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?
Monty says
This is ridiculous… When we had no money to pay back a loan with extortionately high interest we were threatened with bayliffs etc but they can’t pay us back so they’ll just be allowed to pay whatever… Absolute nonsense…
Em says
£328.37 for £8,000.
Was stuck in the Wonga loop for a couple of years not being able to leave and suffered for a quite a while after as I was financially struggling.
I’m sure the owner of Wonga has more money than this. Mean squirrel. Probably has money hidden somewhere.
Alexander says
I still haven’t received an email saying what I Will get ☹️
David says
No sign of email, however received the initial emails last year..
Dave says
I’m not gonna lie this is a double blow for me, to receive just £127 of my £3,000 redress hurts, but to not even get it tomorrow and having to wait another 4 weeks when I could really do with that little now hurts even more. I feel distressed.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I really hope most people are going to be paid before 4 weeks.
Lee J says
Something has to be done about this ! I’m sorry but significantly less is not 4 percent that’s an absolute liberty ! Government needs to step up and help people. Absolute outrage , I’m fuming !
Yan says
Hi I’m in the same boat as I was looking out for it and after receiving the email I was so upset I literally replied back lashing out at them right away. It hurts to know that they mentioned being paid back end of January and now having to wait another 4 weeks, it’s ludicrous and embarrassing.
Craig says
I’m a little worried now, had email in November about bank details. They were correct so didnt need to do anything but I still havent recieved my email and it’s been over 12 hours since they started to send out. I know it’s only 4.3% but every penny helps.
Jannet Louise Van Der Watt says
My Husband and I both have accounts with Wonga. We are in SA. How is it that they are still operating? Where is my refund?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think the SA company has been sold. Refunds only in the UK. Sorry I don’t know anything about SA regulation of lenders,
Davey says
I, like many others, was expecting at worst, the 10% figure that was being banded about and waited with baited breath for the email, ironically I was transported back to that time when I waited with the same baited breath for my loan application to be accepted week on week, if only I knew then what I know now…. anyway the £109 refund won’t change me, I’ll remain grounded however it’s another valuable life lesson learnt. Good luck to those that have not yet received their emails too I hope they come soon!
ik says
They are taking a piss. NO Email 😂😂😂😂📧
Nicola says
Same here still waiting for it
Kim says
Still waiting too. Glad I’m not the only one
Kim says
Still no email, have had all emails up till now. No change of details etc. Maybe computers burnt out with sending almost half a million emails out?? 🤷🏼♀️
Jeannie says
No email for me as of yet either ☹️☹️
Wendy says
I have not received email yet ! Fed up with checking at the time.
lisa s says
Can you help, with news of Wonga pay out I have just realised they they have my old email account that has been deactivated due to someone hacking. Who would I need to contact in order to update this and to provide my new bank details so I can receive my payout???
Laura says
If you had a accepted claim and your bank details are incorrect they will send a cheque to the address on the claim. It also said no bank details can be changed as if yesterday
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Have you moved since you took the loans?
lisa says
Hi Sara
Yes I have also moved since starting the complaint a couple of years back.
I received an email on old email address stating that my claim was being upheld and that I was entitled to a pay out.
Andy W says
Hopefully the 4 week payment is just covering thier backs and they start sending the payments out today
Graeme says
Hi Sara
Great job by the way . Using your help has helped me claim successfully against 5 lenders
Just want your expert opinion . With regards payment date , when realistically do uthink this will be ?
Thanks again
Sara (Debt Camel) says
no idea!
Maria Barrett says
The insulting thing about this whole episode is the movement of the payment date, for the pittance that they are paying people. There is something not right about this.
The Government should step in and launch a immediate investigation or try to make up the difference to 10p of every £1.00
Becky says
Same with a lot of you guys !!
Feel absolutely mugged off !!!
£15!!! Seriously 😳
Mark says
Hi Sara, I left a comment on here about a week ago asking about claiming tax back. But I can’t find the original comment and what you suggested. Would you be able to let me know again please
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Here is the link: https://debtcamel.co.uk/ppi-payday-refund-get-back-tax/
the over-simplified version:
– Non tax payers can claim all the tax deducted back
– Basic rate taxpayers can claim up to £200 in a tax year.
Lilly says
Hi Sara, can you explain that basic rate Tax payer point please. Does that mean even if your working we can still claim back £200 of the tax we have paid in these kind of reclaims?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes – read https://debtcamel.co.uk/ppi-payday-refund-get-back-tax/ which explains WHY and HOW.
Mellissa Kilpatrick says
Can we claim tax back on the wonga payout?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/ppi-payday-refund-get-back-tax/
Paul S says
Hi everyone, I got £109 from a £2500 claim. I was expecting a little more but i am happy with the amount i got. Hope everyone else has closure now. Reading all of your comments has been really helpful these past few months. Take care x
shelly says
i just think it was very unfair to give people the total they could of got then disappoint people with the percentage amount. I suffer with mental health (now under control) but wasn’t at the time of burrowing . going about this the way it has been done I think is disgusting. mental health is a problem and this could have a detrimental affect on many people . I wish everyone more luck in getting what your owed by other companies if you used them
Melissa says
It is a legal requirement for the administrators to tell you the full amount that the payout is based on.
Gemma says
I had my email from wonga out off the £358.56 im only getting £15.46 it feels like a kick in the teeth to be honest can’t believe there still ripping me and other people off like that. 😔
Charlene says
Hi everyone who is waiting for wonga compensation, just thought I help with a little update.
I recieved a email yesterday (29.01.20) at 17.56pm about how much refund I will get back ..my claim was for £1693.35 and I will only receive £75.00 back and payment will be paid in the next four weeks ..not as much as I thought I would receive back but it’s better than nothing ..hopefully everyone else will hear from them today .
ik says
100% something is not right with this all.No email received.No even apologise for the delays payment been removed from 30 of January to end of February. THE government should step in.
Hunt says
Regarding payments it does say ‘within 4 weeks’ not IN 4 weeks. Its a lot of transactions to put through, and couldn’t really see them doing them all in the 24 hours after the email went out. Also a lot of people seem to still be waiting for their e mail – could it be that they are doing a batch of emails followed by those payments, then another batch and so on? Also this would cover any cheque payments.
Shaun says
Email broadcasting systems can work in two ways. 1) They queue up all the emails and send them off one by one. Explaining why some people got theirs at 6pm and I got mine at 11pm. Or 2) They send 500 emails at a time. Again explaining why people got it at different times.
Kara says
Same as when they aid ‘towards end of January’ they will string it out to the very last minute and leave us all waiting the whole 4 weeks.
Hunt says
But for what reason? They can’t keep any interest that it may accrue, and they want this project over asap to be able do other work (QQ administration springs to mind now). It makes no sense for them to drag this out any longer than necessary.
LEE says
£1187 and i got £50.97 but it a lesson in life ill spend the extra £50 on my kids
Neil says
These loans impact on the poorest and most vulnerable, typically the last demographic the government care about enough to act. Something should be done to ensure accountability for this kind of dishonourable behaviour by the profiteers.
Wayne says
Morning all.. just a quick question, this morning I put in a affordability complaint with sunny, I must of in the past had 100 loans with them with sometimes 3 at same time just so I could pay back, what sort of timescale do you get a response/ verdict/ refund.
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
please ask on https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/. The people there not a lot more about sunny claims than the people on this board.
Adrian says
Sorry to hear about the low percentage.
I’ve still a loan outstanding so if they get in touch the highest I will go is 4.3%
andrew ford says
Adrian i had a 1k outstanding loan and wonga wrote it off off, still got redress on all my other loans with them(also my email has my figure due plus an extra £10.18 to be paid on top ,apparently i over paid on a previous loan, how does that work
Karl j says
Finally got my email last night 4.3% is better than nothing which is what I expected before I started reading up about how to reclaim money on sites like this. around anout 2009 to 2014 I was in a bad place financially and my first loan witha PDL was only £200 I thought that I could manage that and ended up in a trap of taking loans out each month to cover the cost of the loans. It was not a nice place to be and the level of stress that I and other people faced on this should not be undersetimated. Espeically when the money was going on basics like food, rent and utility bills.
The administrators have done what they were appointed to do and they are highly regulated as to what they can do.
The biggest victory is that Wonga and other PDLs re out of business and everyone here has played a part in this. Thanks to everyone involved. I am getting £93 and I am thinking of donating it to a food bank, they need the money more than I do.
ik says
Unprofessional from Administrators. And they getting big chunk of money for this.
Arthur says
I agree, the administration team are a disgrace. Probably don’t have a clue what they are doing, obviously didn’t realise it was such a big job. Yet they cream off a stack for champagne lunches and take 3 weeks to acknowledge an email.
barry says
Cant blame the administrators. They do the job they are paid to do. All professionals, all following a code of conduct. Are they meant to do it for free?
They are not a payday loan company.
Charliefriock says
I’m most angry with the Ombudsman – I complained to Wonga in May 2017, which was rejected. I appealed, citing the exact same conditions that the administrators did And even added it up to pretty much the same figure. Which again was rejected. I passed it over to the Ombudsman in October 2017. Who sat on it. And sat on it asking for bank statements and every piece of paper they possibly could. Then Wonga went under. My claim was accepted 15p less than I had stated (just shy of £3500).
I was even accepted for a small loan in September 2017, by Wonga, without them even requesting updated information, while I was in the process of dealing direct with them for my affordibility complaint.
It’s just ridiculous.
Matt Mack says
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/business-51303908
It’s all over the news today
Ian says
I got told £1200 but it would be “significantly less” to which I thought “ah probably around 500 maybe”. I was also told payment by the end of January too.
Now anybody knows that getting paid early at Christmas leaves you with a 5-6 week gap until next payday, so this would have helped….ALOT.
I then got my email stating I’d received £55 and it would take them 4 weeks to pay me this.
So not only have they completely understated the use of the word significantly, but they’ve also pushed back the pay date of a month.
What a mess.
Gemma says
I too got a rubbish amount back very disappointed but I was wondering will we be paid by bank transfer or will it be a cheque
Thanks
Lynne says
Bank transfer
Vanessa says
Sara – thank you so much for ALL of your amazing info and help. I am so incredibly grateful.
Even though Wonga is a massive blow I have had success with all other payday lenders except one due to the information on this forum.
Also, thank you so much for everyone on this forum for sharing your stories. It makes me feel less alone. I am so ashamed of my financial issues and cannot even tell loved ones but I have help through Step Change and this forum now. And trying to increase earnings. Let’s hope we get paid soon and let’s be vocal about what happened, maybe a petition etc. Even if we stay anonymous. So shocking that they now even delay pay.
Thank you Sara for speaking to BBC news!!
Sarbjit says
Why is there a further 4 weeks wait,
Ok they say within 4 weeks
Buy a electronic payment to thousands or millions of people can be made in seconds, so why the wait.
And 4.3 pence to the pound, a joke.
leigh wicks says
I got £400 from a 9.6k claim im pretty sure somewhere it said you get 30% of the whole at the start of this process might be in an email,Its the disgrace someone should help us get the rest back.
Nick Harrison says
Where would the rest of the money come from? Should the taxpayer foot the bill because we took unaffordable loans?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The taxpayer normally picks up the bill for governmental failure, and that is what has happened here. The regulators (first the OFT then the FCA) have had clear rules saying a lender has to check loans are affordable since 2007. But they never stopped Wonga breaking these rules…
Claire says
My accepted claim was £1690 but the email I got this morning said my claim was £24 so im getting just over £1 back. What happened to my accepted claim value??
julie says
I seen this happen to another lady too. You had the same redress figure as me so should be entitled to around £72 pound odds. Try and contact them to see what happened because they’re ripping us off enough without ripping people off any further
Claire says
To make it worse, my claim was actually £2690 not £1690 so should have got about £115. I tried calling bang on 9am but gave up after half an hour. I have emailed them but I doubt I will get a response
Kazza says
Haven’t received an email of amount due to me. Received all other emails previously. Does anyone know if they are being sent out in batches?
Rob says
To be fair I didn’t expect to receive anything! … my. Claim value was for £756 and I recieve £32. Considering I understood the “significantly less” which was highlighted in every communication I didn’t think it would be 4p in every £1 …. absolute disgrace! Both Wonga and the government want to hang their heads in shame. I know mine isn’t much in relation to some, but that money would have came in so handy at the minute. A question I want to know or try and understand… I had no outstanding debt with Wonga but what about all these folk that do? …. where does the money they have to pay back go to? …. can I not reject the offer and say … pay me back in full in a few years when you have more money in?! …. Gutted for myself and everyone else who’s owed.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“can I not reject the offer and say … pay me back in full in a few years when you have more money in?! …. ”
No.
Some of the remaining debt is not being repaid at all as the customer has no disposable income or can’t be contacted eg if they have left the country. Or is being paid at a very low rate in a debt management plans. Some debtors will end up going bankrupt. The cost of keep the administration open to receive these small amount would be bigger than the monies coming in.
Martin says
Deleting comments is being silenced and shows support to Wonga, Labour Party supporter I bet.
And asking people to donate £1 to you, really??
barry says
The people who ran Wonga are probably Tories.
I don’t think Wonga’s methods are compatible with labour ethos of a fair society.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
huh? Very repetitive comments were deleted – there were several hundred last night that said variations on “It’s 4.3%”… Also offensive ones. Some may have got deleted by accident.
And I don’t take donations. Anyone that would like to donate to me, I encourage you to give a small donation to your local Citizens Advice instead.
Akram says
Hi Sara,
I posted a message but can’t seem to find it. Wondering if you can help decipher the below. Does this mean I will still receive the money I overpaid from wonga?
Note: Company records indicate that you were owed £497.30 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.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think people getting these messages are owed two lots of money. One the claim for unaffordable loans you put in and second this “new” amount that you didn’t realise Wonga owed you. You should get 4.3% of each of the two amounts.
A says
Sorry, I don’t think the tone of this comment is necessary. Loads of people have had their lives changed thanks to the hard work of Sara and this website so not sure where that negativity comes from. I think the numerous pages showing people how to claim money back from lenders shows anything but support for Wonga.
Nick Harrison says
What does the Labour party have to do with this?
Pipe down, Martin.
Stephanie says
I still haven’t either and yes, had everything else but not the one everyone else seems to have had.
Jamie Donnelly says
Still no email for me either and there automated message says everyone will be told on the 29th
Claire says
My accepted claim value was £2691.09 but the email i got this morning said it was £24.46 so I am only getting £1 back. I don’t understand, i knew I wouldn’t get much back but how can they say my claim is now only £24.46 when I have an email saying it was £2691.09
I have emailed them but I doubt I will get anywhere
Philippa says
Right, forgive me if I’m wrong here BUT, we all took out the payday loans, we are the ones that made that decision, we are now all getting something that really we don’t actually deserve as like I said, it was our choice to take out the loans!! People complaining they are only getting x amount, it’s better than nothing!! And before anyone asks, my payout is a massive £14 so it’s not like I’m getting a huge amount either but it was unexpected money that I will donate to charity. Peace out 🤣
Rehoboth says
I got the details below yesterday just wondering is there a final dividend payment
Case Number: ??????????????
Third Party Reference:
WDFC UK Limited – In Administration (the Company)
The Joint Administrators are now in a position to declare a first and final dividend of 4.3p in the £.
You will receive a payment of £134.37. Your payment represents 4.3p in the £ on your agreed claim value of £3116.99.
But I saw the details below again ie
When will I receive my final dividend payment?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
the administrators have said they are only paying one dividend so this is the final payment,
Ryan Anderson says
Sara, do you have a page where donations can be sent to? I am happy to give you the remaining £4.76 from my £24.76 claim amount :)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
no, I don’t take donations. If you would like to give it to charity, your local Citizens Advice or foodbank would be great.
Ross says
I honestly think people should move on . Nothing can be done , nothing will be done and your wasting your time . For me , my money will be out to good use. Honestly folk , move on . Yes it seems appealing , but we borrowed , we knew the terms. My loan was 2013 , and I wasn’t expecting anything back whatsoever .
andrew ford says
Ross well said, my sentiments exactly, i have enough back to treat me and the missus to a night out,something we dont often get,
Matt says
I’m with you on this. My loans were all from 6+ years ago. Paid off and forgotten about, and now I’m due an unexpected £150 that I can use on what I want. Nice one Wonga
Nathan says
Nice one Wonga lol? Yeah nice one for making millions of people over pay on their loan. Nice one for sending out threatening letters via fake law firms. Nice one for helping yourselves to people’s bank accounts once they have missed a payment.
God bless Wonga
Natalie says
I’m in agreement with you Ross. My claims were back in 2011/12. I agreed to the terms, however unfair they were. I am chuffed with the money that I will get as I wasn’t expecting anything and will put it to good use. Yes, this is very unfortunate to those who were relying on their claim value being higher and a kick in the teeth for them. However what is done is done, and many people will just be relieved this is over and done with, not to mention those people who have Wonga loans still on their credit file being removed. Hopefully all payday/doorstop lenders and their atrocious high interest rates will come to an end. Thank you for this site though and this page in particular Sara.
Hazel says
i couldn’t agree more Ross !! well said.
Chris says
Yes, I do agree on the whole. My application for compensation from Wonga was declined altogether, back, earlier last year I was told by email, so I got diddly squat from them, although I wasn’t surprised. In fact, I had initially just forgotten about Wonga before this because the debt I had with them had already been written off when they were first found to be in breech of the FCA but the only reason why I applied at all was because the administrators invited me to, as they seemed to with everyone, otherwise, it wouldn’t have crossed my mind to even bother any further with them.
Fortunately, I had something else to fall back on, I never thought for one second I could rely on this, but I have still been following things here out of interest. I do feel for the people who got a ‘yes’ and then ended up with so little, especially those who had really high initial figures, eg, in the many thousands and then they ended up with a few hundred. I mean that is pretty much insult to injury, even though the Administrators did warn people that they would only end up with a small percentage after all their other payouts. I am certainly moving on now as far as Wonga goes, this will probably be my last post here but as I said, I do feel for a lot of the others here who may have been depending on this, I’m sorry to hear that so many have been shortchanged. Best wishes.
Stephen says
Whats the harm in helping others who are clearly less better of thsn yourselves , it may not do anything but at least we can try , would they accept it if we said we only have enough to pay £4.30 of a £100 debt ?
We took the loan yes your correct , but they should of said no when we applied , they would still be here and a lot of us would be better off in the long run as we would of had to seek help in the correct form and not the form of a payday loan created to rinse the poor
Anneka says
I didn’t even get an email does that mean I’m not getting nothing?
Andy says
I haven’t got mine yet either Anneka, we’ll probably be last to get our payments too 🙄
Paul says
Have you checked spam mine was in their
Maz says
I’ve not got a email either I doubt very much they will send one to 1000s of claimants it will take days even wks
Pulling the wool over our eyes I think
Sarah says
Got my email yesterday, only going to receive £535 from £12,417 redress. When I think of the stress I went through repaying the loans, nearly losing everything, robbing Peter to pay Paul to make sure payments were met, I’m devastated. Is there any way of challenging this decision of 4.3p%?. I know we were never going to get a full redress but this is ridiculous & outrageous. Is there really nothing we, as the consumer can do to force the FSCS or government to look at this? Why have the government not stepped in to help, they stepped in to help banks, airlines & other companies gone bust so why not payday lenders? They allowed Wonga & other lenders to get away with these extortionate charges by not covering us customers by the FSCS, why?. Please can someone of the legality profession tell me, this can be challenged, this can’t be allowed to happen.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I’m sorry but there is no more money left.
This isn’t the administrators fault.
It is the fault of the government and the regulators that there is no proper compensation scheme for payday loan victims when the lender goes under.
See my comment here https://debtcamel.co.uk/wonga-has-stopped-issuing-loans/comment-page-29/#comment-342137 for the only thing I think people can do to try to get a change.
RM says
I’m thinking about contacting the press about this. As you say, Sarah, there are several important issues here. The main one is lack of cover from the FSCS which would have meant a better redress even if the lender themselves were unable to find the funds. But there are other concerns too:- 1. Large numbers of people who put claims in months or years before the Payday loan companies went into administration had those claims erroneously rejected or ignored, only for them later to be upheld by the administration teams. Those customers should have been paid in full whilst the lender was still trading. 2. Poor service from the financial ombudsmen has made matters worse in some cases e.g. opening new claims on behalf of customers, rather than chasing up existing claims meaning that those people ended up at the back of the queue in the post-administration list. 3. It’s not entirely clear what has happened to the total Wonga pot – ie why has such a substantial proportion apparently been held back for as yet unspecified reasons (secured creditors?). Why are the administration fees so high? I get that this was a Herculean task, but the fees total more than a fifth of the amount distributed to claimants. That’s obscene. These things matter because there are other lenders in the same position and going through the same process, and a stand needs to be taken now to ensure those as yet unsettled claims are handled better and people get as much of the redress as possible.
Jonny says
The press will have no power to change the decision of the administrators.
Everything has been done legally, and although unfair, there is nothing that can be done other than raise awareness of using lenders like this.
The press is already reporting on it: https://www.thesun.co.uk/money/10852350/wonga-victims-4p-every-pound-owed/
Other than sharing articles and warning others I think it’s best to accept and learn from this.
Phill says
My claim was accepted for £6,219.27, i fully appreciate the “significantly less” statement that had always been mentioned, however to only get £268.10 and lose £5,951.17 is quite frankly a disgrace! I feel sorry for all the other claimants who have also been ripped off! No interest payments, 95% less than quoted! The statement should say “you are entitled to compensation, however expect bugger all!!” Less people would feel so aggrieved!
Dave S says
Hi Sara, please can you advise. I have contacted Amigo with regards to an affordibilty complaint on a now paid off loan. I have since have numerous correspondences where i have provided my name, address, email address (both from when i took the loan out), d.o.b., guarantors name and also proof of the direct debits taken from my Natwest account. The only thing i cant locate is the loan agreement details. Amigo are saying that they cant find my details and could i provide any further info !? What more can i provide ? Does this sound like a delaying tactic ? What should my next steps be ? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Dave S says
Sorry, wrong thread :-)
Sara (Debt Camel) says
please repost on https://debtcamel.co.uk/how-to-complain-guarantor-loan/
Matt says
Agreed claim value £2484.00 – payout to be made £107.00
Disappointed doesn’t even cover it. What’s most annoying is the complete lack of communications or specifics, and now after the 20th January date has passed to be told it’s going to be another 4 weeks.
Would almost bet that all the backers and financial bods got their money back, and once again it’s those who need it most left holding the can….
Akram says
Hi Sara,
Firstly thank you for all the help provided on the site, I’ve started claims against a few lenders with only Mr Lender yet to respond. Within the email I received from wonga it stated the below. Do you happen to know if this means I am still due another payout?
Note: Company records indicate that you were owed £497.30 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.
Matthew says
Hi there,
I had a loan that had defaulted and been passed to BPO collections, to which I was making payments.
They last took a payment in November 2019. There was just over £500 remaining to pay.
Like others, I got my email regarding my payout yesterday.
I have since checked the BPO account and I can’t log in and get a message saying that they are no longer dealing with the account and that I need to contact Wonga directly.
Does anyone know what this means? I can’t access Wonga to make payments.
Any advice greatly appreciated
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I am trying to find out what will happen to the remaining outstanding loans.
Matthew says
I note on the Wonga website it says that they are no longer accepting repayments, so it does seem difficult to how we would be able to repay any outstanding amount!!
Ian says
Hi Sara
I was hoping you could help me. I had a claim accepted for around £4500 and received an email yesterday to say I would receive around £190. Unfortunately my email address has changed so I don´t have the original breakdown of where the £4500 came from hence I cannot see what the tax value was. I currently live and work outside the UK so do not pay tax in the UK hence could claim it back. However…….. I assume the tax I would get back is to the value that reduced the payment to £190 hence a small amount so not worth the hassle. Am I correct with this?
Ian
Sara (Debt Camel) says
it seems unlikely the tax deducted was much more than £20.
Ross says
Just on a side note , I think people who completed there bank details a while back will more than likely receive funds tomorrow (I’m not hinging on it ) but I think this will happen
Liz says
Wonga told me yesterday refunds will be in bank tomorrow.
Think they are saying up to 4 weeks to cover time it will take to update all correct bank accounts and sending cheques out. They are just covering themselves with that timescale.
sam says
I would be really surprised if anyone got paid in the next week or 2!
I reckon they will be sorting paperwork and peoples details.
then start the payment process in the next 2/3 weeks.
Sngfsh says
No one knows…..no point speculating. It will just anger people who then believe its concrete to receive payment tomorrow. As far as we know its in 4 weeks time. Budget for that date.
Matthew says
I agree but we can take nothing for granted as to the “payment dates” ,I mean Wonga did exploit hundreds of thousands of people like us with ethically immorale high interest rates for 10 years and then insult us with a 4.8% payment. I bet some of their old board members or high ranking employees have thousands in the bank from us
Charl says
I’m still confused, the email I received yesterday that stated I’m getting £15 said this was a dividend owed to me and it is separate to the redress claim, does this mean I still get something for my £1335 original claim? I haven’t received another email since this one from yesterday. It’s all very confusing. I mean I’m happy with £15 to be honest, just a little confused.
Tracy says
That’s all you’re getting back I’m afraid
Trev says
Hi. I too got a dismal amount.. but I was wondering about the tax element?
There wasn’t any mention if there was tax deducted from the settlement figure?
Did anyone else get a breakdown?
I am just wondering because I want to claim back tax for this year but don’t know if Wonga has a tax element.
Michelle says
I don’t think there is any tax. The tax was only due on the 8% interest earned (as if the settlement figure was put in the bank from the date of the loan). As we’re not getting back the basic sum owed before the interest I don’t see how we can be taxed on something we haven’t had
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t think that’s right. The small amount you get will – I think – contain some 8% interest. But I have asked the administrators if they are going to confirm the tax deducted figures
Nicola says
I emailed them this, mainly because it made me feel better, I dont actually think they’ll read it, but it’s good to get it out!
“4.3%? You. Are. Thieves. No better than a [edited] robber. No moral human compass, just pieces of human excrement in suits.
I have suffered for in excess of 10 years because of your company. Preying on the mentally unwell and most vulnerable in society to fill your pockets? And now you offer a paltry amount as compensation for all your huge failings. Do you know that 4.3% doesnt even cover the cost of you selling my debts to debt collectors?
My finances have been messed up.for years because of you. I cant own a house, cant buy a car, cant get a credit card, I cant even get a bank account. You messed my life up.
You should be ashamed and I’m not sure how you sleep at night. I wish you all the hardship and karma that the world can muster. “
Callum says
I agree with the sentiment but sending it to the administrators is just plain stupid. Also the comment mentioning council estates is misguided and wrong.
Charl says
I’m a little confused, I had an email saying that my payment will be £15 but this said it is separate to my redress. I’m just wondering if I will receive another email or is this it. I mean I am happy with £15 just a little confused.
Connor says
Received ‘partially accepted’ email end of September and not heard anything since, not even the email asking to confirm bank details. Not received anything yesterday. Would I be right in assuming then that my claim failed some kind of secondary review? I calculated from my ‘partially accepted’ value that I would be due £160~ if it were fully accepted
Sara (Debt Camel) says
no, there were no “secondary checks” so far as I know.
Quite a few people say they haven’t yet had the 4.3% email.
Nick says
Here is my two pence worth, (only slightly less than my refund ;-) )
Whilst I completely agree that the dividend result is an insult and shocking but realistically we could’ve all ended up with nothing!
I was shocked and surprised that my accepted claim value was near on £8000 and hadn’t realized that my usage was so long and had cost me so much, having said that there are a lot of stories saying they didn’t know what they were getting into or hadn’t any idea how much it would cost……..hmmm, I sympathize with people who found out they couldn’t afford the repayments and then fell into in robbing Peter to pay Paul situation with multiple pay day loans (I was one) but come on…..your payments were ALWAYS highlighted prior to agreeing the loans! Every situation is different I understand that and the ease of getting these loans at the drop of a hat is quite frankly shocking but we cant say we weren’t warned about costs and as adults should hold ourselves accountable for getting ourselves in this position in the first place.
I thank my lucky starts that I was able to drag myself out of a dark financial situation and Im certainly not trying to make light of anybody elses situation but the one of the key things to managing debt is to not bury your head in the sand and blame everything else, talk to creditors, talk to family, dont ignore letters, it doesn’t go away!
Good riddance to Wonga and all other like minded companies!
Andy says
I completely agree with you, there was no one twisting our arms to get a loan and the ease you could get them was why they were so popular. I know everyone is calling them bloodsuckers etc but I for one was actually glad they were there when I needed the money! If banks will not touch you and you desperately needed a loan then they were a real lifeline. Unfortunately there was a price to pay, anyone lending to those that no one else would touch had to load the APR because of the risk factor.
Anyway I was shocked at my claim value of nearly £5k meaning £200 odd redress coming back, but as I was not expecting to ever get anything back I am just treating it as a nice bonus.
scott henderson says
Hi sara,part of my accepted claim included £57.74 in credit balance that I was owed by the company. They are only giving me 4.3% of that back as well. Are they allowed to do that?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes. All unsecured creditors are getting 4.3% back, not just the people with affordability complaints
scott henderson says
Ok thank you,keep up the good work,you’ve given great advice on here over the last few monhs