Lindsey’s Wonga woe

A woman who borrowed £10 from online moneylender Wonga found herself in debt to the tune of £85 with no money to buy food, after the company failed to stick to a repayment agreement.

Lindsey Berry (58), of Coalshaw Green Road, Chadderton borrowed £10 in July and needed to repay £16.90 three days later..

Knowing this wouldn’t be possible, she agreed with staff at Wonga to repay £15 and the remaining £1.90 two weeks later when she received benefit payments.

But Wonga charged Lindsey a late payment fee of £20 - which took her beyond her overdraft limit and meant her bank added another £25.

She said: “I started getting behind with my bills when the bedroom tax came in. I always leave a couple of pounds in my bank to avoid going over my overdraft limit, but when Wonga took the late payment fee from me it went over. I’ve had no money to buy food because they didn’t keep to the agreement.”

The situation got even worse when Lindsey called Wonga to sort things out - and clocked up a £40 phone bill which resulted in her being cut off.

“I’m only allowed to make a certain number of calls a week, but Wonga messed up and I had to try and get my money back. I was on the phone to them constantly.”

A spokesperson for Wonga said: “We’re sorry we have inconvenienced our customer. Having put a repayment plan in place we mistakenly charged her a default fee.

“As soon as she contacted us we refunded her and have given her £25 to cover the bank charge.

“We are genuinely sorry for any stress and inconvenience caused.”

Wonga has since also agreed to pay Ms Berry £40 to cover her phone bill.