Richard Lloyd, Which? executive director said: “Our research shows that a million households a month are using payday loans, often to cover essentials or repay other debt. If a third of all loans aren’t repaid on time that means thousands of borrowers are paying default fees, pushing them further into debt. “Payday lenders must justify the level [...]
Following a new Which? investigation we believe that payday lenders are acting unlawfully by charging excessive default fees. Ten of 17 leading payday lenders we looked at have default fees of £20 or more, and four charged £25 and above, with Wonga topping the table at £30. Which?’s legal opinion is that excessive default fees [...]
Richard Lloyd, Which? executive director said: “Consumers need the regulators to get tough to stop companies persistently bombarding us with unwanted calls and texts so the ICO fine is another welcome step to keep the pressure on firms who break the rules. “The Government must make it easier for regulators to take enforcement action and we [...]
Which? is calling on financial firms to cut off costly calls after finding nearly three-quarters (73%) of the phone numbers used for customer service or complaint lines are high rate telephone numbers. We looked at phone numbers used by companies for eight financial services including current accounts, loans, insurance and credit cards and found that [...]
Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: “Millions of people are increasingly reliant on high cost loans to pay for essentials or to repay other debts but the Government and regulators must go further to clean up the wider credit market. “We support the Financial Conduct Authority’s plans to get tough with rogue payday lenders, however action [...]
Responding to the StepChange report Got their number, Which? executive director, Richard Lloyd, said: “We launched our Calling Time campaign after we found that nuisance calls and texts are making people’s lives a misery, with many discouraged from answering their phone and others feeling intimidated. It is especially worrying that financially vulnerable consumers are being encouraged to take out [...]
In response to Labour’s announcement that it would impose a levy on payday lenders to fund alternative credit providers, Which? executive director, Richard Lloyd, said: “Millions of people are increasingly reliant on high cost credit to pay for essentials or to repay other loans, pushing them into a vicious cycle of debt. We urgently need [...]
Which? is today launching a new campaign to clean up the entire credit market after new Which? research finds that other forms of credit can be as expensive as payday loans. The payday loans market has rightly attracted criticism for some of the worst practices in the credit market, but our new research finds that [...]
Responding to the new payday loans regulations set out by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Richard Lloyd, Which? executive director, said: “Our research shows millions of people are increasingly reliant on high cost loans to pay for essentials or to repay other debts, so it’s good to see the Financial Conduct Authority planning to take tough [...]
In response to the Office of Fair Trading’s payday lending update, Which? executive director, Richard Lloyd, said: “The fact that many lenders would rather leave the market than face scrutiny from the regulator shows just how bad practice has been in this fast-growing industry. People are increasingly turning to high cost credit just to pay [...]