Have you had a email /letter with a complaint ref number?
Crissy says
Yea I have a reference number they keep saying I’m in a queue?
Catherine says
I’m just wondering if the people waiting are those that submitted online.
I phoned up last week and spoke to a investigator,she opened up 4 complaints I have from different businesses,got emails with reference numbers and had to confirm I agreed to several statements on the FOS declaration.
I then got separate emails from her saying that she had requested files from the businesses and the dates they had to respond by.
Have you had anything like that through?
Crissy says
No nothing like that through just a reference number ?
I had complaints with wonga and quickquid upheld but they both went bust before I got the compensation !
Catherine says
I submitted 2 online but then kept getting a error message.One I got a reference through for from head of customer services,the other nothing yet.So when I phoned up to add other complaints I said I had submitted one online but could she open it up for me if I sent her the information,which she did.
She said that if you submit online it goes to customer services mailbox,who then have to sort through and send to right department,it then joins their mailbox which is why it takes so long.She recommended ringing up to submit complaint as it’s quicker.All 4 businesses I put complaints in about have to send information by 2nd week in January.
Crissy says
Fingers crossed you get the right outcome !
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you are having problems submitting a complaint online – and very few people do – then definitely ring up. I think yours was an unusual case
Catherine says
Hi Sara,
I have since not even bothered trying to submit online as the investigator said it’s a quicker process to phone up and raise complaint,then after a few details,the complaint is set up and any additional information can be sent via email.
Thank you
John says
There isn’t much here about loans with George Banco. I have a £5000 loan with them (without a guarantor) that I am struggling to repay and has required me to take more borrowing.
I already had large debts, albeit with no missed payments or defaults etc, when I took out the loan.
Has anyone had joy with complaints to George Banco for unaffordable lending without a guarantor?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I didn’t know they did non guarantor loans, I thought they put all those through their Everyday Loans brand.
But it doesn’t really matter if other people have won cases, the best you can do is make a complaint!
Have you looked at a debt management plan to get your current finances into a more stable situation? you shoulde expect this complaint to be rejected by GB and for it to have to go to the Ombudsman which can take a long while.
John says
Thanks for the advice Sara. It is underwritten by Everyday Loans but was taken out through the George Banco website.
I don’t want to enter a DMP because I don’t want that impact on my next mortgage application.
I’m keeping my head above water at the moment with some large payments for contract work.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK… but you HAVE to stop taking out more high cost credit. If you can scrape through without fine – but do you have the tax put aside for January?
K8 says
I have finally had a final decision from Satsuma not upholding my complaint. In a nutshell they profess to have carried out the correct checks and believe my loans were affordable to me, despite 5 out the 7 ending up in repayment plans!
02/05/2017 – £400 LOAN TAKEN
02/05/2017 – £250 LOAN TAKEN – Both these loans taken on the same day ended in repayment plans
Once these were paid off Provident allowed me to take
03/02/2018 – £300 LOAN TAKEN
27/10/2018 – £1000 LOAN TAKEN – This ended in a repayment plan
04/11/2018 – £1500 LOAN TAKEN – Currently in a repayment plan – £1420 has been paid with £1568 due to be paid
04/05/2019 – 200 LOAN TAKEN – Currently in a repayment plan – £166.40 has been paid with £232 due to be paid
I had sent my complaint to the FOS a while back as it has taken 6 months to get a reply from Satsuma, and I have now sent FOS their response….my question is how likely will it be for FOS to uphold my complaint?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That looks like a very good case to me!
John Stockwell says
Dear sara .I have written on here before .my 118 case is nearing completion however I need to clarify my issue with their offer .There were three loans .£1000 (02/15) completely 02/16 interest (£380).loan2 £1000 (aug16 Interest(£760) which was added to loan 3( 08/17 ) £750 making that loans principal £1510 .I have paid back £1400 obviously interest£1250) not paid.my question is they 118 have offered £805 plus £90 statutory interest. The adjudicator asked for return of all interest paid plus statutory they agreed but this doesn’t look right .They 118 have just added up loans given minused the payments made and came to that figure .added a years interest only .This is not how all my other complaints have been finalised .Are they right ??
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so loan 1, borrowed 1000, repaid 1380 correct? so interest £380. That should have added just over 3 years worth of interest, say 25% = £95
Loan 2 you borrowed 1000
Then you took some more money – how much cash did you receive? – but as a top-up to loan 2, not a settlement of loan 2 and then a new loan 3 – is that right? Or was loan 2 settled and a new loan 3 taken out?
John Stockwell says
Loan 2 was for 1k (24months) but at month 13 id made 13x£80 payments topped up £750 .new total was £1510 with1250 interest £760 was the interest added to the £750 .I think I should get statutory interest at that time .
Whilst I do realise above the amount s borrowed £2750 I have indeed paid £805 I dont think it should be in total but individually to each separate loan .And surely you cant just decide the interest at the end date ??
Scott says
Hi John,
I think we can now say for loan 1, you borrowed £1000 and paid £1380 – so would be due £380 plus 8% stat interest back on that loan.
For loan 2 and the top-up, can you please advise the physical amounts that were paid directly to your bank account, list them as original amount credited and top-up amount credited.
Please also advise how much in total you have paid towards these.
Forget about interest that they were charging as it’s not relevant to working things out.
Scott
John Stockwell says
Second loan was 1000 paid to me .third loan £750 .I have 2400 to these .compounding my issue adjudicator not available holiday till next year .must be very unlucky 4out of 5 of my complaints same thing seems to happen .whenever I need a bit of help or clarification .wanted it sorted time of year et all .
Charlotte says
I’d just like to say how amazing this site is and thankyou sara for your help! I’ve just had 6100 back from loans 2 go! That’s all interest and charges paid plus 8%
Thankyou!!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Brilliant!
This was logbook loans, how many? Via FOS?
D Jacob says
Hi,
Just a quick query I took out a personal loan via Ocean Personal Loan who acted as brokers as the loan was provided by a private bank called Raphael Bank. Anyone has any success with them? Also who do I submit the affordability complaint to Ocean or Raphaels?
Thanks
DJ
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Complain to Raphaels, they made the poor lending decision. I don’t remember them being mentioned here before. If you do get a refund, make sure that includes any “broker fee” you may have been charged.
Jason says
Hi Sara
Some advice please. I had a debt with 118118. In May they agreed to remove all adverse credit. In October they put a default on the account? Is this allowed? They have since sold the debt and the debt collection agency have now mirrored the same default. Any advise would be great
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you have a payment arrangement in place?
Jason says
I did yes however I was only paying £10 a month toward it.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So assuming they agreed to remove adverse credit after you won an affordability complaint, they should not now add a default if you are keeping to a payment arrangement. I wouldn’t like to say what would happen if you simply refused to pay, which is why I asked if you had made an arrangement.
I suggest you go back to 118 and ask for the default to be removed as per the decision in May. Once they have done that, the debt collector will have to do the same.
Jamie says
Good morning all
I firstly want to thank the site team and the users of the site for everything I have learned from Debt Camel so far.
– I took out a logbook loan with Mobile Money in December 2018 during a period of ill health and was granted £2700, I repaid the majority of this and then applied for a top up but was referred to Varooma in August 2019 who rebroked the loan for a total of £3,000.
– My concern is relating to Varooma, I have been making payments on time and also making overpayments. However, I have paid £1300 thus far since August and the interest rate of 180% is just killing me.
I believe I have a case with Varooma also as they didnt check my bank statements in full which would have shown payments to a Debt Management plan and also many gambling transactions, instead they just accepted a print out of my direct debit page and also my payslips. I also have my credit file which shows may defaults including to Mobile Money on previous loan.
Does anyone believe I have a case against Varooma also? I don’t want to make a complaint and then they decide to take my car as I need it for work? I am fully up to date on payments and have managed a few overpayments here and there to try and knock down the interest.
Does anyone have any comments/guidance on this?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That sounds like a good reason to make complaints against Mobile Money for the earlier loans and Varooma for the current one.
You have to keep making the payments while the case goes through or they could take your car. So complaining doesn’t give you immediate release, but it could help a lot later on.
Jamie says
Hi Sara
Have had response back from Varooma and surprise surprise they have declined my complaint.
Have referred it to the FOS immediately, any advice on how to proceed with the FOS, am I okay to check in with them weekly as the interest and payments on this loan have me on the breadline at the moment.
Thanks for all your help.
tina simmons says
advise needed for car cash log book loan
Borrowed 2200 over 60 months paid back 3100 in payments at 15 months got into difficulties 2 months arrears and they would not set up payment plan I had to send them my medical notes to state i was ill on sick pay so the repossessed my car and gave me 14 days to get my car or they would sell to get my car back the wanted the all total of loan of 5 years of over 10,000, but in between that they sold my acr at auction without telling me and took another 6,500 I found my car on a car website having been sold to a dealer the owed me money back of 48 pound they sold my car very cheap as they wanted 5 years of loan payments all in all they got off my over 10,k off me repo charges and lots of other charges I also lost all my valuables in my car , the payments were 231.00 a month I was not working when got the loan they just looked at my new employment contract for affordability
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you send them an affordability complaint using the template letter above saying they failed to check properly that you could afford the loan AND they sold your too cheaply AND they did not treat you fairly when you said you were on sick pay and you sent your medical notes to them.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you should expect them to reject your complaint and send it straight to the Ombudsman at that point.
sam says
Hi Sara
I complained to 118118 about 2 bigish loans they gave me, which was rejected. (probably due to 2 years between them)
i asked the to re-look into this and they came back saying no again.
Now they have emailed myself today saying that they will write off £480 if i pay £300 at the end of jan which will pay it all off. (balance is £780)
can i still follow this through with the fos? doesnt say anything about my complaint
thanks
Lisa says
I hope this doesnt suggest that they are trying to increase cashflow and looking at administration!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It just sounds like a normal settlement offer to me.
How large was the last loan? How much have you paid to it so far?
sam says
yes thats what i thought, doenst mention anything else.
started 2 feb 2018
24 months
£2000
pay back in total – £3766.56
outstanding – £784.70
Tom says
Hi Sara,
I took out a loan with Bamboo in November 2018 for £5000 as I was struggling financially as I couldn’t work at the time from caring for a sick relative. I’ve now paid it off entirely, however I struggled like crazy as a result of having to find the money for the loan this year, I had to take two jobs for most of the year to cover my expenses until I cracked under the pressure from that and quit one of them. I then had to keep borrowing from other lenders to deal with the loan until it was paid off, including a £1500 loan from OnStride back in July despite my credit record being terrible at the time and me having a default on an account in June. I’ve already sent in an affordability complaint to OnStride which I’ll see where that goes, however I wonder if you think it’s worth me going for Bamboo for irresponsible lending too? When I took out my Bamboo loan I had a slightly below average credit rating with no missed or late payments or defaults, however I had utilized over 80% of my available credit card limits into the thousands. While some blame is on me – I did inflate my income and make my expenses lower than they were because I felt desperate at the time – there were no checks conducted at all which seems shocking for a loan of £5000, so I’m wondering if you think it’s worth me fighting it and what you think I’d be likely to get back if I do have grounds to complain and do win?
Thanks for your time and any advice you may give.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Would your bank statements have showed in Oct 18 that you were out of work?
Tom says
The bank account that I used for the Bamboo loan got closed a few months later as I defaulted on an unarranged overdraft on it so I’m unsure if im able to get bank statements for it now, but yes it would’ve shown there was no regular income coming in from work.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you have a good complaint. Put on it that if Bamboo had checked your bank statements they would have seen that you had no regular income.
You can get bank statements from closed accounts and I suggest you put in a complaint AND start the process of getting the statements from your bank now. Don’t wait to be asked for them and then have another delay while you get them. You want the three months before the loan application. When you get them, send them to Bamboo to add to your complaint.
Micheala says
Hi, so an adjudicator at FOS agreed that lending stream should refund interests and fees paid plus 8% interest on 5-20 of my loans, they have til the 13/1/19 to respond. My question is does anyone know how likely they are to respond and if they don’t what would happen next? Thanks!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
lots of chat about LS over on the main payday loan refund page: https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/
Catherine says
How soon after receiving a email from FOS saying they have asked the business for the file should I hear from them?
The FOS also confirmed before Christmas they had received file for another complaint but heard nothing since.
Anyone shed any light on if this means the FOS are moving quicker with complaints or if requesting the file is just a first step before joining the huge queue for a investigator?
Paul says
Hi Catherine.
I’ve had two instances recently where two separate adjudicators have contacted me via email to advise that they have asked the respective businesses for the file and once received, they’d then be able to investigate the complaint. One of these was against Aqua at the end of November and I’ve not heard back from the adjudicator on this one. The other was with Vanquis and after 2 weeks, the adjudicator contacted me to say he’d received the business file from Vanquis and he was now able to investigate which he did within 3 days.
I guess it all depends on how fast the credit issuer decides to take in forwarding the information to the adjudicators but the adjudicator should be able to crack on and investigate once they receive what they need from the business.
JA says
Just an update with anyone waiting on high cost complaints like likelyloans etc with the FOS – I called for another update yesterday as my complaint has been with them since april 19. They’ve now told me it was in the wrong queue (payday loan) all this time… They said I wouldn’t be put further in front and that they’re “inundated with complaints” which I’m fully aware of. Little frustrating tbh
Jay D says
Same thing happened to me, took 3 months for an adjudicator to pick it up and then told it wasn’t in the right department so put back into a queue. That was in July 2018.. it’s now just been picked up in the right department last month. I’ve seen some people get theirs sorted super fast whereas I’ve waited nearly 18 months for it to get assigned.
sam says
hello
has anyone emailed their compaint about 118118 money?
i did 3 months ago but heard nothing.
just enquiring the rough queue length.
Lisa says
Hi
I emailed my complaint to them 8 weeks ago and havent heard anything so I have just sent another email to them saying that I am taking the complaint to FOS
Lisa says
To follow up, I have just received a response so on the last day they had. Havent upheld any of my claim.
Lisa says
Hi all
I have just received a response from Likely Loans (on the last day of the 8 weeks) they have upheld my complaint and are reducing my current balance by the amount of the refund and not charging me interest on my current loan which is great.
However, they have said that “It is important to note that we have a regulatory obligation to ensure that your Credit File reflects an accurate picture of your accounts and the amounts you had originally borrowed. These account entries will therefore remain visible on your Credit Report.” Can I insist that as they shouldnt have lent me the loans that they remove them from my file? One of them has some late payments on so I would rather they were removed.
They havent added the 8% interest either but the earliest loan was only taken at the end of 2017 and finished in 2018 so wouldnt amount to much.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can send the case to the Financial Ombudsman if you want.
Lisa says
I have just received an email from 118118 on the last day of the 8 week period. It is a very standard letter with no personal reference to me or my loans, not sure if this is the approach they are taking now.
Will be sending complaint to FOS today as LL, QQ, and Mr Lender have all upheld my complaint for the same period.
Connor W says
Hello
I have had a complaint upheld by loans 2 go and they have agreed to refund me all interest and charges on my loan agreements.
How long roughly does the refund take after I’ve sent my details. The loan is fully paid off so should I receive the whole lot of the refund amount?
Michael Lord says
Hi connor
I gave them.my details on wednesday and money in account today , got my response on tuesday if that helps
Kellie says
Hi everybody
I’m still waiting for my complaint with avant to be picked up by ombudsman for final decision after being not upheld by the adjudicator back in sept.
Anyone had any luck recently with this, nobody will give me any timescales at all in the FOS.
Thanks
R says
Hi Kellie.
Like you, the adjudicator didn’t uphold my Avant complaint, despite numerous other loans, maxed out credit cards, payday loans and excessive gambling. She put mine in the queue on 01/10/19. On 05/01/20, she sent a further email, apologising for the delay and stating it was still waiting to be assigned to an Ombudsman.
I also submitted a complaint, about Likely Loans, on 20/10/19. This one hasn’t even been picked up by an adjudicator (yet) and I am not hopeful, if they’re going to offer the same view as per my Avant complaint. It’s just a case of waiting.
Robert Mclough says
Mine was submitted in March 2019 to the ombudsman and it’s still waiting to be picked up now with avant credit and multiple other lenders.
I’ve been to to wait up for two years before it gets looked at however I’m quite confident by then a lot of these lenders will have gone bust. ( May be part of the pre determined plan who knows? )
Quite a joke to be honest waiting up for two years to get something looked at. Completely accept there’s a lot of claims in however does it really take two years to look at a complaint?
Would any other business in the world give this excuse? I think not.
Mr PDL says
I submitted my Avant complaint to the FOS back in May and still waiting for an adjudicator to pick it up. I don’t have much hope of it moving anytime soon.
Does anyone have any experience of an adjudicator upholding and how did Avant respond?
Thanks
Mr PDL
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is a copy of a comment left on a page about log book loans by “Jane”:
The adjudicator found in my favour in my claim against Varooma.It has took a long time and been very frustrating but with the help of the Ombudsman we got there in the end. I want to tell others don’t give up if you have a genuine claim with evidence that supports your case hang in there, these companies know the Ombudsman are under incredible pressure and have a huge backlog and use this to stall legitimate claims hoping the customer will just give up. Never be afraid to provide a Debt and Mental health form filled in by your GP if you were receiving treatment for mental health issues at the time and you were allowed easy credit with little or no checks. It just confirms that you were a vulnerable customer and at the very least you should get back the high interest you paid. Varooma thought they were clever dismissing my claim, I would have been more than happy to have just received a rebate on the interest I had paid as it was they ended up paying 5-6 years of the Statutory 8% compensation as advised by the Adjudicator on top of interest I had paid. Thanks again to my adjudicator, from my case being assigned to settlement just 2 weeks, thorough, non judgemental and fair at all times who constantly kept me updated.
KR says
That’s good to hear we had. Instant loans worth varooma loads off late payments and we could still loan again and again despite the massive. Struggles. They sent me the SAR but ignored the complaints and then recently I have noticed they have changed their complaint email to what it was when I complained. It was sent to ombudsman and they have requested information but not heard anything else.