What Is Debt Hacker?

Debt Hacker launched in 2018 to assist victims of unaffordable payday and high-cost lending. Our initial manifesto set out our plans to put power in the hands of borrowers and help them fight against exploitative, unaffordable loans.

We created a free, online tool, including a template letter and email, to help people who had been sold an unaffordable loan by a high-cost credit lender to make complaints to the lender and Financial Ombudsman Service. We also directed people to independent and impartial support from Debt Camel and other trusted sources.

Debt Hacker is not and has never been a claims management firm. Not-for-profit, we received no payment if people made successful complaints. People who used our free tools to make successful claims kept 100% of any money returned to them.

By 2020, Debt Hacker users had made over 22,000 complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service, covering more than £10 million of payday loans.

Next, we and other campaigners pushed the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to investigate how SafetyNet Credit was trapping people in a cycle of unaffordable debt.

We compiled evidence of the harms caused which ultimately led to the firm's closure – but we were subject to aggressive legal threats in an attempt to silence us.

Debt Hacker will continue to fight to protect consumers’ interests against predatory and exploitative lending.

We want a world where people choked with debt are treated fairly and fully aware of their rights; where appropriate compensation is given to mistreated customers and where poor and unfair behaviour by firms is not tolerated and is punished.

This campaign is brought to you by the not-for-profit company Debt Hacker (company number 11286435)