Loan Broker Refund Help

katie1168

Hi, Hoping for some advice please. My son applied with Payday Express for a loan back in Oct 13 which he received. He went away on active tour in Nov 13. His bank statements are posted to my home address. We received his quarterly statement in Feb 14. On his request I opened the statement and to my shock he had a total of over £700 removed from his account from a large number of what we now know to be money brokers. My son is adamant that he did not apply to anyone other than Payday Express. We have been lucky in the fact that only five of the companie have yet to refund him to which I will name shortly. His bank was very unhelpful to say the least. After informing them of the issue they continued to pay a further 6 payments to these brokers. With the companies than have not refunded the money we have recorded delivered letters to them on the 5th March 14 asking for refunds, not a single reply from any of them. One company even refused to accept the letter Creditmaze!(I emailed them and they have now returned the money)

This has been reported to the police and the less helpful bank. We went to CAB and they asked me to contact Payday Express and ask for a SAR report (they suggested that Payday Express) may have past my sons details onto these companies!

What shall we do now about the outstanding refunds should I write to them again or go to court?

When and if we get the SAR report what will that information disclose and if Payday Express did not carry out the SAR report correctly and or pasted my sons details on to other companies what can we do about it?

Companies that have yet to acknowledge and refund are:
MWC, UK LOAN SEARCH (GREEN LEAF) MY LOAN, MWSF AND LOANS DIRECT We phone MWC yesterday and asked when we could expect a refund and was told that we wont. I mentioned the "court" work and she replied "good luck with that" and ended the call!!!!!!!

Please advise

Katie

Tixy

You son could send a subject access request to payday express.
A subject access request is a data protection request and would show all information they hold in relation to him. That would include the details from his application, the fees they have charged him and should include the lenders they contacted on his instruction to attempt to find him a loan.

The companies he has not yet received a refund from - what did he put in the letters to them? did he write for a refund in accordance with the T&Cs on each of those companies websites? or did he write to ask for a refund stating he never gave them his details or agreed to any fee deduction?

If they don't provide a refund then his next step would be a formal written complaint (headed up as such).
He needs to then wait for their final response or a period of 8 weeks, and after that point he could then take his complaint to the financial ombudsman service.

katie1168

Thanks Tixy,

He has written to Payday Express and paid the £10 fee asking for a SAR report. My question was once we get that report if we discover that it has not been carried out correctly and or his details have been passed on to others what can we do about it?

Also he wrote telling the companies that he did not request their services nor gave permission for monies to be removed from his account and would like to have a refund.

Thanks for your advice

Tixy

If he believes that the company has not responded to the SAR in full and not provided all details required under the data protection act then his next option would be a complaint about them to the ICO.

If his details and application have been passed to other credit brokers and if that is not something he agreed to when he signed up to their services then again I would start with a formal complaint to them. After that his next port of call would be a complaint about them to the FCA.

katie1168

Many many thanks for your help

markster1971

I have had the same situation form a company called Merrywood loans. i wrote to trading standards, i am now got the Financial Conduct Authority involved, but they flaunt the law. So i am going to take them to the small claims court. if you go on this site register and put your case details , you pay about £25 if its under £5000. and you take them to court. thats what i am doing next week.

markster1971

You need to report them to Financial Conduct Authority, Also if they dont want to play ball. do what i am. take they to the small claims court. If you google small claims court. that will take you the wesbite you register, and put your case details in.

You pay about £25 i think if its under £5000, hope it helps this what i am doing.

katie1168

Markster1971 Sorry to hear you have had difficulties too. I was going to take your route with the small claims. But not sure now if this is the correct way with reading what Tixy has quoted. It was Merrywoods who were extremely rude to us on the phone the other day saying "good luck" if we tried to take them to court. I will make contact with the Financial Conduct Authority in the first instants. We have 5 companies to battle with so my way of thinking is that the £125 court fees out way £349.95 that is left outstanding for refunds. Its also a moral issue now too.

Newme34

I applied for a loan on a website that searches all lenders then passes you to a lender that apparently can help you. I had no luck and decided not to bother, then a few months later I realized that £69 went missing from my account in January of this year. I noticed the missing money straight away so decided to call my card company they gave me the details of the company that actually toke the money, but for the life of me I don't even remember giving card details to Merrywood Loans. Anyway I called up immediately to find out who they were and the lady explained that I applied for a loan from them, I was very baffled because I only heard about Merrywood when the money came out my account, anyway the lady on the other end told me that I would be refunded 7 days later. I waited 7 days and no money had been refunded, I called again for 2nd time and was told 30days I'm in a queue.

No arguments I waited 30days, 30 days came and passed no money so I called again for the 3rd time and was told 7days again as I'm in a queue. I waited again another 7 days cause I just thought its my fault I used my details somewhere why that payment came out. I waited another 7days no refund so I called once again for the 4th time but this time I calmly asked to speak to the manager, she said I can't, so I told her that I am very unhappy at the way I'm been given the run around and that I'd prefer if she was straight with me and tell if I am getting this refund or not. The lady at the other end started to get aggressive and put the phone down on me saying she's not having this. So after she put the phone down I called back but the same number connected you to another company called Orchard loans so I decided to try and speak to someone from Orchard for a way forward but it was the same lady answering to both companies.

I decided I was going to call the financial ombudsman and at this point I also visited Merrywood Loans website and read there terms and conditions. I wish I had done this in beginning. I wrote them a letter about a month now but no answer as yet. What really got to me about this company is the fact that they are liars and misleading if all I had to do is write a letter for a refund, it wouldn't have taken nothing off her to state this at beginning, then I wouldn't have wasted my time and kept calling but as I said my fault from I notice the money missing I should have checked there website. Very dishonest people and how does their dishonesty reflect on the company not good. I wouldn't advice a loan broker to anyone and especially not Merrywood Loans only out to get your money. What can I do to go forward with this company and get a refund.

[Deleted User]

Wow. That made my eyes hurt.

Anyway, for a refund, follow the instructions on their website. It's generally that you need to write a letter.

Gaz83

Newme34 wrote: »

I applied for a loan on a website that searches all lenders then passes you to a lender that apparently can help you. I had no luck and decided to not bother. Then a few months later I realized one day that £69 went missing from my account in January I realized the missing money straight away but when I called my card company they gave me the details of the company that actually toke the money, but for the life of me I don't even remember giving card details to Merrywood loans. I called up immediately to find out who they were and they explained that I applied for a loan from them, I was very baffled because I only heard about Merrywood when the money came out my account. On the phone all with a lady she said my money would be refunded 7days later. 7 days came and went, I called again and the 2nd time was told 30days I'm in a queue. No argument I waited 30days. 30 days came and passed no money so I called again was told 7days again I'm on a queue. Again I waited cause I just thought I put my details somewhere why that payment came out so it's my fault. I waited another 7days no refund so I called once but this time I calmly asked why am I been giving the run around I would prefer if she was straight with me and tell if I am getting this refund or not. The lady at the other end started to get aggressive and put the phone down and saying I can't speak to the manager. So after she put the phone down I called back but the same number connected you to another company called Orchard loans so I decided to try and speak to someone from Orchard for a way forward but it was the same lady answering to both companies, so I decided I was going to call the financial ombudsman and at this point I decided to also visit Merrywood loans website and read there terms and conditions. I wish I had done that in beginning. I wrote them a letter about a month now but no answer as yet. What really got to me about this company is the fact that they are liars and misleading if all I had to do is write a letter for a refund, it wouldn't have taken nothing off her to state this at beginning, then I wouldn't have kept calling but as I said my fault from I notice the money missing I should have checked there website. Very dishonest person on the other end and how does her dishonesty reflect on the company not good. I wouldn't advice a loan broker at all only out to get your money. What can I do to go forward with this company and get a refund.

You wait on the timescale as quoted in their T&Cs - it clearly states "all refunds will be issued within 30 working days of requests being received". 30 working days is six weeks.

Using paragraphs and spacing helps, by the way.