Complaints - we're here to help

We’re all about transparency. When we paid out your loan, we made a promise to keep you updated. This could be anything from updates about your Direct Debit, any arrears, or notifying you about data protection - we want to make sure you have all the information you need, when you need it.

One of the ways we do this is by sending automated messages. These aren’t sent by anyone in particular but are sent automatically when there’s an update on your account.

While we like to think this system is quite clever, it can’t always see if you’ve already messaged us. Don’t worry - we’re not ignoring you. Someone will get back to you shortly. This can take up to three days but we’ll try to reply sooner if we can. If you need to discuss anything urgently, we’d suggest giving us a call directly.

Though we do recommend you continue to receive these automated messages, we also don’t want to do anything you’re unhappy with. If you’d rather we stop the messages we send you, just let us know (we won’t be offended, we promise). Just bear in mind we need to continue sending certain messages and letters as a legal and regulatory requirement.

We like to offer second chances. We give people who may not have the best credit score the opportunity to build their credit and take out finance. At the same time, we’d never want to put anyone under financial strain. 

When we received your application, we went through your income and outgoings to confirm the loan was right for you. This included a check of your credit file to make sure we weren’t missing any old loans, credit cards, or other commitments.

Not that we had any reason to believe your figures weren’t correct, but we also completed further checks against your information. This was just to make sure everything was accurate and realistic.

A loan is a commitment that could last for a number of years, so we don’t rush into any decision. If we weren’t sure we were doing the right thing, we wouldn’t have gone ahead.

If you're more concerned about your current affordability for the repayments due to a change in your circumstances, we'd be happy to discuss this with you and come to an affordable resolution, if possible. We'd never expect you to make a payment you cannot afford and have a number of options available to help with the management of the account. Please call us on 01202 629 161 to discuss this further if you're struggling with your repayments.

Not everything goes to plan - we understand that. We want to help you manage your account in a way that’s reasonable and affordable while you get things back on track. We just need to consider a couple of things.

When we offer flexibility with our payments, we need to make sure this is also right for your guarantor. If there’s a risk the account could fall two payments behind, and you experience any issues, your guarantor could end up having to make these payments for you. If we ask your guarantor to step in before this can happen, this means they just need to pay less to bring the account up to date.

It’s important you’re also paying as much as you can afford. We know an account can become more difficult to manage if any arrears are able to build. That’s the last thing we want for you and so we’d expect you to maintain your payments if you can. This means your loan not only remains up to date (and hassle-free!) but also prevents the loan term from extending unnecessarily.

Just to add, we never want to leave you short for your priority bills. If we can’t be confident you can afford any payments at all, it wouldn’t be fair to set a payment arrangement with you. This may seem unreasonable at the time but any payments could end up causing you further issues down the line.

We never want to catch you out or surprise you, and so we’ll never take a payment unless you’ve given us permission. Whether a payment has become due on your loan or the account is in arrears, the important thing to remember is that we’ll only take a payment if the account needs to be brought up to date.

We may also take a payment if you’ve been in touch to arrange repaying your loan early, but only if you specifically request this (so this shouldn’t come as a surprise!).

It can be frustrating having an application declined, but we need to make sure we’re doing the right thing by you. If we can’t be certain that the loan is in your best interests, it wouldn’t be suitable to go ahead. This could save you (and your guarantor) all sorts of trouble further down the line.

One of the main reasons we may need to decline an application is due to affordability, or if the information on your credit file suggests an Amigo loan could put you into financial difficulty. If we can’t be sure the loan payments are affordable alongside your priority bills, it wouldn’t be right to expect you to pay them. The same goes for your guarantor, just in case they ever need to step in on your behalf.

We also need to be able to communicate clearly with you to make sure that you’re happy with the loan. The last thing we want is for you or your guarantor to get back in touch in six months time because there’s something you hadn’t been aware of.

Being a guarantor means your liability for the loan is equal to the borrower’s. Essentially, there’s a chance you may need to make payments on behalf of the borrower at some stage on the loan, or be responsible for the entire loan if the borrower doesn’t pay.

Just to assure you, we don’t want that to happen. We understand the loan was taken out for the borrower and so we’d always rather solve any issues with them directly.

The only times we may look to you for payment is if we haven’t been able to resolve any arrears with the borrower and the account is at risk of falling further behind. We know it may not seem like it, but it’s in your own best interests to make sure those arrears aren’t able to build. In this situation, we’ll always try to contact you first, but if you have any concerns it’s always worth getting in touch directly.

It’s important we do everything we can to prevent identity fraud. That’s why, whenever we receive an application for a loan, we send a letter to both the applicant and guarantor. This just lets them know an application has been made in their name so they can get in touch in case they aren’t aware of it.

If you’ve received one of these letters but haven’t applied for a loan, please let us know as soon as possible. By making us aware, we can investigate further and prevent the application going ahead.

Otherwise:

• If you made the application yourself - and the loan has already been paid out, is in the process of being paid out, or we’ve let you know we can’t proceed - then you don’t need to do a thing. The letter is just a precaution and you can ignore it.
• If you applied for the loan but decided to cancel the application, you also don’t need to do anything. The letter was probably sent before you got round to cancelling the loan and the letter was already on its way.
• If you’re not the person named on the letter but it’s been sent to your address, then you can also ignore it. Our loans are never registered against a property and it’s most likely that someone simply put your address down by mistake.

Once we have your complaint, we’ll try to be in touch within the next few days to discuss things in a bit more detail. Hopefully we can resolve your concerns then and there.

If we don’t get in contact, it means your complaint needs a longer investigation before we can respond. There’s nothing to worry about - we just want to make sure we’re getting everything absolutely right. If that happens, we’ll send you a formal acknowledgement within 5 days outlining our full complaints procedure.

We have up to 8 weeks to investigate and respond to a complaint but we do always aim to reply sooner if we can. If your complaint hasn’t yet been open for 8 weeks, we’ll still be looking into this for you and may not have an update.

If you’re unhappy with our final response or your complaint hasn’t been resolved within 8 weeks, you can ask the Financial Ombudsman Service for an independent review. Please be aware that they’ll only be able to assist if you’ve tried resolving your complaint with us first.