Getting (some) satisfaction after losing money

[tinnitusjosh]

silentbrown said:

Did they really run the appropriate checks for your son, OP? Could he have told them some porkies about his position and creditworthiness?

Generally under English law, you're not able to wriggle out of obligations on the basis that you lied. Or rather, if the guarantee was not enforceable because the guarantor lied at the outset, the beneficiary of the guarantee would probably have a claim for misrepresentation, or fraudulent misrepresentation, which could see them awarded the amount they would have been entitled to under the guarantee if it had been enforceable, plus their enforcement costs etc.

[elanfan]

OP seems to have done a (pub)runner.

[lyonspride]

Stella Tortoise said:

Why would a student be deemed a suitable guarantor?

Because students are cash cows, they're already in debt, they don't car about adding more debt because getting a job and paying it back seems so far away when your planning a 2 year trip hiking around the world and then planning on going back to uni for the good old party life until your mid-30's.

Students are actually considered a good investment when it comes to loans, if they get a good job you've got them by the balls for decades, if they don't, then either the folks will bail them out OR they'll kick the bucket and leave them the money anyway, by which time that small loan is a couple hundred grand.

[sugerbear]

g3org3y said:

silentbrown said:

Just looking at the Amigo Loans website. https://www.amigoloans.co.uk/loans/why-be-a-guaran...

"Who can be Guarantor? To be a Guarantor you need to be:

• Aged 18 to 75
• A UK homeowner, or have a very strong credit history (a homeowner is more likely to be accepted)
• Financially stable (we'll check your credit history, but it won't leave a record so will have no impact on your ability to get other products)
• Able to afford the repayments if necessary

Did they really run the appropriate checks for your son, OP? Could he have told them some porkies about his position and creditworthiness?

My first thought as well.

A 20 year old student doesn't strike me as an appropriate guarantor for a 4k loan.

Agreed, Amigo loans are FCA regulated in the UK.

We would really need to know the financial position of the son to be able to work out if the FCA should be involved.

Did the guarantor own a house and did he have a regular income, not all students work, a lot rely on their parents or student grant or work through the holidays. Amigo loans should also have done some kind of affordability review on the guarantor.

If not then I would make a complaint to the FCA based on the lack of property ownership and low or nil income and his ability to afford the repayments as guarantor.

You can still pay off the loan and then pursue Amigo loans through the FCA but only if your son has been honest with his financial position when he became the guarantor.

[R1 Dave]

This may be an unpopular opinion and I'm no fan of Amigo loans or their counterparts but why is everyone focusing on finding a loophole to wriggle out of paying? The lad made the decision to be a guarantor and signed to agree as much. It was a bad decision but he's an adult and should take responsibility for his decision, otherwise he's not much better than the lad who scammed him. He should pay it off (maybe with assistance from parents which he can pay back over time) and then seek legal redress for his loss.

Edited by R1 Dave on Thursday 25th October 19:15

[cbmotorsport]

R1 Dave said:

This may be an unpopular opinion and I'm no fan of Amigo loans or their counterparts but why is everyone focusing on finding a loophole to wriggle out of paying? The lad made the decision to be a guarantor and signed to agree as much. It was a bad decision but he's an adult and should take responsibility for his decision, otherwise he's not much better than the lad who scammed him. He should pay it off (maybe with assistance from parents which he can pay back over time) and then seek legal redress for his loss.

Edited by R1 Dave on Thursday 25th October 19:15

I don't think anyone's advocating the lad getting away with his crass decision, I think we're trying to help the OP to not have to shoulder the burden.

[poo at Paul's]

cbmotorsport said:

R1 Dave said:

This may be an unpopular opinion and I'm no fan of Amigo loans or their counterparts but why is everyone focusing on finding a loophole to wriggle out of paying? The lad made the decision to be a guarantor and signed to agree as much. It was a bad decision but he's an adult and should take responsibility for his decision, otherwise he's not much better than the lad who scammed him. He should pay it off (maybe with assistance from parents which he can pay back over time) and then seek legal redress for his loss.

Edited by R1 Dave on Thursday 25th October 19:15

I don't think anyone's advocating the lad getting away with his crass decision, I think we're trying to help the OP to not have to shoulder the burden.

OP doesn't "have to" he is not the guarantor.
He choses to to help his son and explains his reasoning. So I understand then comments above as I understand the OPs position too. .

[anonymous-user]

I've noticed on threads like this amigo loans get a kicking, but the documents are, clear, they would have spoken to the son, they pay the money to the guarantors bank account. They then transfer the money. in essence it is just a loan packaged.

Get proper legal advice about how best to recover money.

[vikingaero]

There are choices for the OP. Only one of them involves money - issuing online Court papers (MCOL) will cost £185. But you need the persons address . It's likely given their history that they will ignore it and have judgment in default. But if he chooses to defend it could be allocated to a Court in Wales and you would need to appear in person which could cost money depending on how far you live from there. The biggest advantage will be that it will prevent the person from obtaining mainstream credit for 6 years and obtaining some jobs. Don't feel guilty about this as people like this are better off without credit and you will be protecting society from him if he gets a job where credit risk is a problem.

The second avenue is a complaint to the Ombudsman which is free. Amigo have to be accountable for their checks irrespective of what is put down on an application form.

[Burwood]

sugerbear said:

g3org3y said:

silentbrown said:

Just looking at the Amigo Loans website. https://www.amigoloans.co.uk/loans/why-be-a-guaran...

"Who can be Guarantor? To be a Guarantor you need to be:

• Aged 18 to 75
• A UK homeowner, or have a very strong credit history (a homeowner is more likely to be accepted)
• Financially stable (we'll check your credit history, but it won't leave a record so will have no impact on your ability to get other products)
• Able to afford the repayments if necessary

Did they really run the appropriate checks for your son, OP? Could he have told them some porkies about his position and creditworthiness?

My first thought as well.

A 20 year old student doesn't strike me as an appropriate guarantor for a 4k loan.

Agreed, Amigo loans are FCA regulated in the UK.

We would really need to know the financial position of the son to be able to work out if the FCA should be involved.

Did the guarantor own a house and did he have a regular income, not all students work, a lot rely on their parents or student grant or work through the holidays. Amigo loans should also have done some kind of affordability review on the guarantor.

If not then I would make a complaint to the FCA based on the lack of property ownership and low or nil income and his ability to afford the repayments as guarantor.

You can still pay off the loan and then pursue Amigo loans through the FCA but only if your son has been honest with his financial position when he became the guarantor.

I dropped in to address the above. Is he suitable to be a guarantor. Affordability checks. Where is the contract? I wouldn’t pay a dime until I got to the bottom of the above. Talk to citizens advice

[matjk]

I would not be at all surprised if Amigo run credit checks on everyone in his family home , for sure they would have asked for previous address. Son doesn’t check out but dad does , good chance that dad with good credit would bail son out with no credit (case in point here)
And hence make the loan less risky on paper, still a gamble but less of one

[matjk]

49% Apr !!!! Lend 4K ,receive back over 7k !!!
Jesus Christ these guys are robbers , as said they lend at super sub prime to prime borrowers ! I bet they can’t wait for the default to start so they can just chase the person with actual money !

[Camelot1971]

matjk said:

I would not be at all surprised if Amigo run credit checks on everyone in his family home , for sure they would have asked for previous address. Son doesn’t check out but dad does , good chance that dad with good credit would bail son out with no credit (case in point here)
And hence make the loan less risky on paper, still a gamble but less of one

Complete twaddle. First, credit reporting is done on an individual, not an address. Second, running a hard credit check without explicit consent is a serious no no and if the company was found to be doing so, the FCA and ICO would come down on them hard.

As others have said, I'm no fan of Amigo either but they do call you, do pay the money into the guarantors account and do explain what the deal is if the borrower defaults.

[OddCat]

Stella Tortoise said:

Why would a student be deemed a suitable guarantor?

.....because they often have wealthy parents who will clear the liability in the case of any 'issues' rather than allowing their little darling to incur a CCJ ?

Anyhoo. Did we get to the bottom of this 'friend' situation ? Was it one of these 'friends with benefits' scenarios where the debtor is an absolute babe and the Op's stepson was, errrm, distracted ? That might at least make this whole thing make some sense !

[James_B]

R1 Dave said:

This may be an unpopular opinion and I'm no fan of Amigo loans or their counterparts but why is everyone focusing on finding a loophole to wriggle out of paying? The lad made the decision to be a guarantor and signed to agree as much. It was a bad decision but he's an adult and should take responsibility for his decision, otherwise he's not much better than the lad who scammed him. He should pay it off (maybe with assistance from parents which he can pay back over time) and then seek legal redress for his loss.

Edited by R1 Dave on Thursday 25th October 19:15

It’s disappointing but not surprising.

Sadly it seems to be the modern way. Everything is someone else’s fault and even those who say they are lawyers on here suggest welching rather than paying.

[roadsmash]

R1 Dave said:

This may be an unpopular opinion and I'm no fan of Amigo loans or their counterparts but why is everyone focusing on finding a loophole to wriggle out of paying? The lad made the decision to be a guarantor and signed to agree as much. It was a bad decision but he's an adult and should take responsibility for his decision, otherwise he's not much better than the lad who scammed him. He should pay it off (maybe with assistance from parents which he can pay back over time) and then seek legal redress for his loss.

Edited by R1 Dave on Thursday 25th October 19:15

I too agree with this opinion. Although I would disagree that it is “everyone” looking for loopholes, more like a select few on this thread.

I do feel for you though OP, this spur of the moment/mad decision made by your son has potentially affected his life for the next 6 years. And of course naturally you want to help him.

As another member has alluded to; these companies specialise in these financial agreements and are therefore well prepared with the correct processes in place for when a default occurs, most of the time they are rubbing their hands and licking their lips once things go pair shaped for the borrower.

I disagree that they’re completely watertight, and I do hope your son hasn’t lied about his income to get the loan, as you MAY have a case regarding Amigo’s assessment of your son’s financial situation, as others have suggested.

I wouldn’t be holding my breath though.

Hope you get it sorted and manage to claim back every penny from the scum bag.

[PF62]

Camelot1971 said:

As others have said, I'm no fan of Amigo either but they do call you, do pay the money into the guarantors account and do explain what the deal is if the borrower defaults.

So in simplistic terms they are really lending the money to the guarantor, who then does what they want with it.

[A205GTI]

vikingaero said:

There are choices for the OP. Only one of them involves money - issuing online Court papers (MCOL) will cost £185. But you need the persons address . It's likely given their history that they will ignore it and have judgment in default. But if he chooses to defend it could be allocated to a Court in Wales and you would need to appear in person which could cost money depending on how far you live from there. The biggest advantage will be that it will prevent the person from obtaining mainstream credit for 6 years and obtaining some jobs. Don't feel guilty about this as people like this are better off without credit and you will be protecting society from him if he gets a job where credit risk is a problem.

The second avenue is a complaint to the Ombudsman which is free. Amigo have to be accountable for their checks irrespective of what is put down on an application form.

Mcol is £35.00 not £185 where did you get that from!!?

[Burwood]

A205GTI said:

vikingaero said:

There are choices for the OP. Only one of them involves money - issuing online Court papers (MCOL) will cost £185. But you need the persons address . It's likely given their history that they will ignore it and have judgment in default. But if he chooses to defend it could be allocated to a Court in Wales and you would need to appear in person which could cost money depending on how far you live from there. The biggest advantage will be that it will prevent the person from obtaining mainstream credit for 6 years and obtaining some jobs. Don't feel guilty about this as people like this are better off without credit and you will be protecting society from him if he gets a job where credit risk is a problem.

The second avenue is a complaint to the Ombudsman which is free. Amigo have to be accountable for their checks irrespective of what is put down on an application form.

Mcol is £35.00 not £185 where did you get that from!!?

It's not £35. Plus the initial fee is only the first of two payments. Court fee as well. £185 is about right all in.

[p4cks]

Thesprucegoose said:

I've noticed on threads like this amigo loans get a kicking, but the documents are, clear, they would have spoken to the son, they pay the money to the guarantors bank account. They then transfer the money. in essence it is just a loan packaged..

Exactly. Even payday lenders get a bad reputation because of their 'extortionate' APR, normally spouted by people who have no real understanding about the risk involved in lending someone money who has a marked history of being st at paying money back.

Anyway, back on topic: OP, pay the money and get your son to pay you back. Once you think he's learned, then tell him that he doesn't owe you any more money and then he's learned his lesson. The way you're putting it across in your original post is that the other guy is at fault and you want to chase him. If you do, your son will probably only learn that daddy will bail me out when things go wrong.