If you have a loan with Amigo and you believe that they didn’t carry out proper affordability checks on both you and your guarantor when you took out the loan, you can make a complaint.
Amigo says it is unable to pay the full amount of redress to everyone that has complained, so it has been seeking approval for a Scheme of Arrangement which would cap the amount it would have to pay customers who were sold unaffordable loans. So far, their proposals have been rejected, but they are now contacting customers with open complaints to let them know that the right to Equitable Set Off is available. This means that, even though you owe them a balance, they may also owe you a refund and they must set this off against the balance, resulting in you owing a lower amount.
So, if your balance is £600 and they owe you a refund of £300 as a result of your affordability complaint, you only owe £300.
If you are eligible for Equitable Set Off, you won’t need to make repayments, and neither will your guarantor.
Your credit file will be impacted but if your affordability complaint was then upheld, the negative markers would be removed. If you are already behind with repayments to other debts and considering entering a debt solution, this may be irrelevant as your credit file would be impacted anyway.
You can only ask for the right to Set Off if you have made an affordability complaint about your loan/s. If you haven’t, you should do this now and include the right to Set Off in your complaint.
Your complaint doesn’t need to be very detailed, but should include:
- The date/s of your loans
- The amount/s you borrowed
- Any reference numbers (or address, postcode, and date of birth if you can’t find the references)
- Why the loan was unaffordable, e.g., your credit file would have showed missed payments, or you were on a low income.
- A statement that you’d like to exercise your right to Equitable Set Off.
Amigo won’t look at your affordability complaint now, and FOS isn’t accepting any new complaints relating to Amigo loans either, as Amigo has told them it won’t pay any compensation they award, so don’t worry if you don’t get a full response.
If you’re considering a debt solution for your other debts, you can still proceed whilst you wait for Amigo to contact you but this is a good way to try and prevent your guarantor being contacted for the loan repayments.
