The administration of WDFC, the legal company who operated the Wonga brand, was completed in August 2020.
The company was finally dissolved in December 2020.
See Companies House records for details.
Background to the administration – rising complaint numbers
A payday loan is “unaffordable” if repaying meant you had to get into more debt, by borrowing again or getting behind on bills or other debts. So you may have repaid all your loans but still have a good claim for a refund of the interest you paid.
When Wonga went under there were over 200,000 people with current loans from Wonga – many of them had a good case for the interest to be removed from their balance so they only repay what they borrowed.
The Administrators proposals set out the reasons why Wonga went into administration. These were the increasing number of affordability complaints, especially from Claims Companies, and the decision by the Financial Ombudsman that FOS could look at loans over 6 years old, going back to 2007.
There were 24,000 affordability complaints awaiting a decision by Wonga and 9,500 complaints against Wonga with the Financial Ombudsman when Wonga ceased trading on 30 August 2018.
Details on the Administration
The Administrators have made various progress reports (available from Companies House) and statements during 2018-20:
- in October 2018, the Administrators published their Proposals, detailing how they planned to handle the administration. Creditors voted to approve these Proposals.
- progress report to end February 2019;
- Witness Statement in April 2019;
- progress report to end August 2019.
An online claim page was set up in April 2019 for Wonga customers to submit claims for refunds. The deadline for sending in a claim was 30 September 2019.
The Administrators assessed all claims using an automated tool. This took account of:
- all loans, including those over 6 years old
- how large a loan was compared to a customer’s income;
- how often someone borrowed without significant gaps;
- whether there were indications of hardship such as missed payments;
- if there is a balance outstanding for the right of set-off.
Where it decided one or more loans were unaffordable, it calculated how much interest should be refunded and added statutory interest at 8%.
In August 2019 the Administrators starting sending emails to people saying whether their claims have been successful or rejected.
In September, the Administrators sent an update on progress up to end August 2019. Key points include:
- at end August, 389,621 claims for unaffordable payday lending have been accepted by the administrators;
- the total value of these claims is c £460million – an average of c £1,200 a claim.
- £23m of outstanding loans have been collected. The Administrators say that outstanding loans are being taken into account and given the right of set-off where the customer has a claim for unaffordable loans.
- The remaining loan book will not be sold to a debt collector.
At this point the Administrators were saying that payments would be made by 30 January 2020.
29 January 2020 – administrators announce 4.3p in the pound
On 29 January 2020, the Wonga administrators announced that they will be paying 4.3p in the pound to unsecured creditors, including all the 400,000 people who are owed a refund for unaffordable lending.
The administrators have now given the final numbers:
- they assessed 401,202 claims as being valid;
- of these 358,129 are being paid 4.3% of their assessed compensation value;
- the remaining 43,073 also owed a balance on a loan to wonga, so their compensation has been used to clear or reduce that balance.
What happens next:
- the money should be paid within the next 4 weeks. This has come as a surprise as people had been told it would be paid by the end of January;
- the loans that are being refunded should be removed from your credit record in the next 6 weeks.
My comment – ripped off by Wonga and now let down by the regulators
The administrators told people they would get “significantly less” than that amount as there would not be enough money to pay the claims in full.
But many people will have been hoping for more than 4.3% and are very upset.
It is not the administrators’ fault there is so little money to be divided between so many people. It is the fault of the regulators – first the OFT and then the FCA – that they allowed Wonga to break the rules saying that affordability should be checked
And now the regulators have failed to ensure that these Wonga victims get the compensation they should have. When a PPI firm went under, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme stepped in and people with PPI claims got paid in full. But the FCA has not extended the FSCS to cover payday lenders.
This isn’t just a problem for the hundreds of thousands of Wonga victims. Borrowers from many payday lenders have been unable to get proper compensation after the lender has had to close. This will apply to QuickQuid, the money shop, Payday UK and Payday Express borrowers as well.
The FCA needs to rethink this and provide a safety net for people who were mis-sold unaffordable loans.
Readers comments – Shock and disappointment
This a brief overview of the hundreds of comments below this article.
Some people are happy to be getting anything:
- “I am only getting just shy of £25 but for the sake of completing a 30 second form it’s not too bad.”
- “I will be getting £79.93 of the £1854.17 I was owed. Better than nothing!”
- “£35 out of a possible £800. I wasn’t expecting much anyway. I’m more interested in having the 25 wonga loans removed from my credit file.”
The administrators had said people would get “significantly less” than the claim, but many people were hoping for at least 10%:
- “I got mine £88.67 – claim was £2057.05 – I was expecting at least a couple hundred.”
- “Claim was 3034, getting 130. By considerably less I didn’t think it would be over 95% of it. That is ridiculous.”
- “To receive £44.10 from a claim of £1023.00 is insulting to be honest.”
- “Owed £1499, getting £63…what an absolute joke!”
- “4.3% is an absolute disgrace. Although people are trying to be positive they shouldn’t have to. The people who made all the profit here would spend the biggest payout anyone has received on an evening out and not think twice about it.”
- “Gutted…. was hoping for at least the 10% speculated.”
This reader blamed not just Wonga but the regulators:
- “Over £11k accepted reduced down to £480 – my job, my marriage and 4 years of desperation followed by years of rebuilding my life – that’s what the regulators consider that to be worth! Shame on everyone involved in Wonga and the lack of regulation of lenders like them !”
Some are just are delighted that Wonga has gone under:
- “Heads up everyone…We have won in the end! They can no longer be a hindrance to any of us any more!”
- “Mines going to charity. Best thing to have happened is for them to have gone bust”
- ”Thank you Wonga you paid me to continue gambling, I lost everything. Good riddance.”
Many people are also disappointed and shocked that they aren’t being paid by the end of January. Some people getting these refunds are still in difficult financial circumstances and had planned to use the money to pay a bill or some debts.
February 2020 – some clarifications from the administrators
The remaining loans
The administrators have confirmed that no further payments are being accepted and the debts will not be sold to a debt collector. So you don’t have to worry about being taken to court or bailiffs.
But the debts are not technically being written off. They will remain on your credit record for 6 years from the default date on your credit record. If you don’t know what this date is, I suggest you check it now.
In practice, now the company in liquidation, if you contact a credit reference agency and say your Wonga debt is incorrect, you can ask the credit reference agency to “suppress” the record as Wonga can no longer say what the right entry should be. See How to correct credit records if the lender has gone under for details.
No deductions are being made for tax
The Administrators have said:
“the Joint Administrators have agreed with HMRC that the payment may be treated for tax purposes as set wholly against the interest and fees element first, and statutory interest second. As a result, where the distribution paid by the administrators to each customer does not exceed the interest and fees claimed by them, no withholding tax will be required to be deducted at source from payments made by the administrators in such cases.”
The simple version of this is:
- the administrators are not taking off any tax.
- there will, therefore, be no tax to have to reclaim.
- the vast majority of people will not have to pay any tax on any part of of the refund even if you are a higher rate taxpayer. The amounts don’t have to be declared if you complete an annual tax return eg if you are self-employed.
A small number of extra payments
A small number of customers were owed money by Wonga for a different reason, for example they may have overpaid on a loan. These extra amounts are also being paid out and you will get 4.3% of them too.
If you were not using a claims company, you should have received a single email at the end of January which mentions both amounts.
If you were using a claims company you should have received two emails, each about one of the amounts. If you have only received one email and it mentions a claim which is smaller than the amount you expected, you can contact the administrators, it may be this is the “extra” payment.
Bank account issues
I asked the Administrators why some people are still getting emails asking them to update their bank details. They say:
These emails will be in response to customers’ requests received by the Customer Care team prior to 29 January 2020 providing a secure method by which customers can update their bank account details. Customers should respond to these emails.
I asked the Administrators what will happen if they make a payment and it bounces back to them because the account is no longer open. They say:
Where updated information is available from customers we will attempt to reprocess bounced dividend payments via electronic transfer. Alternatively, we will issue a cheque to the address held on file.
A blogger contacted the Administrators on the 14th February to ask why she hadn’t been paid and was told:
“I can confirm that the joint administrators have commenced distribution of dividend payments to unsecured creditors, including those with redress claims. Given the volume of transactions that need to now take place, the administrators cannot guarantee an exact date when individuals will receive payment but are aiming to complete transactions within the next two weeks.”
February and March – payments started but with problems
I was told by the Administrators on Friday 28th February that 90%+ of payments have been made and they expect to make the rest of payments over the next two weeks by BACS. About 22,000 the following week, about 13,000 the week after. It looks as though the 22,000 group got their money. It’s not clear to me how many of the 13,000 group have.
Many people in the comments below this article were reporting probems. These included people whose bank accounts had never changes. Problems included:
- confusion over whether a claims company has been paid or they will be;
- Wongasaid payment was sent to a claims firm that hadn’t been used;
- Wonga said a cheque was sent to a house you no longer live it;
- Wonga said a payment has been made to your bank account but it hasn’t arrived ;
- Wonga has said a payment was sent to an old bank account despite new bank account details having been given and co0nfirmed as having been received.
On 2 March the Administrators said the payment process was taking longer than expected and payments would continue to about 40,000 people over the next 2 weeks:
The Joint Administrators have now attempted to make dividend payments to over 410,000 creditors… In addition to the payments that were not made we have had approximately 40,000 payments returned to us due to incorrect customer bank details recorded on file with Wonga. We will now begin contacting these customers whose payments were returned, by email, to obtain correct and up-to-date bank account details.
The dividend payment process is taking longer than anticipated and payments will continue to be paid during the next two weeks.
On 19 March the Admistrator’s announced:
The Joint Administrators have now attempted to make dividend payments to over 443,000 creditors representing 98% of the creditor population. This includes payments to creditors whose payments were briefly held back from the initial payment phase whilst additional validation checks were completed to new bank account and/or address details that were provided. The Joint Administrators now continue to focus on the remaining small population of unpaid dividends in order to complete the payment process.
From here on progress was very slow, impeded by lockdown.
End August 2020 – administration ends – do you still have a problem?
Have you not been paid?
The Administrators final report blames the payment problems of Wonga’s poor systems and on creditors who did not update their bank details when requested to. But as many comments below detail, people who had never changed their bank account or who had updated their bank details several times and had each confirmed also experienced prolonged delays.
At 28 Auguest when the administration ended, there were still c 49,000 payments with a total value of £632,000 that had not been made – an average about of £13 per payment. About 70% of these were for amounts owed before the administration, so not affordability complaints.
The Administrators have passed the £632,000 to the Insolvency Service. If any creditors want to claim an unpaid amount, they should email CustomerServicesEAS@Insolvency.gov.uk.
A problem with your credit record
If there is a problem with your credit record then you now need to contact the Credit Reference Agency where the problem is showing – Experian, Equifax or TransUnion. Say you can no longer get an answer from the administrators as the firm has been dissolved so you would like the CRA to “suppress” the credit records (list them) as they are inaccurate.
This problem could have been an error by the administrators, who failed to delete the record. It could be an error by Wonga before the administration: the loan date or balance or default date is wrong – you want the default date to be as early as possible so it drops off sooner – or Wonga may have failed to add a default date.
If the CRA refuses, send the CRA a formal complaint and this can be sent to the Financial Ombudsman. In practice people are getting these sorted with the CRAs without having to go to the ombudsman.
Refunds from large loans & car finance
Refunds from other payday lenders
Is your credit card limit too high?
Darren says
So I had my complaint rejected with Wonga which I have sent to the ombudsman. I currently have a repayment plan with them but by the time I finish paying it. the ombudsman might finally rule in my favour but by which time I would have already paid the loan back and any refund I’m due I wont get because of the above?
any thoughts welcome?
Ian says
Im in the exact same boat mines been going on for 8 month now with ombudsman i fear i wont get anything now if they go out of buisness it stinks
Tracy says
Same, complaint is with ombudsman but not yet allocated to an adjudicator. This would be so disappointing, I’m going to try to call the case manager this morning for an update on what is happening. I wonder if the ombudsman will prioritise the wonga loan Complaints given this news?
craig says
Mines with an adjudicator but has been since March. I’m now thinking Wonga are going to drag it out until they go under and I will get nothing .
Caroline says
I accepted an offer from them last Friday after the upheld my claim. Do we think they will still payout as the claim is upheld?
Mike says
I’m in the same situation and to be honest I am now panicking as I accepted their offer yesterday via the financial ombudsman. Really worried now!
Carly says
They have until 5th September to make any objections or accept the financial ombudsmans decision for mine. I am obsessively checking my emails at the moment. I’ve been waiting since beginning of February so it would be devastating if it didn’t all go through now! Fingers crossed.
Kenn says
I have received an offer from wonga yesterday and accepted straigth away. Recent news wonga is going into administration. Do you know how I am going to be affected?
mimi says
Was it a good offer Kenn ??? still waiting on mine they wrote to me saying within 14 days lucky you got one don’t know what’s going to happen to those not yet offered :(
Kenn says
Its 2300£. I was happy yesterday but today news left me hopeless.
carl says
I am also in the same position, i received an offer on the 29th of august (day before they went into administration) to which i accepted but now its all up in the air. Just my luck!
Steve says
This may be a silly question to ask, but if they do go into administration, are we able to get their loans taken off of our credit report? Or does that not matter?
Tracy says
Thank you for asking that, it was my next question. I’ve just spoken to the ombudsman they said wonga responded with information requested by the FO on 2nd August but still not allocated to an adjudicator yet, and with no timescale because they are swamped with complaints. They said because wonga have not gone into administration just yet they will continue as they are, but were very clear they could not speculate on what would happen if they did go into administration, in response to my question about have negative reports removed from credit files.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
For current loans, you will either have to repay Wonga or the administrators may sell the loan book to another firm who will then report the loan to the credit reference agencies.
For previous loans, if they have been repaid on time they do not harm your credit score, though if they are in the last year they will make it much harder to get a mortgage.
For previous loans with late payments / arrangements to pay / defaults, if you have a complaint that has been upheld, either by Wonga itself or the Finanical Ombudsman, then I hope they will be a way to get the negative marks removed from your credit records even if there is not enough money to pay a refund.
NB this is me speculating.
Tracy says
Thank you Sara, I had 33 loans with wonga, trying to get a mortgage with them on my credit file is impossible. I repaid all of them, borrowing from others sometimes to pay them. I’ve had the FO uphold a claim against Myjar and QQ, just waiting to see if they appeal, but wonga was by far the most used one, it’s so frustrating to know all the info the FO need, they have but nothing has shifted in a month. I guess we can only hope they don’t actually go into administration. Tracy
Paul says
I have had interest and collections activity frozen due to financial difficulties and have supplied Wonga with a proposed repayment plan but they have not responded. Do the administrators have to honour any existing / pending arrangements?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you start making the proposed repayments. Administrators will want money coming in, if you have proposed all you can afford, the sensible thing is for the administrators to take it!
Becci says
Today was supposed to be the last day of my 8 weeks, I wish I had found out about this sooner.
At least a lot of people have had some help getting their finances back on track and some major ‘wrongs’ have been looked in to but we all know it should never have come to this stage.
Sam says
Wonga has just gone into administration – Should those of us with small offers to our complaints just be hasty and accept that, or is waiting on the Ombudsman still a viable option?
I’m worried i’ll lose out all together
Darren says
I’ve just heard back from the FOS about the same thing – and the short version is they don’t know what might happen.
Wonga responded to them today to say they’ll agree to pay 12 out of 26 loans, coming to £977.
I can challenge it, and someone else can make a final decision – but they say they don’t know what may happen if I do.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Was this offer after the adjudicator had suggested a larger refund? How much larger?
Darren says
There was no figure on the initial decision – except that 26 of the loans shouldn’t have been issued, and to refund fees plus 8% per year.
WDFC csme back to say they only agree with 12 of the loans and offered £977. I can challenge it, but the FOS are unclear on if I’ll see it.
Checked with MSE – and the general gist is nobody knows what may happen with claims that have no decision, with most thinking they’ll be written off under the FSCS.
I strongly suspect WDFC are using them going into administration to settle a few under threat of not getting anything at all.
Going to leave it until tomorrow and decide what to do.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“26 of the loans shouldn’t have been issued” can you add up the interest you paid on those loans? I’m not saying don’t take the Wonga offer, I just think it’s good to know as many facts as possible before taking the decision.
“most thinking they’ll be written off under the FSCS.” not sure what that means – the FSCS is not going to come to the rescue here, it doesn’t cover Wonga, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/wonga-not-covered-by-fscs/
“WDFC are using them going into administration to settle a few under threat of not getting anything at all.” possibly … but now the decisions are being taken by the administrators. It is possible they will be simpler and more straightforward to deal with – they have a professional job to do.
Mike says
I have just had an email from Wonga thanking me for accepting their offer of compensation and that it will be in my account within 14 days…..followed by the news on sky that they intend to appoint administrators! Not sure where that leaves the compensation?
Caroline says
Hi Mike when did you accept the offer?
Mike says
This morning. The Adjudicator ent it off around 11am and I got the email back from Wonga at 4.06 pm
Caroline says
Interesting I received my offer last Thursday night. I accepted on the Friday and emailed the form back on Friday but I haven’t heard anything back since then.
Mike says
Email from a Wonga below at 4.06pm today…
We are pleased we have managed to come to a resolution through the ombudsman service.
I can confirm that we have received your payment instructions and are in the process of completing your settlement, please allow up to 14 working days for this to be sent to your account.
Compensatory interest is subject to income tax at the basic rate under UK tax legislation and, therefore, tax will be deducted at the basic rate of 20% from any payments made to you. If you do not pay tax, you may be able to reclaim some or all of this tax reduction from HM Revenue and Customs.
If you are a higher rate tax payer, you may have to pay additional tax on the compensatory interest via your tax return. Please see HMRC.gov.uk for more details.
Please see attached file for a breakdown of your settlement.
We have also sent a request to amend your credit record to remove the applicable loans from your file. Please note that it can take up to six weeks for the credit reference agencies to amend your records.
Please get in touch if you have any queries.
FOS Team
Greg says
Sarah just wanted to say a big thank you
Wonga accepted the adjudicator’s decision last Thursday, Wonga emailed me on the Friday asking for my bank details – £6992 landed in my account this morning :)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Good news!
Sarah says
Aghhhhh!!! My complaint was in the queue for adjudicator! I reckon I was due a similar amount at least! What’s your advise sarah? Wait and see? I phoned ombudsman yesterday and they were not really very helpful. Is there anyone else we can go to for compensation for Wonga loans at this stage? Sorry if this sounds a bit desperate!! 😩
J says
Hi,
My wonga complaint has been with ombudsman since end of Feb. I’ve been advised that it’s still in a queue to be assigned to an adjudicator. Is there any chance of me receiving something back from them? Could kick myself as I was initially offered £1,000 from Wonga themselves but rejected this as I am of the view I was due more.
Thanks
kayla says
I’ve been waiting since November last year after initially being offered £1200 approx 30% of my claim I wish I’d taken it now as it looks like I may not get anything
Duncan says
I have had just had a response from Wonga rejecting my complaint for compensation, which was to be expected in light of this week’s news. I’m about to open a complaint with the FOS, but having just heard the news about them going into administration, is it now worth pursuing, considering I’ll be at the back of a long, long queue!?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It will take you less than 15 minutes to do this. At the moment we have no idea what is going to happen to these cases. We do not know how much money there will be to pay out on refunds or how long this will last. It’s up to you, but I would say why not take this as far as you can?
Rebecca says
Hi I recently turned down an offer from Wonga as they only upheld my complaint on 5 of my 21 loans I e mailed them to say I was taking it to the ombudsman, do you think I should or could I go back to Wonga and accept there offer and withdraw the complaint from the ombudsman? I ve not heard from the ombudsman yet.
Scott says
Hello. I received a response from Wonga today concerning a complaint, offering a refund on 15 of 30 loans. I was going to go to the ombudsman, as I’m not convinced what they have offered is entirely fair, but then I saw this. What do you reckon? Accept their offer or go to the Ombudsman? If I were to accept and the amount wasn’t paid, is there any precedent for how that kind of thing is handled? I know other loan companies have gone into administration before so perhaps this isn’t a new thing. Understood that any response would be pure speculation!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You may in theory be able to get more from the ombudsman, but it’s a difficult decision whether to grab what you are have been offered. Have you added up the interest in the 15 loans they have rejected? How does that compare to the interest on the 15 they have offered – ignore the 8% extra here as it makes it easier to do a straight comparison.
Also can you tell if the loans rejected were earlier? later, smaller? or is to completely random?
Laura says
I was offered £624 for 6 loans. I took out 52 loans in total but the first 8 have been disregarded by the ombudsman. I’ve just added up the remaining fees and interest (without the 8%) from the remaining 38 loans and it comes to £978 (plus the £624) Do I wait and risk getting nothing or take the original offer and run? This case has been with the ombudsman since October 2017.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So it sounds as though you have an adjudicator decision that Wonga rejected and it’s in the queue for an Ombudsman level final decision. Assuming that is correct…
Any offer agreed now will go into the group of unsecured creditors and get paid out a reduced rate – it won’t be known for a while if the reduced rate is very low such as 5p in the £ or more reasonable such as 50p in the £.
This will apply if you take the previous offer. What we don’t yet know is what I say going to happen to the cases in progress at the Ombudsman. The process could be left to continue, could be speeded up in some way, the administrators could agree to accept adjudicator awards (that would be good for you), the administrators could find a way of making a general offer to settle these cases, the administrators could say they won’t pay out on any of them… this is all speculation!
But the worst case for you would seem to be that you have to accept Wongas previous offer. It isn’t very difficult to think how you Could get less than this. So at the moment I can’t see there is anything to gain by giving up on the Ombudsman process and accepting the previous offer. This is however my guess and it’s possible I may be wrong.
B says
My Wonga matter is with the adjudicator and she confirmed that she would be giving me her final response and opinion tomorrow! After being with the ombudsman for 9 months…..Just my luck.
Vicci says
I’ve been waiting since August 2016 and am due my decision tomorrow from, gutted is an understatement as itv news has just said anyone with a ongoing complaint is unlikely to get anything.
Andy says
Yo all,
I got a final response by email on 25 august and have upheld 2 out of 21 which were ten months apart which is ridiculous. I have about 30 minutes ago completed FOS online form and submitted it like its my rights to. Fair 2012 ones are generally time barred because of the six year window.
Farhad says
Hi everyone I didnt receive an email for payment but I did speak to them go online chat yesterday and they told me my refund has been processed and will be with my in 3-5 working days.. do you think it was to fob me off knowing they will be going under today ?
Becci says
As I said earlier this was the last day of my 8 week waiting period. This evening (post administration) they have upheld many of my claims and I have agreed to settle for over £5500 so I’m hoping this will be a sign of not completely giving up to people.
I’m under no illusion this may take a considerable time to pay out but the fact they have sent an offer is a good sign
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is good news. It means the administrators haven’t walked in and said no to any further offers – I would have been surprised if they had done this, but I am very glad to know that isn’t going to happen.
I would expect this to be settled reasonably soon.
EDIT – unfortunately on 31st the administrators put a hold on all payments to agreed refunds. See article above.
Becci says
I was just surprised about the amount after reading many outcomes on here. They upheld the majority of loans within the last 6 years even post 2014 where the loans were few and far between.
Claire says
Hi Sara,
I need your advice – my complaint against wonga was responded to by an adjudicator yesterday telling them they had to pay out on loans 7 – 35 (£3,700) and they have until the 12th September to respond. Wonga had previously offered £1898.
I spoke to wonga this evening and they said i could still accept their original offer by email. The papers are saying that the FOS are not considering any NEW complaints – what does this mean?
What do you think i should do? if an adjudicator has already looked at it will there be a pot i can get the money from on the 12th of they go under? Should i accept the £1800 now? Can i still accept it?
Please can you help?!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“The papers are saying that the FOS are not considering any NEW complaints – what does this mean?” that isn’t clear, but it’s not relevant for you, you have an existing complaint already at the Ombudsman.
“if an adjudicator has already looked at it will there be a pot i can get the money from on the 12th if they go under? ” there is no guarantee scheme that would pay out if Wonga runs out of money.
“Can i still accept it?” I don’t know – my guess is yes, but you would need to ask them. It sounds as though you have asked them and they said Yes.
“Should i accept the £1800 now?” I don’t know. I’m sorry, that is money you wouldn’t want to lose, but £3700 is a lot more. If Wonga are still paying out for months it’s possible you could get the full amount, but I can’t put a guess at how likely that is.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
re the Ombudsman not looking at any new complaints – that is not what the Ombudsman has said so far – see the quote in the article above, they need to discuss with the administrators whether they will be able to look at new cases.
Kyle says
Question
I had a complaint upheld in November I don’t think it was fair so handed to ombudsman(6 year ruling putting it on hold)
My stance now ?
They don’t charge me interest as the amount they agreed to pay me was more than my debt
If I hold out for more information is my original offer legally binding? Aka they have agreed to write off the loan with the amount does that stand if they run out of money with administration ?
Would I be sensible to accept the offer now? With all that’s going on
Liam says
I have submitted a complaint to Wonga a few weeks ago and the 8 week period is on Tuesday! Will this still get reviewed as if the company hadn’t gone into administration? And within the 8 week timescale?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
At the moment we don’t know what decision the administrators will make about these early stage complaints. I suggest phoning up on Tuesday if you haven’t heard.
It would be really helpful if you could cone back and say what happens.
Kelly says
We got made an offer by Wonga back in June but believing it wasn’t a fair one, we referred it to the Omburdsman. Like many, it’s been sat in the department waiting on a decision to go back past the 6 years (our offer tho was for loans within the last 6 years). With all this news over the month about “Wonga collapsing” we decided to accept their offer Tuesday gone, 2 days before administration happened. We went directly thru Wonga themselves to accept this offer & phoned them last night & were told this is still going thru within the 14 days. We shall see!!!!!
Stevie C says
Hi All,
I am 6 weeks since my original complaint was logged with Wonga and i had an e-mail 2 week ago informing me that they required an extra 4 weeks to make a decision (standard 8 weeks) Strangely I received another e-mail last night at 9:40 re-iterating they are still considering my complaint. I take this as a good sign, has anyone else received this e-mail who is in the early stages?
Mark says
Stevie C,
This is likely just their automated email response system dealing with unresolved complaints. Sorry, I know that is not what you wanted to hear, but fingers crossed for you.
Ian kirwan says
I had a claim accepted by wonga and got an email saying I would get the money in my account 14 working days after sending my bank details, I sent the details on the 21st and got the confirmation on the 28th which says:
Thank you for confirming that you wish to accept our offer as outlined in our Final Response, in full and final settlement of your complaint.
We have started processing your settlement and we aim to finalise this within 14 working days of the date we received your acceptance.
A request has also been made to the credit reference agencies for the affected loan(s) to be removed from your credit file. It may take up to 30 working days to reflect the change on your credit file.
Thank you for giving us the time to resolve your complaint.
So I am not sure what is going to happen now!
Mark says
I’m in same boat although my offer was for £1851 should of been lot more but with news at the weekend I decided to accept it as I owed them £800, I’m hoping as I’m in the 14 day process waiting for a payment of £1051. Worse case I can forget about the £800 I owe them as I’ve got an email from them saying that’s part of my settlement. Any debt collectors come after that they can go whistle I will refuse to pay and if needs be I’ll appear on the news barricaded in the house threatening to kill myself to highlight the issue. Disgraceful behaviour the way they have dodged paying refunds. Former owners should be accountable as they walked away with millions. Shows how rigged the system is
Matt says
Hi All
I spoke with my adjudicator this morning who was working my case with Wonga. He said all Wonga cases are now on hold until they know what is going to happen with them. I guess we keep our fingers crossed there is going to be money available for redress but I am feeling a fair amount of pessimism that this won’t be the case. Typical as this is my largest claim and was picked up last Friday after a long wait and was hoping to use the cash to clear a big chunk of my existing debt. It feels my timing is as ever impeccable!!
Keep the faith and fingers crossed there is still hope.
Mr and Mrs C says
Ah disaster! Had 25+ loans with Wonga – they offered me £252 which I refused, literally just picked up by the FOS last week, and now this… I believe the offer should have been closer to £2500 – bad timing, and am now in the same boat as you all.
Matt says
Hi Mr and Mrs C
Same, 27 loans picked up. I was offered £580, picked up last Friday by FOS. £5500 in interest paid….ouch! Would be easier to stomach if we weren’t so far down the line in the process :-(
Mr and Mrs C says
I was wondering is it worth going back to Wonga to ask if they would up their offer to say 80% of what you think you would get through FOS, to speed things up? Costing them less in the long run, but preying that we would get something ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
At the moment it isn’t clear if this will speed things up, as even agreed refund payments are on hold and may later be reduced if there is insufficient money to pay them all.
Charlie H says
I had an adjudicator find in my favour and Wonga were informed on Tuesday. Wonga emailed me to say the refund was being processed and would take 14 working days. I rang Wonga last night and asked them outright if they intended to still pay out on the refunds agreed and the agents said yes they would still be paying out. Now whether the agent was just telling me that to get rid of me is another matter. Indirectly I feel sorry for the agents just now as thier jobs are on the line. However, my belief is that if Wonga have confirmed the refund is being processed, it should complete at least all those its already agreed to. Clearly I like to live on a cloud somewhere but it will be interesting to see if they do as the agent said.
nicola says
I have just had the same response from wonga.i phoned them up because the ombudsmen found in my favour last week and not heard from wonga yet,so phoned them just now she said I will still get my compensations but cant give me a time frame.hppfully hear soon.i will just keep phoning everyday haha
Simon says
Hi All,
I have submitted a number of these complaints over the past couple of months, Wonga is by big one though. I have taken 80 loans and paid almost £8,000 in interest to them. I’m due to receive a response by the 8th of September. Is there any grounds I can submit the case to the ombudsman? They have given me automated progress updates and are still within the 8 period.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry, you can’t send the case to the Ombudsman unless it is past 8 weeks OR you have had a final response from Wonga.
Simon says
Hi Sara,
I’ve just double checked something and I think they have the date wrong. The timelines are as follows:
08/07 – SAR sent/complaint raised
13/07 – Received response that my account couldn’t be identified
14/07 – Responded with details requested.
28/07 – Received automated e-mail that complaint would be responded to in 42 days
25/08 – Received automated e-mail that compliant would be responded to in 14 days
This means that they are taking it as 8 weeks from 14/07, should this actually be 8 weeks from when I initially raised the complaint (08/07) which would be 02/09? If so, do you think it would be worth contacting them to advise I expect a response by 02/09 and not 08/09 as they are advising?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think this is worth a try. In practice, if they say you will get a reply by 08/09 there is not a lot you can do about it.
Matthew says
Got a really bad feeling I may not get anything now. I sent off my bank details to Wonga for them to pay my compensation yesterday at 6pm, around the time they announced going into administration. I just spoke to the ombudsman and they don’t know what’s gonna happen with payments.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You had more than a hundred loans, so it must be a lot of money. All I can say is that with a refund amount already agreed, you should be ahead of a lot of people in the queue of complaints. Can you let us know when you hear something?
Matthew says
Will do! Thanks Sara
Jeff says
I called Wonga today to ask about the progress of my complaint and what will happen now it’s under Administration.
The person on the phone said complaints are all going through the usual process of being logged and investigated. Take lightly as i imagine the customer services people dont know the full details but at least thats what theyre saying at the moment.
Laura says
I had an offer made by Wonga on Monday and accepted it. Just called to find out what will happen now with the announcement and have been advised that all refunds and payment have been put in immediate hold until they can clarify an outcome for the company.
Cally says
That is helpful thank you! I had confirmation mine would be paid in 14 days – then two days after this happened lol !! We shall see.!
Mike says
I had the letter saying payment would be within 14 days and now they are telling me they are speaking to the FCA through the administrator regarding when they will allowed to release the funds. I think this will just be until the administrator can get the full picture as to what monies the company has and what it’s got coming in. She assured me (or maybe just fobbing me off) that all refunds will be honoured.
Ben says
For those who have gone back to there original offer. I signed and sent my acceptance off on Tuesday.
I have just rang and spoke to Wonga, all cases are on hold and they have no idea of time frames. They said to me it would usually be 14 days but they have no idea now.
I hope the administrators can make a quick decision.
Farhad says
Mike when did you get the email for 14 days? I got it a few days ago before they went under.. yet to see anything in the bank
Mike says
I got it yesterday
Farhad says
I had it late Monday and then on Tuesday i spoke to online chat and they I should have it in my account in 3-5 days. Now I spoke to them and they are saying actually we have suspended refunds. I knew they lied to me on that online chat.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think that is unfair – the person chatting to you very probably gave out the best information they could at the time.
Matt says
Wonga have updated the statement on their site to.
“Those customers with redress claims should continue to approach the company in administration. These claims will then be assessed and if valid dealt with as unsecured creditors of the administration estate”
Hopefully the claims can still be upheld with some luck.
Mark says
Basically means get a percentage of what’s left so likely few pence in the pound 😕
Sara (Debt Camel) says
At the moment we have no idea how much will be available to pay out.
Importantly if someone still owes a balance, a refund should be set off against that even if the administrators run out of money!
Ian says
Updated from wonga website: Claims for which a customer has not received payment but has been notified that they are entitled by a Final Response Letter and have accepted the offer within it will now be assessed relative to the value of assets which are realised. At this time we do not have a date for payment of any redress claims. It is highly unlikely that you will receive the full value of your claim. Further updates on redress claims will be posted here when available.
mark says
Thank you for the update, I’m assuming that is what will happen but never know, banking system is rigged to protect the powerful at the expense of the little guy.
Mark says
On Wonga site so basically all claims regardless of whether or not you are in the 14 day waiting payment appear to be no better placed than those still in the que. if they think they are going to get the £800 off me I owe them and then not give me the any of the extra grand I’m owed, which by way was me accepting an offer on 15 out of 81 loans due to the 6 year role and not waiting on ombudsman decision due to the fear of them going broke then they can go to hell.
I will not pay, if they take me to court I’ll fight it and if the court rules in there favour I’ll go bankrupt before I give them a single penny
I have already received confirmation that my claim has been agreed and the amount that I will receive. When will I receive this?
Claims for which a customer has not received payment but has been notified that they are entitled by a Final Response Letter and have accepted the offer within it will now be assessed relative to the value of assets which are realised. At this time we do not have a date for payment of any redress claims. It is highly unlikely that you will receive the full value of your claim. Further updates on redress claims will be posted here when available.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“so basically all claims regardless of whether or not you are in the 14 day waiting payment appear to be no better placed than those still in the queue.” you already have an agreed amount. People who do not have an agreed claim have no certainty that they will be in the queue for payment at all.
“if they think they are going to get the £800 off me I owe them” I will be astonished if the administrators suggest that you should pay the outstanding balance.
mark says
suppose we just have to wait and see, if I get any updates I will let you know as it seems they may deal with me before others as I’ve got a confirmed accepted offer from them
John Paul Mitchell says
Hello debt camel, I need some advice I made a complaint about my pay day loans and affordability 6 weeks ago I did phone ombudsman for advice they said I should make the claim and it should take 8weeks for the out come, now that wonga has went to administration what do you think the out come will be for a settlement or will have to use the ombudsman to help me fight my case
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t know! At the moment we don’t know if the administrators are going to start making better (less random, more reasonable) settlement offers or if they may reject more cases than Wonga did. But even if the offer is better, you may well not get the full amount as the administrators are warning.
All you can do is wait and see what you are offered (if anything) and then make a decision at that point. In 2 weeks time we will know if cases can be taken to the Ombudsman.
Ian says
Updated on the wonga website: After your claim has been assessed, distributions are made in the following order:
The costs of realising assets will be paid first. Any amounts owing to secured creditors are then settled, followed by employee claims and unsecured claims (such as providers of goods and services and redress claims). If, after paying the costs and amounts due to the secured creditors, there are insufficient funds to pay all remaining claims in full then creditors will receive a proportion of their claim
Kelly says
And this is on their too…..
I have already received confirmation that my claim has been agreed and the amount that I will receive. When will I receive this?
Claims for which a customer has not received payment but has been notified that they are entitled by a Final Response Letter and have accepted the offer within it will now be assessed relative to the value of assets which are realised. At this time we do not have a date for payment of any redress claims. It is highly unlikely that you will receive the full value of your claim. Further updates on redress claims will be posted here when available.
Ellie says
I have just spoken to the FOS regarding my ongoing complaint wh Wonga, the lady informed me that will depend on how much money is left in the pot as to whether my complaint will be paid. That the bank complaints will be prioritised over customer complaints with it depending on how far along you are in terms of time. Unsure as to what a bank complaint is.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I have no idea what a bank complaint is. I wonder if she was referring to secured loans to Wonga by banks – they will be repaid before customer refunds unfortunately.
Jessica says
Hi Sara,
I know you will have been asked this loads recently, I have been offered a payout from Wonga on 11 loans out of 45…. what’s your advice? You think its worth taking it to the ombudsmen? Or accepting that in the fear of walking away with zero?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
When were you offered this?
Jessica says
On the 30th of August, £1061. Not a bad offer but I’ve calculated interest nearly up to £3k.
Thanks
Kelly says
My case has been with the ombudsman for a year Not allocated to anyone due to the older loans.
The day before Wonga went into administration I asked the ombudsman to remove the older loans.
I was told the case would be picked up quickly because they have had the complaint for a long time.
I’m not expecting anything now
Keith says
Just found out about claiming all back etc.
Now Wonga is in administration
Can you still send the step two letter and also where to send it?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can still complain – send emails to customercomplaints@wonga.com and put AFFORDABILITY COMPLAINT as the email title.
You need to be aware that you are unlikely to get a full refund because when it is calculated, you go into a queue for creditors and are very likely to only get paid a percentage of these – x pence in the pound.
If you still have a balance owing to Wonga, the refund will be used to reduce that – so that could actually be a good result.
I suggest keeping the complaint pretty short and sweet and sending it asap – it is likely it will be run through an automatic process to check what you borrowed rather than someone spending hours thinking about your case. Attache a copy of your current Noddle credit report if you think that will help your case.
DK says
Any point in going back and accepting the original offer they gave me at end of May? Would rather that than nothing.
Matthew says
I’m really mad at the FOS. My case with Wonga has been with them for nearly a year and I was told at Xmas that it will speed up the process if I take off the older loans. I was expecting it to take 6 months tops! In the last 8 months, I’ve hardly had any updates and there’s been delays etc. And just as I get a great offer, accept and sign it off, send off my bank details, this happens! Now I’m expecting I’ll get nothing!
Caroline says
I feel your frustration I got my offer on 22nd accepted and sent my bank details back.. then heard nothing. The money would have been a great boost to me and my family.. feel like oh so close but yet to far. Hopefully we will hear something soon but I’m not holding my breath.
Shells says
I’m the same! After dropping 6 yrs + they agreed with Fos for £2500! Signed the acceptance & sent bank details few days ago, now we’re in limbo :(
Laura says
I’m the same. I turned down just under £4K and took it to the FOS. I had adjudicator on my case last week. Said I don’t want to know any more. Sounds very negative but what use is hearing you could have had £9k but here you go, nothing. I know it won’t do anything but I’ve wrote to my MP, I think the regulatory systems should be seriously looked at. How can FCA give licenses to run and yet they are consistently inappropriately lending then worst of all there are no consequences. Just shut up shop and gone leaving disaster behind. Unbelievable.
Dana says
I was offered £950 from Wonga in May and I took it to the FOS because I’m owed at least £5000.
I’m nervous about missing out on any money back at this point as my case STILL hasn’t been assigned to an Adjudicator, I rang the other day and they said I should be dealt with in the next 30 days, but I’ve read comments on here of people still waiting after 12 months? Does it really take this long?
I haven’t seen anyone on here come back and discuss their outcome with the FOS.
Should I just accept the £950 from Wonga before it’s too late?
Bec says
I have just accepted over £5000 from wonga however I now believe by the time they have paid off their main creditors/banks/etc there will be very little left in the pot for any unsecured creditors such as ourselves. I now think it may be too late to receive a fair payout.
I am left wondering if the loans that Wonga have agreed to have taken off credit files will be honoured though?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
At the moment we have no idea how much, or little, will be left to pay refunds. But if you have an agreement with them that includes removing negative marks from your credit records, that should be done!
Jean says
Hi Sara,
About 6 weeks ago , I sent a short email to wonga complaining about irresponsible lending asking for a list of my loans . They replied sending me a details of my loans (about 8 loans between 2017 and 2018) and opened a case complain to me without me making a full complain for refund ( Second email from https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/ ).
My question is should I still send a full complain refund at this stage ( 6 weeks have passed ) or should I wait because it looks like they are investigating my case as they update me regularly ( emails that the complaint is taking longer than expected but that my case is still being considered.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I normally encourage people to send the second email to a payday lender, but right now I suspect it wouldn’t get any attention. You can send it if you want.
NB If there is something unusual about your case that wouldn’t be covered in the standard second template (eg Wonga haven’t sent you all the loan details? You had previously told Wonga you didn’t want to be given any more loans? You had informed Wonga that you had mental health issues or addiction issues?) then definitely email them describing that.
Farhad says
It seems like Wonga is still replying to emails and they have confirmed that credit marks have been removed but refunds are on hold.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
thanks – I’ve updated the article to say that.
sarah says
Hi,
I have accepted an offer from Wonga I am dealing with a claims company, I have called them today and they are still saying the refund will be in my bank by the 20th September (28 days from accepting) is this correct?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The claims company probably doesn’t know what will happen. I would expect your case to go into the pile of agreed refunds. Whether any payout is made to these by 20th September I don’t think anyone knows at present, nor how much of your refund you will receive.
Although it is, I suppose, possible that Wonga had already paid your claims company last week before administration and they will just sit on your money for a while before sending it to you.
James says
Hi, do we have any further guidance from FOS on whether they are able to look into complaints for wonga? Mine is already with the FOS and I have a letter saying they’ve asked wonga for their documents.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No news as yet. FOS website still says “we’ll speak to [the administrators] urgently to clarify the impact on the cases we have with us and whether we’ll be able to work any new cases brought to us after today.”
Kayla says
so frustrated wonga have delayed my claim by 12 months and now it looks like they won’t have to pay out anything 😭
Shaz says
Anyone else wishing they’d of accepted their original offer a year ago!!!! I accepted 2 days before they went in to administration … was told payment would be in my bank within 14 working days :( not feeling hopeful at all… accepted the original offer through the FOS as it’s been a year since I first started my claim 😔 should of taken the money and run while I had the chance x
t says
I am gutted haven’t slept over it, I wish I accepted my offer as would have had it by now. I really needed that money and its horrible waiting for the outcome, surely we have to get something back.
sally says
I’ve been waiting for 2 years now :( 33/37 are over 6 years so i was holding out for a resolution. I’m still hanging onto a thread of hope!
Vickie says
A good few of mine were over the 6 year period so has also been with FO for around 18months, that will teach me to try and hold out for the possibility of a better pay out. Having had one loan just short of £1500 not being paid out after a different company went into administration I’m not expecting anything now. Granted Wonga are much larger but chances of getting back any money seem slim to me. When I spoke to the FO yesterday they said they were going to speak with the administrators and come back to anyone with complaints in but I just can’t see how any money can be agreed especially for loans that haven’t been given a decision for being over the 6yr period.
T says
Its so frustrating, I spoke to the FO numerous times it was only until last week that they told me this issue with the over 6 years had been going on for over 2 years. If I had known this I would have taken the lower offer.
Billy says
I received the following email form the FOS yesterday, I was on the understanding I was awaiting a decision on loans over six years and had not chased my complaint up since February, I feel something underhand has been going on that my complaint was not completed if it was not on loans over six years:
I’ve received your email, where you’ve asked for an update on your complaint against Wonga and you’ve also asked about the impact on your complaint regarding Wonga going into administration.
Your complaint is waiting to be reviewed by an adjudicator, and I appreciate you’re unhappy with the length of time it has taken, but my colleague who reviewed your complaint found that based on the information he had a number of the loans you had were affordable. This means we wasn’t able to say that Wonga was wrong to lend to you. But given the number of loans you had with Wonga, we needed to review further whether your pattern of borrowing should’ve raised further concerns and prompted Wonga to stop lending to you.
However, as Wonga has entered into administration, we’re unable to progress your complaint further until we’ve received some further information from the administrators. We’re currently in discussions with the administrator to understand what this all means for your complaint, but as soon as we have more information we will update you.
Does anybody hold any hope of received and refunds from Wonga?
Mimi says
I’m one of those who have not even received an offer from Wonga but Just to give a little bit of hope received an e-mail staying that the outcome will be given in the next 7 days. So for those who have recently put in a claim and waiting to hear , it’s a bit of positive news
StephenC says
How long have you been waiting?
Mimi says
7 weeks now
Kate says
Today was the last day of my 8 week waiting period and hadn’t heard anything. Called up and they said they’d had a meeting but the complaints team would get back via email within the next few days. Fingers crossed!
Darren says
advice please:
I had a complaint with Wonga rejected so sent to ombudsman in august.
I owe a small amount which I got put on a payment plan because I knew of them going into administration I have since lowered it to the smallest amount.
ive done this because I know if and when I win my case I wont get money unless I owe them money.
i understand it will take some time with the ombudsman. any other thoughts?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
1) Lowering your payment to a small amount sounds sensible at the moment – see Wonga and the right of set off/
2) I understand the administrators, the FCA and the Ombudsman are discussing what will happen with complaints in progress. there isn’t much point in me speculating on the possibilities – sorry I know this is frustrating.
Sarah says
Hi I have received my SAR from Wonga today, they have only sent me details of 3 loans from 2014-2015… I know I had many more loans than this , going back to at least 2011.
Can I ask them again for the full details to go back further or just send it to the ombudsmen?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Would you have moved or changed email accounts? Do you have any bank statements showing the earlier loans? You need to talk to Wonga and try to work out why they haven’t found your older loans.
You can’t go to the Ombudsman until you have had a final response from Wonga – and at the moment it isn’t known if the Ombudsman will be looking at new cases.s.
Sarah says
Thank you for replying so quickly!
Yes I think I would have used another email address, and/or another residential address. Should I email Wonga back again to ask for the details to go further back?
I don’t have any bank statements to show the loans unfortunately as that account is now closed.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes email Wonga with all the old details and say they have missed a lot of your loans off and could they look again.
If this does go tot eh Ombudsman (and at the moment we don’t know if that is going to be possible with new Wonga complaints) the Ombudsman will want to see your bank statements. It is possible to get these from closed accounts.
Leslie Melville says
I set up a DMP at the start of the year and Wonga was one of my creditors. Only a small sum £158. However despite this being on the plan wonga took the money from my account anyway thus clearing the debt. However it seems step change who i set the DMP up with have continued to pay wonga despite the loan balance being cleared. In fact they have been over paid as stepchange has sent £200 to them. Any advice appreciated.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did you tell StepChange that the debt had been cleared? Have you talked to StepChange about this?
Leslie Melville says
Yes, I was told to contact Wonga and they confirmed there was an overpayment of £200. However due to being in administration they could not give any refund at this time. I was told to call back in a weeks time. So I called step change again and they also told me to wait and call wonga back in a weeks time.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Sorry I meant when did Wonga take this £158 and when did you tell StepChange about it? Also why have StepChange paid Wonga £200 if the debt was only 3158?
Leslie Melville says
Wonga took the final instalment of the loan around the 8th of April. I called step change and told them wonga could be taken off the dmp as the balance was now cleared. I was told by step change that it was still showing as outstanding. It was a while ago so I cant remember the full conversation. As for why they have paid £200 I have no idea as it clearly says on the plan £158.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
OK, well I hope you get the money back fro Wonga – if you don’t I suggest asking StepChange to refund it!
K says
Hi all,
I just found out about these a month ago and emailed Wonga for a list of my loans. They responded yesterday and between 2009-2014 I had a total of 56 loans (lots rolled over obviously) borrowing up to 10k over this period. Yesterday I sent my email asking for the charges to be refunded etc. Am I likely to still get a refund even though Wonga have gone into administration?
I purchased my first home last year with my partner and because I had pay day loans on my credit history we had a lot of issues finding a mortgage and now although we eventually have one it is at a higher rate. Should I also mention this to Wonga?
Finally I understand the refunded amount offered should be the fees and interest applied for the loans. How is the statutory interest calculated? Is this 8% of the total loan amount or just of the interest paid for each loan?
Sorry for the long winded message but any help or information would be much appreciated.
Hopefully Wonga get back to me sooner than the 8 weeks they are allowed.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“Yesterday I sent my email asking for the charges to be refunded etc.” if you used the templates in the article above, the first email asking for a list of loans also starts the affordabilty complaint so the 8 weeks began then.
“Am I likely to still get a refund even though Wonga have gone into administration?” It sounds like a good case, but if a refund is offered you will then go into the pile waiting to be paid. The administrators have said it is very unlikely there will be sufficient money, but at the moment there is no indication about whether you are likely to get 5p, 15p or 50p in the pound.
Realistically I don’t think your problems getting a mortgage are going to make much difference to the outcome. The 8% is on the interest you paid.
K says
Thanks Sara for the reply. Hopefully I get a good initial offer from Wonga and they are able to credit me their full offer.
Jessica says
Hi Sara,
I know you will have been asked this loads recently, I have been offered a payout from Wonga on the 30th of August for 11 loans out of 45 for £1061. What’s your advice? You think its worth taking it to the ombudsmen? Is any body else in this situation?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
At the moment we don’t know if the Ombudsman can take new complaints. Things may become clearer in a few days.
Laura says
Hi everyone, I spoke to my adjudicator today as I had been allocated one, she hadn’t go to my case yet when administration struck. She said she won’t be making a determination as at the moment they are waiting to hear what the administrators say as the FOS didn’t expect them to go into administration so quickly.?..I personally feel it’s poor on the FOS part, irrespective of the company’s status they are suppposed it be neutral and I think those allocated should be considered then allowed to joint the queue. If it wasn’t for the fact the removal from credit history is my biggest concern I’d revert back to my first offer of 4K and join the list of people waiting to get probably nothing because the whole thing is fishy
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Did the first offer not include removal of negative marks from your credit record?
Laura says
Hi Sara, The problems not negative marks, I had 50 loans in 48 months and they were all repaid on time but can’t get a mortgage now etc. The first offer was only for the lending up to 2014 change of policy but I feel my financial issues escalated after that period as did the lending, frequency and values as well as other lenders coming into the equation. I am awaiting an adjudicator for my pounds to pocket case and that’s a similar interest Value to wonga ~8k so hopefully. I only have 3k until I’m totally debt free so almost there. Just disappointing but I know we are all in the same boat
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The normal Ombudsman decision is that negative marks should be removed, not the whole record of the loan. I do understand that you think your compensation should have been much more than 4k – Wonga’s policy of refusing to refund on loans after 2014 is completely unreasonable.
Laura says
Sorry Sara I’m probably not making myself clear. Wonga offered me a refund bizarrely on my first 12 loans with the expecetion of number 10 (the smallest) but I borrowed every month for 48 months. The interest on they loans(wonga offer) was just under 4K. I rejected that and went to FOS. However the total interest i paid them was ~8k. My adjudicator said my case was quite unique because they don’t ususlly admit the ones at the beginning were unaffordable,it’s more when there becomes a pattern of borrrowing. My adjudicator said what my offer was, she accepts that’s as there admittance of error and will only add to her judgement and look at the other 38 loans I had with them. However she advised me this morning she won’t be looking into the case at all until
They speak to the administrators which I can’t understand, they shouldn’t be immune from judgement. Just very frustrating
Allison says
I know with myself. Wonga removed the whole thing. No trace of the loans at all. But that was 6 weeks ago… things may now change. I had no negative marks to wipe with my Wonga loans I paid them all in time. (By borrowing from others 😌)
Alex says
Hello,
My debt with Wonga started and ended between 2010 and 2012. I noticed this is 6 years ago and I am worried the debt will become statute barred as I have not contacted them, is this the case or can I still recover the debt?
Alex
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The term statute barred only applies to whether a credit can enforce a debt – it has no relevance if you have repaid these loans. The Ombudsman has a general rule that you have to complain within 6 years, but is saying that payday loans over 6 years an be looked at as people have only recently found out they can complain. Wonga was disputing this and no resolution had been reached at the point that Wonga went into administration. It isn’t known how these older debts will be treated now, all you can do is take your complaint as far as you can.
If you are going to complain, I suggest it should be done as soon as possible.
Chloe says
Hi, I put in a complaint to wonga in June 2018 I received an email back exactly 8 weeks after my complaint on August 17th 2018 they sent me an offer I accepted the offer on the same day and I had an email on the 20th August saying they’ve prossessed my refund and I’ll receive this within 14 working days. Tomorrow is the last working day to receive the offer but obviously they’ve now gone into administration so would this affect me as if they’ve already processed the refund before going into administration then will I receive this tomorrow or will I now have to wait ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am sorry but so far as I know, no payments are currently being made and your refund will have been added to the list of unsecured creditors.
Village Idiot says
It turns out that the reason HMRC have rejected my R40 claim is that Wonga haven’t sent them the tax they withheld. The guy I spoke to speculated it could be all wrapped up in the administration situation, but Wonga paid me about 3 weeks before they went bust. The HMRC chap said to phone them again in a few weeks and they might have received it from the administrators by then.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
urghh – this is a situation I haven’t come across.
Jane says
I had an email from Wonga on 24th August and they upheld my claim. I didn’t have to argue for it either, it was almost an instant response to my first email of complaint. They said if I accepted the money would be in my account within 14 business days. I accepted their offer on the 27th August and then as you know they went into administration a few days later. I’m now wondering if I will get my compensation at all. If I accepted the offer prior to them going into administration.
Farhad says
They seem to have updated the question answers and it looks like we will be waiting for a few months.
Anthony says
It does say on there that they won’t be paying until all complaints have been reviewed. We could be waiting months and months for people to complain and have them assessed before they pay out.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am afraid you will be waiting months and months anyway until it is know how much money is available for unsecured creditors.
Farhad says
Would it be possible for me to withdraw my acceptance and get the FOS to look into my case.. I only accepted the compensation from 6 out 48 loans so I do have a a big chance with FOS..hopefully by that time they would have settled matters.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
At the moment we don’t know if the Ombudsman will take on any new cases.
But even if they do, Wonga may well refuse to let you withdraw your acceptance and go to the Ombudsman.
Jade Viles says
Hey Jane
I am in the same situation had an offer on the 29th August and accepted this was before they went into administration, they explained it would take 14 business days so mine should go in on the 17th September and yours should go in on 13th September. I hope you still get your refund and same for me, could you keep me updated it you still receive it… fingers crossed
Daniel Wright says
I put in a claim against Wonga to the FOS for 33 loans I had with them. Wonga originally offered me £1300 back in January but that was only for a few selected loans. I’m guessing it’s too late to accept this offer?
My compliant went to FOS in Febuary, in April I got email from FOS to say that Wonga were refusing to look at loans past the 6 year period, as only 4 of these loans fell past that I asked FOS to continue minus those loans.
I contacted the FOS for updates in June and July to which I was told my case was waiting to given to an adjudicator. I received an email last week from FOS to say it was delayed and the reason it had taken so long was because they were looking to see if they could take the loans past 6 years forward. The 4 loans that fell after 6 years were my smallest aswell.
Gutted as I’m guessing I won’t get anything now. But I would still like these removed from my credit file? Anyone know if this is possible
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s not too late to accept the £1300, but you still won’t get paid that now. It will go into the pile of unpaid refunds waiting until the administrators know how much money there is to divide up between them.
But there seems nothing to gain by doing this at this point. It isn’t yet clear what is going to happen to complaints currently in progress at the Ombudsman, but it seems VERY unlikely that the outcome for you would be worse than being told you should accept the previous offer. And it could be more, who knows.
Someone last week had negative marks removed from his credit record – I would expect this to be done regardless of the money.
Claire says
Hi Sara,
The adjudicator came back saying wonga owe me 3200 the day before they went into administration and wonga came back offering 2400 that I have accepted the other day. The adjudicator says they have 4 weeks to pay out still – is that right or is it months like all the others?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think it’s going to be months :(
Gail S says
Hi Sara,
If I have submitted a complaint and had some correspondence, but not the matter is not resolved with Wonga, should I now go to the Ombudsman (it is past the 8 weeks) or should I email Wonga directly with something like ‘Unresolved Complaint’ as the subject? I realise I may get nothing but if there is a queue, I feel it would be worth being in it, so am trying to work out what to do specifically with regards to Wonga?
Thank you so much,
Gail
Rhiro says
Hi, my complaint with wonga went over the 8 weeks deadline on Monday. 2 weeks ago they said they aimed to have resolved my complaint by this time too but then everything happened.. should I escalate to ombudsman now?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I suggest you phone Wonga up and ask if you can do this. It will be interesting to know the answer and it may also nudge them into a reply to you!
luke says
Hi sara,
my complaint like above has now exceeded the 8 weeks marker (that expired 10/09/18) and I have phoned Wonga for an update to which I was told all complains are ‘on hold’ at the request of the administrators, they are still reviewing them however this will now be a longer process, would you advise to just go direct to ombudsman now??
Lily says
Hi Sara, my complaint as been with Wonga 8 weeks tomorrow and have yet to receive a response from them. Would I still go through the route of taking it to the ombudsman or given their financial situation, leave it? I still have a open account with them and not sure where I am supposed to turn now.
Thank you
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Lily, I understand that the Ombudsman is still taking Wonga complaints although it isn’t known whether they will be able to investigate them, so you can send the complaint to them tomorrow if you don’t hear from Wonga. Of course Wonga may still get back to you after you do this with a proposed refund, I can’t guess how soon this would be likely to be.
” I still have an open account with them” are you currently making any payments?
Gail S says
Hi Sara,
I submitted my SAR (template letter one) on 5th June, emails went back and forth whilst we established all of my loans (including my mis-remembering an email address). I then submitted a full, detailed complaint on 14th August. Do I now wait the 8 weeks from 14th August or go to the FOS as it’s over the 8 weeks since my original SAR? I appreciate Wonga is unknown territory but would appreciate your thoughts.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is 8 weeks from your original SAR as that stated you were making an affordability complaint.
BUT it’s not known at the moment whether the FOS will take new complaints about Wonga. I heard last week that they would take them but weren’t sure if they would be able to look at them. But someone reported yesterday the FOS had told them not to submit one. Could you ask the FOS?
Gail S says
I have just phoned them. They said they can log a new complaint but can’t action anything as they are still in dialogue with Wonga senior management so a complaint to them may not get progressed, particularly as I have not had a final response from Wonga. They said as I had had open dialogue with Wonga, I could try and follow up with them.
Malissa says
Hi, I had emails from Wonga back in 2014 to say that I had fallen into the “affordability issues” for unresponsible lending and that my outstanding balance was now zero and any negative affects on my credit report had been removed. Am I still able to try and claim back all the interest I paid?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, but it may not be worth doing.
Think of the write off that Wonga did in 2014 as being the first part of your refund. If you had a lot of loans before that, the rest of your refund could still be large. But if you only had a few loans before, then you may not get much if anything back.
Caroline foster says
I was agreed a refund of £350 and spoke to them on 29th august and i was told money would be in my account within 14 days.
Now im being told they dont know when i will get my money what can i do?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am sorry but there is nothing you can do at the moment to speed this up. And the worst news is that you are unlikely to be paid the full £350. At the moment your refund is in a pile with all the other unsecured Wonga creditors – you are a creditor because Wonga owes you money. the administrators say it’s very unlikely there will be enough money to pay all the unsecured creditors, so the money will be divided up. But how much you are likely to get no-one knows.
If Wonga had agreed to remove any problems from your credit record, this should still go ahead now.