Absolutely sickened by the constant pay day loan adverts everywhere!

Evil_Olive

The ad that sickens me most at the moment is the one that shows someone using one to put money on his electric card/meter. I think it really shows what kind of 'customers' they're trying to lure in.....

Lets see, What kind of person is most likely to need to go to a payday loan company just to get an emergency £5 or £10 to put on an electric meter.

Someone who has a card meter installed.
Not everyone who has a card meter is poverty stricken - a lot of landlords have them installed as a matter of course to safeguard themselves but it is more likely that someone with a card meter in their home has/is already experiencing money problems as they are often installed after a default on a bill.

Someone who can't scrape together an amount as small as £5 in an emergency to provide an essential.
eg. Someone who's already on a stupendously low income.

Someone who has absolutely no friends/family/neighbours who can/will lend them a fiver.
eg someone who is isolated, lonely and without a support network.

In other words, someone who is more than usually likely to be one or more of the following:
disabled, unemployed, student, less educated, low-income, single parent, elderly, mentally ill, isolated, going through some kind of crisis, whether personal or practical

Desperate and vulnerable? :mad:

Shuaibf1987

i had several pay day loans and damn i hate them, i never want to go to them ever again, have finally paid them all off thankfully but still dont stop getting constant emails asking if i want more, not tempted after the hell i got put through

FireWyrm

Evil_Olive wrote: »

The ad that sickens me most at the moment is the one that shows someone using one to put money on his electric card/meter. I think it really shows what kind of 'customers' they're trying to lure in.....

Lets see, What kind of person is most likely to need to go to a payday loan company just to get an emergency £5 or £10 to put on an electric meter.

Someone who has a card meter installed.
Not everyone who has a card meter is poverty stricken - a lot of landlords have them installed as a matter of course to safeguard themselves but it is more likely that someone with a card meter in their home has/is already experiencing money problems as they are often installed after a default on a bill.

Someone who can't scrape together an amount as small as £5 in an emergency to provide an essential.
eg. Someone who's already on a stupendously low income.

Someone who has absolutely no friends/family/neighbours who can/will lend them a fiver.
eg someone who is isolated, lonely and without a support network.

In other words, someone who is more than usually likely to be one or more of the following:
disabled, unemployed, student, less educated, low-income, single parent, elderly, mentally ill, isolated, going through some kind of crisis, whether personal or practical

Desperate and vulnerable? :mad:

I think you have a somewhat lopsided view of your 'average' PDL customer. While those on stupendously low incomes are worth our pity, when you take out a PDL, they ask you what it is for. According to their own figures, 75% of these loans are for things that we 'want' rather than 'need'. Therefore, the 'average' PDL customer is more likely to be someone funding a lifestyle they simply cannot afford rather than a struggling family working all hours to put food on the table. I spend a lot of time on this board and it seems to me that many newcommers who post SOA's simply have no idea how to budget, how to live within their means or how to simply go without once in a while, and THAT is the problem. We have a culture of 'must have it right now' and have forgotten how to live without the nice civilised safety nets we've all become used to.

Years ago, people used to cook, because there were no ready meals. If you screwed up and spoiled a meal, people went hungry. Most people didnt go abroad because it was simply too expensive. If you lost your job you were up a creek and truly in trouble so there was no such thing as a 'bad work ethic'.

One of our safety nets is the whole 'its not my fault', or 'they should have stopped me'. Why? There was one person on here a while ago who had been 'allowed' to take out a massive mortgage, far beyond what they could afford and then complained when they were in negative equity and about to lose the house. How is that anyone's fault but theirs?

In terms of PDLs, they serve a purpose. Just like you have government warnings on drink (drink aware and responsibly), we are all 'aware' of the pitfalls when it comes to PDLs. Do you think it would be necessary to post a notice on the Seven Bridge advising you against walking along the railings 100 ft above the water? Should the government enclose all bridges in perspex just in case someone decides to ignore all common sense and walk along them anyway? The truth is that there IS no risk if you use PDLs responsibly. You ask for the money, they give it to you, you pay it back on the due date. Its that simple. If we are honest with ourselves, we have to admit, no one was to blame but our own selves.

stewil18

Well said FireWyrm

moohound

I went into the city centre the other day and every other shop seems to be a 'money shop / pawn shop ' with signs for 'we buy gold' 'payday loans' and 'loans against your valuables' it seems the entire economy is now one massive IOU.

DalePie

Wait till you read the children's story edition!

http://dalepie.wordpress.com/2012/07/10/never-ending-payday-loans/

All these companies are related in one sense or another. Preying on the vulnerable is something of a family business.

stewil18

DalePie wrote: »

Wait till you read the children's story edition!

http://dalepie.wordpress.com/2012/07/10/never-ending-payday-loans/

All these companies are related in one sense or another. Preying on the vulnerable is something of a family business.

Banks prey on the vulnerable too.....bank charges, higher interest rates for those most 'risky' etc etc.

I guess its just the level of daylight robbery we see as acceptable :mad:

flippin36

moohound wrote: »

I went into the city centre the other day and every other shop seems to be a 'money shop / pawn shop ' with signs for 'we buy gold' 'payday loans' and 'loans against your valuables' it seems the entire economy is now one massive IOU.

Not to mention Brighthouse et al.....depressing.

fozmcfc

I largely agree with firewyrm.

But I would like to some tighter regulation including things such as.

1/ All payday loans taken out are logged on a database and once someone applies for a loan, then it should be an automatic refusal on a further loan being taken, until the original loan is paid off.

2/ Maximum of one rollover.

3/ The maximum charges should be cap at no more than a fair % on top of the amount borrowed.

4/ Tighter advertising controls. Suggesting that people take out these loans for things such as holidays, Christmas or as recently someone pointed out to have a bet on sporting events (such as the Euro 2012), should not be allowed.

On the other hand, anyone defaulting on these loans should not be allowed a further payday loan for at least 12 months.

There are times when these loans can save someones bacon, such as emergency repairs or higher charges for going overdrawn.

But the golden rule is if you take one out you need to budget to pay it back and then be able to afford to live afterwards until your next paypacket.

nfollows1982

My OH used Wonga in January and the spam emails from other PDL companies and every imaginable offer of payday credit forced me to close her email account and start again.
Once they see you need a PDL then they will literally throw money at you to get you in the vicious circle.
It was when I reached the point of applying for a Wonga loan that I had no way of repaying that caused me to have my LBM and contact Payplan