Affordability complaints

Roseyposey88

Hi all,
you’ve kindly advised me of steps in terms of stopping payments to my creditors and managing my own DMP. 

I am currently waiting for defaults and building my emergency fund.

in the meantime I decided to write to three creditors that I believed had lent to me irresponsibly. Two have come back within 10 days saying I have no case for a complaint. 

My question I suppose is how many of you have had success with these?

one is a personal loan with Tesco bank, for 35k with monthly repayments of £600, I wasn’t earning loads at the time I applied but was desperate for money because we had moved and needed funds, the loan repayment is almost as much as my mortgage. 

I know I can refer to the Ombudsmen but I am not sure whether to bother. 

Thanks in advance everyone 

Rob5342

I had a very good outcome when I made a complaint about a Nationwide credit card. I got a £16,000 interest refund which cleared the £11,000 balance, left me with £5000 and the default was also removed. It was a long drawn out process, it took two years altogether and I had to escalate it all the way to ombudsman level at the financial ombudsman, and even when the final decision was made Nationwide didn't stick to it and I had keep chasing them to get the full redress.

I've made about 15 complaints about credit cards and pay day loans. A rejection when you first complain to the lender is the standard response, it was only when I escalated it to the financial ombudsman that I got anywhere. Out of those 15 the Nationwide one was the big win, I had a small refund from three others and the rest were all rejected. 

Taking it to the FOS is free and very easy (you just fill.im a form on there website). I wouldn't get your hopes up but you might as well give it a go.

sourcrates

Just to be clear, you must exhaust the lenders complaints process first, and have received a final response from them.
Only then can you escalate the matter to the FOS.

It`s a free service, won`t cost you anything, so you might as well take advantage of it, you may have  to wait a long time, but sometimes it`s worth it.

sparks_2023

The Debt Camel website gives good advice about unaffordability complaints on large loans/payday/short term loans/credit card limit increases.

Altior

Hi Roseyposey88, I notice in your other thread you said you lost your job and now earning less than half. Sorry to read that's happened, after buying a house and entering into multiple borrowing commitments around the same time, it must be/have been a very stressful time.

Presumably that occurred post loan application, and the lender wouldn't have been in a position to know the events that unfolded in the future. 

It seems that is the max Tesco personal loan that you applied for and were granted. For a sense check, ballpark what did you say were your income and regular outgoings on the application itself, and the purpose (as it's what they were at the time that's significant, and not what they are as at today)? On the surface £35K seems unusually high for unsecured borrowing/lending in a single application, so you might get some traction. 

Roseyposey88

Thanks everyone for your responses. 

@Altior - I lost my job in Jan 23, but this personal loan with Tesco was taken out in July 2018, from the paperwork they have sent me as part of the response to the claim, I was taking home £2800 a month at the time, had just moved (previous house) and had two kids in nursery. I also had other borrowing commitments at the time. I also look back and think 35k (plus interest) as an unsecured personal loan seems unusually high. 

Obviously Tesco have rejected my claim
straight away and said I can appeal to the ombudsmen. I suppose I have (mostly) kept up to date with payments but they are so high I have often struggled and have had help from my partner. 

I think I will refer to the Ombudsmen and see where I get with it. 

Thanks everyone 

Altior

Thanks, so was there another mortgage application between obtaining the Tesco loan and now? I'd say from the info provided that your circumstances changed significantly since the loan was applied for. And affordability is tested using the circumstances and detail supplied at the time of application. But an unsecured personal loan value close to the equal of total net annual salary seems very toppy. Well worth asking the question. 

Jabby1

Hi can I ask how you got on with this? I’m currently trying to ask for affordability claims to be looked with a few of my creditors

ManyWays

Jabby1 said:

Hi can I ask how you got on with this? I’m currently trying to ask for affordability claims to be looked with a few of my creditors

These are all very individual, she may have lost hers and you may win some of yours,  or the other way around. Why not start a new thread and talk about the debts in your DMP, were the repayments too high for you so you borrowed more etc etc