MSE News: Wonga busted by the FCA: 330,000 to have their loan wiped

KJJ_68

I did not recieve an email regarding my loan wich was over 400 days in arrears. I am also on a DMP to cover my Wonga Loan. I felt that I should have been one of those affected so I altered the template given by a previous user on this forum and sent an e-mail to Wonga customer complaints and Voila at 10PM lat night I got an email saying that my debt would be written off at the end of October.

Here is a copy of the email I sent.

<Name>

<Address>

<Date Of Birth>

<email associated with wonga account>

Dear Sir or Madam,

Regarding my Wonga Loan. I believe these loans should never have been issued due to affordability checks not being undertaken, and that I was overlooked in the recent redress action.

Evidence for the failure to carry out the affordibility checks when I took out the loan, is that I entered into a debt managment plan which was accepted by you, shortly after taking the loan out, and that my account is over 400 days in arrears.

I have had no communication from wonga regarding this which leads me to beleive that my account was overlooked.

As such, I would like to make a formal complaint. The resolution

I would like to take place is as follows:
1. All outstanding debts cleared from the accounts
2. Defaults expunged from my credit file.

I note that you are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and, in result of a deadlock letter being issued, I am able to refer this complaint to the Financial Ombudsman.

Kind Regards

Sinhanada

I have just received my email yesterday evening regarding this. My original default was in October 2010 for £1526 - I had entered into a DMP and had been paying this until May this year. In May I managed to receive some money and paid all of my creditors except Wonga who insisted the default was for over £1100 and did not register a payment since 2013.

I contacted the Ombudsman after complaining to Wonga and Wonga eventually reduced this to £400. I was about to pay this on the 1st November and received the email stating I now owed them nothing! Now this is a heck of a turn up and I for one am thrilled!

As for people saying I accepted this and didn'd complain when I received the money, you're right. I also accepted four other payday loans, two maxed out credit cards and a maxed out overdraft. I had the choice initially not to take these out, but after you start you cannot afford to live if you don't take a second loan, then I was robbing Peter to pay Paul. I'm finally out of this cycle but to everyone else stuck in it, there is a way out and good luck to you all

KJJ_68

Sinhanada wrote: »

As for people saying I accepted this and didn'd complain when I received the money, you're right. I also accepted four other payday loans, two maxed out credit cards and a maxed out overdraft. I had the choice initially not to take these out, but after you start you cannot afford to live if you don't take a second loan, then I was robbing Peter to pay Paul. I'm finally out of this cycle but to everyone else stuck in it, there is a way out and good luck to you all

That is exactally the same situation I was in, and there were companies who were saying that it didn't matter if I had outstanding payday loans, they would still offer me money. I ended up in a complex juggling act of paying off loans early to take further loans out to pay off other loans. It was a highly stressfull time and resulted in me having a breakdown. Anyone who has not been in the situation cannot understand or comprehend what you are going through, I was in denial of the situation I was in and too proud to ask for help. Payday loans can provide a useful service if they are properly managed and regulated, but they are still a very high risk proposition for all parties involved.

mollymegan

I really can't see what is taking them so long to update accounts, I've now received en email stating
'We agreed a repayment arrangement to help you pay your outstanding balance in an affordable way. Unfortunately we haven’t received your repayment of £55.29 on 2014-10-21. As we mentioned in our previous email, this means that your repayment arrangement has now been cancelled.'
I suppose I'll start receiving post about it now as well.

Sinhanada

Molly, if you have not received the email stating that they are wiping your debt then unfortunately you need to keep paying as per your payment arrangement. It may be worth calling them to find out if you qualify, but I would suggest writing to them using their complaints procedure if you feel that this applied to you. Good luck!

Reece_

Has anyone had any luck with Wonga, regarding refunds on historical loans, not just present ones?
I qualified for a current loan to have the interest wiped but on the grounds that everyone getting refunds is based upon the fact they wouldn't of met criteria that should of been in place, is there not a case to ask for money back on previous loans too?
I've been one of those that paid one and got another, I never defaulted any and I know it's my problem as such, but I'm sure that realistically they should never of granted me any of the loans I ever had with them.

James_B.

Reece_ wrote: »

Has anyone had any luck with Wonga, regarding refunds on historical loans, not just present ones?
I qualified for a current loan to have the interest wiped but on the grounds that everyone getting refunds is based upon the fact they wouldn't of met criteria that should of been in place, is there not a case to ask for money back on previous loans too?
I've been one of those that paid one and got another, I never defaulted any and I know it's my problem as such, but I'm sure that realistically they should never of granted me any of the loans I ever had with them.

That makes no sense. You can't argue that it was unaffordable if you paid them back.

Reece_

Just because I've repaid them doesn't mean i should ever of actually been granted the loan in the first place, I may of wrangled ways of paying but that doesn't mean they were affordable or that I would of met their new affordability criteria. They've taken the interest off my current loan as I wouldn't of met their new criteria for it despite the fact I would of repaid and I'm sure previous loans would not of met that criteria either.

mollymegan

Sinhanada wrote: »

Molly, if you have not received the email stating that they are wiping your debt then unfortunately you need to keep paying as per your payment arrangement. It may be worth calling them to find out if you qualify, but I would suggest writing to them using their complaints procedure if you feel that this applied to you. Good luck!

I have received the email, my debt is being cleared completely that's what is annoying I even phoned on Monday and they said don't pay.

xgingerx

mollymegan wrote: »

I really can't see what is taking them so long to update accounts, I've now received en email stating
'We agreed a repayment arrangement to help you pay your outstanding balance in an affordable way. Unfortunately we haven’t received your repayment of £55.29 on 2014-10-21. As we mentioned in our previous email, this means that your repayment arrangement has now been cancelled.'
I suppose I'll start receiving post about it now as well.

HI Molly, its ok, these are just system generated emails that they cant stop, i had same issue and called them and said to ignore, they cant stop until they reset the balance to Zero,so dont worry and just ignore, should be in next few weeks its cleared