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I wrote a complaint to Steadypay because they threatened a CCJ and I wasn't happy with the way I'd been dealt with. This is their response:
I'm looking for some advice on what to do next, should I juggle some bills and accept the £40 offer or stick to my offer to them which they originally flatly refused of £20 and lump the default.
I've not refused to provide them with my financial situation I refused to give them access to my bank account via their app
Summary of your complaint
Starting off and ensuring we’ve got your concerns covered, we believe that your main concerns with SteadyPay are:
Issue 1: Pre-action Protocol
Issue 2: FCA breach
Issue 3: Repayment offer
Our response:
Pre-action Protocol
The email received on the 5th of January by my now former colleague Daniel was not meant to be taken as an LBA. It was an email to reach out and establish contact and should be taken as a warning of legal actions. As stated in the email when we urged you to contact us, further court actions are avoidable. Ultimately our goal is to be able to work with you in clearing out the outstanding balance.
But touching on the points that you have raised in regards to what is required before any court actions, I believe most if not all of them have been supplied already, both my email and by mail mid December to which you never responded - until now. I have attached the pdf file again for your reference.
2. FCA breach
You have mentioned that you are currently in financial difficulty but failed to provide any evidence to support that claim and refuse to reconnect your bank account in order for us to validate and determine an affordable repayment plan.
We would like to point out that this amount does not include any fees or interest, it is simply what you borrowed. Not only that but we have yet to communicate the default to the Credit Bureau, which means your credit file has not have the negative marks added. Since you mentioned you worked in the industry, we would urge you to take a second and think about what that means for you, the consumer to not have to pay anything on top of what you got and not see the consequences of months of arrears on your credit file. We believe that is beyond treating our customer fair and ties in perfectly with forbearance example (1).
3. Repayment offer
You have made an offer of £20 then £40 and then threaten to do the minimum of £1 and mentioned this is in line with your affordability and are unwilling to commit to more down the line or provide evidence of your affordability by leaving your bank account connected as per our Terms and Conditions.
Your original repayment, to which you have agreed prior to receiving the top-ups was £170/month. We have accepted to reduce that to £100/month purely based on your statements. Any lower would require further evidence on your part.
What we’ve done to resolve your concerns
Now we’ve covered off our investigation and the causes why your concerns arose, we’ve carefully taken our time to consider what the most appropriate resolution to your concerns are. In resolving your complaint we’ve taken into account several factors, which includes the background to your concerns, the information we’ve been able to obtain, the root cause of the concerns. We’ve also outlined what our outcome is of our investigation.
Resolution [Pre-action Protocol]
The communication provided so far was was intended to be a warning of legal actions (pre-LBA).
Outcome: Not upheld
Resolution [FCA breach]
Based on the limited information you have provided, on the fact that the amount borrowed has remained the same and has not been inflated with interest or fees over time as it would normally with other lenders, despite being in arrears for months, and on the fact that the repayment plan offer was a reduction of almost 60% in the monthly instalment than what you have originally agreed to - we believe that we believe that we have not breached FCA rules relating to the Consumer Credit and have treated you, the consumer, fairly.
Outcome: Not upheld
Resolution [Repayment Offer]
We have put together the following options, please let me know which one you would like to proceed with.
a. £100/month with no subscription fees - and we will not add any negative marks to your credit file such as the default
b. £45/month with subscription up to date - this will show goodwill gesture on your part and as such will allow us to extend the recovery time and we will also not add any negative marks to your credit file such as the default
c. £20/month - we will continue with the default but will not pursue the CCJ as long as the payments are kept
Outcome: Not upheld
Starting off and ensuring we’ve got your concerns covered, we believe that your main concerns with SteadyPay are:
Issue 1: Pre-action Protocol
Issue 2: FCA breach
Issue 3: Repayment offer
Our response:
Pre-action Protocol
The email received on the 5th of January by my now former colleague Daniel was not meant to be taken as an LBA. It was an email to reach out and establish contact and should be taken as a warning of legal actions. As stated in the email when we urged you to contact us, further court actions are avoidable. Ultimately our goal is to be able to work with you in clearing out the outstanding balance.
But touching on the points that you have raised in regards to what is required before any court actions, I believe most if not all of them have been supplied already, both my email and by mail mid December to which you never responded - until now. I have attached the pdf file again for your reference.
2. FCA breach
You have mentioned that you are currently in financial difficulty but failed to provide any evidence to support that claim and refuse to reconnect your bank account in order for us to validate and determine an affordable repayment plan.
We would like to point out that this amount does not include any fees or interest, it is simply what you borrowed. Not only that but we have yet to communicate the default to the Credit Bureau, which means your credit file has not have the negative marks added. Since you mentioned you worked in the industry, we would urge you to take a second and think about what that means for you, the consumer to not have to pay anything on top of what you got and not see the consequences of months of arrears on your credit file. We believe that is beyond treating our customer fair and ties in perfectly with forbearance example (1).
3. Repayment offer
You have made an offer of £20 then £40 and then threaten to do the minimum of £1 and mentioned this is in line with your affordability and are unwilling to commit to more down the line or provide evidence of your affordability by leaving your bank account connected as per our Terms and Conditions.
Your original repayment, to which you have agreed prior to receiving the top-ups was £170/month. We have accepted to reduce that to £100/month purely based on your statements. Any lower would require further evidence on your part.
What we’ve done to resolve your concerns
Now we’ve covered off our investigation and the causes why your concerns arose, we’ve carefully taken our time to consider what the most appropriate resolution to your concerns are. In resolving your complaint we’ve taken into account several factors, which includes the background to your concerns, the information we’ve been able to obtain, the root cause of the concerns. We’ve also outlined what our outcome is of our investigation.
Resolution [Pre-action Protocol]
The communication provided so far was was intended to be a warning of legal actions (pre-LBA).
Outcome: Not upheld
Resolution [FCA breach]
Based on the limited information you have provided, on the fact that the amount borrowed has remained the same and has not been inflated with interest or fees over time as it would normally with other lenders, despite being in arrears for months, and on the fact that the repayment plan offer was a reduction of almost 60% in the monthly instalment than what you have originally agreed to - we believe that we believe that we have not breached FCA rules relating to the Consumer Credit and have treated you, the consumer, fairly.
Outcome: Not upheld
Resolution [Repayment Offer]
We have put together the following options, please let me know which one you would like to proceed with.
a. £100/month with no subscription fees - and we will not add any negative marks to your credit file such as the default
b. £45/month with subscription up to date - this will show goodwill gesture on your part and as such will allow us to extend the recovery time and we will also not add any negative marks to your credit file such as the default
c. £20/month - we will continue with the default but will not pursue the CCJ as long as the payments are kept
Outcome: Not upheld
I'm looking for some advice on what to do next, should I juggle some bills and accept the £40 offer or stick to my offer to them which they originally flatly refused of £20 and lump the default.
I've not refused to provide them with my financial situation I refused to give them access to my bank account via their app
