On 24 March 2021, Amigo announced some feedback from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on its proposed Scheme of Arrangement. Full details have now been given - the FCA's Letter of Concerns was published on 31 March 2022. This said: the FCA considers that the Scheme ... may not be compatible with the FCA's rules, principles and strategic objectives. In particular, the FCA is concerned … [Read more...]
Articles about Amigo
These articles are about Amigo itself, the company and its finances.
For articles about guarantor loan complaints, including the templates for how to complain if you are a borrower or if you are a guarantor, see Guarantor loans complaints.
Amigo’s Scheme – how to vote & timetable for approval
You can now vote on Amigo's Scheme. Amigo is proposing a Scheme because it can't afford to pay refunds to all the customers who were given unaffordable loans. It says it will go into administration if the Scheme is not approved. Amigo says customers may get a cash refund of about 10% of their proper refund value. I think the amount may be lower. Customers with a current loan, however, … [Read more...]
Amigo should end unpaid interest deductions and remove CCJs
I asked Amigo about some details of the redress people will get if they make a claim to the proposed Scheme and Amigo upholds the claim. Amigo has had a complete change in its Board of Directors. It now likes to suggest that it will be handling complaints much better. But the answers to my questions are disturbing. The "unpaid interest" deduction Amigo applies this when it has decided a … [Read more...]
Amigo & Provident complaints soar – new Ombudsman data
On 3 March 2021, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) published two sets of statistics. quarterly data for October-December 2020 summarises the types of complaints FOS has received. half-year data shows which firms had the most complaints in July-December 2020 and how often FOS upheld the customers' cases. Caroline Wayman, the FOS CEO says: "Excluding PPI, new complaints are up by … [Read more...]
Amigo’s Scheme – key points to think about
On 25 January 2021 Amigo announced that it is proceeding with the next stage of its proposed Scheme of Arrangement and published the formal Practice Statement Letter (PSL) that describes the Scheme for the customers affected. I have summarised the proposal in Amigo’s Scheme - timetable for approval & how it may work. This article looks at seven points of concern about the Scheme. A … [Read more...]
Amigo – many customers may do better in Administration than a Scheme!
When Amigo announced it was proposing a Scheme of Arrangement in December, it said: Amigo continues to explore alternative options but it is likely the alternative options would result in those with Redress Claims receiving considerably lower amounts (if any at all) than they would under the Scheme. But that isn't correct for one large group of borrowers who would be significantly better off if … [Read more...]
Is Amigo allowed to delay paying refunds? Does it have a DISP waiver?
When Amigo announced in December 2020 that it was seeking a Scheme of Arrangement to cap the amount it has to pay to customers owed refunds for unaffordable lending, it said: To ensure equal treatment of customers with Redress Claims, Amigo will stop the ongoing payment of all Redress Claims, except for those cases where the Redress Claims result from: (i) reviewed and upheld complaints where a … [Read more...]
Lessons from Amigo – FOS complaint handling needs to be faster
If Amigo’s proposed Scheme of Arrangement goes forward, customers with complaints at the Financial Ombudsman (FOS) will have them returned to Amigo to resolve in the Scheme. My guess is that there may be 10,000 Amigo cases at FOS, possibly a lot more. UPDATE: FOS says it has about 13,000 open Amigo cases and about 500 new cases are arriving each week. If these customers would have had a … [Read more...]
Amigo’s Scheme – who’s next? Implications for the bad credit market
If Amigo's proposed Scheme of Arrangement is allowed to go forward by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), what would be the impact on the guarantor market and the wider bad credit market? This article looks at whether other lenders would also seek the protection of a Scheme and the implications for competition in the market. This is one of a series of articles looking at Amigo's proposed … [Read more...]
Will an Amigo Scheme of Arrangement abandon vulnerable customers?
A whole book could be written about the different ways vulnerable customers can have problems with guarantor loans - I wrote about some of them in Guarantor loans – why guarantors & borrowers need extra protection. But here are a couple of very recent cases for illustration. Case 1 - mental health problems The borrower informed Amigo when he made an affordability complaint in September 2020 … [Read more...]