‘I can’t afford to live’, blasts man sold £20k in guarantor loans by disgraced Amigo – while he was already £40k in debt

A MAN has slammed disgraced lender Amigo for selling him £20,000 in guarantor loans while being £40,000 in debt.

John Mackenzie, from Northern Ireland, has revealed how the re-payments led him to financial ruin.

The local business owner borrowed a staggering £24,000 in high interest loans from Amigo Loans in 2016.

The company, founded by James Benamor, lent to people with a poor credit score.

All users needed was a friend or family member who could act as a guarantor to make repayments if they could not and earn a minimum of £800 a month.

John claimed the payments were unaffordable and has now slammed the company for "destroying his life".

The 49-year-old told the : "All I want is my money back so I can settle my debts and sort out my life.

"If my claim had been dealt with at the time I first submitted it, my money would have been paid back with interest.

"Now Amigo is in administration, they're sitting on that money and I can't afford to live."

The Financial Conduct Authority said Amigo failed to carry out proper affordability checks on borrowers.

'THEY DIDN'T CARE'

Thousands of Brits were left struggling with little chance of repaying their loans.

And Mr Mackenzie was left with a whopping £40,000 in debt after his business fell on hard times.

He was granted four loans by the company after his sister-in-law agreed to be his guarantor.

John fumed: "They didn't care what I earned. I was self-employed, they knew my debt, and they still made the decision to lend."

John couldn't keep on top of the payments and seeing his cash evaporate from his bank account left a toll on him.

As a result, his health deteriorated drastically and lives in fear of seeing his money disappear again.

He added: "Amigo Loans ruined my life and that's not being dramatic. I've experienced suicidal events. I was struggling. Why was this allowed to happen?

"I take full responsibility for anything I borrowed, but if things aren't right there need to be adaptations and changes."

He is now slamming Amigo's policy and is pleading for guarantor loans to be banned.

ONGOING BATTLE

The High Court forced Amigo to return at least £112 million in interests to borrowers it wrongly mis-sold loans.

Despite the ruling, Mackenzie said he still hasn't received a penny.

A spokesperson for Amigo said: "To date, Amigo has issued over 173,000 decisions to customers with claims, which represents approximately 82% of total claims made. 

"We anticipated that all decisions would be communicated by the end of January 2024, however, the complexity in assessing and calculating certain claims, especially for some claimants with outstanding loan balances, has taken longer than initially anticipated. 

"We apologise for the delays in the process, and our intention is to issue all responses by mid-March 2024.

"Cash payments cannot be made until we have determined substantially all claims and their value. We will make payments to customers with valid claims as soon as possible.

";We encourage claimants to visit our website for latest information, and to ensure that we have their up to date contact details.

"Amigo was founded with the aim of providing credit to people who were otherwise excluded by high-street lenders.

"Our priority now is to complete the orderly wind-down of the company and provide the maximum level of redress to eligible claimants."

After a thorough investigation, the FCA decided to censure Amigo for failing to conduct adequate affordability checks.

Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight at the FCA Mark Steward said a the time: "Amigo failed to assess properly the affordability of its lending, especially to vulnerable consumers, as our rules required.

"This led to lending that was unaffordable for some and meant guarantors had to step in. It also had the effect of prioritising the firm’s commercial interests over the obligation to comply with the rules and safeguard customers from unaffordable loans.

"The firm proposed a scheme of arrangement as Amigo could not afford the sizable redress bill in full.  Following intervention by the FCA, the scheme was ultimately approved by the creditors, including the affected customers, and by the Court.

"The scheme aims to ensure an amount of redress is paid to affected customers that is better for customers, in these parlous circumstances, than any other likely outcome."