* ILLEGAL MONEY LENDING
An Illegal Money Lender is:
1. Someone who operates a credit business without the necessary licence
2. Unlikely to get clients to sign any forms of agreement or give them any record of their repayments. This makes it very difficult to keep track of how much has been repaid.
Illegal Lenders:
1. Will lend anything from a few pounds to several thousand pounds.
2. Will charge interest at between 25% and 50% per week. This works out at an APR of over 11million%. This makes a debt to an illegal lender very difficult to pay off.
* REPORT AN ILLEGAL MONEY LENDER
Illegal Lenders:
1. Cannot use legal means to enforce unpaid debts to operate in a culture of fear. Threats of violence and harassment are common.
2. Will often take security for a loan in the form of a bank card or post office account card, giving clients no access to their own money without the lender’s say so.
*ILLEGAL MONEY LENDERS
Illegal Lenders:
1. Target vulnerable people as it helps ensure they will be repaid.
2. Will operate on the street, from a house, within a pub or bookies or will operate a doorstep collection scheme.
Illegal money lending is:
1. More likely within areas that suffer from high levels of deprivation.
2. A criminal office and carried penalties of up to two years imprisonment of a £5000 fine.
Borrowing from an illegal money lender is NOT an offence.
To report a suspected Loan Shark phone in confidence on:
0300 555 2222
(calls charged at local rate even from a mobile)