As part of our Stop Sneaky Fees and Charges campaign, we’re calling on the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to take a closer look at balance transfer deals, after finding consumers are often misled by ‘0%’ offers and only one in 20 understand the true cost. We estimate that consumers pay around £334 million in balance transfer fees [...]
Which? executive director, Richard Lloyd, said: “For financial services to work well it’s absolutely vital that people get the affordable, impartial advice they need to make good choices with their money. So the Government’s review, which we warmly welcome, must be focused squarely on how to give consumers more power to make better financial decisions at [...]
As the new payday rules come into effect today, Which? takes a look at the payday market and calls on the regulator to now turn the spotlight on the wider credit market. Our snapshot research looked at the cost of borrowing £100 for 30 days from a payday lender two weeks before the price cap came [...]
Which? executive director, Richard Lloyd said: “It’s good to see the regulator cracking down on unscrupulous credit brokers, which should send a clear message to the industry that it’s not acceptable to take advantage of vulnerable consumers who may not even have been aware they were being charged. “We now need to see the Financial [...]
In response to Wonga’s evidence to the Treasury Select Committee today that they have sent only 27,000 letters to the 45,000 customers who were affected by their fake legal letters, Richard Lloyd said: “Wonga must justify why they have failed to send compensation letters to all customers affected by their fake legal letters, and they [...]
Appearing at the Treasury Select Committee today Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said the regulator must look at the behaviour of more mainstream credit providers and how consumers are led to the most extreme and expensive forms of credit. Speaking on the treatment of financial services consumers, Richard Lloyd said: “The Financial Conduct Authority hasn’t yet taken [...]
Which? found many credit card providers are still failing to correctly explain the rules of ‘Section 75’, which could mean that consumers don’t get their money back when something goes wrong with a purchase. Section 75 provides legal protection on items paid for by credit card that cost between £100 and £30,000. If something goes [...]
Which? executive director, Richard Lloyd, said: “These proposals, alongside other reforms to the payday market, will be good news for millions of borrowers but information alone will not be the answer to the bad practices found across the credit market. “More must be done to put consumers firmly in control of their borrowing, starting with the [...]
Ahead of the publication of a wide ranging Which? report on the state of the credit market, Which? calls on banks to Stop Sneaky Fees and Charges on unauthorised overdrafts, as more than two thirds of users say charges are too high or unfair. New Which? research reveals that around 2.5 million people, approximately the same number [...]
Credit reports are an important source of information when applying for financial products like a loan or mortgage, but we found it can be difficult for people to understand their statutory report. We asked 81 people to order their £2 statutory reports from the three main credit reference agencies (CRAs) Experian, Equifax and Callcredit. We [...]