Wonga borrowers have less than a week to submit payday loan reclaims – here’s what you need to know
WONGA borrowers have less one week left to claim compensation for extortionate loans, so we've rounded-up everything you need to know about submitting a complaint.
The payday lender went into administration in August 2018 after 24,000 people requested redress for unfairly high borrowing.
Anyone who believes they have been mis-sold a Wonga loan is allowed to apply for compensation, but you've only got until 11.59pm on September 30 to do it.
It was allowed to do this so it could fairly divide up the money that was left to pay people owed cash by the now defunct lender.
If you miss the deadline, you won't be able to apply anymore and you won't get any compensation for mis-selling.
Compensation isn't guaranteed for everyone that asks for it, of course, but you will be added to the list of creditors that are owed money if you have a valid claim.
If you've already submitted a claim for compensation, don't worry because the deadline won't impact your application.
How do I claim compensation?
Grant Thornton, which has been appointed as administrator for Wonga, has set up .
All you need to do is provide your name and address, which will be checked against Wonga's database.
The application will only take a few minutes.
All valid claims will be assessed automatically by the tool, which Grant Thornton says will give more people redress than if the firm had to sort through applications manually.
How to check if you were mis-sold a payday loan
YOU can claim compensation from a payday lender if the loan was unaffordable, even if you've finished paying it off.
Before a lender gives you a loan, it has to check whether you are able to pay it back.
For a payday loan to be affordable, you had to be able to pay it back the following month as well as pay your other bills and debts.
The loan was unaffordable if:
- you often rolled loans or borrowed again soon after repaying a loan;
- your loans from a lender were increasing in size;
- some repayments were late; or
- the loan was a significant part of your income.
Ask the lender for a copy of your loan details, such as when you took it out and how much interest you paid.
Compare it to your bank statements from the time you took it out and work out if you would have been able to pay back the loan after you paid your bills.
How much will I get in compensation?
Grant Thornton will assess claims based on the size of a loan in relation to your reported income, and how long a loan was held for and how many loans an individual has.
It will also consider other indicators of affordability, such as whether you got behind on loan repayments.
One dad we spoke to was refunded more than £3,750, including interest and late payment fees, after he was given a £600 loan he couldn't afford to repay.
But the administrator warns that people may receive less than they hoped for.
This is because lots more people have applied for refunds and there isn't enough money to pay all the claims in full that have been submitted.
It's too early to know exactly how much you might get, and Grant Thornton says cash will go to all successful claimants at the same time.
Payments are expected to be made within four months of submitting a claim, with a final possible payout date of January 30 2020.
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