payday loan problems - ask the ombudsman

financial_ombudsman_representative

New Payday loan broker rules announced:
The FCA has announced additional rules for companies that charge upfront fees when trying to find you a loan.

These rules will be put in place from 02 January 2015. This mean that the companies will have to be a lot clearer about the fees they’re charging.
Companies must give you the following information before asking for your account details.

· Their legal name.

· They must state if they’re a credit broker or a lender.

· Clear indication that a fee will be taken and when.

· The amount of the fee they will be charging.

They must ask for your agreement either in writing or email. If your details are passed on to another company then they too must follow the same rules.
You’re still entitled to a refund if you haven’t accepted a loan that the company found for you.

If you have any problems with a loan broker then contact us at [EMAIL="paydayhelp@financial-ombudsman.org.uk"][email protected][/EMAIL] or give us a call on 0300 123 9123.
Sarah

financial_ombudsman_representative

Happy Friday everyone!

While this board is dedicated to payday loan problems, we know that there are a whole host of money worries that might be keeping you awake at night.

To try and help sort out your worries ahead of Christmas, all this month the ombudsman is providing our top hints and tips for a whole host of money problems in our very own ombudsman advent calendar.

Head over to our Twitter page @financialombuds to find out more. Today we're focusing on store cards, so it's worth a read if you plan to do any Christmas shopping this weekend!

https://twitter.com/financialombuds

Lips_and_Lashes

Hello

I took out a Wonga loan in 2012 (I believe) which has been passed on to Portfolio Debt Recovery. I have been repaying this via my DMP with Step Change. I was expecting an email stating the outstanding balance would be written off due to the forbearance programme.

I am certain that my loan was not affordable and I know someone who earned far more than me who did have their debt written off - they took out the loan around the same time as me. We were both the similar amount of days in arrears about 400+. Their loan was not passed on to a DCA so I thought they might not have had to write the debts off of those who's had been but after searching the internet, it is obvious that they have wrote others off who's debts had been passed on to a DCA.

I made a formal complaint against Wonga almost a month ago and have not received any update, only an automated response despite having contacting them several times.

Do I have to wait until I receive a final response (which I doubt I will) or the 8 weeks is up before I escalate my complaint? Or can you help me now?

I also believe that there are unreasonable and unjustified charges within this debt.

If you can help in any way I'd be very grateful.

Thanks.

boo_star

Lips_and_Lashes wrote: »

Hello

I took out a Wonga loan in 2012 (I believe) which has been passed on to Portfolio Debt Recovery. I have been repaying this via my DMP with Step Change. I was expecting an email stating the outstanding balance would be written off due to the forbearance programme.

I am certain that my loan was not affordable and I know someone who earned far more than me who did have their debt written off - they took out the loan around the same time as me. We were both the similar amount of days in arrears about 400+. Their loan was not passed on to a DCA so I thought they might not have had to write the debts off of those who's had been but after searching the internet, it is obvious that they have wrote others off who's debts had been passed on to a DCA.

I made a formal complaint against Wonga almost a month ago and have not received any update, only an automated response despite having contacting them several times.

Do I have to wait until I receive a final response (which I doubt I will) or the 8 weeks is up before I escalate my complaint? Or can you help me now?

I also believe that there are unreasonable and unjustified charges within this debt.

If you can help in any way I'd be very grateful.

Thanks.

You'll need to wait either 8 weeks or until you receive a Final Response letter (whichever is sooner) before taking it to the FOS.

Bear in mind that what Wonga offered was voluntary, so just because your friend got it doesn't mean you will or should.

Lips_and_Lashes

boo_star wrote: »

You'll need to wait either 8 weeks or until you receive a Final Response letter (whichever is sooner) before taking it to the FOS.

Bear in mind that what Wonga offered was voluntary, so just because your friend got it doesn't mean you will or should.

But surely that is unfair if they are just randomly picking names out of a hat.

They state:

'For approximately 330,000 customers who are in arrears of 30 days plus as at 2 October 2014, AND who would not have received a loan if presented under our new affordability criteria, we have agreed to write off all outstanding debt'

I definitely fall under that category!

ilikewatch

Lips_and_Lashes wrote: »

Hello

I took out a Wonga loan in 2012 (I believe) which has been passed on to Portfolio Debt Recovery. I have been repaying this via my DMP with Step Change. I was expecting an email stating the outstanding balance would be written off due to the forbearance programme.

I am certain that my loan was not affordable and I know someone who earned far more than me who did have their debt written off - they took out the loan around the same time as me. We were both the similar amount of days in arrears about 400+. Their loan was not passed on to a DCA so I thought they might not have had to write the debts off of those who's had been but after searching the internet, it is obvious that they have wrote others off who's debts had been passed on to a DCA.

I made a formal complaint against Wonga almost a month ago and have not received any update, only an automated response despite having contacting them several times.

Do I have to wait until I receive a final response (which I doubt I will) or the 8 weeks is up before I escalate my complaint? Or can you help me now?

I also believe that there are unreasonable and unjustified charges within this debt.

If you can help in any way I'd be very grateful.

Thanks.

Don't Portfolio Recovery specialise in buying delinquent debt? If so, and they have already bought the debt, then I would guess that it's no longer anything to do with Wonga as there is no longer any outstanding debt with them?

Lips_and_Lashes

ilikewatch wrote: »

Don't Portfolio Recovery specialise in buying delinquent debt? If so, and they have already bought the debt, then I would guess that it's no longer anything to do with Wonga as there is no longer any outstanding debt with them?

I'm not quite sure what you mean by delinquent but I previously had a repayment plan agreed with Wonga which was stuck by for months. Admittedly near Christmas and a change in circumstances/health meant I did end up missing a few months repayment to them which is probably why the debt was passed on.

Portfolio Recovery have already stated that they bought debts from Wonga in good faith and have put others accounts on hold whilst they reach a resolution.

Wonga has said that even if the debt has been passed to the DCA then they, as the original creditor, are still dealing with the debtor. There is information available to prove the Wonga have written off debts for people who it was passed on (like my case). They also said during the first few announcements about the forbearance programme that despite any debts being passed to a third party then they would deal with all that.

I'm not trying to not take responsibility of my debt, I do and am paying back what I owe but why should I be penalised if others in my situation haven't been? This puts me at a disadvantage and the company should not just be able to pick names out a hat. There is a system, I meet the criteria for the system.

financial_ombudsman_representative

Lips_and_Lashes wrote: »

Hello

I took out a Wonga loan in 2012 (I believe) which has been passed on to Portfolio Debt Recovery. I have been repaying this via my DMP with Step Change. I was expecting an email stating the outstanding balance would be written off due to the forbearance programme.

I am certain that my loan was not affordable and I know someone who earned far more than me who did have their debt written off - they took out the loan around the same time as me. We were both the similar amount of days in arrears about 400+. Their loan was not passed on to a DCA so I thought they might not have had to write the debts off of those who's had been but after searching the internet, it is obvious that they have wrote others off who's debts had been passed on to a DCA.

I made a formal complaint against Wonga almost a month ago and have not received any update, only an automated response despite having contacting them several times.

Do I have to wait until I receive a final response (which I doubt I will) or the 8 weeks is up before I escalate my complaint? Or can you help me now?

I also believe that there are unreasonable and unjustified charges within this debt.

If you can help in any way I'd be very grateful.

Thanks.

Hello,

It sounds like you’ve done all the right things to raise your concerns with Wonga and it’s a shame they aren’t responding to you. If you'd like us to get in touch with Wonga for you to find out what’s going on, let us know.

When Wonga decided to pass your loan to a different company, you were technically no longer a customer of Wonga as your debt had been sold to Portfolio Debt Recovery. Wonga set their own criteria to decide what loans would be written off and it may be that your loan did not fit into its criteria.

It sounds as though you have separate concerns that the loans weren’t suitable for you in the first place and this is something we may be able to help with.

If you want to chat about this further send us an email at [EMAIL="paydayhelp@financial-ombudsman.org.uk"][email protected][/EMAIL] or visit our website where you can talk to us on web chat.

Kind regards,
Amy

woottonite

I run a small business. For the last two weeks I have been receiving phone calls on a daily basis asking to speak to xxxxxxxxx. I have said that she is not here (true) and after the 2nd or third call told them to ring the person on her private number if it was a personal matter. On the next call I said this was a business line and to please delete the number from their database. This they said they wouldn't do. I have traced their number to a loan company called pixieloans. The person they are chasing is an employee but works only infrequently. I am guessing they have found my number from the internet as I am sure my employee would not have given it to them (as they claim) I don't want to embarrass my employee by mentioning it unless I have to. Is there any way I can get them to stop calling the office?
Thanks for your help

financial_ombudsman_representative

woottonite wrote: »

I run a small business. For the last two weeks I have been receiving phone calls on a daily basis asking to speak to xxxxxxxxx. I have said that she is not here (true) and after the 2nd or third call told them to ring the person on her private number if it was a personal matter. On the next call I said this was a business line and to please delete the number from their database. This they said they wouldn't do. I have traced their number to a loan company called pixieloans. The person they are chasing is an employee but works only infrequently. I am guessing they have found my number from the internet as I am sure my employee would not have given it to them (as they claim) I don't want to embarrass my employee by mentioning it unless I have to. Is there any way I can get them to stop calling the office?
Thanks for your help

Hello,


This seems like a tricky situation to deal with. I think the best way forward is to speak to your employee.

If you’re employee has provided their work number then the business will try and call them on this line. Your employee will need to ask them to remove the number from their system, and provide an alternative method of contact to stop any calls to your office.

I’m sorry there’s not much else we can do. If it turns out that your employee hasn’t provided your office number to Pixie Loans then the Information Commissioners office may be able to help. To see their website click here



Kind regards,

Sarah