Complaints to Credit Companies

Hi

Well if you have a case for direct gambling transactions then I say go for it.

If you have been borrowing cash and they dont really know what that cash is for then you dont have much of  a case. This would give the credit card companies/loan companies/payday loan companies an easy reply by saying they didnt know what you were doing.

Now the background here is that certain credit companies did over lend because they dont make the most profit from people who clear the balance every month. I base my considered opinion on direct experience over decades

Plenty of inside knowledge points to them wanting the people who rack up the debt because it leads to lots of interest and penalty charges.

My company are good but thats mainly because its a starter card for people with low credit scores...they wont raise my limit without a full financial check and references. I dont want my limit raising though.

The FCA have tightened up on it but I feel it still goes on to maximise profit. Even with defaults they still make vast profits because the APR is set at a level to compensate for unsecured lending losses

Now I speak from experience in the past when credit card companies offered more than I could ever reasonably afford. If i was to lose my job for example. They knew I was on a lowly income often making the minimum payments  but they automatically raised the limit and I take full responsibility for thinking it was just a golden ticket to a spending spree.

Im much wiser now and I only borrow small amounts covered by my savings anyway should something go wrong. My job is far from secure and I realise that high debt is just a ticket to misery central.

In my view any credit related to gambling should be illegal. If they suspect somebody is gambling they should not lend.

If the finance companies take gambling seriously this should have a knock on effect and help to protect people. Im not saying its the only solution to prevent gambling  but we have to stop direct borrowing to fund a gambling habit and a gambling addiction.

All the best with it

Take responsibility for your own idiotic gambling as I have taken responsibility for mine.  Its always someone else's fault - no it isn't, it yours. If you got all your money back you would probably have another bet and lose it again - thats what we addicted gamblers do.

Man up and blame yourself and take responsibility.  Immediately block payments for gambling. Block all online sites. Self-exclude from all bookies.  Then blame yourself for gambling in the past and try your best not to do it in the future.

Good luck

Posted by: Mickpa

Take responsibility for your own idiotic gambling as I have taken responsibility for mine.  Its always someone else's fault - no it isn't, it yours. If you got all your money back you would probably have another bet and lose it again - thats what we addicted gamblers do.

Man up and blame yourself and take responsibility.  Immediately block payments for gambling. Block all online sites. Self-exclude from all bookies.  Then blame yourself for gambling in the past and try your best not to do it in the future.

Good luck

Hi Mick, thanks for your response. Not sure if you’ve read my diary but i’m not blaming anyone for my gambling, it was entirely me and I’m doing really well in my recovery. I’m already self excluded, gambling transactions frozen, and have little desire to gamble again.  My sole focus is paying back my debt, which isn’t massive, but still difficult for me to pay back with little after bills and living expenses etc, and rebuilding my credit score. 

The complaints to credit companies aren’t me passing off blame, it’s me genuinely trying to get some help to pay off the remainder as I do feel it was irresponsibly lent and was never affordable. My credit limit was then also increased without sufficient checks etc, and I admittedly recklessly used them because it was all the money I had available, even before my gambling problem. 

Hey @Joydivider, thanks for sharing your experiences and views. I agree with a lot of it. The amount of credit i’ve borrowed is pretty small in comparison to others, but still difficult for me to pay back. Thankfully i’ve never had the heart to borrow from friends and family, and if I did it was paid back on payday. 

I’ll maybe get all my info together, and look back on transactions if I can, and decide if it’s worth submitting a complaint

They will always say that they didn't know what you were going to do with the money. It's a difficult one. It was no coincidence that a few years ago in the town I live in where more bookies opened, more payday loan places opened too. So did more pawn brokers. You could literally see people in bookies and then a few days later in pay day loan places and then pawn brokers. It's was absolutely bizarre. But it went on for a while. Irresponsible lending was massive. Unfortunately, ultimately, it's the person who is borrowing the money whose choice it was to do those things I think. I hope you get something though. 

@d1994 Are you talking about credit cards or credit companies, like payday loans?

Chris.

Posted by: X M

They will always say that they didn't know what you were going to do with the money. It's a difficult one. It was no coincidence that a few years ago in the town I live in where more bookies opened, more payday loan places opened too. So did more pawn brokers. You could literally see people in bookies and then a few days later in pay day loan places and then pawn brokers. It's was absolutely bizarre. But it went on for a while. Irresponsible lending was massive. Unfortunately, ultimately, it's the person who is borrowing the money whose choice it was to do those things I think. I hope you get something though. 

Hey X M, that’s madness! I think you might be right, that’s how it feels from the responses I’ve received so far. They’ve come back and said that it was my choice to take out the credit, and they are right, it was, but I was also in a low place struggling to make ends meet. Being young and vulnerable, I took the money that was offered to me despite having a part time, zero contract job. So very unstable. Big regret, now I’m paying for the consequences! 

Posted by: Chris.UK

@d1994 Are you talking about credit cards or credit companies, like payday loans?

Chris.

Hey Chris, I should have been more clear. 3 credit cards, and one store catalogue type credit.

I’ve paid off my lowest one and card has been cancelled. 

The store credit account is the most frustrating. 

@d1994 Taking away the moral differences that people have with this situation,the fact is you can take all of them to the FO for unaffordable lending. 

It sounds like you have written to the companies and not had any joy. In their response they should have said that you can go to the FO and they are obliged to follow the ruling of the FO. 

It has no bearing what you used the money for, it is up to the companies to show that they did affordability checks at the time of lending you the money or giving you the credit.

You do need to write to the FO and put your case forward as to why you couldn't afford the money. You would also need to send bank statements showing your transactions. 

What you don't get though is the money written off, you can get back some of the interest that you have paid. You are still responsible for the original debt.

This is more relevant for payday loans where you repay the interest and re-borrow straight away.

When I did mine for a series of approx 15 payday loans it took over six months from start to finish, and even then the biggest amount I was due back didn't happen because the finance company went into liquidation around the same time and kept delaying the repayment!

If you are just after a freeze on your interest, if you call them and explain the situation then in today's world they should give you the chance to freeze the interest rather than go to the FO as it can cost them every time you do. 

If this doesn't happen for you then make sure you repay the biggest interest bearing debt first. It will save you more money long term.

Chris.

If you look on the FO website there are case histories including people who took out loans for gambling. You may well find a few that are similar to your own which may give you an idea of likely outcome.  The FO seem to have upheld the lending companies decisions not to compensate in the vast majority of cases  but there is nothing to stop you forwarding a case for consideration.

When I was working in banking I feel I saw the birth of the deregulation of credit.

It moved from a stern talking to by the bank manager whether you could actually afford a £300 radio to a massive push to get everyone using a credit card.

In the 1980s I got leaflets through the door nearly everyday saying I could have up to £10k for a holiday home improvements or luxury goods.

There was a massive deregulation and I believe it also had political motives. Its a way of telling people in relative poverty that they can have a ticket to the party. Easy eh...no real solutions to housing poverty and opportunities. Brownie points all around as the government pretend they are making living conditions and prospects better for everyone.

Its no wonder people succumb to temptation. I grew up poor and when I was young I wanted nice things that were all around me in magazines and the media of the day.

It sort of became the norm to be in debt..why worry have it now and pay later! The 80s in particular were a massive debt binge as the government spent the North Sea oil money on lords knows what...paying the UK debts for WWII...yes the country is trillions in debt so debt becomes a theme we all live under

Only jobs were never that secure and the job for life with the gold watch on retirement were dying out fast. For a long while its been heading for a gig economy with zero hour contracts...back to Dickensian times in many ways. Boom capitalism has actually been a brief experiment for the majority

I see people all around me with massive car loans and mortgages. In a way people have to play the game to get anything but I dont want much now and realise it all has to be paid for the hard way.

Credit has snowballed into a massive operation which has honed its marketing and cynicism .There are parallels with the gambling dens in that it should be strongly regulated...ie not by a government that dont really care in my opinion

Yes we have to take responsibility for what we have done but I dont believe its all our fault. To err is human especially in todays hectic society

There is financial advice and a person can only pay what they can afford after a set living allowance

Best wishes to everyone on the forum

Yeah it was crazy. But for anyone who hast gambled, they wouldn't put two and two together seeing people in bookies and then payday loan places. 

With your zero hour contract-didn't you tell them that?

i see this topic come up at least once a week on here 

the short answer is no you are not getting any money back from neither bank nor casino it doesnt matter how far up the chain you go the answer will be " you decided to deposit beyond your means , you were aware of the risk associated with gambling" 

if the system allowed everyone who had done their bollux in gambling to have a moan at the bank and get their money refunded gambling would very quickly cease to exist 

its all a game its all set up so that we cannot win 

it is better to put the energy your using to try and fight it into your recovery 

Hi @d1994 I have just stumbled across this post and to be honest I don't agree with @mickpa saying it's as simple as 'man up and take some responsibility'. 

For the last 5 years I was in a cycle of borrowing from all kinds of shady lenders with extortionate interest rates, and yes it is your choice to gamble, but these lender need to take their share of responsibilty for preying on vulnerable people - and yes I class myself as a degenerate gambler in that cateogry.

Speaking form personal experience, I have had MASSIVE success with the complaints I have made - some just pay up in full, some want to do a deal to try and save on money down the line, and a couple I have had to send to the FOS. It is well well worth while going for it - you literally have nothing to lose and a whole lot to gain. Not only will you get cash back, you will get bad credit removed from your credit file.

I can help you if you want, I have all the emails I have sent saved and you can just adapt them to fit your case. You don't even have to know what you have borrowed - just say that you know you have borrowed money and it wasn't affordable. 

If you have borrowed repeatedly from the same lender you have a really strong case. 

I was earning £3.5k a month after tax, and was borrowing from these back alley sharks at obscene interest rates. I borrowed £300 off one and repaid £750 - in 2 months. Given that I was earning £60k a year why the hell would I have to repeatedly borrow small amounts from these companies? Alarm bells should (and would) have been ringing but they chose to ignore them because for a long time by hook or by crook I managed to pay the money back - until I couldn't anymore. Had they asked to see in a bank statement there isn't a chance in hell they would have lent the money. The FOS take this attitude as well - believe me.

Yes we as gamblers chose to take out the loans and get outselves into debt, but these parasites make our position so so much worse....