Ding Dong Merrily on High... interest LENDERS BOMBARD POOR WITH CHRISTMAS CREDIT DEALS
HIGH- interest lenders are exploiting hard-up families worried about the cost of Christmas, claim campaigners.
Watchdogs accuse firms of bombarding people with Christmas messages offering “unaffordable” credit.
Amigo Loans, which charges an annual interest rate of 49.9 per cent, has sent out Christmas cards saying: “Need a helping hand this festive season? Borrow up to £10,000 and you could receive the money within 24 hours.”
BrightHouse, which sells electrical items and furniture at rates of between 69.9 and 99.9 per cent, is advertising a Christmas draw with the prize of “up to £5,000 worth of goodies”.
Doorstep lender Provident is offering to “spread the cost of Christmas” ristmas with cash loans of between £100 and £1,000 at a rate of 1,557 per cent.
Loans at Home will deliver Christmas cash loans of between £200 and £750 at a rate of 433.4 per cent to borrowers’ homes to help them “get through the festive holidays”.
Watchdogs said many customers would end up repaying high- interest loans as late as Christmas next year and even the one after that. James Walker, of resolver.co.uk, said: “Exploiting people who are already struggling financially at Christmas is deeply unfair and cynical.” Debt expert Sara Williams, who blogs under the name Debt Camel, said: “This sort of advertising is irresponsible and p preys on the desperate.” Marc Gander, of the Consumer Ac t i o n Group, said: “These companies seem to be so infected by greed that even at this time of year t hey c onfuse t he Christmas spirit with another opportunity to make more money.” In October, BrightHouse was ordered to pay 250,000 customers £14.8million after financial regulators found they had signed repayment contracts they couldn’t afford.
Amigo said: “Irrespective of the time of year, we only lend to people who can comfortably afford repayments. We turn down around 80 per cent of applicants.”
BrightHouse said: “You don’t have to be a BrightHouse customer. We are pleased to be making someone’s Christmas by giving them £5,000 worth of household goods for free.”
Loans at Home did not respond to requests for comment. Provident declined to comment.