RECOVERIES MODE
When the business failed, we crossed an invisible line. On one side: "valued customer." On the other: "recoveries case." The friendly emails stopped. The templated demands began. The company that marketed itself as a "partner to small business" became something else entirely.
Everything that follows is documented. We have the emails. We have the dates. We have the contradictions in black and white.
In late August 2025, we made a settlement offer. We'd lost everything. The business was gone. Our savings were spent keeping staff employed as long as we could. We had nothing left. But we didn't hide. We didn't ignore their letters. We offered what we could genuinely pay.
We didn't expect them to say yes immediately. We expected them to engage. To talk. To find a way forward. Instead, we entered a process that still hasn't ended.
September came and went. We provided documents. Bank statements. Income and expenditure forms. Everything they asked for. October. A phone call. They were "reviewing." More documents requested. We sent them the same day. We were cooperative. We were responsive. We were trying to resolve this.
Then came 27 October.
That morning, an email arrived. Funding Circle wanted more information to "continue reviewing" our settlement. They asked for the current market value of our property, our outstanding mortgage balance, and whether we could "explore all available avenues to increase the amount." The message was clear: they were still considering our offer. They needed more data to make a decision. We started gathering the information.
Then, that same afternoon, another email landed.
"Unfortunately, your settlement offer has been rejected."
The same day. The same case. Two completely contradictory positions. Either they were still reviewing and needed more information. Or they had already decided and rejected it. It cannot be both. But the written record shows both happened.
We pointed this out. We asked for clarity. The response? Our documents had been "added to your settlement review file." So was the review ongoing or not? Had they rejected us or were they still deciding?
To this day, we don't have a clear answer.
After the contradictory emails, we asked for the official complaints email address. We wanted to formally set out what had gone wrong. A case number appeared. Our complaint was "logged."
But here's what troubled us: we were never asked to confirm the scope of our complaint. Funding Circle defined what they thought we were complaining about, then investigated that. Their Final Response said they understood our complaint as delays reviewing the settlement, conflicting outstanding balances, and threatening language. Those are real concerns. But they're the concerns *Funding Circle chose to address*. They framed the complaint, then responded to their own framing.
During all of this, we were dealing with something else. A family health crisis. A close relative seriously ill. We told Funding Circle. We explained that the financial pressure was compounded by personal stress we could barely cope with.
The FCA requires firms to identify and respond to customer vulnerability. To adjust their approach. To show forbearance. Funding Circle acknowledged our disclosure. They said they'd refer us to their "Business Support" team.
Then nothing changed.
The emails kept coming from the Recoveries team. The same templated language. The same pressure. One email even contained a placeholder that should never have been sent: "[your mental health]" - a generic wellbeing template that wasn't personalised at all. Their Final Response later acknowledged that an agent had "failed to tailor a section of the email", said they understood we found it "impersonal" and unprofessional, and apologised.
Throughout this period, the language escalated. References to obtaining a "fixed charge" on our property. Warnings about pursuing the matter "via the Court." Mentions of "legal fees" we'd have to pay if things escalated.
Their Final Response included:
"If a fixed charge is not provided voluntarily, then it could be obtained via the Court."
We understand they have legal rights. We're not naive. But receiving these messages after telling them about our family crisis, during the darkest period of our lives, over Christmas - that's not enforcement. That's pressure designed to break you.
The Final Response arrived on 18 December 2025. One week before Christmas. A dense, legalistic document landing on our doorstep at the worst possible time. Our settlement offer - made four months earlier - still unresolved. No decision. No clarity. Just more waiting.
Was the timing deliberate? We can't prove intent. We can only describe what it did to us. It ruined Christmas. That's what it did.
At one point, we were given conflicting information about how much we owed. The figures didn't match. We raised it. In early November, a Funding Circle agent emailed:
"You are correct to point out the discrepancy in the figures quoted in my previous email, and I apologise for that oversight."
An admission. An apology. In writing.
Six weeks later, the Final Response stated:
"We have been unable to evidence an occasion where you were advised of the incorrect balance."
We have the email. We have the admission. They denied it existed.
Through all of this, one thing has been consistent: Funding Circle wants a charge on our home. Their offer: we could pay almost nothing each month. A token amount. But only if we secured the debt against our property.
Think about what that means. We've already lost the business. We've already paid back almost two-thirds of what we borrowed. And now they want us to put our family home at risk - the only thing we have left - to secure a debt they're claiming is worth more than we originally borrowed. If we miss a payment in future, they could take the house.
That's not resolution. That's a trap with a longer fuse.
We're not sharing this for sympathy. We're sharing it because people need to understand what happens when you enter "recoveries mode" with Funding Circle.
The stress invaded every day. The fear about our home became constant. The uncertainty made it impossible to plan anything. We couldn't sleep. We couldn't think about the future. We were paralysed by a process that seemed designed to exhaust us into submission.
And that's why this story is public.
Every date on this page is accurate. Every quote is from emails we possess. Every claim can be evidenced. We have kept everything.
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