uncle buck FOS

[acid53]

hi,

 

can anyone help with some historic info on Uncle Buck rollover/extension policy either via emails or have or historical references to the website c2010? I have made a formal complaint to them which i received final response today (which of course they refused to uphold). My complaint is based on affordability/irresponsible lending as in the 1st cycle of loans with them, they rolled my initial loan over 15 times without me paying the original loan back - simultaneously they gradually increased my credit limit. During this time i had a large no of payday loans and a terrible credit rating due to a gambling problem. I eventually agreed a repayment plan with them - after completion of the repayment plan, they then re-lent to me again and as you can imagine, the cycle continued until i agreed a 2nd repayment plan with them. At this stage, I asked them to permanently bar me as a customer but unbelievably they lent to a me a 3rd time and I ended up in a 3rd cycle of repayment

 

Their reason for refusing my complaint was that they used a product called Lending Metrics to assess affordability. I am absolutely sure there no income/expenditure info required provided for the roll-overs but any help on the actual roll-over process would help? Given the debt I was in, any product that looked at my credit file would have seen my credit rating was terrible

[renegadeimp]

Send a complaint with all your info to the FOS and copy in the FCA as well.

[acid53]

yes renegade, just in the process of full complaint to FOS. Will have it posted by the weekend - have a fair bit of evidence already, just looking some supporting info on the rollover process so my complaint is fully accurate

 

Yes was thinking the FCA may be interested in the number of rollovers and treatment of vulnerable clients themes

[racingrandom]

Hi,

 

I've just complained to Uncle Buck for a similar situation to yourself. I also received a final response which also mentions Lending Metrics, can you post the full response from them? Maybe they are just fobbing complaints off with a standard template letter re responsible lending? They decided not to uphold my complaint because they used Lending Metrics and they warn customers of the consequences of taking a loan before they apply, their complaint didn't address most of the points I made on my complaint, they glossed over most of the points I made and it looks to me like I've just been fobbed off. I'm going to appeal with their complaints manager and if I get no joy I'll go to the FOS.

[racingrandom]

Hi,

 

Here is my response from them:

 

Investigation Outcome and Conclusions

 

Having reviewed the information I have available I am unable to uphold your complaint. The reason for this is that when assessing your loan application Uncle Buck used data from Lending Metrics, who provide real time data to assess your credit worthiness and affordability along with information you provided on your application.

 

Uncle Buck displays warning messages that its loans are unsuitable for longer term borrowing and this is also explained in our adequate explanations document. If a customer wishes to re-apply having successfully repaid a loan, we would consider this application, if it falls within the parameters of our re-serve policy, as there may be valid reasons why a customer would seek further funding.

 

At Uncle Buck we believed, and continue to believe, that responsible lending needs to be matched by an element of responsible borrowing. We make customers aware we record their responses and expect these to be truthful and accurate insofar as the customer is aware at the time.

 

Please note that according to our Complaints Procedure, this is our final response. If you are unhappy with it, you may refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

 

You need to do this within six months of the date of this letter.

 

For more information please visit

 

 

The address of the Financial Ombudsman Service is:

 

Exchange Tower London E14 9SR.

 

The enclosed leaflet provides you with more information on taking your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service and the service they provide.

 

Alternatively, you can within two weeks of receiving the final response letter ask our Complaints Manager to review it, or ask our Trade Association to conduct a review. We have enclosed a further copy of our Customer Complaints Procedures document giving further details on how you can do this.

 

We appreciate the time you have taken to bring this matter to our attention.

 

Is your response similar to mine? As I said they didn't address most of the points I made in my complaint and just provided a standard response, their quality of complaint response is shocking.

[acid53]

thats a very similar/exact same response I received to my complaint to them. What was the basis of your complaintLendingMetrics product only appears to have been introduced in 2011 - given my complaint relates to 2009, I am not sure how they can claim that although it probably is a standard response letter