Pawnbroker firm H&T is to refund customers more than £2million after some people were sold loans they couldn’t afford.
A review found 9,800 loans to 8,000 customers between April 2014 and October 2019 should never have been issued by the lender.
This amounts to around 11.5% - more than one in ten - of the total loans made by H&T within that period.
The company has been reviewing these loans since 2019 and has now been given the green light to go ahead with a compensation scheme by the Financial Conduct Authority.
H&T will pay £1.6million directly to customers, and a further half a million will be available to adjust the balance of their outstanding loans.
On average, each customer will get £264, according to H&T chief executive Chris Gillespie.
He added: "H&T is committed to providing services which maintain the highest standards of customer care and regulatory compliance, and we have co-operated fully and constructively with the FCA throughout this review.
"We are pleased that the review is now concluded and that the majority of HCST loans granted by H&T are considered to have been lent responsibly."
How do I claim my refund?
Those who are due money back should be contacted directly by H&T, who will outline the next steps of how to apply for your refund.
"Customers whose loan should not have been granted and who are due redress, will be contacted directly and we will endeavour to complete the redress programme as quickly as we can, so as not to prolong the uncertainty further," said Mr Gillespie.
We've asked H&T if there is a specific contact line or email address for customers to get in touch, if they don't hear from the lender but suspect they are due money back, and we'll update this article when we get a response.
Did you take out a loan with H&T pawnbrokers? Let us know: mirror.money.saving@mirror.co.uk
The Mirror is also checking if there is a deadline to apply for your refund.
How much you get back will depend on how much you borrowed and for how long. You'll likely need to show evidence that you couldn't afford your loan.
If you think you're due money back, you should start gathering evidence of your repayments - for example, any letters or emails you have from H&T.
You could still be eligible even if you've finished paying off your loan.
A pawnbroker offers secured loans to people in exchange for an item of value.
If the person can’t pay back that loan within an agreed timeframe, the pawnbroker keeps the item as collateral.
