On 10 May 2021, Provident Financial Group (PFG) announced that it was closing its home credit operation, also known as doorstep lending. Doorstep lending has been at the heart of Provident's business for most of its 140-year history. Agents would visit customers at home, giving loans and collecting weekly repayments. Now Provident says: In light of the changing industry and regulatory … [Read more...]
High cost credit news and policy
Money Shop, Payday UK / Express – Latest Scheme news
A "Scheme of Arrangement" is in place paying some money to borrowers from the Money Shop, Payday UK or Payday Express who were given unaffordable loans. The payout is now expected to start in May 2021 and to complete in June. The claims portal has now closed. See comments below this article for the latest news. The following information comes from the Scheme reports. the latest is from March … [Read more...]
Provident proposes a Scheme to cap refunds
In March 2021 Provident Financial Group (PFG) announced it is proposing a Scheme of Arrangement to reduce the refunds it has to pay to customers. They are the second major lender to seek refuge in a Scheme - Amigo is also proposing one. The PFG announcement also said that the FCA has started an investigation into Provident's affordability assessments and complaint handling since February 2020. … [Read more...]
No set off in a Scheme/Administration when debt had been sold?
In the Instant Cash Loans (ICL) Scheme Arrangement, Money Shop, Payday UK and Payday Express customers whose debts were sold to PRAC Financial (PRAC) have not been given set-off between their ICL redress and the loan they still owe. The same situation could occur with other Schemes of Arrangement and other debt collectors. It could also arise in administrations, for example Sunny loans that … [Read more...]
“Lower interest if your credit score improves” – a good idea?
Many people are frustrated by only being to access expensive credit. Their financial problems may be years in the past, but they still cannot borrow at a reasonable rate. The FCA's Woolard Review said in January 2021: Products or business models which aim to help consumers bridge from sub-prime to near-prime or mainstream have an important role to play in expanding access to credit, and … [Read more...]
Amigo’s Scheme – timetable for approval
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, will be able to have the full amount of … [Read more...]
Provident’s Scheme – will customers get less than 2% ?
In my summary of the Provident's proposed Scheme, published on 15 March, I said I would be looking at some aspects of it in more detail. The £50m the company is putting up to pay refunds is not nearly enough to pay everyone. The whole point of the Scheme for Provident is that it will cost it less than if it were to pay full refunds. This article looks at how much customers might hope … [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...]
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