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?
Haydn Gleed says
I haven’t had my email yet either. Although I did check my spam and I’m glad I did……I’ve apparently won a years free sub of Netflix, a 60 inch tv, been contacted by a royal prince and many ladies want to meet me. Can’t wait to start replying lol
Lianne says
Just received my email….. Accepted claim was £3500. Total being paid is £159.
Mostly annoyed that its now a further 4 weeks before we receive the redress.
Waited all that time, what a let down.
Phil says
Phil
Hopefully payments will start tomorrow, i think people who didn’t have to change bank details will possibly get there money abit quicker.
That’s only my point of view.
Ik says
I haven’t changed my bank for 11y but I still didn’t receive any email 😂😂😂
Nigel says
Still haven’t received an email. Redress claim was
for £6,600. I have found this process to be an absolute disgrace. How can this be fair? Payday loans are a hell of a lot worse than PPI was and the FCA have had a complete disregard for people ripped off by Wonga. It’s a sad day and we should all just be thankful that Wonga can no longer ruin people’s lives
Dave S says
Fortunately i am in a lot better place financially than i was when i used Wonga so to be told last year that i would be getting something back that i was not expecting or reliant on was great.
I finally got my redress figure and subsequent dividend percentage comfirmed tonight.
The good news, i will be getting £903 paid into my account.
The shocking news, my redress figure was over £21,000 !
Happy with anything but a very bitter pill to swallow knowing it should have been £21k :-(
Paul W says
Dave S
Happy to read someone else was in a similar position to myself.
At a certain point in my life Wonga was used on a very regular basis, to which I ended up with a figure similar to your £21K.
I was hoping for 10% minimum, to now know that despite being accepted for just over £21K only receiving £906.00 is very disappointing.
Wonga contacted me to say I had a claim, when the final figures came through I was shocked by what I was owed…. and as above half expecting at least 10% to be paid back.
Surely more can be done in regards to this?
It amazes me that all the people who had an accepted claim can be pushed to the back and allowed to suffer the blow and hardship whilst everyone else involved (GT) are paid and done sensibly.
Let’s see what happens next, I doubt anything will.
Poor Financial chapter is now closed, but I have the same feeling as everyone else on here….. it’s disgusting that the people who made the money for them are the same people left with very little respect in regards to the payment being received.
David says
I have recently entered into a Debt Relief Order after apply for this refund. I am due to get back 176.11 according to my email today. Do i need to pay this to the dro or can i keep.it as the amount would not scratch the surface of the debt i owed!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You should tell the Official Receivers Office that you have received it (when you do, not now) but it won’t affect your DRI as it is less than £1000.
Kyle says
So I just received my email. My original claim was for 775 however the email mentioned I was also owed 122 by Wonga as well making my total 897 of which I get 38.59 back! I haven’t seen this posted on other comments yet so I’ll copy and paste the explanation they gave me.
You will receive a payment of £38.69. This payment represents 4.3p in the £ on the agreed claim value of £897.43 (Accepted Claim Value) which is made up as follows:
1) £775.34 (Accepted redress claim value)
2) £122.09 (Credit balance owing as at 31 August 2018)
Note: Company records indicate that you were owed £122.09 by the Company as at 31 August 2018, making you an unsecured creditor in the administration. The amount owing to you is due to either an overpayment of a loan prior to the appointment of the Joint Administrators, or a remediation/compensation payment which the Company attempted to pay you prior to the appointment of the Joint Administrators that failed to reach you. The amount owing to you as at 31 August 2018 is unrelated to your redress claim.
Either way I expected nothing so this is a good result for me!
Laura says
For all those worried about bank account details :
Where the Joint Administrators do not hold bank account details for you or the bank account details are incorrect, the dividend will be issued by cheque and sent to the address noted on the claimants Wonga account.
Also says unable to no update bank details after 29/01
Alan Lawson says
I got email to say I will be getting £30 but a redress claim of £704 shambles
Steve says
Still no email. Am I to assume the people that didn’t receive a email, haven’t received one for some problem with the claim or more likely a error by Wonga? I Received all previous emails the same as everyone else. My redress Was for £2200. I know it’s only a tiny percentage but to be honest I was surprised to be awarded anything at all.
Martin says
Well it’s £150 more than I have now on the way but it should have been a lot more, simply for the fact that these pay day loan companies wouldn’t have been anything in the first place without it’s customers, for that reason alone we should have been top priority, customer is always right, period!
Disgusting but in this day and age where those already at the top win which is now it seems “normal acceptable human behaviour”… it doesn’t surprise me.
Jack. B says
Agreed £2585 & recieving £111, what a joke. Not even worth persueing after living in a rutt where i got paid, paid wonga then had to borrow from them again until next payday. Even ended up over £1500 over drawn with the bank to keep up with these criminals.
I know you can argue that it can be ones own fault but i was in a vunerable situation with kids to feed and they knew full well i couldnt afford the loans. Years and years of hardship because of these criminals only worth £111
Jan C says
I got £20 instead of £437, yet the administrators took 3 million from the assets , not fair ? Jan
Ash says
Im not to bothered about the 4% payout but what i dont understand and is annoying me, is wonga said the payment would be made on the 31st of jan or just before. now were been told its another 4 weeks wait till we get the payment. i thought they needed to go to the courts to get a payment extended after the 31st ?
richard says
Exactly this is what Im fuming about, Id already not got my hopes up about the %… They told everyone the 30th actually:
QUOTE(Email Oct 7th):
All claims must be submitted by 30 September 2019 and we expect to have made a payment to successful claimants by 30 January 2020.
Everybody seems to be missing this and talking more about the %.. its like a double kick in the teeth
Andy says
What would be nice thing perhaps is those who still owe Wonga money have it written off. That ought really to be something that should happen.
How practical (or indeed legal) it is would be to do that I do not know – but I do feel in this Wonga debacle for those still owing should not be chased any further. Draw a line under it. Leave the defaults on credit file in these situations by all means but they should have their “still due” wiped. It should stop here.
Realise they said they would not be selling the loan book but have not (as far as I am aware) stated exactly what would happen to it. This is bound to cause uncertainty and anxiety.
Before anyone asks: No, I did not owe them anything!
Lisa says
Would just like to say thanks to Sara for all the useful info added to this thread on daily basis.
I’m not proud of the situation I’ve found myself in but are in a better place now financially…….
Not the best outcome from Wonga £129.65 payout of accepted claim £3007.00 but at least it’s something I never thought I’d get back.
Layla says
£21.44… that’s a few bottles of wine for the weekend I guess.
Karen says
I’m fighting cancer got the diagnosis Wednesday could have done with this money now to help with extra costs. I borrowed as I was looking after mum with cancer as well as I had at the time no where to turn and now we wait another four weeks this will possibly outlive me.
Sigh
Alan says
Karen
that is shitty news:( – and our moaning about a few quid from WONGA pales into insignificance against that:(
Keep fighting girl!!
Karen says
Ah thank you Alan no please whatever you get if it helps. But really another four weeks. I’m fighting all the way 💪
Best Wishes
Jonathan Adam says
You smash it Karen. Wonga might be done but you’re not x
Karen says
Thank you going to keep going x
Dave says
What happened to payments will be made at the end of january and now its payments will be made within 4 weeks!?
Alan says
Oh come on be fair – they made that estimate back in August last year and a lot has happened since then – don’t blame these guys – they’ve had to set up a whole system to deal with 400,000 claims, tried to sell the assets to maximise what we might get back, spent months taking hassling phone calls from us, tried to verify bank details so that they could be sure they were paying YOU and not some fraudster pretending theyre you, had to deal with dodgy claims management companies, just so that WE COULD GET SOMETHING BACK – oh and not forgetting making arrangements for our credit files to be updated:)
Now we’ve got something back, and WONGA are gone – good riddance I say, and im just grateful that justice has been served
Now I can go and celebrate with a greggs sausage roll:)
richard says
The admin need a week or 2 extra to recover from the hangover from their party this coming Friday night when they spend their 3 million share
Absolute joke, I was stupidly relying on something at least… now got to spend my little savings
Laura says
Richard, I’ve said it before but Grant Thornton are a massive global accountancy firm. They operate in something like over 120 countries. Administration is just one arm of their business . Honestly if you think this a massive payday job for them your kidding yourself, it’s small fry!
richard says
My mistake, just the CEO’s of grant thorton will be partying ‘Oh phew, that Wonga thing is out of the way, bottoms up!’
Laura says
Well given their UK 2018 figures are £490 million don’t think the CEO’s are that bothered with the Wonga 2.2 million. As I said small fry. Hard as it maybe to accept they were doing a job.
Emma jayne says
It’s bizarre isn’t it, not like it’s come as a surprise that they need to make 400,000 redress payments, they knew this was the case so the new extra wait ‘as a result of the volume of dividend payments due to customers’ doesn’t really wash. They were paid so handsomely to get this stuff right surely. Ah well c’est la vie
Kate R says
Disgusted! 4.3p per £1.00 owed…that’s a grand total of just £36.27 in compensation! To be honest I feel insulted, I’d rather have had nothing than such a disgusting derisory amount! No justice here!!! Ripped off by Wonga and ripped off again by the administrators!
Natalie says
So I’ve been lurking here for weeks now and received my e-mail earlier today. £150 back which in my eyes is a win! Covers the food shop for a while. I never thought I’d get any back by the end of all this so I’ll take it. I hope everyone receives their e-mails/payments soon with no hassle! Good luck guys and thanks to Sara for your hard work!
Ik says
Wonga and Administrators are on one hand. Money been hidden in offshores before it went bust,kept only few millions in just to cover their asses. Plus still no email 😂😂😂😂No shame at all
Laura says
Sorry but this is absolute nonsense
Layla says
So I have been following the comments on here
For a while.. although I am massively disappointed with the outcome it has also made me reflect on things and how much I have grown as a person since relying on these scum bags month to month. Since then I now have a good job I’m marrying the love of my life this year and I have been lucky enough to see the world. I never imagined I would have this life 7 years ago.. there is light at the end of the tunnel
Guys. Wishing you all a happy healthy future xx
ik says
Ty Layla. I am just having fun even if I’ll receive 0.53 p. All the best to you😊😊👍😁😁
Dave says
Just found this page after receiving my email for £117 and seeing if a standard % calc was used. Lots of unhappy folks… folks who crazily seem to have already overspent their unknown compensation amount. I appreciate this is likely an unpopular view but I needed Wonga years ago due to my child’s health and needing time off work. No one else would help and I needed help on a monthly basis to push through. I knew the fees, I knew what I was doing, nothing was hidden. People complaining about decisions they knowingly took themselves are incredibly niaive and ungrateful . Without payday loans my family simply wouldn’t have made it through those times and yes the cost was high but it was my only choice and I’d do it again if I had to. I personally am sorry to see the demise of such companies, anyone in my old position now has nowhere to go if the banks won’t help. I’m grateful for my compensation and its going direct to charity.
Sandy says
They admitted they owed me nearly £11,000 yes that’s right 11k and am getting just over £400……I suppose I should be grateful for any amount, there are people that got far less than me. But it seems a bit of a joke, the impression I got, was that money was being paid end of January, now get an email telling me what little I’m getting, and that it will be another 4 weeks!! Jees! 🤬
Ross says
You will receive a payment of £496.03. Your payment represents 4.3p in the £ on your agreed claim value of £11506.76.
Absolutely furious!
Nats Daley says
Is there really nothing we can do…
Seems that we have been let down by governing bodies, the whole thing stinks.
Meanwhile wonga are still operating in other countries…
Just seems so unfair to us who turned to a company to help us out of a hole and quickly spiralled out of control
Fiona says
I have appreciated the support given on this site and thank you to Sara for your patience and expertise. Before I found this site I felt isolated and ashamed . I went through a really really tough time a few years ago and resorted to PDLs. To receive just under £150 back is a bonus .
Ben J says
To be honest. 4.3% is shambolic but it’s money we honestly didn’t expect back.
I got £85 back from my claim and it’s paid for my dentist appointment. However big or small, it all matters amd it’s money we never thought we’d see again.
I’m grateful and thankyou Sara for having the patience and putting it all this efforr
Ben J says
I’m also glad it’s being removed from the credit report!
Steve says
Still no email for me!! Absolute joke
Liz says
£6250 claim and only receiving £3.16 this doesn’t seem right
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That isn’t right – sone people are getting another email explaining this is because they are getting a second very small payment as Wonga owed them money they didn’t know about. I hope this us the case with you.
Laura says
I can’t believe there was over £535 million pounds worth of accept claims of miS-sold loans it’s absolutely sickening. I hope the many who feel robbed,speak to our MPs. There is nothing to be ashamed of, how many of us there are! Stand together and let our voices be heard. The fact PPI was covered when the companies failed for me makes me pretty angry
Craig says
Same here. Nothing at all. Starting to think I wont get one.
Ralfron says
Utter shambles of a payout £3300 I got £140 the amount off money they paid Newcastle utd and Blackpool to sponsor their shirts utter disgrace
Ryan says
Given that their original offer email stated
” All claims must be submitted by 30 September 2019 and we expect to have made a payment to successful claimants by 30 January 2020.”
and it was confirmed the reason for the 30th January being quoted was because that was their current court approved deadline for payments, and given that they haven’t been given an extension, I’m kinda expecting this to be paid tomorrow for everyone who’s bank details are already sorted and up to date.
With the four week quote being for all the people with issues with bank account changes or not being contacted, needing cheques etc.
Fingers crossed!
Amelia says
Is there no other avenue we can explore with this? I agree the payout for the claims are terrible – I wish I’d made mine a long time ago but seems like they’ve gotten away with it to be honest ☹️
Peter M says
So I received £74.82 minus a 36% invoice fee leaving me with around £48. This is from an agreed compensation figure of £1740. Ultimately I knew my final settlement figure was going to be low but 4.3% is insulting.
The reason for the excessive amount of complaints directed toward Wonga in regards to redress is glaringly obvious, the claim management companies went into an absolute frenzy over the ease of the administration process utilised by Grant Thornton as it was essentially managed by AI. I Dont think it would be possible for a company, even one as large as Grant Thornton to process the volume of claims manually, they managed it all digitally and the claim management companies took advantage of this.
Now bear in mind that the average claim management company would invoice around 30-40% for any redress awarded and there were around 389,000 upheld complaints you can surmise that a good percentage of the £45 million set aside for compensation went to these absolute bottom feeders of the Financial services industry. There are around 3,000 of these companies lurking in the UK and they have exploited a major niche in the sector and by all accounts the FCA compliance regulations are quite flexible in regards to these companies. The guidance is easily available online and by all accounts a good majority have temporary permission to operate.
D L R says
£65 compensation from £1500 owed…totally disgusted. You just know the Fat cat bosses of wonga who ripped people off for years all get to walk away with millions of pounds of our money while they pay us 4%…wonder what would happen if I told all my creditors that I’m paying em 4%??… Or the taxman?… Or the local council?. As per usual the poorest in society get screwed over. I really wish I’d have screwed them out of paying my last loan off, when the bailiffs come round I could have offered them 4% couldn’t I?…Oh and it’ll be in the bank in a month!!. what a total insult.
Nick says
If you were a company and went into administration, or an individual who went bankrupt, you would come to an agreement with your creditors based on assets available. This is how business works.
D L Robinson says
Sure, I understand that if I owed creditors but I only had x amount of assets then then yes my creditors would share x amount and I’d be left broke. It’s a little bit different though when people like Errol Damelin was allowed to sell off 4.5 million shares and walk away with a 17 million pounds. Or is that 17 million included in the pot to pay us back?… Somehow I doubt it.
Marcin K says
When they say… Please be aware, the payment you receive will be considerably smaller than your accepted claim value. Ok I though they deduct maybe 50 or 60 pounds.But…. no f… sake what a joke!!!
You will receive a payment of £7.88. Your payment represents 4.3p in the £ on your agreed claim value of £182.74.
I hope that wonga CEO etc get more then me
Caroline w says
£248 out of £5768 what a JOKE!!!!
Trevor says
This is another example of the socialization of losses and privatisation of gain that we saw during the 2008 crisis. It doesn’t feel like a “victory for the people” when 95.7% of compensation is not being returned.
Paul says
Sara,
Seeing as your page/thread seems to be the only place people are coming to…to vent their frustration at the %…..might it be suggestible to advise where/how everyone’s anger can be focused and put to good use? I accept Wonga & Grant Thornton are essentially done with their part…..but I personally can’t help feeling angered that the FCA are to blame overall….and if they hadn’t chosen to exclude Payday lender redress from FSCS governance, the only % we would be hearing about now is 100%.
Andy says
Its probably too early (the dust needs to at least land, if not settle etc) to think about a Parliamentary Petition for future changes perhaps as people are rightly upset and a clear head is needed for properly wording it I feel.
Writing to your MP would be a good idea perhaps too, again I would say it may be wise to leave it a few days to just see if any public body has anything sensible to say about it.
A public enquiry maybe, although these by their very nature can seem to take an eon to progress.
I’m sure others have sensible ideas to post too.
Jonathan Adam says
Bang on the money Paul.
Harry says
My claim was for £1900 and I only got just over £80. I was expecting at least £150 or slightly more as had read a figure of 10% being reported in many places such as the Guardian news article.
Just FYI a BBC News article is up now and it directly references and quotes comments from this site
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51303908
Steve M says
What seems the most unfair is that the usual FSCS protection and the government bailouts that shores up the banks aren’t available to these sub-prime lenders.
In many cases this was the only line of credit available to borrowers. Is this the government effectively saying that the very bottom of the borrowing market aren’t entitled to the same protections that the better class of borrower were?
I’m personally grateful for the work of the administrators and they’ve done well to pull anything out of the embers of Wonga but it does seem bitterly unfair.
Scott J says
I think it’s safe to say that there a huge number of people here who would like to thank you Sara for all you have done to help us. I don’t think I’m alone in thinking we’ve been let down by an FCA who have ensured other sections of society have got full recompense for other issues (i.e. PPI) while neglecting the most vulnerable people in this country.
Ian R says
I just got my email and they said im owed about 1200 but im only going to get £48 thats an absolute disgrace.
james says
looking at the link they gave at the bottom of the email it seems they have only set aside a total of 23,090,071.21 for us rather than the 45 million which was said aswell, even now they are still robbing us
Glen says
Well had my Email from Wonga today very disappointing was a pay out of £7010 and only getting £302 totally disgusting glad they no long exist
Richard P says
I’m glad that wonga have been put to bed as I was living in a wonga circle for a good 6 months. Any money back is an added bonus and after ruin so many life’s I hope that these payday lenders who are still operating at ridiculous amounts of interest learn from this. For the very small amount I will receive I will enjoy a couple of drinks on wonga for one last time.
Rich says
Let’s turn this experience into a positive. If we all donate £1 of our wonga payout in 4 weeks time and create a message or do a sponsored event climb a mountain ride a bike to a bookies . Swim 50m (I got my badge aged 10 and never achieved it again). I’m a compulsive gambler and getting £13 back (you all know what that equals in wonga loan…not much at all compared to most of you).
Joking aside really can we donate £1 to something?? No not Martin Lewis…how about Sarah and Debt Camel? I’ve learnt so much reading comments, thankyou to you all and thanks to Sarah and whoever’s supports DC. It’s like having a GA meeting ( sorry not suggesting everyone is a gambler, but let’s not beat around the Bush here…how many Wonga loans were handed out while chasing a loss in a casino) whatever you needed the short term loan for we made a choice. Or we had no choice….forever reason we took it. Thank you Wonga you paid me to continue gambling , I lost everything. Good riddance.
Jane says
My brother also lost everything, and I mean everything, to gambling. He lost his home, his wife, he can only see his children occasionally and he went to jail for several years. Please please, if you’ve learnt nothing else from this experience, please consider getting help for your gambling. I’m sorry if I am speaking out of turn, but, I would hate to see somebody else’s life ruined by what essentially is just chasing a dream win, which, in reality wouldn’t even mean that much because you’ve lost so much trying to hit the elusive jackpot.
Zana says
Not everyone gambled and got into this situation. I am not a gambler. I was in a bad position where I did not have any savings or family to lean on. So I only had Wonga/other payday loans to rely on when things got bad.
I’m upset as its ruined a lot of my financial stablitity and my credit score along with other things.
Let’s not brandish everyone with the same brush.
I’m disappointed with the amount paid out as I had an amount I would have preferred to help me out.
People are allowed to feel disappointed with the smaller amount provided. But that feeling will pass.
Just try not to tar everyone with the same brush.
Jon says
Very annoyed. As Victor said, “victory for the people” …. I think NOT. I’ve been absolutely crippled by payday loans, been the best part of 10+ years of financial instability caused by these vile parasites. We live in a society where the only way to move forward in life is to inherit debts because in the real world, most people start with nothing. Payday loans were the only readily available options for a lot of people, especially my age; essentially selling these loans to ‘kids’… (18 year olds), where they couldn’t get a loan anywhere else, payday loans were sold to us as our beginnings of our credit history. Offering guaranteed, UN-AFFORDABLE loans that got a lot of people in cycle of borrowing from others just to keep up with payments. To be offered £47 as compensation after having to been owed £1100 from this company alone is an absolute insult. I had 7 lenders and only 1 has paid so far, what they paid was little over 30% of what was owed. To be offered 4.3% is just straight up abuse. Quite frankly I am sick and tired of being ripped off every second I turn the corner in life. To be honest I don’t think I will ever properly recover from the devastation this has caused to my life. MY LIFE IS RUINED.
Got the right mind to show up to the OFT/FCA office tomorrow and show them a piece of my mind.
Ram says
Babe we are the same age! Same experience! I finally buckled under pressure and recently entered into an IVA! I was in a constant cycle fighting to survive – work, pay, repeat. After 2 years of ill health my finances have gone to pieces. But paying that one amount monthly has made such a difference. Any advice please regarding IVAS and payday loan claims ? Is it worth doing will you get out of your IVA sooner? I wish I had known about this before, had the energy to be zealous and fight back but it was easier to try and pay and build ones credit score! Any and all advice would be highly appreciated especially anyone who has now completed their IVA. I have balances that were paid off in full from various lenders including quick quid, log book loans, uncle buck, lending stream, Ferratum. My IVA covers a bank loan, safety net credit, PayPal credit, satsuma – is it worth me going through the anguish of looking back and making claims?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is it worth doing will you get out of your IVA sooner?
not normally – all the money reclaimed goes into your IVA, your IVA firm pockets some of it and the rest goes to your creditors. But you still have to carry on making the same IVA payments.
But has your IVA finished?
Ram says
No I literally just started this year! So 4.5 more to go! So if I were to pursue this and were successful – the IVA company wouldn’t adjust my arrangement interns of the amount/ the period left to pay? Absolutely Shocking! Thank you Sara for all of your support! I feel positive going forward financially – I am now more responsible with budgeting. Lifestyle limited but I’m hopeful in the future I will buy a house. Realistically though what do you think I should expect?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
if I were to pursue this and were successful – the IVA company wouldn’t adjust my arrangement interns of the amount/ the period left to pay
Correct, not unless the refunds you get repay all your debts in full plus the IVA fees. How large are your debts in the IVA?
Nicola says
I completely agree with this. These people ruined lives and preyed on the most vulnerable in society. I suffer mental illness and my wonga loans usually paid for basics like food and gas during my illness. I feel completely preyed upon, and now I feel like they’re laughing at us, from their ivory towers. £180 on the 4k they owed me. £180 doesnt even cover the costs added on when they sold my debts to debt collectors. These people deserve all the hardship the world has to offer, and I hope karma ruins them. They will have earned it.
David Lane says
I know completely how you feel. Sadly there is nothing any of us can do about it. At least lots of payday loan companies are finally going to the wall. The only thing that worries me will those people who used them then turn to illegal money lenders
Al says
I was very lucky to make most of claims before anyone went into administration – Wonga was the only one I missed out on.
I get it’s frustration – but if you have already made complaints about others do it sooner rather than later. At least most people have got a redress from Wonga – a handful of companies have been a nightmare to deal with. Some ignoring complaints, taking well over 8 weeks – not upholding to them uphold on the FOS decision. Count yourself lucky you’ve even got something back.
It’s also worth noting – almost all the refunds I got quoted 4 weeks, but it was much quicker than that.
For those that are asking what more can be done from here – it’s not in doubt that we are very close to the payday loan industry ceasing as we know it, so I guess that’s some justice.
shaista says
An absolute farce and disgusted..the amount I will be getting is 3.52…I have sent wonga an email saying dont bother sending that…what a joke
Tina says
Heartbreaking £9200 owed and to receive
Only £398.00 thought we would get at least 10%
Louise says
Same I was owe £2935 and will receive £125 !!
Suzanne says
What I would like to know is who will get the interest on our money for the next 4 weeks until we get paid? Certainly not likely to be us!!!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This is a myth, the money will earn almost no interest.
Andrew Howard says
Isn’t this the norm though for any company being liquidated, that creditors will only receive a proportion at best of the money they are owed and normally there isn’t compensation claims in the mix? With PPI the reason claims are paid in full is because the banks are still active and have the resource unlike a company in liquidation. Mine too was 4.3p per £, which is disappointing but like many better than nothing.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
A couple of PPI firms did go under but then customers got their full compensation from the FSCS, see https://www.fscs.org.uk/failed-firms/welcome/
Zexiro says
The frustrating thing for me is that I had previously put in an unaffordability claim a couple of years ago that was not upheld. To now say that my claim should have been upheld but I’m only getting 4.3% of the £3900 is a joke.
sarae says
Yep same happened with me,claim refused by Wonga send to Ombudsman sat with them till Wonga went into administration, administrators upheld my claim of £2012 and now getting back £86.00
Jamie says
Still no email…Is it ever going to come??
Simon Dack says
me neither
Yvette says
Still no email, getting concerned. Haven’t changed bank details and partner got his email yesterday despite purring claim on after me. Should i be worried?
Kekay says
When will we get our money paid out? Friday?
Nicola B says
The latest email yesterday said within 4 weeks
Colin says
They’ve said within 4 weeks on my email, another 4 weeks to receive my 4.3%, one final slap on the face!
chris c says
I wonder if its worth petitioning the government to look again at adding payday loans to the fscs. Also some competition in the administrative marketplace could also be useful, to have an organisation effectively eat up nearly half the revenue that was achieved during their wind down of a business and then miss payment dates even with an extension cannot be right 4 months is 4 months telling people the day before payments are due is just underhand.
Nicola says
Would petitioning the government do anything? Genuine question, is it worth going that route?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think petitions rarely achieve anything.
But email your MP and tell him/her what you think of this very low payout. labour or Tory, whether or not think they will be sympathetic, just tell them what you think. It’s easy to do through here: https://www.writetothem.com/
(I think – it’s a disgrace that these payday lenders were allowed to operate while breaking the regulator’s rules and not checking affordability. And that the FSCS compensation system should pay your full compensation in, just as it would if you had a PPI claim and the PPI firm went bust.)