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New consumer credit campaign

New consumer credit campaign. Michelle Smyth Presentation to BEUC General Assembly November 2013. Consumer credit it the UK. Which? Is concerned about the unfair balance of power between lenders and borrowers.

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New consumer credit campaign

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  1. New consumer credit campaign Michelle Smyth Presentation to BEUC General Assembly November 2013

  2. Consumer credit it the UK Which? Is concerned about the unfair balance of power between lenders and borrowers. Many lenders do not give customers clear information, treat them fairly if they are in financial difficulty or lend responsibly only to people who can afford to pay back the loan. • As the cost of living continues to rise in the UK, we’ve found that more people are using credit just to get by: • Half (48%) of UK adults are worried about their level of household debt • Nearly a quarter (23%) borrowed money last month to pay for essentials

  3. Which?’s Clean Up Credit Campaign The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will gain responsibility for regulating consumer credit from April 2014 and is currently consulting on how it will regulate the market. Which? launched the Clean up Credit campaign to keep the pressure up on the FCA to take the steps needed to clean up the market and make lending work for consumers. We asked consumers to share their experiences of using credit with us on our campaigns website. We want the FCA to: • Ban excessive default fees and charges • Ensure that lenders provide clear and transparent information • Crack down on irresponsible lending • Put people in control of their credit • Ensure lenders provide swift, early and effective intervention for people in financial difficulty.

  4. www.which.co.uk/cleanupcredit

  5. Payday loans Payday loan companies (such as Wonga) have gained a lot of public criticism in the UK for being an expensive way to borrow money. We’ve worked with a cross-party group of MPs, consumer groups and debt charities to develop the ‘Charter to Stop the Payday Loan Rip-off’, a set of principles that we all agree are needed to help regulate the market.

  6. Overdrafts While a lot of the attention in the UK has been on the payday loan companies, Which? wants the FCA to take steps to clean up the whole credit market and not just focus on payday loans. In particular, Which? is concerned about overdrafts. We published research showing that authorised overdrafts can be just as expensive as payday loans, and that unauthorised overdrafts can be much higher – up to £100 in interest and fees for borrowing £100 for a month. We want the FCA to tackle high default fees for unauthorised overdrafts and also to ensure banks display the cost of overdrafts clearly and in a way that will allow consumers to easily compare costs between different providers.

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