Was your car finance unaffordable?
The FCA, who regulates car finance lenders. and the Financial Ombudsman (FOS) say:
a loan is only affordable if you can make the repayments on time, without hardship and still meeting your other commitments.
That means you need to be able to pay all your other debts, your normal household bills and expenses as well as the new car loan payments.
You may have made your car finance a top priority as you don’t want the car to be repossessed. As a result you may have had increasing credit card balances, more loans or got behind with bills. That means even though you kept making the payments, the finance was not “affordable”.
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Affordability checks
A lender should have checked you could afford the car finance. This may mean checking not just your credit record, but also your income and expenses as well.
These checks have to be “proportionate”. If you have got a great credit record and a good income and are only borrowing a small amount, the lender isn’t going to have to look in great detail to be confident you can afford it.
But with a poor credit record, or where the repayments will be a large proportion of your income, better checks are needed. The FCA rules don’t say exactly what has to be done, but a lender often can’t rely on what the customer says their income and expenses are. Other ways to check include:
- your credit record shows what you are paying to other debts each month;
- there are national average figures for some expenses, so your estimate that you spend £60 a month on food or nothing on clothes isn’t realistic;
- the lender could look at payslips or bank statements to be sure.
These checks are often inadequate
The regulator thinks some car finance lenders are not checking properly for affordability. In 2019, the FCA said:
Here is an extreme case ‘Car payments are ruining our lives’ where a 23 year old student with a part-time job was sold a 21k Audi on finance, with apparently no affordability checks at all.
But it’s probably more common that a quick and inadequate check was done.
A car finance expert makes a lot of excellent points in this article: The car industry need to be more honest when selling car finance. He says:
It’s time for the car industry to do better, even if it’s to save customers from themselves.
“Affordability” is a test of your situation when you took the finance
The car finance company may have done a good assessment of affordability. At the start, you may have been able to manage the loan repayments.
Then something went wrong – perhaps you had your hours cut, or you split up with your partner. Or rising bills in 2022 mean what was manageable before isn’t any more. Here it’s not the lender’s fault that the car finance is now unaffordable and you won’t win an affordability complaint. Read Can you afford your car finance payments? which looks at your options in this situation.
But should the lender have seen that the loan was too expensive at the start if they had looked properly when you applied for the credit?
In this case, you can make an affordability complaint to the lender.
How to make a car finance affordability complaint
The affordability rules for car finance are the same as for other loans. So you can follow the approach and use the template letter for an affordability complaint in this article: How to ask for a refund from large, bad credit loans.
The template letter in that article asks for:
- a refund of the interest on the finance;
- for the remaining balance to be repaid at an affordable rate; and
- for any negative marks to be removed from your credit record.
If you have other serious complaints about the car, such as poor quality, you can add those into the standard affordability complaint letter.
A lot of lenders reject even good complaints. So don’t be depressed if this happens – just send it to the Financial Ombudsman – the process is all described in the above link.
What happens if you win the complaint?
If you win an affordability complaint for a normal loan, you get the interest refunded and if the loan is still running, your balance is reduced. It’s more complicated with car finance complaints.
You may wonder what happens if your car was repossessed and you had paid little or no interest?
If you still have the car finance, will you be able to keep the car?
See Car finance affordability – what you get if you win a complaint which looks at the different situations and what the ombudsman usually decides. It has some links to Ombudsman decisions – including one for a brand-new BMW!
Still have the car? You must keep paying the car finance
These complaints may take many months. You will have to keep up the loan repayments during this time, or your car may be repossessed.
Read Can you manage to pay your car finance? which looks at your options when you don’t think you can keep on paying while the complaint goes through.
Other sorts of car finance claims
€ar finance commission – cases won at the Ombudsman
In January 2024, 2 major cases were won at the Financial Ombudsman were people had been charged to high an interest rate on car finance in order to increase the commission the car dealer got.
See Car finance commission scandal – can you get a refund? for details and how to start a claim.
But if you think you may have a good affordability complaint it’s probably worth trying that first, as in an affordability complaint you get all the interest refunded, but in a commission complaint you would only get some of the interest back.
“Dieselgate” – a totally different sort of claim
You may have seen ads saying you may be able to get £,000s back as diesel cars were mis-sold because they produced more harmful emissions than advertised.
MSE has written a good article on these claims, with a list of the law firms you can use and what they charge. This is not a complaint you can sensibly try to do yourself. I have no idea how likely a payout is and it may take a long while.
Get interest refunded from large loans
Which debts are top priority?
How to end your car finance early
Ashley says
I’m going through similar a claim. A claim I just won. I got a car on finance I simply couldn’t afford, and they shouldn’t have accepted me for the loan.
I gave the adjudicators my credit report and bank statements 3 months before and after I purchased the car. The car cost 12K with high interest in total I was due to pay 18K. I know crazy.
I have had the car 2 years and I have not missed any payments. These payments were a struggle but I didn’t want bailiffs at my door. The complaint was irresponsible lending the outcome came to this:
The Adjudicator said I that the company could only make me pay 4K in total as this was seemed as a fair usage taking into my complaint and what proof I had shown.
I have payed way over 4K within the 2 years I’ve had the car so some will be refunded.
This is what was recommended and sent to the company to resolve this complaint.
They collect the car off me, I have to pay nothing
They refund my my deposit with 8% interest per year
They refund me any other overpayment I’ve made plus 8% interest per year
Remove any defaults on my credit report.
I just have to wait to see if the company is going to appeal it as they have the right, & the ombudsman will have the final decision.
Sandra says
Hi Ashley, quick question did you opt for the car to be collected because you no longer want it? or is that the result of the complaint. I have just put in my complaint but I want the interest I have paid refunded and the interest on my monthly’s to be removed. Whilst keeping the car and paying it off in a more affordable manner was this not a option for yourself?
thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
hi Sandra,
how large was the loan you took? How much have you repaid so far?
Luke says
I submitted my case to the FOS in July, still waiting for it to even be picked up, quite frustrating. I paid 15k for a 10.5k car when I had active payday loans, loans for years before and after the finance and a gambling addiction but was still accepted for finance nonetheless. My question is that although I never missed a payment with the car finance provider, other debts crept in as a result of this, I prioritised the car debt as this was job dependant for me. Do I have a case? The FOS are taking ages to look at it.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, a loan can still be unaffordable even if you make all the repayments on time. If your other debts were increasing during this time it suggest the finance was unaffordable,
Have you also made claims to the payday lenders and other bad credit lenders?
Luke says
Yes all those have all been settled now, some directly, some through FOS, some through administration schemes. Also had a credit card and catalogue complaint upheld (that were in the same time period), this car finance is the last one now but I feel as though the FOS are avoiding my case as it’s unique compared to most. It’s been 5 months already. I had 48 loans spanning a 5 year period, 33 prior to the finance, 3 active when taking it out, then a further 12 after the finance. If I can prove this to the FOS through bank statements, would this prove it was unaffordable to me? Or would they still break down the finances, as the gambling some months left my account in a false positive if that makes sense, whereas other months it would be well in debt.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
FOS are used to seeing that the accounts of gamblers are variable. You may have trouble if you had a few good months before you took the car finance, as then the car finance lender cannot have been expected to realise you had a problem.
Mr C says
So good news i received a letter off billing finance yesterday saying that they are upholding my claim and I will receive a refund of £6340 in 3 to 5 days
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Billing finance – is this your Moneybarn claim?
Mr C says
No this was separate
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So who are Billing Finance?
Mr C says
A previous car finance provider
Im still waiting for moneybarn to investigate my wifes current claim they have sent a email to say the 56 days have passed so i can take it to the fos. Im not sure how to reply. Trouble is with fos is how long they are taking to get to the case
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send it straight away. There is no reason to think they will make a good offer if you delay.
Katie says
Hi Sarah
I’ve received this response
I am sorry that you have had reason to contact us regarding these matters.
Decision
I am upholding our complaint, as I agree the incorrect lending decision was made at the point of your application. I’ve set out my decision in more detail below.
Investigation
Your Hire Purchase Agreement commenced on 13 August 2019, following your application In order to assess your affordability a credit check was completed.
Upon investigating your complaint, we conducted a more detailed analysis of your affordability. As a result of our investigation, we agree that the lending decision made was not appropriate.
Therefore, I propose to refund you the total interest applied to the Agreement of £7,483.40. This results in a refund to be issued to you of £2,969.11 which consists of the interest you have paid £2,597.79 plus 8% interest on this amount, which is an additional £371.32.
The remaining interest of £4,885.61, which is currently with Debt Managers Services we will arrange to write off. This will leave you with a balance of £1,148.27 outstanding, which is the loan advance.
I don’t quite understand what if anything I’m actually going to receive or is it just that it will clear some of the debt? Sorry if that’s a stupid question.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s not a stupid question – this is a pretty strange way for Moneyway to structure a refund…
They are proposing to refund all the interest. That’s a good start. One thing though, did they ever charge you any extra fees?
Also is the debt marked as defaulted on your credit record?
Next comes what is happening to the remaining debt. Do you know if this was sold to Debt Managers Services? or are DMS collecting on behalf of Moneyway? You said before they were Moneyway’s debt collectors, but I wanted to double check this? Do you know what the current balance is with DMS?
Katie says
As far as I’m aware there are no charges. I didn’t miss any payments and voluntarily terminated before the next payment was due. I need to check what letters I’ve had from the debt collectors, I don’t know whether they have bought the debt. I’m assuming so as otherwise surely they would have cleared the arrears before refunding anything to me. I’ll see what I can find out. Should I hold off accepting their offer?
I can’t see anything at all about the agreement on my credit file.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
have you been making any payments to DMS?
You need to check your credit record with all three credit reference agencies – see https://debtcamel.co.uk/best-way-to-check-credit-score/. If the debt is on their with missed payments or a default, you want it removed.
It looks to me as though they are dividing up the refund between some cash going to you £2926 and reducing the debt with DMS to £1148. Which you could then clear with a bit less than half the cash they are giving you.
If you have been making payments to DMS, then the figures may be wrong. If you haven’t then unless you think they are odd (why?) then they may well be OK.
Katie says
Hi Sara
So some good news, I queried the above with Moneyway and they sent the following response
In addition to our previous response, I can confirm we have reviewed our decision.
We accept that the correct lending decision may have not been made at the time of your application however, you have had fair use of the vehicle and maintained your payments up to the point you voluntary terminated.
Therefore, we have agreed to refund all the interest paid and write off the balance of the agreement. You have made 13 contractual payments; each payment consists of paying towards the loan advance and the interest. The interest on this agreement is apportioned according to the capital balance outstanding, meaning your contractual payments contribute to more of the interest at the start of the agreement (breakdown attached).
You have paid in total £2,597.79 towards the interest. We have calculated 8% interest on top of this which gives you a total refund of £2,969.11. This is subject to tax and therefore we have deducted 20%.
The total amount of 8% interest we are refunding you is £371.33, so we are deducting £74.27 for tax. The net amount of interest therefore is £297.06 and the total refund you will receive is £2,894.85.
In addition to the above we are agreeing to write of your remaining balance.
This was sent Wednesday 12/01 and funds reached my account yesterday 17/01.
Thank you for your advice and the initial template.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That sounds like a good result! You should also ask for them to remove negative marks from your credit record.
Staci says
Moneybarn have finally agreed unaffordable lending and are calculating the amount refunded etc which have said will take a few days and asked for bank details for when this is calculated
Amount loaned £8600
Interest 7137.07
Amount left to pay – £1853
Can anyone tell me rough estimate plus 8%
Is like to again thank sara and the helpnfor this site as its helped me gain back a bit of financial freedom in a never ending spiral
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am reluctant to guess without knowing what the exact words of the Ombudsman’s decision were – car finance can be more complicated than a simple loan.
Staci says
It was any charges and interest and ombudsman also just needed comfirmation to “end agreement
So in their reaponse To settle X x complaint Moneybarn should do the following:
Refund all interest and charges x has paid including adding 8% interest* from the date of payment to date of settlement
To remove any negative information recorded on X credit file regarding the agreement
*HM Revenue & Customs requires Moneybarn to take off tax from this interest. Moneybarn must give X a certificate showing how much tax it’s taken off if she asks for this
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then my guess is you have paid 8600 + 7137 – 1835 = 13884
So you have paid 13884 – 8600 = 5284 in interest
Its very hard to guess what the 8% may be. – perhaps £500-£1000
Staci says
Thanks sara
Mrs C says
How long has your moneybarn complaint took please
Staci says
I put my complaint in april 2020. They responded within the time frame rejecting it and i sent it to fos within the timeframe and its just been back and forward since then. I can only say if you know they havent checked properly you could affoed it try provide bank statements etc initiailly with fos as i never and they rejected mine inititally . I persisted sent everything in even providint breakdowns and finally they agreed. So 10 months ! Not sure how long the overall payment etc will take. Everyones diff . Good luck
Mrs c says
Stacy what did the rejection letter say please
Stacey says
Just said that what i had stated wasnt enough evidence to say it was unaffordable as they had only asked me for 2 payslips. I then went back with my statements and outlined my full income and expenditure which even before they gave me it was more than my income eg food priority bills etc . Then debt on top . I did have to go back a few times then finally agreedds
Chantelle says
Hi Staci, how long did it take to get the payout from moneybarn? I got an email today asking for my bank details but not holding my breathe Il get it anytime soon as they haven’t even confirmed how much they are giving me.
Leon says
I was given car finance with an outstanding payday loan against my name, the finance company never looked into my financial situation via statements or payslip and I was also battling a severe gambling addiction at the time. The car finance worsened my situation and as a resulted down the line I defaulted on accounts and took out more payday loans to subsidise. I’ve complained against the finance company for irresponsible lending, do I have a case? I never however missed a payment with the finance provider as I prioritised this payment above all others because my job and livelihood depended upon having a car.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Car finance is a priority debt so you were right to keep paying that, that doesn’t mean that the payments were affordable…
The affordability complaint will be decided on whether the finance company should have known enough to look closely at your situation.
Let me give an extreme example to show what I mean. Suppose you were very well paid and had had savings but had got a big gambling problem 6 months before, and since then you had spent your savings and taken a small payday loan. Then your credit record would be looking pretty good, very little debt except for the small payday loan. the finance company could reasonably decide you were fine and there was no reason to ask to look at you bank statements as the monthly payment was small compared to your income.
But if the repayments were large compared to your income and if your credit record showed that your debt was going up fast and was large, then yes they should have looked.
Leon says
I was paid 1180 a month and the car finance was 233 per month. I had at the time an outstanding payday loan of £680, had to borrow the £1k deposit from a friend which was also repayable and had over 100 gambling transactions per month on my bank statements at the time. My credit report also shows multiple payday loans taken and settled in the months and years prior to me applying for the finance.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then that sounds like a good complaint to me. The payments would be 20% of your monthly income for a long period.
They weren’t obliged to ask for bank statements but they should have checked your credit record and seen the multiple payday loans which suggests you were in difficulty and at that point they should have either declined or asked for your bank statements and seen the gambling…
Leon says
They said that there wasn’t enough payday loans on there to trigger concern (24 in the preceding 3 years) I had a credit card and a catalogue account too. They also said they only had to work out the outstanding payday loan balance at 10% as they assumed that’s what I was repaying.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So they have rejected your complaint? I suggest you send this to the Financial Ombudsman right away.
Leon says
It’s with them now, I was assigned an adjudicator on Friday. I just wanted to get a feel for how the case might go. The 24 loans were mainly in the first 24 months of the preceding 36 months to the application but they were visible on the record nonetheless, I had about 3 or 4 in the preceding 12 months with one still active, would the timescales make any difference? Or should this clearly have been enough to have at least asked for statements?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think they are only part of the story – you are on a low income and this is a long term secured loan, so they should have made sure it would be affordable.
Mr c says
Id also think about putting a claim in for the payday loans
Leon says
I have done all my payday loans a few years ago, had no idea my car finance also fell into the same bracket until finding this amazing website. I just hope the adjudicator sees it the same way Sara does, then I know I have a case I will win.
NG says
Hi,
3 years ago I took out a car on finance, I was working part time only earning around 260 per week. My credit was bad so Apr is 26% the car was worth £11000 but with interest it went up to £19000. I have less than 2 years left and the early settlement fee is 5990. I have 6660 outstanding on this car loan. I was not asked for bank statements and my earnings were low but I have never missed a payment. I want to get out of the agreement by selling and settling then get another car at a better rate as my credit is way better than it was when taking it out and my income is better. Do you think I have a chance at making a successful complaint for affordability? And will this affect me getting another finance agreement elsewhere? I have contacted Moneyway to complain about how high the Apr is but they said I can only try and pay a lump sum to take my interest down. it was actually Zuto who brokered the car finance. I really appreciate your help with this please.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is this HP or PCP?
What is the car worth now if you were to sell it (which you can’t as it is on finance)?
What are your monthly payments? £260 a week sounds like a low wage, but it depends what the rest of your finances were like – if you were living with your parents rent free it could be easily affordable.
NG says
It was HP. It’s worth between 6000-7000+
If I were to pay an early settlement it would be 5990 back to the finance company. No I live with my husband and 3 children. My monthly payment is £319.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok so one option is to hand back the car now, doing a voluntary termination – see https://debtcamel.co.uk/vt-end-car-finance-early/. You have paid more than half the credit amount so if you do this you will not owe any more. This will not harm your credit record.
Then you can buy another car at a better rate. A lot depends how much you like this car – if it’s going well and the right size for you then you may prefer to keep it rather than take pot luck with another one.
Anothr option is to make an affordability conmplaint. Your complaint is to Moenyway – the broker is irrelevant. If you had bad credit and a low income, they should have made checks the repayments would be affordable. But what would your bank statements show? If they show that the loan was affordable as you weren’t paying many of the household bills, you may not win the complaint.
NG says
All of the bills come from my account.
I have a overdraft which I use. My husband puts some money into my account Can I make the complaint after ending the agreement with Moneyway? Or now while I have the car? I wanted to change the car as the Apr is high and my credit rating is better now and a default will drop off next month. So I was planing on waiting a few months
Sara (Debt Camel) says
you can complain at any point. But the sooner the better really, there is no advantage to waiting. Expect Moneyway to dismiss it and send it to the ombudsman – if they haven’t replied after 8 weeks, don’t wait, send it to FOS then.
Amy Jones says
I have car finance from 2017 – have about 12 payments left. The interest was so high on this, can’t remember how much exactly but probably around £5000 on a £10000 car! I’ve paid off over the value of the car now, have just less than £4,000 of the total amount left to pay. But in my opinion the finance was unaffordable to me – I have struggled since day one to make the payments and they have often been difficult to deal with. I am in arrears with them but paying higher than my monthly payment to get these cleared.
I wondered if I could complain and see about getting the interest wiped? Or is it different with car finance? And is it going to cause them to be more difficult? Especially with the arrears, I wouldn’t want them to try and repossess the car as I do need to keep this for work.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you have an arrangement with them to clear the arrears? Or are you just paying a bit more when you can and they are hassling you?
You have about £340 a month to pay – how affordable is this now, do you have other problem debts?
Amy says
I do have an arrangement in place with them but it is still more than what I can afford, often am late with my payments and once or twice got behind on council tax. I do have other problem debts which I have arrangements in place for
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So if you have an arrangement in place with them and you keep paying that while a complaint is in, then you should be ok. I say “should” not “will” as I haven’t seen anyone in this situation say what has happened… That feels a bit uncomfortable…
You could talk to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 and ask them if they think it is safe to make an affordability complaint now or wait until the finance is finished.
Certainly you cannot stop paying at the point you make the complaint. If there were no arrears and you carried on paying then the car would be safe if you complain – it is the arrears that are the problem.
This leaves you with a difficult period to get through. especially as energy bills are going to increase for most people, and council tax and National Insurance in April.
The payments you are making to the other problem debts – can you say what they are and how much you are paying, as it may be a good idea to reduce those payments … and possibly to make affordability complaints about those debts.
Amy says
Thanks for the response! Just what may happen if the arrears were a problem? Is it that they could terminate the contract and take the car?
Just credit cards etc, i could maybe look at affordability complaints for one or two of them but I am making really low repayments at the moment.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
they would have to go to court to repossess the car. I don’t think they would want to do that with an affordability complaint outstanding but I can’t say it couldn’t happen…
You can drop the low repayments to cards to £1 – say you have car finance arrears and you are struggling to pay your council tax (both priority debts). Here is an article about making complaints about credit cards: https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-catalogue-credit-card/. This si worth doing even if you are only paying £1 as they have to be paid eventually! So a few hundred off the balances, or more, would be good.
Zoe says
Would anyone mind sharing their Moneybarn experience with me. On the 22nd they finally agreed with the ombudsman to refund me. Since then I’ve heard nothing.
I have called up to pass my bank details on the 31st and was told I should have had a settlement email at the same time as the FOS acceptance. I was assured it would be picked up after the Christmas break with the money being returned last Friday but still nothing. How quick have others received their settlement details after MB agreed with the FOS? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Grae in this comment https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-large-high-cost-loans/comment-page-30/#comment-460176 got a very quick response when he left them a bad review on Trustpilot – worth a try!
Zoe says
I left them a bad review 2 days ago and sadly they haven’t responded. I wouldn’t have minded so much if I hadn’t been told the money would be in my account last Friday and everyone else seems to be getting these resolved in a few days. Back to the adjudicator when it gets to 4 weeks I guess!
Zoe says
Two days after I sent this message I received an email asking for bank details hooray I thought, even though I’d provided them earlier in the month. Sadly not hooray, a week later still nothing, as 4 weeks had passed from MB agreeing to uphold, I emailed saying could they please look to providing me with a settlement amount. Giving them the opportunity to sort before going back to the adjudicator to get involved. Within a few hours my bank sent an alert, Hooray I thought again, only for it not to be a hooray again! My adjudicator stated I should be charged £1320 for fair usage and anything over this refunded with the 8% added. The car was returned after a year as I had a new job with a company car. I have paid MB £3,364.82 in total but they have refunded £775.61. I have sent them proof of every payment to them and Moorcroft and asked for them to provide details of my settlement. My adjudicator also asked the same if them yesterday but has given them until the end of Feb to provide this!!! Am I right in thinking I should have a much higher refund with interest I thought around £2400. My adjudicator didn’t want to comment. I just don’t know what to do now or where I stand if they continue to ignore?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how long ago did you hand it back?
Zoe says
Hello,
April 2019, I took the finance out in Feb 2018.
This is what my adjudicator has said:
As I don’t think Moneybarn ought to have approved the lending, I don’t think it’s fair for it to be able to charge any interest or charges under the agreement. But xx did have use of the car for around 12 months, so I think it’s fair she pays for that use. But I’m not persuaded that monthly repayments of over £221.35 a month are a fair reflection of what fair usage would be. This is because a significant proportion of those repayments went towards repaying interest. There isn’t an exact formula for working out what a fair monthly repayment would be to reflect Xx usage. But in deciding what’s fair and reasonable I’ve thought about the amount of interest charged on the agreement, Xx likely overall usage of the car and what her costs to stay mobile would likely have been if she didn’t have this car. In doing so I think a fair amount Xx should pay is £110 for each month she had use of the car. This means Moneybarn can only ask her to repay a total of £1,320.
MB can’t provide evidence of a credit check and based their affordability on my payslips including overtime which was clearly noted as such. Which apparently they shouldn’t have done for a 5 year agreement.
They also didn’t really lose any money on the car it was sold for around £200 less than what I paid for it.
Zoe says
This is what they have been asked to do to make right:
Buy back the debt from the third-party debt collector, or liaise with the debt collector to do the following: • Refund the deposit, adding 8% simple interest per year* from the date of payment to the date of settlement. • Moneybarn to calculate how much xx has paid in total and deduct £1,320 for fair usage. If Xx has paid more than the fair usage figure, Moneybarn should refund any overpayments, adding 8% simple interest per year* from the date of payment to the date of settlement. • Remove any adverse information recorded on Xx credit file regarding the agreement. • If there any arrears after the settlement has been calculated, Moneybarn should arrange an affordable repayment plan. And treat Xx with forbearance and due consideration.
Not sure if that helps
Zoe says
Still nothing from MB and apparently MB complaints team are no longer accepting phone calls even from their own customer service team. They are only taking emails which they don’t reply to even if it comes from their own colleagues. They are supposed to have bought the debt back from Moorcroft. But I’ve had communication from MC saying my account was paused only until today. They have been unsuccessful in getting MB to respond to them and advised they don’t own the debt they were just appointed to collect on behalf of MB. without a settlement letter or some communication from MB to say my account is closed or a settlement letter, which they have never supplied me with, in their eyes I still owe £3450 which needs payments to start up again from today. The FOS state MB are only allowed to charge me £1,320 for fair usage, I’ve paid £3,364 in total so do not owe them anything further they owe me. But I can’t prove this to Moorcroft. I sent the only communication I’ve had from MB asking for bank details stating they were going settle the complaint as per the FOS letter. MC didn’t accept as it doesn’t set out payments or refunds within it. I really don’t know what to do as I shouldn’t have to pay a penny more and neither should I risk having my credit file destroyed. The stress this company have caused is unbelievable.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Just to confirm, MB has accepted the adjudicator decision?
Zoe says
Hi yes sorry – all the ranting. On the 22nd December MB agreed with the FOS. They confirmed this in a brief email asking for my bank details on the 12th Jan on the 19th I had a refund with no explanation of £775 and since then nothing. That’s all they have done and have they have ignored me and my adjudicator asking why for a settlement calculation on why they’ve paid a much lower figure with no response. No contact with MC and my MB still shows as active with £3,450 owing
Sara (Debt Camel) says
well deserved ranting!
As they have paid you some cash (even though it sounds like it should have been more – £3,364 minus £1,320 for fair usage) I think you are safe in telling MC that you aren’t paying any more and they neeed to sort it out with thewir cleint as it isn’t your problem.
But do tell your adjudicator again that you are being asked to pay by MC and MB have paid you the wrong amount.
Zoe says
Thank you I will contact MC tomorrow. Why this has been made so difficult is beyond me.
Zoe says
Rant about Moneybarn number 3001 incoming. I contacted my adjudicator to keep in the loop. She contacted me back and said she could escalate as refund aside they need to stop any further collections. MB contacted me later in the day apologising saying they’d contacted Moorcroft and the credit reference agencies. They also included a statement of all payments I have made and the deduction of £775 they have already paid me. This leaves an amount of £2,589 which I agree with. Out of this the fair usage of £1,320 needs to be removed and the remaining amount of £1,269 to come back to me plus 8% interest. Easy !
This is what MB have managed to calculate
Refund of Deposit = £250
Refund of payments over £1320 = £944.82
8% simple interest = £235.82
Minus tax = -£47.16
Therefore the total refund due to you is £1133.48. As we have already issued a refund of £775.61, the remaining £357.87 should arrive in your bank account in the next 2-3 business days
So they have deducted the £775 twice.
My payments over £1320 are £1794 not £944 as per the statement they sent me.
Then if you add those figures up it comes to £1,382 not £1132 that they have calculated,
You couldn’t make this up and now I’m back to being ignored after emailing them back Friday. I literally don’t know what to do here
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Go back to your adjudicator and say if this isn’t resolved soon you would like compensation for the hassle.
Zoe says
My adjudicator contacted me Tuesday to say she agreed with me and money was still owed. She contacted MB and said they must review their calculations in line with what I have raised and to contact me urgently.
They still haven’t responded. It also turns out they still haven’t closed my account or contacted MC.
If they continue to ignore both of us what can I do if they simply ignore refunding the remaining amount to me?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
eventually the adjudicator will send the case to the ombudsman at which point you can ask for additional compensation.
Chantelle says
Hi Zoe, I’m abit late to the party but Iv just recieved an email from FOS that they agree with me and moneybarn shouldn’t of given me the the finance and have proposed the same as you to refund me any interest made etc.. how long after your adjudicator sending the email to moneybarn did you get a response?
Zoe says
Hi Chantelle – be prepared for a wait! The FOS gave Moneybarn 2 weeks to respond it went way over this. They were originally given until 8th Nov but they didn’t respond until 22nd Dec.
So I’d expect an 6-8 week wait from now. In about ) weeks I’d pop a negative review on Trustpilot this seems to help but only when you’ve had a bit of a wait first.
Mine went horribly wrong after this so I’m not the best person to ask on pay outs. But looking at other responses normally they contact you within a week or two asking for back details and usually a couple of days after this the money arrives.
My biggest advice would be to spend this waiting time calculating exactly what you have paid to them as they don’t seem to provide this. They paid me the wrong amount 3 times! I’ve literally just received the outstanding amount after 10 weeks. But most people don’t seem to have had much hassle getting payments quickly hope that helps
Chantelle says
Ah thank you! Iv had this complaint in since April 2021 it’s just taking forever!!! Having read the comments on here everyone seems to be complaining about moneybarn, my only fear is they don’t agree with FOS but they couldn’t provide information on me so I’m not sure how they would get away with that! Il just sit and wait for hopefully a positive response! Thank you for your help x
Zoe says
Same here they couldn’t provide a credit check and others have mentioned the same on here. They do seem to be agreeing with the FOS it just seems to take a long time to get there!! It’s definitely worth it in the end!
KP says
Hi Sara,
Hope you’re well and thanks for the information and the effort you put in to the site.
I have just been emailed from an adjudicator requesting my credit file from 2018.
My issue is, where do I get it from. I have been on credit karma etc, but it does not show previous years reports?
Please can you point me in the right direction?
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Just send your current report.
Tim says
If I had a bad credit score and an outstanding payday loan, would a car finance company be duty bound to ask for bank statements to prove I can afford the loan? If they didn’t ask for them would that qualify for irresponsible lending and I could get refunded on charges?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What would the bank statements have shown? They have to prove that the loan would not be affordable for you.
“duty bound” well there is no rule that sets out exactly what a lender has to ask for. But if you have a poor credit score then a car fiance lender should have checked the repayments would be affordable aneg by looking at your bank statements.
Are you still paying this car finance?
Tim says
No it’s finished now. The bank statements would’ve shown the large payday loan (so did my credit report), bad spending patterns buying expensive clothing, some betting, monthly repayments to a catalogue provider, and how much disposable income I had left after car insurance, tax etc which with the car finance put me in a position where months down the line I had to borrow to subsidise the costs it created.
If any betting appeared on it should they have rejected as that’s what I’ve always been told happens with mortgages as I’m going to apply soon
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This sounds well worth a complaint.
Tim says
So if on the statement it didn’t necessarily show a load of secured debt other than the payday loan, I was living with parents at the time. But the nature of what was on the statements I.e betting and poor spending habits. Is still grounds for a complaint that could be upheld?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If there was a significant amount of betting, yes definitely. There is no downside to making a complaint, send copies of your bank statements withit, point out the gambling and send the complaint to the Ombudsman if it is rejected.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
who was the large payday loan from? have you made a complaint to them as well/
Tim says
I’m not sure what credit score would have shown by their checks, they used trans union which doesn’t show the full picture of my debts compared to Experian or equifax but a payday loan was outstanding against me that would’ve covered 50% of my declared monthly wage. Would the credit score be irrelevant in that situation and the payday loan should’ve triggered checks?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
just send your complaint in! You know the finance caused you problems and if they had looked they would not have given it to you. You are over-thinking this. It is not written down in detail what a lender has to do – if they reject your complaint just send it to the ombudsman who looks in detail, it is the Ombudsman’s job to make these decisions. I can’t guarantee you will win but when you know the credit was unaffordable why not try?
PJ says
What is the penalty to companies that lose FOS cases? Do they have to pay a fee if they lose? Do they pay a lesser fee if they make an offer prior to an adjudicators decision?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, there is a flat fee for each case.
it is considered that it wouldn’t be good for FOS to get a larger fee if they find against a firm as that could influence their decisions.
Pj says
So companies have to pay even if they win? There’s nothing stopping companies asking for an ombudsman decision to further delay a process either?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Correct.
The big disadvantage to a firm asking for an ombudsman decision is that it will be published. But if a firm keeps rejecting adjudicator decisions, FOS gets fed up and starts asking them why…
PJ says
So I have had an adjudicator rule in my favour, the finance company have been given 2 weeks whether to accept his decision or not. If they do are they then given 4 weeks to pay me? 6 weeks from the point of an adjudicator saying I’m owed a refund seems such a long time for me as an individual to have to wait.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
are you still making payments? if you are, what will happen after the refund?
PJ says
No the finance finished in august 2020, the adjudicator ruled I should be refunded all interest above the cash price of the car. With the 8% interest up to the year of settlement (2020, not 2022 which confuses me), so I’m within the 2 weeks of waiting them to accept, then if they do they’ll get another 28 days to pay me probably?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
i don’t understand why the 8% isnt until now? did you query this?
PJ says
It’s what the adjudicator ruled. Should I be querying this with him? Once the finance company accept, are they then given another 28 days to pay?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes! do this now, before the finance company accepts it.
Mr c says
So my wifes moneybarn claim is now with the fos and a agent is now looking into it. She is 48 months into a 60 month agreement £225 a month and the car was only £6300 and ideas what the refund would be if she wins the case
PJ says
It depends what the adjudicator rules as unfair. If it was irresponsible lending, usually all interest and charges.
Tom says
Hi,
I have received my Adjudicator decision regarding Moneybarn.
The details were as follows:
Deposit: £125 Capital: £7670 Total Repayable: £15382.40 Monthly: £258.60 Length: 5yr Remaining Balance: £10344
The Adjudicator has now found in my favour but I am a little confused about the Adjudicator decision though, so I would really like to have your advice about what this would all mean for me if that is possible? What they have said is below:
‘In doing so I think a fair amount Mr X should pay is £128 for each month he had use of the car. This means Moneybarn can only ask him to repay a total of £2,304.
To settle Mr X’s complaint Moneybarn should do the following:
• End the agreement and collect the car with nothing further to pay.
• Refund the deposit, adding 8% simple interest per year* from the date of payment to the date of settlement.
• Moneybarn to calculate how much Mr X has paid in total and deduct £2,304 for fair usage. If Mr X has paid more than the fair usage figure, Moneybarn should refund any overpayments, adding 8% simple interest per year* from the date of payment to the date of settlement.
• Remove any adverse information recorded on Mr X’s credit file regarding the agreement.
• If there any arrears after the settlement has been calculated, Moneybarn should arrange an affordable repayment plan. And treat Mr X with forbearance and due consideration.
Tom
Sara (Debt Camel) says
do you know the relevant numbers?
– what deposit did you pay and when (month/year) – it looks as though it was 18 months ago?
– what payments have you made to the finance eg 18 lots of £280?
Tom says
Hi Sara,
Deposit: £125
Payments: 18 x £258.60
Cheers,
Tom
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so you have paid a £100 deposit plus £4644 = £4744.
But the adjudicator says you should have paid £2304.
So you should be refunded £2440 in cash.
Mrs c says
[I am editing this and your other comments a lot to pull out some important bits. I have put some bits into BOLD – Sara]
You believe Moneybarn were irresponsible in their decision to enter into this finance agreement with you and an addiction to gambling at point of sale as you believe we did not request for bank statements.
You are unhappy as you have not been able to change the vehicle halfway through the agreement.
we performed several checks on which we based our decision to offer you a loan. These included: –
A full credit search with Experian.
We also verified your monthly income of £1360.00 based on the review of bank statements which included 2 monthly wages provided by yourself
We reviewed your bank statements as evidence of income during the application process, we would also review the contents for any concerning expenditure traits that may affect our decision. This would include but is not limited to, excessive gambling, excessive payday loan usage, a high number of
returned direct debits, or excessive usage of an unarranged overdraft. From a review of your bank statements at the point of sale, I note that while there were some instances of transactions relating to gambling, these were not considered excessive in relation to volume, amount, or frequency. In any case, the bank statements were solely utilised to verify your income.
We applied a calculation for your monthly repayment offer based on your income, to allow for appropriate non-discretionary expenditure.
The above checks provided the following information: –
• Your existing borrowing levels were minimal.
• There were no recent missed repayments reported on your file and your file showed a strong ability to meet your credit commitments.
•the most recent [default] had been entered 6 months over prior to your application, and no adverse other committed credit accounts were identified thereafter.
• Although there was evidence of 2 County Court Judgments (CCJ’s) on your file, the amounts were considered and had been entered 6 months prior to your application.
• There was no insolvency information on your file.
• Your maximum monthly repayment was calculated as £340.00.
• Your monthly repayment was calculated at £224.70.
The details above confirm how we deemed your monthly payment as affordable.
Mrs c says
[You signed to say] “You confirm that the payments as set out in this agreement are affordable to you and you do not envisage anything during the term of this agreement which would question your ability to make the payments on time.”
Respectfully, it remained your responsibility to ensure that you had carefully read and considered the information contained within these documents, prior to signing them, and we do look for your cooperation and your understanding of the credit information, within the contractual documents, and our reliance upon the brokers, during the application process.
[comments relating to your payment history]
[comments relating to trying to exchange the vehicle]
My review of your agreement therefore highlights that your repayment history has been largely successful. While I sympathise if your finances have suffered in the background, I cannot locate any evidence to suggest that you have ever informed us of this,
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I have removed the stuff about the exchange details. You have to decide if what Moneybarn has said is fair, I can’t tell.
The affordability question.
First they cannot say they only used your bank statements for an income check. This was information they were aware of, and if it showed a lot of gambling, they should have taken this into account.
So how much gambling was on those statements?
Also did you take cash out on credit cards? That is a warning flag that shows on your credit reports. And it often happens with people who are gambling. If you did, MB should have seen this in your Experian file.
They calculated the maximum monthly payment you could afford as £340, and the MB finance was only £224. If your statement showed you were gambling more than £120 a month that is a real risk you would not be able to afford the car.
A default even if it was over 6 months ago and 2 CCJs does not sound like a strong ability to meet credit repayments to me. If the CCJs had been repaid though, MB could reasonably ignore them – were they repaid?
MB should have wondered why if you had £340 spare income a month you had had problems managing credit in the past. That is why they should have looked in detail at your bank statements. As a bad credit lender it’s fine to say that they will not turn you down because of a CCJ – that is the group of people their expensive finance is aimed it. But they have to make a “proportionate” assessment of whether you could afford this loan… and the fact you had CCJs and a default on your credit record means they need to look at your affordability in detail, not do some quick numbers.
Did you have a car before this? If you did not, then when MB did the calculation on affordability, they should also have made an estimate for you other new expenses – car tax, insurance, petrol, servicing costs.
A lot of other stuff they said is not relevant. Yes you signed to say it was affordable – at the time you may have hoped it was, but that in no way diminishes their responsibility as a lender to make sure the loan was really affordable. yes you made a lot of peyments and you did not tell them you were in trouble – so what? this is a priority debt and you knew you had to keep paying or you would lose the car.
If you send this to FOS to make a decision on the affordability (and it sounds to me as though that would be a good idea!) then it would be a good idea to also send MB a Subject Access Request by emailing DPO@moneybarn.com and saying you would like a copy of all the personal data they hold about you. This should income the income & expenditure they created to calculate that “you can afford £340 a month” – it will be interesting to see how realistic it is and how much it ignored what was on your bank statements. Don’t delay going to FOS while you wait for this – these cases take a while to chug through at the Ombudsman so kick that off now.
Mrs c says
Thank you sara i have been assigned a investigator to look at this so its now with them
Sara (Debt Camel) says
have you asked for a SAR? if not, do this now.
Mrs c says
Yes buy it required a code to ooen and they never provided it
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Go back and ask again. And tell your adjudicator that they have not provided this.
PJ says
What happens if a business when with the ombudsman, keeps referring adjudicator decisions to an ombudsman, just to delay the process further? Also this same company keeps ignoring their deadlines, so they have any penalties put on them?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think at first FOS just has a word with them. If they are making the same objections everytime, then at some point an Ombudsman does an in depth final decision 10, 20 or more pages long. And after that the firm gets told to put up or shut up – they can take a decision to Judicial Review if they really disagree… I think Wonga , QuickQuid, Amigo and provident all seriously thought about it. But they all chickened out…
PJ says
For example, this particular finance company had 157 complaints referred to the ombudsman in 2021, 50% of those was on their watch so approx 80. That probably doesn’t strike me as a company that refers EVERY decision to an ombudsman, but a lot more than they should. My investigator explained to me that ombudsman very very rarely overturn investigator decisions, and companies know this, so it is nothing more than a delay tactic.
I think they know how to push their luck, it’s as simple as that, they were given 14 days to accept the decision upheld in my favour by my investigator, ignored that so he gave them another week (annoyingly), then on the final day they referred to an ombudsman. Just shows what they really think of their customers.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If the Ombudsman gets very fed up, they can start feeding the cases to an Ombudsman faster and prioritising them.
PJ says
They are just ignoring the adjudicator completely, they provided all the complaint file within days when requested, but since it’s been ruled in my favour have gone totally silent, he’s given them 3 weeks now and they still haven’t responded. Is there anything I could do myself in terms of contcting the FCA?
Additionally what happens with car finance providers if they go under during this period, as I know payday lenders weren’t covered so all those that had FOS decisions then unfortunately went through the schemes and paid the dividends like everyone else, is it the same here? Should I be worried there is more to this?
Jake says
I complained about car finance I took out in 2012, as I was only just aware that I had grounds for a complaint by coming across his website. They have rejected my complaint as it’s over 6 years since I took out the finance. Is this legit? Or should I send it to FOS? The finance ran from 2012 – 2015
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you have evidence (eg your bank statements? credit report) from 2012 that shows the loan was unaffordable?
The Ombudsman will look at older cases but if there is no evidence you are unlikely to get anywhere.
Jake says
The car finance was for £229 per month and at the time I earned £250 a week apprenticeship wage, I was also gambling at the time and had had a few payday loans. The finance company rejected the complaint because it had been over 6 years but I didn’t know I could complain.
I have the bank statements, I can prove I had other debts, gambled and had a bad spending pattern month to month. I am confident the ombudsman would agree proportionate checks weren’t conducted, however my worry is because the finance company rejected the complaint on the grounds that it is over 6 years since the agreement was taken out, will FOS also take that view?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
FOS has to look at things that have happened in the last six years. But they can also look at things that happened more than six years ago when someone has only found out in the last three years that they have a reason to complain…
So in your FOS complaint, make the point that you knew back in 2012 that the car was too expensive and causing you problems but you felt you had to keep paying it or lose the car and you did not understand that the lender should have check for affordability. So it wasn’t until you found out about afforda bility complaints in 2021 (or whenever0 that you realised you have a valid complaint. explain how and when you found out – did a friend tell you? did you see a newspaper article about payday loans and then googled affordability? Did you see an advert from a claims company on Facebook? There are no wrong answers here, just say what happened to you.
Ross says
Good morning,
I took out car finance with Moneybarn for £9480. Including interest I was to pay back £21937.74.
I raised an affordability complaint in June 2021 and went through the process with moneybarn. It took approximately 60 days to get a response to there findings of the investigation. Moneybarn said it was affordable and they would not give me a redress plus 8% simple interest that I requested. But as a good will gesture they would write off the remaining balance of £1751.28
I took the case to the Financial Ombudsman Service to investigate and they’ve now ruled in my favour and have instructed moneybarn to “Refund any payments Mr xxxxxx has made in excess of £9,950, representing the original cash price of the car. It should add 8% simple interest per year”
That was on the 7th of January.
My question is how much of a refund will I get?
£21973.74 total credit
-£1751.28 write off credit
=£20222.46
£20222.46 total credit
-£9950 car’s cash price
=£10272.46 excess paid
How long will it take to get the redress? Is there any way I can speed them up?
Thanks Ross
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what was the write off credit?
has the finance now been cleared? when did it start? what were the monthly payments?
Ross says
I had £1751.74 left of the agreement to pay when I made my affordability complaint and Moneybarn said as a good will gesture they would write that off to end the agreement. It was arrears as my agreement finished in June 2021. All finance is clear
I had paid them a total of £20222.46, My monthly payments were £363.86, starting in June 2016
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ah ok, I wondered if the write off credit had something to do with a prvious car, but is doesn’t.
I assume you didn’t pay a deposit.
So you had to pay £9950, which at 363 a month would have taken 27 months, ending in Aug 2018. Since then all the payment you made wer the £10272 excess that is being refunded – that is about 3 and half year of excesss payments – for the 8% calculation , this is more or less the same as getting the £10272 paid as a lump sum 1.75 years ago so 8% interest would be about 10272*1.75* 0.08=c £1400 extra. 20% tax will be taken off this 8% part.
Do check their calculations – one reader is having a nighmare with them: https://debtcamel.co.uk/unaffordable-car-finance/comment-page-3/#comment-468210.
I wouldn’t expect it in much less than 28 days.
Ross says
Yeah my deposit was about 500, so I only borrowed 9450. Price of the car was 9950. That other thread doesn’t fill me with confidence. I’ve been in touch with them and will give them 72 hours to respond if I get nothing back I’ll try again and start writing on trust pilot to see if that speeds things up a bit.
Thanks for you response
Beth lawson says
Hi Sara,
Can I ask you a question please, if an affordability claim is upheld but some of the balance remains with a debt collection agency. Where does the refund go to? Me or the debt collection agency?
I hope that makes sense, thankyou.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you still have the car? or has it been repossessed and the remaining debt is being collected by a debt collector? Or has the remaining debt been sold to a debt collector?
Beth lawson says
Sorry I should have been more clear, this is regarding a loan that I took out in 2015 and defaulted in 2018. There is some remaining balance with a debt collection agency which I pay. The adjuictor has upheld My affordability Complaint but I just wondered if you knew in this circumstance where the refund would be sent to. Me or the debt collection agency?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What normally happens is that the lender finds out from the debt collector what you have paid, calculates the correct refund taking that into account. Then that is used first to reduce/clear the debt with the debt collector and any remaining refund is paid to you.
The default at the original lender and the debt collector should both be removed.
Frank says
Hi I’ve won my affordability case against motonovo, I’m to be refunded all interest I paid on the car. I paid 15040 for a 12500 car. So 2540 in interest. The finance ran 2016-2020. Would the 8% interest only be from 2020? So 1 lot of 8% or 2? So my calculation would be 2540+162.56, or because it’s 2020 do I get 2 lots?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what month did the finance end? How much were you paying a month?
Frank says
Finance was due to be 2016-2021 but I finished it in august 2020 a year early.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
it will be from August 20. So about 12% on top of £2540
John Duddigan says
Hi Sara
I have won my Affordable Claim against Moneybarn with help from FOS .
Could you help me to calculate what Redress i should get back
I Purchased a Vehicle in March 2017
I Paid £400.00 Deposit
Amount of Credit = £5895.00
Total Repayable = £12.239.48
I returned the Vehicle in January 2020
So had Vehicle for 34 Months
Half Rule Adjustment = -£3345.94
Total Payments = £8154.54
£325.00 still to pay Moorcroft(on Hold)
FOS asked Moneybarn to do to put things right.
End Agreement
Refund Deposit + 8% Simple Interest per Year from Date of Payment to date of Settlement
Moneybarn to Calculate Monies Paid in which should be £8154.54 – £4080.00 for fair Usage of car =£4074.54
Adding 8% Simple Interest per Year from Date of Payment to Date of Settlement
Remove any adverse information recorded on my Credit File regarding Agreement
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t understand the half rule adjustment which looks odd to me. But I am not sure that is relevant now.
Fos has decided you should have paid a fair usage.
This line gives how the refund is calculated from that:
Moneybarn to Calculate Monies Paid in which should be £8154.54 – £4080.00 for fair Usage of car =£4074.54
That should be your refund plus very roughly (I just squint at it) 22% in extra 8% interest from which 20% tax will be deducted.
John Duddigan says
Hi Sara
The Half Rule Adjustment is
When I Returned the car voluntary as I had paid over half they deducted it from remaining balance owing leaving me a small amount to pay through Moorcroft who collect on behalf of Moneybarn
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, that is what should happen with VTs, I am just saying that the numbers look rather odd, but anyway i don’t think they affect the redress calculation now.
John Duddigan says
Hi Sara
Got my Redress Figures from Moneybarn
They are refunding £5139.00 into my Account
Today or Monday
RESULT
Been a Stressful Journey
Glad it is nearly over
Mr c says
How long has this taken john and did it go to the fos
John Duddigan says
Hi
I started in October 2021 with Moneybarn
After 56 days I sent to FOS In December as Moneybarn didn’t uphold my complaint.
FOS upheld in January and Moneybarn accepted decision.
I got my redress figures earlier this week.
They told me Payment is being processed.
Good Luck with your claim.
John Duddigan says
Hi Sara
Thanks for Reply and your help on this matter
I forgot to say Moneybarn have to Refund £400.00 Deposit + 8% per year also
I await Moneybarns Breakdown and hopefully the Figures will match
John Duddigan says
Hi Sara
Who informs HMRC ref 20% Tax Deduction?
I spoke to HMRC and they tell me its Moneybarn Duty to inform HMRC not myself.
Up to now Moneybarn have not informed HMRC
Regards
John Duddigan
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have Moneybarn told you what th3 8% and the tax deduction are?
John Duddigan says
Hi Sara
The 8% is £1056.79
Tax is £211.36
Moneybarn tell me they only submit reports to HMRC every Quarter.
I got redress payment in February 2022. Surely it should have been in March report submitted to HMRC
Now looks like I have to wait till June Report
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Why are you asking HMRC about this? You are making things complicated. Just send HMRC an R40.
David says
Hello I recently submitted a SAR to Moneybarn who provided the relevant info but WITHOUT any credit check info. Almost a month later, considering I submitted the original SAR in Nov 2021, they have sent their reply with a reference number saying I have to contact credit reference agencies for details of the status of my report from the time of application. Now I can obviously see my report anyway, but why would they respond with this? Isn’t a SAR a request for info they hold on me and in turn, why wouldn’t they provide it? Seems suspicious. Any ideas please?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, go back to Moneybarn and say the credit/income/affordability details they may have obtained from a credit reference agency is personal information about you that you are entitled to be send a copy of under GDPR. Point out the credit report a credit reference agency provides to a customer is not necessarily the same as what a lender gets and you want to see the information they based their decision to lend to you on.
Have they sent you anything that looks like an income & expenditure sheet showing what your disposable income was?
david says
Hello Sara, nothing at all, i’ve been through every document provided and all it has are the original invoices to the dealer, their welcome pack info, some statements and settlement details etc along with some messages i sent to them and the dealership post sale about a parcel shelf issue. Nothing about income and expenditure or credit searches at all. the only other personal details the SAR has revealed they have is my name, address, previous address, dob and contact details.
Their response says “The data we obtained from Experian is overlaid in to our credit scorecard to provide us with either an acceptance or decline based on your overall credit profile. We can confirm that the above is the only personal data we hold at the time of application”.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then I suggest you say you would like to see the credit score card they completed from the experian data. And ask them if they assessed the amount you would be able to afford to pay for car finance.
Did you have a previous car you were replacing?
David says
Thank you. Yes it was part exchanged. New loan with moneybarn for 6.5k and settlement of 4.5k from prior loan.
david says
Hello, i had the same response from Moneybarn to my 3rd request for the credit check detail, see their response below:
“We can confirm this is everything we hold on you in regards to your personal data and your credit file as confirmed in our final response.
The data issued to you on 09/02/2022 is the personal data that was used during your application. The data we obtained from Experian is overlaid into our credit scorecard to provide us with either an acceptance or decline based on your overall credit profile.”
As far as next steps are concerned, should i actually contact the credit reference agency to obtain copies of what MB saw during my application or should i just complain direct to MB now? i have not seen anyone else ever had data not presented as part of a SAR before so this gets me thinking they either know they messed up already or are trying to put me off from escalating further, or perhaps this is more common than i am aware of.
What do you think i should do please?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Experian will not hold records of what they told MB at the time.
I suggest you send your complaint to the Ombudsman now and say MB have not complied with GDPR and are refusing to give you details of the Experian credit check they made. And they have not supplied you with any details about how they assessed that the finance was unaffordable for you. Explain why it wasn’t affordable.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You may be interested in this FOS decision on a Moneybarn case, where MB were also unable to produce the credit check: https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/decision/DRN-2912701.pdf
Zoe says
Hi David,
They couldn’t produce a credit check on my complaint. It was one of the points the adjudicator made in going in my favour and winning my case against them.
david says
thank you Sara and Zoe for the additional information, what a community :)
Quick query however, i wasn’t at the stage of actually complaining yet, i’d only performed a SAR. are you saying i should go direct to FOS now with a complaint please? Also, should it not be the ICO who i complain too first about MBs lack of production of required information?
just trying to get to grips on next steps. Thanks as always!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The ICO are useless and will not get you redress.
why haven’t you sent in a complaint yet? You can’t go to FOS until you have, and until MB have 8 weeks to have responded.
David says
OK thank you. I will compile the info and submit to MB today. I hadnt complained yet as i was waiting for all of the info from MB so i could analyse whether i felt i had any form of chances. I know my credit report will have been poor but i wanted to see what they had first, thats all.
I appreciate your advice.
I haven’t paid off half the loan yet FYI so I am hoping to have the interest removed and owe only what I borrowed, I assume that is my best option.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
do you want to keep the car?
David says
Yes we only have one car in the household so I’m not sure where that leaves me.
For a little context, the account is fuly up to date with no missed payments, but since taking out the loan in 2020 we have had reduced income in the household and I’ve resorted to taking out credit cards with high APRs to keep us afloat so to speak. Repayments on those are low to be fair and affordable as things stand, but recently my partner has also given up her adult education due to ill health. We have also had reduced income in the household due to her eldest son becoming working age so she no longer gets Universal Credit and Child Benefit for him.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK so if you win a complaint now, the Ombudsman may say the fair resolution is for you to return the car and be refunded any deposit plus the payments you have made less a monthly charge for the use of the car (which normally seems to be quite a bit less than the monthly payments).
If you have already paid more than the amount you borrowed, the normal decision if that you can keep the car and get a refund of the interest paid so far.
See this MB decision from an Ombudsman for an example: https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/decision/DRN-2912701.pdf
So the question is, can you carry on until you are a few months from the “paid more than the amount your borrowed” point and then complain then?
I think you need to talk to a debt adviser – one option is for you to not make any payments to non priority debts (credit cards, unsecured loans) so you can pay the bills and the car finance which is a secured debt and therefore top priority.
Also your partner’s son – is he now working? at uni? on benefits? What ever it is, he needs to be paying rent to you…
david says
yes my stepson is paying Rent to us but this obviously does not fill the void left by the loss of those benefits.
when i took out the loan with MB, they settled the prior finance i had via the dealer accepting a part exchange so no deposit was given, unless of course that is classed as a deposit.
I wish to keep a car in the household, but i have got 2 more payments to make before we have paid 50% of the original loan value off (paid 3k versus 6.3k loaned).
I’m personally not seeking to return the vehicle as like i say, the household is dependant on it, but i had hoped to seek reduced payments and potentially the removal of the interest. Whether that is an option available should any case be made in my favour i’m unsure but i will escalate this to MB and take it from there. if there is potential that i may have the vehicle taken from me however, i may refrain from escalating further, that does concern me.
As always i appreciate your assistance. I’ll keep this thread updated.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The 6.3k – is this the cost of the car? or does it include the interest added?
i will escalate this to MB and take it from there. if there is potential that i may have the vehicle taken from me however, i may refrain from escalating further, that does concern me.
This is not a good plan … if you complain now you have 6 months to take a case to the ombudsman. After that you can’t do it. And you cannot then make a complaint later.
If you start a complaint you need to see it though.
If you have to keep the car, then you need to see if you can delay the complaint until you have paid (of very nearly paid) the amount you have borrowed.
david says
yes, i appreciate the constraints of submitting a complaint now. but i did not know the relevance of where i was in the repayment schedule having any influence over a decision. i though if i was still early in repayment schedule but did successfully get an upheld complaint either from MB or FOS that they would be able to do something with the account without having to give up the car, i’m sure ive seen results of that nature somewhere before.
it will be another 15 months before i am at the stage where i have repaid the value of the car, but i will still have interest remaining on the account by that point. the total loan was 6.3k totalling 9.8k credit.
i could wait until ive repaid up to the value of the loan first, but woudln’t MB then have cause to suggest i knew it was unaffordable but didn’t complain straight away?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
i’m sure ive seen results of that nature somewhere before.
That is possible.
But FOS has seen a lot more car finance complaints over the last year and I get the impression that it has standardised some of the awards made, which seemed a bit random before.
I can’t say that is what FOS will order in your case but it feels to me that you should assume it is.
These early-stage complaints aren’t that common. Often people have struggled through to the end or close to it, or they have VT’d the car or the car was repossessed.
And if course if the case does have to go to an Ombudsman because the adjudicator decision has been rejected, that takes time…
You have 6 years from when the finance was taken out to take a case to the Ombudsman, so that won’t be a problem.
David says
Hello. Update on this, I’ve very lucky to have found myself in a position where I’ve been able to fully settle the account early, which happened at the weekend. Meaning I’ve paid 9k for a car worth 6.3k having only had the vehicle 16 months in total.
I sent a complaint to FOS yesterday as per the advice in this thread.
Thank you for your help so far.
MR L says
Hi Sara,
I had an unaffordable HP with Moneybarn sometime in 2017 and did a VT sometime in 2019. Thanks to this forum I put in a complaint beginning of this year. However, MB contacted me yesterday saying “ In line with our procedure, we’re confirming that we have not yet been able to fully complete our investigation of your complaint, and therefore we’re unable to issue a final complaint response at this time.
We will continue to investigate your complaint fully and aim to send you a final response within 56 days from receipt of your complaint”
Reading through the comments here and what other people have gone through it looks like it’s going to be long journey for me.
Am I best put in my complaint with FOS or wait until the 56days have lapsed?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You should wait until you have had the final response. OR you can send it at 56 days if by then you have not had a final response.
Mr c says
My wife had the same response so we contacted the fos then 2 weeks late had a final response off them not agreeing with the unaffordable lending claim fos agent currently looking into it
Ryan says
Hi guys, I was wondering if you could offer some advice? I haven’t made a complaint yet. I have car finance which I took out nearly a year ago, the car cost me £13000 and the interest over 5 years is around £7000, so it’s very high interest for car finance, but my credit is bad so I had no choice it seemed. I did it through a broker, which was carfinance247 and they then found a lender and I signed everything through the broker. I was considering a complaint about affordability and irresponsible lending, because at the time of being offered this finance I was already on payment plans with other creditors, behind on payments, had missed payments for months on my credit file, open payday loans, was spending a lot per month on gambling etc, yet they still accepted me for something that would cost me £315 a month.. My concern is, who do I complain to? The broker or the actual lender they found? And is there a risk they could turn it around on me and cancel my finance or make me have to pay it all immediately etc? I have done this with other lenders but this seems more complicated as I really like my car and want to keep it, is it better to wait til the entire finance is paid off then try for a big refund?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Any complaint is to the lender, not the broker.
Can you afford to pay this for the next 4 years?
how much is the car worth at the moment?
Ryan says
Realistically yes, I’ve had a payrise and despite moving into a house and expenses going up I should still be able to afford it, just means i have less to last the month each month
Do you think it’s better to wait then?
I would say taking everything into account, I should have absolutely no issues getting close to what I paid, but to be safe and for a quick sale I could easily get £12000, I paid £13000
So far I have made 10 payments of £315 and am on time with everything, so paid £3150, about £1150 or so is probably interest
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, so the risk is if you make a complaint now and win, the Ombudsman may decide that the car should be handed back and you wouldbe refunded the difference between your deposit (if you paid one) plus the payments you have made and than amount per m0nth that reflects the vlaue you have had from the car – this normally seems to be a fair bit less than the monethly payments people make.
But if you wait until the payments you have made are greater than the cost of the car at the start, then the Ombudsman is likely to say you can keep the car and get a refund of the payments you have made over that amount. Here for example is one case https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/decision/DRN-2912701.pdf where that is the Ombudsman’s decisions : “because Mr H had already paid Moneybarn more than the original amount of the finance, he should be allowed to keep the car.”
In practice these cases take quite a while to go through, so you would be pretty safe to start the case a couple of months or more before that point. So to be safe and keep the car you don’t have to wait until the finance is completely paid off.
Gord says
Hi Sarah I’ve got a complaint against moneybarn ongoing with ombudsman for over 2 years my wife was taken in by salesman over a car moneybarn said she could only get car if I co signed which I did it was finished in 2013 my wife was quite I’ll for some years and wasn’t aware you could make these claims she sent to ombudsman who stated they needed to know why she hadn’t claimed earlier she sent all the proof she was unwell and to be quite honest her health was more important she also sent medical evidence the adjudicator just listened to moneybarn and went against us she then sent it to ombudsman that was over a year ago she was contacted by the ombudsman saying they had everything they needed last year she asked for an update last year and was told that they were waiting on moneybarn to give permission for them to look at it well it shouldn’t be up to moneybarn obviously they are going to say no she also has now phoned and emailed looking for an update with no update being given she was also asked when we were thinking of getting another car we went online to get quotes as needed to go to hospital appointments and all that came back was moneybarn when we said no we didn’t apply to them the ombudsman asked if we got another vehicle we said we couldn’t afford it it was only an enquiry we made and in the end went for a notability car never heard back from ombudsman seems moneybarn are getting it all there own way
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Going for a motability car sounds a much better option than a bad credit car finance.
This is a conmplaint about a very old loan. If Mioneybarn do not give permission, FOS will decide if they can still look at it.
When did your wife chase this up last year?
Gord says
She chased it up last November she originally complained to moneybarn in 2016 they said they never got letter as she was unwell she resubmitted it in 2018 they turned it down and had been with ombudsman since late 2019 it was turned down by adjudicator as moneybarn said she had left it to late to complain she objected to this and it’s now been with an ombudsman for nearly a year the only update was ombudsman contacting introducing themselves and stating they had everything to look at it whe she asked for an update in November last year they stated they were waiting back from moneybarn to see if they could look at it but reading other posts they are not good at responding to ombudsman requests
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think she should ask FOS again.
Gord says
She has 4 times since last November 3 by email and one she left a voicemail with the adjudicator never replied she spoke to adjudicator in January and he was going to get an update from ombudsman dealing with it never got back to us I don’t hold out much hope as ombudsman always sides with adjudicator total interest paid is £9000 on a 13000 loan
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The Ombudsman does NOT always side with the adjudicator. Keep going!
Gord says
Just had a reply from adjudicator moneybarn has disagreed with ombudsman looking at complaint surprise but the adjudicator stated ombudsman still looking at whether they can look at it it has now been with ombudsman since 2019 still a long time it’s been a long time to wait and be told they won’t look at it
My payment was nearly £600 a month this was a big payment even for 2013 moneybarn are a dispicable company
Gord says
Seems to me nearly every complaint is about moneybarn if that doesn’t tell you how bad a company they are preying on vulnerable people and getting away with it
Mrs A says
My clame is against glenside made 9 payments out of a supposed 60 they sent it back to them after 15 months in the same condition as when i bought it. As i couldn’t afford it even tho the wife was on my application it was still unaffordable. Hence only paying the first 9 payments my claim has been with fos for a good year and got assigned a agent in October but if im honest the responce is slow and when i do email i get a very rude email back really. Saying if i email twice in 48hrs its classed a spamming. I just have this feeling he is going to side with the finance company.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
well let’s see what the response is – have you asked if he needs any more information? When did you take the car finance?
Mrs A says
It was june 2019 at first he said he would investigate so i asked well do you need any bank statements and he then rang me because i had questioned him. I will await. Messaged him on the 10th jan he said he would have a response in 30 days and guess what i emailed him yesterday and he said a few more, weeks. Not impressed tbh
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Send those bank statements to him now!
Mrs A says
Thanks Sara i did in october when i questioned him!!
Rs says
I’ve now had a response from Moneybarn after the FOS instructed them to refund my excess payment + 8% interest. That’s been 15 days since I accepted this.
How long should I expect before I receive my settlement?
Email I recieved:
Please accept our sincere apology for the delay in responding to you. Based on the decision from the Financial Ombudsman Service please see attached we are now in the process of preparing your settlement.
Can you please provide the bank details you wish the payment to be made to: Account name, sort code and A/C number.
We hope this situation will soon be concluded.
Thank you and we look forward to hearing from you.
Chantelle says
Hi, bit of a long shot but I have a complaint with FOS regarding moneybarn and affordability. My agreement is due to end September 2022 but with covid I have a few arrears on the account. FOS has decided to upheld my complaint and requested they pay back any amount paid over the original agreement + 8% interest which surprise moneybarn hasn’t responded to.. but yesterday I received a statement which says my arrears are £2600 when last week I have a screenshot from my online portal saying it’s £1400 also I have just been onto credit score and moneybarn have marked that I didn’t make a single payment last year and this year?? Do I need to tell the adjudicator this or shall I take it up with moneybarn? This company is really starting to get me down it’s just using bullying tactics constantly and really is trying to destroy peoples credit. Sorry for that rant x
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you paid over the original amount? Just add up the total payments made.
Mrs A says
How long has your case been with the fos and when did they uphold your case
Chantelle says
Been with them since august 2021 and they decided to upheld it feb 18th 2022 but I’m not expecting moneybarn to respond anytime soon!
Bee A says
Hi Sarah, I just came across this site. I am trying to buy a new home and my mortgage application was declined due to 2 default payments to Moneybarn in 2016 due to being on maternity leave (on statutory mat pay at the time)
My purchase was via car giant and the advisor convinced me that Moneybarn was the only way to go as my credit at the time was not great. I had a couple of pay day Liam defaults at the time. My My vehicle purchase price was £11,898.00, I presented a £1,200.00 deposit in March 2015 and was told that my credit amount was £10,698.00. My loan term was 48 months, and my monthly payment was £375.82. The APR of 31.9% was glossed over during the sales discussions at Car giant. Although I had the 2 default payments in 2016, I completed payment of the hp contract in 2019 as per the original agreement.
A friend suggested I may get a redress from Moneybarn, so I submitted a claim to their complaints team today. Do you think I have a good chance if redress? All they had asked for was copies of my bank statements. I would like financial redress plus the removal of the 2 late/default payments from my credit file.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if you win the affordability complaint, the 1 late payments should be removed.
Moneybarn reject many good cases so you should expect to have to send this to the Financial Ombudsman.
Were the £375 a month payments affordable for you at the time you took out the credit? A couple of payday loan defaults doesn’t sound good, but why were you taking out payday loans, does that mean your finances were already in a mess?
A loan is only affordable if you can repay it and still pay your other debts, bills and living expenses. If you were having to borrow more because the car finance left you short before you went on maternity leave then the loan was probably not affordable.
When you bought the car, were you already clearly pregnant?
Take a copy of your credit record now if you haven’t already done this. Also set about getting your old bank statements from 3 months before the loan application – these can take time so do this straight away, don’t wait until you are asked for them.
Bee A says
Hi Sarah,
The £375 monthly payments were not affordable tbh. I was in arrears with council tax, energy bills and property management fees. I was prioritising my mortgage and car payments. I also had 4 recorded ccjs on my credit file. But I needed the car for travel to work so just signed whatever I was asked. I was only asked for bank statements, proof of address and driving licence details. A credit check was not performed. I was already pregnant when I bought the car, but not noticeably. I am also no longer with the same bank I was with when I took out the credit agreement. What do you recommend my next steps are?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can get bank statemenst from closed accounts. Do this now.
Then wait for Moneybarn to reply and send it to the ombudsman if they reject it.
Justin says
Evening All,
I filed an unaffordability claim against Moneybarn in August 2020. They rejected my claim as they felt it was affordable.
I forwarded my complaint to the FOS, where an adjudicator picked it up in November 2020. The adjudicator ruled in my favour in October of last year. Moneybarn has since made partial payments (which I believe to be incorrect) but has failed to provide the certificate outlining the payments made and the calculations carried out even though this was a condition set out by the FOS adjudicator.
Moneybarn has been slow to respond to virtually all correspondences (I had to write a negative review on Trustpilot before they even made payments). They have again totally ignored all email correspondences sent. Is there any advice you could give as to how I could resolve this issue?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Are you on Twitter? Or Facebook? If you are, leave them a comment asking why they have not complained with what the FOS adjudicator said in Octover.
If you aren’t, or it that doesn’t produce a result, then you could send them a new complaint about this! Say why you think their figures are wrong, point out you have asked several times for a breakdown, which the FOS adjudicator said they should give, but they have been ignoring your emails. Ask for the figures and also for compensation for the poor complaint handling – perhaps £500?
Send it to FOS if they do not respond or reject this. I would expect FOS would pick up this complaint pretty rapidly…
Justin says
WOW! World’s fastest response! Thank you for your advice Sara, sadly I don’t have FB/Twitter but I’ll give the other option a try.
Thanks again.
Dale says
Is anybody aware of current wait times from adjudicator-ombudsman. I’ve been told 8 weeks is the current lead time but I was also told initially 4 months before AJ adjudicator and that ended up being nearly 7 months. The FOS are swamped I think.
Also what happened to companies that just don’t accept adjudicator decisions? Is there any sanctions placed on them?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
For what it’s worth, decisions seem to be getting a bit faster I think.
If a firm consistently refuses to accept adjudicator decisions, first FOS tries to work with them to sort out why and clarify why FOS is making these decisions. If they carry on rejecting all decisions, I suspect FOS informs the FCA’s supervision section, but you won’t be told about this.
Dale says
Hi Sara, thanks for the reply. I’ve been waiting 4 weeks since the adjudicator decision lapsed as the business didn’t bother to respond within the timeframe set out and it was automatically referred to Ombudsman, and it’s been in the queue for an ombudsman for 4 weeks now and nothing yet. The whole process from start to finish if going all the way people are looking at 12 months realistically now. Do you think this is a problem? I had a case sorted within 10 weeks back in 2019
Sara (Debt Camel) says
10 weeks is very quick, you got lucky with that. Most decisions ar3 resolved at adjudicator level 12 months isn’t great, but realistically this is money you never hoped to be able to get back.
Are you still paying the car finance, is it affordable?
Dale says
The finance has finished and ended. I only found out I was eligible for this sort of claim through this website and I hate multiple payday loans running alongside the car finance and the debt spiralled from there but I prioritised the car debt. The adjudicator rules in my favour, the finance provider never asked anything about my monthly expenditure and saw the payday loan on my credit check, but have still let it go to an ombudsman. They know they are wrong but they also know how to play the game and drag it out. 4 week wait for the ombudsman now. Hopefully it’ll only be another 4, it’s been ongoing since June 2020.
Neil garner says
Hi sara i did an DSAR with moneybarn and that has just come through and i have looked through it and there is no copy of bank statements or credit checks ( cant remeber if i sent a bank statement) but there is copy of my payslips and it says they have used 2 payslips which are the higher amounts to determine how much i can borrow. I have paid just over 13k for the car that was brought for 17k and nearly 14k in interest but due to be all paid by november and i think totaled paid back would be 32k then. At the time of me getting accepted i had defaults from credit cards and defaults from payday loans along with 2 ccjs and if i did send a bank statement they would of seen alot of gambling transactions from my mental breakdown i had. When can i go from here? Ever since iv had the car i have nearly always been arrears with moneybarn and defaults put onit for couple years now and i have managed to build up other debts because of the payments
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you made a complaint about affordability?
Moneybarn often seem unable to produce details of credit cheks. This means they often lose cases at the ombudsman.
How much did you borrow from Moneybarn? Not the total amount of credit including the interest added, but the amount borrowed.
How much have you paid so far?
Neil garner says
Not yet i have not i just got my DSAR about 2 hours ago so wanted to see where i can go from here and say to them and the about borrowed was 17,234 and according to my only account i got 4283.36 left to pay with 2195.34 arrears
I have paid 13,365.95 so far
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then send them a complaint now. it looks as though the 17234 included the interest – how much was the loan without the interest.
Neil garner says
I will fire an email over now and get back once i heard back and no 17,234 was amount borrowed for the car without the interest
Sara (Debt Camel) says
and how much are you paying a month? Can you manage to keep on paying this with petrol, energy bills and everything going up?
Neil garner says
Hi sara just had moneybarn ring me to introduce himself and explain they have 56 days to give me an answer and asked a couple questions and he also said that as my account is still live and they could take the car after they have given me the answer even though it stands at 3.3 left to pay on the car minus the interest
Sara (Debt Camel) says
What was the price of the car? How much have you paid so far? Are you still making payments?
Neil garner says
Car was 17,234 and iv paid 13,600 towards the car
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how much are you paying a month? Is it affordable?
Chantelle says
Hi, so my adjudicator upheld my complaint on 18th feb, moneybarn has failed to respond to both deadlines and is now being sent to an ombudsman for a final decision. Has anyone had this before? How long does it normally take and also what’s the likely hood of the ombudsman agreeing with the adjudicator?? I’m still having to make payments on the car and I’m finding it very hard with everything going up gas diesel etc! I feel like im Guna have a breakdown worrying where im going to get the money from.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The Ombudsman agrees with the adjudicator in 90% of all cases, they say.
How much did you borrow – not including all the interest added on? And how much have you paid so far?
Chantelle says
It was for £5628 and Iv paid £7606.56 so far x
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok I suggest you let FOS know that you are in a very difficult situation as this is a priority debt that you can’t afford and ask if they can give your case priority
Chantelle says
Thanks, moneybarn has just agreed with the decision from FOS so hopefully won’t take too long to settle! Thanks for all your advise
SA says
Hi Sara,
I am after some advice please.
I took a car finance out around 4 years ago, the interest was high and at that time I was only working part-time. I had to pay my mortgage, bills and the car finance monthlies were not actually affordable.
I haven’t missed a single payment as I was scared of my credit going back and having the car repossessed. I have borrowed the money most months from family, to ensure I pay on time. Around two months ago, I have taken a loan out and fully paid my car finance off so I fully own the car.
At the time of taking the car finance, I was working part-time, but now I am working full time and on a better salary. When I took out the car finance, I didn’t tell the truth about my salary, I told I was earning more so they consider giving the finance and I said I was working full time when I wasn’t.
But shouldn’t they have checked all this into further detail and realised I was earning less and it isn’t affordable for me?
Also, if I have paid the car finance off, can I still complain?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Kind Regards,
SA.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How large was the car finance loan? What interest rate was it at?
Yes you can complain after the finance has been repaid. When was the loan taken?
SA says
Hi Sara,
The total amount repayable was £28,380.21
The APR rate was 9.6%
I took the finance in December 2017.
Kind Regards,
SA
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, that is within 6 years. (You can complain about older loans but within 6 years the complaints tend to be quicker.)
So you can use the template letter in the article above.
Also take a copy of your credit record now – download it and keep it safe.
And set about getting your bank statements for the 3 months before the finance application – they will support your argument the loan is unaffordable. You can get statements even from closed accounts.
S A says
That’s fine,
Thank you so much for your help :)
Sandra says
Hi all some help would be great regarding a complaint to Money Barn,
I have complained to them and as expected they have rejected it and now I have sent everything off to the Ombudsman just now waiting for for my case to be picked up by someone.
With that being said what I would like to know is;
How long should this all take in order for me to get to a resolution? also if I explain to the ombudsman that its urgent as I am financially being effected would this help speed things up?
lastly, for anyone who has won a case would you NEED to then give your car back? or is there a way to keep your car and just have the ridiculous interest removed instead so payments are affordable?
thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how much did you borrow?
How much have you paid so far?
Sandra says
Hi Sara
thanks for coming back to me.
so it was £21,000 in total including the interest, in total I have now paid in around £7,500.
so the actual cost of the car was at the time of purchase £13,000 (yeah I know what a joke paying back double lol)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A typical ombudsman decision on redress where you have not repaid the amount you borrowed is for you to return the car, MB to cancel the outstanding debt and for MB to refund you an amount which is the difference between your monthly payments and what the ombudsman considers is a “fair value” for you to have paid to have the use of the car.
All these cases are different. Here is a Moneybarn case https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/decision/DRN-2693402.pdf that follows what I have just described as “a typical decision”. You will see that there the borrower was paying £349 a month and the Ombudsman said a “fair use” charge would be £150 a month.
Sandra says
thanks sara, so basically give or take you end up loosing the car anyway?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Until you get to the point where you have paid the amount you borrowed, that is the most likely result – the balance is cleared, you return the car and are paid a refund of part of the money you have paid.
When will you have paidmore than you borrowed?
Say your case is upheld when you have paid £14,000. At that point the balance would be cleared, you can keep the car and would get a refund of c £1000.
So you may be in the curious position of wanting your case to take a long while at the Ombudsman…
Sandra says
thank you for this.
One last question, now my case has gone to ombudsman I am still waiting for it to be assigned to someone I imagine I will be waiting a while which is fine.
But lets say I want to get rid of the car on the typical basis of, part exchange and the car dealership handle the rest with Moneybarn or how ever it works out but basically my contract is done closed and done with them. Does my case still hold a back bone to still proceed and if so what will then be the outcome? as I no longer have the car and they received the full payment outstanding? Would this then just be the regular case of, goes through investigation and they will refund me everything paid in interest in this case around £10,000? or would I need to now put through another complaint as when I applied this one the car was still in my possession.
thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
do you mean take out another set of car finance with Moneybarn?
Sandra says
A finance with a whole new company
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I have no idea how Moneybarn would work out this given that you have an affordability complaint in with them.
As second hand car prices have gone up a lot, it would seem unlikely that you would save money each month doing this. But taking out another car finance contract now, doesn’t suggest that the amount you are paying in unaffordable so it may make your complaint more difficult?
Mr W says
So my claim into finance i has is with the fos so i asked for a update this is his reply so far i handed the car back 9 months into a 5 years plan.
The affordability or the question of whether the lending should have been provided, is what I am still having internal discussions about based on the available evidence. I need to ensure that if I uphold this element I can justify my recommendations in the particular circumstances of this complaint. Some of the difficulties in ascertaining your financial circumstances and what the business would have been aware of at the time, is due to the limited information for yourself and Amanda. The business has provided the information it holds and the basis of its lending decision. And you have been very helpful with the information you have managed to provide including bank statements and screenshots of credit reports.
I know my thoughts on the first element of your complaint may not be what you hoped for, but when I complete the considerations on the affordability element of the complaint, I will put everything in writing.
I am due to have further conversations tomorrow and if necessary Thursday, so that an outcome is provided this week.
Thank you for your continued patience and if you have any specific questions on anything in this email please let me know.
In addition please let me know if you still prefer email communication in relation to the overall outcome.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
is there any information that you have been asked for that you haven’t been able to provide?
Mr W says
I’ve provided all bank statements and credit file history so im. Not quite sure what more he wants ref the comment limited information. This come from a adjudicator that said he would have my complaint done within 30 days when he first took the claim on last year it was only when i said “do u not need bank statements and i was concerned.” that he rang me. I find his email replys rude and takes a age to respond. Something just isn’t quite sitting right with me about him. Both myself and my wife have won various other unaffordable claims from before this finance was taken out and after it was taken out.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you reply that you thought you have provided everything they have asked for, so you are not sure what the “limited information about yourself and Amanda” relates to – ask if there is something else that they need?
Paul says
Has anyone ever filed a claim against Santander consumer finance?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They are no different to any other car finance lender. If you feel the finance was unaffordable, start a claim.
Paul says
Would they request that the car be taken back?
I have 8 months left on the agreement.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so you have already paid more than the amount you borrowed, ignoring the interest added on?
Paul says
I believe so yes, have requested a copy of my finance agreement. Total amount payable back is 32,305. 538.42 a month over 60 months. Interest was 9% I believe.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
ok, what matters here is not the total amount payable back, but the amount you borrowed – normally the price of the car less any deposit.
Paul says
Hi Sara
Do you have any info on complaining about the mid-selling of PCP agreements and hidden commission etc
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No. I know a lot of claims firms are signing people up, but I haven’t heard of good results as yet.
Sc says
Hi Sara, just a quick one I’ve chosen xxxxxxxxxx for a management plan to help tackle these debts have you heard of them before, just skeptical but they seem so legit over the phone and email
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Never heard of them. Also they aren’t an FCA authorised claims firm so if something goes wrong, it is harder to win a complaint against them as you have to go to the SRA and it can’t go to the Financial Ombudsman.
If you are in a cooling off period, seriously think about cancelling.
Are you using them to make affordability complaints? really you can do a much better job yourself and save a lot of money.
Or are they offering debt write off plans?
Graeme says
My adjudicator upheld my affordability case against Motonovo back in jan but it’s now going to the ombudsman for a final decision. I applied for the finance in the June and the adjudicator upheld on the grounds I had a payday loan paid off in the January, then another in April, and had another one active at the time of application all in increasing amounts and the finance company didn’t gather any expenditure information on me either. Do you think this could get overturned? Or is it highly likely to stay the same decision. I was listed as living with parents at the time is the only information they had regarding my expenditure and they did take income information. Can the finance provider claim they assumed I wasn’t paying anything and it would stand up?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you were living at home, it would be normal to have lower outgoings. But in that case why were you having to use payday loans? They were a red flag that there was something wrong with your finances and Motonovo should not have ignored it.
in 90% of cases the Ombudsman agrees with the adjudicator decision.
Graeme says
I was in financial difficulty that’s why I had 3 in 6 months. I just fear the ombudsman may not think that was enough to make them do further checks. The further checks would’ve uncovered even more loans that wasn’t present on equifax (who they use). Even to begin with I never at any point was asked to or disclosed any expenditure information, is that a mandatory requirement for a loan that was going to be taking 22% of my declared pay for the next 5 years?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think that 3 payday loans is enough to mean they should have looked closely at your situation.
Lenders have to make proportionate checks. These are n’t specified. but your point that it will take a large proportion of your pay for 5 years is a good point.
Was this your first car?
Graeme says
No 2nd but they wouldn’t have known either way as they didn’t gather any expenditure information off me whatsoever. The payday loans were in increasing amounts too, I also had an active credit card and catalogue account but I was up to date with payments on those. There was a gap in the payday lending though.
Loan 1 dec-jan
Loan 2 mar-apr
Loan 3 june and was still active at the point of application later that month.
Does this make a difference?
There was also approx 5-10 other payday loans but they were from about 2 years prior, so I don’t think they come into the equation, but it shows I was a constant payday loan user.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think this is enough to have shown that they should have made proper checks.
I assume the proper checks would have shown the car finance was not affordable?
Phyliss says
Does anybody know the current lead time from adjudicator-ombudsman once it’s put in the queue for ombudsman? I will have been waiting 6 weeks come this Friday and still nothing, I don’t want to pester the adjudicator as I feel he probably won’t know either.
sandra says
have you had any luck? I submitted mine maybe 2 weeks before the date you posted this im still waiting.
stuart says
Good Morning,
I have made an affordability compliant to Moneybarn and have had their final response, which obviously says that they will not uphold the complaint.
In their response letter they quote a reference number for their credit search but have not provided me with a copy in my original SAR. They have also said that they found it affordable based upon their checks.
However at the time I was paying a substantial amount to the CSA for my daughters maintenance, and also had various credit card repayments and I was gambling.
I never missed a payment and only became aware there could be cause for concern after reading an article online regarding a fine from the FCA.
My questions are:
Should I take the complaint to the ombudsman based on affordability as you can see I was constantly overdrawn and paying CSA and credit card debt coupled with gambling.
Would FOS frown on the fact I never missed a payment
and they have said in their agreement that there is a paragraph stating do you know of any circumstances we should be aware of before approving your loan. I cannot remember seeing this but they are implying I should have said something.
Any comments would be greatly appreciated
Regards
Stuart
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The credit sounds unaffordable, so yes, send it to the Ombudsman. Moneybarn often turn down good complaints and have lost quite a few cases there when they have been unable to show the ombudsman what a credit search showed.
Has the credit been paid off? You can still claim, it just changes what you may get back.
Not missing a payment isn’t relevant. Credit is only affordable if you can pay it AND still pay all your other debts, bills and living expenses. Car finance is a priority debt so people often pay that but then have to borrow more or get behind on other debts.
My guess is your credit record wasn’t great at the start, or you would never have had to borrow from a lender like them. So MB should have noticed and checked carefully that such a large loan over so many years would be affordable.
A paragraph in the agreement saying you should have told them isn’t relevant. They had a regulatory duty to check credit was affordable and they didn’t.
Have you looked at whether you have a good complaint against your bank for the overdraft? See https://debtcamel.co.uk/get-refund-overdraft/
David says
Moneybarn seem to have done this to quite a few people based on my experience and other comments on this topic recently.
I personally think their assessment has involved using national living expense averages and not actual individual circumstances.
I got the same response, no credit search data or income and expenditure detail in my SAR documents and moneybarn refused to provide any further info to me too.
I reported it to the ICO and moneybarn now have a nice conplaint from me on this, FOS conplaint also pending!
Good luck.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think for some customers at least they haven’t retained the credit search data. So they aren’t in breach of ICO rules. But it makes it hard fro them to justify their lending to the FOS
david says
ahhh i see. In my case, being only 18 months since the application, not retaining that kind of data in that length of time does seem odd.
but apologies to crash the thread, just putting in my two cents :)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
it may not apply in your case, it may be older finance where they didn’t keep the details.
Stuart says
Thank you Sara,
I have paid all the credit back. what does this change please?
Kind Regards
Stuart
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so of my 4 cases, you are in case (2), you are still paying it but you have paid more than you borrowed?
stuart says
Hi Sara
Option 3 I paid the car off an sold it in 2018.
Kind Regards
Stuart
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This one is easy – the redress is the interest and any charges you paid if the loan is decided to be unaffordable.
Dale says
My case is with the adjudicator awaiting an ombudsman however I’m interested to see what the finance companies credit check actually showed as they are disputing some of my debts wasn’t present on their search. Am I within my right to ask for a copy or won’t FOS disclose this to me?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well you can ask. Do you know which credit reference agency they used?
Dale says
Equifax. The adjudicator upheld in my favour, so I’m just wanting to gather all the possible facts together for a statement of account in the event that the ombudsman overturns as I know I’ll be given an opportunity to give comments prior to a final decision if so.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so you have checked what Equifax should have showed?
Dale says
No, I don’t have access to an equifax account. Some of my payday lending was reported to them, but not all. Should any payday lending at all prompt a business to make further checks? Plus I want to see what the ombudsman will see. Are the FOS allowed to disclose this to me?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How long ago did you take out the finance?
One payday loan repaid on time – OK. More or current payday loans – should have suggested you may be in financial trouble and the lender needed to look closely and verify your income and expenses.
Who was the lender and what interest rate did they charge?
Dale says
There was 3 within 7 months, 1 was still active.
How far back would the ombudsman typically expect a lender to look at? 12 months? 6? As about 3 years prior there’s around about another 5-10 payday loans but then a gap of about 18 months then the 3 in 7 months prior to the finance.
I’ve tried to look myself at what the credit report would look like but it won’t be accurate, so many of these like quick quid/lending stream/wage day have all been removed off the file since winning my cases/scheme of arrangements upheld. Whereas they would’ve been present at the time of application if you know what I mean
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think 3 within 7 months and the last one active should have been cause for concern.
Did you not take a copy of your credit record for the earlier complaints? I always tell people to do this – i don’t nkow why so many people decide not to bother.
Dale says
No because by the time I complained to the business(2021) the credit report would’ve already had wage day/quick quid/ lending stream loans removed. Whereas the credit check the business conducted (2016) at the time of application would look totally different. And what I want to know is what they saw at the time so I can get a feel for how the case will go. Are the FOS allowed to provide me a copy of what the business gave them in order to make the decision?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you have emails or something to show that you had those payday loans upheld and removed?
You took a lending stream case to the Ombudsman in 2019, did you not get a credit report for that?
Dale says
Yes but I’m not sure if it’s again 100% accurate, I’ve had so many payday loan cases over the past 3/4 years that I just want to see a copy of what the ombudsman will see. The business were provided my bank statements to verify the adjudicators calculations, so am I entitled to ask for a copy of the credit report they have provided from the time of application?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you sent the oldest report you have to the Ombudsman?
Have you sent the lender a Subject Access Request asking for a copy of all your personal information?
And you can ask the ombudsman for a copy of what the lender has provided them – but the lender often claims that contains commercially confidential information.
Dale says
I emailed the business and they said it will take them 1 calendar month to process this. Complete waste of time and they are playing the dirtiest tricks now. Running to FOS deadlines, going to ombudsman level. 159 cases taken to ombudsman level within 12 months? They don’t accept adjudicator decisions. The FCA should be all over them like a rash.
Mrs c says
Hs anyone actually received there moneybarn refund
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes lots of people have.
Simon gutteridge says
Hi, sorry if this is not the right place. Does anyone have the email address for blackhorse finance that I should send my complaint to? Can’t find it anywhere!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
try onlinecomplaints@lloydsbank.co.uk with BLACKHORSE COMPLAINT as the suject.
let me know if that works …. they really dont want people to email!
Chantelle says
Hi sara,
Moneybarn finally paid up on Monday but I think the figures are incorrect can you help please? FOS instructed all interested to be paid back + 8% interest as they normally do.
I got the finance in September 2017 car value was £5628.00 I paid £200 deposit so I borrowed £5428.00.
In total I paid £7606.56 I was paying £195.00 back per month until October 2021 I paid £265.00 to get arrears down.
Moneybarn refunded me £2097 but I think this figure is less that what I should of received. How would I work out the exact figure I am owed. Sorry for the long message x
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so you have paid 7606-5428=£2178 in interest and charges which should all be refunded. Their £2097 sounds wrong.
And paying £195 a month you have been in credit for 11 months. So the 8 % interest should be roughly 2178*11*0.08/(2*12) is about £80.
I suggest you go back and ask how they calculated it.
Andrew beaton says
Hi Sara
Don’t know if I’m in the right place.
I had taken car finance in December 2018 car was £5850 I’ve paid to date £7750 still have £3000 to pay and at start I couldn’t afford payments but got finance as I had just passed my test and was over eager for a car I was gambling heavily had 2 ccj ( now off record) and was in payment plans with other creditors. Bank statements from back then will show a lot of money being sent to my account by my mam and a lot going out to gambling.
Do you think I should put in a affordability complaint as it was unaffordable but due to me having gambling issues back then.
And if I do put a complaint in can they take my car as it’s still needed for work and child arrangements
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, I think you should complain.
Read https://debtcamel.co.uk/gambling-refunds-loans-cards-overdrafts/ which looks at gambling and affordability complaints in general.
2 CCJs and payment plans should have suggested that you were struggling with money.
As this was your first car, you would also be picking up a lot of insurance, petrol and maintenance costs that you hadn’t had before – so did you have enough room in your budget for those as well as the car finance? The finance company should have made sure you could afford everything associated with the car.
As you have paid more than you borrowed, the likely redress if you win your case is for the Ombudsman to decide you can keep the car, the balance should be wiped and you would get a refund of the amount you have paid less what you borrowed.
the template for these complaints is the large loan template here https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-large-high-cost-loans/. Add into that standard template a bit about your very bad credit record, your gambling, and enclose 3 months of bank statements before the finance application and 3 months afterwards.
Don’t be surprised if it is rejected – send it straight to the Ombudsman.
Andrew beaton says
Hi
I’ve now sent the bank statements through email I understand they have 8 weeks to reply to my complaint. If they reject it sooner can I then send it off to the fos or do I have to wait the full 8 weeks. I would also like to add I’ve never missed a payment as I made this debt priority 1 before anything else as my daughter lives quite far from me and this is the only way I could get her ( 3 half hour round trip on public transport) the company in wuestion is specialist motor finance so I was wondering if you’ve ever came across this company and how they deal with complaints.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if they reject sooner, you send it to FOS then.
Car finance is classified as a priority debt by debt advisers. the fact you have paid it on time does not mean it was affordable.
SMFL hasn’t been mentioned much here. Ombudsman decision show them losing several cases.
David A says
I won an affordability complaint against them in 2021, via FOS. Repaid interest in full, kept the car, sold it on, paid off loafds of debt.
Good luck!
Andrew says
Hi David
That will be what I’ll be doing if successful. How long did the process take from start to finish. And if you don’t mind tell me a little about what you did how much you received etc.
David A says
I don’t really want to detail the specifics of my outcome. It took just over 11 months from sending FOS my complaint till I got my refund.
Andrew says
Hi David
I didn’t mean the exact amount you received I meant did you receive all the interest and 8 percent. Also did you have a remaining balance when you put the complaint in etc.
Dale says
To give you a rough idea, the business can take up to 8 weeks to give you a response to your complaint. once you send to FOS it’s about 5/6 months currently before an investigator/adjudicator picks it up, they’ll then take about 2/3 weeks before issuing a decision (dependant on how compliant the business are), the FOS then give the business up to 3 weeks to accept, if they don’t it then goes to an ombudsman (I’m currently 8 weeks into waiting at this point so I can’t tell you how long this bit takes), but if ruled in your favour the business then get another 4 weeks to pay from the date of your acceptance.
To answer your question in short, expect this to take a full calendar year, if settled sooner in your favour, then consider yourself one of the lucky ones.
I first complained to the business in June 2021 and do not yet have a final decision from FOS, the adjudicator ruled in my favour but the business ignored his decision and never responded, allowing the 3 weeks to run its course under his jurisdiction. Now awaiting an ombudsman for a legally binding decision.
Finance companies are aware of not only the timescales but exactly the framework they can operate within, whilst not breaking any rules. They’ll make it as difficult and as long winded as can be for us “customers”.
Mrs c says
Dale not moneybarn is it by anychance
Andrew says
Hi dale
Thanks for that info. I guess now it’s just a waiting game. By the sounds of it they will obviously reject my claim even though I’ve sent 6 months worth of bank statements to prove that I was in a terrible state back then and should never of been excepted.
What finance company are you dealing with if you don’t mind me asking. I’m with specialist motor finance and it’s impossible to find any info on claims made about this company.
David says
Type financial ombudsman decisions into a search engine then type specialist motor finance into the company name field. There are 5 pages of decisions Upheld alone. Doesn’t mean you will win or lose, but gives you a better idea of what circumstances might lead to a successful complaint.
Andrew says
Hi David
Thanks for that just read some decisions and if I’m honest it looks like smf do not like to reply to the ombudsman. There’s quite a few where they haven’t replied in the timeframe required. So I guess this is going to be a long time before anything is final.
Dale says
Some of these “car finance” lenders are no better than the payday lenders we all grew to hate over the years due to the media honing in on them and their practices. The truth is they are all in it for one thing, to make money. And so to pay out money is against everything they stand for, they are operated by very skilled “complaints handlers” who don’t deal with the actually complaint but find ways of not paying compensation, they are there to protect capital. If they can’t avoid paying compensation they delay it as long as possible.
The company is motonovo.
Neil garner says
What makes me laugh is my finances are better now than when i got the money from moneybarn 1 less ccj no, gambling transactions on my card, no payday loans on my file no more and alot of debt paid off and a ccj paid off but i cant get a credit card yet they can give me 17k for a car
Stuart says
Good Morning,
I am now ready to send my case to FOS, i have bank statements my reasons, i was wondering do i need to send a credit report as i have seen some people talking about this. Moneybarn omitted it from my SAR request and have not answered my emails further requesting this.
Does it need to be a current report?
Kind Regards
Stuart
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes it’s good to send a credit report. if you have an old one from the time of the finance application or afterwards, send that. If you don’t, send your current one.
stephen says
i have a car on finance that i got when i was still married (2020) and we split up in 2021, i am living on my own now so all my bills have doubled, also i have had to go to stepchange to pay off other debts.
last month the car broke own, tried to get it repaired but it need a new engine at a cost of over £1000, i have 3.2yrs left to pay and just over £4,000 which is no where neat 50% to just hand back. i cant afford to get it repaired so am driving my mums car until i can, but i cant pay her( ({its a motabilty car so she has to surrender part of her PIP and with my dad passing away in november 2021 she cant afford just to give me the car!) AND the finance on my car
is there anyway i can give the car back cancel finance without penalties as i am seriously considering just not paying and letting them repossess the car as my credit rating is low anyway and just getting a CCJ
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So when you got the car, the payments were affordable? Credit is only affordable if at the time it was given it was likely you would be able ro repay it and pay all your other debts, bills and living expenses.
what is the rest of your current financial situation like at the moment?
Tay Tay says
Does anybody have a template letter for money barn car finance I could use please? Tia
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The template is on this page https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-large-high-cost-loans/
BUT if you are still paying this car finance, it is ESSENTIAL you read the article above these comments first. As you may have some other, better, options.
Gary says
For anyone looking to make a complaint to a car finance lender, below is my timeline of events to give you a feel for wait times.
Complained to Motonovo
22nd June 2021
Motonovo rejected
23rd July 2021
Sent to FOS
23rd July 2021
Assigned to adjudicator
7th January 2022
Adjudicator upheld in my favour
21st January 2022
Adjudicator gives Motonovo 2 weeks to accept (4th feb), Motonovo ignore until final day then query the decision, granting them a week extension to respond (11th feb), business never bother getting back in touch, simply just applying further delays and knowing what they can get away with
Passed to ombudsman for final decision 11th feb.
Still waiting 9 weeks 4 days later for an ombudsman to even pick this up.
I know the FOS are under it but something needs to be done about these wait times, it’s totally unfair cause my adjudicator is sick of me hounding him for updates because he “can’t give one”.
Mrs c says
Yes more shithouserey by moneybarn my investigator has sided with me and moneybarn waited until after the reply time to question 2 things that fos replyed straight away and weve heard nothing since but currently only last thursday the FOS replied but im not holding my breath as moneybarn do everything they can to delay things
Gary says
Companies have become wise to the FOS processes and know just how to get away with it. It tells me nothing is being done about it by FOS or FCA.
Sara – what typically should happen in these circumstances where it’s apparent moneybarn and Motonovo aren’t playing ball
Sara (Debt Camel) says
there will in the end be a decision by an Ombudsman.
Yes I think these cases should be speeded up, if that’s what you are asking.
Gary says
Also your advice on what I could say to the FOS please? Submitting my case to them in July 2021, it’s still unresolved and now I’m at the point of waiting 10 weeks already for an ombudsman. After already having the adjudicator decision for 3 weeks before that is incredibly frustrating.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
unless you have a reason to be treated as a priority case, there isn’t anything you can do to speed this up.