The Financial Ombudsman

twhitehousescat

I have an ongoing case against provident to reclaim interest on doorstep loans

after almost 12 mths we got to the stage where a (junior??) ombudsman wrote to them with his findings , suggesting to repay interest on 4 of the 5 loans

14 days to reply

they did not , even after 8 weeks and numerous calls they have failed this id now going to a senior ombudsman (back in the quewe )

so I asked them "what sanctions are you going to give provident for failing to comply"

answer: "The Financial Ombudsman Service do not have the power to sanction a business. We however have fed this back to our operational team for them to look into further."


so my next question " if the ombudsman finds in my favour , and they fail to reply or even fail pay me back ,you cannot force them or sanction them ?"

and a reply some 3 weeks later "Dear Mr XXX

This is correct even if we do find in your favour and they fail to respond to our assessment, we do not have the power to sanction or force a business we can only report and pass this feedback on to the FCA."



a tiger with no claws ?

feel like I have wasted 12 mths of my life

Ben8282

Could you explain please just why you believe you are due a refund of the interest that you have paid on your loans? Provident are not a charity. They are a doorstep lender charging high rates of interest to individuals whose financial situation is such that they can't get loans elsewhere.

twhitehousescat

Ben8282 wrote: »

Could you explain please just why you believe you are due a refund of the interest that you have paid on your loans? Provident are not a charity. They are a doorstep lender charging high rates of interest to individuals whose financial situation is such that they can't get loans elsewhere.

an ombudsman has already stated that the interest charged was not in proportion to my income , provident "massaged" the numbers , or at least the agent who was getting commission did

I suspect that the ombudsman had more info when making the desision , than you did when you posted

[Deleted User]

# 2 agree 100%, people turn to companys like provident when they have nowhere else to turn for many different reasons, provident have to pay people to collect the due payments every week and often find that they are not paid as they should be hence the high rates of interest.
If people (in general) want to borrow money on reasonable apr's then they must keep a clean credit history.

MovingForwards

Helps if you stick to one thread and add to it rather than keep starting a new one.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6052314/financial-ombudsman-payday-refund

Davy_Jones_II

twhitehousescat wrote: »

an ombudsman has already stated that the interest charged was not in proportion to my income , provident "massaged" the numbers , or at least the agent who was getting commission did

I suspect that the ombudsman had more info when making the desision , than you did when you posted

I’m not sure what that means, why would interest be in proportion to your salary? The amount of interest is proportional to the interest rate and to the amount borrowed.

Provident lend to people at the lower end of credit worthiness, and their rates reflect this.

There must be something more to this, did they charge more than the terms that you signed up to, for example, or hit you with extra charges after missed payments, or something else?

It’s hard for people to give you good advice without all of the facts.

twhitehousescat

Davy_Jones_II wrote: »

I’m not sure what that means, why would interest be in proportion to your salary? The amount of interest is proportional to the interest rate and to the amount borrowed.

Provident lend to people at the lower end of credit worthiness, and their rates reflect this.

There must be something more to this, did they charge more than the terms that you signed up to, for example, or hit you with extra charges after missed payments, or something else?

It’s hard for people to give you good advice without all of the facts.

I do not want advice on the actual case , the first post was a statement

"a tiger with no claws ?"

sourcrates

twhitehousescat wrote: »

I do not want advice on the actual case , the first post was a statement

"a tiger with no claws ?"

There have been a few cases since 2014 where a business has been wilfully obstructive in implementation of ombudsman decisions, the business is required to cooperate with the FOS, but the FOS itself has no regulatory powers, that is the job of the FCA.

If a firm won’t pay up, they are reported to the FCA by the ombudsman, who will then take action against them, this could include fines, or suspension or rescinding of their consumer credit license, and/or, there permission to trade, without which most will be unable to continue operating, so it may take some time, but you should end up with your refund eventually, as the only alternative is them going out of business.

Davy_Jones_II

twhitehousescat wrote: »

I do not want advice on the actual case , the first post was a statement

"a tiger with no claws ?"

No, reading your other threads you’re not one for taking advice. How’s that working out for you champ?

boo_star

twhitehousescat wrote: »

I do not want advice on the actual case , the first post was a statement

"a tiger with no claws ?"

I already told you (https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=76326799&postcount=12) that the FOS can't directly fine businesses but they generally don't want to feel the wrath of the regulator so eventually comply.

If you're not happy with that, sue them

[Deleted User]

twhitehousescat wrote: »

I do not want advice on the actual case , the first post was a statement

"a tiger with no claws ?"

Yes this is correct. I'll agree with you.

You have not wasted 12 months for you need to be glad you weren't being threatened with court action before you could get your complaint in.

Still walking past a now closed 'The Money Shop' store yesterday, so sure there are eventually repercussions whether a company is forced or not.

Kill them with pity! Not worth getting het up over.