Complaining to Payday loan companies

mrcactus

Hi all. I think this is possibly my second post on this site, as I mainly read other people's stories and comments but fail to actually do anything about my own debt situation myself. Massive apologies in advance as this is going to be a long winded bit of writing but I want to put as much info on my current situation as possible so you get the full picture.

I want to start the ball rolling myself as my debt situation has got so bad that some days I've seen no way out and even considered ending it all.

I'm not that intelligent and always seem to do things wrong (hence why I'm here ) so I want to make sure I do everything by the book to see if I can get some money back out of these people lol.

So, like many on this thread (or site for that matter) I fell into the payday loan borrowing cycle a few years ago and has got nothing but worse ever since. Loan after loan after loan. I never fell behind on these rediculous monthly repayments, why? because of course I borrowed from another lender to pay off the other and have done that for about 3 or 4 years now.

When I've used these more than once, I mean when I have finished the last monthly payment I've gone straight back on their site and borrowed again, often for larger amounts than before and sometimes for longer.
Below is what I roughly owe, the monthly repayments and how long I have used them (if it makes a difference):

Uncle Buck: £306.20 (£35/month)
Used over and over again consecutively

MyJar: £200.48 (£50.12/month)
Used over and over again consecutively

Lending Stream: £437.30 (£168.92, £103.44, £89.72, £75.22)
Used over and over again consecutively and often had 6 loans running at the same time

Swift Sterling: £33.76 left to pay next month
Used 3 times consecutively
Pounds to Pocket: £91.91 (£45.99/month)
Used twice on 2 seperate occasions

PiggyBank: £128 left to pay next month
First time used

Ferratum: £107.20 left to pay next month
First time used

Fernovo(Quiddie): £650.08 (£162.52/month)
Fisrt time used

Safety Net Credit: £600ish (£27/month roughly)
Used all the time. Had to switch which account my pay went into to stop them taking most of my wages so now only pay their 'minimum' amount each month.

118money: £1042.02 (£115.78/month)
Fisrt time used

Personal bank loan: £134 per month (couple years left on this)
Nothing wrong with this really

I earn just over £1k per month but the minimum payments on these loans, combined with my bank loan repayments and my 6 credit card payments (that's a different story again), phone contract, it eats up almost all of my wages. I'm talking (if I'm lucky) that I'm left with £50 for the month. I live with my parents and at the moment, don't pay any rent at the moment.

When applying for these payday loans I have lied on most of the application forms where it asks what your monthly credit commitemtns are. I usually just put £200 in there. I never lie about how much I earn - I always keep that at the same figure. If I put that I earn £1k, pay out a total of £350 (credit commitments, food, rent, bills etc) wouldn't the 'lender' 'think' why does this person need a loan of £200 over 3 months when he has £650 spare income?

Also, if it's worth mentioning that when I re-apply for a new loan with the same company (if the income and expenditure form isn't already filled out) sometimes I can't remember what amounts I put into the boxes. For example: last month I may have put that I pay £100 rent, and £150 credit commitments, then this time I may have put £50 rent and £200 credit commitments. Does this not raise flags their end as the amounts keep changing?

My credit file is shocking. Surely the lenders could see such sheer amounts of lending on there when they ran that 'check' to see if they could afford to lend me the cash that I asked for? I don't really know what they can see on there when they do these checks.
I have a defaulted credit card with my bank which I am in a payment plan with to pay back £40/month, but that shows up as a default marker each month on my file...so didn't they see that!?

Just wanted to say again, I have always made payments on time.

Sorry to babble on. Do you think I would have a chance at sedning emails, letters etc asking for refunds/debt to be wiped off? I've been on DebtCamel and looked at the example letters on what to send them but am nervous and a bit confused on what to put. I want to get my facts in order before I go shooting my mouth off then looking like a complete numpty when in fact I didn't have a leg to stand on in the first place

Many thanks in advance, and sorry for the long post

LOVEHB

I have used Debt Camel templates. Firstly i put in a subject access request to see how many loans i had and how much interest i had paid. Once i had received this info i put in a formal complaint to each lender stating that i believed they had lent to me irresponsibly. I am still waiting on responses but it can be a lengthy process. May i recommend that you contact Stepchange, it will help to get some advice from them if your credit rating is trashed they will come up with a viable plan for you. Good luck!!

mrcactus

LOVEHB wrote: »

I have used Debt Camel templates. Firstly i put in a subject access request to see how many loans i had and how much interest i had paid. Once i had received this info i put in a formal complaint to each lender stating that i believed they had lent to me irresponsibly. I am still waiting on responses but it can be a lengthy process. May i recommend that you contact Stepchange, it will help to get some advice from them if your credit rating is trashed they will come up with a viable plan for you. Good luck!!

Thanks for the reply LOVEHB

How long ago did you send the emails/compalints out? I will start sending the complaints out once I've recieved all the details about my loans.

I want to get the best possible chance to get some money out of these horrendous companies, so is it worth putting stuff on there like getting depressed and close to losing your job due to the financial worry etc? Which is all true in my case.

sourcrates

All explained on debt camel.

We also have a dedicated thread here :

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5289150/reclaiming-money-back-from-various-payday-loan-companies&page=168

[Deleted User]

mrcactus wrote: »

I want to get the best possible chance to get some money out of these horrendous companies, so is it worth putting stuff on there like getting depressed and close to losing your job due to the financial worry etc? Which is all true in my case.

Did you ever incur 'proper heavy' charges from these companies though?

I know someone working in an 'FCA regulated' company in these times, and they have it sit back and watch the customer charged £30 (which isn't even the worst of it) each time a direct debit is missed as one of many allowed charges :mad: I feel for Britain's youngsters trying to start out - these types of lenders now look very lenient it kind of hurts - if everyone complains about something to the point of needing compo, someone else will always feel it in another way.

LOVEHB

mrcactus wrote: »

Thanks for the reply LOVEHB

How long ago did you send the emails/compalints out? I will start sending the complaints out once I've recieved all the details about my loans.

I want to get the best possible chance to get some money out of these horrendous companies, so is it worth putting stuff on there like getting depressed and close to losing your job due to the financial worry etc? Which is all true in my case.

You are welcome. I certainly used the fact that I had ended up in a DMP and couldnt afford to pay my travel to and from work in the letter, i figured that it would add a personal element to my claim and i guess to try and make them realise how much of a bad place I was in as a result of numerous loans. They probably dont care but it made me feel better!

I lodged one complaint with lending stream at the end of July and then another with sunny middle of August. I would advise that I have had NO response from either company but I read on debt camel that if you sent an email and didnt get a bounce back then consider it delivered.

The SAR requests were put in towards the end of July and lending stream came back to me almost immediately, sunny took around 3 weeks!

mrcactus

Had an acknowledgement email back from lending stream informing me on what their complaints procedure is.

Have asked for my complete borrowing history from safety net credit. But I’m unsure how to write a complaint about them as they are slightly different to the payday loans.