How ICL ended, what came next
Instant Cash Loans Limited operated PaydayUK alongside The Money Shop and Payday Express, and all three brands ceased lending within roughly a year of one another. The PaydayUK website went dark in 2017. The formal Scheme of Arrangement followed in October 2019. The domain itself stayed dormant for a further period before being acquired and relaunched. Anyone landing on paydayuk.co.uk in 2026 is dealing with the post-relaunch operator, not Instant Cash Loans Limited.
The original direct lender
- Operator Instant Cash Loans Limited (ICL)
- Type Direct lender, payday loans
- Sister brands Payday Express, The Money Shop
- Stopped lending October 2017
- Scheme of Arrangement 9 October 2019
- Final dividend 4.31p in £
The current credit broker
- Operator Payday Loans Ltd
- Type Credit broker, AR of Flux Funding
- FCA reference 806333 (Flux Funding)
- Loan range £50 to £5,000
- Term 3 to 36 months
- Connection to original None
Key facts
Both entities and the transition between them. Figures below are cross-checked against Companies House filings and the FCA register, captured 28 April 2026.
The current Payday Loans Ltd operates as an Introducer Appointed Representative of Flux Funding Limited (FCA reference 806333). The original Instant Cash Loans Limited authorisation persists on the FCA register in legacy form. Verify either entity directly via the FCA register before any application.
How the current PaydayUK works
The current operation is structurally different from the original. The distinction has two practical implications for borrowers. It defines the activities the current operator is permitted to carry out. It also determines who any complaint should be raised against.
It does not lend its own money
Payday Loans Ltd, the operator of the current paydayuk.co.uk, is a credit broker. It does not issue loans. Applications submitted through paydayuk.co.uk are passed to a panel of third-party lenders. Approval, terms, interest rate and the credit agreement come from whichever lender accepts the application, not from PaydayUK.
The Introducer Appointed Representative model
Payday Loans Ltd is an Introducer Appointed Representative of Flux Funding Limited (FCA reference 806333). Flux Funding holds the FCA authorisation under which Payday Loans Ltd conducts broking activity and takes regulatory responsibility for that conduct. The same principal firm authorises the relaunched Sunny and Money Shop brands. The shared element across the three brands is the regulatory principal.
The applicant's personal APR depends on the lender
Because PaydayUK does not set the loan terms, the applicant's APR is determined by the lender that ultimately approves the application. The advertised loan range of £50 to £5,000 over 3 to 36 months is indicative. Personalised pricing comes from whichever panel lender ultimately approves the borrower. A soft footprint check runs first. The hard credit search only follows at the lender stage.
The original PaydayUK
The original direct lender operated for approximately fifteen years, peaking in the early 2010s alongside Wonga and QuickQuid as one of the largest UK payday brands. Its collapse followed the same pattern as the wider sector: pre-cap lending generated compensation liability that the post-cap business could not service.
Brand established
Instant Cash Loans Limited (ICL) launches the PaydayUK brand alongside Payday Express. The Money Shop high-street network already operates under the same parent.
FCA assumes consumer credit oversight
The Financial Conduct Authority takes over consumer credit regulation from the Office of Fair Trading on 1 April 2014. Affordability assessment requirements tighten materially. The Money Shop high-street network begins closing branches.
FCA price cap takes effect
The high-cost short-term credit price cap applies from January 2015. Daily interest is capped at 0.8 percent. Default fees are capped at 15 pounds. Total cost of credit may not exceed 100 percent of the principal advanced.
PaydayUK stops lending
ICL stops accepting loan applications under the PaydayUK brand. The Money Shop continues to lend until August 2018. Existing PaydayUK loan books continue to be serviced.
45,000 affordability complaints
ICL receives approximately 45,000 affordability complaints in the second half of 2018, primarily relating to PaydayUK and Money Shop loans issued before the price cap. The volume exceeds the firm's capacity to service compensation while continuing to operate.
Scheme of Arrangement
ICL enters a Scheme of Arrangement under Part 26 of the Companies Act 2006. The Scheme is approved by creditors and sanctioned by the High Court on 8 October 2019. The Scheme limits ICL's liability to its creditors and provides a structured wind-down rather than a full insolvency.
Claim deadline closes
The deadline to submit a claim under the Scheme is 9 April 2020. Approximately 65,000 claims are agreed by the Scheme administrators with a total nominal value substantially in excess of the available distribution pool.
Final dividend declared
The Scheme administrators declare a final dividend of approximately 4.31 pence in the pound on agreed creditor claims. Distribution begins. Claimants whose original loans had been sold to debt purchasers have the dividend amount set off against the outstanding balance owed to the purchaser.
Domain acquired and relaunched
The paydayuk.co.uk domain is acquired by an unrelated firm, Payday Loans Ltd, which relaunches it as an FCA-authorised credit broker operating as an Introducer Appointed Representative of Flux Funding Limited. The original ICL operations continue to wind down separately under the Scheme.
If you had a loan from the original PaydayUK
The Scheme of Arrangement is closed to new claims. The summary below sets out historical and current context for reference.
Compensation
The Scheme paid a final dividend of approximately 4.31 pence in the pound. No additional dividend will follow. The Financial Ombudsman Service is unable to consider new complaints against Instant Cash Loans Limited because the Scheme of Arrangement removed FOS jurisdiction over the firm. There is no further redress route specifically against PaydayUK.
Outstanding loan balances
Original PaydayUK loan balances were sold to third-party debt purchasers as part of the wind-down. Borrowers receiving collection contact in 2026 should request the original credit agreement, verify the current owner of the debt, and check whether any redress amount has been correctly set off against the balance. The outcome can vary depending on which debt purchaser holds the account.
The Scheme set-off arrangement
Where claimants who succeeded under the Scheme also had outstanding loan balances at the time of the Scheme, the dividend amount was set off against the balance owed. Where the loan had been sold to a debt purchaser before the Scheme commenced, the set-off arrangement depends on whether that purchaser participated in the Scheme. PRAC Financial / BW Legal accounts are the noted exception where set-off was not automatic.
If you are dealing with historical PaydayUK debt
None of the services below charge for help with debt or credit. None of these organisations is owned by any lender or broker. None has commercial ties to either. Free advice covers disputed historical balances, debt purchaser interactions and the formal options available when payment is genuinely unaffordable.
Considerations for the current PaydayUK
For applicants considering using the current paydayuk.co.uk credit broker, three structural points are worth understanding before applying.
The current PaydayUK is not the original PaydayUK
Domains can be acquired and relaunched without any continuity of staff, systems, customer relationships, or corporate identity. Payday Loans Ltd has no corporate, operational, or financial connection to Instant Cash Loans Limited. Goodwill, reputation and product memory built up by the original direct lender does not transfer across to today's broker. Today's broker should be assessed on its own service record, not by reference to the original direct lender's reputation. The pattern is not unique to PaydayUK. Directory entries for Dot Dot Loans, Wage Day Advance and Sunny illustrate similar transitions following 2019-2020 administrations.
Three relaunched brands share Flux Funding as principal
Multiple relaunched brokers in the directory operate as Introducer Appointed Representatives of Flux Funding Limited, including PaydayUK, Sunny and The Money Shop. The shared element is the regulatory principal: Flux Funding takes responsibility under FCA rules for each IAR's conduct of broking activity. The structural point for an applicant is that compliance accountability for any of the three brands ultimately sits with Flux Funding rather than with the front-end operator alone.
The applicant's APR is not knowable in advance
Because the broker does not set rates, the headline loan range published on paydayuk.co.uk does not predict what any specific applicant will be offered. Final APR is set by the matched panel lender, taking the borrower's credit profile, requested amount and chosen term into account. The eligibility result is indicative. The lender's hard-search stage produces the binding offer.
Established active brokers and direct lenders worth considering.
Three FCA-authorised peers with longer continuous trading histories under their present owners. All three sit firmly inside the FCA price-cap framework.
Established broker operating the largest comparison panel in the directory. 30+ active lender partners. Pre-application eligibility checker as a soft-search tool.
Established broker with a wide panel covering most major direct lenders. Continuous operation since 2011 under one operator.
The largest UK direct short-term lender by verified review volume. Operating since 2008 under continuous FCA authorisation. Lend their own money.
Sources and verification
The original PaydayUK history and Scheme of Arrangement details verified against Debt Camel's record of the ICL Scheme and the Financial Ombudsman Service notice on Instant Cash Loans Limited.
Current operator structure and the Introducer Appointed Representative relationship verified against paydayuk.co.uk on 4 May 2026 and the FCA register entry for Flux Funding Limited (806333).
Loan range and term data for the current operation sourced from paydayuk.co.uk, retrieved April 2026.
Scheme of Arrangement court approval date and procedural details verified against contemporaneous filings on the Companies House register.
Swift Money Limited is a credit broker, not a lender. Inclusion in this directory does not imply a commercial relationship between Swift Money and either entity operating under the PaydayUK brand. We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, FRN 738569.