Payday loan customers could be due MILLIONS in compensation as lenders drag heels over payouts
Compensation experts have slammed firms like Wonga, Quick Quid and Curo for dragging their feet when it comes to customer pay outs
MILLIONS of hard-up Brits are still owed compensation from payday loan firms who lent to them even though they couldn't afford to pay them back.
Firms like Wonga and Quick Quid were ordered to payback funds from irresponsible lending in 2014, but compensation experts have slammed the firms for not doing enough, according to the Mirror.
Four years ago, the city watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority, ordered the firms to compensate borrowers who slipped further in to debt as a result of irresponsible lending before a cap was brought in in 2014.
Customers were charged sky-high interest rates on cash loans they couldn't afford to pay back pushing them further into a spiral of debt.
Vincent Vernon from Pay Day Refunds said it is dealing with 32,000 customers claims a quarter of which are with Wonga.
He said: "Three of the poorest-responding lenders are Wonga, Curo and Quick Quid.
"These lenders are continuing to ignore UK consumer rights towards their irresponsible lending. They’re fast to lend and extremely slow to repay."
To get the payout, customers have to prove that their financial situation worsened as a result of the loans.
They need to included details like the address they lived in at the time they applied for the loan, and how easy it was to get the cash.
How to claim compensation from payday lenders
IF you think you are owed compensation from a payday lender then here's how to claim according to Money Advice Online:
You'll need to prove that you couldn't afford to take out the loan, so look at your bank statements from the time that you took out the loan and look to see if you could have been able to pay back the loan, as well as pay your rent, bills and other debts.
If you took out more than one loan close to each other then this indicated that you couldn't really pay it back.
Make a list of the loans you took out, when. Log in to your online account with the lender to double check the paperwork.
If your account has been closed down you can get the information from your bank statements.
Log your income and outgoings at the time to build an affordability account.
Write detailed letters or emails to each lender, citing "unaffordable loans" and ask for a full refund of the interest and charges you paid, plus the 8 per cent Ombudsman interest on top.
Also ask for the loan to be removed from your credit record.
Wait up to eight weeks for the reponse. If you're not happy with the answer, contact the Financial Ombudsman.
Some of these details can be tricky to recall and James Walker from Resolver claims that the firms are making it harder by shutting down customers online accounts.
Borrowers don't need their online accounts to lodge a complaint though, as the firm is legally bound to keep a record of all of the loans it has given out over six years.
He called the scandal that saw millions of Brits spiral further into debt "tragic and outrageous".
Wonga told the Mirror: "We assess customer claims on a case-by-case basis. In line with regulatory standards, it can take up to eight weeks before a claim is processed."
Last week the lender called on financial backers for £10million to save it from financial woes.
Last year it was revealed that workers are turning to payday loans to make ends meet and pay off unexpected bills.
Hundreds of thousands of people are set to save money from a cap on rip-off rent-to-own fees, thanks to The Sun's Stop the Credit Rip-Off campaign.
Earlier this year, the FCA announced plans to crack down on "exceptionally high" rent-to-own products, as well as a raft of changes to overdrafts and stricter rules for doorstep lenders.
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