Wonga Defaults

Barutd · 14 November 2018 at 1:41PM

I need some advice please.

A few years ago I got trapped in a cycle of debt by Wonga and a few other similar companies.

So last year I decided to tackle these companies and try to have them remove the entries they had made on my credit file because I didn't think it was fair. At first I had no idea about the success people were having with irresponsible lending complaints, or indeed the correct process, so unfortunately I missed out claiming money back from Wonga as I missed the ombudsman deadline. I did however, receive around £2500 back from 2 other companies, once I'd taken time to take on advice and do it properly.

This still left me with the defaults that Wonga had put on my credit file, that I really wanted to get rid of, so I complained on the basis that that had been incorrectly applied.

- They referred to a time when my dad paid off loans for me that had gotten too high after numerous rollover and increases.
- I then, very stupidly, got another loan from them as unknown to him, I was still in debt with other companies.
- When it came to taking the money however, they took it of his card and then, unknown to me, he called them for a refund.
- It was then several months before they sent me a letter asking for the loan amount, plus interest and charges since the payment was refunded.
- I made a complaint to them and offered to pay the money back on several occasions over a period of around 9 months, but their customer service was shocking and they never made it possible for me to pay.
- During this time, they continued to indicate that my account was in default the whole time, so it looks like I had a default for around 12 months and I did nothing about it.
- They eventually settled my account, which was a bit of a win for me and made up for the refund I missed out on by missing the ombudsman deadline earlier.
- I still have the issue that the defaults are on my credit file for another 18 months however, and my wife and I want to apply for mortgages early next year.

My complaint about the incorrectly applied defaults was, surprisingly, rejected by Wonga. So I submitted a subject access request, and with evidence from that, their regulators guidelines and email trails I had, I submitted a very detailed and watertight complaint to the ombudsman.

Before my complaint could be resolved however, Wonga have gone into administration! That's great, they can't ruin years of anyone else lives, except the ombudsman says it now can't proceed with my complaint and the decision is in the hands of Wonga's administrators.

So my questions are;

- What can I do to proceed with my complaint?
- Are the administrators likely to even look at it?
- Is there any other way I can have these unfair entries removed from my file?

Thanks in advance

[Deleted User] · 14 November 2018 at 2:19PM

Why is it not fair?

The defaults are an accurate and true representation of what happened with the accounts at the times recorded.

Willing2Learn · 14 November 2018 at 3:03PM

Barutd wrote: »

- What can I do to proceed with my complaint?
- Are the administrators likely to even look at it?
- Is there any other way I can have these unfair entries removed from my file?

According to DebtCamel, you are still able to make official complaints. Have a read of the article linked below:

https://debtcamel.co.uk/wonga-has-stopped-issuing-loans/

Barutd · 14 November 2018 at 3:51PM

!!! wrote: »

Why is it not fair?

The defaults are an accurate and true representation of what happened with the accounts at the times recorded.

I knew I'd get someone like you replying!

Firstly, if you think there is anything fair about how these sorts of companies operate then you are a fool. They operate by trapping people in a cycle of debt where it builds and builds until it comes to a head and they have no where left to go. Some people are known to have taken their own lives because of the irresponsible actions of these evil, money grabbing companies.

Secondly, even if the above wasn't the case, the application of the defaults in my case was not correct. The debt was paid off and I received a thank you email for paying off the debt, which was the last I heard. That was until I received a letter several months later asking me to pay the original debt as well as extra interest and charges because I had not paid it on time. I immediately lodged a complaint and have the email correspondence personally and via a subject t access request, with the company to prove it. Which might I add, they had left several parts of the correspondence out because they incriminated them. This should have frozen the account, until the complaint was resolved. There then followed a number of months where I chased and chased them to pay and received either no response, or responses that bore no resemblance to a reply to the email I had sent them. All the time this was going on, they were adding defaults month on month to my credit report.

So no it is absolutely not an accurate and true representation of what happened with the accounts at the times recorded
:mad:

Nasqueron · 14 November 2018 at 3:57PM

Barutd wrote: »

I knew I'd get someone like you replying!

Firstly, if you think there is anything fair about how these sorts of companies operate then you are a fool. They operate by trapping people in a cycle of debt where it builds and builds until it comes to a head and they have no where left to go. Some people are known to have taken their own lives because of the irresponsible actions of these evil, money grabbing companies.

Secondly, even if the above wasn't the case, the application of the defaults in my case was not correct. The debt was paid off and I received a thank you email for paying off the debt, which was the last I heard. That was until I received a letter several months later asking me to pay the original debt as well as extra interest and charges because I had not paid it on time. I immediately lodged a complaint and have the email correspondence personally and via a subject t access request, with the company to prove it. Which might I add, they had left several parts of the correspondence out because they incriminated them. This should have frozen the account, until the complaint was resolved. There then followed a number of months where I chased and chased them to pay and received either no response, or responses that bore no resemblance to a reply to the email I had sent them. All the time this was going on, they were adding defaults month on month to my credit report.

So no it is absolutely not an accurate and true representation of what happened with the accounts at the times recorded
:mad:

If any of the payments were late or missed they are allowed to post them.

If you are sure you have paid each one on time and in full then you should complain to the firm and CRA and then escalate to the FOS if the firm will not remove them.

Barutd · 14 November 2018 at 4:07PM

They may be 'allowed' but there is a process set out in the guidance of the regulator they voluntarily signed up to adhere to.

In that guidance it states that a someone should be warned that they are about to be defaulted and that they should be advised of the impact on their credit report.

The same guidance also states that they should freeze the accounts while a complaint is on-going.

Like I have said a couple of times now, I have evidence that I attempted to pay the loans back over a period of several months starting before they went into default. edit - By this point the account was closed, so I had no online payment option.

I also have evidence that it was their mistake in the first place. They were never given authorisation to take any more than 1 payment from my dads card, he paid over the phone, he did not set his card up on their site. They did though, then they failed to notify me when they refunded my dad, that the loan had been reopened until a couple of months later.

So the legitimacy of the defaults is not in question as far as I am concerned. I was simply asking where I can turn if the financial ombudsman is not considering complaints against Wonga anymore!

Exodi · 14 November 2018 at 4:09PM

Barutd wrote: »

- I then, very stupidly, got another loan from them as unknown to him, I was still in debt with other companies.
- When it came to taking the money however, they took it of his card and then, unknown to me, he called them for a refund.
- It was then several months before they sent me a letter about this.

Let me get this straight, let's set the scene: you're in debt, unable to make ends meet, the only way you can cover your bills is with more borrowing and so you take out another loan.

Then, as if ordered by the heavenly sky wizard above, the money does not come out of your bank account on payment day... but lo and behold, you've received an email saying "we've taken payment, thanks for keeping to your promise", clearly the almighty has pulled out his Visa Debit card and has paid your Wonga loan for you.

Then on a cold, icy, winters night, the sky black as if a warnings of events to come, it happens. You're blissfully putting some more logs on the fire and then... the phone call. Your pupils grow smaller and smaller as the nasty man on the end of the phone informs you... the heavenly sky wizard above did not pay you debt...

Unless, you're seriously trying to convince me, that despite being in mountains of debt, you were completely unaware of the fact money was coming out your bank that day, perhaps a massive power shortage meant you were unable to check your online banking/emails?

Or maybe, just maybe, you knew your dad paid, hoped he wouldn't notice but are annoyed at Wonga because he did notice and unbeknownst to you, claimed a refund.

Good luck with your claim.

Barutd · 14 November 2018 at 4:31PM

Thanks Willing2Learn, I've had a look at the article and it appears my complaint will still be looked into. I think I might contact them directly as well to make sure they have all the evidence I have submitted.

As for the rest of you. I posted on here because I thought it was a forum that helped people with financial matters. Instead, I have found a load of sarcastic and unfriendly keyboard warriors, you should be ashamed of yourselves.

I realise that my past financial conduct was silly and believe me, I am ashamed of that but thank you very much for pointing that out. I have never shied away from the fact that I was to blame for the whole mess I ended up in and believe me, I hold myself ultimately responsible for it.

Even in this case, of course I know that I should have realised, but there were so many incomings and outgoings on payday that it got lost in it all. The way it was at the time, I certainly didn't notice any extra money! Believe that or not, I really don't care, but the fact is that Wonga did not act correctly. Not according to the regulator they voluntarily singed up to, and not according to any right minded person. If you had made a mistake and had to refund on to another card, do you not think a phone call or letter to the debtor is in order at least!? The subject access request I received however shows that they made no effort to contact me. So yes, there is fault on my end, but they made so many mistakes that, in this case, they are the ones to blame that the account went into default.

[Deleted User] · 14 November 2018 at 4:59PM

No one is being a keyboard warrior.

It's called living in reality.

You did wrong, you're were "punished" for it - now deal with it and learn from your mistakes and don't let it happen again.

Unfortunately people here like to live in a bubble nested on a bed of feathers when it comes to the hard truth

Nasqueron · 14 November 2018 at 5:49PM

Barutd wrote: »

Thanks Willing2Learn, I've had a look at the article and it appears my complaint will still be looked into. I think I might contact them directly as well to make sure they have all the evidence I have submitted.

As for the rest of you. I posted on here because I thought it was a forum that helped people with financial matters. Instead, I have found a load of sarcastic and unfriendly keyboard warriors, you should be ashamed of yourselves.

I realise that my past financial conduct was silly and believe me, I am ashamed of that but thank you very much for pointing that out. I have never shied away from the fact that I was to blame for the whole mess I ended up in and believe me, I hold myself ultimately responsible for it.

Even in this case, of course I know that I should have realised, but there were so many incomings and outgoings on payday that it got lost in it all. The way it was at the time, I certainly didn't notice any extra money! Believe that or not, I really don't care, but the fact is that Wonga did not act correctly. Not according to the regulator they voluntarily singed up to, and not according to any right minded person. If you had made a mistake and had to refund on to another card, do you not think a phone call or letter to the debtor is in order at least!? The subject access request I received however shows that they made no effort to contact me. So yes, there is fault on my end, but they made so many mistakes that, in this case, they are the ones to blame that the account went into default.

Look no-one is criticising your past behaviour and we all know what Wonga were like, but if you missed a payment or defaulted, the firm has a duty to record that on your file so that other lenders are warned of your behaviour in the future. If you did not miss any payments, as I said above, you need to follow the firm's complaints process and then escalate to the FOS

System · 14 November 2018 at 7:15PM

Barutd wrote: »

I realise that my past financial conduct was silly and believe me, I am ashamed of that but thank you very much for pointing that out. I have never shied away from the fact that I was to blame for the whole mess I ended up in and believe me, I hold myself ultimately responsible for it.

You want them to rewrite history though, in order to allow you to take on more credit at some point. If you missed payments and defaulted on the credit agreement then the entries are correct.

The regulator's guidance is merely that, guidance.

Wonga Defaults

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