Before December 2015 Swift Sterling, Pounds Till Payday and My Money Partner were trading names of Northway Financial Corporation Limited, a Maltese company.
In 2016 these brand names were bought by a UK company called MMP which went into administration in December 2019.
When were your loans? This affects who to complain to
If your loans were before December 2015
Then you need to complain to Northway about them. If that doesn’t resolve your complaint you can’t go to the UK Financial Ombudsman, you have to go to the Maltese authorities.
The Financial Ombudsman won’t look at complaints about loans from the Maltese lender
The comments below show how other people have got on. SoO far as I am aware, these complaints are now being rejected as too old (“time-barred”) in Malta.
No-one has received a refund or a write off since mid 2019.
If your loans were after December 2015
This is NOT the right page for you, it only covers complaints about the earlier Maltese lender.
Your complaint is a normal payday loan affordability complaint in the UK.
You would have been able to go to the UK Financial Ombudsman, but now MMP is in administration, all claims have to be sent to the administrators using the Claims Portal.
All questions about the administration and these later loans should be asked on the main payday loan refund page.
Why can’t you take these complaints to the Financial Ombudsman?
Both Swift Sterling’s and Pounds Till Payday’s websites said in 2015 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… I agree this is misleading borrowers.“
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. But in 2019 these complaints were being rejected as too old – the legal term is “time-barred”.
Was your debt been sold to Lantern (was called MotorMile Finance)?
Swift Sterling and Pounds Till Payday have sold many defaulted debts to the UK debt collector MotorMile Finance (MMF), which changed its name in 2018 to Lantern. In November 2016 the FCA has made MMF offer a redress package to many customers because of poor way it has handled debt recovery.
Claims against Lantern can only relate to the defaulted debts sold to them.
Comments on this page are now closed.
Chris says
Thanks for the update. Their information is indeed extremely confusing and misleading!
I am having the same issue with Swift Sterling (Northway Financial). They have just declined my complaint. Here’s where I am so far:
In my ‘terms and conditions’ of the SwiftSterling loan it says –
16. We are not subject to any UK Ombudsman Scheme. However, both the creditor and the broker are members of the Consumer Credit Trade
Association (CCTA) and subscribe to its code of conduct. The CCTA operates a reconciliation service and arbitration scheme for customers who
cannot resolve a complaint with member firms. You will be given details of this scheme if any complaint you may have cannot be resolved.
1. They did not give me any details of this CCTA scheme when I received my final letter.
2. I spoke to the CCTA who advised me that Swift Sterling are no longer part of their group. They directed my to a UK association called the CSA (Credit Services Association).
3. I spoke to the CSA who advised me that Swift Sterling (Northway Financial) are indeed a member of their group and will help begin the process of escalating my complaint. (I am in the process of writing this letter.)
Will let you know how things go with the CSA
C
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Chris, it’s hard to see why they are a member of the CSA, whose website says that for International Members “Debt collection is the primary source of revenue, but the company is registered in a country outside the United Kingdom and has been trading for at least one year.” I know payday loans have a high default rate, but surely overdue accounts can’t be their *primary* source of revenue ?
Struggling says
Hi. I was actually the person (I think) who got them kicked out of the CCTA. To be honest the CCTA were only the go between ‘mediator’. When I complained to FOS as directed on the poundstillpayday website they said they couldn’t deal with the complaint so try the CCTA. I did and was just issued (after chasing this up) the same response I had when I complained to Northway. I brought this up with CCTA and said I was still unhappy and why (poundstillpayday had lent me every month for 4 years at a cost of £4000 in interest) and pointed out the CCTA guidelines that poundstillpayday had defaulted on and stressed they were hiding behind foreign policies but allowed to trade in uk. I received an email a week or so later saying that P2P were no longer a member of the CCTA!! My complaint has been with mfsa for 2 months now and I should have a response in January. Think I may send them this article!
I didn’t know about CSA?? I may try them too!!
Chris says
I spoke to the CSA – Credit Services Association based in the UK. Northway Financial (P2P & Swift Sterling) are indeed a member of the CSA but can only help with issues relating to debt recovery. They can’t help or with anything to do with unfair lending.
So as most of us, our hope lies with the Malta Financial Services Authority.
If Swift Sterling couldn’t be any more vague, I got a final ‘declined’ letter yesterday with this included. What the heck does that mean!!??
“We can confirm that as an overseas firm, we do not fall under the jurisdiction of the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Regardless of that fact, we respond, as appropriate, to all correspondence received from them.”
Struggling says
Hi. I’ve just typed into Google mfsa northway and downloaded a document that states as from January 2015 northway have voluntarily requested they no longer be regulated or a registered FIS. As from July 2015 they have ceased to be registered altogether!!
Adam says
Hi
Can I ask what are the guidelines from the CCTA you reference in terms of long term lending? Like you, some of those companies leant to me on a monthly basis for three years.
Struggling says
They are no longer registered with the CCTA since I complained to them the other month stating they were not complying with CCTA code of practice!
Struggling says
Hi Adam.
I personally had a few different loans with a few providers over a number of years. I’ve managed to either claim back, reduce or wipe out all but poundstillpayday. A couple are still with fos but it seems promising!
I complained to qq myself and had a refusal from them. I complained to FOS and sent my bank statement at the time to show mass borrowing/juggling and my credit report which showed historical financial issues. Fos got in touch a few days later to say qq had agreed they should have realised I was struggling with reloano and agreed to refund interest/charges + 8% simple interest on all loans but the first 3. It took a while but qq refunded me £1300 (instead of the £1800 I expected). I did owe them from the last loan which I had been paying off via a debt management plan but they hadn’t allocated all payments made on the account and had missed first 6 instead of 3. I’d suggest doing your own calculations so you know exactly what they owe as I had to chase their breakdowns and compare them with my bank statements and confirm what the debt management company had paid. They offered my £200 when I chased that they hadn’t paid me enough but I refused and highlighted each anomaly with the fos. I believe they still owe me around £500 so it’s ongoing but I’m confident it should sort itself out soon. They have been dragging their feet to get back to me with a response but I’m trying to be patient!. Good luck.
Andrea Kay says
Hi all
I brought this to the attention of Debt Camel in order that others were aware that despite the UK ombudsman stepping in the website is still misleading customers albeit that the companies have suspended trading for now ( which I see as a small victory )
I have a complaint in with the MFSA who state this is a very complex case. This has been with them 3 months without seeming any further forward.
The CSA have not come back at the moment
I will keep you updated of the outcome
menai says
ive had replies from poundstillpayday saying that they will clear my outstanding debt but will not refund charges on 53 loans. ombudsman are looking into it with their team of specialist but says its complex. will keep you posted.
Andrea Kay says
Is this the UK FSO or Maltese FSA as I was told the UK could not act. The MFSA have also told me there are complexities. Like you the minute the MFSA became involved they brought the default sum back in house and offered to write it off
menai says
so far I have only gone through the uk ombudsman, don’t know if the uk is sending it to the maltese. don’t know if it ends here for me or not, see what the uk fso got to say when they receive this response from ptp.
Andrea Kay says
My response from them was that they wished me well and confirmed they couldnt look into an overseas company. The article cites my response from them about SF and PTP stating complaints should be escaleted to the UK Financial Ombudsman. At no point did they agree to escalate on my behalf. Forms to the MFSA can be submitted online but must be followed with a paper copy sent to the office in Sliema.
It would seem that there is an escalation in workload as a result of Northways irreaponsible lending and as far as I can see the MFSA is a very small unit with limited manpower
Personally I think theae crooks will cease trading and move funds in light of cases from the UK and the Federal Case from the USA.
It would be amazing to have the fees and charges refunded but I am realistic and think this highly unlikely even with yhe MFSA involvement and the FSO placing pressure on Northway too
Hopefully the MFSA will take all cases jointly and this will demonstrate a pattern.
Good luck
Jim Mason says
Hi, I have an outstanding loan with these, which is in arrears. The balance due is £938.
I have been paying £20 per month towards it and have not heard anything off them for months. Like many others, I have had a number of loans with these over the years. I have just noticed on their website they have stopped issuing loans.
Can someone update me on the latest with them please?
Sara Williams says
Hi Jim, I think you know as much as anyone does… If you were to stop paying this, it is possible that they would find it very difficult to try to enforce the debt through English courts, but I can’t say it is impossible. If you check your credit rating, I doubt whether this debt appears at all.
Andrea Kay says
My advice is complaint to Northway then forward a complaint to the MFSA as I did. The more of us who do this the better chance we have of closing these sharks down permanently. My complaint wasnt upheld by the MFSA but Northway wrote off the balance as a gesture of goodwill. I have appealed the decision as the MFSA stated they were happy that the company carried out affordability checks. As the companys product went nowhre near my credit file Id like to bet neither did Northway and as yet they cannot send anything to prove checks were carried out on affordability. All it took for reloan was proof payment had breen made on the account. I have asked the MFSA if they think affordability checks had been carried out if on payday I made payment and my available balance was £79 into my £100 overdraft.
If the FOS had been able to look into complaints I have no doubt the vast majority would have been upheld. I now hope we can all refer these on in the hope that finally the MFSA sees sense and finds the loans should not have been granted
Jim Mason says
Hi both.
Thanks for the replies. I have contacted the MFSA and asked where I stand. I read on another forum they have had no consumer credit licence since Feb 2015. The latest loan for £1050 was taken out in March 2015. Like many others I’ve had a lot of loans off these in the past, and yes all they asked for was proof the previous loan was paid off. They didn’t care what else was going on.
I have just been reading on a separate topic about reclaiming refunds for payday loans. With Quick Quid alone I have 41 loans with them since 2009 so I am going to give that a go now :)
I’ve emailed PTPD and asked for all evidence of my loans with them as it will be a similar number to Quick Quid.
Andrea Kay says
Its well worth the very little effort it takes. I think I based my complaints on a draft letter I found on this site. I had 8 companies. 4 settled straight away 2 declined and the FOS upheld and there is one currently pending. Only Northway look unlikely to settle which was the largest outlay in interest but im on course to recover the vast majority and only started the process at the end of August. Good luck
Jim Mason says
That’s great. Can I ask when you say settled, what do you mean? I’ve emailed 12 companies, some I still have loans with, some I had several with in the past but none recently. I have asked for information on all my loans as advised on this website and will then send the second email asking for refunds.
Andrea Kay says
One 0offered 75% 0of the fees and charges one 100%. A further one paid immediately at the same level as the FOS ruling of all fees and charges plus 8% interest pa from the date of each installment. In your letter ask for all fees and charges plys interest at 8% simple. Explain multiple rollovers. I did a spreadsheet detailing each company accross the top and months down the side showing loan and interest amounts. That way the FOS and company could see the expenditure on loans and my income showing even interest alone left very little for priority debts and living expenses. It worked a treat. Let me know if you need anything else
CW says
II have had a series of loans with Swift Sterling last year which I managed to pay off in September this year.In October I emailed a complaint to them regarding the affordability of the loans I was granted and asking for my interest charges (£3000)to be refunded.In November I received their final response not upholding my complaint,so I referred it to the MFSA.I included 3 points in my complaint to them – the fact my loans were unaffordable, that as an overseas company Swift Sterling do not come under the jurisdiction of the FOS but still direct complaints to them on their website and also that in their final response to me Swift Sterling did not offer any information as to how I could take my complaint further.I received an acknowledgement of my complaint from the MFSA but then on December 3rd I received another email from Swift Sterling in final response.This one stated that without admitting liability,due to my current financial situation they would pay £1000 into my bank account within 3 working days!I received their payment on December 8th.Are they changing their policy or have I been lucky to get a third of claim back?I have updated the MFSA with the latest development but I haven’t had a reply from them yet.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi CW, well isn’t that interesting… I think this must represent some change of policy (good!) and also probably that they intend to continue in business (boo!)
Struggling says
I’m in a similar situation but with Poundstillpayday but my claim is still with mfsa and I’ve not heard from northway etc. I did just download a document when I Googled ‘mfsa northway’ which was a public notice that northway was voluntarily cancelling their financial institute licence and would no longer be regulated by mfsa. I’m hoping they still have to answer to historical practices and uphold complaints made to them though!!
Garry Richardson says
I also have similar problems with swift sterling. Final response received in November claiming repayment of previous loans proved affordability. The last loan is still outstanding but swift sterling sold this to MMF.
I have complained to the MFSA who say they will try and resolve within 3 months, so watch this space, although not to hopeful from the previous replies.
garry richardson says
today received an email from Nothway still not admitting liability but agreeing to write off the outstanding loan amount of £1124.84 and offer £500 cheque as compensation. This is considerably less than the interest owing but I am happy to get a resolution out of them. It appears the Maltese FSA involvement forced the issue. This was easy enough to do online. The email address for northway as they no longer have anything to do with swift sterling (wink, wink) is Northway Financial if its of any use to anybody.
Ag says
This is a milestone as I am unaware of any compensation being awarded at all. mine too is with the Mfsa and feeling more hopeful. All the best
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well £500 is better than the nothing I think most people were expecting – well done Garry!
menai says
Gary, I have just received an email today from the ombudsman saying they cannot carry on with my complaint with Northway (pounstillpayday)as its dealt with Malta, can you advice ne who to write to so I can forward my case please?
garry richardson says
you need to contact the maltese FSA. Their website is quite easy to use and register a complaint. I would then contact Northway using the email I posted earlier and tell them you have lodged the complaint with the Maltese FSA. Hopefully they will fold at that point. good luck
Adam says
I have been asking PTPD for the info re: my loans since December 4 and am yet to have a response. Have asked again this week. Will it get to a point where I can complain to the MFA or do I really need that info before I do so?
Currently got complaints lodged with Wonga re: 51 loans and Quick Quid re: 45 loans.
John C says
Gave up trying to complain to Northway and getting no response, so complained to the MFSA. Tried to set up a moneybox account on their website, but it wouldn’t let me log in, no matter how many times I reset the password, so I sent them an email on Sunday night. I gave a very detailed email with what I saw as irresponsible lending by Northway, the fact they were completely ignoring me, the huge amount of loans i’d had totalling nearly £45 grand and the £11,000 of interest i’d paid since the start of 2010. I followed up on Monday night with a copy of my Noddle credit report, with the many late payment markers highlighted in pink and all the previous loans that would have been on my account. All 44 pages of it!! I’ve not had any kind of response so far. Does anyone know how long it typically takes the MFSA to respond to a complaint? Thanks
menai says
my complaints with mfsa since beginning of january, all they have requested is a credit report, but it does not show loans from ptp on it even though I had 53 loans with them, I paid back every one and re-loaned same day by faxing them a mini statements from my bank so I could get the money I paid them back, this went on until I made myself default on last payment. when I complained to northway last august they said it was affordable as I paid every one back on time and didn’t look like I was struggling, for me, this wasn’t the case, I had to do this reloaning process every payday or I wouldn’t have any money to live on and to keep a family of 5. northway cleared my outstanding debt but I would like some of the interest back though as I did have other loans and was/is black listed. I have emailed the mfsa asking where they at and all they say it is under review and could take three months they have not asked me for anything else nor bank statement. not feeling hopeful though.
John C says
Yeah, they don’t leave any markers on your credit report, no matter which one. Would be different if defaulted and it went to a UK based debt collector! I have 68 months of lending from start of 2011, but with all the top ups I have well over 100 loans all with their own reference number (I don’t have these unfortunately) I was the same, i’d take a screen shot showing my account payments with an available balance the day after I paid back and they would reloan
I hope you get some kind of response back soon. I’ve sent them credit report now, just to save any delay
AJ says
I sent the same after Northway had already told the MFSA they had credit checked me and it was affordable. Turns out the criteria was that I paid back on time ansd didnt consider that I was reborrowing the same day to meet priority debts. Like you I sent the entire credit file then they asked for bank statements proving I was reloaning immediately and had other payday loans which I have sent as by now the loans have been wiped from my credit file under instruction from the FSO. Ive heard nothing since and know of no one who has had any sucess with MFSA despite clearly demonstrating inaffordability. Keep us updated
John C says
Hi AJ, thanks for your response. It would be nice of the MFSA to just acknowledge my complaint. The way I sent them my loan info was in a spreadsheet that showed what went in my account (by date) and what went out (also by date). On some months I had 12 separate payments to PTPD as they used to split repayment into 2 amounts, by loan. If you took a loan, then a top up, there would be 2 payments for each repayment. I would pay back £64.99 and £64.99 for a £100 loan, even if it was for 4 days!!! It clearly shows I borrowed the day after I had repaid and constantly topped up. Things weren’t too bad between 2008 and around April 2013 where the borrowing was £460 a month every month, but the loans exploded after that and I was borrowing £1,250 per month (plus £1,350 from QQ and £600 from WDA)
I hope you get some kind of response soon, as it seems they are saying 3 months for an investigation. Maybe they’ll come back closer to that time? Fingers crossed!
AJ says
My initial investigation was around 10 weeks. I was absolutely shocked when they did nof uphold stating that Northway had carried out sufficient credit checks. I then pointed out all other loans…8 of them.at one point….and that I was 1 week away from repossession all of which was on my credit file and they admitted it was more that if I repaid it was affordable. The evidence of repayment for reloans was sent to MFSA. On one occasion it showed I was over my overdraft on payday after they had taken the money. Obvious the Maltese Authority believe we live free of charge for 30 days out of 31 here in the UK.
I read on here and elsewhere that those complaining to Northway recently were being offered £500 compensation in addition to writing off any existing balance so put in an appeal to the MFSA citing all the evidence I had along with a copy of my credit file, bank statements and the correspondance about reloans showing insufficient funds in my account on payday and have yet to receive a reaponse. I actually think Northways restructuring to the UK market will ensure they cannot pay up even if the MFSA finds in our favour. The burden of evidwnce has to tip things our way but I honestly dont believe I will ever see a penny back
struggling26 says
Hi all –
just to update you – I’ve had a complaint in with the MFSA since about November now about PoundstillPayday – they are in touch with me, but it’s a really slow and drawn out process. I prompt MFSA every week or two for an update. I provided them with bank statements, loan information (to show existing borrowing) and my credit file a few weeks ago, they have gone to P2P for information which took 3-4 weeks. Just had a reply saying they have gone through the information, given P2P some feedback and are awaiting a response from them next week. I’m not sure if the delays are a good sign (they are taking more notice than some of the others and considering things more), or a bad sign (I’m being strung along). Has anyone else going through the process had it drawn out like this then the standard response (‘if you repaid, it was affordable’ – so you can bugger off with your complaint, we are happy to harbour a rip off merchant and you can’t touch them!?) or can I get my hopes up – maybe a little ;o/
menai says
my complaints are with the mfsa since beginning of January, they have only contacted me once asking for my credit report, haven’t heard a thing since, I emailed them 2 weeks ago asking for an update, I got a very short answer ‘your case is still under review’, first email I received in January said it could take 3 months.
menai says
I chased them up again and they say they have received all info now and given Northway until next week, have you heard anything or were they just keeping you sweet with their response?
struggling26 says
she has said that they had compiled the info and given northway feedback and they had till this week to issue further info – so i will chase again friday but i can guarantee I’ll get a – we need 2-3 weeks to go through the new info! they just seem to be dragging it out now…
I’m hoping too that maybe with a few of us being around the same step and having the same agent (Pauline), this may be a positive as it’s stacking up again Northway now and surely MFSA will have to take this into consideration. If I have to appeal any decision though – I am going to point out that UK and America are taking very different views on the affordability and roll overs – put in a few lines from FOS in regards to other successful claims I’ve made around affordability and their opinion of bad practices. I will be looking to challenge that until Malta catch up with this issue, Northway will continue to entrap financially vulnerable people in excessive loans to cream off a profit, and by allowing them to continue to do so the MFSA aren’t acting responsibly! Surely if Northway have been allowed to provide more information for consideration – I should be allowed my say…
anyway, I’m keeping my fingers crossed but not holding my breath or banking on a refund – it will be a nice bonus if they are awarded though and will help me massively in paying off other debts and expenses.
AJ says
Chased my appeal of the earloer decision by MFSA stating the loans were affordable today and have been told that feedback had been sent to Northway and they had 2 weeks to reply. MFSA could not tell me the nature of the feedback as it may ‘prejudice their position’ so I am no nearer knowing what a likely outcome will be
I am hoping that if they have sent feedback requiring a response from Northway this can only be positive in that if the loans were affordable there would be no need to request a reaponse and I would just hear the appeal had been dismisses…..I live in hope but am totally clueless as to what the MFSA may have proposed to Noethway. MFSA seem to work differently to FSO so maybe they arw simply giving Northway another chance to prove sufficient affordability checks were carried out
Has anyone else had any feedback from MFSA to date
menai says
I chased them up yesterday and they said they now have all the documents they need to review my case and have given Northway until next week to reply. don’t know if they are just keeping me sweet or not, all they asked from me was a credit report in January and I heard nothing until I chased them up last week. they haven’t asked fro bank statement or nothing else from me, they say they have received other information from Northway.
I’m pretty sure they will decline my complaint as I paid everyone on time but had to lend it back the same day 53 times as I could not afford to live otherwise.
Ag says
mine is a historic case about 6 consecutive loans back in 2010. my compliant no affordability checks. I was in a dmp at the time and borrowing from others to pay them back. I started my mfsa complaint mid November. after no luck with northway. they admitted no credit check was done at the time. I sent them mfsa email last week and they too said they will give northway this week to respond. I’m thinking that they haven’t responded and this is giving the mfsa time to chase. as I don’t beliebe that it is a coincidince that us who are chasing this week have been told the same. I’m not holding my breath.
menai says
Yours has taken more than 3 months to sort out, I just wonder why the MFSa has not asked me for anything else. only the credit report in the beginning, well let see what happens this week. good luck to you.
menai says
as predicted haven’t heard a thing, what about you?
struggling26 says
I’ve just received this – baring in mind I have been asked on at least 3 occasions to give them another 2-3 weeks for various reasons…
We are still corresponding with Northway regarding some issues. Furthermore, in view of the number of complaints that our Unit is currently dealing with, kindly allow us a further two months to provide you with a reply on your complaint.
I have expressed my disappointment with the wait thinking that with the pressure on Northway, what’s to stop them up and moving or ceasing trading altogether, then who’s jurisdiction would they be in!?
John C says
Amazingly I’ve received a final response from Northway today!!
“Please be advised that Northway Financial Corporation Limited no longer owns PoundsTillPayday.co.uk We are responding as we were the creditor for this loan. We provided loaning history with our company below as requested (there follows 5 pages of loan info from August 08 to August 15)
Our records indicate that your application was acquired as a “lead” in December 2008. At this point in time, credit searches were not part of Northway’s evaluation process and credit reports were not obtained in connection with your loans. Loan approval was instead based on the information you provided on your loan applications and your past borrowing and repayment history with our company
We have reviewed our records and have been unable to locate any correspondence advising that you were experiencing financial hardship in repaying any of your recent instalment loans with our company. We also note that after your second loan was repaid a few days late due to a debiting error, all of your remaining loans with our company were repaid in full on or before the scheduled repayment date, with no history of defaults or late payments. Your most recent instalment loans were all repaid within a month of the loans being issued, suggesting the loans were affordable to your current situation
Based on the foregoing, we believe we acted fairly and responsibly in our dealings with you and we are unable to offer any compensation to you regarding this matter
Please note that under the terms of our internal complaints procedure, this is our final response
Should you have any further queries, please feel free to contact our office with the information provided below”
I’m stunned they came back to quickly, but it least I can forward it to Pauline. Fact is I didn’t dare tell them I was in trouble as their practices were to hound those in that situation. My job changed so my pay date came forward. Because of this I was able to pay off every loan a few days early and then re-borrow to pay QQ, WDA and then reloan from them to pay my mortgage etc. On the instalment loans I made sure I paid the whole loan off so I could loan again straight away as I couldn’t afford the instalments only (if that makes sense)
Louise says
Wow they admitted they didn’t check credit records but they haven’t stated what was used as an affordability check. At least now ‘Pauline’ might start to investigate for you. Good luck x
Matt S says
I had been trying since January to contact somebody regarding loans from Swift Sterling (they loaned me almost £6000 them in less than a year). Tried all email addresses I could find but got no response at all. Contacted the MFSA at start of March but as of yet have not even had an acknowledgement from them, is this usual?
John C says
Hi Matt, which email address are you using? I don’t think the Swift Sterling ones will work anymore, or they will go to the “new” UK based business. You need to contact Northway and email them every few days
Matt S says
Hi John
I’ve tried them all. Swift Sterling told me they are no longer owned by Northway Financial so were unable to take questions relating to my account. Have tried info @ northwayfinancial.com and complaints @ northwayfincancial.com (probably around 6-8 times to each in the last month) and no reply at all, not even an acknowledgement of receipt of my complaint.
Have been emailing consumerinfo @ mfsa.com.mt since start of March, but again no response at all from them. Is this the correct email address to use?
Thanks
Matt
John C says
Hi Matt, that’s the email address I used. Northway didn’t reply till the MFSA got in touch with them, but it was only to disregard my complaint outright (however they did send a full statement with the response). It meant I didn’t wait 8 weeks for a reply, closer to 4. It took the MFSA a few days to come back to me, but i’m not sure if that was because I couldn’t get the “money box” account to work on their website which you are meant to use for complaints. Pauline Tonna emailed with a reset but I had to email back and say I still couldn’t get it to work
Keep trying the consumerinfo address and hopefully you should get a reply. Sounds like the unit is swamped though, but we are suspecting the unit is in fact one person
louise says
I used Lynn Gaskell in northway financial Malta she’s the CEO if that helps.
Spode says
I’ve been emailing the Northway email addresses since the start of the year asking for a breakdown of all my loans and I’ve not even had a single acknowledgement.
I owe them around £900 and was paying this at £30 per month but stopped paying in December and have not paid since but I’ve not even been contacted by them over this. Anyone else in the same boat?
AJ says
I never paid my final loan and it was passed to MMF. PTPD did answer last year chasing the debt and saying had been responsible for reloaning 20 odd times but as soon as it was passed to MFSA then said would waive balance as a gesture of goodwill without admission. MFSA said though was good offer as affordability checks were undertaken but proved werent and appealed. MFSA looked at evidence and have writen to Northway giving them 2 weeks to provide ‘answers’ bit to what I do not know. Will be chasing shortly as 2 weeks up in 5 days time. Anything is better than nothing but I think Northway will wriggle out of it and offer a percentage at best as it seems half the world are filing complaints atm
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is possible that these debts would be difficult to enforce in an English court – the may not be able to produce the correct loan documentation. If this is the case, it may be possible to stop paying any balances and the debt collector may not be able to do anything. I can’t be sure of this as there haven’t been any court cases so far as i am aware – but to date I haven’t heard of anyone being taken to court for a CCJ for not paying one of these Maltese debts.
No one has ever reported one of these debts appearing on their credit record, even when it is with a UK based debt collector.
Louise says
Hi All,
I have just had a horrible realisation that they are not a UK owned company but I have done some research and used the good old wayback when machine and looking at their 2010 website they are governed by Isle of Man office of fair trading. I did a company search and they are still up and running. Now what if you still have an outstanding loan which I do with them does that change the game slightly because they would still have your account active when MMP took over?
John C says
Hi Louise, where did you see they were governed by the Isle of Man OFT? I always thought they were Malta based but operated in the UK, US and Canada, but didn’t actually have offices there, hence why they are under investigation in the US and exited the UK market
Louise Brind says
There’s a national web archive and I entered Poundstillpayday.co.uk at first I got nothing then click impatient and their old website pops up. Click on contact and there u have it one of their contacts are listed as Northway Transfer centre 1 bowring street Isle of Man IM8 2LQ. a little look on Isle of Man company search and there it is.
Louise says
Does anyone know if any complaints are upheld, where could we go to recover the funds? I mean they are not responding to anyone so I can’t really see them actually paying any awards out. With the amount of coverage on the other PDL companies wouldn’t it be worth contacting the papers with this company? QQ and Wonga are pretty good with complaints but this is the other end of the scale and are a nightmare, might give them a nudge. Got to try something especially as most of the complaints are running into the thousands even tens of thousands for some.
AJ says
If anything like the UK FSO once Northway are instructed to refund ie complaint found in our favour they have a set time to appeal. If they lose the decision would be legally binding and enforceable through law if they dont pay up. Technically if there are large numbers of claims the courts could seize assets or force liquidation. I actually think this is why Northway have restructured rebranded and moved offices to have a UK base …it seema thia lot will do anything to wriggle out of it. Paying off a loan in full doesnt mean its affordable when immediate reloans follow and the MFSA are now taking into consideration our entire financial picture, something Northway never did
John C says
AJ, do we know for certain that Northway are operating in the UK out of new offices? According to the guys that own Swift Sterling and Pounds till Payday, they just bought the websites and have nothing to do with Northway. From what I can see Northway still operate out of Malta but have exited the markets that they seem to have caused issues in and probably done so to avoid the kind of thing we are seeing with other PDL companies in the UK. If its proved that these businesses are actually ran by Northway than i’m sure that would have completely different repercussions to them and could be of a benefit to those seeking some kind of redress
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So far as I know – and I would be VERY interested in any evidence to the contrary – Northway have nothing to do with the new owners, who just bought the brands and the websites. (Why anyone would want to pay for such a tainted brand is a good question!)
Matt Styles says
I am currently repaying a loan to Swift Sterling through a debt management company. When I was looking for a statement of account Swift Sterling emailed me stating that :
“Swift Sterling is no longer owned by Northway Financial, so we do not have access to your account with Northway Financial. We are unable to answer questions or take payments for your account. Please send all inquiries to: info@northwayfinancial.com and you will receive an email response to your inquiry once it has been received.”
Obviously as with everyone else Northway never responded to any emails, and so I now have a complaint in with the MFSA.
However last week I asked my debt management company where the payments for Swift Sterling were going and they advised me :
“The company Swift Sterling has a Parent company call Northway financial. This company is based in Malta. We however make payments still directly to Swift Sterling and direct all ports of contact through Swift Sterling.”
So it appears that Swift Sterling lied to me when they said they no longer have access to me account with Northway and can not take payments as it is them that are actually taking the payments on my loan.
Does anyone know if the ‘new’ Swift Sterling are regulated by the FCA? Or are they also still regulated by the MFSA?
AJ says
Yyyyyeeeeeesssss !!!!!!
Email from Pauline Tonna today stating complaint upheld. Northway are refunding all interest paid less the balance outstanding on account. No interest at 8% simple and having to dispute the amount outstanding as this includes interest
Cheque in the post. Hope this gives hope to others
struggling26 says
Hi – I’ve just received an email saying a cheque is in the post for £3.5k!!! – It doesn’t include the 8% and is a little lower than my calculations plus they said they wrote off the last £450 but part of that was interest and I had paid £250. However, I’m going to cash the cheque then challenge the difference!!
bestdayever!!!
It’s been going on since November but hopefully now she has her facts in place it may be a quicker process for newer complaints! Good luck to everyone!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is simply brilliant news. I never thought it would happen and I am delighted to be proved wrong. Well done for persevering.
John C says
Congratulations AJ, really pleased for you! I hope this is the start of something now. After seeing all the emails with notices from this thread I hoped I’d have one from Pauline too, but nothing as of yet. I paid over £12k to PTPD, so would be happy to see any % of that back!
struggling26 says
Hi all – great news – I have just had an email from Paula saying they are refunding £3.5k!!!!
hopefully you all will receive a similar result!!! BEST DAY EVER!!
;o)
Louise says
How long did it take for Pauline to investigate. I contacted Pauline around 4 weeks ago because I was getting no joy from PSPD. They sent me my final response rejection letter week before last so I emailed that over to Pauline. I’ve sent her all my evidence around 4 weeks ago. Hoping for an email the same as yours soon. Well done and congratulations on your success x Fingers, toes and legs crossed now for mine to come through. Its for around £4300.
Louise xx
John C says
Well done struggling26, absolutely buzzing that complaints are being upheld this week. I bet you’re over the moon! £3.5k is lovely. Was that all the interest you paid? I paid over £12k in my time with Northway on interest, but would be happy with anything back at all at the moment as thought this would end up going nowhere!
Spode says
Hi,
What is the best way to get details of all my previous loans from PTPD? They never respond to any emails and the associated bank account is now shut. Does anyone have an email address at PTPD they can suggest?
Louise says
I am still waiting for my account statement which I asked for over 8 weeks ago. They are utterly useless. The bank you mentioned that’s closed. The bank should still have your information and statements. My old account NatWest sent to me all my statements from Mar 2008 – Mar 2010 and that was a closed account. Always worth checking with the banks first.
Ag says
Hi guys just received the email just over 500 to be sent via cheque. My claim was from 2010 and I received all my interest back in full that I paid.
I first complained back in September. Think it was sent to mfsa in November. I don’t think it will take 5 months now for those claiming as the arguments been lost already
Good luck everyone
cjstitchman says
FINALLY!
Email from Pauline today.
MFSA have upheld my Swift Sterling/Northway complaint!
Northway, reluctantly, have accepted the MFSA outcome and cheque is in the post. All interest to be repaid (although without the 8% simple interest).
FYI here’s my timeline:
1st October 2015: Initial Complaint sent to Northway
5th November 2015: Northway declined my complaint
1st December 2015: Sent complaint to Pauline at MFSA
9th May 2016: MFSA upheld complaint. Northway issued cheque.
HANG ON IN.
Richie p says
Sorry didnt see the timeline lol do you have email for Pauline at MFSA
cjstitchman says
ptonna@mfsa.com.mt
menai says
woopieeeeeeeeeeeee I got the email, cheque £2780.69 in the post, so happy, hang in there everyone
Spode says
Did any of you receive your account statement from Northway, or have you all had to do it the long way and go to the bank for statements?
louise says
I had to do it through the bank. I found they completely ignore any requests from me. That’s the reason I got MFSA involved because I was getting no responses.
John C says
I had to do it the long way too. Took me 6 hours to go through all my payments into and out of my back for PTPD. Be careful as they show as different names at times – Northway Financial, Pounds till Payday, Northway Pacific (or something like that). Also on lod loans when you paid back, they would split the repayment in 2. So if you borrowed £100, there would be 2 payments of £64.99 or something similar. Keep topping up across the month and you might see 12 separate payments going out on payday!
menai says
to John, they did not mention the time covered but I think I received all the interest minus the sum they wrote off as I had an outstanding balance, the cheque has just arrived today. my complaint was sent to the mfsa in January, looks like the once that had results yesterday sent their complaint in Nov/dec. when did your complaint go in? if it went in around the same time as me or after sure it wont be long until you hear from Pauline. good luck to you John and everyone else, hope you hear something in the next few days.
John C says
Hi menai, I never had anything wrote off, I paid all my loans in full and on time. Problem was it was a ridiculous some of money, £11k interest between 2010 and 2015, but I was borrowing from 2008, every single month. I paid back over £60k to this company in 7 years!! I pointed out some months I had 12 separate payments going out to Northway as each top up was split in 2, so they could get as much money back, if customers couldn’t pay the full amount. A repayment of £1500 might bounce, but 12 separate ones wouldn’t. I put my complaint into Pauline at the start of March, but have just dropped her a little reminder as its now 7 weeks since we all got the “2 more months” email. I’d be exstatic if I got anything back from this lost, I’m not even looking for the full amount, I’ve had my service, and don’t expect it for free, but I object to paying £30 on a £100 loan for 3 days!!
Thank you, and yes, good luck to all others
menai says
cross finger and toes for you John, this would be like winning the lottery for you, looks like they reply to us in the order the complaint went in, so im sure you’ll hear something soon, as your case was so much worse than mine and lent to you irresponsibly, if you would like to see the email I received I can forward to you via email if you want so you can see what they have said.
John C says
Thanks again menai, you have no idea how miserable this company made me over the years. The frustrations of having to deal with them brought me so far down I nearly lost my home, it ruined my relationship and cost me a life for 4-5 years. I’m lucky I don’t have to rely on these businesses anymore and it’s amazing how much better that makes me feel, but knowing I’ve paid the best part of £45k just in interest to 3-4 of these companies over the years, leaves an empty feeling in the stomach
However £7k back from WDA, looks like a further £7k from QQ and who knows what might happen with PTPD!
menai says
don’t worry John you have a good case. I paid all mine on time too but had to reloan the same day until I defaulted at the end, my credit report showed I borrowed from other loans at the same time. this is what Pauline said :-
“From the credit report we note that you had various payday loans from different payday lenders which were being taken out exactly on the same date or around the date you were due to repay the loans issued to you by Northway. This seems to indicate that you were not financially able to repay the loans which were being granted to you out of your own pocket. We also pointed out to Northway that your credit score is up to this very day considered as ‘very poor’.”
See they look into irresponsible lending so you have a very strong case.
good luck
In a period of almost four and a half years you took out no less than 53 loans from Northway and on most occasions you applied for a new loan on the same day you repaid the previous one. This suggests that you were highly dependent on payday loans.
Barrie Mitchell says
Hi all – I have had many complaints upheld with payday lenders, either directly, or by the Ombudsman. Until I saw this thread I wasn’t even going to pursue Swift Sterling. I have today had ‘the’ email from the MFSA confirming a cheque for £1616.63 is in the post. Complaint was only logged on 29th February. Looking at other messages, it looks as if chickens are coming to roost for Northway. They are truly a miserable, grubby little company. I hope you all get what’s due.
Barrie says
Cheque for £1616.63 waiting when I got home.
John – in my original complaint, I had to estimate how much I had paid in interest and charges as SS never provided me with statement. My overall settlement is just £100 short of this, so very pleased indeed. No 8% statutory uplift though.
I have made silly decisions in the past, so much of my payday lending was when I already had many defaults in relation other advances on ‘mainstream’ products. For all of my complaints, I have included copies of extracts from my credit file showing the defaults in place at my time of payday lending. I think this has really helped my cause. I have reclaimed just under £9k so far, with more to come. I have settled 5 complaints directly with the lender after they fully or partially upheld, 2 settled through the Ombudsman adjudicator, and 2 (soon to be 3) settled via a full Ombudsman opinion.
Good luck to all.
John C says
Thanks for the update Barrie, most appreciated. Trying to not get carried away now, ha ha! I’m in the same boat, had WDA refund cleared, have a QQ part one on the way, but to be honest was starting to give up a bit on PTPD. My complaint went in start of March, so hopefully not long to wait for a response!
Louise says
Hi All
Well done for those who got there upheld letters and fingers crossed for those like me who haven’t as yet. What are the time frames for those who have been upheld? I can see so far September, November, February and March (I think). I sent mine to Pauline at the beginning of April. Its great that finally things are beginning to move forward.
Richie p says
Hi can I ask what you had to send to Pauline ? Had you already approached northway ?
Barrie says
Richie – I had already had a final response from Northway, which rejected the claim but offered to write off a remaining balance. My strong advice to anyone would be that if your complaint is based on irresponsible lending, make the reviewers job as easy as possible – so if for instance you had 5 defaults on your credit file at the time of lending, get the proof from your credit file (I used screenshots from checkmyfile.com) and send it in support of your complaint.
B
Louise says
Sometimes if your loans are too old and they were on your credit report when you applied but are not now then debt letters are great to prove debt at the time of the loans. My were in 2008 – 2011. NatWest had wiped 2 lots of debt and defaults for me when I got my package account refund. Luckily I found default letters in my paperwork from 2007 – 2010.
John C says
I sent a number of emails to Northway with absolutely no response so sent my complaint through the MFSA website. I supplied Pauline with a copy scan of my Noddle report with all the late payments highlighted in pink. All 44 pages of it. I also supplied her with the correspondence between Northway and myself, their final response and a copy of all my other PDL’s
John C says
Mine was the March one, and not heard anything yet. I did drop Pauline an email yesterday but not had a response to it. Last email I got said to give them 2 months and that was the 22nd March, so that hasn’t expired yet
Got my fingers crossed for all of us Louise
Louise says
Hi Richie, I sent my complaint on 9th March to Northway. I never got any response from them at all so I went to MFSA on the 10th April 2016. Jonathan picked it up before Pauline, then Pauline took it over.
Richie p says
Thanks Louise what did you have to submit as proof
Louise says
Bank statements, old debt letters and my Dates and amount of any loans I had at the same time. Credit report. If the loans are too old for your credit report that’s when the default and debt letters come in to play. Also your statements will show your regular outgoings each month.
Jon says
Dear Sara/All,
I was hoping for some advice/clarification please if possible. It seems some of you have been toiling with this company for many months and at last with some success, so any help/guidance is much appreciated! I had 22 loans from Swift Sterling between 07/03/2011 and 25/06/2013 (so most months). I borrowed in excess of £11000 from them and repaid over £14000, just over £3K in interest. I have drafted a complaint but i’m not certain if i should direct my complaint straight to Pauline at the MFSA or do i need to give Northway 8 weeks to provide their final response first?
John C says
Hi Jon, Pauline will not look at your complaint until Northway have had 8 weeks or given their final response. It will just get filed away. Get your complain into Northway straight away. I think most of us got no response from them though
struggling26 says
Hi all. My cheque for £3.5k has just cleared. I’m wondering if Pauline’s responding oldest claim first as mines been with her since oct/Nov last year by which point I’d been to Northway, UK ombudsman, CCTA then MFSA.
I’might finding it quite funny that I complained to the CCTA who then seemed to cancel Northways registration with them because of their lending practices/not following code then Pauline has used some CCTA extracts as her reason for upholding the complaints!
Up yours Northway!!!
I’m hoping you all have similar success stories! Make sure you send in extracts from credit reports showing defaults, bank statements and highlight the debts/other payday loans going out. I reloaned the same day, often and showed as much in a spreadsheet and Pauline made reference to this evidencing the lack of affordability. I also made it clear to her in my emails that reloading on the same day was a clear sign that I couldn’t afford to pay the interest and comfortably pay the principle loan, taking out larger and more loans from other payday lenders to pay the interest and live! Northway was the first payday loan company I used and I had to take out others in time just to maintain interest payments, as stupid as this was!!
Anyway keep the success stories coming!!
Stuart G says
Hi all! After hearing nothing from Northway, I contacted Pauline directly. I’ve just had an email reply saying that the MFSA is being phased out and replaced by the Office of the Financial Arbiter and that they will not be investigating my complaint, they will pass details onto me in the near future about how to complain to this new authority. Has anyone else had this and does anyone have any advice on what I should do? Thanks!
John C says
Really? I emailed Pauline last Tuesday and got no response. Emailed again on Friday and got an out of office. As I’d still had no response I rang earlier and was told she was in a meeting. When I pointed out I’d had 2 messages ignored I was told I’d get a reply today. Still not got one!
I’ll be furious if cases have just been dropped due to a change, with no information to anyone. Surely this must have been in the pipeline and been known about? Just when you think we are getting somewhere with Northway it’s 2 steps back
Have you been given any timescales Stuart?
Stuart G says
This is what I got sent this morning:
Complaint against Northway Financial Corporation Limited – Our temporary reference: *********
Your e-mails hereunder refer.
We would like to inform you that the remit of the Consumer Complaints Unit within the Malta Financial Services Authority is being phased out and replaced by the Office of the Financial Arbiter.
The Office of the Financial Arbiter is set up by the Financial Arbiter Act (Chapter XVI of 2016 of the Laws of Malta). The law came into force in April of this year, and the Financial Arbiter as well as the Board of the Office of the Financial Arbiter have been announced recently. We anticipate that further details about the new set-up, including information about the Financial Arbiter’s complaint procedure, will be made public in the very near future. The Office of the Financial Arbiter is an autonomous and independent setup.
As a result of this development, we will not be investigating your complaint and will be keeping it on hold.
When details about the new redress process are published, we will communicate further with you as to how the complaint to the new Office could be lodged.
In the meantime, kindly seek legal advice should you deem that this delay might prejudice your rights under the law.
Do not hesitate to contact us if you wish to discuss further.
Thanks and Regards,
Pauline Tonna
Manager
Consumer Complaints Unit
John C says
I’ve just rang the MFSA again and it’s closed for the day. I’ve sent a rather terse email to Pauline asking for an update.
Maybe they aren’t taking on new cases and will complete investigations on older ones, as a number of people have complaints in? However it doesn’t help those that are only raising them now, esp after the tactics of Northway to just ignore everyone
“Very near future” could be anytime
Stuart G says
I agree John, it’s worrying and I’m not sure what to do now. I’m loathe to just wait for them as they have hardly played ball thus far. So any advice would be gratefully received!
On a more positive note, I’ve had my outstanding balances wiped off by Lending Stream, Mr Lender and 24/7 Moneybox this week, thank you Debt Camel for this fantastic site!
John C says
Having had a response from the MFSA today it seems current complaints are still being investigated. I was asked for some information this morning, that I’ve sent back across to them
Its a real shame that there has been a change in the set up in Malta, though if it means that companies like Northway are investigated for their practices, maybe something a small unit wasn’t able to cover, then it has to be better for everyone. However I do feel your frustration Stuart and I hope its not too long before the new-set up is in place. Maybe it will pave the way for a quicker and easier way to raise a complaint with Northway? Look at it this way, some people on here have been waiting over 6 months for a resolution. If the new set up is in place in a month and they take 2 months to action a complaint, it will still be quicker than the current solution.
If I was you, I would just make note of when you first complained, in case there are any time restrictions.
Stuart G says
I’ve just heard back from Northway. They’ve offered to wipe the £563 I owe which is with MMF but have stated they will not offer refunds. I had 14 loans in 12 months, interest paid was over £2k. With the uncertainty with the change in the MFSA, should I continue?
John C says
Its a difficult one Stuart. If the interest you’d paid was around £500-£750 you’d take that outcome every single time. If it was £3k + then you would probably take your chances with whatever replaces the MFSA. But for £2k its a difficult choice. There is no guarantee that you would get everything back through the MFSA and its a debt off your record and something to no longer worry about, although £2k would be really nice. And the 8% is a UK thing, so I doubt you would see that on top
Its always going to have to be a decision you make. Do you feel comfortable sitting out and waiting? Does the removal of weight from the disappearance of this debt outweigh the possibility of getting more after an investigation? I paid well over £12k to Northway in interest so would never settle for just a debt wrote off, but I don’t know how I would feel if this was a smaller amount. I’d be happy with just about anything from an investigation from the MFSA as I thought this would be money I would never see again. Now the investigation is continuing and Northway have till the 8th June to respond to the MFSA i’m trying not to build my hopes up after seeing some results that have seen all interest returned. I wouldn’t want this to be a deal or no deal situation where everyone shouts at you to carry on, and you end up with a box with 1p in it. Nor would I want to advise anyone to accept an offer that may end up bigger down the line. Although unlike deal or no deal, the game won’t play out and you’ll never see “what you could have had”
Ultimately it depends on how much you want or need this debt to disappear? Do let us know what you decide, and good luck with the choice, I don’t envy you. I never got any offer from Northway, so its always been easy to decide what to do
AJ says
Personally Id continue as you have nothing to lose. Northway wrote my debt of but I didnt formally accept. There were times when I held out zero hope but the MFSA have set a precident. They are a legal body and have found Northway to be guilty in the same way the UK FSO has. Its very difficult to see how a body that takes over would ever stand up and say their predesessor is wrong. Hang on it there it may take a while but im sure you will get there in the end. This company needs closing down and the more of us who stand together the more likely it is they will be driven out of business. Im wondering if the Northway case has shown the MFSA needs to restructure as my understanding is this case involves not only the UK borrowers but USA Australia etc. What looks like a 1 or 2 man operation on a small island probably needs to bring in other bodies to work alongside them. As I say youve nothing to lose. People told me to let this drop when the MFSA first turned me down but I drew together enough evidence to reconsider and was one of those first payouts. Got to be worth a shot
Stuart G says
Thanks AJ – it seems like they have already written off my debt without me accepting, so like you say, nothing to lose! I’ll stick with it and hopefully we’ll all get some results out of these sharks.
NickC says
This is exactly what happened to me, my balance was wiped without me accepting anything. It is worth noting that the balance was 95% interest and charges which I am challenging anyway but I’m still glad it’s gone. MFSA have put my complaint on hold whilst the new arbiter gets set up. I’m o.k with this as long as the outcome is positive when it is up and running. As a side note when Northway wiped the balance it was updated on the current website. Curious when MMP claim they have no access to Northway accounts and Northway claim they have nothing to do with the new set up, it does beg the question who is updating the accounts and why? I have made a formal request to the current incarnation of Swift Sterling to provide me with all the data they hold about me, why they have it and how they are using it. Not surprisingly I have had no response as yet but I will update here if I do.
AJ says
My write off included £250 interest and I queried that with the MFSA saying that as they had instructed Northway to refund all interest only the principal should be deducted from the settlement figure. The MFSA argued that as the agreement was made prior to their investigation to wipe off the outstanding amount then they were only concerned with interest not covered by this agreement. As such I could have delayed but as the settlement was nearly 3k and I expected nothing I accepted especially as the cheque was already in the post. Good luck toyouall. Northway are bottom feeders
Spode says
My case against these is finally with Paulime after months of them not responding to me. I had over 40 loans with them and borrowed £16,000. I constantly used to worry to myself “what if one month PTDP rejected my application?” My whole financial budget was based on them reissuing after I had paid the loan off. Grim times :(
Stuart G says
After Northway telling me they had recalled the outstanding amount from MotorMile Finance, I replied saying I did not agree and felt I was due a redress. I copied in Pauline at MFSA and got this response:
Once the details of the Office of the Financial Arbiter are available, we shall forward your complaint to him for his consideration.
The MFSA will not be investigating your complaint.
So it’s just going to be a case of sitting tight and waiting for the new office to be set up.
SB says
Hi,
I currently have a default from Swift Sterling listed on my Noodle report which dates back to Nov 2014. I only had one loan from them in Apr 2014 which I obviously couldn’t pay as I was in a payday loan mess.
What is my best course of action? I was never informed of this default. MMF have recently been in touch and offered a reduced settlement, do I negotiate with them? – I want to try and clear my credit history so any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
NickC says
As I understand it if you do not receive a formal default notice at least 28 days before it is registered with a credit agency that can be grounds for having it removed.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A “Default Notice” refers to the formal legal notice a creditor has to give you before starting legal action. It has NOTHING to do with putting a default on your credit file, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/debt-default-date/.
The ICO guidelines say “we strongly recommend that a notice of the intention to file a default should be served” – that is not a legal obligation.
louise says
Hi John,
I have emailed and she said that Northway are sending the documentation today as they requested an extension. I will then review everything and get back to them with my feedback.
Is that what you received?
John C says
No, the date she gave me originally was the 8th. I suppose that means Northway might not come back to her till the 15th with mine!
Let us know what she comes back with, hopefully this is a simple process from now
louise says
Fingers crossed. I was hoping that it could be her decision and she’s waiting for them to either accept or send information if they don’t. I might be wrong but I hope not, got more info to send to her today and fingers crossed it might speed things up.
Michael says
Hi have you got a email address for Northway Financial in Malta please
John C says
Hi Michael complaints@northwayfinancial.com
Carol Wignall says
The new Arbiter website is now live.
The link is http://www.financialarbiter.org.mt/
I have just posted my complaint off today along with a cheque for 25 Euros.Fingers crossed.
John C says
Good luck Carol, you’ll probably get a result before those still with the MFSA
s williams says
How did you send a cheque for 25 Euros?
Carol says
Hi,
I didn’t know what to do so I just sent an ordinary cheque but wrote twent five euros instead of twenty five pounds.I thought if it’s wrong they should let me know.I must say though that I haven’t heard anything yet.I did send my application via international track and trace and so I do know that it has now been delivered
Paul says
Good Morning All,
Louise/John I have had an email from Pauline this morning saying that Despite disagreeing with the Unit’s findings, Northway accepted the Unit’s recommendation and issued a cheque for the said amount on 31 May 2016 (copy attached). The cheque has however been signed on Monday and is being posted to the following address, so you should be receiving within 20 business days from Monday.
The end is in sight guys, please don’t give up ;-) This was for 3 Loans Only x
louise says
Thanks for that Paul. It does seem that she’s getting through it all. I feel sorry for her having to go through it all on her own. I bet Northway are u helpful too. Does anyone know if any outstanding balances are taken off the refund?
Paul says
I think if you owe them on a loan from the original amount you borrowed then this will have to be paid first, this has happened on a few other complaints that I have won.
Won Cases:
Wonga/Lending Stream/1 Month Loan/Quick Quid/247 Money Box/Wage Day Advance
Lost Cases:
Payday UK (But only had 1 loan with them)
Awaiting last one to be finalised within the next few days Payday Express (Express in taking the money, but not given it back)
Also I think Pauline does have a team with her, but she signs off on the final outcome??
louise says
Ah ok I wasn’t sure because all the loans that are older than 6 years are hardly ever paid back if the firms are from the UK but MFSA seem to run things different and they are being refunded so I thought that it might be different. I though she was on her own as all correspondence is sent to her.
louise says
Just put together all my account histories which were sent to me from each of the companies who I had loans with which were running alongside Northway. Hoping that might help. Feeling really positive just don’t want to jinx it lol
John C says
I think that would help a lot Louise. From my first email to the MFSA of complaint in March, I supplied them with my Noddle report and all the late payment markers highlighted, a list of my QQ, WDA and Pounds to Pocket loans and later on, a couple of examples of payments to PDL’s on a particular month showing them taking my whole wage (sometimes more). I also sent emails showing where I’d practically begged PTPD to sort their lending out as my whole budget was based on being able to borrow over £1k a month again. It showed the lack of responses and therefore how little PTPD cared about my financial situation. I sent Experian screenshots too, showing my mortgage 3 months in arrears, because PDL’s had become my priority debt. It looks an absolute mess, but I hope it helps give the MFSA a strong case.
I used your way back when website thing, and all of the pages show PTPD insistence that they were short term loans. Makes you wonder how I could borrow every month for 5 years and it never be questioned!! Laughable really
Louise says
Wow I am shocked that you haven’t had a response with all your information you have supplied!! I hope it does bring results. My very first loan with them was in Aug 2008 and I borrowed each month until March 2010 when my father got me out of trouble. When I took out my first loan I already had over £930 worth of Payday loan debt. I was earning roughly around £1100 per month. I had £170 a month left for travel food and my other debt and that’s before their loan. That was the same up to March 2010 by then I was borrowing £1231 excluding £450 which was their loan bringing it up to £1681.
As they were older than 6 years my credit report doesn’t show anything as most has dropped off or was removed because of a packaged bank account refund in 2014 and other PPI refunds. I thought I would send that in it place.
John C says
With 25 months of borrowing it’s hardly short term Louise, I hope the MFSA can see that for you. Good job your dad helped you to get out of it and hopefully a result will be soon coming. Shame you can’t show the older payday loan debt, but I found a load of my old emails to help with some proof. The PTPD loans never appeared on my credit report.
If you want some sobering reading, I paid back £63,948.46 back to this lot according to their own numbers. Between December 2008 and August 2015 I had 195 separate loans and paid £13,687.96 interest in those 39 months of continuous borrowing. This was along with QQ/Pounds2Pocket and WDA
Louise says
Thank you. That is a sobering thought indeed. I had WDA who I found were a pleasure to deal with. Quick Quid on the other hand are horrendous. I had another 6 loans from March 2011 onward stupidly I got myself back into debt with them a year later. I am having a lot of trouble in regards to the 6 years rule, it seems that the FOS wont even look at them even though I have explained about the 3 year rule. Its great to know that Pauline will look at the older ones too. It is a shame about the 8% simple though as that can bump it up by quite a lot.
Fingers crossed for us both, hopefully may get something later this week.
John C says
I found WDA to be good to deal with too and received a refund of just over £7k. With QQ I had to go through the FOS and received just under £7k, but with a Pounds 2 Pocket loan paid off, taking the value to £7k. This didn’t include my Flexi Loan though, which I paid a further £6.5k on! That is with the adjudicator still as it wasn’t even mentioned in QQ’s response. If they follow the same logic as my QQ loans then this should be a full refund. Throw in something from PTPD and I could be completely debt free with the exception of my mortgage, after years of pain and misery. The fact I’ve paid around £44k in interest alone across payday lenders in 8 years is mind blowing. What’s more shocking is none of them saw it was an issue! If I could afford to borrow that much money then either I was very wealthy (I’m not) or had big problems (I did)
Its a shame that there is an issue with the 6 year ruling. I understand that there has to be a cut off, but the PPI issue doesn’t seem to be time bound like this (I know from claiming PPI from 1996 as I had the paperwork for a loan) Hopefully the MFSA will go right back to the start for you Louise, and at least you’ll have that victory
louise says
It certainly looks like it will as many refunds include older loans from the MFSA. I don’t think I will get the refunds that are over the 6years from the UK side which could mean a major drop in what I am owed. But still it’s worth pursuing as we have nothing to lose. Good luck with yours too.
Paul says
Good Morning,
Just to let you know I received the cheque yesterday in the post when I got home from work ;-)
Regards
Paul
Stuart G says
Great news Paul! Has anyone had any indication of when the Office of the Financial Arbiter will be set up? Pauline and the MFSA are not looking into my complaint, so I’m having to wait for the new body to be set up. Is anyone else in the same position? On a side note Payday UK emailed after 8 weeks to say they haven’t made a decision and suggested I go to FOS – has anyone else had this happen and how did your cases go?
Sharron says
Hi Stuart.
I’m in the same postion as you, had the same reply from Pauline, so am waiting for this new body to be set up.
Regarding Payday UK, I sent mine to the Ombudsman when their 8 weeks was up, that was about 2 weeks ago. I have an adjudacator looking into it now.
Tim says
Hi All
Swift Sterling were by far my biggest lender, I think I paid them around 180-200 interest every month for nearly 3 years. I wasnt going to complain until finding this topic.
Anyway moving on, I contacted the MFSA to see if they are still accepting complaints after reading all of the above, they advised not at the moment, however they gave me the email address of Geoffrey Bezzina from the Arbiter. I shot Geoffrey a quick email asking about the complaints process etc, turns out he is chairman of the board. He quickly got back to me and advised that they are not in the position to accept complaints at the moment and hopefully they will be able to in a couple of weeks. He also sent me some information on the Arbiter, I believe there will be a fee involved with making a complaint, 25 euros if my memory serves me, and also that they aim to resolve complaints within 90 days.
It seems like when this is up and running, this will at least bring some resolution to any complaints relatively swiftly hopefully.
Cheers
Tim
John C says
Hopefully that means an end to the months of waiting for a result. Seems there maybe deep routed problems in Malta for this Arbiter to be appointed. Bit frustrating on the 25 euro charge, but based on the stories on here, there are a lot of people that paid a lot of money to Northway. I’ll cross my fingers for you all that its up and running quickly (and that it means all other cases are finished before it!)
Matt S says
Well its now been 4 weeks without any update from Pauline since she advised me she had asked Northway for information and had given them 2 weeks to respond. No reply to any of my emails asking for an update. Wondering now if even the complaints that were ongoing through the MFSA are now on hold until the new body is up and running. But even if that is the case its still a little bit frustrating not to get any updates.
louise says
It is very frustrating but what I keep in mind is that Pauline seems to be working on her own and is dealing with all our complaints. I got an update from her yesterday. Email her every few days asking for an update that’s what I do. Don’t lose heart she’s is working through them and hopefully we will be the next batch for her response fingers crossed
John C says
Was her response a positive one Louise? I know Northway were given till the 10th June to come back to the MFSA with a response to her initial findings, but I’ve not heard any update, so dropped her a quick email about 20 minutes ago to see if she needs anything further from myself. I’m not really that sure where in the process we are, it seems like we are still near the start based on the responses so far. Hopefully we are in the last group of complaints to be sorted through, but appreciated how busy they / she must be at the moment. I’ve tried to keep all correspondence pleasant where I can, but do understand it can be frustrating Matt.
louise says
It was just a note to say can I send over the stuff again which I sent last week. Northway were meant to get back to her on the 10th. Not sure if they did or not. I’m sure it’ll be soon though hopefully. I agree with John Matt. You have to build a rapport with Pauline and keep everything as pleasant and friendly as possible. There’s not point in getting angry or rude as it won’t do any good. It is frustrating but as I said send her an email every couple of days asking for updates and so on.
Matt S says
Hi. thanks for the replied. I have been very pleasant with my emails to her. I even apologise in each email in case she thinks I’m harassing her as I do appreciate that she’ll have a lot on her hands at the moment. This was the last email I sent her.
Good afternoon Pauline
Just wondering if you’ve been sent the documentation you requested from Northway in regards to my complaint? The 2 weeks you had allowed them has now long past. Sorry to be pushing you on this as I appreciate you will be busy, just looking for an update?
Thanks
John C says
Matt, have you had any kind of update? Seems to have gone quiet again out of the MFSA, can’t seem to get a reply either
louise says
Just had an email saying that she has now received what I sent over and that she is working on my file. I am sure it won’t be too long now for the complaints she is dealing with, as they need to make way for the new complaints people.
louise says
That’s fine. I’m sure you will get answers soon. I normally get them 1 or 2 days later or if not I resend an email. I apologise too because I feel bad to keep asking lol. Fingers crossed we shouldn’t have to wait too long.
Matt S says
I hope so, the only thing that worries me is that I’ve probably sent similar emails to this every 2-3 days for the past 2 weeks and haven’t had any replies at all. Hopefully hear something soon though. Good luck with your complaint!!
John C says
Matt, I had the same issue a few weeks ago, but she did come back after a few, and apologise for the delay. TBH I was a bit snotty in my email, which I regretted. Hence why I was saying to be pleasant etc, not because I thought you hadn’t!
I sent a message yesterday, but nothing as of yet
Maybe drop her one asking if she could acknowledge that she is receiving them, even if she doesn’t yet have an update? Can’t do any harm
louise says
Thank you hope you do too. Just keep persevering I’m sure you will get a reply soon.
Paul says
hi I had several loans with swift sterling, but have not complained yet, what is the best way to go about this as they are not regulated in UK, do I go direct to northway or the Msfa?
John C says
Paul you need to put your complaint into Northway first, just like in the UK. I suspect you’ll get nowhere, but after 8 weeks you can go to the new arbiter, who should be set up by then. Read through other peoples stories on here, there is only 2 pages, to give you a feel of how things will go. Its probably going to be a long process, so don’t expect this to be quick
Paul says
Thanks John, yeah had a read through, wasn’t sure whether to wait for new arbiter to be set up first, but as you say may as well get started as its a long process.
Stuart G says
I see that the Arbiter has been announced and sworn into office – let’s hope they announce the contact details and complaint process soon so that those of us who’s complaints Pauline at the MFSA was unable to look at are able to get started with our complaint. I hope everyone is hanging on in there and having success with any other complaints you have lodged.
Tim says
Hi Stuart,
The Arbiter was sworn in about 4 weeks ago. Two weeks ago i was told by the chairman of the board that their website would be up and running in a couple of days but there is still nothing as of today. I don’t think this was particularly well planned since there is going to be a back log of complaints where the FSA of Malta are not accepting new complaints and the Arbiter isn’t set up to accept them. Reckon it will be at least another two-three weeks if not more before we see any progress or announcement, i might be being cynical but saves me getting frustrated by not being able to complain.
Cheers
Tim
Spode says
I had an email off Pauline on May 19 saying she had asked for info from PTPD who had two weeks to supply the information, and that they usually cooperate in that timescale. On June 6 she emailed to say she had not heard back off them and so had sent another email.
I emailed this Monday to see if she had any update and I haven’t heard off her yet.
Matt S says
I had the same email from her regarding Swift Sterling early in May, saying she’d given them 2 weeks to supply the information. Not heard anything from her since despite emailing asking for updates a number of times. At least you’ve had an update from her!!
Louise says
The last email I got was 14th June to say that my documents have been received and she is working on my file. I emailed her on Thirs, Fri, Monday and today I’ll just keep trying until I get an answer. She advised me 2 months for her decision and I am sure it is coming up to that now. Have you been given any time frames?
John C says
On the 22nd March I was told 2 months, that was 3 months ago and I don’t have any new time frame at all. I’ve rang the office before and left a message, so I’ll do the same again. If the unit is busy then they could at least acknowledge emails
Louise says
I normally use read receipts that shows that they are being read but you need outlook to do that I think. Maybe she given her decisions to Northway as she’s said the same thing to 3 of us now but that’s just wishful thinking lol. Judging by the outcomes on here her decision is sent to Northway then us, some have received a cheque before her response lol.
John C says
Thing is the MFSA have had my Noddle credit report highlighted with all the late payment markers, list of PDL’s (inc what I could find from PTPD through my bank account as they hadn’t replied), most of my correspondence with Northway and screen shots of my Experian credit report showing my mortgage 3 months in arrears, since 3rd March. I sent them the final response from Northway and the full list of my loans (as I finally had the info) on the 14th March. All I’ve been asked for since is a confirmation of my salary. I’m not sure how it can take over 3 months to do an investigation when they have had all the info they need the whole time. Either Northway are in the wrong, or they aren’t. On the 18th May I sent across 2 examples of a month where it had all the PDL payments and their totals, which came to more than my salary and told them my complaints with Wage Day Advance had been upheld by WDA and QQ via the Ombudsman.
I really hope the new arbiter is able to deal with these complaints in a quicker way than current. The whole process has been exhausting and mentally draining. PTPD pretty much destroyed my life for 6 years. Granted it was my own fault for getting into a relationship with this company, but they took advantage of my situation, which left me with 3 relationships ruined, my mental health scared and my credit worth in tatters. Without the help of my family I would have lost my home.
louise brind says
Sent another email today. If I get a response I will let everyone know. Fingers crossed!
John C says
I’ve rang the MFSA this morning and been told that she isn’t in and to ring back this afternoon. I’ll be doing that as this whole process is starting to become a farce. 14 weeks and still no update at all and not even a clue at how this may go isn’t really acceptable. Communication is terrible, i’d be more than happy with a simple reply to an email stating that things were ongoing / Northway were not helping / my thoughts are…… Instead I’ve had nothing except silence. If this process isn’t difficult enough bringing up past issues, to be ignored by a financial agency that’s meant to help those taken advantage of, just isn’t on. I’ve emailed to say i’ll be ringing this afternoon
louise says
Let us know if you have any joy. Good luck
John C says
Waste of a telephone call to be honest. I asked where we were and was told that the information had been pulled together for a conclusion that would be sent to Northway. They would then have an opportunity to look at this. I wasn’t told any timescales on this at all, and I did mention I thought we were no further forward than 14 weeks ago, to which the response was that the MFSA now had all the information. I’m pretty sure they have had all of this for months. I asked how long something like this would normally take and I was told a couple of months, which has long since passed, so i’m no further forward. I was told that the set up of the arbiter had held things up quite a bit, so hopefully its just been because of that, but everything was going forward, and I was assured that the MFSA would be completing the investigation to my complaint.
Guess i’ll just have to try and forget about if for now and see what comes over the next few weeks. I want Northway to know how much misery they caused me, not that they will care!
Louise says
I have just received a response and was told that she is still reviewing my file as they are inundated with work. So it seems we are way down the list. Was optimistic but not so much now :-(
John C says
I’m hoping its still going to be a result (lets face it the start of May did see a raft of refunds, although that feels a long time ago), but its going to take longer than any of us hoped.
Spode says
Coming up to a month now without any reply from Pauline.
Has anyone had any recent updates?
louise says
No reply for me. I sent her an email yesterday but nothing .
Matt S says
Now been 6 weeks since I last had an update from her, this morning sent my 9th email after the previous 8 going unanswered. Not holding out much hope to be honest.
John C says
I’m trying to forget about it now. Its too much of a hassle to think about all the time, so I’ve decided to stop chasing, especially as its not getting me anywhere, except making me stressed and ill. I’ve put a note on my calendar for 1st August and i’ll chase again then. That will be 20 weeks since the MFSA received all of the information from me including my final response from Northway and list of loans, plus the other PDL loans I had. If I don’t have a response by then I expect I won’t be seeing anything back. I hope the new Arbiter has better luck dealing with Northway than the MFSA have
Matt S says
Does anyone know if there’s a complaints email address to actually complain about the MFSA themselves? Or an email address of somebody higher up than Pauline?
I still appreciate that they are busy with complaints and with the change over that they are doing, but to not respond at all to 9 emails over 5 weeks is a bit of a joke. Not even a simple acknowledgement to let me know they are receiving my emails…. Nothing!!
Duane says
I had the same issue direct from Northway. On the 5th email they acknowledged my complaint and even went as far back as my first email, so 3 weeks in!!
Has anyone had a final response from northway?
John C says
If i’m honest you’re unlikely to get a response from Northway any time soon. Their customer service method is to ignore everything. Just ensure you have a copy of your original complaint, and after 8 weeks get your complaint in with the arbiter
John C says
I’m not sure if there is a way to complain higher up Matt. I got a response by ringing her. Granted its a call to Malta, but at least I managed to express a bit of frustration, and I knoew she was receiving my emails. Its why i’m trying to just forget about it for now. However i’d be absolutely disgusted if i’d had so many emails ignored.