Frequently Asked Questions

We have now issued over 197,000 outcomes, via email, to Scheme Creditors, representing just over 94% of the total Scheme Claims.

We apologise for the delays in this process.  Redress calculations have been more complex than originally estimated and it is important that we get them right before communicating outcomes.

We appreciate the frustrations for those who are yet to receive their Scheme Outcome. Based upon current projections, we will have issued over 98% of Scheme Outcomes by the end of April 2024, with the small remainder issued in early May 2024.  

Where claims are not agreed and are referred to the Scheme Adjudicator, we now estimate that most final determinations will be made by the end of May 2024.

We can confirm that payments to Scheme Creditors with an upheld Scheme Claim (and where bank details have been updated within the Scheme Portal) have begun, starting with refunds of eligible loan payments post Scheme Effective Date where there is not a ‘live’ or ‘open’ loan balance with Amigo.

We can also confirm that we have now started to action balance adjustments due to eligible Scheme Creditors, following their Scheme Claim. These adjustments will become visible on a customers online account, and will also enable eligible Full Refund Payments to begin to be issued.

Full Refund Payments are being made according to the following timetable:

• - In relation to Interim or ‘First’ dividends, Scheme Payments will be made within either 30 days of the dividend being declared, or 30 days of receiving an upheld FRL or revised FRL (if escalated for Adjudication), whichever is later
• - In relation to Final dividends, Scheme Payments will be paid within 30 days of a final dividend being declared (approximately 6 months after the Interim dividend)

Amigo does not have funds to pay all cash redress payments due to customers in full. 

If a customer is due to receive a balance adjustment,  this will be applied to their outstanding loan balance in full. However, any cash redress will not be paid in full, and customers will only receive a proportion of their share of the scheme pot, as a pence in the pound payment. 

Based on our current estimations, we expect that for every £1 quoted in the value of the Total Cash Claim Value, customers will likely receive 17p of this. Whilst the 17p in £ is still an estimate for Scheme redress payments, we are confident at this stage that it will not be less than 17p.

As an example, if the Total Cash Claim Value was quoted as £1000, a customer would likely receive a final payment of £170. This pence in the pound value is still an estimate, and is subject to change. This cannot be confirmed until almost all customers’ claims have been decisioned in full and the business wound down.

Some customers may be entitled to a Scheme refund, where some of their payments are refunded to them in full. Please see below for more information about this.

Some customers may be entitled to a full refund of certain payments they made to the loan provided that they have repaid at least the amount they borrowed. These customers are due a full refund of payments from:

• - 1st December 2021, if they made a complaint on or before that date;
• - The date they made a complaint, if after 1st December 2021 and before 26th May 2022 (the Scheme Effective Date); or
• - 26th May 2022 (the Scheme Effective Date) in all other cases.

If a customer does not meet these requirements, then they will receive any cash redress due at the pence in the pound figure. Details will be in the customer’s Final Response Letter, including whether they are due a full refund of any of their payments.

As per the terms of the Scheme, all cash redress payments will be sent by electronic bank transfer only. If a customer wishes for a third party to receive the redress on their behalf, or if they do not hold a valid UK bank account, we are happy to accept any valid bank details that they wish to provide through the scheme portal. Payments will not be issued by cheque. 

Under the Scheme's terms, for a borrower to qualify for any redress, they must have repaid more than the originally borrowed Loan Amount(s). For example, if a borrower took a £5000 loan but has only paid a total of £3000 to date, they won’t be eligible for a refund.

If a borrower has repaid more than the amounts they originally borrowed, they will be entitled to a refund of any payment above this. 

Additionally, if a guarantor has contributed to the loan payments, their payments won't count towards a borrower's redress calculation.

For a guarantor, they will be entitled to receive a refund of any payments made towards the loan, if their claim is upheld. 

Payments can only be allocated to the party that shows on our systems as making them towards the loan. If any customer has made a civil agreement with their guarantor to repay them for payments made on their behalf, this wouldn’t be a matter that Amigo could get involved in. 

All borrowers and guarantors had an equal chance to raise a claim, and have the opportunity to receive redress, if this was subsequently upheld.

We have taken the decision not to reinstate interest where a claim includes a loan that was lent responsibly followed by other irresponsible loans. We believe that this decision is in the interest of claimants at an individual and collective level.

The Scheme is a legal process to treat everyone within the Scheme equally. Only people who have made a claim within the Scheme can receive redress and redress is based on payments made by them.

Over 80% of claims within the Scheme have been upheld. If a borrower has had a claim upheld, the interest is automatically removed on the loans that are upheld. We have not applied reinstated interest from loans that were not upheld. 

If the borrower has not paid back the capital borrowed (the original loan amount) on a loan, there will be a remaining balance still due and there will be no cash redress to repay.  

For a guarantor, if they receive an upheld response and have been advised that they are not entitled to any redress, this will be because they have not made any payments to the upheld loan(s). 

Payments can only be allocated to the party that made them towards the loan. For example, payments made from a guarantors payment details can not be allocated to a borrower, and vice versa. 

All cash redress payments are allocated from a Scheme pot, which is designated only for customers who have a valid claim. If a customer is not entitled to any redress, Amigo will not keep any funds, and will ensure that all funds in the Scheme pot are shared amongst other successful creditors.

We are working hard to issue all Scheme outcomes to all customers as quickly as possible. However, we have identified that some customers will likely have their liability removed as their redress is likely to exceed the amount owing on their outstanding loan. Amigo has therefore made the decision to stop automatic collection of any future payments from these customers.

We have communicated this change by email to the relevant customers. If you have received this message, you do not need to take any action. It is important that customers, who have not received this message, continue making payments unless told to stop by us.

In November, we updated credit reports for customers with either a full or partially upheld claim.

As a result of this and the time that it takes to calculate your redress, you may notice a change in your credit file before receiving your claim outcome letter. In this situation, it is probable that your complaint has been either fully or partially upheld, and your letter will be sent shortly.  Credit records will be removed if the loans are deemed to be irresponsibly lent and there have been any negative markers on the historic credit file or if the loan is still active.

In the case of adjudicated claims, credit records will have already been updated for any loans upheld as being irresponsibly lent and will be further updated once the Scheme Adjudicator’s final decision is communicated if any additional loans are deemed irresponsibly lent. This process will continue into the start of 2024.

We have started instructing courts to remove County Court Judgements (CCJs) on upheld claims but this is a longer process, requiring individual courts to remove them, which we expect to complete in the first half of 2024.

If you disagree with Amigo’s decision on your claim, you must make Amigo aware within 30 days of receiving your response, by recording it, on the Scheme Portal. 

Examples of why you may disagree are: 

- You believe that we have reached the wrong decision in respect of the loans that have been upheld 

- You believe we have missed issues that should have been raised in your Scheme claim that needs to be reviewed, or haven’t accounted for all payments made by you

Following this, Amigo will re-review your disputed claim(s) within 30 days from escalation. If an agreement cannot be reached within 30 days of raising a dispute, your claim will be referred to the Scheme Adjudicator for a final decision. We estimate final determinations will be made by May 2024.

Please note - Disputing a claim cannot be used to increase the expected pence in the pound due to you, or the rate of 8% compensatory interest. This has already been decided by the High Court approving the Scheme and legislation, and will not change. 

The Scheme Adjudicator is Jonathan Herbst, a solicitor and a partner in the law firm Norton Rose Fulbright. Mr Herbst is an experienced financial services regulatory lawyer, and in his role as Scheme Adjudicator he will be supported by a team with relevant expertise, including dealing with affordability issues and Schemes.

The Scheme does not affect the normal process of repaying any current Amigo loans. Whilst your claim is awaiting review and an outcome, you should continue to make your payments as agreed, unless advised otherwise by us.

If your Scheme outcome confirms that you have a remaining balance to repay to Amigo, we will be in contact with you to discuss how to manage this, or you can contact us directly. If you’re struggling with your loan repayments, or you need further support, please contact our Customer Support team on 01202 629161.

Customers have been able to avail of Equitable Set Off (ESO) if they had a claim in the Scheme and they had repaid more than the original amount borrowed.

• - If their claim is subsequently upheld, or partially upheld, then this will be treated the same as any other upheld claim. The credit record (and CCJ if appropriate) will be removed and any excess payments will be refunded, either as a full refund or as a Scheme payment, depending on when paid. If there is any shortfall, this will still be due from the customer although the Guarantor’s liability will be removed.
• - If the claim is not upheld, then the customer will need to make arrangements to pay off the remaining balance, the credit record will continue to be reported and the Guarantor will still have liability. Please contact our Customer Support team on 01202 629161.

We remain committed to generating as much value as possible for Creditors. Whilst there was the possibility of a takeover, this was not successful. No Creditors’ money was spent on exploring the potential transaction. 

It is possible that we attract further offers and if any deal were to happen, we would expect that new shareholders invest new money to fund any new business. 

The costs of a transaction would also be met by new shareholders.

An Affordability claim relates to concerns that you have raised about the sale of the Amigo Loan entered into before 21st December 2020. This could be because you believed that this wasn't affordable or it wasn't responsible to provide. 

A Non-Affordability claim relates to any issue that doesn’t relate to affordability, and concerns something else that has happened in relation to an Amigo loan entered into before 21st December 2020.

The following process has been agreed for all claims being referred to the Independent Scheme Adjudicator. Amigo and the Independent Scheme Adjudicator advise that you read the following information carefully.

As of 18th December 2023, the Independent Scheme Adjudicator will expect claimants to provide all relevant evidence they wish to be considered as part of their claim. The Independent Scheme Adjudicator will not provide the option to provide additional information once your claim has been referred for Adjudication. As such, it is important that you provide all relevant information you wish to be considered by the Independent Scheme Adjudicator prior to referring your case for Adjudication.

The Independent Scheme Adjudicator is only able to accept evidence that meets a certain evidential threshold. Please refer to the below points for details, as well as common examples, of when evidence may be required and types of evidence to provide.

If a claimant is stating that their/borrower income figures provided to Amigo, as part of the affordability assessment, were incorrect, they need to provide evidence of their income for the months leading up to the loan being approved.

The Independent Scheme Adjudicator can only accept information that was available at the time the loan was taken out and that can clearly be linked back to the relevant party. The documents would need to have the relevant party’s name, be dated prior to the loan being approved and be a full record (e.g. all information would need to be visible and should not be altered, removed or covered).

Examples of potential documentation:

• - Payslips
• - Monthly Bank Statements
• - Tax Statements

If a claimant is stating that their/the borrower’ credit history was poor and therefore they should not have been approved for the loan, they would need to provide evidence of their credit report, or evidence of defaults on credit accounts, prior to the loan being approved.

The Independent Scheme Adjudicator can only accept information that was available at the time the loan was taken out and that can clearly be linked back to the relevant party. The document would need to have the relevant party’s name, evidence their credit history prior to the loan being approved and be a full record (e.g. all information would need to be visible and should not be altered, removed or covered).

Examples of potential documentation:

• - Full Credit Report (An image of the claimant’s credit score would not be sufficient).
• - Bank Statements
• - Loan or Credit Card Statements

If a claimant is stating that their/borrower expenditure figures provided to Amigo, as part of the affordability assessment, were incorrect, they would need to provide evidence of their expenditure for the months leading up to the loan being approved.

The Independent Scheme Adjudicator can only accept documents that can clearly be linked back to the relevant party. The documents would need to have the relevant party’s name, be dated prior to the loan being approved and be a full record of the claimant’s income and expenditure (e.g. all information would need to be visible and should not be altered, removed or covered).

Examples of potential documentation:

• - Bank Statements

If a claimant is stating that they/the borrower should not have been approved for the loan arrangement on medical grounds, they would need to provide evidence of the condition that impacts them. The evidence must verify that the claimant was impacted by the condition at the point the loan was paid out and explain how the condition would have impacted their financial decision making. 

The Independent Scheme Adjudicator can only accept documents that can clearly be linked back to the relevant party. The document would need to have the relevant party’s name, indicate they had the condition at the point they took out the loan and from a reliable third-party source.

Examples of potential documentation:

• - Doctor’s Letter
• - Police Report
• - Government Letter

If a claimant is stating that Amigo failed to support them with managing their payments when they were financially struggling, they would need to provide evidence to show that they requested help and that Amigo failed to act appropriately to support them. 

The Independent Scheme Adjudicator can only accept evidence that is date stamped, confirms the names of the individuals involved and displays all of the conversation.

If a guarantor is stating that Amigo failed to contact the borrower after they defaulted on their payment, or provide the guarantor sufficient notice before asking them to pay, they would need to provide evidence of Amigo’s communications demonstrating the alleged activity within their claim.

The Independent Scheme Adjudicator can only accept evidence that is date stamped, confirms the names of the individuals involved and displays all of the relevant conversations.

We understand that some of the terminology used when discussing the Scheme, and the value of a claim can be technical, and potentially confusing. To look to support customers we’ve provided a glossary of key terms below. Alternatively, you can contact our Scheme Support Team directly via phone or email.

The removal (or waiving) of all interest charges under the upheld loan agreements.

This is the removal of all fees that have been applied to the loan. An example of a fee could be a historic letter charge, or charges if an account was submitted to Court for legal action.

In the event a borrower has repaid more than the amount(s) originally borrowed on their upheld loans, they are eligible to receive compensatory interest which is 8% simple interest per annum. This is to compensate for the time that you did not have access to the funds, due to an Amigo error.

For any eligible overpayments made prior to the Scheme Effective Date (26/05/2022), the 8% is calculated from the day the overpayment was made to the Scheme Effective Date. This compensation is added to a borrower’s cash claim value and is subject to the dividend process (see below).

For any eligible overpayments made after the Scheme Effective Date, the 8% is calculated from the day the overpayment was made to the date when the redress calculation is calculated.ﾠ

A borrower’s Total Cash Claim Value is the value of eligible payments made over the amount(s) originally borrowed, on their upheld loan(s), once any refunds in full are considered. The total value of the cash claim will be the amount that will be used to calculate any dividend payment. Customers will not receive the Total Cash Claim Value of their claim in full as a cash payment.

Due to the nature of the Scheme, customers will not receive their total cash claim value in full. Instead, they will be eligible to receive a ‘dividend payment’, which is their share of the scheme pot. Based on our current estimations, we expect that for every £1 quoted in the total cash claim value, customers are likely to receive 17p. As an example, if the claim value was quoted as £1000, a customer is likely to receive a dividend payment of £170. The pence in the pound value is subject to change, and cannot be confirmed until all claims have been decisioned. We expect to be able to confirm the dividend, and the exact value of any final payments in late 2024, but interim payments will start to be sent to customers at the beginning of 2024.

A borrower’s claim value is calculated as follows; 

Interest Refund + Fee Refund + 8% simple interest per annum

The refund (or waiving) of all guarantor payments made on the upheld loan agreements.

This is the removal of all fees that have been applied to the loan. An example of a fee could be a historic letter charge, or charges if an account was submitted to Court for legal action.

A guarantor is due to receive compensatory interest on any payments that they have made to an upheld loan, which is 8% simple interest per annum. This is to compensate for the time that you did not have access to the funds, due to an Amigo error.

For any eligible payments made prior to the Scheme Effective Date (26/05/2022), the 8% is calculated from the day the overpayment was made to the Scheme Effective Date. This compensation is added to a guarantor's cash claim value and is subject to the dividend process (see below).

For any eligible payments made after the Scheme Effective Date, the 8% is calculated from the day the payment was made to the date when the redress calculation is calculated.

A guarantor’s Total Cash Claim Value is the value of payments made by the guarantor, once any refunds in full (and Reinstated Interest) are considered. The total value of the cash claim will be the amount that will be used to calculate any dividend payment. Customers will not receive the Total Cash Claim Value of their claim in full as a cash payment. 

Due to the nature of the Scheme, customers will not receive their total cash claim value in full. Instead, they will be eligible to receive a ‘dividend payment’, which is their share of the scheme pot. Based on our current estimations, we expect that for every £1 quoted in the value of the claim, customers are likely to receive 17p. As an example, if the total cash claim value was quoted as £1000, a customer is likely to receive a dividend payment of £170. The pence in the pound value is subject to change, and cannot be confirmed until all claims have been decisioned. We expect to be able to confirm the dividend, and the exact value of any final payments in late 2024, but interim payments will start to be sent to customers at the beginning of 2024. 

A guarantor’s claim value is calculated as follows; 

Payments made Refund + Fee Refund + 8% simple interest per annum.

The High Court sanctioned Amigo’s Scheme and Amigo has now switched to implementing the Fallback Solution under the New Business Scheme. You can find more information about the ‘Fallback Solution’ in the Explanatory Statement, which is available here.

In 2022, the High Court approved a Scheme of Arrangement, giving customers an opportunity to make a claim against Amigo.  As part of the Scheme that creditors supported last year, there were two potential outcomes: 

• The preferred solution, which was conditional on the completion of a capital raise, involved Amigo raising new finance from investors. This was to be used to support our new business (RewardRate) and to contribute £15m for creditors' redress.   
• A fallback solution which comprised of an orderly wind-down of Amigo and RewardRate.  

Unfortunately, we were not able to secure the necessary investment under the preferred solution to fund our new business. The Board, after fully reviewing all options available, took the decision to switch to the fallback solution. This is in line with the Scheme that creditors supported. Under the fallback solution, Amigo’s business will be wound down over a period of around 12 months and it will be liquidated.

There are some customers that we know have a claim under the Scheme because we did not send them the correct notices when their account went into arrears or we charged interest when they were unable to resume payments after they had received a covid payment holiday (together “Legacy Claims”). 

There was a risk that customers eligible for a Legacy Claim will not receive redress if they did not make a claim under the Scheme by 26 November 2022. Amigo wished to reduce this risk and therefore agreed with the FCA to put in place a mechanism for these specific claims only.  Full details are contained in the Replacement Deed of Undertaking to the FCA (“Replacement Deed “) on our website.  In short, the Replacement Deed states that Amigo will:

(a)          after 26 November 2022: (i) identify any Legacy Claim customers that have not made a claim in the Scheme; and (ii) use reasonable endeavours to contact those customers and pay redress;

(b)         by 3 December 2022 provide details of those customers to the FCA;

(c)          as soon as reasonably practicable but no later than 7 days after the Scheme Payment Percentage has been agreed under the Scheme provide to the FCA details of: (i) the Scheme Payment Percentage; and (ii) the amount that would be payable in respect of outstanding Legacy Claims;

(d)         within 7 days of any Scheme Payment being made to Scheme creditors pay redress on Legacy Claims (at the same payment percentage received by Scheme Creditors)from assets that are not allocated to Scheme Creditors;

(e)         contact monthly (for 12 months after the Scheme has terminated) any Legacy Claims customers that have not been paid;

(f)          confirm to the FCA on request the details of Legacy Claims customers that have not been paid; and

(g)          agree with the FCA the form and content of any communication to be made to Legacy Claims customers.

Amigo previously entered into a Previous Deed of Undertaking to the FCA (“Previous Deed”) which in addition to the Legacy Claims also covered a potential additional claim in relation to guarantors that may not have received the correct notices before direct debit payments were collected (“GTDD claims”).  However, any GTDD claims should properly be made to the customer’s bank under the Direct Debit Guarantee, rather than under the Scheme.  Therefore, the Replacement Deed was entered into to make it clear that this arrangement did not cover GTDD claims.  The Previous Deed is also available on our website.

As the Scheme Submission Deadline date has now passed, customers are no longer able to submit a Claim into our Scheme. If you have any questions about this, or need to discuss this further please contact our Scheme Support Team. Their contact details can be found on our ‘contact us’ page.

To log in to the Scheme Portal, we’ll ask you to enter your mobile number and date of birth, and then send you an authentication code to confirm. If we don’t have your most up-to-date details on record, then we may not be able to log you in. 

To update these details, you’ll need to contact our Scheme Support Team directly - you can find how best to reach us on our  ‘contact us’ page. Please do this as soon as possible.