While you can borrow up to 28 days later, we don't lend to zombies says speedeloans
Claims that one in six payday loans users are only able to service the interest on their debts, leading to people “racking up” even more debt, have been challenged by industry expert and CEO of speedeloans.com, Gary Miller-Cheevers.
According to research* by the R3 insolvency group, millions of Britons will turn to a payday loan in the next six months in order to tide them over until their next payday, with just over 16.5% becoming "zombie debtors” – a phrase coined to describe people who can only pay the interest on their debt and not the debt itself.
Commenting on the R3 report, Mr. Miller-Cheevers says: “We understand that only 2000 people were surveyed. As only half of all adults ever use credit, the results are a little skewed. The figures do not agree with our data that shows that only 5% of our customers (one in 20) experience real debt problems.
“This substantiates our position of being a responsible lender. And for those 5% of customers who do get in to financial difficulties, we have arranged ‘short term assistance’ plans, as well as working with reputable agencies such as the Consumer Credit Counselling Service”.
Mr. Miller-Cheevers also highlights statistics from the Debt Support Trust** which say that the average payday loan borrower will have not one but four different payday loans on average, borrowing money from one payday loan company to pay back another payday loan company: “Sadly, there are some unscrupulous lenders who will saddle already debt-ridden individuals with more debt misery. Speedeloans, however, takes its responsibilities seriously. We have many internal measures to restrict lending to selected applicants and we further ensure that those who are we prepared to lend to, we only allow them to borrow a sensible amount in relation to their finances.”
He adds that unlike some other payday lenders, they have recently strengthened their systems so that they can see if the applicant has multiple payday loans: “We vet our customers responsibly, rejecting 92% of applications. Our enhanced credit checking system is designed to weed out those people who already have multiple payday loans in place.
“Speedeloans is a responsible lender, offering an affordable cash advance until payday which is often cheaper than an unauthorised overdraft.*** While there are some unprincipled lenders out there, consumers should be aware that we are not all the same and some, like ourselves, do provider a useful, affordable service for one-off cash needs”.
Ends
RESOURCES:
*** Cost of an £150 unauthorised overdraft for 20 days
CONTACT: Gary Miller-Cheevers, speedeloans.com, CEO, telephone: 0844 879 3199 or 07545 148121, email: gmc@speedeloans.com
Stella Hulott, Speedie PR, telephone: 01843 831088 or 07932 750271, email: stella.hulott@speediepr.co.uk
About us
speedeloans.com is a practical alternative to banks that can no longer help their customers with their short term financial needs. Privately backed by people who understand our customers, our mission is to provide instant decisions and two hour money whenever they need it.
We are at the cutting edge of modern consumer finance by offering small, short term loans online with real speed and ease. We are flexible and paper free which means you can apply using our easy-to-use website whenever you need cash in a hurry. We have a consumer credit licence from the Office of Fair Trading.
In August 2011 we won an award for “Most Responsible Lender” which we welcome as proof that we are doing the right thing both for our own business, but also more importantly, our customers.
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