Case file · the one that started Reclaim
A £1,000 overdraft, one letter, £1,336 back.
This is the complaint Corey Musasent to Monzo before Reclaim existed, with the figures taken from the bank's final response. It is here because a case with real numbers beats a page of theory, and because the letter is short enough to copy.
“Monzo gave me a £1,000 overdraft in 2018 they later agreed should never have been approved. One affordability complaint got every penny of interest refunded, plus statutory interest and £75 on top, the overdraft wiped to zero, and the marks cleared off my credit file. About £1,336 back, for one letter.”
The numbers
| Overdraft interest refunded | £1,250.79 |
| 8% statutory interest | £13.17 |
| Tax deducted on the statutory interest | −£2.63 |
| Compensation for the trouble | £75.00 |
| Total | £1,336.33 |
Two things the table does not show. The overdraft balance was written down to £0, so the £1,000 that had been rolling since 2018 stopped existing as a debt. And the adverse markers Monzo had reported while the account sat in the red were removed from the credit file. The 8% statutory interest looks small because the refund covered the interest itself rather than money paid out and lost for years; on a repaid loan that line is usually much bigger.
What the complaint said
The letter ran to a few paragraphs. It named the account and the overdraft limit, said the overdraft had been approved in 2018 without a proper affordability assessment, and pointed out that the account had lived in the overdraft for years while the bank kept charging interest instead of stepping in. It cited the FCA's consumer credit rules on affordability and persistent overdraft use. Then it asked for four specific things: a refund of all overdraft interest and charges, 8% simple interest on top, removal of any adverse credit-file data, and a final response within eight weeks, failing which the complaint would go to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
No anger, no history of the account's ups and downs, no plea. Specific rights, specific remedies, a deadline. Monzo's final response agreed the overdraft should not have been approved and paid the lot.
What you can copy
- 1Pull the facts: when the overdraft or loan was granted, the limit, how many months you were in it, and roughly what interest you paid. Statements or the app's history are enough; the bank holds the rest.
- 2Say plainly that the lending was unaffordable or that the bank failed to intervene while you were persistently overdrawn, and why: low income at the time, other debts, living in the overdraft month after month.
- 3Ask for the four remedies by name: interest and charges refunded, 8% statutory interest, credit file corrected, final response within eight weeks.
- 4If the answer is no, or nothing comes back in eight weeks, refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service. It costs nothing, and you have six months from the final response.
Same letter, your details.
Reclaim was built to write this complaint for anyone. Describe your overdraft or loan and it drafts the affordability complaint with the four remedies and the deadline. Free for your first claim, and you keep all of it.
FAQ
What is an affordability complaint?
A complaint that a lender gave you credit, or kept it running, without properly checking you could repay it without hardship. Lenders must make reasonable checks before lending and must act when a customer is stuck in a costly overdraft month after month. If they did not, the interest and charges are refundable.
Do you have to pay the money back?
You keep the money you actually borrowed; the complaint is about what it cost you. In this case Monzo refunded the interest, and because the refund was larger than the outstanding balance, the overdraft was cleared to zero and the rest was paid out.
Does the complaint go on your credit file?
No. Making a complaint is not recorded by credit reference agencies. A successful affordability complaint usually improves your file, because the lender removes the adverse markers linked to the unaffordable lending, which is what happened here.
How long does it take?
A bank has up to eight weeks to give a final response. If it rejects the complaint or misses the deadline, the Financial Ombudsman Service reviews it for free. Affordability complaints are one of the ombudsman's most-upheld categories.
Sources
One person's outcome, not a promise of yours. A self-serve tool, not a law firm. General information, not legal advice.