WONGA borrowers will quickly be able to claim compensation for mis-sold or unaffordable pay day loans through a new online tool.
In documents seen through the Sun, the payday lender's administrators say they'll be launching an online tool in April to learn effectively for individuals to submit claims.
They say they're currently receiving around 100 to 200 complaints a day with 25,000 received since the firm went bust in August 2023.
And that's over the 24,000 already on Wonga's books once the firm went under.
They couldn't tell us the number of customers they believe may be eligible for compensation but they state that given Wonga had 2million UK customers it will likely be "significantly higher" compared to current 49,000 claims.
Debt expert Sara Williams, a debt advisor at charity Citizens Advice who also runs the Debt Camel blog, reckons some 100,000 people are closely related compensation.
How will the tool work?
To make use of the tool, borrowers is going to be inspired to provide the contact details related to their Wonga account.
If the facts match the customer information administrator Grant Thornton holds, then you'll get confirmation that your claim continues to be received and will be assessed.
This will replace the current need to email or phone in with complaints.
Grant Thornton says it will contact all past and present Wonga people to let them know when the tool is live.
You won't need to resubmit a complaint if you've already done so – it'll you need to be for new claimants.
What the tool will then do is work out if you may have a claim. The administrators say this will be in line with the following factors:
- The loan's value when compared with your reported income at the time
- The length of time you had the borrowed funds for
- The number of loans you got – specifically whether you repeatedly borrowed without a
break - And affordability factors, such as whether you had been indebted to Wonga or had reported hardship.
Is the tool fair?
The administrator believes its new tool will be "fair and reasonable" and told The sun's rays that it's been designed to meet relevant legal and statutory requirements.
It also says it will likely be following the Financial Ombudsman Service's example by permitting states be made returning beyond six years.
In this scenario, older complaints can be viewed as if the borrower only realised there was a problem in the past three years.
When Wonga went bust, the Ombudsman had 7,000 complaints concerning the firm (now area of the 49,000 figure) which it needed to forward to the administrators.
More recently, the Treasury Committee called on the Government to intervene to help those Wonga customers whose complaints could no longer be looked at through the Financial Ombudsman Service.
If you don't accept the end result from the tool or you think you need to get more compensation than you've been awarded you can submit further evidence and request the claim to be reassessed.
Ms Williams said: "With 49,000 complaints already, the administrators sends out emails to all Wonga's old customers asking if someone else wants to submit a complaint.
"And they're which makes it very easy to do this, so no-one needs to make use of a claims company. I expect you will see over 100,000 complaints ultimately.
"It's also good news that the administrators is going to be considering refunds on Wonga loans that are more than six years old.
"This is what the Financial Ombudsman Service thinks all payday loan lenders should be doing."
How much compensation am i going to get and how long will it take?
How much compensation you'll get depends on your needs.
One dad we spoke to was refunded a lot more than lb3,750 by Wonga, including interest and overtime fees, after he was handed a lb600 loan he couldn't repay.
But the administrators warn that because Wonga doesn't have enough cash, claims are unlikely to become paid entirely.
It's also too soon to state how long it will take for claims to be looked into but the chances are it will likely be a minimum of a couple of months.
Here's all you need to know about Wonga's administration and the way to claim compensation.