Some advice please - Wonga

*Foolish*

Hi all, I have been visiting the DFW threads for a while now and have gained a lot of information that has helped me so far. Thank you all for that.
My current situation is one that I am not proud of, I hold my hands up that only I am to blame, but I am trying my best to sort it out.
I got into the vicious circle of payday loans and effectively 'robbing Peter to pay Paul'. There are 3 companies that I am currently dealing with, 2 of which have agreed a repayment plan with me, they were very helpful and have taken some strain off me. One of them happily arranged the repayment plan without needing to see my SoA and the other asked only for the SoA, and arranged my plan.
I am having a real issue with Wonga, it took countless emails from me, every single day and then I had to default before they would respond. They asked for my SoA, which I sent to them, it has taken them almost 3 weeks to respond and this is what they have said:

"Hi,

We have used the information you provided to evaluate the circumstances of the customer.

We really do appreciate your current financial difficulties; however, on the basis of the information you provided, We also need a list of creditors and the amounts outstanding with them, please provide us with your reason for your current financial hardship, along with any evidence to support that fact.

We do require the following:
REDUCTION IN SALARY- Salary Receipt
Bill prints or proof of debt ;
P45 if currently unemployed or
Proof of Benefits. "

My SoA has a list of my creditors and my outstanding amounts. There are various reasons to my current situation, however I do not particularly have any evidence of it, other than my SoA.
Do I have to send them bill prints or proof of debt? Surely that is what my SoA is showing them? I do not have a reduction in salary, I am not unemployed and I do not receive any benefits.

The bottom line is I cannot afford to repay them the full amount, without getting into more debt, which I am obviously trying to avoid. I don't understand why they can't be as accommodating as the other companies, instead they are making me more stressed.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Do I need to give them more information, or is what I have provided enough?

Thanks in advance.

R_P_W

So you have not lost your job? Your salary has not reduced? So your income is same as when you borrowed their money? What has changed so that you now can't pay it back?

From their perspective why would they take the strain off you?

matttye

They're not entitled to any of the information they're requested, but you might as well work with them to come to an agreement to avoid court proceedings if it ever comes to that. Wonga is one of the less 'evil' PDL companies and they're usually pretty accommodating.

Do you have written agreements of your other repayment plans? Did you tell them your salary had been reduced? A reduced salary isn't the only reason why someone would want to lower repayments; increased outgoings is a reason and they have to take that into account.

michael1983l

I would not give them anything more than your SOA, politely tell them that the SOA has all the information they require to make an informed decision. Also politely point out that you can only pay them what you can afford. To help you facilitate this it would be adventagous if they agreed to a repayment plan and froze the interest. They are under no obligation to do this but will do if it is in their best interests.

*Foolish*

R_P_W wrote: »

So you have not lost your job? Your salary has not reduced? So your income is same as when you borrowed their money? What has changed so that you now can't pay it back?

From their perspective why would they take the strain off you?

I appreciate their perspective. Believe me, I would prefer not to be in this situation.

matttye wrote: »

They're not entitled to any of the information they're requested, but you might as well work with them to come to an agreement to avoid court proceedings if it ever comes to that. Wonga is one of the less 'evil' PDL companies and they're usually pretty accommodating.

Do you have written agreements of your other repayment plans? Did you tell them your salary had been reduced? A reduced salary isn't the only reason why someone would want to lower repayments; increased outgoings is a reason and they have to take that into account.

Thank you. I have my agreements from the 2 other PDL companies on email. I didn't tell them my salary had been reduced. It is due to my outgoings, which obviously my SOA shows.

michael1983l wrote: »

I would not give them anything more than your SOA, politely tell them that the SOA has all the information they require to make an informed decision. Also politely point out that you can only pay them what you can afford. To help you facilitate this it would be adventagous if they agreed to a repayment plan and froze the interest. They are under no obligation to do this but will do if it is in their best interests.

Thanks for that.

matttye

michael1983l wrote: »

I would not give them anything more than your SOA, politely tell them that the SOA has all the information they require to make an informed decision. Also politely point out that you can only pay them what you can afford. To help you facilitate this it would be adventagous if they agreed to a repayment plan and froze the interest. They are under no obligation to do this but will do if it is in their best interests.

I think the OP should ask "What harm will it do me to send them what they're asking for?"

If the answer is "nothing" then it's worth it just to keep them sweet!

michael1983l

matttye wrote: »

I think the OP should ask "What harm will it do me to send them what they're asking for?"

If the answer is "nothing" then it's worth it just to keep them sweet!

You should never submit more information than is required, it might come back to bite you on the bum in the future if you do. It is unreasonable of any creditor to ask for more than an SOA and even then an SOA is submitted at the borrowers discretion. Only a court can demand an SOA or further information, everyone else can just ask.

I do not think that playing Wonga's games will improve his situation if he has been entirely honest on his SOA. So therefore, I would not supply the information.

matttye

michael1983l wrote: »

You should never submit more information than is required, it might come back to bite you on the bum in the future if you do. It is unreasonable of any creditor to ask for more than an SOA and even then an SOA is submitted at the borrowers discretion. Only a court can demand an SOA or further information, everyone else can just ask.

I do not think that playing Wonga's games will improve his situation if he has been entirely honest on his SOA. So therefore, I would not supply the information.

I respectfully disagree that it won't improve his situation. If Wonga see evidence that he is indeed paying off those other creditors they might be more entitled to agree a repayment plan.

Anyone could submit an SOA saying they pay more than they actually do.

You said it yourself, Wonga isn't obliged to agree to any repayment plan. There's nothing wrong with playing hardball if you don't mind it going to court, but many people would rather avoid that. Taking reasonable steps to come to an agreement is wise.

FireWyrm

matttye wrote: »

You said it yourself, Wonga isn't obliged to agree to any repayment plan. There's nothing wrong with playing hardball if you don't mind it going to court, but many people would rather avoid that. Taking reasonable steps to come to an agreement is wise.

Taking reasonable steps to co-operate with a creditor is of course wise. However, Wonga are requesting confidential and sensitive information that is not theirs to request. Only a court can ask for this information and you must comply with that. Sometimes, these companies take the mickey and place themselves in a position that they simply have no right to take. Being in debt is not a criminal offence any longer and these companies should be reminded that a debtor does not belong to them. To even request this information is impertinent to say the least. The OP has sent them all they need to know. If Wonga insist on taking him/her to court, then those who DO have the authority will examine further evidence if necessary. Until that time, the OP is NOT obliged to send the information requested or to comply in any way other than to make a reasonable offer based on their own assessment of their finances and ability to pay.

matttye

FireWyrm wrote: »

Taking reasonable steps to co-operate with a creditor is of course wise. However, Wonga are requesting confidential and sensitive information that is not theirs to request. Only a court can ask for this information and you must comply with that. Sometimes, these companies take the mickey and place themselves in a position that they simply have no right to take. Being in debt is not a criminal offence any longer and these companies should be reminded that a debtor does not belong to them. To even request this information is impertinent to say the least. The OP has sent them all they need to know. If Wonga insist on taking him/her to court, then those who DO have the authority will examine further evidence if necessary. Until that time, the OP is NOT obliged to send the information requested or to comply in any way other than to make a reasonable offer based on their own assessment of their finances and ability to pay.

Wonga can ask for any information they like, there's just no obligation to give it to them. Not everyone wants to end up with a CCJ and sometimes that means cooperating with the creditor before it gets to court. If Wonga are saying they'll only agree the proposed repayment plan if he provides them with that information, which the court would more than likely ask for if they took him to court anyway, then he might as well just send it to Wonga.

Let me make it clear: I know Wonga have no right to see the information they are requesting. I'm just saying that it might be in the OP's interest to send it anyway if he doesn't want court proceedings to ensue, as Wonga are not obliged to accept a repayment plan.

*Foolish*

Thank you all for your help. I have responded to them today and decided not to give any further information at this time.