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?
Nats says
Tbh whatever I get will be paid to towards bills anyway… Thank my divorce for it lol x
Vee says
Sara, will the administrators automatically deduct tax which we then have to claim back from the tax man. This happened to me with a previous PPI reclaim
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is what I expect them to do. The tax is only on the 8% added interest, not on interest you paid that is being refunded.
Sarah says
I’m friends with a lady at work who’s cousin used to work for a company called Wanga, and he knows someone who had a claim with Wonga. That person said they spoke to someone who knows the milkman of one of the administrators sons and they said they think the redress amount will be between 0 and 50%. It’s a pretty reliable source but don’t get your hopes up x
Shaun says
Happy to get anything , redress valued at 4k , 5% would be something but too much in debt to make a difference to me in a bad place right now
Lynne says
Sorry to hear that Shaun but it’s the same for me. Whatever’s coming isn’t going to be life changing. I’m facing the fact I’ll never be debt free.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Hi Shaun,
Have you talked to a good debt adviser such as National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 ? Do you have any priority debts – rent, council tax tax etc? Or just piles of credit cards and loans?
Shaun Overy says
Hi Sara , no I haven’t , I don’t have any income so doubt I can be helped
Devon1986 says
There’s always help. Speak to StepChange, they’ve been life savers for me. So helpful and for the first time in years I feel like I can breathe.
Joanne says
I’m with StepChange too and they have been amazing. They really took the pressure off of me and I’ll be debt free in 2 years. They don’t judge you and I’ve found I no longer get threatening letters from people I owe money to. They also don’t charge you for their service . They are supportive if your circumstances changes . For example I was in full time work but became a full time carer for my partner two years ago and I’m on carers allowance which isn’t much. They wrote to all my creditors explained the change of circumstances that reflected in my new reduced monthly payments and all was excepted with compassion and understanding. Highly recommend StepChange to anyone in debt and who want to relieved of stress . Best thing I have done .
P.s there is no shame of being in debt
Pete says
Joanne,
I was in the same boat at the end of 2015, crippling debts of £17k spread out over 12 creditors, went to stepchange and they have been amazing. I now have 2 more payments and I am debt free.
Pete
Ruth says
Shaun get on phone now and make appointment to talk it over with citizens advice. There is a very bright light at the end of the tunnel. I’ve been there. Hold your head up and do not let anyone put you down. Seek advice now. These circumstances can happen to anyone.
Paul says
I was in a similar situation.
I was happy working and paying my bills off bit by bit, but I lost my job and the bills just kept mounting up.
I ended up cutting myself as I didn’t think I had any other options.
I spoke to the Citizens advice and they told me about a Debt Relief Order.
This is where they will get all the bills you owe and for a whole £90, the citizens advice will submit a request to the courts to enforce the Debt Relief Order.
Under the court ruling all your debts will be frozen for one year providing you continue to meet the criteria and if at the end of this one year period your situation has not improved, the Debt Relief Order will take full effect and the courts will instruct all creditors owed to write off the debts.
Under the Debt Relief Order all creditors are also instructed that they are not allowed to force payment, harrass you or contact you in general.
You can get this to the fullest…..but even if things improve for you, then you will have still been given a few months breathing space to get things sorted.
Things may look bad, but if you get the right help…. Everything will be OK in the end.
I hope this helps you
Uriah says
I received this E-mail, the way they say it will be paid as a dividend….Correct me of I am wrong but does that mean we have to pay tax on it since dividends are taxable? If this is the case I am not happy since I repaid the loan and interest with wages that were already taxed, shouldn’t they issue it as a refund and not a dividend? It’s bad enough that they can get away with giving back “significantly less” than the claim calue!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The term “dividend” has a different meaning for the administrators.
You won’t be taxed on the interest you paid that is being refunded. It’s your money and it’s just being paid back to you.
But the 8% extra interest added as compensation is taxed as though it is savings income. 20% tax will be deducted before it’s paid to you.
You can then claim this tax back from HMRC if the deduction us less than £200 – I am simplifying here, more details on this page https://debtcamel.co.uk/ppi-payday-refund-get-back-tax/. If it’s just a few quid you may decide you cant be bothered.
Matt says
Hi All
Anyone in the same boat as me and not received the latest email from them?
Cheers
Tracey says
I have just contacted wonga in regards to my bank details as i uploaded my details 3 times with the first time being away back in November and not heard a single word from them and the gentleman was very rude and and could not advise me that my details will be updated. I have no faith in getting anything from wonga
Laura says
That’s horrible Tracey, I hate when people are rude on the phone particularly when you are not that way inclined yourself. Someone called Raymond posted yesterday a number he called for the administrators you could try that if you are worried
Tracy says
I have uploaded my details twice now despite them saying they had my correct details back in October then receiving an email to say they didnt have bank details.
I haven’t had a confirmation email to say they have been successful uploaded nor have I had a response to the email I sent asking for confirmation. Phoning them is useless, 2 occasions I have waited over an hour to be answered and just gave up!
Andy says
Tracy, please double check your email junk/spam folders just in case their replies have ends up in there, it does not seem that common an occurrence but it is not unknown.
Regarding phone wait times, if you have a read through some of the comments you’ll see it can be a long wait for an answer unfortunately. If it was me I’d want (after reading others input on here) to allow at least a good hour if not a bit more potential “waiting time”
Hope you manage to sort it with them soon anyway. Don’t forget to double check that junk email folder though first, with spot of luck you may already of had a reply.
Leanne says
I got an email last year saying please check you bamk account details are correct and they was. Then got another email saying i had upload my bank details as they didnt have them.
I think its a way to get out of it but fortunately for me i got the email and did it all. My claim accepted just over £400 but looking at what iv read im not counting on much
Stu says
I asked them a question through support email asking a different question about my address changing and the next day I got that email, maybe just coincidence, Check your Junk too my initial email from September was in Junk.
Adrian says
Anyone else have a outstanding balance with Wonga .
I’m tempted to do a full and final settlement bearing in mind the situation what figure would likely be accepted 20% ??
Thanks
Laura says
They are no longer taking payments. The deadline was December
Adrian says
Really so what happens now then they sell the loan? or does the balance cease to exist?
Laura says
Have they not sent you emails about it?offering you a settlement figure? I don’t have a balance so I’m not 100% but I think they have said they are not selling the loan book. However I imagine but I may wrong they will default it on your credit file
Sara (Debt Camel) says
People with an outsatanding balance should have been offered a F&F back in October, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/wonga-settlement-offer/.
The administrators will have to make a statement saying what will happen to remaining balances, but they are no longer collecting payments as Laura said.
Irina Petrila says
These guys are not getting back to me via email for me to update my bank details. I have been on the phone waiting for someone to pick up and I had no luck whatsoever. What should I do more?
Laura says
It’s not about luck. You are in a queue waiting to be answered I was over two hours the other day!
ricky says
ive been trying phone and e mail for over a week now, and still not got through
Lewis says
I never had the amount payable but have had about 7.5k worth of loans with Wonga in the past, does anybody have similar borring and what was their redress amount?
Claire says
I borrowed about 11.5K over a number of loans and the redress they assessed was circa £2.5K, but obviously I wont get that full amount. I don’t think you you can work out how your redress would be by comparing what others borrowed, as it will be a case of when payments were made, how much interest was charged and all sorts of different factors
Jonathan says
I am trying change bank details I’ve sent email back has any one heard anything back tryed ringing only to be on hold for 1 hour any info please help as it’s nearly the 30th?
Tried ringing have spoke to citizens advice to about it can not get thew on phone. I have emailed my case number an info to no response of them or on hold for hours before give up got 8 days to change bank details am properly stuck. Any one no how to login to Wonga as it just keeps taking me to help when I use Wonga.com.
Simon says
Log into your wonga account and do it ..i did and even reset password ..they got new details straight away
Laura says
Access has been disabled now unfortunately. I was Over two hours waiting the other day. Have you closed your bank account or did you use a switch service?
Jonathan says
It’s a closed bank account 4 -5 years ago. Bin on phone for ages sent email no response.
Kat says
Does anyone know how long it will take Wonga to remove the loans from your credit file? I had one loan outstanding when they went bust which has been removed as part of the offset of my compensation owed. However I have 14 (I’m ashamed to admit!) other loans which were settled in full which were accepted and should be removed. I have turned my financial situation around and am now debt free with savings and I’m looking to get a mortgage at some point in the not too distant future. However these loans will hamper me, so i want them gone!
It’s amazing what a bout of depression can do to your finances.
Paul says
For me, they only accepted a proportion of my loans were affordable, Wonga said they will remove these shortly after redress paid. However two loans (now fully settled) they did not accept as unaffordable, so this will stay on my file for 6 years from the loan issue date.
Lauren says
Hi Kat.
I got my first mortgage last year even with payday loans in my credit history. My only advice would be to use a broker, don’t apply direct to one lender. A broker will see what’s best for your circumstances and help you apply. There are also lots of brokers out there now that don’t charge you, they charge the bank for the introduction.
Hopefully the loans can be removed off your file soon but if they are not, it doesn’t mean you won’t get approved.
Emma says
All mine have been removed. I contacted the credit reference agencies directly to get the loans removed. I just showed the redress email as proof that wonga had agreed to remove them. All 39 of mine have now been removed. They contacted wonga after 21 days of not hearing from them the reference agencies advised they would remove the loans from the report until they heard from Wonga. A month later I have been contacted by equifax and transunion to say they have now been removed completely. It feels like a weight had been lifted once they are removed.
Tracy says
I disputed with Equifax and trans union. With the email from wonga. Trans union waited the 28 days and removed them. Equifax left them on and added a notice of correction to my report saying client has disputed information on the credit report so to take extra care checking my creditworthiness!! I’ve had a week of trying to get Equifax to remove the notice. If anything it drew attention to the loans on my file which was the opposite of what I needed as I was submitting a mortgage application, so they are still on Equifax, I’m surprised as wonga did not respond to them and I showed evidence.
Nathan says
Hi Kat- they will stay on your file 6 years from the default date.
Laura says
Honestly can’t believe the amount of people who change current accounts! Anyway it might be helpful but the website says they will pay into the last recorded bank account. So if you haven’t changed I wouldn’t stress
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Lots of people abandoned bank accounts to get away from payday lenders emptying them with CPAs.
Laura says
I’m aware there are lots of reasons change bank accounts. The comment was simply my observation that I can’t believe how many have. Anyway I’m off this week and read all the detail on the website so I was just posting to help others as I know a lot of people are asking the same questions
Bob says
I think you’re seeing the statistical phenomenon of survivorship bias in action. People who have changed bank details are more likely to be posting right now than people who haven’t, giving the impression that a greater proportion of people have changed bank accounts than is actually the case.
Maths teachers aren’t immune from making poor financial decisions :(
Gary says
Anyone know the latest on pay out day or any percentage yet just found this site thanks gaz
Sara (Debt Camel) says
NO
Jay says
The honest answer is nobody bar the administratiors have any idea of the percentage. I’m expecting it to be very very low.
G says
The only official word on the date I’ve seen is “by the 30th January.”
Any figured for redress amount are still pure conjecture
Ian says
Have wonga sold all asset’s now?
Ryan says
I have emailed them twice to change my bank details (as per their original email) as they hold my old details but they havent responded.
Is anybody else having the same issue??
Natalie says
When you call the automated message tells you ‘We can’t change your bank details over the phone. Email customer care and we will send you a link’ or something to that effect.
I’ve been emailing for two weeks now and no response. I’ve also rung them – I’ve been told to wait 7 days from when they put a note on my file (one of the previous times I rang) to receive the link, which is tomorrow. Can’t say I’m holding out any hope in it coming at all now.
Katie says
Hi guys I keep receiving email asking me to send copy of bank detail and photo Id, which I haven’t done as I a bit concerned that the email I keep getting is a scam , I haven’t received email showing last four digit , whom has sent info and if so has anyone had any issues
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If Wonga are asking for your ID they won’t pay you unless you send it.
Paul says
I’ve sent bank details and ID twice, they won’t confirm by email that they have received this, yet still send me a email again requesting the details, phoned them up and the women was quite not helpful and said don’t worry about it if you still got same bank details and put the phone down, like I’ve said many times now they are making it awkward or putting people off getting there refunds… well that’s what it seems like to me!!…. and next week when they do start sending the money out the phone lines will be jammed so there is gonna be no way of contacting them asking where your payment is!!… it’s an absolute shambles!!!
Ian says
I’m in the same boat. Bank account has changed and I didn’t update it on the Wonga site, so I’ve had emails asking me to upload copies via a secure link. I’ve done this twice now but not received confirmation from them that my bank details have been updated. I’m just going to sit tight and see what happens. I don’t fancy waiting on the phone for hours, the cost of the call might wipe out the value of the refund!
Debbie says
Bank details and Supporting documents received
Dear
Case number: xxxxxx
Thank you for providing us with your banking details. These have now been updated on our systems.
For more information, including what happens next and what to expect, please visit our FAQs
Kind regards,
The Joint Administrators
The affairs, business and property of Wonga Group Limited, WDFC UK Limited, WDFC Services Limited and Wonga Worldwide Limited (the Companies) are being managed by Chris Laverty, Daniel Smith and Andrew Charters, appointed as Joint Administrators on 31 August 2018. The Joint Administrators act as agents of the Companies and without personal liability. Chris Laverty, Daniel Smith and Andrew Charters are authorised by the IPA to act
Jami says
Not sure how accurate this is and please do not get your hopes up but just read a comment on [another forum] from a person claiming they received roughly 7% in of their accepted claim value on 21/01/2020. Again not sure if someone is just having a laugh or has genuinely received these funds. Sara I am definitely not trying to get peoples hopes up or down just advising on what I saw on another forum. As has been stated by numerous posters I am sure once anyone using this site receives a payment we will all know. Whether its 1% or 10 we will have to accept it and move on. Not long left to find out either way.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I have no idea why people think it’s entertaining to leave that sort of comment. I get several here a day. The ones yesterday raged ranged between 1% and 13%. I don’t publish them unless the commenter can produce evidence. it isn’t helpful to anyone to print that sort of statement with no checks.
As soon as emails with the amount goes out or payments start to be made, there will be dozens of people here saying exactly what has happened. And they will all be saying the same thing.
Until then, I suggest you ignore that sort of rumour. Don’t feed the trolls!
Jennie says
Anybody had an email yet
Jimbob says
If the fund to redress is circa 41million with circa 400000 claimants how are the compensation payments going to be more than £100 ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The amount of the money available is at present not known. Nor is the number of accepted claims.
Quentin says
Additionally the return will not be split equally it will be proportionate to the size of your confirmed redress so the amounts will differ from person to person.
Dave says
Has anyone phoned Wonga lately and gotten through? Currently been on hold for over 45 minutes!
Callum says
Did you get through I cant!
Dave says
Finally got through just after an hour
Andy says
Other comments seem to suggest or indicate a lengthy wait till you reach the front of the queue ( from general reading if it was me needing to call them myself I’d try to allow and plan for a good hour to wait ) but you may be lucky and get answered quickly.
Have patience and eventually you will get through. As the end of month nears it may get slower to get an answer so I’d say if practical hang on if you are in the queue.
Hopefully your call will be answered soon though. All the best with your call and claim :)
Stephen Bond says
Hi, I recieved the email to say that my claim was partially accepted, how ever have had no further correspondence from them following that. From what I am reading many people have recieved a further email for bank payment details to be updated. I haven’t recieved this, is this unusual? Given that the final payment date is the 30th in one weeks time this is worring.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
have you changed bank account from when you used Wonga?
Stephen Bond says
No I haven’t, but was wondering if this was a generic email that went out after the accepted claim value.
Nicola says
I am the same I got mine in December and not heard from then since. I am Trying not to worry becausey account nber and sort code have not changed so hope payment still goes in next Friday
Susan says
I never received an email on January 10th. I did receive the one asking me to update my bank details. I was locked out of my account so emailed them asking for help to update my account details. They responded with ‘we’re struggling to find you in the system so please provide x,y,z details’ which I did. They sent me the same auto email twice more after that. I tried again to get online to change my details which then worked but I think it was after the deadline to do so. Are they just avoiding people so they don’t have to pay? Would appreciate some advice.
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No they aren’t doing this deliberately to not pay people. They don’t care who gets the money, they just want it all paid out.
Susan says
Thanks Sara,
I have sent another email with my address history so they can find me. Fingers crossed!
Adelle says
Finally got an email to update my bank details, still not sure why they were correct in November then wrong ones in same message in Jan, luckily i checked my 4 digits to see it wasnt exactly same message i got in November. Not too happy with sending id proof through email so guess have to ring them.
Phil says
Phil
Will everyone get the same % on there money.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes. Everyone with an affordabilty complaint and all other unsecured creditors will get exactly the same %
Paul says
Just a Thought but maybe they are waiting until all bank details are verified from every single claimant before making any payments. As it seems they are making the payments then going radio silent.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No, administrators are very practical people. They know there will be a few problem cases and they aren’t going to hold up everything for them.
Andy says
Indeed. There will no doubt be cases (I just picked a few thoughts from my head) such as:
Client now living overseas without a UK bank account or suitable designated receiver still in the UK.
Client has sadly passed away between the time the claim was accepted / initially processed and their estate is still in probate. More complex if there are multiple claims to their estate and no valid will etc.
Banking system issues due to occasional error. Ultimately we are all human and the odd mistook (typo is deliberate) can sometimes occur, both machine and/or human causes.
Having said all that I would expect the huge majority get what is intended on the appropriate day :)
GARY says
I think everyone on here owes sara a big thank you her help and knowledge is invaluable good job their are people out there with time and knowledge to help thanks Gary
Julian says
I have a claim for 5500 sent my bank details has anyone heard anything?
Matt says
Finally sent a link to upload new bank details they wanted pictures of bank card and photo I’d so did that using like . Hoping it worked as uploaded and then nothing happens after I just hope it’s not lost in the ether
Laura says
The same thing happened to me then a couple of weeks later I called up and waited two hours and they said it was rec/d so don’t worry
Graham T says
I’m not in the least surprised there has not been an announcement yet, end of January means end of January, expect to hear next Friday or Saturday.
Dave says
I dont understand how they will process payments on the day they intend on doing so. How will they process hundreds of thousands of refunds that quickly? Surely if they cant answer the phones, it will take weeks. Unless they know the percentage already and the amount due to refund is already waiting to be processed? All seems very strange and underhand!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
They will be automatically uploaded to the banking system in batches. They aren’t going to do them individually!
Jon says
I bank with Monzo so if Wonga are paying out through BACS I’ll know the day before how much im getting then work out the % from that. Oh and if you bank with Monzo you can have the cash from 4pm the day before its due to be paid. Heres hoping they start running Bacs from Wednesday 29th!!
Dave says
Thats my point, they must already have the amounts input already! I guess we’ll wait and see how smoothly it goes but judging how poorly its gone so far ie the constant emails asking people to upload bank details when they have 4 or 5 times, or no response, list is endless of this total mess! i am not confident!
Danny says
It will likely be a massive spreadsheet with everyone’s details on it and redress value, once they know the percentage the spreadsheet can be instantly updated and then imported into the payment system either in one batch or a couple. Very quick and easy job.
Chris says
Why would it??? It’s not Trevor and Steve sitting in the office doing manual bank transfers!!
The number of claimants is almost exactly the same number of employees Tesco has in the U.K. and they get paid every week or month. Doesn’t take Tesco ‘weeks’ to pay everyone each month does it?!
LONELY1 says
My claim () 16000.if I get any decent amount I will donate this website at least 100£ great job thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
please give any donations to your local Citizens Advice!
Patrick says
4th email telling me to update my bank details with photo ID. I’ve done this now 4 times!!! Nothing comes with it after!!! Hung up after a hour on the phone so praying it’s all good now after the 4th time. Absolute idiots!!!
Ryan says
I received a email saying if these 4 digits are correct then you have nothing to do.
Them 4 digits were right but I have lost my card recently and had a new card, will this affect anything as my numbers have changed but not my account and sort code?
Jade says
Your bank account number and sort code don’t change, regardless of debit card changes.
Andy says
As I see it no, as I’ve had at least two replacement cards since: one lost and once the ATM actually crashed which was fascinating to see but it ate the card! New Years Day too :( … but my account number and sort code did not change. Obviously the replacement cards had different numbers.
Point here is unless your -account- number or sort code have changed then no nothing to do.
If the last four digits shown in the email DO match your -account- number you’re good. .
If the last four digits in the email do NOT match your -account- number then contact them asap.
They do not use the card number to pay out only the bank account details as card numbers can change frequently but account and sort codes rarely do.
Jennie says
Wen I phoned early to ask if I needed to update as bank same but just not address but they said that’s fine dose not mater no date or % yet but will be end off Jan so I slipped in so now date but be before 1st feb and she said yes so not long guys
Joe says
I’ve sent 6 emails over the last two weeks telling them my bank details are incorrect, and asking for a new link to update them but nothing back.
Anyone else in the same position?
Laura says
Have you have a read at the thread and comments above you will see the answer is yes!
Vee says
So I’m thinking, if there are so many claimants, probably half of them on this site, and everyone of us been in a dire financial situation at some point, if Sara were to set up a just giving page for a charity that helps the financially challenged and we all put just £1 of our redress in, we could turn this into something much more positive than us all being annoyed at the percentage
Chilli bean says
I get people are concerned about bank details not being up to date and panicking about not getting paid out… I can assure you that you WILL get paid out.
Even if your details are not right and you don’t get your money next week, you WILL get it.
They will get a report back from the banks listing all the failed payments, and they will be in contact with you. It is not a try once and if it fails you don’t get the money scenario. They are not allowed to do that.
As you have been told you have a valid claim they must make every reasonable effort to pay you. The administration is still going to continue for weeks or months past next week. Some of that time will have been factored in to sorting out failed payments.
Only once they get to the very end of the process, having still not managed to contact you will the money end up being lost, probably to a charity.
Lynne says
So on my redress email the amount of my compensation was about £6K and interest and fees was £8K. So are we getting a fraction of that total ie £14K or a fraction of tne interest and fees only?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A fraction of the total amount.
Neil says
Sara
So the money we receive back will be a percentage of the whole amount of the payday loan including interest plus the 8%? I thought it was just a percentage of just the interest?
Kind regards
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It is a percentage of the total – the interest being refunded PLUS the extra 8% statutory interest added on.
All these refunds come out of the same pot. there is no separate money to pay the 8% part in full.
Kelvin says
I’m getting a cheque as I don’t even have a bank account any more! ThT was ruined by the likes of Wonga, Quickquid etc. Dont know how I’ll cash it though.
Jennifer says
My credit file is clear now this Wonga payment going in will show up in my statement. Will this affect my mortgage application?
Thanks Jenny
Sara (Debt Camel) says
At a guess, I would expect the entry on your bank statement to be pretty bland and I would be surprised if a mortgage lender identifies it let alone cares.
Mark says
I received an acceptance of my claim in October, but no email about bank details earlier this month. I sent an email to the appropriate address last week and have just received an email saying thay can find no trace of my claim despite me having a reference number?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if you had an email on Oct19 saying they had upheld some loans and giving a refund amount, this is clearly wrong! You can sit on the phone to them or send them an email and point this out.
Elaine Forbes says
Hi Sara,
Firstly like others want to thank you for this forum but this part has nothing to do with you, I just feel it really hard to believe that Wonga cannot give you an amount that we will receive, surely they must know when it’s only a week away
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes but the administrators’ job is to maximise the return to creditors such as you. It isn’t to run a friendly and helpful customer service. Every time they email people or update the website, they get queries which have to be answered, reducing the money in the pot to be distributed.
Josh says
Hi,
New to forum – starting to panic a bit as havent received the latest email sent out 10th Jan.
Back in October they sent out the secure upload link which I clicked on and provided id and a copy of my bank statement as they requested but it was quite a dodgy site – as in I didnt get any confirmation once uploaded. My question is when you all uploaded your details did you sign into something before uploading the pics of id and statement or did you just upload them on the page like I did?
Been emailing them since October and they havent replied.
Was on the phone to them today first guy VERY RUDE I asked him to turn the volume on his headset up as i could hardly hear him and he buttoned me. Then waited 40 minutes to get through again and was immediately buttoned again.
They are a shambles.
Catherine says
Just had a thought and playing devils advocate reading the tons of comments of can’t get through on the phone, the staff are rude etc. Could this be that the people answering are the remaining staff who are now unemployed? They are victims of the top bosses too. I messaged them back in September to check on my bank details so luckily in a good position and ready for the arrival in my bank whatever that may be! Good luck everyone!
Dave C says
I’ve liaise with Wonga throughout the process, submitted ID and account details as requested and received confirmation of receipt to say that all was in order. I’ve since received an email on the 11th Jan to say they don’t have my account details. I’ve tried calling but gave up after half an hour and have emailed with no response for over 2 weeks.
I keep calling but cant get through! Frustrating
Laura says
Had the same when I spoke to them they said if you haven’t changed your details it’s just a system error email and to ignore it
Marc says
Hi
I’ve read through the comments and there are a few recurring themes:
1) “I’ve called Wonga adminitrators” to get updates.
2) “How much will the percentage be”?
The problem with asking the administrators for updates is that every time anyone does this we all get a few pence less. Why? Because they have to pay people to process those requests. Every penny paid in dealing with these claims will be deducted from the total available to refund us… basically every call any of us make to the administrators reduces our refund amount.
The percentage? No one knows. We can all keep guessing but until the first person has had their refund we won’t know for sure.
The thing we ALL need to remember is that we took out these loans for our own reasons. When we did this we never expected to get a refund of any of the fees so surely ANY refund is a bonus?
I had lots of debt a few years ago and couldn’t see a way out. It takes you to admit you need help to yourself first, then seek out that help and to follow their advice. Help is out there and even a small change can make a massive difference (like being able to open your post without worrying about debt collectors letters).
Andy says
Marc,
A greatly written post and I concur. Anything back is better than nothing and as you rightly say at the time we took these loans we did not think in a few years something would be returned.
I do think some of the frustration and possibly anger is simply because of the mail showing the sums breakdown of the figures with a reminder that only a small percent would be paid.
You could view it as “look what you could of won!” kind of thing – but it’s pointless as we know there’s not enough left in the pot to approach that. It’s been stated enough times in the emails.
It does feel a bit like “teasing” though – IF you do not approach thinking about it in a different way. It seems the only sane way to look at it is in a positive light “as 10 is better than 00” , that is my way of viewing it :)
I do realise the Administration team probably had to send that breakdown of sums out though. It would I think been more of a problem if that detail mail was saved until payout time. As you rightly put any refund is a bonus.
Dylan says
Once the redress is paid will my loans that have been accepted by wonga be deleted from my credit file? Or will it still be there for 6 years
If it gets deleted I might try to do it with the other companies that I’ve taken loans out with. I’m not sure how to go about it
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Wonga will delete loans it is refunding. Not all lenders do this. Sometimes FOS just says to delete negative information but if you have used the same lender for a prolonged period sometimes FOS says to delete all the later loans.
The procedure for making claim, together with a template letter, is described here: https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/. Any questions about a specific lender, please ask them in the comments below that article, not here.
Claire says
When will Wonga delete the loans .. does this happen after the end of Jan?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes but I am not sure how soon after.
Sarah says
I was looking through my emails last night and found one from 2014 saying that I was one of those affected by affordability and that they were clearing all my loans from my record and that it would take 3/4 weeks to fully be removed from credit ref agencies. Not sure if it’s still the same but thought I would let you know
Ross says
Did anyone go through a 3rd party to claim ie a law firm? Will Wonga pay them before paying us or will it be left to us to pay them?
Ian says
I went through a cmc which was all going fine until wonga went bust then they phoned me saying they werent dealing with it anymore (obviously not worth their time with the pittance we getting back so dealt with it myself from then on, but just been through some old emails and i confirmed i was happy with them receiving my money then them paying me dont want to sit waiting on phone over an hour so will see how it pans out nex wk
Paul says
Hi,
I received my e-mail on the 10th Jan. However I have to update my bank details. I have sent two e-mails now to the address provided (customer care) to receive a secure link to update these.
I have still not been provided with a link (checked all mail boxes).
Has anyone else encountered this or know a way around?
Thanks
Jonathan says
Me to same point don’t no wat to do bin on phone for hours at a time no answer can not login to change on net am stuck.
Trudi says
I received email 10th Jan I have sent 5 emails still not had a link, can’t get through on the phone either.
I won’t be getting anything back at this rate
gary says
What everyone is overlooking here, is that they had £460,000,000 of miss sold loans, so if 50% of loans were miss sold they probably had revenue of £1 Billion pounds… and they only have £40,000,000 left in the bank, so where did the other £960,000,000 go?
Chris says
Tv marketing. Those Wonga puppets don’t come cheap…!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
All their accounts since 2007 are filed at Companies House. https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/06374235/filing-history If you want to know what Wonga spent the money on over the years, tick the box for Accounts.
Sarah says
I have received the email saying that they have sent a previous email containing the last four digits etc and to update the details if they are wrong. I have no email whatsoever containing any digits. It is not in my junk folder either. I am pretty sure that I am using a different bank account now so clicked the link and uploaded my card and ID. Just hope that this has worked! So stupid not to give you a confirmation email.
Stuart Harper says
How come wonga is still operating as normal in South Africa, Poland and Spain?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The Polish subsidiary has been sold by the administrators to raise money. Attempts to sell the Spanish subsidiary failed and it has been closed. The administrators have been in the process of selling the South African subsidiary.
David says
Startup to get really frustrated with this lot . I have now uploaded my back details for the third time after receiving yet another email that they did not have my bank details . Wondering why I bothered
Bert says
I wouldn’t bother anymore. I did the same twice, phoned them and they said it was an error and that my details were correct. I’ve decided to ignore all emails now, not spend time in the phone queue and see what happens. I’ll either be paid the same day as everyone else or I’ll need to call them to get the payment sent manually.
Claire says
You will get paid the money whatever, keep looking here, when others get paid if you haven’t been paid within a few days of that call them. They can’t not give you the share you are due. The more people call and email at this stage the more money the administrators are taking out of the pot with the extra workload.
Julia says
I think this site may crash when the first people get their emails!
My redress was £6500 so even at the lowest percentage I might get a few quid. I feel another storm brewing.
Isla Watson says
Still don’t know if I have a successful or rejected claim yet. Have emailed and waiting to hear back. I can’t afford to call them as I would end up having to put an extra £30/£40 on the phone to coverthe costs. I will try emailing again next week. I just would like to know if they have accepted or rejected the claim. It hasn’t gone in junk folder as both junk and regular folders are checked at least once a day.
Sarah says
Try not to worry about it. I was in the same situation, eventually got through on the phone and they simply forwarded the email on that I hadn’t received. It was all date and time stamped, so they had definitely sent it months before, I just had not received it. It isn’t worth the time or money to chase them up, as frustrated as you’re no doubt feeling. In a week it will all be over.
Andy says
Leanne, Although it is little if any consolation mine is a bit less than that. I wish everyone’s was more, most of us do probably deserve a decent chunk.
In my little claim I did not owe them very much either so it was not a case of the return being eaten up by what was “still due” or anything like that. Just the way they only accepted some of my loans and rejected quite a few others I suppose. What will be will be…
I think it is generally best to not try to worry about what you’ll get, something will eventually land.
Pretty plain that it is going to be very small but still better than a “sorry we had nothing left to give” email. Best way to look at it I think.
All the best to everyone with their claim and payout … Not really that long to wait now :)
Chris says
It will not make a difference people calling them, where has this myth come from that it will detract from the values awarded!? Also their phone number is free so it does NOT cost to ring them. Also, back in August they stated that approval has been given for them to extend the deadline until August 2020 so don’t hold your breath for next week at all.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The administrators stopped taking any payments for loans still owed in December. The only reason for them to do this is if they are preparing to calculate the percentage and make payments. Otherwise they would have let another month’s payments come in and be added to the pot.
Chris says
Sara, please see below email I received 2/5/19:
2. Notice of extension of administration
This can be accessed by the link below:
WDFC UK Limited – Notice of extension of administration
An Administration is typically a 12 month process. As explained above, it will not be possible to collect in, assess and pay money to claimants within that time period, as such the Joint Administrators have had approval from the Court to extend the Administration by a further 12 months (to 30 August 2020) and the statutory notice above confirms this.
No further action is required by you in respect of this notice.
If you have any questions or require any further information, please visit our FAQs on our website.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am aware of that. But the end date for the administration has nothing to do with when the payouts will be made.
The Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016 provide in Chapter 3 how distributions are made. In particular, 14.30 says that a distribution must be within 2 months of “the last date for proving” – that is the final date for submitting a Claim which was the end of September. The administrators explained in here https://turnkeyinsolvencyservices.biz/Viewer/pdfViewer.aspx?sid=05ztj55k2lodfc14wtrwdqhx&did=c4456be9-8f3b-4307-9006-2481762f2259 paras 110-113 that 2 months was likely to be insufficient and asked the court for an extension to 4 months. Which takes us to the end of January.
I am not aware the administrators have gone to court to ask for a further extension. And if they did intend to do this, they would carry on collecting repayments on the outstanding loans.
Jonathan says
So will we actually receive a payment on or around the 31st?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is what I am expecting.
Andy says
I agree. If a pay delay was planned they would likely of carried on taking payments in and/or having the F&F offer open longer too.
This Aug extension is ( from an untrained mind ) I expect simply so they have time to wrap up everything properly etc. This in itself I would suspect is no small task.
It’s not as though come Feb they will simply close the door on the way out :D , there will no doubt be quite a lot of “backend” admin tasks to complete after payouts have been processed etc.
I have not seen anything even vaguely suggesting any payout delay at all.
Vicki says
I haven’t had any email since October when I was asked to provide up to date bank details which I did and it was confirmed it was received. I presume then. I don’t need to worry I haven’t received the 11th Januarys email or should I contact them as I haven’t received anything since. Thanks
Willl says
My redress is 7150 I’m reading on here that it could be a payment of around £90, I was thinking around £150 ,I know something is better than nothing but £90 or lower would be disappointing …
Colin says
I am thinking 3-5 % based on what I have read although I know this is just speculation
Nats says
So if speculation is correct I’ll get £200’/300.00 on a £3737redcess?
Andy says
It’s at this stage impossible to say as no figures have been released. All the mail says is it will be substantially less.
You could read that “substantially less” wording to mean anything really from 0.5% ( ! ) upwards but that’s pure randomness as no one has said yet.
Any figures you find that have not come from the Administration team should be taken to be just speculation/guesses.
It is only now a few days more to wait and hopefully all will be revealed.
For what it is not worth: I do have a rough “personal guess” % figure in my head I set on a couple of weeks ago (that I have never posted it and won’t till the real one is out) just for my own curiosity it will be interesting to see how (wrong) I was with that soon enough.
Sarah says
Nobody knows the percentage! There is no point in guessing!
Rich says
I can’t remember the last time I heard from them? I know they said in one e-mail that my claim was £192, so I’m going to get nothing really aren’t I? My bank details are definitely not correct either and I’ve e-mailed them requesting to change them and I haven’t heard back. Should I give up?