Frequently asked questions

A complaint that a bank or lender lent to you when it shouldn’t have: it didn’t check you could afford it, or carried on lending or charging when it could see you were struggling. If the complaint is upheld, the lender has to put things right.

Bank overdrafts, credit and store cards, payday and personal loans, catalogue accounts, and guarantor, doorstep and logbook loans. Credit limit increases count too: each one was a lending decision.

You could, if you relied on it month after month, your limit went up while you were struggling, or the bank kept charging without getting in touch. Since December 2019 banks have had to spot repeat overdraft use and offer help.

Common signs are being in your overdraft most of the time, borrowing to repay other borrowing, several loans at once, missed payments, or limits that kept going up. Our legal partner looks at your actual transactions to check.

Yes. Repaid loans and closed accounts can still be claimed for, subject to time limits.

Yes. If your complaint is upheld, the refund may reduce or clear what you owe rather than being paid to you in cash.

Usually six years from the lending, or three years from when you realised you had cause to complain, whichever is later. For an account that is still running, the ombudsman has sometimes looked back further.

You still complain to the original lender, because it made the decision to lend.

It depends on the lender. Consumer lending generally isn’t covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, and some firms in administration run their own claims process. Each lender page explains where that lender stands.

You may still be able to complain, but any refund may have to go to your insolvency practitioner or creditors. Check with your IVA supervisor, trustee or debt adviser first.

CreditRights is a trading name of Claim Simple Ltd, a claims management company authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 830182). We introduce claims to our legal partner; we don’t handle them ourselves.

Yes. We write to people who may have had borrowing worth looking into. We don’t know anything about your accounts, and we never ask for your bank login, card details or any payment.

You answer four questions. If you’re eligible to check, we introduce you to our legal partner, who checks your bank transactions, makes the complaint and takes it to the Financial Ombudsman if needed.

The check takes about a minute. Lenders have eight weeks to reply to a complaint. If it goes to the Financial Ombudsman, that can take several months more.

No. Our legal partner uses secure, read-only open banking to look at your transactions, so you don’t need statements to start.

Open banking is regulated by the FCA. You log in on your bank’s own screen, so your login is never shared. Access is read-only and you can withdraw it at any time.

Recoup, a trading style of Clear Legal Limited, a firm of solicitors regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA 469975). They handle your claim under their own agreement with you.

Our check doesn’t search your credit file. Our legal partner’s open banking check reads your transactions; it isn’t a credit search.

If a complaint is upheld, the lender is usually told to remove negative information about the lending that shouldn’t have happened. If an overdraft is removed and a balance is left to repay, how you repay it may still be reported.

It depends on how much interest and charges you paid on lending that shouldn’t have happened. Our partner’s average claims are £2,023 for overdrafts, £2,043 for credit cards and £881 for personal loans, but every claim is different and you may get back more, less or nothing.

The check is free and CreditRights never charges you. If your claim succeeds, our legal partner charges a percentage of what you get back, capped by the regulator. If it doesn’t succeed, you pay nothing.

No.

We find and introduce people who may have a claim, and our legal partners pay us for each introduction. It doesn’t come out of your refund.

No. You can complain to your bank or lender yourself, and then to the Financial Ombudsman, for free.

Refunded interest and charges aren’t taxed, but tax may be taken off any interest the lender adds on top.