Help for Wonga loan please

[Maggie251]

Hello

I am new here although I have been reading for quite some time.

 

I am in need of some advice.

 

I am a pensioner of 67 and I took out a wonga loan to fix my roof as it was an emergency.

 

However, since then I have been paying it back and taking it out again because I can't afford to just pay it.

I've been rather silly I suppose and learned a lesson but I usually have a very good credit rating

and until my son told me, I didn't know that taking out wonga loans is actually frowned upon.

 

I am worrying at night in bed about all of this and

 

yesterday I received an email from wonga saying that the way in which they collect payments is changing

and they will only attempt to take the full amount twice with the cpa,

and after this, they will not make any further attempts by cpa and no partial payments.

 

if I do not have the full amount in my account on the due date, am I safe from being drained by them?

 

What I really wanted to do was write to both wonga and my bank natwest,

requesting that the cpa be cancelled.

then contact wonga and ask if I can pay this debt off monthly via their bank in cash.

 

Can anyone help as it is making me ill and not good at my age.

 

Also, my son mentioned opening a new account.

 

I really don't want to do this as I've had my account for over 30 years and am happy as it is.

 

I did ask my bank for a small loan to pay this off but was declined.

Not sure why though.

Many thanks.

[renegadeimp]

You shouldnt need to open an account with another bank if youre only dealing with wonga. As stated, they will only try two times now, or they face being closed down. You need to work out a simple budget summary and send it to wonga with an offer of repayment. They will say to fill in their I&E but don't. The budget summary is enough for a court so its good enough for them.

 

if they say no, then come back here and we can play hardball with them and force them

 

The budget summary can be found at : https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/steps/step2/Pages/Step_2_11.aspx

 

Fill that page in, then click budget summary on the left hand side of the page. You keep the I&E, they get a copy of the summary.

[Maggie251]

Thank you.

 

Well if they are anything like my bank Natwest, they will be terrible!

 

I went in today with a written instruction to cancel the CPA.

 

However, two different members of staff said that there was nothing they could do and that I need to ring Visa disputes.

 

I said that they should do this by law and they just said that because I had given wonga my card details and entered into an agreement,

there is nothing that hey can do.

I'm sure this is wrong.

 

Also, she said if there is insufficient funds in the account,

the payment would still go through because it is a guaranteed payment

therefore taking me £1569 over my overdraft limit and incurring massive charges.

 

Also, she said that if I report my card stolen, the payment will still go through on the cancelled card.

 

So effectively, if wonga do not agree to cancel the CPA, I am in a horrible mess.

[renegadeimp]

Wonga have been told by the regulator to adhere to the law ( which was set in 2009! ), or face action against their licence. They have no choice but to comply now.

 

Your bank is also 100% wrong. When requesting a cancellation, do it through a manager, not through an undertrained front desk clerk.

[Maggie251]

Ok thank you for that.

 

Would I be better just emailing wonga and cancelling the cpa with them and requesting a repayment plan via standing order?

 

I feel like sending a letter to my bank manager complaining about earlier

and saying that if this request is not actioned and a confirmation letter sent out to me, I will be reporting them.

 

Or would I be better just trying to sort it with Wonga and forget my useless bank?

 

I don't think they will budge.

 

They just say that I gave my card details and they only have the power to cancel direct debits and standing orders.

[renegadeimp]

You can do. Wonga must cancel it if you ask, but going via the bank is a much better thing to do. its all covered under regulation.

 

I agree with you as well. Get that complaint to the bank manager, as i can guarantee that hundreds, if not thousands of others are being fobbed off in the exact same way. Regarding your account, you have the power to cancel any and all payments/transactions unless it is a court ordered payment.

[Maggie251]

Thank you again for the quick reply. I do feel a little better but still worried over all of this. I will type up my letter/complaint/cpa cancellation all rolled into one tonight and get it sent off tomorrow recorded delivery.

Having had a good look over this site, it seems that Wonga are pretty good at setting up repayment plans and that a link for this request will be on the my account page 7 days before my due date.

I will opt for this option. I would prefer to pay it by standing order but now I am worrying that if I cancel the cpa before requesting to set up the repayment plan, they will refuse it and just empty my account as quickly as possible instead.

Has anyone else who may be reading this successfully set up a plan via their wonga account and did they stick to the payments? Also, did anyone cancel their cpa through emailing wonga but still had money taken? Thanks again.

[dx100uk]

state in your letter that you will be writing to the FCA anyway

as what you have been told by NATWEST staff regarding cancelling the CPA is against that given by the FCA.

 

GENERAL NOTES ON CHARGEBACK & Continuous Payment Authority & BACS

.....

We have been telling people to put a letter into their bank instructing them

not to make any payments under any circumstances to these companies

.

http://whatconsumer.co.uk/visa-debit-chargeback/- it works!

.

banks MUST follow written intructions from their customers !

.

This fsa guideicon has now been updated:

.

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/consumer_...ghts_guide.pdf

.

Here's the text:

.

Cancelling a regular

card payment:

.

When you give your credit or debit card details to a company and authorise them to take regular payments from your account,

such as for a gym membership or magazine subscription,

it is known as a ‘recurring transaction’ or ‘continuous payment authority’.

.

These are often confused with direct debits, but do not offer the same guarantee if the amount or date of the payment changes.

.

In most cases, regular payments can be cancelled by telling the company taking the payments.

.

However,

you have the right to cancel them directly with your bank or card issuer by telling it that you have stopped permission for the payments.

Your bank or card issuer must then stop them – it has no right to insist that you agree this first with the company taking the payments.

.

Be aware, though, that you will still be responsible for paying any money that you owe.

and that CANELLING YOUR CARD WILL NOT STOP THE CPA

.

see:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...-Viewing)-nbsp

.

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/consumer...ng/index.shtml

.

http://www.theguardian.com/money/201...?newsfeed=true

..

.

New june 2013

.

Regulator orders Banks and mutuals to review complaints about not cancelling recurring payments from November 2009.

.

Consumers who have set up a regular payment from their account will now be able to successfully cancel that arrangement

by contacting their card provider, the Financial Conduct Authority said.

.

The FCA has been examining how easy it is for customers to cancel Continuous Payment Authorities (CPAs)

due either to payday lendersicon or for other regular payments such as subscriptions or gymicon memberships.

.

CPAs, which are also commonly called recurring transactions or recurring payments,

are relatively easy to set up but can be hard to cancel, causing problems for consumers trying to manage their finances,the FCA said.

.

Now, following the FCA review of how the largest high street banks and mutuals process requests to cancel CPAs, they have agreed that they will ensure that when

a customer asks for a recurring payment to end, that will be sufficient to cancel the arrangement. They have also confirmed that should a payment go through by

mistake following cancellation by a customer the customer will be refunded immediately.

.

In addition to securing this commitment, the largest banks and mutuals have agreed to review every individual complaint they have received about the non-

cancellation of a CPA and to pay redress where payments have continued to be made despite the customer cancelling the arrangement. This applies to all complaints

since November 2009 when the Financial Services Authority, the FCA’s predecessor, began regulating banking conduct.

.

Clive Adamson, the FCA’s director of supervision, said: “It’s important that consumers are confident that banks are meeting their everyday banking needs. Today

customers can be confident that when they ask for a Continuous Payment Authority to be cancelled – it will be cancelled - and that it can be done easily.

.

“We recognise that historically this is an area where some customers have struggled but the banks and mutuals have responded positively to our work on this issue.

From now on we expect them to be getting this right. In addition, they have committed to review past complaints.”

.

http://www.ftadviser.com/2013/06/28/...J/article.html

.

Also mentioned your displeasure that as whomever took your money had obviously attempted this many times

probably activating your banks own anti fraud software - nobody had the decency to inform my you this was going on.?

.In the FSA's own words:

.

..

What should I do about a payment from my account that I didn’t authorise?

.

Your bank must refund an unauthorised transaction.

Money can only be taken from your account if you have authorised the transaction

or if your bank can prove you were at fault –

see below.

Contact your bank immediately if you notice an unauthorised payment from your account.

If you are sure you did not authorise the payment, you can claim a refund.

However, your bank does not have to refund you if you do not tell it about the payment until 13 months

or more after the date it left your account.

.

Your bank must refund an unauthorised transaction

.

------------------

.

Your bank may only refuse a refund for an unauthorised transaction if:

.

? it can prove you authorised the transaction

– though your bank cannot simply say that use of your password,

card and PIN proves you authorised a payment; or

? it can prove you are at fault because you acted fraudulently,

or because you deliberately,

or with gross negligence, failed to protect the details of your card, PIN or password in a way that allowed the transaction

.

-----------------------

.

How quickly must my bank refund me for an unauthorised transaction?

.

The bank must make the refund immediately unless it has evidence that one of the above reasons applies.

Your bank may ask you to answer some questions and fill out a form confirming what has happened,

but it cannot delay your refund while it waits for you to return the form.

If the bank has evidence that one of the above reasons for refusing a refund applies,

it may investigate before making a refund

but must look into it as quickly as possible.

If your bank rejects your claim for a refund it should explain why.

If the transaction was on a credit card, the refund may not happen immediately.

But the card issuer cannot charge interesticon or ask for repayment of the amount unless it can prove you are liable to pay

[/b]

These are your statutory rights under FSA regulations. They are not guidance.

.

if you did it by your banking portal:

.

then follow this:

.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...73#post4534173

[dx100uk]

state in your letter that you will be writing to the FCA anyway

as what you have been told by NATWEST staff regarding cancelling the CPA is against that given by the FCA.

 

GENERAL NOTES ON CHARGEBACK & Continuous Payment Authority & BACS

.....

We have been telling people to put a letter into their bank instructing them

not to make any payments under any circumstances to these companies

.

http://whatconsumer.co.uk/visa-debit-chargeback/- it works!

.

banks MUST follow written intructions from their customers !

.

This fsa guideicon has now been updated:

.

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/consumer_...ghts_guide.pdf

.

Here's the text:

.

Cancelling a regular

card payment:

.

When you give your credit or debit card details to a company and authorise them to take regular payments from your account,

such as for a gym membership or magazine subscription,

it is known as a ‘recurring transaction’ or ‘continuous payment authority’.

.

These are often confused with direct debits, but do not offer the same guarantee if the amount or date of the payment changes.

.

In most cases, regular payments can be cancelled by telling the company taking the payments.

.

However,

you have the right to cancel them directly with your bank or card issuer by telling it that you have stopped permission for the payments.

Your bank or card issuer must then stop them – it has no right to insist that you agree this first with the company taking the payments.

.

Be aware, though, that you will still be responsible for paying any money that you owe.

and that CANELLING YOUR CARD WILL NOT STOP THE CPA

.

see:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...-Viewing)-nbsp

.

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/consumer...ng/index.shtml

.

http://www.theguardian.com/money/201...?newsfeed=true

..

.

New june 2013

.

Regulator orders Banks and mutuals to review complaints about not cancelling recurring payments from November 2009.

.

Consumers who have set up a regular payment from their account will now be able to successfully cancel that arrangement

by contacting their card provider, the Financial Conduct Authority said.

.

The FCA has been examining how easy it is for customers to cancel Continuous Payment Authorities (CPAs)

due either to payday lendersicon or for other regular payments such as subscriptions or gymicon memberships.

.

CPAs, which are also commonly called recurring transactions or recurring payments,

are relatively easy to set up but can be hard to cancel, causing problems for consumers trying to manage their finances,the FCA said.

.

Now, following the FCA review of how the largest high street banks and mutuals process requests to cancel CPAs, they have agreed that they will ensure that when

a customer asks for a recurring payment to end, that will be sufficient to cancel the arrangement. They have also confirmed that should a payment go through by

mistake following cancellation by a customer the customer will be refunded immediately.

.

In addition to securing this commitment, the largest banks and mutuals have agreed to review every individual complaint they have received about the non-

cancellation of a CPA and to pay redress where payments have continued to be made despite the customer cancelling the arrangement. This applies to all complaints

since November 2009 when the Financial Services Authority, the FCA’s predecessor, began regulating banking conduct.

.

Clive Adamson, the FCA’s director of supervision, said: “It’s important that consumers are confident that banks are meeting their everyday banking needs. Today

customers can be confident that when they ask for a Continuous Payment Authority to be cancelled – it will be cancelled - and that it can be done easily.

.

“We recognise that historically this is an area where some customers have struggled but the banks and mutuals have responded positively to our work on this issue.

From now on we expect them to be getting this right. In addition, they have committed to review past complaints.”

.

http://www.ftadviser.com/2013/06/28/...J/article.html

.

Also mentioned your displeasure that as whomever took your money had obviously attempted this many times

probably activating your banks own anti fraud software - nobody had the decency to inform my you this was going on.?

.In the FSA's own words:

.

..

What should I do about a payment from my account that I didn’t authorise?

.

Your bank must refund an unauthorised transaction.

Money can only be taken from your account if you have authorised the transaction

or if your bank can prove you were at fault –

see below.

Contact your bank immediately if you notice an unauthorised payment from your account.

If you are sure you did not authorise the payment, you can claim a refund.

However, your bank does not have to refund you if you do not tell it about the payment until 13 months

or more after the date it left your account.

.

Your bank must refund an unauthorised transaction

.

------------------

.

Your bank may only refuse a refund for an unauthorised transaction if:

.

? it can prove you authorised the transaction

– though your bank cannot simply say that use of your password,

card and PIN proves you authorised a payment; or

? it can prove you are at fault because you acted fraudulently,

or because you deliberately,

or with gross negligence, failed to protect the details of your card, PIN or password in a way that allowed the transaction

.

-----------------------

.

How quickly must my bank refund me for an unauthorised transaction?

.

The bank must make the refund immediately unless it has evidence that one of the above reasons applies.

Your bank may ask you to answer some questions and fill out a form confirming what has happened,

but it cannot delay your refund while it waits for you to return the form.

If the bank has evidence that one of the above reasons for refusing a refund applies,

it may investigate before making a refund

but must look into it as quickly as possible.

If your bank rejects your claim for a refund it should explain why.

If the transaction was on a credit card, the refund may not happen immediately.

But the card issuer cannot charge interesticon or ask for repayment of the amount unless it can prove you are liable to pay

[/b]

These are your statutory rights under FSA regulations. They are not guidance.

.

if you did it by your banking portal:

.

then follow this:

.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...73#post4534173

[dx100uk]

GENERAL NOTES ON CHARGEBACK & Continuous Payment Authority & BACS

.....

We have been telling people to put a letter into their bank instructing them

not to make any payments under any circumstances to these companies

.

http://whatconsumer.co.uk/visa-debit-chargeback/- it works!

.

banks MUST follow written intructions from their customers !

.

This fsa guideicon has now been updated:

.

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/consumer_...ghts_guide.pdf

.

Here's the text:

.

Cancelling a regular

card payment:

.

When you give your credit or debit card details to a company and authorise them to take regular payments from your account,

such as for a gym membership or magazine subscription,

it is known as a ‘recurring transaction’ or ‘continuous payment authority’.

.

These are often confused with direct debits, but do not offer the same guarantee if the amount or date of the payment changes.

.

In most cases, regular payments can be cancelled by telling the company taking the payments.

.

However,

you have the right to cancel them directly with your bank or card issuer by telling it that you have stopped permission for the payments.

Your bank or card issuer must then stop them – it has no right to insist that you agree this first with the company taking the payments.

.

Be aware, though, that you will still be responsible for paying any money that you owe.

and that CANELLING YOUR CARD WILL NOT STOP THE CPA

.

see:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...-Viewing)-nbsp

.

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/consumer...ng/index.shtml

.

http://www.theguardian.com/money/201...?newsfeed=true

..

.

New june 2013

.

Regulator orders Banks and mutuals to review complaints about not cancelling recurring payments from November 2009.

.

Consumers who have set up a regular payment from their account will now be able to successfully cancel that arrangement

by contacting their card provider, the Financial Conduct Authority said.

.

The FCA has been examining how easy it is for customers to cancel Continuous Payment Authorities (CPAs)

due either to payday lendersicon or for other regular payments such as subscriptions or gymicon memberships.

.

CPAs, which are also commonly called recurring transactions or recurring payments,

are relatively easy to set up but can be hard to cancel, causing problems for consumers trying to manage their finances,the FCA said.

.

Now, following the FCA review of how the largest high street banks and mutuals process requests to cancel CPAs, they have agreed that they will ensure that when

a customer asks for a recurring payment to end, that will be sufficient to cancel the arrangement. They have also confirmed that should a payment go through by

mistake following cancellation by a customer the customer will be refunded immediately.

.

In addition to securing this commitment, the largest banks and mutuals have agreed to review every individual complaint they have received about the non-

cancellation of a CPA and to pay redress where payments have continued to be made despite the customer cancelling the arrangement. This applies to all complaints

since November 2009 when the Financial Services Authority, the FCA’s predecessor, began regulating banking conduct.

.

Clive Adamson, the FCA’s director of supervision, said: “It’s important that consumers are confident that banks are meeting their everyday banking needs. Today

customers can be confident that when they ask for a Continuous Payment Authority to be cancelled – it will be cancelled - and that it can be done easily.

.

“We recognise that historically this is an area where some customers have struggled but the banks and mutuals have responded positively to our work on this issue.

From now on we expect them to be getting this right. In addition, they have committed to review past complaints.”

.

http://www.ftadviser.com/2013/06/28/...J/article.html

.

Also mentioned your displeasure that as whomever took your money had obviously attempted this many times

probably activating your banks own anti fraud software - nobody had the decency to inform my you this was going on.?

.In the FSA's own words:

.

..

What should I do about a payment from my account that I didn’t authorise?

.

Your bank must refund an unauthorised transaction.

Money can only be taken from your account if you have authorised the transaction

or if your bank can prove you were at fault –

see below.

Contact your bank immediately if you notice an unauthorised payment from your account.

If you are sure you did not authorise the payment, you can claim a refund.

However, your bank does not have to refund you if you do not tell it about the payment until 13 months

or more after the date it left your account.

.

Your bank must refund an unauthorised transaction

.

------------------

.

Your bank may only refuse a refund for an unauthorised transaction if:

.

? it can prove you authorised the transaction

– though your bank cannot simply say that use of your password,

card and PIN proves you authorised a payment; or

? it can prove you are at fault because you acted fraudulently,

or because you deliberately,

or with gross negligence, failed to protect the details of your card, PIN or password in a way that allowed the transaction

.

-----------------------

.

How quickly must my bank refund me for an unauthorised transaction?

.

The bank must make the refund immediately unless it has evidence that one of the above reasons applies.

Your bank may ask you to answer some questions and fill out a form confirming what has happened,

but it cannot delay your refund while it waits for you to return the form.

If the bank has evidence that one of the above reasons for refusing a refund applies,

it may investigate before making a refund

but must look into it as quickly as possible.

If your bank rejects your claim for a refund it should explain why.

If the transaction was on a credit card, the refund may not happen immediately.

But the card issuer cannot charge interesticon or ask for repayment of the amount unless it can prove you are liable to pay

[/b]

These are your statutory rights under FSA regulations. They are not guidance.

.

if you did it by your banking portal:

.

then follow this:

.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...73#post4534173

[Maggie251]

Thank you, that is very interesting and gives me plenty to put into my letter. It will probably be four pages long! I will keep you updated with everything.

[renegadeimp]

Just remember, you need to follow through with anything you say to the banks. They get issued legal threats/complaints all the time and simply ignore them until a court claim or regulators complaint lands on the head office desk.

[daztomo]

Hi Maggie,

I recently emailed Wonga [email protected] to cancel my CPA which they did within 24 hours, I also filled in a simple income/expenditure form from the national debtline and attached that file to the email I sent to Wonga asking them for their bank details to set up a monthly standing order, they replied giving me their bank details and asking me how much I would be paying and for the 'promise date' that the standing order will be coming out, I replied giving them those details, I haven't heard from them since but I am going to start paying back my agreed amount on the promise date each month.

Please make sure the repayment is a comfortable amount as you don't want to get further into the payday loan disease.

[renegadeimp]

Remember to only pay them via standing order, and make sure that SO is set up for a few days after wages/benefits is in your account, as with some banks, SO's can be taken early but not authorised until the agreed date.

[Maggie251]

Thanks Daztomo, so when you contacted them, they were alright about it? Also, if you don't mind me asking, when are you due to start paying them? As I would be worried that they do not stick to the agreement and still take the full amount etc. As you won't really know if they have cancelled the cpa until after the promise date and if nothing is taken. It's all very worrying isn't it.

[daztomo]

yes, they didn't ask any questions, I just requested the CPA was cancelled and they replied saying 'As requested, we’ve cancelled your continuous payment authority and removed all debit cards from your account.' in the same email they gave me the bank details to set up a standing order, as I TOLD them that is the only way I will be making payments, they then replied asking for the promise date and the amount I would be paying each month, I emailed them back giving them those details and now I just make payments every month on my promise date via standing order.

[Maggie251]

Ok thank you, I have sent off my letter to the bank and I've emailed wonga collections and wonga payment instructions. Just had an automated response straight back so far so just waiting to see what they say now.

[Maggie251]

Quick update, got email from Wonga saying they have cancelled the CPA. Logged on to my wonga account and there is now no debit card details showing. But no acknowledgement of my request for a repayment plan. Also, my bank called saying exactly the same as the staff the other day....nothing they can do to stop card payments so looks like another sleepless night for me tonight.

[renegadeimp]

You dont need an acknowledgement. get their bank details and use your reference number with them to set up a SO. Your bank is also 100% wrong. Get a full complaint to their CEO and throw the FCA rulebook at them.

[daztomo]

Wonga will not take the payment if you have requested the CPA to be cancelled and also they have confirmed that the CPA has been cancelled, it's now down to you to arrange an alternative payment method i.e get that standing order sorted out, work out your budgets and ask them for their bank details to set up a standing order, they will supply these to you straight away and they will give you a reference number to use when setting up your standing order, once that's done tell them the 'promise date' that you will be making payments each month and the amount then just stick to it, sleep well!

[Maggie251]

Thanks, I've got their bank details, I can start making payments this month I am just really worried that they will empty my account even though they say they have cancelled the CPA.

[daztomo]

be assured that they won't take any payment once the CPA has been cancelled, i know what its like to be in that situation worrying etc but your on the right track

[renegadeimp]

If wonga empty your account when they have confirmed they wont, then you need to yell at the top of your voice to the regulators. I wouldnt worry though. As i said, wonga know they could be shut down for it.

[Maggie251]

Ok thank you both, feel a little better now and have just emailed them again with an income and expenditure form and an offer of repayment, so we will see what they say tomorrow thanks again.

[renegadeimp]

Just remember, if they dont accept, FORCE them.