Be careful with loan sharks
This Christmas, people desperate to get their hands on cash are urged not to turn to high or illegal interest money lenders. The research shows that six out of 10 people are worried about the cost of festivities and presents this year. More people may have to turn to credit so they can afford to celebrate with money becoming tighter over the Christmas period. There are warnings of the perils of resorting to risky means of finance.
“More than half of social housing tenants included in our recent survey don’t use mainstream credit, “financial inclusion manager at Riverside Laura Bostock said. Riverside is one of the leading regeneration organizations and social housing in the UK. Riverside works closely with St Helens Moneyline and credit unions offers budgeting advice, low interest instant loans and saving options.
MP for St Helens North Dave Watts is backing new e-petition to try to involve Government in high cost credit market so it struggling families aren’t taken advantages of over this Christmas period by high interest, but legal, loan sharks. The goal of the petition is to push Government to take action and to ensure people to use legal money lenders without the fear of exploitation by introducing caps on the cost of credit.