Payday lender QuickQuid goes into administration – what you need to know
Britain's biggest payday lender QuickQuid has shut its doors, leaving customers facing uncertainty and a large number of compensation claims up in the air.
QuickQuid's US owner Enova had been working for months to reach a deal with authorities after customers filed more than 3,000 complaints about the company with the financial ombudsman in the first six months of this year.
But on Friday, CashEuroNet, which QuickQuid is part of, went into administration and will no longer be lending. CashEuroNet also included Onstride.co.uk, formerly known as Pounds to Pocket.
Been mis-sold a loan? See our Reclaim payday loans for free guide.
On Friday, when it was first suspected QuickQuid would be going into administration, Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, gave the statement below.
Martin Lewis, MoneySavingExpert.com founder, said: "As with the demise of Wonga, if QuickQuid does go, in the long run it'll not be a cause for tears. Normally when firms go bust, the fear is diminished competition. Not here. These loans were unneeded, unwanted, unhelpful, destructive and addictive.
"It's important to understand the payday loan industry was built on the back of marketing, not need. They sold people the concept of a need to create a demand, then pushed their products. These debts for the vast majority of customers were hideously over-expensive and unhelpful.
"The only problem with QuickQuid's demise is the potential that this big parent company wangles out of its obligation to pay the compensation to people whose lives were made miserable. I hope that won't happen, I suspect it will happen. Morality has never been at the forefront of these companies' minds."
I've got a QuickQuid loan – should I continue repaying?
If you're a QuickQuid customer, you should carry on making repayments, according to the administrator Grant Thornton.
The administrator has published FAQs on the QuickQuid website with information for existing customers.
Caroline Siarkiewicz, acting chief executive at the Government's Money and Pensions Service, said: "If you miss any repayments you could be hit by fees and additional charges, and it could also harm your credit rating."
I was mis-sold a loan – what will happen to my complaint?
A large number of QuickQuid customers have filed complaints to the firm, with some saying they believe they were mis-sold loans. During 2018 the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) received 10,409 complaints about CashEuroNet.
What's more, FOS has ruled on many of these complaints in favour of the consumer. It says some 59% of complaints made to it about CashEuroNet between January and June this year were upheld.
If you made a successful mis-selling claim before QuickQuid went into administration but haven't received payment, Grant Thornton has said that you're unlikely to receive any money until QuickQuid's assets have been sold – but even then it's likely to be much less than you were originally promised.
I think I may have been mis-sold a loan – what should I do?
Grant Thornton has announced that it's setting up a standalone website to make it easier for those who believe they've been mis-sold loans to claim. It says it will contact QuickQuid customers once this site has gone live.
In the meantime, if you're an existing customer and want to make a mis-selling claim, the administrator says you should contact QuickQuid's customer support team, which remains open, on 0800 056 1515.
See our Reclaim payday loans for free guide for more information on the grounds which count as mis-selling.
What does the Financial Ombudsman Service say?
The Financial Ombudsman Service said in a statement on its website: "We understand that CashEuroNet, which includes the QuickQuid trading name, is in administration.
"We will be working with the administrators of the company to understand what that means for consumers, but it is unlikely that we will be able to progress any existing complaints about CashEuroNet any further, or look at any new complaints about it.
"Once we have clarity on this from the administrators of the firm, we will be writing to people who currently have cases against CashEuroNet with us to advise them on what they should do."
For full help on how to reclaim for a mis-sold payday loan, see our Reclaim payday loans for free guide.
Additional reporting by the Press Association.
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