Lending Stream and pounds to pocket

[scottygees]

Basically I have taken out 5 payday loans with Lending Stream and one with Pounds to pocket. I shouldn't have done this as I am in a DMP and am in a position where I am struggling to pay back the agreed amount but needs arose at the time where I had no option. I have read through some threads on here prior to posting this where irresponsible lending and affordability checks have cropped up. I was wondering if I could get some advice on how to contact these lenders citing there lending criteria in a way to enable me to come to a payment agreement. I have already added extra debts to my DMP in the past and don't think adding more will be looked on favourably. Hope someone on here can help. Thanks in anticipation.

[cymruambyth]

Re: Lending Stream and pounds to pocket

Hi and welcome to AAD. We have a PDL specialist, Saltnvinegar who will ask questions and make suggestions. He is busy with work so may not reply immediately. The first problem that I can see is whether you were asked questions and should have declared your DMP.
Do you have details of all the loans, eg date taken out and the amount and whether they supplied an agreement, either paper or electronically.

The other thing to review is your DMP - if you are struggling to pay is it right for you? Depending on the dates of the agreements included you may wish to question whether the agreements are enforceable. In addition, you often pay a management charge for these policies, if you administer them yourself more money will go to your creditors.

If you read around the site you will get a better idea of your different options.

[SaltnVinegar]

Re: Lending Stream and pounds to pocket

Basically I have taken out 5 payday loans with Lending Stream and one with Pounds to pocket. I shouldn't have done this as I am in a DMP and am in a position where I am struggling to pay back the agreed amount but needs arose at the time where I had no option. I have read through some threads on here prior to posting this where irresponsible lending and affordability checks have cropped up. I was wondering if I could get some advice on how to contact these lenders citing there lending criteria in a way to enable me to come to a payment agreement. I have already added extra debts to my DMP in the past and don't think adding more will be looked on favourably. Hope someone on here can help. Thanks in anticipation.

Hi Scotty and welcome to AAD!

So first things first, no one here is going to judge you for taking out PDL's when you were on a DMP so don't worry about that

Second - who is managing your DMP for you?

Third, regards to the payday loans, could you create a new post for each of them giving the information asked for here:

http://forums.all-about-debt.co.uk/s...yday-Loan-debt

Don't worry about things, we'll help you start to get things sorted.

Best
SnV

[scottygees]

Re: Lending Stream and pounds to pocket

Thanks for the reply

my DMP is with step change so at least I know I am not being charged

i have a contract with P2P but only have 2 emails from lending stream confirming contracts. I have probably deleted the others without realising. Should I be asking them to provide them again to me?

i will get all the other details to you asap

[scottygees]

Re: Lending Stream and pounds to pocket

Loan 1
opened 24/10/15
£60
balance £74.88
full amount payable £120
payments made £43.06

loan 2
opened 12/11/15
£150
balance £165.72
full amount payable £282
payments made £90

loan 3

opened 16/12/15
£350
balance £454.60
amount payable 650.72
payments made £44.80

loan 4

opened 22/12/15
£100
balance £148.60
total payable £200
no payments made

loan 5
opened 4/1/16
£60
balance £88.92
total payable £116.04

i haven't yet discussed any payment options with them. However it looks like a loan agreement is attached o each loan on my online account with them. I wasn't aware of them asking any questions regarding current adverse credit I.e. DMP or there being a risk warning. None of the loans have rolled over. I have written to them already citing irresponsible lending and affordability checks, it looks like I may have jumped the gun here. Sorry if that may now cause issues. This is the Lending stream information. I only have one P2P payment to make so can manage that. It looks like LS have now added late fees of £15 to each loan due to CPA being cancelled at the bank.Hope this information helps. Thanks once more.

[SaltnVinegar]

Re: Lending Stream and pounds to pocket

I have written to them already citing irresponsible lending and affordability checks, it looks like I may have jumped the gun here

Hi Scotty

Ok, well lets see what they come back with. As you have taken out the loans in the last couple of months, the latest legislation states that you cannot owe more than double the principal sum lent, so they can't keep slapping in interest & charges and come up with a daft 'balance'.

With regards to irresponsible lending, this will also depend on what information you provided on your application. It would also be helpful to understand whether you responded to an email offering you further loans

On their application process, there is nothing that asks you whether you are on a DMP etc, but it does ask you for loan information. If you have been on a DMP for some time though this may show as an arrangement to pay with the credit reference agencies which should have raised alarm bells with LS.

To help advise further also what is your home situation? Do you rent or do you have a mortgage?

[scottygees]

Re: Lending Stream and pounds to pocket

Loan 1
opened 24/10/15
£60
balance £74.88
full amount payable £120
payments made £43.06

loan 2
opened 12/11/15
£150
balance £165.72
full amount payable £282
payments made £90

loan 3

opened 16/12/15
£350
balance £454.60
amount payable 650.72
payments made £44.80

loan 4

opened 22/12/15
£100
balance £148.60
total payable £200
no payments made

loan 5
opened 4/1/16
£60
balance £88.92
total payable £116.04

i haven't yet discussed any payment options with them. However it looks like a loan agreement is attached o each loan on my online account with them. I wasn't aware of them asking any questions regarding current adverse credit I.e. DMP or there being a risk warning. None of the loans have rolled over. I have written to them already citing irresponsible lending and affordability checks, it looks like I may have jumped the gun here. Sorry if that may now cause issues. This is the Lending stream information. I only have one P2P payment to make so can manage that. It looks like LS have now added late fees of £15 to each loan due to CPA being cancelled at the bank.Hope this information helps. Thanks once more.

Hi Scotty

Ok, well lets see what they come back with. As you have taken out the loans in the last couple of months, the latest legislation states that you cannot owe more than double the principal sum lent, so they can't keep slapping in interest & charges and come up with a daft 'balance'.

With regards to irresponsible lending, this will also depend on what information you provided on your application. It would also be helpful to understand whether you responded to an email offering you further loans

On their application process, there is nothing that asks you whether you are on a DMP etc, but it does ask you for loan information. If you have been on a DMP for some time though this may show as an arrangement to pay with the credit reference agencies which should have raised alarm bells with LS.

To help advise further also what is your home situation? Do you rent or do you have a mortgage?

i currently have a mortgage in joint names with my wife.i was bombarded with text messages regarding taking further loans. I think there application just asks for outgoings without going in to too much depth so the figures I gave them were correct.

i have had 3 emails since non payment from them requesting payment but nothing acknowledging my complaint. How long should I give them to reply?

[SaltnVinegar]

Re: Lending Stream and pounds to pocket

i currently have a mortgage in joint names with my wife.i was bombarded with text messages regarding taking further loans. I think there application just asks for outgoings without going in to too much depth so the figures I gave them were correct.

So heres the rub, and no-one is going to judge so please don't worry about that, but were the figures that you gave them accurate? If not then say, because it limits the options available to you, and its better to know now than give LS ammunition against you and embarking on a route that would work against you.

i have had 3 emails since non payment from them requesting payment but nothing acknowledging my complaint. How long should I give them to reply?

Companies regulated by the FCA have 8 weeks to respond, so expect to wait that long, or hear nothing at all.

[scottygees]

Re: Lending Stream and pounds to pocket

So heres the rub, and no-one is going to judge so please don't worry about that, but were the figures that you gave them accurate? If not then say, because it limits the options available to you, and its better to know now than give LS ammunition against you and embarking on a route that would work against you.



Companies regulated by the FCA have 8 weeks to respond, so expect to wait that long, or hear nothing at all.

from the questions they asked I suppose they were more of an estimate than exact figures and I can probably see where they would think that there was affordability. But I would have thought they would have seen my credit score and declined the applications. I will see what reply I get back. Thanks for your advice. I will keep this thread updated with any outcome.

[scottygees]

Re: Lending Stream and pounds to pocket

So heres the rub, and no-one is going to judge so please don't worry about that, but were the figures that you gave them accurate? If not then say, because it limits the options available to you, and its better to know now than give LS ammunition against you and embarking on a route that would work against you.



Companies regulated by the FCA have 8 weeks to respond, so expect to wait that long, or hear nothing at all.

just had a reply from lending stream as below. What advice can you give . I still feel they shouldn't have agreed to 5 loans even though the figures look like they were affordable.

many thanks


Dear Mr............

Thank you for waiting patiently while we gathered the information to address the concerns raised.

To start with, we would like to confirm that Lending Stream always ensure to run the proper affordability checks before approving or declining a loan application. Mentioned below is the summary of your loan accounts and the details of our analysis and checks performed for your loan accounts.

Loan ID	Borrowed Date	Loan Status	Borrowed Amount	Outstanding Balance
xxx...98	7. Jun. 2015	Closed Early	£300.00	N/A
xxx...30	20. Jun. 2015	Closed Early	£100.00	N/A
xxx...18	8. Oct. 2015	Closed Early	£200.00	N/A
xxx...24	24. Oct. 2015	Arrears	£60.00	£74.88
xxx...25	12. Nov. 2015	Arrears	£150.00	£192.60
xxx...55	15. Dec. 2015	Arrears	£350.00	£533.00
xxx...27	22. Dec. 2015	Arrears	£100.00	£171.00
xxx...66	4. Jan. 2016	Arrears	£60.00	£102.36

Affordability Checks:

Lending Stream performs all necessary checks before approving a loan and we confirm that these checks were executed on your loan applications as well. This procedure is standard for all customers (existing or new) and conducted on each loan application. Our advanced analytics and underwriting processes review the information provided by the customer, all public information, and details held by Credit Reference Agencies.

On reviewing your accounts, we note that your loans were approved based on the following facts:

• You were employed full-time during the loan applications
• Your monthly income was £1300.00 or above at the time of applications
• Your Experian score was ranging between 620 to 681; this was factored into our proprietary underwriting and deemed acceptable
• We did not approve any application when it did not meet our lending criteria

Loan ID	Monthly Income	Monthly Expenditure	Disposable Income	Experian Score	Employment Type
xxx...98	£1,300.00	£687.00	£613.00	681	Full Time
xxx...30	£1,300.00	£693.00	£607.00	668	Full Time
xxx...18	£1,500.00	£611.00	£889.00	680	Full Time
xxx...24	£1,475.00	£611.00	£864.00	668	Full Time
xxx...25	£1,515.00	£761.00	£754.00	668	Full Time
xxx...55	£1,515.00	£661.00	£854.00	668	Full Time
xxx...27	£1,525.00	£811.00	£714.00	656	Full Time
xxx...66	£1,515.00	£711.00	£804.00	620	Full Time

Additional Finance:

A “Rollover” is an option provided by some lenders where a customer is allowed to delay paying back a loan on the payment of additional fees. Currently, Lending Stream does not offer this option; hence, we confirm that the FCA regulation on “Rollover” loans is not applicable to us. With this, we assure you that we have not rolled your loan(s) over the due course; therefore, no related charges were applied.

Loan Events:

Our constant message to the customers who are facing financial difficulties is to inform us. Had we been made aware of your financial difficulties, we would have definitely helped you to clear the debt in affordable repayments.

We understand from your email about your enrollment in a debt management program. Please be informed, Credit Resource Solutions (CRS) is now handling all debt management plans for Lending Stream. Since you have set up one with the debt management company, please send us the relevant paperwork to CRS your outstanding loans and they will contact you to discuss an affordable payment arrangement.

Please note that CRS does not act as a debt collection agency, they will work with you on behalf of Lending Stream to understand your financial situation and help you repay your loans according to your convenience.

If you have any questions about your Lending Stream loans, you can contact CRS. You or your debt adviser can reach CRS by the following means:

• Contact address: CRS, Rosemount House, Rosemount Estate, Huddersfield Road, Elland, HX50EE
• Contact number: 01422 315 214
• Email: dma@creditresourcesolutions.co.uk
• Fax no: 01422 324 511

Additionally, we have stopped our automated system from processing any funds from your registered debit card. However, we are unable to freeze any interest and charges, until the payment arrangement will setup.

In view of the above, we confirm that Lending Stream performed the necessary checks at the time of your loan applications. However, if you are facing any difficulty paying of the current debts, we are ready to assist you with affordable payment arrangement.

Please note:

• We are required to report the status of your loans to credit bureaus on a regular basis
• Your decision to setup a payment arrangement will reflect on your credit file
• If you fail to make the payment, we may transfer your accounts to a Debt Collection Agency for servicing

We await a confirmation of the aforementioned offer.

For further queries, please email us at info@lendingstream.co.uk or call on 0203 564 7034 (call charges apply) Mon-Fri, 8:00 AM till 8:00 PM.

Regards,
Lending Stream Customer Service


This message was sent by Lending Stream LLC | Contact Address: Lending Stream, Wisteria Grange Barn, Pikes End, Pinner, London, United Kingdom, HA5 2EX | Registered Address: 2711 Centerville Road, Suite 400, Wilmington, DE 19808, USA | Registered in the State of Delaware, USA | Registration Number: 4124111 | Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Interim Permission Number 643942.

Responsible Lending: You need to carefully consider whether borrowing is right for your financial situation. Borrowing of this type may be an expensive form of credit that may be appropriate for your current financial needs but may not be appropriate if you are in financial difficulty. All applications are subject to status, terms and conditions and to satisfactory passage of checks on creditworthiness and affordability. Please ensure that you only borrow amounts that you are able to comfortably repay.

*Subject to approval, you will receive cash through our Express Cash transfer option for free if supported by your bank. We can initiate the transfer of funds into your account within 4 minutes after final approval subject to an assessment of affordability and creditworthiness. The time that it takes for cash to appear in your account will depend on your bank’s policies and procedures.

This message may contain confidential and/or privileged information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system. If you are not the intended recipient you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited. Internet messages are not secure and therefore Lending Stream LLC does not accept legal responsibility for the contents of this message.


01/31/2016 13:03 - wrote:
Current system time : 2016-01-31 13:01:29.325660

I am writing in connection with recent missed payments on my
loans. After some research I feel that Lending Stream are guilty of irresponsible
lending and haven't carried out stringent enough affordability checks. I also feel
that it is unethical for Lending Stream to have authorised 5, I stress 5, loans in
such a short space of time. I am therefore querying your practices and to dispute
that you should never have authorised these loans. I am currently in a Debt
Management plan and not once in the applications does it ask about this kind of
arrangement. I await your reply. In the meantime I believe that as the accounts
are now in dispute that you can not add any further charges to the account.
rating =
feedback_cmnts =

[scottygees]

Re: Lending Stream and pounds to pocket

So I posted this a few days ago.Just wondering what action Lending Stream are liable to take if I do absolutely nothing at this stage.

just had a reply from lending stream as below. What advice can you give . I still feel they shouldn't have agreed to 5 loans even though the figures look like they were affordable.

many thanks


Dear Mr............

Thank you for waiting patiently while we gathered the information to address the concerns raised.

To start with, we would like to confirm that Lending Stream always ensure to run the proper affordability checks before approving or declining a loan application. Mentioned below is the summary of your loan accounts and the details of our analysis and checks performed for your loan accounts.

Loan ID	Borrowed Date	Loan Status	Borrowed Amount	Outstanding Balance
xxx...98	7. Jun. 2015	Closed Early	£300.00	N/A
xxx...30	20. Jun. 2015	Closed Early	£100.00	N/A
xxx...18	8. Oct. 2015	Closed Early	£200.00	N/A
xxx...24	24. Oct. 2015	Arrears	£60.00	£74.88
xxx...25	12. Nov. 2015	Arrears	£150.00	£192.60
xxx...55	15. Dec. 2015	Arrears	£350.00	£533.00
xxx...27	22. Dec. 2015	Arrears	£100.00	£171.00
xxx...66	4. Jan. 2016	Arrears	£60.00	£102.36

Affordability Checks:

Lending Stream performs all necessary checks before approving a loan and we confirm that these checks were executed on your loan applications as well. This procedure is standard for all customers (existing or new) and conducted on each loan application. Our advanced analytics and underwriting processes review the information provided by the customer, all public information, and details held by Credit Reference Agencies.

On reviewing your accounts, we note that your loans were approved based on the following facts:

• You were employed full-time during the loan applications
• Your monthly income was £1300.00 or above at the time of applications
• Your Experian score was ranging between 620 to 681; this was factored into our proprietary underwriting and deemed acceptable
• We did not approve any application when it did not meet our lending criteria

Loan ID	Monthly Income	Monthly Expenditure	Disposable Income	Experian Score	Employment Type
xxx...98	£1,300.00	£687.00	£613.00	681	Full Time
xxx...30	£1,300.00	£693.00	£607.00	668	Full Time
xxx...18	£1,500.00	£611.00	£889.00	680	Full Time
xxx...24	£1,475.00	£611.00	£864.00	668	Full Time
xxx...25	£1,515.00	£761.00	£754.00	668	Full Time
xxx...55	£1,515.00	£661.00	£854.00	668	Full Time
xxx...27	£1,525.00	£811.00	£714.00	656	Full Time
xxx...66	£1,515.00	£711.00	£804.00	620	Full Time

Additional Finance:

A “Rollover” is an option provided by some lenders where a customer is allowed to delay paying back a loan on the payment of additional fees. Currently, Lending Stream does not offer this option; hence, we confirm that the FCA regulation on “Rollover” loans is not applicable to us. With this, we assure you that we have not rolled your loan(s) over the due course; therefore, no related charges were applied.

Loan Events:

Our constant message to the customers who are facing financial difficulties is to inform us. Had we been made aware of your financial difficulties, we would have definitely helped you to clear the debt in affordable repayments.

We understand from your email about your enrollment in a debt management program. Please be informed, Credit Resource Solutions (CRS) is now handling all debt management plans for Lending Stream. Since you have set up one with the debt management company, please send us the relevant paperwork to CRS your outstanding loans and they will contact you to discuss an affordable payment arrangement.

Please note that CRS does not act as a debt collection agency, they will work with you on behalf of Lending Stream to understand your financial situation and help you repay your loans according to your convenience.

If you have any questions about your Lending Stream loans, you can contact CRS. You or your debt adviser can reach CRS by the following means:

• Contact address: CRS, Rosemount House, Rosemount Estate, Huddersfield Road, Elland, HX50EE
• Contact number: 01422 315 214
• Email: dma@creditresourcesolutions.co.uk
• Fax no: 01422 324 511

Additionally, we have stopped our automated system from processing any funds from your registered debit card. However, we are unable to freeze any interest and charges, until the payment arrangement will setup.

In view of the above, we confirm that Lending Stream performed the necessary checks at the time of your loan applications. However, if you are facing any difficulty paying of the current debts, we are ready to assist you with affordable payment arrangement.

Please note:

• We are required to report the status of your loans to credit bureaus on a regular basis
• Your decision to setup a payment arrangement will reflect on your credit file
• If you fail to make the payment, we may transfer your accounts to a Debt Collection Agency for servicing

We await a confirmation of the aforementioned offer.

For further queries, please email us at info@lendingstream.co.uk or call on 0203 564 7034 (call charges apply) Mon-Fri, 8:00 AM till 8:00 PM.

Regards,
Lending Stream Customer Service


This message was sent by Lending Stream LLC | Contact Address: Lending Stream, Wisteria Grange Barn, Pikes End, Pinner, London, United Kingdom, HA5 2EX | Registered Address: 2711 Centerville Road, Suite 400, Wilmington, DE 19808, USA | Registered in the State of Delaware, USA | Registration Number: 4124111 | Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Interim Permission Number 643942.

Responsible Lending: You need to carefully consider whether borrowing is right for your financial situation. Borrowing of this type may be an expensive form of credit that may be appropriate for your current financial needs but may not be appropriate if you are in financial difficulty. All applications are subject to status, terms and conditions and to satisfactory passage of checks on creditworthiness and affordability. Please ensure that you only borrow amounts that you are able to comfortably repay.

*Subject to approval, you will receive cash through our Express Cash transfer option for free if supported by your bank. We can initiate the transfer of funds into your account within 4 minutes after final approval subject to an assessment of affordability and creditworthiness. The time that it takes for cash to appear in your account will depend on your bank’s policies and procedures.

This message may contain confidential and/or privileged information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system. If you are not the intended recipient you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing or taking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited. Internet messages are not secure and therefore Lending Stream LLC does not accept legal responsibility for the contents of this message.


01/31/2016 13:03 - wrote:
Current system time : 2016-01-31 13:01:29.325660

I am writing in connection with recent missed payments on my
loans. After some research I feel that Lending Stream are guilty of irresponsible
lending and haven't carried out stringent enough affordability checks. I also feel
that it is unethical for Lending Stream to have authorised 5, I stress 5, loans in
such a short space of time. I am therefore querying your practices and to dispute
that you should never have authorised these loans. I am currently in a Debt
Management plan and not once in the applications does it ask about this kind of
arrangement. I await your reply. In the meantime I believe that as the accounts
are now in dispute that you can not add any further charges to the account.
rating =
feedback_cmnts =

[SaltnVinegar]

Re: Lending Stream and pounds to pocket

Hi Scotty

Sorry work is stupidly busy the last couple of months and I totally missed your post. I didn't want to read and run so will post up your options later this evening.

Cheers
SnV

[SaltnVinegar]

Re: Lending Stream and pounds to pocket

Hi Scotty

Ok so what are your options with regards to LS? Well you've got a few which include but not limited too:

1) Take a personal view that they should not have lent you the money, that you have bigger things in your life right now to sort out, and ignore them and not pay them a further penny

Risk to the above approach, is that they will report defaults to the credit reference agencies, which may prevent you getting credit for a while, and they may (although tiny chance), issue a court claim against you (though they may not like a Judge taking a view of whether allowing someone to take 5 loans is responsible as this could be VERY bad for their business model). You will also get bombarded initially with phone calls and letters from their collections departments, and possibly collection agencies if they sell the accounts on.

This is the reason whether I asked if you had a mortgage and/or had equity in your property. The chances of a court claim being issued, and them then applying for a charging order on your home is miniscule, but you need to be aware of it. What you need to remember is there is a VERY long process for this to go through before things even got to that stage.

On the plus side the benefits to this option is you know the balances at worst can only double. It can give you some breathing space when you get back on your feet, both personally and financially. You can then either continue to ignore them until the debts become statute barred (if they don't issue a court claim), or you can then offer a F&F payment to write off the debt, or still offer a payment proposal if you wish

2) Write to them arguing irresponsible lending and asking for the loans to be written off

Risks are the same as option 1), however you are establishing a cause of complaint, and offering a reason for non payment. Benefits are also the same as 1) with the added benefit that if they do not respond in the prescribed timeframes for a complaint you can drag things out even further. It may also give them pause from issuing a speculative court claim. You may also get one or two of the loans written off as a goodwill gesture

3) Write to them offering a payment arrangement

Believe it or not the risks are still the same as option 1). You can be in a payment arrangement, and still have a court claim issued against you! Its less likely, but it still may happen.

Benefits are, you are paying off the balances, and you are in control. It also gives you more leverage, as if they refuse your offer unreasonably, they are in breach of FCA guidelines.

However I would NOT respond to anything asking for proof of income, when you were made redundant, starting jobseekers allowance etc. This would open up a can of worms for you, and a creditor has no legal right to ask for this information anyway.

Ultimately its your choice what you would like to do, but hopefully the above helps you make that choice a little better informed. Whatever you choose we'll be able to give you guidance on how to approach them.

[scottygees]

Re: Lending Stream and pounds to pocket

Thanks for replying SNV. I did write too them arguing irresponsible lending prompting their response. Are you saying I should argue this cause further with them? Sorry if I a, coming across a bit dim!

Hi Scotty

Ok so what are your options with regards to LS? Well you've got a few which include but not limited too:

1) Take a personal view that they should not have lent you the money, that you have bigger things in your life right now to sort out, and ignore them and not pay them a further penny

Risk to the above approach, is that they will report defaults to the credit reference agencies, which may prevent you getting credit for a while, and they may (although tiny chance), issue a court claim against you (though they may not like a Judge taking a view of whether allowing someone to take 5 loans is responsible as this could be VERY bad for their business model). You will also get bombarded initially with phone calls and letters from their collections departments, and possibly collection agencies if they sell the accounts on.

This is the reason whether I asked if you had a mortgage and/or had equity in your property. The chances of a court claim being issued, and them then applying for a charging order on your home is miniscule, but you need to be aware of it. What you need to remember is there is a VERY long process for this to go through before things even got to that stage.

On the plus side the benefits to this option is you know the balances at worst can only double. It can give you some breathing space when you get back on your feet, both personally and financially. You can then either continue to ignore them until the debts become statute barred (if they don't issue a court claim), or you can then offer a F&F payment to write off the debt, or still offer a payment proposal if you wish

2) Write to them arguing irresponsible lending and asking for the loans to be written off

Risks are the same as option 1), however you are establishing a cause of complaint, and offering a reason for non payment. Benefits are also the same as 1) with the added benefit that if they do not respond in the prescribed timeframes for a complaint you can drag things out even further. It may also give them pause from issuing a speculative court claim. You may also get one or two of the loans written off as a goodwill gesture

3) Write to them offering a payment arrangement

Believe it or not the risks are still the same as option 1). You can be in a payment arrangement, and still have a court claim issued against you! Its less likely, but it still may happen.

Benefits are, you are paying off the balances, and you are in control. It also gives you more leverage, as if they refuse your offer unreasonably, they are in breach of FCA guidelines.

However I would NOT respond to anything asking for proof of income, when you were made redundant, starting jobseekers allowance etc. This would open up a can of worms for you, and a creditor has no legal right to ask for this information anyway.

Ultimately its your choice what you would like to do, but hopefully the above helps you make that choice a little better informed. Whatever you choose we'll be able to give you guidance on how to approach them.

[SaltnVinegar]

Re: Lending Stream and pounds to pocket

Thanks for replying SNV. I did write too them arguing irresponsible lending prompting their response. Are you saying I should argue this cause further with them? Sorry if I a, coming across a bit dim!

I'm saying yes you could argue this, but the difference is I can help you with your argument

That, unfortunately, is no guarantee of success, and LS have a tendency to be intractable, but at the least we could string things out for several more months, with them not getting any more. That tends to focus their minds..........

However ultimately, as I mentioned, its your choice, I can't advise you one way or another, just offer support.