MILLIONS who have been mis-sold unaffordable credit on cards, loans and overdrafts might be due compensation.
Even those who have already repaid the things they owed could reclaim thousands whether they can prove that repaying your debt was very challenging to top of day-to-day living.
Lenders have a responsibility to check on whether a borrower can afford to pay back financing before handing out credit.
More than half of complaints about unaffordable loans are upheld by the Financial Ombudsman Service, which rules on whether a person is owed a refund.
Debt adviser Sara Williams says: “Most individuals who get into a mess with money worry it's their own fault, but lenders shouldn't give away large limits.”
This week Rosie Murray-West explains who can reclaim – and how to get it done.
WHAT Can one CLAIM FOR?
ANY of the following products might be worth checking, based on Sara, who runs debt reclaim website Debt Camel:
- Payday loans meant for short-term credit
- Car finance loans
- Guarantor loans in which a parent or friend needed to pay it back if you defaulted
- Standard personal loans where the monthly repayment was unsustainable given your financial circumstances
- Bank overdrafts that were increased with no financial check
- Credit cards with high spending limits
Even if you paid the loan back, or closed the bank account, you can still reclaim.
HOW MUCH Can one CLAIM BACK?
YOU won't return everything, however the ombudsman usually orders firms to settle you the appeal to you paid, any other charges, plus eight per cent interest on top.
You will still be likely to repay the number you borrowed.
As a good example, a customer who borrowed lb5,000 and paid back lb250 over Three years could be awarded lb4,320, consisting of lb4,000 of charges and fees and eight percent interest.
It usually demands that any black marks in your credit score because of the debt are removed, too.
WILL I DEFINITELY RECEIVE SOME COMPENSATION?
THERE'S no guarantee. However, the Financial Ombudsman upholds more than half of complaints about loans after lenders have declined to spend, so the odds are inside your favour.
The Ombudsman can make a decision that is legally binding around the company. However this may take more than three months so be ready to wait.
If you'll still don't agree following the Ombudsman constitutes a ruling, your main choice is to accept lender to court.
You need to remember that you will have to pay legal fees – and these might cost thousands of pounds. Again, there isn't any guarantee you will win.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
IF the lending company does not sort out your problem within eight weeks or you are not happy with its response, then you can take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
The clock starts ticking from the moment you are making that complaint, whether you do so by phone, within an email or by letter.
You must do this within 6 months of the company's reply.
You can complain online, at financial-ombudsman.org.uk. Or ask 0800 023 4567.
Either way, your submission is free of charge.
HOW DO I APPLY?
COMPLAIN straight to your lender first. You can do it yourself or use a free dispute resolution service such as Resolver (resolver.co.uk).
You should avoid firms which charge a fee to claim on your behalf as this will eat into any compensation and it won't speed up the procedure.
Debt Camel has free template letters on its website if you opt to do it yourself, in addition to suggestions about how you can customise them.
If your lender is bankrupt, the guidelines are somewhat different, and perhaps you may not have the ability to claim at all.
Searching for that company name around the Resolver website should show you how to proceed inside your specific circumstance.
The lender may immediately repay you. Whether it does not, it is worth fighting on.
When you complain, include evidence to exhibit that you ought to not have access to received the credit, since the lender must have been able to determine you could not afford it.
Evidence might include bank statements from the moment whenever you took out the credit showing that you had several loans already, or that you were a regular gambler.
You could also use your credit report from this time as evidence.
lb442 Free groceries
THOUSANDS of cash-strapped people are missing out on supermarket vouchers worth up to lb442 annually.
The Healthy Start scheme gives low-income parents extra help to buy milk, vegetables, fruit, pulses and vitamins.
You have to be a minimum of ten weeks pregnant and have a young child under four years old and become in receipt of a qualifying benefit to get the support.
New applicants get a pre-paid card which is topped up with digital vouchers every four weeks. Parents could possibly get between lb4.25 and lb8.50 a week – accumulated to lb442 a year.
Data from website NationalWorld suggested that 115,000 are missing out on the disposable support.
But with millions battling a crippling cost-of-living crisis, it is important to assert all the assistance you can. For more information visit healthystart.nhs.uk.