The Financial Ombudsman won’t look at complaints about two payday lenders, Swift Sterling and Pounds Till Payday, because these are not UK firms regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Swift Sterling, Pounds Till Payday and My Money Partner were trading names of Northway Financial Corporation Limited, a Maltese company.
Can you get a payday loan refund? looks at how to complain to a UK regulated payday lender if you were given an “unaffordable” payday loan. But that article and its template letters don’t apply to these two Malta-based payday lenders, so this article looks at what your options are.
What has happened since this article was first published
- December 2015 – the websites and brand names were bought by an FCA-authorised UK company, MMP Financial Ltd.
- January 2016 – the Financial Ombudsman said the MMP take over hasn’t made a difference to complaints about previous loans from Swift Sterling and Pounds Till Payday, and these complaints have to be made to the Maltese regulator, not in the UK.
- After this, people started complaining to the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA). There are lots of comments at the bottom of this article about this.
- May 2016 – the MFSA ordered Northway, the lenders’ parent company to refund interest for a few readers who then received cheques.
- the Consumer Complaints Unit within the MFSA is being phased out and replaced by the Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services.
- November 2016 – the FCA is making MMF, the debt collector that has bought many Swift Sterling and Pounds Till Payday debts, refund many customers for its poor debt collection practices, see the bottom of this article.
- December 2016 – Northway has offered to pay some compensation to some more customers.
- April 2017 – the MFSA has told people with active cases that they have been closed and complainants have to go to the Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services. This will feel like more bad news and delays, but apparently the Office of the Arbiter can issue binding rulings in relation to complaints. So hopefully Northway won’t just ignore these decisions as they have been ignoring MFSA decisions. I don’t know how you can enforce a binding ruling in Malta
For the latest on what is happening, see the Comments section at the bottom of this article.
Why can’t you take these complaints to the Financial Ombudsman?
Both Swift Sterling’s and Pounds Till Payday’s websites said in their Complaints Procedures:
“At this stage, if you are dissatisfied with the delay or we have not been able to sort out your complaint to your satisfaction, you can escalate your complaint to an external body (see below).
Step 3 – If you remain dissatisfied
It is important that you give us the opportunity of addressing your concerns first before escalating your complaint as they will only consider your complaint after we have had the opportunity to sort out the matter under our internal complaints process.
You may ask the Financial Ombudsman Service to review your complaint. You should contact the Financial Ombudsman Service within 6 months of receiving our final response letter. Their details are below: [full address and email details for the UK Financial Ombudsman]”
One reader has received the following reply from the Financial Ombudsman:
“Unfortunately Pounds till Payday don’t have offices in the UK and as a result we are still unable to look at complaints about them. As you said below, their offices are based in Malta and they are regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority. I’m sorry their website seems to suggest otherwise.
Thank you for sending me the page on their website which specifically directs people to bring their complaints to us … I have spoken to a colleague and we are going to contact Pounds till Payday to ask them amend this. I agree this is misleading borrowers.“
(The websites have now been changed, but here is a snapshot taken in November 2015.)
So if you wanted to complain that one of these lenders gave you a loan that was unaffordable, you have to go through the Maltese regulators, not UK processes.
You may think this is never going to work… But if you read the comments below you will see that several readers have managed to refunds – some of them large – after going through the lengthy process of appealing to Northway (Swift Sterling and Pounds Till Payday’s parent company) and then the Maltese regulator. It has taken many months but with perseverance you may get a good result.
Definitely misleading!
Did Northway really think the Financial Ombudsman will look at these complaints? Or were these incorrect complaints procedures included on the two websites to give the appearance of respectability by suggesting that the payday lender was subject to some UK regulation?
In the USA, Northway is being sued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau which alleges it is part of a group of payday lenders that:
- made false threats to consumers;
- deceived consumers about their debts; and
- used illegal wage-assignment clauses:
Has your debt been sold to MotorMile Finance?
Swift Sterling and Pounds Till Payday have sold many defaulted debts to the UK debt collector MotorMile Finance (MMF). In November 2016 the FCA has made MMF offer a redress package to many customers because of poor way it has handled debt recovery, so if your debt is now with MMF, read MMF – can you get a write off or a refund?
Claims against MMF can only relate to the defaulted debts sold to them. You may still have additional claims against Swift Sterling and Pounds Till Payday for “affordability” problems. Additionally putting in an affordability complaint to the original lender should mean that a debt collector puts a hold on any debt enforcement such as taking you to court for a CCJ whilst the dispute about the original debt is resolved.
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Money back from payday loans – Q and As
Could a Debt Relief Order help you?
Garry says
How does it stand if Northway make an offer thru the mfsa?
mfsa have ruled in my favour for a refund of over 2k but northway have offered a goodwill gesture of £400.
Is it worthwhile to ask for an increased offer?
Garry says
I have emailed anyway to try and make contact with them but had no response at all.
I take it this is standard or does anyone have an email address that may engage Northway into some kind of contact?
Allison says
Hi ya, have you had any luck? How did you complain to the MFSA? Thanks. Allison
Garry says
Hi Allison,
No reply as yet to my email. Hopefully hear something today.
I complained to the mfsa by emailing them explaining i was looking to make a complaint. They sent me a form by post which I sent back to start the complaint.
Thanks
PM says
Hi,
Has anybody any idea how long the MFSA take to adjudicate, I’ve given up trying to contact Northway – being sending emails since last May, not one response. Have sent my completed documents to the MFSA over a month ago.
Regards
PM
Garry says
Think msfa took approx 3 months for mine.
It was them that advised me email direct regarding Northway’s goodwill gesture.
Seems a bit of a catch 22 now if Northway simply dont respond to any emails.
Damian says
Hi,
My case was reviewed and concluded in 7 weeks.
I complained to Northway on 23rd November 2016, regardless of few chasing emails they failed to respond and after 8 weeks I started putting together package for MFSA.
I sent my compliant with supportive information on 9th of Feb 2017.
On 14th of Feb i got email from MFSA confirming receipt of the complaint.
On 10th of March MFSA emailed me that Northway are willing to forgive my outstanding balance of £994.86.
Replied same day willing to accept £750 (some 75% of what I believed is due ) and write off of the balance.
30th of March got response from MFSA with conclusion in my favour – £1959.24 minus balance of £994.86 = £1023.38 should be refunded by Northway.
Karen says
Hi I got a reply from masa and they ruled in my favour but northway didn’t and offered me £285 out of a possible 1400 , I foolishly excepted and was in my account the same day , not that I have even acknowledged that it went in. Could I still take this further as not signed anything to say full and final settlement ?
David says
I have had an offer of balance write -off and refund within 6 days of me agreeing to their final response, which I have, but refund hasnt been forthcoming yet.
They seem to be a very difficult company to get in touch with, but as well as the complaints@northwayfinancial.com there is also a web page contact here http://www.northwayfinancial.com/Northway/ContactUs/tabid/1213/Default.aspx
which sends an automated response from enquiries@northwayfinance.com All I can suggest is repeatedly trying them all.
PM says
Hi,
I’ve bombarded them with the same email for the last 3 days and have told them that I will stop until they respond.
Must have sent over 50 at this stage.
Regards
PM
David says
I’ve done the same. Same emails to info@northwayfinancial.com and enquiries@northwayfinancial.com, given to me by the MFSA. Have tried ringing Northway and cant get through (but that might be my fault, not used to ringing overseas!). Also wrote to them at their registered address in Malta, so will give them a few days and see if I get a response.
Failing that, I’ll start pestering the MFSA because its ridiculous that a company under their regulation cant be contactable, or so it seems.
Keep us posted if you get any success!
Damian says
Hi,
Has anyone tried to employ Maltese lawyer to take ignored MFSA decision?
I spoke with couple of law firms and now I’m exploring legal options with one of them.
I’ll post an update once I have more specific information from lawyers, including associated cost.
Allison says
Hi,has anybody had any luck with actually getting any money back? Damien did you get yours? Thanks.Allison
Damian says
Hi Allison,
Answering your questions: email address for MFSA is consumerinfo@mfsa.com.mt and communications@mfsa.com.mt
I filed my complaint by post (cost me £5 to send it) after requesting copy of the compliant form via email above.
I haven’t received any money. Regardless of MFSA decision awarding me over £1k, Northway offered only write-off of the outstanding balance.
I now have some more information from a Maltese law firm and next step is to refer my case to the Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services, which will cost 25 Euros. According to the lawyer ‘The cases are heard relatively quickly’ and outcome is legally binding for both parties.
Allison says
Hi, thank you your reply, did you have a final response from Northway ? I’m not sure whether to go straight to the MFSA , I hope you have a good outcome. I will probably be going down the same route as yourself, they don’t make it easy do they! Keep me updated ☺ Allison
Damian says
Hi Alison,
MFSA will not review your case unless you have final response or Northway fail to replay to your complaint within 8 weeks (that was my case).
Now I do have Northway final response – passed to me by MFSA in their conclusion of my case.
FourMenHadADream says
I’ve just stumbled on this post after complaining to other PDL which are now in the queue to be reviewed by an Ombudsman.
On 27/10/2016 I sent a complaint to 7 payday lenders including poundstillpayday. All the others promptly replied and after reading MSE PDL post I put poundstillpayday on the back burner and concentrated on the others.
I’ve now found an email from Northway Financial dated 21/11/2016 with the statement of accounts, with loans from 27/07/2008 each and every single month until 23/03/2011 with circa £5,000 in interest and fees paid.
Would I be able to make a complaint with these loans?
I had completely forgot about this firm as many on MSE weren’t having much luck due to them not being regulated in U.K.
Mandy says
I’m really confused on this particular lender. I sent a complaint email to swift sterling on 10.2.17 and I got am seer saying they had been bought by another company in Dec 2015 and I should send my email to complaints@northwayfinancial.com I did the same day at the beginning of Feb 2017 and I have never had a word back – nothing not even an acknowledgement. Who are Northway Financial? It’s been 8 weeks so should I just send to FOS?
David says
No, as it says on this page they are based and regulated in Malta and many of us are in the same boat. Try Northway’s contact page here http://www.northwayfinancial.com/Northway/ContactUs/tabid/1213/Default.aspx
Also bombard them with emails to complaints@northwayfinancial.com and also info@northwayfinancial.com and enquiries@northwayfinancial.com.
Additionally, email the MFSA (Maltese regulator) here http://www.mfsa.com.mt/pages/contact.aspx and tell them you cant get a response from Northway and ask them to help. They forwarded on a message from me, and hopefully will spur them into action if they get sick of us lot pestering them!
melly says
Hi
Can anyone please help me with this. I have been in contact with the Maltese Fo for the past 6 months regarding my complaint with Northway. They found in my favour but informed me as Northway disagreed there was nothing further they could do as their findings are not legally binding.
I know people have had success with this company so i just wondered if anyone had any advice on how to proceed from here?
Damian says
Hi,
I’m similar situation with Northway. MFSA ruled in my favor and Northway totally disregarded MFSA conclusion.
I got in touch with with the lawyer in Malta and got following advise:
1. Lawyer can vet the MFSA decision and draft legal letter demanding payment. This would cost 150 Euro +VAT. Unfortunately lawyer could not guarantee positive outcome.
2. Lawyer also suggested logging compliant with Office of the Arbiter of Financial Services. After some digging you can do that yourself in similar way to compliant to MFSA and it cost 25 Euros. According to Arbiter of Financial Services Act http://justiceservices.gov.mt/DownloadDocument.aspx?app=lp&itemid=27478&l=1 decision reached by them will legally binding.
I contacted Office of the Arbiter of Financial Services on 4th of April 2017 and was advised in return:
“We may be able to assist you with your complaint but not at this stage due to changes in administrative procedures. We kindly ask you to contact us again within 3 to 4 weeks regarding compliant against Northway Financial Corporation Limited.”
I will be contacting them again in early May.
David says
See an earlier post from someone regarding the Office of the Financial Arbiter in Malta.
David says
I finally received my ‘goodwill gesture’ refund of £337 from Northway today, months after my original complaint (although I gave up and forgot about it for a while) and about three weeks after they got back to me with that offer, the amount to be paid within 6 working days (!) of me agreeing to it.
There is lots of good advice on this page for anyone dealing with Northway, although as they’re based in Malta I’m not sure how successful anyone will be if they have to take their complaints further – however for the communication issues, just keep using those email addresses and contacting the MFSA to tell them of the lack of response. Good luck to everyone!
Allison says
Hi, I can’t believe how quickly they got back to me when I asked if I owed them anything! Which I do! But since I put in complaint
. Nothing! !! Grrrrr
FourMenHadADream says
I complained to them using the following email address a week past on Saturday. I’ll send them a reminder this weekend however I’m not expecting to get a response from them.
complaints@northwayfinancial.com
Any other useful email address I could copy in when contacting them?
Nigel says
Looks alike all the compliants will now have to go through the http://financialarbiter.org.mt/en/Pages/Home.aspx
I have received the following. All existing cases are closed and you will have to re-complain. This is really annoying. But will just have to persevere.
Reference is made to our correspondence hereunder and to your e-mail of today addressed to our Communications Department.
We would like to inform you that the role of the Consumer Complaints Manager has now been phased out and consumer complaints against financial institutions licensed by the Authority may be lodged by residents and non-residents at the Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services in terms of Act XVI of 2016 – The Arbiter of the Financial Services Act, 2016 (http://justiceservices.gov.mt/DownloadDocument.aspx?app=lp&itemid=27478&l=1).
The Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services is an autonomous and independent body. It has the power to mediate, investigate and adjudicate complaints filed by customers against financial services providers. The Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services can issue binding rulings in relation to complaints filed therewith.
In the event of a complaint against a licence holder and an unsatisfactory outcome, complainants may kindly contact the Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services on 80072366 or 21249245. Further details about the set-up, including information about the Arbiter’s complaint procedure are accessible from the portal – http://www.financialarbiter.org.mt
Further to the above, kindly note that your complaint file shall now be closed from our end.
Sincerely
Damian says
That is actually a good news. According to Arbiter of Financial Services Act http://justiceservices.gov.mt/DownloadDocument.aspx?app=lp&itemid=27478&l=1 decision reached by them will legally binding and hopefully Northway won’t ignore them as we have seen so far with decisions from MFSA.
Allison says
Thanks for this information, I’m not sure I quite understand. I haven’t had a final response from Northway so should I wait for one then do you go straight to the Arbiter rather than the MFSA? Thanks. Allison
Ben says
It would seem so Alison. Wait until either you have received a final response from Northway (unlikely) or until 8 weeks from your written complaint (via email). – more likely. Then escalate your complaint to the new Arbiter service, it seems this body will operate in a similar way to the Ombudsman in the UK. As Damien said this seems that the result will be legally binding, rather than just a suggestion which Northway could previously ignore.
I would think that Northway will now respond appropriately, both in terms of time and a settlement offer.
It seems unfortunate for those that have already accepted a full and final offer for a fraction of their claim.
Personally, I’ll be escalating my complaint to the Arbiter at the beginning of May if Northway do not respond and I am more optimistic about getting a full refund.
Has anyone submitted a complaint to the new arbiter service? What has your initial response been from them?
Allison says
Ah ok thank you for replying. I will wait another week then complete the Arbiter form, hopefully we will have some good outcomes ☺
Greg says
Hi all,
I am currently waiting for a response from northway about my complaint the 8 weeks are due on 2nd may. For reading here I shouldn’t be expecting any response. So I will be then taking it further. I have basically just asked them to wipe my current amount I owe them as it is roughly around the same I paid interest.
However, I have just noticed after going through my email that my debt with them has been passed on to CRS which is a debt collection agency. My question is, would this be the same process as listed above for MotorMile Finance as CRS are a UK based company?
Any help on this would be greatful.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, same process.
FourMenHadADream says
The following document sets out when the Maltese Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services can investigate complaints. From what I’ve read, if you haven’t heard back from Northway within 15 days of sending your complaint to them, you can pass to the Arbiter.
Complaints must be sent by post or in person, and you’ll be charged a fee of €25.
Sarah, are you aware if the new Arbiter will review using he 6+3 rule?
http://financialarbiter.org.mt/en/the-complaint-process/Documents/The_process_of_a%20_complaint%20v2-%203%20July%202016.pdf
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So far as I know the so-called “6 + 3 rule” is simply not relevant to anywhere except a case with the Financial Ombudsman in this country.
Ben says
I contacted the financial arbiter to request bank transfer information for the 25 EUR fee, which they provided promptly. I also questioned the time period of when to escalate the complaint, 8 weeks, 15 days or 30 days. The 8 weeks comes from the Financial Ombudsman requirements, the 15 days from the financial arbiter document: http://financialarbiter.org.mt/en/thecomplaintprocess/Documents/The_process_of_a%20_complaint%20v2-%203%20July%202016.pdf
and the 30 days comes from the 15-30 days that was detailed in the response alongside the response for the bank information for the 25 EUR fee transfer.
I asked the financial arbiter the time needed before my complaint could be escalated to them and they suggested writing to Northway again detailing with a second reminder.
This was done today (day 20) I have given them 10 more days and will escalated the complaint to the financial arbiter after 30 days. I do not expect to hear anything from Northway in this time period, but if I do I will post here.
Nigel says
I am a bit annoyed with this. I would have hoped existing investigations could have been transferred over. But no they have just been closed and I have to start the process all over again, mine is six weeks into investigation. But Just have to persevere.
Kerry says
Hi I’ve had a response off northway regarding my pounds till payday loans. They have took back the debt from motermile debt collectors and are now offering as a “goodwill gesture” to clear my outstanding balance of 527. My only concern is I paid interest to them for over 2 years which is a lot more not to mention charges when I didn’t pay on time one month. I just want to know if anyone had any success when going through matter financial conduct authority? Just seeing if it’s worth trying or am I best to just take this offer to clear the debt.
Allison says
Hi ya, I’m in the same position Northway emailed me yesterday and offered to clear my debt of 388 and £76.68 compensation – not sure why that amount! I know that I paid £2,225 in charges so I’m not sure what to do next either 😣
Karen says
Hi everyone ,
I have received an email saying that they have found northway at fault and my award should be 1385 pounds but as a goodwill gesture northway have offered me £285 , what do I do now ?
Andrea says
Dont accept. They tried the same with me. I held out. I was in the first batch of people who complained to the MFSA and my claim was uoheld when I proved I was in financial hardship and they hadnt checked affordability. At first I was turned down then sent bank statements and detials of other loans and rollovers. They changed their minds and gave me back everything minus the outstanding balance. Having set a preedence I dont get why you are all waiting. I can only assume they dont have tbe funds to pay everyine back so are hoping many will withdraw claims prior to the MFSA making final decisions. As I say if turned down appeal and send proof you couldnt afford to repay in full. Good luck.
Allison says
Hi, thank you for that. I will escalate on Tuesday,
Nick H says
Submitted my complaint to new Maltese Arbiter and paid my 25 euro fee.
I think the process will be different to the UK as I have just had this email confirmation from the Arbiter:
Kindly note that the first step of every case is that both parties ie the complainant and the provider will be invited to mediation. If mediation is accepted from both parties meeting has to be done either with both parties being physical present or electronically.
If mediation fails or any party fails to accept mediation, a hearing date is set with the Arbiter. During the hearing as in mediation members have to be either electronically present or physical.
We can also provide communication by Google hangouts.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Very interesting!
As general advice, people should say Yes to any offers of mediation.
Nick H says
Yes I will definitely co-operate with the arbiter and agree to any mediation. Judging by what others have said about SS and them not agreeing and paying out even when they lost with the MFSA in the past I’m not expecting an easy resolution – but intend to stick to my guns and see the process through
Allison says
Hi ya, how do you get in touch with the Arbiter please? I clicked on the link but it says the page doesn’t exist. Thank you
Nick H says
This is the email I got originally with relevant link :
Please refer to your e-mail below.
You need to lodge a complaint with your provider first before we can intervene. You therefore need to write to your provider and explain your concerns and what you expect the provider to do to put things right for you. Allow the provider between 15 to 30 days to reply. If the provider does not reply within this period, or the reply remains unsatisfactory, you may then lodge a complaint with the OAFS.
If you have a complaint against a financial services provider, you need to lodge a complaint with the Office as further explained on our website http://www.financialarbiter.org.mt. All complaints received are treated as new cases, and therefore have to go through the process as required by law.
Please visit http://financialarbiter.org.mt/en/for_consumers/Pages/For-Consumers.aspx before you submit your complaint with us.
Complaints submitted to the Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services should be lodged in Maltese. Complaints submitted in English only be accepted in specific circumstances (such as, for example, in the case where the complainant is not Maltese) and in such cases all correspondence should be in English. Please visit http://www.financialarbiter.org.mt. for details.
Complaint form should be compiled on your PC, then saved and printed. Do not forget to sign the form before you submit it to us. If more than one person is making a complaint, the form should be signed by all the complainants. Handwritten complaint forms will not be accepted. We will return complaint form which are handwritten. Complaint form can be downloaded: http://financialarbiter.org.mt/en/for_consumers/Pages/Submit-a-Complaint.aspx for further information. Relative documents should be sent by mail to the following address :- Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services, St Calcedonius Square, Floriana FRN 1530 – Malta
Make sure that copies of all documents in support of your complaint are attached to your complaint form. You should also attach a copy of your complaint letter/email to the provider, together with a copy of its reply. Kindly advise us also your skype address in your application form.
We are unable to accept complaint forms which are:
a) unsigned or submitted by e-mail;
b) submitted without an original signatures;
c) without a copy of the letter/email of complaint to the provider, and its reply
d) without payment of Eur25 (locally drawn cheques are only accepted) . If you prefer you can send payment through an electronic bank transfer.
Our bank details are as follows:
Account name: Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services – Customers’ Fees Account
Bank: Bank of Valletta plc, Floriana, Malta
BIC : VALLMTMT
IBAN: MT27VALL22013000000040024122843
Account: 40024122843 – THIS IS A EURO-DENOMINATED ACCOUNT
Charges should be SHARE.
Payment details – Name of complainant
In the meantime, if you believe that this delay might prejudice your rights under the law – such as the risk that your case becomes time-barred – we recommend that you seek legal advice.
Allison says
Hi, thank you for your reply, not sure if I understand it all! So basically I need to print out the form and send off with the original and final response from northway, would you send fee through bank at time of posting ?
Nick H says
I orginally sent it by email and said it had to be sent by post. I posted it and they emailed me two days letter to confirm receipt but I had not yet paid the 25 euro fee. I made the payment by bank transfer striaght away and sent them a screenshot as proof. They then confirmed all was in order and my complaint was being looked at.
Yesterday I received a letter from them also confirming they were looking at my cash and it included an official receipt for my 25 euro payment.
PM says
Hi all,
Well out of the blue today, I received a response from the MFSA stating that although Swift Sterling did not agree with their findings (that I should be refunded full fees etc in the value of £2939), that as a “goodwill gesture”, they will refund me £1,750. Naturally enough I’m thrilled to bits with this as I had all but given up on this. They said they will issue a cheque within 20 days – which I’m sure is when the real battle will begin.
Has anyone actually received the refund from them, and if so how long did it take?
regards
PM
PM says
Just an update, the MFSA have responded again to say that Swift Sterling will issue payment direct to my bank account today.
Fingers crossed.
Regards
PM
PM says
Update – refund was in my account this morning.
MFSA advised Tuesday of their findings, I accepted Swift Sterling offer. Money paid today.
To be fair, what they agreed was way more than I expected
Advice to everyone – keep trying, don’t give up.
Nick H says
By MFSA do you mean the new arbiter department as I thought all open complaints to MFSA had been closed with the new legislation?
PM says
Hi Nick,
No the original MFSA. They are in the process of handing over I assume.
PM says
This is what they sent with the agreement email:
The Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services
We would like to inform you that following recent legislative updates on the 13 April 2017, the role of the Consumer Complaints Manager has now been phased out and consumer complaints against financial institutions licensed by the Authority may be lodged by residents and non-residents at the Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services in terms of Act XVI of 2016 – The Arbiter of the Financial Services Act, 2016 (http://justiceservices.gov.mt/DownloadDocument.aspx?app=lp&itemid=27478&l=1 ).
The Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services is an autonomous and independent body. It has the power to mediate, investigate and adjudicate complaints filed by customers against financial services providers. The Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services can issue binding rulings in relation to complaints filed therewith.
In the event of a complaint against a licence holder and an unsatisfactory outcome, complainants may kindly contact the Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services on 80072366 or 21249245. Further details about the set-up, including information about the Arbiter’s complaint procedure are accessible from the portal – http://www.financialarbiter.org.mt
PM says
No, it was the MFSA.
Made the complaint to Northway last May.
Contacted MFSA 3 months ago – they decided I was due £2,900, Northway offered £1750 – I accepted on the guarantee that they would lodge the money straightaway. Got it today, 3 days after agreeing.
My opinion is that they are trying to resolve as many cases through the MFSA before the Arbiter takes over.
But delighted with the outcome.
Nick H says
My complaint was lodged with the MFSA and I got the same email about the arbiter, but they told me I had to lodge a new complaint. Probably because yours had already been adjudicated and an offer made whilst mine was in early stages. Congratulations on a successful resolution
PM says
Thanks Nick,
Yeah, was very surprised at how quickly it was turned around. I had absolutely no contact from Northway – they were probably glad to see the back of me because I bombarded them with about 50 emails a day for the last month.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
50 a day? gulp!
PM says
It got the result Sara
Sara (Debt Camel) says
*respect*
peter says
I`ve had NO reply or acknowledgement whatsovever from MFSA after sending 3 email….. can somebody please send me another contact email please
Nick H says
See my reply above with link to the new financial arbiter team in malta
Emma says
Hi All,
Has anyone put their complaint into the Arbiter yet?
I’ve downloaded and filled in the form and will be sending it off tomorrow but just wanted to see if anyone had gotten further than that and what their experience had been like so far?
Thanks :)
Emma
Nick H says
Hi Emma
As stated above my complaint is with them – they’ve been quite good at getting back to me and emailing quickly to any questions I’ve had. They’ve told me that Northway have 20 days from the date that they contacted them in order to get back to them as to whether they agree to mediation or whether it will go to an arbiter.
Nick
Emma says
Hi Nick,
Thanks for the info.
I have filled in there complaint form today and have sent that back, including my complaint to Northway & all chases.
I assume that if they dont agree to mediation or just ignore that the arbiter will review like an ombudsman.
Also I terms of mediation do you know how this works? It said somewhere about physically or electronically being there, have they explained that to you?
Many Thanks
Emma
Nick H says
They told me that I’ve I couldn’t be there in person I would have to hold a meeting with them via Skype or Google Hangouts
Ben says
Nick will you be updating the comments with your progress? I have a purely selfish interest I’m afraid, whilst at the same time wishing you the best of luck. I have a statute barred debt with Northway and only wish to pursue the matter further with the arbiter if the outcome is successful :-P
Emma says
Hi Nick,
Have Northway confirmed if they accept mediation yet?
Thanks
Emma
Nick H says
The Arbiter have told me that Northway have until May 24th to respond – I’ve heard nothing in the past week but have a reminder to ask for an update on that date.
Stephen says
Hello, I only found this site last week and have sent for the statement of accounts to all lenders including Swift/Northway.
Have received my Accounts statement from Swift and submitted the full complaint today. Lets see how it goes!!
Stephen says
Hello all.
Today I have received a final response from Northway/Swift. Really surprised how quickly they have responded (Initial statement requested 05/05/17 – final response 17/05/17)
In the response there was this line regarding an outstanding debt passed to MMF “Upon receipt of your complaint, we contacted MMF to request a recall of your file to enable us to respond to you accordingly, but were informed that loan balance is £nil.” Strange coincidence as MMF had recently chased leading me to find this site!! (eternally thankful!!)
I had settled that, minus the defaulted loan value, the interest and charges paid amounted to £150 in my favor.
Northway have made a reasonable offer slightly higher than £150 difference With the balance at £nil I am thinking to accept this offer as long as all traces of the default are removed from my credit record.
Thank you Sara and everyone that has commented. 1 down, 11 to go!!
Stephen says
One other thing, unsure if this helped them to respond quicker but I found information from the OAFS site and added this to the bottom of my complaint:
“You should never have given me these unaffordable loans. I would like to ask you to refund the interest and extra charges I paid. The UK Financial Ombudsman suggests that statutory interest of 8% is added to this sort of refund. The Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services in Malta also supports compensation claims with interest at a reasonable rate.
I only found out I could make this sort of irresponsible lending complaint in May 2017. I understand the Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services in Malta will consider all my loans.
The Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services in Malta allows you 15 days to attempt to investigate and resolve my complaint; I will refer this matter to the Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services if I have not received a reply 15 days from the date at the top of this letter.”
peter says
About 60 times :)
It was only today (the final day of 8 weeks), that they replied – when I threatened them with the Arbiter.
I obviously let them know how happy I was with their lack of correspondance over that period!
peter says
Well, well, well…. A response from Northway!!
Basically, I had 16 consecutive loans and repaid £1450 in interest.
I defaulted on last loan, and owe MMF £510
Northway have offered to wipe the MMF loan, and have offered £175 as a “goodwill” gesture.
I said, in no uncertain terms…”no”
I`ve replied stating that I am owed the FULL amount of unfair interest I paid on their irresponsible loans….. But have said that I am willing to negotiate before I involve the arbiter. I want 60% PLUS the MMF debt wiped and cleared from my credit record.
Fingers crossed…..
Emma says
Have they come back to you?
I actually had a similar email today but offering £350 as a refund.
Haven’t replied yet, would be interested to see if they increase?
Emma
peter says
No, not yet Emma. I gave them until Monday afternoon to consider my request.
I`ll let you know.
Out of interest….how much did you pay in fees?
Emma says
So I paid about £3.5k in interest. Apparently I had an outstanding balance of £838.88 which I don’t agree with but they offered to wipe that and give me a refund of £350.
I don’t really want the hassle of the Arbiter if possible so thinking of saying I would accept £1,000.
How much did you pay in interest? Did you go back with a figure you wanted?
Emma
peter says
I paid about £1400 in interest.
I asked for £500 to settle to “save them the hassle of another Arbiter case” :)
PLUS to wipe my final debt of £500 when i defaulted
Emma says
I’ve asked for £1,000 so will be interesting to see what they come back to with both.
If they don’t want to go through the Arbiter they will settle.
Let me know when you hear back and I will do them same! Good luck :)
Emma
Ben says
Peter can you copy n paste the last email that got the response from Northway and was it sent to the standard email address?
peter says
Yes, it was the same email address (complaints@northwayfinancial…..)
Basically, I told them, that their 8 weeks were about to elapse. I said that I would be giving them until 2pm that day to respond, or otherwise, I`d be forwarding my case the The Arbiter.
(they responded in minutes!) – This, despite getting NO reply whatsoever from my previous 60 emails to them
Emma says
Any reply from Northway today Peter or is that a stupid question?
Emma
Emma says
Hi Peter,
Just had a reply saying that their first offer stands and they won’t budge now.
Not sure what I’m going to do to be honest.
Emma
Peter says
Just had the same mail Emma….
I think I’ll go to the Arbiter.
My only concern is that my loans are 9 years old!!
I wonder if these “affordability” requirements were in place then?
Peter says
Well, if I get a similar response, i will send this form off to the Arbiter.
Yes, it will cost me £25…..but they can’t just pick and choose who they give refunds to, and how much they give!
peter says
I was thinking….. WHY have Northway offered me a “goodwill” gesture of £175
No company in their right mind simply gives away money for free to shut people up!
If they truly believed that I had no case against them….then they would say just that
Their offer is basically an admission of guilt – I have told them this, and asked them to send me an e-mail headed “final response” – I shall then go ahead and send the complaint to The Arbiter
I`ve also told them, that previous cases (which are similar, or the same as mine) have all been found in the claimants favour, and therefore have set a precedent – They simply can`t win, surely.
Emma says
Did you get a reponse in the end yesterday Peter?
Thanks
Emma
peter says
Hi Emma
After yesterday`s e-mail, and after asking for a reply marked “final response” – They have offered me £400 “goodwill”
It`s a sort of deal or no deal situation for me now :)
Surely, if they initially offer a gesture of “goodwill”, then that is basically an admission of guilt on their part? Nobody gives away free money!! I also mentioned that previous cases where Northway HAVE paid customers back have set a precedent……
Emma says
So they increased your offer from £175 to £400 as a goodwill gesture?
That’s a clear sign that they think they did something wrong, surely???
Emma
peter says
Exactly!!
I`m in a muddle now haha…. My loans are 9 years old – will the Arbiter say “we can`t go back this far”, also, has anybody actually had a positive outcome after going through the arbiter? And, if I DO win…. how long will the process take?
Is it worth the risk? Do I gamble £400 in the hope of approx £1400 , or, do I take the money and run?
peter says
Having read the “BRIEF NOTES” on The Arbiter website, Section 7 “time limits” states;
“An Arbiter shall have the competence to hear
complaints if a complaint is registered not
later than two years from the day on which
the complainant first had knowledge of the
matters complained of.
In addition, a complaint may also be brought
to the Arbiter in relation to the conduct of a
financial services provider which occurred
between 1 May 2004 and 18 April 2016”
I was worried that as my loans were in 2009, that I would fall out of the limit….. but clearly not :)
Therefore, I shall be REFUSING Northway`s “goodwill” offer of £400, and submitting my complaint form to the Arbiter.
peter says
Actually, having thought about it…. sod it, I`m taking the £400 and running. (I may regret this, but hey-ho!!)
1. There is NO GUARANTEE that the Arbiter will rule in my favour
and
2. You are unlikely to get interest of the first 3 or 4 loans back, as they can`t be regarded as unaffordable until then….. so there goes another £400
off my POSSIBLE refund.
I would never gamble £400 to win £400 OR £500 more in “real life” – so like I said, I`m accepting it – After all, this, to me is FREE money that I wasn`t expecting.
I wish you all good luck though, and shall follow your replies with interest – I hope you ALL get what you want.
I`d like to thank you all for your input, advice and replies, Peter.
Maggie says
Well done Pete. Can i ask if you’ve had your money yet? They offered me a settlement which i am considering but wondered how quick they are to actually pay you.
Perer says
Cleared in bank within 5 minutes of sending email.
Maggie says
Thank you x
Al says
Hi Guys, I submitted a complaint to Northway in October 2016 and had no response. I’ve been following the thread so decided to email them again yesterday with the threat of the Arbiter if they did not respond. They emailed me back this afternoon with an apology for the delay and a goodwill gesture of 459.63. I took 8260 worth of loans (25 in total) between Dec 2010 and May 2012, I don’t have the exact figure for the interest but I’m guessing it to be 3000+, does the Arbiter add interest like the UK Ombudsmen? And does anyone know how much the intertest is and how is it applied to the claim? Is it annual?
Thanks for your help everyone and keep up the hardwork.
Rob says
Hi there,
I got an email start of May offering a goodwill gesture (small amount). I replied asking for a slight increase, but to date they have not responded. In the meantime my wife’s complaint is into its ninth week, so I emailed them to enquire if any word, again nothing back. Hope I haven’t cooked my goose, as have emailed them 3 times but no response. I see people have been getting responses, so am a bit worried now as they have ignored me.
Allison says
Hi, they offered me a small amount £70! I paid 2,700 interest. I emailed back with a counter offer but no reply and it’s been weeks 😣 hope you have more luck. Keep us informed
Plus I have emailed a million times!
Al says
Hi Allison,
Email them again for a final response and say that due to the length of time with no response if you don’t here from them within 7 days you will escalate to the Financial Arbiter in Malta. I put this statement in each of my emails and they were very good at replying (daily replies with all the information I requested) I paid nearly the same as you in interest and they offered me 575 GBP. The Maltese Financial Arbiter seems to be turning these cases around quite quickly so I have refused the offer and hopefully I’ll be successful with Arbiter. I’ll keep you posted.
Allison says
Hi, my last email from them does say final offer ,but I emailed back refusing and I haven’t heard anything I was hoping they would consider , I will send another one and see if they reply but will fill in the form and send it off can’t lose anything by doing that. Thanks for your help keep us posted on your case ☺ .Allison
Nick H says
Still waiting for an update from the arbiter as Northway have until 24th to agree to mediation or not.
However whilst waiting I have been reading some links provided by the arbiter and this could be of interest to those submitting new complaints.
As per the maltese arbiter companies only have 15 days to repsond – not 8 weeks like in the uk!
http://financialarbiter.org.mt/en/the-complaint-process/Pages/The-complaint-process-in-some-more-detail.aspx
Stephen says
Hello
Yes i used this on my complaint (notes above https://debtcamel.co.uk/swift-sterling-pounds-till-payday/comment-page-5/#comment-229071)
It seemed to get a response and offer quickly. Northway cleared the default debt yesterday and deposited funds today, 14 days from initial contact.
Ben says
Hi Nick, interested to hear the update on your case with the Arbiter. Did Northway agree to mediation or has the case been escalated to an arbiter/adjudicator?
Nick H says
The deadline for Northway to get back to the arbiter to agree to mediation is today so let’s see what they say!
Just emailed the arbiter to see if they have responded and also asked if they have an estimated timeframe if a complaint gets passed to an adjudicator.
Ben says
Good luck, keep the thread updated if you don’t mind, I’m sure I’m not the only one monitoring the progress of your case. From my initial experience with the arbiter I’m sure you’ll receive a swift (no pun intended!) response.
Nick H says
I will definitely keep the thread updated. I know from my own experience that this kind of thing is a great resource for others in a similar situation.
Nick H says
I have just received this email from the arbiter:
Dear Nick
Kindly note that we have just received reply. Copy of which will be sent to you under registered mail.
Regards
Valerie
I have gone back and asked whether they can send it to me by email or at least let me know what their response is – Seems odd they are doing this my mail in this day and age – I’m sure I ticked the box to communicate by email on the complaint form.
Ben says
Hmm strange about the mail indeed. Surprised that Northway replied but not suprised at all that they responded at the last minute.
Interesting to see what the reply is, a willingness to enter mediation it would seem. I wonder what the process is like – at least you can say you will be one of the few people who actually have a 2 way conversation with Northway ;-)
Keep on pioneering the good fight Nick! We are reading with interest!
John C says
I do like to pop back to this thread every once in a while to see how everyone is getting on nailing this grubby company to the wall. Although my financial recompense was nowhere near what the MFSA recommended (I received around £4k, despite paying over £13k in interest to Northway over a number of years), i’m really pleased to see a new competent regulator might finally exist in Malta that can do something about these cowboys. Northway lied through their teeth on a constant basis, treat customers like dirt and frankly aren’t fit to practice any financial business. I wish that this had all been around a year ago, and i’d be curious if anyone has decided to go to the Arbiter who accepted a payment from Northway.
Personally I never signed anything, but did reluctantly accept through the MFSA. I even went back to Northway after they decided to payout on 6 years rather than the 2 they quoted, saying I felt bullied into accepting an offer, but they told me to do one
Good luck everyone, I hope the new Arbiter works for you all
Freddie says
Hi Nick H, what info did the arbiter ask for please? Bank Statements/Credit reports etc? Has it been easy to deal via email?
Nick H says
They didn’t ask for anything specific originally, but I sent bank statements and credit reports as my supporting documentation as that is what the FOS in the UK had asked for so thought it would save a bit of time.
Unfortunately though the arbiter in Malta forwarded all these documents to Northway without letting me know they were doing it, so maybe best just to wait to send them what they ask for when they ask for it!
Nick H says
The arbiter emailed me a copy of Northways response – it was basically just a reworded version of their final response to me so I’m not sure why it has taken two weeks, I was expected to be given a date for mediation. In summary they say:
1.There is no Maltese legislation, law or regulation which differentiates between different types of loans or what would hypothetically constitute ‘short term lending’ so my claims are unfounded in fact and law.
2.They have acted in accordance with applicable legislation and regulations and general principles set out in the MFSA’s policy document.
3.They do not offer rollovers or extensions to loans and all loans have to be payed back before another loan was issued.
4. I never paid late so they must have been affordable.
5. They have never been investigated by the MFSA or OFT for wrong doing and they were fully aware of their practices.
6. In summary all my claims are unfounded and it falls upon me to prove my allegations – but they reiterate their offer of cancelling the £608.78 balance that I owe them if I withdraw the complaint and it is full and final settlement.
I replied to the Arbiter :
Northway claim that I have not provided any proof for my claims and it is all unfounded – all I have done at this stage is give a brief overview of my complaint and had not been asked to go into any specific detail, which I am more than happy to do, which I assume is what will happen at mediation.
Northway say that they never roll over loans. The fact is they issue a new loan the same or following day and give it new references etc. This is using a technicality to get around this matter and the truth is they issued loans to me for 28 consecutive months for steadily increasing amounts without further checks to affordability.
They say I always paid on time so my finances must have been fine – The truth of that matter is the loans were all due on my payday every month so it was impossible to make a late payment. They should have noticed the improper practice of requesting another loan immediately for the same or increased amount for 28 consecutive months. They also say my bank statement showed I never went overdrawn, That is a lie as I did on a number of occasions. They have also conveniently ignored the fact that I had loans from up to 6 other payday lenders. I only provided copies to the arbiter to prove I was not wasting money on excessive gambling or wasting money on other unnecessary items.
I had confirmation this morning that my replay has been passed to the mediating officer who will contact me accordingly so it looks like I will have to wait a little longer for the mediation meeting.
One thing that is worrying me is that the letter from Northway looks like it was drafted by a lawyer and I’m not sure whether all the claims and references in it are being used as a means to scare me off from continuing and just settling. I don’t feel like I can compete if it came to a mediating meeting and they start quoting regulations and legislation at me
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well I am not a lawyer, but some points you could make include:
The loans from Northway were agreements under the Consumer Credit Act (1974) and under English law. It is not clear why Maltese law is relevant.
In the CCA, Section 140A “Unfair relationships between creditors and debtors” says
“(1) The court may make an order under section 140B in connection with a credit agreement if it determines that the relationship between the creditor and the debtor arising out of the agreement (or the agreement taken with any related agreement) is unfair to the debtor because of one or more of the following—
(a) any of the terms of the agreement or of any related agreement;
(b) the way in which the creditor has exercised or enforced any of his rights under the agreement or any related agreement;
(c) any other thing done (or not done) by, or on behalf of, the creditor (either before or after the making of the agreement or any related agreement).
(2) In deciding whether to make a determination under this section the court shall have regard to all matters it thinks relevant (including matters relating to the creditor and matters relating to the debtor).”
You think your affordability complaint falls under section 140A (1)(c) – the creditor should have had regard to what it knew about your circumstances before making each of the loans and it was unfair of the creditor not to do this. What they knew included your previous loan history with them where the number of repeat borrowings should have suggested after the first few loans that you were becoming dependent on the loans and could not afford to repay a loan without borrowing more.
They referred to the OFT. The OFT’s guide on irresponsible lending is here: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140402142426/http:/www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/general/oft1107.pdf
4.2 of that says “Whatever means and sources of information creditors employ as part of an assessment of affordability should be sufficient to make an assessment of the risk of the credit sought being unsustainable for the borrower in question. In our view this is likely to involve more than solely assessing the likelihood of the borrower being able to repay the credit in question.”
The fact that you never repaid late therefore should not have been taken to imply that you could afford the loans.
4.3 says “The OFT regards ‘in a sustainable manner’ in this context as meaning credit that can be repaid by the borrower:
without undue difficulty – in particular without incurring or increasing problem indebtedness”
The fact that you had to borrow again every month shows that the loans were not affordable. At the start this may not have been clear to the lender, but after the first few loans they should have realised this. If the amount you borrowed tended to go up, this would have been another red flag they should have noticed.
At the start of the payday lending it would not have been proportionate to ask you to supply proof of income and expenses. But later on when you were still borrowing, they should either have stopped lending or asked you for more detailed information.
Nick H says
Thank you Sara that is all really useful and helpful
Al says
Hi Nick,
I am probably a few weeks behind you, I’ve had a final response from Northway and they offered my 500 pounds on my second offer, I refused and submitted my complaint to the Arbiters office and they confirmed they had it on Tuesday along with my fee so they are now processing it. How long did it take for Northway to respond via the Arbiter if you don’t mind me asking? I paid over 3000 in interest and took loans every month for 25 months so my case is very similar to yours and my last loan was 5 years ago.
The information from Sarah is excellent and I will use it if they send me the same response.
Nick H says
The Arbiter gave them 14 days and they replied right at the end of the deadline!
Your case is spookily similar as mine was about 5 years ago too!
Good luck!
Al says
Thanks Nick, its taken me since October 2016 to get this far with Northway so I am in no rush. But a 14 day deadline seems fine to me and I’ll keep you all posted with their response. I’d written this claim off if I am honest and had great success with the UK Ombudsmen so I am hoping this is the same. I have my fingers crossed for everyone who is submitting a claim.
Ben says
Hi Nick, any update on your case? Have you been mediatng with Northway at all? Skype, Google Hangouts etc.
Nick H says
I’ve been told it’s been passed over to the mediating officer – that was on the 24th.
I still haven’t heard from him so I’ve sent him an email today asking if there is an expected timeline for the mediation and whether there is anything further they need from me at this stage.
I don’t want to seem impatient or rude, but after quite a fast moving start I feel like things are really slowing down a but now – just have to sit tight and wait I suppose
Nick H says
Had this back today – so waiting on Northway!!
Dear Mr H.
Please be informed that we are awaiting date and precise time for mediation from your service provider representatives in Malta. Hopefully we will try to mediate after the 12th of June.
Al says
Seems very efficient to me. I’ve been doing similar claims with the UK ombudsmen and 1 is due to be settled this month but its been 6 months since it was first sent to the Ombudsmen. They’ve done an excellent job and the service is great to have available to us for free but it’s still quite frustrating. So far the Maltese Arbiter seems quite slick, I’ve got my fingers crossed for everyone! I haven’t had an update yet but I’m coming close to my initial 14 days since they contacted Northway on my behalf after receiving my complaint. I’ll keep everyone posted with my progress and responses.
Ben says
Thanks Nick and Al for keeping the thread updated. I really want to send my complaint in too, but I have a statute barred debt with Northway and only want to claim back the money if it’s successful so it can offset the debt.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Not sure why you want to bother with a complaint if the debt is statute barred?
Ben says
The amount that is statute barred is in relation to the last payday loan, approx. £500. Previous to that loan they are approx. 20 loans which have a potential repayment of £2000+ if 8% interest is added. If current complaints to the arbiter are successful, I hope to offset £500 against the £2000. If successful I could be £1500 better off and clear the debt at the same time. Unless I’ve missed something?!
Al says
No Ben you’re dead right, it’s worth chasing it and its only 25 Euros for a service that seems pretty fast so far. I’ll keep you posted on anything I get back from Northway or the Arbieter.
Allison says
Hi ya, just wondered if you had heard back from northway yet? Thanks. Allison
Al says
I sent an email to the Arbieter on Friday so I’m hoping I get a reply on Monday. The 14 day period that the Arbieter state for considering the case has expired, so I’ll wait to see what Northway say. I can only guess that they’ll just reiterate what they said in their ‘final response’, I’ll keep you all posted though.
Nick H says
The arbiter confirmed my date for mediation as June 22nd…. I’m working away that day so can’t do it – so he has rescheduled for June 28th.
I’m not sure what to expect, but I’m basically going to quote a lot of the bits from here that Sarah mentioned about consumer credit act and ask them to agree to repay the interest from loans 3 onwards (and will probably accept from 5!) with 8% simple and if they won’t accept it just ask for it to go to adjudication.
I’ve got a feeling they will try to bully me!
Allison says
Hi ya, so are you doing it by Skype. ? I had a call from the Arbiter asking for statements which I have now sent, they seem to be on the ball, I will be interested to hear how it goes for you, good luck ☺ keep us posted
FourMenHadADream says
I’ll be sending my complaint to the arbiter over the next few days. What’s the best way to make the 25€ payment?
Allison says
Hi ya, I have just done this, if you email them they will send you the bank transfer details, they won’t except any hand written complaint forms (you may know this, I didn’t! ) hope you get on ok
FourMenHadADream says
RBS want to charge an additional £10 for IBAN transfer directly from my account, rip off. Has anyone looked at going through western union for the €25 transfer and would OAFS accept payment this way directly to their bank account?
FourMenHadADream says
Thanks Allison, I emailed them earlier today. The form & bank statements will be posted tomorrow.
How are you getting on with them?
Allison says
Hi, they emailed me this morning to say that they will be in touch accordingly. They seem pretty much on the ball, as soon as they got my forms they rang me. It’s worth a try, Northway weren’t offering me much. So prepared to wait and see what happens. I will keep you posted on here ☺
FourMenHadADream says
Sounds positive. Northway haven’t responded at all to me despite several emails being sent over the last few months.
I’m contemplating rejecting the mediation stage if offered and go straight to adjudicator as they’ve had ample time to resolve.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t recommend doing that. It lets Northway argue they were prepared to mediate but you were unreasonable.
FourMenHadADream says
It’s a fair point Sarah, I’ll keep the board updated with any progress.
Allison says
Hi Sarah, I’m a bit worried about the mediation stage, what actually happens? I’m not sure what I should say ?any advice please? Thanks. Allison
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No one has yet gone through this arbitration. As a general suggestion things to prepare before hand
1) have a very brief summary of your borrowing – just a couple of sentences, going through the number of loans, the time period, whether they were increasing etc. It may be good to start with this. Have a very brief summary of why it was irresponsible lending for Northway to continue to lend to you and that after the first couple of loans they should have made more checks to decide if the loans were affordable – this may be good to try end with.
2) have written out a summary of your financial situation with full details on a seperate sheet if you need them – what your credit record would have shown if Northway had checked, your income, your other borrowings, your essential bills, how these show you couldn’t repay the Northway loans without borrowing more.
3) read your reply from Northway line by line and make notes on anything that is wrong or misses the point. See my comments to Nick on 25th May for some points he could make – some of these may also be relevant to the reply you had (many lenders just send much the same response to everyone!) Make sure you get all these covered during the arbitration.
4) if you aren’t sure what is happening at any point, interrupt (preferably at the end of a point someone is making, not mid-sentence!) and ask. If you don’t hear something clearly or are unsure who said it, ask for it to be repeated.
5) You should be allowed time to make notes and gather your thoughts – say you would like to check something before replying if necessary, don’t feel rushed.
Nick H says
Really usefull info again Sarah – Less than a week until my mediation session – I will ensure that I update this thread as soon as I can.
Ben says
It might be that Northway will cancel the mediation at the last minute and offer a full repayment of interest plus statutory 8%, similar to the way some PPI reclaims went if they got to a court stage and held up right to the time of the bank submitting their defense. Time will tell for Nick H – but it wouldn’t surprise me.
Allison says
Great advice Sarah, glad Nick H is going first ☺ hope you are right Ben, let’s see. …
Sam Hall says
Just got my mediation letter though , I’m going to try and get a solicitor to sit in or just straight up act on my behalf however to not get blind sided by legal jargon
Sara (Debt Camel) says
An English solicitor or a Maltese one? How much interest did you pay? It’s not at all obvious to be that it would be worth paying for this…
Sam says
I pay subs for legal insurance through my job I won’t be billed
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That’s good!
Nick H says
I’ve had to sign something today that the arbiter has sent me re the mediation and it’s contents being private and what discussed being confidential.
So I think I will need to be careful with how I update my progress for this stage and will try to be a bit more generic and share information regarding only the process and not what actually gets discussed so not to jeopardise any agreements etc. Tomorrow is the day!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Good luck for tommorow!
John C says
Good luck Nick
Allison says
Good luck Nick ☺
Nick H says
Northway cancelled an hour before the meeting…..
Dear Mr H
We regret to inform you that the mediation set to take place this afternoon at 1 o’clock (Malta time), was cancelled by the service provider. Further development and proceedings on the matter will be communicated to you in due course.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you couldn’t make this up…
Allison says
Whatttttt! Hope you didn’t take a day off work 😣
FourMenHadADream says
More delaying tactics…
Nick H says
I’m taking this as a kind of positive as it can’t be favorable to them to mess the arbiter about. Luckily I had just booked a meeting room at work to do the online meeting so haven’t wasted a days holiday.
Not a great deal of info from the arbiter so not sure whether to expect a reschedule or an offer of settlement.
Like I’ve said previously I’m happy to take my time and see the process through. Frustrating and sorry to those waiting on me to be the guinea pig in the new process!
Allison says
Let’s hope it is an offer, apology excepted! Must admit I was looking forward to seeing how you got on ☺
FourMenHadADream says
So after OAFS confirming receipt of my complaint documents on Monday, today I received an email from Northway replying to an email I sent to OAFS (I copied in Northway to this email to give them a final chance to respond to me).
Northway advised that they had checked their email system and couldn’t find any email from me regarding my complaint, despite me sending several emails to them using the same email address.
They asked me to send my complaint to them again and they will try to respond in a timely manner. I sent all emails over to them again and asked them to confirm receipt to ensure they arrived this time however they never responded.
Would you believe it!
Allison says
I have emailed them loads and no reply. Though they did at first and they made me an offer, I told them that I didn’t accept it and no reply! In the email they put that they considered the claim closed! I sent it to the Arbiter
Al says
Hi everyone,
Just to keep you updated the OAFS now have all my Skype details and said they will have a mediation date for me next week, hopefully the fact that Northway cancelled on Nick is a sign that they might not argue this all the way. I don’t think I am going to get a solicitor involved, I feel the fact that they have offerred me a goodwill gesture of 500 pounds is enough to go on that they realise they are at fault. I am just going to reiterate my points from my complaint letter, no doubt they will continue with the points in their reply letter and unless they offer me most of my interest back (less the first 3 loans) I’ll just let the Arbiter make a decision. They seem very fast in comparison to our own Ombudsmen service and I’d written this complaint off as it seemed hopeless, so I’m happy to see it through to the end and test the water for everyone else. Good luck everyone
Allison says
Good luck ☺☺
P j says
Al
Would you be able to help me? I’ve only just found this page and stupidly enough I got into financial problems I’ve had loans dating back to 2010 well what I can see online banking. How would I start the process (e.g could I copy how you done it)
Many thanks if you reply
Nick H says
Still not had any contact after the cancellation last week.
I’m working away for the next two weeks so I’ve sent a couple if emails to the arbiter asking for an update as I will struggle to make a rearranged mediation for those two weeks.
Worryingly I’m not even getting a reply from the arbiter now!
Al says
See my comments below, I think you have broken the dead lock mate. They’ve given me a strong offer, 4 times the initial offer of 500 pounds, I am going to push for more and keep you all posted. The OAFs seem very proficient so even if Northway reject the offer and I accept mediation I think it’ll be resolved a lot sooner than my complaints I have with the UK Ombudsmen. They have been great but I have 2 on going since December 2016!!
If Northway reject my offer then I will go straight for mediation, when this happens I will ask the question “what is the procedure if Northway cancel mediation at short notice?” Hopefully this will help you if you still have had no contact from them or the OAFs Nick.
Got my fingers crossed for you.
FourMenHadADream says
Hi Nick, I have just received a response from Northway this morning (I’ll post response when using a computer) rejected my complaint in full and offering a good will gesture of just over £1,000. I paid over £5,000 in interest between 2008 and 2011 with loans each and every single month. My complaint is with OAFS however they haven’t reviewed as off yet.
The updated offer you received, did you negotiate this directly with Northway or was it through OAFS?
Al says
Hi,
My initial goodwill gesture from Northway was 500 pounds, I rejected this and then lodged my complaint with the OAFs. They requested bank statements and the “final response” from Northway which is what you’ve just had. I paid my fee and sent it all into them, they then look at the complaint and ask Northway to respond again after they have reviewed your complaint.
The response I received from Northway today (approximately 5 weeks after initial contact with the OAFs) is where they have increased my offer to 2062.20GBP. To me this indicated that they no that an Arbieter will rule in my favour, so I’ve pushed my luck and asked for 2750 GBP. This is a little less than all the interest I paid and it is without the %8 statutory interest that can be applied by the OAFs. I am hoping that Northway accept this as they will prefer not to pay out in full and I would prefer to avoid delays. That said if they say no I’ll go to mediation because I feel I have nothing to lose. There is no way they’d increase their initial over by %400 if they thought I had no chance in an Arbiter agreeing with me. I have given them 7 days to respond so I will keep you all posted.
Nick H says
So you have been communicating to both the arbiter and also Northway directly? I’ve not had any contact from them since my final response.
Still no reply from the head of mediation – I’m hoping he’s on holiday and just forgotten to put his out of office on!
Al says
Hi Nick/Everyone
I have had an email from the OAFS with a letter response from Northway, offering me 2062.20 GBP as a settlement. You all know I was awaiting a mediation date after recently submitting my Skype and Google hangouts details. I am hoping that the fact that Nick has stuck with it has shown them that we are willing to dig in for a resolution. I am going to counter offer their claim and see if I can get this sorted without the need for mediation. Who thinks 2900GBP is too much? I paid over just 3000GBP in interest and my last loan was May 2012. Any advice?
Al says
Hi Nick,
Northway replied to the OAFs after they sent on my complaint and evidence I provided in the form of bank statements etc. Northway replied directly to the OAFs in the form of a letter which the OAFs forwarded onto me. In the letter it read exactly the same as your response from them, basically saying they except no responsibility however as a gesture of good will they will settle for 2062.20GBP.
I thought rather than reply to the OAFs with a response I thought it would be quicker to respond to Northways letter via email, which I did and I asked for an increase in settlement offer. I then saved the email reply to Northway and sent it onto the OAFs acknowledging that A) I had received the response from Northway B) that I rejected their findings and have asked for an increase to settle without mediation C) I had given Northway 7 days to respond and depnding on the outcome would depend if I would need OAFs mediation.
The OAFs responded within the hour to say that “my complaint would stay open pending a decision from me regarding settlement or the need for mediation”
I must admit so far communication has been very good from them. Hopefully Northway dig a bit deeper and I’ll take it and run, be nice to have it before the summer holidays.
Nick H says
Ah that makes sense now – I wish i’d have sent Northway a counter offer before the mediation as well – but I think I’m just starting to get a little impatient as I can see the end in sight. I just need to get back into the mindset of letting the process take it’s course.
The communication before my arranged mediation was excellent – just been radio silence since it was cancelled so I’m just a little worried there may be another twist!
Hope Northway settle with you fro what you’ve asked for and don’t keep dragging it out!
Emma says
Hi Guys
After complaining for the last 6 months I got an offer from Northway for 2490.00 and it was in my bank account the same. All I did was kept thrusting legal advice. I’m take 2500 as I wasn’t expecting anyting.
Nick H says
I’ve still not had any reply from the arbiter about a rescheduled mediation session, and I’ve even emailed the original person at the Maltese Arbiter who I was communicating with before his was passed to the mediation team.
This is all a bit worrying for me now as they used to respond on the same day and now it’s been two weeks with no contact and they’ve ignored multiple emails.
Joe says
Hi all,
Help please! I emailed Northway before finding out that was unlikely to get a response so this thread has been wonderful to read. I’m going after these. Along with other companies these firms cost me 4 years of my life as the cycle of debt meant I lost friends and social life as a result to pay them back. I’m back on a level footing now but would be great to treat friends who helped.
I sent the original email last week and got this response today..:
We are in receipt of your email dated 4 July 2017 regarding your account with PoundsTillPayday.co.uk. We have attached a detailed loan history as requested.
Please be advised that Northway Financial Corporation Limited no longer owns SwiftSterling.co.uk or PoundsTillPayday.co.uk. We are responding as we were the creditor for these loans.
Thanks and Best Regards,
Customer Support Department
Email: complaints@northwayfinancial.com
I have been through and worked out they will owe me about £5k before interest at 8%.
What should I reply? Go with the second response and mention the Maltese Autthority. Say I’m going to take legal advice so stop wasting time and make an offer?!
Any help would be hugely appreciated.
Al says
Hi Joe and Every body else,
Joe, fill you complaint in the same manner as the UK ones but I have found the Maltese to be much quicker. In your complaint mention that they have 14 days to respond to your complaint (as a final response) and after which you should escalate this to the OAFs financial Arbiter in Malta.
The form is easy to fill in and you pay 25 Euros but from experience they are very quick to respond and they get a result. My comments can be found further up the thread but in short I was owed 3800 in interest with %8 added. Thats ignoring the first 3 loans and interest I took out as 3 consecutive loans is seen as acceptable lending but after that they should have done further checks. This is used by the UK Ombudsmen too so that’s how I made my calculations to give myself an idea of what the claim could be worth.
My first reply from Northway was the final response in which they offered me 575GBP, I turned this down and filled out my forms to the Arbiter. About a week later the Arbiter asked for bank statements and ID and then they said to leave it with them. 4 weeks later an offer of 2062 GBP came back from the Northway via the Arbiter. This was their offer before going to mediation and I had the opportunity to accept it or continue with my claim and the OAFs. There’s only one person in the thread who is ahead of me in the process (Nick) and he seems to have hit Northways delay tactics full on with a mediation cancellation and radio silence…….
Al says
……………….. So for me personally I was content with the 2062GBP for speed but thought I’d try my luck and give them a counter offer. So I emailed back to Northway directly and CC’d in the OAFs and gave them a counter offer which they accepted, I can’t give you the exact figure as I had to sign non disclaimer forms meaning I cant give out the exact figure. But Northway took 7 days to make the decision and sent the paperwork yesterday requesting my bank details and I have been informed the money will be in my account in 2 working days. This should be Monday or Tuesday.
I’m really happy with the result as I thought I’d get nothing from them, but to my surprise this was the quickest to get a resolution. Much much much quicker than my UK claims. One UK claim with PDUK has only just been resolved and that took 9 months from start to finish and I’m still waiting for payment.
My advice is go for it with Northway financial and the they wont offer anything decent until the OAFs are involved, so pay the 25 euros and sit back and wait and then haggle. Good luck everyone and especially to Nick who’s led from the front on this!!!! Any questions that are asked I’ll answer once I’ve got the money in my bank from these bloodsuckers
FourMenHadADream says
Well done Al. Northway finally contacted me when I informed them my case was with OAFS. They offered my £1000 to settle which I rejected over a week ago with a counter offer which they haven’t replied to.
I informed OAFS last Saturday of the update – they advised that my compliant had been sent to Northway and they were waiting on a reply.
I also sent another email to Northway on Tuesday past chasing a response to my counter offer but they have went all silent again. I assume this is because OAFS have sent my complaint and bank statements to them and they are reviewing.
I paid over £5,000 in interest over a three period.
If they want me to settle and sign a NDA, they can pay an additional amount for my silence.
Al says
If their first offer was 1000 and you have submitted you complaint to the OAFs, my advise would be to let them take it from here until Northway respond to the OAFs directly. I got nearly 6 times their first offer so try and be patient and let the Arbiters office do their thing. In Northways correspondence to the OAFs I found them to be very quick so you wont have to wait long. Good luck and I hope you get the amount you are owed.
Nigel says
I have now paid the 25 Euro fee to OAFS, they have all the info they need to look into my complaint now. So lets see how mine goes. Northway Financial sent me a SOA and an offer of £380, then upped it to £450. I am looking for at least £2500.
Mine was originally being dealt with by the MFSA and it was annoying when halfway through the investigation it was cancelled. So back to the start.
Allison says
Hi, yours seems to be similar to mine, I have just received a letter from the Arbiter saying that the case now has a reference number and I got a reciept for the €25, I will keep you posted ☺
Joe says
Thanks all.
I took out over 20 loans with them and have given them until end of July to make an offer before I go
to OAFs. I’ve told them that.
In the meantime when calculating what is owed and the interest. How should I do it? Just calculate 8% year on year until 2017.
I will be in touch when I need help with OAFs.
Thanks for all your help and good luck
FourMenHadADream says
Joe, the 8% is calculated from the date the interest payment was made.
This is a good calc.
http://www.hardwicke.co.uk/insights/simple-interest-calculator
Joe says
Thanks 4 men had a dream.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What 8%? So far as I know that only applies to Financial Ombudsman claims…
Nicki says
I’ve finally just submitted my complaint to Northway for 30 loans in an 8 month period sounds like it will be a long old process but thanks to you all for the info on here I will keep you updated on any progress/drama that happens
Nick H says
Finally had some more contact from the Maltese arbiter 3 weeks after my cancelled mediation!
They have confirmed that the mediator had been in discussion with Northway at the end of last week, but he is out of the office today, so I should expect an update from him tomorrow.
Fingers crossed the end is in sight!
Allison says
Oo wonder what they will say ?hopefully sort out without mediation ☺good luck
Nick H says
Had an offer direct from Northway! It’s a decent amount, but probably about 50% of what I calculated so I’ve taken a leaf out of Al’s book and sent them a counter offer which is still only 70% of my own calculation but would be an amount I would be more than happy with as I’m more concerned about my credit report/score and the cash is just a bonus really.
I also said that if they settle before the end of the week I will sign whatever NDA or confidentiality agreements they want in the hope that they don’t take as long as usual to reply.
The fact they’ve upped their offer from zero to a 4 figure sum indicates to me that I have a strong case if it was going to continue with the Arbiter so I’m comfortable either way now.
The Hitman says
Hi all,
After a week I’ve managed to receive a breakdown of my loans from Poundstillpayday (Northway), and I’ve calculated £4257.41, so I’m not going to be walking away from that. (That’s including a balance of £861.84) Reading a few comments it seems to be a fairly lengthy process but one certainly worth doing. Has anyone got a template they could post on here for me, as I’m guessing the process is different to other lenders from the UK.
Thank you.
Allison says
You should email the arbiter(Google arbiter of Malta ..complaints) there is a form to fill in you need to fill in on the computer it’s a fairly short form . Then print off and send with all other stuff,final response,bank statement s,ect. When you email Arbiter ask for details to send 25 euro’s. They seem really quick to respond,they Will either call you or email if they need anything else.then sit back and wait :)
The Hitman says
Hi Allison,
Thank you for your reply.
This is what I sent last night, would I still have to contact Arbiter?
Complaint – Irresponsible lending
Thank you for your response.
I had 32 loan agreements with you between 11/01/2010 – 03/08/12
I have been borrowing more often and the amounts went up with high interest fees, interest, and eventually default charges. Your loans trapped me into a debt spiral, with the repayment taking so much of my wages that I had to borrow again from yourselves and other providers (to which I failed to make repayments) to cover my next month’s living costs. You can clearly see from the detailed loan report you supplied me 19/07/2017 that not long after paying you back, I was applying for a new loan to cover the loan amount & total loan fees therefore trapping me in a debt spiral.
For this period my income averaged about £1675 a month.
I have a young child, and my partner was off work on sick, due to a medical complication, so my salary was the only funds coming into the household.
My living expenses were roughly: rent/mortgage £650 Council tax, £110 Utilities and bills £95. Transport costs £175, Clothes £100, Food, toiletries, nappies £400 Child expenses £100, Other debt £300, repayment total £1930 per month. This shows that there was no way I could afford these loans. When I repaid them, I had to borrow again to get through the next month.
The Hitman says
Part 2:
You should have realised from the number of times I repaid the previous months loan and then borrowed again in a short space of time that my debt problems were getting worse and it was not responsible to continue to lend to me.
My credit reports would have shown my other debt repayments and problems including late payments/defaults/CCJs/debt management.
You should never have given me these unaffordable loans. I would like to ask you to refund the interest and extra charges I paid.
I only found out I could make this sort of irresponsible lending complaint in July 2017.
My preference is to deal with this matter between ourselves, rather than contacting and going through the MFSA.
I have calculated the following sums that are owed to me: (Calculations based upon the detailed loan history you supplied me on 19/07/2017)
Total loan fees/interest between 11/01/2010 – 03/08/2012 = £4744.89
I believe there is still a outstanding balance (which I wasn’t aware of)= £861.84.
£4744.89 minus £861.84 = £3883.05
I’m also entitled to 8% refund of the interest that I have paid: £310.64
£3883.05 + £310.64 = £4193.69
As mentioned previously I wish to settle this matter between ourselves, but failure the refund me of £4193.69 will result in me having no alternative that to report you to Malta Financial Services Authority.
I’ll await your response, kind regards,