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Haslingden MP Supports Petition to End Legal Loan Sharking

Graham Jones, MP for Haslingden and Hyndburn, is backing a new e-petition calling on the Government to intervene in the high-cost credit market before legal loan sharks are able to take advantage of cash-strapped consumers over the Christmas season.

Graham Jones, MP for Haslingden

Speaking after the petition's launch, Graham Jones said:

"With Christmas approaching, residents in Haslingden and Hyndburn are likely to come under increased financial pressure and many will be considering taking out high-cost, short-term loans. I am determined that they should be protected from exploitation by the high-cost credit sector - that's why I'm signing a petition calling on the Government to introduce caps on the cost of credit before Christmas, and urging people in Haslingden and Hyndburn to do the same."

"In Haslingden and Hyndburn and across Britain, payday lenders and home credit providers are allowed to charge as much as they like for credit, often causing severe financial difficulties for their customers. But in Europe and North America, consumers are protected from exploitation by regulations imposing caps on the amount that lenders can charge for credit. This petition calls on the Government to stop delaying action on this issue and ensure people can use these companies without fear of exploitation. Concerned residents in Haslingden and Hyndburn should sign the petition as well, and forward the link to their friends."

The petition has been launched in the wake of new research from the Debt Advice Foundation which shows that 41% of those struggling with debt claim their financial problems are the result of high-interest or payday lending. One in four people who take out a payday loan need the money to buy food or essentials for their household, with 44% using them to pay off other debts. In addition, Citizens Advice have recorded a fourfold increase in the numbers of people getting into debt problems as a result of borrowing from payday lenders in the space of just two years.

If the e-petition receives 100,000 signatures it will go before the Backbench Business Committee to be considered for a debate in the House of Commons. The petition can be found here: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/20219.

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Comments

MelanyS

At 07:47 on 5th November 2011, MelanyS commented:

The entire British Government is made up of lawyers and collectively they can't come up with a law that will cap all of the costs of borrowing money at 10%. 10% no matter how these sleazy companies try and charge anything else to the loan. Just 10%, thats it. Any one who has charged a borrower more than ten percent on the money he borrowed, for what ever reason, should be put in stocks in the public square for 1 month for every percentage point over ten percent it cost that borrower to pay back the money borrowed. Surely a couple of thousand lawyers can come up with a law like that. I do have a suggestionfor the law it would read something like this. The legal limit of interest, and combined charges for lending <a href="http://britainloans.co.uk/"><b>cash loans</b></a> in the United Kingdom cannot exceed ten percent, under pain of death.

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ady

At 12:08 on 16th April 2012, ady commented:

This should be done there as these loan companies are taking benifits of the loophole in the law, as in US Eruope where there is a cap on the amount the lender can charge, same thing should be happen there so that these http://www.immediatepaydayloans.org.uk/ payday loan companies won't take so much profit out of the customers. Control on these cash institution is necessary all over the world.

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