If you feel like you have been ripped off by a payday loan company you should never just sit back and take it. There are numerous ways in which you can fight back, ensuring that it doesn’t happen again to any one else and that you are not given a black mark on your credit file for no good reason, and that can take many years to work yourself away from. There are responsible payday loan lenders on the market today, and with tighter regulations from the FCA in recent years there is no longer any reason to just accept bad customer service and unwieldy, unlawful practice in terms of a service from payday loan direct lenders.
One of the biggest changes that was made within the regulations of the payday loan sector was that you can now only roll over a loan twice, and a lender can only attempt to remove money from your account twice.
If you feel like you want to make a complaint then you should do so as soon as possible. Payday loan lenders understand that they have a responsibility to deliver good levels of flexible customer service and the industry is signed up to the Good Practice Customer Charter to ensure all customers are treated fairly.
You should complain if you feel a payday lender has taking money out of your account without notice through a Continuous Payment Authority (CPA). You must be notified at least three days in advance of this process taking place. Another complaint could be that you feel harassed by constant phone calls and text messages. You should never feel pestered or intimidated by a payday loan company, or receive calls and messages late at night or at the weekends.
Other cases where complaints should be made relate to the cost of a loan and any hidden fees that should not be added without the customer being made aware of them in advance of committing to a loan. Whatever your complaint you should first go direct to the loan lender, so they can investigate the complaint. If this is unsuccessful the next step is to take it to the Financial Ombudsmen service, where they have the power as an independent arbitrator to force the payday lender to reimburse any charges or interest fees if fault is found with the lender.
Although there are still some rogue components of the payday loan sector, since the FCA tightened up the regulations in 2014 there has been a new wave of payday loan lenders that have a greater level of transparency and honesty in the approach taken towards customers. When borrowing money from a short-term loan lender it is vital that you understand exactly how much money you have to pay back, and the dates with which you are set to pay back each month. It is also important that you have the support and flexibility in place should your financial circumstances change and you are no longer able to keep up with payments that have been agreed.
