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.
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
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.
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.
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
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 response 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.
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.
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 ?
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!
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!
Murph says
Hi John
I also accepted an offer which was much lower than I’d paid and was wondering if anyone replied to you.
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 still owe Northway and only want to claim back the money if it’s successful so it can offset the debt.
Ben says
the last payday loan, approx. £500 owed. 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 ?
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
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,
Allison says
Hi,I doubt that they reply,I tried the same tactic but it didn’t work.If I were you just email the Arbiter tell them you are complaining about Northway .then fill in the complaint form and send it off.you have nothing to lose and they reply really quick.The form is not very long but make sure you fill it in on line they wont except hand written ones, Don’t delay! I have emailed Northway loads but after they offered me small amount and I rejected I haven’t heard a thing , so if I were you I would send to the Arbiter anyway,it’s not going to hurt ,good luck
Allison
TheHitman says
Brill, I’ll get onto it today. Thank you for your advice Alison! ;-)
Charlotte Gilsenan says
Hi there, I hadn’t seen this section of the website when I made a complaint to Swift Sterling. They rejected my complaint, of course, and I complained to the FOS. As part of the information I sent to the adjudicator, the response from SS definitely said to contact the FOS if I disagreed. It’s been a couple of months now and the adjudicator has stated that 1 out of the 3 loans provided shouldn’t have been, ams5so is in my favour. SS have disagreed and now an Ombudsman will be looking at it…..was this not supposed to happen?!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what date were these loans?
Charlotte Gilsenan says
Dec 16, Jan 17 and March 17.
Sorry for the weird bit in my comment above, my phone’s autocorrect is very strange at times!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK you are the first person I have seen who actually does have a complaint against the current Swift Sterling lender – they are a UK company and your complaint should go to the Ombudsman. All the other people commenting on this page have complaints about older loans from a Malta based payday lender.
Charlotte Gilsenan says
Ah I see, thank you very much :)
Nick H says
Had no response to my counter offer yet.
I know Al got a reply to here’s after 7 days, which will be today for me.
If I don’t get a reply today I will ask the Arbiter to continue with my complaint
Nick H says
Northway have rejected my counter offer and are sticking with their original offer, which I am not happy with – So I have asked the Maltese Arbiter to continue with their adjudication.
Nick H says
Mediation with Northway has failed (although we never ended up doing the skype meeting, just a bit of email negotiating) so next step is adjudication – this is what I got from the Arbiter today:
Since the negotiation with your service provider seems to have failed, you are hereby being requested to authorise this office to proceed with further investigations and adjudication. Please also take note, that the hearing process might take some time, presumably by end September. Notification of forthcoming proceedings will be communicated in due course. Furthermore, I wish to remind you, that any other expenses incurred by you during this process for legal consultation will be at your expense depending on the judgement outcome.
So looking at a 6 week turnaround – feeling nervous that I didn’t take there offer now – but it was less than 40% of the total interest I paid over 28 continuous months of loans! The fact they’ve gone from zero offer to what they did gives me a little bit of confidence, but the last sentence in their email sounds ominous!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Last sentence sounds like a standard form warning they will say to everyone, nothing to do with how good your case is.
Nick H says
I did think that, but at the same time it did make me think, maybe I should have settled!
Nick H says
Just had this through now….
Please refer to my previous e mail and your complaint against Northway Financial Corporation Limited.
We regret that mediation has failed and we note your queries relating to the adjudicating process.
If you decide to proceed to this stage, your file will be handed over to the Arbiter’s registrar for the first hearing to be appointed.
The review process of your file will start afresh as what has been exchanged during mediation is strictly confidential and cannot be reproduced during proceedings.
Unless you decide to come to Malta for the hearing, the hearing(s) will be conducted via Skype or Google hangouts. You have a right to be represented but that is not required.
Joe says
Ignored by Northway ever since receiving SOA.
Off to OAFS next week.
martin hood says
is northway same company as swift stearling have made complaint to them with threat of moving it forward with mfsa has anyone ever recieved reply from them as tried before with no joy
Joe says
Northway are Pounds till payday if that helps at all?
Nigel says
Martin
You would need to complain to OAFS , MFSA are not dealings with any of these now.
Joe says
I am filling my OAFS form out online at the moment.
The formatting is fine but as soon as I try to input my address the format gets messed up. Any ideas please?!
Thanks!
Joe says
Case with OAFs now. Paid the money (Thanks Santander for £25 charge to send abroad!).
They’ve been unbelievably helpful and swift so far with any questions.
Fingers crossed now I get it back. Northway still ignoring all emails from me including an offer for about 66% of what I think I’m owed.
Nigel says
Just a slight update. Northway have until 14th August to respond to OAFS, so should have a further update next week
Joe says
Hi Nick,
How long since paying OAFs the money is it before the investigation takes off?
I’ve not heard anything from Northway since they provided the statement of account.
Nigel says
Drop them an email and ask, mine was two weeks.
Joe says
Thanks Nick. They’ve confirmed got money and will send me a note when the investigation starts.
The Hitman says
I’m 6 weeks into 8 waiting for a response from Pounds till payday after my stage 2 letter. Will I have to wait 8 weeks before reporting them to OAF? Or put it in now?
Allison says
You need a final response letter, have you complained to Northwayfinancial?
The Hitman says
Hi Allison,
I’ve had nothing since I received my statements.
I’ve chased them again. 8 weeks is just under 2 weeks off
Nigel says
Ok I have had the new offer from Northway Financial that has come via my complaint to OAFS.
Original offer was £360. Upped to £450. Once complaint went to OAFS the new offer is now £1085. In My mind I think its not enough. Everything would be £2400. But I am a realist and I would have accepted around £1500. I don’t think though the wording in the letter that they will ever consider loans before 2011 as they openly state they did not have to comply with legislation before that date on some things. So I’m now thinking of accepting the offer. I will mull over it at the weekend. I am not sure I want to have a Skype or Google hangouts mediation with them! I have been sent that form so OAFS can arrange if i decline the offer.
Nick H says
I agreed to mediate and they cancelled on the day and then offered me over £1000 their previous offer.
They won’t actually attend the mediation so don’t worry about that. They drag it out in the hope people give up and accept less
Nigel says
Hi Nick, can you please expand on this. Thanks Nigel
Nick H says
I have posted full details earlier in the thread.
Northway rejected my complaint completely and offered nothing in compensation. I passed over to the OAFS in Malta.
Once Northway had heard from the OAFS they reiterated their belief that they had done nothing wrong and stuck with their original final response.
I then agreed to the OAFS mediation session. Northway pulled out of this on the morning that the meeting was due to happen, and a week letter offered me a settlement of over £1000.
As this was only a 1/4 of what I believe I had paid to them over the 4 year period I negotiated and asked them to settle at 50% of my original claim. They refused that and it is now waiting full adjudication in Malta.
Nigel says
Interesting that they offered you nothing. My offers have gone from £380 original offer, £450 with me negotiating with them. MFSA stated then ball rolling, that then went to OAFS and since there involvement they have now offered me £1085.28. Its a borderline acceptance for me. I am sure if I hold out I will get more. But I am mulling over it. I will first test the water with Northway.
Nick H says
I say nothing – it did in fact include the w/o off a small o/s balance of £300 – so it was actually an offer of £300 I suppose.
Christine says
Hi I need some info or advise I got myself into this merry go round of borrowing each month until finally 2014 finally manged to break free I can only access bank statement up 2010 dont have access to account details with Pounds Till Payday as my email address mobile numbets etc changed since then can’t remember login details etc so any help on how to I go about trying to put in a claim. Where do I start please. Thanks
Joe says
I do not know your circumstances but if I was in the same situation I think I would accept. It’s money you didn’t have and it’s almost treble what the first offer was.
Is it also worth dragging out further for what might only equate to a couple of hundred quid?
Nigel says
Hi Joe
Yes, but It could also be worth double the amount currently on offer.
paul says
Afternoon all,
I have just sent off my complaint to Northway. Typically, Swift Sterling was one of 2 big lenders for me – about £12,000 over a year. Assume I leave it the 8 weeks before getting OAFS involved?
Has anyone had any joy with Northway direct or are they basically ignoring until the Maltese authorities are involved?
Cheers
Paul
The Hitman says
Hi Paul, as per my message below I got a reply (not final though) from them
Took 6.5 weeks
Al says
I rejected Northways 1st and 2nd offer and negotiated about 75% of what I had paid them in interest completely. You only have to give Northway 14 days to respond and if they dont give a final response then go to the OAFs. Send a few emails to Northway as they claim to not recieve them but save them as it’ll show the OAFs that they are not communicating. When emailing northway give them 14 days to respond then follow up after 7 days, in each email state that you will be going to the OAFS on a certain date. When I did this they were very responsive!
It took me about 6 months all together but that said I’ve had UK claims that have taken longer…………but they have ALL been successful so go for it
The Hitman says
Got a response from Northway/Poundstillpayday.
I still had a historical balance of £861, so minus that plus 8% it should be £4193. Offered to remove the 861, and token gesture of £360!
Off to the FO in Malta I think! Unless they can offer a vastly improved figure
Total loan fees/interest between 11/01/2010 – 03/08/2012 = £4744.89
Petersfield Pete says
I am going through the Financial Arbiter in Malta and have now reached the stage where I have been offered mediation or an offer from Northway. I started borrowing from Pounds till Payday in 2009 and they are offering a refund on interest paid from 2011 as they say there was no requirement for credit checks until 2011.
Should I accept or go for mediation?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How much are they offering? How much interest did you pay before this point? Do you have a balance still owing?
Nigel says
Hi Peter
I have had the same as you, its mentioned above in this thread. I have decided to accept the offer although I think I would have definitely have got more if I had of opted for the meditation etc. In fact I only completed the acceptance forms last night and they promise payout within 2 working days. They wont budge on loans before 2011, they make that very clear. They did not have to comply with any legislation pre 2011. So I weighed it all up and I would have maybe got another £300-£400. But I am just about OK with the amount I have now been offered £1085. But Its your choice of course. As Sara says whats the offer, what interest did you pay? My offers went £380 £450 to the new one one OAFS were involved.
Petersfield Pete says
I paid just over £2000 interest but only only £367 of this was after Feb 2011. they are offering £237 as they say £130 was written off although I don’t recall this. The debt was settled via a debt management company and finally cleared nearly 2 years ago. Should I take it?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That’s a hard one. You could ask for evidence of the write off if that would make a difference? If you plough on through the arbitration, the chances are that you won’t get LESS than they have offered, but there are just no guarantees about this as no one has yet done it.
Petersfield Pete says
The write off is on their statement and could of been in the hands of the debt management company at the time. £237 is better than nothing, I’ve managed to get nearly £4000 back from UK based vultures in the last few months so this is a bonus, as I was told I had no chance from these as they’re based in Malta. Only through finding this site I found there was hope. I can’t ”like” you on facebook as I don’t do it but thanks very much for your comments!
Emma says
Sorry to be a pain again-still a newbie, trying to tackle S/S.
So ,we can attempt to put in a claim to Northway for interest only paid.Is that the interest that we paid out for the loan term,or plus additional interest from that particular date to present day?
Many Thanks
Petersfield Pete says
I believe the interest on interest you paid only applies to the UK, I know the UK ombudsman sets this at 8%. I hope you manage to get something back from these vultures
julie says
I asked northway for a statement last november, got it after several emails, told them I wanted to claim charges back but been ignored. I have sent probably an email a week since then most of which were returned as spam. I threatened to go via the OAFS in Malta but it didn’t make any difference. I was ignore from nov until last week. I had paid 11.8k in interest. Out of the blue, the day before flying out on a holiday that had taken 18months to pay for I received an email offering me 2.6 k to settle case which would be paid within 6 days. I decided to accept as at the moment with the holiday and my daughter starting uni next week. I do realise I probably would have got alot more but it would get me out of a mess at the moment. I don’t regret taking the money though maybe I will at a later date but it was in my account the next day. It made for an enjoyable holiday which I was able to spoil my children and buy my daughter some uni stuff without worrying how I was going to pay for it. Good luck to all and I really hope you all get what you deserve