Hello J

Firstly thankyou for all of this information on this forum, I have had a look around but I think I need to start a thread in order to get some help. I am sorry for the length of the post and I hope someone makes it to the end of it as I know you would be using their own freetime to respond! J Much appreciation and thank in advance for this

I wrote to Lending stream to claim irresponsible lending and I am hoping that someone could contribute their expertise to help formulate a reply to them. Id rather make one last attempt to settle with them before going to the ombudsman.

All of my comments are ion red and LS are in black.

We are writing in reference to your recent correspondence.

Please note that you borrowed 17 loans (Ref. No: xxxx) from Lending Stream, out of which 14 loans were closed successfully and 3 loans (Ref. No: xxxx, xxxx and xxxx) are outstanding.

However, the ownership of the accounts (Ref. No: xxxx, xxxx and xxxx) has now been transferred to the third party debt collection agency Mackenzie Hall (can be contacted on 01563 556533). Hence, we would request you to get in touch with them for further proceedings. I thought you had to claim against the original creditor? How should I respond to this? This makes up a large part of my claim as they added around £1000 in charges and interest onto £500 that was defaulted and sold it on

We would like to share our findings, in regards to the loan accounts closed with us.

Affordability Check:

We confirm that an affordability analysis is conducted for all customers (existing or new) and on each loan application. Our advanced analytics and underwriting processes review the information provided by the customer, all public information and details held by Credit Reference Agencies before making a decision.

• Your Experian score was ranging upto xxxx; which factored into our proprietary underwriting and deemed acceptable I don’t think so, my credit rating was proper trash back then, I have spent about 3 years trying to repair it and have had tens of thousands of pounds worth of defaults and a CCJ drop off of my file since then (+6 years old now) and its still far short from what they are claiming!
  
• At the time of applications, you were full-time employed Yes correct
  
• Your monthly income at the time of applications was ranging upto £ xxxx No idea what I declared but from their comment “ranging upto” I doubt this amount was consistent
  
• We could observe a sufficient disposable income, which denoted that repayments towards the loans can be made without any financial difficulties I was in serious trouble and borrowing from one to pay another, my finances were a mess!
  

Rollover:

We would also like you to note that a “Rollover” is an option provided by some lenders where a customer is allowed to delay paying back a loan on the payment of additional fees. Currently, Lending Stream does not offer this option. Hence, we confirm that the FCA regulation on “Rollover” Loans is not applicable to us.

Credit file/Data Validation:

When a customer requests for a credit report from a Credit Reference Agency, he may acquire specific information including names of different lenders and their respective reporting. However, when a financial institution does a credit search on a customer’s credit report, they are not privy to that exact information. Hence, our decision to lend money does in part rely on the information received from Experian (credit scores).

Financial Difficulties:

Our constant message to customers whose circumstances change, or who experience hardship, is to speak to us and we will work something out together. Upon reviewing your accounts, we found that the required assistance was offered, when, we were informed about the change in your circumstances. This is a lie by them, when repeatedly borrowing and borrowing just became unsustainable I contacted them and I repeatedly asked them to set up a repayment plan, freeze interest and to stop phoning me for payment. They refused to accept less than £90 per month which I did not have and were calling me in excess of 8 times a day and even phoned my work phone which I was furious and extremely embarrassed about at the time. I have told them I want compensation for their behaviour during this period but I might tell them that I would be willing to forgo this should they be willing to settle in full on the rest of my claim without having to go to the ombudsman.

Resolution:

In lieu of the overall situation, we confirm that the affordability checks were performed while approving your loans.

With the above being said, we would like to inform you that there were some procedural errors while approving your loans (Ref. No: xxxx, xxxx, xxxx, xxxx and xxxx). Hence, we offer to refund the interest and charges paid towards the loans (Amounting £394.50). I don’t know what processes they are admitting not following but this was the first 5 loans I had with them. The amount of interest I am claiming form them is £825 from the 14 loans that I repaid so I am guessing this is just an attempt to reduce by 50%. There are also the 3 loans that they have asked me to contact the company they sold onto. I have asked them to refund the £500 loan + £1000 interest that defaulted that they have sold on so that I may settle with the company they sold it to. I might respond that I would be willing to accept just the £825 + £1000 = £1825 interest if they are willing to resolve without the ombudsman

Should you accept the offer, please confirm so that we can initiate the refund towards the bank account details that we have registered in our records (account number ending with " xxxx "). I switched bank accounts years ago to make a fresh start away where no companies have my details J

Alternatively, you can help us with the copy of your bank statement (in which you wish for the funds to be credited) reflecting your name, bank account number, sort code and bank's name in a non-editable format. Errr No chance!

For further queries, please email us at xxx or call us on 0203 365 0138 (Monday to Friday between 7 am to 10 pm). Call charges apply.

A final observation I have made from their reply is that I have told them I want 8% statutory interest and they have not mentioned this within their letter at all

Thankyou again for your help with this

x

Rebecca - Ill be back later to comment on this - Please provide more info on this about your circumstances at the time... When the loans were taken etc etc..

I can try and work out roughly how much id consider reasonable...

Also take a look at my signature - Ive written a reclaim guide you might find useful if you havent already?

Hi

Loans were taken 2011-2013

I suppose I was in a similar situation to many who got stuck in a payday loan trap during this period where I continuously had payday loans out or within days of paying off the previous one to be able to live after the amount of interest they charged

Around 2008-2009 I lost a my job after the business I worked for closed down and I ended up defaulting on about £40k in loans,

1 of the creditors took me to court and I ended up with a CCJ in 2009 or 2010 but I managed to agree a vastly reduced repayment plan myself with my other creditors and I was paying them back between £5-£40 a month each depending on how much I owed them.

I did get back into work but my income was inconsistent and on lower months there was not enough to pay the bills on, previously I would have borrowed on a 0% interest credit card if I needed to but my credit rating was now trashed and PDL companys were the only ones that would touch me and then I ended up being stuck in a repaying interest cycle between companies for several years.

Thankfully today is much better but it was hell back then

I think I am OK in countering the reduced offer for the 14 loans that I had paid off.

Its the 3 loans that I defaulted on and they sold on which I mainly need help with a response please.

How do I get lending stream to look at these after they have told me to contact McKenzie hall