Loan sharks alive and kicking in the UK
A 78-year-old "loan shark" today walked free from court despite the fact she had been found guilty of money lending without a licence, to the tune of £33,500. It is believed that interest rates in excess of 300% per annum were being charged to some clients with allegations of intimidation from some customers. Despite being found guilty of illegal loan sharking, Joan Fionda was given a 12 month community and supervision order due mainly to her age.
This is just one of many examples that the loan shark industry is still very much alive and kicking in the UK despite various moves to combat the problem. The truth is that many people in the UK do not have access to traditional banking facilities due in the main to their credit records and are often forced to take up the services of illegal lenders.
Unfortunately, many people will soon find that the relatively small amounts of money they initially lend can spiral out of control with excessive interest rates and penalties for non-payment. These are the most vulnerable in society and unfortunately despite promises from various governments over the years they are still being subjected to interest rates of over 300%. This is a problem which will not go away but unfortunately there is no short-term solution and no easy answer.
Share this..
Related stories
KPMG warns of more losses for high-street banks
Accountants KPMG have today issued a damning report on the UK banking sector with a belief that bad loans will remain a significant issue for high-street banks for the foreseeable future. A weakening employment market and a property sector which has show signs of life, although never seems to turn the corner could be the catalyst for further large write-offs by the U.K.'s leading banks.
Payday loan companies still charging excessive rates of interest
The revelation that one particular UK payday loan company is charging up to 10,000% interest to some customers has again highlighted the difficulties which many people in the UK are experiencing at this moment in time. While there's no doubt that the UK regulators and the UK government have made substantial progress in reducing excessive rates of interest charged by certain companies in certain se...
Read MoreDealing With Debt - Don't Leave It Too Late
While there are many different phases to this ongoing credit crunch one thing which seems to have remained constant throughout has been the inability of many suffering financial heartache to ask for help. The debt agencies are primed for action, the help is there but why are so many people afraid of asking for help? Why are they afraid to own up to their problems?
We have seen many...
UK households laden with £10,000 debt
23/03/2015 The average UK family will have £10,000 of unsecured debt by 2016, according to accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The figures from PwC include debt accumulated through personal loans, student loans and credit cards, but excludes mortgages. This is the highest level of debt consumers have ever been in, with unsecured borrowing increasing by 9% last year, or £19.7 bil...
Read MoreBank of England criticises UK lenders
The Bank of England has today criticised UK lenders citing the fact that many interest-rate cost savings have not been passed on to customers. Even though interbank borrowing rates have fallen nowhere near the same amount as UK base rates the Bank of England still believes that the vast majority of savings have not been passed on to UK businesses and UK households. Indeed there is even a suspicion...
Read More