Letter about a Sunny Loans or Quid debt? Read this before you pay anything

If you are still being contacted about an old Sunny Loans or Quid debt, the picture is unusually messy — and it tilts in your favour if you handle it carefully. Both brands were owned by Elevate Credit International, the UK arm of US-listed Elevate Credit Inc, which entered administration in 2020 under FCA scrutiny of affordability practices in the short-term-credit market. A significant share of customers were eventually entitled to redress.

This page covers what’s left of the business, what your rights look like, and how an IVA handles legacy Sunny / Quid balances alongside other consumer debts.

Who Elevate Credit are (and aren’t, anymore)

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Elevate Credit International was the UK arm of Elevate Credit Inc, a US-based short-term-credit lender. In the UK they operated two consumer-facing brands:

• Sunny Loans — short-term and instalment loans aimed at customers shut out of mainstream credit
• Quid — a sister brand offering short-term loans on similar terms

The wider UK short-term-credit market came under heavy FCA pressure from 2014 onwards, especially on affordability and creditworthiness checks. Elevate Credit International itself entered administration in mid-2020, joining a long list of UK short-term-credit casualties (Wonga in 2018, Quickquid / CashEuroNet in 2019, Sunny / Quid in 2020). The business is no longer issuing new loans. Existing balances are run off by administrators or have been sold to debt purchasers.

What this means for an old Sunny or Quid debt

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Three things change when a lender is in administration:

1. The Financial Ombudsman is usually no longer the right route for new affordability claims. Claims typically go to the administrator’s customer-claims process and are paid as a (usually small) percentage of the redress amount, ranked alongside other unsecured creditor claims.
2. Many customers are still owed redress for unaffordable lending — even if their loan balance is also outstanding. The two are often netted.
3. The debt itself may have been sold to a debt purchaser (Lowell, Cabot, PRA Group, Intrum or similar), or may still sit with the administrator. Check the letterhead carefully.

What can and cannot legally happen

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Whoever is chasing the debt — the administrator, a third-party collection agency or a debt purchaser — they remain bound by the FCA’s CONC rules and the Consumer Credit Act. They can:

• Write to you and call you about the balance
• Apply for a CCJ if the debt is enforceable and unpaid
• After a CCJ, apply for an attachment of earnings, charging order or High Court enforcement
• Pass or sell the debt on

They cannot:

• Force entry to your home or take goods
• Threaten arrest — the matter is civil, not criminal
• Continue contacting you after a written request that they stop, except to confirm changes to the account
• Add fees that were not part of the original credit agreement
• Disclose the debt to anyone else without your express consent

Two checks worth running before you pay anything

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1. Is the debt enforceable?

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Under sections 77/78 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, you can request a copy of the original signed credit agreement and an up-to-date statement of account. Send the request in writing with the £1 statutory fee. The collector — administrator or debt buyer — has 12 working days plus 30 calendar days to respond. While they cannot comply, the debt is legally unenforceable in court (although it still exists). For old Sunny / Quid balances that have changed hands, a successful CCA challenge is a realistic outcome.

2. Has the debt become statute-barred?

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Most consumer debts in England and Wales become statute-barred under the Limitation Act 1980 once six years have passed since you last made a payment or acknowledged the debt in writing — provided no court proceedings were started in that window. The period in Scotland is five years, after which the debt is “prescribed” and ceases to exist legally.

Many Sunny and Quid loans were taken out in the 2014–2019 window. By the time you read this, a meaningful proportion may now be statute-barred. Do not make a token payment before checking the dates — it resets the clock.

How old Sunny / Quid debts tend to be pursued

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In practice, the chase pattern is light compared with mainstream creditors:

• Letter cycles from the administrator or debt buyer with settlement offers — typically opening with substantial discounts
• Limited litigation — the cost-benefit of litigating an old, often-disputed short-term loan is poor for the buyer
• Sale and re-sale is common — the debt may have moved through more than one purchaser by the time you receive a letter
• Affordability redress claims sit alongside the chase — many borrowers are simultaneously a debtor (on the loan balance) and a creditor (in the administration redress process)

Routes out

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If the debt is yours and enforceable, the realistic options:

• Pay nothing if the debt is statute-barred or unenforceable — but raise that in writing
• Affordability complaint — submit a redress claim through the administrator’s claims process
• Lump-sum settlement with a written discount agreement (often substantial discounts on old short-term loans)
• Debt Management Plan (DMP) — single monthly payment to a DMP provider distributed across all unsecured debts
• IVA if you have £5,000+ of total unsecured debt — legally stops contact, freezes interest, writes off the unpaid balance after 5–6 years
• Debt Relief Order if total debt is under £50,000 and your spare income is very low
• Bankruptcy where no realistic monthly contribution is possible

What happens if you ignore the chase

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For most short-term-credit debts in administration, ignoring the letters carries less risk than ignoring a major bank — but not zero risk:

• The debt buyer can still apply for a CCJ if the underlying agreement is enforceable
• A default judgment stays on your credit file for six years
• The debt can change hands repeatedly, meaning the chase persists in different brand names

Engaging on your own terms — a CCA request, a statute-barred letter, a redress claim — is almost always cheaper than ignoring it.

Pitfalls

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• Don’t make a token “goodwill” payment before checking dates and validity — it resets the statute-barred clock
• Don’t assume the debt is gone because Elevate is in administration — administrators are obliged to recover what they reasonably can for the estate
• Don’t ignore CCJ paperwork — even on an old short-term loan, a default judgment is automatic if you don’t respond
• Don’t miss the redress claim deadline the administrator publishes — these are firm cut-offs
• Don’t confuse Sunny Loans with other “Sunny” brands — read the letterhead carefully

Frequently asked questions

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Is Elevate Credit still trading? No — Elevate Credit International entered administration in 2020. Sunny Loans and Quid are no longer issuing new loans.

Should I pay a Sunny or Quid debt? Not before checking enforceability, statute-barred status, and any affordability redress claim.

Will an IVA include my Sunny or Quid debt? Yes — unsecured short-term-credit debts go into an IVA on the same basis as any other unsecured creditor.

Can I still claim redress? Possibly — through the administrator’s claims process, not the Financial Ombudsman.

Related guides

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• Lowell Financial — common buyer of payday-loan debts
• Cabot Financial — major debt purchaser
• How long can I be chased for a debt?
• Can debt be written off?
• How do I stop debt collectors chasing me?
• How do I apply for an IVA?