Have I been mis-sold a high-cost loan?

• High-cost loans should only be approved after proper affordability checks.
• Repeated borrowing, "rollovers" or top-ups can indicate irresponsibly lent credit.
• If making repayments left you short for essentials, the loan may have been unsuitable.
• You can complain directly to the lender yourself, or use a claims specialist.
• If the lender rejects your complaint, you can usually go to the Financial Ombudsman Service for free.

A high-cost loan is meant to be short-term credit, not something that pushes you into long-term financial difficulty. Lenders are required to check that what you borrow is affordable for you, taking your income, regular bills and existing debts into account.

You might have been mis-sold a high-cost loan if:

• You were approved despite heavy existing borrowing, defaults or recent arrears.
• You had to borrow more (or use overdrafts and other cards) just to keep up with repayments.
• The lender increased your credit limit or refinanced loans without checking if your situation had changed.
• Key costs, risks or fees were not explained in a clear and fair way.
• You felt under pressure to accept the loan quickly, without time to think.

If you recognise some of these signs, you can:

• Ask the lender for a copy of your loan agreement and any information they used to assess you.
• Make a formal complaint explaining why you think the lending was irresponsible.
• Escalate to the Financial Ombudsman Service if you're unhappy with the lender's final response.

Sanderson Drake specialise in assessing high-cost credit and other mis-sold lending and can help you understand whether you might have a claim and what compensation could look like.