Hello. This is my first post, so please go easy on me.

I went through a really bad period with payday loans a couple of years ago, which thankfully I managed to get out off.

I was only able to get out of the debt spiral thanks to a new high paying job which I started in September 2013.

Now that I have had some time to reflect I realise that the sheer volume of payday loans I was dealing with was immense.

Here are some of the details:

• Between 15/03/2011 and 03/09/2015 (4.5 years) I took out a total of 113 payday loans, across 11 different payday lenders.

• Of these loans, I rolled over on 55 occasions.

• In total I borrowed £56K and repaid £85K, resulting in £29K in interest.

• Prior to my first payday loan my credit rating was so poor that high street lenders turned me down and payday loan companies were the only ones who would lend to me.

• I did not default on any loans (I was desperate to not damage my credit rating further).

• I did not have any gambling problems.

• From what I can see, all of my payday loans are appearing on my Call Credit report (there is at least 100+ payday loans on my credit file).

• I have bank statements for the duration I had the payday loans.

• I often paid loans off and then instantly took out another with same company.

• I took out payday loans to pay off other payday loans.

• I also borrowed from friends, and took out guarantor loans in order to finally get my payday loan debt under control.

• I had multiple payday loans with the same company at the same time, but under different lending names (i.e. Payday UK and Payday Express).

• I had payday loans and longer term loans with the same company (i.e. Pounds to Pocket and Quick Quid)

• The five highest APRs I paid to payday loan companies was as follows:

1. 47,700,103%

2. 5,000,000%

3. 3,076,698%

4. 146,975%

5. 93,133%

I have reached out to all of the payday loan companies to obtain full details of the loans (Statement of Account).

Most have been responsive, but for the ones who have not,

I have been able to reconstruct the details from the agreements and bank statements.

My plan is to approach the payday lenders to ask for a repayment of interest on the basis that my behaviour with them

(i.e. rolling over and relending on the same day I paid off previous loans),

together with my credit file should have confirmed that these loans were unaffordable.

My concern though is whether or not I mentioned the other payday loans when I was applying,

and whether this omission could be seen as fraud.

Having looked through the various forums, I can’t see this point specifically addressed anywhere

but I am certain I won’t be the only one who has this concern.

Also, as I can’t be certain if I did or did not mention this when asked,

should I not include the fact I had other payday loans with other companies when making my complaints?

I am also concerned that the fact I did not default on any of the loans means I am less likely to receive a pay-out.

I would welcome anyone’s thoughts on this.

I see you could have numerous claims for irresponsible lending here with each PDL co.?

get writing

type in irresponsible lending in the search cag box of the red toolbar up top

dx

Thanks dx100uk.

I fully intend to start the claiming back and the resources on this site have been of great help.

I am still concerned that they will say that I did not give them all details of my expenses when I applied for the loans,

but i assume that as a responsible lender, they are meant to do checks (i.e. credit search, past loaning history with the company etc.) and not just take my word?

correct

irresponsible lending route

not reclaiming mind

dx

Thanks dx

I will start now and will update on progress.

Asked for Statement of Accounts from all Payday Lenders.

Only Payday UK, Payday Express and Ladder Loans (all the same company) refused, stating that they were under no obligation to provide the information. Not too bothered as I had reconstructed all of it from bank statements. Wonga have yet to provide it but say that they will, it is just that they are very busy at the moment.

Have submitted my complaints to all of the companies, so the 8 week clock starts now. In total, the interest on the 10 pay day lenders I am claiming against is £30,271 (there are two that I will not claim against as i only had one or two loans with them). I will wait and see what response I get from Payday UK, Payday Express and Ladder Loans - if I need to go to the FOS, then I will pay the £10 for the subject access request, but maybe they will agree to settle (although that looks unlikely given what I have read on here).

Quick update:

- Uncle Buck asked for my credit report and bank statements. I gave them the credit report, but not the bank statements.

- Quick Quid have asked for the following: income at time of loan, expenses at time of loan, if I got my letter from a website or blog, did I tell them I was experiencing financial hardship, banks statements and payslips. I have yet to provide any of this.

- Mr Lender have rejected my claim on the basis that affordability checks were carried out and the expenses figures I gave them at the time of the loans meant that I should have been able to afford the loans. They have however offered me £375 as a good will gesture, which is the amount I would have saved if the roll over cap had been in place earlier (the total interest I paid to Mr Lender was £3,547.07).

- Lending Stream have rejected my claim on the basis affordability checks were carried out and that the expenses figures I gave them at the time of the loans meant that I should have been able to afford the loans. They have however offered me £40.80 because of a ‘procedural error’ on one of the loans (the total interest I paid to Lending Stream was £3,547.76).

I am starting to get worried, because I think I significantly understated my expenses at the time of most of the payday loans (as I couldn’t get credit from any other source, as my credit history was so poor, despite what Mr Lender and Lending Stream say), a fact that will come out if I provide my bank statements.

Anyone care to offer any advise on this?

Quick update:

 

- Uncle Buck asked for my credit report and bank statements. I gave them the credit report, but not the bank statements.

 

- Quick Quid have asked for the following: income at time of loan, expenses at time of loan, if I got my letter from a website or blog, did I tell them I was experiencing financial hardship, banks statements and payslips. I have yet to provide any of this.

 

- Mr Lender have rejected my claim on the basis that affordability checks were carried out and the expenses figures I gave them at the time of the loans meant that I should have been able to afford the loans. They have however offered me £375 as a good will gesture, which is the amount I would have saved if the roll over cap had been in place earlier (the total interest I paid to Mr Lender was £3,547.07).

 

- Lending Stream have rejected my claim on the basis affordability checks were carried out and that the expenses figures I gave them at the time of the loans meant that I should have been able to afford the loans. They have however offered me £40.80 because of a ‘procedural error’ on one of the loans (the total interest I paid to Lending Stream was £3,547.76).

 

 

I am starting to get worried, because I think I significantly understated my expenses at the time of most of the payday loans (as I couldn’t get credit from any other source, as my credit history was so poor, despite what Mr Lender and Lending Stream say), a fact that will come out if I provide my bank statements.

 

Anyone care to offer any advise on this?

So they are asking you NOW for information they should have requested at the time of Lending ! - if that doesn't prove irresponsible lending, I don't know what is.

No, you don't show them your bank statements.

When you say you "understated your expenses" , what do you mean ?

I likely did not declare my other payday loans (for fear of rejection) when they asked me about my monthly credit commitments.

Hi BiB - Welcome to CAG

Could you list all PDL Comps below?

I might beable to help?

Hi BiB - Welcome to CAG

 

Could you list all PDL Comps below?

I might beable to help?

Hi fkofilee

Here they are:

Quick Quid – £3,430.89 interest between 14/03/11 to 01/11/13

Wonga - £7,724.74 interest between 27/04/11 to 07/07/14

Payday UK - £3,992.17 interest between 06/02/12 to 01/07/14

Lending Stream LLC - £3,547.76 interest between 11/07/12 to 10/03/14

Mr Lender - £3,547.07 interest between 04/12/12 to 01/05/15

Payday Express - £1,326.85 interest between 11/12/12 to 02/12/13

Sunny - £2,274.95 interest between 31/08/13 to 28/08/15

Uncle Buck - £1,414.58 interest between 14/10/13 to 01/09/15

My Jar - £1,453.29 interest between 23/10/13 to 02/11/15

Quid Market - £1,559.22 interest between 24/10/13 to 30/06/15

Peachy - £522.57 interest between 15/03/14 to 04/08/14

Ladder Loans - £702.84 interest between 01/12/14 to 01/06/15

Thank you for the info. Have you asked for a Statement from all companies concerned?

A Copy of the Credit Reports shouldn't need to be provided because the info from then is significantly different to the info now and cannot be fully relied upon - unless you have a report from around that time.

QQ Always seem to do a template response. I dont know why they do that, especially about the website template etc.

I'm happy to help but i need full statement info and a breakdown from each one. Bear in mind that when claiming irresponsible lending, its up to the company to prove you wrong.

If you give me a full breakdown, we might be able to push it in your favour

Thank you for the info. Have you asked for a Statement from all companies concerned?

 

A Copy of the Credit Reports shouldn't need to be provided because the info from then is significantly different to the info now and cannot be fully relied upon - unless you have a report from around that time.

 

QQ Always seem to do a template response. I dont know why they do that, especially about the website template etc.

I'm happy to help but i need full statement info and a breakdown from each one. Bear in mind that when claiming irresponsible lending, its up to the company to prove you wrong.

If you give me a full breakdown, we might be able to push it in your favour

Thanks for your help fkofilee.

The only benefit that I can see of providing my current credit report, is that it shows 100+ payday loans in the closed account section, meaning at the time when most of these loans would have been made, they should have been able to see the loans from the other companies.

I have statement of accounts from all but Wonga, Payday UK and Payday Express (Wonga are still working on my request, and Payday UK and Payday Express have refused to provide them).

However, all the information is in a spreadsheet (I have used bank statements for the ones that failed to provide a SoA). It contains loan numbers, APR, dates loans were taken out and dates of payments. i think this spreadsheet will have all the information you will need. How am I best getting this spreadsheet to you?

Hi BiB

LEts take this a step at a time. The ones that have provided statements, please post them up minus personal info.

As for the CRA Issue. Each Lender can see your CRA Anyway... They just login to their CR Portal... Something isnt quite right with Uncle Buck.

Hi BiB

 

LEts take this a step at a time. The ones that have provided statements, please post them up minus personal info.

As for the CRA Issue. Each Lender can see your CRA Anyway... They just login to their CR Portal... Something isnt quite right with Uncle Buck.

I appreciate your help fkofilee. But there is 52 SoA account documents, so its not easy to remove the personal info and upload. The spreadsheet should have all the information you are looking for.

Alternatively, I could upload the SoA to drop box (or something similar) and send you the link. As I don't have enough posts to PM you, you could PM me with a password and I will set the link up with that password.

Let me know what you think.

Hi BiB - As i am a site team member you are able to PM the site team.

If you want to post up the spreadsheet , it will be easier but if i need further info then we can go from there

Thanks fkofilee.

Attached is the spreadsheet:

- the first tab is the loan summary

- the second tab is the payments/repayments going in and out of my bank

The second tab also has a pivot table with the total amount going in and out for each month.

Let me know if you need anything else.

Thanks again.

CAG Info.xls

Need some time to digest, will continue and update tomorrow. We formulate a plan to help.

Need some time to digest, will continue and update tomorrow. We formulate a plan to help.

Any thoughts on this? Mr Lender set a deadline of 1st August to respond to their offer of £375. I'm inclined not to take it and lodge it with the FOS, but wanted to hear if you had any thoughts.

£375 is not the worst offer we have seen for reclaims. Bare in mind that a lot of irresponsible lending complaints arent set on concrete amounts that you will get back.

On that basis, you decide what youd like to do, however you have nothing to lose.

But add in 2 things. Number 1 - The FOS may side with you and if they do, you could be looking at more money as well as CRA removal, you could be looking at the same.

Have Mr LEnder confirmed this is a complaint resolution?

In their contact with you did they say it was a final response?

£375 is not the worst offer we have seen for reclaims. Bare in mind that a lot of irresponsible lending complaints arent set on concrete amounts that you will get back.

On that basis, you decide what youd like to do, however you have nothing to lose.

 

But add in 2 things. Number 1 - The FOS may side with you and if they do, you could be looking at more money as well as CRA removal, you could be looking at the same.

Have Mr LEnder confirmed this is a complaint resolution?

 

In their contact with you did they say it was a final response?

Thanks. Yes, it was titled 'final response'. The CRA removal is not what I am interested in primarily, as I made all payments, so this is not having a significant impact on my credit rating. The amount they offered was only 11% of what i paid in interest.

My main concern is that the lenders will say that I under understated my credit commitments when I took out the loans with them, which may land me in trouble (could that be seen as fraud?). If not for this, I would take them all to the FOS without a moments hesitation as there were months when I was paying out £6k in PDL repayments, when my take home was only £2.8k.

Thanks. Yes, it was titled 'final response'. The CRA removal is not what I am interested in primarily, as I made all payments, so this is not having a significant impact on my credit rating. The amount they offered was only 11% of what i paid in interest.

 

My main concern is that the lenders will say that I under understated my credit commitments when I took out the loans with them, which may land me in trouble (could that be seen as fraud?). If not for this, I would take them all to the FOS without a moments hesitation as there were months when I was paying out £6k in PDL repayments, when my take home was only £2.8k.

You need to remember that these loans were supposed to be checked back to front as they are known as HCSTC "High Cost Short Term Credit" - They should have credit checked you and seen your Monthly habits and how much your credit outgoings were etc

And no... Its not necessarily seen as fraud because on e month you could have been better off and the next maybe not...

Its hit and miss. Take it to the FOS if you want.

Go for it , If you need help with drafting a letter then I think I have one stored somewhere that could be adapted.

You need to remember that these loans were supposed to be checked back to front as they are known as HCSTC "High Cost Short Term Credit" - They should have credit checked you and seen your Monthly habits and how much your credit outgoings were etc

And no... Its not necessarily seen as fraud because on e month you could have been better off and the next maybe not...

Its hit and miss. Take it to the FOS if you want.

 

Go for it , If you need help with drafting a letter then I think I have one stored somewhere that could be adapted.

Thanks buddy. I will take them all to the FOS, unless any of them want to settle with a decent offer. I will keep this post updated with progress.

Sorry for the delay in updating, I was hoping to post one single update once all cases were resolved, but the process with the FOS takes longer than anticipated.

First of all, here is the number of days each lender took to respond to my complaint:

Mr Lender - 2

Lending Stream LLC - 8

My Jar - 24

Quick Quid - 45

Sunny - 55

Quid Market - 55

Uncle Buck - 59

Payday UK - 67

Payday Express - 68

Wonga – 73

Out of the above, three PDLs agreed or partially agreed with me and offered me a substantial refund which I accepted:

Sunny - £2,820.71

Uncle Buck - £1,119.75

Wonga - £7,308.33

The rest rejected my claim, and in some cases offered me a token payment of between 1-10% of the interest I paid. I rejected their offers and lodged a complaint with the FOS.

Below is the number of days it took the FOS Adjudicator to respond with a decision:

Payday UK - 34

Quid Market - 39

Payday Express - 40

Quick Quid - 40

My Jar - 40

Mr Lender - 46

Lending Stream LLC – 65

In all cases the FOS Adjudicator sided with me and agreed that most of the loans were unaffordable and irresponsibly lent. Two lenders accepted that decision and paid out:

My Jar - £1,163.90

Payday UK - £3,350.12

The rest I have referred to the FOS Ombudsman. This part is taking a lot longer. However, I have just had my first response back from the FOS Ombudsman (after 200 days) and they have agreed with the FOS Adjudicator, and have ordered Payday Express to refund me £1,297.74.

So, as it stands:

• I have received £15,762.81 in payments already.

• I have another £1,297.74 being paid out in the next 4 weeks.

• I am awaiting on the FOS Ombudsman ruling on 4 more complaints (which the FOS Adjudicator ruled with me on, which is worth another £11,697.82)

I can’t believe that I nearly did bother reclaiming this money, or was contemplating letting a 3rd party claim company do it for a 30% cut.

My advice out there to anyone who is considering doing this is to just do it. Even just a letter to the PDL may be enough to get something.

Will post again with the outcomes when my final 4 complaints are addressed.

what a wonderful account

it will be a beacon for others.

dx