Wording of Wonga letters found to be "inappropriate" by trade body

The loan provider Wonga has fallen foul of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) for sending customers letters it said were "inappropriate".

The Government agency said the wording in some letters suggested the person may have committed fraud and Wonga would consider calling the police, while others said the job the person held meant they could not be in debt.

The OFT said there was no "appropriate justification" for this wording and Wonga should have sent the letters.

In its defence Wonga said it was appealing the OFT's adjudication because it was unnecessary.

"Wonga believes this requirement is unnecessary on two grounds. Although Wonga believes it had grounds for suspecting dishonest conduct by the specific customers to whom letters were sent, they were sent on isolated occasions more than 18 months ago and have not been sent since that time.

"As we made clear during the Adjudication, the tone of these letters fell below our usual high standards. Wonga has already demonstrated these were isolated incidents and there is no risk of it communicating with customers in a manner which might infringe the Requirement," the company said in a statement.