Wonga Pays Over Two Million in Compensation

Wonga Pays Over Two Million in Compensation.

Much maligned payday lender Wonga has agreed a compensation deal with the Financial Conduct Authority of £2.6m following failures in debt collection practices between 2008 and 2010.

Regulated financial services firms are required to be “clear, fair and not misleading”.

It is alleged that between October 2008 and November 2010, before even payday loans were regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, that Wonga was sending dent collection letters to clients who were in arrears or indeed simply not meeting repayments from fictitious debt collection firms in order to scaremonger people to pay.  In many cases, forcing people to pay their debts when they could not afford to repay them.

Comment

Two sides to the argument here.  Of course Wonga should treat people fairly and certainly not mislead people.  They certainly should not have “non existent” firms sending letters to clients trying to force repayment.  That said if people borrow money they should repay it on time.

No doubt Wonga has amended its practices to be clearer for clients in arrears.  We wonder if Wonga will be allowed to charge more for people not repaying debt?  Bet they cannot.

As with any debt dispute or issue both sides are at fault.  The payday lender for not checking adequately that a client has the ability to repay the debt when unforeseen circumstances arise and likewise any borrower has a duty themselves to try and plan to ensure they can repay the debt even if things get difficult.  We accept though that if you are desperate and need to feed your children, perhaps you will do anything to put some food on the table.