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Payday complaints double since 2012

Written By blogger on Monday, July 7, 2014 | 6:43 PM

Complaints about payday loans have more than doubled in the last two years, according to the Financial Ombudsman.

The service took on 794 new complaints in the year to April 2014, compared with 296 in 2012.

The financial watchdog also warned that many other people might have been too ashamed to come forward and make a complaint.

The payday industry has argued that it has already changed significantly, and is adhering to new rules.

The most common complaint came from customers who claimed they had not taken out a loan in the first place.

In some cases, that was because of criminal fraud, said the ombudsman.

In other cases, someone else in the customer's family used their name to take out the loan without telling them.

Cap on credit

However, the number of complaints is still tiny, in comparison to the total number of loans.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recently calculated that more than 10 million loans were taken out in 2012.

Last month, it ruled that a lack of competition between lenders could be costing customers up to £60 a year.

The Consumer Finance Association (CFA) - which represents some of the lenders - said it was committed to new rules that came into force on 1 July.

Lenders can now extend - or "roll over"- a loan on a maximum of two occasions.

There is also a limit on how many times they can use a Continuous Payment Authority (CPA) to take money automatically from a borrower's account.

Unless a CPA is successful in extracting the money owed, it can only be used twice.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is expected to announce details of a proposed cap on the cost of credit provided by payday lenders next week.


Payday complaints double since 2012

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