Doorstep lending, also called home credit, means small cash loans arranged and collected in person by an agent who visits your home, often every week. Repayments were usually recorded in a payment book.
Home credit has been regulated by the FCA since April 2014 (before that, by the Office of Fair Trading). The lender had to check you could afford each loan. Since 2018 there have also been extra rules: an agent can only talk about new or extra borrowing in your home if you specifically asked, and if a new loan pays off an old one, the lender must explain how that compares with taking a separate loan.
Unlike payday loans, home credit isn’t covered by the payday loan price cap, so doorstep loans could be very expensive.
What happened to the big doorstep lenders
- Provident left the home credit market in May 2021. Complaints about Provident (and Satsuma and Glo) went through a court-approved scheme of arrangement in 2021, and its deadline has passed.
- Morses Club had a scheme of arrangement approved in May 2023, then went into administration in November 2023.
- Loans at Home (SD Taylor Ltd) went into administration in March 2022. Existing loans carried on, but it stopped lending.
- Some smaller doorstep lenders still trade. If you borrowed from one of them, you can complain to them directly.
Even if your doorstep lender has closed, most people who used home credit also had other borrowing, such as payday loans, catalogues, credit cards or an overdraft. Those can often still be complained about.
Signs the lending was unaffordable
- You took a new loan before the last one was repaid
- The agent offered you more money while you were struggling
- You had several doorstep or payday loans at the same time
- You missed collections or fell behind
- The repayments took a large share of your income or benefits
What could you get back?
If a complaint is upheld, the usual outcome is a refund of the interest and charges you paid on the lending that shouldn’t have been given, plus 8% simple interest a year on top, and any negative marks about that lending removed from your credit file. If you still owe money, the refund may be taken off the balance first.
How a claim works
- Complain to the lender. You, or a firm acting for you, write to the lender explaining why the lending was unaffordable.
- The lender has 8 weeks to send a final response.
- If you’re not happy with their final response, you usually have 6 months to take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service. If 8 weeks pass with no final response, you can go to the Ombudsman straight away. It’s free.
You can do all of this yourself: our free complaint letters show you how. Or, if you’d rather not, we can introduce you to a regulated firm that will handle it for you, for a fee.
Is there a time limit?
Usually you need to complain within six years of the lending, or within three years of when you realised (or should have realised) you had reason to complain, whichever is later. Lenders sometimes look at older complaints anyway, and the Ombudsman can decide whether a complaint is in time. If you’re not sure, it’s worth checking.
Lenders
Useful guides: affordability checks · how much compensation · refund calculator
Questions people ask
Can I still claim against Provident?
Usually not. Complaints about Provident were dealt with through its 2021 scheme of arrangement, and the deadline has passed. See our Provident page.
Is there a price cap on doorstep loans?
No. The payday loan price cap doesn’t cover home credit, so the lender still had to make sure each loan was affordable.
I borrowed from other lenders too. Can I claim for those?
Yes, each lender is looked at separately. Tick all the lenders you remember when you do your check.