Have you had an email or a letter from Vanquis saying it is refunding you some money? In late 2018 tens of thousands of people are getting these refunds.
Nice? Yes, but it may be too low…
Some people are being given tens of pounds when I think they should get hundreds. And people getting hundreds should be getting thousands!
There were no details of the refund in the email or letter sent to you, so there is no way for you to check it is accurate. I have seen many refunds across loans and credit cards and I think these ROP refunds look too small to be correct.
Vanquis has provided a detailed example on its website. I think there are two major problems with this example.
Vanquis don’t agree and they say that people who have queries should contact them. So it’s time to complain!
Contents
The background to these refunds
In February, the FCA told Vanquis to give refunds to a million customers who had the Repayment Option Product (ROP) for their credit cards. This is because you were charged interest on the ROP and Vanquis never explained this to you – so Vanquis should refund all the extra interest you paid.
For more details, read my article Vanquis ROP – a million customers will get refunds.
The first refunds started to be paid to customers with active Vanquis accounts in May and June. But they looked surprisingly low…
I had seen a lot of customers complain about ROP in 2017 so I knew what the refunds they had received. Those 2017 refunds also included the ROP itself – but that didn’t account for why the 2018 refunds are so much smaller.
The two problems with Vanquis’s detailed example
In August Vanquis finally published a detailed example in the FAQs. It’s here, under How is my Repayment Option Plan interest refund being calculated.
I see two major difficulties with this published example. It is possible there may be other problems as well.
1. Purchases should be repaid before ROP charges
It says:
Step 2: Once the cash balance is paid off, any remaining payment is shared between purchases and the Repayment Option Plan in proportion to their balance.
That is simply wrong.
The ROP was added to your account as though it was something you had bought with your credit card. You were then charged interest on the ROP at the normal rate on your Vanquis card.
But this extra interest was never explained to you, so the FCA says you should be refunded the interest – that is the same as saying no interest should have been charged.
The FCA’s rules (CONC 6.7.4) say that where your card balance is composed of transactions which carry different rates of interest, your monthly payment should be used to pay off the amounts with the highest interest rate first.
So your monthly payments should, in order:
- first be used to clear any cash withdrawals as they are charged at a higher rate of interest.
- then be used to repay what you bought with the card and the interest that has been added because of those – these are charged at the rate of interest of your card which may have been 39%, 49%, or even more.
- lastly be used to clear ROP and the interest that has been added because of this, because these should have been charged 0% interest.
If this is done, unless you usually repaid all or almost all of your balance every month, the amount of ROP in your balance will continue to get higher.
But in its calculation Vanquis isn’t doing this. Instead it is using some of your monthly payment to repay the ROP instead of using it all to pay off your purchases.
This may sound technical but it makes a huge difference to many people’s refunds. Compound interest at Vanquis’s high credit card interest rates adds up to a lot of money!
I think Vanquis should: rework all the calculations so that ROP (and the additional interest charged because of it) is paid off last.
2. The calculation stops too soon
The second problem is the point at which Vanquis stops the refund calculation.
Vanquis sent customers a letter or an email in late 2016/early 2017 detailing the cost of the ROP and the extra interest being charged. The FCA agreed that Vanquis didn’t have to give a refund for the extra interest charged after a customer received that email, on the grounds that the customer could have cancelled the ROP at that point.
So Vanquis says in its FAQ:
we have stopped the calculation 30 days after sending the email.
But this is unfair.
Suppose that £500 of your Vanquis balance was caused by the ROP charges. And suppose that you read this email, were horrified at the cost of the ROP, and phoned Vanquis up and cancelled the ROP.
This would have stopped your ROP problem getting any worse, but that £500 is still sitting in your balance and you are still being charged interest on it every month. Just cancelling the ROP doesn’t get rid of this accumulated ROP so you should get this ongoing interest refunded to you.
I don’t think what Vanquis is doing is in line with the FCA’s Final Notice, which – in my opinion – Vanquis has misinterpreted.
I think Vanquis should: carry on refunding all interest that relates to any ROP that was charged before the email. This should only end when the refund calculation is made. For ROP payments that were charged after the email, Vanquis doesn’t have to refund the extra interest added on these.
Vanquis don’t think there is any problem
I made these points to Vanquis. They replied:
We are confident that we are doing exactly what the FCA has required us to do in the way that they require us to do it and are complying with the letter and spirit of our regulatory obligations. We are unable to cease to follow the direction from, and agreement with, our regulator at your request. Our focus remains on completing the programme as quickly and as accurately as we can for the benefit of all of our customers. Additionally, as we have previously mentioned, the calculation for customer refunds has been verified by an independent third party to ensure that the calculation is accurate.
This is a simple denial. It doesn’t address my points about the fairness of the refund calculation at all.
How this affects your refund
If you normally repaid your balance in full, you will only get a very small or no refund. And these two calculation issues probably won’t have made a major difference to this.
But for everyone else:
- the first problem will have resulted in a refund that is much lower than it should have been;
- the second problem, ending the calculation too soon, will have affected you unless your Vanquis account was closed by late 2016/2017;
- and there is a third problem than Vanquis are not refunding overlimit charges, even though those would have been cause by the extra ROP interest – that’s not fair.
How to complain!
Look at the examples in here: Vanquis – are the refunds right? They show how some people are getting refunds which look very small compared to what would be expected.
Cancel the ROP
First, if you are still paying ROP, think about phoning Vanquis on 0330 099 3105 and cancelling it. It is very expensive and less use than PPI was…
You are being given a refund for the previous interest added, but from now on, you will still be charged all this extra interest and you won’t be able to get a refund for it!
Complain to Vanquis
Complain to Vanquis by sending an email to ROPRefundsTeam@email.vanquisbank.co.uk with COMPLAINT as the subject. You want to:
- ask them to look again at your calculation because you think it is wrong;
- ask them to refund any over-limit charges on your account; and
- tell them if you never received an email or letter in late 2016/early 2017 about the total cost of the ROP (some readers say they never had this).
At the same time, think if you have a case for saying that the ROP itself (not just extra interest, because you are going to be compensated for that) was not explained properly to you. If you think the ROP was mis-sold, then you can ask Vanquis to refund that as well.
Here is a template you can use for this email. Change it so it reflects what happened in your case.
[Add details so you can be identified: the number of your Vanquis card, your name, address, date of birth.]
I think my refund has been calculated incorrectly.
A) It says in the example on your FAQ page that you are sharing my monthly repayments between paying off purchases and paying off the ROP. This is not right – as no interest should have been charged on the ROP, the ROP should have been paid off last.
B) I understand you are saying that you sent me a letter or email in late 2016/early 2017 detailing how much I was paying for ROP.
choose one of the following three options:
EITHER
I cancelled my ROP when I got this email. But I think the refund calculation should continue after this email as I still had ROP payments and the interest charged on them accumulated in my statement balance, so you have continued to charge me interest on those.
OR
I do not think this letter was accurate. It quoted the cost for Repayment Option Plan including interest for the next 12 months but as this would have been done using your calculations, which give too low an amount for the interest, I think the letter was misleading. If I had realised the true cost, I would have cancelled the ROP. I think I should get compensation for the extra interest resulting from ROP charges after this date.
OR
I didn’t get this email or letter. So I should also get compensation for the extra interest resulting from ROP charges after this date.
C) Only if you had over limit charges:
I also want a refund of the over-limit charges that have been added to my account. If it wasn’t for the extra ROP interest, I do not think I would have exceeded the limit, so these fees should be refunded.
D) Only add this bit if you consider the ROP was mis-sold to you, giving the reason why you think this. It is better to give the reason why the ROP was mis-sold and not just say you didn’t know you had it, as it is shown on your statements. There are a couple of examples here but there could be many others depending on what was said in the sales call to you.
I am also complaining that the ROP was not correctly explained to me, because [ insert reason eg I thought it was automatically included with my card and I didn’t realise I could cancel it / I felt under pressure to accept it or I would not have been given any credit limit increases / the sales call didn’t explain that interest could be frozen on my account if I got into difficulties even I didn’t pay for ROP, if I had known this I would not have paid for the ROP.]
E) If you reject any part of this complaint, please treat this as a Subject Access Request and send me: a summary of each month’s statements showing the details needed for the ROP calculation, a copy of all the emails and letters you have sent me, and a recording of any telephone calls relating to the ROP on my account. I will need these details to send my complaint to the Financial Ombudsman.
If Vanquis rejects your complaint
Vanquis has eight weeks to respond to your complaint. If it is rejected, send it to the Financial Ombudsman — it their job to decide what is fair in situations like this. The Financial Ombudsman can order Vanquis to pay a larger refund if necessary.
It’s easy to do this using the Ombudsman’s online form which asks for all the details they need, such as how to contact you.
And why not add a comment to the bottom of this article? It really helps if people know that others are going through the same process.
Kara says
Has anyone here cashed their refund cheque whilst on the process of complaining about the amount of it? I was advised by Vanquis, on the phone, that I should pay it into the bank and that it wouldn’t affect the outcome of my complaint. I guess if I wrote to them to say that I was cashing it but that was not a sign that I accepted it as full and final payment, that might protect me…
shane says
yes i have and now complaint going threw the fos
Ken Borrowman says
Hi. I have today received a ‘Persistent debt ‘letter from Vanquis indicating they want a ‘one off’payment of £850 to bring my account below the FCA
new rules, on the basis i have paid circa £1,000 in interest, fees and charges and paid only circa £150 in debt repayment.
My query is the bulk of the interest fees and charges are ROP related. This product was definitely miss sold to me as the ongoing consequences of the interest were not settled by the repayment I received 18 months ago.
Is the Vanquis ROP scheme the same as PPI and if so can a complaint be lodged now before the embargo
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The ROP scheme is nothing to do with PPI.
When did you open the Vanquis account?
When did you get the ROP refund and did you query the amount then?
Are you still paying ROP?
Carli Flanagan says
Hi how do I place a complaint with vanquis about ppi or rop, as a first complaint?
Riss says
I am unsure if I was mis sold ROP or not- from what I remember I was behind on a payment- I phoned to explain and the agent told me I had to take ROP out to freeze my account to protect credit score in the future, I wasn’t told the terms and conditions or that it was optional. However I have knowingly had the product for several years but I thought it was a condition of the account. I have now called to cancel it and I did receive a refund of around £140 in 2018. My balance has been around £1000 for 4 years.
Am I wasting my time by putting in a complaint about being mis sold this product?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
when was the account opened?
Riss says
Around 8/9 years ago.
Kara says
Hi. I received an automatic refund of £204 in relation to ROP (I paid £880 in total) on an account opened in 2011 with a tiny credit limit that eventually went up to £3000. I paid it off in 2016 and had nearly cleared the balance on 2 other occasions. I questioned the amount of the refund and they have written a detailed response saying that they’re not upholding my complaint and explaining their calculations. They say that they use the monthly payments against cash transactions first and then the remainder goes between purchases and the ROP in proportion to the previous month’s balance. Is this the correct way of calculating it? As my refund isn’t ridiculously small I am wondering if it may be accurate.
Any idea?
Thanks.
Adio Raji says
On 21/11/18 I did write to Vanquis I regards to my ROP following your guide lines: I still have not received a reply. Please I just want to know what action to take now.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you ask Vanquis why they have not replied.
River says
Hi Sara
Due to your amazing website and advice, I have had some success with refunds from payday lenders. I have now received £3,600 from Vanquis for ROP charges. Some of it has now cleared by credit card and I got a cheque for the remaining amount. My question is, should I make a separate complaint for the overlimit charges. The refund did not include these and in the final response Vanquis stated they were not refunding the overlimit charges. I have already cashed the cheque but I am not sure if I should escalate my existing complaint to the ombudsman or do I start a new complaint with Vanquis for the overlimit charges. The overlimit charges amounts to approximatley £750.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did your FOS complaint mention overlimit charges?
River says
Hi Sara
Apologies as I thought they had stated that the overlimit charges would not be refunded. After re-reading the letter, there is no mention of overlimit charges at all, just the below:
Repayment Option Plan fees and associated interest – £3,500
Charges – £180.00
Notional Interest – £315.32
Withheld Tax – £63.06
Less refund already provided £294.55
Could the second line be the overlimit charges?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well it could be… but if you think they are £750 then that should be queried!
gaynor says
hi :) sorry to butt in but i see you d already had a refund, is the second refund a result of claiming the first refund was too low ?? asking as i have a complaint logged with the fos about my refund being too low and haven t heard anything from them for a long time xx
River says
Hi
The first refund was given last year and applied to my credit card but I never actually realised as my card was always maxed out.
The second refund was given direct from Vanquis after I put in a complaint and they took about 6 weeks to decide. I only found out about the first refund when my complaint was upheld.
Bebe Oladipo says
Hello Gaynor,
I am still waiting to hear back from the FOS regarding my complaint against Vanquis that my refund was too low. Every time I chase, they say the same thing that they have not heard back from Vanquis. It’s been about 6 months now. I will keep chasing xx
Phild says
I received a refund from Vanquis after I had to go through the Ombudsman and still maintain now that I did not receive the correct amount, is it too late to take this further now as I have just seen this topic?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How long ago was it?
Phild says
It was sometime during 2018, possibly about June
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you should have queried this earlier.
Phild says
I did, I queried it with Vanquis and the Ombudsman who both stated the refund was correct, I complained at the time I thought the refund was too low.
Ahmed says
Hi Sara
I have recently received a cheque out the blue for £12.74 of Vanquis, which I have yet to cash, the letter said it was for interest on repayment option plan. I did have a credit card back with Vanquis in the period 2007 till 2009. I have then sent them a complaint about the ROP/PPI and today they replied saying they were unable to uphold the complaint as it had happened more than 6 years ago.
Any advise would be appreciated
Many thanks
Lisa says
I too received a random Cheque from vanquis in the post in February for £16.73. I had a credit card with them several years ago. I have no idea if I had ROP and have never heard of it until coming across it on this site. I didn’t cash the money and a few months later received a letter from Vanquis reminding me to cash it. The letter and this article have made me think that maybe they owe me more than this because why else are they so keen for me to put it into my bank account? How would I go about finding out if I had ROP and could the money be for anything else?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Do you still have a Vanquis account?
Ahmed says
I don’t have any accounts with Vanquis, my Credit card account with them was closed back in 2009/2010, I have never heard of them after closing my account and not sure why now they sent me this £12.74 cheque! Some 8 ~ 9 years later?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The regulator made them give some people a refund. For loans that old it’s unlikely you will get anywhere with a complaint.
Lisa says
I have recently got a card with them (after I received the Cheque) purely for credit building purposes. It is in my married name and the old account was in my maiden name. But the old account was closed several years ago. I am really not sure how many years ago it was. Should I ask for a SAR or is it not worth it.
Eileen Raine says
From E.R. Hi Sara. Just wondering if vanquis has all cases of rop sorted as there has been no posts on your site since September. I still have had a complaint with ombudsman since May and every time I contact them im told my case is being looked at and they will let me know outcome in due course.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Thare isn’t much you can do except wait for the Ombudsman decision.
Antonio says
Dear Sara,
I received yesterday a check ROP refund from Vanquis for £1.19 that I think its ridiculous. The only details they gave me are:
Interest on ROP charges £ 0.71
Simple interest at 8% £ 0.60
Withheld Tax”2 -£0.12
Total Refund amount £1.19
I been following up for quiet long all the posted here and your kind wise professional advises but because I do not have almost any details from my credit card with Vanquis only a page by email that show my credit card got ROP .But I couldn’t remember for how long I had it , only that credit was 200 or 250 and most of the time just paying the minimun or going over the limit. So I’m not sure how to come back to them to complaint for that silly refund as I got very little details. Please could you help me with this?
Best regards , Antonio
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The article above says how to complain. You can also Vanquis to tell you how much ROP you paid and over what period. But with a very low credit limit it may not have been that much, and you are only being refunded the interest on the ROP, not the ROP itself.
Antonio says
Thank you so much Sara, I’ll call them tomorrow to find out. I’ll keep you updated.Kind regards, Antonio
Antonio says
Dear Sara,
sorry for my delay I been sick for a while…. I contacted back Vanquis and they told me I had ROP for 9 months. I asked if I went over the limit or pay late charges and they told me that if I remember well I been paid overlimit and late charges 3 or 4 times. They looked very supportive and helpful during that call but I still even when my credit limit was only £250 and as you well said they only refund me the interest charges generated by ROP and not the ROP itself I think it’s still quiet low a refund of just £1.19 . Maybe I’m wrong I don’t have a clue about finances. I just would like to know about your opinion or advise when you could have sometime for a reply. You are always so kind and been so helpful with everyone here. I appreciate so much the job you do and the advises you give us. Million thanks :)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
With a credit limit that low for only 9 months, the ROP can’t have been much so the interest on would have been tiny. If you are struggling with debts, I suggest you talk to StepChange about your situation as that may be a more practical way forward for you. https://www.stepchange.org/
African Queen says
Hello Sara
Happy New Year to you. I wish you health and happiness.
I have been chasing the FOS on my case I have with them regarding the low refund i received. This is the reply I got – any thoughts? Thank you
I can now let you know is we’ve recently established that we don’t have jurisdiction to look into complaints that relate to restitution schemes set up under section 384 of the financial services and marketing act 2000 (“the act”).
You’ll see from the link below that it was the regulator (the “FCA” – the financial conduct authority) who told Vanquis they had to refund the interest charged on their repayment option plan (“ROP”) fees. At the bottom of the page the link goes to, are some notes to editors. The first note is a link to the final notice that the FCA issued when they set up the restitution scheme with Vanquis. On page 19 of the 23 pages of the final notice, the FCA explains that the scheme is set up under section 384 of the act.
Therefore, it’s likely your complaint is one that we can’t look into it. However, once your complaint is allocated to an investigator, they’ll check to see if there is any part of your complaint that we can look into.
I can’t promise, but I believe your complaint will be allocated to an investigator by March. So if you haven’t heard for one by the middle of March, you’re then welcome to email me again for another update.
http://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/fca-fines-vanquis-1976000-and-orders-vanquis-pay-compensation-customers
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I had heard this is what they were thinking about – it’s amazing it has taken so long :(
This seems, frankly, an odd loophole. Which the FCA themselves didn’t focus on as their Decision says customers can go to FOS. But if FOS’s lawyers have got it right – and I can’t see away around it – then FOS’s hands are indeed tied over these complaints. And Vanquis has got away with it :(
David says
Hi Sarah,
re the above I got the following e-mail from the ombudsman’s office this morning.
“I’ve looked at whether we can consider a complaint about the amount Vanquis refunded to you and how they did this – as instructed by the FCA – but I’m sorry to say that I’ve concluded that we can’t.
This is because the ombudsman can only consider a complaint as defined in the Glossary of the FCA’s “General Provisions” document. The complaint has to be about “the provision of or failure to provide a financial service or a redress determination”; the meaning of “redress determination” was set out in the Glossary.
This complaint is not about a redress determination, because the Vanquis scheme was not a consumer redress scheme as comprehensively defined in s.404 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA). The complaint can therefore only be considered if it was about “the provision of or failure to provide a financial service”. I don’t think the restitution scheme Vanquis agreed with the FCA can be defined as a “financial service” so I’m afraid we are unable to take the matter any further.”
I don’t necessarily agree with them and their reasoning’s a bit thin. Anyway, I’ve gone back questioning their interpretation and will see what they come back with.
Bit gobsmacked that they take almost nine months to give me an answer and then give me just over a week to let them know if I agree with them or not!
Steph says
I have received the same e mail and am now preparing to pursue through the small claims court. The cost is minimal but varies depending on the amount you are claiming, Vanquis have point blank refused to give me an actual breakdown at how they arrived at the figure of £59.00 that they repaid me, I have calculated they owe me in the region of £1500. Their arrogance is outstanding and I doubt they will even bother to pay a solicitor to turn up to defend the case.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I’m sorry but I think you should consider taking advice before going to court.
David says
Further e-mail received from the Ombudsman Service on Friday.
“The firm weren’t required to take any of these steps. They were told by the FCA that there had been a failure, they determined that this failure had caused a loss to all consumers who had been sold the Repayment Option Plan (ROP) and they then told Vanquis what redress should be paid to consumers and how. As such there is no regulated activity here for us to consider and as a consequence I do not think we are able to consider the complaint.”
To me that doesn’t make sense. If, as they say, the FCA told Vanquis what redress should be paid and how, then that’s within the definition of a consumer redress scheme as laid down in Section 404.
Have gone back to them again asking for further clarification. Complaint’s still being handled by an investigator and will be asking for it to be referred to an ombudsman – important point of principle here and they way this is coming across is that the Ombudsman Service really don’t want to take this any further.
Again, I’ll see what develops.
steph says
Sara I have taken legal advice, my daughter is a solicitor she’s had it run by one of her colleagues who deals with the financial services sector, Vanquis have an obligation to provide the customer when asked how they arrived at the figure they refunded, they have refused to do this, the DSAR I obtained shows how much interest I paid on a monthly basis and from there it’s possible to work out approximately how much they owe and the amount they refunded is completely incorrect. The cost for my claim is £70.00.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Great, good luck, I will be very interested to know how this goes.
African Queen says
It is very sad :(
You win some, you lose some.
You have been ever so helpful and I owe my financial stability and freedom from debt to your advice.
I have donated to my local CAB many times. I just wish there was another way to appreciate you.
Thank you seems so small xx
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you are on Facebook, it would be great if you could sometimes share some of my posts? Doesn’t have to be about refunds which you might not want your friends to know about! https://www.facebook.com/debtcamel/
African Queen says
No problem :)
Steve says
hi
is it still worth following through with the rop refund? even when vanquis flat refused and dismissed my complaint when I wrote a email explaining that I felt it was put me further in debt and I didn’t quite understand it when I first took out the card. I obviously cancelled the rop at the time but spend a few years struggling to lower the balance which included a monthly rop. I have only very recently managed to transfer the balance to a better card with a long zero interest rate. I have chopped up the card but still have a account. I know I only have my self to blame for putting myself in crippling debt. in my defence, I never missed one payment!
thanks
steve
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You had 6 months to take your complaint to FOS from when Vanquis dismissed it. I suspect you are outside that time.
Steve says
hi
yes, you are correct. it was around july last year.
thankyou for the reply anyway.
Chris says
Good Morning – I have made claims against most payday lenders now, and also Provident too.
Is there a process possibilty of claiming against high APR credit cards such as Vanquis, Capital one and Aqua?
Thanks,
Chris
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes – there the complaint is usually that they raised your limit to too high a level despite you only making minimum payments and if they had looked closer they would have seen this was unaffordable. See https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-catalogue-credit-card/
Chris Mitchell says
Thanks Sara,
Chris
Beste says
Hi,
I am new in the UK and adviced to apply for a credit card to raise my credit score. I applied Vanquis and they sent me the card last month. I spend some, and returned 2 of my online purchases. They both confirmed and refunded by the websites, but there is nothing on my Vanquis statement. Also there is inconsistency in the amount, total balance is more than i spent.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Are you saying your vanquis statement shows zero? Or it shows the purchases but not the refunds?
CMcK says
Hi Sara,
Firstly THANK YOU. Thank you for your help and thank you for your templates.
I received my refunded ROP interest in 2018 (£900), however I decided to push back and complain that I had been misold ROP all along because 1) I didn’t know I had it or what it was, 2) That even if I had understood what I was buying, they had hidden the fact I’d be charged interest, so they hadn’t given me all the information I would have needed to make an informed decision on whether or not I wanted it anyway.
Obviously they rejected my claim. I went to the ombudsman who sided with me, however they also rejected their initial opinion and so it was handed to a second opinion. I wasn’t confident this would go anywhere however today I’ve received an e-mail from FOS saying that Vanquis have been in touch and have made an offer. “Vanquis are offering to refund all ROP charges, as well as any interest on those charges. If applicable, they will also refund any “over limit” charges that were applied as a result of anyROP charges – and any interest on those charges.In addition, some people’s accounts might have gone into positive credit if they hadn’t had the ROP. If this applies, Vanquis will pay 8% simple interest per year relating to the times theaccount would have had positive credit”
….
CMcK says
(contiued)
As my interest alone on these ROP charges was over £900 I’m expecting my actual payments to be pretty large, so I’m quite happy. I’ve not yet gone back to accept this offer and I was hoping for your advice on whether or not I should. The fact that Vanquis have brought this offer having initially rejected both mine and the FOS’ request makes me wonder if they’re trying to limit their exposure. Is there something more I should hold out for, or should I just take the money and run?
Anyway. I am absolutely delighted and I cannot thank you enough!
CMcK
CMcK says
Refund received. £2000! Result.
Jonathan Brown says
After a long and drawn out complaint process I received over £6K – absolute result! Worth going to FOS!
Kasia Smith says
Hi Sara, I made a complaint yesterday as I was only made aware that the ‘Repayment Option Plan’ was not an option to make additional repayments to assist with clearing my balance, but an option not to make a repayment once a year if I am in financial difficulty, etc. I have unknowingly been paying these charges for some 10 years and they have written back to me saying that what I’m complaining about happened 6 years ago and I was sent information in relation to the ROP and my right to cancel in 2011. I do not however recall receiving such communication and as they have been charging me on a monthly basis up until yesterday I would not consider this to have ‘happened’ 6 years ago but rather this to be ongoing up until yesterday. I have requested the information as per your Subject Access Request above should they reject my claim and am waiting to hear back from them, but would you agree that I have a valid argument? Thanks
JB says
Hi Kasia, stop paying the ROP – make a formal complaint to them and await their response – which will be garbage, and then send it to the Financial Ombudsman. It will all take ages but is well worth it if you win your case! My case was around 20 months from start to finish but they eventually offered over £6K! Good luck!
Julia rowlands says
My husband was refunded 2900 but they paid it to Lowell which was status barred and that account was deputed I’m now fighting to get it refunded back to me as because of this rop put me in hardship in 1st place
Lorraine Shergold says
Hi,
Looking for advice regarding the Provident case, I have received 3/4 of those letters regarding making a claim, to be completely honest I just did a quick read then threw them in the bin.
I am now thinking that it was legit, and maybe I should put in a claim, but I am pretty useless when it comes to complaints which is why I don’t.
So could somebody please advise me as to what I do.
Lucy
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It isn’t a scam – it’s easy to make a claim, see read https://debtcamel.co.uk/provident-scheme-claim-refund/
J says
Hi does anyone have an email for vanquish? The two I have tried have bounced back
Many thanks
Jo says
So I applied 4weeks ago for an unaffordable lending with Vanquis . I still haven’t had a final response and I know this can take 8weeks . I am actually baffled as just this evening they sent me an email saying that for the past two years I’ve been in persistent debt and that I have paid a lot more back in interest and charges than what I borrowed from them , yet they r asking me to increase my payments why
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This probably has nothing to do with your complaint – all credit card lenders have to send out these letters about persistent debt – see https://debtcamel.co.uk/persistent-debt-halifax-credit-card/ for an example.
AuntyMonique says
Hi, I’m so late to this conversation but I wondered if it was too late to complain about the ROP refund? I got 34p even though I had the account from 2015-2019 always maxed out and increased to 3k. It’s now in default because I missed one incredibly high minimum payment and it then just spiralled. Could still query the ROP refund?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry it is a lot too late
mr shane finn says
if your credit limit was increased then you can claim for irresponsible lending the ROP is a waste of time they dont explain anything just give you a figure and say thats it
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Here is an article about making an affordability complaint with a template you can use https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-catalogue-credit-card/
AuntMonique says
Thanks I tried this back in 2019, and they rejected the complaint, i even took it to the financial ombusman and the rejected it, even though i showed how much financial difficulty i was in at the time. They basically said that vanquis were a second chance creditor and did all the necessary expected checks :-(
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Ok, what is your financial situation like at the moment?
AuntyMonique says
Its much much better now, than in 2019. The default from vanquis is just killing it.
Honestly wish I could take those few months back
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well defaults drop off your credit record after 6 years. And when they pass the 2 and then 4 year point, the harm to your score reduces.
Man Kan says
Hi, I have received final response from Vanquis and they have rejected my complaint citing they made all the relevant checks before increasing the credit limit. Can I go to Ombudsman or there is no chance of success as I didn’t miss any payment in last 6 years and didn’t have any CCJ. However, I did have default which was removed in 2023. Can anyone please tell what are my options.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
When they increased your credit limit had you only been making the minimum payments?
Os says
So .. ive been checking my old claims back in 2017 i was a little overwhelmed with then all.
vanquis must have offered me a refund and i rejected it .. my response to them as below, however i never heard back from them that was back in jan 2017, is there anything i can do now ?
————-
Vanquis Bank,
In reference to your response to my complaint (Ref CAT######### about the repayment option plan that was applied to my account, I reject your offer as I still have concerns around how this was applied to my account.
In my original complaint, I requested details of where I consented for the Payment protection plan to be added to my account, however your response on the 20th Jan did not address my concern. I specifically asked for the transcript of the phone conversation that you referred to, however these were not forwarded to me.
From your reluctance to give me any details, I can only conclude that I never had any phone conversation and ever consented for this insurance to be added to my credit card, this clearly shows a fraudgelent practice by your company.
Not only did adding this plan increase my repayments, which resulted in several late repayments by myself, it also impacted my ability to pay other debt as you were demanding additional payments that were never due which caused an adverse effect on my credit rating.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is way too late to do anything about this now. You only have 6 months to take cases to the Ombudsman.
If you find any other old cases that were never finished, they are probably too old too.
BUT that was not an affordability complaint, it was about ROP, which was a sort of insurance like (but not the same as) PPI.
Do you still have this Vanquis account or was it closed recently (within the last 6 years)? Have they increased your crehttps://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-catalogue-credit-card/dit limit when you were only making minimum payments? A lot of people are now winning affordability complaints against Vanquis – see https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-catalogue-credit-card/
Os says
thanks Sara, I thought that might be the case.
The card wasn’t very affordable back then, I recall missing the minimum payments a number times too.
I’ve just checked my emails . the statements go up to Oct 2018, might be cutting it fine with the 6 year deadline, however I’ve just sent them an affordability complaint too now.
thanks again.
Os says
Sara
So i got my statutory report from experian, it has the settlement date for my vanquis account as 15 sept 2019 does this mean i still have time to complain ?
Looking at the account history, my credit limit was 1,000 and in most months my balance was always over, meaning i was struggling to make payments and they were adding charges.
Is it worth putting in an affordability complaint ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
when was the account opened? Do you have bank statements going back to that time?
Os says
It was opened in october 2012,
I cant track any of my statements i tried searching , all i have is whats shown on my experian report.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s possible that there may be very little evidence for the Ombudsman to look at. But see what Vanquis reply