118118 loan

RubyP

Sorry long post!

Quick background: I got into the payday debt spiral a number of years ago and it’s got worse and worse, to the point where I tried to take out a large 118118 loan - looking back I was very surprised when I was approved and I was getting rejected on extending loans etc. It has taken me years but I have managed to clear all debts but two. Cabot which I will have paid by the end of the year and the 118118 one - which is now with Lantern.

I have tried to log into 118118 but it won’t show me payment history, so I have gone through my bank statements to get the following info:

£3000 loan paid into my account from 118118 on 05/01/16

My repayments:
01/02/16 - £296.64
01/03/16 - £296.64
01/04/16 - £296.64
03/05/16 - £296.64
31/05/16 - £296.64

I remember I then was so in over my head I tried to sort something with stepchange, they accepted.

Payment to step change
11/07/16 - £579 (I’m not sure on exactly how much of this went to 118118 but I can imagine a fair bit of it did)

I couldn’t keep up with this payment so the following couple of months I can see stepchange tried to debit the amount but failed.

Then I can see direct payments I made to 118118 on their website where I logged into my user area:

08/12/17 - £20
04/09/18 - £7.17
05/10/18 - £25
31/10/18 - £25

I had a letter to say my debt had been sent to Lantern so I had to start paying them instead so my repayments so far to Lantern have been:

03/12/18 - £150
02/01/19 - £150
04/02/19 - £150
08/03/19 - £150
Reduced the monthly payment to £50:
02/05/19 - £50
03/06/19 - £50
02/07/19 - £50
02/08/19 - £50
02/09/19 - £50
02/10/19 - £50

I still have the monthly payment of £50 set up.
Current amount with Lantern left to pay: £4060

So all together I have paid back £2460.37 (& the amount through stepchange that I am unsure of)

I guess my query is do I just keep paying lantern back until I have paid it all off? Looking back I don’t understand how they would have given me that large amount given the amount of defaults and late payments on my credit report at that time but I do accept responsibility that I got myself into the mess. Am I in any place to email 118118? Or is it too late because it’s now with lantern? Whatever the case I just want to be able to rebuild my credit and just can’t wait to be completely debt free, it’s taken so many years but I can see a light now.

Thank you so so much for reading this! I’d be so grateful for any responses, thank you.

[Deleted User]

Keep paying until it's either paid off, or until you can come to a full and final settlement with them.

What is you want to email 118118 about? If the debt now belongs to Lantern, your payment arrangement will be with them.

swardean

A very good chance you can get the interest taken off, as the loan may have been unaffordable.

See excellent website below for a resource on how to claim.

Good luck.

https://debtcamel.co.uk/

Aqua1985

swardean wrote: »

A very good chance you can get the interest taken off, as the loan may have been unaffordable.

See excellent website below for a resource on how to claim.

Good luck.

https://debtcamel.co.uk/

Good idea. 118118 are a very high cost lender and from others users on debt camel do not seem to complete very in depth affordability checks. Submit an irresponsible lending complaint to 118118 and if they reject this escalate to the financial ombudsmen service. Good luck.

boo_star

Aqua1985 wrote: »

Good idea. 118118 are a very high cost lender and from others users on debt camel do not seem to complete very in depth affordability checks. Submit an irresponsible lending complaint to 118118 and if they reject this escalate to the financial ombudsmen service. Good luck.

Yeah, more "vindictive compo chasing."

Or maybe you should just accept that you were given a lifeline and blew it. No, that'd be too easy...

Aqua1985

boo_star wrote: »

Yeah, more "vindictive compo chasing."

Or maybe you should just accept that you were given a lifeline and blew it. No, that'd be too easy...

I think describing a payday loan as a 'lifeline' isn't an accurate description. Nothing vindictive about a person who is part of a group of society's poorest claiming what legally they are entitled to. This isnt a moral debate. The FOS and FCA are the relevant governing bodies and make judgements as they see fit.

boo_star

Aqua1985 wrote: »

I think describing a payday loan as a 'lifeline' isn't an accurate description. Nothing vindictive about a person who is part of a group of society's poorest claiming what legally they are entitled to. This isnt a moral debate. The FOS and FCA are the relevant governing bodies and make judgements as they see fit.

The FOS certainly isn't a governing body, and their decisions are often not based on law but on what the happen to decide is "fair."

I'm not even sure the FCA is a governing body, given their inability to create laws.

Aqua1985

boo_star wrote: »

The FOS certainly isn't a governing body, and their decisions are often not based on law but on what the happen to decide is "fair."

I'm not even sure the FCA is a governing body, given their inability to create laws.

Governing Body/Regulator just semantics. The FCA rule over conduct of firms like 118 118. The FOS can report lenders to the FCA if they do not abide by their recommendations and ultimately their credit licenses and ability to operate in the UK can be withdrawn.
The FOS whether you happen to agree or not are determining that firms are lending irresponsibly and firms like 118 118, Casheuronet (Quickquid and pounds to pocket) are not behaving correctly and are having action taken against them in thousands of cases each month.
This has the potential to be the next big reclaim now the PPI fightback is nearly finished..

boo_star

Aqua1985 wrote: »

Governing Body/Regulator just semantics. The FCA rule over conduct of firms like 118 118. The FOS can report lenders to the FCA if they do not abide by their recommendations and ultimately their credit licenses and ability to operate in the UK can be withdrawn.
The FOS whether you happen to agree or not are determining that firms are lending irresponsibly and firms like 118 118, Casheuronet (Quickquid and pounds to pocket) are not behaving correctly and are having action taken against them in thousands of cases each month.
This has the potential to be the next big reclaim now the PPI fightback is nearly finished..

Do they?

They don't make laws, which is important if you're a "governing body."

The FOS certainly aren't and firms are absolutely free to ignore their decisions, despite their bluster.

You might be able to get the courts to enforce the decision but it's not the FOS's decision that matters, it's the courts.

sourcrates

boo_star wrote: »

Do they?

They don't make laws, which is important if you're a "governing body."

The FOS certainly aren't and firms are absolutely free to ignore their decisions, despite their bluster.

You might be able to get the courts to enforce the decision but it's not the FOS's decision that matters, it's the courts.

The FCA has the power to step in and fine companies that flout the rules.
Two most recent examples are 1st Credit (now rebranded Intrum UK ltd) fined for various breeches of CONC and very bad collection practices in general, also MMF (Motor mile finance, now rebranded Lantern) fined for similar beeches of code of conduct.

The FOS does not have specific enforcement powers that it can use, but if a certain company fails to adhere to the rules despite repeated warnings, the enforcement powers of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) include the right to impose a penalty on a firm or person and make a public statement. It also has the power to investigate and take disciplinary action. In addition, the FCA has the power to start criminal proceedings.

boo_star

sourcrates wrote: »

The FCA has the power to step in and fine companies that flout the rules.
Two most recent examples are 1st Credit (now rebranded Intrum UK ltd) fined for various breeches of CONC and very bad collection practices in general, also MMF (Motor mile finance, now rebranded Lantern) fined for similar beeches of code of conduct.

The FOS does not have specific enforcement powers that it can use, but if a certain company fails to adhere to the rules despite repeated warnings, the enforcement powers of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) include the right to impose a penalty on a firm or person and make a public statement. It also has the power to investigate and take disciplinary action. In addition, the FCA has the power to start criminal proceedings.

And those companies are free to let it go to court.

It's a bit like saying the police are the governing body for the general population. They're not, the Government is (essentially.)

Whilst many firms will choose to just accept the decisions of the regulators they are not required, by law, to accept them.

A certain OFT case regarding bank charges springs to mind.