MSE News: Wonga busted by the FCA: 330,000 to have their loan wiped

tomtontom wrote: »

By all means sanction the lender but this decision is very poor. What happened to people taking responsibility for their own decisions?

absolutely right......getting to the point where you can just do what you want and blame it on somebody else !!!

you should know whether you can afford things or not - if you can't ,you put up with the consequences (or not as it seems to be now)

The numbers are staggering though, 330,000 getting their debts written off and a further 45,000 having interest and charges stopped.

Surely this is a sizeable chunk of Wonga's customer base and as such seeing this number struggling, have set alarm bells ringing within their own company without it having to be looked into by the FCA?

Sure, there are people who simply don't care but there are also numerous others who have either hit on hard times and thought they could manage to repay and those who through circumstances not of their making get stuck in the circle of loaning, paying and reloaning...

It's easy to sit back and judge people by their mistakes but you cannot honestly say that Wonga has been a beacon of virtue? They're in it to make money and will be 100% aware of the kinds of people they're attracting.

That said, I don't entirely agree with debts being written off. If sufficient interest and charges have been made to repay the original loan and the same amount again in interest then fine as this brings it in line with recent changes being introduced but if someone has borrowed and simply failed to repay anything at all then (IMO) the debt should stand and interest and charges should be accrued upto the value of the loan amount.

Honestly, I still believe that there is a place for Payday lenders so long as they are regulated and used correctly.

MB

As I understand it the Payday Loan industry is being forced to introduce loan 'affordability' checks. All current loans that would have failed such checks if they'd been in force at the time are being written off.

All well and good and a step in the right direction, but what about all the other lending institutions which gave out loans left right and centre in years gone by? Credit card companies who increased credit limits as soon as the old limit was reached? Mortgage lenders who agreed 'interest only' mortgages with no capital repayment plan agreed?

I've no doubt other's could add to this, but the question remains: are they going to be forced into line in a similar fashion?

Ok so i have an outstanding loan with wonga for £683, ive already made 2 repayments on the arrangement for £58 so in total i was £790 in debt at my peak before i made the repayment arrangement, im now classed as 57 days in arrears so from what ive read i fit the criteria for my debt to be wiped? i was unemployed when i took out the original loan and while i do fully admit me and me alone made the decision to take this loan, i knew i wouldn't be able to afford to re-pay it in one lump sum so before i even took it i knew id have to take a re-payment arrangement, ive used wonga for about 2 years and spent more time owing them money than i have been in the black, so my questions are will previous loans be looked into? Do i fit the criteria for the wipe? i have actually been refused a loan from wonga in the past even with the sub standard checks they have so im assuming this will go in my favor? the 10th is going to be very interesting