I can assure you that as much as there are irresponsble borrowers, there are irresponsible lenders too.
One case that comes to mind was in November 1989, when two clients borrowed £8,000 for 15 years at a rate of 15.7 per cent with a monthly payment of £110.58.
In November 2006, they have overpaid to the tune of £700 and the lender in question admitted in a letter that cleints had paid £20,568 in total. It got worse. Without the consent of the borrowers, the lender added protection insurance and debt advisory fees which were later removed when the borrowers complained.
Despite the above, the lender was demanding £5,942.88.
I am pleased that parliament, the courts and Financial Services Authority (FSA) are beginning to tackle such ‘cheats’ in our industry. It’s about time lenders also cleaned up their acts.
John Fredua Kwateng
JFK Services
