Farepak victims face further compensation delays but larger payouts promised

The firm's liquidator is unable to give a date for likely payouts after announcing those affected will receive 15p for every pound lost.

While the figure is a tenth of the £40 million lost by 120,000 former customers, the 15p in the pound is higher than the previous 5p in the pound forecast.

The proposed payout comes after the company's former directors, who have not admitted liability, agreed to pay £4 million in compensation. The victims lost an average of £400.

Farepak ran a savings scheme which helped people to spread the cost of Christmas spending across the year. Many of the people hurt by the collapse of Wiltshire-based Farepak were on low incomes or pensioners.

The liquidator, BDO, says: "It is not yet possible to confirm when a payment will be made to creditors, including agents and customers.

"The joint liquidators are still pursuing monies for the benefit of creditors. For example, the liquidators have issued proceedings against a number of parties and the length of time this takes to resolve is in the hands of the court."

How to get cash back

If you've already made a claim, BDO says it has yet to respond to everyone due to the volume of claims received.

If you've yet to make a claim, write to BDO's claims unit detailing exactly how much you lost. See the Farepack/BDO site for the address (at bottom of page).

What if you've already claimed from your card firm?

Some victims who paid via credit card for amounts over £100 or on a Visa debit card may have got all or some of their cash back already.

Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act makes card firms jointly liable with retailers if something goes wrong, while Visa also offers this service, though only as a customer service promise, not a legal guarantee (see the Section 75 & Visa Chargeback guide).

BDO says anyone who has received some but not all their cash back should contact its claims unit for the remainder.

Additional reporting by the Press Association.

Further reading/Key Links

Get cash back: Section 75 & Visa Chargeback