Amigo Refund

tnel15

Hi all. 

So basically, I raised a complaint way back in around 2018/19 with Amigo and they eventually responded saying they felt that all loans were affordable and I wasn't due any redress. I then left it until I saw more frequent posts and articles about amigo, plus I learned more about about whole FOS case handling procedure. I then submitted a claim in early 2020 to FOS. Initially they questioned me as to why I'd waited over a year before passing to them, but after forwarding them my final response email from Amigo a year earlier, it became apparent that they failed to mention that you have 6 months in which to raise a claim with FOS, so for that reason FOS agreed I could go ahead with my claim.
I was then assigned an adjudicator in the final quarter of 2020 and the case handler then passed their decision to me early 2021 stating they felt all loans were unaffordable and Amigo should refund all interest paid. Unsurprisingly, Amigo failed to reply to this decision within the time frame and my case was escalated to the ombudsman. Around this time, the news of Amigo's scheme came about and I'd basically written off all hope of any redress. 

Fast forward a couple of months to last Monday, after not hearing anything from FOS for a while I then receive an email from my case handler saying Amigo has finally responded and made an offer to refund all interest paid plus the standard 8%. I swiftly accepted within a few minutes of reading the email. I called Amigo to query this offer and they explained that my claim was to be settled outside of the scheme and someone would be in touch within 4 weeks to arrange payment. 

(Apologies for the whole backstory, I just wanted to ensure the situation was fully explained)

So, my questions are:

1) Given that Amigo's second court date is coming up when they will announce the results of the vote on the scheme, what is the liklihood of me seeing a payout as offered should the scheme NOT go ahead as they have stated that they would likely enter administration in this case? The end of the 4 week deadline happens to be a day or so after the court date. 

2) Amigo has stated that they are working to resolve priority cases, which mine appears to be one of them, does this mean they have allocated funds to resolve the select number of priority cases outside of the scheme regardless of the results of the vote in May? 

Thank you for taking the time to read. 

MattMattMattUK

tnel15 said:

1) Given that Amigo's second court date is coming up when they will announce the results of the vote on the scheme, what is the liklihood of me seeing a payout as offered should the scheme NOT go ahead as they have stated that they would likely enter administration in this case? The end of the 4 week deadline happens to be a day or so after the court date. 

If they enter administration then you will likely get a tiny fraction of the claim value, there is nothing you can do about that unfortunately. 

tnel15 said:

2) Amigo has stated that they are working to resolve priority cases, which mine appears to be one of them, does this mean they have allocated funds to resolve the select number of priority cases outside of the scheme regardless of the results of the vote in May? 

No, it unfortunately means very little. Also if they do enter administration they can not treat one creditor (you) preferentially to others so they can not allocate funds to you ahead of the judgement.


It might be advisable to contact your handler to see if there is any way to get the payment processed earlier in the four week window.

tnel15

Hi there, Thank you for your reply. 

I thought as much that that would be the case. I have emailed my case handler but I doubt they would email Amigo to ask them to speed things up, even then there's no promising that Amigo would acknowledge the email anyway. 

I'm hoping they stick to their word and payout within the 4 weeks, as after writing off any refund to then be given a substantial offer which would leave me debt free and give me money for savings would be disheartening to lose out on at the final hurdle. 

I guess if it takes them longer than the 4 weeks, my only hope is that they get the scheme approved really? 

MattMattMattUK

tnel15 said:

I'm hoping they stick to their word and payout within the 4 weeks,

It largely depends on the timing and the vote, if they enter liquidation within the four weeks then you will be treated the same as any other creditor and receive a low percentage, personally I would probably be expecting not to get any money, but being willing to be pleasantly surprised should a payment be made. 

tnel15 said:

I guess if it takes them longer than the 4 weeks, my only hope is that they get the scheme approved really? 

Potentially, although having had a quick look at what has been proposed I am not sure that they can treat you "outside of the scheme" either way. I think the only answer is to wait and see.