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?
Mr Wayne Miller says
I’m still waiting too. I emailed the complaints team at Wonga and they responded immediately advising the process has been delayed and to wait for info from the joint administrators. I don’t know if that is just an auto message or what.
Chris says
No emails recieved here either
kathleen adams says
I have had a refund from wonga before for one loan but wouldn’t refund on the others as they were over six years old I’m sure the letter I recieved at that time stated that they accepted the loans were unaffordable but wouldn’t refund due to the age of the loans the administratirsbhave rejected all the other loans could i appeal on the basis that wonga have already admitted they were unaffordable ?
C fitz says
As far as I no they said they would look at loans over six years as the fos were?
kenny neill says
he Sarah and members,
wonder if anyone can help, i had an email from the Joint Administrators to state my claim was rejected as i did not meet criteria for redress. they state however if i had multiple loans for an extended period i would be, at the bottom of the email it shows 12 loans in 12 consecutive months, if that isn’t a repeat problem borrower i don’t know what is, should i appeal this – i have copied some detail from the email they sent to give context
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t know how long a period they are using as their “too long” period, but 12 loans in consecutive months sound like something that would have had a refund from FOS. So I think this is worth appealing.
DavyD says
Hi
I had exactly the same..12 loans in 12 month reject, increasing each time
unreal
kathleen adams says
I have had the exact same e-mail but mine was for 15 loans in just over 12 month period all rejected
Dan says
Those who haven’t heard anything, stick with it guys. I’d honestly forgotten about my claim but was emailed tonight to say I’m owed 2.5k (what percentage of that I’ll get I don’t know, but woop!).
Josh says
I received an email today 22 loans with wonga everyone rejected. Wow I can’t actually believe it the crooks.
What kind of an assessment are they doing the administrators. If that number alone doesn’t show there was a history of borrowing at excessive interest rates then I dunno what does.
Oh well win some lose some.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Your email will probably say:
If you believe that there are exceptional circumstances (ie additional factors that should be considered by the Joint Administrators in addition to the criteria above) or that there is an error in your claim value, you have the right to appeal to court. However, it is the Joint Administrators preference that you come to us first within 21 days of the date of this email to appeal your decision.
You could go back to the administrators and ask them to look again at your case, supplying bank statements to prove the loans were unaffordable.
Jonny says
I have had an email stating my claim is £4657 and has been accepted. I assume that from what i am hearing i will get 10% back at the most. Still better than nothing…
Gemma says
Where did you get the 10% figure from? Or is it just your best guess based on comments in the letter and media? I only ask as I have been looking around for suggested amounts to expect. I have received my letter and know I won’t get the full amount. Just wondering.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
it’s someone’s guess…
Davie says
I revived an email today saying what I’m owed, do I just wait now? Or do I need to respond to the email?
Chris says
I would just wait. Unless it specifically tells you to contact them in the email then it was just to let you know that you are owed. From what I understand as well, it will take months before anyone actually gets anything even if they are owed, eg, end of the year or beginning of 2020 seems to be the projected payout time at the moment. Hopefully, this might be revised, if not, then we just have to sit tight. Some time before we’re too old to care would be very useful though lol, best wishes.
Graeme says
Just heard today that my accepted amount is £12,240. I agree that even getting 10% back will be something. Was a terrible time getting stuck in the “take out a new Wonga month after month” glad it’s all in the past
Milton says
10% is rubbish sorry to say. At less on £12k your still getting £1.2k but for amounts lower is a rip off. They should be paying out at less half the amount
James C says
They can’t pay what they don’t have though mate.
AST says
That’s great news Graeme. I contacted wonga last week and was told that the administrators wont even start looking at my claim until the end of the deadline. Weird how so many people have already had replies. Do you mind me asking how many loans you took out in total?
PF says
Similarly, I emailed the complaints team at Wonga and received a reply stating that the ‘claim assessment process has been delayed’. Nothing more to do than sit and wait I suppose.
Graeme says
Hi
In total there were 46 loans over a period of 4 years with increasing amounts, until I was getting over £1200 a month, paying it off then taking out another to cover the cost. It was a horrible cycle to be in and I know lots of other people were trapped in the same situation. Not sure if I am at the high end of the compensation amounts but not expecting much back, but anything will be good
AST says
Thanks Graeme.
I was in the same boat sadly. 22 loans with wonga and various others running at the same time. A horrible situation to be in. I really hope you get a fair deal. Take care
Ian Inman says
I had 38 loans accepted and 4 rejected with An accepted claim value of £5321.86. Would be nice to just get my compensatory interest of £1698.80 but not expecting much. The figures are just making people expect a large amount and they might get into more debt thinking they are getting a good amount. We will just have to wait and see what we all get.
Graeme says
I agree, people just need to wait and see what happens. I feel the percentage we will get will be crazy low, and will be nowhere near an amount to compensate for the horrendous situation people found themselves in, but at least, those days are over and borrowing money is now regulated correctly
Big jock knew says
Got my email. Tbh I think we will get peanuts back. The highrollers will be looked after.
andrew kayley says
Brilliant, i forgot i had submitted this and received this today
Case number: x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Third party reference:
The Joint Administrators have assessed your claim and can confirm that it has been partially accepted. Your assessed claim amount is explained in the table below. A full breakdown of your loan history can be found at the end of this email.
Please be patient with us in respect of your payment. Payments will be made once all claims have been received and assessed. All claims must be submitted by 30 September 2019 and we expect to have made a payment to successful claimants by 30 January 2020.
:)
Christopher says
Hi everyone, I have just received my email today with an accepted claim amount of £2526 (6 loans accepted, 2 rejected). Now the real waiting game starts to see what % we will all receive
Elizabeth says
Received my acceptance today – approximately £8500
Jane says
Received my acceptance today – just over 6k – anything back is better than nothing.
ClaireR says
I wonder if they are doing it alphabetically by surname? or just random?
I’m an “R” but not received email yet, I did contact them last week when people
started getting emails, to be told
“The Joint Administrators will assess your claim in due course. No further action is required by you at present.
The Joint Administrators will email you following the assessment of you your claim.
Should there be any delay in the process, the Joint Administrators will be in touch by email. However, due to the high volume of claims, we are unable to provide updates before this.”
Lee says
Hi ClaireR,
My wife got an email yesterday saying her claim was accepted… roughly around 1k. I had submitted my complaint to wonga weeks before her. The only thing I can think off why she got hers first, was she had an email from Wonga saying they should never have lent her the money in the first place. This was back in 2015. Her loans dated from 2012. I believe that they are picking the easy, quick cases first before having a dig around the more complex cases. (Could be wrong).
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“I believe that they are picking the easy, quick cases first before having a dig around the more complex cases” I am pretty sure they are running them all through the same program, big or small, complicated or simple. No human is looking at the results because there are too many of them
Zach says
My name is Zachariah Zebedee and I heard last week. Hope this helps : )
jonxy says
I just laughed quite loudly at that. thank you “Zach”
Ms Owen says
Just received my email saying that my claim for £4,342.96 had been partially accepted. Doubtful the actual amount will be very much but anything is better than nothing
Michell says
Hi All,
I received an email today from Wonga stating my 17 loans over 3 years, interest £4K, all DECLINED. I dispute there were 17 loans, nearer 40 loans? Tired, fatigued! Unsure whether to appeal???
Paula Swainston says
I got an email today saying my claim had been assessed and partially accepted with an amount of £106 as the figure but telling me my refund would be significantly lower than this due to the amount of claimants, 8 of my loans were accepted and 10 rejected
Terry says
Just had an email about my Wonga loans, I will be getting refunds form 4 out of 8, the 4 I will not be getting refunds from, are lower value, except for 1 that was for £650, and that was sold to DC, also I had a refund from them several years ago, so not all bad. Just wait and see what the % is, but whatever it was, it’s more than I would of had, and I was even aware I could get anything from any of the lenders.
GM says
there has been reports of people receiving these emails, but i haven’t had anything yet, only the one about the administration process, voting etc.
Paula says
I only submitted my complaint through the online link on here rather than the FOS for Wonga as by that points administrators had been appointed, I assume that is the correct thing to do?
Hayley says
Why would some loans be accepted and others rejected? 5 of mine were accepted while 8 were rejected.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
was it the later ones that were accepted? or the larger ones?
Hayley says
It was the earlier ones. The first 8. They were all for around the same amount each month.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That’s strange!
Graeme says
It seems like they calculate whether you could afford the loan at the time based on the information Wonga held at the time the loan was given, salary etc. Also there needs to be evidence of loans being taken out month after month and this needs to go on after the first 6 months. I had 46 loans accepted and 8 rejected, 6 of which were the first 6 and one when the loan was written off so I paid no charges
Catherine says
I’ve had my email 40 approved 5 rejected £11,900 that would be nice but doubtful!
DG1985 says
I got mine yesterday. Said I’ve been accepted and they owe me £7.5k. It would be good to know roughly how much we’ll be getting. So that I can plan etc.
I also complained to P2P as they were both lending to me at the same time, and the signs were all there that I had a debt problem.
They rejected my claim. So I’ve taken it to the ombudsmen.
Sian says
I’m the same! P2P rejected but I’m worried I haven’t stated my claim enough. I’ve also sent it to the ombudsman now – I’d be eager to hear how you get on!
DG1985 says
I know just what you mean. I’m worried that my claim, that I submitted through resolver, doesn’t argue my case clearly. Basically Wonga have realised that I had a debt problem during the time and they offered little/no help even after having consecutive loans for nearly 3 years. P2P are the same, I had the loans at the same time and they were paid off – but then taken again. Completely unaffordable, so how can they reject the claim? I’ll let you know when the ombudsmen replies!
Unknown says
I am still waiting to hear back from Wonga, I borrowed most months for 6 years. I used Quick Quid and Pounds to Pocket (both the same company under casheuronet) I raised a complaint with Cash Euronet trading under the name Pounds to Pocket and Quick Quid, they declined my claim. I went to the financial Omburdsman and they have accepted my claim and have instructed CashEuronet (quick quid/pounds to pocket) to reimburse fees and interest including 8 % interest by the end of this month. So definatley worth the process
Sian says
That’s amazing! Definitely worth doing then. How long did you claim with the ombudsman take?
Hopefully you’ll hear back about Wonga soon – there seems like a lot to get through!
TDG says
Total interest and fees on loans
£7,721.67
1
Total compensatory interest
£2,573.72
2
Less previous write off(s)
£0
3
Accepted claim value
£10,295.39
4
This Wonga thing messed me up big time could not remortagage as all lenders took to the hills once they saw records of my wonga loans.At least all the loans accepted will be off my credit file.
lydia says
i received an email today saying i was partially accepted for an amount of £869.56 would be lovely but thinking it will probably be a miracle if i see £80 lol
Shannon vee says
I’ve just received my email 2114.55 and 12 loans rejected to be honest not going to bother replying I lent the money not even thinking I was going to get any kind of refund so even £10 would be money in my pocket
Ricky says
Guide
Total interest and fees on loans
£3,499.54
Total compensatory interest
£1,624.65
Less previous write off(s)
£870
Accepted claim value
£4,254.19
I think they said for every pound we are owed we would receive 20p-30p back.
I wish I was getting the full accepted claim value, but happy with what ever I receive.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
“I think they said for every pound we are owed we would receive 20p-30p back.” where did they say that?
Danny says
I read somewhere now that it will be 3p-5p per £1.00
Sara (Debt Camel) says
No one knows.
Paige says
Just wondering what way they are sorting the claims.
Who has already had acceptance emails, if so, what does your surname begin with?
Mine begins with E but havnt heard a thing, my claims been in since late 2016.
Chilli bean says
It really doesn’t matter.
Everyone waiting on emails needs to chill out.
Think of it like getting on a plane. The first to board just have longer to wait strapped into that seat. At the end of the day none of us are getting paid till January, so when you find out the amount is irrelevant.
The more people that call and email them, the less time those dealing with the administration have to deal with the claims and the longer it will take.
The longer it takes, the more the administration costs and the less we all get.
And yes… I am also still waiting… For well over a year so I know it is frustrating.
Rob says
Got my email today. I hear there are huge numbers of complaints and the email did stipulate income (at the time) against money borrowed, but then again who on a good income would borrow from those cowboys?
I wait with bated breath, but that’s all I’m going to do if it will be another five months. It will be merely a bonus whatever the percentage ends up being ;)
Richard Head says
I can take it off your hands Rob.
Andrea says
Have email today from them ,that my claim been declined.Have more then 40 loans,with them.Some of them get back previously,but not all.Email says if disagree with that I have right to appeal in court (risk of my own experiences)??How I can do that?
eddy says
i assume that when you say get back some of them? you would mean already been refunded for those?
Andrea says
Yes Eddy.I have been refunded some loans before,but not all of them.Wonder if going to court is worthy or is it possible to go to ombudsman?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If your refund was quite small compared to the interest on the not refunded loans, then you can ask the administrators to look at it again.
But if your refund was large, I think you should accept that you have got a good payout, which more than most people on here will get. Having accepted a refund in settlement of your case, there would have to be some unusual reason why a court would award you more money.
Antonia says
Hi Sara, just received an email from Wonga: Your assessed claim amount is explained in the table below. A full breakdown of your loan history can be found at the end of this email.
Please be patient with us in respect of your payment. Payments will be made once all claims have been received and assessed. All claims must be submitted by 30 September 2019 and we expect to have made a payment to successful claimants by 30 January 2020.
Please be aware, the payment you receive will be significantly smaller than your accepted claim amount.
I wonder how much actually is significantly lower. My accepted amount is £3k. They have broke down all loans and advised how much on each they will refund. The email is very informative.
Denise Lawrence-Jones says
I too have been rejected for a refund from Wonga. Not quite the answer I was hoping for. It is very little in the scheme of things but would have been gratefully received had it gone my way.
Ben says
Has anybody had 0 correspondence and when they put there details in at the claim portal get a claim has been made response? Just want to ensure my claims are in etc.
I recently got back a claim from Cheque Centre who also went into adminstration. From a £3.8k claim I got £266 back… Just to give you an idea of what you might receive.
Laura says
Yes Ben I’m the same. I’ve never received any updates or anything but I did get a letter from the administrators initially with log in details. Did you get that? I was at the adjudication stage so I assume they passed it all on and that started my claim or have I got it all. Wrong and I should be doing something else?
Audrey says
You need to apply online using the portal
Personally I wouldn’t wait as you only have till 30 September to claim
AST says
Hi Ben I did.
I contacted Wonga directly and they said they won’t even begin to look at my claim until the end of September. I did point out that some people were getting emails of acceptance of a decline but they didn’t comment.
Good luck!
Gemma Chaplin says
I’ve recieved mine and its based on 7 accepted loans and 8 rejected loans. The letter makes it clear at various points that because a lot of people have claimed and theres limited funds (unknown amount at the moment) we will get a substantially reduced payment. On the money saving sites its estimated that for every £100 we might get around £5 to £10 back. Theres over 50,000 claims with compensation looking at about £50 million minimum, chances are theres a lot less than that available once everything is sold off so it’s going to be a lot less than the amount quoted but as I did take the loans and did understand the crazy interest? I’m happy that I’ll get anything. Yes they took advantage but I was happy enough for a quick fix at the time!
Richard Head says
I’ll accept all unwanted refunds. Cash and all major debit & credit cards accepted. Thanks all.
David Gray says
I have got the email of what my claim is worth and I’m not expecting anything of any value back. I did read that they will come off my credit file, is that correct. I would be happy if it’s true.
Richard Head says
Donate to me. Thank you.
Tina says
Hi just got my email saying how much redress I’m due but obviously don’t know what percentage back will be so will wait and see, what I am more pleased about however is the fact that all these loans that have been accepted as miss sold will be wiped from my credit file making things more affordable to me in the future so very happy with that
Liss says
I’ve not received an email yet, I still have an outstanding balance of £720 that I stopped paying in 2016 when I submitted my original complaint.
I took out over 50 loans in 4 years starting at £100 every month and eventually nearer £1000 per month. Some months I took out 3 loans and I was also using other lenders to pay off.
I also had a gambling problem, which was exasperated by needing money to pay off debts. The cycle only stopped when I just stopped paying and admitted to myself this was a problem. My credit rating was f*cked anyway and I was at rock bottom.
Even if I don’t get a penny back from them, I’m happier now than I’ve been in years. I get paid my wages every month and I no longer use them all to pay off loans. I’ve been clean from gambling for nearly a year. I no longer lie to my husband about why I have no money. I don’t have to feel guilty for not buying my kid’s new shoes because I can afford things again.
The only thing I would ask for is my credit file to be updated, with the Wonga loans deleted. Then hopefully I can get a new mortgage and live a “normal life” after all this!
Laura says
That’s amazing, well done to you! Onwards and upwards
Chris says
Glad to hear things are better for you now, been there minus the gambling, I was in a lot of debt ages ago, which took me years to finally get out of, it was mainly payday lenders including Wonga. One good thing I will say about Wonga in fairness, I got into debt with them as one of many I was in trouble with and they (Wonga) actually were quite understanding, offered an arrangement and even when I broke it, I got back in contact with them to apologize for not keeping it up and they offered another arrangement. I never had any knocks on the door from their debt collectors or anything like that, even though I was kind of expecting it because I had heard they could be heavy-handed. Perhaps those others didn’t get in contact with Wonga. That can make a big difference. Legally, once a person in debt gets in contact and explains their situation, by law, the company has to show sympathy but if they don’t get in contact, that sort of gives them license to get heavy. All the same, I’m not sorry Wonga went under, I think they all deserve to go the same way, they prey on people in vulnerable situations.
Alex Gladwyn says
Well done liss. I’m in exactly the same boat as you i was using wonga to feed my gambling addiction when I spent all my wages. I then used other sites such as sunny and myjar to pay off wonga loans and Visa versa. Was about 6k in debt. Was taken out a wonga loan every month for about 6 years.
Will be interesting to see how much money if any i receive back.
Rachel says
Ive had an email. had one loan accepted. £12.50 refund awaiting in January
Not been worth the wait for me really had around 20 loans out with wonga between 2011-2013 all when I was young nieve unemployed anything from £50 To £400 was borrowed at a time.
Will be happy when its removed from my credit file.
Paula says
So I got my Wonga email noting my claim was for £3,500 but I will receive significantly less than this. How do you know how much it will be? I know it won’t be until January.
Danny says
I took out 68 loans with these in 6 years shocking to think what a trap I was in. By the sounds of it they will probably decline them all when I get an email!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would be astonished if your claim is declined. But you are likely to only get a small percentage of it back in the end.
Tony says
I have contacted wonga about 10 times they keep saying there are delays . What happens if the deadline comes can we still appeal against there answers.
Graeme says
It’s very interesting to see in this forum how many people were trapped in the month after month Pay day loan cycle for years. I know personally I knew the interest rates when I was taking the loans out but I ended up having no option, the total of the two loans I was taking out each month was more than my total salary. These companies must have known what was happening to people like me but never helped or offered advice, just took the charges and interest, and waited for you to reapply, raising credit limits regularly. So glad I am out of this cycle and there are regulations in place to ensure other people can’t fall victim to greedy money lenders
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Were all the loans from Wonga? or were you borrowing from another lender as well?
Graeme says
At the worst of it was borrowing over £1000 a month from Wonga and the same from QuickQuid. I used to have 2 days to pay the loans and get new ones before direct debits started going out. Funny thing is, can’t even remember why I initially borrowed the money, laterally I was just taking the loans out to pay off others. Horrendous situation
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Then you need to send a complaint to QuickQuid immediately! There is a template letter here: https://debtcamel.co.uk/payday-loan-refunds/.
Pauline says
If they have my old bank details how will i get my refund as they need my new bank details. There is no where on the form to update this?
Graeme says
I think most people will be in the same boat with out of date debit cards registered with them and addresses so I would expect any refunds to be sent out as cheques. I am sure they will confirm all this with everyone once they have calculated compensation
Graeme says
Yes thank you I have my complaint registered with QuickQuid, it’s now in the 8 weeks for them to reply. I think my case is quite strong so will be taking this all the way
Hayden Watkiss says
Had a response today from wonga after waiting only around 4 weeks :) , accepted 10 and rejected 4. Total amount £2200 which hopefully if we do get 20p to the pound i should be getting something around £440 which is better than nothing.
Just wanted to say thank you sara for all the information that you provide been such a great help :)
This is what the email contained if anybody wants a read:
The Joint Administrators have assessed your claim and can confirm that it has been partially accepted. Your assessed claim amount is explained in the table below. A full breakdown of your loan history can be found at the end of this email.
Please be patient with us in respect of your payment. Payments will be made once all claims have been received and assessed. All claims must be submitted by 30 September 2019 and we expect to have made a payment to successful claimants by 30 January 2020.
Please be aware, the payment you receive will be significantly smaller than your accepted claim amount. This is because it is expected that the total value of all accepted claims for customers/creditors received will significantly exceed the money available to be shared out. The money available to be shared out will not be known until all of Wonga’s assets have been sold or realised and certain costs and deductions have been taken into account. Accordingly, it is not possible at this stage to estimate what percentage of your accepted claim value will be paid.
GimmeMyMoney says
Again I feel like I need to say this is not a comment directed at you. But this is pretty scandalous that myself as someone who complained to Wonga over a year ago is still waiting. Baffling
Kelly Reid says
I complained in 2017 and I’m still waiting for an email from the administrators too.
Hayden W says
I really do feel for you, there doesn’t seem to be any form of organisation when it comes to sorting claims. I take it you have contacted them to check that they have received your complaint? Perhaps try re-sending your complaint as your 1 year old one might have got buried at the bottom of a massive pile. To be honest i think we will all be left extremely unhappy when we receive the actual payment figure. It could be as bad as 1% which would mean £22 for me.
Laura says
What difference does that make? If it makes you feel less hard done by I complained in 2017 took it to FOS and was awarded £14,759 two days before they went into administration but it doesn’t make my story any more deserving than anyone else’s. They will get through everyone, working in date order is hardly of benefit. We all need to just wait and see
GimmeMyMoney says
I’m not saying anyone is more deserving. My point is the administrator was able to respond to Hayden inside four weeks, yet Wonga were taking ages.
I’m not counting on anything back from them. So anything is a bonus. The FOS are just as bad
Danny says
I complained in 2016…..
I am still waiting…..
Malcolm Short says
Hi all,
Just to let you know, my cousin, who works for Grant Thornton UK LLP and has been dealing with the Wonga complaints, told me that he is working on a spreadsheet just now and has been calculating claims using 17.5%. He has no idea what this is for but just been told to do the calculations and send the infomation on to his boss. Now I don’t know if that means the refunds will be 17.5% of your claim amount or just a completetly separate thing he’s doing, but thought you might like to know as it might be relevant. Anyway, fingers crossed you get more than this as it’s pretty pathetic. Malky
Andrew says
Its unlikely to be related to the payout, as this will only be calculated once all claims are in, which won’t be known until the end of September. It would be pointless Grant Thornton trying to work this out at this stage.
Chris says
I’d be happy with 17.5%! I expect the final sum to max out at 5%.
Nina says
Sounds like a tax deduction? I would be happy to get the interest back on mine, hate the term “significantly smaller” . I just hope it’s fair across the board when they start paying out claims, if it’s pretty straightforward with the majority of cases hopefully fingers crossed we get it before Xmas than end of January?!
Chris says
I’ve had no emails or letters since the last update in May of this year.
Pretty ashamed to say it but I had a total of 74 loans, totalling £5811, between January 2011 and September 2016.
During 2012 – 2015 I also took out 7 loans with Pounds to Pocket totalling £1450 and then between 2015 & 2016 a further 2 loans from Lending Stream with a total of £250.
What the hell was i thinking?!
Fortunately I’ve managed to turn it around and get out of the vicious circle of payday loans!
Hopefully everyone who found themselves in such a desperate situation has been able to come through it and gets something at the end of it, regardless of how much.
Christian says
Hi all
I got an email from “Wogna” dated the 24/08/19
Basically stating my claim had been partially accepted !! (How nice of them) with some interesting caveats … including this statement below.
“Please be aware, the payment you receive will be significantly smaller than your accepted claim value, as explained above. How will I be paid?
Will my credit file be updated?
All loans that have been accepted as part of your redress claim value will be removed from your credit file. Please note that, due to the volume of claims, this could take a number of months”
I think a lot of people myself included aren’t going to very happy or surprised at the time all this takes and the compensation offered…
Keep smiling :)
Geoffrey Rippington says
Have you even bothered to read any of the previous comments on this thread?
Nothing new here.
Claire says
I had my mail today, the first two loans which were a lot lower than my take home wage were rejected, but then the next 8 which were close or higher than my take home wage were accepted.
Turtle says
Got my Email today. Accepted claim value £11,200
Gutting that I won’t be getting anything near this
Caroline says
Hi there I am completely new to this and looking for a bit of help and advice please. I have only just found out about payday loan refunds.
I sent a complaint through to Wonga through their portal on their site and received a reply today stating that my claim had been assessed and partially accepted.
Out of 11 loans taken out with them they have only accept 4 of them. (note on letter states total and interest and fees on these 4 loans £441.08, total compensatory interest £103.49. Accepted claim value £197.88) Do you think that I have a case to take this further to claim for the other 7 of them which were rejected? If so what is my next step from here? If someone could kindly advise.
Appreciate all your help as I am completely new to this.
Thank you.
Iain123 says
No. Wonga are in Administration and we’ll all be lucky to see any cash.
If you’ve had other payday loans it’s worthwhile reading through the comments here, you’ll get a lot of experienced advice.
Chris says
I think you can ask the administrators to look again but, tbh, I’d be surprised if they find more in your favour. Not all my loans were accepted and I think this is the reality for most claimants. You’ll only get a fraction of the sum in any case.
Diddy says
Had an email this morning with a redress figure of £9,788……it would be so lovely to get that back but only excepting a few hundred at best, still better than nothing at all.
Between Wonga and WDA, I have a redress figure of over £18,000 😭
Sara (Debt Camel) says
did you use any other payday lenders?
Diddy says
Yeah loads….most have gone bust but the ones that are still operational have had pretty good success. Got 4 with FSO (LS, SLL, peachy and MyJar) 2 of which have been picked up and with an adjudicator. Fingers crossed 🙏🏻🙏🏻.
Jordan says
Got my email today. 29 loan within the space of 18 months all rejected. 22 of them within the space of 8 months. A lot of them were loans of £1000+ which miles over 30% of my monthly salary. Some loans were taken within days of one another. I’m surprised all have been rejected.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That doesn’t sound right.
Your email should have had the following section:
However, it is the Joint Administrators preference that you come to us first within 21 days of the date of this email to appeal your decision.
To appeal to the Joint Administrators, please respond by email providing the following:
a written explanation as to the exceptional circumstance or error in your claim value, and which loan(s) you believe are affected
factual evidence to support the above, for example a bank statement, payslip, doctor’s certificate, etc.
I suggest you go back to them and point out the large number of loans over a short period and enclosing a bank statemnt or payslip (or both) as proof of your income at the time.
Jordan says
Thanks for the advice Sara.
Lisa says
Im so confused with mine. It has accepted 4/12 loans. Email states partially accepted. Adds up to 181.60 with total fees and interest however in the “accepted claim value” states £0. I’m unsure what this means. Pointless doing the online chat they were useless 🤷♀️
Chilli bean says
Did you have an outstanding balance they have offset it against?
Lisa says
Not that Im aware of. I’ve emailed the administrators to appeal the decision anyhow as all loans were in a 12 month period some months 2 loans per month. Ive also added about this in the email so Im sure I will find out in due course.
Andy says
I had my email yesterday , all 13 loans were accepted and my refund is 1056 pound , so probably get the 56 if I’m lucky 😂
Andy says
They should owe you what the refund is really see how it feels to be in debt 😡
Tracie says
I got my email yesterday.
If I receive only the interest I’ll be happy.
So glad these companies are being taken to bat for their mistakes. I’m sure like many other people you too are waiting to hear from MoneyShop, Wageday Advance etc.
Good luck with your claims something is better than nothing
Charlie H says
Wonder how long it will be before i get an email? It almost seems that those that havent had a pre-existing offer from Wonga are getting reponses. Oh well, guess its a waiting game until the next of this month to hear.
Sara, I take it that if you have an offer in place already from just before they went into administration, that when they review it, it will be at least that amount (Albeit we will only get a tiny proportion of that in the end). I ask, as when i last spoke to an agent at Wonga, they indicated the administrators would look at all loans including those over the 6 year point which the original offer did not.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Yes, the offer they made you before is the minimum your redress will be set at.
Ian says
I still owe wonga 300 from a previous loan and they are expecting the full amount to be paid where as if my claim successful i might receive 10% of it ( no not had my email either) so if i got £3000 back which works out to be £300 can i pay them 10% back why is it they want full amounts back they cant pay us in full so why are we having to pay them in full when i cant afford to, thanks
Chilli bean says
Don’t pay till you get notification of your redress.
They will offset the outstanding in full against the amount BEFORE it is reduced.
So if you owe 300 and get told you would have been owed 3000 you will then be given back a proportion of 2700.
If you pay that money has gone, and you’ll only get a pittance of it back as part of the final reduced payment.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I agree with this.
Ian says
Im on a repayment plan £11 a month dont think i have an option of just not paying
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Well yes you do… they may get cross but what are they going to do?
Mark Saunders says
How will the payments be paid? I’m guessing a cheque in the post…? I have a claim accepted for 2500 but I’m guessing will be about 100 pound by the end of it