The level of payday lending in Yorkshire is being likened to an “epidemic” and complaints are soaring, it was reported yesterday. The financial ombudsman service says that the number of complaints rose by one-third in 2016. People have taken out as many as 20 loans, but the hope is that new regulations will be tougher than the old ones.
The Yorkshire Post reports –
“In the last six months of last year, the financial ombudsman received around 380 payday lending complaints from Yorkshire, which is up by more than a third (36 per cent) when compared with the first half of last year. Sixty per cent of the total payday lending complaints from Yorkshire and the Humber came from West Yorkshire. Payday lending complaints came from a wide variety of people, ranging from nurses and teachers to engineers and business analysts. “Most of the complaints we receive involving payday loans are about affordability – and a consumer coming to us with 10-20 loans is a typical example of a two-year ‘relationship’ with a payday lender,’’ a spokesman for the Financial Ombudsman said. Caroline Wayman, the chief ombudsman and chief executive at the Financial Ombudsman. said: “We certainly see quite a number of cases where people have had 10, 12 sometimes even more multiple payday loans, one after the other. “It can be very difficult for people to break out of that cycle,’’ she added. “Sometimes what we will also look to do is put people in touch with debt charities in order to help them get back on their feet.”