Advice on offer from guarantor loan

Rodricon

Hi,

I submitted a complaint to a guarantor loan company about how they shouldn't have accepted me as a guarantor - my complaint is as follows:

The issue that I have experienced was: I was accepted as a guarantor for a friend. I have since realised that full checks were not completed by Bamboo. I discovered this after making a SAR.

1 - A comprehensive credit check was not carried out, as it did not capture that I had 3 outstanding loans myself, one of which was for £25000

2 - I was not asked about my health. At the time I had been recently diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy and had started medication which was having an impact on my cognitive ability. I was not asked about my physical health, not was I asked if I was struggling mentally (which I was with depression).

3 - I was not asked if I worked with the applicant - something which I now know is important to be asked. I was a position higher than the applicant and therefore felt if I didn't help it could have an impact at work.

4 - I was not asked if I was pressured to take the loan out. I kept being told by the applicant that she needed the loan or she would be kicked out of her property, which in turn made me feel like I needed to help.

5 - I was not asked if I had financial connections with the applicant. I had previously rented a room from her and I paid her to teach me to drive.

6 - it appears that there aren't enough attempts to contact the applicant when payment is missed, as I am bombarded with texts and calls saying they will take payment from me a couple of days after the payment is missed.

7 - it appears that sufficient credit checks were not carried out on the applicant as it became apparent shortly after that she has a significant amount of unsecured debt and another guarantor loan with another guarantor.

It occurred on: 31/07/2018

This meant that It has impacted me as I have had to over extend myself and request more credit to cover living expenses.

I would like a refund of the payments I have made and interest. I would like to be removed as a guarantor from this loan and all of my information erased from the companies records and any record of this removed from my credit file.

They have responded to this saying they believe it was fair, however they are willing to remove me as guarantor as a gesture of goodwill. It's worth noting that they also misquoted my complaint several times in their reply. 

Would it be advisable to accept their offer of goodwill or should I escalate this to the FOS?

Grumpy_chap

Are you getting the full outcome you wanted, or just the removal from the loan going forwards?

Rodricon

Grumpy_chap said:

Are you getting the full outcome you wanted, or just the removal from the loan going forwards?

If I take the offer from the company I will be removed as a guarantor but won't receive any money back, however if I escalate to the FOS there is a possibility I could get a refund of fees paid as.well as no longer being a guarantor.

2021BJ

1.  Were you not aware you had outstanding loans?  If you were, why did you not take this into account?
2. Irrelevant and probably a breach of the DDA anyway, I'm sure someone would be screaming "DISCRIMINATION!!!" if they were even asked, let alone declined, as a result of a disability...
3-5 Irrelevant.
6.  Also irrelevant.  They have no obligation to chase the borrower at all.  Even though you'd much prefer it if they did.
7.  Irrelevant to your complaint, possibly relevant if the borrower wanted to make a complaint about unaffordable lending.

In sum, a very generous offer.  Take it.

sourcrates

Your complaint, should you choose to escalate it, would be decided on the basis of whether or not the loan repayments would have been affordable or not, a lot of these companies have openly admitted they never did affordability checks on potential guarantors, so pursuing this via the FOS may or may not increase your redress.

It’s a touchy subject on these boards, reclaiming such things, I realise from experience that people don’t always act in their best interests at times, but as a loan provider, the buck does stop with the company concerned, they are supposed to do certain checks on you, and by not doing so, leave themselves open to such complaints.

That is the basis your complaint would be decided on.

gillplanner

I had a guarantor loan which I took out in June 2014 and the loan was for 3 years, I never knew that I could claim against it until today, they have written back to say that I am outside the 6 year period and so that's its unlikely anything will be done about it.  Is this correct?

zzyzx1221

gillplanner said:

I had a guarantor loan which I took out in June 2014 and the loan was for 3 years, I never knew that I could claim against it until today, they have written back to say that I am outside the 6 year period and so that's its unlikely anything will be done about it.  Is this correct?

Yes, it is.

[Deleted User]

gillplanner said:

I had a guarantor loan which I took out in June 2014 and the loan was for 3 years, I never knew that I could claim against it until today, they have written back to say that I am outside the 6 year period and so that's its unlikely anything will be done about it.  Is this correct?

There are 2 rules in finance - 6 years from when you took out the finance and 3 years from when you knew or could reasonably have known that there was a reason for complaint. The loan finishing in 2017 though probably kills the 3 year as well but as it's a guarantor loan, I'd chuck it at the FOS on the off chance they disagree on the time bar (though they will not overrule on the 6 year)

jefaz07

zzyzx1221 said:

gillplanner said:

I had a guarantor loan which I took out in June 2014 and the loan was for 3 years, I never knew that I could claim against it until today, they have written back to say that I am outside the 6 year period and so that's its unlikely anything will be done about it.  Is this correct?

Yes, it is.

It’s actually not. Many many people are seeing their loans looked at over 6 years old. 

Look at the debt camel website. It’s got everything you need to know on there. 

[Deleted User]

jefaz07 said:

zzyzx1221 said:

gillplanner said:

I had a guarantor loan which I took out in June 2014 and the loan was for 3 years, I never knew that I could claim against it until today, they have written back to say that I am outside the 6 year period and so that's its unlikely anything will be done about it.  Is this correct?

Yes, it is.

It’s actually not. Many many people are seeing their loans looked at over 6 years old. 

Look at the debt camel website. It’s got everything you need to know on there. 

If the firm has applied a time bar under the 6 year rule, then unfortunately it may not go anywhere - this is a law and if the firm refuses to look at the case, that is it. The FOS cannot overrule a correctly applied time bar.

ManyWays

FOS is routinely looking at loans over 6 years for irresponsible lending complaints. FOS can look at any case where someone has only recently (in the last three years) found they can complain. That's how it looked at all those old PPI cases.
Definitely look at Debt Camel for guarantor loan cases and Bamboo. There are a lot there so someone with a previous Bamboo case may reply to you.