MORE than four million borrowers could be owed cash after taking out payday and doorstep loans.
Customers of Provident Financial could get money back for mis-sold loans, even after they have paid the debt back years ago.
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Doorstep loans made by Provident and Greenwood, payday loans through Satsuma, and guarantor loans through Glo were given out to many who couldn’t afford them.
Ex-customers now have until the end of February to claim a share of a £50m pot set aside to refund those who were mis-sold loans.
The scheme to refund borrowers was agreed in August last year, but offers less than the full amount they are owed.
Borrowers could still get cash they wouldn’t otherwise have got worth hundreds of pounds though – and they could get bad marks removed from their credit record too.
Sara Williams from blog Debt Camel told The Sun: “Provident loans were only meant to be used for short term borrowing – that’s why the interest rate was so high.
“But Provident did not make proper checks on borrowers. Hundreds of thousands of people borrowed continuously from Provident for years.
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“They have a good chance of having a claim for ‘unaffordable lending’ upheld – even if they made all the repayments on time!
“If you win you will get back some of the interest you paid – this is worth applying for.”
Anyone who took out a loan with Provident, Satsuma, Greenwood and Glo between April 6, 2007 and December 17, 2020 could be eligible for a refund.
If the loan was unaffordable it’s worth applying, for instance if you were unable to afford the repayments or had to borrow more money to keep up with them and got into debt.
Before the current scheme was agreed and Provident was giving full refunds, it upheld 75% of the claims made.
How much you get back will depend on how much you borrowed and for how long, as well as how many others apply for a refund as there is a set pot of cash to give out.
The cash will be dished out after the refund scheme closes at 5pm on February 28, 2022.
This won’t be straightaway though, as each claim needs to be assessed and the amounts owed worked out.
How to claim a refund
To make a claim if you think you were given an unaffordable loan from Provident, Satsuma, Greenwood or Glo, go to scheme.providentpersonalcredit.com.
You can submit a claim online or by calling 0800 0568936, or you can download a form to send off.
Submitting a claim is free. Beware claims management firms who say they will do this on your behalf as they will take a cut of the money you get back.
You’ll need a scheme ID to submit your claim which you should have been sent via email or letter, but you can call the number above if you don’t have this.
You won’t need details of your loan to make the claim, says Sara, but you may need to show evidence of defaults or CCJs and this can be from your credit report if it’s in the last six years.
It’s better to make a claim sooner rather than later – just in case there’s an issue submitting information close to the deadline.
Sara also advises that you can also make a claim again if you were turned down for a refund before, or accepted a low amount, as the company rejected too many complaints before.
She also says in her guide to claims that you can make a claim whether you paid the loan on time, defaulted, or if the loan was sold to a debt collector.
None of the four firms are currently lending to new customers and Provident has written off outstanding doorstep loans as of December 31, 2021.
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