Amigo borrowers have until 5pm today to vote on their preferred redress scheme for mis-sold loans - here's how to vote

The two schemes are improvements on the arrangement put forward by Amigo last December, which proposed paying borrowers just 10p per £1 owed in an effort to keep the firm afloat - and was rejected by the High Court.

Amigo says it has worked with a committee of eight randomly selected customers and guarantors to help it draw up the new proposal, which it hopes presents a fairer option for customers.

How the schemes work

Unusually, Amigo's proposal is two different schemes, which can now be voted on by borrowers:

• Option one: The 'new business' scheme where claimants are predicted to get back 41p of every £1 they're owed. This is Amigo's preferred scheme, because it'll get to continue as a business. But there are two conditions: Amigo will need to be able to recommence lending within nine months of scheme approval, AND it will need to raise £70 million in the first 12 months of operating. If these two conditions aren't met, Amigo will automatically revert to option two...
  
  
• Option two: The 'wind-down' scheme where claimants are predicted to get 33p of every £1 they're owed. This is essentially a controlled closure of Amigo's business.

Full details of both schemes can be found on Amigo's website. However, payouts are only predictions at this stage, based on the number of claimants owed and the average amount owed. For example, the 41p per £1 payout is based on an estimate that an additional 82,000 complaints will be submitted, with 65% of these being upheld, and claimants being owed £4,500 on average.

The amount that's actually paid out will depend upon how many people end up complaining, and what percentage of these complaints is upheld.

You can choose to vote for either one of these schemes, or vote against both schemes, which would result in Amigo falling into administration and the complaints process being handled by a third party.

How to vote

Anyone who thinks they have a valid claim against Amigo is allowed to vote. You can vote by logging into the scheme portal. Voting will close at 5pm on 10 May. 

You can also vote at a creditor meeting, which will be held on Thursday at 1pm. You can register to attend virtually (via Zoom) by 5pm today, through the voting portal. 

What this means for existing complaints

If you have put in a complaint to Amigo but NOT been offered a payout yet, your claim will still be looked at, but all decisions (and payouts) are currently on hold. If one of the schemes goes ahead, your complaint will then be transferred over as part of the scheme.

If one of the schemes does not go ahead, Amigo has said it is likely to go into insolvency, and the future of your claim will be in the hands of administrators. If that happens, the timing and size of any payout will not be certain – Amigo currently estimates that payouts in this situation will be about 31p for every £1 owed.

Not yet made a complaint? You should do so ASAP

If you believe you have been mis-sold an Amigo loan – whether you're a past or current customer (or guarantor) – you CAN still make a new complaint and should do so ASAP. Amigo is still collecting new claims, but all decisions and further processing are on hold.

If one of the schemes is approved and goes ahead, there will be a six-month deadline for those submitting new complaints.

For more detail on how to make a complaint read our full Reclaim mis-sold guarantor loans guide.