This article relates to Amigo’s first Scheme, which was rejected in May 2021. See Amigo's second Scheme for the latest news. 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. This article looks at seven points … [Read more...]
High cost credit news and policy
Amigo – many customers may do better in Administration than a Scheme!
This article relates to Amigo’s first Scheme, which was rejected in May 2021. See Amigo's second Scheme for the latest news. 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 … [Read more...]
Amigo first Scheme – my estimated numbers don’t look good
This article relates to Amigo’s first Scheme, which was rejected in May 2021. See Amigo’s second Scheme for articles on the second Scheme. When Amigo announced it was seeking a Scheme of Arrangement on 21 December 2020, I said there were very few details and asked some questions. On 25 January more information about the Scheme was given. But there weren't any of the useful numbers I … [Read more...]
Amigo seeks refuge from refunds in a Scheme (December 2020)
UPDATES In May 2021 the court rejected the Amigo Scheme accepting the arguments of the FCA that it was not the fairest that could be proposed to customers. See Court rejects Amigo Scheme of Arrangement for details. In December 2021 Amigo published the proposals for its Second Scheme. See Amigo's new Scheme for the latest news. Amigo announced on 21 December 2020 that it is seeking … [Read more...]
Kerrigan v Elevate Credit – an “unfair relationship”
The judgment in the Kerrigan & others v Elevate Credit International Ltd was published on 5 August 2020. Elevate Credit International was a large UK payday lender, trading as Sunny. Kerrigan and the other eleven claimants were Sunny customers who had made affordability complaints to Sunny through a claims company. The claims company brought the case and selected six claimants; Sunny … [Read more...]
Wageday Advance – administration completed in 2020
Summary of the administration Curo Transatlantic Limited (Curo) had two UK lending brands: Wageday Advance (WDA), a mid-sized payday lender; and Juo Loans, a small guarantor lender. Curo entered administration on 26 February 2019 because of the number of payday loan affordability complaints they were receiving. They appointed KPMG as Administrators. The Administrators … [Read more...]
Wonga – what happened during the administration
The administration of WDFC, the legal company who operated the Wonga brand, was completed in August 2020. The company was finally dissolved in December 2020. See Companies House records for details. Background to the administration - rising complaint numbers A payday loan is "unaffordable" if repaying left you short so you had to get into more debt, by borrowing again or getting behind on … [Read more...]
Will the Money Shop really pay 80% of refunds? No!
UPDATES In August 2019 the Money Shop announced a Scheme it expected would pay c 80p in the £ to customers of the Money Shop, Payday UK and Payday Express who are owed compensation for unaffordable loans. I said pigs might fly - see the article below. And I think other people such as the FCA and the Ombudsman also express some scepticism... A month late, in September 2019, a revised version … [Read more...]
Guarantor loans – why guarantors & borrowers need extra protection
Guarantor loans are coming into the regulatory spotlight. The FCA wrote to CEOs in March 2019 saying it will be looking at affordability and whether potential guarantors have enough information to understand how likely it is that they may have to make the loan payments. In a speech, Jonathan Davis said: Recent work we have done in this area showed that many guarantors are making at least 1 … [Read more...]
2018 – Ombudsman decides it can look at payday loans over 6 years old
The Financial Ombudsman (FOS) has published in September 2018 two Decisions involving payday loans over six years old: Mr H has complained about fifty-four payday loans Lender C lent to him between March 2010 and September 2014. Mrs W’s complaint is about nine short-term loans from Lender D between November 2009 and July 2012. In both cases FOS has decided that its rules do allow it to … [Read more...]