# Payday Loan Affordability Complaint
Date: 5 October 2026
Parties and reference: Borrower: Samuel Ellis, 4 Beech Walk, Sheffield S11 8PX. To: Complaints Manager, Clearbridge Short-Term Lending Ltd. Customer EXAMPLE-CB-5204.
## 1. Loans complained about
Dear Complaints Manager, please investigate whether you carried out proportionate creditworthiness and affordability checks for my successive loans. Loan L1 advanced £300 on 2 February 2026 with £60 interest and charges; L2 advanced £500 on 2 March with £120 interest and charges; L3 advanced £600 on 1 April with £150 interest and charges. The total advanced was £1,400 and the stated charges total £330. All references and events in this worked example are fictional.
## 2. Why affordability is disputed
My net monthly income was approximately £1,450 against essential living costs of £1,250 and existing credit commitments of £180, leaving about £20 before these loans. I repaid L1 and L2 only by further borrowing, not from sustainable disposable income. The amounts increased and the applications were close together. Please explain what those repeat-borrowing indicators, declared outgoings and available credit-file data led you to check before each advance.
## 3. Evidence and account reconciliation
I enclose the three agreements, relevant bank statements and an income-and-expenditure schedule. L1 and L2 are shown as settled; L3's latest statement shows £200 outstanding after £550 of payments against its £750 total repayable. Please provide a transaction-level reconciliation, credit-check results and copies of the application information. Distinguish principal, interest, fees and payments rather than treating the remaining £200 as all interest.
## 4. Requested redress and interim support
For any loans found to have been unaffordable and improperly advanced, please remove or refund the relevant interest and charges, recalculate the balance with credit for all payments and correct adverse credit entries as appropriate. The £330 total is a starting schedule, not a demand for both cash repayment and the same balance reduction. I do not assert that the borrowed principal is automatically written off. Please consider pausing collection of the disputed part and agree an affordable interim plan without making access to complaint review conditional on payment.
## 5. Complaint response and further review
Please acknowledge this complaint and send a reasoned final response within the applicable eight-week period. If unresolved, I may refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service where eligible, normally within six months of your qualifying final response. Please include the referral rights and applicable deadlines. This letter does not suspend those deadlines or promise an ombudsman award. Yours faithfully, Samuel Ellis, signed 5 October 2026.