Complaints to Credit Companies

I think I'd be half way between @mickpa and @peter86 on this topic. I couldn't have been a bigger soldier for the pay day loans when I was in the height of my gambling. I used three different providers concurrently and at one stage I must have had 7/8 weekly loans on the go. It was absolutely madness. I think in the initial assessment for my first loan, the company would have looked at my payslip, but after that it was basically just proving I lived at the address and I was away in a hack. I also joked once to the agent who called out to the house that the latest loan was "for Cheltenham". He replied that "I had to give him a "proper" reason or he couldn't give me the loan". 

I broke my back paying back those loans and thankfully they are finished now. I agree with @mickpa that I knew full well what I was doing getting those loans out and I was stupid to do so, but also agree with @peter86 that the companies themselves should have pried a bit further into why I was getting these loans. Heck I think I applied for 3 seperate loans in the same month, from the same company, and was granted all three. It was completely irresponsible on their part and I was lucky to get out of it. The only reason I did was I got another loan to pay them off and without that, I don't know how I was going to pay them back.

The trouble with forums is people have opinions, but opinions don't necessarily equate to facts. 

Like with our gambling abstaince or recovery, telling someone what you did rather than what you think is better for the person, or gambler, looking for help.

The same goes for this post. Opinions on the morality of trying to get money back from loan companies are irrelevant when the question is can I get money back or how do I try to get money back. 

The fact is you can get money back under the right circumstances by using the right processes, despite it all going on gambling. My 100 odd pages of bank statements that I had to send as proof of my borrowing, earnings and outgoings(gambling) showed that it was for gambling purposes, despite what I may have said at the time just to get the money.

I've done it as have others on here. It has been mentioned before in other posts but Debt Camel was the site that I used to help me, making it clear what processes you need to follow. I suggest going onto that site and reading the section on payday loans.

There's no guarantee but if you want to try you can.

Chris.

Posted by: d1994

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. 

Sorry for the harsh response mate. Its grim out here and I apologise.....................tread carefully and good luck.

Posted by: Peter86

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....

My story is very similar in terms of available cash but not the debt or recovery of said debt.  Thank goodness I have been brought up to never ever have debt except for a mortgage which I paid off year ago. Mind you, my family weren't gamblers either so that bit went wrong!!!   Its good advice on the debt and its very generous of you to share it and I respect you for doing so.

My harsh thoughtless comments were on the gambling itself rather than the debt incurred and I've apologised - we all shout our mouths off occasionally and this was one of my occasionallys (if thats a word).

I hope you are beating the curse and wish you luck mate.  Personally, I'm doing ok (I've lost hundreds of thousands and am just an ordinary bloke in a small semi-detached who had spare cash to squander - and I squandered it) but I still miss the whole experience of watching the horses that carry my chance........but as I'm aware of it, I can fight it. And do. 

Hey @mickpa, no need to apologise. I’m a firm believer that sometimes it is the harsh reality people need to hear! 

Thank you everyone else for responding, lots of helpful information. The reason I asked on here is because I read a post referencing Debt Camel a while ago, which is what I used to help with my complaints.

I actually didn’t use gambling in my reasoning when complaining as when I desperately managed to take 3 (smaller amounts of credit) out within the same month, it was for food, bills and clothes for a new job I was starting at the time.

Of course this was a result of gambling away the cash I had, and of course the remaining went towards gambling. Stupid. But had they seen the bank transactions there’s no way i’d have been lent to! £10 / £20 / £50 going towards online slots several times, daily. Sometimes minutes apart. It’s embarrassing really.

I’m going to write up all of the info I have, pull some transactions etc from around that time and see what FO can do. I don’t expext much, all I asked from the credit card providers was for a refund of the fees / interest accumulated over time, and if there was anything they could do to help my credit record. I even stated this would be to help me pay off the balances remaining, not to be pocketed and go towards splurging further. 

Thanks again everyone and all the best

@d1994

Please see my recent post - it is possible to get rid of debt no matter what size it is. Don't give up, explain your situation etc. If the write off fails, contact the FCA and FoS for further help. I covered as much as I could in the article I made, depending on who your debt is with Banks tend to be more understanding than loan companies.

Link;

https://www.gamcare.org.uk/forum/overcoming-problem-gambling/if-you-have-debt-read-this-clear-debt-request-a-debt-write-off/

I wish you success, please post an update on my post if you have any new outcomes.