DOORSTEP LENDER WRITES OFF £115m

AILING Provident Financial lost £115m after a disastrous IT shake-up intended to boost profits.

The doorstep lender was last year forced to admit a new booking system for debt collectors had backfired badly – sending them to the wrong houses at the wrong times and playing havoc with the business.

The firm haemorrhaged staff and customers as a result and has now said the debacle cost £115m, at the top end of what markets were expecting. Bosses said the company has 530,000 active doorstep lending borrowers, up 6pc since the end of September.

But in a sign of the damage done, this is down from 755,000 in March last year.

Separately, the City watchdog is probing possible mis-selling at Provident’s Vanquis Bank credit card and Moneybarn car finance divisions, which both target hard-up customers.

The firm, which is also looking for a chief executive, said it is working with Financial Conduct Authority investigators to find a solution.